April 24th, early morning.
The fiery red morning sun leaped hard and finally broke free from the shackles of the horizon. It soared into the eastern sky and sprinkled thousands of golden lights on the world, dispelling the haze of the night.
This made He Laosi, who had been guarding the city of Zhuozhou all night, feel refreshed and stretched greatly. But he was only halfway through this action when his whole body froze again. Because as the sky gets brighter, he can clearly see the edge of the wilderness outside the direction of North City where he is. There is a black line slowly pressing down from the end of the horizon. The waving flags and neat queues are exactly—
"Liao... The Liao army is attacking! The Liao army is attacking!" He Laosi never expected that his cry would be so sharp and rapid, instantly breaking the silence at the top of the city. Then, the same cry spread throughout the North City, and then bursts of horns sounded, and more than a dozen soldiers grabbed the city head like flying and ran straight into the city. They will make this urgent military information known to the generals in the city as quickly as possible.
Although this time the Liao army arrived eight or nine days later than expected, when the enemy army actually appeared, the Changsheng Army still felt nervous, especially at the northern city wall, where countless people were running and shouting. , some moved weapons such as bows, crossbows, wood, and stones forward, and some ordered the shields to be set up at the top of the city. The Liao army has not yet launched any attack on the city, and the defenders at the head of the city have fallen into a brief panic.
Because almost everyone in the city now knows that the leader of the Liao army coming north this time is Xiao Qian, the Xi king of Liao who had defeated the resentful army and killed them almost completely. The shadow of a famous tree, Xiao Qian's name alone is enough to make ordinary soldiers lose their minds. Only by being inspired by the appearance of those generals can the morale of the army be truly stabilized.
Fortunately, Sun Tu and Dong Kuang were well prepared. As soon as they heard the fierce horn sound coming from Beicheng, they guessed that it was an alarm of enemy attack without any soldiers rushing to report it. They immediately mounted their horses and galloped north. Come.
The Liao army was still five or six miles away from the northern city of Zhuozhou. Several major generals had already boarded the city, looking at the belated enemy army from a distance. Sun Tu once again picked up the telescope in his hand, so that he could grasp the enemy's movements and team situation more clearly. After watching it for a while, his face became more solemn, because he found that this Liao army was stronger than him. What I thought was even more majestic and powerful. Not only was the formation neat and uniform, but also the momentum was well-organized. It was completely unlike those who had been repeatedly attacked halfway along the way and had to delay their journey.
This is a truly powerful army, and it is also a great test and powerful enemy for the ever-victorious army! Thinking of this, he handed the telescope to Dong Kuang and asked him to make some observations. Dong Kuang had already used this good thing that was far ahead of its time, so it didn't show much difference at this time. But after watching the enemy's military movements from a distance, his expression also changed. If you look carefully, you can find that his lips were trembling slightly.
After a long while, a bitter smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: "The Liao people really attach great importance to our ever-victorious army. Not only did they take Xiao Qian as their general, they even sent out the Feiyan Cavalry! In addition, I The Xi soldiers who are good at fighting tough battles and a Nanjing garrison are afraid that the Liao Kingdom has used all the soldiers and horses they can use.
Dropped here. "
When Sun Tu heard this, his eyebrows quickly rose. If this was true, it meant that the Liao army was desperate and had to capture Zhuozhou City in one fell swoop. But if you think about it carefully, this is reasonable, because the war on the other side of the Baigou River has now become a stalemate, and the outcome is hard to decide. Then Zhuozhou has become the key point to open up the situation and influence the entire war situation in the south of Liao Kingdom. It can be said that as long as Zhuozhou can be captured and used as a base to detour and flank the Song army, the battle between Song and Liao will definitely end with a great victory for the Liao army. As for whether this would make the situation in the north more critical, that was not something they considered.
But what Sun Tu is most concerned about right now is another detail: "Feiyan Cavalry, what kind of Liao cavalry is that?" To be honest, he didn't have many encounters with the Liao army, and he really didn't know their details very well. Woolen cloth.
Dong Kuang gave a little explanation: "Nowadays, the Liao Kingdom's national power is declining, which has also affected their military strength. Among the several heroic armies that could sweep across the north, only the Pishi Army belonging to the royal Yelu clan and the Xiao clan are left. Gu Mo's division. Among the two armies, the Xuanjia cavalry and the Feiyan cavalry are the most elite. They have few opponents before charging into the formation. Look at the black swallow tail flag over there, it is Feiyan cavalry. Riding a unique flag.”
Following his instructions, Sun Tucai could distinguish the flag with white stripes on a black background and a swallow tail embroidered among the flags that were fluttering in the wind. Just looking at the cavalrymen under the flag, they were all brave and fierce as expected. Even though they were several miles apart, the killing intent emanating from his body still hit him.
But then, he said relaxedly: "Having said that, even the bravest and most skilled cavalry won't have much effect in a siege, right? As long as we guard the city carefully, we won't be afraid that they can threaten us." we."
