Fenghou

The soldiers of the Song Army retreated quickly, which was the key, otherwise they would be easily buried by the collapsed city wall. They had experience that there would be a very short interval between the wall breaking and the collapse, and this interval was their only chance to evacuate.

The soldiers of the Song army retreated a dozen steps away in an instant. At this moment, the city wall could no longer hold up and collapsed. Suddenly, the dust flew up and filled the air with fog. The soldiers of the Song army continued to run back and ran for dozens of steps in one breath. Only then did he stop slowly.

When the dust and smoke cleared, a shocking scene was revealed. The city wall had completely collapsed. Tang Qian was right. The knocking of a hole triggered a chain effect, just like dominoes, one after another, completely collapsed For two miles, thousands of Xixia soldiers were buried by the collapsed city wall.

Liu Qiong drew out his saber and shouted, "Follow me in!"

"Kill ah-"

Three thousand cavalry shouted, rushed towards the gap in the city wall like a flood, and rushed into the city.

The [-] cavalry in the distance also mobilized, and under the leadership of Yang Zaixing, they charged towards the north city wall.

……

On the third day of February, Cao Baozong's 6000 troops arrived in Longxi County and set up a camp three miles away from Longxi County. The force is enough to crush the Song army in the city, not to mention that he also carries a huge number of heavy siege weapons.

Under the protection of hundreds of cavalry, Cao Baozong walked around the city wall, and he could see that there were not many defenders at the top of the city, and the total number of them was only about 5000, which was completely in line with his expectations.

The new deputy general, Tuoba Chengqing, suggested: "General, the opponent's army is insufficient, why not use our superiority in strength, attack the east city and the north city at the same time, and crush the opponent with absolute strength!"

Cao Baozong nodded. This suggestion touched his heart, and he also had the same idea. Attack the city with all his strength, capture Longxi County as soon as possible, and then use Longxi County to face Chen Qing's main force. When the time comes, attack on a large scale and defeat the enemy's main force in one fell swoop!

The most urgent task now is to engage in siege warfare as soon as possible.

"Order the three armies to take a good rest, prepare food supplies, and after capturing the city, each will be rewarded with five taels of silver."

Speaking of this, Cao Baozong turned around and asked, "How long does it take to assemble the trebuchet?"

A general quickly cupped his fists and said: "Report to the general, thirty heavy trebuchets can all be assembled tonight!"

Cao Baozong happily said: "Tomorrow morning, first attack the opponent's city with a trebuchet, and then attack in a large scale!"

……

That night, the Xixia army camp was brightly lit, and hundreds of craftsmen were assembling the trebuchets. They started in the afternoon and made very rapid progress. They had already assembled half of them when it was dark, and they should be fully assembled by tomorrow morning.

At the same time, the craftsmen had to replace the rungs of the [-] siege ladders, at least the first three of which had to be replaced with iron rods to prevent them from being cut off by the Song army. Second error.

The trebuchet of the Xixia army is a large-scale trebuchet, relatively primitive, requiring fifty soldiers to pull it at the same time, and can throw fifty catties of stones 250 steps away. It is because it is relatively primitive that it is easier to assemble.

At the same time, in Longxi County, Xie Changzhi led [-] craftsmen to prepare two thousand-step guns. In addition to the thousand-step guns, the Song Army also had [-] medium-sized trebuchets, which were installed on the north and east sides of the city. , can throw a gunpowder barrel weighing twenty catties two hundred steps away.

Both sides are actively preparing for the war, and the prelude to the war is about to begin.

……

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

As soon as the sky dawned, the huge war drum sounded in the camp.

[-] troops were left to guard the camp, and [-] Xixia troops quickly assembled. Cao Baozong wore a gold helmet, silver armor, and a long spear in his hand, looking majestic.

He galloped in front of the [-] troops on his horse, brandished his long sword and shouted: "Heroic Xixia warriors, today is the time to show off your military exploits, let the Song army tremble in front of our powerful troops! In this battle, we must fight Win!"

"We must win! We must win!" Tens of thousands of Xixia soldiers shouted loudly, and the shouts went straight into the sky.

"set off!"

Cao Baozong shouted, and the [-] army set off, mixed with [-] large trebuchets.

