Fenghou

'puff! 'The spear had pierced into his chest, the general yelled and was killed immediately.

Chen Qing grabbed a broad ax that fell from the air, and handed it to a soldier behind him.

"Take it first!"

With a swing of his long spear, he stabbed at the enemy like a storm, killing five or six people in an instant, and his thirty subordinates also rushed forward, killing more than ten of the enemy in a row, dividing the enemy into two.

Chen Qing stabbed the three soldiers who had just rushed to the top of the wall and turned them down, then turned around and shouted, "Where is the axe?"

The soldier hurriedly handed the sharp ax to Chen Qing, and Chen Qing leaned out of the city, and struck with the ax fiercely.

'Crack! 'The left handrail of the siege ladder was cut off, and the siege ladder tilted suddenly, crumbling, and the dozen or so soldiers below all shouted in fright.

Without hesitation, Chen Qing raised the ax and cut the right handrail in two. He then pushed hard, and the siege ladder lost its iron hook, lost its balance and quickly slid down to the left. A dozen soldiers on the ladder Screaming and falling into the ditch.

The last dozen or so enemy soldiers who attacked the city had no way out, and were killed by the Song army in despair.

Chen Qing sternly ordered: "Pass my order, cut off the straps of the siege ladder as soon as possible!"

The iron hooks of the siege ladders were tied together with the ladders by belts, and cutting off the belts meant that the siege ladders would lose their fixation, and the defenders could overturn them to the next city.

The Song army found the weakness of the siege enemy army, and they cooperated tacitly. As the belts were cut off by sharp swords, in just a short time, the remaining seven siege ladders lost their iron hooks, and one after another rushed to attack the city. Overturned by the Song army, the puppet soldiers on the ladder fell into the city, causing heavy casualties.

Xia Jin could see clearly from a distance. He knew that there was no hope of attacking the city today, so he ordered: "Retreat!"

'when!when!when! '

The bell for the withdrawal of troops rang, and hundreds of puppet troops retreated like a tide.

In this battle, more than [-] soldiers of the Puppet Army suffered casualties, and soldiers of the Song Army defending the city also suffered more than [-] casualties.

……

Xia Jin led the puppet army to retreat slowly to the camp outside the canyon.

Chen Qing ordered the city gates to be opened to clear the battlefield, especially enemy soldiers to be burned and buried deeply to prevent the outbreak of the disease.

On the top of the city, Yang Yuanqing sighed and said, "Today's battle was very passive! I never thought that a puppet army would be so strong."

Chen Qing said in a deep voice: "This siege battle is a mirror that reveals our various deficiencies, but it also brings us valuable lessons and experience, telling us that we should not underestimate the enemy at any time and in any place. !"

Yang Yuanqing said with shame: "The commander is right, we really underestimated the enemy."

Chen Qing simply sent someone to find Yang Hua and the other three generals.

"I want to use this opportunity to summarize the experience and lessons of this siege battle for everyone. Everyone can add."

Chen Qing calmly said to the crowd: "Vice General Yang said that we were very passive in this siege battle. We were indeed very passive. I think there are three main reasons!"

Yang Hua, Zheng Ping, and Luo Gan all looked solemn and listened to the general's summary.

"On the one hand, the opponent's general has more experience in deploying troops, and suppressed us with bows and arrows. At first, I didn't understand that our crossbowmen were all hiding behind the battlements. What's the use of his crossbow array? I later learned that his army When attacking the city, there is almost no pressure, and it is very smooth to reach the top of the city."

Yang Yuanqing nodded, "It's one thing that the opposing general has experience, but I have to admit that their soldiers are very brave, completely different from the Han army we usually come into contact with."

Chen Qing smiled and said: "You didn't realize that although they call themselves the Han army, they are not actually Han people!"

Yang Yuanqing was stunned. He thought for a while and said, "I haven't noticed the commander, but it seems to be the case. The faces are different from ours."

"They should be vassal soldiers in the Western Army, Qiang people, Dangxiang people, etc. They are good at fighting in mountainous areas, and attacking cities is also their strong point. Their combat effectiveness is no less than that of the Jurchen army. Today I have seen their strength."

