Fenghou

Chapter 730
The development of the matter confirmed the worries that can be obtained, and Shan County has been captured by the Song army.

This news made Zhe Keqiu speechless for a while, he rushed here non-stop after receiving the order, but he was a step too late, if he had known it earlier, he would have sent a cavalry to kill him.

Zhe Keqiu felt very regretful in his heart, but it was useless to regret now, after having to face the reality, Zhe Keqiu began to think about what to do next?
First of all, he needs to know how many Song troops are in the city?He still needs to know what's going on at Hangu Pass?In addition, he also wanted to know, where did the Song army come from to occupy Shan County?

But the first question stumped him. They didn't carry siege ladders and couldn't attack the city. How would he know how many soldiers there were in the city?
After thinking for a long time, there was nothing to do, so I had to temporarily give up the first idea.

Deputy General Hu Mei stepped forward and suggested: "Commander, why don't we go to Hangu Pass first?"

Zhe Keqiu shook his head, "When we went to Hangu Pass, our retreat would be cut off. Once the Song army in Shan County cut off our retreat and the food supply, wouldn't it mean that the entire army would be wiped out?"

Another general said: "Since the commander-in-chief is afraid of being cut off, it is better to retreat to Mianchi County first, and at the same time send someone to Hangu Pass to inquire about the news."

Mianchi County is about a hundred miles east of Shan County, and it is also the starting point of the Weihan Ancient Road. Support for two days, waiting in place is definitely not an option, returning to Mianchi is their only option.

However, he was still a little unwilling to be reconciled. After thinking for a long time, he ordered: "Continue to Shan County!"

It can be said that he has rich experience. He suspects that the opponent is just a scout team of two or three hundred people, who came over the mountains, and it happens that there is no defender in Shan County. The Song Army took advantage of the situation and occupied Shan County. Wouldn't it be ridiculed by the world to retreat in such a haste?

The army continued to move forward, and at the fourth watch, the army arrived in Shanxian County. There was nothing to see on the top of the city, only the dark city walls and gates.

"How did you find something wrong?" Zhe Keqiu asked the leader of the spies.

"We went up to call the door, but the answer was bows and arrows!"

"Call the door again!"

The leader of the spies had no choice but to rush to the city gate with dozens of soldiers, and heard them shouting from a distance under the city: "We are under the command of Commander Zhe, coming from Luoyang, please open the city immediately!"

Before the words fell, a burst of arrows shot down from the top of the city. Although the soldiers were all prepared, several people were shot by the arrows and screamed. The spies fled back in fright.

"Reporting to Commander, there are many arrows on the top of the city, and three of our brothers were injured!"

Zhe Keqiu frowned, he could see clearly, and more than a hundred arrows were shot from the top of the city, this point of arrows can't explain the problem.

He pondered for a moment, then ordered his lieutenant general Hu Mei to say: "Take a thousand brothers to cut down a thick tree nearby, and come back, the kind that can be used as a battering ram!"

"Follow the order!"

Lieutenant Hu Mei left with a thousand soldiers, and ordered the whole army to sit down and rest on the spot if they could ask for more.

At the same time, Zhe Keqiu sent another team of spies to Hangu Pass to investigate the situation.

As the sky was getting brighter, Hu Mei also led the soldiers to cut back two tree trunks that could be used as battering rams. The branches were all gone, leaving only the trunk, with a diameter of about two feet and a length of seven or eight feet, which could hold seven or eighty soldiers Hold it and rush to the city gate.

Zhe Keqiu narrowed his eyes and looked at the top of the city. He could see clearly at this moment that the top of the city was densely packed with soldiers, but were these soldiers the real Song Army?Or is it temporarily finding some young men in the city to pretend to be?He had to try and attack to know.

"Order, [-] archers go up!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The war drum sounded.

The five thousand crossbowmen were divided into five square formations, running in formation, rushing forward like a tidal wave.

