Fenghou

"The humble staff and a few colleagues seized the time to boil a few large pots of hemostatic ointment in the past two days, and twisted them into pills. We said, it is best to boil a few more pots, and then give each soldier a few pills, and then a few plasters. If they are injured by an arrow and the medical soldiers have no time to treat them, they can help themselves by chewing the pills into a paste, pasting them on the wound, and then sticking a plaster on it, which can stop the bleeding at a critical moment and save lives.”

Yang Yuanqing nodded again and again, "This method is good. You boil the medicine, and I will distribute it to all the heads, teach them how to use it, and then teach it to the soldiers."

"Then I will start boiling medicine in the afternoon!"

At this time, a soldier rushed to report: "General, the puppet Qi army has returned from cutting down trees!"

Yang Yuanqing was startled, this was what he was most worried about, so he immediately walked quickly towards the top of the city.

……

Outside the city, a camp of [-] puppet Qi troops was stationed in a crescent shape, enclosing the south and east sides. It was also because Ganquan Fort only had a south gate and an east gate. The biggest problem facing the puppet Qi army now was that they were unprepared. With siege weapons, they were helpless in the face of the tall and majestic city walls.

Zhang Zhongxiong had a good idea. After arriving at Ganquan Fort, they cut down trees nearby to make simple siege ladders. But when they arrived at Ganquan Fort, they found that there was not a single tree within a radius of tens of miles.

Without trees, all Zhang Zhongxiong's ideas came to naught, siege ladders, nest carts, arrow towers, battering rams, barracks, etc., all came to naught, and even his own safety could not be guaranteed.

When the army camps for a long time, it is generally necessary to build a board wall. This is a huge project. First, the frame is built with wood, and then filled with soil and compacted. First, a large amount of wood is required to make the frame.

If it is a short-to-medium-term camping, you need to use camp fences. This requires tens of thousands of small trees to strip their bark and tie them together. Even in places rich in trees, it is not realistic. Don't even think about making a camp fence twenty miles long.

Therefore, the barracks are generally carried with luggage, which is why wars require a large number of civilian laborers. To close a set of barracks requires thousands of carts to carry them and tens of thousands of men to carry them.

Since the barracks are inconvenient, another way is to encircle the camp with spears, and insert hundreds of thousands of spears around the camp, with the sharp spears facing outward, so that the enemy cannot rush in. Thousands of carts are needed to carry hundreds of thousands of spears, and this kind of camping is a test of national strength, and it is only such a luxury when the national strength is the strongest.

Zhang Zhongxiong couldn't do the above three methods, so he had to learn from the nomads to camp, dig a trench around the camp, put thousands of torches in front of the trench, and send thousands of patrols on the periphery.

In fact, this kind of trench torch is mainly used to prevent the invasion of wild wolves at night, and it may not be effective against the enemy. A few hundred bags of soil or dozens of long planks can make the trench that has been dug hard for several days return to zero.

But having a trench is at least a kind of psychological comfort, and it has a little soothing effect on Zhang Zhongxiong and the soldiers of the puppet Qi army.

In the past few days, Zhang Zhongxiong was frantically looking for trees. They captured dozens of local people, threatened and lured them. A mountain full of pine trees.

Zhang Zhongxiong was ecstatic, and immediately sent thousands of people to cut down the trees, and then used the Baishui River to transport the trees back. Today, the first batch of [-] pine logs were transported to Daying.

Zhang Zhongxiong immediately ordered the construction of siege ladders, and the entire puppet Qi army camp was mobilized.

Zhang Zhongxiong couldn't bear the excitement in his heart, so he rode a horse and brought hundreds of soldiers to the city to inspect Ganquan Fort, thinking about how to attack the city?

On the top of the city, the counselor Zhang Xiao looked at Zhang Zhongxiong, who was patrolling below, and said to Yang Yuanqing with a smile, "I know this man. He is Zhang Shuye's second son, Zhang Zhongxiong. It's the army he leads."

