Just as Li Yanqing took advantage of Weicheng's weakness without strategic depth to easily conquer Weicheng, Fengxiang Mansion in the south was also carrying out a tragic battle for Dasan Pass. Dasan Pass is located on the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains in the southern suburbs of Baoji City today. It has been called the "Sichuan-Shaan Throat" since ancient times. It is the western gate of Guanzhong. When Dasan Pass is lost, the gate of Guanzhong has also opened, and the Western Xia army can attack Jingzhao at any time.

But for the Xixia army, Dasan Pass still has a second important significance. They want to attack Li Yanqing's backyard and force Li Yanqing to withdraw his troops from Xixia. Speaking of which, the purpose of both sides is the same, and they all hope that the other party will be forced to withdraw troops from their respective territories.

Of course, the Xixia army had another choice. The army directly rushed to Douling and Shaniuling, captured the Hulu River Valley, and cut off Li Yanqing's retreat. However, this northward road was too difficult and it had to cross the vast Liupan Mountains. Even if soldiers could climb mountains and cross ridges, the logistics supplies could not be overcome at all. Not only that, the Song army also deployed thousands of defenders on various dangerous passes. If they forcibly attacked north, tens of thousands of troops would fall to death in the vast mountains.

Brother Richard was very clear about this. He gave up his plan to attack Hulu Valley from the west and instead adopted another more realistic plan. He captured Dasan Pass, and the army entered Guanzhong, forcing Li Yanqing's army to retreat.

Dasan Pass was led by Liu Yu, a famous general of the Western Army, and Liu Yu was the commander of Qinfeng Road. When Li Yanqing was appointed as the commander of the Northwest Three Routes, Jingzhao was left behind and the commander of the Western Army, Liu Yu was renamed the prefect of Taiyuan and the appeasement envoy of Hedong Road. However, he was unable to take office for the time being. Hedong Road was still in the hands of the Jin Kingdom, and he still needed to lead his army to recover. At the same time, the situation in Qinfeng Road was critical, and Li Yanqing asked him to continue to be in charge of Dasan Pass until the situation stabilized before handing over the Shi Yin.

Not only that, Li Yanqing also sent commander Liu Tie to Dasan Pass to assist in the war. Although there were not many reinforcements, they brought the most advanced weapons to defend the city, the nemesis of the siege of the city ladder, Flying Fire Thunder.

‘Dong! dong! dong!’ The drum sound outside Dasan Pass shook the sky, and 30,000 Western Xia soldiers rushed towards the city like a tide. This was the third siege launched by Brother Richard.

The terrain of Dasanguan is relatively high, and the city is made of huge stones, which is extremely tall and strong. It is difficult for the Western Xia army to attack from a low point. They must use a large siege ladder four feet long. The siege ladder is as wide as four feet, and the ladder beams on both sides are as thick as calves. They are made of fine and strong ash wood.

Thirty thousand Xixia soldiers carried hundreds of large siege ladders and rushed towards Guancheng. At the city gate, thousands of soldiers held large bows and were ready for battle, and dozens of small catapults were also creaking. The Western Army did not have sharp firearms such as the Sky Thunder. The court did not expect that the Xixia army would attack Xihe Road in large numbers, and transferred hundreds of Sky Thunder from Jingzhao Prefecture and Fengxiang Prefecture to Taiyuan and Tokyo.

There were dozens of kilograms of large stones placed in the catapult on the top of the city. This small catapult was only one meter in throwing a large stone weighing thirty or forty kilograms to a hundred steps away. However, Liu Tie's arrival changed the disadvantage of the weak defense weapons of the Dasan Pass. They not only brought a thousand flying fire thunders, but also fifty thunders shocking thunders, greatly strengthening the defense ability of the Dasan Pass.

At this time, twenty sky-shaking thunders had been put into the small catapult's pocket. Liu Wei stared at the rushing Xixia soldiers under the city. The Xixia soldiers had already entered within 150 steps. He immediately ordered: "Start the crossbow arrow!"

Under the red flag, a thousand divine arm crossbows were fired first. Their killing distance was between 150 and 180 steps. Most of the soldiers of the Western Xia were wearing leather armor, holding spears, and had no shield guards. Only the sword and shield army had solid shields. After all, the Western Xia was just a small country, with a relatively poor national strength and could not be fully equipped like the Song army. Even the Song army, only the imperial guards were equipped with shields, and ordinary wing soldiers were not equipped.