Chen Qing glanced at Zheng Ping, Yang Hua, and Luo Gan next to him, and continued: "The third reason is that we don't have enough experience in defending the city, and we don't know that dealing with the enemy's siege ladder is the key, and we are clearly in Qilinzhai used rolling logs to play a huge role, but when defending the city, they didn't think of using big stones and rolling logs, it really shouldn't be!"

When it comes to quarrying, Zheng Ping has the most right to speak. He quarried a piece of "Emperor's Stone" weighing several thousand catties, which fooled the defenders of Jiandao Pass.

He smiled and said, "Commander, quarrying rocks in the canyon is easy, and logging is actually not difficult. There is a pine forest two miles to the south."

"You're right, it's never too late to make up for it!"

Chen Qing immediately ordered Zheng Ping and Yang Hua to take [-] soldiers each to quarry and cut wood, preparing to roll wood and stone.

……

Xia Jin's army did not continue to attack after tentatively attacking Guancheng. Xia Jin received a message from Wanyan Wulu Kuaima ordering him to build siege weapons in Longzhou.

Xia Jin forcibly recruited more than 300 carpenters and blacksmiths in Longzhou, and ordered soldiers to cut wood in all directions, collect iron tools from the people's homes, and set about building siege ladders.

At the same time, Wanyan Wulu led [-] Jurchen cavalry, [-] puppet troops, and thousands of carts, left Pingliang Mansion, and marched towards Jiandao Pass in mighty force.

On the pass road, the black golden soldiers stretched for more than ten miles, with flags fluttering, drums rumbling, and horns whimpering. In front were ten thousand Jurchen cavalry. They were all fierce in appearance and strong in physique. Spears, murderous, everyone's eyes have a kind of beast-like cruelty.

Behind them are [-] Han troops. They not only participated in the battle, but also took care of the logistics support. The [-] Han troops were brightly armored and energetic. Each of them carried spears on their shoulders. Sea of ​​spears.

Behind them are more than 3000 carts, carrying a large amount of various military supplies, even siege weapons, but there is no food and grass. The food and grass transported by Xia Jin is in Siyang County, so they don't need to bring food.

At this time, the preparations for the battle in Jianbaiguan City reached its climax.

Chapter 39 Preparations

'jingle!Jingle!Jingle! '

At the foot of a cliff, more than a dozen soldiers who knew how to blacksmith were sweating profusely and swinging their hammers. The fire was burning brightly, and the red iron bars were forged repeatedly under the soldiers' hammers.

There was no pig iron in Guancheng, so they melted some of the damaged weapons to obtain pig iron, and then made them into weapons needed by the army.

There are already a few ready-made weapons beside them. The weapons that the soldiers have built with all their strength are not spears and knives, but V-shaped iron forks used in the countryside to fork straw. It will become a sharp weapon against siege ladders.

Chen Qing made a slight change, leaving two small horizontal iron spikes at the bottom, which can prevent the bottom of the iron fork from being embedded in the ladder.

Chen Qing picked up an iron fork to examine it carefully, and asked the leader of the escort a few words.

"Commander!"

Zheng Ping rushed over excitedly, clasped his fists in salute and said with a smile: "The humble job has selected ten marksmen, please let the commander inspect them!"

These days, Chen Qing mobilized the soldiers to offer suggestions, and once adopted, he would be rewarded heavily, mobilizing the enthusiasm of the soldiers, and the soldiers offered their suggestions one after another, and Chen Qing got a lot of useful opinions.

For example, the soldiers suggested increasing the number of medical soldiers on the city wall so that the wounded soldiers could receive treatment as soon as possible to stop the bleeding. This is the experience summed up by the soldiers with their lives. Most of the soldiers died of excessive blood loss due to insufficient hemostasis. If the fastest medical treatment can be obtained, even if it is bandaged to stop the bleeding, many lives can be saved.

Another example is that the soldiers suggested adding a little wine to the jug. Although drinking too much would cause trouble, but drinking a few sips properly can make people overcome timidity and inspire soldiers' courage.

But this is not a new method. In fact, both Khitan soldiers and Jurchen soldiers carried wine. Drinking a few sips of strong wine can not only keep out the cold, but also stimulate murderous aura at critical moments.

