Fenghou

Chen Qing led a [-]-strong army to march day and night, and finally arrived at Longxi County. They also marched lightly. A large amount of luggage had been transported to Longxi County in advance at the end of last year. The first camel team transported grain, and almost all the grain in Didao County was transported to Longxi.

The 8000 Song troops who retreated from Hezhou and Lintao also arrived in Longxi County two days earlier than Chen Qing's army. Adding the [-] troops garrisoned in Longxi County, the number of Song troops in Longxi County had reached [-] at this time.

In addition, Hu Yantong and Zhizhou Wang Huai recruited [-] logistics militias, and there were also [-] strong young women who were mainly responsible for cooking and taking care of the wounded soldiers.

Chen Qing didn't care about rest, and immediately boarded the county seat to inspect the defense preparations. This is what he specially told Hu Yantong to conduct a comprehensive inspection to find every possible defense loophole.

The enemy is coming soon, and they don't have so much time to temporarily remedy it.

"The city gates are closed!"

"It was closed the day before yesterday, and people are no longer allowed to enter or leave. In addition, all the pigeon letters and eagle letters in the city have stopped. All carrier pigeons and carrier eagles are under the unified control of the army. If there are carrier pigeons again, we will arrest them immediately. In addition , all Xixia people are temporarily under house arrest, and even if there are spies among them, they will not be able to report any more."

Chen Qing knew that the Xixia spies in Longxi County had been pulled out by the inner guard camp, and there would be no new spies in a short time, but Hu Yantong still appreciated Hu Yantong's thoughtfulness.

And the arrangement on the top of the city is also very good, the top of the city is very wide, two feet long, three ox carts can drive side by side on the top of the city, every thirty steps there are fireproof sand and shovels, in addition there are special The large wooden box in the wooden box is the place where the kerosene and gunpowder barrels are placed.

The places that can be seen are very good, but Chen Qing is more concerned about the places that cannot be seen.

"Tell me about the city wall! Have you checked it thoroughly?" Chen Qingxiao asked.

Hu Yantong hurriedly said: "Reporting to Dutong, the city wall has been inspected inside and out, and 570 seven damaged city bricks have been replaced. The moat suspension bridge and city gates have all been replaced with new ones, but the moat is frozen. , couldn’t drain the water, didn’t dig deep, but it was very deep, one foot five deep and two feet wide.”

Chen Qing nodded, and looked into the city with his head. All the houses near the city wall had been demolished, and a quarantine area of ​​about a hundred paces was left, but the houses near the south and west city walls had not been demolished.

Chen Qing pointed to the south and west walls and asked, "Is it because the enemy cannot attack from the west and south?"

Hu Yantong quickly explained: "There are several large ponds outside the west city, and there are many private houses. Catapults can't get close. There are military camps near the south city wall. Once the humble officials dismantle the tents, the isolated open space will come out."

"Our trebuchet should be installed as soon as possible!"

"The installation is already in full swing, and it is guaranteed to be installed within two days. The two thousand-step guns are ready and will be erected tomorrow."

Chen Qing was quite satisfied with Hu Yantong's various defensive measures, he said with a smile: "Let's go and see the water gate!"

Everyone turned around and walked towards the south city wall. The water gate was also a weak link, and Chen Qing paid more attention to it.

At this moment, a pigeon suddenly flew up from a residential area, spread its wings and flew towards the city wall. Hu Yantong's face turned dark suddenly. Just now, he had vowed that there would be no pigeon letter, and finally one appeared.

"Shoot it! Shoot it!" Hu Yantong shouted.

The soldiers shot at the pigeon with their bows and arrows, but the pigeon turned around and flew westward, and all the arrows shot to nothing.

Chen Qing took his own bow and arrow from the hands of the soldiers. He knew that the pigeon would circle twice in the air before flying away, and it would definitely come back.

Sure enough, the pigeon made a big circle and flew to the north again.

"Everyone stop shooting arrows!" Chen Qing shouted.

The soldiers relaxed their bowstrings one after another. Without the obstruction of bows and arrows, the pigeon letter fluttered its wings and flew out of the city. At the moment when the pigeon was about to fly over the city wall, Chen Qing pulled his bow like a full moon and shot an arrow, which pierced the pigeon. The dove fell from the sky and landed on the top of the city.

