The east wing of the Khitan army collapsed after only one round of powerful crossbow fire. The Khitan soldiers never expected to be hit by such bows and arrows. At a distance of 800 meters, the bloody scene was so terrifying that they lost their fighting spirit. A thousand people were killed in one fell swoop. How much blood would it take to rush forward? They didn't dare to rush forward, but fled in panic towards the road they came from.
Like crabs receding on the beach, the five thousand Khitan soldiers from the east wing scurried away with their heads in their hands. The Khitan soldiers rushed to the place where they dismounted, snatched the horses, and fled far away. The scene of snatching the military horses was very chaotic. Han Chinese, Koreans, and Xi tribes fought for the horses. Although these followers did not dare to compete with the bannermen, it was obvious that they had lost order after being defeated by strong crossbows and arrows.
In the center of the Khitan army, Hu Yuan stared dumbfounded at the collapsed east wing. Is this a defeat? Isn't it just the beginning? Did your warrior collapse before he even touched the enemy? He led a group of soldiers and horses to plunder Qinghe County. The county seat was not taken, but it was defeated by the Song army with a single blow? If this matter spreads, how will Hu Yuan be able to establish himself in Youzhou in the future?
Why does the Song army on the opposite side have so many powerful crossbows? How can they fight this battle?
Hu Yuanyou wanted to personally go into battle to sort out the defeated troops and charge at the Song army on the east wing, but the black holes of powerful crossbows in the Song army's formation made him feel cold. This is a Song army that Hu Yuan has never encountered before. The shape of this war has changed in a direction that Hu Yuan cannot understand. Where did the Song army come from, and why was it so powerful? Hu Yuan suddenly remembered Yeqi Hongguang. It is said that Yeqi Hongguang was defeated by a Song army full of firearms. Could it be that I encountered this Song army?
After the Song army on the opposite east wing defeated the east wing of the Qing Khitan army, it began to outflank the middle road. The Khitan army was originally small in number, and it was impossible to stop such a powerful Song army. The three thousand Khitan army in the middle would obviously be defeated soon, and the entire army collapsed in front of them. An elite of the Xi Army in front of Hu Yuan pulled Hu Yuan's horse and said loudly: "General, we lose! Leave quickly!" Hu Yuan looked at the scene on the battlefield, and his heart seemed to be bleeding. After escaping, how many of his troops will be hunted down by the Song army? Hu Yuan seemed to have seen the scene of Empress Dowager Xiao punishing him in anger. Maybe he would not be able to keep his title of regimental training envoy!
But the defeat has been decided. Letting the soldiers escape and reducing losses is the only thing Hu Yuan can do at present. "Ming Jin! Retreat the troops!" Hu Yuan yelled, then rode his horse and fled to the west. Under his leadership, the five hundred elite troops of the Chinese Army turned their horses and fled to the west. On the battlefield, the Khitan troops on the central and west wings had just entered combat mode when they suddenly heard the order to withdraw, and were inexplicably surprised. They looked back and saw the collapsed east wing and the Chinese army fleeing in panic.
How is this going? Didn't the fighting just start? But no matter what, the battle was lost. The Khitan soldiers no longer had the fighting spirit, so they abandoned the Song army one by one and retreated to the place where they dismounted. However, although they retreated, they did not collapse and retreated as an organization. While retreating, they turned around and shot arrows to drive back the pursuing Song army, then mounted their horses and fled to the west.
The three generals on the west wing didn't know what happened. They only knew that after the sound of arrows, the Khitan army retreated one after another. No matter what, the balance of victory has tipped to the Song Army! The three general soldiers rushed out on horseback excitedly and led the cavalry to chase the Khitan soldiers.
Huaihua's march into Shi Pingzhang was inexplicably exciting. This was a rare opportunity to pursue the enemy! Sure enough, if you follow Yang Peng's troops to kill the enemy, you will have the opportunity to make meritorious deeds! Holding the boring palladium in hand, he rushed to the front of the team of servants. After hacking to death two Khitan auxiliary soldiers who failed to grab the war horses, he continued to chase westward, chasing the Khitan soldiers who were galloping westward.
But the Khitan soldiers were not so easy to chase. The Tatar archers turned around and shot a few arrows from time to time, and could even shoot down the chasing Song cavalry. But when had Shi Pingzhang ever pursued the Khitan army with such ease? At this time, he was so eager to perform meritorious service that he suddenly forgot about his personal safety and led his servants into the rear of the Khitan army, fighting with the Khitan soldiers at the rear.
