Fenghou

It is these 50 people who are digging and bagging soil. Of course, there is no need for them to fill the river for the time being. They need to continue digging and bagging until dawn. .

The peasants thought they could go back to rest, but no one expected that the Jin soldiers began to threaten them to fill the river, and the peasants started to quarrel. Their heads and headless corpses were hung up, and they sternly said: "Whoever doesn't go will end up like this!"

Under the intimidation of the golden soldiers with swords and axes, each peasant was forced to run towards the moat carrying a bag of dirt.

"Don't shoot arrows, we are Han Chinese! Be merciful, don't shoot arrows!"

The peasants cried loudly, stumbled and ran, and the [-] peasants crowded as far as the eye could see. The Jurchen cavalry drove them away with whips and maces, and there were [-] sword-axe cavalry in the formation.

On the top of the city, everyone looked at Niu Gao, Niu Gao sighed for a while and said: "No one is allowed to shoot arrows! Let them fill the river."

Lieutenant General Wang Qingfang said urgently: "Control, what if they continue to pile up the city walls with mud bags?"

Niu Gao calmly said: "Even if they pile up mud bags, in front of the raging fire, everyone will be afraid of death!"

……

The Song army didn't fire any arrows, and threw bags of soil into the moat. It took only three rounds, and the moat on the east side was completely filled.

Wanyan Yinkeshu could see clearly from behind, and immediately ordered: "Let the civilians continue to carry mud bags and pile up the city wall!"

The [-] men started the fourth round of running and piled piles of sandbags on the city wall. Niu Gao shouted: "Set fire!"

Buckets of kerosene poured down and burned instantly. The people below exclaimed and ran back one after another, forming a sea of ​​flames under the pile.

The soldiers threw more than a dozen bundles of wheat straw into the fire, making the flames raging and making the fire even more frightening.

Wanyan Yinkeshu looked at the blazing fire, his eyes narrowed, and every time he poured oil like this to burn, he wanted to see how much oil the other party had?

When the flames subsided, the Jurchen cavalry behind forced the peasants to pile up sandbags. The sandbags gradually extended backwards, gradually forming a gentle slope of sandbags that was two feet wide and about a hundred paces long. , it is necessary to continue to fill in the city wall.

But the Song army no longer gave the civilian husbands a chance. They filled the sandbags with dense spears, and the civilian husbands could not get through even if they carried the sandbags.

"General Niu, look!" A soldier pointed to the sandbag slope and shouted.

Niu Gao stepped forward quickly, looked over the crenel, and saw the sand flowing down the edge of the slope. It turned out that the sand dug from the Qingshui River was filled in bags instead of yellow mud, and the sacks containing the sand were burned. Most of the time, the river sand could not be held, and the river sand flowed down from the edge, and the edge had already begun to collapse.

This is a good thing!Sooner or later it will all collapse.

"Ugh-"

The horns of the Golden Soldiers sounded, and the [-] civilians began to withdraw. Wanyan Yinkeshu suspected that they could not play a role and hindered the army's attack. If they were not needed to carry food and grass, Wanyan Yinkeshu would have ordered them to be driven away The city is under siege.

The civilian husband retreated like a tide, Wanyan Yinke waved his saber, "Siege the city!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!" The war drums rang violently.

The [-] infantry who had been waiting for a long time shouted and rushed to the city wall. The [-] siege troops were [-] Donghu troops, [-] Korean troops and [-] Bohai troops. , the Qi army attacked first, followed by the Han people's assisted army to attack the city, and then the Donghu army. Among the Donghu army, the Koreans and Bohai people charged first, then the Khitan people and Xi people, and finally the Jurchens.

This time the main force did not have the Qi army and the Han people to join the army, and all the East Hu troops were the first to bear the brunt.

This is also due to the difference in the style of the commander-in-chief. Wanyanchang likes to use a large number of Qi troops, but Wanyan Yinkeshu doesn't like to use Han people to assist the army. It will reduce his offensive efficiency and damage morale. He would rather lead the Jurchen army and Donghu The army is the main force.

Although he didn't like to use the Han people's association to join the army, Wanyan Yinkeshu ordered Guo Tu, the capital of the Han people, to lead a [-] association army to attack Pujin Pass in an attempt to open the road into Guanzhong from the south road.

