NFBE Chapter 344: Easily Conquer Xiazhou
Chapter 344: Easily Conquer Xiazhou
Regent Zhao Defang smiled and poured the old general a cup of tea. "The old general is so righteous. He led the Zhe family army to fight against foreign enemies for the Song Dynasty and made great contributions. The emperor and I will never forget the loyalty of the Zhe family.
In this battle to seize Xixia, I will personally lead the army to attack the heartland of Xixia. Please ask the Zhe family army to protect our flanks and prevent the Liao army from taking advantage of the opportunity to launch a sneak attack and cut off our retreat."
Zhe Dejian, who received the mission, smiled and raised his teacup to say respectfully, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. With our Zhe army here, we will not let a single soldier from the Liao army enter the territory of the Song Dynasty. I wish Your Majesty's army will be invincible and successful."
Regent Zhao Defang smiled faintly, raised his cup and drank together, then put down his teacup and suggested, "Old General, I will send someone to give military orders to the two generals of the Zhe family. You might as well follow me to the front line and see how our Song army captures Xiazhou City."
Zhe Dejian readily agreed, "It is my wish, but I dare not ask you. Since the prince has invited me, I will follow the prince to Xiazhou to see how the Song army is invincible."
Xiazhou was originally the territory of the Song Dynasty, but was seized by Li Jiqian after his rebellion. Since then, the Song Dynasty lost its horse breeding ground, and the combat effectiveness of the Song army gradually declined. If it weren't for the Regent Prince's development of the Song Dynasty's Divine Arm Bow and Thunder Bomb, the Song army soldiers would have had little confidence in seizing Xiazhou, which was easy to defend but difficult to attack.
The Zhe family army has always been known for its ability to fight and kill the enemy bravely, but the Zhe family army lost confidence in retaking Xiazhou City after several attempts.
Regent Zhao Defang led 6,000 elite Moyun cavalry and Gao Yingxiong's 20,000 troops and easily captured several military camps along the way and attacked the city of Xiazhou.
General Zhe Lao, who came to watch the battle, looked at the Western Xia soldiers standing ready for battle on the towering city wall, and thought to himself that His Royal Highness the Regent brought only a few troops to attack the city, and wondered if he had any good strategy to fulfill his bold statement of taking Xiazhou City within a day.
Zhe Dejian did not doubt whether His Royal Highness the Regent's words were arrogant. How could a god of war who could recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun in a month be an incompetent person who made false claims? But the Zhe family also tried to recapture Xiazhou, but they failed because Xiazhou City was easy to defend and difficult to attack. He really couldn't understand how His Royal Highness the Regent could capture Xiazhou in one day?
Gao Yingxiong commanded three thousand archers and stopped when they reached the city wall, out of the range of the enemy's arrows. The three thousand infantrymen responsible for the main attack also carried siege ladders and stopped three hundred steps away from the city wall. The catapult camp advanced forward, and ten cannons covered with large red cloth were also pushed out of the army camp.
Zhe Dejian looked at them curiously, pointed at the weapons covered with red cloth as if they were treasures, and asked, "Your Majesty, what kind of siege weapon is hidden by that big red cloth?"
A sly smile flashed across Regent Zhao Defang's eyes. "That is a new weapon developed by Shen Qiu, the Junior Supervisor of the Armory. It is called the Red Cannon. I don't know its specific power."
Hearing what the Regent said, Zhe Dejian didn't take it seriously and said, "Oh!" and focused his attention on the catapults. He had heard that the catapults in the Regent's army could launch powerful thunder bombs.
Ye Liren, the defender of Xiazhou City, held the sword at his waist and looked solemnly at the Song army outside the city. The neatly-formed soldiers in full armor exuded a fearless and invincible iron-blooded military spirit under the fluttering flags.
Seeing the soldiers moving quickly and in unison under the command of the flags as the opposing side mobilized their troops and arranged their battle formations, Ye Liren's right eyelid twitched twice. The commander of the Song army, Zhao Defang, the god of war and regent of the Song Dynasty, was indeed worthy of his reputation for commanding troops.
Seeing that the enemy's archer phalanx and infantry siege phalanx stopped moving forward, the catapult troops advanced forward, and a dozen things covered with red cloth were also pushed out of the army camp.
Ye Liren waved his hand and said, "Our army's trebuchets aim at the enemy's trebuchets and fire first, gaining the upper hand in the long-range exchange of fire."
The soldiers at the trebuchet position on the city wall were busy adjusting angles, loading stones, measuring distances, and preparing to launch.
Although Ye Liren was quite afraid of the army led by Regent Zhao Defang, he was not in a state of panic. In this fortified city that was easy to defend but difficult to attack, 30,000 elite Tangut soldiers were ready to fight. It was simply wishful thinking for Zhao Defang to capture Xiazhou City with only 26,000 soldiers!
