On a temporary observation platform three feet high, Chen Qing and several generals looked at the fire in the west from a distance. In fact, the Jin soldiers were discovered by the sentry when they first fired the gunpowder arrows, and the general Chen Qing was immediately notified.
"Commander, tonight's attack by the Jin soldiers should be considered a sneak attack!" Yang Yuanqing could not conceal his worry in his eyes.
"Looking at the night, it's probably a sneak attack. However, Liu Dutong is very experienced and there should be patrols outside. It's not that easy to attack him secretly."
"Commander, that's a beacon fire!" Zheng Ping pointed at a cluster of flames behind him.
Chen Qing nodded, "It should be Liu Dutong who is reminding us to guard against enemy sneak attacks."
Zheng Ping hesitated and said: "Since Wang Jianpo has lit the beacon, the Jin soldiers will not attack us again, right?"
This was not just Zheng Ping's idea, almost all the soldiers would think so. The military camp in front had already issued a warning, and it would be meaningless for the enemy to make a sneak attack again.
But if Chen Qing thought this way, Wu Jie would not be so eager to bring him back from Lin'an, nor would he place him in such an important position.
The sneak attack of the Jin soldiers was the cause, and the ignition of the beacon fire was the effect. How can the cause be changed because of the result? They all knew that it was the beacon fire, but the Jin soldiers did not know.
Chen Qing calmly ordered: "Instruct the entire army to enter a state of combat readiness!"
At this moment, Chen Qing finally realized that the Song army's previous judgment of the battle situation had been wrong, and the Jin soldiers did not necessarily have to eliminate the Song army in the West Valley one by one.
They have enough troops to attack at the same time. They can even directly send a cavalry to Dashan Pass after surrounding the two Song camps to cut off the connection between Dashang Pass and Monk Yuan.
Isn't this the strategic intention of the Jin Army to attack Xigu?
The Song army obviously did not think of this before formulating its strategy. They did not expect that as long as the Jin soldiers had sufficient strength, the two interception camps would not be a concern at all.
The reason why Jianxiao Pass is successful is that Jianxiao Pass blocks the only southbound passage, but now, neither Wangjianpo nor Jiwangpo can do this.
After Chen Qing figured this out, he suddenly became anxious. Is there any way to stop the Jin soldiers from advancing eastward?
Requesting reinforcements? Obviously impossible. All the troops have been deployed now. There are no redundant troops at all.
After much deliberation, the only way was to merge with Liu Ziyu's army and strive to make one plus one greater than two.
But the timing of the merger seems a bit late.
Chen Qing let out a long sigh, and now he can only take one step at a time.
...........
Including the logistics army, Chen Qing's total strength is only 3,500. It is not easy to defend Jingwang Slope, but fortunately this time he has abundant resources, including enough defensive bows and crossbows, as well as kerosene and gunpowder, and even
There is also the unique trick of match rope, which can produce explosive power.
Chen Qing deployed the Divine Arm Crossbow Army in front of the camp gate. The enemy troops attacking the camp gate must use heavy armor that can defend against ordinary bows and arrows. At this time, the power of the Divine Arm Crossbow Army was revealed.
The Song army built two more defensive walls with mud bags in front of the camp gate, arranged high and low like ladders. Five hundred heavy crossbow soldiers were deployed on the defensive walls, and dozens of small trebuchets were also deployed.
Then directly throw the kerosene barrel.
At this time, Yang Zaixing walked over quickly, cupped his fists and said, "Commander, do you want to see me for something?"
Chen Qing pondered for a moment and said, "There is an important and arduous task I want to give you."
"Please give me your orders, Commander!"
"There are five hundred cavalry in our camp. I want you to lead these five hundred cavalry to be active on the periphery, attack the enemy's logistics transportation, and drag the enemy to Dasanguan."
This task is indeed very arduous and dangerous. The West Valley is only a dozen miles wide and can easily be locked and surrounded by the enemy, especially the Jurchen cavalry. Once surrounded by them, the Song cavalry will almost be completely wiped out.
Chen Qing did not want to send this unexpected force, but this was the only way to delay the enemy troops from heading to Dashan Pass.
Yang Zaixing pondered for a moment and asked: "Can the commander be sure that the other party will send troops to kill Dashan Pass?"
Chen Qing shook his head, "I'm not sure, but if I were the general of the Jin army and had enough troops, I would definitely send two armies to surround the two Song army camps, and then send another army to kill Dashan Pass. As long as I guarantee
Logistics and transportation, then this army will not be withdrawn at Dashan Pass."
Yang Zaixing smiled and said: "In that case, why didn't I lead my army to directly attack the main camp of the West Valley of the Jin soldiers?"
Chen Qing's eyes lit up, and then he became worried and said, "I'm just afraid that it will be difficult for the army to get through!"
"As long as the enemy doesn't know about it, I will find a way to get past it."
Chen Qing nodded, "The situation outside is changing rapidly, and I can't deploy you. I only give you one principle: attack the enemy's logistics, delay the enemy's attempt to advance eastward, and preferably destroy the enemy's heavy siege."
arms."
"I humbly obey orders!"
