On the second day, when the sun was high, Hu Yanzhuo had already deployed his troops and horses in front of Xianyang City. A row of copper and iron shields blocked the front, and there were swords and guns behind him, forming a regular row of soldiers of the three armies.
The four generals Xie Qianqiu, Wu Song, Lei Heng, and Yang Zhi led their troops and horses to form a formation in front of the city. Shi Jin also came to the top of the city with the military counselor Wu Yong and general Lin Chong who came overnight and looked at Hu Yan. Zhuo arranged his troops in formation, but after watching for a long time, he didn't see Hu Yanzhuo coming out. He just saw the soldiers and soldiers moving back and forth in the camp. Wu Yong used a feather fan to protect him, but he couldn't see clearly. He didn't know what was going on. What are you guys doing?
At this time, Wu Song came to the formation with two swords and rode on horseback, shouting: "Hu Yanzhuo, what's the point of hiding in the formation? If you have the guts, come back and fight with me for two hundred rounds."
Not only did Hu Yanzhuo not show his face, but the officers and soldiers were silent as well, not even making a sound.
Wu Song led his horse back and forth in front of the formation. Seeing that his opponent had no intention of fighting, he became more and more anxious and shouted: "Hu Yanzhuo, you are scared to death,"
Hu Yanzhuo still refused to come out no matter how much Wu Song yelled and scolded him. Xie Qianqiu also rode out immediately, sang in harmony with Wu Song, and called for formation there.
Lin Chong stood at the top of the city and looked at Hu Yanzhuo, who was unmoved and had no intention of coming out. He immediately said to Shi Jin: "After being the founding general of the country, he is really calm. I don't know what he is capable of."
Shi Jin said: "Yesterday we and five other people fought against each other in succession. Hu Yanzhuo is quite capable and has the legacy of Hu Yanzan. He is a talented general. I invite you two to come. One is to break his chain of carriages and horses, and the other is to come. I just want to outsmart this person so that I can use it for my green forest,"
Wu Yong did not turn his head, but stared at what was going on over there with great concern. Seeing that the camp of officers and soldiers suddenly stopped without making any waves, Wu Yong suddenly tightened his eyes and said: "No, he is going to come out." It’s a serial horse,”
As soon as Wu Yong said these words, sure enough, the copper and iron shield walls in front of the officers and soldiers camp flashed to both sides, revealing rows of cavalry inside. There were about six hundred people in each row, one row after another. They were lined up neatly in more than fifty columns, and there were many swords and spears in a huge square array. The rays of the rising sun shone on the silver helmets and armors, making them sparkle, as if heavenly soldiers had descended. The lights of swords and shadows were all cold and frightening. .
"Here, this is the armored chain horse," Shi Jin said, pointing to the phalanx.
Lin Chong took a closer look, but before he could see clearly that the soldiers and horses in this array were any different from ordinary ones, he only heard the phalanx suddenly let out a shout and charged towards our soldiers and horses with murderous intent. The formation rushed out from the officers and soldiers camp, galloped on the flat bottom, and immediately spread out the troops and horses from both sides. Every time the distance between the two knights suddenly widened, the chain hidden between them suddenly straightened, and the barbed blades covered on it seemed to still be there. There were traces of yesterday's blood, and it was a bloody color under the sun. Lin Chong was horrified to see it, and Wu Yong was even more stunned to see it.
Shi Jin didn't want to hurt the lives of more brothers. When he saw the iron chain and the horses rushing towards him, he immediately called for gold and retreated his troops. The generals led their troops and horses to rush into the city. At the same time, the archers on the top of the city opened fire. The bows shot arrows, but those arrow feathers hit the heavy armor, jingling like rain falling on the eaves, with no effect at all. Fortunately, the green forest soldiers and horses entered the city, and the brothers on the city pulled up the suspension bridge, and the armored chain horses could not rush over. They had no choice but to be separated by the moat.
Shi Jin sighed deeply and was silent. With deep helplessness, he turned around and went down to the city. Then the generals returned to the Juyi Hall to gather together.
Shi Jin's brows were furrowed, his face was worried and he said nothing.
