The Struggle of the Reborn Prince

Xiao Zhonggong cursed loudly after listening to Wan Yanliang's explanation. He didn't have the demeanor of a prime minister, but looked like a street shrew. He originally thought that Zhao Er was still released to him when the war between the two countries was urgent, and there were two more.

Gu Feng, who did not kill the envoys in front of the military formation, was considered a benevolent and righteous king, but he did not expect that he was a wolf in sheep's clothing. In the blink of an eye, he was sent into the siege of the city.

"Sir, stop scolding him. Then Zhao Er is a hypocrite. Let's think about how to get out of the siege?" Xiao Yu saw that he was tired of scolding and ordered someone to bring tea to persuade him.

"It seems that the Southern Dynasty's invasion of the north is inevitable. Yesterday on my way back, I saw Zhao Er's camp stationed ten miles outside the city. I thought he wanted to personally supervise the battle to attack Jinzhou. Do you have any countermeasures?" Xiao Zhonggong.

He said with a frown.

"Sir, don't worry. There are 200,000 soldiers and civilians in Jinzhou City, and there are even 60,000 tiger and wolf troops. With this fortified city, Zhao Er can be dragged to death under the city." Wan Yanliang said with a smile.

"Two hundred thousand soldiers and civilians consume a lot of grain and grass every day. Now that foreign aid is cut off, how long can the grain storage in the city last?" Xiao Zhonggong is not optimistic about this. When he was in Yingzhou, he saw grain trucks from various places constantly coming and going, and the baggage grain and grass on the wharf.

It is piled up like a mountain, and its masts and masts are like clouds, and this is only hidden in one place. If you want to delay by defending the city, I am afraid that you will starve to death first.

"Don't worry, sir, there are millions of stones of food and grass in the city, which is enough for the entire city's army and people to last until winter without worries." Wanyan Bingde replied with a smile.

"That's very good." Xiao Zhonggong nodded, but he was suspicious. Jinzhou had stored so much food and grass, which was obviously more than what it needed for war preparation. Could it be that he had any other ideas? He couldn't help but cast a sidelong glance at Wan Yanliang.

.

"Haha, the millions of stones are just to stabilize the morale of the army. In fact, the city only needs it for two months. This is because Sa Li surrendered to the Song Dynasty and took away tens of thousands of horses, otherwise it would only be enough for one month." Xiao

How smart Yu was. He immediately saw that Xiao Zhonggong was suspicious and quickly covered it up.

"What the governor said is true. It won't be long now, the siege of Jinzhou will be lifted, and you can return to the capital." Wanyan Liang glared at Wanyan Bingde, a talkative donkey, and said with a smile, he knew Xiao Zhonggong

How could the prime minister of a country not understand the situation in the country? There was so much food and grass in Zuo Shuai's mansion, so he had to be worried.

"Oh, Commander Zuo said that the Song army will withdraw from the siege soon. So what do you mean?" Xiao Zhonggong was indeed attracted by the topic and no longer delved into the matter of food and grass.

Wanyan Liang then remembered that the emperor would never die without saving the brotherhood. The Jinshui Army had blocked the Song Army attacking Liaoyang in Heye and would annihilate it soon. The Song Army, which suffered heavy losses, had to retreat.

With the help of reinforcements, Che Luolun said again that he could defeat the Song army by cooperating internally and externally. Of course, he did not forget to express his loyalty to the emperor. After hearing this, Xiao Zhonggong's face softened a little and his mood became much better.

"Supervisor, Mr. Zuo Xiang is tired from the hard work of riding horses all the way. I still have some military affairs to deal with. Could you please send me to the rear mansion to rest." Wanyan Liang saw Xiao Yu winking and knew that he had something to talk to.

He said to himself and found a reason to separate the two of them.

After seeing off the two of them, Wan Yanliang, Xiao Yu and several trusted generals returned to the hall and ordered their own soldiers to guard the gate strictly and not allow anyone to come in or out casually. In fact, everyone here understood that Zuoshuai's Mansion originally only had 30,000 soldiers.

The rest were temporarily recruited tribal troops. After Salihe surrendered to the enemy, he took away Wanyan Nie'er's 10,000-person troops and part of the tribal troops. And Ding, who was recruited again,

Although there were a large number of Zhuang, most of them were old and weak, and less than half of them were capable of fighting. These people lacked training. As a result, they were frightened by the artillery fire of the Song army in the first battle, and they had to be forcibly locked up outside the city and forced to die.

.As for the reinforcements, they have been on the road for more than ten days, and it's time to climb. Therefore, they don't have much hope. The key depends on themselves.

"Commander, the Song Army showed thunderous tactics in the first battle today. They will mobilize their troops to attack the city tomorrow. How should we respond?" Seeing no outsiders, Xiao Yucai got to the topic, with a trace of worry in his words. What the Song Army showed today

The power was so powerful that it made his liver tremble.

