Fenghou

Three thousand cavalry rushed towards the east city like lightning, but the corpses lying on the ground started to move, and under the cover of night, they slid into the water silently. under.

All the patrolling sentries under the city went to the city, and Li Cheng on the top of the city also realized that this was a dangerous time, so he immediately ordered: "Throw down four thousand bundles of wheat straw and set fire to it, one thousand bundles for each city, and order all the soldiers to keep an eye on it." Every move in the city."

Soldiers on the top of Nancheng dropped thousands of bundles of wheat straw and ignited them with rockets. The bottom of the wall turned into a sea of ​​flames again, illuminating the situation below the city and making it impossible for the Western Army to exploit.

At this time, the Song army's catapult outside the west city was launched, and forty large burning fire oil tanks smashed towards the head of the city. The head of the west city instantly turned into a sea of ​​flames. Countless city guards fought the fire with wet quilts. Although it was not extinguished, it did not spread into a fire that filled the city, and the guards did not retreat, they still stared at every move in the city, and fired arrows at the slightest movement.

This time, the Song army's catapults kept firing, and the soldiers on the top of the city desperately put out the fire. The fire kept burning and extinguishing. The two sides seemed to be competing, especially Li Cheng, who kept asking the soldiers to go to the city to collect bedding.He knew very well in his heart that once the top of the city was covered by fire and could not be extinguished, Xuchang City would be finished. No matter whether the Song army bombed the city or attacked the city, it would be easy for the Song army to break into the city.

The thousand bundles of wheat straw gradually burned out, and it became pitch black again outside the city. Immediately, some soldiers ran to ask Li Cheng for instructions.

At this moment, three black shadows climbed up from the cracks on both sides of the suspension bridge, lifted a huge iron winter melon ashore, dodged and hid under the city gate, the city gate retracted about two feet, and there was a circle on it The eaves, they cannot be seen from the top of the city.

But if it is daytime, they can be seen from the horse-faced walls on both sides, but now it is dark night, and the men in black under the city gate are also invisible from the horse-faced city.

This is a loophole in the defense of the city. The various crises that Li Cheng is facing are complicated. He didn't consider this loophole, but Chen Qing thought of it.

The catapult fire oil attack in the west city was not meaningless. Every step Chen Qing made had a deep meaning. He used cavalry to run and shoot around the city, on the one hand to drive the sentries back to the city, and on the other hand to transport scouts and iron fire mines. Before they knew it, Tie Huolei and the soldiers from the Firearms Battalion had quietly arrived.

The use of heavy stones to attack the west city was actually to distract Li Cheng's attention, making him exhausted and tired of facing the fire oil attack, so that he had no time and energy to think about the loophole in the south city.

Chen Qing sent a total of four soldiers, packed two large iron fire mines in a large wooden box, and carried out two attacks. What is about to happen now is the first attack.

At this time, another thousand bundles of wheat straw were thrown from the top of the city, and the soldiers threw torches to light them. At the same time, two soldiers in black also lit the match ropes. It turned into a sea of ​​flames again, clearly visible everywhere.

At this time, the guarding soldiers on the horse-faced wall suddenly found a dark object on the city gate, like a round boulder with sparks on it, and the soldiers quickly shouted: "General, what is that?"

On the city gate, Li Hong, the lord of the South City, quickly leaned forward and looked down. He could only see a small part of it. At this time, the fire rope had already burned in, and there were no sparks outside, only smoke.

"It's a big rock, didn't it exist before?" Li Hong asked.

"There was no such big rock before, it appeared suddenly."

"Strange, what is this?"

At this moment, a burst of red light shot out, and the iron fire thunder exploded. The huge explosion sounded like a mountain avalanche and the ground cracked. The ground was shaking, and the ears of countless soldiers seemed to be deafened.

Li Cheng didn't stand still and fell to the ground. He got up and looked towards the south gate in horror. In the darkness, a puff of white smoke rose into the sky.

"Damn!"

