Fenghou

Chapter 317 Jiangling

But Kong Yanzhou never imagined that the withdrawal of troops now would lead to more serious casualties.

At this time, there is no need to order a retreat. There is already a sea of ​​fire under the city. The Song army threw [-] barrels of kerosene. Arrows fell like raindrops, and countless people were shot and killed in the moat.

Gunpowder barrels continued to explode above the heads of the crowd, poisonous nails flew, and cries and wailing resounded outside the city.

Chen Qing's heart was as hard as iron, and he ordered coldly: "Shoot from the bed crossbow!"

Five hundred bed crossbows were brought up again, and the dense iron arrows were shot at the chaotic crowd of enemy soldiers. This time, the jackdaw arrows exerted a powerful power. Down.

Immediately afterwards, the second gurney crossbow was fired.
The entire outside of Jiangling City seemed to have turned into a hell on earth, and even the soldiers on the top of the city were terrified, and they couldn't even shout their cheers.

The siege battle that took less than an hour was ended by the Song army with an asymmetrical tactic. The puppet Qi army suffered heavy losses. Of the [-] troops invested, more than [-] people were killed, and only [-] People fled back in embarrassment.

This fierce battle made Kong Yanzhou extremely unwilling, and he had to withdraw his troops back to the camp. The morale of the entire puppet Qi army was in a slump.
Chen Qing pondered for a moment, then ordered all the generals above the commander to be summoned to the top of the city, and he said to everyone: "Kong Yanzhou's army basically belongs to his private army. He originally had [-] people, and he was lost on the Han River." He lost [-] people, and today he lost more than [-] people. Now there are only [-] people left. With this army, Jiangling City cannot be captured. I believe he will not launch a large-scale offensive again, but If he can't capture Jiangling City, he won't be able to go back and explain, I guess he will probably attack Jiangling tonight or tomorrow night."

Speaking of this, Chen Qing smiled again: "But everyone, don't forget, we also have an army ambushing outside the city. This is a process of mutual games. I will leave Jiangling to command the cavalry tonight. If I am not in the city , General Niu Gao will take over as the chief general."

Niu Gao nodded silently, he deeply felt the heavy responsibility on his shoulders! "

Inside the camp, Kong Yanzhou summoned three confidant generals to discuss countermeasures.

Kong Yanzhou said in a sad tone: "Today's battle was really unexpected. Everyone said that Chen Qing defended the city very well. Now I have learned that he has used kerosene and gunpowder to the extreme. We are not prepared enough, and we don't have large-scale catapults or the like. Siege weapons, coupled with our lack of numbers, led to today's disastrous defeat. My army lost half of it in the two battles. If I continue to fight, my strength will be completely lost. At that time, I will never get the recognition of the golden soldiers. In any case, we can no longer attack cities like today."

"But Dutong issued a military order in front of Marshal Dong. If he can't take down Jiangling, he can't explain to Marshal Dong!"

"I think we should report the situation to Wan Yanchang. He knows Chen Qing very well and understands our defeat better. As long as he speaks, even if I issue a military order, Mr. Dong will have nothing to do with me."

"Is Dutong planning to retreat to Xiangyang?" asked another general.

Kong Yanzhou walked to the big tent, looked at the city wall in the distance, and said for a long while, "I'm really not willing to retreat like this! Besides, we will retreat after a single battle. It's not easy to explain to Wan Yanchang. We must at least fight repeatedly. In the realm of repeated defeats and repeated defeats, Wan Yanchang will let us go!"

"How does Dutong plan to attack the city?" Several confidants felt that the lord was about to launch an offensive.

Kong Yanzhou said indifferently: "Chen Qing captured Changde Mansion with warships. Although we don't have such tall warships, we have medium-sized warships and siege ladders, so we can climb into the city at night."

As soon as night fell, Chen Qing led more than a dozen soldiers out of the city from the south gate, and rushed westward under the cover of night.

In a forest more than ten miles away, five thousand cavalrymen were patiently waiting for the order to attack. They were ready. When Chen Qing came to the edge of the forest, brothers Liu Cui and Liu Qiong came up to meet them. "

Chen Qing waved his hands and said, "How are you preparing, brothers?"

"Report to Dutong, you can attack at any time!"

Chen Qing nodded, and asked again: "Have the enemy's spies come here?"

"No! Commander Zhao said that the enemy troops only moved within five miles around Jiangling City, and did not continue westward."

"Zhao Xiaoyi has been here?"

"He has been in close contact with us, allowing us to grasp the movement of the battlefield!"

"Take a break first, I guess there will be a chance to send troops tonight."

At the first watch, two scout cavalry rushed from the east. They were brought in front of Chen Qing, and they knelt down on one knee to salute, "See Dutong!"

