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

The era of firearms always beat the era of cold weapons without suspense.

Muskets are nothing, because the Qing Dynasty had them. Cannons are nothing, because the Qing Dynasty also had them.

But even with the same muskets and cannons, the 480,000 Qing troops were defeated by the Eight-Nation Alliance, which had only 30,000 invading China.

Now, not to mention that Xixia didn't even have muskets, and cannons were only the most primitive ones, which were far behind the Song Dynasty's firearms in terms of technology and training.

Under such circumstances, Jingtai took Zhuolu City with almost no effort, and even galloped his troops, continuing to chase and kill the remnants of Xixia, marching north and hitting Xixia Jisang City.

Jisang City is the Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County of Gansu in later generations. More than 200 miles to the east is the Lingbo Mountain of Xixia, and nearby are Gaolan County, Baiyin City, Jingyuan County and other places in later generations. At this time, it was the pasture of some tribes of Xixia Dangxiang, where many herdsmen lived.

Vast hills and plateaus rise and fall, the sky is vast and the wilderness is boundless, the wind blows the grass and cattle and sheep can be seen. The northwest is majestic and vast, but under the iron cavalry of the Song Dynasty, countless Dangxiang herdsmen fled in panic, thinking that their death was approaching.

However, the Song people just passed by like a startled wild goose, without even looking at them, but someone left a sentence-this place belongs to the Song Dynasty from now on!

They left the Dangxiang herdsmen looking at each other in bewilderment and went to the northeast.

From then on, it was announced that the Hexi Corridor, which had been away from the Han people for more than a hundred years since the end of the Tang Dynasty, on the side of Qishan, would once again belong to the Han people's territory.

And in the near future, the entire Hexi Corridor, and even the entire Western Regions, will return to the embrace of the Han people.

In this commotion, the Song army began to threaten the heartland of Xixia.

The Song army seemed to be unstoppable.

However, compared with the rapid fall of Zhuolao City, Miaochuan City was not so easy.

The reason is that Miaochuan City has a more advantageous geographical location. Although Zhuoluo City is a city, the mountains on the east and west sides are too close to the city, and the city can be easily bombarded by placing artillery.

However, Miaochuan City is more than ten kilometers long from north to south, and the surrounding mountains are not very high, with the highest peak only more than thirty feet. Zhang Kang sent artillery to scout, and even if the artillery was set up at the highest point, it would be difficult to hit the city.

This made it almost impossible for artillery to do the same as attacking Zhuoluo City, suppressing the artillery on the mountains, and the cavalry quickly rushed to the city and then seized the city.

At this moment, on the mountains south of Miaochuan City, about five kilometers away from the city, Zhang Kang looked down at Miaochuan City below with a telescope.

The city is actually not big. Although it is the second largest city of the Qingtang regime, it was just an ordinary small county in the Tang Dynasty. Its name was Huangshui County, which was not outstanding in politics, military and economy.

Therefore, Miaochuan City is about the same size as many counties on the border of Song State, with an area of ​​only one or two square kilometers. It is located on the banks of the Huangshui River. The two banks are dry and yellow, which is already a late autumn scene.

Unlike Zhuo Luo City, where it was snowing and hail, the cold air from the north has not blown over yet due to the obstruction of the mountains in the north. The climate in the Hehuang Valley is not cold. It just rained a little yesterday, and there is still a little moisture in the air.

"Commander-in-chief, they are still bombarding the mountains in the north, and it is difficult for us to put our cannons there. If the ground troops force the attack, there will still be a lot of losses without artillery fire support."

Jia Kui also looked at the city in the distance. After arriving in Miaochuan City, they certainly did not do nothing, but had already removed the strongholds outside the city.

Before Li Yuanhao left, he asked Yeli Wangrong to fill all the remaining soldiers who retreated from the river mouth to the hills north of Miaochuan City.

This hill is the only commanding height near Miaochuan City. The Song army took this crucial area by forcing a feint attack from the north of this mountain.

However, the terrain of this mountain is like a dumpling. There are about four continuous earthen ridges below. The fifth mountain is the highest peak, which is only 20 to 30 feet high. Although the terrain can overlook the city, the city's artillery can also hit this ridge.

This makes it difficult for the Song army to install artillery on the mountain under the artillery fire of the Xixia people, and naturally it is impossible to use tactics like attacking Zhuo Luo City.

"Zuo Si Luo is really, the court couldn't resist his request at the beginning, and gave him some artillery, but he didn't expect it to be seized by Zhao Yuanhao and used against us. He is still seriously injured and his life and death are unknown, but he has caused suffering to my Song Dynasty."

Zhang Kang was slightly dissatisfied.

