Fenghou

"If you step back first, I will give you a chance to make meritorious service and atone for your crime."

Tang Qian retreated, and Chen Qing looked at the surrounding terrain. This area belongs to Douling, with Shangyikou to the south and Ghota Village to the north. Between the two is a valley tens of miles wide, with large Woods and rivers.

Taguaezhai is on a steep mountain. The Xixia army dug stones on the mountain to clear the road and built a winding mountain road. You can walk mules, horses and carts. The winding mountain road is not afraid. The difficulty is that the mountain is too high and steep. The army set up cards layer by layer and attacked step by step, and the cost of casualties was too high.

Chapter 662 Dark Stream

Zhang Xiao suggested from the side: "Why don't you send scouts to scout around to see if you can find a trail to go up the mountain."

Chen Qing shook his head, "As Sima said before, Xixia people know the Xixia way best, and all shortcuts are blocked. Unless we give up this way, we can only attack honestly!"

Zhang Xiao sighed, "The key is to go up the mountain and there is kerosene, which was seized by the other party."

Chen Qing's heart sank, "How many?"

"I specifically asked General Tang. There are [-] barrels of kerosene and [-] barrels of gunpowder. General Tang led an army to attack, and some of them may have been consumed."

Chen Qing stared at the top of the mountain for a while, and then ordered: "Set up a big camp!"

The [-] Western Army began to set up a large camp in the valley below the mountain, and marching tents appeared at the foot of the mountain.

Standing on the top of the mountain, Shang Dongyan looked coldly at the camp at the foot of the mountain. He had already sent someone to Mingsha County to inform Li Ke, ordering him to abandon Mingsha County immediately and lead the whole army to Cuta Village. Meaning, taking back the Ghota village is his real goal.

It's a pity that they were still a step too late. If he could have done it one day earlier, he would have taken the reward port to the south as well, and this road would have been completely blocked.

General Tuoba Gai looked at the dense tents at the foot of the mountain, and couldn't help but said: "General Shang, if we set fire to the Song Army tents, will they all be burned down?"

Shang Dongyan gave him a cold look and said, "Chen Qing also hopes that you will do this. He thinks he can succeed in sneak attack, but when he goes down the mountain, he falls into someone else's trap."

"Humble job knows it's wrong!"

Shang Dongyan snorted and said: "Pass my order, anyone who dares to go down the mountain without authorization, beheaded!"

……

Chen Qing started out playing with fire, so of course he would guard against the other party's fire attack, so the camp tents were all leather tents, not cloth tents that were easy to catch fire, or even wool tents.

Chen Qing also deployed 6000 sentry guards on the outskirts, and set up a series of traps, fearing that the Xixia army would not come down the mountain.

The largest tent is Chen Qing's commander's tent. At this time, he is standing in front of the map, thinking silently. Every commander is unwilling to attack regardless of the cost. Every soldier's life is precious. Until the last moment, Chen Qing would not consider using a strong attack.

Contrasting the map, he picked up Xixia Notes written by Zhong Shidao. When he wrote about Guta Village, there was such a description, "There is a village named Guta, and its ridge is very dangerous. You can cross the stream and hit it." '

The key is how to understand the word 'xi'?Is it gourd water?It doesn't feel like it. The Hulu River can't be called a stream. The Hulu River is ten miles west of Ghota Village.

Chen Qing pondered for a long time, then turned his head and said to the soldiers: "Go and find Tang Qian!"

Not long after, Tang Qian rushed over and bowed to salute, "See Dutong for humble posts!"

Chen Qing said with a smile: "I hope you will take this lesson as wealth and not lose confidence because of it."

"The humble job is unforgettable!"

Chen Qing nodded, and asked again: "How does attacking Gouta village from the north compare with the south?"

"Reporting to Dutong, it is a little easier to attack from the north. Although it is also a winding mountain road, the slope is relatively gentle, and the impact of rolling logs and stones will be much smaller, which is basically bearable."

Chen Qing said again: "I was looking at the notes left by Mr. Zhong just now, and there are a few sentences in it that say, 'There is a village named Cuta, and its mountains are very dangerous. You can cross the stream and hit it.' Wondering what it means to cross the stream and strike it?"

Tang Qian hesitated and asked, "Could it be that there is a small stream nearby that can cross the mountain to the north?"

