Fenghou

Chen Qing glanced at the man, and said to Yang Yuanqing, "We will reward the whistleblower with [-] pennies, and openly ask the people to report the Xixia spies. Once confirmed, they will be rewarded heavily!"

"Humble job arranges immediately!"

Chen Qing said to Hu Yanlei again: "Interrogate him well, ask him if he has any accomplices, and what information did he leak?"

"Follow the order!"

Hu Yanlei and his men took the Xixia spy away.

Zheng Ping said to Chen Qing: "This incident is an inspiration for the humble staff. Could it be that Jin Bing also placed their people among the prisoners exchanged?"

Chen Qing nodded. It is indeed possible. They used this method to seize the city before, so the enemy can also use this method.

"What about your opinion?"

"The humble job feels that it is necessary to form a special team to deal with the infiltration of the enemy's spies. First, look for the hidden spies of the golden soldiers in the army."

Chen Qing thought for a while and said, "Let Wang Hao do it!"

Wang Hao is Zheng Ping's confidant. During Zheng Ping's latent period in Jinying, it was Wang Hao who was in charge of external relations. His boldness and carefulness left a deep impression on Chen Qing. Now he has been promoted to deputy commander and is also Zheng Ping's capable general.

"Wang Hao is good, very suitable!" Zheng Ping also very much approved of Chen Qing's choice.

"You let him come to see me later, and I will make specific arrangements for him."

……

Not long after, Wang Hao came to Chen Qing's big tent, bowed and saluted, "See control!"

Chen Qing smiled slightly and said, "Leader Zheng told you!"

"Probably said a little bit."

"I don't need to tell you the importance of inspecting the enemy's spies. The Xixia spy arrested today is a senior spy of the Xixia Heijintang. He has been active in the border states for a long time and has rich experience.

This time he actually drew a sketch of Ganquanbao, which has already been sent to Xixia. Attack, our warehouse is in danger. "

"The control is right, and I also deeply feel that intelligence is really too important. I have told my subordinates many times that last time if we hadn't obtained information in advance and acted an hour in advance, Ganquan Fort was preemptively occupied by the Xixia people. That time It's an intelligence war!"

Chen Qing agreed with his point of view, and smiled slightly: "Now, Commander Zheng and I suspect that the Jin soldiers have planted spies among the surrendered soldiers. The Inner Shield Battalion is dedicated to dealing with enemy spies, and you will be the commander, select [-] elite soldiers, and I will arrange two civil servants for you, and it would be best to set it up today or tomorrow."

Wang Hao knelt down on one knee and saluted, "Thank you for the trust of the ruler, the humble job must live up to the expectations of the ruler."

Chen Qing nodded and said: "After the establishment, you have to do two things. First, follow this Xixia spy to investigate in depth and find other Xixia spies; second, investigate Jin Bing among the [-] Song soldiers. There may not be any spies placed, but we have to plan for the worst."

Chen Qing gave him a command arrow and a letter of appointment, "Go to Vice Commander Yang, he will arrange the people and supplies you need!"

……

At night, on a hill fifty miles north of Ganquan Fort, three cavalry scouts watched the mighty march several miles away. the baggage train.

The three scout cavalry looked at each other, they took out the gunpowder arrows, ignited them, and shot them into the sky. Nine gunpowder arrows rose up in a row, emitting red flames in the air, 'pop! ' exploded in the sky with a bang.

In a moment, nine more gunpowder arrows soared into the sky twenty miles away, lighting up the sky and bursting in mid-air.

Finally, ten miles away from Ganquan Fort, the third round of nine gunpowder arrows soared into the sky, the light shone red, 'pop! 'It exploded with a sound.

This is the scout beacon of the Song army. Once the signal is sent out, it means that the enemy has appeared fifty miles away. Chen Qing and the generals rushed to the top of the city, staring at the north, and the general on duty reported: "Qi report control, a total of Nine powder arrows!"

The nine gunpowder arrows have reached their peak, which means that the opponent's strength is more than [-]. Chen Qing finally understands Wan Yanchang's true intention of exchanging prisoners of war with him. army strength.

"Order the whole city to enter a state of war!"

