Empress Dowager Xiao led an army of 50,000 people out of Beijing and rushed to Nanjing to aid. Half a month later, we arrived in Shunzhou, a hundred miles north of Nanjing. Shunzhou, one of the sixteen states of Yanyun, is still under the control of the Liao Kingdom. Although the Song Dynasty court claimed to its subjects that it had recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, this was not the case. In addition to Liao Nanjing, those that were recovered included Yingzhou, Mozhou, Bazhou, Yizhou, Xin'an Army, Xiongzhou and Zhuozhou. , basically all the land south of Beijing has been recovered, while other places are still under the control of the Liao Kingdom. Among the states currently controlled by Yang Peng, Bazhou, Yizhou, Xin'an Army, and Xiongzhou actually surrendered without a fight. When Yang Peng conquered Zhuozhou and then Nanjing, the prefects of these four states took the initiative in view of the current situation. Surrendered to the Song Dynasty.
After Empress Dowager Xiao arrived in Shunzhou, she allowed the army to rest and regroup while sending people to Nanjing to inquire about the news. In the evening of the same day, the person who went to inquire about the news came back and knelt down and said: "To the Queen Mother, Nanjing has fallen!" Queen Mother Xiao was shocked, "How is it possible? How could Nanjing have fallen in such a short time? Xiao Duli and the others Woolen cloth?"
"On the way to Nanjing, I met several generals such as Xiao Duoli. They are waiting outside." "Tell them to come in." A female officer standing at the door responded and ran down. After a while, Then he led three rather embarrassed generals in. It was Xiao Duoli, the Liao general who stayed in Nanjing, and his lieutenants, Xiao Ying and Long Teduo. The three of them performed a chest-laying salute to Yelutri, who was sitting high above.
Empress Dowager Xiao asked with a stern face: "How did you lose Nanjing?" Xiao Du showed a look of shame, "A few nights ago, the Song army silently climbed onto the city wall and killed the soldiers guarding the city gate. , opened the city gate, and then the Song army rushed in. Our army was caught off guard while they were resting, so that the entire line collapsed! Only the last general and others escaped by chance! "
Queen Mother Xiao stood up, walked to Xiao Duoli, and looked at him with a frown. Xiao Duoli lowered his head, feeling uneasy in his heart. Empress Dowager Xiao said: "I heard that this Song army only has 40,000 people?" Xiao Duoli nodded. Empress Dowager Xiao said angrily: "You have 60,000 elite soldiers, millions of people and the rich city of Nanjing, but you will be defeated?"
Empress Dowager Xiao was speechless and knelt down to plead guilty and said: "The general's crime deserves to be punished by death. Please punish the Queen Mother!" Long Teduo said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, please forgive me!" Empress Dowager Xiao nodded. Long Teduo said: "In fact, in the first half of the war, the initiative on the battlefield was completely in the hands of our army! The general led us to first annihilate Li Te's 50,000-strong army, and then swept through the roads of Song Dynasty and Hebei, annihilating most of Dingwei's army. The main force almost broke through Bianjing City of Song Dynasty."
"However, all this changed when the Cangzhou Army of the Song State entered the battlefield! This Cangzhou Army is completely different from other armies of the Song State. They are extremely brave and have no fear of fighting against our army in the field. Even our Tielin Army cannot break through its defenses! Not only brave, but also extremely cunning! They did not engage in a decisive battle with us from the beginning. Instead, they bypassed the main force of our army and captured Yingzhou and Mozhou by surprise. When our army rushed back for reinforcements, they waited for a decisive battle with our army at Below Yingzhou City."
"Our army was defeated and retreated to the camp. That night, the Cangzhou Army suddenly attacked and broke through the camp with a terrifying weapon we had never seen before. Our army was defeated. No one expected that the Song Army actually retreated before our army. An ambush was set up on the road. In the first battle, our army was almost wiped out. After finally breaking through the siege and returning to Zhuozhou, the general quickly ordered the 20,000 soldiers and horses guarding Nanjing to rush for reinforcements. Unexpectedly, the Song army was ambushed halfway, and our army was almost completely wiped out. .Then the enemy troops disguised themselves as our reinforcements and came to Zhuozhou City, and deliberately confronted another Song army outside the city to lure our troops. Our troops went out of the city to respond, but were besieged by ten times the opponent's force, and then took advantage of the situation to invade Zhuozhou. , Zhuozhou was lost."
"As for the loss of Nanjing, I don't dare to defend myself, but our army is indeed very vigilant! But those Song troops in black are like ghosts. I don't know how they climbed onto the city wall. The soldiers guarding the city gate are all They were all killed before they could react! Then the city gate opened, and there is no need to talk about what happened next."
