The sparse sound of artillery announced the beginning of the battle. Black smoke continued to rise from the artillery bases of the Liao army and Jin army, and the haze in the sky seemed even stronger. The power of artillery was already very obvious. Whether it was the Liao army, Jin army, cavalry or infantry, they were carefully arranged outside the effective range of enemy heavy artillery.

Zhao Xingde stood on the cannon base and looked down at the infantry accompanying the gun group. The musketeers were wiping the gun barrels over and over again, because they were worried about breaking the paper pack of ammunition, and the regulations prohibited the inspection of ammunition on the battlefield as neurotic. Just behind the cannon base, thousands of Jin soldiers and Han soldiers were sitting on the ground waiting for the military order to set off. Some people curiously looked up at the musketeers who repeatedly raised guns and loaded the guns and loaded them again and again under the command. Before the war, these musketeers had undergone more than ten live ammunition firings. However, on the battlefield with huge pressure and chaotic pressure, no one could guarantee these complex actions. The only way was to repeat and repeat them continuously.

With a "boom--" sound, the round iron projectile roared through the air, drew an arc, slowly flew over about two miles away, and finally hit the open space that was dozens of steps away from the Liao army's artillery. The shells failed, and the Liao army around the front artillery tower cheered loudly. Many Khitan cavalry shouted while waving their sabres wildly.

"It's still too far." Tong Yunjie looked ashamed. Although the shells could hit the Liao army's artillery base, they had exceeded the effective range of heavy artillery, and the shooting accuracy dropped sharply.

Zhao Xingde patted his shoulder and signaled that Tong Yunjie didn't have to blame himself. He turned his head and asked, "Are you ready?"

"You can attack at any time." Liu Zhijian said in a deep voice.

Next to the central artillery base, the fourteen three-inch guns were making final preparations. They will follow the Jin cavalry to a place three hundred steps away from the front artillery base of the Liao army to suppress the front artillery base of the Liao army. The predetermined position is just outside the effective range of the Liao army's small and medium-sized artillery, and it is difficult for the Liao army to hit such a small target with just a dozen heavy artillery from the front artillery base. The three-inch gun position is just within the effective range of the central artillery base. The heavy artillery arranged on the central artillery base can bombard the Khitan cavalry trying to detour from the rear.

"Let me go ahead." Tong Yunjie looked at his right leg. After many hard training, he was able to follow the cannon cart on foot. In terms of three-inch and four-inch cannon aiming and proofreading, he was the strongest gunman in the Han army artillery battalion.

"I want a reliable person to guard the rear."

Zhao Xingde took out the Qianli Mirror and looked into the distance. The Qianli Mirror's vision was all inverted, but Zhao Xingde had long been used to it. The artillery blocks on the opposite side were carefully constructed, and one or two shells were fired, accompanied by the roar and flash, and the black smoke soared into the air. It was the enemy's artillery test-firing. Through the smoke, you could see a high-rise sun and moon flag, which represented that the Emperor of Liao was behind the front artillery block, but Zhao Xingde's vision was just blocked by the cannon, and he could only see the cavalry who were constantly communicating the orders running around inside and outside the camp. The Qianli Mirror's vision flew across the Liao army's camp and saw some officers shouting at the soldiers. Because the distance was too far, the face of the Liao soldiers was vaguely unable to see clearly, but you could vaguely feel that some were afraid, some were excited, and some were numb.

In the middle of the Jin and Liao armies, except for a few lonely trees, all the trees had long been cut down, and the weeds and shrubs were very lush. This empty field was covered with scouts of the two armies, and small groups of cavalry drove each other, chasing each other, and fighting for a short and fierce battle.

Zhao Xingde turned the Qianli Jing to his side. The Jin army's large and small villages were connected one by one, extending from the cannon barracks to the north and south wings and behind. The wooden fence and low walls closely connected the camp and cannon barracks, making them very strong and solid. In the camp, the Jin cavalry in the brigade were in full swing, and more were sitting on the ground. The Jurchens' expressions seemed calmer than the Khitans.

The Emperor's Village was behind the cannon, and a group of Jin generals surrounded Wanyan Aguda. He looked ahead expressionlessly, like a statue. Zhao Xingde saw Wanyan Ci coming from behind and bowed to report a few words. Wanyan Aguda nodded, and the generals looked excited, and several commanders rushed out. Jurchen cavalry boarded one after another, and the brigade of crutches rushed forward from both sides of the running class.

"Are you going to start the attack?" Zhao Xingde said secretly. Just as he was putting away the Qianli Mirror, Han Ningshuang appeared in his sight. She led two thousand Han cavalry to station behind the central artillery tower, responsible for protecting the forward artillery group and artillery tower. Because the Qianli Mirror had just come from far to near, she occupied almost half of her vision, and her expression was very clear. Han Ningshuang was originally looking down and thinking about something, but she seemed to notice, her eyebrows were slightly raised, her pretty face turned cold, and she raised her head and glared at this side. Zhao Xingde was nervous and thought to himself that it was not good. At this moment, Han Ningshuang suddenly smiled and made another gesture of taking care of her.

There was a burst of rapid hooves behind the artillery tower, and the messenger holding the flag shouted loudly in Chinese: "Architecture, attack! Attack!"

"The musket camp stands up!"

"Prepare for attack!"

"Cross, queue!"

