With the lessons learned from Shichengguan, Shichengguan should have already known the Song army's method of using gunpowder to attack the city gate, and they may have blocked the city gate long ago.
But now there is only one way before the Song army, and that is to storm Shicheng Pass.
Fortunately, the Song army had been reorganizing for three days and had already built a lot of siege equipment. Coupled with the three major families who were eager to make contributions, this battle had a great advantage.
"Dong dong dong!"
Huge war drums sounded, and Fan Zheng gave the order, and the Song army immediately began to attack the city.
Although Shichengguan is an important town in the southwest, its city wall is not high. However, there is abundant rain in the southwest, and the wide moat outside the city became the biggest trouble for the Song army.
"Get in the carriage!"
Yang Bangyi, who was in charge of attacking the city, waved his hand and shouted.
Immediately, the men and horses of the three major families rolled out huge large carriages. The wheels were rolling underneath, and huge rocks and wood were placed on top. The exterior was wrapped in rawhide and iron sheets. Moreover, the carriage did not need to be too heavy, just ensure that it could sink into the water. It can be pushed behind the carriage without much manpower. This weapon was built by the Song Army in three days to fill the moat.
"General Fan's plan is fine, Shicheng Pass will be broken!"
Yang Changchun on the side saw this strategy and couldn't help but exclaimed that Yang Changchun was not maliciously flattering. In his opinion, the Song army would definitely use the method of filling the stone city with soil to fill the moat.
However, the method of filling the river with soil has one of the biggest drawbacks, that is, the Dali army on the city wall will not sit idly by and will definitely attack with bows and arrows, causing a large number of casualties to the soldiers who are filling the river with soil.
Using horse-drawn carriages to directly fill the moat can not only greatly speed up the filling of the moat, but the huge horse-drawn carriages can also protect the soldiers responsible for filling the moats.
Fan Zheng said disapprovingly: "It's just an old strategy of the Song Dynasty to block river breaches!"
His use of this method was also prompted by the filling of the breach in the Yellow River embankment at that time. Although the water in the moat was not fast, the arrows on the city wall were like a violent storm. The faster the moat was filled, the smaller the casualties to the Song Dynasty. .
As the huge carriage slowly approached the moat, the Dali defenders in the stone city suddenly became anxious and fired arrows one after another, intending to prevent the Song army from approaching.
"Swish swish!"
The Dali defenders were not stingy with their arrows, but with the protection of the carriages, there was very little damage to the men and horses of the three major families. Seeing this scene, the three major families could not help but let out a sigh of relief.
Yang Bangyi sneered in his heart. The original breach of the Yellow River could be blocked, let alone a small moat.
"God's Arm Crossbow, take cover immediately!"
When Yang Bangyi saw that the carriage filled with soil was approaching the moat, he immediately ordered.
At that moment, the Great Song Divine Arm Crossbow immediately counterattacked the Shicheng defenders.
The defenders of Shicheng had the advantage of the city, but the range of bows and arrows was limited, and the effective range was only about a hundred steps, while the effective range of the divine arm crossbow was a full two hundred steps.
Even if they attack the stone city wall upwards, the effective range is still beyond the range of Shicheng's bow and arrow.
"Buzz!"
A large number of divine arm crossbows fired in unison, like black clouds pressing down, rushing towards the stone city wall.
The Shicheng defenders were unaware of the situation, and coupled with the amazing power of the divine arm crossbow, they suffered heavy casualties immediately. The originally dense rain of arrows suddenly became sparse.
"Hurry!"
The men and horses of the three major families responsible for filling in the city took this opportunity to immediately push the carriage into the moat. Then they carried wooden shields and quickly retreated. The next wave of carriages then filled in and continued to fill in!
With the continuous suppression of the Song Army, the moat outside Shicheng was filled in at a speed visible to the naked eye!
"Shicheng can't be saved!"
Yang Changchun couldn't help but sigh when he saw this. He had personally seen the power of the Song Dynasty's gunpowder weapons. Once the trenches of the moat were filled, the Song Dynasty's gunpowder weapons would become more powerful. At that time, Shicheng would no longer be able to fight back.
Sure enough, seeing the moat being filled in, the defenders of the Song Dynasty Stone City suddenly couldn't sit still, and at the risk of their divine arm crossbows, they prepared to continue to stand up to prevent the Song army from attacking the city!