Wu Yong sat sideways under Shi Jin and advised: "Brother, don't worry. Victory and defeat are common matters for military strategists. Why worry about it? Since ancient times, formations have both long and shortcomings. If you break an indestructible formation, there will be no heaven and earth." If you give me some time, you will have a good strategy to break the 'chain of horses and horses',"
Shi Jin immediately nodded, sighed, and said: "Okay, I will leave this matter to the sergeants. The form is to break the formation, and the intention is to surrender." After that, Shi Jin immediately ordered the four generals to guard the four sides. City gates and strengthening city defenses are no longer discussed here.
Let's talk about Hu Yanzhuo's consecutive battles. He returned to his home village, opened the "chain horse" to reward the three armies, and roughly calculated yesterday's victory. He killed more than 8,000 green forest sergeants, captured more than 500 people alive, and captured more than 300 war horses. If there is a horse, I will immediately send someone to the capital to report the victory.
It is said that the next day, Lieutenant Gao was sitting in the Palace Commander's Mansion. Suddenly, a report came to the door: "Hu Yanzhuo captured Liang Shanbo and won. He sent someone to report the victory."
Captain Gao was overjoyed when he heard this.
In the morning of the next day, the emperor went to the imperial court and heard about it. The emperor was very happy after hearing it. He rewarded Huang Fengyu with ten bottles of wine, a brocade robe, and sent an official with one hundred thousand guan to go to the camp to reward the army.
Captain Gao received the imperial edict and returned to the Palace Commander's Mansion, whereupon Wang Xiang from the Privy Council came forward with the reward.
When Wang Xiang, the imperial envoy from Yan Youpu, arrived, he and Han Tao went out twenty miles away to greet him. They took the angel to the village. After thanking him and receiving the reward, he set up a wine steward to treat the angel. At the same time, he ordered Han Xianfeng to divide the money and reward everyone. Army, and imprisoned all the more than 500 people captured in the stronghold. When the leader of the thieves was obtained, Shi Jin would remove them all from the capital and show them to the public for execution.
After hearing Hu Yanzhuo's plan, the angel looked around and asked, "Why is Peng Tuanlian missing?"
After hearing this, Hu Yanzhuo sighed and said: "During the first battle, because he wanted to capture the thief Shi Jin alive, he went into a strong area and was even captured due to negligence. The Green Forest thief was cruel and ruthless, and he was defeated again and again. I'm afraid Peng Tuanlian The situation was very bad, and we sent out troops one after another to avenge him. However, the thieves were frightened by the news and had been hiding in the city for some time, but they refused to come out to fight. Xiao Ke divided his troops to attack many times and tried every means to capture the city. I have captured all the thieves, but I hate that the city is surrounded by water and there is no way to enter. When I encounter the city, the chain of iron horses cannot be used. I sent people there several times, but they all ate the thieves' arrows and fallen rocks. It was abominable."
After hearing this, the angel Wang Xiang didn't understand how to use troops, so he could only say perfunctorily: "General Hu Yan, how do you want to control the enemy? The court is waiting for the general's success in the starry night."
"Looking at the stockade from afar, the only way to destroy the thieves' nest is to attack it with artillery." After saying this, Hu Yanzhuo paused and said, "I have heard for a long time that there is an artilleryman in Tokyo called Ling Zhen, whose name is Hongtianlei. He is good at making artillery. The firearms under his command can hit fourteen to five miles away. Where the stone cannon falls, the sky collapses and the earth collapses, and the mountains fall and rocks crack. If you get this person, you can attack the thieves' nest. Besides, if Peng Tuanlian is damaged in the formation, Xiao Ke can correct it. We are short of a general, and Ling Zhen is proficient in martial arts and skilled in bow and horse. If the angel returns to the capital, if Yu Taiwei tells Qian Yan about this, he can send Ling Zhen here in a hurry. It won't take long, and he will be able to get to the den of thieves soon. ,"
After hearing the promise, the angel Wang Xiang set off the next day without saying anything on the road. He returned to the capital and came to see Gao Taiwei to tell him about Hu Yanzhuo's request to send artilleryman Ling Zhen. After hearing this, Gao Taiwei felt that what Hu Yanzhuo said was true. It made sense, with Ling Zhen's help, and the two killer weapons combined in one place, it was bound to be a great achievement. He was so happy that he immediately sent an order to Jun, calling the gunner Ling Zhen, the deputy envoy of Jiazhangku, to come immediately.
