Yelu Hongji led the army to the Chanzhou Plain, and then found that the Song army had already formed a formation and was ready.
The Liao generals immediately laughed: "The southerners actually want to compete with our cavalry in the plains. Aren't the southerners just hiding behind the city walls?"
"The cavalry of the Southerners, are they cavalry?"
"The southerners are looking for death, so the general will be willing to take the lead in fighting."
The generals under Yelu Hongji were eager to take advantage of this victory.
Then Yelu Hongji divided 10,000 cavalry and asked his generals to lead them to test the strength of the Song army.
The Liao cavalry is the best in the world. Ten thousand cavalry in the open plains can even disperse the Song army's 100,000 troops.
The war drums sounded, and the 10,000 Daliao cavalry began to charge, heading straight towards the Song army's formation.
When the 10,000 cavalrymen were only 300 steps away from the Song army, a group of people suddenly appeared in the first row of the Song army, holding flintlock guns and aiming at the Daliao cavalry.
Wang Gang sat on the horse, waved his riding whip with his right hand, and then the gunfire rang out for the first time on the battlefield.
Bang bang bang bang!
Gunshots were fired uniformly. After the first row finished shooting, the second row quickly took over, and the third row was on standby, while the soldiers who retreated were loading ammunition behind.
When the gunfire rang out, the Daliao cavalry rushing at the front immediately fell on their backs.
After rounds of shooting, 10,000 cavalrymen were killed or wounded, and some horses were frightened by the gunfire and fled in all directions.
Yelu Hongji in the rear was also shocked by the lethality of the Song Army's musketeers.
The 10,000 Daliao cavalrymen were all killed before they could reach the Song army's camp. The vanguard general who rushed at the front was beaten to a pulp.
With great difficulty, a few cavalrymen rushed to the Song army's camp, but were hacked to death in turn by the Song soldiers who were waiting for them.
The Liao Dynasty had never suffered such a tragic defeat since its founding. Yelu Hongji immediately ordered his troops to retreat, but the Song army's cavalry launched an attack.
In order to deal with the Daliao cavalry this time, Wang Gang brought over all the Liangzhou war horses that Xixia paid tribute to, and each cavalryman was equipped with explosive arrows.
A total of five thousand cavalry, coupled with the power of flying explosive arrows, is a mobile fort, enough to determine the victory of a war.
The Song Army's cavalry, equipped with explosive arrows, appeared on the battlefield for the first time and killed all the Liao Army soldiers.
The huge noise of the explosion frightened the Daliao war horses, and they became chaotic before the fight started.
Unfortunately, Daliao had more cavalry than infantry, and the whole Chinese army was in chaos.
On the contrary, the Song army's war horses had already stuffed their ears with mud and would not be affected by the explosion.
In this battle, the Song army annihilated 30,000 enemies on the battlefield and captured 50,000 prisoners. It defeated the Liao army head-on for the first time and swept away the depression of a century of passive defense.
However, Yelu Hongji was worthy of being an emperor who was good at fighting. He responded promptly, quickly restrained the defeated army, and organized a defense line to stop the Song army.
The two sides exchanged offense and defense. The Liao army defended the city wall, and the Song army's flintlock guns were finally useless.
Then Wang Gang brought in eighteen artillery pieces.
These eighteen artillery pieces are the result of eighteen years of research by the Ministry of War, and are more than ten times more powerful than the old artillery pieces.
Eighteen artillery pieces fired three rounds, creating a gap in the thick city wall. The loud noise of the artillery made the Liao soldiers think that the gods were angry and they would collapse without a fight.
Then the war became extremely simple. Wang Gang opened the way with muskets and artillery, and the Liao army retreated steadily, suffering heavy losses.
The Liao army was not only driven out of the Song Dynasty, but Wang Gang also led the army commander to march straight into the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun and used artillery to capture this land that had been lost for hundreds of years.
Yelu Hongji took the remaining generals of the defeated army back to the capital of Liao Dynasty and sued for peace with Song Dynasty.
After taking the sixteen states of Yanyun, Wang Gang also stopped attacking, not because he didn't want to take Daliao in one fell swoop, but because he couldn't.
Muskets and artillery are consumable items. After a few rounds of shooting, the barrels are basically all exploded, so there are not many of them that can be used.
Fortunately, Daliao was so beaten that it was hard to say who would win and who would lose if Yelu Hongji regained his strength and fought the Song army again.
Wang Gang used muskets and cannons to steal a handful of chickens and deceive Yelu Hongji, but this kind of chicken stealing could only be concealed for a while.
So Wang gave up as soon as he saw the opportunity, and after taking over the sixteen states of Yanyun, he immediately negotiated with Yelu Hongji.
This negotiation swept away the humiliation of the Chanyuan Alliance. The Song Dynasty proposed to cancel the annual coins and stop paying money to the Liao Dynasty.
Daliao will also return the sixteen states of Yanyun, and the two countries will open up mutual trade.
The so-called mutual trade refers to the exchange of goods carried out by border residents in border areas at open points or designated markets approved by the court within a specified amount or quantity.
Mutual trade was extremely beneficial to the Song Dynasty. The Liao State liked the grain, tea and silk of the Song Dynasty very much, so it had to exchange horses, cattle and sheep for them.
