There are two city walls at the junction of the Imperial City and Han City, connected by a huge city gate. Between the two walls is an artificial ditch five feet wide, edged with bluestone and bottomless.
The imperial city wall is three feet high. Along the inner side of the imperial city wall are more than 20 tall watchtowers, built with stones and rammed earth. There are crossbow archers stationed at the top of each watchtower to control the north and south of the city wall.
A large area within walking distance.
The city wall of Seoul was only two feet high. It was completely under the attack of the watch towers and the defenders on the imperial city wall, and there was nothing to rely on.
Standing on a tall building, Su Jin and his generals looked at everything in front of them. Everyone was silent and worried.
The north wall of Seoul is useless. If there are enough troops in the imperial city, they can attack Seoul at any time. Even if they want to defend it, they can't hold it. Yelu Zhongyuan's army is coming soon. He doesn't have to think of any way at all. He only needs to march into the imperial city and start from here.
If you attack, you will be able to move forward unimpeded.
"The Liao dogs are so damn snobby. Seoul is where the Han people live together. They must be afraid that the Han people will cause chaos, so they came up with such a method. In this situation, let alone attacking the imperial city, they would just rush into the city wall a hundred steps away.
There's a problem inside, mother, this is going to be tricky." Pan Jiang scolded.
Jingtai sighed: "Yes, in the afternoon, more than a hundred people were shot dead by our military patrol inside the north wall. No one can get close to the city wall within a hundred steps. The Liao dog defense is watertight."
Looking at the situation in front of him, Su Jin couldn't help but marvel at the elaborate design of the Liao people. The only city gate was an iron gate, and the artificial canal between the two walls was bottomless. It was obviously to prevent climbing or jumping over.
Designed for digging into the city, this layout is absolutely confident that if we give 10,000 soldiers to defend this wall, we can stop the attack of 100,000 troops. I thought that after entering Seoul, the imperial city would be within easy reach, but I did not expect to encounter such a difficult fortification.
.
"Everyone go and have a rest. I'll be alone for a while. Attacking by force is never a good idea. We only have about 80,000 soldiers left. I'm afraid we won't be able to break through if we take them all." Su Jin said quietly.
Everyone had no choice but to leave one after another and go back to the camp to rest. Su Jin asked his guards to make a pot of tea and sat alone at the window and fell into deep thought. In the past few years, he had encountered difficult and dangerous things not once or twice, but not yet.
A time like today made Su Jin feel that he had no idea what to do; in a normal siege, if clever tactics failed, there would be a last resort to attack by force, but this was definitely not possible here. The consequences of a force attack would be disastrous. Even if the entire army was filled in, they would not be able to break through this solid fortification. Su Jin
How I wish I could have a few cannons in my hands at this time and blast the enemy towers on the opposite city wall, everything would be solved, but this is just a wishful thinking.
Several screams were heard in the distance, and several Song soldiers who were walking closer were killed by crossbows on the enemy tower. Su Jin was so angry that he almost crushed the teacup.
In terms of weapons and supplies, the resources in Seoul are enough to support its own consumption. The only problem is that the Liao army occupies an absolute geographical advantage. How to break this geographical advantage is the top priority; all kinds of means seem to be insufficient.
For practical purposes, water, fire, tunnels, tunnels, and various other methods cannot be applied here. It seems to be a dead end in front of us.
Su Jin drank tea slowly to calm down the anxiety in his heart. Outside the window, thousands of Song troops came out of the street corner. They held up the large door panels to block their bodies and slowly approached the north wall. Su Jin recognized the leader.
The short and thick figure was none other than Ma Han. He couldn't help but frown. This fool came with troops and horses even though he knew the danger at the north wall. Is this seeking death?
Su Jin was about to give an order to them to retreat, but he saw the soldiers of the Song Army raised the door panels to block their bodies. Hundreds of archers fired several rounds of flaming arrow rain into the imperial city. Suddenly, invisible places inside the imperial city wall suddenly erupted.
When the fire broke out, it was obvious that the rocket ignited the building or supplies.
The bed crossbows on the enemy tower began to bombard. The door panels could not block the huge impact. Dozens of people were killed and injured immediately. However, all the enemy's ordinary bows and arrows were blocked by the door panels and did not cause any major damage. Ma Han waved his hand and Song
The soldiers pressed against the door panel and retreated out of range.
It seems that the bastard Ma Han was angry that the Liao army shot the Song army, and he was taking revenge. Su Jin smiled bitterly, watching the fire and smoke rising inside the wall, although it was extinguished after a moment, and suddenly felt in his heart
I was shocked, and a strange idea came to my mind.
