All the troops involved in the siege that day suffered heavy casualties.
The leaders of the various ministries in the big tent all lowered their heads and said nothing. They were unwilling to participate in the war against the Song Dynasty. If it weren't for the fact that they had made a grammatical agreement and sworn an oath before going to the war, they would have retreated long ago.
At this moment, Mu Zheng's face was ashen, because his younger brother Ba Zhanmo was shot through the chest by Song Jun's crossbow and died on the spot.
Mu Zheng glanced at the body of his brother Ba Zengmo, pulled out his sword and smeared his fingers, and then smeared the blood on his forehead in streaks.
The leaders of various tribes had planned to ask Mu Zheng to withdraw their troops, but Mu Zheng was silent. The Tibetan tribe attaches great importance to revenge by blood relatives. If there is a grudge, the people will not let it go for generations until they have to take revenge on the other party with their own hands.
Mu Zheng's move meant that only one person could survive between him and the Song army who killed his brother.
Mu Zheng's face was as bloody as he said: "Ali Gu and the Dangxiang people have been watching for a long time, now it's their turn to take action!"
Mu Zheng's original intention was not to let Dong Xiang and Dang Xiang interfere. He also wanted to use this to show his strength so that he could have a place to fight against Dong Xiang and Dang Xiang in the land of Hehuang in the future.
Now Mu Zheng had no choice but to look like this.
At this moment, there was a scene of jubilation in the Song Army's camp. During the day, the Tibetan cavalry suffered a lot of casualties. However, under the defense of the camp, the Song Army used bows and crossbows to defend the enemy from a distance. However, there were not many casualties. Only Zhang Sai's The forward camp guarded by the Guangrui Army of the Ministry suffered only twenty or thirty casualties.
At night, the Song Army camp was brightly lit.
The fortress had been built to a height of more than ten feet, and two trenches had been dug. It was nearly half a mile closer to Muzheng's tent, and was completely built right under Muzheng's nose. When Mu Zheng's soldiers wanted to go out to fetch water, they were within the range of the Song army's crossbows.
As for the point where the fort leads to the city, a corridor was also built.
Zhang Yue left the city overnight to inspect the army, but he was very pleased to see that the morale of the soldiers was very high.
Taking advantage of the cessation of fighting between the two sides, the commanders of each battalion went to the central army to discuss matters. Everyone believed that the Tibetan army was vulnerable. Several generals even made bold statements about taking the heads of the soldiers tomorrow. Even Jing Sili underestimated the enemy.
Zhang Yue believed that although Mu Zheng was not as good as Dang Xiang, he was still a strong leader who defended his side and would not be so vulnerable. But he didn't understand military affairs, so he just listened to Jing Sili's arrangements.
What Zhang Yue wants to do now is to reward the soldiers who have made meritorious service today in the tent. When Zhang Yue left the city, he came directly with a basket of gold and silver. When the generals below reported the meritorious soldiers, Zhang Yue rewarded them on the spot without saying a word.
Zhang Yue just grabbed a handful of gold and silver from Zhang Gong who was holding a basket behind him and put it in the soldier's felt hat.
Yes, our rewards are so rough and domineering.
Finally, Zhang Yue personally toasted another bowl of wine to each other. When every soldier who had done meritorious service saw Zhang Yue, the county guard, personally toasting to them, their faces turned red and blood surged up all over their bodies.
As for those who had made great contributions, Zhang Yue did not hesitate and gave them official positions on the spot.
Yes, this is the power given to him by the emperor, almost like an official. Except for Gao Zunyu and Jing Sili, Zhang Yue could not confer rewards on his own for generals such as Gao Zunyu and Jing Sili, who were ranked as ambassadors. The rest could be conferred officials first and then ask for a paper of appointment from the court.
This is the power of the feudal officials.
Among them, five of the soldiers who made meritorious deeds were able to overwhelm Fan Junjia Cavalry and kill several people in a row, and one of them even killed five or six people in a row.
