Chunhua County is not far from Jingzhao City, only a day's walk.
Although Chen Qing is brave enough, it does not mean that he is reckless and unwise. Chen Qing knows very well that even 1,500 people may not be able to capture Jingzhao City. What's more, he only has 500 soldiers now. If he rushes forward like this, he will only be defeated by others.
Swallow it in one gulp.
He needs to look for opportunities to attack, and if conditions do not allow, he must decisively give up the operation.
Jingzhao City was the Chang'an of the Tang Dynasty. After experiencing the catastrophe of the late Tang Dynasty and the wars of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, today's Chang'an City has long lost the glory of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and countless magnificent palaces have disappeared in the cruel wars.
After hundreds of years of recuperation and commercial development in the Northern Song Dynasty, the Guanzhong Plain returned to its rich and prosperous scene. Unfortunately, several invasions by the Jin soldiers led to repeated raids and killings. Nearly a million people were massacred. The land of Guanzhong was starved to death, and the people
Bodies were deposited in ravines, devastation was everywhere, and man-eating wild dogs swarmed in the wilderness.
At night, five hundred soldiers were resting in a forest about ten miles away from Jingzhao City. The tragic scenes along the way made the soldiers very silent. No one spoke, and everyone was eating dry biscuits in silence.
"Everyone listen to me!"
Chen Qing stood on a large rock, and five hundred soldiers gathered around him.
"The ultimate goal of our trip to Jingzhao City this time is to kill Wanyan Loushi. This is an opportunity, but the risk is very high. It is very likely that we will not be able to come back, including me, so I want to give everyone
A choice, if you still have parents, wives, children, and concerns at home, you can leave now, I will never force you!"
All the soldiers were silent. For a moment, a soldier asked: "General, is there any hope of killing Wanyan Loushi?"
"There is a 30% chance, but we have to face his thousand escorts. This will be a desperate battle. It is very likely that our entire army will be destroyed, but we may also kill Wanyan Loushi, so I let everyone choose
, are willing to go with me, we will face life and death."
.........
Chen Qing stood by the woods and looked into the distance. In the night, he could vaguely see the outline of Jingzhao City, like a long gray-black dragon lying across the plain.
Deputy General Yang Yuanqing walked up to Chen Qing and said solemnly: "All brothers are willing to follow the general, even if they die on the battlefield, they will not hesitate!"
The result was beyond Chen Qing's expectation. He originally thought that at least 30% of the soldiers would leave.
"Why?" Chen Qing asked puzzledly.
"Because the general's target is Wanyan Loushi. He was the chief general of the Jin army who invaded Shaanxi several times. He massacred countless cities and killed millions of innocent people. Almost all the soldiers had their families die in his hands. All the brothers are willing to follow the general.
It’s all because of the deep-seated hatred of the country and family that we want to fight to the death with Wanyan Loushi and his escorts.”
"Killing Wanyan Loushi is my highest goal, but it is not the only goal!"
Chen Qing pondered for a moment and explained to Yang Yuanqing: "I divided this mission into three goals: upper, middle and lower. The lowest goal is to burn the enemy's grain and grass supplies, so as to cause logistical difficulties for the Jin soldiers marching westward.
.
The medium goal is to completely annihilate the puppet Qi army and burn the food and supplies to create the illusion that Jingzhao Mansion has been captured, forcing the Jin soldiers advancing westward to retreat.
Of course, the highest goal is to kill Wanyan Loushi. It is not impossible, but it will definitely be difficult. In fact, I think even if we complete the lowest goal, the results will be equally brilliant. I can't explain it to the soldiers in detail, but I hope you
I understand!”
Yang Yuanqing nodded, "The general is right, we still have to be down-to-earth and take it step by step!"
At this time, two cavalrymen came rushing from a distance, and the scout who went to find out the news came back.
When the two scouts saw Chen Qing, they dismounted and led the horse forward and said: "Sir, the situation is true. The upper east gate has not been built yet, but the city gate has been blocked with sandbags!"
Marquis Lu Yu told them an important piece of information. The Upper East Gate was destroyed when the Jin soldiers attacked Jingzhao City. It had not been repaired when they left the city yesterday.
This is undoubtedly an extremely important piece of information that will solve their big problem of entering the city.
Another scout said: "General Qi, there is another important piece of information. When we came back, we found a team of hungry people, numbering tens of thousands."
Chen Qing's eyes lit up. This news seemed to open a window in front of him, allowing him to see an opportunity. This was God helping him!
...........
Tens of thousands of hungry people fled from Tongzhou, and 50,000 puppet Qi troops entered Guanzhong and stationed in Tongzhou. They did not bring any logistics supplies, so they looted the people's food in Tongzhou. Not only did they plunder food, but they also killed people and looted people.
Cai, who raped his wife, tens of thousands of people fled Tongzhou and fled to Jingzhao.
Tens of thousands of people supported the elderly and children and traveled for several days before finally arriving in Jingzhao. However, the Jingzhao area was also devastated and starved to death, making these people in the same state fall into despair.
In the wilderness, the cold wind blew and drizzle fell. Tens of thousands of hungry people gathered together. There were a large number of old and weak women and children, as well as many young and strong men. All the grass roots and bark dug along the way were eaten. They were in ragged clothes and suffered from hunger and cold.
The cry was loud.
