Fenghou

Chapter 520
Ziwu Pass was silent in the snowy night, and Ziwu Pass was relatively safe in winter. Heavy snow blocked Ziwu Valley. The snow was so deep that even war horses could hardly walk, and it was basically impossible for the enemy troops to pass through.

So after winter, most of the defenders withdrew from the Guancheng and lived in sheepskin tents in the camp. The Guancheng was too cold, and they would freeze to death if they stayed overnight.

Usually there are only two or three soldiers on duty at night on Guancheng, lighting a fire, and a few people sit around the fire overnight.

In the middle of the night, hundreds of small white dots were moving on the snow in the distance. When they gradually approached, they turned out to be hundreds of Jurchen soldiers riding camels.

The Jurchens have lived in the ice and snow in the Northeast for a long time, and they are very familiar with snow warfare. They know that although war horses cannot travel long distances in the snow, camels can. As long as they have enough supplies, the army can pass through the Meridian Valley.

The Jurchen soldiers jumped off the camels one after another. The leading general was Wanyanliao, a commander of a thousand soldiers. He was ordered by Wanyan to drink and leave the village to capture Ziwu Pass and open up the strategic passage to Raofengling.

Ziwu Pass was built in a dangerous place, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Three hundred people can block the attack of tens of thousands of people. In normal times, it is very difficult to attack.

But winter is different, especially after heavy snow falls, the defense of Ziwu Pass will definitely be relaxed, and that is the opportunity to seize Ziwu Pass.

The Jin soldiers changed into white cloaks one after another, and began to climb halfway up the mountain. It was midnight, and the three Song soldiers were already sleepy. They were sitting by the fire, leaning against the city wall.

Suddenly, the dog on the top of the city barked loudly. It seemed to have found something?
"Little Six, take a look."

"I'm not going, it must be that the beast is approaching the city wall again."

The three soldiers didn't want to move, thinking that it would only be harassed by wild animals. It was midnight when all kinds of wild animals came out to look for food.

At this time, the dog stopped barking, and the three of them closed their eyes again. Suddenly, the three of them felt something and opened their eyes together, only to see countless spears in front of them against their throats. .

Three days later, a thousand-strong Jurchen cavalry escorted Wanyan Chang and Wanyan Helisa were marching in Ziwu Valley.

Unlike Wanyan Wushu who likes to attack Dasan Pass, Wanyan Helisa prefers to attack on the eastern front. The first time he attacked Hanzhong was Shangluo Road.

This time going to Meridian Valley was Wan Yanchang's suggestion to him two months ago. Chen Qing was able to go to Ziwu Valley twice to enter Guanzhong. Why couldn't Jin Bing enter Hanzhong via Ziwu Valley?

Wanyan Drinking Lisa immediately accepted this suggestion.

"Beizhi started to repair the plank road in more than a month, and established a logistics point in the middle of Meridian Valley to stock up on food and supplies!"

Wanyan and Lisa reported his plan to Wanyanchang, "I found out that the biggest problem with the difficulty of marching in Ziwu Valley is food security. The team has to walk for seven or eight days, and many places are too heavy to pass. Soldiers must prepare dry food for at least ten days. , It’s okay if we can conquer the Ziwu Pass, but if we can’t, there will be a big problem with the food supply, so it is necessary to establish a food supply point, which is the top priority.”

"Is there any news from Ziwu Pass?" Wan Yanchang asked.

"not yet!"

At this time, a military camp appeared in front of it, surrounded by camp fences, and there were hundreds of large tents inside the camp fence. This was the temporary logistics transfer point established by Jin Bing. He hoarded three thousand shi of grain.

Just before the team arrived at the barracks, a general ran to report excitedly: "Report to the Supervising Army and Marshal, there is news from Ziwu Pass, and it has been captured the night before yesterday."

Wanyan and Lisa were overjoyed immediately, and couldn't even close their mouths with a smile.

Wan Yanchang asked calmly, "Have any soldiers of the Song Army escaped?"

"It is said that none of them escaped, and the beacon fire was not lit."

