Fenghou

Chapter 503 Pingliang

If Siyang County is just a general county, then Pingliang County in Pingliang Prefecture is a large county with great strategic value. One of the importance of Pingliang County is that it just guards the entrance of Jingyuan Road. Located in the center of a large cross between north and south, east and west, its value is very important no matter for military or commercial trade.

However, it is much more difficult to attack Pingliang Mansion from Deshun Prefecture. Dalong Mountain stretches from north to south, and there are dozens of large and small passes on Guangda Long Mountain, such as the famous Shimen Pass, Muxia Pass, Liupan Pass, Shanguan, Zhishengguan, etc., can be said to be controlled by one man, and no one can open it.

Therefore, Chen Qing chose the southern route, crossing the Qinling Mountains from the Weihe Passage, then going north through the Jiandao Pass, taking Siyang County, and then taking Siyang County as the base, going north to Pingliang County, which is considered a shortcut.

However, Pingliang County is far more important than Siyang. Of course, Siyang is also very important. Seizing Siyang is equivalent to opening the gate of Fengxiang Mansion. It is safe, but Siyang County is easy to attack and difficult to defend, and has little strategic value.

Chen Qing sent the prisoners back to Chengji County, and ordered Wang Qi, the commander-in-chief, to lead [-] troops to guard Siyang County.

This afternoon, the army arrived in Huating County. Chen Qing, the former county magistrate of Huating County, knew him, but he had been transferred to another place. Now the county magistrate is called Zhang Qing, a local gentry.

Like all magistrates, when the Song army arrived in Huating County, Zhang Qing immediately organized a group of pigs, sheep and grain to reward the army, hoping that the army would not enter the county.

Chen Qing also understood the difficulties of these officials and ordered the army to stay overnight outside the city. That night, the scouts came from Pingliang County and brought the latest information about Pingliang County.

It really gave Chen Qing a headache. In just a few days after he attacked Longzhou, the puppet Qi army quickly increased its troops to Pingliang Mansion. The garrison in Pingliang County was only [-] at first, but now it has increased to [-]. And it was led by Li Cheng, the governor of the capital.

This is a fighter opportunity, and the fighter opportunity is fleeting. It can be said that now that the fighter opportunity is gone, it will be even more difficult for him to seize Pingliang County.

"Tell me about the city walls and gates in Pingliang County!"

"Qi Dutong said that the height of Pingliang County is about three feet. They are all made of large bluestones. For about thirty miles, all [-] enemy troops are stationed in the city."

"How many scouts and spies are there in the city?"

"Including the humble staff, there are eight people in total."

Chen Qing paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, and the generals beside him were also worried. They were all experienced defenders of the city. Judging from the descriptions of the scouts, even if they captured the city, they would have to pay a high price. The most important thing was their There are not many troops. .

To deal with a city wall guarded by [-] people, at least [-] troops are needed, and a three-to-one ratio of troops is possible to win the city.

At this time, Chen Qing stopped and said slowly: "Since we are here, let's give it a try no matter what!"

On the morning of the third day, Chen Qing led an army of [-] troops to Pingliang County three miles away, lined up neatly, and immediately ordered a soldier to approach the top of the city and shoot a letter arrow.

On the top of the city, Li Cheng looked coldly at the Song army three miles away, and said to the generals: "I didn't even carry the camp tent and luggage. It seemed that it was for a sneak attack on Pingliang City. It was originally possible, but he is late now. One step, and the opportunity to fight is lost."

All the generals laughed loudly, "Didn't he claim to be exhaustive? I didn't expect to be in such a mess!"

Li Cheng said indifferently: "He didn't make a mistake when he dispatched troops, but the basis of his dispatch was based on the troops sent by the Wu rank army, Monk Yuan. He will be able to divide his forces into two groups, taking Siyang County one way and Pingliang City the other way, maybe he will be able to capture Pingliang City before us, and at that time, he was the one who laughed at us from the top of the city for not carrying tents and baggage."

Everyone admired, "The general sees it clearly!"

Li Cheng smiled triumphantly, "Now he is very embarrassed, I want to see how he wants to seize the city?"

At this time, a cavalry soldier of the Song Army rushed over, drew an arrow with his bow, and shot an arrow letter to the top of the city. A soldier picked up the arrow letter and ran to present it to Li Cheng.

Li Cheng opened the letter, looked at it and said with a smile: "He asked to fight me one-on-one, and hoped that I would go out of the city to fight him!"

All the generals said one after another: "The general must not be fooled. Without the general, the city's defense capability will be reduced by half."

Li Cheng was secretly annoyed, everyone was not optimistic about him and Chen Qing going head-to-head, is he that bad?

Dissatisfaction is dissatisfaction, Li Cheng still knows that he has no chance of winning if he can kill Wanyan Loushi.

He drew a pen and replied: "The four seasons are unlucky, it is not advisable to go out of the city!"