The artillery on Miaochuan City is all the artillery of the Song Dynasty. Not only is it very sophisticated, but it is also made of steel and is very durable.

Ordinary artillery can cause the barrel to heat up or even explode after firing more than a dozen times in a row.

This rarely happens with the steel artillery of the Song Dynasty, and even if it is hot, it can be cooled physically by pouring water, unlike iron cannons, which will cause cracks in the barrel.

This makes it difficult for the Song army to go up during the intervals of artillery fire, because they have more than 50 cannons that can be fired in turn.

"Why don't we go up at night when it's cloudy recently and we can't see?"

Jia Kui suggested.

"The mountain is too small, there is not enough space on it, and it is easy to be concentrated by the enemy's artillery fire. In addition, it is close to the city. At night, they can secretly send people out of the city for reconnaissance. Once we go up to install the cannon, they will immediately cover us with artillery fire."

Zhang Kang shook his head to indicate that it was not possible. Of course, he had thought of this method, but if he looked down at the terrain with a telescope, he would find it difficult to achieve.

The main reason is that the hill is too small. The top of the hill is probably less than a mile long from east to west, about three or four hundred meters, and some places are not suitable for installing gun mounts, and the flat area on the top of the hill is even smaller.

In this way, the muzzles of the Xixia army only need to point at those places, without too much aiming, and they can easily cover the entire top of the hill, causing huge casualties to the Song army.

And because of the narrow terrain, the Xixia army's artillery fire is more likely to hit the target, so it is not easy for the Song army's artillery to go up.

"What if they run out of shells?"

Jia Kui asked again.

Zhang Kang said: "Zuo Silu bought tens of thousands of shells from us at the beginning. When can they finish firing?"

"Is there really no way?"

Jia Kui frowned.

"Perhaps, we should get rid of this point and no longer stick to that hill."

Zhang Kang's eyes are still scanning the nearby mountains and terrain.

Jia Kui was puzzled and asked, "What does the commander-in-chief mean?"

"That hill is indeed the best place for us to bombard Miaochuan City. We know it, and the Xixia people know it too, so they will definitely keep a close eye on it."

Zhang Kang put down the telescope, then pointed to the hill in the north and said, "If both sides continue to fight around this mountain range, we may succeed in the end, but our casualties will definitely not be small."

"The commander-in-chief is saying that we can ignore them? Attack from other places?"

Jia Kui understood a little.

"Yes."

Zhang Kang nodded: "The best strategy for us to attack Miaochuan City now is to besiege the city and use up all the food in the city. The Xixia people will naturally have no choice but to be defeated in the end."

"But this will take a long time. After I return to the northwest, I have not made any achievements. Jingtai may have already taken Zhuo Luo City. How can I be willing to fall behind?"

"Therefore, in the current situation, I must find another way and cannot trap myself on that hill."

"Only by getting rid of the idea that both sides are fighting for this hill can we find a way out."

Besieging the city is definitely the best way. The Xixia people came from a long distance and had no supplies outside. They could only survive on the food in the city.

Although the Xixia people robbed the food and grass of Qingtang City and Miaochuan City, and the city had developed trade, there must be many livestock such as cattle and sheep. The salt produced in Qingtang can be killed and made into pickled meat, which can be eaten for a long time.

But there are tens of thousands of people in the city. No matter how much food there is, it can't last long. At most, it can only last for a year.

But Zhang Kang's character is quite radical. In history, he took the initiative to attack Xixia many times and fought bloody battles with Xixia people on the grassland. Each time, he gained a lot, which is enough to show his impetus.

If he was asked to be patient to besiege the city for more than a year, it would not be his style.

"Where do you think it is best to start?"

Jia Kui asked.

Zhang Kang narrowed his eyes, then raised his head to look at the gloomy weather in late autumn and early winter, and smiled suddenly: "No hurry, wait a little longer, wait for a dark and windy night, and before that, we need to act like we are eager to put the artillery on the hill."

The weather in the northwest is not good in this regard. It is often cloudless and clear. Even when it rains, the moonlight at night is bright and clear, and people with good eyesight can see clearly for miles around.

But since it has reached the age of firearms, long-range weapons themselves no longer need to be confined to commanding heights.

That hill is indeed the best place nearby to bombard the city, but it is not impossible in the wild. As long as the cannons were installed one mile away from the city and bombarded the city when the moon was dark and the wind was high, there would be no need to worry that the army could not attack the city.

Zhang Kang went back to make arrangements.

In the next few days, the Song army still showed great interest in the small hillside. Several small-scale soldiers appeared on the hilltop, as if they were observing the situation in the city and preparing to install artillery platforms.

