Fenghou

Yang Shi hid in Zhenjiang City under the pretext of preparing military rations.

That night, Zhang Jun led an army of [-] and marched westward.

At this time, Chen Qing's [-] troops had already deployed in Jiankang Mansion, and they were waiting for Zhang Jun's troops to throw themselves into the trap.

At this time, Chen Qing was in the area of ​​Niutou Mountain in the south of Jiangning County. This area is densely forested and open, which is very suitable for cavalry to ambush and chase. Niutou Mountain is like a bottle mouth, guarding the official road.

The key is that the Niutou mountain area is a valley terrain, tens of miles long, which is the best terrain for ambushes.

At this time, Chen Qing had obtained the exact information that Zhang Jun's army had appeared fifty miles away, and was marching westward along the official road.

The Huaixi army's spies and scouts must be walking in the front. Zhang Jun also took strict precautions against ambushes. Chen Qing's ambush soldiers had retreated into the dense forest for nearly a mile, and the enemy's spies would not be able to spot them no matter how careful they were.

One hundred thousand troops meandered along the official road, stretching for more than ten miles. Behind them were thousands of carts, full of grain and grass. The carts were collected from all over Zhenjiang Prefecture, and all the grain in the official treasury was carried by them. .

Zhang Jun walked in front of the team on horseback. He looked at the surrounding environment. Decades of military career made him more sensitive to the environment. The Niutoushan area is obviously a good place to ambush. There are two hundred hills and the forest stretches for more than ten years. Here, the wide and flat official road passes through the middle of the hill.

At this time, more than a dozen scouts brought an old man who was picking up mountains. The so-called picking up mountains means going up the mountains to find all kinds of mountain products, such as mushrooms, wild fruits, yams, and sealwort. His face is wrinkled, his hair is gray, and his clothes are worn out. He is carrying a bamboo basket, which contains half a basket of ripe persimmons, some yams and a small hoe.

Trembling, the old man stepped forward and knelt down, "Little old man kowtows to the prince!"

"Get up, I'll ask you something!"

The old man stood up, and Zhang Jun asked, "Your home is nearby!"

"In Gewan Village, two miles to the north, the youngest old man's surname is Ge!"

It sounds like a local, should have seen some world, the old man speaks more clearly.

Zhang Jun nodded and asked again: "Is there any military activity in this area recently?"

"There was a garrison two years ago, and I haven't seen the army for almost two years."

The garrison two years ago was Zhang Jun's subordinate, of course he knew, Zhang Jun asked the scout again: "Have you gone into the dense forest to investigate?"

"Reporting to the lord, I went to investigate and went three hundred steps into the dense forest. I didn't find anything suspicious, and there were no footprints or horseshoe marks of a large group of people on the ground."

Zhang Jun let go of his heart, and ordered his soldiers: "Reward him with a few hundred coins, let him go!"

"Thank you lord! Thank you lord!"

The old man took a few hundred copper coins, thanked him and left.

Seeing that it was still early, Zhang Jun immediately ordered, "The whole army should speed up and rest after passing Niutoushan!"

The [-] troops speeded up and entered the Niutou mountain area with a radius of a hundred miles.

……

The 2 army is divided into three armies. The first to enter the Niutoushan mountain area is the front army of 5, followed by the middle army of 3, and the rear army of [-]. The three armies are separated by about two miles. That is, one army is ambushed, and the other two armies can quickly gather and retreat, thereby avoiding annihilation of the entire army.

But there are advantages and disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage is that they are too far apart, and they are easy to be defeated individually.

Chen Qing's target is the central army and the rear army. Both the front army and the central army have entered the mountainous area. Gradually, the rear army will also enter the mountainous area. Suddenly, a low-pitched horn sounded in the mountain forest, "Woo——"

Zhang Jun suddenly turned his head, looked at the back, and screamed in his heart, "That's bad!"

A group of ten thousand cavalry divided into three groups, rushed out from the front of the valley, and rushed into the rear army. The three thousand cavalry took the lead in cutting off the road of the Huaixi army's rear army and front army at the mouth of the valley. Three sections.

The [-] rear army was in chaos, they were unable to organize an effective resistance, the soldiers were scattered, and they collapsed after only holding on for a moment. The [-] soldiers ran back desperately, but were chased and killed by the Western cavalry. There are countless.

At the same time, the [-] Chinese Army was also attacked by [-] crossbowmen. Thousands of arrows were fired in the dense forest on both sides, and they shot at the Huaixi Army like a storm. Although the soldiers raised their shields one after another, they still couldn't resist the arrows. Countless soldiers screamed and fell down under the violent attack of arrows.

