Fenghou

Chapter 769
Linfen County is the second largest city in the south after Hedong County. The city wall is about [-] miles in circumference and has about [-] residents. The people fled in a hurry and fled Linfen County.

In front of the west city gate, tens of thousands of people crowded in front of the city gate. The bullock carts of a few wealthy families blocked the city gate due to the competition for the road. There are many old and young people, and there are many bullock carts in the crowd.

At this time, a group of soldiers rushed to arrest the drivers and stewards of several bullock carts blocking the road and beat them up violently. The owners of several bullock carts did not dare to argue any more. Only then was it cleared.

Standing at the top of the city, Han Chang said to the general next to him, "The order is to pass on, only to go out but not to enter, once you leave the city gate, you are not allowed to come back, no one is exempt."

The dense population in the city also made Han Chang feel dizzy. He knew very well that there must be many spies from the Song army lurking in the city. Once the Song army launches a fire attack, the whole city will become a sea of ​​flames, and the barracks and granaries will not be spared.

Before Wanyan Huonu opposed the demobilization of the people, she disagreed with Han Chang. When Wanyan Huonu was transferred away and there was no constraint, Han Chang immediately ordered a large-scale evacuation of the people in the city, and at the same time demolished all the buildings within a hundred steps of the city wall.

The food in Linfen City is abundant, with as much as [-] shi, [-] shi of black beans, [-] dans of fodder, and countless military resources. If the city is well defended, it can last at least half a year.

But Han Chang didn't have much confidence in defending the city, especially in the face of the fire attack of the Western Army. Their powerful fire oil offensive was difficult for any army to resist.

Looking at the people fleeing in fear outside the city, Han Chang smiled wryly in his heart, why didn't he wish to flee like the people in his heart?
At this moment, a commander rushed to report: "Master Wan, there is news about the Zezhou Army and the Longde Army!"

Han Chang was overjoyed and asked anxiously, "Where are they?"

"They assembled on the north bank of the pouring water [-] miles to the east, but they were intercepted by [-] Song troops. We implore us to rescue them!"

Yesterday morning, Han Chang received an express letter from Li Zhouheng, the commander of the garrison of the Longde Mansion. Their troops joined forces in Ji County and Zezhou, and they were rushing towards Lintao. Han Chang waited with great anticipation for the arrival of this army. Thinking of being intercepted by Song Jun.

"Where is the messenger, bring him to see me!"

Not long after, the messenger sergeant was led to Han Chang, and the messenger knelt down on one knee and said, "See Mr. Wan!"

A soldier presented the command arrow and the request for help to Han Chang. Han Chang looked at it. Yes, it was the command arrow he gave to Li Zhouheng, and it was also a letter written by Li Zhouheng himself.

He asked, "Where was the army intercepted?"

"Reporting to Commander Wan, it's Song General Niu Gao's army, and they should have come from the direction of Jiezhou."

Han Chang nodded. He was very familiar with this army. He himself was defeated by this army's rear attack. Niu Gao should have come from Shanzhou, not Yang Zaixing's subordinate, but an independent army.

"How is the situation now?"

"Now the two armies are facing each other on both sides of the Pangshui River, about [-] miles away from Linfen County. The Song Army should also be waiting for reinforcements."

Han Chang asked anxiously: "Where is the main force of the Song army now? I want the latest information."

"Information from an hour ago shows that the main force of the Song Army is currently in Xiangling County."

"Bring a map!"

A soldier handed over a map to Han Chang, and Han Chang opened the map for a closer look. Xiangling County is located on the west bank of Fenshui River, about [-] miles southwest of Linfen County, about [-] miles from Xiangling County to the place where the two armies confronted Ten miles, half a day's journey farther than myself, the key is that they are still on the west bank of Fenshui.

The [-] troops are extremely important to Han Chang. The nature of the [-] troops and the [-] troops are completely different. He still dare not fight against the Song army with the [-] troops, but with the [-] troops, he can pull them out of the city and lay the groundwork for them. In a battle with the Song army in formation, the [-] troops are bound to win against Han Chang.

