Fenghou

……

After attacking for a day and night, Ganquan Fort was still unable to be captured, and the sneak attack also failed. Xixia suffered heavy casualties. No matter how unwilling Li Liangfu was, he had to order his troops to withdraw. , The Xixia Army suffered 20 casualties, of which 2 were killed, and the defending Song Army also paid a heavy price with nearly 7000 casualties.

In less than half a month, more than half of Li Liangfu's [-] troops had suffered casualties. The confidence of the soldiers of the Xixia Army, including the chief general Li Liangfu, was severely thwarted, and their morale began to decline, gradually becoming depressed.

When it was getting dark, Song Junying Tower received an eagle letter from Liu Cui, who was outside. Liu Cui told Chen Qing in the letter that he would send someone to deliver an important item during the second watch, and hoped that Chen Qing would greet him in the city.

The letter did not specify what it was, but it aroused Chen Qing's sense of anticipation. He immediately ordered Zheng Ping to prepare for the soldiers sent by Liu Cui.

Time gradually approached two o'clock, and a group of Jurchen cavalry came up the official road to the south. The leader was a Jurchen official, wearing a Jurchen brocade official uniform, a Jurchen white foxtail cap, and a beard. Jurchen cavalry surrounded a large cart.

Li Liangfu deployed 2000 sentry cavalry on the outskirts of Ganquan Fort, including about [-] in the south.

It was midnight at this time, and there were not many Xixia soldiers on the checkpoint, less than 200 people. The leader of the Xixia Centurion rushed forward and asked loudly, "Who are you?"

The Jurchen official picked up a silver wolf head order and murmured a few words. A soldier next to him translated, "This is Jin Guomeng'an Wanyan Huli, the envoy sent by Marshal Talandu. I have something very urgent to see you." General Li Liangfu, please lead the way!"

The centurion of Xixia was bluffed by the opponent's silver wolf head order. It looked like a real wolf head order, and it was normal for the Jurchens to come over. There were more than a dozen Jurchen soldiers on the top of the mountain!

A soldier asked in a low voice: "Boss, do you want to report to the general?"

The centurion of Xixia hesitated for a moment. The other party was passing through here on his way to Daying. It is fine to report this situation or not. Thinking that the general did not dare to close his eyes all day and night yesterday, he must have slept soundly. If he disturbed him now, he might be scolded.

The Jurchen official's face darkened, and he muttered a few words unhappily. The Xixia centurion didn't dare to neglect, and quickly waved his hand, "Please come with me!"

He led a dozen of his subordinates to lead the Jurchen envoy team to the south...

Chapter 224 The Giant

The official road coming from the south passes through the west of Ganquan Fort, and the nearest point is only a few hundred steps away from Ganquan Fort.

But they walked a full five miles before reaching the battlefield of Ganquanbao.

At this time, the battlefield was very quiet. Both the Xixia Army and the Song Army had cleared the battlefield. All the corpses of the Xixia soldiers had been transported away. The Song Army soldiers sent people from the city to clean up. They were shipped back to the city together.

This is a tacit understanding between the two sides. When Xixia soldiers carry corpses, they will not put arrows on the city. When the Song army clears the battlefield, Xixia soldiers will not take the opportunity to attack. In fact, as long as the Song army does not open the city gate, the Xixia army will not attack too much. big meaning.

There was no one on the battlefield, and there were no trebuchets. Even the five-foot-high observation tower of the Xixia Army was dismantled and brought back. Everything became so quiet.

A group of people walked slowly in the dark, and heard the rumbling sound of the cart. The centurion of Xixia who guided the Jurchen envoy looked back at the cart curiously from time to time. The cart was very long, with six huge wooden wheels, and it walked slowly.

There is a very long wooden pole on the cart, and there are a lot of iron chains, which weigh thousands of catties. I don't know what kind of secret weapon this is.

Gradually reaching the nearest place to Ganquan Fort, the Jurchen officials looked back at the crowd. A hundred soldiers understood and raised their crossbow arrows at the same time. They didn't know, so they died together under the random arrows.

The Jurchen officials tore off their hats and fake beards, took off their coats, and suddenly it was a cavalry soldier of the Song Army. His name was Li Ling, and he was a vice-captain. He had deep eyes and high eyebrows. Clothes and fake beards can be completely confused with real ones.

This was an adventure arranged by Liu Cui. Liu Cui was betting that the Xixia people would not dare to offend the Jurchens. Of course, he also took advantage of the fact that going to the Xixia camp from the south must pass through Ganquan Fort. Hundreds of soldiers guarded a Jurchen official, especially Their Yinlangtouling is a real guy, even if the opponent's master is coming, they won't see through it.