Amidst the rumbling drums, the Donghu army gradually approached the city wall with two hundred siege ladders. The soldiers held up their shields to resist, but their shields were not strong, and their leather armor was not thick. Not to mention the jackdaw arrows that could pierce golden cracked stones, even the crossbow arrows with the arms of gods could not withstand them. The soldiers fell one by one while running, rushing through When the moat was closed, more than 4000 people were killed or injured.

Soldiers from Donghu surged across the filled moat, hung siege ladders on the top of the city, and galloped up. In the dense crowd, a violent explosion exploded, the poisoned iron nails scattered and shot, and a gunpowder barrel exploded, and dozens of people were affected, whether they were directly blown down or shot by poisonous nails, there were screams and wailing sounds. one slice.

But the tough Donghu soldiers rushed to the top of the city and began to fight desperately with the soldiers at the top of the city. Soldiers on both sides were killed and fell down.

There were also a thousand soldiers of the Goryeo Army attacking on the slope of the sandbag. They rolled and crawled to avoid the arrows and kept pushing forward. The spears inserted in the sandbags were pulled out one by one.

At this time, the sandbags collapsed, hundreds of people were buried, and a gap of Zhang Xu wide appeared on the slope near the wall, and the soldiers of the Korean army could not pass through.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Niu Gao ordered: "Light it up!"

The defenders smashed out [-] barrels of kerosene, and the black kerosene flowed over the siege ladders, filled with sandbags, splashed the soldiers all over, threw out hundreds of torches, and turned the city into a sea of ​​flames.

The Donghu army was burned miserably, especially the soldiers of the Koryo army who were on the siege ladder, basically turned into burning men, screaming and jumping off the siege ladder, running wildly.

On the top of the city, the Song army was still throwing barrels of kerosene, another two thousand barrels of kerosene, and a thousand bundles of wheat straw. The city was filled with black smoke and flames, and it became a purgatory on earth.

It was the first time for these East Hu soldiers to fight against the Western Army. The soldiers in the city were too dense. Once the defenders offered fierce fire oil, most of them would not be able to escape. Most of the soldiers were choked by thick smoke and burned to death.

The same thick smoke filled the top of the city. The soldiers of the Western Army had already prepared, covering their mouths and noses with wet towels and squatting on the ground.

Wanyan Yinke was stunned, it was the first time he encountered this kind of blazing fire defense tactics, it was too shocking, why didn't Wanyanchang tell himself?

He turned his head abruptly, staring at Wanyan Lisa and Han Chang as if his eyes were spitting fire. The two of them must have known about it, but neither of them told him.

Han Chang had a normal expression on his face. He really despised Wanyan Yin's skill in his heart. Didn't the Song Army use kerosene to stop the civilians from piling up sandbags?Now pretending not to know again, who do you want to blame?

Wanyan Helisa avoided the commander's gaze with a guilty conscience. Wanyan Yinkeshu had indeed asked him about the tactics of the Song Army's defense of the city, but for some reason, he somehow avoided this part.

"Marshal Lisa, why didn't you tell me that the Song army would use fire oil to defend the city when I asked you about it?"

"This... This is something that everyone knows. I thought Marshal Du knew about it a long time ago."

"I have no idea!"

Wanyan Yinkeshu snorted heavily, and ordered: "Retreat!"

'when!when!when! 'The bell to withdraw troops rang, but not many soldiers fled back.

Wanyan Yinkeshu turned his horse's head and headed towards the camp full of anger.

Chapter 6 and Three Break

In the big tent, Wanyan Yinkeshu sat on a stool in a daze, depressed, only 2000 of the [-] troops fled back, and [-] Donghu troops died in the city. Wanyan Yinkeshu has realized that if they can't break the Song army If there is a raging fire array, Fushi County will not be able to attack it.

At this time, Han Chang appeared at the tent door and said salutingly, "I heard that Marshal Du is looking for a humble job?"

"General Han, please sit down!" Wanyan Yinkeshu politely asked Han Chang to sit down.