Another soldier named Lu Gui proposed to cut off the top two rungs at the critical moment, and the miraculous effect would be that the enemy could not enter the city.

Even though Chen Qing's two axes cut off the handrail of the siege ladder, it was because he was powerful, and those batches of siege ladders were crudely made and did not meet the standards at all. , The iron hook is also bound in many places, and it is meaningless to cut off only one place.

So this soldier found another way and proposed to cut off the crossbar, which is very operable.

Chen Qing personally conducted an experiment for this, and cut off two beams of the only complete siege ladder. Although his hands could still touch the top of the city, his feet could not use his strength to climb up.

This method won the best proposal, and the soldier Lu Gui was rewarded with 30 taels of silver, and was promoted to the axe guard.

But the premise is to transform a batch of long-handled axes.

Selecting a group of sharpshooters was an idea proposed by Chen Qing. It also summed up the experience and lessons of the first city defense battle, and also the experience of his later generations to establish snipers.

Chen Qing found that the enemy troops who broke through the city walls were often not ordinary soldiers, but at least generals such as Dutou or Centurion. Such generals were particularly brave and powerful, and one person could deal with four or five enemies, so it was easy to break through.

The best way is to shoot these enemy generals before the battle at the top of the city, so a group of soldiers with strong archery skills are needed to act as snipers.

Zheng Ping selected ten soldiers for Chen Qing, all of whom were recognized as archery masters.

"I need ten tiger shooters, it depends on whether you are qualified!"

Chen Qing pointed to the god arm crossbow on the ground and said to the ten people: "This is your weapon. There are wooden targets a hundred steps away, show me one by one!"

……

The preparations for the battle at Jianbaiguan continued to be in full swing. At the same time, the battle of Monk Yuan also kicked off. Fengxiang's main general Wanyan Meili, and Donglu's main general Wanyan Huonu led an army of [-] Jurchen and tens of thousands of Han. The army joined forces in Daying, Weinan.

On the second day of March, the lieutenant general converted [-] troops to launch a tentative attack on the monk's original western front, and Wu Lin led [-] troops to counterattack the enemy by relying on terrain advantages.

The two sides fought fiercely for two days and two nights, and the Jin soldiers lost nearly half of them, so they had to withdraw from the battlefield.

The Golden Bing camp was stationed at Yellow Niubu, ten miles away, and confronted Heshangyuan's Song army. Wanyan Meili sent thousands of puppet troops to attack Heshangyuan in turn every day, implementing harassment tactics.

Wanyan Meili had already realized that it would be too much loss to attack Monk Yuan, and he had to implement a north-south pincer attack to win. Everything was ready, and the only thing he needed was the east wind. Jinbing waited for the West Route Army led by Wanyan Wulu to arrive in time.

Wu Jie stood on the barracks and looked at the Jinbing camp ten miles away. He asked Wang Yan next to him in a deep voice, "What do you think Wanyan is waiting for?"

Wang Yan smiled faintly, "He is waiting for the troops from the western front to arrive behind us. Facts have proved that they have no advantage in a one-sided battle. Only when we face the enemy from the front and rear can they have any hope of winning."

Wu Jie deeply agreed with Wang Yan's judgment, and he asked, "Is there any new news from the Jiandao Pass?"

"There is no new news for now, but I guess the big battle over there has also begun, and Chen Qing will not let us down."

Wu Jie pondered for a moment and said, "I'm worried that they are short of troops. If Wanyan Meili finds out that the Western Front Army is blocked, he will definitely send troops to attack Jianbai Pass from the south. Once the Jianbai Pass is attacked, it may be very difficult to defend. "

Wu Jie's mind is very clear, every link is clearly presented in his mind, if any link goes wrong, he will lose the game.

He glanced at Wang Yan, saw that Wang Yan had no objection, and said decisively: "I will immediately send troops to support Jiandao Pass!"

……

On the head of Jiandao Pass, every soldier's heart seemed to be pressed against a mountain.

Below Guancheng, a black army lined up in the canyon, invisible at a glance, and the spears raised high seemed to form a forest, with a murderous aura.

'Woo—'

The sound of the horn echoed in the valley, and tens of thousands of people raised their spears and shouted: "Kill——"

The shouts were earth-shattering, and the expressions of the soldiers on the top of the city changed.

