The capital of the Northern Han Dynasty was surrounded by Song troops from all sides, and the sound of killing was loud.
This is a battlefield of blood and fire, full of soldiers charging into the battle, shouting to kill the sky, and dead bodies lying in pools of blood, which will never get up again. Perhaps not long ago, these dead bodies were still living men.
Among these thousands of troops, he is just an insignificant pawn, but in his family, he is a husband who is taller than the sky, a father who is three points heavier than you, and he is the backbone of the family.
, now it is just a corpse that no one cares about to take a second look at.
If any soldiers from the Northern Han Dynasty looked down from the top of the city, they would see pieces of red tassels on their hats below the city, flying like flames, forming a sea of fire, which was frightening. Those were the heads of the elite imperial guards of the Song Dynasty.
Fan Yang hat. There are over 10,000 troops and horses, and there are no borders. At this time, there are more than 10,000 troops and horses in the city. It seems that there is a huge momentum of throwing whips to cut off the flow, and raising hands like clouds.
In fact, if the garrison at the top of the city hadn't been impatient, they wouldn't have looked at this spectacular scene. The rows of clustered crossbow arrows under the city were raining down on the top of the city as if they cost nothing.
In a violent blow like that, more than a hundred trebuchets hurled stone bullets weighing hundreds of kilograms at the top of the city. Every time a huge stone fell, a thick cloud of yellow smoke rose up, covering the north.
The Han capital city was riddled with holes.
The city was made from local materials and pounded with extremely sticky loess. After the sticky loess was pounded firmly, it was as strong as cement and a little more tough than cement. Now it has become a fortification stronger than stone.
The old city is better to rely on. If the city wall is made of bricks and stones, it will easily break and collapse under the impact of such huge rocks.
The Northern Han army at the top of the city was also fighting back tenaciously at the Song army below the city. After rows of sharp arrows squeaked for a while, like locusts, they attacked the Song army from the top of the city.
Huge stone bullets, no less than those thrown by the Song Army, slowly rotated in the air at a speed visible to the naked eye, then hit the ground with a loud bang, creating three-foot deep pits, rolling up a wave of mud, and moving forward quickly.
Rolling over a distance of tens of feet, boulders rolled over, leaving flesh and blood all the way...
The two sides have been in a stalemate above and below the city for half a month. While Zhao Kuangyin sent troops to cut off the surrounding counties of the Northern Han Dynasty, he personally led his army directly into the heart of the Northern Han Dynasty. In the past half month, both sides suffered extremely heavy losses.
In comparison, the Northern Han army in the city undoubtedly suffered greater losses than the Song army below the city.
Although they occupied a favorable location, their soldiers were brave in their lives, and there were sufficient grain, rice and weapons in the capital's treasury, they still had a fatal weakness compared to the Song army that was conquered personally: they had a small number of soldiers and few generals.
The Song army attacking the city was ten times the size of the Northern Han defenders. They had inexhaustible weapons and equipment, and a mountainous supply of grain and rice. The grain and fodder were still being shipped in a steady stream, and the city was full of people.
Some consume less, and now in terms of arrows, they have to pick up the arrows shot by the Song army into the city to meet the needs of the defenders at the top of the city. The competition in the war is to a large extent a competition between the national strength of the two sides. The Song Dynasty
How can today's national strength be the same as that of the Northern Han Dynasty?
The Zhao Guan family is bound to win this battle. This year, the Zhao Guan family has just turned forty-one.
Now is the age when his experience, energy, and wisdom have reached their peak. He has great talents and a strategic vision that looks at the overall situation. He knows that the Southern Tang, Southern Han, Wuyue, and even the Ming Dynasty, which are still lingering now, have reached their peak.
The separatist Chen Hongjin was vulnerable. Sooner or later he would face a truly powerful enemy worthy of a fight: the Khitan. So, he came.
His personal crusade against the Northern Han Dynasty was aimed at the Khitan. His purpose was to take advantage of the internal instability in the Northern Kingdom to seize the Northern Han Kingdom, an important bridgehead for their southern invasion, so as to prepare for the future crusade against the Khitan and regain the Youyun Ten Kingdom.
Six states prepare.
