Gaoyang Pass, with the Taihang Mountains stretching for thousands of miles to the northwest and the remnants of the Yanshan Mountains to the northeast. The two mountain ranges crisscross in the north of Gaoyang, forming a natural barrier. Once you pass Gaoyang, you enter the hinterland of the Hebei Plain, an endless plain. Therefore,

, Gaoyangguan is the gateway to Hebei, and together with Bazhou Yijin Pass and Xiongzhou Waqiao Pass, it is also known as the Three Passes. Although Guancheng is small, it is rare and rare to be built purely with bricks and stones. It is extremely strong. In order to facilitate long-term defense, the pass

There are farms and pastures outside the city. Since the founding of this dynasty, additional forts have been built. Gaoyang is next to Gaohe River, and not far to the south of Gaohe River is where the Song Dynasty's Hebei camp is today.

To the north of Gaoyangguan, in order to prevent the Liao cavalry from rampaging, countless paddy fields have been cultivated. The fields are full of mulberry and elm trees. Originally, this kind of tree was not allowed to come close to Guancheng. However, the Song and Liao countries did not use weapons, and the trees grew naturally and were cultivated.

The tenants enjoyed the harvest. At this moment, the garrison at the top of Gaoyang City looked towards the north. There were layers of tree shadows everywhere. Without thinking, he cursed: "God, this thief will freeze to death."

I snorted, wiped my nose, tightened the belt of my cotton-padded jacket, curled my neck, leaned under the crossbow on the bed next to the crenel, and took a nap.

Among the layers of tree shadows, there was an occasional glimmer of light, which was the telescope lens reflecting the light of the city lights. Xiao Dabu, the Privy Councilor of the North Courtyard, also put down his telescope. In this southern invasion, the Song people

Sure enough, he was unaware that Gaoyangguan City was completely defenseless. He lowered his head and asked: "Are the iron barrels and cannons used to attack the city ready?" Chai Yibing, the commander of the Han army, said: "They are all ready. All we need is the commander's order.

, then we can attack the city." Xiao Dabu also followed the direction of Chai Yi's right hand and saw fifteen huge bronze cannons lined up in the open space in the woods ahead. These were cast by the Liao Kingdom over the past few years.

The best artillery in the world. Each one weighs tens of thousands of kilograms. The cannon is seventeen feet long and the barrel is fifteen inches thick. It is specially designed to fire stone marbles used in sieges. This huge cannon can shoot down nearly a thousand kilograms.

The stone projectiles were thrown three miles away. Surrounding these fifteen giant cannons were hundreds of iron barrel cannons of different sizes, all of which were used to launch stone projectiles for sieges. Some were old cannons that had been successfully cast in the past, and some were old cannons that had been successfully cast in the past.

The others are new cannons that were gradually enlarged and cast in order to trial-produce giant cannons. Once the siege begins, the Han military camp will push these small and medium-sized Tietong cannons towards the city. In order to serve these bulky big guys, the Han troops who invaded the south this time

The arms battalion alone had a strength of 30,000.

The giant cannons currently parked in the forest are all covered with cotton casings coated with beef and sheep fat. The casings are also covered with thick tree branches. These artillery are well hidden.

There were so many heavy vehicles in the arms camp that it was difficult for Xiao Da to identify the location of each cannon. He nodded slightly. In order to plan this southern invasion, the Liao court worked very hard. Not only did they specially send people proficient in Khitan and Chinese

The Khitan champion, Nanjing Liao Xingjun Jiedu envoy Yelu Dashi, sent an envoy to the Southern Dynasty to observe the situation along the way, and also sent the grassland Kelie tribe to pretend to surrender to the Southern Dynasty. But the most difficult part of the entire preparation process was that without the defenders of Gaoyang Pass noticing,

The fifteen huge cannons were transported to the woods two miles north of Gaoyangguan City. For this purpose, after Chai Yi, the artillery battalion commander, surveyed the location of the cannons, the Liao State specially sent people to pretend to be caravans and came from the woods.

After clearing the roads and pre-set artillery positions, and selecting the New Year period, the Song people were indulging in the festive atmosphere, and due to the cold weather and reduced the number of patrols, it was not easy to detect the movement of the Liao army during this period to launch the southern invasion.

Ever since he secretly left Youzhou with 30,000 elite cavalry troops and sneaked here, Marshal Xiao Dabu was worried. The first purpose of this southern invasion was to seize Hejian, Zhending, Zhongshan and other areas in the north of Hebei.

The barrier and all the geographical advantages deprived the Song people of their advance base for the Northern Expedition. Secondly, they robbed more Central Plains people and sent them to the Northern Kingdom. Since the Liao Kingdom used Han slaves as slaves in the workshops, it gradually tasted the benefits of this kind of slavery.

The method was much better than the original establishment of Junzhou County and allowing farmers to cultivate and plant their own land. As the death rate of labor slaves increased, the Khitan people gradually felt that there were not enough slaves for the first time, just like a child who had tasted milk for the first time and had to suck hard.

, for the sake of slaves and wealth, the upper class of the Liao Kingdom became increasingly vocal in their calls to invade the south.

