Chapter 464: Battle of the City

After the left-wing battle, Zhao Xing's guards had been reduced by more than 50. These guards were veterans of a hundred battles. Moreover, because Zhao Xing was so majestic, the soldiers he selected were often tall, majestic and fierce. Soldiers of such quality were equipped with many double-eyed muskets, holding the most striving swords, and using advanced weapons such as volleyballs that crossed the era, but they still suffered major double deaths. You can imagine how cruel the battle on the left was.

At Yuan Yeping's greeting, these people just slightly tidied up their clothes, reloaded the ammunition for the musket, and then rushed to the right wing without saying a word.

Most of the soldiers on the right wing were the Qinglong Legion. These soldiers were from Yiwu and had a fierce nature of not being afraid of hardships or casualties. With Zhao Xing's generous reward, these soldiers already felt that they were worth their lives. Even if they died immediately, they had earned enough money that others could not earn in their lives. What's more, they died in battle like this. The honor behind them was enough to make their families safe and happy for the rest of their lives. Therefore, the right wing fought fiercely. Many seriously injured soldiers often rushed to the war horse herd of Xixia, and then ignited the grenades on their bodies in order to die with the enemy.

Lu Qiu Guanqing listened to the battle between the left and right, and his expression changed drastically. He muttered in disbelief: "This is the cavalry. No wonder the Taiwei always said that the cavalry battle was difficult to deal with."

Zhao Xing held up the spear loaded by Chaolu and replied calmly: "A soldier weighs 100 and is already considered to be a majestic, while a war horse weighs at least 700 kilograms. With the horse's knight and its impact, this weight alone is at least a weight of ten people. The most significant advantage of the cavalry is speed. It has a short-distance sprint, which has an infantry speed of more than ten times.

More than ten times the weight, more than ten times the impact force, and more than ten times the speed. Together, the gap between them cannot be changed by personal efforts... People often say that three thousand cavalry can change the battlefield pattern, but what we encounter is 30,000 cavalry, and the hardships of the soldiers are conceivable."

The three thousand cavalry that Zhao Xing mentioned changed the battlefield pattern was Napoleon's statement. Napoleon did not innovate weapons throughout his life. He only invented one method - concentrate on the use of firepower. Since Napoleon started, artillery began to be used on a large scale, and the cavalry also ordered to form an army, no longer becoming a place for various troops to investigate Chihou. In the face of large cluster battles, Napoleon often first concentrated all artillery for continuous bombardment, and then used cavalry assaults, and the infantry advanced. Finally, the victory was established.

Napoleon was a stubborn man. He used fixed tactics throughout his life, and never changed. This simple three-shift axe strategy led him to sweep across Europe. Later, his tactics had been understood by others and targeted cracking tactics were adopted, but Napoleon still did not change, and he was eventually exiled to an island. Of course, in our textbooks, Napoleon's failure was not because of the rigid tactics, but because he represented the interests of the broadest masses of the people in the early stage. Later, he became emperor and separated from the broad masses of the people, so he failed. During this period, his tactical problems and French economic problems were ignored by textbooks.

In the era of no machine guns, it is known that three thousand cavalry changed the battlefield pattern. Now Zhao Xing is being attacked by the strongest cavalry in Xixia, the Baima Qiangzhen Military Office.

The Baimaqiang Town Military Office may have known the situation in the Hue Ferry. Of course, unless it is a blind man, he cannot see the Song army fleet that arrived outside the Zhaoxing position in advance. When the battle was at its most intense, the Song army fleet anchored on the river could not help but sail near the battlefield when it heard the sound of cannons, but the water of the Hue Ferry was shallow. The warships dared not approach the riverside. In ancient times, the artillery range was only about two or three miles (Song Li), and the small boats anchored on the riverside could not support the fight on the shore. They sang military songs on the river to encourage the brothers who were fighting on the battlefield.

"The old Qin bravely went to the country to die, and would rather break your head than break your back.

The old Qin prides themselves went to the country to mourn, and they would never return to their hometowns without returning to their hometowns after death.

The world is full of chaos, how can we get peace? There are sharp soldiers in Qin, who will compete for power?

For blood, for eyes, for eyes. The blood will not flow dry, and you will never fight until death."

