It was not easy to completely suppress the thirty cannons of the Khitan army with six cannons. After Ali only replaced the heavily armored warriors to use the cannon, the casualties dropped greatly. Soon, he set up the cannons and aimed at the Song army's city wall.

With Ali's order, the Khitan's artillery roared. In the thick smoke of gunpowder, the shells flew towards the city wall.

Chang Fang stood on the city and watched the Khitan firing, and couldn't help feeling nervous. In an instant, he felt the city wall under his feet tremble slightly, and his heart became tight. After a while, when it stabilized, he hurriedly ordered the soldiers to check.

There was a big basket on the city wall, and two soldiers were loaded down to check the damage to the city wall. Soon, the two returned to the city and crossed their hands to Chang Fang and said, "Instruction, the Khitans' cannons were just smashing a few white prints on the city wall, which is not a big deal."

When Chang Fang heard this, he let out a sigh. When the city was built, according to the deployment of the Privy Council, it was much thicker than the usual city walls. Moreover, the rammed earth was particularly strong and ordinary cannons could not be shaken by it. It was impossible to see outside the city, but I just thought it was a small city, not very high, but I didn't know how wide the foundation was.

Seeing that the city wall hit, Ali outside the city was overjoyed and urgently ordered his soldiers to step up the bombing of the city. However, before the cannon was reloaded, two cannons were directly hit by the Song army, and the cannon was destroyed and killed.

Alibaba just doesn't care. This time, he brought more than 100 cannons. He doesn't believe that the Song army can destroy all of these more than 100 cannons and cannot break the city walls.

Baozhou, Jingtai looked at the front-line official documents and his face was heavy. In recent days, the Khitan army has moved south in large numbers and is now focusing on attacking the entrance of the first city, Great Wall. According to the front-line battle report, the Khitan concentrated a large number of artillery in front of the city, and kept stopping every day. Fortunately, the city was solid and did not threaten the city wall. The Song army on the city actively fought back with artillery and destroyed twelve Khitan artillery in one day.

Putting down the official document, Jingtai said: "The Khitan attacked the Great Wall with a 50,000 army, and surrounded it for three days. If this continues, even if the city cannot be destroyed, the city cannot last for a long time. I want to lead the army to rescue, but I am afraid of being trapped by the Khitan. There are more than 300,000 Khitan troops in Yizhou, so I have to be cautious. Alas, why has the Privy Council not sent troops to aid yet."

Deputy Commander Hebin said, "The city has been built strongly. I think it will not be able to break the Khitan after a few days. However, the Khitan army besieged the city and did not go to rescue it. I don't know what the Privy Council has made. After so many days, I will not transfer the armies of Liu Jianji and Dou Shunqing."

Jingtai nodded: "Yes, the other party has hundreds of thousands of troops. How can I not have reinforcements? I have 50,000 troops, in addition to the defenders of the city, there are 30,000 troops available. 30,000 soldiers to attack hundreds of thousands of Khitans. How can I fight this battle?"

After saying that, he got up and walked slowly in the official hall, thinking about countermeasures.

Hebin said: "It's not that we don't want to go to the Privy Council to urge them. Although there are railways to Baozhou, Dou and Liu armies, we should come soon."

Jingtai shook his head: "No need. Taiwei Du is in charge of the Privy Council. Everything has its own rules, so we don't need to urge him."

After saying that, Jingtai sat back in his seat and said, "Let's wait a moment. Judging from the frontline battle reports, the Khitans now had no choice but to besiege the city. At night, spies came out successfully at the entrance of the Great Wall, and they did not say that they were in danger."

Hebin nodded and said nothing. The Khitan did not surround the Great Wall. At night, he would send people to the city and send a letter smoothly. According to the usual method, the city is now in sufficient supplies, and it is not difficult to deal with the Khitans.

But Jingtai is at the forefront, just as a strong enemy, he is naturally nervous. Hundreds of thousands of Khitan troops have been launched, how can he sit still?

In Chongzheng Palace, Zhao Zhen said: "According to Baozhou, the Khitan has sent 50,000 troops to attack the Great Wall. Moreover, the army has brought over 100 cannons and bombarded the city every day. There are hundreds of thousands of troops, which have been stationed on the border. Jingtai dared not send a rashly to send rescue and asked the court for emergency."

Wen Yanbo said: "Jia Kui has occupied Feihu, and Zhending Prefecture and Dingzhou are both safe. Dou Shunqing and Liu Jianji's armies can be transferred to Baozhou. The 150,000 army should be able to defend it. Otherwise, there will be Liu Ji's army in Hejian Prefecture."

Zhao Zhen looked at Du Zhongxiao and said in a deep voice: "Taiwei, how can Baozhou fight against the Khitan? Is there a decisive plan?"