……

The quarrying team had already returned in the morning, and the logging team also stopped logging after seeing the signal of the gunpowder arrows, and returned to the castle immediately.

Chen Qing also began to make war deployments. All five hundred bed crossbows went to the city and were deployed in the east and south.

At this time, Chen Qing found Liu Cui and gave Liu Cui an important task.

"You led [-] cavalry to operate on the outskirts, sneak attack the enemy's camp, and harass the enemy's logistics convoy. The task is very difficult, so be careful!"

"Please don't worry about the ruler, I have experience in humble positions!"

Chen Qing handed him another map, "There are two secret supply warehouses we set up on the outskirts on the map, one is in Yelanggou and the other is in Xianrenqiao, they are clearly marked, and the warehouses will be handed over to you. "

Liu Cui put away the map and nodded silently, "What else can I explain about the control?"

"I'll give you sixteen more words, this is the principle of your outlying sentinel cavalry!"

Liu Cui took a look at the note, only to see that it said, "If the enemy advances, we will retreat; if the enemy is stationed, we will harass; if the enemy is tired, we will attack; if the enemy retreats, we will pursue." '

"Remember the humble job!"

That night, Liu Cui led [-] cavalry to leave Ganquan Castle and head east.

……

In the morning, the [-] Xixia army arrived at Ganquan Fort, and there were not enough troops to station on the hill, so Li Liangfu stationed the camp on the northeast side of the Baishui River, about two and a half miles away from Ganquan Fort, about [-] steps. It can't be burned with a fire kite.

The Xixia army brought the barracks, and they quickly used the barracks to encircle a large camp with a radius of more than ten miles. They began to build checkpoints and erect tents. The enemy's camp composed of tents, if it is attacked by fire, the consequences will be disastrous.

However, the outer deployment of the Xixia people is very strict. Li Liangfu is worthy of being a famous general who has experienced many battles. He deployed 3000 sentry cavalry and arranged three layers of defense. He even changed the password three times a night. On both sides of the river, there were also hundreds of people standing guard, and the Song Army scouts could not find any chance to sneak attack.

In contrast, Zhang Zhongxiong's defense of the former Puppet Qi Army was far worse. On the surface, it seemed that the formation was very large, but in fact it was full of loopholes, and it was far from being as tight as the Xixia camp.

Chen Qing stared at the Xixia camp for a while on the high observation tower, and he couldn't help but sighed slightly. Based on his gaze, he knew that the Xixia camp was difficult to sneak attack, and Liu Cui could only harass the enemy's logistics and food team.

Chen Qing casually wrote a note and handed it to the soldiers behind him, "Send an eagle letter to Liu Cui immediately!"

A quarter of an hour later, a letter eagle took off with wings and flew to the wild wolf ditch in the northwest direction.

Chapter 215 First Attack

Chen Qing's supplies, army and people stayed in Yelanggou for a few days. They found that Yelanggou was like a maze. The people got lost in it, and soldiers were specially sent to stand guard at the mouth of the gully to prevent the people from entering. It took Zhao Xiaoyi and his men two days to make a map of Yelanggou.

Liu Cui led his men into the Wild Wolf Ditch, looked at the map and searched all the way, walked a few forks, and went twenty miles deep before arriving at a ravine. There are seven or eight cave dwellings on the innermost mountainside. There are two secret sentries of the Song Army, and it is also a supply point for grain and grass supplies.

"General Liu!"

A soldier shouted at the entrance of the cave: "There just happened to be a letter from the eagle, and it came at noon today!"

"Take it down and give it to me, and I won't go up."

Liu Cui ordered the soldiers to rest on the spot, and the soldiers threw down a roll of ladders and climbed down.

"General, I have a letter for you!"

Liu Cui took the letter tube, took out the eagle letter and looked at it. It was indeed a letter from the commander, and the content was just one sentence, ordering him to give up the sneak attack on the enemy camp.

Of course Liu Cui knew the risk of this kind of sneak attack on the camp. Once the sneak attack failed and his subordinates were arrested, a lot of important information would be leaked, so the commander sent an eagle letter to notify him.

Of course, this is an order, and the order must be strictly implemented.

