Fenghou

Arrows rained down from the top of the fault, thick arrows fell from the sky, the density was so dense that people could not breathe, countless Jurchen soldiers were hit by the arrows, and the casualties were extremely heavy.

"Come on!"

Wanyan Holisa no longer cared about the Jurchen soldiers behind him, and rushed eastward with [-] cavalry, leaving behind the Jurchen cavalry who were crying loudly, and were gradually swallowed up by arrows.

When it was almost dawn, Wanyan Helisa ran for more than 50 miles in one breath. He was tired of people and horses, and could no longer run. There were only dozens of soldiers behind him. The cavalry all had a toxic attack, and they fell to the ground, I am afraid they will not be able to keep up!"

"Wait a minute!"

After waiting for another hour, Jurchen cavalry arrived one after another, many of them were two people riding a war horse, and finally more than 300 cavalry arrived.

Wanyan Helisa estimated that the Song army would definitely chase him, so he didn't dare to stay any longer, and fled eastward in panic with more than [-] people.

Yang Zaixing was indeed chasing behind to prevent the remnant Jurchen soldiers from looting the county towns along the way. They kept seeing the single Jurchen soldiers who were killed, all of them were bloody and bloody, and they looked like they were beaten to death with random sticks. These Jurchen soldiers should have been killed by local farmers. killed.

Yang Zaixing's army chased them all the way, and Wanyan Helisa's army was too frightened to stop, so he escaped from Guanzhong in one breath, passed Pujin Pass and headed towards Hedong Road...

On the fourth day when the Song army almost wiped out the Jurchen cavalry, [-] puppet Qi troops from Jingyuan Road left Jingchuan City and surrendered to Niugao's army. The momentum recovered.

Chen Qing immediately sent Gao Ding as the main general and Liu Qiong as the deputy general, and led an army of [-] to Hanzhong from Ziwu Valley to recover the lost ground in Hanzhong.

……

This morning, Chen Qing arrived at Pujin Pass under the escort of [-] cavalry. Pujin Pass was actually the name of Sui and Tang Dynasties. Its current name is Daqing Pass, but the people are used to it and still call it Pujin Pass.

At present, the general of the Song Army at Pujin Pass is called Guan Tao, and he is a general commander. He was originally the guard of Nanxianren Pass. military.

Guan Tao had rich experience in guarding the pass, and was appointed by Chen Qing as the guard envoy, leading [-] soldiers to garrison Pujin Pass.

Hearing that Dutong is coming, Guan Tao came down the mountain to welcome him, bowing his head and saluting, "See Dutong for the humble job!"

Chen Qing smiled and nodded, "General Guan is exempt!"

Chen Qing looked up and asked, "Do you still want to climb over the mountain?"

"Reporting to Dutong, Pujin Pass is backed by a low mountain, but the official road is relatively gentle, and you can pass by on horseback, and there is no problem with carts carrying goods."

"Then ride over there and have a look."

There are two days to go over the mountain to Pujin Pass. One is to turn over directly, which is suitable for people on foot, and the other needs to go around the mountain halfway up the mountain, which is suitable for carts and livestock.

Chen Qing rode a horse around the mountainside and came to Pujin Pass. Pujin Pass was actually built on a peninsula extending into the Yellow River. A mooring pier was built on the peninsula, and you can take a ferry to the Hezhong Mansion on the opposite bank.

For a long time, Pujin Pass even built an iron chain bridge to connect with the other bank of the Yellow River. Both the army and the people could directly take the iron chain bridge to the opposite bank, but the iron chain bridge had been destroyed by the war.Now the only way to get to the other side is by ferry.

Standing on a high place, Chen Qing looked towards the opposite bank and asked, "Do you know how many troops are stationed in Hezhong Mansion?"

Guan Tao bowed and said: "I heard from the businessman that there are about 5000 garrisons in Hedong City, and [-] militia troops. In fact, there are [-] people."

Liu Cui, who was accompanying Chen Qing, said with a smile: "I always feel that it is within my reach, Dutong, why don't we directly seize the Hezhong Mansion?"

Chen Qing shook his head, "Step by step, if you eat too fast, you won't be able to digest it. Let's swallow Shaanxi Road first, and then consider the next step."

Chen Qing then said to Guan Tao: "Normal people's exchanges and caravans crossing the border, don't stop them, but also prevent the enemy from pretending to be caravans and seize the customs. More importantly, strict rules are strictly prohibited. Soldiers are strictly prohibited from accepting benefits. You should compare these I have experience."

