When Hu Yanzan returned, he was covered in blood, but he didn't care. He didn't even take down the arrows on his armor, and walked back straight, holding an iron whip in his hand, as if telling his merits.

And his performance was not in vain. At least Zhao Kuangyin was very satisfied. He smiled and said, "General Iron Whip is back, so what about the Khitans?"

"Report to Your Majesty, the Khitans are timid and abandon them after a collision. They really didn't taste it!"

Hu Yanzan said carelessly. He knew that the emperor asked questions on purpose just to boost morale and reduce the fear of the generals and schools. He was also willing to cooperate: "In less than two quarters of an hour just now, we killed thousands of Khitan dogs, all of whom had one head and two eyes, and put a knife on his neck, and he would die!"

"Okay!" Zhao Kuangyin laughed, looked around and said, "The Khitans are just that way. Our cavalry is only a little short of them, but there are quite a few infantrymen, which will definitely make it difficult for them to have a hard time!"

When the generals and officials heard this, their faces were much more relaxed.

On this side, the Khitans came into the city, but Taiban was in the military camp outside the city, and only Yelu Talie entered the city.

The Northern Han people, led by Liu Jun, were all attentive to entertain themselves and did not dare to slack off at all. Their confidence in defending the city became even higher.

In the next few days, Zhao Kuangyin clearly felt the tenacity of Taiyuan City. Moreover, due to the large number of Khitan cavalry outside the city, the attack was extremely unsatisfactory, and it was also difficult to raise food and grass. The treasury was empty due to the consumption of 100,000 troops and the consumption of civilians.

For a moment, he actually had the idea of ​​withdrawing his troops.

At this time, news came from Tokyo that the southern country invaded Jingxiang and Xingyuan Prefecture, which made him even more and more urgent.

"No need to delay, retreat!" Zhao Kuangyin looked at the endless stream of Khitan cavalry and looked up at the Taiyuan City that had been repaired by countless generations. He shook his head and said casually: "Taiyuan City is solid and can't be taken away in just a few months. The Khitans came too fast and there was not enough time. This time it was a slash!"

"Cleaning it carefully, the formation must be tight. If the Khitans bite it, they will give him a bite!"

"No--" The generals experienced the difficulties of siege. They were really uncomfortable in the early spring. When they heard this, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

When Zhao Kuangyin worked hard to go north and faced the Khitan cavalry, the Tang Dynasty responded quickly.

Yang Shifan was appointed as the northern envoy of Jingxiang, leading 10,000 Jiangling Guards and tens of thousands of imperial guards who had worked hard to arrive, a total of 20,000 people. He also summoned 50,000 civilians to transport food and grass, and went to Xiangzhou together.

There were nearly one million people in Jingnan Prefecture, and there was no shortage of food and grass, so Yang Shifu marched extremely quickly. He almost fought in one battle and did not have much resistance at all.

After taking over the two states, Yang Shifan was not happy. He knew that this was what the Song people gave up, so he went north against the river and arrived at Xiangzhou City.

Attack it twice, and then surround it ten times.

Although Yang Shifan is under his command, he is really unable to face the Xiangzhou City where tens of thousands of people defend.

The stone-throwing carts transferred from the court were bombarded day and night, but Xiangzhou City was steep and difficult to attack, so it was not moved at all.

Yang Shifan also knew that his team was mainly a suspicious soldier, but he was unwilling to return so ineffectively. His desire to achieve success has never been extinguished.

"This Pan Mei is indeed amazing. She is tightly guarding the city and cannot be captured without more than 100,000 people!"

Yang Shifan exclaimed.

There was already a white land outside the city of Xiangzhou, with houses being demolished, and the bushes used for making fires were wiped out, let alone the wood used to attack the city.

The grass, earth walls, tree piles, stone piles, haystacks, etc. within the range of bows and arrows outside the city were cleaned up.

The troops were not at a disadvantage. Pan Mei even built two camps outside the city, defending the city, and destroying the siege troops at all times, causing them to be attacked from front and back.

Moreover, many obstacles were set up outside Xiangzhou City, connecting large logs side by side to bury them into the soil to form a wooden fence. The wood surface was covered with mud to prevent fire, and firewood bundles were piled up behind them. Traps were built on the road, and picket piles were buried inside and disguised as the same as the original road.

This opened Yang Shifan's eyes and suffered a lot.

Therefore, in order to prevent being counterattacked and being made into dumplings, Yang Shifan just looked at Xiangzhou City and sent troops to guard the stone-dumping cart, bombing the city day and night, but did not ants to attack the city.

Such caution is indeed nothing wrong.

A few days later, the soldiers of Xiangzhou came to attack the camp. Their movements were hidden. The horse's hooves were tied with cloth bags, the horse's mouth was put on chews, and thousands of cavalry were sprinting in groups, galloping like wind, moving like thunder, and attacking in the middle of the night, causing the entire camp to awaken in an instant.

If it were an ordinary army, it would have been beaten to the point where it was difficult to figure out the east, south, west and north, and the battle was defeated.

However, the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty had been practicing the scene of being attacked at night when they were training camps. Amid the shouts of the generals, they arranged the tents according to the previous formation to deal with the attack.

Moreover, due to the consumption of soybean oil, fruits, vegetables, and fish, soldiers are rarely blind in the night, and they can see it at night, so they will naturally not panic.

In addition, the camp was basically built by a professional baggage battalion, which was strong and durable. The Song soldiers attacked and it was difficult to break through for a while. When the soldiers came enthusiastically, Pan Mei saw that things were unsuccessful and had no choice but to retreat.

Yang Shifan adhered to the idea of ​​being cautious and careful, and did not send anyone to chase him. Instead, he inspected the camps and calmed down. The noisy military camp in the middle of the night.

"Damn--" Pan Mei looked back and saw no one chasing him. This made the formation he had been preparing for for a long time completely useless. He cursed inwardly, with a serious brow: "It seems that this Tang General is indeed not an easy person. He is so cautious and experienced, it seems that the next time will be difficult!"

Yang Shifan struggled for a long time but couldn't sleep. He looked at Xiangzhou City and sighed: "The Northern Army should not be underestimated. General Pan can defeat tens of thousands of people, so he is really capable!"

He made up his mind and became more cautious. He did not seek to break the city, but preserved his military strength and besieged Xiangzhou.

In this way, Pan Mei had no loopholes to take advantage of and could only confront each other so boringly.

...

As for Xichuan Prefecture, the movement was even greater.

Pan Chongche led 50,000 troops, 100,000 people, and 200,000 troops, and marched northward in a mighty manner, which shocked the entire Xingyuan Mansion.

Although the Hanzhong area is rugged and difficult to move, Pan Chongche's reputation made Cui Yanjin scared from the bottom of his heart.

How can we remain calm if tens of thousands of Song troops lose their hands?

Cui Yanjin panicked and hurriedly sent people to Fengxiang Army, Jingnan Army, Zhangyi Army and others for help.

He couldn't help but calm down. When he retreated to Xingyuan Prefecture, he had only tens of thousands of people under his command. Now he relies on the wealth of Xingyuan Prefecture and recruited tens of thousands of soldiers. Now he is only 20,000. How can 20,000 people defend the three prefectures and eight counties of Xingyuan Prefecture?
Chapter completed!