"Loucha, use thunder to attack the city!"
Yang Bangyi gave an order, and a large number of building carts, which were almost the same height as the stone city wall, were pushed out.
When the carriage approached thirty steps away, smoke-emitting wooden-handled thunderbolts flew towards the stone city wall.
"Boom! Boom!"
The defenders on the stone city wall were like living targets. Amidst the violent explosions, they suffered heavy casualties and were defeated.
"Drum attack!"
Yang Bangyi immediately ordered.
Suddenly the drums beat loudly, and the men and horses of the three major families immediately rushed to the city wall. Under the cover of the Song Army's thunder and divine arm crossbows, they quickly rushed to the city wall, and the entire city wall suddenly erupted with loud killing sounds.
However, although the Shicheng defenders suffered heavy casualties under the thunder, the men and horses of the three major families were a mob after all. In addition, the Shicheng defenders resisted desperately, and there was a vague tendency to be driven off the city wall.
"Snipe the Stone City reinforcements!"
Yang Bangyi immediately ordered.
In an instant, the Song Army's divine arm crossbows and thunderbolts attacked the assembled Shicheng defenders, causing the resistance that had just been gathered in Shicheng to collapse again.
At that moment, more and more people rushed to the city wall. Even the Song Army sent the most elite imperial army to attack the stone city wall with thunderbolts.
Once encountering the stubborn resistance of the Shicheng defenders, the Song army used thunder to open the way, and the Shicheng defenders retreated steadily.
As the advantage of the Song Army continued to expand, more and more Song troops invaded Shicheng and opened the gate of Shicheng.
Seeing the Song army pouring into Shicheng, the defenders of Shicheng suddenly collapsed when they saw that the situation was over.
"Congratulations to General Fan! Shicheng fell in one battle!"
Yang Changchun cupped his fists and congratulated, but his lowered head could not conceal his shock.
The Song army at Shicheng Pass for the first time mainly relied on sneak attacks. Even the Yang family's troops could easily pacify the villages along the way, so it was natural that the Song army would not be able to defeat them.
Shicheng is a well-known fortified city in Dali, and it is even defended by the Dali garrison. However, despite this, the Song army only used the thunder and divine arm crossbows, and the three major families were able to easily capture Shicheng.
"The emergence of gunpowder weapons has changed the mode of war." Fan Zheng sighed in his heart.
If we talk about the traditional siege method, even if the Song Dynasty could capture Shicheng, it would probably be damaged, let alone let the three major families do their best to attack the city.
The emergence of gunpowder made the Dali defenders who did not understand the power of gunpowder a living target. The outcome of this battle was already doomed.
More and more Song troops invaded Shicheng, and the shouts of killing in Shicheng gradually subsided.
"Come to General Fan, we are lucky enough to live up to our orders!"
Before Yang Bangyi came, Song Wanzhang, who was eager to take credit, hurried to Fan Zheng and said excitedly.
Fan Zheng nodded and said: "I will give you five days to wipe out all the surrounding villages that refuse to surrender. All captured items do not need to be handed over to the public."
"Thank you for your permission!" Song Wanzhang was immediately overjoyed.
Along the way, Yang Changchun broke into several fortresses and captured countless things, which made them quite greedy. Now it was finally their turn.
Now that the stone city has been destroyed, there is no one around who can match their strength. Song Wanzhang immediately gathered his troops and left in a hurry.
Luo Shi and Tian Shi also imitated the example and left with their troops, making Yang Changchun envious.
They entered Dali from Shicheng Pass and only captured the villages along the way, but the other three families were able to wipe out most of the villages in Shicheng County, which made him regretful.
He did not expect that it would be so easy to follow the Song army to attack the city, otherwise he would not give the other three families a chance.
"You go too! Clear away all threats from behind the army!"
Suddenly Fan Zheng's voice sounded, and Yang Changchun was stunned.
"Thank you Fan Taicheng!"
Yang Changchun's thoughts changed rapidly and he saluted Fan Zheng solemnly.
The Yang family only attacked the villages along the way, and some villages were far away from the army's route and ignored them. Fan Zheng left these villages to the Yang family.
At that moment, Yang Changchun hurriedly gathered his troops and hurried away along the original road.
After the four major families left, Fan Zheng looked at Shicheng from afar.
