That night, Yang Zaixing led the scout leader Huang Dong to Chen Qing's handsome tent.
"Your Highness, there are scouts reporting on the important information they just discovered."
Chen Qing was standing in front of the sand table considering the battle plan. He smiled slightly and said: "What important information!"
Huang Dong stepped forward and knelt down on one knee to salute, "I'm sorry to see you, Your Highness!"
Chen Qing glanced at him and felt that he looked familiar. He thought for a while and smiled: "I remember you were the scout who assassinated Zhe Keqiu in Luoyang City, right?"
"It's Huang Dong who is in a humble position and was promoted to deputy commander by General Yang last year!"
"Not bad! Not bad! It seems that you made a lot of contributions last year. Tell me! What important information?"
"The humble leader led his men to discover the Jinbing Water Village in Liangshanbo."
Chen Qing perked up. This was the military situation he had always been concerned about. He pointed to the sand table and said, "Where is the Jinbing Water Fort?"
Huang Dong picked up the wooden pole and pointed to Liangshan Road on the sand table: "This is Liangshan. It is in a bay on the west side of Liangshan. It is blocked by the mountains and far away from the main waterway, so it is relatively hidden. If there were no fishermen who pointed it out, we would have
I really can't find it.
"How many ships are there? How many people are there?"
"Bizhi observed at night and made a rough inventory. There were more than 60 thousand-stone warships and more than 240 other hundred-stone sentry ships. There were no ships larger than Qianshi, and they were all converted civilian ships. The camp was set up on the shore.
It is estimated that there are three to four thousand troops."
Chen Qing took a few steps with his hands behind his back. Jin Bing's navy must be destroyed first, otherwise it would seriously threaten the safety of his logistics and transportation and the pontoon crossing the river.
However, if you send a navy there, it will be easily discovered by the other party, and then the other party's navy will escape, making it difficult to find them.
We must go over quietly and wipe out the opponent's navy in one fell swoop.
At this time, Yang Zaixing on the side understood what his lord was thinking, and suggested with a smile: "I have a special army under me, about a thousand people, called the Jiaolong Army. It is very powerful in water and land warfare. It can complete the task of annihilating the Jin soldiers and navy."
Leave it to them."
Chen Qing was immediately interested. It was actually an amphibious operation. No wonder it was called the Dragon Army. The dragon was a crocodile!
He nodded and asked, "Who is the leader?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, the leader is called Ruan De. He is a commander of the new army. He has superb martial arts skills, great strength, and extremely high water quality. His hometown is in Liangshanbo."
His surname is Ruan and his hometown is Liangshanbo. Chen Qing thought of something and nodded, "Please bring General Ruan to see me."
Not long after, Ruan De was led into the big tent by a soldier. After nearly half a year of training, Ruan De was already a mature general of the Western Army. He knelt down on one knee and saluted, "Old Ruan De, of humble rank, meets His Highness King Yong!"
Chen Qing saw that this man was very tall and majestic, estimated to be about 1.9 meters tall, and his arms were as strong as a thousand kilograms.
Chen Qingxiao asked: "Where is your home?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, I currently live in Yuchi County."
Chen Qing was startled, "Just now Yang Dutong said you were from Liangshanbo?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, the villain's ancestral home is Liangshanbo, and his father and uncle moved to Chuqiu County, Guide Prefecture. Because the Jin soldiers wanted to thresh grain and grass last year, the government required all the people near the Yellow River to evacuate to Kaifeng Prefecture, so I took my wife, children and villagers with me.
The people moved to Yuchi County, where they were favored by Yuxian Lieutenant and appointed as the leader of the new troops in Yuchi County. He was also appreciated by Yang Dutong and appointed as the commander of the new Jiaolong Army."
"I see. What is your father's name? What do you do for a living?"
Ruan De didn't dare to lie, so he had to bite the bullet and said: "My father's name is Ruan Xiaoqi. He was a fisherman in Liangshanbo. He was forced by the government. He once went to Liangshan to fall grass. Later, he was recruited by the government, but he did not want to be an official. The whole family moved to Huizhou together.
I work as a farmer in Dezhuang, Chuqiu County, Defu."