The singing was floating on the river. Although the sound of gunfire was fierce, it could not cover up the hoarse singing of the soldiers on the river. The weapons in their hands could not reach the enemy's army, but their voices could be enough, so they used all their strength to shout.

This is a Qin song. In fact, in addition to the Zhuque Army, mainly Shaanxi soldiers, and the Qinglong Army, mainly Yiwu soldiers, and in addition to the Zhao Xingdi Guards, there are also a variety of sources. When they heard this Qin song, although they were not called by them, they were excited and were waving their weapons with all their strength.

The Qin people have suffered invasion for more than a hundred years. Every Qin family and children have suffered from war. Their sisters have been dismissed by the Xixia people. Their brothers and fathers have been captured by the Xixia people as slaves. After a hundred years, the suffering they suffered cannot be seen. Now, they have a chance to let the Xixia people know that the invaders will die.

In front of the formation, the smoke of artillery bombardment gradually dissipated, and the artillery soldiers were anxious to cool down the barrel. The artillery officers jumped up and down and urged the soldiers to act quickly so that the artillery fire could be transferred and supported the two wings.

The violent gunfire and explosions everywhere almost made the shouts of artillery officers difficult to identify. Amid this huge sound, Zhao Xing sat on the chair on the stage, his expression still calm. He turned his face to look at the helpless Wen Xixing and comforted softly: "Wen Observation, why bother panic? We are only half of the military horses here. Even if we lose, the Hedong land of Xixia is destroyed by us. Our strategic goal has been achieved... Humph, the boys are holding the most advanced weapons, and I have planned for many years. If I can't even get through the small obstacles in front of me, wouldn't my life's efforts be in vain? I will not allow this phenomenon to occur."

Wen Xixing was frightened. He pointed behind Zhao Xing: "How easy was the Grand Tutor's words? But we only had seven or eight thousand people, while the Xia army had 30,000, and used seven or eight thousand infantry to deal with 30,000 cavalry. The chance of victory or defeat was unpredictable. Also, we were besieged on three sides, but there were no soldiers behind. These three attacks have already made us nervous everywhere. What if someone came later?"

The sound of gunfires around was really noisy, and the singing on the river, although Zhao Xing was in the Jiangtai, the only peaceful place in the battlefield, Wen Xixing had to shout at the top of his lungs to answer Zhao Xing.

Zhao Xing did not answer Wen Xixing's question, but Luqiu answered quickly: "There is no need to worry about the rear road. Tai Shi, the river bank is soft. If the Xia cavalry attacks from the river bank and cannot exert impact effect, I think the commander of the Xia army is also a capable man. When our warships appear on the river bank, he will never attack along the river bank, so as to be attacked by us."

Wen Xixing muttered: "Our warships dare not dock because they still have to keep the ships and attack Xingqing Mansion."

Luqiuguan replied meaningfully: "We know, but Xia Jun doesn't."

Zhao Xing's eyes lit up and he slapped his thigh and ordered: "The soldiers and horses were transferred to support the left and right wings... Wait, for the sake of safety, I sent all my remaining guards to the rear. Let them set up a pipe organ and strictly prevent the Xia cavalry from attacking."

The messengers on the stage blew the trumpets. When the soldiers heard the trumpets, they picked up their guns and increased their troops to the left and right wings. Their arrival made the battle on the wings more intense, and the gunshots became even more dense, which turned into an endless continuous laughter.

The artillery on the front finally cooled the cannon holes, and the artillery officers divided half of the cannons to support the right wing. The other half continued to bombard the frontiers of the front positions. The smoke from the cannons enveloped the entire camp. Not only the cannons, but the explosion of the muskets and grenades was like a dense cloud covering the top of the Song army camp. The soldiers' eyes were irritated by the strong smell of sulfur and nitric acid. They coughed violently, but they continued to fight.

Gradually, the Song army camp also rang. Whether it was the Qin people or not, they all sang the Qin song. For a moment, the river was covered with desolate Qin songs. The song was sad and desolate, full of the meaning of death without going back.

Zhao Xing laughed, and waved his hand: "The boys have time to sing. The battle is about to end."

