Fenghou

"Can you tell the soldiers that reinforcements are coming soon, like a kind of deception?"

Li Cheng smiled wryly and said: "Li Qiong can be deceived. They shouted to go north to support, but the army stayed in Yancheng, but we can't deceive the soldiers. We must keep sending people to ask for help from the fourth prince. As for whether Li Qiong will come or not?" , depends on how the fourth prince chooses."

At this time, Li Cheng's eyes fell on Yingshui two miles away. He saw the soldiers of the Song Army moving the huge catapult parts to An'an. His heart sank. The most worrying thing these days came. A heavy trebuchet.

Chapter 997 Persecution

Ten thousand cavalry led by Tang Qian quietly entered Wuyang County, about forty miles away from Yancheng, and sent more than 100 scouts to Yancheng to monitor the movement of Li Qiong's army.

Tang Qian faithfully carried out Chen Qing's orders. Once Li Qiong's army left Yancheng, he would immediately cut off the opponent's retreat.

At this time, Li Qiong didn't know that he had become Chen Qing's first target, but he was an experienced veteran, and he also knew the danger of going north. His [-] troops couldn't stop the enemy cavalry at all. shock.

On the top of the city, Li Qiong looked at the north worriedly. Yancheng was about two hundred miles away from Xuchang, and it would take at least three days to walk. He had sent spies northward to inquire about the news of the siege.

At this time, on the official road in the distance, a few cavalrymen were heading south quickly and gradually approaching. Li Qiong saw the cavalry clearly, and his heart sank suddenly. It turned out to be the Jurchen cavalry, which must be the emissary of Wanyan Wushu.

Not long after, several Jurchen soldiers were led to the top of the city, saluted the chief centurion, and handed a military order to Li Qiong, "My lord's urgent military order, please obey it!"

Li Qiong opened the military order, and it turned out that Wanyan Wushu urged him to go north to support Xuchang City, "Before the Song army has yet to besiege the city, Jun can lead the army to go north quickly, enter the city and defend Xuchang together with Li Du, Xuchang has [-] troops, and the Song army breaks the city Don't be afraid!"

Li Qiong let out a long sigh in his heart. Although Wanyan Wushu had the right idea, [-] troops could defend the city without being afraid of [-] enemy troops, but didn't he consider the risk of going north?

The centurion said again: "My lord said that there are risks in doing anything, but you can't stop doing it just because of the risks. General, please don't be afraid of the risks, try to find ways to reduce the risks, but no matter what, you must rush to Xuchang City immediately. , Keep Xuchang City, these are the original words of the prince!"

Li Qiong had no choice but to nod, "Please go back and tell the prince, I will leave as soon as possible!"

The soldier delivering the letter left, and the deputy general Pan Gui sneered, "The fourth prince is really shrewd, he knows that we don't want to go north."

Li Qiong sighed and said, "We didn't want to come to support in the first place. It's not that he didn't know and forced us to come. Of course he won't relax at the last critical moment."

"He also knows there are risks, so why not let the [-] Jurchen troops go to support Xuchang, they still ride horses, which is safer."

"Don't say such boring things, when are the Han people not charging forward? Let's think about how to reduce the risk."

A general suggested: "Reporting to Jiedushi, you can travel day and night, so it won't be easy to be discovered."

Pan Gui also said: "I asked Li Zhixian two days ago. He said that there is an old abandoned official road, which also leads to Xuchang. It is on the west bank of Yingshui River. It is relatively hidden. We can take the old official road at night, and walk in the woods during the day. If you rest, the risk can be cut in half."

Another general also said: "The soldiers should be asked to bring less weapons and more dry food, and tell all the soldiers that once they are intercepted by the cavalry of the Song Army, they should immediately flee to the woods and then return to Bozhou to meet up by themselves, so as to reduce losses. to the bottom."