Li Cheng punched the ground hard. He never imagined that during the day, the Song army was pretending to be outside Nancheng, but it was actually Nancheng that they were attacking.

"Order the whole army to go down to the city and block the gap!"

Li Cheng got up and shouted sharply, the alarm bell rang loudly, and the soldiers in the city rushed towards the south gate from all directions.

The southern city gate was filled with thick smoke and dust, and no one knew what happened when it was bombed. At this time, four soldiers of the Song Army rushed into the thick smoke carrying the second iron rhinoceros.

After a while, the four soldiers escaped. At this time, the thick smoke had already dissipated. The soldiers in the city could see their figures and immediately fired arrows. The two soldiers screamed one after another, and were shot through their bodies by dozens of arrows. Falling headlong, the other two soldiers jumped into the moat.

At this moment, there was another earth-shattering explosion, and the south city wall, which was hundreds of feet long, collapsed.

The heavy trebuchets outside the west city had already stopped attacking. When the second explosion came, Chen Qing knew that he had already succeeded in capturing Xuchang City. He immediately ordered: "March to the south city!"

Gao Ding led [-] soldiers of the Black Armored Army to head towards the south city, and then tens of thousands of soldiers marched towards the west gate.

But the fastest was to control Gao Feng and lead five thousand crossbowmen. They lay in ambush one mile away from the south city. The five thousand crossbowmen rushed to the front of the south city and shot arrows into the city together. After entering, hundreds of soldiers quickly built a pontoon bridge with large wooden boxes and planks.

Inside the city, the coach Li Chenggang rushed to the bottom of the city, staring dumbfounded at the collapse of the southern city wall, and then the smoke and dust rose into the sky, and the dust filled the air, making it impossible to see anything.

But Li Cheng knew that the city wall could no longer be defended. Of course, he would not choose to escape. The city wall fell, but the battle to attack and defend the city was only halfway through.

He drew out his saber and shouted sharply: "Order the whole army, prepare for street fighting!"

The crossbowmen of the Song army used dense arrows to suppress the soldiers who were trying to block the city. Lu Gui led the [-]-sword shield army to rush across the pontoon bridge first. Holding a heavy shield in one hand and a sword in the other, they lined up ten people along the huge gap. Walk towards the city step by step.

What awaited them was still the dense rain of arrows shot from all directions.

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

Among all kinds of wars, the most tragic and bloodiest is the street fighting. The two sides fight hand-to-hand. As long as they are not on their own side, they basically kill indiscriminately. , women, children, and the elderly will be a little better, but adult men can't escape, basically they will be killed by mistake, who knows if they are militia soldiers?

The western army had already controlled the gap in the south city and began to advance into the city. At this time, the east gate had been captured by the western army, and the gate was opened. Liu Qiong led [-] cavalry into the city and ran towards the south city.

On Nancheng Street, thousands of gold soldiers built a wall with sandbags, raised their crossbows and fired arrows at the gap to prevent the western army from entering through the gap. The crossbowmen retreated one after another, and many of them were unable to retreat in time and were shot down by arrows.

Thousands of people and more than [-] other soldiers fled into the dense alleys in the city and abandoned the streets. They used bows and crossbows and familiarity with the terrain to fight against the Western Army.

Ten thousand Western Army cavalry took control of the main avenue, and without crossbowmen to stop them, three thousand Western Army sword and shield soldiers and five thousand crossbowmen came in, and Gao Ding led ten thousand black armored troops to come in through the broken city gate. .

At the same time, the west city gate opened, and Chen Qing led an army of 6 troops to enter through the west gate, and the number of western troops in the city had reached [-].

The western army had trained in street fighting, but had no actual combat experience, and more importantly, it was dark at night. Twenty-five thousand enemy troops were hidden deep in the alley. The Song army on the attacking side would be very passive, and the casualties would inevitably be far greater than that of the opponent.

Chen Qing pondered for a moment and said to everyone: "The night is too dark, and we will suffer a lot in street fighting. We will leave [-] troops to control the city walls and gates, and the other troops will temporarily withdraw from the city."