At this time, Zhao Guan's family not only had great talents and great strategies, but his personal bravery had not retreated even a little bit. At this time, he was still the same Zhao Kuangyin who defeated the eighty-four military prefectures in the world with a dragon stick. Under his personal command, the army
The soldiers of the Song Dynasty were like tigers and horses like dragons. They came all the way westward without encountering any decent resistance. Even Liu Jiye, the so-called invincible general of the Northern Han Army, was defeated in one battle and fled. The outlying states, counties and cities of the Northern Han Dynasty had already
They fell into his hands one by one, and now only this isolated city is left, the last support of the Northern Han Dynasty. Here, he finally encountered the first tough battle, and it was also the last battle of this personal expedition.
Zhao Kuangyin reined up his horse and stood on a high hill, overlooking the crumbling capital city of Northern Han Dynasty in front of him. The city was like a lone boat in the huge waves. It could be overturned at any time, but it always reappeared on the top of the waves.
Above. The top of the city and the bottom of the city are like a tireless meat grinder, harvesting human lives rapidly.
Zhao Guanjia, who is experienced in battles, is also a kind general who cares about his soldiers and is not willing to hurt innocent people. It is not that he does not know how much sacrifice is required to use such cruel means to attack forcefully, and how many lives are needed to fill it.
Only then did they fill up the moat that was still unable to cross even half a step, but the arrow was on the string and had to be fired. There was no decision to fight quickly. God knows whether the new emperor of the Northern Kingdom, who was weak but ambitious, could integrate multiple forces and raise an army again?
More than 20 years ago, his old boss Guo Wei, Taizu of the Later Zhou Dynasty, spent a whole year attacking Hezhong City. The year-long siege of the city consumed countless grains and grass, but the casualties were the lowest. In the end, he won the victory.
After entering the fortified city, who could give him such a long time as Zhao Kuangyin?
Do you want a quick victory? More than ten years ago, Chai Rong, the first British lord who was more talented and strategist than Zhao Kuangyin, personally attacked Shouzhou City and conquered Songzhou, Bozhou, Chenzhou, Xuzhou, Suzhou, Xuzhou, and Caizhou
Hundreds of thousands of strong men from Zhouzhou and other places fought day and night with lights on for more than a month, but the city of Shouzhou actually stood still!
Hundreds of trebuchets were damaged, and nearly a million stones alone could fill up Shouzhou City. However, Liu Renzhan, the general of the Southern Tang Dynasty, still defended the city. Shouzhou City never fell until all the surrounding counties and counties were destroyed.
In the hands of the Song people, Shouzhou still flew the flag of the Southern Tang Dynasty. It was not until later that he fell seriously ill and fell into a coma, and his frightened generals surrendered to the city.
Now the defenders in the capital of the Northern Han Dynasty are not united and not afraid of death. Five days ago, Luo Qian, the defender of the southern city of the Northern Han Dynasty, was so frightened by the Song army's stormy attack that he left the city to beg for surrender, but he was assassinated.
The supervisor army secretly left the city with many subordinate guards on their backs. They neither shouted in advance nor had a white flag to wave. When they came out of the city, before they could say anything, a brave Song Army junior high school officer rushed forward and raised his sword.
He was cut in half. This General Luo died in the hands of a Song Army colonel in a daze. Because he surrendered to the enemy before the battle, his family and relatives were beheaded by the defenders at the city head. This made the defender who was determined to abandon his weapons and surrender
He also strengthened his faith and defended the city, hoping that the Khitan army would come to rescue him.
If it can't be broken from the inside, what about recruiting civilians to build mountains and siege the city? In this vast and sparsely populated northwest region, the entire Northern Han Dynasty has only 50,000 households. Where can he find so many people to help him fight?
From Hezhong City to Shouzhou City, this is the capital of the Northern Han Dynasty. This is the last hope of the Northern Han people. How much stronger should their resistance be compared to Shouzhou?
The existing troops in his hands were enough to wipe out all the troops in the capital of the Northern Han Dynasty over and over again, but the premise was that the Northern Han Dynasty was willing to fight him out of the city. If he wanted to attack the city, the only way to defeat the capital of the Northern Han Dynasty as quickly as possible was
Recruiting civilians or massively increasing troops, but...does he still have more troops to increase?
Domestic troops can no longer be deployed. Countries such as Jing, Hu, and Shu that have been destroyed by him have not yet been completely digested, and a large number of troops need to be stationed. Heavy troops must also be stationed in the Southern Tang and Southern Han to prevent them from taking the opportunity to bite their hearts.