As expected, he is a descendant of the three heroes of the Ruan family. Chen Qing nodded and said, "I came to you because I have an important task for you, the Dragon Army."
Chen Qing pointed at Liangshan Bo with a wooden pole and said: "The Jin soldiers and navy are hiding in Liangshan Bo. I want to destroy this navy, mainly by destroying all their warships. But if I send the navy there, it will be easy to be discovered, and they will escape."
, we must sneak into the water stronghold from land without anyone noticing. There are about 4,000 people on the other side. Do you understand your mission?"
"I will definitely complete my mission successfully!"
Chen Qing introduced Huang Dong to him again, "This is Huang Dong, the deputy commander of the scouts. He is the one who discovered the water village and the navy. He will bring a team of scouts as your deputy generals. This task will be completed by the two of you.
Set off tonight, and if the mission is successful, I will give you a heavy reward!"
The two of them saluted together, "Obey!"
Yang Zaixing took the two of them down to explain their tasks in detail.
Chen Qing looked at the soldiers standing at the tent door again and said, "What's going on?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, Xu Xiangguo, who came from Lin'an, has arrived at Guide Mansion."
Chen Qing nodded, "Ask them to come with the support ship tomorrow!"
Ruan De and Huang Dong led 1,300 people on foot and set off overnight, silently running towards Liang Shanbo in the north.
At noon the next day, Xu Xiantu and his party followed the fleet of grain and fodder transport and arrived at the Fengxian camp.
Chen Qing personally went outside the camp gate to welcome Xu Xiantu's arrival.
Chen Qing and Xu Xiantu had a very good personal relationship. When Chen Qing married Lu Xiu in Lin'an, Xu Xiantu was the witness. Moreover, when Lu Yihao died of illness, the court officials did not dare to pay homage. It was Xu Xiantu who took the lead to pay homage, which made all the officials put aside their worries and go to Lu Mansion.
Chen Qing has always kept this favor in mind.
The same is true for Xu Xiantu. He was the first to pay filial piety to Lu Yihao in order to gain a favor from Chen Qing. In addition, in order to leave a way out for himself and his family, Xu Xiantu changed the name of his youngest son Xu Shou to Yu Shou and went to Jingzhao.
He participated in the imperial examination and was assigned by Chen Qing to his hometown of Yuchi County as a county captain.
It was because of the tacit understanding between them that the two met very enthusiastically. Chen Qing invited Xu Xiantu and his party into the Chinese army's tent. The two parties were seated separately, and some soldiers came in to serve them tea.
Chen Qing smiled and said: "This time when you go north, does Mr. Xu have any plans to visit his hometown?"
Xu Xiantu shook his head, "There is no time! The officials are still eagerly waiting for my news. I will rush back immediately after talking to His Highness."
Chen Qing asked again: "How much can the 100,000 Song troops recover this time?"
Xu Xiantu sighed and said: "If you include His Highness's 20,000 troops and the more than 10,000 wounded soldiers who were sent back for treatment, a total of about 41,000 people can be recovered."
"That's forty-four thousand people!"
"In fact, we have more than 23,000 Song army prisoners of war in our hands."
Xu Xiantu nodded, "Then let's make a long story short. What are the conditions for Your Highness to return these 23,000 people to us?"
"What does the emperor mean?"
"The Emperor said that the north of the Huaihe River should be given to the Western Army."
Chen Qing shook his head, "We captured the north of the Huaihe River from the Jin soldiers, and captured three thousand Jin soldiers each in Fuli County and Xuyi County. The emperor's suggestion is not sincere."
"So I'll let you speak for yourself!"
Chen Qing pondered for a moment and said: "If I ask for land again, I guess the emperor will be very sensitive and will not agree. So let's do it! I make two requests. The first is to allow my fleet to use the Huainan Canal, which is where the Huaihe River reaches
In this section of the Yangtze River, interception and interrogation are not allowed, and unimpeded traffic must be ensured; secondly, give me all the large siege weapons in the Yangzhou warehouse."
Xu Xiantu nodded and said: "The first request should not be a big problem, I can agree to it now. The second request I will send a dove letter to ask the emperor for instructions tomorrow, and I will reply to His Highness the day after tomorrow at the latest!"