Chen Qing immediately ordered Gao Ding to lead an army of [-] to stay inside the city, and the others withdrew from the west gate to wait for dawn to fight again.

……

The Western Army's retreat without a fight instantly reversed the unfavorable situation, and put aside the signed troops who were waiting for street fighting. It was only three o'clock at this time, and it was still early before dawn.

Lieutenant General Cao Jingan found Li Cheng in Cangcheng, and said worriedly: "Chen Qing is not in a hurry to fight with us in the street. He is obviously waiting for the dawn. The number of opponents is several times that of ours. I am afraid that the street fight will be very bad for us. I suggest that you take advantage of it." Now the night is dark, let the army abandon the city and retreat! To preserve our strength."

Another general, Zhang Jing, also said: "The Song Army's Iron Fire Thunder is really powerful. Many of our brothers stick to the house and fight. Once the opponent uses a small iron fire mine, it will be a disaster for our brothers. The humble officer also agrees to break through. .”

Li Cheng pondered for a moment and said, "I will write a letter to Chen Qing. I can give him Xuchang City, but he wants us to retreat eastward safely!"

Cao Jingan and several generals were stunned for a moment, Cao Jingan said anxiously: "Of course he will let us leave the city, but he will definitely annihilate us outside the city!"

Li Cheng sneered and said: "You underestimate Chen Qing too much. This person is a hero. The biggest characteristic of a hero is that he wants both fame and benefits. Such a dark night is not suitable for field battles at all. He will definitely follow the trend. He pretended to promise a lot of money and bought the hearts of the people. In order not to hurt the people, he let the enemy escape, and then asked us not to burn the warehouse. There are so many benefits, which are more cost-effective than chasing and killing thousands of us.”

Cao Jing'an no longer objected, "Since Jiedushi sees it so clearly, why not give it a try!"

Li Cheng immediately wrote a letter, asking his staff member Shen Guotai to meet Chen Qing outside the city, and he ordered all the troops to gather at the warehouse in the middle of the city.

……

Shen Guotai came to the west city and found the guard of the west city. The guard immediately took him out of the city and came to a temporary tent two miles outside the city.

In the big tent, Chen Qing is considering how to carry out street fighting. The first thing to do is to seize Cangcheng. There are 50 shi of grain in the city, plus the 20 shi of grain that Tang Qian obtained in Caizhou and Xiangcheng before, this is 70 shi of grain. It is very important to stabilize the situation in the Central Plains.

There is also the problem of civilians in street fighting. Although civilian casualties are inevitable in street fighting, Chen Qing also hopes to minimize civilian casualties, which means that fires, explosions, etc. cannot be used in large quantities. If the opponent's army is strong and occupies favorable terrain .

I am afraid that the Western Army will have to pay more than [-] casualties this time.

At this time, the soldiers reported outside the account, "General Wang Jian, the guard of the Ximen Gate, brought a scribe who said he was Li Cheng's aide, and was ordered to contact His Highness."

Zhang Xiao smiled and said, "I'm afraid the other party also has the desire to survive."

Chen Qing sneered and said, "It's because I refused to fight at night, which made Li Cheng's wishful thinking of losing both sides come to nothing."

He immediately ordered: "Let him in!"

After a while, a rather elegant middle-aged literati came in, bowed and said: "In Shen Guotai, the judge of Yingchuan Prefecture, and also Li Shijun's staff, please refer to His Royal Highness King Yong!"

Chen Qing glanced at him and asked, "Since you are the general judge of Yingchang Mansion, why are you also Li Cheng's aide?"

Shen Guotai respectfully said: "Reporting to Your Highness, General Li is concurrently serving as the magistrate of Yingchang. I was originally his aide, and was recommended by him to be the general judge of Yingchang mansion, in charge of government affairs."

