Fenghou

Chen Qing said lightly: "If he is a smart person, he will definitely send his wife and children to live in Jingzhao. If he can't do this, then sooner or later I will let Pan Gui replace him."

Liu Qiong suddenly realized that the heart of the superior is really beyond his ability to guess.

……

On the second day after Chen Qing returned to Xuchang, the Song army turned to attack Xuchang. The attack on Yingchang Mansion was not a false attack, but a real attempt to capture it. The most important thing is to take Yingchang Mansion, Chen Qing's army will directly face Kaifeng Mansion and Yingtian Mansion, Liu Cui and Yang Zaixing's troops will also send troops to Zhengzhou, forming a double-teaming trend against Kaifeng Mansion.

Of course, if the attack on Yingchang Mansion fails, not only the Western Army will retreat to Ruzhou, but Chenzhou, Yingzhou and Caizhou may not be able to survive, and the pressure on Li Qiong will be great.

So this time, Chen Qing will take Xuchang County at any cost and wipe out Li Cheng's army.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Just before dawn, the Song Army's camp rang the dull sound of war drums, the gate of the Song Army's camp opened, and the mighty army rushed out of the camp.

Suddenly, the alarm bell sounded loudly above Xuchang City, resounding throughout the city. Li Cheng was still writing a letter to Wanyan Wushu to urge reinforcements, when the alarm bell sounded suddenly startled him, his hand trembled, and the entire letter was wasted.

Li Cheng threw away his pen, rushed out of the lobby, and asked sharply, "What happened?"

At this time, a soldier ran in to report, "Report to the Jiedu envoy, the Song army has crossed the river!"

Li Cheng felt dizzy for a while, and shouted: "Order all the left army to go to the city!"

The left army is the army of Zuo Daying, with a total of 5000 people, and another 1 people from the right army. The entire regular army has a total of 5000 people. In addition, Li Cheng also recruited [-] civilians in the city as logistics Support operations, transport supplies, treat the wounded, provide food for the army, etc.

The entire Xuchang city was mobilized, and groups of soldiers rushed to the top of the city. Eight thousand troops stood on the top of the west city, and seven thousand troops were distributed in the other three cities.

Li Cheng shouted to the deputy general Cao Jing'an: "Push all the bed crossbows to the west city!"

There are a total of [-] bed crossbows in the city, of which [-] have been deployed at the head of the west city. There are only fifty medium-sized trebuchets, which are useful against siege soldiers, but they are still a bit powerless against heavy trebuchets [-] paces away. Now they can only use bed crossbows.

A general suggested: "Jiedushi, we seem to have a lot of fire crows in stock in our warehouse, and they can also be used!"

Li Cheng suddenly remembered that they still had hundreds of fire crows made during the Xuanhe period, which had been useless and piled up in the warehouse. After 20 years, they did not know whether they could be used again.

He quickly ordered: "Command the warehouse to send fifty fire crows!"

Soon, a few boxes of Fire Crows were delivered from the warehouse. After opening the boxes, Li Chengxin suddenly became cold. The Fire Crows had been stored for 20 years and were severely damp, so they could not be ignited at all, which made Li Chengbai very happy.

At this time, Deputy General Cao Jing'an found Li Cheng, pointed to a craftsman behind him and said, "Jiedushi, this craftsman may have a way to make the trebuchet project three hundred steps away!"

Li Cheng was overjoyed and quickly asked, "What can I do?"

The craftsman said: "Reporting to Jiedushi, our trebuchets are actually medium and large, and the medium-sized ones should be larger. Under normal circumstances, we can throw 150 catties of stones to about [-] steps. If we change it to [-] catties of stones, we can Throwing is about [-] steps, if it is further reduced, and it is changed to [-] catties of stones, it can be [-] steps, we have all tried it."

"Twenty catties of stones are too light!"

The craftsman smiled slightly: "If you don't use stones, how about changing it to a [-]-jin kerosene tank? It is still effective against enemy trebuchets."

"good idea!"

Li Cheng was so excited that he clenched his fists. It was true that the east wind did not come and the west wind came. The fire crow disappointed him, but the trebuchet had a workaround.

At this time, the [-] infantry of the Western Army had already entered the position. They crossed the bridge and lined up about two miles away from the western city wall, setting up five army formations.

