People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 349 Qingtang City is destroyed
On Qingtang City.

Zuosiluo saw a huge caravan in the distance.

This caravan may have more than 3,000 people, and more than 10,000 camels and horses alone.

Densely packed livestock walked along the road, as if there was no end in sight.

Zusiluo has been running Qingtang for more than ten years, so he knows the size of the caravans that come and go.

There are usually only two or three hundred merchants in the Western Regions, and at most there are only seven or eight hundred people. A caravan of four or five hundred people is already a very large caravan.

There are more people in the Hexi Corridor, but the large-scale caravans only have a thousand people and three to four thousand camels. There are rarely more than three thousand people and tens of thousands of camels and horses.

After all, such a team would cost a lot of money along the way, and it would be difficult to support so many people and livestock along the way. At the same time, there was not that much power in the entire Western Region to support such a huge caravan.

Especially in Henan Road, due to the long distance, there are generally many small-scale caravans. There are dozens of people at least, hundreds of people at most, and only a few can reach the scale of thousands of people.

For example, "Book of Zhou Tuyuhun Biography" records that Tuyuhun's envoy passed through the Northern Qi Dynasty, and the Western Wei Dynasty ambushed this envoy.

Almost instantly, when these scouts saw the caravan, they quickly realized something was wrong.

"Yes."

But he just didn't pay attention to the gambling side. After all, if there are fewer people, the effect of internal and external cooperation will not be achieved, which is also a helpless move.

However, this situation was rare, so he was still wary and said to a general beside him: "Go, send someone to intercept them and check them."

Li Yuanhao first sent small groups of caravans into the city in batches, and then sent groups disguised as big merchants to set off.

The general personally led hundreds of knights out of the north gate and headed out of the city.

"stop!"

"I got his servants to shoot, beg, and pull, General Zhai Panmi, Shang Hu, 240 people, 600 camels and mules, and tens of thousands of colorful silks."

Their eyes are fierce and abnormal. If one or two of them are normal, but they are all like this, it can only prove one thing - they are not businessmen.

At this moment, seeing Zuosiluo sending people out to intercept him, he probably knew that he couldn't hide it.

That is, the caravan happens to meet other familiar teams on the road, and the leaders know each other, so it is possible to travel together.

Li Yuanhao remained calm until the scouts sent by Zushiluo came closer and shouted to them: "Where are you from?"

The caravan in the distance was someone pretended to be by Li Yuanhao.

So the sudden appearance of a team of more than 3,000 people in the distance was obviously a strange thing.

But there are exceptions.

The temperament of these people is not that of a businessman who has been wandering away for many years. Although they all wear gauze scarves and scarves, their eyes are the windows to the soul, so this cannot deceive others.

It's not that their disguise is not good enough, but since they can be sent out to intercept and inquire, they must be elite scout knights.

What the scouts eat is to observe the enemy's situation. Both sides are soldiers fighting on the battlefield. Whether the aura on his body is that of a businessman, the scouts with a vicious eye can see through it at a glance.

So it is very unlikely to hide it.

He runs the Hexi Corridor, so he naturally knows the size of the caravan.

At that time, the team took the Tuyuhun Road, and this is a direct example of the scale of the Hehuang Corridor caravan, including 240 merchants and 600 camels and mules.

The leader of the hundred generals scolded him harshly, and then subconsciously touched the horn on his waist.

Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Qiang Di in the northwest have been adept at using the horn as a communication tool. It spread to the Central Plains during the Qin and Han Dynasties, and was widely used in military battles in the late Han and Three Kingdoms.

But almost as soon as he touched the horn at his waist, a crossbow arrow shot over and pierced his chest directly.

"Pfft!"

Hundreds of people covered their chests, looked at each other in disbelief, and then fell off their horses.

This shocking scene immediately shocked the scouts who came out.

Both sides started to attack almost at the same time, but Li Yuanhao's team soon took over, and within a few minutes, the scouts were killed and dispersed.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

The desolate horn sound resounded through the sky first. It was the horn sound of the Xixia Army.

The large Xixia troops hiding in the rear, numbering in the tens of thousands, swept towards the Qingtang like a heavy tide, and the dust raised behind seemed to cover the world.

The man on top of the city, his face as deep as water, responded calmly and quickly ordered the city gate to be closed. Although his scouts outside the city could not enter, they could escape to other places from the left and right.

This can be regarded as sacrificing the small to protect the big.

Then he ordered the drums to be beaten at the top of the city, mobilized the troops, transported ammunition to the top of the city, and prepared to activate the cannon.

"The summer thieves are here, everyone is moving."

"Hurry up."

"Stop dawdling, move things up quickly."

The North City suddenly turned into a mess.

There were also riots in the city.

A large number of merchants swarmed and wanted to run out from the south city gate.

But all the city gates began to close, the streets in the city were crowded, and there was chaos everywhere.

Zuosiluo no longer cares about the inside of the city, he just wants to guard the city gate.

However, just as he was about to launch cannons to attack the Xixia people who were getting closer and closer, a large number of merchants with weapons appeared near the city gate behind him. They reacted quickly one by one and rushed to the city gate, slashing and killing in all directions, catching the Qingtang soldiers who were tense and focused only on the outside of the city off guard.

"not good!"

