Fenghou

Sun Jian ran two quick steps, jumped onto the top of the wall, and the guard soldiers lying on the top of the wall got up in shock and shouted loudly.

The patrol team also noticed the situation and rushed towards this side quickly. The soldiers under the city also rushed up, and thousands of soldiers from the Song Army rushed towards the city wall in the distance.

Sun Jian brandished his long spear and picked and killed seven or eight soldiers in a row. The other soldiers were terrified, uttered a cry, turned around and fled.

'when!when!when!when! 'The alarm sounded loudly from the top of the city, resounding through the whole city.

Fifty sentry soldiers finally rushed to the city, but more than 200 Song soldiers had already ascended the city. Sun Jian roared and led [-] people to fight up.

At the same time, Zhao Yong of Xicheng also led [-] soldiers to forcibly attack the top of the city. He didn't use a forward or any strategy, but directly hung [-] siege ladders on the top of the city at the same time.

The defenders at the top of the city took care of one thing and lost another, and Zhao Yong basically attacked the top of the city without paying the price.

This made Yang Zaixing secretly admire, no wonder everyone valued this person, he really has some skills, is very practical, and also very intelligent.

Song Jun lit the South City Tower and opened the South City Gate. Chen Qing led four thousand cavalry into the city.

As soon as he rushed into the city, he saw the enemy general Mo Wangu leading seven or eight hundred soldiers rushing towards the city gate.

Chen Qing stretched out his bow and put on an arrow, and shot it eighty steps away. The speed was incomparably fast. Before Mo Wangu could react, the arrow was right in front of him, and it was too late to hide even if he instinctively wanted to hide.

'puff! 'The arrow was right between the eyebrows, powerful force penetrated the entire body, and the tip of the arrow came out of the brain with bloody brain tissue.

Mo Wangu fell from the horse on his back, without even a scream, he died instantly.

The soldiers behind were so frightened that they turned around and fled. The North City Gate had been opened. Just as Zhao Yong expected, a large number of soldiers fled to the North City Gate.

It's a pity that they were greeted by six thousand ambush soldiers, and none of them could escape.

……

As the sky gradually dawned, the Song army escorted more than 2000 prisoners of war in from the north gate, and there were more than [-] prisoners captured at the head of the south city, and [-] defenders. Except for more than [-] people who were killed in battle, the rest became prisoners of the Song army. .

The core area of ​​Longzhou is on both sides of the Sishui River. There are two counties in total. After Siyang County is captured, another small county without a garrison, Qianyuan County, will surrender without a fight.

Chapter 5 and Two: Pingliang

If Siyang County is just a general county, then Pingliang County in Pingliang Prefecture is a large county with great strategic value. One of the importance of Pingliang County is that it just guards the entrance of Jingyuan Road. Located in the center of a large cross between north and south, east and west, its value is very important no matter for military or commercial trade.

However, it is much more difficult to attack Pingliang Mansion from Deshun Prefecture. Dalong Mountain stretches from north to south, and there are dozens of large and small passes on Guangda Long Mountain, such as the famous Shimen Pass, Muxia Pass, Liupan Pass, Shanguan, Zhishengguan, etc., can be said to be controlled by one man, and no one can open it.

Therefore, Chen Qing chose the southern route, crossing the Qinling Mountains from the Weihe Passage, then going north through the Jiandao Pass, taking Siyang County, and then taking Siyang County as the base, going north to Pingliang County, which is considered a shortcut.

However, Pingliang County is far more important than Siyang. Of course, Siyang is also very important. Seizing Siyang is equivalent to opening the gate of Fengxiang Mansion. It is safe, but Siyang County is easy to attack and difficult to defend, and has little strategic value.

Chen Qing sent the prisoners back to Chengji County, and ordered Wang Qi, the commander-in-chief, to lead [-] troops to guard Siyang County.

This afternoon, the army arrived in Huating County. Chen Qing, the former county magistrate of Huating County, knew him, but he had been transferred to another place. Now the county magistrate is called Zhang Qing, a local gentry.

Like all magistrates, when the Song army arrived in Huating County, Zhang Qing immediately organized a group of pigs, sheep and grain to reward the army, hoping that the army would not enter the county.

Chen Qing also understood the difficulties of these officials and ordered the army to stay overnight outside the city. That night, the scouts came from Pingliang County and brought the latest information about Pingliang County.

It really gave Chen Qing a headache. In just a few days after he attacked Longzhou, the puppet Qi army quickly increased its troops to Pingliang Prefecture. The garrison in Pingliang County was only 4000 at first, but now it has increased to 2. It was led by Li Cheng, the governor of the capital.