Another general suggested: "Let each soldier carry a sheepskin bag. Anyway, it is very light and does not take up the weight. If the situation is critical, they can also dive to escape!"

Li Qiong nodded again and again. These plans are very good and well prepared. If they are implemented well, even if they are intercepted, their losses will be minimized.

Li Qiong immediately made preparations, but there were not enough sheepskin bags, and there were still a few thousand missing. Li Qiong found thousands of big gourds from the people's homes, and asked the soldiers to carry them on their backs, so that they could swim and escape with them.

In the afternoon, another group of Jurchen messenger soldiers came and sent Wanyan Wushu's military order. Wanyan Wushu once again urged Li Qiong's army to go north immediately.

Li Qiong couldn't drag it any longer. That night, [-] soldiers marched lightly. They lost their spears, shields, and heavy crossbows. They didn't wear any armor. They only wore civilian military uniforms. Each soldier only wears a knife and a pair of bows and arrows, and doesn't even need a blanket. These equipment are available in Xuchang City.

If they encounter a small group of Song troops, they can still have an advantage in numbers. If they encounter Song cavalry with more than [-] people, even if they are fully equipped, they are no match for them. It is better to turn around and run for their lives.

But each soldier brought dry food for six days, and even brought broken silver and copper coins if he had silver. Since Chen Qing killed more than 1000 soldiers who robbed the people in Luoyang, it really shocked all the troops in the Central Plains. Leave a way out for the soldiers, and try not to rob people's wealth, and sporadic defeated soldiers like them, who rob people's wealth, are easy to be surrounded and killed by angry people.

Everything was ready, and at the first watch, the [-] troops left Yancheng County and quickly marched northwest.

As soon as Li Qiong's army left Yancheng, they were immediately spotted by the scouts sent by Tang Qian. When the enemy moved a little farther, the scouts immediately fired three gunpowder arrows into the sky, followed by three gunpowder arrows ten miles away, and again Three bright red gunpowder arrows also rose ten miles away, and the last three red gunpowder arrows rose above the city of Wuyang County.

Just half an hour after Li Qiong's army left Yancheng, Tang Qian led [-] cavalry out of Wuyang County and rushed towards Yancheng.

At two o'clock, Tang Qian's [-] cavalry arrived in Yancheng, the army entered Yancheng, and found that there was no enemy in the city, and Li Qiong's entire army went north.

Tang Qian immediately made a decision, and the commander Cao Changqing led 2000 people to defend Yancheng. He immediately led [-] cavalry to follow Li Qiong in the direction of going north.

……

In fact, not only the scouts sent by Tang Qian stared at Yancheng, but also the dozens of scouts sent by Chen Qing also stared at Yancheng County, watching every move of Li Qiong's army. When Li Qiong's army set off, the scouts sent by Chen Qing He immediately rushed to the victim.

In the morning of the next day, Chen Qing got the news that Li Qiong's army was going north. He personally led [-] cavalrymen to march southward.

It is not far from Yancheng to Xuchang, about 150 miles, but Li Qiong travels nocturnally, so it takes at least three nights to walk.

But Chen Qing's cavalry went south very quickly. Of course they knew the abandoned official roads, and they were even more familiar with them than the other party. At noon the next day, the forward scouts found [-] enemy troops hiding in the woods forty miles away.

The scouts of the Song army encountered the spies who were dealing with them at the same time, and a fierce battle broke out between the two sides. The Song army had ten times the number of the opponent, and quickly wiped out all ten of the opponent's spies, killing four and capturing six.

An hour later, the leader of the Song army's scouts rushed back to report to Chen Qing, "The report is typical, our forward scouts have found the main force of the enemy army in the south!"

"how far!"

"It was still forty miles away when they were discovered, but now it is estimated to be less than thirty miles away."

"Does the other party have spies?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, we met. We wiped out the ten spies of the other party and captured six of them. They confessed to the spies. They were light soldiers. Each soldier carried a sheepskin bag. They scattered to the woods to escape in a crisis, or jumped into the river to escape. , well prepared."

