The first thousand one hundred and eighty-five chapters capture the island
Thirty large ships of the Western Army arrived at the outskirts of Donghai Island under the cover of night, and anchored on the sea about twenty miles east of the island, waiting for news from the scouts.
At two o'clock in the morning, a small boat sailed through the night. This was the return of a scout sent by the Western Army.
Not long after, several scouts boarded the main ship and were taken to Liu Qiong's main cabin.
Although the night was deep, Liu Qiong had not yet fallen asleep. He stood in front of the map and meditated. In fact, he was still waiting for news from the scouts.
The leading scout knelt down on one knee and saluted: "See the capital!"
"Please get up! Tell us about the situation on the island."
The scouts all stood up and said: "We found the Song Army's fleet first. They did not go to the island, but were anchored in the strait between the land and the island. It seems that they have cut off the connection between the island and the land."
Liu Qiong found the strait the scout mentioned on the map. It was very narrow and located between two counties. It looked like a very wide river.
"How wide and long is the strait?"
"Reporting to the capital, it is about three miles wide and more than twenty miles long. There are docks on both sides. We usually use ferries to travel, but now it has been completely controlled by Song army ships."
Liu Qiong nodded. The Song army's actions were within his expectations. With only five thousand troops, there was no hope of capturing Donghai County.
"Have you gone to the island?"
"We later went to the island and went all the way to Donghai County."
“How is the county?”
"Bizhi feels like it is a very dilapidated county town. It has not been repaired for at least several decades. The county town is not big, with a circumference of ten miles at most and a height of about two feet."
"What about the population and garrisons?"
"Bizhi and his subordinates finally found a village and made some general inquiries. They found that the city's population was originally more than 10,000 people, but they were all transferred to the other side. Only a large garrison of about 15,000 people remained in the city."
At this time, Tang Qian, who was silent on the side, suddenly asked: "After you inquired about the military situation, did you send anyone to stay and monitor the movements of the villagers?"
The scouts all shook their heads and said, "We left quickly after inquiring about the news. We didn't leave any soldiers behind. We didn't feel safe!"
Liu Qiong frowned and said, "General Tang, do you think those villagers will report it?"
Tang Qian was very experienced. He discovered the loopholes inside and sighed: "Since the other party evacuated the people in the city, they did not evacuate the fishermen on the island. I think these fishermen are actually their eyes and ears."
Liu Qiong walked a few steps with her hands behind her back: "If those fishermen are the eyes and ears, then the information they provide may not be accurate, right?"
"It's true. A small county with a circumference of only ten miles has a garrison of 15,000 people. It's a bit exaggerated!"
The scouts all felt ashamed and said, "It's a shameful job, but I didn't find any loopholes in the intelligence."
"It has nothing to do with you, just step back!"
The scouts bowed their heads and retreated.
Liu Qiong smiled at Tang Qian and said, "What should we do next? Does Old Tang have any ideas?"
The two have cooperated for many years and have a tacit understanding of each other. Tang Qian also smiled and said: "I guess the Song army also went ashore to ask about these fishermen, but was frightened by the information provided by the fishermen, so they did not dare to attack the city. I think we should
Attack the city boldly and seize Donghai County in one fell swoop before the Song army can react."
"It's exactly what I want. This opportunity can't be missed. We'll attack the city tonight!"
........
The Donghai County garrison actually only had 3,000 people, and was led by a military commander. They falsely claimed that there were 15,000 people, and arranged villagers to act as their eyes and ears. Han Shizhong was deceived by these villagers, thinking that there were really 15,000 people in the city.
With fifteen thousand troops, Han Shizhong had to abandon his plan to attack the city and block the strait instead.
However, Tang Qian, an extremely experienced scout, discovered the flaw. Since the Jin soldiers evacuated more than 10,000 people in the city, they ignored a handful of fishermen outside the city. This is really unreasonable.
