Standing at the head of the city, Illic looked at the Song army camp opposite, and after a while, he said: "Those high places should be the gun positions of the Song army's artillery." Our barracks were behind the castle, some distance from the Song army, and their artillery could not be here. ”

Asir, the general on one side, said: "Listen to the people from Gaochang who said that the artillery of the Song army is extremely powerful, and the one who fired it hurts people. This time, it was a good thing, they took the initiative to camp two miles away, and the artillery could not hit here. Great king, why don't you set up a tent in the city? ”

Illic shook his head: "How can this small castle stop the artillery of the Song army?" When the time comes, they will block the door and the artillery will fire indiscriminately, won't they be able to leave? Don't arrange too many people in the city, we will fight a decisive battle with the Song army outside the city. Artillery is only useful if it is close, and if we don't attack, are they being consumed on the opposite side? When they attack, won't the artillery be useless? ”

Asir listened and nodded: "What the king said is true." When the Song army came to attack, it couldn't bring artillery, so what was so terrible about muskets? ”

Leaving the city, Illic instructed: "Send someone here, and keep an eye on the Song army on the opposite side." If they make any move, report it to me immediately! If there is a mistake in this battle, we can only retreat to the north of the Tianshan Mountains, and all the land we have gained for decades will be gone! ”

Asir promised to send Illic down to the city.

When he returned to the tent, Illik ordered a sheep to be roasted in the tent, and several important generals were brought in to discuss important matters.

After a while, the generals gathered and sat in a large circle around the roasted sheep. Illic ordered the wine to be served, and the fruit was served, and said, "The spies came yesterday to report that Du Zhongxiao had arrived at the Song Dynasty's meandering road. A few days ago, the Song army had been transferring troops here and not attacking, but now I know why, when I was waiting for Du Zhongxiao to arrive. When the manager arrives, it's time for them to attack. ”

General Putten said: "King, if the Song army doesn't attack, why don't we attack either?" The so-called attack on the enemy is not stable in the foothold, if we attack with all our strength a few days ago, the Song army will inevitably not be so stable! ”

Illic said, "What do you know! The artillery of the Song army was powerful, and around the barracks, artillery emplacements were arranged everywhere. Have you ever heard that when the Song army besieged Gaochang, General Gaochang led his troops out of the city to fight, but the Song army released several rounds of artillery, and one person was not injured, and nearly 1,000 people in Gaochang were killed! ”

Puteng said: "In fact, it is not as powerful as it is rumored, it is Longluo Dusha who led the troops out of the city gate, and was fired a few cannons by the Song army, and he returned after panicking, and he was within the range of the Song army's artillery." I heard from the merchants who came from Hequ Road that when fighting against the Song army with guns, the formation must be open, and the more open it is, the less likely it is to be hit by artillery. If you start attacking, you must be resolute, and you must not come back halfway through the attack, otherwise you will lose men and horses in vain. ”

Illik said: "Many people understand the truth, but how to fight is another matter entirely. Those businessmen who say this have not heard it from others, and there are some true and some false. Some are true, but they can't be done. It's like an open formation, we use knives and guns, how can we hurt people when the formation is open? Look at the Song army opposite, although the number is small, the camp is much wider than us, how can we compare? ”

Asir said: "It is said that the Song army is powerful in guns, but if you don't really fight, you still don't know what's going on." Therefore, this battle is indispensable, otherwise will we take the initiative to retreat to Shanbei? However, I don't know the details, so it's not good to take the initiative to attack, just wait for them to attack. ”

Seeing that the mutton over there was ready, Illik said, "Come, the meat is ready, and we will drink wine and eat meat while discussing the war." This battle is not trivial, nearly 80,000 soldiers came, it can be said that the country came out, if it is defeated, it will not be able to recover for many years. ”

The generals took out the wrist-dissolving knife, cut the meat and ate it, and drank a lot of wine. After a few bowls of wine, I became bold and talked a lot.