This is a fighter opportunity, and the fighter opportunity is fleeting. It can be said that now that the fighter opportunity is gone, it will be even more difficult for him to seize Pingliang County.

"Tell me about the city walls and gates in Pingliang County!"

"Qi Dutong said that the height of Pingliang County is about three feet. They are all made of large bluestones. For about thirty miles, all [-] enemy troops are stationed in the city."

"How many scouts and spies are there in the city?"

"Including the humble staff, there are eight people in total."

Chen Qing paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, and the generals beside him were also worried. They were all experienced defenders of the city. Judging from the descriptions of the scouts, even if they captured the city, they would have to pay a high price. The most important thing was their There are not many troops.

To deal with a city wall guarded by 2 people, at least 6 troops are needed, and only a three-to-one ratio of troops can win the city.

At this time, Chen Qing stopped and said slowly: "Since we are here, let's give it a try no matter what!"

……

On the morning of the third day, Chen Qing led an army of [-] troops to Pingliang County three miles away, lined up neatly, and immediately ordered a soldier to approach the top of the city and shoot a letter arrow.

On the top of the city, Li Cheng looked coldly at the Song army three miles away, and said to the generals: "I didn't even carry the camp tent and luggage. It seemed that it was for a sneak attack on Pingliang City. It was originally possible, but he is late now. One step, and the opportunity to fight is lost."

All the generals laughed loudly, "Didn't he claim to be exhaustive? I didn't expect to be in such a mess!"

Li Cheng said indifferently: "He didn't make a mistake when he dispatched troops, but the basis of his dispatch was based on the troops sent by the Wu rank army, Monk Yuan. He will be able to divide his forces into two groups, taking Siyang County one way and Pingliang City the other way, maybe he will be able to capture Pingliang City before us, and at that time, he was the one who laughed at us from the top of the city for not carrying tents and baggage."

Everyone admired, "The general sees it clearly!"

Li Cheng smiled triumphantly, "Now he is very embarrassed, I want to see how he wants to seize the city?"

At this time, a cavalry soldier of the Song Army rushed over, drew an arrow with his bow, and shot an arrow letter to the top of the city. A soldier picked up the arrow letter and ran to present it to Li Cheng.

Li Cheng opened the letter, looked at it and said with a smile: "He asked to fight me one-on-one, and hoped that I would go out of the city to fight him!"

All the generals said one after another: "The general must not be fooled. Without the general, the city's defense capability will be reduced by half."

Li Cheng was secretly annoyed, everyone was not optimistic about him and Chen Qing going head-to-head, is he that bad?

Dissatisfaction is dissatisfaction, Li Cheng still knows that he has no chance of winning if he can kill Wanyan Loushi.

He drew a pen and replied: "The four seasons are unlucky, it is not advisable to go out of the city!"

Pass the letter to the soldier, "Shoot it back!"

……

Chen Qing decided to conduct a tentative siege. Since he wanted to see the opponent's ability to defend the city, he also needed to understand the defense of Pingliang City. More importantly, he wanted to know the siege ability of his own army.

There will definitely be casualties in war, which is unavoidable. He must use the minimum casualties to obtain the information he wants.

Opportunities for this kind of battle are relatively rare, all the generals fought one after another, and in the end the lottery was drawn, and Niu Gao got the lottery.

Chen Qing took out a gold order and said to him: "I will give you 120 infantry and [-] siege ladders. You are allowed to advance but not to retreat. I decide to retreat. If you retreat without authorization, behead!"

"Humble post obeys orders!"

The battle drums in the Song Army team sounded, 'Boom!Boom!Boom!Boom! '

Six thousand elite infantry went out to battle. They wore double-layer leather armor, held large shields and short spears, and fought swords on their backs. The reason why they didn't use iron armor was mainly because the cost was too high. Secondly, they were guarded by shields. The chances of soldiers being hit by arrows were low. Too, and at the same time, it can also reduce the load, which is convenient for soldiers to go to the city to fight.

Among the [-] soldiers, there are also [-] kerosene and firearms soldiers, which are already standard equipment for the Xihe Road Song Army. They are not only equipped with kerosene skin bags, but also two gunpowder barrels.

Six thousand troops assembled quickly, and under the command of Niu Gao, they marched mightily towards the southern city wall.

Li Cheng didn't expect that the other party would actually attack the city. He immediately ordered the whole army to enter the combat state and mobilized [-] troops to deploy at the south of the city. The trebuchets had not yet arrived, mainly bows and arrows, rolling logs and stones, as well as some firearms and kerosene. .

The Song army used firearms and kerosene in Ganquan Fort, and Li Cheng was deeply impressed by the great power shown. He got [-] imitation poison-quenching nail gunpowder barrels from Jin Bing.