It turned out that Ling Zhen, who was born in Yanling, was the first artilleryman in the world in the Song Dynasty, so people called him "Hang Tian Lei". At that time, Ling Zhen came to see Gao Taiwei, and received the diploma of marching commander. Gao Taiwei immediately reported it. Your Majesty, after getting the promise, he sent Wang Xiang, who knew the affairs of the Privy Council, to mobilize the thunderous thunder Lingzhen to join Hu Yanzhuo's command.
Wang Xiang immediately received Yun's order and went to handle the matter. He returned to the Privy Council and stepped into the official's room to transfer Ling Zhen's documents for delivery. The person in charge of the official's room was none other than Lang Shilong. Lang Shilong accepted Wang Xiang's transfer order and sent Zhang Qing, an official under him, to handle it.
Originally, it was very common for officers to be transferred. However, when the careful Lang Shilong saw that Ling Zhen was going to be transferred to the front line, he immediately had an extra thought. He happened to meet Wang Xiang who was also a talkative person, so he inadvertently let Lang Shilong While chatting with his colleagues, he came up with many words. Lang Shilong kept Wang Xiang's words in mind one by one, especially the fact that he had been to the front line, the current situation there, how the officers and soldiers were currently blocked from attacking, and what Hu Yanzhuo planned. , only then did Ling Zhen go to the front line. Lang Shilong spread all these words to Cai Jing's ears the next day. Now everyone in the court knew that Hu Yanzhuo had won the battle, but they didn't know the use of Hu Yanzhuo's trump card. With limited resources, it was far from feasible to capture the city and seize the territory. Calling Ling Zhen to help was really an added advantage. This news made Gao Qiu's old enemy Cai Jing know about it, and he was not willing to let go of this opportunity at the moment.
Cai Jing thought of ways to make this matter dirty, and after Lang Shilong came back, he had a long night secret discussion with Cai Jing about the Green Forest Army, and conveyed all Zhu Wu's words to Cai Jing. Cai Jing was frightened at that time, although on the surface He blamed Lang Shilong for being involved with Lu Lin, but something came up in his heart that he had never thought of before. Cai Jing, a man with a quick mind, knew that everything had its pros and cons, so he buried his thoughts in his heart. Deep down in his heart, he did not promise Lang Shilong to meet Zhu Wu of the Green Forest Army, nor did he express his refusal.
At present, Cai Jing wanted to disrupt a campaign recommended by Gao Qiu, which would sow the seeds of Gao Qiu's future official career. Cai Jing could not interfere openly, but he came up with a way to kill someone with a borrowed knife in time. He immediately sent one person His confidant, dressed up in disguise, went to the front line at starry night and met privately with Shi Jin, who was struggling in Xianyang City. At this time, for several days, Wu Yong could not think of a way to crack the chain horse. Shi Jin That night, Jin met a confidant sent by Cai Jing in a secret room. The confidant immediately told Shi Jin that the imperial court had sent Ling Zhen to help in the war, and also provided Shi Jin with a detailed document about Ling Zhen. , including when Ling Zhen left the city, where he passed, and how many days he would arrive, he gave a detailed introduction one by one.
However, when Cai Jing's cronies handed all this to Shi Jin, Shi Jin did not show the shock he should have. On the contrary, he calmly collected the document and asked the cronies to rest in the city. It was no problem for the confidant to convey his gratitude and briefly express his feelings.
Just after Shi Jin secretly sent the confidant out of the city safely, Shi Jin came back and put the document into Wu Yong's hands. However, the day before, Wu Yong had already received a letter. They come one after another, but the content is roughly the same.
Wu Yong looked at it and smiled slightly: "It seems that Cai Jing is serious about it,"
Shi Jin nodded and smiled when he heard this, and asked, "What should we do?"
"It's all arranged,"
At this time, Ling Zhen also packed up his pommel and horse weapons and led a group of people from the capital all the way to Jingzhao Mansion.