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

If you look down from the sky above the wilderness, you will see countless dense crowds running around on the vast land north of Xijin City.

The Liao army had too many people, so they naturally did not gather together, but divided into three routes.

They evacuated to Huairou, Wangjingguan and Dazhuzhuang in the northeast, and set up ambushes in the surrounding areas to ambush the incoming Song army.

But they never expected that the Song army would not abide by the ethics of martial arts and actually launched a counter-attack, catching the Liao army off guard.

The battlefield was in chaos and gunfire was heard. The Liao army fled in all directions, and the entire formation belonged to-there was no formation, only a mess of noisy sounds resounding through the sky.

"Run, the southern thieves are coming."

"Don't be chaotic, don't be chaotic, form a formation immediately, form a formation immediately, ah!~~"

"The deputy governor is dead, the deputy governor is dead, run away."

Zhang Kang put down the smoking musket in his hand, reloaded the ammunition, and thought to himself, this thing is still useful.

As he said that, he turned his head and asked, "Who fired the gun and killed the Liao general just now?"

Although this musket is very useful, Zhang Kang's hand shook just now, and the bullet shot into the sky, which made him a little embarrassed.

Fortunately, an excellent commander does not need superb gun skills but strong leadership ability, so he pretended to be calm and asked the hero who made great contributions.

But no one in the rear answered.

Hundreds of people fired just now, and who knows who was shot dead in the smoke.

But no one cared, because Fan Zhongyan was more rigorous in managing the army, and asked his soldiers to engrave words on the lead bottom of the bullets. There would be supervisory officers in the rear to search for corpses and take out bullets to record military merits.

Although this may cause some corruption, such as the children of the rich and powerful bribed the supervisory officers, replaced the bullets and put the credit on the soldiers.

But the reform of the Song army has only been two or three years, and the grass on the graves of many generals and nobles is three feet high, and the corruption speed is not that fast.

Therefore, the current way of recording military merits can be said to be the best and fastest way for most of the lower-level soldiers of the Song Dynasty to be promoted.

Seeing that no one answered, Zhang Kang had to say: "All the troops listen to my order, follow me to charge and kill!"

"Kill!"

The deputy general behind him shouted.

"Kill!"

The soldiers galloped on their horses, galloping all the way, shooting while riding.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

The sound of gunfire rang out.

Although the accuracy of shooting on horseback was not an exaggeration to say that it was horrible, the Song army did not care about the accuracy, and they wanted to scare the Liao people.

Sure enough, as the Song army continued to shoot, even if no one was hit, some of the Liao army was frightened and panicked, and fled everywhere.

This run caused the surrounding Liao army to follow suit, and they turned their horses and were driven to flee to the northwest.

After the Song army chased for a while, they encountered a main force of the Liao army. Zhang Kang immediately ordered to stop the pursuit and ordered the soldiers to quickly form a long line, with two or three thousand people forming a horizontal line, and the rest of the scattered soldiers and horses in the rear to support from the side.

The Liao army suddenly attacked, catching the Song army off guard. But Zhang Kang's soldiers were well-trained, and they heard the horns and whistles in time, stopped their horses, and then fired.

After a hail of bullets, the Liao army that attacked was killed and abandoned their armor and armor, and they scattered before they got close.

Zhang Kang immediately ordered to continue the pursuit.

And the rear arrived immediately, some continued to pursue to the north, and some intercepted the Liao people who left the city to the south.

For a time, the 20 to 30 kilometers of road around Xijin City to Shunzhou and Huairou were full of Song and Liao troops. Within a radius of 40 to 50 kilometers, the enemy and our troops were intertwined and in chaos.

It's not that the Song army was careless. After all, not every Song army unit was as well-trained as Zhang Kang's troops. For example, the quality of the Northern Army in Hebei Road was not as good as that of the Western Army in Shaanxi Road.

The Western Army had fought with Xixia many times and had rich practical experience.

The Northern Army had not fought with the Liao Kingdom for many years. In the last decisive battle, they were almost defeated by the Liao Kingdom. It was all thanks to Fan Zhongyan who led 50,000 elite Western Army to rush to the rescue.

Even though the training level has increased after the army was restructured, many Northern Army soldiers were not as good as the Western Army in riding skills, so they were scattered in the pursuit and could not gather in the first time, and encountered the impact of the Liao Army.

However, the Liao Army did not gain any advantage in close combat.

The Song Army was also prepared for the enemy to rush to the front over the musket. When the enemy was fifty steps away, they kept shooting with muskets, and switched to short guns at the waist when they were within fifty steps.

After the bullet of the short gun was fired, there were two ways to do it. One was to install spikes on the long gun, and the other was to draw out the ring-headed sword at the waist.

However, at this stage, the Liao Army could only break through two layers of firepower and kill the front. The Song Army could only gain an advantage by bullying the few with more people.

