Fenghou

Chapter 780
In the dark night, a fleet of [-] large ships was sailing north in line, and there were trackers on the shore pulling the ropes to keep the speed of sailing from going too fast.

These thirty large ships are all three thousand stone large ships, but they are not cargo ships or passenger ships, but a special type of ship called a siege ship.

This is a unique military ship of the Western Army. Using the opponent's moat to use ships to attack the city, it is equivalent to a kind of water nest car, with special ladders and cross-city bridge passages, which can run directly from the bow of the ship to the top of the city.

Not only that, in order to prevent the enemy's fire attack, these ships are covered with raw cowhide on the deck and sides of the ship, which can protect the ship from fire attack to a certain extent.

This fleet was originally used to deal with Hedong City, but it was useless. Later, it was planned to be used against Linfen County, but it was still useless. This time Chen Qing transferred them to deal with Taiyuan City.

Of course, not every city can use this kind of siege ship. First of all, it must be a big city with a wide moat connected to the river itself and part of the waterway. Secondly, the distance between the moat and the city wall should not be too far. The ladder itself can be extended and retracted, and the city wall can be built at a distance of five feet, but that is too risky. Generally, a distance of about one foot is the most suitable distance, which is also the most common distance.

The moat of Taiyuan City is about eight feet away from the city wall, which is very suitable for using siege ships to attack the city. Chen Qing's first idea was to use siege ships.

The next morning, a fleet of [-] large ships finally arrived at Taiyuan City and stopped about [-] miles away from Taiyuan City.

At this time, Chen Qing was about one mile away from Taiyuan City, observing this famous big city. Taiyuan City was the land of Longxing in the Tang Dynasty. It can accommodate more defensive soldiers and more large defensive weapons, and it is very difficult to attack. If the [-] Jurchen troops in the city are properly deployed and defended, they can also firmly defend Taiyuan City.

Chen Qing's eyes fell on the water gate. The water gate is not like the city gate. It uses iron fences that move up and down, and there are two inside and outside. They were far away, but Chen Qing could still feel the thickness of the iron fence. Their gunpowder would deform it at most and could not break it.

The intelligence also said that the iron fences in Taiyuan City were only updated last year, and each fence is as thick as a wrist, which may be even more difficult to break.

It is also unrealistic to cooperate internally and externally. There are no Han people in the city to join the army. They are all Jurchen soldiers. Their scouts cannot be mixed into the guarding army, and it is said that Wanyan Yinshu has bought a group of beggars to monitor the whole city for him. Once there is a gathering of people in the whole city, the Jurchens will kill them immediately.

This also prevented Chen Qing from sending troops to sneak into Taiyuan City.

Facing the impeccable defensive deployment of Wanyan Yinshu, they have no chance of opportunistic, and can only deploy a large army to attack.

At this time, a soldier came to report, "Qi to the county king, Yang Dutong said that thirty warships have arrived!"

Chen Qing nodded, "Back to camp!"

More than a thousand cavalry escorted Chen Qing and ran towards the camp in the south.
At night, a group of [-] Jurchen soldiers surrounded a small courtyard near the south city gate. The Jurchen soldiers kicked open the gate and rushed in. A moment later, there were screams in the room.

Not long after, more than [-] men were dragged into the yard, all trembling with fright, the Jurchen soldiers tied them up, threw them into the carriage and took them away.

Dozens of Jurchen soldiers began to thoroughly search the houses, but found nothing except a pile of copper coins and a dozen sets of gambling tools.

Wanyan Yinshu got the report very quickly. A group of twenty-five people in total were arrested near the South City Gate. The current interrogation and investigation shows that it should be a gathering of people to gamble, not a gathering of Song army scouts.

The captain on duty bowed and said: "This is a clue provided by a beggar. Please show me how to deal with it, Marshal."

Wanyan Yinshu nodded and said: "Regardless of whether the scouts of the Song Army gathered or not, the key is to find out in time, which shows that our dark-eyed strategy is correct. Reward this beggar ten taels of silver, as for the twenty or so gamblers , violated the ban on gatherings, and each of them chopped off one hand and released them."