Zhao Xingdi expected to come true quickly. As the song became louder and louder, the gunshot gradually subsided. Soon, only the sad Qin Ge was left between the world. Amid the song, Yuan Yeping ran back with blood. He had several knife marks on his face, his shoulders were broken, and the sword in his hand was broken, but he did not feel embarrassed at all. Instead, he proudly raised his chest and reported: "Longmen Palace, fortunately, our army has repelled the enemy's attack."

Zhao Xing stood up and raised his hand to the messenger at the four corners of the platform. The messenger at the four corners of the platform tried hard to shake the signal flag. The Song soldiers in the entire position cheered. At the same time, there was also cheering on the river bank, and the Xia army repelled.

"Awesome! Who is the commander of the Baimaqiang Town Military Office? The next day he fought hard as soon as he came up, making us stand out, and it was indeed extraordinary." Zhao Xing clapped his hands and sighed.

Wen Xixing smiled and said, "The current commander of the Baimaqiang Town Military Office is a golden belt (honorable title, and he was named after the Xia Master's reward for his military achievements). General Xuanwu and the governor of Lou Bobei (Jilantai Yanchi). It is said that he is a rare master of the Renduo clan... The Grand Tutor, Renduo Awang, a powerful attack. After this attack, he was also weak afterwards."

At this moment, the smoke of gunpowder dissipated, and Zhao Xing looked at the direction of Hue Duo, where a pillar of dust was rising. Zhao Xing smiled and said, "Renduo Awang is disabled, but my dragon cavalry is here too. Look, they have been delaying the whole day, and fortunately they have not missed this wonderful war."

Wen Xixing is a general of Huanqing. He is more sensitive to the battlefield situation than Luqiuguan. Looking at the smoke pillar, he slapped his high-high and exclaimed: "It's not too early or late, it's just right."

Lu Qiuguan laughed and said, "Wen Guan is so confident at this time, you forgot the panic just now."

Wen Xixingqiang replied with a smile: "Who would have expected that the 30,000 cavalrymen in the Baimaqiang Town Army had a strong attack, but they could not do anything to our seven or eight thousand firearms. This battle completely subverted my understanding of the Xia army. Now I believe that the Xia Kingdom can be destroyed."

Everyone on the left was inspired by Wen Xixing's conclusion. Zhao Xing stood up with a spear. He looked into the distance and slowly replied: "We still have a long way to go. In front of us is the right wing Chaoshun Army Division, then the Danliang City, and then Dingzhou. In this battle, the Baimaqiang Town Army Division was disabled, but our Qinglong Army was also disabled."

The Qinglong Army that Zhao Xing mentioned was crippled was because the number of people killed in the Qinglong Army was close to 800, and the number of people injured was about 1,000. The number of casualties was close to the brink of the collapse of the army. Fortunately, this was an army composed of the brave Yiwu people, so those soldiers could continue to maintain their strong fighting spirit.

Luqiu Guan persuaded: "The Taiwei does not need to worry, we have a boat. The wounded soldiers can be transported to the boat; we will be accompanied by medical staff, and the wounded soldiers can be well treated when they arrive on the boat. Although the Qinglong Legion suffered losses, I believe that Yang Feng from Hue Dud will bring us greater help."

At this time, the smoke of gunpowder dissipated, and the Xia soldiers on the opposite side could be seen. After a strong blow, the Xia army's front was broken and they were trying their best to complete the team. It seemed that they wanted to make the final effort.

At this time, the smoke and dust on the opposite side gradually approached, and the leader was the dragon cavalry's fire-breathing dragon military flag. Behind this flag was Yang Feng's Heishan Weifu Army Division's flag. The Song people's army actually came side by side with the Heishan Weifu Army Division's army. This strange situation made the Xia army on the opposite side stunned for a moment, but they were not surprised immediately - the coming army rushed into the Song army's position. The Renduo tribe, who was familiar with cavalry tactics, immediately understood that the other party was restoring horsepower and preparing to charge.

Since there was a Song army in the team, the target of their charge was impossible for the Song army. Renduo Awang did not hesitate for long, but only took a few breaths. The central knights in the Xia army position opposite began to move backwards.

Luqiu Temple is an expert in conspiracy and tricks. When he saw Rendo Awang's military flag move, he quickly summoned several physical guards and ordered them to shout in unison: "Catch Rendo Awang alive and reward 100,000 yuan!"

