Chapter 368: Northeast Liao Army Has 300,000 Soldiers, and They Must Bow Their Heads when They See Me

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

The desolate horn sounded among several nearby cities such as Yingzhou, Guangning, and Yuguan.

The three cities were basically located in the northeast of Changli County, Hebei Province, to Qinhuangdao City, and then to the Shanhaiguan area, only more than 20 kilometers apart.

But the soldiers stationed on the city saw the ships on the sea in the distance, like ghosts, slowly approaching the shore.

The soldiers at Yuguan were the most frightened, because when they were still about ten miles away from the shore, the main force of those ships came straight towards the direction of Yushui, and seemed to be sailing directly into Yushui.

The rest divided some ships and headed towards Yingzhou and Guangning.

Yingzhou is not actually close to the sea. It is about three or four kilometers away from the coastline. It is almost northeast of Changli County in later generations and close to Beidaihe, a famous tourist resort in later generations.

At this moment, as the ships of the Song Dynasty were getting closer and closer, the defenders in the direction of Yuguan were already in chaos. Some ran from the shore to the city, some were still standing there blankly, and some even simply looked around. The commotion actually sneaked away somewhere else.

Many of the soldiers behind the Jijin Prefecture of the Liao Dynasty were recruited Han soldiers. According to the "Khitan Official Rituals", the Liao Dynasty "had Hanxiang soldiers from each state."

At that time, the core army of the Liao ruling class was still dominated by the Pishi Army of the Khitan people, with tribes ruled by the Bohai people, Nüzhi people, Mongwu and other tribes as the vanguard. The Han people in the Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures only served as local rural troops. It has the same nature as the Xiang army of the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, the loyalty of these soldiers was not high. Except for the recovery of the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun in the Song Dynasty, the local Han people were afraid of the Song Dynasty's tax revenue, and then rose up to resist the Song Dynasty. They basically had no fighting power.

After all, you only get a few hundred copper coins a month, why are you risking your life?

Under such circumstances, the entire direction of Yuguan was in chaos. Some Liao officers scolded, some Han soldiers shouted randomly, and some unknown Liao or Han soldiers glanced around and then left secretly.

On the Ping Navy main ship Fu Ship, Di Qing used a telescope to observe the enemy's situation. When he saw the Liao army panicking on the shore in the distance, he said: "Let's just go ashore and charge into battle."

"Shuai Di, I have a good idea for my humble position."

Hu Yanshouyong said.

"oh?"

Di Qing asked: "What's your idea?"

"We secretly sent people to the Liao Kingdom to do illegal business. In fact, we were observing the terrain. We have already figured out their city defense terrain."

Hu Yanshou pointed to the direction of Yuguan in the distance and said: "There is a river over there, called Yushui. If we go up the river and place the ships in the middle of the river, we can cut off the connection between Tokyo and Nanjing in the Liao Kingdom. The only way to go.”

"Is there anything else going on?"

Di Qing became interested and looked in the direction Hu Yanshou was pointing. After thinking for a moment, he said: "Have you checked out the rocks over there and whether there are any hidden reefs? In addition, it is winter now. Is the river water sufficient? The ship can't move forward."

Hu Yanshou smiled and said, "Don't worry, Commander Di. We have been conducting reconnaissance for several years, and we already know the presence of reefs and the conditions of the river."

"Well, I'll do as you wish."

Di Qing nodded.

He originally planned to approach the shore first, bombard the city with artillery, and capture the three important city passes of Yingzhou, Guangning, and Yuguan.

This cut off the connection between the two southeastern capitals of the Liao Kingdom, directly causing the main force of the Liao Kingdom to be intercepted in Liaoyang Prefecture, Tokyo.

But that is obviously inappropriate.

Because they need to carry the artillery on the ship to the city, and every time they come back, they will definitely give the enemy an opportunity, and they may even find a chance to defeat them.

In addition, Yuguan is not the kind of natural chasm pass that only one person can pass, and no one can open it. It has the Bohai Sea to the south, the Yanshan Mountains to the north, and a smooth road of about 20 to 30 miles from north to south in the middle.

Yuguan City is located in the middle of the terrain. Without the blessing of too high terrain, the artillery can only shoot about two kilometers at most, and cannot cover the entire Yuguan Passage.

But it's different if the boat is sailed to the Yushui River. The boat can patrol back and forth, controlling the entire north and south of Yuguan, and no Liao army can pass through.