"The Song army is besieging the city on all sides. Their strength is not inferior to ours. But now we can't tell which side they will attack?" Wan Yanliang nodded and said.

"Commander, the general thought that the Song army's attack on the east city was just to spread suspicion. Zhao Er used to pretend to attack from the east and attack the west. Therefore, the general concluded that the Song army's attack on the east city tomorrow must be a feint attack, and the west city is most likely their main attack direction." Shu Lie.

It is said that he is one of the three ten thousand captains in Zuo Shuai's mansion.

"The general thought that the Song Army would attack the east city tomorrow. All the trenches and forts outside this place had been destroyed by artillery fire, but other gates were still standing. How could the Song Army give up the easy thing to the east city? Furthermore, the General looked at the Song Army's artillery fire attack on the city today.

The artillery used is different from those in the past, and it has a lot of power." Another disciple Shan Zhen, a leader of ten thousand men, said.

"Oh, what's the difference?" Wan Yanliang asked with some surprise. Tu Shanzhen is Wan Yanliang's brother-in-law, so the relationship between the two is naturally closer.

"Commander, according to the soldiers who escaped from Chengdu, the iron bullets fired by the Song Army were as big as rice bowls, and all the giant trees on both sides were broken. The 'Thunderbolt Fire' they used hit the ground and exploded, leaving no one alive within a radius of five feet.

.This kind of artillery was unheard of in the past, but now it is used to attack Dongcheng. It is obviously to take this as a priority." Tu Shanzhen said.

"That makes sense. An artillery piece that can fire such huge shells must be huge, heavy, and difficult to move. Using it to attack a city will get twice the result with half the effort." Wanyan Liang nodded.

"Commander, the last general has just inspected the city and found that the Song military camp outside the east city is brightly lit. Siege vehicles and bridge carriages are being transported to the front of the formation, and a large amount of firewood is also piled up. These are all used for siege. The other three sides are only in the west city.

There are troops and horses mobilizing, and they seem to be mobilizing to the east." A one-eyed general reported that this man was named Han Chang, whose father

Han Qinghe, the ten thousand captain of the Han army in the Kingdom of Jin, surrendered to the Song Dynasty in the Battle of Yanjing, while he stayed in the Kingdom of Jin. Later, Wan Yanliang and three others pursued the Song army in Liaoyang and ambush him. He was in the army at the time, fighting desperately, and was bleeding from a bullet in his left eye.

Still wounded and fighting fiercely, he rescued Wanyan Liang and gained his trust. After arriving in Jinzhou, he was promoted to captain of ten thousand men and managed the Han army.

"Well, it seems that the Song army is going to pretend to attack the West City. The main force is deployed in the East City. They will attack the East City tomorrow." After listening to the analysis of the two men, Wan Yanliang said, "Han Chang, lead the Han army to quietly move to the West City tonight, and then

Allocate 10,000 strong men to your disposal, and plant false flags at the top of the city for heavy defense.

Prepare for the situation; Tu Shanzhen, Shu Lie, you will shift your defenses to the east city overnight to prepare for the battle. Prepare more thunderbolts, rolling logs, stones and kerosene, and wait for the enemy to attack the city suddenly and inflict heavy damage on it. Allocate 10,000 men to two of your troops.

Dispatch. Prepare more earth bags, wooden fences, and knife carts to block the destroyed city wall."

"General, I will obey your orders and immediately mobilize your troops to change defenses." The three of them saluted in unison.

"The Song Army's artillery fire is sharp. You must be on guard, and you can station heavy troops under the city wall. Wait until the Song Army's artillery fire stops and prepare to attack the city, then go up to the city to defend." Wan Yanliang warned them again before letting them leave, leaving them alone.

Xiao Yu speaks alone...

At this time, the drum had been beaten three times, the night was already deep, and the city had fallen into dead silence after a massacre. There was only the clang of the footsteps of soldiers patrolling outside the hall, and the clanking of weapons and armors. At this time, Wan Yanliang had lost all his emotions.

He is commanding calmly and chatting and laughing calmly, but he looks anxious and worried.

"Captain, do you think we can defend Jinzhou City?" Wan Yanliang asked with a frown.

"Commander, I think the Song army will have difficulty holding the siege for a long time. Ten days and a half should be no problem." Xiao Yu thought for a while and said.

"In the past, I thought that with the deep city and sufficient food and grass, we could hold on even if Shangjing was attacked. But today the Song army's artillery fire was so powerful that the solid Guo city was razed to the ground in less than half a day, and two thousand elites were lost.