"The literal meaning is this, but where is this stream?"

Tang Qian immediately understood, clasped his fists and said, "Beizhi is willing to lead his scouts to find this creek."

"Go! Take Zhong Huan with you, he may understand his grandfather's meaning better."

……

Chong Huan was very excited along the way. Not only was he following the footsteps of his ancestors to Xixia for the first time, but he also participated in the Battle of Exterminating Xia as a soldier for the first time.

"General Tang, would you like to hear my thoughts?"

Tang Qian's mood was relatively low, and he said lightly: "You tell me, I will listen with all my ears!"

"Since it is said to be a stream, it is the source of the river. There are three rivers in this valley. One is gourd water, which cannot be a stream. The other two small rivers, one flowing from the opposite mountain, can also be ruled out. , and the source of the other river is unknown, can we go along this river to check?"

"Not bad!" Tang Qian praised from the bottom of his heart: "As expected, he came from the inner guard, and his thinking is really careful."

He turned his head and waved his hand and said: "He led more than a hundred cavalry and rushed to the southeast."

There are two small rivers in the valley, one east and one west flowing into the gourd water. The small river they want to explore is the river in the east. More than a hundred cavalry rushed along the small river for about twenty miles. The river is subdivided into Four creeks, Tang Qian immediately divided the soldiers into four teams, and each went to find a source.

Zhong Huan followed Tang Qian and a dozen cavalrymen to find the source of the largest creek. Soon, they found the source, which immediately disappointed them.

A waterfall-like stream of water flows down from the mountain, forming a pool on the ground. This pool of half an acre of land is the source of the creek.

Not long after, several groups of cavalry came to report, the answer was the same, the source was found, but there was no deep ravine or tunnel canyon, not even a crevice in the rock.

A capital said: "General Tang, could it be the river to the west, maybe there are other streams flowing into it along the way?"

Tang Qian shook his head, "I went to see the small river in the west. There is no small stream flowing in, it's just a single river."

At this time, Zhong Huan pondered for a long time, and said slowly: "My grandfather was very careful in his choice of words. To cross a stream means to cross a stream. Since it is to cross a stream, the stream should run from east to west. I suspect This creek is in the mountain, it is a dark river, and this dark river will eventually flow into the gourd water, does General Tang understand what I mean?"

"You mean, or should you follow the gourd water?"

Zhong Huan nodded, "The gourd water passes through the mountain for more than ten miles, and the drop is big in the second half of the journey. Should we go in on a raft and have a look?"

Tang Qian slammed fists and palms together, "Just go and see!"

……

In the middle of the night, the group arrived ten miles to the west of Ghota Village. The gourd water flowed quietly to the north, but the terrain in the north dropped sharply, the drop of the gourd water became larger, and the water flow became very fast. Finally, it approached the form of a waterfall. It made it impossible for the army to pass through the Hulushui River Valley, so they could only climb over the mountains and cut and tazhai.

The mountain stream was very narrow, and the river narrowed and became swift. A soldier was lying on the raft, and the raft was pulled by two long ropes, causing the raft to slide forward slowly.

"slower!"

Tang Qian shouted: "Hold on to the rock wall and pay attention to see if there are dark rivers flowing in on both sides."

The raft flowed forward for more than twenty feet, and the soldier suddenly shouted, "There is a very high cave here!"

The rafts of the soldiers were pulled back. This time Tang Qian went into battle in person. He also lay on the raft and flowed forward for more than [-] feet. A crack as high as [-] feet suddenly appeared in front of him. Flowing out, there is a large space in the crack, and it is pitch black.

Tang Qianyi was a bold man. Holding a short spear in one hand and a torch in the other, he waded into the water. The water was as deep as his belly, and the soles of his feet were covered with pebbles. When he walked in seven or eight feet, a palace-like space appeared in front of him, and the wind was blowing it to the north. Flame, he climbed ashore, held the torch high, and found that there was an upward slanting passage, but at the same time, he also accidentally discovered that there were shallow stone steps on the passage.

Chapter 663

Chen Qing led thousands of soldiers to the side of the valley. The craftsmen used large wooden boxes and iron chains to build a simple floating box plank road. Chen Qing was not in a hurry to go up, but was patiently waiting for news from Tang Qian.