Liu Cui received the letter and said to the two soldiers: "The supplies will not be used for the time being. We will come over in eight days. Prepare dry food."

The two soldiers hurriedly bowed and agreed, "obey the order!"

Liu Cui turned around and gave another order, and five hundred of his men got on their horses one after another. After a while, they rushed out of the wild wolf ditch like lightning and rushed north...

Two days later, the battle drums in the Xixia army camp were rumbling, and the [-] Xixia army rushed up the long slope.

"Ugh-"

The low-pitched horn blew, and monster-shaped trebuchets appeared. Each heavy-duty trebuchet was as high as one foot and five feet, and the throwing pole was three feet long and weighed several thousand catties.

There are six huge wooden wheels under the heavy trebuchet, and each trebuchet is pulled by [-] strong oxen, and dozens of soldiers are struggling to push behind.

This kind of heavy-duty trebuchet can throw [-] catties of stones three hundred steps away. It is the most commonly used trebuchet for siege. If it is bigger, it will be difficult to carry.

Ten heavy trebuchets came out of the promise one after another, one after another slowly moving, with great momentum.

On the top of the city, Chen Qing stared at the trebuchet moving slowly in the distance. In the past two days, the enemy camp was brightly lit day and night. It is estimated that they were assembling this kind of giant.

"Prepare the crossbow!"

To deal with this kind of heavy trebuchet, they can only use the bed crossbow, which has not had a good effect yet.

Chen Qing secretly sighed in his heart, they will face the most severe test today.

There are countless siege ladders among the ranks of [-] troops, Yang Yuanqing whispered to Chen Qing: "Control, the enemy's siege ladders shine in the sun!"

Chen Qing saw that there was indeed a metallic flash on the top of the siege ladder. There were two possibilities, either the luster of the large iron hook at the front, or the metal rods on the front rungs. After passing the castle, they tasted the power of the long-handled axe, and they must have dared not to report it. They did not attack the city in the past two days, and they should be modifying the siege ladder and assembling the trebuchet.

Chen Qing guessed right. Li Liangfu had already asked Murong Tao about the situation of the probing attack in detail. He especially valued that the Song army used a long handle to chop off the top rung of the siege ladder. He had experienced a lot and knew that this was a vicious move, no matter how powerful it was Such soldiers, without the rungs to climb and step on, can't grow wings and fly up!

He immediately ordered to replace the top three rungs of all five hundred siege ladders with iron bars, and assembled ten heavy trebuchets, which took a full two days.

Li Liangfu stood in front of the team, squinted at the tall city wall and shouted: "The trebuchet is in place!"

The location of the trebuchets has already been determined. Today they will attack the south city, about [-] steps away from the city wall. This distance is still lethal, but if the trebuchets are farther away, it is not impossible, they can only throw a few dozen Twenty catties of small stones are of little significance.

Therefore, the front and sides of the trebuchet must have thick baffles one foot high, like a large shield. This is the method first introduced by the Song army, but the Song, Liao, and Xixia families have fought for hundreds of years, and they all compete with each other. Learned.

Of course, it was also because the Song Army's divine arm crossbows and bed crossbows were too powerful. A burst of arrows shot at them, and none of the surrounding soldiers were spared.

"Control, the enemy army used shields, and our bed crossbows may not be effective." A deputy commander said loudly to Chen Qing.

"Shoot the top of the catapult!" Chen Qing calmly gave the order.

The top of the trebuchet is tied with a lot of belts, including the throwing pole, which is also fixed on the beam with belts. Those belts will crack only if one arrow is shot. The trebuchet will fall apart after two or three times, but the premise is to hit the belt. only valid.

One thousand jackdaw arrows at a time, if one can be hit, it will be considered a winner.

"Bed crossbow ready, shoot!"

The command flag was waved down, two hundred bed crossbows were fired at the same time, and a thousand jackdaw arrows whizzed towards the catapult.

Someone shouted next to the trebuchet, and hundreds of soldiers squatted down one after another. The powerful and sharp jackdaw arrows hit the trebuchet, and then there was another scream, and the Xixia soldiers who were a hundred steps away behind fell one by one. .