Yang Yuanqing still remembers the battle in which 5000 people were wiped out, but the enemy general fled along the ice.

"It turned out to be him. Fortunately, he is still Zhang Shuye's son. How can he be worthy of his father who is dying?"

Zhang Xiao continued: "This person is very concerned about fame and fortune. He is desperate to attack the city. Most likely, he came for the reward offered by the emperor of Jin. It has been almost five days, and the ruler has not shown up. I am worried. He will become suspicious, but if we give him a reassurance that the rule is in the city."

Yang Yuanqing has always been convinced of Zhang Xiao's strategy, he nodded and smiled and asked, "What can you do, sir?"

Zhang Xiao smiled mysteriously, "I used two small tricks to make him firmly believe that the control is in the city!"

Chapter 2 Niu Gao

Zhang Zhongxiong looked around the city, and basically decided to attack the east and south. The north could not open a battlefield, and the terrain in the west was uneven, which was not good for attacking the city. Only the east and south were relatively wide and flat.

He looked at the big banner with the word "Chen" on the top of the city, and felt that there were not many troops on the top of the city, which made him a little suspicious, and he worked hard to prepare for the attack. Is Chen Qing in the city?Or have you escaped back to Dasan Pass?

Zhang Zhongxiong is very utilitarian, otherwise he would not have betrayed his father and surrendered to Qi.

He has no interest in attacking the Song Army at all, he just wants to catch Chen Qing and get the coveted reward offered by the Emperor Jin.

If Chen Qing wasn't in Ganquan Fort, he wouldn't want to waste time here. He would directly withdraw to Chengji County, and then divide his troops to the counties to occupy the entire Qinzhou.

At this time, his personal soldiers pointed to a general at the head of the city and shouted: "Du Tong, that is Chen Qing!"

Zhang Zhongxiong also saw it. A general wearing a golden helmet and armor with mountain patterns appeared on the top of the city, standing under the banner of Chen Zi. This person's figure and face were indeed very similar to what he had seen on the Xianyang battlefield. Chen Qing, the key is that the other party wears a golden helmet. Besides the general Chen Qing, who else can wear a golden helmet?

At this moment, the soldiers beside 'Chen Qing' shot down an arrow letter, which landed not far in front of Zhang Zhongxiong.

A soldier ran forward and picked up the letter to Zhang Zhongxiong. Zhang Zhongxiong took the letter, and saw on the letter skin, "The envoy of the Qinzhou system in the Song Dynasty ruled Chen Qing, and the puppet Qi general Zhang Zhongxiong." '

Although it was very rude to call him a false Qi general, Zhang Zhongxiong let go of his heart. The bastard on the top of the city is obviously Chen Qing. This is the opportunity given to him by God. Wealth and high-ranking officials are not far ahead. wait for yourself.

All Zhang Zhongxiong's suspicions were gone, he immediately returned to the camp, and ordered the craftsmen to speed up the production of siege ladders, and to build a hundred siege ladders before noon tomorrow.

……

As night fell, the camp of the Puppet Qi Army was brightly lit. Thousands of soldiers and craftsmen were making siege ladders overnight. For the city ladder, Lieutenant General Liu Hongqing suggested using extra trees to make barracks, but Zhang Zhongxiong vetoed it. He also wanted to make ten siege nest vehicles and an archery tower for watching battles.

Zhang Zhongxiong knew in his heart that their siege weapons were relatively rough and their siege capabilities were relatively weak, so they could only rely on quantity to make up for their quality. It was a waste to get some wood, but it was used to build camp fences. Now all the Song troops are overwhelmed , where else would anyone come to help Chen Qing?

At two o'clock, on a dirt hill south of the camp, several scouts of the Song Army appeared, and the leader was Zhao Xiaoyi.

