Fenghou

"In fact, it refers to a thousand soldiers. The roads, water diversion, and cave repairs in Dingxi Village were all paid by the other three families. The Guan family didn't pay a penny. The Guan family was responsible for paying for the maintenance of a thousand soldiers. The main reason why the family can dominate Dingxi village."

Raising a thousand soldiers, even without military pay, would cost a huge amount of money just for equipment, food and drink. It seems that the Guan family did not spend less money, but what does this have to do with me?Could it be that the Guan family wanted to sell this army to themselves?

Chen Qing sneered in his heart, and asked again: "Why is there only Guan Pingxu's letter, what is the attitude of the other three families?"

"The attitude of the Guan family is the attitude of the Luo family. The Luo family is only the Guan family. As for the Yang family, its existence is meaningless. It was originally recruited by the Huang family to fight against the Guan family, but at a critical moment, the Yang family voted for the Guan family. The Huang family lost its position as the head of the village, a family that likes to covet petty gains.

Huang Jigu was originally appointed by the government to be the owner of Dingxi Village, and he was very popular with the people of Dingxi Village, but since Huang Jigu's youngest son fell from a cliff to his death in an accident two years ago, Huang Jigu has been completely silent. "

Chen Qing nodded, "I probably understand, does Li Sima want to stay here or go back?"

Li Weiru smiled wryly, "Guan Pingxu asked me to stay here and negotiate with the general at any time!"

Chen Qing laughed, "It seems that he is very confident!"

At this time, Yan Jun, a personal soldier, stepped in quickly and whispered a few words in Chen Qing's ear. It was a little unexpected for Chen Qing, the Huang family sent someone so soon?

1 Chapter Ninety

Chen Qing met Huang Jigu's son Huang Ning alone in the other account. Compared with Huang Jigu's letter of surrender, Chen Qing was more interested in how Huang Ning went down the mountain.

"Reporting to the general, there is a secret path in the back mountain of Dingxi village. It was discovered by the hunters of our village. It is just a little bit more difficult and dangerous. There are more than ten feet to use a soft ladder or a rope. The villain used a rope ladder to get down."

"Can you go back in reverse?"

"Of course, otherwise how would the villain go back?"

Chen Qing went to the map and looked for this secret road. Huang Ning stepped forward knowingly and marked the secret road on the map with a pen.

Chen Qing looked at the map carefully and asked, "How many people know this secret path?"

"There are four people in total, a pair of hunters, father and son, and me and my father, the hunter and the villain, who are waiting outside the tent."

Chen Qing pointed to the map and asked, "Will the water source conflict with this secret passage?"

"No conflict, the water source is in the east, and this secret road is in the west, at least two miles apart."

Chen Qing nodded, turned around and ordered: "Go and tell Liu Cui and Zhao Xiaoyi to come over!"

Only then did Chen Qing smile at Huang Ning: "I always keep my word and do what I say. Your Huang family surrendered to me in the dark and made great contributions. I will definitely not treat you badly. Wait a minute, I'm going to ask you Lead the way for my army and go up the mountain through the secret path!"

Huang Ning was overjoyed, and quickly bowed and said, "I am willing to serve the envoy!"

……

At Haishi, it was nine o'clock in the night, and the night was already dark. Chen Qingbing divided into two groups and ordered Zhao Xiaoyi and Liu Cui to lead [-] scouts and [-] elite soldiers to go up the mountain from the back mountain through the secret road.

He personally and Yang Zaixing led 500 people to attack the cottage from the front.

The army marched to the foot of the mountain in a mighty manner. This kind of mountain basically circled up the mountain to reduce the slope.

There are two defensive lines in Dingxi Village. One line is at the foot of the mountain, which is actually a checkpoint. A wooden house was built at the first turn of the mountain, guarded by more than a dozen people from the village. You have to pass through them when you go up and down the mountain. Guan, saying that this wooden house is a defensive line, is a bit high on it.

Yang Zaixing led [-] soldiers of the God Arm Crossbow Army to shoot arrows at the wooden house from [-] steps away. They shot gunpowder arrows, and all the [-] gunpowder arrows hit the small wooden house. , more than a dozen villagers escaped in embarrassment, and fled to the mountain in a panic.