What Shi Pingzhang bit was a Khitan army of more than a hundred people, who had been shooting arrows at the back of the Khitan army. These Khitan soldiers did not break up. They just retreated when they heard the sound of ringing gold. They were still able to fight against Shi Pingzhang's retainers. But they fought with Shi Pingzhang's servants for a while, and then a large group of Song troops came from behind. Finally, these Khitan troops were surrounded by a large group of Song army cavalry.
These Khitan soldiers' eyes were bloodshot, and they roared and charged back and forth in the Song army's formation, killing three or four of Shi Pingzhang's servants. The momentum of the trapped beasts still fighting made Shi Pingzhang's servants unable to hold them down for a while. However, more and more Song troops surrounded them outside, and the Song army's archers began to shoot arrows at these Khitan troops. The bowstrings rang, and the Khitan soldiers were hit by arrows one after another and fell off their horses.
Shi Pingzhang laughed loudly. He ordered ten soldiers to go up and cut off the heads. He led his servants and rode towards the Khitan army in the distance. More than 3,000 cavalrymen from Zhang Yan, Shi Pinghu, and Kou Zhun also rushed out to pursue the Khitan army. These cavalrymen galloped across the North China Plain, chasing the Khitan cavalry who fled in embarrassment.
Yang Peng's vanguard regiment is also chasing the Khitan army. Yang Bamei and the cavalry of the vanguard regiment have rifles. They can rush to within two hundred meters of the Khitan army and kill the cavalry in front. There is no need to fight with the Khitan soldiers. The efficiency of the pursuit is very high. Very high. The vanguard group pursued for more than ten miles south and killed more than a thousand Khitan soldiers who were gradually falling behind.
What's more troublesome is that every time you kill a Khitan army, you have to dismount immediately and have your head cut off, otherwise it is very likely that Shi Pingzhang's servants will cut off your head. After chasing for more than ten miles, the Song Army's cavalry stopped chasing. At this time, the Song Army's infantry had fallen ten miles away from the cavalry, and there were only more than 6,000 Ming Army cavalry chasing them. If the Khitan's more than 10,000 soldiers and horses turned around to surround the Song Army's cavalry, the situation would be reversed.
The Song troops watched the Khitan troops flee from a distance, feeling both proud and regretful. The results of this battle were very gratifying. Shi Pingzhang rode back and forth on the battlefield, calculating his gains. Finally, he got a number that made his eyes shine: level three hundred and twenty-three!
Shi Pingzhang triumphantly patrolled the battlefield and finally found Yang Peng. "Lord City Lord, how many heads have you captured?" Yang Peng turned to ask Yang Bamei: "How many levels have we hunted down?" Yang Bamei replied: "General, we have hunted down 1,120 levels!"
Yang Peng replied: "Including the 1,071 levels before the battle, my soldiers have achieved 2,191 levels!" Shi Pingzhang was stunned. He did not expect that Yang Peng had obtained so many heads. He praised him. He hit Yang Peng on the chest like a circle and said: "Good guy!" But he soon became proud again and said loudly: "Lord City Lord, I have also achieved level 320! Hahahaha!"
After chasing down the Khitan army, Kou Zhun summoned all the troops to check their military exploits. Finally, it was determined that in this battle, Shi Pinghu captured and killed at level 272, Zhang Yan captured and killed at level 231, Shi Pingzhang captured and killed at level 323, and Kou Zhun and Governor Biaoying captured and killed at level 307. However, these four families together did not gain as much as Yang Peng. Yang Peng's army captured and killed 2,191 people.
Now that Yang Peng has a strong army, no one can share his military exploits. Yang Peng did not share the merits of the victory over Hanjiazhuang, nor did Yang Peng share the merits of capturing more than 2,000 levels this time with others. However, this time, the three families and Kou Zhun's Biao camp all gained, and it was only because of Yang Peng's defeat of the Qing army's east wing that everyone achieved such gains. For a while, no one was jealous of Yang Peng.
Kou Zhun and the generals happily surrounded the sergeants who were salting their heads with lime, discussing this great victory. "I never thought that I, Shi Pingzhang, could chase and kill more than 10,000 Khitan soldiers! It's really fun!" Shi Pinghu laughed loudly and said: "It's all thanks to the city lord, the general, who defeated the Khitan's east wing with one blow! We were able to hunt down the Khitan soldiers like this. What a chance! The soldiers and horses of the city lord general are so brave that they defeated the Khitan soldiers with one round of powerful crossbow arrows."