Zhao Xiaoyi has rich experience. He bypassed the puppet Qi army's patrol from the south and climbed to the mountain south of the enemy's camp. One mile, the advantage of camping like this is that the range of attack is greatly reduced, only the north and west, and at the same time, it is not afraid that the enemy will climb to the top of the mountain and set fire from a condescending height.

In fact, the mountain is not very high, less than a hundred feet high. The puppet Qi army built a sentry tower on the east and south sides of the mountain. The sentry can look down and observe the surrounding situation.

At this time, Zhao Xiaoyi and several of his men were only thirty steps away from the sentry tower to the south. They crawled in a low place, their bodies were blocked by the soil slope, and the soldiers in the sentry tower could not see them.

Zhao Xiaoyi crawled on the edge of the hillside and looked around with his head. The shape of the whole hill was like a sickle, which just surrounded the crescent-shaped camp. The other party obviously took the shape of the mountain into consideration when building the camp.

Looking at the foot of the mountain, there is an open space at the foot of the mountain. It is only one mile to the north that we can see the trenches of the camp.

Zhao Xiaoyi had to admire the opponent's camping experience. Since he used the mountain shape to protect himself, he did not leave any loopholes.

After observing for half an hour, Zhao Xiaoyi waved his hand back, and several of his subordinates crawled back and slowly left the hill. Of course, they also observed the sentry post. The sentry post is not big and can only accommodate two or three people at most. There is only one soldier standing guard at a time, and if an abnormality is found, gunpowder arrows are shot directly into the sky.

……

Zhao Xiaoyi is a scout, and he needs to observe the situation of the enemy army in advance. At this time, Chen Qing led the army to escort the last batch of grain, grass and supplies, and was on the way to Yelanggou.

Their ranks consisted of [-] horsemen, [-] camels laden with supplies, and [-] carts laden with grain and grass.

On the last day, they seized 2 carts and more than [-] livestock from Baochuan City. Zheng Ping promised that there would be no more livestock in Baochuan City. The Qing government reported that they could only go there on foot.

In addition to vehicles and livestock, there were nearly [-] Han Chinese from [-] families, including tens of thousands of salt slaves and Han Chinese in Baochuan City. They were humble and enslaved. Most of the Han people are willing to follow Chen Qing to Qinzhou.

As the envoy of the Qinzhou system, Chen Qing promised to give them free land to cultivate and exempt them from taxes for five years.

Chen Qing is well aware of the importance of population. From ancient times to the present, population is the source of wealth and the source of soldiers. Only population can create wealth.

Most of the population of Qinzhou and Fengzhou had fled to Bashu and needed to be replenished. What's more, these Han people were enslaved by Xixia. Rescuing them back to their homeland was also the responsibility of the Song Army.

Chen Qing distributed 10,000 mules and donkeys, tens of thousands of sheep, and [-]+ sheepskins to these poor Han people. He also gave them [-] shi of grain and [-] pieces of cloth, and searched the homes of the big family members of the Party Xiang All daily necessities and labor tools were given to them, and each family gave three pennies of money, so that these poor Han people finally had a little meager property.

Under the bright moonlight, [-] people were carrying loads, leading sheep, and carts pulled by mules and donkeys. The carts were loaded with grain, cloth and daily necessities, and there were old people and children sitting there. Full of excitement and hope, the mighty Dang followed the Song army, and the team was twenty miles long.

Song army cavalry followed on both sides of the team, guarding the people and protecting them from wild wolves.

At four o'clock, the mighty team entered the Wild Wolf Ditch, which was more than twenty miles deep and three miles wide, with thick loess high slopes on both sides.

Wang Hao led five hundred soldiers to guard the food and supplies brought in before. The army walked three times before finally emptying the warehouse in Baochuan County.

Chen Qing ordered Zheng Ping to put food and supplies, and ordered Niu Gao to lead the soldiers to appease the people.

Chen Qing is now more concerned about Ganquan Fort thirty miles away, where there are [-] puppet Qi troops, how to deal with them is the top priority right now.