Han Chang sat down on the small stool opposite, Wanyan Yinkeshu sighed and said, "I shouldn't blame you in the morning, Song Jun already used kerosene to burn sandbags, but I didn't take it to heart, I thought they There is not much kerosene, but I forgot that kerosene is abundant here."

Han Chang smiled calmly: "The kerosene produced here can't be used directly. It's too thick, too smokey, and the combustion power is not good. It must be refined twice to produce fierce kerosene. Today Song Jun uses fierce kerosene. It shows that they have been prepared for a long time. With all due respect, Marshal Du still doesn't understand Chen Qing. If we fight him in this state today, we may not be able to win."

Wanyan Yinkeshu nodded, "You're right, I really don't know him well. Before I came here, I had a detailed discussion with Talan, but they were all talking about general strategies, and didn't talk about specific operations in detail. He just told me, Chen Qing is difficult to deal with, so I must never underestimate the enemy, I never expected that I would suffer a great loss in the first battle, I should let the civilians attack the city and mix our army with it."

Han Chang shook his head, "If that's the case, the Song army will set fire to the city in advance and burn the siege ladder directly. It's useless to pile up sandbags. In the last step, they will never let the civilians approach. Marshal Du also saw it, just throw a few barrels of kerosene Even if we burn [-] barrels a day, [-] barrels will burn for [-] days, and we won’t wait until the fire stops.”

"Then can't break the Song army's fierce fire and oil tactics?"

Han Chang said with a smile: "Marshal Wushu said before that there is only one way to break Chen Qing's fierce fire oil tactics, and that is to send heavy troops to guard Yanzhou and cut off his fire oil source. He is useless, fierce fire oil Tactics are gone."

"I don't want to talk about these now. I want to hear your suggestion. Talan said that you know Chen Qing best."

Han Chang smiled wryly and said, "I really know him best. When he was guarding the Jiandao Pass, he was just promoted as a commander, so I fought against him. Use all kinds of terrain to attack the enemy, and is good at using fire, using soldiers to appear and disappear, and does not like to fight positional warfare with the enemy.

Therefore, I believe that his main force must be in the Luoshui Channel, and he will never wait for us in the Guanzhong Plain, and will never give us a chance to enter the Guanzhong. He must fight us in the Luoshui Channel. "

"According to what you say, it's not wise for me to take Luoshui Road?"

Han Chang shook his head, "Humble job doesn't mean that. What humble job means is that the best way to destroy Chen Qing is that we have an army to enter Guanzhong and wantonly massacre civilians in Guanzhong. His main force will have to withdraw from Guanzhong to encircle and suppress the With an army, our main force will have a chance."

Wanyan Yinkeshu agreed with Han Chang's surprise strategy very much, and wanted to go with him, so he sent [-] troops to attack Pujin Pass.

"Tell me your specific suggestion!"

Han Chang already had an idea in his mind, but he didn't have a chance to show it. It's rare that the coach gave him a chance today, which made him feel uncomfortable.

"Humble post has four suggestions, Marshal Wangdu accepts them."

"Tell me, I'm willing to listen!"

"First, give up attacking Fushi County. Even if it is captured, we will suffer heavy casualties. In fact, it is unnecessary."

Wanyan Yinkeshu frowned, "If we don't capture Fushi County, we will have to send [-] troops to guard the logistics camp. It doesn't matter whether the logistics camp is placed here or in Qingquan County to the south. If we are attacked by the Song army in Fushi County, our army will be restrained, what should we do?"

Han Chang smiled slightly: "We don't need a large logistics camp, we only need a logistics supply camp, not here, nor in Qingquan County, but in Yichuan County, Danzhou, where our sheep supplies You can come from the Wuren Trail, and you can’t use carts and luggage on that road, but you can take cattle and sheep, or a team of mules and donkeys, and you can come here with grain and mutton, and you don’t have to use carts.”

Wanyan Yinkeshu nodded, "This method is good, but what about the siege supplies?"

"This is actually the second suggestion of the humble officer. Pull the luggage back to the Yellow River and take the Yellow River waterway to Pujin Pass. As long as our main force invades Guanzhong, will the Song army still be able to defend Pujin Pass? At that time, the luggage will be gone again. It’s enough to bring it in from Pujin Pass, and now we only need to ensure food and grass.”