One mouthful; troops must also be stationed under the city of Kaifeng. Since the troubled times of the Five Dynasties, there have been too many ambitious generals who have supported their own troops and are self-reliant. We must guard against someone taking the opportunity to rebel; the Qiang people in the northwest are in rebellion, and they must have troops to suppress it; especially the Khitan people.
Man, the most powerful enemy, preceded the founding of the Song Dynasty more than fifty years ago. Today's Khitan people are no longer the tribal alliance they used to be. They were hastily assembled before the war, each with its own subordinates, and the Huns fought with their barbaric courage.
Captured.
In terms of political system, they are like the Central Plains, a feudal empire; economically, the Khitans are nomadic and the Han people of Yanyun Sixteen Continents are farming; militarily, they maintain the bravery of the nomadic people; geographically, they occupy the most dangerous terrain; and
In terms of armaments, they have the most lacking offensive weaponry in the Song Dynasty: war horses. This enemy will be the only powerful enemy they will face in the future. In the past, whenever the Song Dynasty attacked the Han, they would come to support them. This time, will they?
Come?
This time he personally led the expedition and had already considered the possibility of sending troops from the Northern Kingdom. Therefore, he adopted a strategy of dividing his troops in multiple ways, besieging the city to block reinforcements, first clearing out the enemy forces on the periphery, and finally conquering the capital of the Northern Han Dynasty. The four-pronged army directly attacked the capital of the Northern Han Dynasty.
Take Yunling all the way north to cut off the largest land transportation route between the Northern Han Dynasty and the Khitan, preventing the Han army from fleeing north, and the Khitan people going south to respond. The third army was stationed at the Tongtian River in the east to guard against the Khitan troops sending troops.
Support. He personally led the fourth army to push back, and the target was also the capital of the Northern Han Dynasty. Now even the army he personally led was put to use, but it was still a little short of time to capture this fortified city, but the two guarding armies
It cannot be mobilized, otherwise once the Khitans suddenly attack, it will not be a question of whether they can capture the capital of the Northern Han Dynasty, but whether they can retreat calmly.
Zhao Kuangyin looked worriedly to the north, to the desert grassland with thousands of miles of wind and majestic passes. Do those group of barbarians have such a long-term vision, put aside their internal disputes for the time being, and rescue the Northern Han Dynasty? If they can't capture the Northern Han Dynasty as soon as possible.
If they send troops to the capital of Han Dynasty to help again, won't this effort be in vain again?
Zhao Kuangyin stared for a long time, then looked back at the besieged city at his feet. Sooner or later, this city would fall into his hands. Sooner or later, the emperor in this city would prostrate himself at his feet like other emperors.
But, will God give him enough time to succeed in the battle?
The city is like an island, and the battle formation is like clouds. Looking down from the top of the mountain, thousands of soldiers are like a swarm of ants. Once, he was also one of these ants. Now, he has been wrapped in a yellow robe and became the emperor of the dynasty. The emperor
In a fit of anger, millions of corpses will be laid down and blood will bleed for thousands of miles. Regardless of whether he wants it or not, his hands must be stained with blood, just because... he is the emperor!
Zhao Guanjia looked at the battlefield, and when he was worried, he naturally couldn't see among the thousands of troops, there was a "little ant" without a military uniform, hurriedly walking into the military camp of Cheng Shixiong. Cheng Shixiong belonged to Fuzhou Zhejia
The main task of the northwest frontier army recruited this time was to clear out the outlying prefectures and counties of the Northern Han Dynasty, and to escort the grain and fodder supplies brought by various transshipment envoys.
Leaving such a tiger general and the northwest frontier army who had rich fighting experience with the Northern Han people behind, and using the forbidden army to take the lead, Zhao Guanjia had his own plan. Not only did he want to take down the Northern Han Dynasty in one fell swoop, he also wanted to show off his military strength.
He used force and force, used soft and hard tactics to force the Zhe family, the two major vassal towns in the northwest, to force the armed Zhe family and the Yang family, who only followed the lead of the Zhe family, to give up military power.
Cheng Shixiong felt relaxed. He drove out and killed the Northern Han armed forces in the surrounding counties and towns. After clearing the surrounding areas, he came to the army to report. He did not receive any signal from the government, and he never took the initiative to invite soldiers to join the war. In the past few days, he came to the army to report.