461 Chapter Double War

The Xixia army opened up two battlefields, a northern battlefield and an eastern battlefield. The northern battlefield is in charge of the deputy general Tuoba Chengqing, while the eastern battlefield is in charge of the commander Xia Lian. The chief general Cao Baozong decides the progress of the war. He does not stop the war. Never stop.

Of course, Cao Baozong's confidence was high, and he believed that today's lunch would definitely be settled in the city.

"The trebuchet goes first!"

With Cao Baozong's order, thirty large trebuchets began to move forward slowly...

4000 troops were arranged on the top of the city, [-] each in the north and east, Liu Cui and Niu Gao were in charge of the north and east respectively, and Gao Ding led [-] soldiers to support them.

At the same time, the Song army ambushed 5000 people in Xichengtou and Nanchengtou, waiting for orders to attack. Li Muqing, Wang Lun, Chen Dayu, Su Ping, and a group of generals who showed their talents will also play their roles.

At the same time, [-] crossbowmen were deployed under the city. They stood close to the city wall, waiting for orders to start deploying counterattacks.

In addition, there are [-] logistics workers who are responsible for the transportation of materials in the two cities, as well as the handling and rescue of wounded soldiers.

The Song army is also ready and will do its best to destroy the enemy's vital forces. This time the Song army does not need prisoners of war, and they will completely destroy the enemy physically.

Chen Qing stood on the turret connecting the North City and the East City. The turret was made of big stones, which was very strong and could resist the impact of the big stones. This was also the command center of the entire Song Army.

Chen Qing watched the enemy's trebuchets slowly move forward. He had rich experience, and he could tell at a glance that the enemy's trebuchets were not capable enough to throw.

At 250 steps, an ordinary god arm crossbow can shoot through the enemy's armor. In terms of large trebuchets, the Xixia people are obviously not as good as Jin Bing.

"Pass my order, the north city and the east city each deploy a thousand god-arm crossbow soldiers to attack the enemy's catapults!"

Two thousand god arm crossbow troops entered the North City and East City. They raised their crossbows and waited for the catapult to come forward...

Fifteen trebuchets outside the northern city took the lead, and they also prepared baffles to prevent the bows and crossbows of the Song army from shooting.

The trebuchet was not ready yet, dense black dots appeared in the sky, and then a thousand crossbow arrows fell from the sky, shooting at the trebuchet like raindrops. Dozens of Xixia soldiers were unable to dodge and were shot dead on the spot by random arrows. Two of them The belt of the catapult was shot and the catapult collapsed.

"Ready to throw!"

In a hurry, thirteen trebuchets began to launch towards the city. The first round was full of [-]-jin boulders, and the [-]-jin kerosene balls were not ready yet.

More than a dozen boulders soared into the air, roaring and shooting at the top of the city, and the soldiers at the top of the city shouted and squatted down one after another, "Boom! 'With a loud noise, a boulder hit the battlements, and then bounced high, over the top of the city, and flew down the city.

And another boulder hit a trebuchet on the top of the city. The trebuchet was smashed to pieces and pieces of wood were scattered everywhere.

The angle of projection is too small, and it is not easy for the boulders to fall on the top of the city. Only four boulders hit the top of the city with 13 yuan of boulders. After reaching the top of the city, he flew into the city.

The east city was weaker, with only nine trebuchets left, all of the nine boulders failed to be projected, and none of the boulders hit the top of the city.

Cao Baozong was annoyed and shouted: "Change the fire oil ball!"

As soon as he finished speaking, two huge fires suddenly appeared in the sky, spreading out in the sky like a goddess scattering flowers. These are fire clay balls of the Song Army, fired by a thousand-step gun. Scattered in mid-air, a mass of burning fire clay dispersed into hundreds of small burning fireballs, spread out and threw them towards the catapult positions. Flames were burning everywhere, and thick smoke was billowing, which greatly hindered the actions of the Xixia Army.

Cao Baozong became angry from embarrassment. He originally wanted to use the trebuchet to hit the morale of the Song army, but he did not expect that the Song army's kerosene weapons were so sharp, which affected the morale of his own army instead.

He swung his sword and shouted loudly: "The siege army strikes!"

"Ugh-"

The low-pitched horn blew, and an army of [-] soldiers carried [-] heavy-duty siege ladders and attacked the North City and East City at the same time.