Su Jin quickly went down the tall building. Ma Han came with the soldiers cursing as they walked, and saw Su Jin standing busy and saluting.
Su Jin said with a straight face: "What are you doing?"
Ma Han scratched his head and said: "I was so angry that I led people to launch a round of rockets over the wall to teach the Liao dogs a taste."
Su Jin said: "What's the use of a drop in the bucket?"
Ma Han said: "At least vent your anger."
Su Jindao: "If you want to do it, do it big. There are basically no important facilities and materials near the city wall. If you can burn the fire into the hearts of the Liao people, then that's your skill."
Mahan opened his eyes wide and said, "I do wonder, but in such a big city, what kind of arrow can shoot so far?"
Su Jin laughed loudly, patted Ma Han on the shoulder and said: "Brother, although what you did is a stupid thing, it inadvertently reminded me that I have a clever plan. If it succeeds, the people of Liao will probably cry for father and mother."
Ma Han was overjoyed and said: "I know that nothing can trouble the young master. How to do it? Please tell me how to do it."
Su Jin waved his hand and said, "Follow me."
…
At nightfall, the large courtyard of the Seoul Privy Council is brightly lit. There is a strange thing placed in the open space in the middle of the courtyard. Several pieces of cooked cowhide are sewn into a ball-shaped Cuju, with a large basket hanging underneath. Dozens of generals are standing there.
Watching the excitement from the sidelines, the handsome man was sweating profusely and busy working around these strange things, not knowing what new tricks he had come up with.
"Pull up the four corners and stand upright." Su Jin shouted.
Several guards pulled up the four corners of the cowhide ball and stood on a high stool. Su Jin poured a full pot of fire oil and lit it in the hole under the cowhide ball. After a while, the whole cowhide ball became inflated. After a while,
, an incredible thing happened, the cowhide ball slowly rose up, lifting the big basket below and leaving the ground.
Su Jin jumped into the basket, and the cowhide ball swayed for a few times before rising precariously, lifting Su Jin, who was standing in the basket, off the ground to a height of about ten feet.
The generals below were stunned and shouted at the same time: "Pull the commander down quickly, it will be serious if he falls."
Su Jin said loudly: "Don't pull me, I will come down by myself."
After saying that, he reached into the basket and took out an iron piece with a handle and slowly covered half of the mouth of the brazier. As expected, the cowhide ball slowly dropped down. When it was about to reach the ground, Su Jin completely covered the iron piece.
After covering the brazier, the flame went out, the bamboo basket fell to the ground, and the cowhide ball came down with a roar, covering Su Jin's whole body in it.
Everyone scrambled to pull Su Jin out. Su Jin's arm was burned with several big blisters, but he didn't notice it. He laughed to himself and said: "It's done, but the stability is not enough. It needs to be adjusted."
Jingtai said: "Commander, what is this thing you made?"
Su Jin smiled and said: "This is called a hot air balloon. It can soar into the sky and reach a height of tens or hundreds of feet."
Pan Jiang rolled his eyes and said: "The commander is really good at playing. The generals and others are already worried to death, but you still have the heart to play."
Su Jin said: "You know nothing, don't you think this thing is very beneficial to our attack on the city?"
Pan Jiang said: "What's the use of this thing?"
Jingtai came to his senses and said loudly: "Is the commander going to rely on this thing to transport soldiers into the imperial city?"
"Ah?" The generals took a breath.
Su Jin smiled and said: "I guessed a little bit right. They are not used to transport troops. Where can an army of 80,000 get so many hot air balloons to transport them? Besides, the closer they are to the ground, wouldn't they become living targets?"
Jingtai said: "Then this is...?"
Su Jin said: "Air raid on the Imperial City, understand? We still have four thousand barrels of kerosene, which is enough to burn the Imperial City to the ground. We only need a dozen of these things to fly over the Imperial City with large barrels of kerosene, specifically
Throwing kerosene on the Liao people's palaces, halls, and military camps to burn them, won't they cry for their fathers and mothers if they don't burn?"
The eyes of the generals were flying in the air. Damn it, I can think of this method. If it works, the people of Liao will feel better.
"Don't stand around watching the show. Everyone helped me bring in all the cows in the city overnight and slaughter them. The hides must be intact and must not be broken. I also need dozens of large bamboo baskets. I will think about how to improve the stability.
Sex, go, go, go." Su Jin waved his hand and buried his head between the cowhide ball and the big basket, concentrating on his words.