The commander of the Jin army was called Hu Lin, a native of Yizhou, Shandong Road. He was about forty years old. He was originally one of the generals of the militia army on Shandong Road. After Wanyan Wushu was transferred to Shandong Road, he converted all 50,000 militia troops into regular troops.
, Hu Lin naturally became the general of the signing army.
He was a native of Shandong Road and was not an old subordinate of Li Cheng. Naturally, he was not reused by Li Cheng, so he was sent by Li Cheng to guard Donghai Island.
Although Li Cheng also knew that the Western Army was likely to send a large army to seize Donghai Island, being able to predict it did not mean that he would be able to defend Donghai Island. It would take a strong naval force to defend Donghai Island, but Jin Bing
Without a naval force, it would be impossible to defend the island.
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Li Cheng was very pragmatic. He knew that once he deployed heavy troops on the East China Sea Island, it would be easy for the other side's navy to cut off supplies and connections with the outside world, and eventually the entire army would collapse.
Of course, Li Cheng would not risk his army, so he evacuated all the people on Donghai Island to the mainland, sent Hu Lin to lead 3,000 people to guard Donghai County, and used a trick to falsely claim that there were 15,000 people.
Under night, several villagers came to report that someone asked them about the garrison and population situation in the city.
This is the second group of people who came to inquire about the military situation in three days. The first group of people was the Song Army. They have currently blocked the strait. Who is the second group of people? Is it the Western Army? Or the Song Army.
Hu Lin frowned and pondered for a moment. He still sent several spies to Buffalo Bay in the northeast corner to investigate the situation. Buffalo Bay was the only place where ships could anchor and land. Whether it was the Song Army or the Western Army, they had to come ashore from the east.
You can only go through Buffalo Bay.
........
At the third watch, the Western Army ships began to dock at Buffalo Bay. Soldiers rushed off the ships one after another and began to line up quickly.
Two miles away, three spies who were lying in ambush on a hill saw the huge ship docking and countless soldiers lining up on the shore. They were so frightened that the three spies turned around and ran away, running back to the city to report.
Thirty large ships quickly unloaded 10,000 troops, leaving 2,000 sailors on board to protect the fleet.
At the fourth watch, 10,000 troops were lined up and, led by Liu Qiong and Tang Qian, rushed toward Donghai County, about ten miles away in the southwest.
The lights on Donghai County's head were brightly lit, and all three thousand defenders were on the city. Most of them were concentrated in Dongcheng and Beicheng. The soldiers were very nervous and were ready with bows, arrows and spears.
General Hu Lin was even more nervous. He had already judged that the invading army at night was the Western Army, not the previous imperial army. He was not sure at all whether he could hold the county seat, and was even a little pessimistic.
Li Cheng did not give them kerosene or large-scale defense weapons, such as trebuchets and crossbows, only the soldiers' crossbows.
If the city was tall and strong, it would be fine. However, the city was dilapidated. It had been corroded by salt, alkali and wind and rain for many years. It had not been repaired for only thirty years, and it was already dilapidated. How could such a city be able to withstand the attack of the powerful Western Army?
Not only the general Hu Lin was pessimistic, but also all the soldiers were pessimistic and had low morale. They were not regular soldiers in the first place. They were just state soldiers from Yizhou. They were only converted into regular troops last year. They are a stepmother's army with poor equipment, low pay, and are subject to discrimination.
, the highest among the Jin soldiers are 30,000 Tiefutu, then 50,000 Donghu soldiers, then 50,000 sign troops withdrawn from Henan Prefecture, and the lowest level is them, 50,000 Shandong Road sign troops, transformed from state soldiers
Come.
Although they are local gangsters, they have been discriminated against. Now they have to face the powerful Western Army, which is several times their own strength. Every soldier is filled with despair.
"They're coming!"
Someone yelled and saw a large army marching toward the city. Under the moonlight, the defenders at the top of the city could see it very clearly.