As for how the matchlock technology got into the hands of Jin Bing, it is basically impossible to verify. Generally speaking, as long as the Song army starts to equip it on a large scale, it will soon appear in the Jin Bing army.

There is also kerosene, but Jin Bing's kerosene has not been refined, so it can only be called kerosene or crude oil, not Song Jun's fierce kerosene. Although it can also burn, the effect is still worse.

The Song army was getting closer and closer, only two hundred steps away from the city wall, Li Cheng shouted: "Shoot the arrow!"

Five thousand crossbow arrows from the city head were fired at the same time, and they shot at the Song army densely. At this time, the six thousand Song army had been completely scattered in the wilderness more than ten miles wide.

50 people form a team, and each team is equipped with a siege ladder and six long planks.

This is actually a tactical change. Before the Jin soldiers and the Xixia army attacked the city of the Song army, they first sent people to build three simple wooden bridges on the moat. into a ball.

Chen Qing also discovered the serious disadvantages of this tactic. It is easy to be massacred by the bows and arrows of the defenders. The key here is the problem of the single-plank bridge over the moat. He changed his concept and let each army have a single-plank bridge. The area will be greatly widened, which will effectively reduce the probability of being shot by the enemy's bow and arrow.

Soldiers of the Song Army held their shields high while running, and ran against the howling rain of arrows. The shields effectively blocked the powerful crossbow bolts, but soldiers kept falling down from arrows in their legs. This was the only loophole. If the crossbow arrows were shot The angle of the shot is a little lower, and it is possible to shoot the soldier's leg.

Although the arrow in the leg will not kill you, if the treatment is not timely, you will bleed too much and die. In fact, in the cold weapon era, unless the head was chopped off with a knife, or the internal organs were pierced, most soldiers actually died. The first aid was not delivered in time.

The wounded soldiers of the Song Army were all trained. They reluctantly pulled out the crossbow arrows, took out the first-aid kit from their arms, and poured wine on the wound first. The soldiers trembled from the pain. The desire to survive alone made them endure the pain and continued to chew to stop the bleeding. The ointment was applied to the wound, and Jinchuang medicine powder was sprinkled on it, and the wound was bandaged with a cloth band.

After this set of simple self-treatment is completed, life can basically be saved.

The Song army continued to run to the sound of war drums, ran to the edge of the moat, set up long wooden boards, rushed across the moat in an instant, and erected siege ladders on the top of the city.

On the top of the city, rolling logs and rocks fell like a torrential rain, and flaming gunpowder kegs were also thrown down.

Chapter 5 and Three Pingliang

The gunpowder barrel was invented by Chen Qing when he was defending Jiandao Pass. In fact, it appeared in the army of the Northern Song Dynasty. Chen Qing invented a rope-type fuse. In the past, a long-nosed gunpowder tube was inserted into the gunpowder barrel. If the red-hot soldering iron is ignited and thrown down, it is easy to cause the gunpowder tube and barrel to separate, thus turning into a squib, and the success rate of the explosion is not high.

But the success rate of the rope-type fuse is much higher, especially after several years of development and the introduction of double-layer gunpowder barrels, the success rate of the explosion has reached more than [-]%, and the timing is very precise. There is no time for the enemy to react.

When Song Jun launched the gunpowder barrel, he began to study how to prevent it. At the beginning, he set up an axe to smash it before it exploded.

Later, it was found that it was too late to smash, so they began to train the soldiers again, lying down immediately and protecting their heads with shields. This trick worked very well, basically reducing the lethality of the explosion by [-]%.

The gunpowder barrel itself is not very powerful, the main reason is that the poisonous nails inside are terrible, but the directions of the poisonous nails are all oblique upwards, as long as you lie down, you will basically not be hurt by the poisonous nails.

Last winter, craftsmen of the Song Army sewed a thirteen-layer linen cloth with a layer of asbestos inside, which has a very good fireproof effect. The fire cloak was born, and every attacking soldier wore a fire cloak.It can prevent the body from being burned by fire.

However, during the experiment, it was accidentally discovered that it could also resist the penetration of the poisonous nails of the gunpowder barrel. This discovery made Chen Qing overjoyed, and immediately sewed it on a large scale. So far, only [-] cloaks have been sewn .

In other words, 2000 of the [-] siege troops were not equipped with this kind of fire cloak.

They still can only rely on lying down to protect themselves, and the soldiers on the siege ladder are equipped with fire raccoon cloaks, and they are not afraid of powder barrels and poisonous nails.

This is also one of the purposes of Chen Qing's siege, to test the effect of this fire cloak in actual combat.

There are 120 siege ladders, and there are five firearms soldiers under each siege ladder. When the opponent's powder keg is dropped, the firearms soldier immediately shouted, "Lie down!"