Zhang Yue looked at the other person named Ma Kui, a tall and powerful military man in his twenties. Zhang Yue immediately brought a bowl of wine to the other party in person. This man drank three bowls in a row. After each bowl, Zhang Yue praised Jing Sili and other generals: "What a good man!"
Everyone on the left and right echoed: "What a good man!"
After drinking three bowls in a row, Ma Kui was so drunk that his face turned red. Zhang Yue laughed and said, "How can a good man not know how to drink?"
After saying this, all the soldiers laughed.
Zhang Yue said: "Ma Kuiru has made outstanding achievements in this battle. His military rank has been promoted from Jiatou to full-name military general, and he has been appointed as Dutou!"
Ma Kui immediately bowed down and said, "Thank you so much, Sheriff!"
After Ma Kui left the tent, the soldiers on both sides congratulated him, and Ma Kui himself was extremely proud of himself.
As for Zhang Sai, who was acting as the temporary commander, Zhang Yue said: "Since you have successfully conquered the enemy this time, I will be promoted from general to palace attendant!"
After the mutiny, Wu Kui and other generals of the Guangrui Army were all imprisoned by the court, so it was Zhang Sai's turn to serve as the temporary commander as the head of the capital, and now he was promoted to the rank of palace attendant.
Zhang Sai choked and said: "The last general is a person waiting for sin..."
Zhang Yue waved his hand and said: "I don't like to hear this, since there are no criminals in our army."
"Yes, the general will be convicted!" After Zhang Sai said this, the generals laughed again.
Jing Sili said at the side: "I'm here to give orders under Zhang Longtu. Not to mention the palace servant today, I can call you Taiwei in the future."
Everyone laughed and said, "What you said is absolutely true."
Such is the title of the Song Dynasty. It can be said that it is not rigorous, or it can be said that it is exaggerated.
Zhong Shiheng was only a seventh-rank Ranyuan envoy back then, but everyone in Kansai called him Taiwei Zhong.
The palace attendants have no grades, and they are still three steps behind from borrowing the job from the third class of the ninth grade.
Even so, people are being carried in sedan chairs, but it is joyful to hear.
Although Zhang Sai knew that it would be impossible for anyone to call him a lieutenant in this life, why couldn't he be filled with emotion in this atmosphere and scene?
To have this word, my life is worth it.
"Do a good job!" Zhang Yue patted Zhang Sai on the shoulder.
Rewards should not be overdue, and punishments should not be moved out of line.
This is the teaching of the sage, and Zhang Yue certainly implements it resolutely. Civil servants who lead troops may not be professional in fighting, but the power of rewards, punishments and finance must be firmly in their hands, so that these proud and powerful generals can truly return to their hearts.
Of course, today's victory was a victory and there was no chance of punishment, but after Zhang Yue's reward, the morale of the officers and soldiers of the three armies was very high.
Zhang Yue warned Jing Sili a few words, telling him not to be careless. At the same time, he ordered people to replenish arrows and gunpowder smoke from the city overnight, and also replenished 300 strong archers from the Fan Army, 200 of whom were replenished. Entered the forward camp of Guangrui Army.
Before dawn the next day, the fan army's horns sounded throughout the camps.
During the autumn wind, Mu Zheng's Fan army reorganized their troops. Compared with yesterday, Dong Fei's and Dang Xiang's troops also appeared in the formation on Mu Zheng's left and right flanks.
Jing Sili, who was wearing armor, looked from the newly built observation tower with a serious look on his face. He immediately ordered the soldiers to eat immediately, and also sent someone to inform Zhang Yue.
Zhang Yue immediately strengthened the city defense. Now Guangrui Army and Jing Sili's troops are outside the city. Only Fan Army archers are stationed in the city. They only have defensive power, and it is difficult to talk about going out of the city to support them.
As for the Song troops in the camp, they were all busy eating. Fortunately, the rice was not overcooked, but the soldiers had to squat under the camp.