Wanyan Chang breathed a sigh of relief, and said to Wanyan Lisa: "From now on, we will block the news and continue to stockpile food, not only here, but also at Ziwuguan, and we will take down Raofengling before the spring of next year."

"Humble post obeys orders!"

At the same moment when Jin Bing began to march into Meridian Valley, tens of thousands of Xihe troops started winter training. The main event of winter training was long-distance running and training, running from Chengji County to Longxi County, and then back to Chengji County from Longxi County. Running hundreds of miles in a few days is a great test of the soldiers' physical strength and will.

As for digging ice into the river to bathe, that is the training homework that every soldier has to do every morning, which is already pediatrics.

The second major training subject in winter training is night combat, especially night siege training is the top priority.

The place of training was in Qingshui County. The city wall of Qingshui County was relatively low, and the ground was covered with snow. Even if soldiers fell from the siege ladder, they would not lose their lives.

At night, the drums and drums on the walls of Qingshui City were like thunder, and the shouts shook the sky. The people in the city knew that the army was practicing, and everyone slept well without being affected.

Yang Zaixing led [-] people to act as the defenders, while Gao Ding, Liu Cui, and Zheng Pingping took turns to lead the army to attack the city. The two sides agreed that with a limit of half an hour, if the attacker had [-] people on the city, it would be considered a victory. The defender wins.

Twenty siege ladders were erected on the top of the city, holding shields and spears in both hands, and fought fiercely, but all the weapons were made of wood, and even using wooden weapons was just as dangerous. Soldiers kept screaming from the top of the city Falling into the thick snow, but even so, more than [-] people were injured in the first three days of night combat training, and the most seriously injured person broke his leg.

Chen Qing stood on the viewing platform at the top of the city, silently watching the fierce battle between the attacker and the defender, and Hu Yantong stood next to him. He has a bye tonight, and he will lead the army to fight tomorrow night.

"Compared with the actual siege, it seems to be missing a lot!" Hu Yantong sighed.

Chen Qing said indifferently: "You need to understand what training is for night combat. It's not training weapons, but training soldiers' night combat capabilities. If they can reach [-]% of the daytime level, then it's considered a success. As for the bows and arrows, rolling logs, stones, etc. that you are worried about. , it doesn't really matter."

"I heard that there will be fire oil training?"

"The fire oil training will be in January, and the Huo Huanjia is still being processed, and the quantity is insufficient."

At this time, a bell rang in the distance, and there was cheering from the top of the city. When the time came, Gao Ding's army only attacked [-] people, and the siege failed. They rested for half an hour, and then Liu Cui led the army to attack the city.

Chen Qing didn't read any more, he rushed back to Chengji County overnight.

In the afternoon, he received news that Liu Zan had arrived in Chengji County, and it was said that he had come to join him.

Liu Zan is the eldest son of Liu Ziyu and the elder brother of Liu Cui. He is one of the Four King Kong under Wu Jie.

It is of course a good thing that a celebrity like Liu Zan will join him in the future, but it also puts Chen Qing in a dilemma. Knowing that Liu Zan has already been appointed as an official, how can he arrange for him?
Unexpectedly, Chen Qing had no choice but to meet the person first, and the two sides discussed it first.

In the morning, Chen Qing returned to Jinglue Mansion.

At this time, Zhu Sui, his official enlisted in the army, came up quickly and said, "General Liu Zan is studying engineering!"

Engineering is a school for training young craftsmen. It was established at the beginning of the year. There are [-] ​​students. They learn technologies such as crossbow making, forging, wood, gunpowder, papermaking, wine making, and agricultural tools. In fact, it is not only military technology, but also civilian technology. Brewing, farming tools, and so on.

The engineering school is very close to the Jinglue Mansion, and it is only two hundred steps away. When Chen Qing walked into the gate, he saw several trebuchets placed on the square, and Shi Ze, a military craftsman, was explaining the essentials of trebuchets to dozens of students.

Chen Qing saw Liu Zan in casual clothes at a glance.

"Why is General Liu here?" Chen Qing stepped forward and asked with a smile.

(End of this chapter)