Immediately afterwards, hundreds of large logs rolled down from the top of the mountain and smashed into the crowd, and then hundreds of barrels of kerosene rolled down, the barrels burst, and black kerosene flowed everywhere on the official road.

"Boom!" The fire was burning, and the soldiers were terrified, shouting hysterically, "The Western Army is going to burn the mountain!"

The extreme fear of the burning mountain caused tens of thousands of soldiers to run as if the mountain collapsed. All the soldiers ran desperately, scrambling to be the first, trampling each other, throwing away everything that could be thrown away, including swords and armor, and running away yelling.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhang Jun, under the protection of hundreds of soldiers, beat his horse and fled desperately, and soon caught up with the former army.

In fact, as long as you think about it for a while, you will know that it is impossible to burn the mountain with fire. There are so many soldiers of the Western Army in the woods, and they cannot escape if they set fire to the mountain.

This is just a psychological tactic, using fire to create panic, plus there are forests around, the soldiers all made up their own brains, and decided that the Western Army was going to burn the mountain. Thinking of the miserable death, it was even more frightening. They were so frightened that they just wanted to run for their lives.

Of course, Chen Qing would not want to burn them to death. No ruler would massacre the young laborers on his own land. He is already the lord of Jianghuai, and these Jianghuai soldiers are of course his people. One hundred thousand soldiers means one hundred thousand This is crucial to the recovery of the Jianghuai economy.

At this time, Chen Qing got the news that Zhang Jun had fled far away, and there were only dozens of people around him. Chen Qing nodded, Zhang Jun was at the end of his rope, so don't worry about him, Zhang Ziqi's army should also be confiscated. In fact, Zhang Jun is already a widow.

Chen Qing was more concerned about the army trapped in Niutoushan. He immediately ordered: "Let Li Dutong persuade the enemy to surrender, and say that King Yong promised that as long as they put down their weapons, they can all be released and go home."

The first thousand and 260 chapters and six empty cities

Zhang Jun and his [-] soldiers galloped wildly on horseback. They were so fast that they quickly overtook the front army. They ran for more than [-] miles in one breath and escaped from the Niutou mountain area. Looking back, they found dust billowing behind them. Look carefully, It turned out to be a western army cavalry of more than [-] men chasing them, less than [-] steps away from them, arrows flew like raindrops, and more than [-] soldiers behind were shot and fell off their horses.

Zhang Jun was so frightened that his heart was broken, and he left two hundred soldiers to block the cavalry of the Western Army. He beat his horse and fled. He fell down, foamed at the mouth, convulsed all over, and seemed to be dying.

At this time, there were only about thirty soldiers around him, and only eight horses that were not exhausted. They were only a dozen miles away from the Yangtze River. Zhang Jun strengthened his spirits, and led everyone to lead the horses to the Yangtze River.

After Zhang Jun escaped, [-] Western Army cavalry blocked the official road. At this time, [-] to [-] troops gathered at the northern exit. There were dense forests on both sides. There were people moving from time to time in the mountain forest. They were Western Army cavalry and crossbows. hand.

Most of the soldiers of the Huaixi Army had discarded their helmets and armor, and they had no weapons. Hundreds of paces ahead were black cavalry, full of murderous intent, panicked and didn't know what to do?

At this time, a tall and burly general of the Western Army in front of the forest shouted: "Listen up, all soldiers of the Huaixi Army!"

The general of the Western Army is Li Fuxing, the commander of the Western Army. He has practiced internal skills and is famous for his loud voice, just like the loudspeakers of later generations. Everyone can hear clearly.

"His Royal Highness King Yong has seized the Jianghuai River, and Shouchun City has also been captured by the Western Army..."

There was a sudden commotion among the soldiers. These soldiers were all veterans, and their family members were all near Shouchun. Shouchun was captured, and everyone's hearts rose to their throats.

"I want to tell everyone that all the people in Shouchun are safe and sound, Xi Junqiu is fine, and your family members are safe and sound!"

The soldiers immediately cheered, Li Fuxing waved his hands to calm everyone down, and he said loudly: "King Yong will not kill the Han people, put down your weapons, and will let you go home and reunite as soon as possible, please put down your weapons, raise your hands and walk out of the valley! "

The soldiers closest to him could hear him clearly, put down their weapons one after another, and walked towards the mouth of the valley with their hands raised. The cavalry in front of the valley got out of the way. Groups of soldiers walked out of the valley, and some cavalry led them to an open place to sit down.

At the same time, more than 8000 soldiers of the rear army also became prisoners of war. Chen Qing surrendered without a fight and released Zhang Jun. The remaining [-] troops had no other choice but to surrender.

