Fenghou

Chapter 21
Li Boliang really had a headache. As a county magistrate, he certainly didn't want the Jurchens to come to Linyou County. It would not only be a disaster for the people, but also a disaster for their officials.

They surrendered to the Kingdom of Jin two years ago when Wanyan Loushi was in charge of Shaanxi, and the Song army came back. Sweeping through Guanzhong and massacring them wantonly, the governor of Fengxiang government lost his seal and fled in fright, making them local officials at a loss, it is best not to cause extra problems.

However, the shopkeeper of this forage store is busy, and he came to report that there are cavalrymen from the Song Army hiding in Linyou County. Isn't this just looking for trouble for him?

Du Jing, the aide, gave him advice and said: "If the county monarch really doesn't want to be troublesome, it's actually easy. Let the shopkeeper produce evidence, or ask him to write a guarantee. If it is not the cavalry of the Song Army he said, he must bear full responsibility. .”

Li Boliang wondered: "That being said, I'm afraid that if it's really that cavalry, the Jin people will pursue it later, and I'll be unable to bear it."

At this moment, a yamen servant rushed over, "Your Majesty, a golden soldier has arrived and has already entered the city!"

Li Boliang head 'hum! 'One sound, this is a big trouble!

..........
At dawn the next day, an army of [-] people left the county seat and ran towards Qilin Village, followed by a thousand gold soldiers.

This golden army was still half Jurchen, half Han. The leader was Xiao Yantuo, a Khitan nobleman who had surrendered to Jurchen very early on.

This time, he was ordered to inspect the boundaries of Linyou County, and he planned to stay for two days before going back. He didn't expect to hear the news of the Song Army cavalry as soon as he arrived in the county.

Although it was not clear, Xiao Yantuo's intuition told Xiao Yantuo that apart from that cavalry, no one would buy [-] loads of fodder, nor would they raise cattle or mules.

Xiao Yantuo immediately sent people back to Fengxiang County to report to Wanyan Meili.

The person leading the troops at the front was County Wei Minwu, who commanded the two hundred soldiers in Linyou County and was responsible for maintaining local law and order.

Min Wu cursed shopkeeper Wang for being troublesome, but there was nothing he could do. They were ordered by the Jin soldiers to kill them if they disobeyed. He had to lead two hundred soldiers to run northward.

Jin Bing approached the canyon, and was immediately spotted by the sentinel at the canyon mouth. Three gunpowder arrows flew into the sky one after another, 'pop! 'It exploded in the air with a crisp sound.

Xiao Yantuo squinted his eyes, it turned out to be a gunpowder arrow, which is not something that the rebels can have, he immediately ordered: "Order the former army to speed up the mountain!"

At this time, more than [-] Song troops in the army village also quickly assembled. They were divided into eight teams and guarded the spiral mountain road up the mountain.

Standing on the edge of the cliff, Chen Qing watched the situation in the valley. From a distance, he saw a team of more than [-] people running towards the mountain. The armor was still the leather armor of the Song Army, but there were [-] soldiers behind. It is the five-color flag of Tiefutu, and this is Wanyan Zongbi's army.

Chen Qing knew very well that this battle would come sooner or later, so he went to buy supplies, food and grass the next day after he arrived in the cottage, even if he was discovered by Jin Bing, he didn't care.

The soldiers brought bundles of crossbow arrows and soldier arrows, as well as more than two hundred defensive bows.

Chen Qing pointed to a pile of wood again, "Saw them off completely, we'll need them later!"

They felled dozens of big trees yesterday to prepare firewood for the winter, and before they had time to saw them, they could be made into rolling logs.

Dozens of soldiers set up their saws and quickly sawed the wood, and soon there were dozens of three-foot-long logs...

Li Yuanqing, the lieutenant general, pointed to the corner below and suggested: "The humble officer leads a team of brothers to build a defensive point there to stop the enemy and slow down the speed of the enemy going up the mountain."

"What defense do you have?"

"Use a dirt bag!"

Chen Qing looked at the terrain carefully, and readily agreed. Yang Yuanqing immediately led the soldiers to run down carrying the mud bags, and built a mud bag wall at the last turning. He personally led fifty soldiers to build a wall with crossbow arrows and spears. the first line of defense.

…………

Two hundred soldiers from Linyou County went up the mountain first, and they had the lowest status, followed by five hundred Han soldiers, while five hundred Jurchen soldiers rested at the foot of the mountain.

Tiantai Mountain is not high, with a vertical height of only two to three hundred meters, but it spirals up the mountain, and it takes at least a dozen turns to reach the top of the mountain.

Two hundred soldiers held spears, bent down and walked up a little bit, not daring to take a breath. The five hundred Han soldiers behind them were holding shields, but their armor was still leather, which could not stop the powerful crossbow arrows.

Two hundred soldiers turned a corner, fifty steps above was the mudbag wall, and they had already entered the attack range of the Song army.

Chen Qing stared at the two hundred soldiers almost crawling in the mud, and ordered without mercy: "Soldiers shoot arrows!"

Two hundred and forty tall soldiers drew their defensive bows, and the arrows pointed upwards. The two hundred and forty arrows were shot at the same time, and the three-foot-long arrows drew countless arcs, falling towards the city like raindrops. Two hundred Han soldiers shot over their heads.