The killing range of the bed crossbow reached six or seven hundred steps, and the Xixia soldiers standing four hundred steps away could not escape the fate of being shot through their bodies even if they held shields in their hands. Nearly three hundred soldiers fell to the ground in a burst of random arrows.

Li Liangfu also noticed this problem, and immediately ordered: "The army retreats three hundred steps!"

The [-] troops retreated quickly, out of the killing range of the bed crossbow. At this moment, the trebuchets began to show their power.

Ten trebuchets swung their throwing poles at the same time, and threw ten boulders weighing fifty catties. The boulders rolled in the air and were thrown towards the top of the city.

"Dodge!" The commander on the top of the city shouted.

The soldiers squatted down one after another, and Chen Qing was also dragged down by several soldiers, 'Bang! With a loud noise, a huge boulder fell on the battlement, and immediately the gravel splashed everywhere, and a finger rubbed against Chen Qing's face.

'boom! 'The city tower was hit, pieces of wood flew around, and a big hole was smashed through the roof.

A few stones hit the archers behind, and more than a dozen soldiers died tragically on the spot with their bones broken and their brains burst.

Chen Qing saw a soldier being thrown into the city by a boulder, and he was furious immediately, and ordered: "Shoot again with the bed crossbow!"

Two hundred bed crossbows were launched again, and the iron arrows of the jackdaws with fury shot at the catapult densely. The arrows came so fast that dozens of Xixia soldiers who were operating the catapult had no time to dodge, and were shot through by the iron arrows one after another. nailed to the ground.

At this time, the belt tied on the left side of a trebuchet was pierced by an iron arrow, 'Collapse! ' broke with a bang, and the left shoulder of the catapult collapsed.

Li Liangfu didn't expect the opponent's bed crossbow to be so powerful, he was really annoyed, it was only the first round of shooting!The belt was shot off.

He immediately shouted: "Change the fireball!"

'Boom!Boom!Boom! Huge burning fireballs soared into the sky and flew towards the city. The fireballs weighed about [-] jin, and their range far exceeded [-] steps. They flew over the top of the city and flew into the city.

When Chen Qing saw the fireball, his heart immediately relaxed, which meant that the opponent's general hadn't got the Xixia spy's city defense diagram, and he didn't know that he was prepared to defend against the fire attack.

In the city, all the houses within 150 steps of the city wall were demolished, exposing a large open space. The open space to the south is 150 steps wide and four miles long. Such a large open space is very luxurious for Ganquan Castle, where housing is tight, but it is necessary, otherwise When the enemy fires, the houses in the entire city will be turned into a sea of ​​flames.

The 20 militia soldiers are currently responding to the enemy's fire attack. They are divided into groups of [-], divided into [-] groups, and distributed above and below the city. Soldiers picked up the soil and dug large holes in the ground.

"I'm coming!"

Several huge fireballs flew over the top of the city first and flew towards the city, and the militia soldiers immediately shouted.

These fireballs are made of thin bamboo slices like lanterns, filled with fire cloth, gunpowder, sulfur and other inflammable materials, and then wrapped with fire cloth for several layers, and then filled with kerosene. emission.

This kind of fireball shatters after landing, and all kinds of inflammable materials are scattered all over the ground, which will cause a large area to burn. It is a very powerful firearm. The Xixia Army also aims to cause a fire in the barracks or the whole city.

Nine huge fireballs hit the ground fiercely, the fireballs shattered, and the open space suddenly turned into a sea of ​​flames.

Chapter 216 Another Attack

The huge fireball burst after hitting the ground, and a large amount of gunpowder, sulfur, fire cloth and other inflammable materials poured out, ignited by the flames, and immediately formed a sea of ​​flames.

A group of militia soldiers rushed up, and several militia soldiers blocked it with shields to prevent the fireball from detonating. Two other soldiers pushed the burning fireball into a large circular pit nearby with long forks, and five or six soldiers used shovels to burn the ground The gunpowder and other objects were pushed into the round pit together.

At this time, several militia soldiers who picked up the soil rushed forward and poured the soil into the round pit. The fire was extinguished instantly, and the round pit was filled with soil. The soldiers stepped on it with their feet, and a burning fireball was wiped out.

The other eight fireballs were also extinguished by the militia soldiers in the same way.