On the first day, they attacked the city on a large scale. This was something that the Song army had never experienced in countless siege battles. It was also an extremely severe test for the Song army. Guard soldiers.

If Chen Qing's main force does not arrive in time, this tactic is very correct. With only a few thousand Song troops in the city, they may be able to defeat the enemy's small-scale attacks again and again, but they cannot withstand the simultaneous attacks of tens of thousands of enemy troops. .

In fact, this is also the tradition of the Xixia army, which is good at concentrating superior forces to attack the castles of the Song army.

But Cao Baozong never dreamed that there would be 8000 people in the city, and Chen Qing himself was in the city. According to the exact information he got, Chen Qing would lead the army from Chengji County tomorrow.

A wrong intelligence will plunge the Xixia army into a complete nightmare.

Chen Qing watched the attack of the Xixia army calmly, and ordered: "Launch the trebuchet!"

The trebuchets on the top of the city raised their arms one after another, throwing the eight catties of gunpowder barrels into the rushing crowd. At the same time, arrows from the top of the city rained down on the rushing enemy troops.

The gunpowder barrels are double-layered and will not shatter when they fall to the ground. Each gunpowder barrel contains hundreds of iron nails quenched with poison. This is also the characteristic of Song Dynasty firearms. The poisonous thorns and poisonous nails shot the enemy.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Gunpowder kegs exploded among the crowd, with little impact, and only a few nearby soldiers were killed or injured, but the hundreds of poisoned iron nails it shot out were extremely powerful. None of the ten people was spared, and they were shot by iron nails one after another.

But at the beginning, it didn't affect the soldiers, just a little flesh injury. The soldiers wiped off the blood on their faces and legs, and continued to run. It took a quarter of an hour before the toxicity kicked in.

Arrows shot into the crowd, and soldiers continued to fall from the arrows, but compared to the [-] attacking army, the casualties were nothing.

"Attack! Attack!"

Cao Baozong watched the turbulent army rushing towards the city wall. He was so excited that he couldn't restrain himself. He picked up the drumsticks and beat the big drum to urge the battle. A hundred big drums were beaten at the same time.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The sound of drums was earth-shattering, and the morale of the Xixia Army was like a rainbow. They were getting closer and closer to the city wall, and gunpowder barrels were still exploding in the crowd, which did not affect the morale of the opponent's attack in the slightest.

Chen Qing calmly looked at the surging army on both sides, and ordered: "Increase the number of people in each city to 7000, go to the commoner army!"

The so-called commoner army is the Song army, but in order to confuse the Xixia army, the Song army put a commoner coat on the outside of the armor, which looks like a civilian husband in the city, so it is called the commoner army.

After receiving the order, the [-] civilian troops rushed to the North City and the East City.

At this time, a series of siege ladders were hung on the top of the city, Xixia soldiers rushed up, and boulders and rolling logs smashed down...

Chen Qing issued the order again, "Shoot with bows and arrows in the city!"

The [-] crossbowmen in the city were divided into two large formations, shooting arrows to the outside of the east city and the north city respectively. The bows and arrows they used to defend the city, a piece of dark cloud-like soldiers and arrows passed over the top of the city and fell into the enemy soldiers outside the city. among.

This made Cao Baozong, the leader of the Xixia Army, startled. The Song army had all gone to the city, so how could there be arrows shooting out of the city?Moreover, the number of soldiers on the top of the city seems to have increased. Could it be that the Song army still had ambushes?

Tuoba Chengqing pointed to the Song army at the top of the city and said, "General, many soldiers of the Song army are wearing civilian clothes. It should be that they mobilized the young and strong in the city to participate in the defense of the city."

This explanation is very reasonable. If the defenders of the city are short of troops, they will definitely mobilize men, women and children in the city to fight together.

Cao Baozong gritted his teeth and said, "If we capture the city, I must kill these bastards!"

Chapter 462 Harvest

Soldiers of the Xixia Army outside the city also launched a counterattack with bows and arrows into the city. Arrows shot overwhelmingly into the city, and soldiers of the Song Army in the city were shot down one after another.

Chen Qing immediately ordered: "Move the bow and arrow array to the top of the city!"

