Fenghou

Huang Cheng sighed and said, "Thousands of Song Army cavalry are watching us outside! As long as we leave the city, we will be chased and killed by Song Army cavalry."

Yang Yao couldn't say a word for a while, so he sighed and asked, "How many food, grass and soldiers are there in the city?"

"Most of our money, food and materials are in the county seat. Only a small part of the water village was burned. The food is sufficient. The key is that there are only 5000 troops. I am worried that I will not be able to defend Wuling County."

"Then forcefully recruit civilian husbands. Men over the age of 14 must go to the city to participate in the defense!"

Yang Yao straightened his waist and said: "Now we can only hope that the Qi army will go south and force Chen Qing to go north to join the war. We will have hope."

……

Three days later, Chen Qing led [-] cavalry to Changde Mansion. At the same time, hundreds of large ships transported [-] soldiers and a large amount of supplies to Changde Mansion.

This night battle really won Chen Qing's praise, well-prepared, well-directed, and the results were very brilliant. He actually wiped out the main force of Yang Yao's army in one battle.

Yang Zaixing said modestly: "This battle was mainly due to the inexperience of Yang Yaojun's soldiers in dealing with cavalry, and thanks to Liu Heng's contribution, we were lucky enough to win this battle."

"Don't be humble. There are not so many lucky things in the world. To be able to command five thousand cavalry to enter and exit at the same time without being scattered in the barracks is itself a very strong commanding ability. The first credit goes to General Yang!"

"Thank you for your hospitality!"

Chen Qing asked again: "How is the situation in Wuling County?"

"Reporting to Dutong, according to our multiple interrogations of prisoners of war and checking of confessions, it is initially determined that Wuling County has about 5000 troops, and the chief general is Huang Cheng, the second person in Yang Yao's army. .”

Chen Qing said slowly: "We also wiped out Yang Yao's sneak attack army, but Yang Yao escaped. It is very likely that he has fled back to Wuling County. We must take Wuling County as soon as possible."

Zheng Ping on the side was a little annoyed: "But we didn't carry siege weapons!"

Chen Qing said with a smile: "Let's take a look first, it may not be necessary to attack the city wall in many cases!"

Surrounded by everyone, Chen Qing rode towards Wuling County.

Chapter 294 Breaking the City

From Taihu Lake to Wuling County, both water and land can be walked. There are two rivers passing through Wuling County on Guangshui Road. One big river is Yuanjiang River, which flows three miles south of Wuling County, and finally flows into Dongting Lake. The other smaller river is Dingshui. Wuling County flows to the north, and Wuling County is actually sandwiched between two rivers.

The Yuanjiang River is wide, and the Song army built a long pontoon bridge on the Yuanjiang River. More than a thousand cavalry crossed the pontoon bridge. Chen Qing looked at the county town not far away. Wuling County is a large county governed by Changde Prefecture. Yu Li, the city wall was tall and strong, and the city wall was full of guarding soldiers. After turning around, it was found that there were at least [-] guarding soldiers.

Chen Qing pointed at the soldiers at the top of the city with a horsewhip and laughed, "Even children are forced to defend the city. Yang Yao really thinks he can defend Wuling County?"

Zhang Xiao also said with a smile: "He has nothing to do. There are only 5000 people in total. I doubt that they have ever defended the city."

Zheng Ping scratched his head and said, "I heard that Changde Mansion produces giant logs. We can temporarily make a battering ram and smash open the city gate!"

Chen Qing shook his head, "Didn't you find out where the biggest defensive advantage of Wuling County is?"

All eyes are on the moat. Indeed, the biggest advantage of Wuling County is the moat, which is at least twice as wide as other moats. This is also the reason why the county is sandwiched between two rivers, especially Dingshui, which is directly connected to the moat. When Yang Yao first started to rebel, the officials of Changde Mansion took advantage of Dingshui to greatly widen the moat.

But it was still useless, the bandit army killed the city, and Wuling County surrendered without a fight.

Zheng Ping sighed and said, "Don't talk about using a battering ram to attack the city gate. Even if you attack the city wall, it's rare to cross the moat. Why did these bastards dig the moat so wide?"

Chen Qing smiled lightly: "Everything has two sides. Wuling County relied on the moat for defense, but they failed in the end because of the moat."

Seeing that everyone didn't react, he said with a smile: "Rest well during the day, and take Wuling County directly tonight, don't let Yang Yao escape this time."

