The counties of Kaifeng Prefecture were not wealthy during the Northern Song Dynasty, with a small population, and the countryside was particularly desolate. Tokyo Bianliang was like a black hole, sucking away the population and resources of Kaifeng Prefecture.
After the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, Bianliang declined rapidly and the population dispersed. Kaifeng Prefecture actually improved a bit. At least the rural scenery was not so desolate. There were bright yellow wheat fields everywhere, and the wheat was about to be harvested soon.
It was precisely because the wheat was about to be harvested that Chen Qing and Wanyan Wushu reached a verbal agreement on a temporary truce over the wheat harvest. Wanyan Wushu needed military rations, and Chen Qing was unwilling to destroy the farmers' hope of harvest.
However, the importance that both sides attach to intelligence has not diminished because of the wheat harvest.
In Fugou County, south of Kaifeng Prefecture, a group of cavalry was resting in the woods southwest of the county. This was a Western Army scout cavalry consisting of twenty people. Their mission was to check the enemy's deployment and find the enemy's main force.
The general at the head is a young scout Dutou, named Shen Qing, who is from Jingzhao. He has only been in the army for three years, but he is highly skilled in martial arts and has repeatedly performed extraordinary feats. He was promoted from a small soldier to Dutou.
Shen Qing's mission is to operate in Fugou County and detect information about Jin Bing.
The soldiers lit a few coal cakes, put them in the marching stove, put a pot on them, and boiled water to cook noodles. Of course, the coal cakes used by the scouts were different from those used by ordinary people. The coal cakes used by the scouts contained fire saltpeter powder and sulfur powder.
It is easy to ignite, has strong firepower, and burns quickly. It is very suitable for the life of a scout who is in a hurry. A large pot of water boiled quickly, and a large pot of noodles was cooked. The soldiers each scooped a bowl, put in mutton fat cubes, salt,
The seasonings and dried meat were put aside and started to be eaten.
Shen Qing sat on a big stone, eating noodles and looking at the map on the stone. They had visited the entire Fugou County and found no signs of the enemy army. It was easier to find the enemy group. The Jin soldiers usually had vanguards coming.
The farmers' sheep and livestock were forcibly requisitioned, but the rabbits did not eat the grass beside their nests. It is difficult to say whether the Jin soldiers robbed and plundered the farmers in Kaifeng Prefecture in this way, but one thing is certain, there will definitely be an enemy vanguard coming.
At this moment, the sentry in the tree shouted: "We found a cavalry team due north, about ten miles away, running towards us!"
Shen Qing immediately ordered: "Pack your things and prepare to retreat!"
The scout army is not a combat team. They will not fight the enemy at will unless necessary, such as capturing the opponent's scouts to obtain intelligence, etc.
The soldiers ate the noodles in several bites, quickly cleaned up, led their horses and hid deep in the woods, leaving only the chief Shen Qing and the sentry to monitor the enemy.
Not long after, a group of Jin soldiers' sentinel cavalry came running like lightning and rushed into the woods. They dismounted in the open space where the Song army had just rested. They brought sixty or seventy sheep with them, two of which were tied to each horse.
It's relatively spacious here, with a small river next to it, so it's very convenient for eating and resting.
"Du Tou, the other party is not a Jurchen!"
Generally speaking, soldiers of the Song Army couldn't tell the difference between Jurchens, Khitans or Bohai people because they all looked the same, but the scouts could tell each other apart based on their equipment.
These ranger cavalry are all wearing leather armor. Although they are double-layered leather armor, it shows that they are definitely not Jurchen soldiers, but probably just Donghu soldiers.
Shen Qing discovered a deeper problem. This cavalry was a ranger cavalry. The elite among the elite could only wear double-layer leather armor. Then ordinary soldiers could only wear single-layer leather armor. These were still Donghu soldiers, so
What about the signing soldiers?
Shen Qing felt that this information was very important and he had to capture a few prisoners of war and take them back.
But there are thirty people on the other side, and there are only twenty of them. How to catch them?
Thirty soldiers were roasting sheep over a fire. Several washed and skinned sheep were hung on wooden racks. The cavalry were chatting excitedly while roasting meat.
Shen Qing's eyes fell on the opponent's horses. The opponent was afraid that the horses would be scorched by the smoke from the barbecue, so the thirty horses were tied upwind, a little far away, at least thirty steps from where they were barbecued.
But there was a sentry on the big tree where the horses were tied. He watched the official road outside and was also responsible for guarding the horses.