One of the army formations was the [-] Black Armored Army, holding short spears and shields, and wearing heavy armor, which was obviously prepared to participate in street fighting.

In the army formation, there is a large platform with a height of four feet. It is made of giant wood and covers an area of ​​three acres. It was just completed yesterday. It is guarded by the army, and the enemy cannot come and destroy it.

This is the battle viewing command platform. Chen Qing and the generals are all watching the battle on the platform, and they can clearly see the enemy's situation on the top of the city.

At this time, thirty heavy trebuchets were pulled by strong bulls, rumbled across Pingqiao, and headed towards the city. plate.

The artisans of the Western Army have made precise calibrations for each trebuchet, and they can accurately throw a [-]-jin fire oil tank to [-] steps away. Of course, this also involves other influences, such as wind direction, wind speed, and Whether the operation of the soldiers is standardized, so craftsmen are required to make on-site adjustments.

The first thing to do is to place huge baffles. This is also the lesson that the soldiers of the Western Army learned from Luoyang. If the baffles are not put down in time, they will be attacked by the enemy.

After a baffle was placed in place, a trebuchet was slowly pushed forward by the soldiers, which was very methodical.

Sure enough, just as the trebuchets were in place, there was a strange noise in the air, and hundreds of jackdaw arrows were whistling and shot towards them.

"Get down!"

The chief commander shouted, and the soldiers got down one after another.

'Snapped!Snapped!Snapped! There was a sound like fried beans, and the baffle and the trebuchet were nailed full of jackdaw iron arrows, most of which were blocked by the baffle.

Without any loss, the craftsmen began to adjust quickly, and the soldiers continued to place the twenty catapults behind.

On the top of the wall, Li Cheng frowned. He didn't expect that the powerful bed crossbow had no effect, not even hitting a single soldier.

A craftsman said: "Jiedushi, the opponent's trebuchets are all connected by iron chains, not the old belts, jackdaw arrows can't damage them."

"Remove all bed crossbows and prepare trebuchets!"

The bed crossbows take up too much space, and unless the opponent uses a sea of ​​people to attack, it will be effective, otherwise it will not work. Hundreds of bed crossbows and other bed crossbows that have not been installed have all been withdrawn from the city.

Thirty trebuchets were ready to show their power. A thin-skinned clay pot weighing twenty kilograms was put into the throwing pocket. The pot was filled with kerosene, and the outside was also coated with kerosene. The soldiers lit the pot with torches.

Li Cheng shouted, "Shoot!"

Thirty catapults were launched suddenly, and thirty flaming clay pots rose into the air, shooting at the Western Army's catapults [-] paces away.

-------------Chapter Dividing Line---------------

Thirty burning kerosene cans flew across the sky and smashed into the heavy trebuchet roaringly. The craftsmen on the other side could only roughly estimate, not accurately, but they could indeed cast about 270 steps, but the error was too large, basically Between 320 steps and [-] steps, there is an error of fifty steps.

Most of the kerosene tanks were a little bit worse. When they hit about 280 steps, the clay pots fell to the ground and shattered. The kerosene in the tanks spilled out and burned blazingly on the ground. There was a fire.

Two tinder cans flew over the catapult and burned behind it.

Chen Qing frowned, how could Li Cheng have such a long-distance trebuchet?

Military strategist Zhang Xiao saw the clue, and said with a smile: "The other party has reduced the throwing oil tank, probably only twenty catties! So the throwing distance will be farther."

Another round of fire oil tanks came, this time the city craftsmen made adjustments, and the aim was not bad, basically burning around the heavy trebuchet.

A trebuchet was hit, setting it on fire.

A soldier rushed over and shouted, "Your Highness, the fire is too big, brothers can't operate it!"

Chen Qing immediately ordered: "Send the fire brigade to fight the fire!"

Two thousand soldiers rushed to the catapult carrying wet bedding. They spread the wet bedding on the burning kerosene around the catapult, and a bunch of burning fires were extinguished immediately.

On the top of the city, Li Cheng patted his forehead and laughed loudly: "We never thought of such a simple way to put out the fire. Every time we use sand to put out the fire, but it still can't be completely extinguished. Order to prepare three thousand wet quilts!"

This was Chen Qing's carelessness, and Song Jun's fire-fighting operation inadvertently revealed the fire-fighting technique.

