Fenghou

Chapter 662
The soldiers of Song Dynasty cheered as they watched Zhang Ding climb up the cliff on the other side, and Liu Cui immediately ordered: "Bring a trebuchet here!"

A dozen soldiers moved over a small trebuchet, and the preparations were soon completed.

"Launch!" Liu Cui shouted, 'Bang! With a sound, the trebuchet launched a stone tied with a long rope, and it fell far away on the opposite side of the cliff.

Zhang Dingbian picked up the rope, tied it to the rock, and threw three ropes in a row to make a simple rope bridge across the river. Dozens of soldiers and craftsmen began to climb the rope and cross the cliff.

At dusk, the first iron chain has appeared above the cliff.
Chen Qing led a [-]-strong army all the way to the east. Perhaps it was because of the northwest. The western army had more horses. Even the infantry marched for a long distance. The prefectures and counties on Xihe Road and Shaanxi Road have large forage warehouses, which are managed by special personnel, which solves the needs of marching.

This morning, the army passed through Mount Quwu from Tonghui Fort. Mount Quwu stretches from Xixia to Song Dynasty, and it is as long as thousands of miles. To the west is Xihe Road. There are countless passes on the mountains that stretch for thousands of miles. Some passes can be used by mules, horses or even carts. The strategic value of such passes is very high.

After passing Quwu Mountain, they entered Xi'an Prefecture. The army rested in Haiyuan County for a day, and continued westward the next day. Two days later, the army finally arrived at Xiaoguan.

Tang Qian led [-] soldiers to tidy up Xiaoguan. The gravel was cleaned up and the dead grass was pulled out. The whole Xiaoguan didn't look as dilapidated as before. It only needs a little repair to restore Xiaoguan to its original appearance.

The [-] troops took a rest at Xiaoguan. Chen Qing led a group of generals to inspect the Xiaoguan pass under the leadership of Tang Qian. Xiaoguan was actually a part of the Great Wall of the Sui Dynasty, but there was a canyon pass where horses and carts could pass. , Xiaoguan was built in this canyon, and gradually formed a group of passes, which became the only way to travel from south to north, and the Qin Zhidao, which spanned thousands of years, brought great convenience to Xiaoguan.

"What's going on in Xixia now?" Chen Qing asked.

"There is no movement in Yingli County, but our scouts discovered that [-] Xixia troops have been stationed in Mingsha County."

Chen Qing nodded, "There are a lot of people, what do they want to do?"

"I guess Brother Richard wants to use this army to contain our main force and buy time for him to recruit troops. I got the news that all parts of Xixia are forcibly recruiting troops, and the situation is very chaotic."

"Can these [-] people restrain our main force?" Chen Qing asked again with a smile.

Tang Qian shook his head, "It's all plain terrain. I think it's impossible. At most, we will cut off our food roads. I guess the other side has the same idea."

Sima Zhang Xiao next to him asked, "How is the defense of Mingsha County?"

"Reporting to Sima, Mingsha County as a whole is not as good as Yingli County. It is only about two feet tall, and the city is twenty miles in circumference. It is still solid and solid, but it is a bit old. We caught a spy, and the general in the city is called Shang Dongyan. Tubo people."

Zhang Xiao pondered for a moment and said: "I've heard about this Shang Dongyan. He was originally Cao Baozong's deputy general. He urged Cao Baozong not to go south from Gongzhou, but the two fell out. This Shang Dongyan has a good reputation among Xixia soldiers. It should be a strong enemy, and our understanding of Xixia is far inferior to that of the Xixia people, there must be a reason for them to be stationed in Mingsha County, and the Xuan Fu envoy must not underestimate the enemy."

Tang Qian blushed, obviously Sima was saying that he underestimated the enemy.

Chen Qing said indifferently: "If Zhang Sima has something to say, just say it, don't be shy!"

Zhang Xiao glanced at Tang Qian, and said bluntly: "The humble official thinks that General Tang should not appear in Xiaoguan. There are still a series of dangerous passes in the north. General Tang should be stationed there and always be on guard against the Xixia army's counterattack. But General Tang Obviously he underestimated the enemy, thinking that there is a garrison over there, nothing will happen, but this Shang Dongyan is from Tubo, he has no status in Xixia people, but he was able to accept orders in the face of danger, which shows that he is a person with real skills."

Yang Zaixing also said aside: "Sima is right, if Shang Dongyan doesn't have special abilities, brother Li Cha won't use him at this critical moment."