Shicheng was the first city he captured in Dali. If he goes further, it will directly threaten Shanchan Mansion, the home of the Gao family. Now that Dali has probably received the news, Gao Shengtai may not be able to sit still.
In Dali City!
After receiving the news that the Song army was sending troops, Gao Shengtai was not worried but happy.
"Reporting to the officials, the Song Dynasty was very ambitious. First it conquered Qingtang and Tubo, and now it plans to conquer Dali. It is really a wolfish ambition."
Now that the Song Dynasty is sending troops to fight, it just confirms the Song Dynasty's evil intentions against Dali that he has been propagating, and temporarily maintains the political situation in Dali.
Duan Zhengchun heard the words and smiled bitterly and said: "The Prime Minister Gao, the Song Dynasty has strong soldiers and horses, and they are attacking from two directions. Now the Qing, Tang and Tubo are no match for them. I am afraid that I, Dali, will not be able to escape this disaster this time."
Although Duan Zhengchun is mediocre, lustful and mediocre, he also knows that his life is now in the hands of Gao Shengtai, and Gao Shengtai has already sworn an oath in front of Cangshan Erhai and all the ministries in Dali to return the throne.
Even if the Gao family continues to control the court, he is still the emperor of Dali, and there is no chance of taking power in the future. Once the Song Dynasty captures Dali, he will at most be like a blind conquest of the prince by the Song Dynasty, and he will be granted an official position at will. In a few generations, the Duan family will be lost to everyone.
During this period, Duan Zhengchun tried his best to cooperate with Gao Shengtai, and the Gao family used the emperor to order the princes to make Dali work together to send troops to resist the Song Dynasty. Finally, they gathered the power of the whole country of Dali and were able to block the Song army's attack.
However, despite this, Dali was still retreating steadily under the attack of Song army's gunpowder weapons.
Gao Shengtai couldn't help but said proudly: "Your Majesty, don't worry, although the Song Dynasty has strong soldiers and horses, our Dali is definitely not without a chance of winning. There are two natural dangers at Longshou Pass and Longwei Pass, where the 100,000-strong army of the Tang Dynasty was completely annihilated. , how can today’s Song Dynasty be compared with the Tang Dynasty.”
What Gao Shengtai said was the battle between the Tang Dynasty and Nanzhao. The Tang Dynasty's 100,000-strong army wanted to destroy Nanzhao, but in the end the entire army was annihilated at Longshou Pass. This was how Dali was founded.
The Song Dynasty has always been said to be weak. Although it has risen in recent years, it is probably still a bit inferior to the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty who were said to be invincible back then.
"Dragon Head Pass, Dragon Tail Pass!"
Duan Zhengchun finally calmed down a little.
These two passes are the gateways to the capital of Dali, especially Longshou Pass, which was built specifically to defend against the extremely powerful Tubo and Tang Dynasties during the Nanzhao period. Although hundreds of years have passed, Longshou Pass has failed again and again. It blocked the enemy's troops and was never attacked from the front, which gave Duan Zhengchun a little more confidence.
"Please don't worry too much, Mr. Xiangguo, and be sure to keep Dali Zuo!" Duan Zhengchun entrusted.
"Old minister, I will definitely die after exhausting myself!" Gao Shengtai said with cupped hands.
In the Imperial City of Dali, a scene of monarch and ministers united as one was staged. However, only by knowing that Gao Shengtai had just attempted to usurp the throne not long ago could we understand how ridiculous this scene was.
"Report! My father is in trouble! The evil doctor Fan Zheng led the Song army to surprise Shicheng Pass and break through Shicheng!"
Suddenly Gao Taiming came in a hurry and said with a panic look on his face.
"Evil doctor Fan Zheng!"
"The Song army attacks from the east!"
……………………
In an instant, the entire Dali Palace was in an uproar. The Song army attacked from two directions, and Dali was already tired of dealing with it.
But I didn't expect that the Song Dynasty would have a third army, led by the evil doctor Fan Zheng himself, and they would attack Shicheng County.
"The evil doctor Fan Zheng is the evil doctor Fan Zheng who became a forensic doctor during the Song Dynasty?" Duan Zhengchun couldn't help but wonder.
He used to be the idle prince of Dali, but even so, he still knew the evil doctor Fan Zheng for a long time.
