This fierce battle lasted from midnight to dawn, and from morning to dusk. The Shandong Army, which had an absolute advantage in all aspects, finally forced the Liao Army into a strip in the northeast corner of Zhuozhou City when it got dark again. In the alley, there were only two or three thousand Liao soldiers who could still fight at this time, and they had truly reached the end of their rope.
The Shandong Army, which was much stronger than the Liao Army in terms of military strength, physical fitness, weapons, etc., still used its own strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses. It relied on street fighting in the city to make the enemy's cavalry lose their ability to maneuver and sprint, and then spent a lot of time to force them back. In a desperate situation, this result alone is enough to show how terrifying the combat power of this Liao army is. Moreover, the Shandong Army's own casualties at this time were not small, and all the soldiers rushing forward were injured.
But even so, they had no intention of retreating. They were still fighting for the lead. Under the command of the generals, they continued to use bows and crossbows to kill the Liao soldiers who were trapped in the beast fight, and harvested the lives of the enemy soldiers bit by bit. In other parts of the city, there were still sporadic battles, but other soldiers and horses were doing the final cleanup of the battlefield, eradicating the Liao soldiers who had escaped one by one.
Seeing that the war was about to end, the coach Sun Tu at the back of the team was naturally excited. This victory was really crucial, and it was entirely caused by him. What's more important is that the casualties of his troops were smaller than expected. Many, all of this alone was enough for him to have an explanation for himself and the soldiers, and it was not in vain for him to take the risk of coming to Zhuozhou this time.
However, the Liao army's final resistance was quite fierce. Even though there were only two or three thousand men left, they all still fought bravely, almost risking their lives, and fought bloody to the end. This made every subsequent advance of the Shandong Army quite difficult, and the number of casualties continued to increase.
There is nothing that can be done about this, because the terrain here is indeed conducive to defense and difficult to attack. The long and narrow lanes can often block the Song army's advance as long as the Liao army deploys dozens of people. Moreover, due to the complex terrain, which was full of residential buildings and earthen walls of varying heights, the lethality of the crossbows they relied on to suppress the Liao people was reduced by more than half.
Just now, the trapped camp, under the leadership of Wu Song and Lu Da, rushed forward for a while, but in the end, they were still fought back by the enemy. They suffered many injuries and could only retreat temporarily. However, Sun Tu was not too anxious about such a situation, because he had already arranged for people to make targeted preparations early in the morning. Presumably, the problem at hand would be solved soon.
"General, I have been ordered to collect dozens of cans of kerosene from the top of the city." Sure enough, after a while, a general strode behind him, it was Ling Zhen.
Sun Tu nodded with satisfaction when he heard the sound: "Very good, send me these kerosene cans to the front, and then have people prepare the trebuchets, and give the Liao army who are still resisting an ultimatum. If they still refuse to abandon their weapons and surrender, , we launched a fire attack and burned them and the residences here to ashes!"
"Obey the order!" Ling Zhen and some of the surrounding generals hurriedly crossed their hands to obey the order, quickly ordered his soldiers to start moving the relevant weapons forward, and led several soldiers with loud voices to step forward and shout to the Liao army in the alley.
He shouted words full of threats, but what he got in exchange was a burst of incomprehensible curses from the Liao people inside, and two arrows, which almost injured the soldier who shouted. After seeing this scene, Ling Zhen immediately said angrily: "These Liao people really don't want to die without seeing the coffin. That's the case."
, let them have a taste of it! Come here, put the fire oil cans in, add some fire to them, and see how long they can stay in this turtle shell! "
The soldiers who had been impatient for a long time immediately took action after hearing the order. After a few shouts, dozens of earthen jars filled with kerosene rose into the sky, crossed several arcs, and then crashed into the ground. Among the houses in the alley. Immediately, the crossbowmen in the rear quickly released the ignited rockets, and the flames flew into the courtyards with roars. When they touched the kerosene flowing everywhere, the flames spread quickly.
Suddenly, there was a huge fire in the alley and thick smoke billowing, accompanied by the screams of Liao soldiers. Some Liao soldiers near the entrance of the alley were burned by the fire and found it difficult to hide. Regardless of the Song troops in front of them, they all ran out screaming and were captured by the troops who had been waiting outside.
The only regret is that the terrain here is indeed too complex, and there are many earth walls blocking the turning points. As a result, the fire cannot fully extend to the depths of the entire alley. It cannot really burn out all the Liao troops. It can only Spend more time and advance layer by layer to completely annihilate the enemy.
"General, there is no need to go to such trouble. We still have hundreds of bombs and thunderbolts. As long as we use them all at this time, even if we cannot annihilate them all, it will be enough to completely defeat their last line of defense." Song Jiang said Shi took a step forward and suggested in a low voice.
Sun Tu glanced at him and shook his head and said: "What's the point of killing a chicken with a sledgehammer? I still have great use for these weapons, how can I waste them on these defeated armies? And the living Xiao Qian is more useful than the dead one." Much more. So I just need to force them to surrender instead of killing them all."