After all, they were used to long-range firepower strikes. Even if they were trained in close combat, they were definitely not as good as the Liao army in using the weapons in their hands.

And the Liao army also had grenades, which could still cause considerable trouble to the Song army at close range.

Therefore, although the Song army's surprise attack was overwhelming the Liao army, there were also many casualties, but compared with the casualties of the Liao army, this number was pitifully small.

Soon, the Song and Liao armies fought in a large area north of Xijin City.

Not long after, the matter was reported to Yelu Zongzhen.

When Yelu Zongzhen left Xijin in the morning, he only saw the reconnaissance of the Song army. He thought that even if the Song army launched a pursuit, it would be the afternoon or even tomorrow morning at the earliest.

So not long after, Yelu Zongzhen, surrounded by many ministers and Pishi troops, left the north of Xijin City and headed for Shunzhou.

At this time, his position was south of Dazhuzhuang, almost in the area of ​​Wenyu River Park in later Beijing, and about ten kilometers away from Xijin. Basically, the battle area between the Song and Liao Dynasties was almost in the north of Chaoyang District in later Beijing.

The convoy was walking slowly. Yelv Zongzhen was riding on his horse and looking into the distance from time to time. Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves came galloping behind him. A scout passed over many guards and came to Yelv Zongzhen and shouted: "Ji Jin urgent report!"

"What happened?"

Yelu Zongzhen tightened the horse's rope with his hand, signaled the horse to stop, and then turned his head to look at the scout.

The scout had arrived, dismounted from his horse, knelt down on one knee and said, "Your Majesty, several groups of soldiers and horses from the Song Army have been dispatched, and they are now attacking my army in the rear."

"What?"

Yelu Zong was really shocked, and immediately asked: "What's the situation at the rear?"

"Not known yet."

the scout replied.

"Your Majesty, this should be a harassment strategy of the Song army. They are afraid that our army will leave and they will be ambushed or have difficulty catching up if they pursue it again, so they sent people to harass us."

Xiao Xiaoyou, who was left behind in Nanjing, said solemnly: "If His Majesty returns to help, he will fall into his scheme and be delayed from evacuating, allowing Fan Zhongyan to catch up calmly."

"Well"

Yelu Zongzhen frowned and was about to think deeply.

Suddenly, another scout came galloping from behind and shouted: "Report, the Song army is coming and is attacking our retreating team."

"How's the battle going?"

"Our army is at war with the Song army."

"No rout."

"There are some, but most of them are fighting fiercely with the Song people."

"How is the Song army's offensive going?"

"They didn't have large groups of troops. They were mostly thousands or even hundreds of people. They harassed everywhere and shot from a distance with muskets. As soon as our troops got close, they dispersed."

The scout said: "Moreover, their muskets were extremely inaccurate when shooting on horseback. Our army suffered few casualties. We took them with grenades, and then fought in close combat, which also caused a lot of damage to the Song army."

"oh?"

Yelu Zongzhen listened to the scout's words, nodded slightly and said: "Sure enough, the Song army wants to delay us with a small army. Don't pay attention to it, so that the rear army can get rid of the Song army as soon as possible."

"yes."

The scout reined in his horse and left.

On the other side, Xiao Ying, the envoy of Xuanhui Nanyuan, frowned and said: "Your Majesty, I always feel that there is something strange in this."

"Tell me?"

Yelu Zongzhen tightened his legs slightly on the horse's belly, sat down on the horse and continued to move forward unhurriedly.

Xiao Ying still frowned and said: "I can't tell. I just think that the Song people really think that a small force can delay our army's advance?"

Unless the muskets on the war horses are immediately arrayed and arranged in a formation, otherwise the accuracy of shooting while running is terrible.

Since the Song Army knew that a small force could not delay them, why did they send it out? Did the Song Army really think that they could stop their large army with just this few people?

Yelu Zongzhen said with a smile: "Maybe this is just Fan Zhongyan's trick, making me mistakenly think that he is launching a large-scale attack, so that I can go back and rescue him. Once he falls into the trap, the Song army can calmly set up their formation and fight us in the north of Xijin City. "

"Well, His Majesty's words are very reasonable."

Xiao Ying had nothing to say.

They don't have a God's perspective, so they naturally don't know what's going on.

Because after the Song army left the camp, the scouts came over immediately to report the news, so naturally they didn't know what happened next.

So they can only judge from the current perspective for the time being.

But not long after, the next news came, which filled Yelu Zongzhen and others with horror.

"Report!"

The scouts galloped fast.

The official road was full of Liao war horses, which crowded the road.

Therefore, these scouts often come from the plains and grasslands nearby.

The soil is splashing everywhere, mixed with the fragrance of early spring grass, and there are many Liao soldiers on the river bank in the distance, riding their horses to drink water.