"Xiaozhi understands, Beizhi is going to adopt the diversion method of the former Immortal Pass!"

"Tell me more about it!" Chen Qingrao asked with great interest.

"It's just a separate passage, with high walls on both sides. Merchants and people can only enter and exit the pass. Even if they want to seize the pass, it is impossible. Then add a surveillance and search point at the pier, basically foolproof."

"That's a good idea!"

Chen Qing praised happily: "It's a bit like an urn city."

"Yes! Wu Dutong also said that it was the idea of ​​Wengcheng."

"It can be implemented, make a specific plan, and propose it to the Jinglue Mansion, and the Jinglue Mansion will arrange manpower and material resources to build it!"

Chapter 561 The Handle

At the same time that Chen Qing was capturing Shaanxi Road, Yue Fei, Deputy Xuanfu envoy of Jingbei Road, ordered Wang Gui and Dong Xian to be the vanguard, and personally led an army of 5 to attack Jianghuai eastward. Nearly [-] surrendered troops were recruited into state capitals such as Zhouzhou, Qizhou, Anqingfu, and Luzhou.

Liu Yu was shocked and immediately appointed Li as the commander-in-chief, commanding an army of [-] troops to fight for Jianghuai.

In early September, Li Cheng led his army along the Feishui River to Shouchun County of Anfeng Army. Although Li Cheng was defeated by Chen Qing in Chengji County, his defeats in the Central Plains were not many.

In front of the map, Li Cheng's opponent's subordinate general said: "Yue Fei's eastward expedition is like a crossbow arrow. He was very strong at the beginning, but the further eastward he went, the weaker his offensive momentum became. After he captured Luzhou, he did not continue eastward. , indicating that his momentum is exhausted, if we cut off Shucheng to the south, the Song Army in Hefei will lose supplies and will have to be forced to abandon Hefei City, so Shucheng is the key."

General Pan Yue worried: "Shucheng is tall and strong, easy to defend and difficult to attack. I heard that there are thousands of Song troops guarding it. We can see its importance. The Song army also knows it. I am afraid it will not be easy to capture."

Li Cheng smiled lightly: "I have dealt with Chen Qing for so long, and I have learned a few of his various siege tactics."

……

Shucheng is located 150 miles southwest of Luzhou. It is the only way for Anqing Mansion to enter Luzhou. Its strategic location is very important.

Currently there are [-] defenders in Shucheng. In the afternoon, Wang Gui led [-] soldiers to Shucheng.

Wang Gui is stationed in Hefei, and he came to Shucheng to urge grain. The guard of Shucheng, Zeng Huang, said that the grain ships have been arranged and will be transported to Hefei tomorrow morning.

At night, the sentinels of the Song Army patrolled the city of Shucheng back and forth, and a fleet of ships came along the small river. The ships were all five hundred stone cargo ships, about one foot high. It seemed that these ships were no different from ordinary cargo ships. The water city gate is closed at night, and ordinary cargo ships can only berth in the moat.

This kind of situation happens almost every day, and the guards are no strangers to it.

Each ship was packed with more than 100 puppet Qi soldiers. Of course, if there was a big ship, Li Chengcheng directly used the big ship to attack the city. Unfortunately, there was no big ship, so he could only use this five hundred stone cargo ship.

There are five fierce oil fire cabinets in each cargo ship. This is the most famous fire oil weapon in the Song Dynasty. It is made of cooked copper and filled with hundreds of catties of fire oil. In front is a copper pipe. Of course, it can't reach the level of guns, but it is simply fused together with copper water.

The principle of the fierce oil fire cabinet is similar to that of a bellows. Two soldiers push the piston to make the kerosene spray out to a distance of several feet. If the kerosene is ignited, it will be a flamethrower.

Hundreds of kerosene were kept in the warehouse of the Bianliang Arms Supervision until Li Cheng discovered that the Central Plains army did not pay as much attention to kerosene as the Western Army. This is also related to the origin of kerosene, but Li Cheng and Chen Qing fought Countless, he understands the importance of kerosene.

He immediately moved hundreds of fierce oil and fire oil back to the barracks. This time he went south, he also brought fierce oil and fire tanks. Thirty cargo ships were moored on the moat of Xicheng, and [-] puppet Qi troops appeared in the distance. Take charge personally.