The Xixia army in the city was not polite either. They used the cannons seized from Zuo Silu to bombard the top of the mountain, scaring the scouting Song soldiers to flee in panic, making the Xixia people in the city laugh and laugh at the Song army for being frightened by the cannons.

Just when the Xixia people thought that the Song army only wanted to occupy the hill and suppress the city with firepower, seven or eight days later, the Song army's opportunity finally came.

It was a dark and windy night, and heavy rain came as expected, making the cannons unusable.

Although the cannons were powerful, they also had many disadvantages. When it rains, rainwater flows into the muzzle of the gun, which can easily wet the gunpowder and cause it to fail to ignite. It may also make the barrel wet, causing a dud.

Secondly, heavy rain is not suitable for observation and aiming. Although the gun position can be calibrated and aimed in the right direction during the day, what if the enemy is not in that position?

Finally, rainy days will also affect the flight stability and safety of the shells. Therefore, not only the Xixia people, but also the Song Dynasty will not fire on rainy days.

However, the Xixia people have also made some preparations. They have found a way to build awnings for the artillery platforms on each city in order to prevent the Song people from sneaking up the mountain and building artillery positions on the mountain during heavy rain.

For this small hill only one mile away from the city, the location is too important. Once they lose it, the entire Miaochuan City will be passive.

It must be said that the Xixia general Yeli Wangrong in the city has considered everything that can be considered and has almost tried his best.

However, in this dark night, the Song army outside the north city approached quietly.

Under the cover of night and heavy rain, tractors transported the artillery to the north of Miaochuan City with difficulty.

The Song Dynasty's artillery also built waterproof equipment, using sheepskin sheds. Tens of thousands of Song soldiers were scattered outside the city, making a lot of noise.

The only good news was that due to the long distance and the heavy wind and rain, even if there was thunder, people could not see a mile away, so the Xixia defenders on Miaochuan City had no idea what was happening here.

On the contrary, there was continuous artillery fire from the east city. The Xixia people found that the Song army was active on the small hill outside the east city. Yeli Wangrong suspected that the Song army was going to occupy the mountain in the rain, so he issued an order to bombard.

There was continuous artillery fire on the top of the city, and it was also in full swing outside the city.

The Song army was busy making arrangements. If it were not for the fear of being discovered by the Xixia people on the top of the city if they got too close, and the rain was not conducive to the shooting of muskets, Zhang Kang would even want to rush directly to the bottom of the city and build a ladder to rush up.

Time passed quickly.

Zhang Kang, wearing a straw raincoat, stood on a two or three meter high hill outside the north city of Miaochuan, watching quietly.

He watched all night.

"Report to the commander-in-chief, our artillery group is ready and all the artillery is installed."

"Report to the commander-in-chief, the artillery has been calibrated and aimed at the gate and the top of the city wall to ensure that the enemy's firepower can be suppressed."

"Report to the commander-in-chief, several artillery have been flooded, and there may be accidents."

"Report to the commander-in-chief."

All kinds of things happened all night.

But except for some situations such as the tractor stuck due to terrain restrictions, muddy land, or artillery flooding, most of the artillery has been installed.

You should know that the Song army has 5,000 people, three artillery battalions, 30 heavy artillery, and 180 small steel cannons.

Napoleon only had more than 2,000 artillery pieces when fighting Russia, which shows how powerful the Song Dynasty is now.

But it's normal.

When Napoleon came, France's national strength was definitely not as good as the Song Dynasty.

Secondly, he had to travel a long distance, so it was difficult to bring so many artillery, which led to insufficient firepower.

The Song Dynasty had many artillery on the border, so there was no need to worry about the long journey.

At this moment, Zhang Kang had more than 40,000 troops, about 180 heavy artillery pieces, and more than 800 Weiyuan field artillery pieces, most of which were pulled over.

By the next morning, the rain was finally much lighter.

A Xixia soldier on the top of the city came out of the tower, stretched his waist, and walked to the parapet to urinate.

The rain was so heavy and the Xixia people lacked rain gear, so of course it was impossible to stay by the city wall and watch outside. They could only observe by patrolling every quarter of an hour, which was easy to miss.

However, the vision was much better in the morning. According to the schedule, he should come out to patrol the city defense in a few minutes, but he couldn't hold back his urination.

"Zizizizizi!"

After urinating, the Xixia soldier shook twice, and then glanced out of the city inadvertently.

It was this one glance that almost frightened the man to death.

Because he saw that after dawn, in the misty morning fog, about a mile away from Miaochuan City, countless Song soldiers were standing.

In front of the Song army, nearly a thousand artillery pieces were aimed at Miaochuan City, and the black muzzles were chilling.