Fenghou

The four women sat together to play leaf games, and Chen Qing sat next to Lu Xiu to watch the game. This was the first time Chen Qing saw this kind of poker from the Song Dynasty, and he was quite interested.

Ye Zixi is a playing card, with forty cards, representing forty official positions, ranging from a county lieutenant to a prime minister. There are dice patterns on the cards, and then the dice are rolled in turn. Then if you get this official position, you may become prime minister one time, and be demoted to county captain the next time. It can be said that the game of cards is like life.

Players and bystanders can also bet money and bet on the size of the dice, which is highly involved.

After playing for a while, Li Qingzhao said with a smile: "Come and see the scenery outside."

Everyone dropped the leaves and ran to look at the scenery. They saw the mountains in the distance like a daisy, and a village nearby with white walls and black tiles, hidden among green trees, red flowers, small bridges and flowing water. It was really too beautiful to behold.

Chen Qing picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "The soul of the scenery lies in the people. If there were no fishing boats in this beautiful scenery, it would be quite dull, but with a few fishing boats and villages, the whole picture would come alive."

Lu Xiu waved a small light fan, pursed her lips and said with a smile: "Sanlang is right, just like the mountains and rivers you wrote, there is no way out, the willows are dark and the flowers are bright, and there is another village. The word village is the word in the poem, and there is a soul all at once. , as if returning to the world."

"Shangyuan, tell me about the itinerary!"

Lu Wei was very concerned about their itinerary. Once Chen Qing left, he would shoulder the safety of everyone, and the burden was heavy, so he was always a little worried.

Chen Qing clapped his hands and laughed loudly: "Everyone be quiet, I will briefly tell you about the itinerary."

Everyone was quiet, and Chen Qing said again: "Let's talk about the itinerary on the road first. Most of the time is by boat, but when we arrive at Jiayu County, we have to disembark and go overland, and then we go to Jianli County, where we board the boat again. This section is mainly It’s to avoid the water thieves in Dongting Lake. It’s about a day and a half away, and we’ll spend the night in a small town on the way. You don’t have to worry about your safety. We have a hundred elite soldiers guarding them, and 100 of them can be worth 1000…”

"General Chen won't take office directly in Yuezhou!" Li Qingzhao asked.

Chen Qing shook his head, "I have to go to Qinzhou to fetch troops, so I will go to Bashu with everyone, we will break up in Chengdu, and then I will leave thirty elite soldiers to protect everyone's safety. You can swim freely in Shu, Don't worry about security issues.

About a month later, I will lead the army back to Bashu, when we meet up, and then we will return. On the return journey, I will take office in Yuezhou, but I will send a warship to escort everyone back to Lin'an. The time before and after is about three months Around, when everyone returned to Lin'an, it should be autumn. "

After a pause, Chen Qing smiled again: "There is another important point, all the expenses of your trip this time will be borne by me, even if I am not here!"

As soon as Chen Qing said these words, cheers erupted in the cabin.

……

The journey went very smoothly. On this day, the fleet finally arrived in Chengdu. Chengdu was not damaged by the war, and it still maintained the prosperity of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chen Qing rented three private courtyards at the best Gao'an Inn in the city, and ordered Yan Jun to lead thirty elite soldiers to guard them. Chen Qing also handed over the Yu sisters to Lu Xiu to play with them.

After Yiyi bid farewell, Chen Qing led seventy soldiers to ride northward on horseback. This time they were not dragged by the carriage, and they ran all the way at an extremely fast speed. They arrived in Hanzhong five days later. Chen Qing did not go to Nanzheng County, but continued northward. .

This morning, Chen Qing led his men to finally arrive at Fort Ganquan.

Zheng Ping, Yang Yuanqing and other generals rushed to the city gate to welcome Chen Qing's return.

"Dutong, how could the imperial court abandon Ganquan Castle? Is the foundation we have worked so hard to build abandoned like this?" The crowd surrounded Chen Qing, chattering, their eyes full of anger.

Chen Qing said to everyone: "This is the will of the emperor, unless we rebel and stand on our own, we must obey."

Seeing that everyone looked sad, he waved his hands again and said: "The so-called iron-clad camp and flowing soldiers, Ganquan Fort will not disappear, it will always be here, as long as our army is still there, then one day we will take it back, Everyone should take a long-term view, and don’t care about the gains and losses of one city or one place.”

"We understand! We are only evacuating temporarily, and we will come back sooner or later."

When Chen Qing came to the barracks, he saw that the barracks had been tidied up, leaving only tents that could be tidied up at any time.