"Since you are in charge of government affairs, let me ask you, how much food can the government of Yingchang Mansion collect in a year?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, the official land plus tax is about 40 shi a year. We have to hand over 30 shi to Bianliang and keep [-] shi to supplement the army rations."

Chen Qing frowned, "You have an army of [-], is one hundred thousand shi enough for the army?"

Shen Guotai had a very good attitude and always answered Chen Qing's questions respectfully, "Reporting to Your Highness, one hundred thousand stones are only the food of Yingchang Mansion, we also have military rations handed over from Caizhou, Chenzhou, and Yingzhou, plus our own military farmland. , There is enough food, otherwise, where did the 50 shi of food in Cangcheng come from? Bianliang will not allocate it to us."

"Okay! What did Li Cheng want you to say?"

Shen Guotai took out Li Cheng's letter from his bosom, and presented it to Chen Qing with both hands, "This is Li Shijun's letter, please read it, Your Highness!"

A soldier stepped forward to receive the letter and forwarded it to Chen Qing. Chen Qing opened the letter and read it carefully. He handed the letter to Zhang Xiao and asked Shen Guotai: "The letter did not mention the evacuation time. If I Agree to your evacuation, when will it be?"

"If His Highness agrees to our evacuation, we will evacuate before the fourth watch!"

"How many horses do you have?" Chen Qing asked again.

"Reporting to Your Highness, there are less than [-] war horses!"

Chen Qing glanced at Zhang Xiao again, and Zhang Xiao returned the letter to Chen Qing, "Your Highness, let's decide! I have no objection to the humble position."

Chen Qing nodded, pondered for a moment and said: "Since your general doesn't want to hurt the people of Xuchang and proposes to withdraw troops to change the city, I agree in principle, and I don't want to hurt the people of Xuchang, but the idea of ​​withdrawing troops to change the city is wrong, we have already entered the city , I can only say that for the sake of your general’s concern for the safety of the people, I will spare him this time for the time being.”

Shen Guotai didn't dare to argue with Chen Qing, bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Highness, for your forgiveness!"

"But to let you go, I have four conditions. First, the warehouse is guaranteed to be safe, and all food and supplies in the warehouse are not allowed to be taken away; second, the leaving army, including horses and livestock, must not exceed Three thousand horses; third, Xuchang is not far from Kaifeng Mansion, I ask you to leave the territory of Yingchang Mansion before dawn; fourth, except for the commander Li Cheng, other soldiers are not allowed to leave with their family members, I will not harm your family members , They can leave at any time, I will not stop them."

Shen Guotai thought for a while and said: "The first three items are all right, but the family members of several major generals will also be taken away besides Li Shijun."

"Yes, no more than [-] carriages, you decide for yourself. In fact, I am doing it for your own good. There are too many old people and children to support, which affects the march. If you don't leave Yingchang Mansion before dawn, I will definitely send cavalry to chase after you!"

"Understood, I will go back and report, and there will be a reply soon!"

Shen Guotai bowed and saluted, then left in a hurry.

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

Looking at Shen Guotai's back in a hurry, Zhang Xiao said with a smile: "I thought His Highness wanted to use this opportunity to try street fighting."

Chen Qing shook his head, "If the other party was a Jurchen soldier, I would definitely not let them evacuate, but after all, they are all Han Chinese, killing both sides, countless civilians were killed and injured, but the Jurchens were unscathed, watching jokes on the sidelines, I will not do this kind of thing. "

"I'm afraid there are other reasons!" Zhang Xiao laughed.

"There are various reasons. Once his army breaks out of the city, I will not be able to chase him down in such a dark night, but this is not the main reason. If I don't want to let them go, even if they break out of the city with all their might, more than half of them will be killed or injured. The key is that I don't want my soldiers to suffer too many casualties in street fighting."

Not long after, Shen Guotai came back again, bowed and said: "We have a total of twenty carriages, three thousand horses, and the warehouse has been closed. We will leave Yingchang Mansion before dawn. I only hope that Your Highness will make a promise!"