Not long after, Yang Zaixing summoned five hundred cavalry, and Chen Qing appointed Zhao Xiaoyi as Yang Zaixing's deputy general to cooperate with him in completing his strategic intentions.
Five hundred cavalrymen went down the hillside through a temporary gap. Chen Qing told Zhao Xiaoyi: "This operation is of great importance. You must strictly implement General Yang's orders. You must not violate them because of your seniority. If you do something bad, I will never do it."
Don’t be lenient!”
Zhao Xiaoyi hurriedly clasped his fists and said: "I don't dare to do this in a humble position!"
"Go! Come back safely."
Zhao Xiaoyi also urged his horse to go out through the gap. Chen Qing immediately wrote a letter and ordered people to rush to Dashanguan to deliver it to the general Fu Xuan.
............
At the fourth watch, the sentry in the northwest corner was the first to notice the anomaly outside. Although it was pitch black, the movement of figures and the neighing of horses still revealed the arrival of an army.
An eight-thousand-strong Jin army quietly approached Jiwangpo. This army was all composed of Xie Congjun, which was the former Han army.
However, there are two types of Han troops in the Kingdom of Jin. One is the Song army that surrendered to the Jin Kingdom. This type has the largest number, with hundreds of thousands of people. Most of them have gradually transferred to the Qi army. The other is the former Liao army.
The Han army in the national army is an army composed of Han people in Youzhou.
The 10,000 Xie soldiers in the Western Camp belonged to the latter group and were originally Han troops in the Liao army.
The leader of this army was called Guo Anguo. He was the son of Guo Yaoshi, the rebel general of Youzhou. The army he commanded was Guo Yaoshi's ever-victorious army, and he was transferred to Guanlong by the Kingdom of Jin to fight.
This time Guo Anguo led 8,000 men to attack the Jiwangpo camp. He divided the Xie Cong Army into two parts. The front army had about 3,000 men, led by Guo Anguo himself, and prepared to sneak attack the Song Army camp on Jiwangpo.
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The other five thousand people were stationed several miles away. Han Chang strictly ordered not to act rashly. He would make a decision based on the effectiveness of the sneak attack by the front army. If the sneak attack was successful, all five thousand troops would be sent forward. If the sneak attack was unfavorable, they could only wait until dawn.
Think about it later.
Guo Anguo looked at the dark door on the ramp, and his intuition told him that the door seemed to have been demolished and the other party was prepared.
Although he knew that the opponent was prepared, the arrow was already on the string and he could not let it go unfired.
A thousand soldiers rushed forward, lined up in three rows, and fired arrows in the direction of the gate. The arrows were like rain, "Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" The powerful arrows cut through the night sky. In just a moment, the mud bags in front of the camp were
The walls and the soldiers' shields were covered with arrows.
Jin Bing's second round was about to fire. Guo Anguo waved his sword and said, "Kill him!"
A thousand sword and shield troops and a thousand spear troops rushed forward. At the front were three hundred cavalry. The horses were galloping, and the soldiers were running wildly behind. The soldiers were shouting. The two thousand troops were rushing towards the heights like a surging tide.
Coming galloping.
The Song Army's divine arm crossbows became powerful. Three hundred powerful crossbow arrows were fired at the same time in the front row. The length of this divine arm crossbow arrow was similar to that of the city defenders' arrows, but it was extremely powerful. The strong armor of the Jurchen cavalry could also shoot within a hundred paces.
Being shot through by an arrow from it is the most feared conventional weapon of the Jurchen cavalry besides the bed crossbow.
The three hundred cavalrymen running in front suddenly fell on their backs, their horses neighed, and the soldiers' screams rang through the night sky.
Immediately after the second row of two hundred divine arm crossbow arrows were fired, the cavalry behind them fell down one after another after being hit by the arrows. The biggest advantage of this two-stage shooting was that it hit a wide area, so that they would not all be concentrated in the front row. After two rounds of arrows, three hundred
There were less than fifty cavalrymen left, and more than 250 cavalrymen were struck down by arrows.
The cavalry fell down, revealing the infantry behind them. At this time, a second round of powerful crossbow bolts came. There was only a few dozen steps away, and the shields could not block the powerful crossbow bolts. The shields and armor were shot through, and the front row
More than a hundred soldiers fell down, and the fifty cavalrymen who had rushed to the front also fell down.
Then the second batch of two hundred crossbow arrows came, and more than a hundred people fell again.
The Jin soldiers seemed to be peeled off onions. The soldiers outside were peeled off layer by layer and fell down. However, the attacking army was getting closer and closer to the entrance of the camp. They were only a dozen steps away. They could already see the cold armor and fierce faces of the enemy.
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Chen Qing gave the order, "Throw the barrel of fire oil!"
Dozens of barrels of kerosene were thrown out by small trebuchets. The barrels fell to the ground and broke into pieces. The dark kerosene flowed downwards, and several soldiers dropped their torches.
‘Boom!’ The kerosene burned, and the hundreds of golden soldiers running in front were unable to escape and were instantly engulfed by the fire. The golden soldiers were burned so hard that they screamed and turned around to flee downwards.
Soon, the entire hillside turned into a field of fire. The soldiers who ran slower were covered in fire. After running a few steps, they fell into the fire and were quickly engulfed by the fire.