In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

Faced with the unreasonable demands of the Liao Kingdom, Fan Zhongyan and Wang Deyong were both happy.

In fact, Wang Deyong and Fan Zhongyan had both experienced the Battle of Chanzhou, when one was fifteen years old and the other was twenty-five years old.

They were shocked to learn that the Liao Kingdom had captured several important towns on the border of the Song Dynasty in less than a month, and defeated hundreds of thousands of Song troops.

From the perspective of later generations, when Emperor Zhenzong of Song won the Battle of Chanzhou, he signed a humiliating treaty, which was obviously due to his weakness and incompetence.

However, from the perspective of contemporary people, we can actually understand the feeling that in the blink of an eye, all the civil and military officials in the court were already discussing moving the capital to the south.

Because the offensive of the Liao Kingdom at that time was so swift, in September, the Liao army attacked Weilu Army, Shun'an Army, Beiping, Baozhou, Dingzhou, Qizhou, Jizhou, Beizhou, Deqing and other places, and in November they crossed the Yellow River and took Chanzhou directly.

Although the borders were not completely breached, many places still resisted the attack of the Liao army. Even in the battle of Yingzhou, Li Yanwo, the governor of Yingzhou, resisted tenaciously and defeated the Liao army, killing more than 30,000 Liao soldiers, and obtained millions of spoils such as armor, soldiers, arrows, poles and shields, and won a great victory.

However, the failure of the local war did not stop the Liao army's pace of advancement. They were unstoppable and went south all the way. They were only more than 100 kilometers away from the capital of the Song Dynasty, Kaifeng Prefecture, and seemed to have the intention of taking the imperial capital directly.

Seeing that the Liao army was getting closer and closer, the ministers of the Song Dynasty were panic-stricken, and the idea of ​​moving the capital was rampant.

Therefore, being beaten to Chanzhou, which was only more than 150 kilometers away from its own capital, was naturally not something that people in later generations could feel. Therefore, it was understandable that Song Zhenzong was still in shock.

But the Song Dynasty today is a world apart.

Not to mention how many fortresses and camps the terrified Emperor Zhenzong of Song built and how many soldiers were stationed in Hebei Road after the Battle of Chanzhou on the Song-Liao border, just to say that the Song Dynasty now has a batch of new weapons and equipment, and it is no longer what it used to be.

What's more, there are a group of elite Northwest Frontier troops who are good at fighting as the vanguard, and there are commanders like Fan Zhongyan who are very good at playing turtle tactics. Just like what he did in the northwest in history, he built bunkers without thinking, advanced slowly without thinking, built strong camps, and fought stupid battles. It was a bit stupid, but it was effective.

It's impossible that the cavalry of the Liao Kingdom really dared to collide with the walls of the Song Army, artillery, grenades, and thunder bombs with their flesh and blood.

So to sum up.

Today's Song Dynasty is no longer the Song Dynasty thirty-six years ago, and today's Liao Kingdom is also declining, not the Liao Dynasty that was once powerful and majestic.

Now Fan Zhongyan just wants to say, I am standing in front of you Liao Kingdom, do you think I am still like before?

"Your Excellency is joking."

After laughing loudly, Wang Deyong said, "The Liao Kingdom is marching south with great momentum, but now it has been frustrated in Baosai and cannot advance an inch. How can it be so greedy and ask for more?"

Liu Liufu argued, "Although our army is indeed blocked and cannot march south in a short time, don't forget that our army has swept away many military camps and fortresses in your Song territory. Even Wangdu and Beiping are surrounded, and Gaoyang was almost broken by us. It's not that we can't break the city, but my lord is kind and is willing to talk to you sincerely."

"Oh? To talk sincerely means to take the initiative to tear up the contract signed that year and brazenly invade our Song Dynasty? Is this also called sincerity?"

Fan Zhongyan said dissatisfiedly, "Now that you can't break the city and suffer heavy casualties, you come to ask for peace. No matter how eloquent you are, you can't cover up the decline of the Liao army. Do you still dare to be so rampant and bully our Song Dynasty with swords and guns?"

"The Prime Minister The lord is mighty, and the Song army's grenades and cannons are majestic, but let the general know that my lord does not believe that the Song's grenades are endless, and my Liao has more than 100,000 cavalry and nearly 200,000 infantry. If the battle continues, once the firearms are used up, can the Song still defend the city? "

Liu Liufu said extremely cruel words in a calm tone, and said softly: "What's more, Yuan Hao also invited my lord to attack the Song together this time. Although before my lord went south, the general was very smart to take the lead in attacking and defeating Yuan Hao. However, as long as he reorganizes his troops, he can still fight. "

"Does the general really think that a deadly battle with the Liao and Xixia can keep the Song safe? I don't think so. After all, the so-called grenades are actually difficult to kill people at once, but they are just scary to look at. "

At the end, Liu Liufu was already full of confidence.

In fact, he pretended to be confident, because the Liao people could not be sure how many firearms the Song army had. Anyway, at least they fought with Xixia first and then with Liao. Up to now, grenades have not stopped, causing tens of thousands of casualties to Xixia and Liao.