Zuosiluo was shocked and turned pale. He ran to the city gate and looked down. When he saw that the enemy had taken control of the city gate, he quickly shouted: "Come here, follow me and kill."

He pulled out the saber from his waist and immediately rushed to the city with his own bodyguards to start fighting the enemy.

But it was too late after all, the city gate had already been opened by the insider.

The Xixia army outside the city was overjoyed to see the city gate open in the distance, and they all shouted and galloped.

Qingtang was in chaos, but Dong Zhan was still somewhat capable in the city. After his father went down to the city to fight, he ordered the soldiers to start firing cannons.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

The huge sound shook the heaven and the earth, and the artillery sprayed out brilliant fireworks.

As more than a dozen artillery pieces popped out of their chambers, they shot towards the battlefield at extremely fast speeds. In an instant, people in the distance were turned upside down, and the solid bullets actually passed through people. Both people and horses were shattered, and no one could stop them.

Just a dozen or so shells caused heavy casualties to the dense Xixia formation. At least two to three hundred people were taken away by the terrifying ammunition, each of which could kill twenty or thirty people.

Xixia's offensive also stalled, but the cannons on top of the city fired at a relatively slow rate. The soldiers continued to charge, basically relying on luck. Whoever is hit by such a heavy weapon can only blame luck. Difference.

Soon, under Dong Fe's command, the second round of artillery fire struck again.

But the cannons they have on hand are not small steel cannons like the Song Army, and their rate of fire is still relatively slow. By the time they finished their third round of shooting, the Xixia army had already reached the city.

At this moment, the city is also engaged in a fierce battle for the city gate. Qingtang's strength is actually not weak. If the troops are organized, they should be able to gather an army of 60,000 to 70,000.

But unable to resist, Li Yuanhao actually bypassed Qishan and pounced from behind, which caught Zun Siluo off guard and did not expect this at all.

As a result, Zushiluo failed to gather his troops in a hurry and was successfully attacked.

There were not many troops near the north city gate, and some were still on the tower. There were only two to three thousand people below the city, and the two sides were in a stalemate.

When the Xixia army came close, the defeat was irreversible.

"go!"

Zunsiluo is also decisive.

Seeing the enemy charging towards them, with eyes wide open, they fought fiercely and retreated while fighting.

The muscles all over his body were tangled and he fought bloody, trying to rally his troops for street fighting.

But there was chaos in the city, and the Qingtang army was restrained. On the other hand, the Xixia army killed everyone on sight, making the scene even more chaotic.

The fierce fighting in the city lasted for several hours. The South City Gate and East City Gate were opened long ago, and a large number of people, merchants and the remaining soldiers in the city retreated and evacuated.

By nightfall, Li Yuanhao had completely taken control of Qingtang City.

At this moment, there were corpses everywhere inside and outside the city, blood was spilling out, soaking the blue bricks at the top of the city, and the huge city seemed to be filled with all kinds of screams.

In ancient times, in order to boost morale, soldiers were allowed to rob, rape, and kill at will without sealing their swords when entering the city.

As a result, the city was full of marauding soldiers, and the soldiers plundered a lot of money.

Li Yuanhao frowned slightly.

He originally wanted to take advantage of the victory to pursue the victory and continue the attack to capture Huangzhou and Lanzhou.

But now they are forced to rest and start again in two days.

The reason is that the soldiers climbed high mountains and crossed large areas of Gobi, and finally captured the city. They were very tired and unfit to continue.

Secondly, Qingtang City is the richest city in Qingtang. If the soldiers are not allowed to plunder and continue to pursue, it will obviously make the soldiers depressed and dissatisfied.

So staying in Qingtang is a helpless move.

I hope that the response from the Song Army will be slower, and I will send troops to help after I have wiped out the Xisiluo in two days.

Li Yuanhao thought to himself.

However, there was a disastrous defeat on Zuosiluo's side. All the troops fled in all directions, and even Dongxiang, the son of Zuosiluo, was nowhere to be seen.

Zuosiluo himself was stabbed several times in the chaos and was seriously injured. He was carried out of the city by his generals.

He saw that there were only hundreds of remnant soldiers around him. In the distance, many places in Qingtang City were burning with fire under the night cover. He didn't know how many remnant soldiers had not escaped and were fighting fiercely in the city.

For a moment, my mood fell to the bottom, and there seemed to be an anger in my chest that could not be vented. I kept breathing heavily and said with overwhelming hatred: "Zhao Yuanhao, I swear to kill you!"

"Zanpu, let's collect the defeated soldiers first."

The general next to him said quickly.

"Quickly collect the infantry, let's go to Huangzhou! In addition, immediately use fast horses to ask for help from the Song army in Xishi Town!"

After receiving the reminder from his subordinates, Gu Siluo could only force himself to stand up.

Various horn sounds sounded around me.

In the distance, the scouts on the outskirts of Xixia galloped and fought bloody battles with some remnants of Qingtang.

On the battlefield within a radius of several kilometers, there were Qingtang people and merchants from the Western Regions and Han Dynasty running out everywhere.

There are still many Xixia soldiers chasing them and robbing them of the money they brought out of the city.

Taking advantage of this chaos, Gsisiluo gathered about three to four thousand scattered tribesmen and fled eastward along the Huangshui River towards his other city, Miaochuan City in Huangzhou.

(End of this chapter)