Tang Qian blushed, bowed and said, "I know I'm wrong, I'll hurry back to the village now!"

Chen Qing nodded, "Hurry up!"

Tang Qian didn't dare to be negligent, and led two thousand soldiers to rush to Shangyikou, which was eighty miles away.

Chen Qing ordered the army to rest in Xiaoguan for a day, and at five o'clock the next day, the army had breakfast and was ready to set off.

At this moment, Yang Zaixing, the former commander of the army, hurried over, followed by a reporting soldier.

"Dutong, it seems that something really happened ahead!"

Chen Qing was startled, and asked, "What happened?"

The messenger soldier knelt down on one knee and reported, "Reporting to Dutong, the Gauta village was lost and taken away by the Xixia army. General Tang is leading an army to attack."

Chen Qing clenched his fists, as expected, something happened when he underestimated the enemy.

Cutta Village is the last pass of Xiaoguan Road in Xixia, and it is also the most dangerous pass. If this pass cannot be conquered, and the southwest military road leading to Lanzhou cannot be repaired, then the Song Army in Yingli County can only Abandoning the county seat and retreating to Hexi through the desert meant that Chen Qing's plan to attack Xixia failed.

Shang Dongyan is good at strategy. He sent a dead man to pretend to be a spy to investigate the situation of the Song Army, but was caught by the Song Army scouts and couldn't stand the torture. He explained the situation in Mingsha County, which was basically true, but He lied about the most crucial thing. Shang Dongyan's goal was not to cut off the Song army's logistics, but to recapture the two dangerous passes of Cuta Village and Reward Yikou.

On the one hand, he ordered Li Ke to continue to send spies to investigate the situation in Yingli County, and at the same time, he built beacon towers on the north bank of the Yellow River, posing as if he wanted to cut off the Song Army's logistics, but he himself led five thousand elites to quietly leave Mingsha County at night. Went to Weizhou.

Weizhou was located fifty miles west of Ghota Village, and it was already an empty city with no troops stationed there. He led his army up the mountain behind Weizhou and walked along a mountain path.

This trail leads directly to the east side of the Ghota village. Twenty years ago, Shang Dongyan, who was still a general, led a thousand troops to kill behind the Tongguan army, burning the food and supplies of the Song army, making the enemy who had already captured the Ghota village The [-] Song troops who stepped into the village had to retreat and go south, and their efforts fell short. This was also one of the reasons for Tong Guan's defeat.

The cuta village was guarded by General Luo Jin leading [-] troops. Tang Qian didn't notice the Xixia army from Mingsha County coming, so he underestimated the enemy and led [-] people to Xiaoguan to meet the commander Chen Qing.

The main general underestimated the enemy, and Luo Jin also underestimated the enemy. He never thought that the Xixia army would come from behind, and was attacked by the Xixia army and entered the camp. Two thousand Song troops were defeated and suffered heavy casualties. Hundreds of soldiers were forced to give up cutting the village and retreat to Yingli County.

At this time, Tang Qian was very regretful and lost the Gouta village, but he found that the village was so difficult to attack. He led [-] soldiers to attack desperately. After attacking for a whole day, nearly half of them were killed, but still nothing was gained.

In the evening, Chen Qing led the army to the foot of the Ghota village. Tang Qian came to plead guilty with his upper body bare.

"The lowly position underestimates the enemy, and the crime deserves death. I'm here to plead guilty!"

Chen Qing nodded, "Put on your clothes and armor first, you are at fault, but it's not a crime, you don't have to be naked!"

Tang Qian put on his armor and knelt down to accept the punishment. Chen Qing then said: "You underestimated the enemy's carelessness. You lost the defense and cut the stronghold. The soldiers suffered heavy casualties, and the general was killed. According to the military regulations, you will be demoted two ranks to be the commander of the general."

"Thank you Dutong for not killing me!"

"If you step back first, I will give you a chance to make meritorious service and atone for your crime."

Tang Qian retreated, and Chen Qing looked at the surrounding terrain. This area belongs to Douling, with Shangyikou to the south and Ghota Village to the north. Between the two is a valley tens of miles wide, with large Woods and rivers.

Taguaezhai is on a steep mountain. The Xixia army dug stones on the mountain to clear the road and built a winding mountain road. You can walk mules, horses and carts. The winding mountain road is not afraid. The difficulty is that the mountain is too high and steep. The army set up cards layer by layer and attacked step by step, and the cost of casualties was too high.

(End of this chapter)