After all, I suddenly realized that my previous plan was too naive." Wan Yanliang said leisurely. Today's fierce artillery fire from the Song Army also left a huge shock to him, which greatly affected his confidence.

"Commander, don't be discouraged. As long as we can hold on to the city for a few days, the situation will definitely change. There will be no need to worry about having no firewood to burn the green hills. As long as we hold on to the fundamentals, there is still a chance." But there was a look on Xiao Yu's face.

Without a hint of panic, he said with a smile.

"What changes do the governor think?" Wan Yanliang asked in surprise. He was trapped in a tight siege and already despairing, but Xiao Yu's words gave him another life-saving straw.

"The current situation seems dangerous, but there are opportunities. The Song army attacking Liaoyang is blocked or even annihilated. We can get a steady stream of reinforcements. The Song army will inevitably retreat after suffering such heavy losses. From what I think

, Zhao Er has learned that his waterway soldiers have suffered heavy losses. Otherwise, how could he suddenly attack the city?" Xiao Yu said.

"Du Jian, what is the connection between siege and defeat? The best policy is to retreat as soon as possible!" Wan Yanliang was a little confused and couldn't figure out the key.

"Zhao Er is a treacherous person who has been around for thousands of years. Even if he is defeated, he will not return empty-handed. He only attacked Jinzhou to lay the foundation for future peace talks and wanted to draw a line based on this. Otherwise, how could he let Xiao Zhonggong back so easily? This shows that

He wants to leave a way out for the future, so as long as we keep the city, the outcome is still uncertain." Xiao Yu said with a slightly mysterious smile.

"You are saying that Zhao Er attacked Jinzhou City just because he wanted to make another profit before failure, and he wanted to continue the peace talks by letting Xiao Zhonggong back. This is another show of goodwill to him. The left prime minister just cursed Zhao Er in the hall.

." Wan Yanliang said, and couldn't help but burst into laughter thinking about Xiao Zhonggong's furious expression just now after learning that the city was besieged.

"Haha, there is news in the capital that the Grand Master is already terminally ill, and there is not much time left for the medical treatment to be ineffective. But now the war is urgent and he has to try his best to take charge of the overall situation. Once he dies, the emperor will have no support, and his actions will not be of much use.

In time, the government and the public will be indignant, and the commander-in-chief will take the opportunity to raise righteous troops, rectify the country, and achieve great things!" Xiao Yu said with a smile and cupped his hands, as if the person sitting in front of him was already the emperor.

"What do you think of Supervisor Jun?" Wan Yanliang was also impressed by him, his mood improved greatly, and he asked in a close ear.

"Although the supervisory army is of the same mind as us, he has no intention of supporting the commander-in-chief, so this person can be used, but not too closely." Xiao Yu pondered for a moment and said.

"What about the Zuo Xiang? He also has thoughts of usurping power. Can he be used by us?" Wan Yanliang asked again as murderous intent flashed across his face.

"He lives in a temple and is the head of hundreds of officials. If he can be used by us, he will be a big help. I will talk to him later." Xiao Yu nodded...

…………

While the city was still plotting to usurp the throne, the Song army was also busy. The officers and soldiers of the fifth artillery brigade entered the position with the help of the first baggage brigade. In order to ensure that a breakthrough could be opened for the siege troops as soon as possible, Zhao Xiao decided to let

The artillery fired at close range. As the Jin army withdrew,

All the roads in the city had been destroyed before. It had rained heavily recently and the ground was muddy. However, the sound of horse hooves could easily expose the target. They could only drag thousands of kilograms of heavy artillery into the position with manpower. They passed through more than ten trenches in front of the formation before bringing it down.

The cannon was sent within five hundred steps of the city.

In order to cover up the actions of the artillery, the cavalry pretended to mobilize and galloped back and forth within two arrows in front of the enemy's city to attract their attention. The infantry then set up a position three hundred steps in front of the enemy's trench at night to cover the artillery behind them.

When attacked by the enemy, it can also be used as an assault position for them to attack the city.

The baggage brigade was busy repairing roads, transporting ammunition and siege equipment, and deploying engineering and demolition teams to carry out secondary destruction of the remaining fortifications after the bombardment and open up access roads. The Tiger Wing Army in the east of the city was carrying out the attack with great fanfare.

The preparations for the city confuse the enemy into thinking that this is the main direction of attack.

According to the adjusted siege plan, the Song Army will strengthen the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th heavy artillery battalions of the 5th artillery brigade, as well as the artillery directly under the army of Tiger Wing Army, Leopard General and Wolf General to Xicheng. By then there will be 400

The remaining large and small artillery pieces are the siege troops.

To provide fire support, there was an artillery almost a step outside the city wall that was only more than a mile long. Such a high artillery density was unprecedented in the history of the Song Army's land warfare. Even Zhao Xiao was commanding so many artillery units in actual combat for the first time.