They had 4000 cavalry before, and [-] soldiers were killed in a fierce battle with the Baochuan Xixia Army, and [-] soldiers were injured, and they could not go to the battlefield for the time being. The cavalry he can use now is only [-] or [-].

The rescued more than 1000 prisoners of war from the Song army could be used, but Chen Qing thought about letting Niu Gao lead them to protect Yelanggou. After all, there are a lot of supplies and more than 3 people here.

Chen Qing is still waiting for news from Zhao Xiaoyi.

At this time, Niu Gao came to ask for an interview. He saluted Chen Qing and said, "I have carefully inspected the 800 prisoners of the Song Army. Most of them can ride horses. At least [-] people can be selected to join the army and control my subordinates." Another [-] cavalry are available."

Don't underestimate these 800 people. Once they join, Chen Qing's troop strength will return to the order of 5000. This is a critical level. Once the army has [-] people, it will be able to launch a large-scale battle.

Niu Gao knew this truth, and of course Chen Qing knew it too. He pondered for a moment and said: "There are too few troops left, I'm afraid we can't handle so many supplies and people."

Niu Gao smiled slightly and said: "We have a lot of armor and weapons in our supplies. We can choose a few thousand people from among the thirty thousand people to form a militia. I think this is enough to protect ourselves."

This is the Niu Gao who can stand alone in history, not the reckless man in the novel. Chen Qing admired him greatly, and said to Niu Gao: "I appoint Cheng Ju as the deputy commander to be your subordinate, and I will give you another hundred Brother Elite, I will leave the Wild Wolf Valley to you."

Niu Gao stood up and gave a salute, "The humble job must live up to the great trust of the ruler!"

Chapter 2 loopholes

At five o'clock, Zhao Xiaoyi came back.

After listening to Zhao Xiaoyi's report, Chen Qing pondered for a while and said, "Draw a picture, it will be more intuitive."

Zhao Xiaoyi found a piece of charcoal and drew a simple picture, explaining: "This hill is in the shape of a sickle, so the opponent's camp is also in the shape of a crescent. , and there are at least two hundred patrols deployed at the foot of the mountain, the defense is tight, the humble officer has carefully checked, and it is basically impossible to shoot arrows into the camp from the top of the mountain."

Chen Qing smiled and asked again: "Speaking of which, only the west and north can attack the enemy's camp?"

"Exactly! But the puppet Qi army patrols three miles away, and there are hundreds of people. If they find out and warn, the enemy camp will be able to deal with it calmly."

"But you are only one mile away from the enemy's camp, why didn't the patrols find you?" Chen Qing asked lightly.

"That's because the humble job bypassed the patrol..."

Zhao Xiaoyi stopped, and suddenly he also discovered the loopholes of the puppet Qi army.

"The humble official is confused. The opponent has deployed a large number of patrols in the west, north and east directions, but they have not deployed on the back of the mountain. Our army can also go around and hide at the foot of the mountain. When it is launched, it will bypass the foot of the mountain. The enemy army is only one mile away at most."

"Actually, the backside of the east mountain is also the same thing, isn't it?"

"Exactly! The puppet Qi army also deployed patrols in the east, but there are indeed no patrols behind the mountains, and they can also hide behind the mountains in the east."

"Let's talk about the top of the mountain. There are two sentry posts on your drawing. How many sentries are there?"

"The sentry towers are very simple. It should be because there are no materials to build them. Each sentry tower can only accommodate two to three sentries at most. If the bell is not seen, it should be a gunpowder arrow."

"How wide is the top of the mountain?" Chen Qing asked again.

"It's about ten miles long, three hundred steps wide at most, and only a few dozen steps at the narrowest point."

"Is the sentry tower easy to remove?"

"It's easy to say."

Chen Qing asked very detailed questions, and he even wanted to know the rules of patrolling. Fortunately, Zhao Xiaoyi's scouting was very practical and meticulous, and every detail was implemented.

