Fenghou

Chapter 411 Rescue
Chen Qing led an army of [-] people on the northern official road to the south. He was very cautious all the way and marched carefully. He knew the way the Xixia army invaded and occupied the land. To the north, if the Kingdom of Jin is dissatisfied, they can quickly withdraw. If the Kingdom of Jin acquiesces, the army will immediately go south.

Chen Qing had every reason to suspect that the Xixia Army must have stationed a large army in the north, either in Dingxi County or Anxi County.

At this time, a county wall appeared in front of it, which should be Tongxi County in the middle of the country. A scout cavalry rushed towards him, clasped his fists and said: "There is no Xixia army in the city, and there is no trace of the army stationed. The residents in the city said that there are already I haven't seen the army in seven or eight years."

"How many residents are there in the city?"

"Reporting to Dutong, there are less than a thousand residents in the city."

Chen Qing frowned. In a county with less than a thousand people, he jumped off his horse, grabbed a handful of soil from the side of the road, rubbed it carefully, and smelled it. There was basically no fertility and the land was barren. He looked around again Go, there are bare loess hills in the distance, it is early summer, and there is not much green seen.

The scout said to Chen Qing: "Dutong, the main reason is that drinking water is inconvenient here. We have to fetch water from more than ten miles away, and the residents in the city spend most of their time fetching water every day."

"Look at it!"

Chen Qing got on his horse and led the army to the county seat.

The army was waiting outside the city, and Chen Qing led dozens of soldiers into the county.

The county town is very deserted. There is not a single pedestrian on the street. There are empty houses everywhere. Many houses have collapsed. Because of the lack of water, there are not even weeds. Several scouts stepped forward to salute. The head said: "The residents in the city are very timid. Most of them are old and weak, and they all hide at home and dare not come out."

"Is there a government?"

The scouts shook their heads, "The county government has collapsed."

It's really dilapidated, no wonder Tongxi County is no longer regarded as the county seat.

Chen Qing lost interest, and urged the horse to turn around and leave, but saw two boys brought out by the scout cavalry, the older one was eleven or twelve years old, and the younger one was about seven or eight years old.

"what happened?"

"Qi Dutou, the father of these two children has just passed away. They both passed out from hunger on the street. Let's give them some water and something to eat."

Chen Qing saw that although the two were sallow and thin, they had a good temperament, and they both had a refined and bookish air.

"What are their names?"

"The older one is called Li Songnian, and the younger one is called Li Songshi."

The ordinary people that Chen Qing met were usually called 'Shun, Fu, Ping, Ying, Xiaoer, Xiaosan' and so on. These two boys' names were very impressive.

Chen became a little interested, stepped forward and asked, "Who is your father?"

The older boy saluted and said: "My father's name is Jingwei. He was originally the county magistrate of Fengtian. The family fled westward and encountered thieves on the way. The mother and maid were taken away, and all the money was robbed. The three of us, father and son, had to flee here. I live in Susukita, my father is a scholar, after a few years of hard work, he finally became sick from overwork, unfortunately passed away a few days ago, but we are unable to bury my father, I implore the general to bury my father for us, our brothers will definitely repay each other!"

After speaking, the two brothers knelt on the ground and wept endlessly.

Chen Qing felt quite sympathetic, the dignified Fengtian magistrate had fallen to this point, so he nodded and asked the scouts, "Is there a shop selling coffins in the city?"

"There is one!"

Chen Qing then said to the soldiers: "Go buy a coffin and bury their father. Take these two children back to Chengji County and hand them over to Zhizhou Jiang so that they can continue to study."

"Follow the order!"

Chen Qing left three soldiers to attend to the funeral for the two children, and he led the army to continue southward. After walking a long distance, he still saw the two children kneeling at the city gate.

In Longxi County, the Xixia army is still madly attacking the gap. On the top of the city, a hundred state soldiers and two hundred Lijiazhuang soldiers shot arrows at the Xixia army at the top of the city. The panic at the beginning gradually stabilized, and they used the cover of the battlements to keep shooting at the Xixia soldiers on the pontoon bridge.

Although Zhou Bing and Zhuang Ding lack actual combat experience, the crossbows in their hands are genuine killing weapons, just like a child who does not know martial arts can kill a master of martial arts with one shot. No matter who is using the crossbow, as long as it is used One arrow hit, either death or injury.

The Xixia soldiers on the pontoon bridge were continuously shot by arrows and fell into the water, causing two or three hundred casualties. However, a large number of soldiers still rushed through the moat and fought fiercely with the Song Army scouts.

Half of the sandbags blocking the gap had been removed by the Xixia army, leaving only eight feet high sandbags, which was not easy to move, but the Xixia soldiers could also jump into the gap.