A soldier picked up the pigeon and sent it. Chen Qing took a look and found that it was indeed a carrier pigeon with rings on its feet, but no post box.

"General Huyan, plug this loophole immediately!"

Hu Yantong was flushed with anger, and shouted: "Search for me, whose pigeon is it? You have to dig three feet to find it!"

Chapter 459

A shop on South Street was surrounded by hundreds of soldiers. The soldiers rushed in and escorted the shopkeeper and a few clerks out after a while. Several soldiers brought out a large cage with five or six pigeons inside.

The shopkeeper was pushed to the ground by the soldiers and tied up behind his back. He was so frightened that his face turned ashen, and he cried loudly, "I didn't let the pigeons go. I just fed them. I accidentally got run away by it!"

At this time, Hu Yantong hurried over with his soldiers, he gritted his teeth with hatred, rushed forward and kicked the shopkeeper twice.

"How did I explain that all pigeons must be handed over to supervision, how dare you keep them private!"

The shopkeeper howled like killing a pig, "The villain dare not! Don't dare! Spare me!"

Hu Yantong pointed at him and said sharply: "I suspect you are a spy from Xixia, search for me thoroughly!"

Chen Qing walked over slowly. He looked at the shopkeeper and several of his assistants. Their faces were pale with fright. There was only fear in their eyes but no panic. He had an intuition that it was not a Xixia spy, but he did not interfere, but watched Hu Yantong's handling. .

Not long after, the head of the capital came out to report, "General Huyan, nothing suspicious was found, it was just an ordinary grocery store."

At this time, Chen Qing saw that something was wrong. Grocery stores had very low profits, and they were usually husband-and-wife stores. How could there be three employees in this store? Also, what does the grocery store keep pigeons for?And just feeding, how could the pigeons run away?There is obviously a feeding port on the pigeon cage!

"General Huyan!" Chen Qing shouted.

Hu Yantong quickly stepped forward to salute, "Please give orders!"

"Send someone to notify the internal guards to come!"

The inner guard camp also has 100 people in Longxi County, led by the deputy commander Cheng Deng.

Before Hu Yantong sent someone, Cheng Deng led a hundred of his men and ran over. He stepped forward and knelt down on one knee to salute, "See Du Tong for humble posts!"

Chen Qing said slowly: "This store is a bit suspicious. The grocery store actually employs three employees and also raises pigeons. You are the internal guards. You are the ones to search, and you are not allowed to let go of every corner!"

"Humble post obeys orders!"

With a wave of his hand, Cheng Deng led dozens of soldiers into the store, while the rest of the soldiers were checking the outside.

The shopkeeper was still howling, but there was a flash of panic in his eyes, which was caught by Chen Qing keenly.

Chen Qing was even more suspicious. He looked at the shops on both sides. There was a cloth shop on the left and a snack shop on the right, but the doors were closed.

Generally speaking, there are many pedestrians coming and going on the front street. If there is a problem, it is easy to be found, and the shops on both sides will definitely not have a problem. If there is a problem, it must be behind.

Chen Qing nodded to an inner guard and said, "You lead a dozen brothers to check on the neighbors behind him."

"Follow the order!" Dutou rushed away with twenty soldiers.

The panic in the shopkeeper's eyes became more obvious, and even a few of the guys began to become abnormal, and the uneasiness in their eyes could be clearly seen.

Soon, Cheng Deng discovered that there was a tunnel in the firewood house in the backyard, which led to the house next door, but the house next door was an ordinary house that was unoccupied all year round.

Cheng Deng walked quickly with a stack of documents, and the soldiers behind him were holding bundles of weapons.

"Qi Dutong, I found this next door. This grocery store turned out to be the intelligence point of the Puppet Qi in Longxi County."

It's really interesting that it's the information point of Pseudo-Qi. Chen Qing looked at the shopkeeper, who collapsed to the ground in fright, not daring to say a word.

The inner guard soldiers took away the shopkeeper and the buddies, and sealed up the shop.

Hu Yantong stepped forward with a face full of shame, "If everyone hadn't been vigilant, they would have almost slipped through the net."

"It's because they exposed themselves. The release of pigeons at this time is obviously to convey information!"

"But...the carrier pigeon doesn't carry information!"

