Fenghou

Chapter 1003 Negotiations
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 [-] 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 [-] shi of grain in the city, plus the [-] shi of grain that Tang Qian obtained in Caizhou and Xiangcheng before, this is [-] shi. Wanshi's food is gone, which is very important for him 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 [-] shi a year. We have to hand over [-] 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 [-] 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.

(End of this chapter)