Song Jiang glanced at Sun Tu secretly. Somehow, his general, whom he had not seen for several years, put more pressure on him than before. He no longer had the courage to persuade him anymore, so he could only say yes. No more words.
Facts have proved that at this moment, the Liao Army has reached the critical point of military collapse. As the Shandong Army advances again, another batch of earthen jars are dropped near them. Just when they are about to release the rockets, there is finally a sound of despair. The shouts: "Stop... stop. We are willing to surrender and stop setting fires..."
After all, people are greedy for life and afraid of death. There may be some people who are willing to sacrifice their lives for loyalty and ideals, but when the number becomes hundreds or thousands, it will be difficult to make everyone willing to die. Perhaps Xiao Qian had great prestige in the army, but that was based on the premise that he could lead the army to continuous victory. But now, when the Liao Army's past pride has been completely shattered, his prestige that he has gained over the years no longer exists.
As these words were shouted, after discovering that the Song army had indeed not fired any more arrows, the Liao army finally slowly staggered out from the depths of the alley. First a few, then dozens, hundreds, and finally nearly two thousand Liao soldiers, covered in blood and in extreme embarrassment, walked out with weapons in their hands raised high and fear on their faces.
When they saw this scene, the soldiers who were waiting outside the alley cheered for a while: "We have won! The Song Dynasty will win, General Sun is mighty!"
"The Song Dynasty will win, General Sun is mighty!"... Cheers then extended from all directions, reaching all corners of Zhuozhou City. With the surrender of the Liao army, it meant that the Battle of Zhuozhou finally ended with a complete victory of the Song army.
And ended.
The tiredness on the faces of all the Shandong Army officers and soldiers was wiped away, replaced by pride and excitement. Because they knew very well that this battle was a rare victory for the Song Dynasty in so many years. It can be said that in the past twenty years, the Song Dynasty has not achieved such a great victory on the frontal battlefield. There were tens of thousands of elite Liao troops. They were defeated by them in one battle without even a chance to escape and fight again. None.
For Sun Tu and other generals, the significance of this battle is extremely important. Xiao Qian is one of the most famous generals in the Liao army. Being able to capture him alive is more glorious than defeating his army of hundreds of thousands. As long as he can capture him alive, he will be more glorious. Taking it to Tokyo is enough to make people all over the world feel excited and cheer.
Because of this, Sun Tu kept his eyes fixed on the Liao soldiers and generals who kept coming and going, waiting for that important person to appear. After a long time, his eyes finally fell on a slightly thin general Liao with a cold and gloomy face. He knew that this was the Xiao Qian he was looking for.
Compared with others, although Xiao Qian was also covered in blood and injured, his overall aura was quite strong. His back was straight and his eyes were resolute. Even when he met Sun Tu's eyes, he never looked at him. A little flinch. He came to Sun Tu, looked at him silently for a while, and then sighed: "Song General Sun Tu is indeed well-deserved. No wonder he is so respected by Dashi Linya. I only regret that I underestimated him after all. Because of your methods and calculations, I was defeated today." The sarcasm and disdain in his tone was not concealed at all.
"Bold!" His performance aroused the dissatisfaction of the generals of the Shandong Army. Immediately, someone shouted sharply: "How dare the defeated general be so presumptuous and not kneel down and be bound!" Following this shout , hundreds of soldiers around raised their swords and guns and pointed them at Xiao Qian and others, which frightened the expressions of other Liao soldiers. However, all the weapons in their hands were confiscated when they came out of the alley, and they had no ability to protect themselves even with their bare hands.
Faced with such a scene, Xiao Qian showed no fear or anger at all. He just looked at the crowd calmly and said, "Although I am a defeated general, I am also the Xi King of Liao Dynasty. I am not someone you can insult casually. Listen earlier. You said that the people of Song Dynasty are the most reasonable and polite, but now it seems that it is nothing more than that. If you are really not afraid of being accused of going back on your word and killing the surrendered troops, you can give the order to do it now!" At the end of the sentence, his eyes fell completely. Sun Tu, who was in front, had a look on his face that was righteous and unyielding.
Under his influence, even the surrendered Liao troops on the side actually straightened up their chests again, completely ignoring the swords, guns and arrows of the Song army around them, as if they were not the ones who were defeated.
This further aroused the anger in the hearts of the Shandong Army officers. They were about to scold or even take action when Sun Tu suddenly waved his hand: "The winner should have the courage of the winner. Why bother because of these incompetent people?" A few words of his have messed up your mind? Don’t worry, I, Sun Tu, can’t kill anyone yet.”
As he waved his hand and spoke, the soldiers lowered their weapons, but their eyes were still full of dissatisfaction. Sun Tu continued to look at Xiao Qian: "It seems that you still can't accept today's big defeat, so you insist on pretending to be fearless about life and death, in order to keep your last strength. A little bit of dignity?"