Among all kinds of wars, the most brutal and bloody ones are street battles. Both sides fight hand-to-hand. As long as they are not on one's own side, they are basically killing without distinction. Both the offensive and defensive sides will suffer heavy casualties. The civilians will also suffer numerous casualties, mainly due to manslaughter.
, women, children and the elderly will fare slightly better, but adult men cannot escape and will basically be killed by mistake. Who knows if they are militia soldiers?
The Western Army had controlled the gap in the south city and began to advance into the city. At this time, the east city gate had been captured by the Western Army. The city gate was opened and Liu Qiong led 10,000 cavalry into the city and rushed towards the south city.
On Nancheng Street, thousands of gold soldiers built a wall with sandbags, raised their crossbows and fired arrows at the gap to prevent the Western army from entering through the gap. The sound of horse hooves from behind was loud, and the cavalry did not arrive, but countless arrows were fired quickly.
The crossbowmen retreated one after another. Many of them were unable to retreat and fell down after being hit by arrows.
Thousands of people and more than 20,000 other soldiers fled into the dense alleys in the city and abandoned the streets. They used crossbows and familiarity with the terrain to fight against the Western army.
Ten thousand Western Army cavalry took control of the main street. Without the crossbowmen to stop them, three thousand Western Army sword shield bearers and five thousand crossbowmen came in. Gao Ding led ten thousand black armored troops to also rush in through the broken city gate.
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At the same time, the West City Gate opened, and Chen Qing led an army of 30,000 people to enter through the West City Gate. The number of Western troops in the city reached 60,000.
The Western Army had trained in street fighting, but had not experienced actual combat and lacked experience. More importantly, in the dark night, with 25,000 enemy troops hiding deep in the alleys, the Song Army would be very passive against the attacking Song Army, and the casualties would inevitably be far greater than the opponent's.
Chen Qing pondered for a moment and said to everyone: "The night is too dark and we will suffer heavy losses in street fighting. We will leave 20,000 troops to control the city walls and gates, and the other troops will temporarily withdraw from the city."
Chen Qing immediately ordered Gao Ding to lead 20,000 troops in the city, while the others withdrew from the west gate to the outside of the city to wait for dawn to fight again.
The Western Army's counterattack without a fight instantly reversed the unfavorable situation, leaving aside the signing troops who were waiting for street fighting. It was only the third watch, and it was still early before dawn.
Deputy General Cao Jing'an found Li Cheng in Cangcheng and said worriedly: "Chen Qing is not in a hurry to fight with us in the street. He is obviously waiting for dawn. The opponent's number is several times ours. I am afraid that street fighting will be very detrimental to us. I suggest that we take advantage of the opportunity."
Now that the night is dark, the army should abandon the city and retreat to preserve its strength."
Another general, Zhang Jing, also said: "The Song Army's Iron Fire Thunder is really powerful. Many of our brothers stick to their homes and fight. Once the opponent uses small Iron Fire Thunder, it will be a disaster for our brothers. I even support breaking out of the encirclement."
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Li Cheng pondered for a moment and said: "I'll write a letter to Chen Qing. I can give him Xuchang City, but he wants us to evacuate eastward safely!"
Cao Jingan and several generals were stunned for a while. Cao Jingan said anxiously: "Of course he will let us leave the city, but he will definitely annihilate us outside the city!"
Li Cheng sneered and said: "You guys underestimate Chen Qing too much. This person is a tycoon. The biggest characteristic of a tyrant is that he wants both fame and benefits. Such a dark night is not suitable for field operations at all. He will definitely follow the tide.
He not only pretended to promise a large sum of money, but also bought people's hearts. In order not to harm the people, he allowed the enemy troops to escape, and then made a request to us not to burn down the warehouse. With so many benefits, it is much more cost-effective than chasing and killing thousands of us."
Cao Jing'an no longer objected, "Since Jiedushi sees it so clearly, you might as well give it a try!"
Li Cheng immediately wrote a letter and asked his aide Shen Guotai to go to see Chen Qing outside the city. He then ordered all troops to gather at the warehouse in the middle of the city.
Shen Guotai came to the west city and found the guard of the west city. The guard immediately took him out of the city and came to a temporary tent two miles outside the city.
In the big tent, Chen Qing was considering how to carry out street fighting. The first step was to seize Cangcheng. There were 500,000 shi of grain in the city. In addition to the 200,000 shi of grain that Tang Qian had obtained in Caizhou and Xiangcheng before, this was seventy thousand shi. Thousands of stones of food are available, which is crucial to stabilizing the situation in the Central Plains.