On the official road north of Fengxiang County, [-] Jurchen cavalry and [-] Khitan cavalry were rushing towards Linyou County. Famous among the Jurchen tribes, he served as the left guard in Taiyuan, but in order to avenge his father, he led the army to support Guanzhong.

Wanyan Huonu arrived in Fengxiang County yesterday, but just yesterday, Wanyan Meili finally confirmed the identity of the leader of the five hundred Song Army who attacked Qishan County, and it was the Song general Chen Qing who killed Wanyan Loushi.

There are three reasons for confirmation. First, some soldiers of the Han army heard that the opponent's general was called General Chen, and his surname was Chen.

Second, the chief general of the Song Army used an iron gun of Zhangba 镔, which was the same as the big iron gun that assassinated Wanyan Loushi. This is not a standard long gun, but a special weapon. I am afraid there are not many in the world.

But the most important thing is the third reason. Jurchen centurion Wanyan Wuhuai recognized the horse that General Song was riding, which was Wanyan Loushi's white dragon horse.

As soon as General Song was confirmed to be Chen Qing, Wanyan Huonu arrived.

At the same time, Wanyan Meili received an eagle letter from Xiao Yantuo from Linyou County, and found a Song Army cavalry in Linyou County, which was highly suspected of attacking the Song Army in Qishan County.

Wanyan Huo Nu barely rested, and immediately led [-] cavalry to Linyou County.

Even Jin Bing's coach Wanyan Zongbi was alarmed by this news, and he rushed to Fengxiang overnight with five hundred soldiers.

In just half a day, the [-] Han soldiers were forced to attack four times by the Jurchen soldiers with sharp axes, and more than [-] people were killed in battle.

The combat effectiveness of the Han army was very unbearable. They attacked four times without even breaking through the first line of defense.

In fact, it is quite normal. They had no fighting power when they were in the Song army. When the Jin soldiers came, they surrendered and became Jin soldiers. They were discriminated against in terms of equipment and treatment. They were regarded as military slaves by the Jurchens. Desperately?
The Song army had fewer than ten casualties, almost all of whom were shot by the arrows, and one of them was killed. He fell off the cliff and died after being shot by the arrows.

"Meng'an, do you want to continue the attack?" A Jurchen centurion asked the general Xiao Yantuo.

Xiao Yantuo shook his head, he could see that the terrain was very unfavorable for the attack, he only had [-] Jurchen soldiers under his command, if he attacked by force, not only would he not be able to attack, but he would also lose hundreds of people.

"I have already reported to Chief Wan, wait for news from Chief Wan!"

Speaking of this, he said to the county Wei Minwu: "Find me the nearby villagers. I want to know, besides this road, is there any other way up the mountain?"

Half an hour later, Chen Qing got the news from the sentry at Taniguchi that the Jurchens had exited Taniguchi and retreated towards the county seat.

He immediately ordered the soldiers to go down the mountain to clean up the corpses, collect arrows and weapons.

All the soldiers knew very well that Jin Bing would never be reconciled to a disastrous defeat, and would definitely make a comeback, and even attack on a large scale.

All soldiers are engaged in active preparations.

Chen Qing found the old man Yang San.

"Old man Yang, if you can help me find a guide who is familiar with the mountain roads, I will reward you a lot!"

"General Chen, you are being polite. Money is not important. Why don't you let my son be your guide? He is a hunter and knows the road conditions in the mountains like the back of his hand."

Chen Qing was overjoyed and thanked repeatedly, "Thank you, old man!"

Yang San pointed to the northeast corner and said: "There is a trail leading to the foot of the mountain. Most people don't know it. I'm worried that Jin Bing will know this trail if he finds a local to lead the way. You should be careful!"

Chen Qing attached great importance to this information, and he quickly asked Yang Hua to take a few brothers to follow Yang San down the small path to evaluate the impact of this small path on the defense.

At dusk, Lieutenant General Yang Yuanqing led [-] soldiers back from logging. They dragged hundreds of logs with ropes. The soldiers lit torches and sawed the logs overnight.

Facts have proved that rolling logs are a sharp weapon for ramp defense. Today at least half of the enemy soldiers were killed by rolling logs. They need to prepare thousands of rolling logs.

It was already late at night, and the night was very cold to the point of freezing, but the soldiers were still busy preparing for the battle. Most of the wood had been sawed, and thousands of mud bags were packed. Every soldier was exhausted, but he still gritted his teeth persevere.

Chen Qing checked the defensive preparations on the mountainside of the northeast path. This path could indeed attack the Song army from behind. In order to close this loophole, the soldiers thought of a way.

The mountainside of the trail has been leveled. This is the most dangerous part of the trail. There is a seven-foot-high steep slope. After leveling the top of the steep slope, layers of sandbags are piled up, so that the steep slope extends to a height of five feet. , completely cut off the possibility of Jin Bing climbing upwards.

Looking at the mudbag wall, Chen Qing frowned and asked, "What would happen if the enemy pierced the mudbag with a spear?"

The head of the capital, Yang Hua, smiled and said, "Don't worry, general. When the mud and water are mixed together, it will freeze at dawn. Even if the spear pierces the bag, the mud and ice will not collapse. Unless they prepare a ladder, the brothers above will also Overturn the ladder."

"freeze!"

Chen Qing's eyes lit up, icing can make the road up the mountain very slippery, this is a good way.

At this time, a soldier shouted from above: "General, old man Yang has brought his son and important news."

"I'm going over here!"

Chen Qing hurried back to the military camp.
(End of this chapter)