Early the next morning, Han Shizhong climbed to the top of the city to encourage his soldiers and prepare for another day of war. However, after waiting for half a day, no Xixia troops came to attack the city, and there was no movement in other directions.
A soldier suddenly shouted: "General, there is smoke coming from the southeast."
Han Shizhong turned his head and looked around. Sure enough, several streaks of smoke appeared on the horizon. The numbers were changing, one now, three now, and back and forth.
"Weizhou reinforcements should be arriving soon, otherwise the Xixia people would not have failed to attack the city."
The wolf smoke was agreed between Zhong Shidao and Liu Zhongwu. It would be impossible for the Xixia people to light the wolf smoke to trick the army into leaving the city, because only Zhong Shidao and Liu Zhongwu knew the changes in the quantity of the wolf smoke.
This method is very simple, but also very practical.
Zhongshidao did not need to send people to break through the siege of the Xixia people to deliver the message, and it was impossible for the Xixia people to decipher the changes in the smoke and trick the defenders into leaving the city.
To crack this method, the only way is to continuously release beacon smoke every day, making it difficult for the defenders to distinguish the true from the false. But no one knows whether the other party has an agreement. After no one sends troops, they will continue to release beacon smoke to disturb the enemy.
Sure enough, a cavalry army soon ran into the city and shouted at the bottom of the city: "The commander-in-chief invites General Han to discuss matters."
Han Shizhong ordered his lieutenants to patrol carefully, then descended from the city and rode to the government office.
When they arrived at the government office, they saw Liu Qi, Liu Xi, and Yang Keshi rushing over, and Liu Zhongwu's two remaining sons were also standing behind him.
Liu Qi and Liu Xi are the two most outstanding among Liu Zhongwu's nine sons, so they can take charge of their own business. There is no need to worry about being accused of nepotism, as the generals of the Western Army have always been like this. They will not put mediocre sons in high positions.
Because that would not only kill his soldiers, but also his son.
The battlefield is fair to everyone, and you will not become gentle just because you are a general.
There may be favoritism and malpractice in the rear, but the elites are definitely on the front lines. Those who come to the DPRK for melee fighting skills will never go to the front lines in person.
When Liu Zhongwu saw everyone gathered, he said: "The reinforcements from Mr. Zhong, the manager, will arrive tomorrow. How many people do you still have under your command?"
Yang Keshi, the most senior, took the lead and said: "The last general has two thousand people under his command."
"Eighteen hundred people."
"Two thousand one hundred people."
"Fifteen hundred people."
Han Shizhong had the fewest troops and horses. He had the largest number of troops at the beginning, but the main direction of Xixia's attack was with him.
Liu Zhongwu nodded and said: "I still have 2,000 people here, and the total is less than 10,000. Should we hold on and wait for help, or should we cooperate internally and externally to attack the Xixia people? Tell us your opinions."
Liu Xi, who was not yet twenty years old at this time, heard this and said: "Of course we should cooperate inside and outside. We still have ten thousand people. We can definitely fight against the Xixia people."
Yang Keshi nodded and said: "The casualties of the Xixia people should be more than half. It is a good time for us to make achievements."
Han Shizhong and Liu Qi also agreed.
Liu Zhongwu nodded and said: "Okay, then we will go out of the city to kill the Xixia people tomorrow, and then go back and let the soldiers take turns to rest. The Xixia people should not come to attack the city today."
The four of them received the order and went back. They immediately prepared their horses and armor.
The Song Dynasty had few horses, but the Western Army was not in short supply. After conquering the Huangshui Basin a few years ago, the Western Army could exchange many war horses from the Tubo people every year.
Although many horses were lost in battle, the Western Army had no shortage of horse troops in recent years. In particular, the Zhong Family Army, which had a good relationship with the Fan people, had thousands of horse troops.
That night, Daliang's army set up camp twenty miles away from the Zhenrong Army, and there were more than a hundred Fan leaders accompanying them. They came to see the gods fight.
Chao Yong sent someone to write a letter of war to Brother Cha, and the two sides agreed to fight ten miles south of Zhenrong Army.
Chao Yong wants to show off his reputation as a god, while Cha Ge wants to let the Liangshan bandits know how powerful Xixia is. Both sides feel that they have a chance to win. It is best to decide the outcome in one battle.
"Woooooooo..."
The dull sound of the horn kept sounding, and fifty thousand Xixia troops formed a square formation.
Brother Cha felt that 50,000 soldiers and horses were enough to deal with the Liangshan grass bandits, and the remaining 20,000 soldiers and horses were behind to watch the Western Army suppressing the Rong Army to prevent them from coming out to cause trouble.
However, all Daliang soldiers and horses were dispatched. The prince's four-clawed golden dragon flag was at the forefront.
On a small mountain peak in the distance, Zhongshidao led more than a hundred Banren leaders to watch the birth of the god.
Zhong Shidao was convinced of this. After Lu Zhishen showed him the power of fire thunder in Weizhou, he knew that it was very simple to save the two cities. He didn't even need the prince's reinforcements to arrive, with the help of fire thunder and Lu Zhishen
An army of 50,000 can repel the Xixia troops.
But in that case, fire thunder is just a kind of firearm, and people will be afraid of it, but not in awe. Unless the fire thunder is mythical, but the person who mythologizes can only be the prince, otherwise there will be trouble, so he can only watch the front line
The soldiers were bleeding until Chao Yong arrived.
Everything is for today. After today, the situation in the northwest will be completely reversed.
Zhaoye Jade Lion saw countless war horses on the opposite side, their hooves constantly scratching the soil, eager to try.
Chao Yong, who was wearing golden armor, did not choose to command from the center like Cha Ge on the opposite side, but was preparing to lead the charge into the battle.