At the beginning, dozens of guards shouted in unison, but in the blink of an eye, the entire Song army heard the shout. They turned their faces and saw that the Xia army's central military flag was retreating. With just a flash of thought, they all understood that the hard battle was over. They were the winners.

The Song soldiers who understood the situation immediately shouted: "Catch Renduo Awang alive and give him a reward of 100,000 yuan!"

After shouting, countless soldiers with physical strength could not help themselves. They climbed over the camp and rushed towards the Xia army camp while shouting. The Xia army opposite was shocked at first because of the noise. They could not understand the Song army's local dialect. But the entire Song army camp was like a crazier boiling, and they couldn't help but turn around and wait for the commander's instructions...

This time, they discovered the mystery. The commander's military flag was retreating, and the Song army opposite was fierce. At the same time, the dragon cavalry activated the war horses. They arrived first, crossed the Song soldiers running on foot, approached the Xia army's front, and then raised the horse rifle in their hands...

The sound of gunfire sounded, and some of the Xia soldiers were still in a daze, and the smart people among them had turned their horses and began to flee - the Xia army collapsed.

The Baima Qiang Town Army, which had originally fought tenaciously, was completely shattered like a soft snow ball. They fled to the fields and fled to any place in scattered places. This was also a common tactic used by the Xixia people. The seemingly clueless defeat was actually based on tribes. During the escape, they would gradually organize themselves in tribes to deal with the lonely Song army. Once the pursuing Song army dispersed, they would often backfire them.

Unfortunately, they met an army led by Zhao Xing. Zhao Xing was the best at organizational art. The soldiers he waved were the most organized. Even if they were scattered and pursued, the main force stubbornly pursued the Xia army's commander's flag...

A soldier from the Tangwu clan ran to Zhao Xing, turned over and fell off the horse, and reported loudly: "The Grand Tutor, the head of the family led the entire clan to come to the aid. He is currently pursuing Renduo Baozhong. We are collecting horses, but it is delayed. We are lucky to have not missed the Grand Marshal's major event, and we are very lucky!"

Zhao Xing nodded calmly, then waved his hand to order: "Notify Yang clan to capture Renduo Awang alive and reward 100,000 guan. In addition, each Xia army's head is worth ten guan. Ten Xia army's heads are additional muskets, twenty guans are rewarded with one battle, and thirty guans are rewarded with one pair of armor."

The greedy Tangwu soldiers seemed excited when they heard Zhao Xing calling them Yang clan. He asked relentlessly: "Tai Shi, what should I calculate if there are fifty heads?"

Zhao Xing waved his hand: "Fifty heads, I promise you to settle in the mainland of Song Dynasty; for one hundred heads, I will give you a hundred acres of good land!"

The Tangwu soldiers were so excited that they forgot to say goodbye to Zhao Xing. They immediately turned their horses and turned over and rushed out of the Song army's position. They followed the Tangwu soldiers' pursuit troops, shouted all the way, and informed Zhao Xing's reward to the soldiers scattered on the battlefield of the Tangwu soldiers.

Wen Xixing nodded: "Taizu set up a sealed pile warehouse in the past for today. The cavalry of the Baima Qiang Town Army Division, each with ten stakes, only 300,000 stakes, is worth the money."

The pursuit continued until the end of the night, and in the middle of the night, there were still scattered soldiers returning. The resistance of the Xia army was completely shattered. Unfortunately, Renduo Awang finally fled, because the horses collected by the Song army were not as carefully selected as the nobles of Dangxiang. He relied on the speed of the horses and left the battlefield at night. The success-chasing Song soldiers were sighing that the 100,000 coins they had obtained had flew happily, and happily went to the military judge to record their military achievements. He also exchanged the harvested Xia army's heads for the spoils.

At this time, a tent had been set up on the Song army's general platform. The soldiers of the Song army were coming and going and walking could not help but walk past the general platform. When they heard the thunderous snoring from the tent, they couldn't help but let their pace lighter and whispered to each other: "The Grand Master is sleeping, be gentle."

Zhao Xing finally slept peacefully. The next day, half of the Song army warships had already passed the Hue Pass. Zhao Xing could not wait for the subsequent warships to continue the transition. He led the early light boat to rush straight to the right wing towards the Shun Army.