So this is really a good idea.

The boat made full use of its strength and headed towards the river bank. At this time, the defenders in various places finally came to their senses.

Yingzhou and Yuguan could only watch. They were too far away from the coast and the artillery on the city walls was useless, while Guangning was busy firing up the artillery.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

I saw firelight splashing and smoke rising from the top of the city. More than a dozen cannonballs drew a gorgeous arc in the air, like the sun falling, and violently attacked the Song Army's fleet.

However, although the Liao's artillery skills were slightly better than those of the Xixia artillery who lacked training, they were actually not much better.

After all, the excellent artillery crew members have been transferred to the front line. Many of the gunners in the rear have not been trained a few times. At most, they only know how to fire. Their accuracy and skills in firing are far behind.

The most important thing is that even if there are targets on the ocean, in fact, even in close combat, it is often easy to fire empty guns. This is why in many naval battles before and after World War I, many ironclad ships had to get close to enemy ships and fire.

Therefore, the dozens of cannons at the top of the city in Guangning seemed to be firing lively, but in fact they were hundreds of thousands of miles away from the fleet, and they all hit the sea. The Song fleet suffered no losses at all.

However, although no ship in the fleet was hit by artillery, the sudden artillery fire still frightened many warships.

Even though the shells were far away and they were safe and sound, some of the rowers and wheelmen of the fleet stopped unconsciously, listening to the noise outside in doubt, fearing that artillery would hit the ship.

In the final analysis, it was true that the Liao gunners lacked training. But the Song navy fleet was also seriously lacking in training and had no experience in dealing with enemy artillery.

Where did they get the artillery for the smuggling ships they dealt with before?

It was good enough to have cold weapons.

Now that they were suddenly hit by the artillery of the Liao army, the disadvantages of insufficient training were reflected.

Both sides were a bit like chickens pecking at each other.

Di Qing naturally noticed that many ships on the left and right began to slow down, and snorted coldly: "Pass the order, go full speed, the slower the speed, the more live targets. But if there is hesitation, military law will be applied."

"Yes."

Hu Yan Shouyong quickly responded, and then ordered the flag bearer on the ship to notify the surrounding ships with flag signals.

The order was quickly passed on.

After receiving the order, each ship immediately sent a messenger to the cabin to pass the message.

"General Di has ordered to advance at full speed. Those who disobey the order will be punished by military law."

"Hurry up, you lazy guys, what are you afraid of? The Liao people's artillery can't hit us at all."

"If we slow down, it will be easy for the enemy to aim at us. Only by maintaining a high speed can we not hit us. Are you slowing down and want all the people on the ship to be buried with you?"

"Speed ​​up immediately now, do you hear me!"

"Yes, yes, yes."

Under the scolding of the officers, the sailors who were rowing and pedaling in the cabin hurriedly increased their speed and began to work hard again, and the speed of the ship increased immediately.

Although it was early winter and the north wind was blowing, the fleet was sailing against the wind, but the waves did not stop and soon began to approach the shore.

The range of both sides gradually approached, and when the distance was within the range of the artillery of the Song fleet, the fleet began to fire artillery at Guangning City.

The artillery of the Song Dynasty was much more powerful than that of the Liao Dynasty. The number of artillery reached more than 600, which formed a great fire suppression on the city.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Countless shells flew in, hitting the Guangning city head and fleeing, unable to fight back.

Not long after, under the suppression of ship fire, the Liao people did not even dare to show their heads.

Rumbling sounds were heard in Guangning City and below the city, and dust was flying high. A large number of shells could be seen embedded in the city.

Many Liao soldiers fled, and the situation was quickly taken over by the Song army.

Seeing this, Di Qing waved his hand and said: "Occupy various ports and docks, and the rest of the small boats will sail into the Yushui River first to seize the pass."

"Yes."

Hu Yanshouyong agreed and immediately issued a military order.

Then the Song army fleet poured into the port near Guangning City like a black cloud.

This was once a trade distribution center for smuggling ships, so the port was still large and could accommodate so many ships.

After the port was captured, the soldiers on the ship began to disembark and raised their muskets. The scattered Liao army nearby had almost no resistance and was quickly dispersed.

The Song army then began to enter Guangning City.

After the firearms era, the way of siege has also changed greatly.