But he knew that there should not be much of this kind of thing in stock, because the Song army had used a large number of grenades in many battles with Xixia and Liao. And this thing is not very lethal, it is mainly to make people afraid.

As long as the fear is overcome, the heavily armored soldiers can still touch this thing. The key is that horses are easily frightened, which will cause the main combat force of Liao to be completely ineffective.

And if it fights the infantry with the Song Dynasty, the Liao Dynasty will obviously not win.

So Liu Liufu planned to trick the Song army to see how confident Fan Zhongyan was.

Hearing Liu Liufu's words, Fan Zhongyan did not show how guilty he was, but still squinted his eyes and replied: "If your envoy thinks that my Song Dynasty has insufficient grenades, it may disappoint your envoy. Now there are indeed not many, but there are still millions, which is enough to blow up the Liao army."

Liu Liufu stared at Fan Zhongyan, trying to find a trace of lying on Fan Zhongyan's face, but unfortunately Fan Zhongyan was calm and composed, not letting him see any flaws at all, and even looked like he was sure of victory, which made people feel very disturbed.

He pretended to be calm and said: "Does Mr. Fan think I will believe it?"

"If you don't believe it, just come and give the Liao army a try. The Song Dynasty will never fight an unprepared battle. We have prepared a lot of things for the Liao Kingdom this time. I hope your envoy will like it."

Fan Zhongyan replied.

Liu Liufu rolled his eyes. He felt that Fan Zhongyan might be bluffing him. If he was really so sure, why would he always brag about the cannons that could hit several miles away, the millions of grenades in stock, and the preparation of many things?

As the saying goes, the more something is lacking, the more likely it is to show off, so Liu Liufu felt that there was a high probability that Fan Zhongyan was deliberately intimidating, hoping that the Liao Kingdom would submit.

So after thinking again and again, he said to Fan Zhongyan: "How do you think the war should end?"

Fan Zhongyan said: "First, return the ten counties on the south bank of Laishui in the Song Dynasty. Second, cancel the annual coins in the Song Dynasty. Third, sign a non-aggression covenant between the Liao and Song Dynasties. In the fourth Song and Liao Dynasties, Laishui was used as the boundary, and both sides withdrew their troops; from then on, any thieves who crossed the border would Fugitives are not allowed to hide from each other; the two dynasties border the city and everything is as usual, and no city gods are allowed to be built. "

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Liu Liufu immediately screamed: "Since Song wants to negotiate peace, why is it so insincere? These covenants are rules set by different generations, how can they be changed?"

Fan Zhongyan said coldly: "Who told you that the Song Dynasty wanted to negotiate peace? Did we mobilize so many soldiers and horses to negotiate with you? And didn't you tear up the covenant of different generations first, and now you come to accuse us? Just Do you, the Liao people, allow you to arrogantly demand Song territory, but don’t you allow us to take back our Han people’s homeland?”

He said "you Liao people" very strongly, vaguely mocking Liu Liufu for being a Han Chinese, but being used as an ox and a horse for the Khitan people. Although the Liao people claim to be Chinese orthodox, the Yelu family is a Khitan family. If the Song Dynasty wants to fight for orthodoxy, it is natural to divide this thing.

"Then it seems that Mr. Manager is determined to fight?"

Liu Liufu asked.

"Then let's have a fight."

Fan Zhongyan said calmly: "Let's see whether your Liao Kingdom is stronger or our Song Dynasty remains strong!"

"see a visitor out!"

He picked up his tea cup and spoke loudly.

Liu Liufu and Yeluren looked at each other first, obviously not expecting Fan Zhongyan to be so tough, so they had no choice but to stand up and reluctantly hold their hands together and leave Song Ying.

After they left, Wang Deyong turned his head and looked at Lao Fan and said, "Ms. sir, it seems that this battle must be fought."

"The Liao people are too proud. They obviously can't defeat us, but they still want benefits."

Fan Zhongyan took a sip of tea, put the tea cup on the coffee table next to him and said: "Our demands are not excessive. Why should the Song Dynasty give money to other countries every year? This is unreasonable."

Wang Deyong said with a smile: "Giving them 300,000 yuan a year is quite a lot, but people are like this. They look forward to Shu, are greedy, and are still not satisfied with what they have, and want more. I am afraid that this time the Liao Kingdom is not just for the sake of seclusion. The Southern Ten Counties are probably here for the gunpowder and more benefits.”

"Um."

Fan Zhongyan nodded slightly: "If you don't teach them a lesson, they won't know that the world has changed."

Wang Deyong said with some worry: "Is it just that our grenade reserves are enough? We have been fighting in the northwest for so long, and now we are fighting the Liao Kingdom. We are afraid that we have spent an unknown amount. And the power of these grenades is indeed insufficient. It is difficult to Kill the heavily armored soldiers."

In the two battles, the Song Dynasty consumed hundreds of thousands of grenades. Even if there were not as many as one million, there were still 500,000 or 600,000 grenades. They were thrown away as if they were free of money.