Wanyan Yinke said with a wry smile: "It seems that I am really old, but I didn't think of it. General Han is right. Carrying luggage too early will become a burden instead. You can continue to talk about it."

Han Chang didn't expect both points to be adopted. He lifted his spirits and continued: "The third suggestion is that we should take advantage of our own cavalry maneuvers to quickly go south to capture Yichuan County in Danzhou and build a supply camp there. Open up the Wuren Pass, this is also the retreat route for our army, we can't count on retreating from Yanzhou, when we are in danger, we will retreat directly from Wuren Pass, cross the river and return to the East Road."

"General Han means that Luoshui Road is more dangerous?" Wanyan Yinkeshu pondered for a moment.

"Beizhi felt that the section from Qingquan County to Luojiao County was like a bamboo tube, and there was no other way out. If the Song army blocked the north and south, we would be trapped in the bamboo tube, trapped for several months, and the food was exhausted. There is a danger of annihilation of the entire army, and I am a little worried about this part."

Wanyan Yinkeshu chuckled, "After all, General Han is still worried about the Song Army in Fushi County!"

"How could the humble officer not be worried? Chen Qing sent troops to defend Fushi County, isn't it just to cut off our retreat in the north? That is because Fushi County cannot be attacked, so the humble officer suggested using Wuren Road as a retreat route, which broke the Chen Qing set up this move in Fushi County."

"It's a good break. Wu Rendao's move is very clever. The dilemma in Fushi County has really been solved."

Speaking of this, Wanyan Yinkeshu let out a long sigh, "If I had known earlier, I would not have attacked Fushi County in the morning. I lost 2 people for nothing, which is heartbreaking!"

Han Chang didn't say anything, if he didn't lose [-] troops, would Wanyan Yinkeshu ask him what to do?Impossible, he is confident!You have to hit a big nail, Wanyan Yinkeshu will think of himself, otherwise, Wanyanchang recommended himself to him a long time ago, why did he come to ask himself for advice now?

Wanyan Yinkeshu nodded and said, "I am willing to listen to your fourth suggestion!"

"The fourth suggestion of the humble official is actually what I said at the beginning. We need to send a surprise soldier into Guanzhong. This is the best way to defeat Chen Qing. Guanzhong is Chen Qing's weakness, so we have to attack directly.

I suggest sending a cavalry to take the Jingyuan Road, go east from Yanzhou, carry dry food for ten days, and after arriving in Yuanzhou and Pingliang Mansion, you can use it to support the war, supply supplies on the spot, and then enter the Jingyuan Road from Pingliang Mansion , Enter Guanzhong from Jingyuan Road. "

Wanyan Yinke walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and said, "I'm afraid Chen Qing has already anticipated this step. I have an intuition that if he can send people to guard Fushi County, he will definitely prevent us from taking the Jingyuan Road."

"Marshal Du, if you don't enter the tiger's den, you won't catch a tiger's cub. This is a risky move. If you fail, then go back the same way. If you succeed, it's really a wonderful move. Marshal Du, please think twice!"

Wanyan Yinke paced back and forth, he finally made up his mind and said: "Forget it! Just send [-] cavalry. If you successfully enter the pass, you don't need to make trouble in the pass. Go directly to Pujin Pass and help the [-] soldiers I deployed to kill Entering the customs."

Wanyan Yinkeshu immediately ordered Wanyan Mici to command five thousand cavalry to carry out the mission of Jingyuan Road, and found a businessman who was familiar with the road from among the peasants to act as Wanyan Mici's guide, and the five thousand cavalry headed northwest overnight. direction to run.

Wanyan Yinkeshu fully accepted Han Chang's suggestion, and asked Han Chang to lead the peasants and [-] troops back to the Yellow River with luggage, grain, grass and rafts. The luggage went to Pujin Pass.

And Han Chang led an army of [-] to go south along the west bank of the Yellow River. Hundreds of large leather rafts loaded with food, grass and military supplies went down the Yellow River southward, and followed Han Chang's army to Wuren Pass to establish a logistics supply line.