……

At one watch, a fleet appeared on the tripod water, consisting of dozens of large, medium and small boats. The largest boat was Chen Qing's five thousand stone boat, which was like a four-story building. Hundreds of soldiers acted as temporary trackers, pulling The big ship moved slowly, followed by more than a dozen three-thousand-stone warships, followed by five-hundred-stone and one-thousand-stone medium-sized ships.

The five thousand stone ship was full of soldiers, and the trebuchets were also ready. The fleet was still one mile away from the city wall of the county, so it was easy to get on top of the city!when!when! ' The alarm bells sounded.

Just as Yang Yao fell asleep, he heard that the Song army was attacking in a big way. He was so frightened that he quickly put on his armor and ran towards the city wall. The military advisor Huang Cheng had already arrived first.

At this time, the fleet had already sailed into the moat, and slowly moved west along the moat. These were all huge sea ships, and the warships of five thousand stone were even higher than the city wall.

The soldiers on the top of the city were all shocked, Huang Cheng suddenly realized that if the Song army wanted to attack the top of the city, they only needed to build a plank on the boat.

"My lord, the Song army is going to attack, shoot with bow and arrow!"

Yang Yao shouted, "Shoot with bow and arrow! Shoot with bow and arrow!"

After Yang Yao gave the order, only the people around him heard the order, and everyone on the city wall needed to blow the horn.

"Woo~ woo~ woo~"

The urgent sound of the horn sounded, this was the order for the soldiers at the top of the city to release arrows, but it was too late, the Song army on board launched an attack first, firing random arrows, dense crossbow arrows shot at the defenders on the top of the city, Immediately, a large area was shot down, and there was a sudden chaos on the top of the city. Experienced soldiers got down one after another, while the peasants ran down the city screaming in horror.

Yang Yao was furious, "Anyone who dares to go to the city will be killed without mercy!"

But an even more terrifying scene came. The ships were too close to the city wall, and there was no need for the catapults at all. The burning oil balls were directly thrown on the top of the city by the soldiers.

In just a moment, the top of the city turned into a sea of ​​flames, and the top of the city was completely chaotic. The soldiers who were lying on the ground also jumped up and ran wildly. Many soldiers were also ignited by the fire, crying and running, and some fell to the ground At the top, someone jumped directly into the moat, and ghosts and wolves were howling on the top of the city. Even Yang Yao and Huang Cheng were escorted by soldiers to hide below the city.

The entire northern city turned into a sea of ​​fire, and several other city walls also caught fire one after another, but without the exaggeration of the northern city, it still caused chaos among the defenders. Countless civilians who were forced to go to the city took off their armor and threw away their weapons. , fled to his own home.

The purpose of the northern city wall was to create a fearful atmosphere and force the soldiers to go down the city, but it was the eastern city wall that really launched the attack. A three thousand stone ship was filled with soldiers, and a dozen wooden boards two feet long were built by the soldiers. At the top of the city, the soldiers rushed to the top of the city with spears in their hands.

Several medium-sized ships joined together to form a temporary pontoon bridge. More than [-] soldiers on the shore rushed onto the ships, rushed to the top of the city through the [-]-stone warship, and rushed down the city along the corridor.

At this moment, Yang Yao was at a loss. Like the other generals, he had no experience in defending the city. He didn't know how to put out the fire on the city, and he didn't know what to do now.

At this time, a general stumbled and ran to report, "Your Majesty, the Song army has entered the city from the east wall. I don't know how many people have entered the city."

Yang Yao was stunned, and suddenly he yelled, "Heaven will kill me!"

"Your Majesty, the county seat can no longer be defended, retreat quickly!"

"Where is the military division?" Yang Yao asked urgently.

"The military division is heading west!"

As soon as Yang Yao turned his head, Huang Cheng had disappeared, and he immediately understood that Huang Cheng must have left him and ran away.

Yang Yao was angry and anxious, got on his horse and shouted: "Retreat to the west city! Retreat!"

He led a thousand confidant soldiers along the street towards the west city gate, and saw the west city gate open from a distance, and Huang Cheng rushed out of the city with dozens of soldiers.

"Damn it!"

Yang Yao gritted her teeth and cursed, and ran towards the west gate with the soldiers.

At this time, the gate of the east city was opened, the suspension bridge creaked down, and thousands of Song troops outside the city rushed into the city...

Yang Yao rushed out of the west city gate, just after a hundred steps, a soldier suddenly pointed to the ground and shouted: "It's a military advisor!"

I saw a man with a horse lying on the ground, his body was full of arrows, and he was covered like a hedgehog. It was the military adviser Huang Cheng.

Yang Yao was taken aback. The military division was shot and killed just after he came out, and there were ambushes around him.

