The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 305 Thieves in the City
The army traveled southeast along the waterway. After a day's journey, a small city appeared on the shore. Siyang had arrived.

Cities near the riverbank all have wharves, and Siyang is no exception. The wharf is quite large, stretching along the riverbank, but there are only a few boats, just a few dilapidated ones, swaying around the wharf. As soon as they see the fleet of the Northern Song army, these boats are frightened, like startled birds, and flee downstream without looking back, no matter how much people shout at them, they refuse to return.

The people in the city were also fleeing through the gates. A small number of people escaped from the city gates facing the Sishui River, so it goes without saying how many people were running from the other city gates.

Gong Erniangzi ordered the sailors on the ship to shout in unison, "We are soldiers of the Song Dynasty, and we will not harm the common people."

But the people paid no heed and continued to run at breakneck speed; the words "Song army" held no appeal for them whatsoever.

Gong Erniangzi sighed deeply: "The name of the Song army is no longer effective here."

"It's no wonder it's not working properly." Yue Wenxuan chuckled. "I'm afraid the Song soldiers have robbed them quite a bit too."

Madam Gong Er: “…”

"Privy Councilor, it seems there are no garrison troops in the city." Qi Chongwen, who had come with the army, saluted and said, "This humble general is willing to lead troops into the city."

At this time, Wu Jialiang was still stationed in Weizhou, helping the Northern Song Dynasty guard its "northern border," while Zhang Yong was stationed in Yizhou and Wu Zhan was stationed in Mizhou. These three prefectures protected the two prefectures of Dengzhou and Laizhou behind them, and could not afford to lose them.

With all of Gong Erniangzi's generals gone, she had no choice but to promote a large number of new generals. Most of these new generals came from the gentry and wealthy families of the four prefectures of Dengzhou, Laizhou, Weifang, and Mizhou. They were all well-versed in military strategy and diligent in their studies. They also brought their own family retainers and soldiers, who were well-equipped, highly motivated, and quite capable in battle.

Hearing that he was willing to lead the vanguard, Gong Erniangzi had no reason to refuse: "Alright, you lead your troops into the city as the vanguard. Remember not to disturb the people. The people here are already in such a state, we can't bully them anymore."

Qi Chongwen nodded in agreement and immediately mustered two hundred of the Qi family's personal guards, plus five hundred regular soldiers from the Northern Song Dynasty, forming a vanguard force of seven hundred men. They landed at the dock and marched towards Siyang City.

There were no soldiers on the city wall, and civilians were running around in a panic.

Qi Chongwen said to his subordinates, "It seems there are no enemies in the city. Let's go directly to the government office... Remember not to disturb the people along the way. After we take over the government office, we will immediately issue a proclamation to reassure the people..."
-
at the same time……

Inside the city of Sishui, however, a fierce band of rebels was lurking in the streets and alleys.

The leading and fierce general was named Chen Meng.

Chen Meng was originally a bandit. During the chaos in the Huainan region, he raised a band and took advantage of the disorder to kill, burn, and plunder everywhere. Not long ago, Li Meng came to Siyang and found that the city was unclaimed. So he swaggered into the city and became a local tyrant.

Today, a scout reported that the Song army is approaching along the Si River.

Chen Meng then devised a plan. He deliberately drove some civilians out of the city, pretending that they had been frightened away by the Northern Song Dynasty's navy. When the Song soldiers outside the city saw this, they would surely think that the city was unclaimed and would carelessly enter the city.

He chuckled to his men, "See? The enemy has fallen for our trap! You all need to learn from me. In a moment, we'll all shout together and charge out. We'll definitely crush the Song army. You all know what kind of people the Song army is. As soon as we shout, they panic. Then we'll charge, and they'll collapse... We'll easily raze them to pieces and steal all their supplies."

The subordinates exclaimed, "Brother is amazing!"

Only one subordinate couldn't help but mutter, "But they've only landed a small portion of their troops; the main force is still on the river, and their grain ships haven't docked yet. Even if we ambush those entering the city, we won't be able to seize their grain."

Chen Meng pretended not to hear this. Why do bandits think so much? Once the ambush is successful, that's all that matters.

Soon, Qi Chongwen entered the city...

As the soldiers marched, they shouted to the people, "Don't be afraid, everyone. We are the army of the Great Song Dynasty. We will never oppress good people or take your things."

A member of the Qi family was shouting enthusiastically.

Suddenly, a man leaped out from the nearby alley, brandishing a spear, and with a thud, stabbed the Qi family member in the chest…

This unexpected turn of events left the Qi family member completely stunned, with no time to react. But his surname was Qi!

He was the son of a landlord, and he was wearing the best armor in the whole village.

The spear failed to pierce the armor; the spearhead struck the fish-scale armor but didn't go in, instead sliding to the side. However, the force of the spear still knocked the Qi clan member to the ground.

He thought he was injured and cried out in alarm, "I've been hit by a spear..."

The servant standing nearby roared in anger: "Young Master!"

Several knives were swung at the spear-wielding thief at the same time, but the thief was prepared. He leaped back and retreated into the alley... Several long spears with bamboo poles protruded from the alley and stabbed wildly outside. The Qi family's servants dared not rush in for a while.

At the same time, thieves jumped out from several alleys and street corners around the area.

Thieves were shooting arrows down from the rooftops nearby.

The Song army that entered the city was thrown into chaos.

This was Qi Chongwen's first time leading an army into battle, and he never expected to be ambushed. He was completely stunned, jumping up and down and cursing: "Fire! Shoot on the left roof! Oh dear, there are some on the right roof too! Fire on them! Huh? Another group is popping up on the roof in front! Shoot them..."

The man standing next to him asked, "Second Master, which roof should we attack?"

Qi Chongwen: "Shoot them all!"

The musketeers were stunned for a moment...

Line musketeers are highly dependent on command, and such command is not acceptable.

For a moment, the army entering the city was in a bit of a mess.

Fortunately, the five hundred Song soldiers who entered the city had been trained by Qi Jiguang for many years and had their own set of operating rules. They did not rely entirely on the command of the general to fight. Each squad had its own captain, and the captain had a high degree of autonomy in command during battle.

At this point, the commander's orders were chaotic and unintelligible.

The squad leaders then took the initiative to give orders: "Brothers, let's go to the left alley."

The other squad leader immediately understood: "Our squad will go to the right alley."

"Our team will assist you in securing the left alley..."

Soon, the five hundred men were divided into several large teams, each holding off the various streets and alleys in front, behind, to the left, and to the right.

The arquebusiers in the squad now had a clear direction; they only needed to focus on the enemy their squad was facing and didn't need to listen to General Qi's nonsensical commands.

"Bang bang bang!"

The sound of muskets rang out, and several of the bandits who were shooting arrows from the rooftops were instantly shot down. The threat of the arrows was greatly reduced, and the morale of the entire army was greatly boosted.

By this time, Qi Chongwen had calmed down.

Once his mind cleared, he finally stopped giving orders haphazardly and shouted, "Hold on! We must hold on and not move! The sound of muskets has already reached outside the city; reinforcements will be arriving soon!"

(End of this chapter)