Zheng Ping and Yang Yuanqing had received a letter from Feiying in advance. Although they didn't understand, they still packed up all kinds of money, food and materials according to the order.

"Have all the residents in the city been notified?" Chen Qing asked again.

"I have been notified. Some are willing to leave, while others want to stay. They are reluctant to part with the land outside the city."

"It's not too much to force, if you continue to inform, the army will go south in three days!"

When Chen Qing returned to the big tent of the Chinese army, Zheng Ping walked in and said, "Recently, we discovered that there are quite a few real cavalry sentinels who have been watching us from the outside. Xiaoyi's army had clashed with them and captured two prisoners."

"What did the captive say?"

"They said they came from Deshun Prefecture, and Deshun Prefecture has assembled about [-] Jurchen cavalry."

Chen Qing nodded, this was within his expectation, Wan Yanchang would not allow him to retreat southward smoothly, the ten thousand cavalry should be here to stop him.

Although his own army is very elite, Chen Qing also has to admit that in terms of cavalry combat, the Jurchen cavalry is still invincible in the world. The Song army cavalry is not the opponent of the Jurchen cavalry. They grew up, and their equipment is no less than that of the Song Army.

"Bring Zhao Xiaoyi to meet me!"

Not long after, Zhao Xiaoyi hurried into the big tent, knelt down on one knee and gave a military salute, "See Dutong for humble posts!"

"Is there any movement in the main force of the Golden Army in Deshun Prefecture recently?"

"The news from five days ago was that there was no movement. Beizhi sent scouts to Deshun Prefecture yesterday. There should be news later today."

"Report to me immediately if you have any news!"

"Follow the order!" Zhao Xiaoyi bowed and retreated.

Chen Qing considered playing a side-ball. It would take a day and a night to come from Deshun Prefecture. If the opponent did not move in Deshun Prefecture, he would have to make full use of the day and night.

"But……"

Chen Qing immediately thought of another difficulty. He still had a lot of baggage and people to follow him. It was [-] miles from Ganquanbao to Xianrenguan, and the baggage would take ten days. The Jurchen cavalry could catch up with him in two days, so they didn't Not in a hurry.

Chen Qing gradually realized that if they really wanted to retreat southward smoothly, a tough battle would be unavoidable.

Forget it, just face the threat of the Jurchen army!

Chapter 278

In the afternoon, Chen Qing received accurate information that [-] Jurchen cavalry had left Delong County in Deshun Prefecture and were heading west.

Zhao Xiaoyi also told Chen Qing an important piece of information, that the Ten Thousand Nuzhen Cavalry was commanded by Wanfu Zhang Wanyanhuo.

This is indeed an important piece of information. At least Chen Qing can make two accurate judgments. The first accurate judgment is that between the Oasis Fort supplies team and himself, Wanyan Huo Nu will definitely choose himself.

The second accurate judgment is that all the people in the city must be evacuated, and the Wanyan living girl will definitely massacre the city.

Chen Qing immediately asked Yang Yuanqing to mobilize the people in Ganquanbao to evacuate. Hearing that the Jurchen general who massacred the people in Zhongnan County led the army, some people who were unwilling to evacuate also changed their course and joined the evacuation team.

Chen Qing did not delay. That night, more than 1 civilians and [-] soldiers escorted the convoy and evacuated to the south in a mighty manner.

Chen Qing led [-] cavalry to leave Ganquan Fort and rushed eastward...

[-] female real cavalry arrived at the border of Qinzhou, which is still fifty miles away from Ganquan Fort. Wanyan Huonu had already received information. A cavalry force of dozens of people came from the south and entered Ganquan Fort. Wanyan Huonu immediately realized that , this is Chen Qing is back.

There is only one official road for the Jurchen cavalry from Deshun Prefecture to Ganquan Fort. This is not like a plain, you can go anywhere. This is the Loess Plateau. If you don’t take the official road, you often walk. There is a gully as deep as a hundred feet in front of you .

As soon as they arrived at the state border, they saw a group of cavalry galloping from a distance. This was the sentinel cavalry of the golden soldiers who came to report.

The three cavalry rushed to the front, bowed and said, "Commander Wan, the Song army's supply team came out of Ganquan Castle last night. The team is very long, covering more than ten miles, and there are also a lot of people mixed in."

"Is there an army following?"

"There is an army, about 7000 people, all infantry."

"Did you see the cavalry?"