Seeing that the Tibetan cavalry was gathering, many soldiers, fearing that they would not be able to make it in time, directly picked up the tea soup, poured it into their rice, and ate it in a hush. Being able to have a hot meal in the bitterly cold late autumn will give you a lot of energy for the battle ahead.
"Mom, you are so anxious to die, it makes me uneasy to eat!"
The Song soldiers scolded while eating big mouthfuls of rice.
In the cold wind, under the banner, Mu Zheng's eyes were awe-inspiring. He drew his sword on the spot and said to the left and right: "Today, the Song army here sacrificed blood to Ba Zhanmo to heal my sorrow!"
Mu Zheng certainly had enough confidence to say this. He felt that he had tested the strength of the Song army after two days of attacks. Today he invested tens of thousands of troops to attack on three sides.
Soon the Tibetan cavalry began to attack, and the Song army was not to be outdone and responded with bows and crossbows.
After a while of fighting, the Tibetan tribe launched wooden ladders and carts, but when they arrived in front of the Song army's formation, the camp in front began to spray out fire dragons that were more than ten meters long.
General Dangxiang Jun, who had been fighting with the Song Army for a long time, was familiar with the Song Army's tactics. Seeing this scene, he was surprised and said: "Why did the Song Army move the heavy fire oil tank to the camp?"
It turns out that all the towns and fortresses in the northwest of the Song Army dug into the ground to make large pools, more than ten feet long and horizontal, specifically used to store powerful fire oil.
The so-called fierce fire oil refers to petroleum. People in the Song Dynasty made cabinets of cooked copper. The cabinets had four legs and four copper tubes on them. There were pumps placed horizontally on the tubes and connected with the oil cabinets. The front part of the pump is a fire tower containing ignition powder. When used, the gunpowder is ignited, causing the pump to exert pressure on the oil tank, and then spray out fierce fire.
This fierce fire spurted out as far as five or six feet, and the wooden ladders and carriages of the Fan army caught fire. Many Fan soldiers fell from the carriages covered in fire, and the rest of the Fan army covered in kerosene also fell from the carriages. He was rolling on the ground with his whole body on fire.
There were scenes of huffing and puffing in front of every camp of the Song Army.
In addition to the fierce fire oil tank, the Song Army also had flying artillery, caltrop fireballs, thunderbolt fireballs, poison smoke balls and other firearms.
The so-called flying artillery is a trebuchet that projects tribulus fireballs, thunderbolt fireballs, poison smoke balls, etc.
The so-called tribulus fireball and thunderbolt fireball are bamboo tubes filled with gunpowder, broken porcelain and iron pieces, as well as iron tribulus and so on.
From time to time, Fan Jun saw various objects flying out of the Song Army's formation, and then hitting the ground heavily, causing nearby soldiers of the same clan to be covered in blood.
As for the poison smoke ball, it is even more powerful. It contains gunpowder and poisons such as wolfsbane, croton, aconite, arsenic, etc., and is then sealed with a thick coating of external medicine. When using it, first use a red-hot branding cone to completely burn the ball shell, and then use a trebuchet to throw it until the enemy explodes and the poisonous gas is scattered.
This was particularly effective against the Fan army's cavalry. The horses went crazy when they smelled the gas...
These firearms had already been seen by the foreign army yesterday, but today the Song army was obviously prepared to use them from the beginning.
At this moment, the Song Army's position seemed to be having a church meeting, with the sound of gunpowder explosions coming and going. The Fan troops were all in disgrace when they bumped into each other, or it seemed like there was a whole hall of water and land dojo. Countless gunpowder and poisonous smoke rolled up with the explosion, and the nearby Fan troops They covered their noses, coughed, and fled in all directions.
These firearms were originally used to defend the city. Zhang Yue originally built Weiyuan Fort. His father-in-law Wu Chong, who was the privy envoy, was worried, so he ordered Kaifeng's South and North Workshops and the Bow and Crossbow Making Institute to give priority to Qinfeng Road.