Shen Qing immediately had a bold plan in mind. He waved to his sentinels, and the two quietly retreated into the dense forest.
Shen Qing summoned everyone to assign tasks. They were a captain, a deputy captain, and nineteen soldiers.
"Yang Da and Wei Qilang are responsible for stealing horses. Wei Qilang's archery skills are good, and they also need to kill the sentry on the tree with one arrow. Everyone, the sentry will scream when it is shot. The scream is the signal for our action. Use the crossbow to shoot
, and then we will keep three alive and bring them back for interrogation, and it’s up to me to decide.”
Shen Qing explained some more details, and everyone agreed, and then they split up, leaving one soldier to look after the horses, while the other soldiers split up from all directions.
Thirty Donghu soldiers had already begun to eat mutton and drank the goat's milk wine in their skins. Two Western soldiers reached the northeast corner. Thirty war horses were tied to two big trees. On one of the big trees, there were still
There was a sentry squatting, chewing on the leg of lamb with relish, completely unaware that the danger was coming.
You are most likely to be attacked while eating. This is why you focus on the food and do not pay attention to external risks.
One Western soldier raised his crossbow and aimed at the soldier on the tree, while another Western soldier quietly approached the horse. At this time, all the soldiers raised their crossbows, waiting for the screams of the sentry.
"Click!" The crossbow machine sounded, and a powerful crossbow arrow shot out with a "whoosh!" and hit the sentry in the chest. The sentry let out a shrill scream and fell from the woods.
Almost at the same time, eighteen crossbow arrows were shot out with great force. Each crossbow arrow hit one person. Reasonable distribution of enemy troops was the key. If an enemy soldier was hit by seven or eight arrows, the sneak attack failed.
A round of crossbow arrows was fired, and fifteen soldiers, Dong Hu, fell down due to the arrows. The Western Army threw away their crossbows, raised their spears, and charged forward.
The Donghu soldiers were blinded by the shot. When the Western troops rushed towards them with shouts, they were so frightened that they turned and fled towards the horses. Unexpectedly, the place where the horses were tied was empty, and none of the thirty horses were missing.
The leading centurion shouted, "Spread out and run for your lives!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head, his vision went dark, and he didn't know anything anymore.
Shen Qing knocked out the enemy centurion with a wooden stick and tied him up with ropes.
The Western Army scouts chased them all the way, and several Donghu soldiers rushed out of the woods and fled in panic.
"Stop chasing!"
Shen Qing shouted, and the soldiers stopped chasing. They captured three prisoners of war, tied them up behind their backs, and covered their heads with black bags.
They quickly cleaned the battlefield, peeled off their armor, took away their weapons, dug a hole for their bodies and buried them, and then they took the three prisoners of war and ran towards Xuchang.
During this period, Chen Qing has been reorganizing the army. He has integrated more than 53,000 Yue Fei's troops. Among them, Yue Fei's three elite armies, Tabai Army, Youyi Army, and Beiwei Army, were all completely acquired by Chen Qing.
Already.
He needed to break up his own army and Yue Fei's army, mix them together, and then reorganize them.
Among them, three military commanders, Yue Yun, Zhang Xian and Xu Qing, were incorporated into the Huben Army. Each of them commanded an army of 10,000 people. As their own direct army, they controlled Peng Qi, who was two meters tall, had a burly physique and was extremely powerful. He could wield a handful of seven
The ten-pound gold-backed machete is an infantry general. He was appointed by Chen Qing to command the black-armored infantry battalion and command the five thousand black-armored infantry of the Western Army.
His generals were respectively organized into the capital camps of Gaoding, Liu Qiong, Liu Cui and Yang Zaixing. None of them were demoted, and the number of troops under their command was the same as before.
In addition to reorganizing the army, they also had to resettle their family members, nearly 200,000 people and more than 50,000 households. Chen Qing adopted a voluntary choice method. If his hometown was nearby, he would be resettled back to his hometown, and other family members would be voluntarily chosen.
Combined, they were resettled in Dengzhou, Ruzhou, Yingchangfu, Chenzhou, Caizhou and other four prefectures and one prefecture, and all official and military land were allocated to them, ensuring that each family had at least thirty acres of land. At the same time,
Like the soldiers of the Western Army, they enjoy lifelong tax-free treatment.
This treatment really made the 200,000 family members cheer. Not even Yue Fei could do this.
That afternoon, Chen Qing received a report that a scout team had escorted back three prisoners of war. There was some important information, which Chen Qing paid great attention to.