Zhang Yan said with a smile: "One hundred and forty powerful crossbows, really a thousand arrows shot together. How can a flesh and blood body stop this powerful crossbow bow and arrow?" Zhang Yan asked curiously: "What kind of bow and arrows does the city lord general use?" ?Can you kill a thousand Khitan soldiers with one round of artillery fire?"
Yang Peng said: "The strong crossbow I use can kill two Khitan soldiers with one arrow from a distance of 800 meters!" "What is a long arrow?" "It is a strong crossbow with ten long arrows!"
Shi Pinghu suddenly realized it and kept saying that was the case. Shi Pingzhang said: "Let's go! Let's take a look at the powerful crossbow of the city lord?" Everyone was very interested and went to Yang Peng's army to watch Li Zhi's powerful crossbow. Everyone has limited knowledge about crossbows, and they only know about machine crossbows and crossbows. As for Li Zhi's iron core, copper body technology and iron billet cannon casting technology, they couldn't figure it out at all.
After looking around, these generals didn't see any tricks, they were just cheering. Kou Zhun stroked his beard and said: "The cannons of the city lord general are indeed powerful. I wonder how much one costs?" Yang Peng gave a tally and replied: "One costs six hundred taels of silver!"
Kou Zhun calculated and said: "Six hundred taels is a good deal. After this battle, I, the superintendent of the Biao Battalion, also want to equip some of these powerful crossbows. At that time, I will give twelve thousand taels to the general, and the general will make them for me." Twenty powerful crossbows?" Yang Peng's cost of casting a powerful crossbow was only one hundred taels. If he sold each of six hundred taels to Kou Zhun, he would make a profit of 500 taels. Yang Peng thought in his mind that this business would not work, but finally agreed.
"Okay, then I will fire twenty crossbows for Lord Kou!" Kou Zhun was happy when he heard this, stroking his long beard with satisfaction and nodded. Hearing that Qiang Nu was willing to use Qiang Nu for Kou Zhun, several generals hurriedly gathered around and said, "General City Lord, I also want fifteen gates!" "General City Lord, also cast twenty gates for me!"
Seeing that these three generals wanted to buy their own strong crossbows, Yang Peng felt that he was selling them too cheaply and didn't want to sell them anymore. He lied and said, "It takes a month to make a strong crossbow. I have three workshops working together." I can only cast three doors a month. When I finish casting twenty doors for Lord Kou next year, I can cast them for you again!"
The three generals were stunned when they heard this, but they thought it was reasonable. It usually takes dozens of days and a month to make a strong crossbow. Yang Peng's strong crossbow is cheap, but it can't be made faster than others. It's just that I can only cast three doors this month. I don't know when and what month I can cast them for myself. The three generals looked at Yang Peng's crossbow angrily, very unwillingly.
Shi Pinghu said tentatively: "How many used artillery pieces can the city lord general sell me? Urgent use!" Yang Peng rolled his eyes and said: "Those are not for sale!" Everyone was discussing ordnance there when they heard firecrackers in the distance. The sound sounded. Everyone looked back and saw that the gate of Jinghai City was wide open, and the gentry and common people in the city came out to reward the army, carrying wine and meat on their backs.
There are only a thousand rural soldiers in the city. Those rural soldiers and civilians guarded the city for five days, watching the traps and tunnels under the city being filled up little by little by the Khitan army. Everyone thought that this time it would be inevitable. Unexpectedly, Wang Shi came from the north and defeated the Khitan army in one fell swoop. The people in the city rejoiced, saying that it was Master Wang who saved me, so they naturally came out to reward the officers and soldiers.
The group of people carried pigs, sheep, livestock, wine, rice and food out of the city gate and walked towards Kou Zhun beating gongs and drums. The people in the city crowded the streets and crowded outside the city gate. They crowded under the city wall to see what the life-saving officers and soldiers were like, but they were a little afraid of the officers and soldiers and did not dare to go to the front.
Walking at the front of the team was an old man on crutches. The old man was seventy or eighty years old, with snow-white beard and hair, but he still looked strong. Walking next to him was a civil servant wearing the official uniform of a seventh-grade civil servant, probably the magistrate of Jinghai County. The old man looked at the arrangement of the army, looked in front of the formation, grabbed a few soldiers and asked, then led the people to walk towards Yang Peng's strong crossbowmen, and found a group of officials who were discussing ordnance. Military general.
Kou Zhun saw the people coming and led Yang Peng and others to greet them. Walking in front of Kou Zhun, the old man asked: "Which king is this?" Kou Zhun raised his hands and said: "Old man, I am Kou Zhun, the doctor of Jin Ziguanglu, and these are my soldiers and horses!" The old man said He looked at Kou Zhun, raised his hands and said, "It turns out to be Lord Kou, you are so polite!"