In the past, people could only climb up to the city with siege ladders or ordinary ladders, seize the city walls and open the city gates.

But now it is far less troublesome, just need to blow down the city gates with artillery. This was also a common siege method used by the Ming or Qing army with artillery in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

"Di Shuai, our army has successfully captured Guangning!"

Hu Yan Shouyong said excitedly.

Although their Hu Yan family is a noble family, the nobles are not worth much these days. If there is no real military merit, it is useless to have this noble background.

Now that Guangning can be captured, it is a great merit, and promotion in the future will be a matter of course.

"Well, enter the city immediately, and wait for me to observe the terrain."

Di Qing nodded.

Then all the ships of the Song army began to dock quickly, and some small boats began to go up along the Yu River.

The rest of the ships docked at the dock, leaving enough people to guard, and the large army began to enter Guangning City to eliminate the remaining Liao army forces.

Many Liao soldiers fled in panic, and the vast land of Youyan was full of fleeing enemy troops.

The Song army did not pursue them. They began to enter Guangning in an orderly manner, and then the fleet went north from the Yu River and attacked Yuguan from the rear.

It didn't take long for Yuguan to be breached, and the remaining Liao army fled in all directions.

At this time, another Liao army came from Jinzhou in the direction of Yuguan, and was going to pass through Yuguan to the front line of Liaoyang Prefecture.

Yelu Zongzhen's hundreds of thousands of troops naturally did not go there at once. That would make too much noise and would be noticed by the Song people. Knowing that he had mobilized a large army in Youyan, they would not necessarily lure the Song army to attack actively, so they came in batches.

This time, there are 5,000 soldiers in the army, led by Shulü Chuoliji. Although he is not one of the top nobles of the Liao Dynasty, he is from the Shulü tribe, which is second only to the Yelu and Xiao clans.

As a senior noble of the Liao Dynasty, Shulü Chuoliji used to be a confidant soldier, that is, the Pishi Army. Now he is in charge of a part of the palace army, and naturally he is highly valued by the military leaders.

He is riding on a horse. In addition to the 5,000 palace army he is in charge of, there are more than 10,000 Bohai Army and Jurchen Army in the farther direction.

"Your Majesty has assembled a large army this time, and he is finally going to fight the Song people. I have been waiting for this day for a long time."

Shulü Chuoliji's deputy general looked into the distance excitedly. After passing Yuguan, they arrived at Nanjing Prefecture of the Liao Dynasty, which was the front line between Song and Liao.

The Liao people have been suppressing the Song people since ancient times, but in recent years, the Liao people have been repeatedly defeated, which has long made some young Liao generals feel dissatisfied. Now they are finally going to avenge their previous shame.

However, Shulü Chuoliji had experienced the Song-Liao War before. At that time, he was only a commander of the Zhela Army, equivalent to the battalion commander of the Song Dynasty. He personally experienced the battle that made him feel terrified when he recalled it now.

Yelu Dilugu, a well-known warrior of the Liao Dynasty, was blown to pieces by a cannon, which is still fresh in his memory.

So Shulü Chuoliji knew very well that this war would be very cruel.

He glanced at his deputy, who was a noble son of the Dieci tribe and was promoted only last year. How could he know how powerful the enemy was?

But Shulü Chuoliji didn't say anything, and smiled and shook his head.

It's not a bad thing for young people to be aggressive. I just hope he can survive this cruel war.

At this time, someone suddenly shouted from one side: "What is that?"

People nearby looked in the direction of the sound.

They saw a lot of black spots running around in the wilderness in the distance, as if there was a monster chasing them.

"What's going on?"

Shulü Chuliji reined in his horse, and then said to the scout beside him: "Go and have a look."

"Yes."

The scout immediately galloped away.

The 5,000-man team also stopped where they were and watched quietly.

The wilderness in the distance was vast, the winter wind was blowing, the wild grass and wormwood on the seashore swayed with the wind, the remaining peaks of the Yanshan Mountains in the north towered into the clouds, and the earth was in a solemn silence.

After a long time, the scout came back and reported to Shulü Chuliji a very bad news - the Song people are coming!

"What?"

Shulü Chuliji was shocked to learn that the Song people appeared from the sea and occupied Yuguan.

He never expected that the Song people would appear here.

You must know that Yuguan is the only way connecting Tokyo and Nanjing. If Yuguan is cut off, it will be a huge bad thing for the Liao Kingdom.

