Fenghou

"What if he pretends to surrender to the capital under Wan Yanchang's order, will he be in big trouble in the future?"

Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "This person is a very smart person. He knew that it was not easy to win my trust, so he took the risk to go back and burn fire oil. This is tantamount to completely destroying Wanyanchang's plan to take the Three Gorges Road to seize Bashu. Wanyan How could Chang forgive him? The puppet state of Qi would not spare him, so I told him to go back and transfer his family members quickly. If there is sincerity in the petition, I will tell him to go back to his hometown and transfer his family, to show that he knows that he has committed suicide in Wanyanchang."

Yang Zaixing was stunned, and sighed: "So that's the case, it's because the humble job is easy to consider."

"He is a rare talent. Actually, I don't want to hand him over to Li Gang. Li Gang will definitely not trust him, let alone use him. It would be too wasteful."

When Chen Qing said this, he opened the letter that Jiang Yanxian had left for him, and looked at Jiang Yanxian's strategy to defeat the enemy, and he suddenly laughed.

Chen Qing said to Yang Zaixing: "Order the whole army to retreat!"

……

Although Li Chi took away Jiang Yanxian's military power, he didn't get Jiang Yanxian's combat thinking. He didn't know Jiang Yanxian's plan to build a tower to destroy Zigui City.

Jiang Yanxian originally wanted to build an arrow-proof barrier first, and then hoist the trebuchet up. Li Chi didn't know this plan, and he completely missed the step of building the arrow-proof barrier.

The high platform is 150 steps away from Zigui County, and Zigui County can be attacked with trebuchets, but they forgot that Zigui County can also attack the high platform.

The chief general Zhang Ziliang launched a surprise attack on the high platform with two thousand crossbowmen, and the crossbow arrows came like a torrential rain. More than 1000 puppet Qi soldiers and craftsmen on the high platform had no way to hide, and they were all shot to death by dense crossbow arrows.

Hearing this news, Li Chi was dumbfounded, and he realized that he had made a big mistake.

At this time, Zhang Hua, the commander, persuaded Li Chidao: "It is better for the army to return to Xiazhou first, ask the capital to supervise the army, and then make a decision!"

Li Chi sighed, "I just give up Zigui like this, I'm not willing!"

"Actually, we have not given up on Zigui. We are worried about Jiang Yanxian. He and Wang Bin still have an army. If he surrenders to the Song army, we will not be able to attack Zigui. Isn't it a dilemma?"

One sentence reminded Li Chi that when he slapped his forehead, the consequences were indeed terrible.

He immediately ordered: "Order the whole army to retreat back to Xiazhou immediately!"

Li Chi was very anxious, and said to Zhang Huai: "I led the main force to retreat overnight, and you brought three thousand brothers to pack up the luggage and then retreat. In addition, I also found a way to take down the trebuchet on the high platform. I can use it in the middle of the night. In short, it can't be thrown away. , I will attack the city again after I regain the fire oil."

Li Chi couldn't wait any longer. An hour later, he led 1 main troops to leave Zigui and head towards Xiazhou. In any case, he wanted to take back Yiling before Jiang Yanxian surrendered to the Song army.

Zhang Hua, the commander, packed up the food and grass, as well as Li Chi's lifeblood, the twelve catapults. He only spent a lot of effort at the fourth watch to hang the twelve catapults from the high platform again with ropes. It was not until the afternoon of the second day that the packing was finished, and they began to retreat slowly towards Yiling.

The Three Gorges Road has not only a very narrow cliff plank road, but also an open area with a width of more than ten miles, so there are county towns, small towns, villages and other dwellings along the way.

Xintan is an open land. The Yangtze River flows through here, and there are about three miles of shoals. The people here have built three long trestle bridges on the shoals. Large ships can berthed by the trestle bridges, and people and livestock on board can walk ashore on the trestle bridges. As a result, a prosperous commercial town, Xintan Town, was formed.

In the morning of the next day, just an hour after Li Chi passed through Xintan Town, dozens of large ships appeared on the river in Xintan Town, and Song troops began to come ashore along the trestle bridge in a steady stream.

This is Jiang Yanxian's strategy to defeat Li Chi. Li Chi is very hot-tempered. When he realizes that he will sacrifice Yiling to surrender to the Song army, he will rush back to Xiazhou in a hurry, leaving his supplies and food behind, and wait for his main force to pass. In Xintan Town, the Song army disembarked from Xintan, cut Li Chi's main force and logistics into two sections, and wiped out the logistics army. Li Chi's main force was blocked halfway, and the food and grass would be cut off in a few days, and even the horses could not be killed. , will inevitably surrender without a fight.

This tactic is called the Jedi tactic. It is very vicious and effective. It makes full use of the intelligence asymmetry and the advantages of the navy to put the main force of the puppet Qi army in a jeopardy.