Guo Kui of Qin Feng Road knew what Wu Chong meant and gave Zhang Yue priority over other fortresses in various states.
So much so that in a mere Weiyuan Fort, there were piles of fire oil tanks, flying artillery, caltrop fireballs, thunderbolt fireballs, poison smoke balls and other firearms used to defend the city. In the end, even Zhang Yue couldn't figure out how many firearms were hidden in his city.
Of course, the development of Hehuang is now the most important thing on the minds of the officials. Wu Chong and Guo Kui did not go wrong at all in this procedure, and the reason is also fair.
Today, firearms are Zhang Yue's political resources, and Jiangong Hehuang is his political capital.
In this way, the firearms were wholesaled to Mu Zheng in one fell swoop.
Seeing the full display of the Song Army's firearms, Zhang Yue, who was watching the battle from the tower, couldn't help but excitedly picked up his riding whip, waved it forward and swore a curse word.
"Hit the motherfucker!"
Mu Zheng, who was going to make a big move, couldn't help but be stunned when he saw that the Song Army used firearms more than ten times more frequently than yesterday.
The soldiers of the Fan army who had been preparing to attack all night were blown up by the Song army's firearms until they cried for their fathers.
But seeing the Song army's camp full of scattered Fan troops... Mu Zheng's lips trembled. This was not a crime of war, but the Song army's firearms were too powerful.
As the adopted son of Dong Fei, Ali Gu was also a famous general who had experienced hundreds of battles. At this moment, a tribulus fireball exploded not far in front of him, and two battle-hardened Tibetan warriors were killed on the spot.
Ali Gu, who was familiar with the details of the Song army, couldn't help but cursed: "It's just a fortress, where can there be so many firearms? I'm afraid the armory in Qinzhou City will be emptied!"
What Ali Gu didn't know was that it was impossible to know whether the armory in Qinzhou City had been emptied, but the armory in Bianjing City had indeed been emptied.
The ordnance in Bianjing City was all under the control of the Yantie Magistrate's "Zhou Case". Zhang Yue had served as the Salt and Iron Magistrate, and Wu Chong had also been the Deputy and Third Envoy of the Salt and Iron.
Which official or subordinate in charge of this line has not dealt with Zhang Yue and Wu Chong?
What's wrong with this old superior using your fire starter? How big a deal is this? Do you dare not to give it?
As for the Dangxiang generals who were "faking a fight" on the side, they began to secretly rejoice that so many firearms had emptied the Song army's inventory. Fortunately, the Song army generals did not know how to fight and actually used them on the weak Qing Tang Tibetan tribes instead of us. Party people.
At this time there was a loud bang!
The Song Army camp itself was hit by one. It turned out that the Song Army general was too greedy and piled too much gunpowder at once. As a result, he accidentally ignited it and killed more than a dozen Song soldiers who were operating flying artillery.
Seeing this scene, Zhang Yue couldn't help but feel distressed. It was not that he felt sorry for these valuable firearms, but that he felt sorry for his own soldiers.
The battle reached noon, and Mu Zheng's attack on the Fan army suffered heavy casualties. The Song army used bows and crossbows to greet the enemy. When the enemy finally approached the camp, they used various firearms to blast out, and then the Fan army retreated in embarrassment...
After a while, the Fan army came again. The Song army first fired with bows and crossbows, and then exploded with firearms. The Fan army retreated again...
Just as Zhang Yue was waiting for him, Jing Sili thought that Mu Zheng's military skills had stopped at this point, but then the situation of the battle suddenly changed.
It turned out that Aligu had been watching the battle for a long time and saw that all the battalions of the Song army fought very well, except for the rear battalion, which was slightly worse. So Aligu thought of giving it a try and led 300 cavalry to suddenly bypass the front of the Song army and surprise the Song army. The camp behind the palace.
Li Kui was responsible for guarding the camp behind the palace.
Because the rear camp was next to the Song army's city wall and could defend the city, Jing Sili did not place his elite troops here.
