Fenghou

"Follow the order!"

Li Muqing left in a hurry.

Chen Qing then ordered someone to find Zhao Xiaoyi, and ordered him to lead scouts to eliminate the enemy spies in the west of Longxi County, this was to cover Li Muqing's westward trip.

Before dawn, Zhao Xiaoyi sent news that they had wiped out two enemy sentry teams in the west and south of Longxi County.

Li Muqing then led [-] cavalry to set off from the south gate, cross the Wei River, and head west along the south bank of the Wei River.

……

At the same moment when Li Muqing left Longxi County for Lintao, the spies of the Xixia Army also returned from the north.

At this time, the Xixia army camp has been controlled by Xia Lian, the commanding army. Xia Lian is about 50 years old. He is tall and tall, with white hair, and his eyes are always full of cunning. A famous general of the Xixia Army, he has fought against the Western Army of the Song Dynasty for many years, and has rich practical experience.

But his personality is different from the upright and fiery Shang Dongyan. He has a more feminine personality. Although many of Cao Baozong's actions are criticized, he just doesn't want to offend this rich family son, so he has been holding back.

It wasn't until Cao Baozong's stupid command caused heavy casualties in the army that Xia Lian finally couldn't bear it, but he was one step too late and let Cao Baozong run away. In fact, this was also related to his feminine character, not decisive enough.

The Xixia army is very particular about seniority. Although Tuoba Chengqing is a lieutenant general, he is ten years younger than Xia Lian. His seniority in the army is far inferior to Xia Lian's, and his prestige is also far behind. Naturally, it is not his turn to control the army.

After listening to the spies' report, Xia Lian frowned. All the 200 troops in Xinxia City followed Cao Baozong?Logically speaking, it shouldn't be!How could there be one or two hundred people left to continue guarding the city? Cao Baozong spent a lot of effort to build the military city. He didn't believe that Cao Baozong abandoned it so easily.

Tuoba Chengqing next to him said: "Maybe he just wanted to take revenge on us and gave all the food to the Song army. I think he should have taken the army away. If it was the Song army, there would be a lot of food in one bag. Neatly stacked in the warehouse."

Commander Li Huang also said: "General Tuoba is right. Cao Baozong deliberately wanted to take revenge on us, so he took all the troops away and left an empty city. Tongxi City is probably the same."

Xia Lian walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and said, "I just think it's strange. Since Chen Qing has tricked us, he has already arrived in Longxi County, so it is impossible for him not to attack the military cities in the north. The military cities are small Dilapidated, with few garrisons and abundant supplies, if it were me, I would have done it a long time ago.”

Another commander, Ma Yaowu, also said: "General Xia's doubts are correct. The correct answer should be that the Song army wiped out the defenders of Xinxia City."

"Then why don't you take away the food?" Tuoba Chengqing asked back.

Ma Yaowu sneered, "It might be a trap. There is no food in it, and if 2000 people follow Cao Baozong to retreat northward, they will also take some food with them. It is impossible to put them away neatly."

"Okay, stop fighting!"

Xia Lian made up his mind and said to the crowd: "It's too risky to go directly north, we'd better go to Lintao, order the whole army to start packing, and set off at four o'clock tonight!"

……

At three o'clock, Chen Qing got the news that the Xixia army was about to withdraw.

Chen Qing immediately rushed to the head of the northern city, and cast his eyes on the enemy camp three miles away. Although it was three miles away, he could feel the abnormality of the Xixia army camp on the top of the city. The most obvious thing was that the military flag above the camp had disappeared. The lanterns on the tower and in front of the camp gate were also extinguished.

Chen Qing immediately ordered: "Order the army to assemble!"

Just as the Song army began to gather, the west gate of the Xixia camp slowly opened. Two thousand cavalry came out of the barracks first, followed by groups of infantry. Silently, silently.

In the middle of the team is the baggage team. All the siege weapons were thrown away, thousands of large tents, hundreds of thousands of spears, armor and other materials were also forced to give up. They only carried grain and some strategic materials, mainly Kerosene and gunpowder.

In addition, each soldier also carried six days of dry food with him. This was the retreat, and he tried his best to be as streamlined as possible. All optional weapons and supplies must be given up, otherwise it would become a serious drag on the army.

At dawn, 20 Song soldiers also left the city to pursue the enemy. The soldiers of the Song army only carried six days of dry food, and one thousand camels carried four thousand shi of grain, which was enough for the soldiers to feed for [-] days.