Chen Qing smiled lightly, "Sometimes you don't need to bring any information. The carrier pigeon itself is the information. For example, this carrier pigeon is different from other pigeon letters. When the other party sees this carrier pigeon, they will know that Chen Qing is in Longxi County.

Another example is the ring on the pigeon's foot, which might be a pre-appointed evidence. Seeing this ring, one knew that Chen Qing led the main force in Longxi County. In short, this pigeon did not escape by accident, but was released with a purpose. "

"Understood, I understand that I will search the whole city again, and I will never allow a carrier pigeon or a carrier hawk to slip through the net!"

Chen Qing nodded and said: "The information about me leading the army in Longxi is very important. If Cao Baozong finds out, he will probably lead the main force to attack Chengji County. At that time, we will be passive, so no matter what, no one is allowed Fish that slipped through the net, including homing pigeons and Xixia people."

Hu Yantong bowed and saluted, "I obey the order!"

There are many ways to transmit information to the outside world, and they do not necessarily rely entirely on carrier pigeons and hawks. For example, shooting three gunpowder arrows into the sky at night is also a method of information transmission, which requires all Xixia people to be controlled.

This time, Hu Yantong took a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, he sent people to search from house to house, and on the other hand, he offered a huge reward, "Those who report hiding pigeons or hawks will be rewarded with [-] guan, and those who report Xixia people who have not been quarantined will be rewarded with [-] guan." '

……

Cao Baozong didn't know that Chen Qing had led his army into Longxi County. He thought that Chen Qing's army set off on the fifth day of February. , And cut off the connection between the Song Army and Lintao and Hezhou.

So Cao Baozong was very anxious. He originally planned to rest in Tongxi County for two days, but he asked to set off after only half a day. The 130 army marched towards Longxi County [-] miles away with a convoy of supplies.

The supplies are mainly siege weapons such as trebuchets and siege ladders, and food is not urgent. There are [-] shi of food in Xinqing City, eighty miles to the south, enough to support the army for two months.

Just as the [-] Xixia army had just marched south, Lin Tao, the scout of the Song Army hiding near Tongxi City, immediately sent several of his men to rush eastward.

At this time, the [-] cavalry led by Yang Zaixing and Liu Qiong were [-] miles east of Tongxi County. According to Chen Qing's deployment, they needed to take Tongxi County after the main force of the enemy army went south, but they could not act too hastily.

In a forest, Yang Zaixing was discussing with Liu Qiong how to win Tongxi County.

Liu Qiong laughed and said, "One of my subordinates actually knows Tongxi County better!"

He turned his head and said to his soldiers: "Go and find the deputy commander Tang Qian!"

Not long after, Tang Qian came in a hurry. He had already accumulated meritorious service and was promoted to deputy commander, officially becoming a capable general under Liu Qiong.

"For a humble position, see Commander Liu, and Commander Yang!"

Commanders are also divided into three levels, superior commanders, commanders, and deputy commanders. Yang Zaixing, Zheng Ping, and Yang Yuanqing are the superior commanders. After World War I, Yang Zaixing should be promoted to deputy commander.

Yang Zaixing smiled slightly: "General Liu said that you know the situation in Tongxi County very well, can you briefly talk about it?"

Tang Qian hesitated and said: "The Tongxi County I know is different from the current Tongxi County. I heard that all the houses have been demolished and the city walls have been repaired. I can't talk about it anymore."

Yang Zaixing shook his head, "To build the city wall, you have to take soil and burn bricks, but there are no trees around Tongxi County, so how do you burn them? It must be using bricks from demolished houses. Do you think there are many bricks in the city?"

Tang Qian shook his head, "Most of them are mud walls, and there are very few brick houses!"

"That's right. Since there are not many bricks and stones, the Xixia people can only simply repair and replace the damaged parts. The city wall itself will not change."

Tang Qian pondered for a moment and said: "The entire city wall is very decayed, especially the north wall, which is eroded by wind and sand, and the bricks are the most rotten. Now that the humble job is useless, you can go and check it yourself to see the extent of the decay! "

Yang Zaixing smiled happily: "If you can capture Tongxi County, I will give you a great credit!"

4 Chapter sixty collapse

As night fell, Tang Qian slowly approached Tongxi County with dozens of people, including the scout chief Lin Tao and his men. Lin Tao had been monitoring the county for three days and was familiar with the situation of the city wall. He said to Tang Qian: "Go to the northeast corner, there is a big crack in the ground over there, and the situation inside the crack cannot be seen clearly from the top of the city."