On the top of the city, Tang Qian frowned and said to Liu Qiong: "The other party doesn't have a siege ladder, how can he attack the city?"

Liu Qiong said coldly: "They must have cut wood to make battering rams, trying to break open the city gate!"

He immediately ordered: "Follow my order, fire oil and gunpowder are ready!"

Five thousand crossbowmen rushed to the city and shot arrows at the top of the city from a hundred steps away. The arrows rained down on the top of the city.

There are [-] defenders on the top of the city, consisting of [-] Song troops and [-] new recruits. Needless to say, the [-] Song troops are very experienced, and the [-] new recruits are also well-trained troops.

They squatted on the top of the city and fired blindly, without aiming at a certain enemy, as long as the number of arrows was sufficient, they also had great lethality.

In the dense arrow rain on both sides, a siege team rushed towards the city gate. The siege team consisted of more than [-] people, more than [-] people held shields to protect, and the remaining [-] soldiers were holding battering rams on the left and right sides. , rushing towards the city gate.

"The powder keg is ready
Liu Qiong shouted, "Fire oil ready!"

Dozens of soldiers have prepared two gunpowder barrels and dozens of bags of kerosene. The best way to deal with the siege enemy is kerosene and gunpowder. Rolling logs and stones are of little use. Experienced soldiers can use shields to unload them skillfully. The impact force of falling logs and rocks.

But no one can stop the pervasive liquid fire oil and the dense poisonous nails when it explodes, and there is also a psychological offensive in it. When the fire is ignited on the body, or when the poisonous nails are injected into the body, every soldier will have a strong feeling. The sense of fear is enough to defeat their will.

The siege army had already approached the city gate, and the firearms soldiers shouted: "Powder barrel attack!"

There are special firearms soldiers in the Western Army. They have rich experience and special training. They know when to throw the powder keg and where to throw it.

For soldiers with battering rams, they usually throw them thirty steps away from the city gate. The throwing point is not on the team. They have dense shields to resist, so they must be thrown to both sides, so that the flying poisonous nails can be shot from the bottom of the sides.

The two gunpowders were thrown down at the same time, and they exploded when they touched the ground. There were two consecutive loud noises, and thousands of tiny poisonous nails flew in all directions. The legs of dozens of shield soldiers outside were shot into by the poisonous nails.

The soldiers on the periphery screamed, their legs limp and fell to the ground, and the originally dense shield defense suddenly disintegrated, revealing the soldiers holding the battering ram inside.

"Shock!"

With a roar from the leading enemy army, the battering ram rushed towards the city gate.
At this time, dozens of jets of black fire oil sprayed down from the top of the city, drenching dozens of soldiers in the front section, and threw down dozens of torches at the same time, "Boom! 'The flames burned rapidly and spread so fast that in the blink of an eye, all the people who were drenched in kerosene were ignited.

The battering ram was still more than a dozen steps away from the city gate, but the dozens of people in front of them all turned into burning men. They screamed and ran in all directions, and the battering ram fell to the ground with a bang.

In the chaos, arrows rained down from the top of the city, and the soldiers behind were hit by arrows and fell to the ground. The battering ram fell to the ground and was engulfed by the fire on the ground.

In the distance, Zhe Keqiu could see clearly from the opponent's shooting arrows. There were at least a few thousand people in the experienced Song army on the top of the city, and it was not a small team as he imagined. He could only sigh, "Retreat!"

"Dang! Dang! Dang!"

The withdrawal bell rang, and the puppet Qi army on the battlefield withdrew quickly like an ebb tide, leaving behind more than [-] corpses, most of them were crossbowmen who were shot and killed by arrows from the top of the city.

The puppet Qi army did not stop, and retreated directly towards Mianchi County. The defenders on the top of the city immediately cheered, and many soldiers who had just surrendered were even more excited. Many of them tasted the taste of victory for the first time.

(End of this chapter)