Empress Dowager Xiao frowned, "So this Song army is a powerful force?" Xiao Duoli and the other three nodded, Xiao Duoli said: "General, I feel that this Song army seems to be like the legendary Song Dynasty. Jingsai Army." Empress Dowager Xiao smiled coldly, "I would like to see how powerful this Song army is!"
Yang Peng walked on the city wall, and Duan Zhixian followed behind and reported to him the seizure situation: "..., all the treasuries in Nanjing City are basically intact, and a total of 1,769,337 dans of grain have been obtained. , all kinds of silk and silver coins were worth a total of 2,976,893 taels of silver. In addition, there were more than 36,000 sets of armor, 3,000 of which were heavy armor, 10,000 bows, and crossbows. Five thousand weapons, countless arrows, and a total of more than 60,000 pieces of spears, swords and other weapons.”
Zhan Jinguo raised his eyebrows, patted his bald head, and said excitedly: "Good boy! We are rich!" Everyone laughed. Yang Peng said: "We can't enjoy these seizures alone. I'm afraid we have to hand over a lot of them!" Everyone became depressed, and Duan Zhixian couldn't help but cursed: "It's his grandma's fault. The emperor didn't contribute half of his efforts, but he actually wanted to do it." Come and share the spoils!" Yang Peng said jokingly: "There is no way, who calls him the boss!" Duan Zhixian curled his lips and said carelessly: "The family didn't recognize him as the boss yesterday, the eldest brother is the boss!" All the brothers nodded. Duan Zhixian grinned and begged Yang Peng: "Brother, let's not hand over these trophies!" Yang Peng said with a smile: "That's not possible. You have to hand over some, otherwise you won't be able to fool him."
Duan Zhixian asked with a grimace: "How much do you have to pay?" Yang Peng thought: "The food is only 769,337 dan, and the silk and silver are only 976,800. Ninety-three taels, and other ordnance shall be reported at half the quantity." Duan Zhixian smiled, and so did the others.
A secret guard rushed up and reported: "Master, the imperial envoy from the imperial court is here!" Yang Peng immediately led the brothers back to the left-behind mansion, and saw the imperial envoy, the same Eunuch Li Demou who had come to Cangzhou to deliver the decree. The Eighth Prince's cronies can be regarded as one of his own.
The two sides exchanged pleasantries, and Li Demou was about to read out the imperial edict. Yang Peng and others knelt down on one knee. Li Demou read out the imperial edict, and the contents were all the same old-fashioned ones, with the key points being these few sentences: Granting Yang Peng the title of governor of the East of the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun to guard the northern border; pardoning the crimes committed by Yang Xiong, Shi Ping, Shi Hu, and Guan Shan , ordered him to serve under Yang Liushou and serve the imperial court.
After reading the imperial edict, everyone thanked them and stood up. Yang Xiong and others glanced at Yang Peng with great gratitude. Yang Peng asked Li Demou to sit down, and the two sat down side by side across a small coffee table on the left side of the hall. Duan Zhixian and others sat down on a row of chairs opposite them.
Yang Peng ordered tea to be served. Several secret guards came in, served tea, and then retreated. Yang Peng invited Li Demou to tea. Li Demou thanked him, took a sip of tea, and put down the tea bowl. Chen Xiao asked: "The imperial edict has appointed me as the east guard of the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun. What does this mean? Is there another west guard?"
Li Demou said: "I was about to tell you, Your Majesty. Due to Grand Master Pang's suggestion, Your Majesty has entrusted two Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures to stay on guard. Your Excellency will stay on guard in the east, and Bi Shi'an will stay on guard in the west. ..." The brothers opposite looked at each other, and Duan Zhixian said The scowl on the face. Yang Peng frowned and said: "If there are two left behind, who will listen to whom?" "There is no priority. You all work on your own and support each other."
Yang Peng smiled bitterly and said: "I'm afraid this approach is not conducive to the defense!" Li Demou sighed, "There is no other way. Lord Kou Zhun has no way to object to Master Pang's suggestion!" Yang Peng thought of something and asked Said: "Who is guarding Nanjing?" "Of course it is guarded by your lord. The jurisdiction of Bi Shi'an's west guard station is Zhuozhou, Yizhou, Xiongzhou, Mozhou, and Yingzhou. This Nanjing, Xin'an Army and Bazhou The adults will be responsible.”