Chen Qing smiled slightly at Liu Qiong and said, "I want to escape before fighting."

Liu Qiong bowed and said, "Actually, it's understandable. The [-] troops were taken by Li Qiong from Huaibei and surrendered. His family members are all in Bozhou. He values ​​these soldiers very much and doesn't want them to die."

"Why don't you surrender if you don't want to die?"

Chen Qing sneered, and then said to General Li Fuxing: "Li Tong led ten thousand cavalry to walk along the river, cut them off from the river, Liu Dutong!"

"The end is here!" Liu Qiong clasped his fists and said.

Chen Qing said unhurriedly: "You and I each led [-] cavalry to surround them."

Liu Qiong hesitated for a moment and asked, "Then what about the back road?"

"Don't worry! Tang Qian's army must be behind them. Remember, everyone, those who surrender will not die, and those who resist will be killed!"

"Follow the order!"

The [-] cavalry immediately divided into three groups, the yellow dust billowed, the horseshoes sounded like thunder, and they rushed to the south with great momentum.

Chapter 998

A strong feeling of uneasiness lingered in Li Qiong's heart. The spy he sent had not returned for a long time, making him wonder if something happened to the spy?

At this time, the deputy general Pan Gui said: "The humble officer has sent several scouts to investigate the situation. If there is any situation, we will be notified immediately."

As soon as the words fell, the ground began to shake, Li Qiong was startled, and looked to the north anxiously, only to see the dust flying in the north, and the sky turned a dim yellow.

"not good!"

Li Qiong yelled, turned around and shouted: "Run the alarm bell, the Song army cavalry is coming!"

"Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!"

In the woods, a rapid alarm sounded, and the soldiers who were resting stood up one after another, at a loss.

"The Song Army cavalry is here! The Song Army cavalry is here!"

A few soldiers ran wildly and shouted: "The Jiedu envoy has ordered you to retreat immediately!"

The [-] troops were in chaos, turned around and fled in all directions, some ran into the depths of the forest, and some ran towards Yingshui three miles to the east. Li Qiong got on his horse and ran towards the depths of the dense forest to the southwest, followed by countless soldiers. he.

Five or six thousand soldiers rushed out of the woods and rushed towards Yingshui three miles away. Yingshui was less than one mile away when Yingshui suddenly disappeared. .

The soldiers turned around and fled in fright, trying to escape back to the woods, but before they ran far, a cavalry rushed over and cut off their retreat. The soldiers of the Song Army shouted, "Surrender quickly, or you will be shot!"

Thousands of soldiers had no choice but to kneel down and surrender...

To the southwest was a hill, which was also covered by dense forests. Li Qiong ran for thirty miles with thousands of soldiers, fled to the hill, and was surrounded by the [-] Song army chasing after him.

Pan Guan led more than [-] people to flee to the south. They had just escaped from the forest and within two miles, they were surrounded by [-] cavalry regiments led by Tang Qian.

Pan Gui had no choice but to lead his soldiers to surrender, becoming the first senior general to surrender.

The sky had gradually fallen, and all the methods Li Qiong had considered in advance had no room to play against the powerful strength and speed of the cavalry. One of the most important reasons was that the woods where they rested were not densely populated, and the cavalry could still move quickly in the woods. Ben.

Groups of soldiers surrendered under the chase and encirclement of the cavalry, and even the cavalry became a little impatient, shouted three times and refused to surrender, and shot them with random arrows.

The cavalry are not nannies to take care of the children. They don't have that much patience. If the other party is given a chance, but the other party is hypocritical and refuses to surrender, then kill them directly. Fortunately, the soldiers are all human beings. When the cavalry shouted to two, one by one They even rolled and crawled out to surrender.

Li Qiong led more than [-] people and was besieged on a small hill covered with pine forests. Li Qiong sat on a big rock, his mind was blank, and he didn't know what to do at this time, but he knew in his heart that they would never Might have escaped again.

