In mid-February, the Liaohe River had completely thawed. That night, three 500-stone cargo ships sailed silently on the river under the cover of darkness. There were also many civilian ships on the river, but they all docked at night.
Without further sailing, these civilian ships have very weak ability to withstand wind and waves and cannot enter the Bohai Sea. They can only transport goods and people on the Liao River.
Of course, there are also military ships. There are more than a hundred patrol ships. They are all small boats of about a hundred stones. They do not go out at night and only go out to patrol during the day.
These three cargo ships were thirty internal guard soldiers led by Zhong Huan. The ships docked 20 miles away from Liaoyang Prefecture. Twenty people stayed on board to respond. Zhong Huan took the ten soldiers and divided them into three groups.
We met at the Black Tiger Inn outside Liaoyang City. It would be too eye-catching for ten people to go together, so it would be better to go separately.
They all wore gray cloth shorts, carried goods on their shoulders, wore bamboo hats on their heads, and held a copper bell in their hands. They were no different from the salesmen who could be seen everywhere in Liaodong. Of course, they all carried swords, which were hidden in the poles.
, as well as a dagger, and a pair of bows and arrows hidden in the middle of the cargo pallet.
Not long after, Zhong Huan led three of his men to the Black Tiger Inn, which was an inn run by the Liaodong Intelligence Station to facilitate monitoring the movements of the Jin soldiers outside the city.
Here Zhong Huan met Pang Guangji, the director of the intelligence station. Pang Guangji asked Zhong Huan to sit down, then asked the shopkeeper to serve tea, and said with a smile: "It's going well for the general to come here!"
“It went relatively smoothly!”
Zhong Huan said with a smile: "I didn't see any Jin soldiers or patrols along the way. The lax defense of the Jin Kingdom is really surprising."
Pang Guangji shook his head, "What the general saw was Liaoyang Mansion. You will know if you go to Shangjing. The defense is tight. There are troops everywhere. All Han people are registered, including the origin of their parents, and they have to be interrogated every month.
As soon as there are new unregistered Han Chinese, they will be arrested immediately. Our intelligence station will not be able to establish a foothold in Shangjing and can only be in Liaoyang. The general saw that there were no soldiers in Liaoyang, mainly because the Jin army in Liaoyang Prefecture had participated in the war against Goryeo.
So February is the last chance. Jin Bing will come back to rest in March and he won’t be able to leave even if he wants to.”
"Is there anyone else monitoring Yang Qin's house?"
"Of course there is, and it's very strict. Twenty Jurchen soldiers monitor their family. The family of five plus an old servant lives in a courtyard. The old servant goes out to buy vegetables and cook every day. There is also a Jurchen soldier who follows him. But the Jurchen soldiers
The soldiers didn't understand Chinese, so the news got out."
"You mean to say that the twenty Jurchen soldiers are not outside the house, but living in his house?"
"It's like this. It was outside the house at first, but now it's getting worse."
Zhong Huan nodded, "We will enter the city early tomorrow morning!"
At this time, the shopkeeper came to report that six more soldiers from the Western Army had arrived. This was Zhong Huan's other subordinates. The shopkeeper arranged for them to stay and move out early tomorrow morning.
Early the next morning, Pang Guangji set out with ten people. This time they were no longer salesmen, but pretended to be house builders, carrying several large logs and driving a cart full of bricks. Pang Guangji built the house.
The application to the government has been approved, so when he goes out of the city to transport wood and bricks, the soldiers guarding the city will not interrogate him.
There is no need to carry their weapons. There are various weapons in the city, which makes it safer to enter the city. Except for Zhonghuan, the ten soldiers are not tall and are very thin. They are specially selected internal guard soldiers because
Jurchens are generally short in stature, and tall inner guards are easily targeted.
Although the selected internal guard soldiers are all thin, their martial arts skills are not weak at all. On the contrary, they are all masters, and tall ordinary soldiers are far from their opponents.
Not long after, a group of people came to the city gate. Pang Guangji negotiated with the Jin soldiers guarding the city in skilled Jurchen dialect, showed them the government buildings, and secretly gave a lot of money to the Jin soldiers leader. When the Jin soldiers leader saw them, they all
Carrying the raw materials for building a house, he had a wooden identification tag around his waist. Perhaps it was the heavy bag of copper coins that made him feel good. He waved his hand and everyone entered the city carrying the wood.
Yang Qin's mansion was near the city gate, and Pang Guangji rented a house behind his mansion. The two houses were only separated by an alley, and ten people lived in the house.
"I originally planned to dig a tunnel, pick them up from the tunnel, and then take them out of the city. Now it's impossible, so I can only go into the house to rescue them."
Pang Guangji hesitated and said: "Maybe a fierce battle is unavoidable!"
Of course Zhong Huan wouldn't care if it was a tough fight. If it was easier, they wouldn't have to come. He thought for a moment and said, "Are you sure the opponent is twenty people?"
"It's certain that we used many methods to find out. They were all twenty people. Our people even pretended to be waiters and sent them drinks and counted their numbers."
Zhong Huan nodded, "Without further delay, let's take action tonight!"
At the fifth watch, Zhong Huan led ten of his men to climb up the wall of Yang Mansion and climbed in easily. They hid in a big tree and observed for a long time during the day, and they knew the terrain of the back house well.
Yang Qin's family was placed under house arrest in a large courtyard in the back house. They hid behind a big stone by the pond and saw the situation in the courtyard. The perimeter of the courtyard wall was filled with spears, and the sharp spear points exceeded the courtyard.
The height of the wall makes it impossible for the elderly, weak, women and children to climb out.
The only way was to go out from the front and back doors, but two Jurchen soldiers were sitting on the steps of the back door. They used sheepskins as cushions and wrapped their bodies in thick blankets. Their otter-tailed felt hats were hung low to cover their eyes.
They were sitting against the door, sleeping soundly. The only thing exposed was their necks.
At this time, the two men with the best Qinggong skills came back and whispered: "There are two people like them at the front gate, leaning on the door. The other soldiers are sleeping in the yard next to them."
It was the fifth watch now, when everyone was sleeping the deepest. Zhong Huan ordered in a low voice: "Go and kill the two people at the front door. You have to do it quickly and don't let them make a sound. It's best to cut their throats with a knife."
The two nodded and left quickly.
Zhong Huan winked at another inner guard archer. The two of them opened their bows and set arrows together, and suddenly pulled out the bowstring, "One, two, three!" Zhong Huan counted three times in a low voice. Once the string was loosened, two
The wolf fang arrows were shot out at the same time, as fast as lightning and powerful.
"Boom! Boom!" Two arrows shot through the throats and necks of the two men at the same time, nailing the two golden soldiers to the back door. The two struggled painfully, their bodies twisted, and then Zhong Huan and his men struck again
Two arrows were shot out, piercing the heads of the two men. They stopped struggling and died completely.
Two men came back from the front yard, and they also killed the two Jurchen soldiers at the entrance of the front yard.
"Go to the side yard, leave no one behind, kill them all!"
Zhong Huan gave an order, and everyone drew their swords and rushed into the yard next to them.