There is also the problem of civilians in street fighting. Although civilian casualties are inevitable in street fighting, Chen Qing also hopes to reduce civilian casualties as much as possible, which means that fire, explosions, etc. cannot be used in large quantities. If the opponent's army is very strong and occupies favorable terrain, .
I'm afraid the Western Army will suffer more than 10,000 casualties this time.
At this time, the soldiers reported outside the tent, "General Wang Jian, the guard of the west gate, brought a scribe, saying he was Li Cheng's staff and was ordered to contact His Highness."
Zhang Xiao said with a smile: "I'm afraid the other party also has a desire to survive."
Chen Qing sneered and said, "It was my refusal to fight at night that made Li Cheng's wishful thinking of losing both sides come to nothing."
He immediately ordered: "Let him come in!"
After a while, a rather elegant middle-aged scribe came in, bowed and said: "I am the general magistrate of Yingchuan Prefecture in Xianguotai, and is also the staff of Li Shijun. See His Highness King Yong!"
Chen Qing glanced at him and asked: "Since you are the general judge of Yingchang Mansion, why are you also Li Cheng's staff?"
Shen Guotai said respectfully: "Reporting to Your Highness, General Li also serves as the prefect of Yingchang. I was originally his staff and was recommended by him to be the general magistrate of Yingchang Prefecture and in charge of government affairs."
"Since you are in charge of government affairs, let me ask you, how much grain can the Yingchang Prefecture government collect in a year?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, the official land plus taxes will be about 400,000 dan per year. We have to hand over 300,000 dan to Bianliang and keep 100,000 dan for ourselves to supplement the military rations."
Chen Qing frowned, "You have an army of 50,000 people. Is 100,000 shi of rations enough?"
Shen Guotai had a very good attitude and always answered Chen Qing's questions respectfully, "Reporting to Your Highness, one hundred thousand shi is just the grain of Yingchang Mansion. We also have Caizhou, Chenzhou, and Yingzhou to turn in military grain, plus the grain produced in our own military fields. , the food is enough, otherwise where would the five hundred thousand shi of food in Cangcheng come from? Bianliang will not allocate it to us."
"Okay! What did Li Cheng want you to say?"
Shen Guotai took out Li Cheng's letter from his arms and presented it to Chen Qing with both hands, "This is Li Shijun's letter, please read it!"
A soldier stepped forward to take the letter and forwarded it to Chen Qing. Chen Qing opened the letter and read it carefully. He handed the letter to Zhang Xiao and asked Shen Guotai: "The letter did not mention the evacuation time. If I When do you agree to evacuate?"
"If His Highness agrees to our evacuation, we will evacuate before the fourth watch!"
"How many war horses do you have? Chen Qing asked again.
"Reporting to Your Highness, there are less than three thousand war horses!"
Chen Qing glanced at Zhang Xiao again, and Zhang Xiao returned the letter to Chen Qing, "Your Highness, it's up to you! I have no objection to my humble position."
Chen Qing nodded, thought for a moment and said: "Since your general does not want to harm the people of Xuchang and proposes to withdraw the troops and change the city, I agree in principle. I also don't want to harm the people of Xuchang, but it is wrong to withdraw the troops and change the city. We have already entered the city. , I can only say that for the sake of your general’s concern for the safety of the people, I will spare him this time.”
Shen Guotai did not dare to argue with Chen Qing and bowed: "Thank you for your forgiveness, Your Highness!"
"But I have four conditions to let you leave. First, the warehouse must be safe, and all the grain and grass materials in the warehouse are not allowed to be taken away; second, the leaving army, including war horses and livestock, must not exceed Three thousand horses; third, Xuchang is not far from Kaifeng Prefecture, and I ask you to leave Yingchang Prefecture before dawn; fourth, except for the coach Li Cheng, other soldiers are not allowed to leave with their families, and I will not harm your family members. , they can leave at any time, I will not stop them."
Shen Guotai thought for a while and said: "The first three items are all correct, but I am afraid that in addition to Li Shijun, the family members of several other major generals will also be taken away."
"Okay, no more than twenty carriages, you decide for yourself. In fact, I am doing it for your own good. I support the old and the young too much, which affects the march. If you don't leave Yingchang Mansion before dawn, I will definitely send cavalry to chase you!"
"I understand. I will go back and report it right away. I will get a reply soon!"