More than 7,000 hungry young men gathered together. A Song Army general stood in the crowd and raised his arms and shouted: "We all have parents, wives and children. We have no food, no clothes, and are hungry and cold. We can just watch.
Are they starving to death and freezing to death? We can't! We must never let our parents, wives and children starve to death!"
"No!" Thousands of hungry people raised their arms and shouted angrily, and the anger that had been suppressed in their hearts for several days burst out.
This general was Chen Qing. He asked the soldiers to gather all the young and strong men, and Chen Qing personally mobilized them to join the battle.
"Everyone listen to me!"
Chen Qing raised his hands high and shouted with excitement: "There are hundreds of thousands of stones of grain and millions of cloth in Jingzhao City, but only two to three thousand soldiers guarding it. This is the opportunity God has given us. I am Chen from the Eight Character Army."
Qing, I am willing to lead everyone to seize food and cloth. Each of us is an upright man of the Song Dynasty. Even if we die in battle, we will never let our parents, wives and children starve to death. If you want food and clothes, everyone will follow me.
!”
"We need food! We need clothes! We need to survive!" Seven thousand young and strong men were extremely excited, raising their arms and shouting,
In despair, the hungry people had no regard for life and death. Forty thousand hungry people followed Chen Qing's 500 troops towards the east city. Seven thousand young and strong men walked in the front. They held wooden sticks and took the lead, and some carried them.
With spears and iron forks, they formed a mighty torrent.
Three thousand defenders in the city gathered at the east gate. General Yang Han hurriedly sent people to report to Wanyan Lou's family. Wanyan Lou's family lived in the palace of Zhao Tingmei, the former king of Wei. It was located at the Taiji Palace of the Tang Dynasty. The palace occupied several
One hundred acres, one thousand Jurchen soldiers protected Wanyan Lou's house.
The lack of troops in Jingzhao City was only temporary. It was originally guarded by 6,000 Jurchen troops. Since the surrendered Song army in Shangluo County rebelled again, Wanyan Lou's family sent General Wanyan Mutuo with 5,000 troops to Shangluo to suppress the rebellion.
When troops were needed to maintain order, Wanyanlou's family transferred 5,000 Qi troops from Tongzhou to assist in the defense.
Wanyan Loushi never expected that when he sent two thousand Qi troops to Chunhua County to accept the surrender of the Song army, it would lead to a disaster.
Wanyan Loushi stood in front of the steps wearing armor and said sternly: "Tell Yang Han, don't look forward and backward, and be ruthless. Kill them all, men, women, old and young. If they dare to enter the city to steal food, they will seek their own death!"
Although Wanyan Loushi was seriously ill, he was still murderous, his voice was like a bell, and his leopard eyes were so sharp that it made people scared.
"We must focus on guarding against warehouses. If you dare to allow food to be robbed, you will all be skinned and stuffed as grass!"
The sergeant was so frightened that he agreed repeatedly, turned around and ran away.
The guard general Yin Muya whispered: "Marshal, these Han troops have poor military discipline and low combat effectiveness. I am worried that they will not be able to stop the hungry people. Why not lead the army to help defend the warehouse!"
Wanyan Loushi waved his hand, "Don't be impatient. Let's take a look at the situation. They are soldiers after all. If they can't stop tens of thousands of hungry people, I think they should wipe their necks and commit suicide one by one!"
Although Wanyan Loushi said this, he was still a little worried, so he sent two soldiers to check the situation...
It was already dark, and the hungry people stood outside the East Gate of the East City. Thousands of torches were lit. In the darkness, the hungry people's eyes flashed with anger, and they held densely packed hoes, iron forks, wooden sticks, and city gates on their heads.
Although it was damaged, the suspension bridge was raised high so that the hungry people could not rush across it for a while.
There were also a thousand soldiers of the puppet Qi army standing on the top of the city, holding crossbows and spears, ready to attack.
Three thousand soldiers of the Qi army were deployed in three places: one thousand soldiers at the top of the city, one thousand soldiers on the streets inside the city gate, and one thousand soldiers defending the warehouses.
The warehouse is the original Chang'an East City, only one mile away from the Upper East Gate. It is surrounded by tall walls and covers an area of 1,000 acres, forming a city within a city.
Inside the warehouse, a thousand soldiers were also guarding the warehouse. The defender suddenly discovered that not only the hungry people were threatening the warehouse, but also the people in the city were beginning to take action.
What shocked him even more was that his soldiers were also peeking into the money bank...
"Come on -"
Someone shouted, and a young man among the thousands of hungry people outside the East Gate started to move. The crowd surged in the darkness, and countless people ran forward regardless of their own safety, jumped into the moat and swam towards the city gate.
"Archery!"
Arrows were fired from the top of the city at the running refugees. Some people screamed and fell to the ground after being hit by arrows. However, the arrows did not scare the hungry people. They still ran desperately and either died in battle or starved to death. They also risked their lives.
At this moment, there was a huge chaos on the top of the city. Chen Qing led 500 soldiers to fight. Three thousand defenders gathered at the east gate, leaving other city gates unguarded. Chen Qing led his army from Xiadong, one mile away from the south.
After entering the city, they fought along the city head.
Chen Qing rushed to the front, holding a big iron gun in his hand and flying up and down, like a tiger entering a flock of sheep. Wherever he passed, blood mist filled the air, and corpses lay everywhere.
The morale of the five hundred Song soldiers was so high that they killed the puppet Qi soldiers, crying for their fathers and mothers, and running in all directions...