Tang Qian led more than a hundred people and walked about ten miles in the cave. There are many forks in the cave, and one cave is within another, so it is easy to get lost.

But this cave was not just discovered. It should be that the Song army passed by and carved very shallow stone steps on the ground, but it is not so much a stone step as a mark. More than a hundred people meandered along the stone step mark. While walking, there was a knocking sound in front of him, 'Dang!when!when! It was extremely ear-piercing in the cave, Tang Qian squatted down hurriedly, stepped on the torch in his hand, and the soldiers behind him also extinguished the torch.

Tang Qian crawled slowly, and there was a hole not far in front, and the knocking sound came from this small hole.

He cautiously looked out, and almost bumped his head against the stone. Outside was a cave like a palace, and the cave was full of various supplies.

Tang Qian wanted to slap himself hard. They had already discovered the big hole outside and used it as a warehouse for storing supplies. The supplies inside were all stored by them, such as grain, fodder, bacon, weapons, armor, Bows and arrows, tents, kerosene, gunpowder, etc. At that time, they never imagined that this natural cave actually led to the foot of the mountain.

The entrance of the cave was blocked by dozens of wooden boxes for swords, but there was a gap about a foot wide. Through the gap, a few Xixia soldiers seemed to be building tents, and a soldier was beating a thick stick on the rock. The dangdang knocking sound of the tent nails came from here.

Of course Tang Qian knew about the situation outside the cave. The cave was to the west of the village, about [-] feet away from the top of the mountain. They specially built a barracks outside the cave, with soldiers standing guard, and a path leading directly to the top of the mountain.

Tang Qian waved his hands back and said in a low voice, "Send the order to go back!"

The order was passed on one by one, and everyone started to turn around and return along the original road. It was easy to go down the mountain. After half an hour, they came out of the water hole and returned to the shore along the plank road of the floating box.

"How about it?"

Chen Qing stepped forward and asked, "What did you find?"

Tang Qian quickly clasped his fists and said, "Qi Dutong, there is a secret passage leading to the top of the mountain!"

He drew a simple picture on the ground, said while drawing, and finally said: "There is a cave hall on the top. In fact, we have discovered it a long time ago. It is used as a natural warehouse. It's the same as the commander in chief."

"That's huge!"

Chen Qing sighed in admiration, and asked again: "Then why didn't the other party discover this cave?"

"Qi Dutong, when we occupied the Ghota village, the village had been abandoned for at least ten years, and it became dilapidated and barren. There were also some tattered sacks in the cave. We guessed that the Xixia army also used it as a warehouse, but Whether the Xixia army has discovered the secret behind the cave, I don't know."

Chen Qing nodded, and looked at the night again. The fifth watch had already passed. He turned to Yang Zaixing and said, "The enemy must be on guard at the top of the mountain. I will lead a large army to attack the stronghold, and you will lead [-] elite troops to enter the stronghold from the cave!"

"Humble post obeys orders!"

Yang Zaixing led [-] elite soldiers to follow Tang Qian into the cave. Chen Qing returned to the camp, and then led [-] troops to attack the village at night.

……

Although Shang Dongyan once led an army to attack the supplies of the Song army in the Ghota village 20 years ago, he has never been stationed in the Ghota village. Of course, he did not know that there is a mountainside passage leading to the mountain stream, not to mention that the Gheta village is deserted. For ten years, most Xixia soldiers did not know the existence of this secret passage.

Shang Dongyan got up at five o'clock, which was a habit he had developed for decades. He got up on time at five o'clock every day, rain or shine.

He came to the cottage and watched the situation at the foot of the mountain. It was pitch black below, and he couldn't see it from the top of the mountain, but they had sentries and garrisons on the mountainside. If there was any abnormality, they would be discovered immediately.

Shang Dongyan has an intuition that Chen Qing can't wait for time, and will definitely attack on a large scale within two days. He is also a little worried. If Chen Qing doesn't count the casualties, the army camp may not be able to keep it. After all, he only has [-] troops, so it depends on Li Ke. Can you lead the army to arrive in time?

At this moment, a rapid alarm bell sounded suddenly at the foot of the mountain, 'Dang!when!when!when! ’ is especially harsh in the silence of the night.

"not good!"

Shang Dongyan suddenly yelled, turned around and ran towards the cottage, "Order the whole army to stand up, the enemy is attacking!"