The Silver Wolf Head Token was seized by Chen Qing when he ambushed Wan Yanchang in Zhongnan County. It was regarded as Wan Yanchang's token. Wan Yanchang got another Silver Wolf Head Token. The previous Silver Wolf Head Token was invalidated, but the Xixia people didn't know it.

The cart immediately turned around and drove straight to the south gate of Ganquan Fort. At this time, the south gate of Ganquan Fort also opened, and the suspension bridge was slowly lowered.

Not long after, everyone arrived at the south gate. Zheng Ping came out with hundreds of soldiers. Li Ling held up the command arrow, "The humble post is Li Ling, the deputy capital of Commander Liu. !"

Zheng Ping took a look at the command arrow, waved his hand, and the cart drove slowly towards the city under the pull of ten horses...

Chen Qing also rushed to the South City Gate. Liu Cui's letter really whetted his appetite. What exactly did Liu Cui send?

The cart slowly entered the city, and countless soldiers surrounded it. Everyone was very surprised. It was like throwing a pole from a trebuchet, but it should not be so long!

But Liu Qiong exclaimed, "This is a super giant trebuchet!"

"Have you seen it?" Chen Qing turned around and asked.

Liu Qiong nodded, "There is this class in martial arts, and I am familiar with all kinds of heavy offensive and defensive weapons. We have seen it when we went to the Lin'an Military Supervision class. It can throw a hundred catties of heavy stones five hundred steps, and it is usually used to deal with Du River boats."

"Why didn't I know that there is such a class in martial arts?"

Liu Qiong suddenly remembered that Chen Qing had graduated early, and he was a little embarrassed and said, "This is a course that Tong Zhi opened not long after he left Lin'an."

"This is deliberately targeting me!"

Chen Qing scolded with a smile, and then asked: "What's the use of this throwing rod?"

"The commander didn't know something. At that time, Shaoqing, the military supervisor, introduced to us that this kind of throwing pole was extremely difficult to manufacture. During the Zhenghe period, it took 15 years to make twelve poles. It took three years to select materials. Other than the Song Dynasty, neither the Liao Kingdom nor the Xixia Kingdom could create it."

"Then why is this throwing rod in the hands of Xixia people?"

"This one……"

Liu Qiong scratched her head, "I don't know why Xixia has such a throw."

"I know this throw!"

A middle-aged military craftsman came out. His name was Hu Zhen. He was originally a master craftsman of the Shaanxi Road Military Weapons Supervisor, and later followed Wang Yan. When Wang Yan left office, he entrusted him to Chen Qing. He is now the Qinzhou Army Marquis Yu, Chief Military Craftsman.

"This should be captured by the Xixia army when Tong Guan attacked Xixia. At that time, he took three of them and didn't use them at all. After Tongguan was defeated, millions of food and grass materials were obtained by the Xixia army. This throwing pole is one of the spoils. "

"With this throwing rod alone, could Hu Yuhou make a trebuchet?"

"With the addition of this pile of iron chains, it should be fine. The key to this super-giant trebuchet is the throwing rod. Other shelves and the like can be built with thick wood, so it's not a big problem."

"Then how much time do you need to make it?"

Hu Zhen thought for a while and said, "If the system can help me with 500 people, I can build it in three days."

Chen Qing said happily: "That's good, I will help you!"

After delivering the supplies, Chen Qing gave Li Ling a few more instructions, and Li Ling immediately led a hundred cavalrymen to gallop to the north. Without the drag of carts, ordinary Xixia army patrols could not stop them at all.

……

For two days in a row, Li Liangfu did not launch an offensive against Ganquan Fort, and the morale of his army was always low. This state can only give away the heads of the Song army, and there is no point in attacking Ganquan Fort.

Li Liangfu thought hard for a long time before he finally came up with a new siege strategy, that is to attack the city gate, perhaps the city gate is the weakness of Ganquan Fort.

It's a pity that the large battering ram he asked to send from Baochuan was burned, leaving him with no strategy for attacking the city, but no means of implementation, which really made Li Liangfu's teeth itch with hatred.

Li Liangfu sent another five hundred soldiers to Pine Forest Mountain to see if he could find a pine tree more than a century old that could make him a large battering ram.

The hundred-year-old pine trees that Li Liangfu never forgets, there are indeed more than [-] trees on the mountain, but unfortunately all of them were felled by the Song army. At this time, they were lying on the open space next to the east city wall. They were built by skilled craftsmen, and they gradually changed into another appearance. .