Gao Taiming smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty, the evil doctor Fan Zhengfei is a popular figure among the officials of the Song Dynasty. He was the first to create the thunder that shook the sky and won the battle of Pingxia City. He is also a master of military use!"
"Not good! The Song army has conquered Shicheng County. I'm afraid the next step is Shanchan Mansion! The evil doctor Fan Zheng's plan is poisonous." Gao Shengtai suddenly exclaimed.
Gao Taiming nodded bitterly. The Shanchan Mansion was the fiefdom of the Gao family and the foundation for the Gao family to control military affairs. Now that the Song army had conquered Shicheng, I am afraid that the Shanchan Mansion was in danger.
"Please ask father to order troops to rescue Shanchan Mansion!" Gao Taiming didn't bother to cover up and directly asked his father for help.
Gao Shengtai immediately ordered: "My father has allocated 30,000 troops to you, so you must defend Shanchan Mansion!"
"Don't divide your troops!"
Suddenly there was a voice of opposition in the court.
Gao Shengtai frowned. The Gao family and his son had always spoken in the court, no one dared to oppose them.
Gao Shengtai took a closer look and found that the opponent turned out to be Duan Zhengchun, who he had single-handedly supported to the throne.
"What the officials don't know is that the evil doctor Fan Zheng has always said that evil medicine is indestructible. He used the two Song armies on the west road and the north road as a diversion, and attacked the Song Dynasty from the east road. It was like attacking the weakest enemy in Dali. In the abdomen, if the evil doctor Fan Zheng is indulged, it will definitely cause disaster to Dali." Gao Shengtai shouted loudly.
Nowadays, most of Dali's soldiers and horses are defending the Song Dynasty army in Dali City and Longshou Pass. The rear is completely empty. The Song army marching straight into the hinterland of Dali will cause incalculable damage to Dali.
What's more important is that the Gao family's fiefdom, Shanchan Mansion, is also under Fan Zheng's military front. Once Shanchan Mansion is lost, the Gao family will be greatly weakened and completely lose control of Dali.
Duan Zhengchun was unmoved and said: "Of course I understand that evil doctor Fan Zheng's evil prescription is indestructible, and I also understand the ruthlessness of evil doctor Fan Zheng's plan. Now Dali is seven hundred miles away from Shanchan Mansion, and the army is walking It took more than ten days to arrive. By the time Dali's reinforcements arrived, our army was exhausted and more likely to be taken advantage of by the Song army. Besides, the Shanchan Mansion had high walls and strong walls and could not be easily broken. It was better to ask the surrounding prefectures to come to the rescue. "
"But the Song army had gunpowder weapons, and Shicheng was defeated in one battle..." Gao Taiming was very anxious. More military information came. The Song army even brought a large number of southwestern Yi people, and almost every village in Dali was destroyed wherever they went. No chickens or dogs will be left behind.
It is conceivable that if the Song army breaks through the Shanchan Mansion, it will inevitably suffer even greater losses, and the Gao family's century-old experience will be destroyed in one day.
Duan Zhengchun said calmly: "The evil doctor Fan Zheng only captured Shanchan Mansion. If Dali divided its forces and was captured by the West Route Army and the North Route Army and entered Dali City, then Dali would really be dead. .”
For Duan Zhengchun, the reason why he is willing to cooperate with Gao is to preserve Dali.
But now the Gao family has put the entire Dali in danger for the sake of their fiefdom, Shanchan Mansion, which Duan Zhengchun cannot accept no matter what.
"I also ask the Prime Minister to put national affairs first." All the Dali ministers agreed.
"Wait..." Gao Taiming couldn't help but be shocked when he saw that the Dali ministers who had previously supported the Gao family suddenly stood against the Gao family.
"I obey the order." Gao Shengtai stopped his son who wanted to argue and bowed to accept the order.
He naturally knew why the officials were acting like this. Only the Gao family was damaged when Shanchan Mansion was breached, and their wealth and lives were all in Dali City, so Dali City was naturally the main one.
"The evil doctor Fan Zheng has a poisonous strategy."
Gao Shengtai gritted his teeth and said.
At this moment, he finally realized what it is that the evil doctor Fan Zheng's evil prescription is indestructible. He simply plays with human nature, making you know the other party's plan, but there is nothing you can do about it. (End of chapter)