However, where he usually hangs the eight-edged purple gold hammer, he hangs a point steel gun on one side and a bag of divine thunder on the other side. His important task today is to bring the divine thunder to life and show the people the wrath of the gods.
When Brother Cha saw Prince Daliang appearing in front of the formation, he also rode out of the formation and shouted: "Why is Prince Daliang here?"
Chao Yong didn't want to waste his time, so when he heard Brother Cha shouting, he had no choice but to say: "Of course you are here for our Han people's land."
Brother Cha frowned and said, "Where does Prince Daliang think the land of the Han people is?"
Chao Yong said shamelessly: "The whole world is not the land of the king, and the shore of the land is not the king's ministers."
Seeing that a grassroots bandit dared to be so arrogant, Brother Cha couldn't help but laugh: "Let's talk about it after we finish the fight."
After saying that, he turned his horse and walked back into the formation.
"Don't move. Don't attack until you see me waving."
Chao Yong watched Brother Cha walking leisurely into the formation, and he couldn't help but feel something in his heart. He gave an order, hit his horse, and rushed forward.
Brother Cha heard the sound of horse hooves behind him and turned around to see Prince Daliang in golden armor chasing after him. He was also stunned.
The arrogant Central Plains grass bandits actually wanted to charge into battle alone.
"Don't release the arrow, let him rush over and capture him alive."
While Cha Ge ordered the generals in front of the formation, he turned his horse's head and looked at Chao Yong funny.
There were dozens of Xixia soldiers in front of him. He was quite confident in his martial arts. Brother Cha didn't believe that so many people couldn't catch a bandit.
Chao Yong was also overjoyed when he saw that Brother Cha had not escaped. He picked up the fire stick with his left hand and flicked it, and a flame appeared. He picked up a fist-sized divine thunder with his right hand, lit the fuse, and looked at Brother Cha and threw it away.
The divine thunder is actually an iron ball filled with black powder, similar to the grenades of later generations. However, it needs to light the fuse to explode.
The Gun and Artillery Bureau has done a lot of work for frontline soldiers to use when defending the city.
It is difficult to use the battle formation. The enemy will not let you throw it obediently. Even if you are protected by a spear, the enemy can still be killed with a bow and arrow. And the throwing distance is not as far as the archer's range. There are no bows and arrows for the fire mines that need to be ignited.
Easy to use.
However, Chao Yong is not one of them. Chao Yong has tried it, and the fire thunder he throws is definitely beyond the range of ordinary bows and arrows. Of course, the divine arm bow cannot surpass it.
Brother Cha was stunned when he saw something thrown by Chao Yong. When he got closer, he saw it was an iron ball. Out of caution, he didn't catch it and dodged it sideways.
Chao Yong threw a divine thunder, then immediately grabbed another one, lit it and threw it towards Brother Cha.
"boom"
Brother Cha had just dodged one. Then he saw another flying towards him. Just as he was about to dodge, he heard a loud noise behind him and a strong force pushed him off his horse. He suffered severe pain in his back.
A total of five people were thrown from Brother Cha's position. After five loud noises, there was no one standing within a three-foot radius, and there were only screams.
At close range, the exploded iron fragments are enough to pierce any solid armor.
After throwing five to Brother Cha, Chao Yong started running horizontally a hundred steps in front of the Xixia army, and the amount of divine thunder in the bag quickly decreased.
"boom"
"boom"
"boom"
Wherever Chao Yong passed, there were loud noises and screams.
A fire thunder will not kill many people, but the broken iron pieces will stab many people and horses.
Many people outside the explosion circle were not seriously injured. Normally they could continue to fight with a few arrow wounds, but the unknown injuries caused them to fall off their horses one by one.
Some of the divine thunder exploded when they were thrown in front of the Xixia people, and their whole bodies were immediately blown to pieces, with blood and flesh flying all over the sky.
"god"
"god"
The soldiers and horses of Daliang shouted at the right time, causing the bewildered Xixia people to lose their fighting spirit. They all turned their horses and fled. Those who could not control the horses also abandoned their horses and fled.
Before Chao Yong could throw away all the divine thunder in his bag, the Xixia people dispersed.
"kill"
Chao Yong shouted loudly, turned his horse's head and chased after him, persistently throwing away the remaining divine thunder.
The loud sound behind the buttocks, like the roar of the gods, made the Xixia people run away desperately. The comrades in front ran too slow to block the road and chopped them down with a knife.
Chao Yong gave an order, and the soldiers and horses of Daliang rushed towards the fleeing Xixia soldiers like a flood that broke a dike.
The people on the hill were already kneeling on the ground, praying in awe for God's forgiveness.
Zhong Shidao shouted for a while before letting Fan Ren get up.
A Fan who had been friends with the Zhong family for decades said tremblingly: "Ms. sir, we didn't send troops to help Daliang. The gods must be angry. How can we appease the gods' anger?"
Zhong Shidao had already discussed with Chao Yong and said: "Go back and gather troops and horses to Weizhou, and prepare to listen to the gods' orders."
Seeing that they had a chance to make up for their mistakes, the Fan people didn't know what the gods needed from mortals like them, but they still said happily: "Let's go back right now. My husband can tell us what we should use to worship the gods."
Master Zhong shook his head and said: "No need for anything, the gods don't need your money."
When Fan heard this, he said: "How is this possible? The gods of the tribe need to be worshiped, and the gods who descend to earth must also be worshiped, otherwise the gods will not bless us."
Another fan also said: "If the gods are angry, it will be too late. Please save us."
"yes"
Zhong Shidao saw that everyone was insisting on giving, thought for a while, and said helplessly: "Then you can give each tribe a hundred sheep to reward the three armies."