"Is there any movement in the puppet Qi army?" Chen Qing asked with a smile.

"There has been movement. We found that they have brought a cargo ship of [-] shi, full of soldiers, and headed for Jiangling City, passing through Xiashui!"

Xiashui flows into the Yangtze River from the east of Jiangling. There is a Cao River connecting Xiashui and the moat of Jiangling City. Jiangling's water city gate is also on the east side. Obviously, the other party wants to imitate himself in Changde Mansion and use warships to attack the city. The news about Kong Yanzhou is very well-informed!He actually knew about the Changde Mansion.

"Is Song Jun moving?"

"Yes! The Song army began to gather in the east city."

The time has come, Chen Qing immediately ordered: "The whole army is on horseback, ready to go!"

The five thousand cavalry mounted their horses one after another, and Chen Qing led the five thousand cavalry to the northeast.
The leader is a big ship of two thousand shi, followed by more than [-] small boats. It seems that they have learned well.

The number should not be too many. Kong Yanzhou personally led [-] troops to participate in tonight's raid.

On the top of the city, six thousand defenders gathered towards the east city one after another, but they were running close to the female wall, and the puppet Qi soldiers outside could not see them.

In the eyes of the puppet Qi army in the distance, the city is very quiet, full of the peace of the war. The Song army seems to be completely unaware that the puppet Qi army will arrive in the middle of the night. This false tranquility can even be felt by ordinary soldiers.

Of course Kong Yanzhou knew it too, but he had no choice. The arrow had already been wound and had to be fired. No matter whether he won or lost tonight, he could give Wan Yanchang an explanation. sharp.

The boat was still sixty steps away from the city, when suddenly they heard 'Boom!Boom! With a loud sound, more than a dozen red fire oil balls flew towards the ship.

Nine of the kerosene balls hit the ship, causing fires to ignite on the deck and the hull. Kong Yanzhou shouted, "Shock! Shock!"

There was still some time before the ship was completely burnt down, and he had to use this short time to let the soldiers rush to the top of the city.

The big ship speeded up and rushed towards the water city gate. Suddenly, nearly a hundred bed crossbows and three hundred god-armed crossbowmen appeared on the city wall. They fired at the same time, and the dense arrows shot at the big ship like a storm.

The deck of the big ship was full of soldiers of the White Armored Army who were about to rush to the city. They were carrying short ladders and were eager to rush to the top of the city. An iron arrow shot through, and the soldiers fell down one after another. After a round of strong bow and crossbow shots, there was no one standing on the deck.

But it doesn't matter, the puppet Qi army still has [-] soldiers, as long as the first big ship can touch the bow, the small boats behind can quickly build a pontoon bridge.

Kong Yanzhou put all his eggs in one basket, but the Song army was also unequivocal, and did not give them any chance. The fire oil ball hit the two thousand stone ship headed by it continuously, and the whole ship was engulfed by raging fire. The flames were scorching, and they jumped off the boat one after another.

The big ship was still thirty steps away from the top of the city, but the whole big ship was engulfed in flames, and it turned into a fire boat. Even if it got close to the city wall, no one could get on it.

A dozen or so small boats built a pontoon bridge in the back. The soldiers rushed to the pontoon bridge, but they couldn't get on the big boat. Anyone who went up would be a dead end.

More importantly, the big ship stopped when it was twenty steps away from the city wall, and the siege ladder could not reach the city wall.

The soldiers stomped their feet anxiously, Kong Yanzhou looked at the two thousand stone ship completely engulfed by the raging fire, his heart was full of despair.

But at this moment, there was a commotion in the military camp in the distance, crying and shouting suddenly broke out, and then the flames quickly ignited.

Kong Yanzhou's eyes widened suddenly, what's going on?

He turned his horse's head and led more than a hundred soldiers and generals to the camp three miles away, and one mile away from the camp, he saw that the camp was engulfed in flames.

The soldiers ran wildly in all directions, and behind them were countless Song Army cavalry soldiers. Groups of Song Army cavalry soldiers were so sharp that they killed the deserters crying for their fathers and mothers, and their corpses lay all over the ground.

I saw a general, followed by hundreds of cavalry, waving Fang Tian's painted halberd to kill, blood and flesh flew everywhere he passed, and heads rolled to the ground.

"It's Chen Qing! It's Chen Qing!" More than a dozen generals shouted in panic.

Kong Yanzhou suddenly yelled, turned around and fled. He understood that Chen Qing didn't evacuate at all, he was just pretending to evacuate, and he was waiting for himself!
Kong Yanzhou also found the best reason for his defeat. Chen Qing did not withdraw at all, and he fell into a trap.

He didn't care about attacking the city anymore, and he didn't care about the life and death of the soldiers in the camp, so he ran eastward with four thousand soldiers to escape.
(End of this chapter)