Then Shulü Chuliji asked for details.

When he learned that the Song people had just landed and had not yet established a firm foothold, he thought for a moment and said without hesitation: "We must not let the Song people seize Yuguan, and we must take it back now."

"Yes!"

The deputy general did not ask why he was going now, and excitedly accepted the order.

Then Lu Chuliji calmly commanded, sending people to send messages to the troops in the rear, gathering the defeated soldiers, and personally leading the army to attack Yuguan.

He actually knew that this time was a disaster.

But he had no choice.

Yuguan was too important. Once lost, the entire Liao Kingdom would be in an extremely embarrassing situation.

So he could only take the risk to take it back while the Song people had not yet established a foothold.

On the wilderness, thousands of cavalry rushed away.

At the same time, the Song army had just seized Yuguan, but they put their main combat power on the boats and did not move the artillery to Yuguan City.

Yuguan was located on the east bank of the Yu River, and the Liao people would naturally bear the brunt of the attack.

Di Qing had just entered the city at this moment.

Yuguan has not yet been renamed Shanhaiguan. When it was established in the Tang Dynasty, it was not built as magnificently as Shanhaiguan in later generations. At this time, it was not even as big as an ordinary county town in the Song Dynasty.

After all, Yuguan was established in the Tang Dynasty and then occupied by the Liao Kingdom for a long time. Neither of these two countries needed to care too much about the invasion of ethnic minorities in the northeast, so there was no need to repair it. It was not until the Ming Dynasty that Shanhaiguan was established to resist ethnic minorities in the northeast.

Di Qing planned to go up to the tower to take a look. Before he went up, he saw Hu Yanshouyong hurriedly running over to report to him: "General Di, a large group of Liao troops appeared in the east. Should we retreat to the boat first?"

Because the city was small and the main force was on the boat, there were actually only a few hundred Song troops in the city. Once the war started, Hu Yanshouyong was afraid that he could not hold on without artillery.

However, Di Qing did not answer immediately, but went up to the tower and began to observe the enemy situation.

Not far behind Yuguan was the Yushui River. Ships on the Yushui River could bombard the city, but the height of the city had to exceed the water surface, which could be said to be high above the water.

The ships can only bombard the city wall at most. If the enemy recaptures Yuguan, there will be only one result - the Liao army will re-deploy artillery on Yuguan, and then the Song army will fight against the Liao army on the water.

After looking at the entire terrain, Di Qing had a plan in mind.

He said in a deep voice: "The best way is to dismantle Yuguan, or retreat to Guangning, deploy artillery in Guangning, dismantle the bridge on the river, and rely on Yushui to block. But it is unrealistic to dismantle Yuguan, and if we retreat to Guangning, it means that we only have two lines, Yushui and Guangning, which is very disadvantageous for us. Once the enemy uses Yuguan to force our ships on the river back and then build a pontoon bridge to cross the river, Guangning will still be at risk of losing, so I must defend Yuguan and cannot evacuate unless it is absolutely necessary."

"But General Di."

Hu Yanshouyong wanted to say something else.

Di Qing interrupted, "No need to say, I have made my own decision. The number of enemies coming is only a few thousand. If we can hold on to this attack, we can gain a foothold in Yuguan. Send an order immediately to send another 2,000 people from the rear, and the rest of the people will dismantle the cannons on the ship and prepare to install them in the city."

"Yes."

Hu Yan Shouyong saw that he had made up his mind, so he didn't say anything and immediately went to execute it.

Di Qing narrowed his eyes and looked to the east.

In the distance, smoke and dust rose in the wilderness, and thousands of cavalry rushed in like wild wolves.

He planned to use three lines of defense, Yuguan, Yushui and Guangning, to snipe.

But they had just entered the pass and had not yet established themselves. How difficult would it be to move the cannons on the ship?

I am afraid that it would take several days to transport the cannons to the city.

However, Di Qing knew that he had to do it no matter how difficult it was. Only in this way could he successfully intercept the Liao army.

So before the cannons were transported up, they could only use the muskets in their hands to fight against the huge number of Liao troops.

Humph!

So what?

No matter how many Liao soldiers you have, I will make you fail here!

Di Qing clenched his fists as he looked at the dust rising in the east.

This time.

He will use the power of 10,000 to stop the Liao army from rushing to the aid of the entire Liao Kingdom's Tokyo!