"As ordered!"

The captain hurried away.

Ten days ago, Wanyan Yinshuke issued a ban on gatherings, prohibiting any gathering of more than three men. For this reason, gambling halls, inns, and bathhouses are all closed, and even restaurants can only eat with two people, unless It's women or children together, and even the government doesn't allow more than three people to get together.

At the same time, Wanyan Yinkeshu bought hundreds of beggars in the city and asked them to secretly monitor the gatherings in the city. This plan is called the dark eye strategy. Each of these beggars can get one hundred coins a day. If you find someone partying, you will get a big reward.

If you violate the ban on gatherings, you will be severely punished, ranging from a severe beating to amputation of hands and feet, or even your life.

More than [-] people gather to gamble, which is a serious violation of the ban on gatherings. Wanyan Silver Technique can only cut off their hands, which is considered a favor.

Not far from the small courtyard where Gaga was arrested, there was a small grocery store. The grocery store was opened by an old couple, and there were only two of them in the store. Bing never doubted them.

At night, a man in Tsing Yi knocked on the door of the store and asked, "I want to buy a few catties of sugar, is there any in the store?"

"Yes, come in and talk!"

The man in Tsing Yi walked into the small shop in a blink of an eye. The door was open, and people could see shopping inside.

This grocery store is an important information point for Song Jun. This old couple is the parents of a scout commander. They are from Taiyuan and live in Taiyuan City. It is very suitable for them to open this small store.

Normally, farmers outside the city would enter the city and sell vegetables at the city gate. They were not allowed to enter the city. Many farmers would come to this small grocery store to buy something by the way. Jin Bing didn't doubt it. The dishes are exchanged directly, why bother?
However, the gates of the city have been closed these days, and only a very small number of vegetable sellers are allowed to enter the city for an hour at noon, and the vegetable sellers will be monitored by the Jurchens. In addition, the ban on gatherings has been issued in the city, so this small grocery store has become a The best place for information exchange.

When the old man weighed the candy, he quietly put a note in front of the man in Tsing Yi. The man in Tsing Yi looked at the note, and the old man put the note in the stove and burned it.

"Let me tell you, the price of sugar has risen. A catty of sugar costs five hundred Wen, and two catties cost the same."

The man in Tsing Yi put a string of money on the table and went out with a candy bag. As soon as he came out, a group of patrolling Jurchen soldiers stopped him and searched him all over, even the paper on which the candy was wrapped.

"Why do you come here to buy things?" the Jurchen Centurion asked.

"No way, his family is the only one in the city that has brown sugar, and his wife needs brown sugar water to replenish blood during confinement."

The centurion searched his hair again, but found nothing suspicious, so he waved his hand, "Don't go out casually at night, let's go!"

The man in Tsing Yi bowed to thank him and left in a hurry.

The patrol did not embarrass the grocery store and continued to patrol the streets.
The man in Tsing Yi returned to a closed restaurant in the city, and saw the shopkeeper in the backyard. Apart from the shopkeeper, there was no other staff in the restaurant. When a few guys are in the store, Jurchen soldiers will come to the door immediately. Even if they avoid a heavy beating, they will be fined a large sum of money, and more importantly, they will arouse the suspicion of the other party.

The shopkeeper, Zou Hong, could only let the people in Tsing Yi run errands and deliver news.

"The atmosphere in the city is very tense now. When I came out of the grocery store, I was stopped and searched by patrol soldiers."

"Now that the troops are together, it is very likely that they will attack the city in an all-round way, so the Jurchens are also very nervous, and the control is extremely strict. Is there any news?"

The man in Tsing Yi nodded, "Break the horse pen and release the horses tonight!"

"Is that all?"

"Just this one sentence."

The shopkeeper Zou Hong pondered for a while and said: "It should be tonight to attack the city. The county king wants to release all the enemy's war horses and restrict them from fleeing."

There are still more than [-] Song army scouts with high martial arts skills lurking in the city, but the number is too small to take the city, so these scouts have been secretly lurking in the warehouse of a shop, never going out, and have not been discovered by those beggars.

Tonight is the time to activate them.

(End of this chapter)