"General Sun, please don't underestimate this Feiyan Cavalry. I have experienced their power before. During the battle that day, we thought about defending the city, but in the end they were able to climb the city with their fast riding hooks. Head. I think this is the origin of the name of their Feiyan Cavalry. Compared with the heavy armored cavalry and the black armored cavalry, the Feiyan Army as light cavalry is probably even more difficult to deal with. What's more, they are also the best at attacking and using tactics. Xiao Qian is the commander-in-chief!" Although saying this might seem like inflating other people's ambitions, in order to let Sun Tu and the others better understand the terror of their enemy, Dong Kuang still told him everything he knew.
This time, Sun Tu's expression became more solemn. If it were true as he said, the difficulty of this battle to defend the city would have increased a lot. But now, they have no other choice but to grit their teeth and hold on!
So he quickly shouted loudly: "Soldiers and brothers, don't panic. Although the Liao army is powerful, we are defending against the city. We have sufficient troops and preparations, and more foreign aid is coming, so it may not necessarily mean that we are really weak." Them. It doesn’t matter if it’s Xiao Qian or Xiao Shi who comes, or whether it’s Feiyan riding a dog riding a horse, as long as they come, just tell them to fight each other and cause bloodshed!”
Sun Tu deliberately raised his voice when he said these words. Not only were the soldiers on the city heard them clearly, but also many people below the city heard them clearly. Suddenly, laughter broke out everywhere, which made the originally tense atmosphere much more relaxed. This fell into Dong Kuang's eyes and gave him a little more respect for Sun Tu. Not to mention anything else, just these few words could broaden the hearts of the soldiers.
Performance is not something you can do easily.
Sun Tu's words continued: "What's more, with this army now, we only used a thousand men to hold them back for nearly ten days. So this time we have a city to defend, with tens of thousands of troops, so we can hold it even more firmly. Lost.”
"Yes, we will be able to defend Zhuozhou and defeat the Liao people! The ever-victorious army will definitely win!" Dong Kuang immediately seized the opportunity and once again inspired the troops.
For a time, tens of thousands of soldiers on and off the city roared angrily. The ever-victorious army's shouts of victory resounded over and over again in the city, rolling out, straight into the sky, and towards the Liao army that was constantly pressing ahead. And go.
Xiao Qian, who was just about to use steady pressure to put pressure on the defenders, so that it would be easier to open up the situation when the offensive actually started, heard the roar coming from afar, and raised his eyebrows slightly: "This ever-victorious army. But there are some things that actually saw through my intentions and began to use their power to overwhelm others. It seems that their general does have some methods, at least much better than those of Guo Yaoshi, Dong Xiong and others. "
The generals on his left and right were much more serious than him, looking completely bitter and resentful. You must know that the Liao army suffered a lot of losses along the way, not only because of the troubles caused by the guerrilla warfare before, but also because they encountered a few landmines from time to time on the way, which often caused the soldiers to scream and suffer no casualties. Quite a few.
Although the total number of Liao soldiers who died on these mines was only twenty or thirty, these weapons of unknown origin, like weapons produced by ghosts and gods, still put great pressure on the Liao army. This is also an important reason why the Liao army arrived late.
The threat of this landmine was too great. No one knew whether such a terrible weapon would appear next. As a result, the entire army was trembling with fear and their speed was greatly reduced. Unexpectedly, in the past two days, not a single landmine has been hit, which naturally makes people feel even more annoyed, because in their view, this is completely being fooled.
At present, this Liao army is elite enough, and under Xiao Qian's rule, the military discipline is even stricter, otherwise it would have been in chaos long ago.
Now, Zhuozhou is right in front of them, and the enemy who made them so embarrassed all the way is in the city. Naturally, all the Liao generals and Liao troops are full of killing intent, thinking that they can break through the city now and kill all the enemies in the city.
Xiao Qian, who felt this, smiled softly, and then gave the order: "The whole army is pressing forward and setting up a camp three miles outside the city. Tie Auduo, you lead the army to guard the left side of the army, Ma Gudao, you lead the army The army is holding down the right side. Once the trumpet of our army is sounded, we will storm the city..." A series of military orders were conveyed in an orderly manner, and the entire Liao army began to disperse from the gathering state when they were on their way. At the same time, their advancing speed It has also improved a lot.
As the Liao army approached, one man and one horse stood out from the crowd and rushed straight to the foot of Zhuozhou City. They stopped suddenly about ten steps away from the moat. Then the man on the horse shouted loudly: "In the city!" The defenders listen, I, King Xi of Liao, are coming with the heavenly army, and you and others cannot resist it. However, King Xi has a good life and does not want to commit more killings, so I will give you another chance. If you can open it at this moment If the city surrenders, then the past will be forgotten, and you can be promoted to an official position. But if you dare to resist again, the destruction of the city is close at hand, and once the city is destroyed, there will be no men, women, chickens or dogs left in the city!"