The order was passed on, and two soldiers with bows and arrows lined up and rushed to the city. The city wall several miles long was enough to accommodate thousands of soldiers. Their position was at the end of the city. The arrows fell like raindrops, and the soldiers outside the city had nowhere to hide, and the casualties were extremely heavy.

But the most tragic was the fierce battle on the siege ladder. Xixia soldiers desperately attacked upwards, while soldiers on the top of the city stabbed them with shields and spears. Xixia soldiers screamed and fell into the city one by one.

The soldiers of the Song army also suffered constant casualties. The injured soldiers retreated and were immediately carried down to the city by the civilian husband for treatment. At the same time, another soldier went up.

Twenty Song army archers were also deployed on each horse-faced wall, together with twenty powerful assistants, who were responsible for loading and stringing the arrows. Those who are strong and strong can shoot with one arrow, with incomparable precision.

They are not many in number, but they play a huge role and can greatly reduce the enemy's offensive efficiency. Without the command of a general, the enemy will often kill indiscriminately.

An hour passed gradually, but the city hadn't been captured yet, and the Xixia soldiers suffered more and more casualties, especially after the soldiers were shot by the poisonous nails, the poison began to attack, and they became dizzy and couldn't even walk.

Cao Baozong's confidence was losing little by little, and he finally began to doubt that if there were only five or six thousand soldiers in the city, it would be impossible to have such resistance.

'Could it be that Chen Qing has already led his army into the city? '

The thought in his mind came together, and he was immediately denied by himself, it's impossible!The intelligence of the spies was unmistakable, and at this time the Weihe River had not completely thawed, and the moat was still frozen. Usually, it would be a little warmer before setting out, especially since he had no report of the scouts finding the main force of the enemy army.

Tuoba Chengqing said again in a low voice: "We have been paying attention to Chen Qing's main force, but ignored the west side. I think it should be the Song army from Lintao Prefecture and Hezhou who came."

One sentence reminded Cao Baozong, it should be, why did I forget the Song Army in Lintao Mansion and Hezhou?

But what to do now?

The city could not be captured, but there were heavy casualties, but if they retreated, Cao Baozong felt a little unwilling.

At this moment, Chen Qing also felt that the time was right to harvest the enemy army. The Xixia soldiers who attacked the city were crowded under the city wall. Most of the soldiers gathered under the city wall to avoid the arrows from the top of the city.

He immediately ordered: "Stop shooting arrows and attack with fire oil!"

At Chen Qing's order, [-] soldiers from the North City and the East City each raised fire oil barrels and threw them at the top of the city. In an instant, the Xixia soldiers within twenty feet were engulfed.

Countless Xixia soldiers became firemen, screaming and crying, struggling to escape, and finally fell headlong into the flames.

This time the Song Army spent a lot of money, took out half of the fierce oil stock, and used [-] barrels of fierce oil to harvest the enemy's vital forces.

Immediately after the second round of [-] barrels of kerosene was thrown, the spread was farther. The Song army dropped hundreds of powder barrels, which immediately exploded. With a bang, flames sprayed, and many running Xixia soldiers were instantly killed The soldiers of the Song Army at the top of the city also dodged one after another, and the haystacks at the top of the city were also set ablaze. The soldiers of the Song Army on the top of the city were in a hurry and threw all the haystacks into the city.

Cao Baozong was dumbfounded. This was a horrible scene he had never seen before. The whole city was engulfed in flames, and the screams and wailing of soldiers could still be heard from such a distance. It was a hell on earth.

"Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!" The bell for retreating soldiers rang.

Before Cao Baozong even gave the order, Tuoba Chengqing impatiently rang the bell to withdraw the troops.

In fact, it doesn't make sense whether to ring the bell or not. Countless soldiers are fleeing for their lives and returning, but the city where the soldiers gather most has become a purgatory on earth.

Cao Baozong returned to the barracks in a daze, hid in the big tent and refused to see anyone, but the deputy general Tuoba Chengqing walked in, "General, the count of the number has been completed."

"How much did you escape?" Cao Baozong asked in a hoarse voice.

"There are 7000 people, and more than [-] of them are injured."

Cao Baozong almost spit out a mouthful of blood, and 3000 people were killed in the first battle. It was simply terrible. How could this be?

Cao Baozong was so painful that he wanted to bang his head against the wall.

"General, there is another message!"