The main reason is that the power of grenades is actually not that great.

You must know that even in later generations, the grenades made by our military in the border areas were very weak. Often, when thrown, they would only cause casualties to one or two Japanese invaders at most, or even not kill anyone at all. At most, they would only injure the enemy, and not seriously. Most injuries were minor.

Not to mention the hand grenades of the Song Dynasty. Even after purification and granulation, black powder is still black powder, with limited power and not as powerful as chemical gunpowder.

Therefore, it is still very difficult to kill a Xixia and Liao soldier wearing armor.

The main reason is that the explosive impact and sound caused by it will make soldiers and horses feel fear, causing riots. After several rounds of grenades, the morale of the Xixia and Liao soldiers dropped. This became the key to the victory of the Song Dynasty. It does not mean that this The stuff is really strong.

Therefore, Song Guo used a lot of grenades in the battle with Li Yuanhao last year. This year they were fighting like this with the Liao Kingdom again. Wang Deyong was worried that their reserves were not enough, and he was also a little worried about what would happen if the Liao Kingdom found a way to restrain themselves.

Once the Song Army's grenades fail to work, I'm afraid the war will return to the starting point.

However, Fan Zhongyan just smiled and said: "Do you know how long we have been preparing for this war?"

"how long?"

Although Wang Deyong was the deputy envoy to the Privy Council, the firearms department was not under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council, so he didn't know.

Fan Zhongyan raised two fingers: "Two years."

Two years?

Wang Deyong opened his eyes wide and said, "Were you already stocking up two years ago?"

"good."

Fan Zhongyan nodded: "The Song Dynasty has abundant saltpeter production, but insufficient sulfur, so we have to buy it from Japan. We have secretly purchased a large amount of sulfur reserves from Japan since two years ago. The sulfur in one year alone has reached one million kilograms. To this day, the sulfur in the Bianliang Firearms Factory is piled up like a mountain."

Wang Deyong was surprised and said: "Then our grenades will not be inexhaustible?"

"No, there are more than 400,000."

Fan Zhongyan rolled his eyes and said: "It's enough for this battle."

Wang Deyong was shocked and said: "Why?"

"There are many factors, such as lack of iron, slow installation, inadequate design, and many defective products."

Fan Zhongyan looked to the south and said lightly: "Take your time. It's already very good to have these now. The Song Dynasty needs more iron, more copper, and more gold and silver."

The main reason is that the ignition device of the Song Dynasty is not very good.

The grenades of later generations are all pull-type fuses. Even if they are made in the border areas, they are driven by pulling the matchlock to drive the copper wire spring and the lead pipe to rub sparks and heat, ignite the fuse, and then throw it out to explode.

What about the Song Dynasty?

They made the thunder ignition device recorded in "Wu Jing Zong Yao", which ignited the fuse by rubbing the iron sheet against the flint. Not only was the device primitive and large in size, but the success rate of ignition was far less sophisticated than that made in the border areas of later generations.

In addition, there were many materials required, many assemblers, and confidentiality. Three generations were found to be innocent, and they were not allowed to leave the Firearms Department. In addition, there were other firearms to be made, such as thunder, thunder fireballs, wolf smoke balls, etc. It would be strange if the efficiency could be fast.

So even after two years of preparation, the Song Dynasty, with the whole country's strength, only made one million grenades. After nearly two years of war from the beginning of last year to the end of this year, most of the inventory had been used up.

Although the effect was indeed amazing, the Western Xia suffered heavy casualties, and the Liao Kingdom was also the same. The total number of deaths and casualties in the two countries exceeded 50,000 to 60,000.

However, very few soldiers from both countries were actually killed by grenades. Most of them were either injured or frightened by the explosive power of grenades, and then defeated, and finally hunted down and killed by the cavalry and infantry of the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, if the Song Dynasty wants to truly exert the power of hot weapons, it still has a long way to go.

Just when Fan Zhongyan refused the peace talks with the Liao Kingdom and was ready to mobilize troops, the Liao Kingdom leader Yelu Zongzhen also received a report from Liu Liufu.

Knowing that Fan Zhongyan actually opened his mouth, not only did he not agree to the conditions proposed by the Liao Kingdom, but he also wanted to stop the annual tribute and demand ten counties on the south bank of the Laishui River, it was intolerable. In the end, Yelu Zongzhen resolutely decided to fight!

Even if he could not force the Song Kingdom to make concessions this time, at least he would never agree to the conditions of the Song Kingdom, otherwise what would happen to his prestige in the country? Many Liao dignitaries in the country would never agree.

Therefore, in order to protect the interests of the Liao Kingdom, Yelu Zongzhen had to fight a decisive battle with the Song Army even if he knew that he was riding a tiger and it was difficult to get off.

Otherwise, even if the Song army didn't fight, they would just waste the country's strength if they continued to drag it out.

It would be better to fight to the death, maybe defeat the Song army, seize the Song army's supplies, go south in one fell swoop, destroy the Song Dynasty, and let the Liao Kingdom dominate the Central Plains!

The next day!

The war officially started!