The attack and defense became more and more fierce, and the imperial troops responsible for attacking Xicheng suffered too many casualties. Zhao Guan's family had to withdraw them to rest, and Cheng Shixiong took on the task of attacking Xicheng.
Speaking of Cheng Shixiong, he is really a born warrior. People like him were born for the battlefield, and he did not read many military books. Zhao Kuo had a father who was like a god with soldiers.
There are very few famous generals in the world who can compete with him in learning the art of war, but they are useless on the battlefield. Sun Wu is somewhat similar to him, but he also did not start as a soldier, and as soon as he became a general, he was able to win every battle.
He who has not read a few military books, relies solely on fighting on the battlefield, tempered by blood and fire, and is not self-taught. He who is proficient in battle formations is not as capable as a famous general from a "scientific class". The god of death and the god of war who started from a small pawn are not
Bai Qi, the God of Defeat, didn’t even know the Chinese characters. He only knew Temujin who could bend a bow and shoot a giant eagle. He was such a famous general. Cheng Shixiong was in the same group as them. If he hadn’t really had great skills, he wouldn’t have been so willing to die.
His subordinates would not be entrusted with important tasks by the Zhe family, and he would lead the army to guard the western border as a foreigner. But until today, he was the most leisurely person in the capital of the Northern Han Dynasty.
Now that he had received the task of attacking the West City, Cheng Shixiong did not hesitate. He gathered dozens of trebuchets, stormed a small area of the city, knocked down a wall, destroyed the gate of the West City, and then personally waved his halberd and led the charge.
The enemy's weakness is the key point of our attack. The strategy was originally correct. Then the defenders in the city occupied a favorable location. It did not take many troops to seal the gap tightly. With Cheng Shixiong's bravery, he launched successive charges.
They couldn't move any further, and many bodies would be left behind.
When Yang Hao followed the military colonel to his side, Cheng Shixiong had just been hit by an arrow and retreated from the front of the formation. The war drums in the formation were still roaring. Cheng Shixiong's dark back was bare, revealing his steel-like muscles. His body was sweaty and wet.
Blood. An arm as thick as Yang Hao's thigh had just pulled out the arrowhead, and was covered in blood and flesh. A military doctor was bandaging him with sweat. It was not that this military doctor had low medical skills, nor was it his first time on the battlefield that he had seen no blood.
But when he encountered a master like Cheng Shixiong who was so difficult to serve, he couldn't even think about it without breaking out in a sweat.
Cheng Shixiong was sitting there with his majestic posture, and the military doctor was bending aside to clean up the blood stains and apply medicine and bandage on him. However, General Cheng was not idle. He sat there with his beard as sharp as a thorn, his eyes wide open and his voice
Ruo Thunder roared loudly, waving his two arms from time to time, leading the doctor to stagger: "Zhi Niang, the thief of the Northern Han Dynasty who can only kill people with secret arrows, why don't you come out and fight to the death with a certain family."
"You go, you go, bring in a few more trebuchets and blow down their city gate for me, Old Cheng."
"Take the left camp down to rest, and move up the right camp. He will hurt people with hidden arrows, and I will drag him to death with chariot battles. Let's see how long we can hold this city."
"Report! General, there are not enough arrows."
"Fuck you grandma, you have to report this kind of thing to this general? When you get married, do you want me to drill a hole for you? If you don't have enough arrows, go to the official camp to ask for them. Can the emperor send hungry soldiers?"
How did you become a quartermaster, you blind dog?"
Amid the roaring laughter of several soldiers, the quartermaster ran away in dejection. When Cheng Shixiong heard the killing sound in front of him, he suddenly jumped up and shouted: "Your grandma is a bear, why did you relax so much?"
My personal guards will be brought up to supervise the battle. Anyone who dares to be timid in front of the battle will be killed without mercy!"
Someone said anxiously: "General, it's not that the soldiers are afraid of fighting, but that there are not enough arrows to suppress the enemy troops on the city wall. Once the arrows are delivered, they will launch another attack."
At this moment, Yang Hao arrived. The primary school leader who led the way hurriedly stepped forward and clasped his fists to report: "Report~~, General, someone is here in your house."