Alarm bells sounded in the cottage as well, Xixia soldiers got up one after another, put on their shoes, picked up their weapons and rushed outside the big tent.

Shang Dongyan was yelling to command the soldiers, "All the crossbowmen take their positions, move the gunpowder barrels and kerosene barrels to the side of the mountain road, and roll logs and stones to prepare!"

Gunpowder and kerosene are not the materials in the cave warehouse, they are spare materials. There are [-] barrels of kerosene and [-] barrels of gunpowder in the cottage. For a day of fierce fighting, it is almost enough to use [-] barrels of kerosene.

The Xixia army has piled up a lot of wood at every turn. As long as the Song army comes, they will ignite the wood at a turn, sprinkle with kerosene, and cooperate with the crossbowmen, which is enough to block the attack of the Song army.

Tang Qian killed and injured nearly 3000 people in his attack on the mountain, and he couldn't attack it anyway. This is the reason.

At this time, the commander Wang Xian led [-] soldiers to attack the vanguard. Wang Xian was Gao Ding's subordinate, and Yang Zaixing sent a surprise soldier into the cave.

Five hundred soldiers walked slowly at the front, each holding a large shield. Suddenly, a raging fire ignited at the corner in front of him. The entire mountain path was engulfed in flames.

The soldiers of the Song Army raised their large shields above their heads one after another. A dozen soldiers couldn't raise their shields enough, were shot by arrows, and rolled down the hillside screaming.

Immediately afterwards, a rain of boulders fell, dozens of soldiers were knocked over, and the rest of the soldiers leaned against the mountain wall one after another.

At the same time, [-] Song soldiers also shot arrows overhead, but the effect was so poor that the screams of the enemy's arrows were basically not heard.

In contrast, it is still sharper to shoot arrows from above...

Chen Qing could see clearly from the bottom of the mountain, the mountain was too steep, it was basically impossible to attack the mountain from the front, and Yang Zaixing's [-] troops were a bit small.

Chen Qing immediately said to Gao Ding: "General Gao will lead another [-] troops up from the cave to support General Yang."

"Follow the order!"

Gao Ding immediately led the [-] troops from the headquarters to the direction of the mountain stream.

……

Yang Zaixing led 3000 people to the top of the cave. Behind him, dense soldiers almost filled the entire mountainside.

The cave was very quiet, the soldiers guarding the cave had already fallen asleep, and the alarm bell from the top of the mountain could be vaguely heard, but it was not affected at all here, only the figure of a person walking back and forth in the cave, that was the sentinel on guard.

Everyone worked together, moved boxes of weapons into the cave, and cleared a passage.

Yang Zaixing jumped out of the cave, holding a gun in his left hand and a sword in his right, and rushed into the small tent. The tent shook slightly, and after a while, Yang Zaixing came out, with blood still dripping from the tip of the spear.

He led a dozen soldiers to touch the entrance of the cave. There were four soldiers at the entrance of the cave. They were also awakened by the sound of the alarm bell on the mountain, and they were gathering together and talking about something.

Yang Zaixing waved his long sword, "Crack! The head of the soldier on guard flew out, the headless corpse fell down, blood sprayed from the neck cavity, the other three were caught off guard and were sprayed with blood all over their faces, screaming in fright, a dozen soldiers together Charged forward, spears pierced their chests.

Yang Zaixing waved his hand, "Follow me!"

The mighty soldiers rushed to the top of the mountain following him...

Chapter 664 Recapture

Shang Dongyan stood on the top of the mountain and watched the movement of the fire. From the change of the fire, he could know the attack situation of the Song army. If the fire dispersed and disappeared, it was the Song army who dragged the fire away and threw it off the cliff. When a new fire is lit, it means that the Song army has begun to attack the second pass.

Of course, if the fire remains unchanged, it proves that the Song army's attack is unfavorable, and it was suppressed before the first pass.

Of course Shang Dongyan hoped that such a situation would happen, but he also knew that this kind of situation was not realistic. With the strength of Chen Qing's army, it might be delayed a little, but it would never fail to attack.

Only a quarter of an hour passed, but the flames remained motionless, which was a bit unexpected. More than 1000 people attacked, even if there were two or three hundred casualties, as long as they worked hard, they would definitely be able to rush forward.