Fenghou

Chapter 435 Didao
"Where is the magistrate Zhu Sui now?" Chen Qing asked.

Wu Hongwei shook his head, "After the Xixia people occupied Didao County, Zhu Sui disappeared. Some people said that he fled, but others said that he died. I really don't know about it."

Chen Qing smiled and said, "Go back and clean up. After I take Didao County, you will report back and continue to be the magistrate."

Wu Hongwei was a little confused: "Thank you for the kindness of the Jiedu envoy, the humble post is not from a professional background, I'm afraid the official department."

Chen Qing smiled faintly, "I might as well tell you the truth. The officials I appoint don't need the approval of the official department. Your salary is paid by the Jiedu Mansion, not the official department, so you don't need to have any psychological burden."

Wu Hongwei heaved a sigh of relief, "I understand!"

"How much food is there in Didao County? Does Wuzhi County know?"

"When the humble staff left, there were still [-] shi of grain in the county warehouse, which was the accumulated tax of Didao County over the years, which had never been handed over, nor was it transferred away by Jin Bing.

But the county warehouse is only a small part. The key is the Xihe Road Jingluefu warehouse, which is the big head. It is composed of dozens of large warehouses, and the grain, grass and materials are piled up inside. I don’t know how many low-level jobs there are, but one thing is certain They were not transferred by the Jin Bing and the Xixia people either. As far as I know, the Xixia wanted to set up the military commander's office in Lintao. "

The news of Wu Hongwei cheered Chen Qing up. He wished he could occupy Didao County immediately. Now he just encountered the problem of food shortage.

Chen Qing then asked Wu Hongwei to draw a picture, marking out the hole in the city wall. The whole hole was about seven or eight feet long, which was indeed a loophole in the siege.

Only then did Wu Hongwei take his leave and left with the people and dozens of carts.

The common people sent three hundred shi of grain and more than one hundred pigs and sheep, just to supplement the army's dry food. Chen Qing let the soldiers have a full meal, rested until the third watch, and continued to set off.

They were still more than sixty miles away from Didao County. The next afternoon, the army was still about ten miles away from the county seat. He came to support Didao County.

Chen Qing immediately made a decisive decision to annihilate the cavalry first, and then attack the city without delay.

The [-] army immediately accelerated and rushed towards the official road in the north of the county.

Cao Baozong received a distress letter from the Lintao defenders. Although he still had lingering fears, he had to rescue Lintao. He hesitated for two days, and finally ordered his deputy general Shang Dongyan to lead [-] troops to rescue Didao County.

Time was a bit delayed. Shang Dongyan was worried that Didao County was in danger, so he ordered the cavalry commander Tuoba Chengqing to lead [-] cavalry to rush to Didao County first.

Tuoba Chengqing led [-] cavalry and galloped all the way. When he was still [-] miles away from the county seat, Tuoba Chengqing ordered the horse to slow down. There were forests in front of him. He was vigilant, and there was likely to be an ambush by the Song army ahead. .

Tuoba Chengqing immediately sent dozens of spies to investigate the ambush ahead, while his [-] cavalry stopped moving forward, waiting for news from the spies.

Not long after, the spies rushed back and shouted: "There are cavalry from the Song army ahead, come here!"

The earth began to tremble, the sky rolled over like thunder, dust covered the sky, and the sky turned red.

Tuoba Chengqing turned pale with shock, and asked anxiously, "How many Song Army cavalry are there?"

"About [-] people!"

"Pass my order, retreat immediately! Retreat!"

Tuoba Chengqing became anxious immediately. Among the [-] Song army cavalry, Chen Qing must be among them. He only had [-] soldiers, so he was no match at all. The [-] cavalry turned their horses around and retreated to the north. Dozens of big trees appeared on the official road in front of them, and a raging fire ignited, completely blocking the way to retreat north.

There was a sound of clappers on the hillside, and thousands of arrows shot out from the woods like raindrops, and shot at the Xixia cavalry who were a hundred steps away. Shouts and hisses resounded through the official road.