General Inar said: "Since the arrival of the Song army, the reconnaissance cavalry has been out in all directions, and it has been widely spread for one or twenty miles. Although the army did not fight, the scout cavalry fought a few times, and our army was almost not victorious. The only few victories were run away by the Song army. I've heard from people who have fought with the Song army that their scouts are all armed with muskets, and if they get close, they will be given a shot first. Then he took out the waist knife he brought and fought with people. The spear was much farther than the bow and arrow, and our scouts often suffered losses. In the past few days, our scouts can only rely on the large number of people to control the range of three or five miles around the barracks, and the outside are all Song troops. ”

Illic nodded: "Yes, judging from the reconnaissance cavalry, the Song army is stronger than us." The two sides are fighting hard, but we are afraid that we are not their opponents. So I recruited everyone here today to see if there was any way to fight the Song army next. ”

Inar said: "It's strange to say, it's been nearly half a year since the Song army entered the Western Regions, why haven't there been muskets and artillery?" Could it be that they look very tightly? If we have muskets and artillery in hand, we can figure it out for ourselves. ”

Illik said: "Don't think about it. The scouts had fought dozens of times, but had not captured a single musket. ”

Putten said: "If you don't send an army to attack, even if you don't win, you can come back with some muskets." They all say that it is powerful, we have it in our hands and see how powerful it is. In my opinion, a country as big as the Song Dynasty, with the Khitan and the party to attack our Western Regions, they are not invincible in the world. As long as you find out its weaknesses, you can always come up with a solution. ”

Asir said: "Now that the enemy is present, what is the use of saying that? Just get the musket, what can you think of for a while? ”

Putten said: "By the way, I heard that the Song army's musket is actually similar to a bow and arrow, and it is a projectile that hurts people. If we are heavily armored soldiers in front of us, and a large number of men and horses follow behind, can we break through the Song army's military formation? ”

Inar shook his head again and again after hearing this: "No matter how heavy the armor is, even if it can block the musket, can it still block the artillery?" The Song Army's shells, I heard that the big ones weigh several pounds, and if they are smashed down, what armor can stop them? The Song army's military formation was guarded by artillery, and the attack was impossible. ”

Pu Teng sighed and said: "Discuss and discuss, or can only let the Song army attack us, this battle is really not good!" ”

Ilik said: "As long as you can make the Song army retreat, it will be a great battle of heaven, and you still have to fight well!" ”

The generals shook their heads together. It was too easy for the Song army to defeat Gaochang, which caused a psychological shadow for Black Khan. Even if he led the troops here, he still regarded the Song army as a great enemy and did not dare to despise it at all.

It was talked about late at night, and everyone didn't come up with a way. It was only unanimously agreed that it could not be attacked, and that it was necessary to wait for the Song army to attack.

The next day, before Illic got up, Asir went to the tent and reported that the Song army was moving in a big way.

Illic did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly got up, and before he had time to freshen up, he followed Assi to the head of the city. Looking from the city, I saw that part of the Song army on the opposite side was pulling out the camp, obviously concentrating its forces on both wings. The Song army camp in the middle did not move, although some people left, the strength was still strong.

After looking at it, Illik said: "There is no need to ask, the Song army is doing this, obviously attacking from both flanks!" It is impossible for their strength to be directly wrapped behind us, and it is thought that they will advance on both wings. The Song army in the middle is very strong, and it is thought that it will meet the two wings! ”

After speaking, walk around the castle and think about countermeasures. The Song army's arrangement is a bit unexpected, their strength is less than that of the Black Khan army, and now it is divided into three large groups, could it really be that the Song army has been decided? After thinking for a long time, Illic said: "No matter what, the Song army will always attack us!" Command Puten and Inar to hold the barracks! The Song army comes to fight, then fight! I led the troops to guard the Chinese army, and responded left and right! ”

Asir received the order and went to command the two generals on the flanks. The two wings of the Song army were opened, leaving one army in the middle, and the distance was far, not as if they were cooperating with each other. With such an arrangement, the Black Khan Army is really not taken into account.

Illic looked at the Song army camp outside the city, stared at it for a long time, and said sharply: "Even if it is a big country, thousands of miles away, I want to see how much strength you still have!" This battle will decide the fate of the Western Regions! I don't believe that you can win back-to-back battles! ”

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