Yang Zaixing led [-] troops to disembark and land, and they immediately set up an ambush more than ten miles in front of Xintan Town...

As night fell, a mighty train of luggage appeared. Bullock carts loaded with food, grass and luggage marched mightily on the official road. Some of the [-] soldiers followed on both sides of the cart, and most of them followed the train of luggage. Behind.

To the south of the official road are cliffs, below is the mighty Yangtze River, and to the north are endless mountains. Although it is early winter, the forests are still lush, but the mountains are filled with fog, which is very humid and cold, which makes the soldiers who came from the Central Plains very uncomfortable. Not used to it.

Behind a big tree, Yang Zaixing locked his eyes on the opponent's general, and the only general riding on a horse should be a commander.

He took off his bow, drew out a wolf-toothed arrow, set the bow and set the arrow, and shot the arrow almost without aiming. Yang Zaixing's arrow technique was not as powerful as Chen Qing's, but his heart-and-arrow technique was also outstanding, and the arrow within a hundred steps was unmatched. false hair.

Zhang Hua never dreamed that he would shoot a deadly cold arrow from the side of the road. When he felt bad, it was too late, 'Pfft! An arrow hit his neck, Zhang Hua let out a muffled snort, then turned over and fell off his horse.

Yang Zaixing's archery was an order, and the sound of clappers sounded in the woods above, and arrows were shot like rain. The two thousand soldiers behind couldn't dodge, and they fell to the ground with arrows, and the screams resounded through the official road.

Yang Zaixing swung his spear, "Kill!"

Six thousand soldiers of the Song Army rushed out of the woods, screaming and killed the puppet Qi army on the official road down the mountain.

……

Li Chi led 1 people and rushed all the way. At five o'clock, they arrived ten miles away from Xialao Pass. This is a dangerous place. The road is less than two feet wide. On the other side is a steep mountain, the mountain is filled with clouds and mist, and occasionally white cranes fly by, just like the dwelling place of immortals.

Walking through this ten-mile dangerous road, you will be at Xialongguan in front of you. Passing Xialongguan means that you will soon walk out of the Three Gorges, and another [-] miles will be Yiling County.

The soldiers were too tired to walk, but the anxious Li Chi refused to allow the army to stop and ordered the army to continue marching. He must enter Yiling County to be relieved.

At this moment, the soldiers in front suddenly made noise, as if something had happened, Li Chi hurried forward, and a general came back to report, "Dutong, there is a giant tree blocking the way!"

Li Chi frowned, and hurried forward, he also saw that there were dozens of giant trees lying across the official road ahead, blocking the official road.

"Jiang Yan must have done it first, go and throw the wood down the river!"

Li Chi gave the order, and hundreds of soldiers rushed up one after another. At this moment, there was a loud bang in front, and the flames blazed up from the official road. The giant tree was also engulfed in flames.

The soldiers cried out in shock and backed away in fright, and Li Chi was also stunned.

Chapter 329 A dead end

It took the puppet Qi army a day and a night, and it took a lot of effort to remove the burning giant wood, but to their despair, a larger pile of giant trees appeared in Baibu. Standing on the giant log, the torch looked at them proudly.

Li Chi was furious, "Shoot an arrow! Shoot him to death!"

Arrows were fired, and the soldiers disappeared, but the torches ignited the kerosene and giant logs on the ground, and the fire burned again. All the soldiers seemed to have fallen into the ice cave, and the despair pervaded the entire army.

No one knows how many piles of giant trees are waiting for them after this pile of giant trees is removed.

When the time came to the next night, the giant wood was burnt to ashes, and the soldiers removed the charred giant wood, and a pile of giant trees appeared in front of them. There was light rain, and the fire burned extraordinarily vigorously in the rain.

More than 1 puppet Qi soldiers sat under the rocky cliff, drenched in rain, cold and hungry, and unable to sleep. Fear and despair filled everyone's heart. A news spread quickly among the soldiers. The person who stopped them was not Jiang Yanxian, but Song Jun.

Many people saw the soldier lighting the fire, and it was clearly a Song army, which meant that Yiling County had already been captured by the Song army.

The last meal of dry food was finished in the afternoon, but the logistics team they were looking forward to had never arrived. Logically, it should have arrived long ago, but now there is no sign of it. The soldiers felt a bad feeling in their hearts.

In the middle of the night, the soldiers sent to urge the logistics team came back. There were more than a dozen of them, and only two came back. They brought the news like a bolt from the blue. Behind them was Chen Qing's army, dozens of miles away. 6000 people, the logistics team has been taken away by the Song army.

Needless to say, the Song army who stopped them in front must also be Chen Qing's army. They fell into a trap and were blocked on a dangerous mountain road, unable to advance or retreat.