Chen Qing came to the barracks with hundreds of cavalry, and Hu Yantong was leading the soldiers to sort out the list and carry the supplies.

The tents have been dismantled and piled up like a mountain. There are as many as 20 tents in the light tent, and there are 30 shi of grain, [-] loads of forage, [-] frozen lamb legs, [-] bags of wine, [-] spears, and [-] war knives. , [-] crossbows, [-] sets of armor, and hundreds of siege ladders.

In addition, there are 10,000+ pieces of sheepskins, war drums, flags, medicinal materials and other materials, which is simply a bumper harvest that makes everyone excited.

Hu Yantong stepped forward to report to Chen Qing: "We found a list of warehouse supplies, and the humble staff checked it carefully. Except for food and grass, there are [-] barrels of kerosene and [-] barrels of gunpowder. They should be taken away. "

"Aside from grain, kerosene, and gunpowder, what else did you take away?"

"It seems that there is still some mutton and wine bags, but nothing else."

Chen Qing nodded, "Move all the materials into the city and dismantle the barracks. These woods are high-quality house builders' beams, so keep them!"

Chen Qing probably knew the supplies carried by the enemy, so he turned his horse's head and chased after the troops in the distance...

Soon after entering Lintao Mansion, they entered the fertile Tao River Valley. Li Muqing sent more than 100 soldiers on both sides of the Tao River to inform the people to move. Migrating with cattle and sheep, their wealth has also been accumulated from generation to generation, and no one wants to be robbed by the Xixia army.

Li Muqing led [-] cavalry all the way north, and arrived in Didao County in a few days. The magistrate of Didao County was still Wu Hongwei, and the Song army withdrew temporarily, so he organized [-] militiamen to defend the city.

Li Muqing led the army back, which really made Wu Hongwei and the people in the city very happy. They were always worried that the Xixia army would come back, or that the Ren Dejing army from Huangzhou would come.

"Song Jun is back!"

The people ran and yelled, and the whole county was boiling. Tens of thousands of people walked out of their houses, beat gongs and drums, sang and danced, and lined the road to welcome Song Jun back.

Chapter 467

As soon as Li Muqing entered the army camp, Wu Hongwei, the county magistrate, brought him a few businessmen. This was the businessman Li Muqing ordered Wu Hongwei to find, and it was also the task Chen Qing entrusted to Li Muqing.

The three merchants were all Han merchants. They went to the Hexi Corridor to do business in porcelain, cloth and tea cakes, and they stayed in Didao County in winter.

The three saluted Li Muqing together, "Xiaomin sees General Li!"

"Three proprietors, please sit down!"

Li Muqing politely asked the three of them to sit down, and served tea to the soldiers.

"I'm looking for the three to know about the situation of the Yellow River. When can I cross the Yellow River?"

The three businessmen looked at each other and laughed, "The general asked us the right person. We are also waiting for the Yellow River to completely thaw in Didao County."

"Can you tell me in detail?"

"Actually, the situation is different every year, but it's not the same for a few days. Ten days ago, you could walk across the ice, but now you can't. The ice on the river has cracked, which is very dangerous. In a few days, the ice will become bigger and bigger." The smaller it is, the more it flows downstream, which is called ice flood, and it is also very dangerous, until the end of February, when the drift ice on the river is completely over, then the ferry will not open."

"The three mean to wait at least half a month?"

"Almost! It's cold this year, and it may be a few days later. It is estimated that we will not be able to cross the river until the end of February."

Li Muqing smiled and said: "Thank you so much to the three proprietors, can you tell me more about the situation in Hexi, my Jiedushi is also very concerned about the Hexi Corridor."

……

Li Muqing's [-] troops almost entered Didao County on the front foot, while the [-] Xixia army entered the Taohe Valley on the back foot.

The Taohe Valley is more than two hundred miles long and dozens of miles wide. The climate is warm and humid, the land is fertile, the terrain is flat, and the light and hot water sources are abundant. It has always been a famous agricultural area in history.

It was still early spring, and the endless wheat seedlings were growing lush and green, but there was no one in the villages, no food, no valuables, only mud-walled thatched huts and some broken furniture.

And the Tibetans and Qiang people on the other side of the river were nowhere to be seen, not even their tents.