Not only could the Song Dynasty get the best war horses, but the tax revenue from the mutual trade could also make up for the war losses.
Yelu Hongji was psychologically affected by the artillery blast. He agreed to the request of the Song Dynasty without much persistence. The two countries temporarily suspended their armies and signed an armistice agreement.
Wang Gang stayed at Yanmen Pass for a year. On the one hand, he conquered the sixteen states of Yanyun, and on the other hand, he presided over the mutual trade to prepare for the Liao's comeback.
On the northwest battlefield, Gu Tingye fought a decisive battle against the Xixia army and won victory. The flintlock was a dimensionality-reducing blow to the war in the cold weapon era.
If the guns and artillery were not too expensive and the losses were high, Gu Tingye could even capture the Xixia Imperial City.
This time when Xixia was defeated, they were not as lucky as last time and lost nearly a thousand miles of land to the Song Dynasty.
The two victories made the Song Dynasty famous, and Wang Gang's reputation spread throughout the world. Everyone knew that without the muskets and artillery invented by him, the Song Dynasty would not have been able to win.
Many people in the Song Dynasty only knew Wang Gang but did not know about the official family.
A year later, Wang Gang received an official decree at Yanmen Pass and transferred him back to the court because Sima Guang was seriously ill.
The late emperor Zhao Xu only appointed two ministers to take care of life, one was Sima Guang and the other was Wang Gang. The two were well balanced in civil and military affairs.
But Sima Guang was too old and too upright. Although he was the leader of the conservative faction, his abilities were not outstanding.
In the past, Sima Guang was able to control the court situation, thanks to the Song Dynasty's external victories one after another, which diverted the original contradiction between the reformers and the conservatives.
But as the war ended, the conservative faction and the reform faction in the court started fighting again. Sima Guang barely maintained a balance, but his body became sick from overwork and he was about to die.
The officials were anxious and wanted to transfer his uncle back to the court to take charge of the overall situation and use his power of victory on the battlefield to suppress the restless ministers.
Wang had just been out for a year and missed his family a little. He handed over the affairs to Kongde and returned to Bianjing alone.
When he returned to Bianjing this time, Wang Gang immediately felt something different. As soon as he came back, many ministers handed him invitations, wanting to make friends with him.
Wang Gang refused them all and went to visit Sima Guang first.
When the young emperor in the palace heard that Wang had just returned to Beijing, he did not go to the palace to meet the saint immediately. Instead, he went to see the dying Sima Guang. His face was very ugly.
Wang Gang arrived at Sima Mansion and was taken directly into Sima Guang's bedroom by the housekeeper.
When Wang Gang saw Sima Guang for the first time, he realized that he was indeed not far from death.
After not seeing him for a year, Sima Guang became extremely thin, leaving only a skeleton, and an unpleasant stench filled the room.
That's the smell of decay.
Sima Guang has been waiting for Wang Gang until now.
"Sheng Shanda, you're here." Sima Guang propped up his weak body and sat up directly from the bed.
Wang Gang quickly stepped forward to help him.
"Thank you, Mr. Shanda. How is the war in the north?" Sima Guang was still concerned about national affairs at this time.
"The war has basically subsided, and there will be no more trouble in Daliao in the short term. As for Xixia, which was completely crippled by Gu Tingye, I can destroy him in two or three years at most."
Sima Guang nodded happily and said: "The late emperor asked you to be the Minister of Guan Ming and granted you military power because he knew you could lead the Song Dynasty to victory.
It is a pity that the old minister has failed the late emperor's great trust, and I am afraid that he will not be able to assist the official family."
Wang Gang was silent for a moment and said, "Sir, do you still have any unfulfilled wishes?"
Sima Guang held Wang Gang's hand and asked sincerely: "Sheng Shanda, what do you think of Mr. Wang Anshi's reforms?"
Wang Gang was stunned. He didn't expect that Sima Guang was almost dead and was still concerned about Wang Anshi's reform.
Did this conservative never give up on preventing the reform until his death?
Wang Gang sighed and said, "Master, are you afraid that I will support the prince's reform?"
Sima Guang lowered his eyebrows and said: "Although the prince is dead, there are still many people in the court who suggest that the officials continue to reform to become stronger.
The official is young and tends to act impulsively. I am worried that he will restart the reform and lead the Song Dynasty into a place of no return."
Wang Gang sneered and said, "Sir, you are too alarmist."
Sima Guang looked up at Wang Gang in surprise and asked, "Do Shanda people agree with the reform?"
Wang Gang nodded and said: "The Song Dynasty has been weak for too long. The domestic land annexation has been serious. The people are rich but the country is weak. The wealth is concentrated in the hands of the gentry and the powerful. Sooner or later there will be trouble."
Sima Guang said worriedly: "When you were an official in Jiangxi, you beat up all the local powerful gentry. It seems that you have not changed."
Wang Gang nodded and said: "The Song Dynasty did need reforms, but the princes' reforms only addressed the symptoms but not the root cause. Instead, they easily caused conflicts, which is really not advisable."
Sima Guang finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, but soon realized other problems.
"Do you want to implement new reforms?"
Wang Gang nodded and said: "That's right, I want to promote the idea of dividing the land into acres, returning the fire to the public, and the officials and gentry receiving the food together."