The scout's panic quickly attracted the attention of many Liao soldiers.

Yelu Zongzhen's emperor's guard also slowly stopped, waiting for the scouts from behind who were getting closer and closer.

"Report!"

The scout shouted loudly, almost hoarse.

When he got close, he didn't even have time to turn over and dismount. Instead, he turned over and said: "Your Majesty, the whole army of the Song Dynasty will attack and fight to the death with our army in the rear."

When he finished speaking, he knelt down on one knee, and you could tell how urgent the military situation was.

"Army attack?"

In an instant, Yelu Zong felt goosebumps all over his body.

He never expected that Fan Zhongyan would be so courageous.

You must know that the Liao army was indeed retreating and did not form a formation.

But could you, Fan Zhongyan, be able to arrange your formation during the pursuit?

It is difficult to even shoot a gun on a running horse, let alone forming a formation.

Therefore, according to the conception of the Liao think tank team, the Song army did not form a formation and pursued directly, which was tantamount to giving up its own strengths and choosing its own weaknesses to fight the Liao army.

How dare Fan Zhongyan?

"Your Majesty, the Song people are marching in a big way, we must return to defense immediately."

Xiao Ying said quickly.

"Yes, we must go back immediately."

Xiao Xiaoyou also made a decision.

"Send the order, go back immediately and fight to the death with the Song people!"

Yelu Zongzhen no longer hesitated.

Because there is nothing to hesitate about. If he ignores the army behind him, wouldn't he lose half of his troops?

So now that the Song army is willing to give up its strengths and choose to fight them hard, why should they be afraid?

Thinking of this, Yelu Zongzhen immediately ordered: "Send an order immediately, let all the surrounding troops come to help immediately. This battle is a decisive battle. Do you hear me!"

"Yes!"

The messengers around immediately responded and then scattered.

About 200,000 troops were withdrawn from Xijin, Yuhe, Wanping and other places. In addition, there were a large number of Liao troops from the rear in other states, counties and cities around.

These troops were scattered everywhere. Since the Song army was attacking with all its forces, it was time for the Liao army to fight a desperate battle with the Song army.

Soon the Liao army's orders spread to all directions, and a large group of Liao soldiers began to turn their horses and ran south to the battlefield.

At this moment, the battlefield was in chaos.

If you look down from a high altitude, you will see that north of Xijin, more than ten kilometers from east to west and more than ten kilometers from north to south, there are entangled Liao and Song armies everywhere.

The Song people have all kinds of strange fighting methods. Some of them break up the whole into small pieces. An army of 5,000 people simply divides into camps and fights on their own.

Some gallop on their horses, and when they get close, they quickly arrange their battle formations and start shooting at the Liao army.

Others even simply abandon their guns and fight in close combat with the Liao army.

The smoke is filled with gunpowder and artillery fire is overflowing.

The Song army not only has cavalry, but also many infantrymen, and even many infantrymen dismount and fight on foot, because fighting on foot is more convenient than fighting on horseback.

"Kill, kill the southern dog!"

"Don't be afraid, use a shield to protect your chest, and we will win when we get close."

"Shoot, shoot!"

"Bang bang bang bang bang!"

The smoke is lingering, and Liao soldiers fall down one by one, and war horses run around.

In fact, the Liao army has already thought of a countermeasure.

They themselves have no shortage of artillery, so they often conduct desensitization training for war horses. Now war horses are no longer afraid of the loud noises of artillery and muskets.

But they are afraid of pain.

Bullets splash and hit the body, which will not make the war horses fall down at the first time, but make them feel pain and fear, and instinctively run to the rear.

So many times the Liao army was not shot to death by bullets, but was taken away from the battlefield by their own war horses.

But the disadvantages of the Song army's chaotic fighting style were also quickly reflected. The battlefield was originally chaotic, and it was difficult for single-shot firearms to form a dense firepower network. Once the Liao people attacked from the side, they would fall into a passive position.

Therefore, except for some Song army soldiers with quick brains and flexible reactions, who would get on the horses and pull away and fight guerrilla warfare as soon as possible after a round of shooting, many Song army generals who were not very outstanding in ability would easily fight hand-to-hand with the Liao army.

This is why Fan Zhongyan said that this battle depends entirely on the command of these Song army generals.

If the command is good, the Liao army can be used as a kite.

If the command is not good and the correct tactics are not made in time, the Liao army will get close to them and they will be forced to fight hand-to-hand with them.

Although the Song army's surprise attack caught the Liao army off guard for a while, in the chaos, the Liao army slowly stabilized the situation. Even though they were defeated by the Song army, they did not immediately suffer a large-scale rout.

The only problem is that the entire area north of Xijin is now in chaos. The Song army still has middle and lower-level generals commanding each other, but the Liao people's command system has completely failed, and they are almost fighting on their own. If there is no reinforcement, defeat is a matter of time.