A lantern was lit on the leading ship, which was the signal for action. Thirty cargo ships with 150 fuel tanks sprayed kerosene at the top of the city at the same time. The defenders on the top of the city were awakened by the black rain falling from the sky, shouting Get up, "There is a situation!"

"Dang! Dang! Dang!" The alarm bell on the top of the city rang.

Immediately afterwards, hundreds of burning torches were thrown on the top of the city, and the kerosene on the top of the city immediately burned, which shocked hundreds of soldiers to retreat.

"Fire! Fire!"

On the top of the city, the soldiers of the Song Army shouted loudly.

But the fierce oil fire cabinet continued to spray fire oil upwards, and the fire became more and more fierce...

At this time, Li Cheng led [-] troops to approach the city wall. This was a complete copy of Chen Qing's method of capturing Pingliang City, but Li Cheng didn't have Huo Huanbing under his command, and they couldn't make Huo Huanjia.

Thirty large ships ambushed the soldiers and rushed out, and hung thirty siege ladders on the top of the city. Each soldier carried a wet bedding and climbed up to the top of the city. Five thousand puppet Qi soldiers followed closely behind. Behind them, [-] soldiers extinguished the fire at the top of the city with wet quilts, and at the same time occupied the top of the southern city. The [-] puppet Qi troops behind them surged up and killed them all on the top of the city.

At this time, the Lord General Wang Gui led more than 3000 soldiers to the head of the west city. The fire burning above made him hesitate, but the fire suddenly went out. When he was wondering, a large number of troops appeared on the head of the city.

"shit!"

Wang Gui immediately realized that the enemy had captured the city in this way.

"General!"

A soldier rushed to report: "The puppet Qi army has entered the city, and there are nearly ten thousand people."

"Withdraw!"

Wang Gui decisively issued an order, "The whole army retreats to the east gate!"

The Song army quickly retreated to the east gate, and then retreated directly to Hefei. Li Chengbing occupied Shucheng without bloodshed.

Shucheng fell, and the supply line of the Hefei garrison was cut off. Wang Gui had to abandon Hefei City, led [-] troops to retreat south, boarded a ship from the Yangtze River, and returned to Anqing Mansion.

The fall of Luzhou also meant that Li Cheng's army cut off the momentum of Yue Fei's army's eastward advance. Yue Fei stopped his eastward advance and concentrated on consolidating the already occupied Jianghuai area.

……

In Lin'an, Shen Li, the censor, put an impeachment memorial on Qin Hui's desk. Angry, but not held accountable."

After reading the impeachment memorial, Qin Hui was very satisfied. He had been grabbing Lu Yihao's tricks, but Lu Yihao was very cautious and couldn't find any tricks.

Qin Hui then turned his target to Lu Yihao's family, but unexpectedly got a big harvest.

Lu Datong, the second brother of Lu Yihao, served as the judge of Yuanzhou, but Lu Tang, the son of Lu Datong, was a complete bully, bullying men and women, picking quarrels and provoking troubles. Asylum, has not been held accountable.

Qin Hui looked at the impeachment paper again, and asked, "Who is this Liu Er?"

"This Liu Er is a butcher. There is a daughter named Liu Ying in his family. She was learning pipa in the music workshop, but she was taken by Lu Yan and his gang. They took her to the brothel to humiliate her and framed her as a prostitute. The ax went to Lu Tang to settle the score, but Lu Tang snatched the ax and chopped him to death in the street. This incident caused a lot of trouble, but the government only sentenced the two to lose in the fight, and they paid [-] pennies to settle the matter."

"Are there witnesses?"

"The humble official has specially interviewed some of the parties involved, and they can all prove that Liu Er did not do anything at all. He was knocked down by Lu Han's men, and Lu Han chopped off Liu Er's head with an axe. The humble official has dozens of witnesses to testify. It is so obvious. The murder incident was nothing, without the intervention of the Lu family, it would have been impossible."

Qin Hui said proudly: "Very well, Yushitai directly impeached Lu Yihao for lax family management, condoning his family members to harm civilians, and humiliating women. This time, the truth is to see how he has the audacity to rely on his appearance!"

……

In the afternoon of the next day, Lu Yihao returned to the mansion with a lot of thoughts, paced back and forth in the study, sighing, at this moment, the eldest son Lu Jin came to the door of the study, bowed and said: "Father, are you looking for me?"

"Come in!"

When Lu Jin walked into the study, he felt that his father was in a very low mood, and he didn't dare to say much, so he stood at the door with his hands down.

