When the siege rifle reached the edge of the slope, it could no longer move upwards. It was changed to a human-powered lever. Everyone passed the knotted ropes through the bottom of the siege rifle, and then used thick wooden sticks to pass through the two ropes, forming a load-carrying point, which quickly formed a hundred load-carrying points.

Amid the low sound of the trumpet, two hundred soldiers in high-end costumes provoked thousands of pounds of siege rams and began to walk up the city step by step.

There is no moat in Shizhou City, but a trench that is ten feet wide. At this time, there was a raging fire in the trench. The fortification soldiers who took the lead had already put out the fires around the city gate with mud and sand, and at the same time, wooden boards that were ten feet wide were laid on the trench.

The six thousand cavalry lined up under the slope, with spears like forests, swords unsheathed, and murderous intent, waiting for the moment when the city gate opened.

But the defenders in the city did not give up. Although the city was unable to gain a foothold, more than 2,000 soldiers were concentrated under the city and held the city gate desperately. "Boom!" The city gate made a violent impact. The distance between the city gates swayed, and the soil on the city wall fell down.

Seeing that the city gate could no longer be guarded, the commander of the Xixia army ordered repeatedly, hundreds of soldiers dumped the turmeric oil in front of the city gate, set fire to ignite the city gate, and the fire that rose into the air immediately swallowed the city gate.

The north city gate opened, and the Western Xia soldiers began to retreat quickly outside the north city.

When he decided to use the siege ram to attack the city, Zhong Shidao changed his siege strategy. He issued an order to attack the North City, preparing to attack the 40,000 troops of the East City and the West City turned to the North City, and cut off the route of the Western Xia army to retreat to Xiazhou. The city was about to be broken, and the Song army had no need to leave another way for the Western Xia army to escape.

‘Boom!’ Another violent impact was made. The bolt of the North City Gate could not withstand the repeated violent impacts and finally broke. The Song army rushed into the city. At this time, even if it was arson, it could not stop the Song army soldiers rushing into the city. Hundreds of fortification soldiers quickly covered the city gate with mud and sand, and immediately suppressed the flames of the fire.

The 'Woo' the low trumpet sounded, "Kill!" The six thousand cavalry shouted like a mountain collapse and the ground was cracking. The war horses began to run, the earth was trembling, the swords and spear tips shone in the sun, and the six thousand cavalry rushed into the city like a torrent sweeping over, chasing the fleeing Xixia soldiers. Behind them were tens of thousands of Song soldiers shouting and running.

Shizhou City fell, and 10,000 Xixia troops were blocked by 80,000 Song troops, and they were defeated. In the end, only hundreds of people fought to kill and found a bloody path, and the remaining 9,000 troops were completely destroyed.

The capture of Shizhou City means that the southeast gate of Xixia was completely opened by the Song army, and there were no more dangerous passes behind it. The only big city I faced was Xiazhou. If Xiazhou was captured, the Xiangyou Army Office would be captured by the Song army. The Song army would walk another section of grassland of about 600 miles and then head to the city of Xingqing Prefecture, the capital of Xixia.

Although things would not be so simple, the fall of Shizhou did bring great shock to Xixia. Emperor Li Qianshun of the Western Xia could no longer sit still and personally led 50,000 Iron Harrier Cavalry from Weizhou to Xiazhou.

At this time, there were about 40,000 troops in Xiazhou. In addition to the 20,000 troops withdrawn from Shizhou, Li Qianshun urgently transferred 20,000 people from the neighboring Jianing Army to help defend Xiazhou.

Xiazhou is the core city of Xixia in the east, and the only large city with residential residences, with more than 200,000 civilians. This is the birthplace of the Xixia Kingdom and the old capital of the Dangxiang people. The name of Xixia is derived from this city.

This is also the reason why the Shizhou garrison general Chakan would rather give up Shizhou and protect Xiazhou to death. If Shizhou was lost, the Western Xia king Li Ganshun blamed him for his poor defense of the city at most. However, if Xiazhou is lost, he will die without a place to bury him.

Xiazhou is about 60 miles away from Shizhou, located on the north bank of Wuding River. The city is circumference of forty miles. During the Sui and Tang Dangxiang people moved east from the northern part of Shu and Hehuang areas to this place and were placed on a small piece of land centered on Xiazhou by the court. At that time, Xiazhou was just a small county town. In the late Tang Dynasty, the Dangxiang people gradually rose, and Xiazhou became their political center. They continued to expand the city, and Xiazhou also became a big city with a circumference of forty miles and a population of hundreds of thousands. The Dangxiang people's dynasty came out from here.

However, the political and economic center of the Dangxiang people had moved westward to Xingqing Prefecture a hundred years ago. Except for the iron smelting center of Xixia, Xiazhou was wiped out any traces related to the capital. The city was disrepaired for a long time and there was no danger around it. It was a big city that was easy to attack and difficult to defend.

Although the Eastern Army was unstoppable and had won consecutive battles, the head coach Zhong Shidao was not blinded by victory. After taking Shizhou, he controlled the rhythm of the attack and remained motionless.

He knew that the front line was too long, and the Western Xia army could easily come from the Jianing Army Division to the west, breaking off its own food route and retreat. He had to fight steadily and cooperate with the rhythm of the Western Front to attack. Only when the Song army on the Western Front attacked the hinterland of the Western Xia and restrained the enemy troops of the Jianing Army Division could they go north without any worries and attack Xiazhou with all their strength.