The three sentinel cavalry shook their heads, and Wanyan Huonu was a little surprised. Judging from the information they had, the Song Army had at least 7000 cavalrymen, and the total strength of the Song Army should be between [-] and [-]. , then in addition to the [-] people who followed the luggage, the Song Army should still have the main force.

Wanyan Huonu is also a famous general who has experienced many battles and has rich experience. He immediately guessed the opponent's strategy and used the luggage team to seduce him. Chen Qing led the main force to hide somewhere, preparing to ambush him.

"You want to show off this small skill in front of me?"

He snorted coldly, and ordered: "Send twenty sentinel cavalry to search within ten miles on both sides of the official road!"

Twenty sentinel cavalry teams rushed forward, stirring up billowing yellow dust. Wanyan Huonu waved her saber, "Advance at medium speed!"

Ten thousand cavalry set off, and the speed was not fast. Wanyan Huonu decided that Chen Qing would lead the army in ambush in front. As for the luggage team, he didn't care too much. For him, capturing or killing Chen Qing was his goal. His father has been dead for more than two years, and this hatred has been accumulated in his heart and has never disappeared.

Long live Chen Qing's corpse, he will never give up. This opportunity was obtained only after he repeatedly fought for Wan Yanchang. The task Wan Yanchang gave him was also very simple, killing Chen Qing, nothing else was important.

The team walked for more than [-] miles, and there was a canyon in front of them. Wanyan Huonu reined in her horse and looked at the canyon. The canyon was very narrow, at most a hundred feet wide, with steep mountains on both sides. This is a good place for ambushes. I am Chen Qing, I will definitely ambush here.

It's just...why didn't the sentries come back to report?

As soon as I thought of this, I saw two cavalry rushing forward one after the other. The sentry cavalry he sent was in front, and there seemed to be pursuers behind.

Wanyan Huonu shouted, "Go and support!"

A cavalry went up to meet them, and the chasing cavalry of the Song army found the main force ahead, and immediately turned their horses and rushed into the valley.

There were only about thirty cavalrymen, and they were in a state of embarrassment, and many of them were wounded by arrows.

The leading centurion panted, "I would like to report to Commander Wan, there is an ambush ahead, and the other sentries have been killed, so we are the only ones who escaped back!"

Wanyan Huonu was taken aback, he sent [-] sentinel cavalry, if they were all killed, then the opponent's strength would be at least [-], as expected, he guessed right.

"Master Wan, what should we do?" Several generals asked.

Wanyan Huonu snorted coldly and said: "Since Chen Qing has been discovered, he will no longer ambush him. He will definitely evacuate to Ganquan Castle, use the city to block us, and chase after me!"

Ten thousand cavalry suddenly accelerated, and ten thousand horses galloped towards the valley...

Sure enough, as expected by Wan Yan Huo Nu, the canyon where the Song army was ambushed was empty before, and the Song army did retreat westward.

The ten thousand gold soldiers sped up their speed again and chased after Ganquan Fort.

Contrary to Wanyan Huonu's expectation, the three gates of Ganquan Fort were wide open, and there was no one there. At this time, Wanyan Huonu received an urgent report that the main force of the [-] cavalrymen of the Song Army was retreating to the south. The speed was not fast, just to the south More than ten miles away.

Wanyan Huonu was overjoyed, and immediately ordered the whole army to pursue. Ten thousand Jurchen cavalry chased south again, but they only chased ten miles away, and saw the opponent lined up in the wilderness several miles away.

Wanyan Huonu immediately ordered the army to slow down. He looked at the terrain. On the left was a ravine twenty feet deep, and on the right was a crescent-shaped low mountain. The passage in the middle was only thirty feet wide. This was also an ambush great place.

Wanyan Huonu raised her head and looked up the low mountain. The top was bare, and she didn't see the enemy army. The enemy didn't seem to have set up an ambush on the top of the mountain.

"Master Wan, that person is Chen Qing!"

I saw a person from the opposing camp, wearing an iron helmet and iron armor, riding a tall and handsome horse, holding a Fang Tian's painted halberd, and he could feel the cold light of Fang Tian's painted halberd several miles away. Qing's unique signboard, among the generals in the world, he is the only one who uses Fang Tian's painted halberd.

The doubts in Wanyan Huonu's heart were immediately overwhelmed by deep-seated hatred, and he didn't bother to send people up the mountain to check, he drew his knife and shouted, "Kill!"

"Kill!"

The [-] Jurchen cavalry burst into a cry, accelerated suddenly, and the horses galloped, stirring up the loess to cover the sky and the sun, and the mound above their heads could not be seen clearly.

