The howling north wind blew away the smoke of gunpowder on the battlefield and the dust stirred by the explosion. When the walls of Anle City were exposed, everyone on both sides of the battlefield showed a nervous look, but it turned out that both sides showed a disappointed expression.

Although Cao Mata had to increase the amount of gunpowder, because the wall of Anle City was reinforced, and even Yelu Ren had built another wall inside the city wall before, the explosion of the siege tube only destroyed the outer layer of the city wall, and the inner wall was still intact, but the collapsed city wall outside also formed a slope, allowing the Song army to attack the city head along the slope.

It can be said that the above results are not good for both sides. The Song Dynasty did not achieve its goal of exploding the city wall, and the Liao Kingdom increased the difficulty of defending the city, so the faces of both sides were not very good-looking.

"Kill!" However, the Song army quickly reacted. Taking advantage of the opportunity that the Liao army on the top of the city was stunned by the bombing, someone immediately climbed up the slope, and some people actually climbed up the city wall. At this time, the Liao army that reacted was also desperately coming forward to fight, because they knew that if the Song army occupied the city, even if it was just a short section, the entire Anle City would probably be difficult to protect.

The siege tube failed to blow up the opponent's city wall, and Cao Ma, who was supervising the battle behind, was also a little surprised. However, he also knew that Yelu Ren was defending the city on the opposite side, and this guy was not easy to deal with, so although he was surprised, he still calmly commanded the army to attack the city, and the second batch of siege tubes were also transported up.

These special explosive packs as thick as water tanks were originally designed for siege. Since this thing was promoted in the army, the generals of the Song army have always maintained a belief that if a city wall cannot be blown up, it must be that the amount of siege tubes is used too little. No matter how strong the city wall is, as long as it is blown up several times at the same location, it will collapse sooner or later.

In fact, as Cao Ma expected, with the second explosion, the walls of Anle City finally turned into ruins with a rumbling sound, and the Song army also stepped on earth and rocks and rushed into the city, but encountered the tenacious resistance of the Liao army, and were even killed by the Liao army several times and retreated from the city.

Yelu Ren had known for a long time that the city wall might not be able to defend, so he also built several lines of defense in the city. So even if the Song army captured the city wall, it still had to face the tenacious resistance of the Liao army. In particular, the Liao army's defense line was built with both solid and cleverness, which made them unable to play to the strengths of the Song army, so they were driven out several times.

The war is in a stalemate, which is what Cao Ma is most worried about, but fortunately he had considered this before. After all, the Liao Kingdom has been operating in Anle City for so many years, and they will definitely not be easily defeated by them. And now they still have the initiative in the battle situation. I believe that as long as nothing unexpected happens, Anle City will be defeated by them sooner or later.

Just when the war in Anle City was stalemate, countless ships advanced in unison on the Grand Canal behind the Song Dynasty, and countless soldiers on both sides followed the ships. In the middle of the fleet was a huge dragon boat. The vigorous golden dragons on both sides of the ship were dancing in their teeth and claws, and the flying eaves and corners were all in the style of the palace. The entire giant boat looked like a moving palace.

In fact, although this dragon boat looks very new on the surface, it has been quite old. In the Chanyuan Alliance, Zhao Heng was forced to march in person. At that time, he rode this dragon boat north along the canal. Later, Zhao Heng also took this dragon boat to various places for auspiciousness many times, but later Zhao Heng was in poor health and the dragon boat was sealed.

Due to Zhao Heng's lessons back then, after Zhao Zhen ascended the throne, the civil and military officials in the court almost reached a tacit understanding, that is, Zhao Zhen was strictly prohibited from leaving the capital again, so that he would not run around the world like Zhao Heng. In fact, after Zhao Zhen ascended the throne, he was indeed trapped in the capital, and it was even very difficult to go out to the palace to go around the city, so the dragon boat left by Zhao Heng was useless.

However, as the saying goes, things are unpredictable. This attack on the Liao Kingdom is related to the national destiny of the Song Dynasty for hundreds of years. Therefore, Zhao Zhen also wanted to lead the army in person. In fact, he did not need to lead the troops at all. As long as he released the news that he was on the front line, the morale of the Song Dynasty could be a hundred times higher.

In fact, Zhao Zhen wanted to go to the front line long before Di Qing and his friends sent troops, but the ministers refused to let go. Although Zhao Zhen repeatedly stated that he was just going to Youzhou to take charge and would never leave Gubeikou, these ministers were still worried that the front line would be unfavorable, and that Zhao Zhen's sage might disturb Zhao Zhen's sage at that time, so they did not let go until Cao Ma sent troops and the front line stabilized.

Li Zhang stood on the deck with Zhao Zhen, looking at the scenery on both sides of the canal. Li Zhang was nothing. After all, when he was on a mission to Liao Kingdom, he had also walked across this canal. In addition, he often went out and knew the situation in various places very well, so he didn't think there was anything.

However, Zhao Zhen was completely different. As an emperor, although his eyes and ears spread all over the world and the entire Song Dynasty was in his heart, it was just to use other people's eyes and ears to understand his own country. It was far less true and reliable than to see with his own eyes and ears. Especially since he was a child, he had been in the palace and could only go around the capital when he occasionally left the palace. This was the first time he had seen the world outside the capital with his own eyes, so every grass and tree outside was very fresh to him.

"Cousin, I heard that the winter in Yanyun is bitter and cold, and the snow is larger than goose feathers. It is rare to see such heavy snow in the capital?" Zhao Zhen looked at the scenery on both sides of the strait for a long time, and finally turned his head and asked Li Zhang.

Since leaving the capital, Zhao Zhen has been in excitement. Sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night and runs to the deck to see the night view outside. Others may find it difficult for others to understand Zhao Zhen’s current mood, but Li Zhang understands it very well. After all, for a person who has been in hiding for half his life, the outside world is too attractive to him.

"The heavy snow is real. If you go north, a snowfall in winter may even bury the house, just like the heavy snow disaster in the capital a few years ago. However, it is rare to see the capital in decades, but it is very common in Liaodong." Li Zhang also smiled and said.

The climate of this period is also somewhat different from later generations. For example, winter is colder and summer temperature is not as high as in later generations. It is estimated that this may be a precursor to the arrival of the Little Ice Age. In a few hundred years, when the Little Ice Age comes, even when the Little Ice Age arrives, blizzards often fall in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Fujian and other places, and the northern grasslands are even more cold. This also makes the grassland people unable to survive, so they frequently go south, which indirectly leads to the rise of the Mongolians and Jurchens.

"The climate in Liaodong is so harsh, no wonder the war will end before the snow in winter. I don't know when Cao Ma and the others will be able to capture Anle City?" Zhao Zhen also showed a thoughtful expression when he heard Li Zhang's words.
Chapter completed!