But before all the quilts in the city were collected, the heavy trebuchets of the Song Army launched an offensive. Forty trebuchets were fired at the same time, and forty large fire oil tanks roared and shot towards the city. Suddenly, a fire ignited on the top of the city, and half of the trebuchets were ignited. Many soldiers were covered in fire, crying and rushing down the city.

"Jiedushi, evacuate quickly!"

The general and his soldiers surrounded Li Cheng and moved to the north city. Li Cheng shouted: "Get the wet bedding up!"

Li Cheng moved to the head of Beicheng. At this time, three thousand soldiers rushed up with wet bedding, and rushed towards the raging fire. Sure enough, the wet bedding was spread, and the fire disappeared immediately. The wet bedding blocked the air, and the flames were extinguished. put out.

Li Cheng was overjoyed and immediately ordered: "Go and collect another [-] quilts!"

On the high platform, the generals of the Western Army could also see clearly, everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, and the enemy actually put out the fire with wet quilts.

Chen Qing suddenly understood that he had made a mistake in ordering to put out the fire just now, and taught the enemy how to put out the fire, a wry smile appeared on Chen Qing's face.

He sighed and said, "I was careless!"

Gao Ding smiled and said, "His Royal Highness, it is better to use the Iron Rhino! Today is cloudy, so it is just right to use it at night."

Chen Qing looked at the sky, the sky was dark and gloomy, and it looked like it was going to rain.

Chen Qing nodded. The other party had found a way to break the fire and oil war, and it was meaningless to throw it any further. He immediately ordered: "Order to withdraw the troops, and fight again at night!"

The heavy trebuchets stopped firing and began to retreat, one after another the heavy trebuchets left the battlefield one after another.

At this time, Liu Qiong stepped forward and suggested: "Your Highness, why don't you use the siege ladder to attack the city?"

Chen Qing shook his head and said, "The other side has enough fire oil to attack with siege ladders, our soldiers will suffer heavy casualties, there is no need for this!"

Since kerosene was used on a large scale in siege and defense battles, the traditional siege method has become a nightmare. If the opponent throws away thousands of barrels of kerosene and tens of thousands of bales of wheat straw, the attacking party will inevitably suffer heavy deaths. , especially fire, even if it is burned, it is difficult to heal, and it is the most convenient way to break the city with iron fire and thunder.

But what Chen Qing encountered was also an extremely experienced opponent. Li Cheng watched the opponent retreat in an orderly manner. He looked at the sky and said to the generals: "The sky is gloomy, and it must be dark at night. We must prevent the opponent from attacking the city at night. Especially if the other party will use iron fire and thunder to blow up the city, we must take strict precautions and be well prepared, so that the Song army will pay a heavy price for a surprise attack on the city!"

……

In the afternoon, some soldiers reported to Li Cheng that several spies from the Song Army had been found in the south of the city.

Li Cheng rushed to the south city to check it out. He saw five or six soldiers surveying the terrain hundreds of steps away from the south city. But good for a sneak attack.

"Jiedushi, what are they doing?" a general asked in confusion.

Under the city, a Song soldier was lying behind a mound, and after a while, he went to another mound.

Li Cheng narrowed his eyes, and after a while, he said coldly, "They're just pretending to show me!"

……

Night finally came, and it was really dark tonight, with no stars, no moon, and a drizzle of rain.

Fifty thousand Song troops were dispatched, and they were still arrayed outside the west city. Chen Qing stared at the top of the city. He couldn't see the situation on the top of the city, but he could feel the strong murderous intent on the top of the city. Li Cheng had already guessed that he would go tonight To act.

It will be a night of battles of wits and courage.

"Get out!"

With Chen Qing's order, more than a dozen scout teams rushed to all directions of the city. Each team may be a soldier who bombed the city, but they may not.

Li Chengcheng was on the head of Xicheng, nervously watching the movement below the city, he suddenly ordered: "Shoot the arrow!"

Hundreds of soldiers fired gunpowder arrows out of the city at the same time. Hundreds of bright light sources suddenly appeared in the dark night sky, just like hundreds of lamps hanging in the air at the same time. The bright red light clusters quickly descended and burned on the ground Up, that's hundreds of gunpowder arrows acting as flares.