"Ah, who is here? Is my mother in trouble or is my bastard son causing trouble?" Cheng Shixiong made a sudden turn and hit his hip bone, hitting the old man who had tried so hard not to put on the bandage.
He walked out three feet away and sat down on the ground.
"Oh, I'm sorry, look at you, old man, you don't pay much attention." Cheng Jiangxiong stepped over in one step and picked up the old man like a little chicken. He turned around and said in surprise.
: "Hey, it's you, why are you here?"
The old doctor wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, quickly wrapped the strip of cloth a few times, and it was about to droop to the ground. He picked it up and continued to bandage him. Cheng Shixiong turned around and shouted: "Your grandma, won't you die as my soldier?"
?Still beating the drum. Let me rest the drum, ring the gold, and rest for a while until the arrows are delivered before attacking the city." After giving the order, he turned around and asked again: "Why did you come to the front of the two armies?"
Yang Hao hurriedly stepped forward and said: "General, I heard that the general was going on an expedition, and I wanted to come and serve in the army. Unfortunately, when I arrived in Guangyuan, the general had already sent out troops. I didn't want to have a free meal in Guangyuan, so I asked the old housekeeper to help me.
, I came here to report to the army."
Cheng Shixiong paused and said: "It's a pity, it's a pity. Why didn't you come earlier? I thought you were nostalgic for your homeland and didn't want to join the army." In front of everyone, he couldn't say it in detail, so he strode back to his seat. The old doctor said
Pulling the strip of cloth, he was led all the way back. Cheng Shixiong said in a rough voice: "You come, you come. Now the war is urgent, and I don't have time to arrange for you. It's just that I have entered the army at this time, but I can't take it easy."
I'll do the work for you. Although you are my family's benefactor, once you join the army, everything must be in accordance with military law. I, Old Cheng, will not be merciful to you, do you know that?"
Yang Hao was overjoyed when he heard that he agreed. He followed a few steps quickly and said with a long bow, "I know that no matter what the task, Yang Hao is willing to accept it."
"Well, that's good. Let's talk clearly before we can do anything. Huh? Yang Hao... when did you change your name?"
Yang Hao hurriedly told the story with a deafening shout of death. Of course, there was no time to explain many of the details in detail, but the general situation was enough to explain clearly. After Yang Hao finished speaking, he said with emotion: "I am desperate, and the only way out I can think of is to come here."
I'll vote for you, General Cheng. To be honest, Yang Hao's decision to vote for General Cheng is certainly effective, but he also wants to avoid disaster. If the General has any concerns, please speak up and leave as soon as possible.
It won’t embarrass the general.”
General Cheng looked up to the sky and laughed, waving his hand boldly, pity the old man that all the hard work for a long time was in vain: "This is a big deal, isn't it just killing a couple of adulterers and adulterers, just kill them.
, look at how cowardly you are, you just killed two people and you look like this, hahahahaha, I, Old Cheng, have 800 or not 1,000 lives in his hands, so it’s not like the heavens and the earth don’t care.”
Yang Hao was dumbfounded when he heard this: "This guy must be illiterate in law..."
He tentatively said: "General... I didn't understand what I meant. Killing someone here is different from killing someone on the battlefield, General. I'm afraid Bazhou Prefecture has posted a notice and I'm wanted all over the world.
"
Cheng Shixiong glared and said in a voice: "Brother Hao, do you think that I, Old Cheng, are a rough guy who doesn't even understand this matter? You have to pay for your life by killing someone, right?"
As soon as Yang Hao nodded, Cheng Shixiong spat heavily: "Ah... Bah! I, Old Cheng, have so many desperadoes. Does the prefect of Bazhou dare to come to my territory to arrest people? Give him some courage! Just stay here.
, even if you don’t change your name, they will still have to pretend to be deaf and dumb. From now on, as long as you achieve military merit, I, Old Cheng, will write a letter telling them to cancel your murder case, and the whole world will still tell you to walk sideways!"
What is a vassal town? This is a vassal town. What a great tone and majesty!
Yang Hao
As soon as Yang Hao said this, he heard a clear and soft voice laugh and said: "What a pawn in a hundred battles." The phrase "pawn in the army" in Han Changli's poem originally refers to being manipulated by others and in a miserable situation. If you use it like this, it sounds good to you.
There is a kind of heroic spirit that says, "Even if there are thousands of people, I will go to the place where righteousness lies"!"