Chen Qing squinted his eyes and stared at the distance, and a large siege weapon loomed in the distance.

This should be the weapon used by the opponent to attack Dasan Pass.

At this time, a cavalryman rushed from the team, holding a bow and arrow, with a letter on the arrow, riding his horse and urging his horse to gallop towards the city.

Chen Qing took the divine arm crossbow from the soldier, raised the crossbow and aimed at the cavalry, before the cavalry approached Guancheng, "Whoosh! An arrow shot out, and two hundred steps away, an arrow hit the cavalry's throat, and the cavalry fell to the ground clutching his throat.

All the soldiers of the Song Army on the top of the city were awe-inspiring, and the commander's arrow represented the will of the Song Army. There was no room for negotiation in the bloody battle to the end.

Jin Bing was in an uproar, and the general Wanyan Wulu's face was extremely ugly, and he said coldly: "Since they want to die, let them be fulfilled!"

He raised his warrant and said, "Retreat!"

The demonstration of the [-] troops was over, and the teams began to retreat slowly, returning to the camp outside the valley.

At this time, retreating is not retreating, but retreating like a beast, in order to better kill forward.

"Commander, the enemy might take action tonight!" Yang Hua stepped forward, pointing to the ditch under the city.

Chen Qing nodded. He also thought of it. If the enemy army wants to attack Guancheng, the first thing to do is to fill up the trenches. A trench of more than [-] feet can be filled up by thousands of people overnight.

Chen Qing looked up at the clear sky, the weather should be fine tonight, he sneered and said: "They really want to fill us up, but we can't stop them, but since it's a war, they have to pay the price!"

……

"Wan Hu, I don't dare to disobey the military order, but I only have 300 people, and I have to spare part of my troops to protect the soldiers who filled the ditch. I'm afraid I won't be able to fill the trench overnight. I implore Wan Hu to give it a few days."

Wanyan Wulu looked coldly at Xia Jin who was kneeling below, and said unhurriedly: "General Xia, I remember that you are from Xixia, your original surname was Li, but you changed your surname to Xia in order not to forget your homeland, am I right? "

Xia Jin said in a deep voice: "The humble job has always reported the resume truthfully, and has never concealed it, but if the humble job is allowed to fill the trenches overnight, the subordinates of the humble job will inevitably pay a heavy price. It is not easy to train the army. I implore General Wulu to think twice!"

"What does the Xixia Emperor say? He who haggles with the commander-in-chief can be killed three times! Since you are from Xixia, this sentence should be familiar to you."

Xia Jin had no choice but to cup his fists and say, "I obey the order!"

Wanyan Wulu snorted again and said, "If the trench is not filled before dawn, the whole army will be killed!"

……

At one watch, Xia Jin led more than [-] soldiers and appeared one mile away from the city.

Xia Jin's face was gloomy. How could he never have thought that Wanyan Wulu would deal with him like this, just because he didn't capture Jiandao Pass, he punished his army to fill up the trench today.

How could more than 2000 people fill such a deep trench before dawn?Especially under the threat of the enemy's force, but Xia Jin had no choice, Wanyan Wulu was determined to clean up himself.

Chapter 40 Trench Filling

The night is clear and bright, the moon is bright and the stars are sparse, and a round of bright and clean half moon hangs in the night sky like a green curtain, spreading the clear light all over the earth.

Under Guancheng, a special war is going on intensely. More than 300 puppet soldiers are divided into two groups, 2000 are responsible for digging and bagging soil, and [-] people are divided into [-] teams, carrying soil bags to hundreds of steps. He rushed to the ditch outside and threw bags of dirt into the ditch.

While running, soldiers kept falling down and never getting up again.

Powerful arrows flew in the night sky, shooting at every running soldier...

On the top of the city, the [-] soldiers of the Song Army were also divided into two teams, half of which were responsible for raising the crossbow and shooting, and the other half were responsible for winding the crossbow. , Increased the casualties of soldiers filling the ditch.

In the southeast corner, ten puppet soldiers rushed with mud bags on their shoulders. They were still [-] steps away from the ditch. More than a dozen powerful crossbow arrows shot at them. The faint green light of the arrow flickering.