Duan Zhixian couldn't help shouting: Bi Shi'an, a guy who only knows how to defeat the battle, actually wants to divide the five states as soon as he comes back! "Li Demou sighed, "With Grand Master Pang's full support, Your Majesty is being deceived by it! By the way, there is something I need to tell you. The imperial court appointed a supervisor named Sun Tong, who will take office soon. This Sun Tong was the second best in the imperial examination ten years ago. He is a disciple of Grand Master Pang. Sir, please be careful when dealing with him! "
Yang Peng nodded and said with a smile: "My father-in-law is tired from coming from afar. I sent someone to arrange a place for him to live." Li Demou clasped his fists and said, "Then I'll help you, sir." Yang Peng stood up, called Xue Fu, and asked him to lead Li Demou and his party. People go to the post house to rest. Li Demou stood up and said goodbye to Yang Peng, and then followed Xue Fu out of the hall.
Duan Zhixian walked up to Yang Peng and said with an annoyed look on his face: "Brother, this court is really unjust. They actually handed over the five states we worked so hard to conquer to that loser Bi Shi'an!" Yang Peng smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. "Glancing at Duan Zhixian, "Don't we still have three states?" Duan Zhixian was depressed.
Liu Zhiliang frowned and said, "This is the way of checks and balances in the imperial court!"
Duan Zhixian cursed: "What a bullshit system of checks and balances! Bringing such a bastard here is simply going to cause trouble for us! Damn it, that bastard better not mess with us, or else I'll smash him to pieces with one stick!" Everyone laughed! got up.
A scout hurried in and knelt down to report, "Sir, the Liao army is coming!"
Yang Peng frowned slightly, and Duan Zhixian said excitedly: "Well done! I haven't had enough killing before!"
The whine of horns came from the wasteland to the north of the city, and 50,000 Liao troops slowly approached the city in a neat formation. The first row is the 5,000 elite Tielin troops of the Liao army. Their iron armor is clanking and their momentum is as strong as a mountain. The two wings are light cavalry, which also look murderous. Countless infantry are surging like a tide, and the spears like a forest radiate a dazzling cold light.
Under the commander's flag of the Chinese army, a figure stood out. It was a beautiful and armored female general. I saw that she was wearing a heavy iron chain armor and a scarlet cloak. Her hair was tied into a bun with several eagle feathers stuck in it. Although her appearance was not stunning, she was still one of the best in a thousand. She is a beauty, but her beautiful face exudes a cold and cold air that is not found in ordinary women. Her graceful body is very attractive, but she exudes a dangerous aura. This is definitely a sonorous rose, a beauty whose blood is her rouge.
The city gate opened, and more than 30,000 Song troops surged out, forming three huge square formations on the left, center and right with their backs against the city wall. At the outermost edge of each military formation are the heavy-shielded spearmen, followed by the fusiliers, and then the assault infantry.
The Liao army stopped advancing and faced the Song army under the city. At this time, the battlefield was filled with a solemn atmosphere. There was no sound, no wind, and the air seemed to be frozen; a goshawk circled high in the sky and let out a long roar from time to time.
A Liao army general rushed out of the military formation. The Liao army general wore a suit of iron armor, a horned steel helmet on his head, and carried a huge toothed sword. He was very majestic, like a bear riding on a war horse. His face was dark and covered with steel needle whiskers.
The Liao general rode his horse between the two armies, reined in his horse, pointed his sword at the Song army's formation and shouted: "I am General Mutuo, who dares to fight with me?"
Duan Zhixian ran out of the military formation on foot carrying a huge iron staff, came to stand a dozen steps in front of Mutuo's horse, stretched out his staff, and said loudly: "Liao dog, watch me come to take your dog's life!" Mu Tuo saw a The guy who looked like a monk but didn't look like a monk came over. He felt strange in his heart. When he heard the other party's words, he became furious and shouted: "The bald donkey is looking for death!" Yuluo then urged the war horse to rush towards Duan Zhixian. The war horse neighed and leaped, and Mu Tuo raised his sword high, as if he wanted to cut Duan Zhixian in two.
In the blink of an eye, the war horse rushed in front of Duan Zhixian, Mumu yelled and slashed the knife towards Duan Zhixian's head, as powerful as splitting a mountain. Duan Zhixian raised the iron Zen staff and heard a loud clang. The war horse rushed past Duan Zhixian, ran a dozen steps, stopped, and turned around. Mu Tuo shouted loudly and urged his war horse to charge towards Duan Zhixian again. Duan Zhixian showed excitement, and even shouted as he came forward with an iron staff in hand.
Mu Tuo raised his sword and wanted to kill; Duan Zhixian lowered his body and swiped the iron Zen staff at the horse's front legs. There was a loud snap, and the war horse screamed and fell forward. Mu Tuo felt his body suddenly fall forward, and then he flew out, flying several meters away and fell to the ground with a loud bang. Mu Tuo fell to pieces and was unable to get up for a while.