Suddenly there was loud shouting and killing around, thousands of cavalry came from all directions, Yang Yao was so anxious that he held a gun in one hand and the rein in the other, and the horses circled around, but they couldn't find a way to break out of the encirclement.

At this time, a young general came from the slanting stab, holding Fang Tian's painted halberd, it was the coach Chen Qing.

Chen Qing has been staring at Yang Yao for a long time. He once met Yang Yao on the Yangtze River. Although he only met Yang Yao once, he firmly remembered Yang Yao's wolf-like face.

Chen Qing laughed loudly, "Master Yang, we meet again!"

"Who are you?" Yang Yao asked in surprise.

"I saw it on the Yangtze River last year, have you forgotten?"

When Yang Yao saw Fang Tian's painted halberd in Chen Qing's hand, he suddenly remembered, and his eyes widened immediately, "You are... the demon Chen Qing?"

"Since you know a certain family, if you don't hurry up and arrest them, the certain family will spare your life!"

"Tie Chen, take a shot at me."

Yang Yao waved his gun and stabbed at Chen Qing, Chen Qing dodged sideways, Yang Yao's legs pinched the horse and tried to escape, he had seen Chen Qing's martial arts with his own eyes, he was like a killing god, how could he be his opponent , His stabbing is false, but his escape is true.

Chen Qing laughed loudly, "Do you want to escape before I make a move?"

With a wave of the halberd, a cold light flashed, 'Kacha! With a sound, the horse's hind leg was chopped into two pieces, and the horse fell down, throwing Yang Yao a foot away. Chen Qing's soldiers rushed forward, pressed Yang Yao to the ground, and tied him up.

"Chen Qing, kill me!" Yang Yao shouted in despair.

Chen Qing smiled faintly, "The Son of Heaven has a reward for catching Yang Yao. He will be promoted to three ranks, and he will be made a duke of the state. My glory and wealth rest on you! How could I kill you?"

Chen Qing ordered the soldiers to cover Yang Yao's mouth with rags. He turned his head and said coldly: "But your confidantes are doing a lot of evil and will only harm the world, so there is no need to stay!"

He immediately ordered, "If you don't accept surrender, kill without mercy!"

Five thousand cavalry surrounded one thousand Yang Yao's confidant soldiers and carried out a bloody massacre.

Chapter 295 Sad news

After conquering Wuling County, cleaning was inevitable, especially for the family members of the leader of the bandit army. It was absolutely impossible in the Song Dynasty not to be implicated. At the very least, it was a crime of exile, but these were all decided by the court.

Three days later, Chen Qing used ten warships to escort Yang Yao, his thirteen generals, and the family members of important bandit leaders to Lin'an.

Immediately afterwards, Chen Qing sent ten teams of cavalry, each with 1000 men, to wipe out the remnants of water thieves in the area around Dongting Lake and restore order.

At this time, it was mid-September, and it was mid-October when it was converted to the Gregorian calendar. The autumn harvest in the south had already begun, and the people who had fled to other places returned to their hometowns one after another to participate in the joyful autumn harvest.

That afternoon, several messenger soldiers from Jiangbei came to Baling County and brought Chen Qing a sad news: Wang Yan was unfortunately killed in battle.

In the big tent, several generals stood aside with a heavy heart. Chen Qing lowered his head and fell into great grief. After a while, Chen Qing asked in a hoarse voice: "How did the old Dutong die in battle? Tell me in detail." Say!"

"Reporting to Dutong, Wang Zhifu led five thousand Jiangling troops to station in Dangyang. He received an urgent call for help from Sang Zhong, the governor of Xiangyang, saying that Xiangyang's troops were too small and it was almost impossible to hold them. Wang Zhifu personally led five thousand troops. The army rushed to Xiangyang to support, but was surrounded by tens of thousands of puppet Qi troops in Shiliang Mountain. Wang Zhifu failed to break through several times and was seriously injured. Ying was also killed in battle, almost the entire army of 5000 was wiped out, and only less than a hundred escaped."

"and then?"

"It was only later that the Xuan Fu envoy learned that Kong Yanzhou, the guard general of Xiangyang, had killed Sang Zhong, the governor of Xiangyang, and secretly surrendered to the puppet Qi. They used Sang Zhong's seal to lure Wang Zhifu to go north, and fell into the ambush circle of the puppet Qi's deployment. .”

"Who is the commander of the Puppet Qi Army?"

"Reporting back to Dutong, it is Liu Yufeng's puppet Minister of the Ministry of War and Henan pacifier Dong Xian. He was originally the governor of Shangzhou in the Song Dynasty. He was both civil and military. He surrendered to Liu Yu last year and was reused by Liu Yu. Wang Liuming led an army of [-] to attack Jingxiang."

