Fenghou

Chapter 173
Chagou Valley of Heshangyuan Shenchagou has always been the valley of death for Jin Bing. This ten-mile-long canyon is the only way Heshangyuan leads to Dasan Pass. Jin Bing killed countless soldiers here.

Not long after Xiao Zong died in this canyon, Wanyan Wushu learned from the pain and set up twelve strongholds inside and outside the canyon, with [-] troops stationed to protect the safety of this strategic road.

Although Chen Qing could not get the information of the Jin soldiers at Dashan Pass, he could make a judgment on the situation. After the monk's original camp was burned down, the Jin soldiers attacked Dashan Pass frantically for eight days, and the food and grass were almost exhausted. This time, the food and grass in the Weihe River were completely destroyed by a sneak attack, and there was no hope of backup for the Jin soldiers. It would take two days for Wanyan Wushu to withdraw his troops.

As night fell, Chen Qing led the army to the Shenchagou valley, where three military camps were built. The largest military camp was shaped like a crescent moon, with tall camp fences enclosing the valley entrance and both sides of the valley.

In front of the crescent-shaped tent, there are two smaller camp fences, the whole shape looks like a crossbow.

There are jagged rocks on both sides of the barracks, making it difficult for an army to attack. Only the front is a flat passage with a width of about five feet and a length of several miles.

Chen Qing's army appeared just [-] steps away from the passage, and the golden soldiers in the three military villages were extremely nervous, and they all raised their bows and arrows, ready to fight.

In fact, the Jinbing Army Village was established to deal with Chen Qing's army, and Wanyan Wushu was very worried that Chen Qing's army would block the exit of the valley.

"Heavy shield army attack! Divine arm crossbow army cover!"

Chen Qing shouted, and five hundred soldiers in tall clothes, armed with heavy shields and short spears, advanced step by step under the leadership of general Niu Gao.

Behind them, there are [-] god-armed crossbowmen. They played a great role in the battle of guarding the Silent Hope Camp. For a long time, they were used as cavalry. This time they resumed their old business and took Raised the god arm crossbow.

"Ready, shoot!"

Commander Wang Duo shouted, and three hundred and fifty god-arm crossbows were fired at the same time, and the dense crossbow arrows crossed the night sky in a parabola, shooting towards the camp fence three hundred steps away.

The crossbowmen are all professionally trained. One of their greatest skills is to judge the distance by looking at the mountain, and then adjust the angle of the shot from the back. If it is a flat shot, the range of the god arm crossbow can reach [-] steps.

Arrows shot into the tall barracks, causing a slight commotion. The night sky was clear and the moon was bright and clear. Under the silvery moonlight, everyone could see clearly. At least thirty Jurchen soldiers were shot and fell down.

A Jurchen centurion was furious, brandishing a knife and shouting: "Shoot!"

Two hundred Jurchen soldiers in the barracks fired crossbow arrows at the same time, but their targets were the soldiers of the heavy shield army who were approaching step by step. The arrows were nailed to the shield, but they couldn't penetrate the special copper shield.

This kind of copper shield is rectangular and up to three feet high. It was made by Han craftsmen in the Liao Kingdom. Cover it with a layer of cooked cowhide, and then use copper to make various animal-shaped patterns on the shield surface. It is extremely strong. Except for the bed crossbow, any other crossbow can resist it, but the giant shield is not very heavy, only a dozen catties .

The Heavy Shield Army was one of the imperial guards of the Liao Kingdom. After being annihilated by the Jurchen cavalry, their shields became trophies. The river was captured by Chen Qing's army, allowing Chen Qing to temporarily form a heavy shield army.

Chen Qing rode on the horse, paying attention to the movement of the enemy barracks. He found that there was a sentry tower on the left and right ends of the barracks, and there were sentries on them to monitor the movements on both sides.

Chen Qing immediately ordered: "Bring me some well-stringed crossbows!"

The soldiers immediately fetched five well-stringed god-arm crossbows, Chen Qing took a crossbow, raised the crossbow and aimed it at the sentinel, 'click! The sound of the crossbow machine sounded, and a crossbow arrow shot at the sentry on the left like lightning. The sentry was headshot by an arrow and fell from the sentry tower.

The sentry was killed, and was immediately discovered by the centurion commanding the army. He ordered: "Go up another sentry!"