The main defense line of Dingxi Village was halfway up the mountain, and a defensive wall was built. A thousand soldiers of the village were waiting with bows and crossbows, and there were a lot of rolling logs and stones beside them.

At this time, everyone saw the fire in the wooden house down the mountain, and everyone suddenly became nervous.

Guan Pingxu also stared nervously at the place where the fire started at the bottom of the mountain. He knew that the Song army had started to attack, which was also within his expectation, business!There must be bargaining, and when the Song army can't attack, or the cost of the attack is too high, making Chen Qing feel that the gain is not worth the loss, then the negotiation can continue.

The commander who led one thousand soldiers was Cao Bo, the nephew and son-in-law of Guan Pingxu. He was originally a commander of the Xihe Army. He was about 30 years old. After Fuping was defeated, he fled back to Qinzhou. It is logical to become the leader.

Cao Bo had heard of Chen Qing, the chief general in the Battle of Jiandao Pass, who was promoted from capital to commander in just two years. He was the most shining general of the Western Army, and his limelight even surpassed that of Liu Kai.

Like Guan Pingxu, he also held a trace of luck in his heart. They had a geographical advantage, and the opposing army did not have many troops. A thousand troops should be able to defend Dingxi Village.

"General Cao, Patriarch Guan wants you to go!" A soldier came running and shouted.

Cao Bo hurried over, clasped his fists at Guan Pingxu and said, "What is the Patriarch's order?"

"Is there any defense on the Eastern Front?"

The east route is an uphill path in the east, which has little impact on this side, but it can lead directly to the water source on the top of the mountain. Guan Pingxu also attaches great importance to it. He is worried that the Song army will go up the mountain from the east and cut off the water source, and once the Song army reaches the top of the mountain, they will be able to If you are condescending, shoot arrows down from a high place, and attack up and down, you will be in big trouble.

"Patriarch, please don't worry! I have deployed two hundred brothers on the eastern front. The terrain there is dangerous. One man guards the gate, and ten thousand men cannot open it. The Song army will never come up."

"Are eight hundred soldiers here enough? Shall I mobilize some young men to join the defense?"

Cao Bo bowed and said, "I feel that the Song Army is just a tentative attack tonight, not a real attack, so we don't need to mobilize for now, let's see what happens tonight!"

"How do you know it's a tentative attack?" Guan Pingxu asked puzzled.

"Patriarch, you can tell from the other side's attack on the cabin at the foot of the mountain that a dozen people have all fled back. If there is a formal attack, they will not be given a chance to come back. The Song Army wants to use them to go up the mountain to understand our defense situation."

At this time, a soldier shouted: "Song Jun is coming up!"

Guan Pingxu was startled, and quickly ordered: "Go and command the battle quickly."

Cao Bo clasped his fists in salute, turned around and ran away.

Yang Zaixing led five hundred soldiers to walk close to the mountain wall without anyone noticing. When the opponent spotted them, they were only two turns away from the defense line.

The soldiers behind the defensive wall panicked and shot arrows down one after another, meaningless. Cao Bo ran over and shouted: "Stop shooting arrows!"

The soldiers stopped shooting arrows, and Cao Bo cursed: "They have to go straight up in the end. That's our chance to fight. Shooting arrows now is useless!"

Finally, going up the mountain is a straight line, about [-] steps, which is specially built for defense, attacking from top to bottom, the advantage is very obvious, this is the most difficult section of Dingxi village to attack, and it is also the basis for Guan Pingxu's unwillingness to compromise easily.

However, the Song army refused to attack for a long time, and formed a confrontation with the Dingmen in Dingxi Village.

……

On the secret road in the back mountain, a strong and agile hunter led the way in front, and a group of soldiers climbed up the rope ladder. The secret road is located in a deep ravine, with few people and lush forests. There are roads up and down this secret road. Walking, but there is a cliff more than ten feet deep in the middle, which makes people feel that there is no way to go here, but if you use a thick climbing rope ladder to fix it up and down, this cliff will not be a problem.

Five hundred soldiers successfully climbed up the cliff, and there was a pine forest on a slope above it. The pine forest grew extremely lush, but its length was unknown.

"Master Huang, have you reached the top of the mountain?" Zhao Xiaoyi asked.