"How much do you know about Lu Xian?"

Lu Xian is actually the eldest grandson of Lu Datong, because he was posthumous, and Lu Datong raised him as his son since he was a child, so that everyone thought he was Lu Datong's son.

"The boy has heard about his affairs. The second uncle spoiled him too much, and he developed a lawless character. He caused many disasters. It was the second uncle who took care of the funeral for him."

Lu Yihao sighed and said: "It's God's will! I persuaded my second brother not to condone this rebellious grandson before, but he didn't listen, and now the disaster has finally come out."

Lu Jin was startled, "Father, what happened?"

"Qin Hui focused on this rebellious grandson, and sent a supervisory censor to Yuanzhou to investigate for two months. The final investigation report shocked me. At least five lives were taken by Lu Xian, and dozens of women from good families were raped. He was arrested in Yuanzhou. The common people call Lu evil thief, and they have completely disgraced the Lu family."

"The second uncle may be impeached."

Lu Yihao sneered: "Will Qin Hui's target be your second uncle?"

"Ah! Did Qin Hui attack father?"

Lu Yihao nodded, "Qin Hui impeached my Lu family for being lax in running the family and allowing my children to harm the people. Your second uncle used my power to shield Lu Qiang. The evidence is convincing. He asked the officials to punish me as a crime of immorality and depose my prime minister."

Lu Jin knew that the problem was serious. Being implicated by his family, even if he was innocent, he still had a heavy responsibility.

"Father, do the officials really want to..."

Lu Yihao said with a sad expression: "The officials came to talk to me today, and gave me a step to find an excuse to resign, so I handed in my resignation this afternoon on the grounds of my poor health."

Chapter 562 Compromise

Qinzheng Hall in the Inner Palace, here is the inner study of the emperor Zhao Gou, and it is also the place where Zhao Gou received ministers in the Inner Palace.

If there is a major emergency, Zhao Gou will convene important officials here to discuss.

At this time, when he arrived at Haishi, Zhao Gou got the news that Prime Minister Zhang Jun had an urgent military situation and asked to see him, so Zhao Gou met Zhang Jun in the Hall of Qinzheng.

"The humble job just got a report from Yue Fei. Li Cheng led an army of [-] to go south, with the assistance of [-] Jurchen cavalry. Although the Song army lost in Luzhou, Yue Fei led the main force in three battles and three victories in Guangzhou, annihilating all [-] Jurchen cavalry. "

Zhao Gou was overjoyed, he patted the table and said: "Good! Good! It really is my pillar of talent, and I have lived up to my expectations."

"Your Majesty, now that the armistice period has passed, I suggest sending Han Shizhong and Wu Jie to send troops at the same time. Wu Jie cooperates with Chen Qing to attack Li Cheng from the west, and then orders Han Shizhong to capture Yangzhou. The Jin soldiers will definitely not send troops after their initial defeat. It's our chance."

Zhao Gou pondered for a moment and said, "If Liu Guangshi replaces Wu Jie, how about letting him cooperate with Yue Fei?"

"Your Majesty, it's better for Liu Guangshi to stay in the south of the Yangtze River for defense. He crossed the river to fight, and I don't think highly of him."

"He can't even defeat the puppet Qi army!"

"If His Majesty must use him, I will not object, but I have said something first. If Jianghuai is defeated by him again, I will not take responsibility."

The point is that Zhao Gou doesn't want to use Wu Jie, and Liu Guangshi belongs to the Queen Mother. If he doesn't use it at this critical moment, he can't explain to the Queen Mother.

Zhao Gou nodded, "Use him to cooperate with Yue Fei. Victory or defeat is a common matter in military affairs. If the army loses, I don't blame Aiqing!"

Zhang Jun secretly sighed in his heart, leaving aside Wu Jie, a well-known general, but using Liu Guangshi, a long-defeated general, there is indeed a problem with the official family!

But today Zhang Jun doesn't want to argue with the emperor, he has more important things to report today.

"Your Majesty, there is one more thing, I don't know whether I should say it or not."

"What's the matter? Tell me!"

"Your Majesty, it's about...Chen Qing."

Zhao Gou's face turned cold all of a sudden, and he said coldly for a while, "What's wrong with him?"

Zhang Jun knew that the emperor didn't want to hear about Chen Qing, but he had to say something about it, so he had to bite the bullet and say, "I got a piece of news that Chen Qing has recovered Shaanxi Road and Hanzhong."