Duan Zhixian rushed forward, raised his iron Zen staff, and chopped off Mu Tuo's head under the watchful eyes of nearly 100,000 troops from both armies. The Liao army was shocked and the Song army's morale was greatly boosted. Queen Xiao's expression changed, and she immediately raised her right hand and waved forward. The war drums rumbled loudly, and the five thousand Liao Iron Forest Army suddenly shouted and launched a cavalry charge.
Duan Zhixian rushed back to the military formation. The five thousand Tielin Army surged towards the Song Army formation in the middle like an overwhelming force. The rumble was like rolling thunder, and the earth trembled with fear. The power of the five thousand Tielin Army seemed to be able to push mountains and fill the sea!
The gunmen lowered their shields together, making a loud noise, and leveled their flintlock guns, aiming at the onrushing Tielin Army. The formation is like a mountain, as if it is unshakable! This is a battle between the indestructible wave and the indestructible battle formation! The Song army fired quickly, and the bullets fell in overwhelming numbers, landing on the Tielin army. The rows of Khitan soldiers in front were like targets, and five hundred people were killed at once. The Khitan bows and arrows seemed to tickle them. .
The torrent of iron cavalry hit the Song Army's front line heavily, making a deafening and thrilling loud noise. The Song Army's front line still didn't understand. Liu Zhiliang was commanding the three-stage attack. No matter how strong the Tielin Army was, they could not withstand the impact of the bullets. Bang , bang, bang, Khitan soldiers were constantly being dismounted. At this time, Queen Mother Xiao felt scared. This was not a war, it was simply a massacre. Khitan soldiers were being dismounted continuously.
The momentum of the Tielin Army's attack finally ran out, and only a single line of defense with heavy shields and spears was broken!
"Open the formation!" With a roar, several openings were opened in the defense line, and more than 3,000 powerful heavy armored infantrymen rushed out with Tang Dynasty Mo Dao and crashed into the Tielin army. Amidst the roar like a ferocious beast, Mo Dao was seen flying up and down, cutting people and horses. The Tielin Army, which had been unstoppable just now, suddenly fell on its back!
Empress Dowager Xiao frowned and ordered the herald: "Let the Tielin Army retreat!" Woo hoo hoo... the horns of the Liao army sounded loudly. The Tielin Army, feeling trapped in a quagmire, immediately retreated. The heavy armored infantry did not pursue them and quickly retreated into the formation. The heavy shield spearmen immediately resumed their line, looking like a mountain from a distance.
"Hey! The Tielin Army under the general's command also charged like this before, and the result was the same! These Song Army's fusilier gunners have the best defense in the world, and they were able to block the frontal impact of the Tielin Army!" Xiao Duoli endured! He couldn't help but sigh.
Empress Dowager Xiao ignored him and carefully observed the Song Army's battle formation opposite, and then ordered the light cavalry to attack the two Song Army battle formations on the left and right. Thousands of light cavalry screamed strangely and swarmed up. Halfway through, they shot at the Song army with their mounted shooting skills. Someone in the Song army was hit by an arrow and fell to the ground. The Song army's fusiliers immediately fired back. The powerful bullets flew in, and the light cavalrymen fell on their backs. The light cavalry put down their bows and arrows, took off their spears, and charged towards the Song army's line with howls!
Seeing this scene, Xiao Duoli said anxiously: "Queen Mother, don't be rash! Even the Tielin Army can't break through, and the light cavalry can only die if they go up!" Empress Dowager Xiao shouted with a cold face: "Shut up!" Xiao Duoli was depressed. , and worried; but Longteduo showed a thoughtful expression.
The light cavalry attacking the square formation on the left collided with the Song Army's heavy shield and spear defense line. The Song Army's defense line remained motionless, and the Liao Army's light cavalry were stabbed off their horses by the Song Army's spears. The Liao army's charge was clearly seeking death.
However, the battle on the right seems a little different. The light cavalry of the Liao Army crashed into the Song Army's defense line, and the Song Army's defense line was obviously shaken! Not only that, when the two sides were shooting at each other with bows and crossbows, the Song army seemed a little panicked! The Liao army fought hard to attack. Although it could not break through the Song army's defense line, it was still full of dangers!
Empress Dowager Xiao smiled coldly and ordered: "Let them retreat!"
The horn sounded, and the light cavalry that attacked the Song army's left and right formations quickly retreated. The leading general Maha Wolf rode up to Yelutri and said with a look of shame on his face: "The last general is incompetent and failed to break through the Song army's defense line!"