When the night receded and the sun rose, when the Wolf began to advance the infantry into the position, they deliberately arranged for them to pass through the artillery position so that the infantry could watch the majestic formation of the artillery and increase their confidence in victory. Then the Wolf

will be directly under the artillery battalion and

The 1st Battalion of the 5th Artillery Brigade began to test fire. In order to prevent the position from being exposed and the other battalions to keep silent. These guns hit the target, and one of them knocked the flag of the Jin Army general on the tower to the ground.

The enemy troops were so frightened that they huddled behind the wall and did not dare to show their heads again.

At about time, the morning fog dissipated, and the firing started in the east city direction. Immediately afterwards, the west city also received the firing order. The soldiers quickly removed their disguises, adjusted their elements, loaded and fired. More than 500 artillery pieces from the east and west directions roared in unison. Jinzhou City suddenly

Shrouded in smoke.

In the main attack direction in the west of the city, artillery must first clear the obstacles laid out by the Jin army in front of the city. The trenches dug by Wan Yanliang and tens of thousands of people collapsed under the violent bombardment of artillery fire. Sections of the trenches collapsed, and the raised soil was gradually filled up.

.Those used to block riding

At the foothills where the soldiers attacked, the wooden fence turned into a pile of debris and rotten wood in an instant, burning under the high temperature generated by the explosion. The breastworks used to block the artillery fire were much weaker than the city walls. As long as they were hit by heavy artillery,

, it will fall down several feet.

The most pitiful ones were the Jin Army soldiers who were guarding behind the trenches. They fled in all directions under the artillery fire. Some people jumped into the trenches to take shelter and ended up being buried alive in them; cats behind the breastworks could be accidentally collapsed by the wall.

smashed to death; and the explosive shells fired by the mortar are even more terrifying. After the explosion, there is often only a huge

No one could survive the pit, the mutilated corpses around it, and the howling wounded. But the city gate had been sealed. It was impossible to return to the city. They stayed here just waiting to die. The survivors poured into the sheep under the city.

Macheng, but when a cannonball destroyed the suspension bridge, their last retreat was cut off.

In just one hour, under the bombardment of artillery fire, the outer fortifications and enemy defenders under Jinzhou City were swept away. However, the Jin Army was not able to fire an arrow or launch a counterattack from beginning to end. Thousands of people became the first in Jinzhou City.

To criticize the martyrs, the Jin army at the top of the city once wanted to profit from

Trebuchets were used to suppress the Song Army's artillery, but as soon as they took the risk of firing a stone bomb, they were discovered by artillery observers and immediately reported it to the command post. Before the enemy could fire a second stone bomb, several shells exploded next to them. The result was

The cannons were destroyed and people were killed, so the Jin army did not dare to move again.

After destroying the enemy's outer defense line, the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 5th Artillery Brigade transferred their artillery fire towards the enemy's city wall, while the 4th and 5th Battalions' mortars raised their muzzles and ejected explosive shells into the city, killing and injuring the enemy troops in the city. The armies and brigades

The range of the small artillery equipped had reached its limit. In order to increase the lethality, they began to move their positions forward, while the officers and soldiers of the baggage brigade stepped forward to clear the passage, transport siege equipment, and prepare to build pontoon bridges.

‘Boom, boom!’ The chorus of tens of thousands of artillery fire turned into a solo of heavy artillery. Conquering the fortified city was the specialty of Qiao Shijun, commander of the 5th Artillery Brigade. He used his experience in shelling the castle during the Persian expedition to concentrate the front-loading artillery.

Fired solid bullets to bombard the roots of the city wall. Under the impact of the projectiles weighing thirty kilograms, the bricks outside the city wall fell like raindrops, and the rammed earth layer that could not be penetrated by knives and arrows was dug out.

of bullet holes.

Then it only takes a few explosive bombs to hit the bullet hole. Under the shock of the explosion and the gravity of the city wall itself, the city wall that has lost its foundation will collapse along with the surrounding walls, forming a slow slope. The rest is

It's simple. As long as you keep firing with solid bullets, the wall will fall to the inside of the city wall, forming a gap. And the fallen wall will become a road leading into the city.

With a loud bang, the west city wall of Jinzhou finally failed to hold up under the continuous bombardment of heavy artillery. After shaking for a few times, it suddenly fell, forming a gap more than ten feet wide. Several artillerymen who had moved their positions

The battalion opened fire again, suppressing the enemy forces in the upper city and attacking the attempted

Ding Zhuang, who was blocking the gap. The wolf generals who had been preparing for a long time jumped up from the position and launched an attack using the smoke and dust as a cover. The heavy artillery took advantage of its long range and extended into the city.

Shooting to clear the way for the attacking infantry... (To be continued)