Tang Qian pondered for a while and said, "Could they pay more attention to the cracking of the ground?"

"No! I have observed carefully, the defenders at the top of the city didn't pay special attention to the ground crack, and there are not many soldiers at the corner of the city wall."

Tang Qian nodded, "You watch the city for me, I will take two brothers to investigate!"

There are [-] defenders in Tongxi County. Even though it is night, the city is still brightly lit. Soldiers are patrolling back and forth, and the defense is extremely tight.

At this moment, Tang Qian ran along the gully at the northeast corner, which was not deep, and if he stood up straight, he would be spotted by the top of the city immediately, so Tang Qian and his two men stooped and ran all the way.

Running to the bottom of the city, Tang Qian slowly climbed out of the ravine, his body clinging to the city wall, and two of his men followed him to cling to the city wall, and they walked slowly along the north city wall.

This area is a deep loess area, there are no big stones, and the city walls are all made of burnt bricks. The years have been very long, at least a hundred years old, and they have been eroded by wind and sand, and they have basically been abandoned.

Tang Qian took out a small hammer and told his subordinates to look up. He hit the masonry gently, 'Bang! 'There was a slight muffled sound, but there was no response from above. The wind was very strong at night, and the sound of the wind covered the knocking sound.

Tang Qian scratched the city wall with his fingers, and it was already pulverized and shattered into countless small pieces. Tang Qian almost suspected that if he smashed a few more bricks, the whole city wall would collapse.

Tang Qian chose more than a dozen pieces of city wall. This time he didn't use a hammer to hit it, but dug it with a dagger. The dagger slashed lightly, and the brick powder fell to the ground, and they were completely decayed. It will be in ruins.

"let's go!"

Tang Qian let out a low shout, and rushed away with two of his men, jumped into the ravine and ran everywhere.

……

At this time, Yang Zaixing led the army twenty miles away, and he was waiting for Tang Qian's confirmation. Behind him, there was a five-foot-long bumper log, made of jujube wood, which was extremely thick and weighed several thousand catties. The head has been shaved into a round head, which is very suitable for ramming.

Tang Qian rushed forward with his men, and reported to Yang Zaixing, "The humble post has been confirmed. The bricks and stones of the north city wall are loose and broken with one blow. You can easily knock down the city wall with a ram."

"You must have smashed down the city wall, rather than knocking out a city hole?"

"Reporting to the commander, the city bricks are too fragile to hold up, and the city wall will collapse under one blow. How dare you use your head as a guarantee!"

Yang Zaixing nodded, turned around and asked Liu Qiong, "When does General Liu think it is more appropriate to attack?"

Liu Qiong thought for a while and said, "I suggest attacking the city at the fourth watch, when the enemy troops in the city are fast asleep."

"It's exactly what I want. The army is ordered to rest in place and set off on the third day!"

……

At the time of the fourth watch, half of the defenders on the city wall were reduced, but there were still soldiers patrolling the top of the city. Three miles away, Yang Zaixing observed for a while, and said to Liu Qiong, "It seems impossible not to disturb the other party, we can only attack by force!"

Liu Qiong nodded, "The humble leader led the army to cover with bows and arrows!"

Yang Zaixing lightly waved his hand, "Attack!"

Two hundred tall and strong soldiers set off carrying rams, and 100 of them held large shields for cover. They rushed towards the city wall like a millipede.

When they were two hundred steps away from the city wall, they were spotted by patrolling soldiers on the top of the city, and an alarm bell sounded immediately on the top of the city, "Dang! Dang! Dang!"

The whole city was shocked, the Xixia army was sleeping in armor, and would get up at any time when something happened. The Xixia soldiers in the entire Tongxi city rushed from all directions to the head of the north city.

Outside the city, the millipedes accelerated their running speed, while Liu Qiong led [-] cavalry to rush forward, shooting arrows at the top of the city, and the arrows rained down, firmly suppressing the defenders on the city wall.

There is no moat in Tongxi County. Seeing the soldiers of the Song Army getting closer and closer, they roared and slammed a hammer on the city wall. The blow weighed ten thousand catties, and a five-foot-wide hole was immediately smashed into the city wall. The bricks of the city were smashed, and the sand inside poured out.