Pass the letter to the soldier, "Shoot it back!"

Chen Qing decided to conduct a tentative siege. Since he wanted to see the opponent's ability to defend the city, he also needed to understand the defense of Pingliang City. More importantly, he wanted to know the siege ability of his own army.

There will definitely be casualties in war, which is unavoidable. He must use the minimum casualties to obtain the information he wants.

Opportunities for this kind of battle are relatively rare, all the generals fought one after another, and in the end the lottery was drawn, and Niu Gao got the lottery.

Chen Qing took out a gold order and said to him: "I will give you [-] infantry and [-] siege ladders. You are allowed to advance but not to retreat. It is up to me to decide to retreat. If you retreat without authorization, behead!"

"Humble post obeys orders!"

The battle drums in the Song Army team sounded, 'Boom!Boom!Boom!Boom! '

Six thousand elite infantry went out to battle. They wore double-layer leather armor, held large shields and short spears, and fought swords on their backs. The reason why they didn't use iron armor was mainly because the cost was too high. Secondly, they were guarded by shields. The chances of soldiers being hit by arrows were low. Too, and at the same time, it can also reduce the load, which is convenient for soldiers to go to the city to fight.

Among the [-] soldiers, there are also [-] kerosene and firearms soldiers, which are already standard equipment for the Xihe Road Song Army. They are not only equipped with kerosene skin bags, but also two gunpowder barrels.

Six thousand troops assembled quickly, and under the command of Niu Gao, they marched mightily towards the southern city wall.

Li Cheng didn't expect that the other party would actually attack the city. He immediately ordered the whole army to enter the combat state and mobilized [-] troops to deploy at the south of the city. The trebuchets had not yet arrived, mainly bows and arrows, rolling logs and stones, as well as some firearms and kerosene. .

The Song army used firearms and kerosene in Ganquan Fort, and Li Cheng was deeply impressed by the great power shown. He got [-] imitation poison-quenching nail gunpowder barrels from Jin Bing.

As for how the matchlock technology got into the hands of Jin Bing, it is basically impossible to verify. Generally speaking, as long as the Song army starts to equip it on a large scale, it will soon appear in the Jin Bing army.

There is also kerosene, but Jin Bing's kerosene has not been refined, so it can only be called kerosene or crude oil, not Song Jun's fierce kerosene. Although it can also burn, the effect is still worse.

The Song army was getting closer and closer, only two hundred steps away from the city wall, Li Cheng shouted: "Shoot the arrow!"

Five thousand crossbow arrows from the city head were fired at the same time, and they shot at the Song army densely. At this time, the six thousand Song army had been completely scattered in the wilderness more than ten miles wide.

Fifty people form a team, and each team is equipped with a siege ladder and six long planks.

This is actually a tactical change. Before the Jin soldiers and the Xixia army attacked the city of the Song army, they first sent people to build three simple wooden bridges on the moat. into a ball.

Chen Qing also discovered the serious disadvantages of this tactic. It is easy to be massacred by the bows and arrows of the defenders. The key here is the problem of the single-plank bridge over the moat. He changed his concept and let each army have a single-plank bridge. The area will be greatly widened, which will effectively reduce the probability of being shot by the enemy's bow and arrow.

Soldiers of the Song Army held their shields high while running, and ran against the howling rain of arrows. The shields effectively blocked the powerful crossbow bolts, but soldiers kept falling down from arrows in their legs. This was the only loophole. If the crossbow arrows were shot The angle of the shot is a little lower, and it is possible to shoot the soldier's leg.

Although the arrow in the leg will not kill you, if the treatment is not timely, you will bleed too much and die. In fact, in the cold weapon era, unless the head was chopped off with a knife, or the internal organs were pierced, most soldiers actually died. The first aid was not delivered in time.

The wounded soldiers of the Song Army were all trained. They reluctantly pulled out the crossbow arrows, took out the first-aid kit from their arms, and poured wine on the wound first. The soldiers trembled from the pain. The desire to survive alone made them endure the pain and continued to chew to stop the bleeding. The ointment was applied to the wound, and Jinchuang medicine powder was sprinkled on it, and the wound was bandaged with a cloth band.

After this set of simple self-treatment is completed, life can basically be saved. "

The Song army continued to run to the sound of war drums, ran to the edge of the moat, set up long wooden boards, rushed across the moat in an instant, and erected siege ladders on the top of the city.

On the top of the city, rolling logs and rocks fell like a torrential rain, and flaming gunpowder kegs were also thrown down.

=====
[The body still hasn't recovered quickly, hey!When a person reaches middle age, a sickness is a torment, a purgatory, unlike before, this kind of minor illness is not taken seriously at all, and now at half past eleven, I feel that my energy and energy are exhausted, and my whole body is exhausted. People can't support it anymore, strive for three shifts tomorrow, and write more during the day to improve efficiency. 】

(End of this chapter)