The magistrate quickly came up and said, "Master Kou, this is Lu Duan, the former Minister of the Ministry of War and the former Prime Minister."
Kou Zhun suddenly realized, raised his hands and said, "This junior has met Lu Gong!" The old man waved his hand and said, "I have become an official and now I have no official status. Master Kou is exempt from courtesy, please don't offend me." Lu Duan looked at him. The general behind Kou Zhun asked, "I can see clearly from the city gate that it was a long arrow that drove back the Khitan soldiers. This crossbow is really sharp! Which general's crossbow is this?"
Kou Zhun let Yang Peng out and said, "This is Yang Peng's crossbowmen in Tianjing New City!" Yang Peng walked up to Lu Duan, cupped his hands and said, "Lv Gong, I'm going to Tianjing New City, Yang Peng!" Lu Duan looked at it. Yang Peng said: "The general saved the people of Jinghai City and saved the lives of Lao Chen's family. I give you my respect!" After saying this, he slowly bent down, and in the end he arched his waist. He put his hands on the crutches and gave Yang Peng a deep bow with difficulty.
When the county magistrate saw Lu Duan bowing down, he also quickly bowed to Yang Peng and said loudly: "General, please bow to me!" Upon seeing this, the squires and common people behind Lu Duan knelt on the ground one after another, kowtowed and said:
"Thank you Master Wang for saving us!" "Master Wang saved our lives, we are so grateful!" "Master Wang is so powerful that he saved the people of this city!"
Some excited people cried. They thought about how much they would suffer if the Khitan attacked the city, how many relatives they would lose, and whether they could save their lives. As they thought about it, they became more and more grateful to Yang Peng who used a powerful crossbow to drive away the Khitan soldiers. They all knelt on the ground and cried with tears.
Lu Duan was also very emotional. He had a fierce personality. If Kou Zhun's reinforcements did not come again, he would be ready to hang himself after the city was broken. This time the Khitan army attacked Gaoyang City, his five sons, six grandsons, two nephews, and eight grandnephews all took the initiative to join the strong civilian team that defended the city. More than a hundred men from his family were on the city wall to help the country soldiers defend the city. If the city is captured by the Khitan soldiers, his entire family will definitely suffer the harshest retaliation from the Khitan army, and they may not survive.
Yang Peng used cannon to repel Hu Yuan and saved not just him but his whole Lu family. How could Lu Duan's gratitude to Yang Peng be expressed in more than one bow? Seeing Lu Duan thanking Yang Peng, and seeing the people kowtow to thank Yang Peng, cry and worship, the three generals were filled with sadness. Lu Duan was a famous minister of his generation and the emperor's master of Zhenzong. It was truly a blessing to be worshiped by such a famous minister. And these people's tears of gratitude are not what the general has wanted in his life?
They were a little jealous of Yang Peng's treatment, but they also admired him very much. Who let their troops not have the combat effectiveness of Yang Peng, so that they could drive away the Khitan soldiers with one arrow? Yang Peng's combat power is worthy of such a scene. If they wait until next year and buy dozens of powerful crossbows from Yang Peng, maybe they can be as majestic as Yang Peng?
Kou Zhun stood aside and smiled. Lu Xiangsheng is thirty-nine years old this year and has been working as an official in Bianjing. He has only seen Lu Duan from a distance a few times, and that was more than ten years ago. He and Lu Duan basically didn't know each other, but when he met Lu Duan today, Kou Zhun realized that Lu Duan's eyes were really powerful - Lu Duan could tell at a glance that this army mainly relied on Yang Peng to fight and find out the real master. grateful.
Yang Peng looked at the people kneeling down and smiled. He helped Lu Duan up and said loudly: "Please get up, Mr. Lu! Now that the Khitan is raging, it is our duty as military attaches to rescue the people. Why do you need to be so polite?" Lu Duan slowly straightened up and said: "If it weren't for the general , Dozens of people from the Laochan sect will all be unavoidable! How can it be that they are all Laochan?"
The people gradually stood up. An old villager came up with rice wine in his hand and said, "This is rice wine brewed by the villagers using local millet. Please have a drink with Mr. Kou and the generals!" Kou Zhun drank the rice wine in his hand. The old man brought the rice wine to Yang Peng again. Yang Peng picked up the wine bowl and drank it in one gulp. Lu Duan looked at Yang Peng, nodded, and said slowly: "The national tiger general is a blessing to the country!"