The Xixia soldiers rushed to the bushes in the west. Generally, there is no need to do so. Riding horses will never go into the bushes. It will cause huge damage to the horses. The situation in the bushes is complicated, such as stones, holes, sharp branches, etc. Very easy to slip and break a leg.

But now the Xixia cavalry are in a hurry and don't care about the danger of the bushes. The crossbow arrows are still coming like a storm. The five thousand Song army's crossbow arrows have been fired in the third round, and fifteen thousand crossbow arrows have been shot, countless The Xixia soldiers fell in the bushes and on the official road.

Five thousand soldiers of the Song Army simply rushed out of the woods and shot arrows at the fleeing Xixia soldiers while running.
At this time, the Song Army cavalry in the distance had already slowed down their horses, and the Xixia cavalry rushed into a mile-wide bush. Of course, the Song Army had no reason to follow. Most of the casualties, they have achieved their goal, there is no need to catch up.

More than a thousand cavalrymen ran through the bushes to the bank of Taoshui, and they fled northward along the river bank.

Chen Qing urged his horse to the side of the road, looked at the dead and wounded enemy troops on the official road and in the bushes, and ordered coldly: "No prisoners of war will be left, all will be executed, and buried with fire."

The soldiers worked together to kill all the wounded and surviving soldiers, pile up the corpses, burn them and bury them deeply.

In this battle, the Song Army captured more than [-] war horses. At this time, dusk had quietly fallen.

On the head of Didao County, two thousand Xixia soldiers are waiting in battle. The fierce battle between the Song Army and the Xixia cavalry has affected the county.

The main general of the Xixia Army is called Xia Jin, and he is a general. He knows very well that the battle took place in the north, and it must be the Song army who went to stop the reinforcements going south.

The fighting in the north has stopped for half an hour, and there is still no Xixia reinforcements coming to contact, Xia Jin sank into the abyss with his heart, it seems that his guess is right, the reinforcements are in danger.

A little bit of time passed, and suddenly there was a commotion in the northern city. It turned out that an army appeared outside the northern city. They should be cavalry from the Song Army, lined up densely. head.

A soldier picked it up a long time ago and presented it to the chief general Xia Jin. It turned out to be the Song Army's "Report to Xixia Soldiers in the City".

The letter asked the Xixia army in the city to leave Didao County and go north within half an hour, and the Song army would not embarrass them. If they did not withdraw within half an hour, once the Song army broke through the city, they would be severely punished.

General Xia Jin tore the letter to shreds at the head of the city. He could not accept the request of the Song army at all, let alone give up Didao County and evacuate. If the Song army wanted to attack the city, he would fight to the death.

Of course Chen Qing knew that it was impossible for the Xixia army to give up the county and go northward. The reason why he made this request was to confuse the Xixia army on the top of the city and buy time for the Song army in the southeast corner.

At this time, Niu Gao led [-] soldiers to hide in the woods not far from the southeast corner. Zhao Xiaoyi led more than [-] soldiers to swim across the moat and lean close to the city wall. They needed to confirm what Wu Hongwei said was empty. Does it still exist?
Zhao Xiaoyi pulled out a very thin dagger and inserted it into the gap between the city bricks, cutting off the powder in the gap bit by bit. The county town has not been repaired for at least [-] years, the city bricks have become very loose, and the powder in the gap is even worse. The blade fell off, and after a while, the city bricks became loose.

The city bricks became looser and looser, and the soldiers of the Song Army slowly inserted two thin hooks made of fine steel into the gap between the city bricks, and hooked out a piece of city brick weighing tens of kilograms little by little.

The soldier drew his knife and stretched into the cave to check it out. It was indeed empty, and there was a musty smell wafting out.

"General, it's empty!"

Zhao Xiaoyi looked at the top of the city, at least there were no soldiers in front of the battlements.He ordered in a low voice: "Do it!"

The soldiers worked together and poured a large amount of water from the moat on the city bricks. The dry powder in the gaps between the city bricks turned into mud, which made it easier to remove the city bricks. In just a moment, a large hole a person's height and two feet wide appeared in front of their eyes.

(End of this chapter)