At this time, a soldier shouted: "General Pan is back!"

Li Qiong looked back and saw the deputy general walking quickly with a few soldiers. Needless to say, Pan Gui must have come to serve as a lobbyist for Chen Qing.

"Have you surrendered yet?" Li Qiong asked coldly.

Pan Gui replied calmly: "My humble parents are still old, I can't ignore my parents' life and death just to serve the Jurchens!"

Li Qiong was stunned for a moment, feeling an indescribable bitterness in his heart. He almost forgot that they are loyal to the Jurchens now. He is obviously a Han, but he would rather die than submit to the Jurchens. What will history say? Own?Out-and-out traitor!

Li Qiong never considered this issue. He always believed that the Song Dynasty was sorry for him, so he surrendered to the Kingdom of Jin without hesitation. Now when he was faced with the choice of life and death, this principled issue of right and wrong appeared before him again.

Pan Guan said again: "His Royal Highness King Yong regards the general very highly. He gave the general and his brothers a chance to expel the Tartars again. If the general surrenders, King Yong will no longer pursue the crime of surrendering gold to the general. If the general is willing to continue to join the army, The general will be appointed as the commander of the upper army, and he will continue to sit in Xuzhou, Pizhou, Haizhou, and Suzhou. If he does not want to be an official, he will be given the status of a civilian. The general can live anywhere with his family. The army will set fire to the mountain."

Pausing for a while, Pan Gui said again: "Please forgive me for speaking bluntly, if the general insists on being loyal to Wanyan Wushu, it is best to give the brothers a chance to choose."

Li Qiong glanced back at the group of helpless soldiers. They had parents, wives and children waiting for them to go home.

He sighed for a long time, and said to Pan Gui: "Please tell His Royal Highness King Yong, thank him for his forgiveness, I am willing to surrender!"

A quarter of an hour later, the desperate Li Qiong led more than 4000 soldiers down the mountain and surrendered to Chen Qing.

……

Li Qiong was taken to a large tent at the foot of the mountain. As soon as he entered the tent, he saw His Royal Highness King Yong. Chen Qing smiled and said, "General Li, you are safe here!"

Li Qiong hurriedly knelt down on one knee and cupped her fists and said, "Li Qiong has wasted half his life, and today he finally meets the Lord of the Ming Dynasty, what a blessing for three lives!"

"General Li please stand up, please sit down and rest for a while."

The soldiers moved a simple stool, invited Li Qiong to sit down, and brought him a large bowl of herbal tea. Li Qiong was thirsty, so he drank the herbal tea in one gulp.

Chen Qing nodded secretly. He knew that Li Qiong was loyal to him in disguise!He drank the tea he gave him without any hesitation, no doubt it was poisonous, this was to show his loyalty.

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "General Li, do you know why I value you so much?"

Li Qiong shook her head, "The humble position is dull, please help your Highness!"

"Actually, our fates are very similar. We were both dissatisfied with the civil service system of the Song Dynasty, so I separated myself, and the general surrendered to the Kingdom of Jin in a rage. Am I right?"

Li Qiong sighed and said: "Your Highness is right. I understand it very deeply. Da Song Erlang is not greedy for life or fear of death. He has sacrificed his life to defend his family and country on the battlefield, but why is he repeatedly defeated in the face of the golden soldiers?" , Is it because the Jin soldiers are invincible? Really not, it is a matter of generals and commanders. When the two armies are facing each other, Wanyan Wushu and his son charge forward, how can the soldiers behind not follow desperately?

On the side of the Song Army, the main generals are all civil officials, and they are not in the front enemy at all. If they win, the credit belongs to him alone. The deployment of troops also had to be decided by civil servants. You must know that the two armies had to adapt to the battle, but the generals did not have the power to adapt. Every time the Song army was defeated, they were useless. "

Chen Qing pondered for a while and asked: "If the Song Dynasty invites you to surrender as a prince, are you willing to go back?"