"We have already reached the top of the mountain. The top of the mountain is completely covered by pine forests. The water source is in the east, two miles away from us. Going down here is the top row of cave dwellings. It used to be a warehouse, but it is now abandoned."

The crowd quickened their speed and quickly walked out of the pine forest. The front suddenly opened up. They reached the east side of the mountain, with the cave dwelling area below them. Under the moonlight, they could clearly see the soldiers on the mountainside.

"Go down and attack!"

Liu Cui gave an order, and everyone rushed down the mountain along a ravine...

On the mountain road, nearly a hundred soldiers of the Song Army climbed up to the edge of the mountain road, using boulders as cover and shooting arrows up the mountain.

At this time, Cao Bo gradually felt that something was wrong. The Song army didn't seem to be probing or attacking, but it was a bit like delaying time, as if waiting for something?

Cao Bo became uneasy. Could it be that the Song army still had some strange soldiers?

At this moment, there was a scream from the soldiers around him, and the soldiers were shot in the back one after another. Cao Bo was shocked, and when he looked back, he saw an arrow coming head-on, and it was too late to dodge.

'puff! This arrow hit Cao Bo's throat. He held his throat and took two steps back. Immediately afterwards, he was hit by more than a dozen arrows and died on the spot. His body fell off the stone wall and rolled down the slope.

A round of crossbow arrows under Liu Cui killed more than 100 soldiers. Just facing the slope of the mountain road, the defenders were in chaos, scrambling to escape to both sides...

Yang Zaixing seized the opportunity and led [-] soldiers to rush out to the top of the slope. There were no soldiers defending on it, and there was no threat of bows and arrows, rolling logs and rocks. Not long after, the [-] soldiers rushed to the defensive wall and shot from behind. Chase down the enemy army.

The defense of Dingxi village collapsed in an instant under the front and rear attacks.

Chen Qing was still at the foot of the mountain. He led a thousand soldiers, waiting patiently for the moment when Dingxi Village was breached.

At this time, a long line appeared on the cottage, and Liu Cui escorted more than 100 people down the mountain, including the family members of the Guan family, the Yang family and the Luo family, and the leader was Guan Pingxu.

He was escorted in front of Chen Qing, Guan Pingxu shouted in horror: "General Chen, the villain is willing to surrender unconditionally!"

Chen Qing sneered and said: "The opportunity has already been given to you. Only the Huang family took what I said seriously and sent people to surrender to me before dark. The other families ignored me and ignored my words. Don’t you think I’m a person who doesn’t believe what I promise?”

Guan Pingxu and Luo Tao regretted and feared, and begged for mercy, Chen Qing waved his hand, "Follow the rules of Zhoujiabao!"

The Zhou Family Fort's rule is that adults are killed, women and minors are spared from death.

Amid the cries, more than [-] paralyzed adult men were dragged aside by the soldiers and beheaded...

Chapter 191

Chen Qing handed over the resettlement of the people in Dingxi Village to Qin'an County Government, together with the materials stored in Dingxi Village, Chen Qing also ordered Zhao Xiaoyi to lead [-] soldiers to assist the county government in resettling the people in Dingxi Village.

As for Li Weiru, Chen Qing valued him very much. The county government of Chengji County was going to be reorganized, so Chen Qing appointed Li Weiru as the county magistrate. Ji County.

Chen Qing left Dingxi Village that morning, and led the army to Gangu County non-stop to deal with the second largest fortress in Qinzhou, Anyuan Village, located in Gangu County.

The effect of destroying the Zhou Family Fort by bloody means has already appeared. More than [-] forts around Chengji County, including Lengquanzhai and Marian Fort, have been disbanded. The people in these fortresses range from dozens to hundreds of households. , As many as tens of thousands of people returned to their hometowns.

The originally desolate villages became alive again, and the common people began to reorganize their homes and repair cave dwellings. A large number of common people also appeared on the barren land, rushing to plant corn and beans.

……

At noon that day, a transport team consisting of more than [-] carts left Xianrenguan. Yang Yuanqing and Niu Gao led [-] cavalry to guard the carts. There is a large amount of property in Nan County, [-] guan in copper coins alone, as well as a large amount of gold, silver, silk, satin and cloth, as well as the private property of the soldiers.