At this time, a soldier came to report, "Report to Mr. Wan, and found that the Song army built a pontoon bridge on the Fen River in Xiangling County."

That's right, the Song army is also sending troops to support Niu Gao, Han Chang no longer hesitated, and immediately took out a command arrow and handed it to the commander Cai Mingde, saying: "Cai Tongzhi can send [-] troops to rescue Li Tongzhi!"

Cai Mingde took the command arrow and saluted, "Let's go now!"

Soon, [-] troops left the north city gate and rushed eastward along the torrential water.
Li Zhouheng, the garrison commander of the Longde Mansion, was about forty years old. He was originally a general of the Western Army. He was once an old subordinate of Guan Shigu.

As an individual, Li Zhouheng is of course afraid of death and wants to gain glory and wealth, but he is also unwilling to surrender to a foreign race and become a traitor, letting himself and his descendants be scolded by others. After handing over a letter written by Guan Shigu to Li Zhouheng, he led the army to surrender Niu Gao that night.

It was not enough to get [-] surrendered troops, Niu Gao tried again to lure Han Chang to send troops to rescue, and Yang Zaixing built the pontoon bridge at the right time, which became the most critical step to dispel Han Chang's doubts.

At present, Niu Gao has [-] troops in his hands. When he learned that the rescue troops were coming along the north bank of the Pangshui, he immediately made careful arrangements and ordered the commander Cheng Xin to lead [-] troops to go around the enemy's rear and cut off the enemy's retreat. He also ordered Zhang Bu to lead [-] troops to the south bank of the Pengshui, and was responsible for collecting the defeated enemy troops.

Let Li Zhouheng lead [-] troops to attack the reinforcements head-on, while he himself led [-] troops to ambush in the woods, waiting to intercept the enemy's troops.

In the wilderness, Cai Mingde led an army of [-] to gallop all the way along the north bank of Pangshui. The team stretched ten miles long. For them, time was the most pressing. They had to rush to join their own army before the Song army's reinforcements, and then defeated the cattle. Gao's army.

The distance of seventy miles is neither close nor far, but the arrival time is rather embarrassing, no matter how you calculate it, it will arrive in the middle of the night.

At night, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse, and there were endless wheat fields all around. The winter wheat had already been harvested, and many farmers had already planted a season of millet seeds, waiting for another season in autumn.

A hill gradually appeared in front of it. The hill was very low, only a dozen feet high, covered with lush trees, most of which were pine trees, and stretched for tens of miles.

However, the hills are a little far away from the official road, beyond the range of the crossbow, so there is no need to worry about being ambushed by the enemy's crossbow.

At this moment, the chief general Cai Mingde suddenly felt that something was wrong, and when he turned his head, he saw an army coming out of the woods, the number of people was dense, there were tens of thousands of people, like a flood that broke a bank, it cut his army in two part.

Cai Mingde was shocked, and was about to turn around when a soldier shouted: "General, there are enemies ahead!"

I saw an army suddenly appearing from the front, attacking them head-on with great momentum.

"Hold it! I'll hold it up!"

Cai Mingde yelled at the soldiers to stand up, but he himself was flustered. His front line stretched three miles, but the opponent was a hundred paces away. washed out.

At this time, an army also came from the rear. The [-] army collapsed, and the soldiers fled in all directions. Fortunately, the torrential water was not too deep and not too wide. Countless soldiers threw away their helmets and armor, threw away their weapons, and swam to the opposite bank. They ran for their lives, but there were [-] troops waiting for them on the other side, and they had no way out except to surrender.

In this battle, more than [-] soldiers were beheaded from the army, and the main general Cai Mingde died in the rebellion. More than [-] soldiers surrendered, but a large number of soldiers escaped successfully, but they did not return to Linfen County. With the help of the cover of night, each escaped home.

These Xie Congjun soldiers are all Han Chinese, and they are not fools. The Kingdom of Jin has been defeated repeatedly, and even Wanyan Nianhan's army has been completely wiped out. Given the chance, they would all run away and go home, even refusing to admit that they had ever been Confederates.

However, a very small number of soldiers fled back to Linfen County with the general Luo Wu.

(End of this chapter)