Li Qiong shook her head, "I follow Your Highness loyally. Sooner or later, I will be a Duke instead of a prince. Gou'an's court is not worthy of my allegiance to it!"

"Okay! You continue to lead the army and sit in the five prefectures of Xu, Pi, Hai, Su, and Lianshui to prevent the Song army from going north to pick peaches. If the Yingtianfu Jin soldiers go south to attack, you send someone to notify me immediately, and I will send cavalry south to support. "

Li Qiong was so moved that she knelt down on one knee and wept, "Your Highness's trust, Li Qiong can only repay it with death!"

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "Call your soldiers, I will say a few words to them!"

Not long after, the [-] soldiers who surrendered were summoned, Song Jun built a high platform in front, and Chen Qing led Li Qiong onto the high platform.

Chen Qing looked into countless pairs of eyes and shouted loudly: "Two hours ago, you were still golden soldiers, and you were still unworthy children who were ashamed of your ancestors, but now, you are no longer golden soldiers, you are Song Erlang who has turned back, you You are a member of the Sichuan-Shanxi Army, you are my Chen Qing's soldiers, you will follow me to drive out the Jurchen Tartars and restore the country of our Han people. You can stand in front of your ancestors again, and your descendants will be proud of you! "

Countless soldiers shed tears silently, some even bowed their heads and wept bitterly.

Chen Qing took a deep breath, and said loudly: "I know that you have suffered injustice, so you embarked on the road of rebelling against the imperial court. I, Chen Qing, also suffered injustice, and I also rebelled against the imperial court, but I will never betray my nation. I will never betray the ancestral blood that flows in my blood. You follow me, and we will fight together for thousands of compatriots oppressed by the Jin people, and fight to recover the land left by our ancestors. Brothers, from now on , I hope to gain your allegiance, and we will fight together for future generations to no longer be oppressed by alien races!"

"Loyalty to King Yong, fight for King Yong!"

I don't know who shouted, the blood of [-] soldiers was boiling, and they raised their arms and shouted together, "Allegiance to King Yong! Fight for King Yong!"

Li Qiong let out a long sigh in his heart. He knew that the [-] soldiers had returned, and even if he wanted to betray King Yong again, his soldiers would not do it again.

Chapter 999

Chen Qing once again appointed Li Qiong as the deputy capital commander and Xu Su's military envoy to know Xuzhou's affairs. Let them return to Yancheng to rest for two days, then return to Xuzhou, and sit in Xuzhou, Pizhou, Suzhou, Haizhou and Lianshui Army.

Chen Qing immediately deployed another [-] troops, divided into four armies, led by four commanders, each carrying a large amount of fire oil for defending the city, and went to occupy Chenzhou, Caizhou, Yingzhou, and Bozhou.

In this blocking battle, Chen Qing also achieved his goal. From Dengzhou to the west to Haizhou, all the state capitals that faced the imperial army had been captured by him. This was mainly to prevent the imperial army from picking peaches.

It seems not now, the emperor and the imperial court still have a deep-seated fear of Jin Guo, but once they defeat Wanyan Wushu and regain Bianliang, it will be hard to say, the imperial court's mentality will definitely change, even if their finances It is temporarily unable to support the restoration of prosperity in the Central Plains, but the idea of ​​picking peaches will definitely exist.

Li Qiong led another [-] troops to the south, Liu Qiong worried: "Your Highness, after all, Li Qiong surrendered to the Kingdom of Jin. Even if His Highness trusts him, he should send a supervising army!"

Chen Qing shook his head and said: "What's the use of sending a supervising army? Either I will replace the general, or I will completely trust him and choose a good branch to live in. I am betting that Li Qiong is a smart person, and he knows who his future lies in." ?”

"If Li Qiong was a smart person, what would he do?"