Xianrenguan is located in front of Fengzhou and Qinzhou. After leaving Xianrenguan, there are still vast mountains. Chengji County is in the north, but they need to avoid the territory of the Qiang people, so they have to go east in the sparsely populated canyons. After more than 100 miles, it turned to the official road heading north.

The team didn't move fast. Seeing that it was getting dark, they had only walked more than forty miles. Yang Yuanqing ordered: "Go to the small river ahead and stop to rest!"

They walked this road when they came, and the road conditions were relatively familiar. They still remembered that there was a small river not far ahead, and the team walked another three miles, and there was indeed a small river ahead.

At this time, it was already dark, and everyone was busy by the river, unloading the belongings on the cart, stacking them together, and then surrounding the cart.

Yang Yuanqing was conscientious and meticulous in his work. If it was someone else, he would have to rely on it. Moving up and down would be too troublesome.

The coachmen unloaded the mule's shaft and led the mule to the river. The soldiers also led the horses to the river to drink water. Yang Yuanqing stood on a big box and looked around.

This area is very open, the canyon is more than [-] miles wide, and there are patches of woods and grasslands. It is spring now, and the grasslands are full of tender grass, which saves them from carrying fodder.

Yang Yuanqing remembered very clearly that there should be a small village ten miles away, with more than a dozen families living by grazing animals. It was already dark, why didn't they see the lights of the village?

Yang Yuanqing pointed to the northeast direction and asked Niu Gao: "Old Niu, do you still remember that there is a small village in the northeast direction over there?"

"Remember, I still remember a few children herding sheep near the entrance of the village!"

Yang Yuanqing smiled wryly and said, "I'm just like this. I'm too cautious. The control says I'm suspicious all day long. There's nothing I can do about it. This problem of being too cautious can't be changed."

Niu Gao asked with a smile: "What is the general worried about?"

"I didn't see the lights of the village, so I was a little worried."

"Since the general is worried, I will take someone to have a look!"

"Then it's hard work, General Niu."

Niu Gao led more than a dozen cavalrymen and galloped along the small river to the northeast...

At this time, the soldiers began to bury pots for cooking, and ate dry food every day. When they encountered a small river, the soldiers all wanted to drink some hot soup.

Niu Gao and his party went away for a long time and did not come back. Yang Yuanqing was a little worried, so he stood up and looked northeast. Suddenly, a bright red gunpowder arrow shot into the sky from the north.

Yang Yuanqing was taken aback, and shouted: "There is an enemy!"

The soldiers of the Song Army who were resting jumped up one after another, picked up their weapons and got on their horses. Yang Yuanqing shouted to the coachman again: "You take the animals to the south to hide, and come back after the battle is over."

The coachmen were terrified, and they all rode on their mules and fled southward for their lives.

Yang Yuanqing glanced at the belongings again, the belongings were piled up like a hill, surrounded by hundreds of carts, Yang Yuanqing's cautiousness played a role at this time.

Soon, the sound of horseshoes came from the north, and Niu Gao shouted from a distance, "There is an enemy!"

The cavalry lined up quickly, and Niu Gao rushed back, leaving only three of his ten men. Niu Gao was shot in the back by several arrows, but luckily, he was wearing iron armor, and the arrows could not penetrate, and were embedded in the iron armor. , only puncture a little flesh, the problem is not big.

Niu Gao said urgently: "There is an ambush in the woods ahead, there are at least two thousand troops, all infantry!"

"Where is the army?"

"I don't know, they're all wearing black armor!"

Yang Yuanqing was puzzled, there were no Jin soldiers or Qi troops in this area, where could it be?Could it be the Qiang people? If they were the Qiang people, how would they know that they were escorting their belongings?

"General Yang, they are here!"

Hu Yanlei shouted and pulled Yang Yuanqing back from his contemplation, only to see black soldiers appearing in the distance.

Yang Yuanqing immediately said to Niu Gao decisively: "General Niu led two hundred brothers around behind them, I will fight head-on, and then we will attack from front to back!"

"Follow the order!"

Niu Gao waved his hands and shouted: "Brothers from the fourth and fifth departments, follow me!"

He rushed westward with two hundred cavalry, and then turned around to go behind the enemy.

Yang Yuanqing sternly ordered: "The bow and arrow are ready!"

Three hundred cavalrymen raised their bows and aimed their cold arrows at the dark crowd a hundred paces away.