……

Yushan County is located between Quzhou and Xinzhou. It is the easternmost county seat on Jiangnan West Road and is under the jurisdiction of Xinzhou. Yushan County is a middle county with a permanent population of less than 5 people. On the road, tea and horses gather, and business is not bad.

Zhang Ziqi and Han Jin led a [-]-strong army back all the way to Jiangnan West Road. They replenished some dry food in Jiande County and continued westward. Zhang Ziqi was more lenient and strictly prohibited soldiers from looting and killing. The army retreated quickly, and they retreated to Yushan in three days. county.

At this time, Han Jin galloped back on horseback and said to Zhang Ziqi: "Marshal, there is news from the scouts in front that there is an army appearing thirty miles away, most likely the Western Army."

Zhang Ziqi also vaguely guessed that the Western Army had turned against them, otherwise his father would not have retreated so hastily, and he would not have allowed himself to retreat to Jiangnan West Road immediately.

Hearing that there were Western troops in and out, Zhang Ziqi suddenly became nervous, and asked anxiously, "How many Western troops are there?"

Han Jin shook his head, "Not very clear!"

Zhang Ziqi wondered: "Then what should we do, should we rush to Shangrao overnight, or stay overnight first?"

They are running out of dry food, they can only last two days, and they are in a hurry to go to Shangrao County to replenish, and Shangrao County is 120 miles away, even if they don't stop at night, they will arrive tomorrow afternoon.

Han Jin thought for a while and said, "I still can't take any risks. Let the scouts check it out before leaving. It's not a big problem for me to go to Yushan County to raise dry food for two days. Although the county is small, there should be two thousand shi of food."

Zhang Ziqi nodded, "Okay! Go to Yushan County, but I have something to say first, you can get food, but you are not allowed to kill the people."

"Since the marshal has issued an order, we should strictly restrain the soldiers, only take food, and not hurt the people."

Immediately, the army headed towards Yushan County, which was ten miles away. After a while, the army arrived in the county seat.

Perhaps frightened by the army, Zhang Ziqi immediately ordered that the army not enter the city without trespassing on the houses.

The [-]-strong army marched into the city, and all the shops and houses were closed, and the locks were almost hung outside, which meant that there was no one in the shops and houses.

Zhang Ziqi sent people to search around, and came back soon to report, "There are no residents in the city, please ask the Marshal, do you want to break through the door and take a look?"

Han Jin also persuaded: "Marshal, it's really weird, let's break the door and have a look!"

Zhang Ziqi hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded, "Okay! You can break through the door and take a look."

Dozens of small teams rushed to various parts of the city, and soon a shocking news came, all the people in the city disappeared, not a single person.

Zhang Ziqi and Han Jin looked at each other in blank dismay. It was not good for them to arrive.

At this moment, low-pitched horns sounded from all sides outside the city, "Woo———"

A soldier stumbled over to report, "Marshal, the Western Army is here, and their army is everywhere!"

Zhang Ziqi was so frightened that his face paled, Han Jin immediately ordered: "Close the city gate quickly, and order the first army and the second army to go up to the city to defend!"

"General Han, what's going on?"

"Don't worry, my son. It should be just a small-scale western army. We have an army of [-]. As long as we hold our ground, we will not fail."

Zhang Ziqi was relieved, and hurriedly followed Han Jin to the city to check the situation...

The situation was completely beyond Han Jin's expectations. It was not a small-scale western army, but a [-] army led by Liu Qiong and Liu Cui, encircling Yushan County from four directions.

King Yong's order to them was to subdue the enemy without fighting. The generals racked their brains, but they couldn't think of a good way. Finally, Tang Qian thought of the empty city plan.

All the people in Yushan County were moved away without leaving any food, and then suspicious soldiers were used to haunt the front of Yushan County, so that they did not dare to move forward easily, so they had to advance to Yushan County.

The biggest weakness of the opponent was food. They did not carry luggage, but only dry food, which meant that they could not last long. As long as they were blocked in the county, they would collapse in a few days.

One hundred thousand troops with banners like clouds and queues like walls surrounded the county town in darkness. Zhang Ziqi was so frightened that his face turned ashen, and he was speechless for a while.

After looking at the top of the city for a long time, Zhang Ziqi went down the city with one foot deep and one foot shallow. Han Jin came to report with a serious face, "Marshal, I'm afraid the situation is not good!"

"what happened again?"

"The soldiers searched many households, but found that there was no food."

"what?"

Zhang Ziqi was taken aback, and said anxiously: "We only have two days of dry food, how can we do without food?"

Han Jin pondered for a while and said: "I will let the soldiers search carefully. After killing the hundreds of mules accompanying me, I can last for a day, but we have to make the best plan and break out by force. casualties, the Marshal must be mentally prepared!"

