Fenghou

Chapter 191 The Secret Path
Chen Qing met Huang Jigu's son Huang Ning alone in the other account. Compared with Huang Jigu's letter of surrender, Chen Qing was more interested in how Huang Ning went down the mountain.

"Reporting to the general, there is a secret path in the back mountain of Dingxi village. It was discovered by the hunters of our village. It is just a little bit more difficult and dangerous. There are more than ten feet to use a soft ladder or a rope. The villain used a rope ladder to get down."

"Can you go back in reverse?"

"Of course, otherwise how would the villain go back?"

Chen Qing went to the map and looked for this secret road. Huang Ning stepped forward knowingly and marked the secret road on the map with a pen.

Chen Qing looked at the map carefully and asked, "How many people know this secret path?"

"There are four people in total, a pair of hunters, father and son, and me and my father, the hunter and the villain, who are waiting outside the tent."

Chen Qing pointed to the map and asked, "Will the water source conflict with this secret passage?"

"No conflict, the water source is in the east, and this secret road is in the west, at least two miles apart."

Chen Qing nodded, turned around and ordered: "Go and tell Liu Cui and Zhao Xiaoyi to come over!"

Only then did Chen Qing smile at Huang Ning: "I always keep my word and do what I say. Your Huang family surrendered to me in the dark and made great contributions. I will definitely not treat you badly. Wait a minute, I'm going to ask you Lead the way for my army and go up the mountain through the secret path!"

Huang Ning was overjoyed, and quickly bowed and said, "I am willing to serve the envoy!"

At Haishi, it was nine o'clock in the night, and the night was already dark. Chen Qingbing divided into two groups and ordered Zhao Xiaoyi and Liu Cui to lead [-] scouts and [-] elite soldiers to go up the mountain from the back mountain through the secret road.

He personally and Yang Zaixing led [-] people to attack the stronghold from the front.

The army marched to the foot of the mountain in a mighty manner. This kind of mountain basically circled up the mountain to reduce the slope.

There are two defensive lines in Dingxi Village. One line is at the foot of the mountain, which is actually a checkpoint. A wooden house was built at the first turn of the mountain, guarded by more than a dozen people from the village. You have to pass through them when you go up and down the mountain. Guan, saying that this wooden house is a defensive line, is a bit high on it.

Yang Zaixing led [-] soldiers of the God Arm Crossbow Army to shoot arrows at the wooden house from [-] steps away. They shot gunpowder arrows, and all the [-] gunpowder arrows hit the small wooden house. , more than a dozen villagers escaped in embarrassment, and fled to the mountain in a panic.

The main defense line of Dingxi Village was halfway up the mountain, and a defensive wall was built. A thousand soldiers of the village were waiting with bows and crossbows, and there were a lot of rolling logs and stones beside them.

At this time, everyone saw the fire in the wooden house down the mountain, and everyone suddenly became nervous.

Guan Pingxu also stared nervously at the place where the fire started at the bottom of the mountain. He knew that the Song army had started to attack, which was also within his expectation, business!There must be bargaining, and when the Song army can't attack, or the cost of the attack is too high, making Chen Qing feel that the gain is not worth the loss, then the negotiation can continue.

The commander who led a thousand soldiers was called Cao Bo, the nephew and son-in-law of Guan Pingxu. He was originally a commander of the Xihe Army. He was about [-] years old. After Fuping was defeated, he fled back to Qinzhou. He naturally became the leader.

Cao Bo had heard of Chen Qing, the chief general in the Battle of Jiandao Pass, who was promoted from capital to commander in just two years. He was the most shining general of the Western Army, and his limelight even surpassed that of Liu Kai.

Like Guan Pingxu, he also held a trace of luck in his heart. They had a geographical advantage, and the opposing army did not have many troops. A thousand troops should be able to defend Dingxi Village.

"General Cao, Patriarch Guan wants you to go!" A soldier came running and shouted.

Cao Bo hurried over, clasped his fists at Guan Pingxu and said, "What is the Patriarch's order?"

"Is there any defense on the Eastern Front?"

The east route is an uphill path in the east, which has little impact on this side, but it can lead directly to the water source on the top of the mountain. Guan Pingxu also attaches great importance to it. He is worried that the Song army will go up the mountain from the east and cut off the water source, and once the Song army reaches the top of the mountain, they will be able to If you are condescending, shoot arrows down from a high place, and attack up and down, you will be in big trouble.

"Patriarch, please don't worry! I have deployed two hundred brothers on the eastern front. The terrain there is dangerous. One man guards the gate, and ten thousand men cannot open it. The Song army will never come up."

"Are eight hundred soldiers here enough? Shall I mobilize some young men to join the defense?"

Cao Bo bowed and said, "I feel that the Song Army is just a tentative attack tonight, not a real attack, so we don't need to mobilize for now, let's see what happens tonight!"