The weak light source made the ground slightly brighter. If someone was running on the ground, it would still be easy to spot, but it would be futile. When the gunpowder arrows were shot, the soldiers of the Song army running outside the west city immediately got down on the ground. The soldiers still couldn't see any figure under the city.

Li Cheng frowned. The risk brought by the darkness of the night far exceeded his expectations. The soldiers of the Song Army sneaked close to the city wall, and they couldn't see it at all.

"Drop the straw and light it!"

Suddenly, hundreds of bundles of wheat straw were thrown from the top of the city wall, and immediately after the rockets shot down, hundreds of bundles of wheat straw immediately burned at the foot of the city wall, and the surrounding area was bright red.

The other three city walls did the same, and the entire city wall was surrounded by burning fire. Now the Song army could never get close.

But this is only a temporary solution, and Li Cheng actually has a better way.

Looking at the blazing fire below the city, Chen Qing couldn't help sneering. It seems that Li Cheng is also at the end of his rope, and actually used this stupid method. This is indeed a method. It can see the situation below the city, but it is relatively stupid. The straw will always burn out. time!

In fact, the best way is to send people down to the city to patrol the city, and the Song Army scouts will not be so easy to approach.

At this time, a soldier shouted in a low voice: "Your Highness, it seems that there are soldiers coming down from the top of the wall."

Chen Qing immediately took a closer look, and saw that in the raging fire, there were indeed countless small black spots climbing down, and they should have used the ladder.

I really can't see that this Li Guo is really capable and sent sentries to the city. At this moment, Chen Qing looked at Li Cheng with admiration. He used the iron fire thunder to attack so many cities. Sentinel's Golden Soldier General.

The sentries in the city are ringing their bells and patrolling, 'Ding Dong!Jingle! 'The sound kept coming, and once the ringing stopped, something must have happened.

160 sentries were patrolling under the city wall. They were divided into sixteen teams to ensure that four teams on each side of the city patrolled uninterruptedly, ringing bells and hanging ladders on the city walls. Once the Song army attacked the city, they would immediately climb the ladder to the city. .

Thousands of soldiers on the top of the city cooperated with the training below the city to form two interactive lines of defense.

This is indeed a very effective method, preventing the Song army from attacking and bombing the city.

Although Li Cheng used the most effective move, it didn't mean that Chen Qing couldn't crack it.

-------------Chapter Dividing Line---------------

Chen Qing immediately ordered: "The trebuchet is in place, ready to launch!"

Forty heavy-duty trebuchets were right behind the army formation. Following Chen Qing's order, forty heavy-duty trebuchets rumbled and moved in a straight line. Driven by hundreds of soldiers, each trebuchet moved three hundred steps forward again. go ahead.

Chen Qing ordered again, "Tang Tongzhi, you can lead [-] cavalry around the city and shoot at the enemy's sentries, and carry out my Nancheng plan well."

"Follow the order!" Tang Qian took the military order and left.

In a moment, three thousand cavalrymen were dispatched suddenly and rushed towards the city wall. The cavalry rushed towards them like a rain of arrows.

The smarter sentinel immediately lay down on the ground, waited for the enemy cavalry to run away, climbed up and climbed up the ladder. The Song army had already launched an attack, and staying under the city could only lead to a dead end.

Three thousand cavalry went around to Nancheng again. The sentries under Nancheng were the same as Xicheng, with 400 people. During the day, a few Song soldiers pretended to check the terrain outside Nancheng. Li Cheng thought that Nancheng was not very dangerous, but no matter whether there was danger or not, the sentries were still the same. Deploy without carelessness.

This is the difference between ordinary generals and famous generals. Ordinary generals think that the danger is not great, so they will put this cognition into practice, and send no sentries, or send fewer sentries.

But famous generals are different. Famous generals will not be affected by their own subjective consciousness. They should still send sentries as usual, and take them seriously without any slack.

However, it is inevitable that Baimi will be neglected. Although Li Cheng did not slack off on Nancheng, he himself will not appear in Nancheng. His energy is limited, and he is more likely to appear in West City, or to visit North City or East City, which also leads to Nancheng. The defenders are not as nervous as Xicheng. After all, the soldiers can feel that the general does not pay attention to Nancheng, which means that Nancheng is not at risk.

At this time, all the sentinels on the south city had climbed up to the city, and arrows were fired from the top of the city. Dozens of cavalrymen were shot off their horses, and the soldiers on the top of the city cheered.