A thousand crossbow arrows were shot densely at the surging enemy group. The soldiers running in front suddenly fell down one after another, with hundreds of casualties, but the casualties of hundreds were just a wave in the ocean to the 30,000 army, and there was no meaning in the Xixia army. The Xixia army continued to run towards Guancheng.

After two rounds of powerful crossbow shooting, five thousand Xixia crossbowmen running in the front finally entered the range of 100 steps.

Seeing that the enemy had entered the range of the catapult, Liu Yu calmly ordered: "Catch the catapult!"

The green flag was waving on the top of the city, and the trencher that had been accumulating power for a long time was activated. The soldiers lit the fuse, and with a series of "bang! bang!" throws, twenty dark thunders rose into the sky and smashed the heads of the Xixia soldiers a hundred steps away.

The Xixia soldiers obviously did not undergo systematic anti-fighting training. They did not know that crawling and shields could protect themselves from being injured by the bomb to the greatest extent, and they did not have special thunder-watching soldiers.

Faced with the attack of the thunder, the soldiers of the Western Xia could only bow their heads and rush hard, and escaped the explosion by luck. Twenty thunders exploded on the field two miles wide. The explosion was earth-shaking, and smoke filled the sky and screams and cries were everywhere in the field. Thousands of soldiers who were directly killed by the bombardment were hit by the flying shrapnel and unfortunately injured were several times more than those who were killed by the soldiers.

A thunderclap can split into hundreds of iron fragments, including the shell itself and the iron particles filled inside, shrapnel and iron particles flying. Large swaths of Xixia soldiers were hit and fell down. A thunderclap explosion caused more than 3,000 casualties. Xixia soldiers were really scared.

Brother Richard was anxious. The Western Xia army had already advanced within a hundred steps and could not retreat. No matter how many casualties were, they had to fight hard. He shouted loudly: "Continue to attack, those who retreated immediately!"

‘Dong! dong! dong! dong! dong!’ The fierce sound of war drums sounded, and tens of thousands of Xixia soldiers could not retreat, so they could only grit their teeth and continue to charge. Three thousand crossbowmen rushed to the city first and began to shoot arrows at the city. The dense arrows shot at the city, suppressing the shooting of the Divine Arm Crossbow soldiers. However, the three thousand large archers stood behind and shot down in the form of a projectile. The thick arrows fell like raindrops. The soldiers of Xixia soldiers were unable to avoid them. They were shot and were killed or injured. The losses were very heavy. The Xixia crossbowmen were suppressed again, and the remaining crossbowmen had to retreat one after another.

At the same time, the second round of thunder was launched, and huge explosions were heard one after another in the crowd, and soldiers were constantly bombed into the sky. The battlefield was filled with smoke, meat was flying everywhere, and blood foam splattered everywhere. The death of the soldiers killed by the bomb was extremely tragic.

Seeing that the attacking soldiers were already intent to retreat, Brother Richard immediately ordered the five hundred swords and axes to go forward to suppress the formation, and all the retreating soldiers were killed. After hundreds of soldiers were killed, the Xixia soldiers launched another attack, and more than 10,000 soldiers rushed to the city and put large siege ladders on the top of the city.

Liu Tie led 500 throwers to move. They were specialized as flying fire thunder throwing soldiers, and their throwing skills were very skillful. They lit a very short fuse, and the copper stick was thrown out. The two flying fire thunders pulled by the slender iron chain immediately circled towards the siege ladder. "Crash!" The iron chain was blocked by the ladder beam and immediately flew left and right. The flying fire thunder tightly wrapped around the siege ladder, and then blew! Boom! Two explosions, the siege ladder was blown up in the waist.

Not only was a siege ladder, but all hundreds of siege ladders that had just boarded the city were all blown up by half. The Song army then dumped turbulent oil on the siege ladder and lit it with a fire siege. The fire quickly swallowed more than 100 large siege ladders. The soldiers of Xixia were stunned. They could no longer attack the city and had to retreat one after another.

Brother Richard could see clearly in the distance, and more than a hundred siege ladders all became fire strings. He had to sigh secretly and ordered: "Tell me my order and the whole army will retreat!"

‘Dang!Dang!Dang!’ The bell of withdrawing troops rang, and the soldiers who had already lost their morale retreated like a retreat.

The soldiers on the city wall suddenly burst into excited cheers.

In this offensive and defensive battle, the Xixia army suffered nearly 10,000 casualties, but Dasan Pass was not damaged at all. Only more than 40 defenders in the city were injured by arrows, and none of them were killed. Flying Fire Thunder and Datian Thunder created brilliant results in this battle.
Chapter completed!