The angry Xixia army set fire all the way, thick smoke billowed everywhere in Taohe River, and villages were engulfed in flames.

Xia Lian knew very well that the Song army was behind them about a day's journey away, so he was very cautious, placing the convoy of supplies in the middle of the army to prevent them from being attacked by the Song army.

That evening, the army came to an open grassland. It is rare that thousands of acres of land are grasslands but no wheat fields. Xia Lian immediately ordered the troops to camp on the spot. The so-called camps were only dozens of large tents for the use of middle and high-level generals. , Low-level generals and ordinary soldiers can only sleep in the open.

Of course, Xixia is a country founded by nomads, so it is not a big problem without tents. Although the spring is cold, the army still has a way to solve the problem of cold wind at night, that is, bonfires.

Thousands of soldiers were ordered to cut down trees in the surrounding area and prepare to light dozens of bonfires.

Xia Lian was afraid that the Song army would attack at night, so he also sent more than 100 spies to monitor the movement of the main force of the Song army. It can't be too far away, and it can't be placed on the edge.

Xia Lian designed the position of the bonfire as a circle, and dozens of bonfires were distributed on the edge of the circle, while the food and grass supplies were placed in the center of the circle, which was safer.

Several Song army scouts also stared at the food and supplies of the Xixia army in the distance.

There is a scout team of more than [-] people hidden in the northeast corner. The leader is Tang Qian, the deputy commander of the second scout battalion. The second scout battalion is usually responsible for lurking in the opponent's city, but Tang Qian has shown that he is a wild scout. His talent won the appreciation of Yang Zaixing and Liu Qiong.

This time he captured Cao Baozong, and he was also highly commended by Chen Qing, and he was entrusted with a heavy task again, appointing him as the leader of the second scout, tracking and looking for opportunities to destroy the enemy's luggage.

Tang Qian carefully observed the location of the enemy's luggage. It was too difficult to complete any task, and even if the task was completed, it would not be easy to come back alive.

He pondered for a long time, drew a circle on the ground with a branch, and marked a triangle symbol in the center of the circle, and said to Lin Tao, the head of the scout: "Actually, it is easier to get close to the edge of the circle. It’s a full mile, and it’s full of patrols, this pass is very sad.”

Lin Tao thought for a while and said, "I have an idea, but how does the commander get close to the circle?"

"It's very simple. I also go to chop firewood. I can speak a few party words, so I can pretend to be a party member."

Tang Qianchang was from Gyeongju, with dark skin and a big beard. He really looked like a barbarian. He had already figured out how to infiltrate the enemy army.

"What can you do?" Tang Qian asked again.

Lin Tao scratched his head and said, "I saw Xixia soldiers dragging the branches with their horses, so I thought that if the horses were frightened, they would rush in and hide under the horse's belly."

Lin Tao's method has loopholes, the startled horse is easily intercepted by the enemy, but this direction is correct and can be optimized, such as the timing of the startled horse's attack and so on.

Tang Qian rolled his eyes, and he thought of an optimized method, but he needed the cooperation of a soldier.

……

Xixia soldiers went back one after another carrying the felled wood. Many soldiers felled a whole tree and dragged it back with their horses.

Tang Qian was one of them. Wearing the armor of the Xixia Army, he turned into a small Xixia leader who was wiped out in Xinxia City.

The most important thing is to choose the timing. Although it is good at night, he can't use the horses. The distance of one mile and the dense sentry posts make it impossible for him to pass.

And everyone will use horses when chopping firewood and transporting wood. This time is the best opportunity to take advantage of the startled horses.

With a bow and arrow on his back, he pulled a horse and dragged a big tree to a bonfire. Several soldiers were raising the fire, but it couldn't be ignited. Someone complained: "There is obviously kerosene over there to Borrow it, but refuse to agree."

"Are you crazy?"

The general next to him scolded angrily: "There is an order from above. If you enter that circle, you will be shot and killed. If you want to die, go by yourself!"

At this moment, someone shouted not far behind Tang Qian, "The horse is shocked! The horse is shocked!"

Everyone turned their heads one after another, only to see a vigorous war horse galloping towards them.

"Quickly open!"

Tang Qian shouted in party language: "Everyone get out of the way, let me subdue it!"

The soldiers ran away one after another, Tang Qian went up to meet him, pulled the rope and jumped onto the horse, but his body was hanging on the side of the horse.