Like Yinzhou, Shizhou also collected a large amount of grain and military funds, with 250,000 stones of grain alone, 500,000 dan of good forage, countless silver and money, as well as various weapons, armor, pig iron, war drums, military flags, turmeric oil, etc. However, unlike Yinzhou, Shizhou did not follow the army prostitutes. When 10,000 defenders retreated to the north and were completely wiped out, Shizhou became an empty city.

The day after the Song army took over Shizhou City, the army began to concentrate on rectifying, clearing out the various drawbacks brought about by continuous combat one by one, and began to reward the three armies. Although Zhong Shidao was controlled by Tong Guan, he had independent financial power. The large amount of money he seized did not have to be handed over to Tong Guan, and he could deal with it himself. After a battle, experienced generals rewarded the three armies in advance to boost morale.

Li Yanqing's intelligence battalion not only had a shortage of personnel, but also received a reward of 50,000 taels of silver for many years. On average, it was equivalent to each person receiving 100 taels of silver. Of course, the soldiers participating in the war and the fallen soldiers would be divided more. Li Yanqing did not keep a penny, but gave all the silver to his subordinates, and everyone was very happy for a moment.

In the afternoon, Wang Gui hurried to Li Yanqing's tent. He was in a very good mood these two days. Originally, he was promoted to the intelligence camp but not to the position. Once the war ended and the army returned to the camp, his position as the head would disappear like a bubble. Now he has received a clear promise that he made two great contributions and once a small contribution. After the war, he would be officially promoted to the ninth-rank accompanying captain, who was truly appointed as the head of the head.

If he can pass the Martial Arts exam, he will be promoted to two more levels to the eighth-rank imperial martial arts lieutenant, which is an official rank that only martial arts top scholar can obtain.

Moreover, he has more war qualifications and connections in the military than the top martial arts champion, so how could Wang Gui not be overjoyed?

Wang Gui walked to the door of the tent and smiled and said, "Old Li, I'm here!"

"Come in!"

Wang Gui opened the curtain and walked in. He saw that the big tent was filled with various wooden boxes and barrels. Li Yanqing was sitting at the table weighing something?

"Old Li, what are you doing?" Wang Gui said in surprise.

Li Yanqing smiled and said, "I am preparing gunpowder and need an assistant."

When Wang Gui saw dozens of iron pumpkins piled up next to him, he immediately realized that Lao Li was making thunder.

Although Wang Gui was very excited, he was still a little puzzled, "You just asked Yang Guang for help, why did you call me here?"

"The noble king has become the capital and has begun to act as an official airs?"

Wang Gui's head shook like a rattle, "How is it possible? You are my boss, how dare I put on airs in front of you!"

After saying that, he muttered in a low voice, "I think you are almost ashamed of being an official."

"What did you say? I didn't hear it clearly, say it again!"

"nothing!"

Wang Gui quickly rolled up his sleeves and said, "What should I do first?"

"Help me weigh sulfur powder!"

Li Yanqing pointed to a wooden barrel next to him, "A pound of six cents is a portion. You should weigh it more accurately. Wear one portion with oil paper."

Wang Gui found two copper weights, found another scale, and sat aside to weigh it.

"Old Li, is this gunpowder formula important?"

"Nonsense, if the recipe for the thunder of the sky is obtained by the Liaoxia or the Jurchens, what will be the consequences?"

"Who else knows this recipe except the two old pharmacists who were sent away?"

"And it's you now."

Li Yanqing said lightly: "No one can believe it except you."

Wang Gui was startled and scratched his head nervously and said, "What if I miss it?"

Li Yanqing laughed, "You are careless about small things, but you are never vague about big things. I know you won't let it go, and even if I hide the formula, it will be cracked within ten years."

"Can you?"

Li Yanqing nodded, "Although the power of the thunder is much more powerful than that of the Pili Cannon, it is just an improvement after all. Everyone can make firearms. After seeing the power, they all know what happened. Liaoxia gunpowder craftsmen will definitely test it again and again, and one day they will test it out, so I figured it out too."

"What do you think of?"

"If you want to avoid being surpassed by others, you have to constantly innovate and create more new firearms."

Wang Gui became even more interested and asked quickly: "What new firearms are there?"

"For example, if you deal with the cavalry's bombing, the mines of warships, and there will be even more powerful muskets in the future, you can also think about it."

Wang Gui patted his head and smiled, "I really thought of two things. For example, when the enemy attacked the city, we used wooden rolling stones. If we add gunpowder and poisonous nails into the stones, throw them down and explode them, wouldn't it be very effective?"

"What else?"

"There is also the thunder that is very small, three or five kilograms per. When the enemy attacked the city, we couldn't raise our heads. I leaned on the battlements, lit one and threw one, and exploded the enemy howled, but it couldn't destroy the city. Do you think?"

Li Yanqing smiled but said nothing. The fire-breathing that Wang Gui mentioned actually appeared a hundred years ago, but because the gunpowder is too small, the effect is not significant.

The key to the reason why the thunder of the sky is that the amount of medicine is large, so that the shell can be broken. If the amount of medicine is too small, it may not be broken.

But Li Yanqing did not dampen Wang Gui's enthusiasm. He smiled and said, "We can try it if you have time, such as using ceramic bottles and mixing highly toxic iron nails. The effect will definitely be good."
Chapter completed!