However, Hu Yuan's career was not honorable. He was beaten away by Kou Zhun and fled to Mozhou. In the Khitan army tent under the city, Xiao Tianzuo and the Khitan army generals were sitting on chairs, looking at Hu Yuan who was standing in the middle of the tent. Han Derang has an extraordinary appearance, a talent for archery and horsemanship, and has always been a bit conceited. Hearing Hu Yuan's words, Han Derang sneered and said: "You said that when you besieged Jinghai City, you were defeated by more than 20,000 Song troops!" After a pause, Han Derang said: "Hu Yuan, you have a group of soldiers under your banner. Fifteen thousand Daliao warriors!"
Hu Yuan's face turned red, and he looked at himself, Han Derang, with some annoyance, and said loudly: "If Han De asked you to be there, you would still have no choice but to run away!" Han Derang said loudly: "We, Yingzhou's five thousand soldiers and horses, defeated twelve thousand Thousands of Song troops. If I lead 15,000 soldiers and horses, I will definitely beat the more than 20,000 Song troops into panic!"
Hu Yuan was scolded by Handerang and felt a little ashamed. The Khitan army's expedition was divided into internal and external operations. Xiao Tianzuo led Xiao Tianyou, Zhang Hua and Han Derang to attack the castle of the Song Army's Guanning defense line in the west of Mozhou to contain the Western Army's troops. And not all of the Khitan troops entering the fortress were from Daliao. Among the troops entering the fortress, there were probably more than 30,000 Khitan troops, plus more than 20,000 Xi tribesmen and Bohai tribesmen, and finally some handymen, known as one hundred thousand.
At this time, there were many Xi tribe nobles and Khitan nobles sitting in Xiao Tianzuo's camp. Xiao Tianyou came up and said something to Hu Yuan: "This Song army can defeat Hu Yuan, it must be good. I don't know which Song army it is?" Hu Yuan then found a step and said quickly: "This Song army can defeat Hu Yuan." The army is the soldiers and horses of Kou Zhun of the Song Dynasty, and under his command is Yang Peng, who completely wiped out the Hongguang soldiers and horses of Yeqi the year before!"
Kou Zhun's name was well known and did not attract the attention of the generals. But when they heard Yang Peng's name, the Khitan generals in the tent were startled. The year before last, Yeli's 12,000-strong Yellow Banner army was defeated by Yang Peng in Cangzhou. The soldiers were almost wiped out by Yang Peng. Only more than a thousand auxiliary soldiers and miscellaneous soldiers escaped alive and returned to the army in Yingzhou. The Baizhao envoy was crippled in this battle.
If Xiao Tianzuo can plunder more people and property this time and return to Youzhou, his prestige will be even greater. Empress Dowager Xiao will have to discuss all military and state affairs with Xiao Tianzuo in the future. Upon hearing that Hu Yuan had met this Yang Peng, a hint of fear flashed in the eyes of all the Khitan nobles, and they looked at each other several times. This was the master who led four thousand soldiers and horses to cripple twelve thousand Zhengye's red army. If the Battle of Dagou was still a fluke, then he defeated Hu Yuan again this time, which is enough to prove Li Zhi's strength.
After the Northern Recruitment Envoy was defeated at Dagou City the year before last, the Liao State sent a large number of agents to Cangzhou to inquire about Yang Peng's intelligence. Although the continuous guarantee system in Tianjing New City is strictly enforced and Liao Guo's elite cannot get in, it is easy to get in in Cangzhou. The Liao State's detailed operations found a lot of information about Yang Peng in Cangzhou, and they had already figured out Yang Peng's basic situation.
After Yang Peng defeated Ye Yi Hongguang, there was no news. This Yang Peng is completely different from other Ming generals. The other generals of the Song Dynasty were living on empty pay and drinking blood from their troops. It would be good to have 3,000 soldiers out of 5,000. But this Yang Peng did the opposite and used private property to support his troops. Xiao Tianzuo, the great general of the Liao Kingdom, sat in the middle of a group of nobles, frowning in thought.
Xiao Tianzuo is a lean young man with a handsome face and a beautiful beard. He was only forty-seven years old at this time, but he was already a very important figure in the Liao Kingdom. Other generals and nobles may not be particularly clear about Yang Peng's information, but Xiao Tianzuo does know it very well. In Xiao Tianzuo's heart, this Yang Peng was already the number one enemy of the Liao Kingdom. Hearing Hu Yuan report Yang Peng's name, Xiao Tian narrowed his left eye and said coldly: "Is this Yang Peng again?"
After all, what happened next will be explained later.