The soldiers fell down one after another, 'Boom! With a bang, the gunpowder barrel exploded, and the poisonous nails flew in all directions. The soldiers lying on the ground were not harmed, while the soldiers on the siege ladder wrapped their bodies and faces in fire cloaks, and the poisonous nails crackled and shot into the fire. On the cloak, it really couldn't pierce it.

Without any danger, the soldiers of the Song Army continued to climb up, and the two sides fought fiercely at the top of the city.

The firearms soldiers of the Song Army began to counterattack, spraying fierce kerosene, throwing gunpowder barrels, and throwing torches one by one.

There were constant explosions on the top of the city, and the flames were blazing. The soldiers guarding the city panicked, and soldiers of the Song Army began to break through the defense and rushed to the top of the city.

Seeing that the gunpowder barrel didn't work, Li Cheng was shocked and angry when the opponent counterattacked sharply.

Li Cheng didn't want to follow Chen Qing too much in defending the city. Although he had prepared [-] barrels of kerosene, he would not use it unless he had to. The city is on the top.

He shouted an order: "Dump the fire oil!"

Soldiers on the top of the city dumped barrels of kerosene down the siege ladder, and many soldiers were splashed all over their heads. This move is the ultimate poisonous move for defending the city. It is basically unsolvable. Three thousand six hundred barrels of kerosene were dumped.

Even if there is a fire cloak, it can only be used to open up a passage, but it still cannot extinguish such a powerful fire oil.

Countless torches were thrown down, and a raging fire was ignited on the top and bottom of the siege ladder, and the surrounding area was immediately filled with thick smoke and flames.

At the same time, Chen Qing issued an order to withdraw troops: "Retreat!"

'when!when!when!when! '

The bell for the retreat sounded, and the soldiers of the Song Army began to retreat wrapped in fire cloaks. Many soldiers who were covered in fire jumped into the moat, but many soldiers were seriously injured and were carried back by other soldiers.

At this time, the city was also in chaos. The puppet army had no experience in fighting fires, and the thick smoke and fire made them rush left and right, forming a mess.

Not long after, thousands of troops withdrew, and Niu Gao came forward to report: "I have reported to Dutong that 840 or four of my brothers were killed in battle. Most of them were killed during the siege. Because the retreat was timely, there were no soldiers burned to death. More than 100 people were burned, more than [-] people were seriously injured, and more than [-] people were injured by arrows during the attack."

Chen Qing nodded, "Soldiers who died in battle will be given double pensions, and wounded soldiers will also receive good care."

"Follow your orders!"

After a pause, Niu Gao said again: "I feel that the opponent is completely inexperienced in fire attacks and firearms attacks. In the end, we have soldiers with seven siege ladders going up to the city. We can actually take the city!"

Chen Qing shook his head, "Taking the county will require a street battle with the opponent's [-] troops. Even if we win, it will be a miserable victory, with at least [-] casualties, and the city will be devastated. This is not the victory I want."

Niu Gao said ashamedly: "I understand!"

Chen Qing asked again: "Did the soldiers from the upper city withdraw in time?"

"Report to Dutong, all have been withdrawn!"

Only then did Chen Qing say to the crowd: "Let's talk about it, everyone! Where is the experience in this siege? Just now General Niu Gao said that the opponent is not good at defending against fire and firearms, what else?"

Yang Zaixing clasped his fists and said, "The fire cloak is very good. It can resist the poisonous nails of a fire extinguisher, and it can also resist the fire. This time the soldiers escaped thanks to it. I suggest mass production, so that each person has one piece."

Chen Qing nodded, "Huo Huancloak made the first contribution, and the effect is very good."

Everyone chatted and talked about their own feelings.

Turning his eyes, Chen Qing saw that Zhao Yong's face was flushed, and he hesitated to speak, so Chen Qing smiled and said, "What's General Zhao thinking?"

Everyone looked at Zhao Yong. It is said that Zhao Yong is brave and resourceful, and everyone respects him. I don't know what shocking words he has?

Zhao Yong was a general who had just surrendered, and he was still a little embarrassed in front of everyone. He blushed and said, "The humble officer observed the fire under the city, and it wasn't that the entire lower part of the city wall was destroyed by the fire. In fact, there were only more than 100 fire points. The siege ladder poured kerosene, I was thinking, if our siege ladder can move laterally, and leave the fire scene quickly after the fire, so that the siege and retreat will not be affected by the fire."

Everyone's eyes lit up, this is indeed a good idea, Liu Cui frowned, and said again: "But there are hooks on it, which can hold the city wall firmly, what should I do?"

Niu Gao smiled and said: "This problem is not that big, there is a telescopic siege ladder that can solve this problem."