This horse is the charcoal horse of the enemy general Cao Baozong. It is an extremely vigorous war horse, flexible and fast. Chen Qing rewarded it to Tang Qian.

Tang Qian was already able to control the horse, but he pretended that he couldn't control it, and shouted to the patrolling soldiers in the circle, "The horse is frightened, get out of the way!"

More than a dozen patrol soldiers saw Tang Qian flying on the horse halfway, trying to control the horse, which gave them the illusion that Tang Qian had nothing to do with the horse, and the other party also acted bravely in order to subdue the startled horse.

They hesitated, but did not intercept each other, Tang Qian and Jingma galloped past them.

In the distance, the chief general Xia Lian was sitting on a boulder drinking tea. He suddenly saw a horse galloping in the restricted area he had marked out. Did not respond.

He jumped to his feet and shouted, "Shoot him! Shoot the horse!"

He was too far away from the horse, and the soldiers who were hundreds of steps away did not hear his cry. He was so anxious that he drew out his sword and ran away.

Tang Qian did not rush directly into the luggage area, but ran along the edge, shouting at the same time: "Get out of the way, the horse is frightened!"

The patrolling soldiers raised their bows and arrows, hesitantly, unable to shoot. At this moment, Tang Qian suddenly turned the body of the horse, and the horse rushed straight to the baggage area. In an instant, it rushed between the two patrol soldiers. Three hundred steps down.

The Xixia soldiers finally realized that it was not the frightened horses, but the Song Army's strategy.

They drew their bows and arrows one after another, and shot at the running horse and Tang Qian.

The war horse was extremely flexible, running left and right, dodging the arrows shot from all around.

Tang Qian was only a hundred steps away from the luggage pile, and in front of him were five hundred spear soldiers, forming a large spear formation, forming the last long contradiction in the luggage area.

While running at high speed, Tang Qian ignited a sulphur-coated torch, which would not go out even in the wind. He then ignited a gunpowder arrow.

The fire rope was whistling and smoking green smoke, he threw away the fire bag, quickly took off the riding bow, controlled the horse with his legs, stretched the bow and set an arrow, and shot an arrow while galloping.

Chapter 468 Lanzhou

Tang Qian used the method of disguising himself as a general of the Xixia army and frightening the horses to deceive some of the guard posts and shorten the distance by more than half. He finally got one chance, and he only had this one chance. Once he missed it, the Xixia army would never give it to him again. second chance.

Tang Qian has practiced this arrow countless times. His target is the kerosene barrel, and every detail has been considered. Even the arrow he chose is a three-edged armor-piercing arrow. This kind of arrow is different from the Spike Arrow. There is a bloodletting tank, and once it hits the kerosene barrel, the kerosene will flow out of the bloodletting trough, and when the gunpowder arrow burns, the kerosene will be ignited immediately.

The Xixia people stacked the fire oil barrels and gunpowder barrels layer by layer. Tang Qian shot at the top layer, and the large spear array in front could not stop them.

He also knew that he had only one chance. After the arrow was shot, he ignored it, threw away the bow and arrow, drew a knife and killed an enemy soldier, grabbed a spear, and brandished the spear to break through.

Xia Lian watched a rocket soar into the sky and shoot at the kerosene barrel. He was so frightened that his liver and gallbladder split, his legs went limp, and he knelt down on the ground.

In just a moment, a ball of fire burst open, and the kerosene barrel exploded, followed by a larger ball of fire. This was the explosion of dozens of barrels of kerosene, and a puff of thick smoke rose into the air. And rise.

Everyone was stunned, but what was even more frightening was still to come. The powder kegs were also ignited and exploded. It exploded a few hundred paces away.

The soldiers ran away in fright. Tang Qian dodged and hid under the horse's belly. His war horse ran wildly with a herd of cows in fright. At this time, no one cared about him.

Xixia soldiers ran to the river to fetch water to fight the fire, but the fodder and food were surrounded by the burning fire oil overflowing from all sides. The dry grass and food were all ignited and quickly burned into one piece. Three thousand barrels of fire oil flowed and burned everywhere. Many soldiers called for river water, but they couldn't get in because they were blocked by burning kerosene.

The night wind was strong, and the fire became more and more intense. The [-] soldiers of the Xixia Army watched as the [-] shi of grain and [-] dans of fodder were completely swallowed up.

Everyone was desperate, Song Jun repeated his tricks, and they encountered a food crisis again.