At four o'clock, the distraught Li Chi led a dozen of his own soldiers to inspect the army. The soldiers formed groups of three or five, gathered together and chatted quietly, and when they saw him coming, they left vigilantly. No need to guess, Li Chi knew about them What are you talking about?

Li Chi reprimanded him all the way. At this time, he came to a corner, and a group of soldiers on the other side obviously did not see him coming.

"If Jiang Dutong was here, it would not be so miserable at all, at least the brothers would not be hungry."

"Jiang Dutong has considered the problem carefully and will never leave the food, grass and luggage behind. It was like this when we came. The food, grass and luggage go in the middle, and the army goes to the two ends. Although it is a bit slower, it is very safe."

"I heard that Li seized power and wanted to kill Jiang Dutong, so he forced Jiang Dutong away..."

"It's better to surrender! It's better than starving to death!"

Li Chi was so angry that he drew his sword and charged forward, shouting, "You bastards!"

A dozen or so people gathered together, when Li Chi suddenly appeared, they all stood up in fright.

"Do you Han dogs want to rebel? Who said you would surrender just now!"

Li Chi stared viciously at a young man, as if he was the one who said it.

"You said you wanted to surrender?"

Young Dutou plucked up his courage and said, "If this continues, the brothers will definitely starve to death. Surrendering is of course better than starving to death."

Li Chi laughed grimly: "You won't starve to death, you have to die now!"

He stabbed fiercely with the sword, and the young man couldn't dodge his head in time, the sword pierced through his chest, the young man screamed and died instantly.

"Kuroko!"

The brother next to him yelled and hugged his brother's body.

He slowly raised his head to stare at Li Chi, his eyes turned blood red.

"He has shaken the morale of the army, he deserves death!" Li Chi yelled guiltily.

"I fought with you!"

Dutou drew his sword and rushed towards Li Chi, and the soldiers around him raised their spears and stabbed him, killing his elder brother on the spot.

The tragic death of the two brothers enraged the dozen or so people around, and they shouted together: "Brothers, kill this false Tartar!"

Hundreds of soldiers around were already filled with resentment, and they took up their spears one after another to kill Li Chi. Li Chi couldn't dodge, and was stabbed in the thigh by a spear. Running quickly, he and his horse fell off the cliff and fell into the Yangtze River.

The army began to mutiny. Several of Jiang Yanxian's confidant generals who had been dismissed by Li Chi took the opportunity to lead the soldiers to rebel, killed four commanders, and held up the white flag to demand surrender.

……

Before going to the prison, groups of soldiers took off their armor, put down their weapons, and entered the pass with their hands raised high. What awaited them was a bowl of hot white porridge and two big steamed buns. The soldiers were so hungry that they squatted on the ground to eat. stand up.

Chen Qing stood at a height and looked at the surrendered soldiers. This group of troops was of good quality, generally tall and young, much higher in quality than the puppet Qi army defeated in Hanyang.

Chen Qing's army has relatively high requirements for soldiers. They must be at least six feet tall. In conversion, they must be at least 1.7 meters. Five years old and able to lift a hundred catties above their heads. In addition to the court's salary, the army also has a monthly subsidy of consistent money, and there are often rewards of spoils of war, which can not only protect the family and the country, but also earn money from the army, so his morale has always been kept high.

Chen Qing said to Wang Duo and Gao Ding: "You select [-] elites from among them to supplement our military losses."

"Follow the order!" The two walked quickly.

At noon the next day, Yang Zaixing came back with his luggage and prisoners of war, and Zhang Ziliang, the eunuch and governor of Xiazhou, came with him.

Zhang Ziliang is a civil servant, but he has also been tempered by the troubled times to learn both civil and martial arts. He can teach in schools, can lead soldiers in war, and has a straightforward personality.

"These prisoners of war are not bad. I will also pick 2000 people to supplement our troops. If we kill them next time, Xiazhou and Guizhou will not be able to keep them."

"Although Governor Zhang chooses prisoners of war, I have a suggestion!"

Chen Qing said with a smile: "I think Yiling and Jiangling have a lot of land. It's better to let the soldiers write letters and take over their families to live, so that the soldiers can join the army with peace of mind, otherwise it's easy to escape."

Zhang Ziliang nodded, "That makes sense. I will discuss with the Xuanfu envoy to convert some of the official land into military land."

In fact, Chen Qing also encountered the same problem. All the soldiers in his army were from the Northwest, so it was doomed that he would not be able to stay in Yuezhou permanently, and he had to find a way to transfer back to the Northwest.

In the afternoon, Zhang Xiao handed him a roster of [-] soldiers selected from the prisoners of war. Chen Qing looked at the roster and found that almost all the soldiers were from Henan, Shanzhou, and Ruzhou.

"Dutong, it may not be easy to reassure the soldiers!"