"Go! I won't go back on what I promised. I will tell Li Cheng to evacuate in an upright manner. If he wants the family members of the soldiers to leave safely, don't play tricks on me!"

"I remember!"

Shen Guotai saluted and was about to leave when Chen Qing stopped him, "Please wait!"

Shen Guotai stopped in his tracks, bowed and said, "If there is anything else, please give orders, Your Highness!"

Chen Qing smiled slightly, "If Mr. Shen is willing to stay, I can continue to appoint you as the general judge of Yingchang Mansion!"

Shen Guotai was stunned, and after a long while, he was touched and said: "Thank you for your kindness, but General Li is not mean to me, I can't forget my righteousness and abandon him!"

"Okay! At that time, everyone was their own master. In the future, you can come to Jingzhao to apply for a job."

"If His Highness is willing to include it in the future, the humble official will definitely come."

"Mr. Shen may wish to recommend some local officials to me. I want to be an honest official with outstanding ability."

Shen Guotai nodded and said: "Since His Highness trusts you, I can recommend two people to His Highness. One is Su Heng, the magistrate of Xuchang County. Although he comes from a wealthy family, he is very upright, has a clear distinction between public and private, and is very capable of doing things. They all admired him very much, and invited him to Bianliang several times, but he always declined.

The other person is Li Yanjun, the magistrate of Yancheng County. The agricultural conditions in Yancheng are only moderate in Yingchang Prefecture, but the grain output of Yancheng has ranked first in Yingchang Prefecture for five consecutive years. It happened to be Li Yanjun's tenure. His ability can be seen , and he is very clean and honest, his salary is not enough to support his family, and he even copies books for others at night. "

Chen Qing was surprised and said: "If such a person is not really honest, he is a traitor!"

"Reporting to Your Highness, Li Cheng once sent someone to spy on him, and the conclusion is that he is really clean!"

Chen Qing nodded and said with a smile: "Then I also look forward to seeing Mr. Jing Zhaoneng again!"

Shen Guotai bowed deeply again, took his leave and left.

Zhang Xiao said with a smile: "Your Highness is really trustworthy in employing people!"

Chen Qing said lightly: "Yingchang Mansion is the best governed mansion in the Central Plains. Sima Zhao Yuan is in front, and Li Cheng is his successor. But the real person in charge of government affairs is this Shen Guotai. He should manage Yingchang Mansion for two years. Now, if he was a corrupt and treacherous person, Yingchang Mansion would have been in a mess long ago."

"Your Highness knows people!"

Chen Qing smiled again and said, "I will use the two he recommended, but I will also arrange intelligence scouts to observe them. If the names don't match the facts, just replace them."

……

At this time, Li Cheng's [-] troops had assembled. Li Cheng and the family members of other important generals were sitting in twenty carriages. Each of them was holding a cloth bag, which was packed with soft goods. Three thousand cavalry guarded them. family.

At this time, Shen Guotai came back on horseback under the guard of a dozen cavalrymen. Li Cheng asked, "What do you say?"

"Chen Qing said that he would not go back on what he promised. He also said that the general should evacuate in an upright manner. Don't play tricks with him, otherwise he will not be able to guarantee the safe departure of the soldiers' families."

Li Cheng sighed inwardly, the family members of the soldiers were taken as hostages, and it would be hard to say what happened in the future, but at this moment the arrow had already been fired, and he had no choice but to shoot, and it was too late to regret it now.

Li Cheng had no choice but to put the fate of himself and the soldiers on Chen Qing's promise, and he ordered: "Let's go!"

The [-]-strong army set off in a mighty manner, with [-] cavalry guarding [-] carriages in the middle of the team. After a while, the army arrived at the north city gate. The soldiers of the Song Army watched coldly as the army passed through the city gate.

The [-] troops walked out of the north city gate and headed north quickly along the official road. After a short time, the team disappeared into the thick night.

But just a dozen miles away from the enemy brigade, Tang Qian led [-] cavalry to follow far away, keeping a distance of more than ten miles.