Lieutenant Fang Erbao of the artillery battalion ordered the soldiers to lift the red veils of the artillery, revealing ten "brides" who did not look shy at all.
Each group of six gunners looked at the cannons emitting metallic light in the sun as if they were their own daughters-in-law. They were excited and excited, because soon, it would be their time to show their power.
Fang Erbao waved the small flag in his hand and gave a concise and clear order: "Aim at the enemy's trebuchet position, load, measure the distance, and prepare to fire."
The artillerymen moved quickly and methodically, aiming their guns at the enemy's trebuchets on the city wall. After loading the iron bullets and gunpowder in the cardboard tubes, the gunner took a ruler with a scale and calculated the firing angle and range of the gun according to the geometric formulas he had learned during the training.
The thirty small catapults on the Xiazhou city wall opened fire first, and stones as big as millstones were thrown towards the catapult positions of the Song army.
Two huge stones as big as millstones flew to the catapult position of the Song army, knocking down a catapult and hitting five or six Song soldiers who were busy launching catapults. They screamed and blood flew everywhere. The others just looked up at their dead brothers in a hurry and continued to work nervously with their heads down. They had to launch their next round before the enemy launched their next round.
Ye Liren was shocked! In the first round, only ten trebuchets were tested, and two of them threw huge stones that hit the enemy's trebuchet positions. He was very happy. After learning that the Song army was going to attack the Western Xia Kingdom, these trebuchet soldiers practiced day and night, and their accuracy really improved a lot.
Next, the thirty catapults were adjusted according to the parameters of the two catapults that hit the enemy's catapult positions and fired continuously. The Song army's more than 40 catapult positions would be knocked down by a rain of huge rocks, and the enemy soldiers' flesh and blood would fly everywhere.
Ye Liren, who was waiting for the victory of the long-range catapult shooting, suddenly saw the metal equipment behind the enemy's catapult position, which was covered with red cloth, emitting flames...
“Boom!…” “Boom!…” “Boom!…”………
The old general Zhe Dejian, who was riding on his horse and watching the catapult position, was so startled by the thunder that sounded not far away that he almost fell off his horse.
Regent Zhao Defang smiled wickedly, "Don't panic, old general. The artillery made a loud noise and I was also startled."
Zhe Dejian sat up firmly, calmed himself, glanced at the cannon whose muzzle was still emitting smoke, and looked up at the opposite city wall.
"Ah!... Damn it! The power of this artillery is too strong! It's so accurate and has great lethality!" Zhe Dejian saw that six or seven catapults were tilted and broken into pieces on the enemy's trebuchet position, and the enemy soldiers were in a panic. He couldn't help but slap his thigh and shouted excitedly.
Ye Liren on the city wall looked at the catapult position next to him in shock, his mouth wide open and his pupils frozen and contracted, he couldn't believe it!
What was that thing that the Song army was using that could launch iron balls so far and so accurately? Ye Liren stared blankly at the dozens of bloody corpses flying everywhere, as well as the trebuchet soldiers who were screaming in panic and running away.
Ye Liren was startled! He came to his senses, drew his sword, raised it and gave an angry order, "Don't run! Quickly fire before the enemy, and anyone who disobeys my order will be killed!"
The supervisory team drew their swords and ran over. After chopping off two heads, they finally drove the terrified trebuchet soldiers back to the trebuchet position.
"Old general, be prepared, the second round of artillery fire is about to be fired." Regent Zhao Defang kindly reminded him.
The old general Zhe Dejian turned around helplessly and rolled his eyes at the prince, "Prince, this time, I have been concentrating on watching those artillery, I can't be scared!"
Fang Erbao waved the small flag in his hand downwards, "Fire!"
Ten cannons spit out flames again, and the rumbling sound of the cannons exploded like thunder.
"Your Highness, the firing interval of this artillery is too short. I just counted to sixty when the second round of artillery fired!" The old general Zhe Dejian forgot the embarrassment of being teased by His Royal Highness the Regent, and turned around and shouted to the prince excitedly like a child.
At this moment, the Xixia soldiers who had just stood in front of the catapult were hit by the shells, with blood and flesh flying everywhere, and they fled in all directions screaming.
Ye Liren stared with shocked eyes at the smoke-filled place in the distance. How could the second round of firing be so fast?
Before his pounding heart could calm down, the thunder bombs thrown by the Song army's catapults hit the densely packed soldiers defending the city wall like a rain of iron balls.
"Boom!..." "Boom..." "Boom..." "Boom..." "Boom..." Sixty or seventy thunder bombs exploded in succession on the wall of Xiazhou...