But now, as the Song army approached Muzheng's tent for nearly half a mile, the defense area of the rear camp suddenly expanded, and the gap was exposed.
Aligu led his army to storm the rear camp, but within a short time the rear camp in charge of Li Kui was defeated by Aligu.
The fall of the Queen's Camp was a surprise to everyone on the battlefield, and Ali Gu did not expect that he would succeed in such a casual attempt.
The remaining six camps of the Song army were defended by the Fan army for three days, but the rear camp was breached after not holding for a moment.
As soon as the camp behind the palace was broken, the panicked Song troops scrambled to escape towards Weiyuan Fort under the cover of Ali's bone cavalry. They piled up in front of the fort and wanted to escape into the fort. They cried and shouted and beat the city gate, begging to be let in.
However, the gates in the fort were still closed. Zhang Yue was furious and cursed at the defeated troops below: "Where is Li Kui? I will behead him with military law."
At the moment when the rear camp was breached, Li Kui wanted to rush forward and fight Ali Gu to the death, but his followers on both sides refused. They even removed his sword and forcibly followed him to escape in the direction of Weiyuan Fort.
Li Kui also wanted to resist and struggle, but the fear of death suddenly came to him. He could not move a finger in his body, so he was hugged by his subordinates and fled towards the city.
At this time, I heard Zhang Yue on the tower chanting his name and cursing.
Li Kui woke up suddenly, his face extremely ashamed. If he ran away, he would die, but if he didn't, he would have a chance of survival.
Thinking of this, Li Kui struggled away from the left and right and said loudly: "The city gate will not open. Now advancing or retreating means death. It is better to serve the country with death!"
The people below the city begged for the city gate to be opened. When the soldiers of the Song Dynasty saw that the city gate was really closed, they were also stunned when they heard Li Kui's words.
Li Kui drew out his sword and said, "Follow me and kill him!"
Li Kui immediately led the Song troops under the city gate to return to the camp and kill them. At this time, it was learned that the rear camp had been lost, and Jing Sili's Chinese army and support camp all sent troops to rescue.
In addition, Li Kui turned around and fought back at this time, finally driving out all Ali Gu's men.
"Keep it, keep it!"
The Song army who recaptured the camp behind the palace raised flags and cheered, while Zhang Yue, who was on top of the city, breathed a sigh of relief.
As for Mu Zheng and other Tibetan leaders who thought the situation of the war had been reversed, their morale was greatly reduced when they saw the Song army retaking the Dianhou camp. Their subordinates also had no intention of attacking and finally withdrew their troops back to the camp.
In this battle, the casualties of various Tibetan armies amounted to more than a thousand people. Although there were still thousands of fresh troops that could be used, the Tibetan leaders were unwilling to fight again.
Mu Zheng was also completely discouraged and led his army to retreat the next day.
Two days later, Wang Shao led reinforcements out of Qingyu Fort!
It turned out that under Guo Kui's tight defense, Liang Yi returned without success, so he ordered Wang Shao to lead his army from Tongyuan to rescue Weiyuan Fort.
After entering the city, Wang Shao learned that Zhang Yue had defeated Mu Zheng in Weiyuan Fort, so he invited him to join his army to defeat Lintao City.
However, Zhang Yue refused because his men suffered too many casualties.
After hearing this, Wang Shao had a look of embarrassment on his face, but he was happy in his heart, so he led his army to pursue Mu Zheng alone.
Jing Sili asked: "Although our army suffered casualties in this battle, its military strength was not damaged. Now that Mu Zheng's army is shattered, it is our army's opportunity to seize Lintao City in one fell swoop. Why should Long Tu be so cautious?"
Zhang Yue said with a smile: "It's not about being cautious, but about assessing the situation. Brother Jing, now that you and I have defeated Mu Zheng, the credit is so dazzling that no one can take it away. Why not give some to others? You can't take all the credit alone. , wouldn’t it be nice to let Wang Zichun also get some credit? It can also be a favor.”
Jing Sili was suddenly surprised when he heard this.