As the sky gradually dawned, Chen Qing looked at the densely recorded two pages, and was very satisfied with Zhao Xiaoyi's scouts. He may not have much experience and martial arts skills, but Zhao Xiaoyi is serious and down-to-earth in his work. Based on this alone, he is a qualified scout leader.

Everyone went to rest, while Chen Qing was still pacing and thinking in the big tent, deliberating every step, a bold and rigorous plan was finally formed in his mind.

……

Just after noon, a hundred siege ladders driven out by more than a dozen craftsmen were placed in front of the handsome tent. Zhang Zhongxiong looked at them carefully. It will not break, which really satisfies Zhang Zhongxiong.

The only regret is that there are no two big iron hooks installed on the front end. Of course, according to the two big iron hooks, it is not a simple siege ladder. It is a regular siege ladder. They can't make such a thick iron hook. Crafted by specialized craftsmen of the Song Dynasty military supervisor.

"Each person will be rewarded ten coins, and then continue to make. I need at least three hundred siege ladders, and I will give you three days to complete them!"

The exhausted craftsmen took the reward money and left. Zhang Zhongxiong said excitedly: "Send my order and prepare to attack Nancheng!"

Today, he only intends to attack the city tentatively, to understand the defense situation of the city, and to find the loopholes of the soldiers defending the city. At the same time, he also needs to figure out the siege strength of his own army. He has not led this army for a long time, only one month. , He also doesn't know much about the actual combat situation of this army.

'Boom!Boom!Boom! '

The drums in the puppet Qi barracks were loud, and the soldiers began to gather. Although Ganquan Fort was three miles away, they could vaguely see the posture of the army gathering. The guards immediately sounded the alarm.

'when!when!when! '

The alarm bell rang harshly, and the soldiers who had just had lunch began to gather quickly and rushed to the top of the city. Yang Yuanqing had just left his bowl and rushed to the top of the city just after eating half of his meal.

"General Yang, it seems that the puppet Qi army has completed a batch of siege ladders!" Zhang Xiao said calmly, looking at the barracks.

"Today should be just a trial siege, and the intensity of the attack will not be too great. I guess the control side should be about the same. In short, today we will go all out and give them a head-on blow."

Yang Yuanqing immediately sent an order, "All the troops go to the city, and all the special troops are in place!"

They have four special forces, one is the long-handled ax team, the other is the long rope team, the other is the bow team, and the other is the medical rescue team. These are the experience of defending the city accumulated in previous wars. These teams are small in number, but they can play an important role at critical moments and even change the situation of the battle.

……

'Woo!Woo! The horn of attack sounded, and five thousand troops rushed towards the south city like a tide. The first to rush up were three thousand crossbowmen. head, completely suppressing the Song Army on the top of the city, so that the soldiers of the Song Army squatted down one after another, unable to show their heads.

The siege general Sun Ping was overjoyed, and with a wave of his sword, "Soldiers attack!"

Amid the fierce battle drums, two thousand soldiers rushed to the top of the city with one hundred siege ladders on their shoulders.

The Song army began to counterattack. A thousand archers stood about a foot away from the city, squatting on the ground, and the standard bearer waved the battle flag.

A thousand soldier arrows shot out of the city in an instant, like dense locusts pounced on the ground outside the city, 'Whoosh!Whoosh!Whoosh! 'It rained down on the running soldiers' heads, and the shields could hardly resist the heavy and sharp arrows.

Thick and long soldier arrows fell down, and if they were hit by one arrow, they would almost penetrate the whole body. Soldiers continued to cry and fell, and the army finally rushed to the city. There were still 500 siege soldiers.

At this time, the second batch of 30 soldiers also rushed to the city wall with long contradiction cards in their hands, supplementing the number of siege teams and keeping the number of soldiers under each siege ladder at about [-].

A series of siege planes climbed to the top of the city, and the soldiers climbed up the ladder aggressively.

On the top of the city, Yang Yuanqing shouted: "Hand the axe, and the long rope team is ready!"