"In the end, only one of the Liao and Song Kingdoms can stand." Xiao Dabu also pondered. He was not fighting for slaves, but for the future of the Khitan people. The Jurchen rebellion in the north was becoming more and more fierce.

The Song Dynasty court was clamoring for the Northern Expedition to Youyan every day. Now Youyan is a land that the Liao Kingdom must not lose. Therefore, the Song Kingdom can only be completely defeated through war before it can turn around and deal with uncivilized barbarians like the Jurchens. Listen.

It is said that the Song Dynasty was even secretly sponsoring the Jurchen rebellion. It was a Southern Dynasty that deserved to be destroyed.

As of noon today, everything was going smoothly, but the leader of the Klei tribe, Klemachus, who pretended to surrender, was suddenly assassinated by the Song people. The original plan to seize Gaoyang Pass and even Hejian City through internal and external cooperation could not be implemented. The Klei tribe had already arrived in advance.

A rebellion was launched in the hinterland of the Song Dynasty. Xiao Dabu, the commander of the southern invasion, had no choice but to launch the southern invasion in advance.

"The Hebei camp of the Song Dynasty claims to have 200,000 troops, and 10,000 Tielin troops are approaching Hejian. Isn't it a bit risky?" Xiao Da also turned his head and asked Yelu, the new Privy Councilor of the South Academy, who was staring southward.

Big rocks.

"If the Song people haven't put down the rebellion of the Kelie tribe, they may have a chance to defeat the Hebei camp in one fell swoop." Yelu Dashi said slowly. He was still around thirty, much older than Xiao Dabu, who was nearly fifty.

Ruiqi said, "I will let the Tielin army go around to the back of Hejian Mansion, destroy all the inns on the official road, and burn all the villages along the way, so that the Song army will think that they are besieged by us and flee in panic." He patted lightly.

He patted the war horse's neck to calm down the somewhat restless horse.

Yelu Dashi looked at the huge cannons in the woods. The people from the Han Army's firearms battalion sat quietly around the cannons, looking a little uneasy. It turned out that there were several roads for the Liao Kingdom's southern invasion that could bypass Gaoyang, Yijin, and Waqiao.

The Three Passes penetrate directly into the hinterland of Hebei, but because there are no siege weapons, the Song Dynasty's cities cannot be conquered. Although there are huge cannons now, they have to attack Gaoyang Pass in order to transport the cannons through official roads. This artillery is very harmful to our country.

The military advantages of the Song Dynasty also had mixed advantages and disadvantages. The Song Dynasty developed more portable firecrackers, but they probably saw the disadvantages of the difficulty of transporting artillery.

Xiao Da didn't sigh. In this southern invasion, even though Yelu Dashi was a subordinate, he won the support of the Yelu nobles. Xiao Da also had to respect his opinions very much. Yelu Dashi was a rare palace test for the Khitans in a century.

The number one scholar is also a member of the royal family. The current emperor Yelu Yanxi cannot be said to be very wise. Many young Yelu nobles even believe that the future hope of the Liao Kingdom lies in Yelu Dashi. Therefore, Xiao Dabu also specially allocated 10,000 of the most elite people.

The Tielin Army was given the command of him. In order to make the cavalry move quickly, Yelu Dashi asked the Tielin Army to remove most of the heavy armor, leaving only one tenth of the people to retain full armor, and shared it with other people in the same team.

.

"Fire!" He ordered Chai Yi in a deep voice. Chai Yi turned around and nodded to the deputy general who had been looking nervously this way.

"Fire!" Yerunuge, the deputy general of the firearms battalion, ordered.

"Fire - gun -" was given from the command of each battalion to the commander in charge of each gun. The Han army nervously removed the branches and coats covering the gunfire and threw them aside. The deputy gunner gave the last call

After checking the cannon bore, they began to load the powder packets and stone bullets. The other Han troops behind them took various tools and prepared nervously. Many of these Han troops were selected from the workshops. The treatment in the artillery camp and the workshops

There is no difference between being a pig or a dog, but if you are negligent or make a mistake, the punishment will be severe, so you must not neglect it. Operating firearms is a hard and delicate job, so you are used to it.

The real Khitan people are not willing to ride horses, so it is the turn of these Han people. The artillery battalion alone is not enough to cause chaos. The Khitan cavalry kills these Han troops who can't even use swords, guns, bows and arrows, just like killing chickens and dogs.

No difference.

The lanterns in Gaoyangguan in the distance are the best targets. The night is so quiet. "Boom -" a loud noise, accompanied by the light of fire, startled the garrison at Gaoyangguan and fell to the ground. Then, "Boom"

——" "Boom——" The loud noises continued, and the horses, dogs, and chickens in Guancheng all screamed in panic. The garrison soldiers looked at the crenellations to see what had happened when they fell to the ground. They saw people walking in the distance.

The fire flashed, and finally, a stone bullet weighing a thousand kilograms, with huge inertia, hit the city tower of Guancheng with a loud bang, and immediately made a big crater in the brick ground of the city.
Chapter completed!