Empress Dowager Xiao smiled and said: "You did a good job!" Then she said to a tall and handsome general beside her: "Xiao Feng, you lead all the Tielin troops to attack the Song army's right formation with all their strength! Remember, you must start from Rush from east to west and let the Song army's defeated troops scatter their own army formation!"
Xiao Feng responded, immediately dismounted his horse, led the Tielin Army of more than 4,000 men to turn to the right, and launched a fierce charge towards the Song Army's right formation from the east.
Seeing this scene, Yang Peng frowned and said: "The enemy has discovered our weakness!" Then he said to Duan Zhixian: "Immediately lead all the heavy armored infantry of the Chinese Army to support the Fourth Division!" Lu Zhishen agreed and immediately led thousands of heavy armored infantry He ran out of the Chinese army's formation and ran towards the Fourth Division's square formation.
The Tielin Army crashed into the Fourth Division's defense line like a stormy wave. There was a huge impact. Many Song Army soldiers were knocked away, and several gaps appeared in the battle line! The officers and soldiers of the Song Army couldn't help but show fear when facing the terrifying Tielin Army of the Liao Army.
General Xiao Feng took the lead and led the Tielin Army to break through the Song Army's defense line and rush into the Song Army's formation. The armored warriors charged and killed, and only the bang, bang, bang of gunfire was heard, and the Khitan soldiers fell one by one like harvested wheat! It seems that Khitan can no longer hold on! Zhan Jin took the lead and urged the soldiers to fight, but the situation in front of him seemed irreversible!
Dong dong dong... The war drums of the Liao army rang loudly, and the entire Liao army moved. They divided into two groups and rushed towards the middle army and the left army of the Song army respectively.
Just when the Fourth Division was about to collapse, three thousand heavy armored infantry led by Duan Zhixian rushed to the battlefield, crashed into the middle of the Tielin Army, and fought desperately. A heavy armored infantryman had just cut down a Tielin soldier, but before he could take back his sword, he was knocked away by another Tielin soldier. The momentum of the Tielin Army's attack was contained. At this time Yang Peng's powerful crossbow came on stage. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, the Khitan army in front was like wheat harvesting life for the Song army. The banging gunshots also sounded together. The Khitan army was already overwhelmed at this time. The Khitan army had never seen fighting like this. They opened fire at a hundred and fifty steps and killed a large area of the Khitan army.
Zhan Jinguo shouted to the fearful soldiers below him: "If you are a man, follow me and kill the Liao army!" The soldiers of the Fourth Division regained their fighting spirit and shouted to launch a counterattack. The soldiers and heavy armored infantry of the Fourth Division were engaged in a melee with the elite Tielin Army of the Liao Kingdom. The battle was extremely tragic, and everyone was red-eyed and going crazy.
At the same time, the Chinese Army and the Left Army were already locked in a fierce battle. The Liao Army was bound to capture it, but the Song Army desperately resisted. Looking from a distance, I saw the cold light reflected from the swords and guns was like sparkling waves, blood was flying all over the sky, and soldiers from both sides fell into a pool of blood!
The fierce fighting continued until dusk, and both sides were exhausted. The Song army suffered heavy losses, and the Liao army was littered with corpses, the wind was miserable, and the setting sun was like blood.
Seeing that she could not win, Empress Dowager Xiao had no choice but to order a retreat. The Liao army retreated, without stopping under the city, and retreated all the way to Shunzhou.
In this battle, the two sides fought to a draw, and the Khitan lost nearly 10,000 soldiers. Yang Peng was not having a good time here either. Nearly a thousand people died. Both sides underestimated the enemy in this battle, so that both sides paid a heavy price.
Yang Peng looked at the wounded soldiers, frowned, and murmured: "I underestimated the enemy! I really underestimated the enemy! The Liao army is not as weak as I thought! I almost capsized in the gutter today!"...
The imperial envoys came to Nanjing with a large amount of wine and meat to reward the soldiers, and the city was full of joy. Yang Peng then asked the envoy to return to Tokyo with a large amount of loot.
When silk silver coins worth nearly one million taels of silver were transported to Tokyo, Tokyo residents who had not seen the loot for hundreds of years came to rush to see the grand occasion, and the streets in Tokyo were deserted.
The excited emperor made Yang Peng the title of General of Yulinwei on a whim. The Song Dynasty also had the rank of Sixteen Guards Generals similar to the Tang Dynasty, but they were all in vain and had no real power.
If you want to know what happens next, let’s look at the breakdown in the next chapter.
