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Chapter 578 Breaking the Defense Line (2)

The Song army lost 400,000 people when they started the war on the first day. Except for the 300,000 army that was basically eliminated by the big explosion and then trampled into meat sauce by 100,000 cavalry, most of the 100,000 people were captured by the Xia army. Due to lack of preparation, after a while of resistance, the Song army and other soldiers from the rear surrendered. The surrendered Song army was not the elite of the Song army, but the second-line troops were not very strong in combat will and combat power.

On the first day of breaking through the defense line, the Xia army's cavalry only advanced fifty miles southward and divided their troops across the canal to occupy Changhe Town. Such a propulsion speed was simply inconsistent with the Xia army's cavalry. The reason why such a thing happened was inseparable from the Song army's second defense. In order to curb the rapid assault of the Xia army's cavalry, the Song army dug a large number of paddy fields behind the Great Wall and formed a square-style canal network.

The Xia army in Changhe Town went south to advance to the camp. Generals at all levels such as Yan King Li Qing, Changshan King Li Ke, Zhu Xu, Yan Shu, Zhao Ge were all there; Li Qing pointed to the map to make the next strategic deployment and said: "Now we have broken through the Great Wall Defense Line of the Song army, but this is just the beginning, and greater difficulties are behind! Because the Song Dynasty excavated a square water canal network composed of paddy fields in the north, it had a great impact on the advancement speed of our cavalry, which would win a lot of time for the Song army to assemble the army, so our time is very tight. We must try our best to expand the results of the battle before the gathering of the elite heavy troops of the Song army;

In the next battle plan, we will still divide our troops into three groups. We will lead 100,000 cavalry to march south along the east bank of the canal to attack Dezhou, Qizhou and Bozhou, and threaten Daming Prefecture from the east; the fourth brother led 100,000 cavalry to attack Jizhou, Zhaozhou, Xingzhou, Mingzhou, Cizhou and other places from the west; the Pingbei General Zhu Xu led the remaining more than 200,000 troops to attack the remnants of the Song army along the Great Wall, and lead the army to attack and pacify, cooperate with the King of Hengshan to eliminate the outskirts of the Song army led by Zhang Miao..."

Li Qing did not choose a more radical strategy and concentrated his superior forces to attack Daming Mansion, but chose a more stable combat plan to advance step by step. In fact, this is not what Li Qing is afraid of, but this attack is different from the past. The purpose of this attack on the Xia army is very clear to conquer the city and a protracted war, so it is very important to stabilize the rear. Li Qing did not want his backyard to catch fire when he went south in a large-scale south. Such a lesson would be enough.

Late at night, in the Daming Mansion of King Zhao.

Zhao Qun hurried to the lobby and was waiting anxiously for Zhao Wei. After seeing Zhao Wei, Zhao Qun said to Zhao Wei: "The prince is in trouble. According to the spy, he reported that the Great Wall defense line was lost. The 300,000 troops led by General Wang have been completely wiped out. Now the Xia army's cavalry has advanced to Changhe Town."

When Zhao Wei heard this, she didn't believe it at all, and laughed: "Zhao Qun, do you think it's interesting to joke with me with this? Okay, it's getting late, go back early and take a shower and go to bed!"

"Prince, the general did not lie." Zhao Qun knelt on one knee on the ground and continued: "The Great Wall defense line was really broken by the Xia army, and the army under General Wang has been wiped out..."

"Impossible, this is impossible." Zhao Wei roared angrily; "That is a 300,000 army, the most elite 300,000 soldiers and horses of my king, and the Great Wall as a barrier. How could the Xia army suddenly break through! Yesterday, General Wang said that the defense line was solid!"

"I don't know until the end." Zhao Qun knelt on the ground and continued, "According to the investigation, there was a sudden loud noise in the north early this morning, and then the Great Wall collapsed for a long time, and the Xia cavalry rushed in from the gap."

Zhao Wei sat on the ground when he heard this. At this moment, Zhao Wei understood that the Xia army must have used gunpowder. The loud noise was also emitted by gunpowder. However, Zhao Wei still didn't know how the Xia army used gunpowder to collapse the Great Wall. There was no need to know now. What Zhao Wei had to do now is to find a way to stop the Xia army from moving south and organize troops to fight against the Xia army. Although the Great Wall defense line was lost, this battle still needs to be fought.

Zhao Wei got up from the ground and murmured: "Don't be messed up, don't be messed up, let me think about what to do."

After calming down, Zhao Wei immediately issued two military orders: "Zhao Qun sent someone to order Xiao Yuanshan stationed in Dezhou to lead the Liao army cavalry to block the Xia army's pace of going south. The king then led the army to support him; in addition, he sent someone to order Zhang Miao to give up attacking Zhending Mansion and lead 300,000 elite troops to Zhaozhou. If Zhaozhou cannot defend, he will go south to Julu to defend and block the Xia army's attack from the flank."

"Yes, I will go and pass the order." Zhao Qun immediately took the order and left.

After losing the 300,000 elite troops on the Great Wall defense line, Zhao Wei now has only more than 500,000 elite troops left. In addition to the 300,000 elite troops in Zhang Miao, there are 100,000 elite troops stationed in Daming Prefecture. The other 100,000 elite troops are the remnants of Liao troops stationed in Dezhou, commanded by Xiao Yuanshan. This should be the only large-scale elite cavalry unit in the Song Dynasty.

Just when the Jizhou Legion broke through the Great Wall defense line in the north of the Song army, Li Wu gathered 200,000 elite troops in Wuguan to prepare for a large-scale attack on the city of Shangnan City, established by the Song army outside Wuguan. This city was only fifty miles away from Wuguan and was an important stronghold for the Song army to prevent the Xia army from leaving the pass. In order to prevent the Xia army from leaving the pass, Zhong Shidao assembled 100,000 troops to defend the city in Wucheng.

In the Mansion of Wuguan, Qin Hu walked towards Li Wu's study and reported after seeing Li Wu: "Prince, the 200,000 army has been assembled in Wuguan, and the siege equipment and gunpowder must be ready."

"Have the 20,000 imperial guards arrived?" Li Wu asked with great concern.

"The prince has arrived, and they have also brought a large number of advanced firearms." Qin Hu said excitedly; "Some of the last generals have never seen them."

"The Imperial Guards of the City are the protagonists. Whether they can take down the city of Shangnan depends on them." Li Wu sighed; "The army will launch a large-scale attack tomorrow. Before attacking Shangnan, all the strongholds of the Song army outside the city must be removed."

"Yes, the last general takes the order..."

Shangnan City is located north of Danshui and south of Xionger Mountain. It was just a small county town before. After it became the border of Song and Xia, the Song Dynasty began to expand and strengthen Shangnan City. The outer city walls of Shangnan City were all built with bricks with rammed earth. The wall was about three or five meters high, the base was about six meters wide, and the top was about four meters wide. In order to strengthen the city wall at any distance, there were also piers built on the pier, and an arrow tower was also built on the top of the city wall. There was also a female wall and a battlement on the top of the city wall. There was a horse road to climb the city inside the city wall, and an urn city protection gate outside the city gate.

The city is divided into two cities inside and outside, mainly garrisons. The entire city has only three gates, one east gate, one west gate and one south gate. A three-meter-wide moat was dug outside the city. There are also many small bunkers in the north of Shangnan City, forming a mutual support with the main city. If the outside bunkers are not pulled out and attacked, the attacking army will be all within the attack range of the Song army's crossbow arrows.

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