The shape of a super-giant trebuchet has come out. The trebuchet's frame is as high as three feet. It is not easy to fix the base alone. When launching, the four legs need to be firmly fixed.

Chen Qing and more than a dozen generals surrounded the trebuchet. This kind of trebuchet was called a self-unloading trebuchet. A huge wooden box was hung on the top of the thick head of the throwing rod, and an iron chain weighing three thousand catties was placed inside.

Usually the wooden box is placed on the ground. When it needs to be launched, dozens of people will pull the rope together on the throwing rod at the other end. The long throwing rod will pry up the heavy wooden box. Dozens of people let go at the same time. The throwing rod will throw the boulder or fireball.

Because the throwing rod is long enough, it is enough to throw a [-]-jin boulder five hundred steps away.

"What do you want to use it for?" Yang Yuanqing asked with a smile.

Ever since Chen Qing knew that it could be made into a super giant trebuchet, he had an idea in his mind. He smiled slightly and said, "Let's go and see!"

Everyone went up the city wall and came to the northeast corner. From here, they could see the Xixia army camp stretching for more than ten miles.

Everyone understood the coach's intention, Yang Zaixing looked at it for a while and said, "It seems that the distance is not enough!"

Among all the generals, Yang Zaixing has the strongest sense of distance, and he usually sees very accurately. He smiled: "It's about [-] steps from us to the enemy camp, and it's still a few hundred steps away."

"wrong!"

Liu Qiong came to his senses, and quickly said: "It's about shooting a hundred-jin boulder five hundred steps away. If it's a fifty-jin fireball, it should be almost the same."

Chen Qing smiled slightly and said, "The fireball is generally [-] catties, and I think a fireball of [-] catties should be able to reach about a thousand steps."

"Regulations are right."

Hu Zhen stepped forward and said with a smile: "I'm sure, this kind of super giant trebuchet, if it throws a weight of [-] jin, it can indeed be thrown a thousand steps away."

Chen Qing thought for a while and said: "The fireball may not break when it falls on the tent, but it will affect the effect. If the fireball can explode over the barracks, the burning powder and kerosene inside will spray out, and the range of ignition will be larger. , Master can do it?"

Hu Zhen raised his head and thought for a while, "You can try it. The idea is not difficult. The key is to control the burning speed of the gunpowder and kerosene inside, so that it can't be burned up in mid-air. If you try a few more times, the humble job will be better." Believe it will be a success!"

At noon of the next day, after more than [-] times of trial and error, the craftsmen successfully created the fireball that Chen Qing wanted. Twenty huge fireballs coated with kerosene were placed in the big tent.

Chapter 225 Breaking the Camp

"How do you do it!"

Li Liangfu looked at the felled tree with great dissatisfaction. The thickest tree was only a little thicker than his thigh. A battering ram made of this kind of wood was almost as good as hitting the courtyard gate. How could it hit the city gate?

Seeing that his strategy of attacking the city gate was about to fail again, he stared at several generals angrily.

"Calm down, Commander! Calm down, Commander!"

Several generals explained tremblingly: "We have searched all over the two mountains, and there is no thicker tree. This is already the thickest tree."

"Hmph! What do you use this fine wood for, toothpicks?"

Li Liangfu was really annoyed in his heart, and said angrily: "I will give you one more chance at last, let me look for it, if you can't find a hundred-year-old tree, you will be chopped off!"

Several generals were so frightened that they rolled and crawled away. General Murong Tao offered advice: "These logs are actually not bad, there are about three to five hundred of them. With the logs left before, I guess it can build a few nests." car!"

Li Liangfu nodded, it is also a good plan to make a nest car to attack the city!

He immediately ordered several craftsmen leaders: "Gather all the wood to make nest carts, and change the previous gazebo into nest carts. It must be completed within three days!"

……

The southeast area of ​​the Xixia Camp is brightly lit. Hundreds of craftsmen are making nest carts overnight. The time is tight. Although the nest carts are very simple, they have good practical functions.

But although Li Liangfu's idea is good, whether it can be realized in the end is still another matter.

Just at the northeast corner of Ganquanbao Castle, a three-foot-high super-giant trebuchet has stood beside the city wall. After repeated trials and grinding by the craftsmen, the trebuchet is ready for great use.