Chen Qing read Li Gang's autographed letter to him again, and asked, "Where is the Xuan Fu envoy now?"

"In the confrontation between Jingmen Army Commander Lin County and the [-] Puppet Qi Army, the strength is less than [-], and the situation is quite unfavorable. The Xuan Fu envoy begs the governor to send troops to rescue as soon as possible."

"I see, you go down and rest first, I will arrange to dispatch troops after a little arrangement."

At this time, Wang Duo, Wang Yan's nephew, rushed into the big tent and fell to the ground crying, "I beg Dutong to avenge my uncle!"

Chen Qing helped him up, and comforted him: "We are all from the Eight Character Army, and I regard Lao Dutong as my father. Unfortunately, he was killed by the bandit army. How can I stand by and watch, don't worry! I will definitely let the puppet Qi army Blood debt paid in blood."

Chen Qing immediately ordered the three armies to wrap their clothes in mourning, and called all the generals to discuss the matter of sending troops.

Counselor Zhang Xiao said to Chen Qing: "The humble official suggests that the army should be divided into two groups, the navy should go to Hanyang, and the cavalry should go to Changlin County."

"Why such an arrangement?" Chen Qing asked puzzled.

Zhang Xiao said calmly, "Huguang Xuanfu envoy Siguan Ya is in Hanyang. There are warehouses over there, storing a lot of money, food and materials. How can the puppet Qi army not be jealous? Since they have captured Xiangyang, they can go along the Han River." Going south, Hanyang is located at the mouth of the Han River, and the troops are empty. Xuan Fu envoy confronted the puppet Qi army in Changlin County, which is the opportunity for the puppet Qi army to seize Hanyang!"

Chen Qing thought so. He pondered for a moment and said to Yang Yuanqing and Zhang Xiao: "We divide our troops into three groups. General Yang and Zhang Sima led 2000 people to guard Baling County. Our family members are all here. Baling County should not be careless. We must prevent the enemy from besieging Wei and saving Zhao. Sneak attack on Baling County."

Yang Yuanqing nodded, "Please don't worry, I will never be careless in a lowly position!"

Chen Qing said to Zheng Ping again: "You and Niu Gao led [-] troops to Hanyang by boat, Commander Ling led [-] sailors to stay in Hanyang to help defend, and Lao Zheng led the fleet to return to Jiangling as my logistical support, Niu Gao Then lead [-] vehicles and ships with [-] troops to go north along the Han River, go around to the back of Changlin County, and follow my orders."

Several generals stood up and saluted, "Follow the order!"

Chen Qing said again: "I personally led [-] cavalry to go north to support Changlin County!"

Everyone split up and Chen Qing found Zhao Xiaoyi and Hu Yanlei.

He took out a military order and handed it to Zhao Xiaoyi, saying: "Xiaoyi led a hundred scouts to go ahead to inquire about the news in Changlin County, and by the way, tell the Xuanfu envoy that I will personally lead the army northward today, please rest assured!"

"Humble post obeys orders!"

Zhao Xiaoyi took the arrow and left first.

Chen Qing said to Hu Yanlei again: "It's still the old rule. You sneak into Xiangyang with [-] special spies and buy a restaurant as an intelligence point. I need to know the situation in Xiangyang."

The so-called special spies mean that not all spies are young men, there are middle-aged men and women among them, they are all recruited from family members, and they are specially responsible for sneaking into the enemy's rear to investigate intelligence.

Xiangyang will inevitably become the logistics center for this puppet Qi army's southward invasion. Mastering all kinds of information about Xiangyang is extremely important for judging the enemy's movements.

Hu Yanlei nodded. They are already familiar with it and have a lot of experience, so they basically won't expose themselves.

……

That afternoon, Chen Qing, Yang Zaixing, Liu Qiong and other generals led [-] cavalry across the Yangtze River. Instead of going to Jiangling Mansion, they went directly to Changlin County.

At the same time, Zheng Ping, Niu Gao and other Jianglings led [-] troops and hundreds of warships to attack Hanyang in a mighty manner to protect the safety of Hanyang's logistics center.

……

This morning, a Jurchen cavalry of more than a thousand soldiers escorted Wan Yanchang's vehicle and slowly entered Xiangyang.

The puppet Qi army's strategy of attacking Jingxiang was actually formulated by Wan Yanchang. It was to cooperate with the armistice on the eastern front and the preparations for the western front. It was one of the three fronts.