But what is strange is that just as a group of dozens of Xixia soldiers rushed up, they were blocked by the dense spears in the city. After a while, the soldiers who rushed up were pierced through their bodies one after another, turned over and fell to the ground, and a group of Xixia soldiers rushed up again. .

The hundred Song army scouts guarding the gap are the elite among the elite. All of them have experienced many battles and are highly skilled in martial arts. The Xixia soldiers who rushed up were killed by the Song army in a short while, and the corpses piled up higher and higher.

Xia Hu was really depressed. He could see the defenders on the top of the wall clearly. They were all immature beginners. They had to find a standard posture even when shooting arrows. Obviously they had no experience in actual combat. But the defenders on the gap were different. There are many, but they are extremely powerful. My subordinates are all the elites of the capture and life army. No matter how many waves they go up, they will be wiped out one after another.

At this time, a general offered advice in a low voice: "General, the defenders in the city seem to have gathered at the gap, and there must be emptiness elsewhere. We might as well send hundreds of soldiers to find a deserted place to take a ladder to the city and attack the enemy from above. !"

One sentence reminded Xia Hu, he cursed himself for being confused, and immediately said: "You quickly lead five hundred people to the city from the south, first kill the soldiers holding crossbows at the top of the city, and then we release arrows downward, how long can they last? "

"Follow the order!"

The general ran to the south with [-] people. Li Ziheng saw a Xixia army running to the south with ladders on their backs. City, Zhuang Ding may not be able to resist."

Hu Yanlei said to Wu Zhongnan, the head of the capital, "You lead forty brothers to the city and help them resist Xixia soldiers!"

Wu Zhongnan waved his hand, "Follow me for the second part!"

He led forty people under his command and ran towards the top of the city. As soon as he reached the top of the city, he found Xixia soldiers coming up to the city one mile away.

The Xixia soldiers never ran to the south of the city. They only ran two miles and found that there was no one on the top of the city, so they immediately took the ladder to the city. There is no problem.

Taking advantage of the fact that there were not many enemy troops going to the city, Wu Zhongnan led his troops to rush over, shooting arrows while running, and a dozen Xixia soldiers who had just entered the city fell down one after another.

The forty or fifty Xixia soldiers who had already gone to the city shouted and brandished their spears to kill them. The two sides fought fiercely on the top of the city. Fighting head-to-head, the Xixia soldiers under the city accelerated their speed to the city, and more and more Xixia soldiers went to the city, and soon exceeded a hundred.

At this time, Wu Zhongnan felt pain in his left arm, and he was shot by a cold arrow from the city. Not only him, but several soldiers of the Song Army were also shot by the cold arrow.

The Song army began to struggle, and gradually retreated. More and more Xixia soldiers went to the city, and they immediately went into battle. In less than a quarter of an hour, there were more than [-] Xixia soldiers on the top of the city. Thirty people began to be unable to withstand the crazy attack of Xixia soldiers.

At this critical moment, there was a sudden scream from Xixia soldiers in the distance. A Song army cavalry arrived, and two thousand cavalry led by Yang Zaixing finally arrived.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

The Xixia general under the city shouted, and the Xixia soldiers at the top of the city began to retreat again. One ladder was not enough, and many Xixia soldiers jumped directly from the top of the city into the moat.

The morale of the scouts of the Song army was greatly boosted, and they resumed a sharp counterattack, killing the Xixia soldiers and retreating steadily.
Yang Zaixing should have arrived at noon. He was worried that Longxi County would be lost, so he led two thousand cavalry to rush on the road, and finally arrived at Longxi County an hour earlier, and rescued Hu Yanlei's men at the most critical moment.

Yang Zaixing saw the enemy general Xia Hu at a glance. Seeing that he was leading the army to flee, Yang Zaixing made a decisive decision, took off the star shooting bow, drew out a spiked arrow, drew the bow like a full moon, and shot it. The arrow was extremely accurate. It hit the back of Xia Hu's neck. Although Xia Hu was extremely fierce, his flesh and blood could not stop Yang Zaixing's spiked arrow.

'puff! An arrow shot through the back of the neck, the tip of the arrow protruded from the throat, and the bloody throat tissue was still hanging on the tip of the arrow. Xia Hu clutched his throat and fell off the horse. He didn't want to die, but his life was passing by quickly. Thus ended his sinful life.

Yang Zaixing shouted, "Kill the enemy army and leave no one alive!"

This was the first time Yang Zaixing issued an order to kill. Two thousand Song soldiers galloped on horseback, wielding spears and swords, and killed the fleeing Xixia soldiers.

(End of this chapter)