Du Zhongxiao held the scepter: "Your Majesty, when you build these cities, you told the front line that you must be strong and can defend for a long time. If you send troops to rescue at this time, it will become a chaotic battle between the two sides, which is not conducive to this dynasty. Baozhou has built so many cities, it must be used, guarding one by one. But Jingtai decides by himself when to rescue. If he really can't save it, he can also bring people out and give up one by one. As long as he guards Baozhou, it will be a merit."

"Only one word for guarding?" Zhao Zhen frowned. "Hundreds of thousands of troops are in Hebei, how can we just watch?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "The hundreds of thousands of troops on Hebei Road are used to fight the Khitans. At the beginning, it is best to just stick to it and consume the morale and food of the Khitans. When their morale is low, then the army will come out to fight with it."

Zhao Zhen said nothing for a moment. After a while, "The Khitan army was full of nearly 400,000, and the battle between Jingtai was always uneasy. If a person is not careful, if Baozhou loses, it will avoid full wavering."

Du Zhongxiao said: "The 50,000 army is defended by the city and there is no shortage of supplies, and the Khitans have no choice. This time, there are as many as 400,000 Khitan troops in Youzhou, but they only sent 50,000 people to attack the entrance of the Great Wall. Why? Because no matter how many troops are, it is useless. This is the case. In each city, the attack and defense are actually not much, and most of the soldiers are just strong. According to my estimate, as long as the defender does not have any problems, it will be difficult for the Khitans to break through the city. Although they have artillery, they are not powerful enough and are not familiar with it, and it is difficult to break through the city."

Han Qi said: "According to the Grand Marshal's estimate, how long will it take to dispatch a large army to counterattack?"

Du Zhongxiao said, "Young Master, it's not that easy. Although the Yan land is frozen now, the river cannot reach a large army, so the Khitans have been waiting at the border. After more than ten days, when the weather is cold and the land is frozen, they will inevitably turn east and attack Xiongzhou. They have to send all 400,000 Khitan troops to be dispatched. Only after being blocked everywhere will their morale will be depressed. It will be difficult for a month or two."

Han Qi sighed: "It's really hard to endure this month or two! When the two armies are fighting, they will make mistakes if they are not careful. How can we ensure that the soldiers on the front line always stick to each other? Now that we have a large army in our hands and cannot actively attack, we always feel that it is not a solution."

Du Zhongxiao said: "For Jingtai, if the information is smooth, you can decide whether to attack by yourself. As long as you attack quickly and don't be entangled by the Khitans, there is no problem. The Khitans are conducive to field battles and are not good at siegeing the city. Their intentions to surround the Great Wall may not be to let us send troops to rescue and then win in the field battle."

After hearing this, no one in Chongzheng Hall spoke for a while, and they were considering what Du Zhongxiao said.

After a while, Zhao Zhen said: "A few years ago, King Ze of Beizhou rebelled, and Gong Wen led the army with the prime minister and pacified it for several days. This time, the Khitan promoted the whole country's troops, and the visitors were not good. Now there are six armies on the Hebei Road, such as Jia Kui, Dou Shunqing of Zhending Prefecture, Liu Jianji of Dingzhou, Jingtai of Baozhou, Zhang Ji of Xiongzhou, and Liu Ji of Hejian Prefecture. Liu Ji was the commander, but he had no generals and had insufficient institutions, so it was really difficult to command the various armies to fight. This time, the Khitan attack was a big deal. What do you think if the prime minister was the commander?"

Wen Yanbo bowed: "Your Majesty is wise! If there were no important officials on Hebei Road, it would be difficult to convince the army. I am afraid that the war will not be easy to command."

Zhao Zhen nodded: "This time the Khitans have come, and I want to fight to the death with them! But the war begins, the Khitans must be attacking, and this dynasty is defending. If you are not a steadfast person, you cannot hold your foot back at this time."

Du Zhongxiao looked at everyone and naturally understood that at this time, he could only be officials of the Privy Council. Unlike a few years ago, among the prime ministers, the status of the Central Secretariat was higher than that of the Privy Council, and it was not surprising that Wen Yanbo went to war. Now the military is in the Privy Council, and the Zhengshi Hall sent people to the Zhengshi Hall to do so, I am afraid that I can't even figure out the matters in the army.

Standing up, Du Zhongxiao held the scepter and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to go to war!"

Zhao Zhen looked at Du Zhongxiao and said, "The Taiwei is in charge of the Shufu and is well aware of the war. It is naturally the most suitable candidate. However, the Shufu has a complicated matter. If the Taiwei is gone, the rest of the people will be busy."

Han Qi said: "The court army, except for the newly formed five armies in the capital, are mostly on Hebei Road. Why not, let Taiwei Du lead the Privy Council and go to Hebei Road to command the battle? Regarding the war, Taiwei decides in Hebei and just repay the capital."
Chapter completed!