"How do you know it's a tentative attack?" Guan Pingxu asked puzzled.

"Patriarch, you can tell from the other side's attack on the cabin at the foot of the mountain that a dozen people have all fled back. If there is a formal attack, they will not be given a chance to come back. The Song Army wants to use them to go up the mountain to understand our defense situation."

At this time, a soldier shouted: "Song Jun is coming up!"

Guan Pingxu was startled, and quickly ordered: "Go and command the battle quickly."

Cao Bo clasped his fists in salute, turned around and ran away.

Yang Zaixing led five hundred soldiers to walk close to the mountain wall without anyone noticing. When the opponent spotted them, they were only two turns away from the defense line.

The soldiers behind the defensive wall panicked and shot arrows down one after another, meaningless. Cao Bo ran over and shouted: "Stop shooting arrows!"

The soldiers stopped shooting arrows, and Cao Bo cursed: "They have to go straight up in the end. That's our chance to fight. Shooting arrows now is useless!"

Finally, going up the mountain is a straight line, about [-] steps, which is specially built for defense, attacking from top to bottom, the advantage is very obvious, this is the most difficult section of Dingxi village to attack, and it is also the basis for Guan Pingxu's unwillingness to compromise easily.

However, the Song army refused to attack for a long time, and formed a confrontation with the Dingmen in Dingxi Village.

On the secret road in the back mountain, a strong and agile hunter led the way in front, and a group of soldiers climbed up the rope ladder. The secret road is located in a deep ravine, with few people and lush forests. There are roads up and down this secret road. Walking, but there is a cliff more than ten feet deep in the middle, which makes people feel that there is no way to go here, but if you use a thick climbing rope ladder to fix it up and down, this cliff will not be a problem.

Five hundred soldiers successfully climbed up the cliff, and there was a pine forest on a slope above it. The pine forest grew extremely lush, but its length was unknown.

"Master Huang, have you reached the top of the mountain?" Zhao Xiaoyi asked.

"We have already reached the top of the mountain. The top of the mountain is completely covered by pine forests. The water source is in the east, two miles away from us. Going down here is the top row of cave dwellings. It used to be a warehouse, but it is now abandoned."

The crowd quickened their speed and quickly walked out of the pine forest. The front suddenly opened up. They reached the east side of the mountain, with the cave dwelling area below them. Under the moonlight, they could clearly see the soldiers on the mountainside.

"Go down and attack!"

Liu Cui gave an order, and everyone rushed down the mountain along a ravine
On the mountain road, nearly a hundred soldiers of the Song Army climbed up to the edge of the mountain road, using boulders as cover and shooting arrows up the mountain.

At this time, Cao Bo gradually felt that something was wrong. The Song army didn't seem to be probing or attacking, but it was a bit like delaying time, as if waiting for something?
Cao Bo became uneasy. Could it be that the Song army still had some strange soldiers?
At this moment, there was a scream from the soldiers around him, and the soldiers were shot in the back one after another. Cao Bo was shocked, and when he looked back, he saw an arrow coming head-on, and it was too late to dodge.

'puff! This arrow hit Cao Bo's throat. He held his throat and took two steps back. Immediately afterwards, he was hit by more than a dozen arrows and died on the spot. His body fell off the stone wall and rolled down the slope.

A round of crossbow arrows under Liu Cui killed more than a hundred soldiers. It was at the position facing the slope of the mountain road that the defenders were in chaos, scrambling to escape to both sides.
Yang Zaixing seized the opportunity and led [-] soldiers to rush out to the top of the slope. There were no soldiers defending on it, and there was no threat of bows and arrows, rolling logs and rocks. Not long after, the [-] soldiers rushed to the defensive wall and shot from behind. Chase and kill the enemy.

The defense of Dingxi village collapsed in an instant under the front and rear attacks.

Chen Qing was still at the foot of the mountain. He led a thousand soldiers, waiting patiently for the moment when Dingxi Village was breached.

At this time, a long team appeared on the cottage, and Liu Cui escorted more than a hundred people down the mountain, including the family members of the Guan family, Yang family and Luo family, and the leader was Guan Pingxu.

He was escorted in front of Chen Qing, Guan Pingxu shouted in horror: "General Chen, the villain is willing to surrender unconditionally!"

Chen Qing sneered and said: "The opportunity has already been given to you. Only the Huang family took what I said seriously and sent people to surrender to me before dark. The other families ignored me and ignored my words. Don’t you think I’m a person who doesn’t believe what I promise?”

Guan Pingxu and Luo Tao regretted and feared, and begged for mercy, Chen Qing waved his hand, "Follow the rules of Zhoujiabao!"

Zhoujiabao's rule is that adults are killed, women and minors are spared from death,
Amid the cries, more than [-] adult men paralyzed by fright were dragged aside by the soldiers and beheaded.
(End of this chapter)