Chen Qing took over the second divine arm crossbow, but this time he aimed at the centurion, and shot the arrow out. The Jurchen centurion was caught off guard, screamed and fell on his back, and was shot through the head by an arrow.

Chen Qing then shot the third and fourth arrows, killing the two sentries on the sentry tower.

Of course, there was a reason for Chen Qing to kill the sentries on both sides. Behind the jagged rocks on both sides, there were several soldiers of the Song Army hidden on each side. , almost everyone's attention was focused on the Heavy Shield Army.

In fact, the heavy shield army is just a cover to attract the attention of the enemy, and the real breakthrough weapons of the Song army are deployed on both sides.

The two soldiers in the east approached the enemy's camp step by step, and they were only about twenty steps away from the barracks, which was almost the same distance.

Two soldiers took off the two gunpowder barrels on their backs. Each powder barrel weighed five catties and had a fuse on it. More than enough, especially the thousands of poisonous nails mixed inside have great lethality against dense enemy troops.

The soldier lit the fuse behind a boulder and handed it to another tall soldier with strong arms.

The soldier held the gunpowder barrel with his big hand, and when the fuse burned to the hole, he jumped out and threw it vigorously. The gunpowder barrel was thrown more than twenty steps away, and fell into the crowd behind the barracks,'Boom ! With a loud explosion, more than a dozen soldiers were blown into the air, a barracks in front of them was blown to pieces, and a puff of smoke rose.

Immediately afterwards, a gunpowder keg was also thrown from the west, and it also fell on the crowd in the west. The flames flashed, there were screams, and thick smoke filled the air.

The Jurchen soldiers were still in ignorance, and the second gunpowder barrels on the east and west sides were thrown out at the same time. There was a second explosion on the east and west sides, blood and flesh flew everywhere, the barracks flew into the sky, thick smoke billowed, wailing and screaming one slice.

Chen Qing immediately waved his sword, "The cavalry attack!"

The cavalry is the main force of the attack.

A thousand cavalry suddenly mobilized, and Chen Qing took the lead, leading the cavalry to charge towards the military stronghold three hundred paces away.

The gunpowder smoke dissipated, and the ten-foot-wide barracks were blown down. Nearly a hundred soldiers lay on the ground and howled, and a large group of soldiers behind them was rushing towards the gate of the barracks.

Although the Jurchens were stationed in the army village, there were no cavalry, only infantry. The Jurchen soldiers raised their crossbows and the cavalry raised their shields to resist, but there were still cavalrymen who were constantly shot by the arrows and rolled on the ground with their horses.

Chen Qing dialed the arrows, rushed into the enemy army first, and waved Fang Tian's painted halberd. In an instant, blood burst out, limbs flew horizontally, and screams and screams suddenly burst out.

Wherever Chen Qing passed, corpses were strewn all over the ground, and he was invincible. He turned his horse's head and charged into the hands of the most densely populated crossbow.

A thousand Song Army cavalry rushed into the first military stronghold, and the main army behind rushed up with shouts.

The Jurchen soldiers in the army village couldn't resist, and rushed to the next army village. Liu Cui led a cavalry to cut off their retreat, Chen Qing shouted: "Let them retreat!"

Liu Cui quickly stopped the cavalry, and hundreds of Jurchen soldiers rushed towards a military stronghold behind like a tide.

Chen Qing waved his halberd and ordered Liu Cui, "Follow them!"

Liu Cui suddenly realized, and shouted: "Brothers, follow me!"

He chased the Jurchen soldiers with hundreds of cavalry, and these hundreds of Jurchen soldiers became the meat shields of the Song army.
In history, there are many situations where more than a dozen villages were seized overnight. This is actually a domino effect. The first military village is the key. If the first military village is lost, a large number of defenders flee to the second military village. The army followed behind, and while countless defeated soldiers fled into the army stronghold, the enemy army also followed.

The second military stronghold fell like this, and hundreds of Jurchen soldiers fled back to the second military stronghold. In the darkness, Liu Cui led hundreds of cavalrymen and followed them into the military stronghold.

In just over half an hour, Chen Qing's army captured two villages in a row, and reached the valley, where the crescent-shaped third village appeared in front of them.

(End of this chapter)