In an instant, various commands sounded near the central cannon base, as if a pot of boiling water. The gunners shouted trumpets and worked together to push the cannons. From the central cannon base to the front position, the middle section could be driven by horse-drawn cannon trucks. However, when leaving and entering the cannon position, these heavy big guys could only rely on manpower to push them. In order to stimulate morale, even Liu Zhijian rolled up his sleeves and worked with the gunners. As the gun team advanced, there were a battalion of musketeers, two thousand Han army spearmen, two thousand Jurchen archers and five hundred iron floats in the field of dismounting.

“Forward—forward—”

On the vast battlefield, the five thousand infantry occupied only a small area. In front of the infantry, 20,000 cavalry were arranged into a dense line. Outside the effective range of the Liao army's artillery, the Jurchen cavalry controlled the horses to advance slowly. In the center of the cavalry array, Wanyan Zonghan followed Wanyan Digu forward. He had a gloomy face and led the vanguard cavalry to attack the Liao army's artillery basement. However, the offensive tactics were all arranged by the Zhao, which made him extremely dissatisfied. The cavalry had to lower the speed so that the artillery battalion and infantry would not fall too far.

"Everyone work harder!"

Officials such as Zhao Xingde and Liu Zhijian did not ride horses, and walked on both sides of the cannon trucks like ordinary gunners. The battlefield looked flat, and the road to the gun team was also inspected in advance, but there were always sudden pits and small slopes in front. At this time, Zhao Xingde and Liu Zhijian would quickly lead the gunners to push the cannon trucks, and they would not drag down the rhythm of the army's attack.

Although it is not within the effective range of the Liao army's heavy artillery, the shells can reach here. The Liao army artillery battalion on the opposite side has opened fire, and round iron projectiles pass by the air with howling wind. Although most of them fall on the open space, a shell will hit the Jin army from time to time. As long as it is rubbed, it will either die or be injured. Even if it is worn by thick armor, it will make the flesh and blood fly. Even if it is four or five hundred steps away, the power of the heavy artillery shells is still terrifying.

"Here! It's here! Set up artillery!"

Zhao Xingde pointed to the triangular gravel piles piled up a few days ago. In order to prevent the Liao army from noticed, the gravel piles were very inconspicuous, but they were enough to calibrate the preset positions.

The cannon was separated from the cannon chariot and pushed into the cannon base. The horse and ammunition chariot were placed behind, and each gunner was in place. The musket gunmen were directly guarding the cannon position. In the eyes of the Jin army, the musket gun was also a small cannon. More than 4,000 infantry guarded the periphery of the cannon position.

"Quick!" "Quick!" Liu Zhijian shouted loudly as he looked. All the gunners were sweating profusely, but they still tried hard to speed up their movements, even the enemy shells flying over their heads from time to time. The cavalry in front had entered a distance that could be accelerated. Wanyan Digugu's messenger looked back from time to time, waiting for the signals from the artillery position. Zhao Xingde checked the gun position one by one, and after ensuring that the shooting angle was correct, each artillery group began to load ammunition.

When everything was ready, Zhao Xingde looked ahead, raised the Qianli Mile Mile Mile and said in a deep voice: "Let's open fire!"

"Boom!" A loud bang! All the No. 1 gun teams operated by Xia Guo Sergeant tested one shot, and the shells whistled out and hit the front of the Liao army's artillery. "What a pity." Zhao Xingde sighed slightly, without any hesitation, and said in a deep voice: "Rise up half a minute!" All the gun teams immediately rushed to move the lever of the board-moving gun mount, and raised the muzzle a little.

"Half minute...half minute..." The gunmen murmured. Because of nervousness, soybean sweat beads flowed down from their foreheads and didn't bother to wipe them off. Soon, all fourteen gun groups completed the correction.

"Open fire!"

This time, the shells drew a perfect arc and were almost hitting the center of the Liao army's front artillery. The Liao army's artillery was ready to fight the Jin cavalry that were charging forward. Suddenly, they were bombarded by the opponent's artillery. Although it was just a shell, it had caused a noise. The shouting sound could be heard clearly even three hundred steps away.

Zhao Xingde said in a deep voice: "Give the cavalry signal, we have no problem." He paused and said: "All gun teams should open fire at full speed!"

Just in front of the artillery group, the Jurchen cavalry could not hold back and got the signal. Wanyan Diguna led 10,000 cavalry to stay behind to press the formation. Wanyan Zonghan led 10,000 cavalry to start sprinting. The sound of horse hooves shocked the earth. At this moment, the artillery positions behind the cavalry almost began to roar continuously!

The scene of ten thousand cavalry charging was extremely magnificent, as if the waves of a mountain were slapped forward, and everything was about to be crushed. The gunners on the front artillery towers of the Liao army and the infantry guarding the front were all disgusted. Chai Yi, the chief of the Artillery Army, did not care about why he was hit by the enemy's artillery shells and shouted loudly: "Listen to my orders and prepare to open fire!"

Just on this frontal artillery base, in addition to more than ten heavy artillery, there were more than 200 small and medium-sized artillery of various types, with effective ranges ranging from dozens of steps to one or two hundred steps, and had already loaded ammunition. The gunners suppressed their breathing, staring at the Jurchen cavalry nervously, while concentrating on waiting for the military order to open fire.
Chapter completed!