At this time, the whereabouts of the Song army could no longer be concealed. The defeated defeated army rushed into the right wing Chao Shun Army. The right wing Chao Shun Army, who was about to attack, immediately adopted a contraction strategy. While they sent people to Xingqing Prefecture to inquire, they closed the city and stood firm, striving to delay the speed of the Song army's advance.

"Kiyimen. The capital of the Right Challenge Chaoshun Army Division is actually called the Keyimen. Everyone, today we will be under the Keyimen." Zhao Xing held up a telescope and observed the castle where the Right Challenge Chaoshun Army Division was located on the river bank.

Luqiuguan glanced at the castle by the river and replied disapprovingly: "The Xia people obviously don't know how to play with boats, but they insist on building this city by the water. They are seeking death. Not to mention anything else, they may not be able to deal with the warship of the Taiwei, the warship."

Zhao Xing nodded and waved his hand to order: "The warships are in a T-shaped formation, gradually enter the shelling position, and start shelling."

Wen Xixing didn't know why, but Luqiuguan knew the meaning of Zhao Xing's order. He was stunned for a moment and immediately suggested: "Taiwei, don't exaggerate it, the formation of the T-shaped formation is the formation of the sea war. The Keyi Gate did not have corresponding artillery. We can completely stop and fight."

Zhao Xing waved his hand and signaled Luqiuguan not to say anything more.

The order was issued. Due to the lack of corresponding counterattack power of the Keyi Gate, the Song army warships arrogantly fired the cannons from Zhao Xing's boat, and the giant boat slowly sailed into the shore of the Keyi Gate. The boat had two-story cabins. Although it was a flat-bottom cabin, the upper cabin plus the ship's side cannon on the deck had a total of forty artillery pieces, which was equivalent to the artillery fire power of the entire legion. With the issuance of the signal, the warships sprayed white smoke from the trunk of the boat in turn. Immediately afterwards, the ship's side cannons on the deck also began to fire. One round of shells fell into the city one after another, and fire pillars rose up. The shells fell on the city walls, and the gravel splashed, which was amazing.

After Zhao Xing's warship was shot, he made a circle obliquely and made the bombardment position. The Xia army on the city had just breathed a sigh of relief. Then, countless assault boats approached the shore. Their boats had small guns, so they could only brave the whirlwind cannons on the Xia army's city wall, try their best to get close to the Keyimen Wharf and bombard the city wall with artillery fire.

The first round of artillery bombs was very scattered because the Song army still couldn't figure out the range, but when Zhao Xing's boat was re-roaming, the artillery began to become accurate, and the artillery fire bombarded the city wall in turn. After this round of artillery bombardment, when the smoke of gunpowder disappeared, the city wall of Keyi Gate had collapsed.

The Song army still had no intention of landing. The second round of the assault boat rushed into the artillery position and began to shoot in depth. Their artillery fire could not hit the distance and could only continue to bombard the city wall area of ​​the river. At this time, Zhao Xing's boat was impatient. It drove into the dock and simply landed on the anchor unscrupulously and began to shoot in a fixed manner. The assault boat took Zhao Xing's boat as the center of the circle and began to rotate clockwise, and shot the city wall section back and forth.

This shelling lasted for a whole afternoon. At night, there was a gas fire in the city of Keyimen. The Song army continued to shell the shelling with the firelight as a sign. However, in order to prevent the troops in the city from launching night attacks, they drove away from the dock slightly, and the frequency of shelling ground slowed down.

The Xia army indeed launched a night attack, but the river flowed, and most of the Xia soldiers were swept by the Song army's warships before they swam to the side of the Song army and were swept away by the river. A few Xia soldiers who swam to the side of the warships were intensively shot by the Song army with muskets and could not stay on the side of the ship.

At dawn the next day, another group of Song ships arrived at the Keyi Gate. This time, a giant boat was also leading countless medium-sized warships. At this time, the right wing Chaoshun Army was already desperate, and by day, the frequency of the Song army's artillery attacks became increasingly dense.