The forward of the Jurchen cavalry rushed over the hill in an instant. At this moment, three hundred soldiers of the Song army appeared above their heads, each carrying two powder kegs and fifty small trebuchets. The trebuchet was thrown, and the powder kegs were thrown down the mountain one by one.

Gunpowder barrels exploded above the heads of the Jurchen soldiers. Although the power of the explosion was limited, what was terrifying was the poisoned iron nails that shot out.

This is also the characteristic of the firearms of the Song Army. The impact of the firearm itself is very small, but the poisonous nails, poison, and caltrops mixed in the firearms have certain lethality.

Chen Qing directly threw the five-jin gunpowder barrel downwards, and the impact generated by its explosion was much stronger, especially the thousands of tiny poisonous nails were extremely lethal, but such poisonous nails could not penetrate iron armor , more for war horses.

Thousands of Jurchen cavalrymen were stunned by the successive explosions of dozens of gunpowder barrels. The horses neighed and ran wildly. In the chaos, hundreds of cavalrymen fell into the ravine on the right, and all of them died.

Seeing an unknown number of firearms falling from overhead and exploding, the casualties were extremely heavy.Although not many soldiers died directly, most of the horses and soldiers were more or less hit by poisoned iron nails...

"Retreat! Retreat!"

Wanyan Huonu yelled anxiously, the Jurchen cavalry were in a mess, they were in a mess on the official road, some were still charging forward, and some didn't know what to do?Some retreated backwards, but the cavalry behind did not retreat in time, blocking the retreat.

At this moment, the horn of the Song army's attack sounded.Chen Qing took the lead and led the cavalry of the Song Army to kill.

The explosion above the head stopped, and the Jurchen army also withdrew from the mountain road. Before the reorganization was completed, two thousand cavalrymen rushed over the dwarf hill and rushed into the Jurchen team first. The golden cavalry came to hide and kill.

Chapter 279

At the end of this battle, Yan Huo Nu was defeated. Nearly half of his cavalry were hit by poisoned iron nails, and soon lost their combat effectiveness. Most of the horses were poisoned and fell down. Without the horses, there were only Jurchen soldiers left. The fate of being slaughtered.

After the casualties exceeded [-]%, Wanyan Huonv ordered to retreat to the east, but was chased and killed by the Song army. The Jurchen cavalry was completely defeated, causing countless casualties.

In this battle, more than [-]% of the Jurchen cavalry were killed, and the rest of the cavalry fled in a hurry. Even Wanyan Huonu was hit by two arrows and almost died.

The fierce battle for more than an hour cost the Song army more than [-] dead, but the soldiers of the Song army were very excited to defeat the extremely powerful Jurchen cavalry.

They cleaned up the battlefield, left Ganquan Fort with more than 3000 horses, a large number of weapons, armor and other belongings, and officially headed south.

……

The people of Ganquanbao were all evacuated to various counties in Qinzhou. Chen Qing gave them a lot of horse meat and food, and left many carts that could not pass through Jianmen Pass. Tens of thousands of people reluctantly bid farewell , the army left Qinzhou and entered Fengzhou.

Four days later, when the army arrived in Hanzhong, Chen Qing ordered Zheng Ping and Yang Yuanqing to lead the army and supplies to continue southward, while he led [-] soldiers to Nanzheng County.

It's funny to say that this was the first time Chen Qing met Zhu Shengfei, the governor of Sichuan and Shanxi in Hanzhong. He had to admire Zhu Shengfei's brazenness in the officialdom. Zhu Shengfei wanted to kill him before, but now he suddenly became very polite. With a smile on his face, he also expressed regret with regret.

"The officials transferred the most powerful general of our Western Army without asking for my opinion. This is a great loss for our Western Army. Hey! There is no way, the holy will is hard to do, and I can't keep it. Here I sincerely say I sincerely wish General Chen a great future and a smooth journey!"

Chen Qing didn't talk to him, he signed the letter of resignation, and handed in the military badge and seal, which means that from now on, he has nothing to do with the Western Army.

Chen Qing actually wanted to say goodbye to Wu Jie and Liu Ziyu, but Wu Jie went to Ziwu Pass, and Chen Qing only saw Liu Ziyu.

Liu Ziyu accompanied Chen Qing to the top of the city, and Liu Ziyu sighed: "Sooner or later, Sichuan and Shaanxi will be ruined by the civil service system of the Song Dynasty."

Chen Qing asked in surprise, "Did something happen?"

Liu Ziyu shook his head, "Too many things have happened, making people angry and hard to describe!"

"Tell me briefly!"