Chen Qing understood what Zhang Xiao meant. It would be fine if they were from the same country, but their family members lived in the enemy country. It was indeed not easy to stabilize the morale of the army.

"I find time to calm their emotions."

Zhang Xiao hesitated and said: "The appeasement is only for a while. The humble official said that it is best for us to have a place of foundation, a place like Qinzhou, so that we can find a way to move their family to Qinzhou, and the soldiers will stabilize. , this is the fundamental solution.”

Chen Qing nodded, "I know what you mean. Maybe after the Jingxiang battle is over, I will go to Lin'an to be honored. When the time comes, I will try my best to transfer me back."

Zhang Xiao said worriedly: "But they have only been transferred to Jinghu for a few months, and they want to transfer back. Will the imperial court agree?"

Chen Qing said indifferently: "Generally speaking, it is unlikely, but if there are special circumstances, such as the fall of Hanzhong or the crisis in Bashu, there is hope. With Zhu Shengfei's pedantic and authoritarian power, there will definitely be a crisis in the Northwest. It is a matter of time! "

After resting for two days, Chen Qing led the army to leave Xiazhou and march towards Xiangyang Mansion.

3 Chapter Thirty

The Han River was once again controlled by the Song Army, and Wan Yanchang suffered a disastrous defeat in his second battle to capture Jingxiang. Not only did the offense and defense of both sides return to the original point, but more importantly, the [-] troops of the Puppet Qi Army were wiped out.

There are currently about 3 defenders in Xiangyang, and the command power really belongs to Dong Xian. Shortly after the news of the failure of the attack on the Three Gorges Road, Wan Yanchang led [-] Jurchen cavalry to cross the Han River in Fangzhou and left Xiangyang. .

There are still 8000 troops in Xiangyang, while the Song army has increased to 7, and Li Gang's main force has increased to 5. The main reason is that Chen Qing sent people to escort Li Gang's nearly [-] Three Gorges soldiers. All the soldiers who surrendered were recruited by Li Gang.

Chen Qing's army strength also reached 2, including the 9000 troops under his own command and the [-] navy commanded by Zheng Ping. The total strength of the army is about [-].

It would be impossible to have so many troops, and he couldn't afford to support them himself. He had to hand over the [-] recruits from Jiangling to Li Gang.

Outside the city of Xiangyang, the Song army set up three camps, the main camp of Li Gang was to the south, the camp of [-] troops led by Lieutenant General Zhe Yanzhi was to the east, and the camp of the capital commander Chen Qing was located outside the west city.

In Chen Qing's camp, [-] large tents were set up, surrounded by thick camp fences, trenches were dug in front, and dozens of sentry posts were built outside the trenches.

However, it is not easy for a [-] army to capture Xiangyang City. The main reason is that Xiangyang City is too difficult to attack. The army may not be able to capture Xiangyang.

It's a pity that Wan Yanchang took a fancy to this damned guy and took him away with him.

In the coach's tent, Li Gang summoned five senior officials to discuss the strategy of attacking Xiangyang, including Zhe Yanzhi, deputy envoy of Huguang Xuanfu, Cheng Changyu, envoy of Suizhou Township, Chen Qing, envoy of Yue and Ezheng, Dutong Jieqian, and Dutong Liu Hongdao.

Cheng Changyu said: "The biggest difficulty in Xiangyang City is that the moat is too wide. I suggest using small boats to build eight pontoon bridges overnight, two in the east, west, north, south, and north, and then attack from four directions at the same time. Overwhelm the opponent with superior forces. Within a few days Take Xiangyang City."

Chen Qing didn't speak. Cheng Changyu had the right idea. He took advantage of his large number of troops to win, but the casualties would be too high. At least 3 to [-] people would have to be killed in battle. Li Gang would definitely not agree.

Sure enough, Li Gang didn't say a word, and Orihiko, who has always been famous for his bad mouth, said coldly: "If we fight like this, we will have at least 2 to [-] casualties every day. Governor Cheng thinks that our soldiers are ants, and no matter how many deaths there are, we don't feel bad. ?”

Cheng Changyu said angrily: "How can it be possible to fight without killing people? If you don't want to fight, I will lead my [-] troops to attack Beicheng. When I capture Xiangyang, you will never want to claim credit!"

Li Gang immediately agreed, "Yes, Cheng Zhenfu will lead an army of [-] to attack Beicheng tomorrow!"

Cheng Changyu immediately understood that this was Li Gang using himself as a tester to attack!What he said just now was too full, and it was too late for him to regret it.

Cheng Changyu had no choice but to say sullenly, "I don't have a boat to build a floating bridge."

Li Gang didn't give him a chance at all, and said decisively: "I will pay you for the pontoon bridge for the ship in the afternoon. You build the pontoon bridge tonight and start attacking tomorrow."