Wanyan Yinkeshu also set off on the same day after Han Chang left. He led [-] cavalry around Fushi County, and quickly headed south with ten days of dry food, with the goal of Yichuan County in Danzhou.

Although all these mobilizations were completed at night, they could not be hidden from the scouts of the Song army outside the city. Niu Gao was informed by the scouts that he realized that the enemy's strategy had changed, and immediately sent an eagle to fly to Tongguan County in the south.

Chapter 6 and Four

Chen Qing's plan was indeed to attack north and south, blocking the main force of the Jin army on the [-]-mile-long closed valley road between Luojiao County and Qingquan County. This was also his main purpose of sending Niu Gao to guard Fushi County.

But when the news came that Jin Bing had captured Yichuan County in Danzhou, Chen Qing immediately realized that the most unlikely thing happened. Jin Bing gave up Luoshui Road and changed to Wuren Trail. Yes, but what about their baggage and carts?

Chen Qing then sent someone to discuss with Fu Lin, a staff member of the army. Fu Lin was recommended to Chen Qing by the old man Wei Zhan. However, Chen Qing needed such a talent, so he was appointed as the doctor of Jingzhao Taixue in preparation. For this expedition, Chen Qing needed road survey and measurement, so he brought him with him as an aide.

Fu Lin was about 35 to [-] years old. He was tall, thin and shrewd. After hearing what Chen Qing had said, he stroked his beard and smiled and said, "I have walked through Wu Rendao many times. It is the only way for business travelers. I also saw with my own eyes that someone used Mules carry food, just like the army passed through the Shenchuan Grand Canyon in the north of Tongguan County the day before yesterday, and the narrow place is too narrow for carts to walk, but isn’t the camel team coming here the same way?”

"You mean that the other party does not use a cart, but uses mules and donkeys to carry food?"

"Humble post is exactly what it means!"

Chen Qing pondered for a while and said, "Even if the food and grass can be carried by mules and donkeys, what about the siege supplies and other weapons and supplies?"

"If it's a siege ladder, it's okay. I've seen a four-wheeled cart in the mountainous area, which is specially used to transport logs. If you tie the wood to the four-wheeled cart, you can also pass the narrow path. Except for particularly large siege weapons, Other smaller supplies can be carried by mules and horses, but Xuanfu envoy has never seen those merchants, and there are all kinds of methods to carry the goods.”

Fu Lin paused and said again: "Actually, there is another possibility."

"What possibility?"

"There is also a possibility that all the luggage went to Pujin Pass by water, so that the Jin soldiers could travel lightly on the Luoshui Road. Once the Jin soldiers entered the pass, all kinds of luggage could be transported directly from Pujin Pass. Yet?"

Chen Qing nodded, this possibility is indeed there.

At this time, the soldiers reported at the door of the big tent, "Report to Dutong, the eagle letter from Tongguan County!"

"Bring it up!"

The soldiers walked into the big tent and presented a red eagle letter tube. Chen Qing glanced at it and found that it was an urgent message from Niu Gao of Fushi County.

He hastily shook out a tube of Eagle Letters, unfolded the Eagle Letters, and said to Fu Lin with a sigh, "Exactly as Mr. said!"

……

The Jin soldiers entered Danzhou to seize Yichuan County to build a logistics supply center. The food and grass supplies of the Jin soldiers must have gone from Wurendao to Yichuan County. From this, it can be judged that the main force of the Jin soldiers did not carry much food, but only carried ten. Dry food for half a month.

Without food support, it is impossible for the main force of the Jin soldiers to stay in Luoshui Road, and they should also go to Danzhou. After receiving food supplies, they will return to Luoshui Road from Danzhou.

This means that the main forces of the Song and Jin Dynasties are in Fuzhou, Fangzhou, and Danzhou, and there is a high possibility of a big battle between these three states.

Both Yanzhou and Danzhou are located on the Loess Plateau, with undulating mountains and ravines. There are two Guangguan Roads, one from Luojiao County to Yichuan County, and the other from Yichuan County to Fang Central County.

In addition to the two official roads, there are more than a dozen small trails, but these trails are very hidden and only local people are familiar with them.

The most important thing now is intelligence, and grasping the movements of Jin Bing is the most important thing.