The craftsman prepared another forty fireballs. This kind of fireball is two feet in diameter and has a huge appearance. The outside is woven with fine dry grass and is covered with kerosene. It will burn out before it hits the ground. The gunpowder lumps and fire cloth will be scattered and flying all over the sky, especially the fire cloth, which is covered with gunpowder and sulfur powder, burns strongly, and it will ignite the whole tent when it is attached to the tent.

Chen Qing went around and asked Zheng Ping, "Has the army assembled yet?"

Zheng Ping quickly cupped his fists and said: "Report to the control, 1 soldiers have assembled and can attack at any time!"

Chen Qing nodded, and said to Yang Yuanqing: "The time has come, we can launch!"

Chen Qing immediately led the generals to the top of the city to watch the battle.

Dozens of soldiers worked hard together, and the throwing rod creaked and pulled up. Two soldiers put the fire oil in the projection pot, and one soldier lit the fireball with a torch. The leading general gave an order, "Launch!"

Dozens of soldiers let go of the rope at the same time, and the wooden box with a three-kilogram iron chain on the front fell to the ground with a bang. The long throwing rod was thrown suddenly, and a fireball weighing thirty kilograms flew into the sky, like a shooting star in the sky, across the sky. , Fly to the Xixia army camp.

Chen Qing and a group of generals stood on the top of the city. Although they had seen the experiment in the afternoon, they could indeed cast a thousand steps away, but now it was actual combat, and everyone's hearts were suspended.

"We have crossed the fence line!" Zheng Ping shouted excitedly.

The fireball had already entered the sky above the Xixia army camp and was falling downwards. The fireball suddenly disintegrated in the air, and dozens of pieces of gunpowder fell within a radius of [-] feet. The wrapped cloth strips were flying in the air, and more than a dozen large tents were set ablaze.

There was a burst of cheers from the top of the city!

Chen Qing immediately ordered: "Let's launch the fire kites together!"

They not only prepared super-giant trebuchets, but also built dozens of large-scale fire kites. This kind of fire kites can be ejected and can fly as far as ten miles.

It's just that the technical content of large-scale fire kites is very high. There are no craftsmen in this field in Chen Qingjun, so he can only make dozens of small fire kites in imitation of small fire kites.

After it was built, it was found that this was not the case at all. The flying effect of the large fire kite was not ideal. Either it fell to the ground, or it flew off the route randomly, and it was difficult to fly in a straight line, so they have not used it. Worry Startle the snake.

It doesn't matter to scare the snake now, and simply eject dozens of large fire kites to see if there is any success.

More than a dozen wooden stakes were erected on the top of the city, with beef tendons tied between the stakes, like a huge slingshot. Several soldiers pulled a fire kite weighing tens of kilograms, the top of which had been ignited by kerosene. Shouting, the fire kite shot out and was covered in fire in the air. Just like the previous experiment, the fire kite turned a corner in the air and flew away to the west without falling into the enemy camp.

But the fireballs fell into the enemy's camp precisely. Five fireballs fell into the enemy's camp. Dozens of large tents were already ablaze. Taking advantage of the wind, the fire began to spread rapidly.

'when!when!when!when! The alarm sounded, and the sleeping Xixia soldiers were awakened one after another. They didn't even take off their armor while sleeping, and they took up their weapons and ran out of the big tent. There was raging fire all around. The soldiers all panicked and fled to the north in a panic. .

Li Liangfu was also woken up by the soldiers. He was shocked when he heard that the Song army launched a fire attack. How could it be possible?

He drew his sword and rushed out of the big tent, just in time to see a shooting star in the sky flying towards the camp, disintegrated in the air, turned into dozens or hundreds of small fireballs, and landed in the camp.

"damn it!"

Li Liangfu cursed in his heart, only giant trebuchets can shoot so far. Could it be that the three giant trebuchets in Baochuan County fell into the hands of Song Jun?

"Marshal, what should we do?" A general asked nervously.

"Don't panic, quickly lead the brothers to evacuate to the north outside the camp!"

Three hundred cavalry galloped in the camp and shouted, "The commander-in-chief has ordered to evacuate to the north outside the camp!"

Tens of thousands of Xixia soldiers rushed to the north one after another, and quickly gathered into a mighty stream of people, but many soldiers still couldn't escape, and were finally buried in the sea of ​​flames.

The Xixia camp became a sea of ​​flames for more than ten miles, and the fire reflected the sky red. After the Song army shot twenty fireballs, they also stopped shooting, and the large fire kites also stopped flying. The effect was really not ideal. Ten of them, only two flew into the camp in the end.

After cheering, the craftsmen immediately ran to find the blueprints of the seventh and No.30 fire kites. The two fire kites were successful, and they got the corresponding data.