The shelling lasted for a whole day. At night, the Song army soldiers who were forcibly marching from land also rushed to the vicinity of Keyimen. The city lord Wei Ming Moye was already desperate. He drew his sword and looked around and asked in surprise: "Is this place still Xia territory? Why is the Song army coming from the east continuously? Where did this come from the Song army? Shaanxi has already attacked Xia by five routes. Why is there a Song army here? Where did they come from? Could it be from the sky?"

The left and right replied, "General. The five routes of Shaanxi attacked Xia, but they did not make any moves since the Qingtang side. The other four routes of Shaanxi were still fighting with me. It is reported that the four routes of Song army advanced very slowly, only ten miles a day, and immediately stationed troops to rest for three or five days. If the camp is not repaired, they will never move forward. The Prime Minister Xiao Gong and Xiao speculated that the Song army was still hiding a backhand, so he gathered 30,000 troops to deal with this Song army. It seems that the place we suffered was the hidden secret hands of the Song army. General, please ask for help from the Prime Minister?"

Wei Ming Moye dropped his sword and sighed to the sky: "The Baima Qiang Town Army Division has been broken, it is said that the Tangwu clan of the Weifu Army Division in Heishan has rebelled. It is estimated that the Tiande Army is not guaranteed. Where did the Song army come from? The attack is so unswerving? How can we fight this battle? The Song army will not go ashore when they are on the ship. His artillery is hitting us, but we cannot fight back. Now the city is already a stove, should we defend and retreat?"

Wei Ming Moye’s question is not needed. Because the Song army had already answered it for him, the Xia army on the top of the city pointed at the Song army outside the city and shouted in surprise: “Tornado cannon, the Song army also set up the whirlwind cannon. What’s going on?”

The answer is: The whirlwind cannon outside the Song army city threw countless clay pots. The clay pot was thinner than the thunder fire ball tire made by the Xia army. It shattered when it hit the ground. After it was broken, it had a strong smell like clear water flowed out of the clay pot. The city was full of Xixia generals who had been through the battlefield for a long time. When they smelled this smell, they exclaimed repeatedly: "Hard turbulent oil - the Song army is going to burn the city."

Fierce turmeric oil. It is called kerosene in modern times.

Countless crock pots were thrown into the city, and the strong smell of kerosene floated in the air. There were too many kerosene cans thrown by the Song army. Many low-lying areas in the city had already formed a small river, but the Song army had not thrown torches for a long time. A Xia army general in the city was still staring at the earthen pots falling to the ground like raindrops in the sky, and couldn't help but say unrelevant words: "The Song army is really rich and powerful, how much hot turbulent oil has been thrown at this moment..."

Before he finished speaking, a crock sounded, and a clay pot fell at a fire point, and the city caught fire.

The flames were uncontrollable together, and the high temperature of the fire immediately ignited the nearby kerosene. The flames continued to spread around like a chain reaction. Soon, all the open flames burned more and more vigorously. The whole city was like a flame furnace. The high temperature ignited that there was no place to catch fire in the north of the city, and then the flame continued to spread.

Outside the city, the Song army's clay pots were still throwing endlessly. These whirlwind cannons did not pay attention to accuracy at all. They just threw them into the city from east to west. The cannon ships across the river also began to fire hot bombs. Wherever the hot projectiles fell, there was a flame...

At this time, the stones that had been roasted by the fire burst, and the air was filled with flames, which could burn the lungs when breathing. In the night sky, the entire Keyimen seemed like a melting pot, and its gas flames illuminated the entire grassland. Countless Xixia people stood in the quiet darkness, looking up at the direction of the Keyimen and burst into tears. With the disintegration of the Baimaqiang Town Military Office, news of the Song army coming from the east and the west had spread all over the grassland, and the northern part of Xixia had begun to mobilize the whole nation. Unfortunately, because the speed of the message was not as fast as the speed of Zhao Xing's warships, they had not yet assembled into large armed forces.

Now, the flames of the Keyimen shattered their last hope.

"Western Xia is dead!" Countless Western Xia herders cried in tears.

The demise of Xixia means that they will never have the opportunity to rob the Song people as they wish in the future, and will leave them far away by relying on robbery to live a happy life. If they fail, their land maid slaves will become their new masters, and they will have to make a living in the hands of the former Han untouchables.
To be continued...