Zhang Ziqi nodded silently, moved his lips again, and finally did not ask, if he breaks out, can he find food?Will Shangrao County open the door and wait for them to replenish food?

The first thousand 260 chapters and seven persuasion

The reality is very cruel. Although the Huaixi Army soldiers turned Yushan County upside down, they still haven't found a grain of food.

At dusk, Han Jin slaughtered hundreds of mules and donkeys accompanying the army, and used them to cook soup and meat to reward the soldiers. However, hundreds of mules and donkeys were still a drop in the bucket for [-] soldiers. You can't even see the scum, so it can only be said that talking is better than nothing.

Han Jin was preparing to break through from the southern city. He selected [-] tall and strong soldiers, each holding a shield and a sword, and lined up in five rows. As a shock army, they were responsible for breaking through the encirclement and creating conditions for the army behind to break through.

But at this moment, several gunpowder arrows rose into the sky from the mountains outside Beicheng.

This is also the characteristic of Yushan County. The city is built on the mountain, but everything in the city can be clearly seen from the North Mountain. Maybe the details are not clear, but 5000 people line up and gather, no matter what, they can see clearly.

Zhang Xian, commander of the upper army, immediately led 350 crossbowmen to block the south gate. They used heavy-duty god-arm crossbows, two people with one crossbow, with a killing range of up to [-] steps, which could penetrate ordinary shields and leather armor, and had strong The range advantage, the general crossbow arrows on the city head are not enough in range, so there is nothing to do with them.

The suspension bridge was lowered, the city gate slowly opened, soldiers with shields rushed out, but what greeted them was the merciless blow from the crossbow arrows of the god arm, a thousand arrows were shot from the southeast like a torrential rain, and the soldiers who had just rushed onto the suspension bridge rushed out one after another. The arrow fell to the ground.

Immediately afterwards, the second, third, fourth, and fifth arrows were shot successively. The five rounds of arrows completely blocked the city gate, and groups of soldiers rushed out and were shot down. Nearly 500 people fell in front of the city gate, and the soldiers who survived the arrow crawled back moaning.

The Huaixi army did not dare to go out of the city, and the crossbow array stopped firing. The two sides held each other for a while, and Han Jin shouted, "Go on!"

Five hundred soldiers rushed out again, and this time they were not in a hurry to shoot arrows. After they had rushed out a hundred steps, when the third batch of 500 soldiers rushed out again, five thousand crossbows with divine arms were fired, and the arrows shot like a storm. To the soldiers of the Huaixi Army, one after another screamed and fell down. The shields could not withstand the strong penetration of the crossbow arrows. The leather armor also lost its protective ability in front of the powerful heavy-duty god arm crossbow arrows. Even the iron armor could not withstand it. Not to mention leather armor.

After a round of five rounds of arrows, all five hundred soldiers were shot down, and the third batch of more than two hundred soldiers who rushed out from behind were also shot down. The soldiers behind were so frightened that they retreated into the city, and the ground was full of undead arrows. The soldiers, moaning in pain, struggled to crawl into the city.

In just one stick of incense, thousands of soldiers were shot to death and wounded.

Zhang Ziqi couldn't bear it anymore, rushed down to the city and shouted: "This kind of breakout is going out to die, stop breaking out!"

Not only Zhang Ziqi, but other generals also persuaded that the opponent was well prepared and powerful, and they could not break out of the encirclement at all.

Han Jin had no choice but to issue an order to stop the breakout.

……

As the night gradually deepened, [-] soldiers were distributed among the houses in the city. Each house housed more than a dozen or more than [-] people. The food and valuables were taken away by the people, and only some broken furniture was left behind. Do not hit the shop to sleep.

The conditions are not very good, but the soldiers no longer care about such trivial matters. What they worry about is tomorrow and their own fate.

"Believe in his ghost, where will we get food tomorrow? The mules have eaten up, so can food fall from the sky? We will be hungry tomorrow."

"That's right! The officials ate the meat, and I only had a sip of soup. I really miss the days when I killed pigs and ate meat in my hometown. If I can go home after surrendering, I promise to be the first to surrender."

In a room, more than a dozen soldiers couldn't sleep and were all chatting. At this moment, a soldier who was going for convenience shouted from the yard: "Come out and see."

"Look at the fart! What's there to see?"

"There are so many pieces of paper in the sky, they are leaflets!"

The soldiers got up one after another and ran to the yard with bare feet. Five or six leaflets fell in the yard. Looking up at the night sky, there were still a few pieces of paper floating in the sky, and most of them probably fell to the ground.