Twenty miles to the north from Monk Yuan is Chencang Mountain. Beyond Chencang Mountain is the Wei River. The north bank of the Wei River faces Guo County.
In the afternoon, Chen Qing led his army across the Wei River and arrived at Guo County. He was in no hurry to go to the county. Although Wanyan Zongbi's main force withdrew to Jingzhao, he still deployed tens of thousands of mixed Jurchen and Han troops in Fengxiang Prefecture.
Husband Wanyan did not establish a commander.
The north bank of the Weishui River is a famous grain producing area, and the surrounding areas of Guo County are no exception. There are endless wheat fields everywhere. The wheat fields have been harvested, leaving only bare fields.
The sky was gray and the earth was desolate and bleak. There was not a single person in sight, nor a village in sight. There were only groups of crows circling in the sky, making shrill cries.
Chen Qing led his army to rest in a forest to the east of Guo County. Chen Qing stood on a large rock and looked at the county town two miles away. The gate of the county town was closed, and there were soldiers patrolling faintly on top of the city. Chen Qing intuitively told Chen Qing that
They must be Jurchen soldiers.
It is true that the main force of the Jin soldiers withdrew from Monk Yuan, but it does not mean that they will abandon Fengxiang Mansion.
There was a sound of horse hooves outside, and two men sent by Chen Qing to investigate the situation came back, followed by three Song Army cavalry.
The three Song Army cavalry were intelligence scouts deployed by Wu Jie on the periphery, and their mission was different from Chen Qing's.
The leading scout was named Jiang. He bowed to Chen Qing and said, "Wu Dutong sent more than a hundred scouts. The three of us are responsible for the intelligence of Guo County. We are escorting Jiang Qing!"
"Please tell me about the situation in Guo County?"
"Reporting back to the general, the Jin soldiers implemented a fortified wall and cleared the country. All the people within twenty miles of the county moved into the city. There were about a thousand Jin soldiers in the city, 500 Jurchen troops and 500 Han troops, as well as Fufeng, Qishan and Baoji counties.
In this way, the main army will be stationed in Fengxiang County."
"Where can I get food?"
"We can only go to Linyou County or Purun County, north of Fengxiang Prefecture. There are only a small number of Han troops stationed there. As far as I know, there is no implementation of clearing the country, and it is said that there are rebel activities nearby."
Chen Qing wanted to find a place with food security, but Guo County was obviously not suitable. Tens of thousands of Jurchen troops were coming to kill them, and they could be crushed into powder at any time. Only the outer areas were suitable.
Chen Qing smiled and asked Zhao Xiaoyi next to him: "I remember you are from Linyou County. Do you recommend that we go to Linyou County or Purun County?"
Zhao Xiaoyi smiled and said: "Of course we are going to Linyou County. Although there are mountains to the north, there are plains to the south. The Du River passes through most of the county. It has been a major grain-producing county since ancient times. However, Purun County has no rivers and not many plains.
Too poor."
The key was food, and Chen Qing finally decided to go to Linyou County.
Jiang Qing reminded Chen Qing, "The general should be careful of the Jin soldiers' outposts. If they are discovered, they will be in big trouble. It is recommended that the general travel at night."
"Thank you for reminding!"
As night fell, the five hundred cavalry continued their march north.
........
At the third watch, several Jin soldiers who were sleeping under the Yongshui Bridge were awakened by the sound of horse hooves. They quickly got up and looked into the distance, and found a Song Army cavalry force, about 500 people, coming from the south.
Running towards Yongshui Bridge.
The leader of the outpost kept an eye on the cavalry and saw them crossing the bridge and galloping due north. There were about four to five hundred people.
The commander of the outpost immediately ordered: "Fire five gunpowder arrows towards Qishan County!"
Five gunpowder arrows soared into the sky one after another, and the bright red fire light illuminated the night sky.
"General, look!"
Yang Hua pointed to the back and shouted.
The cavalry reined in their horses one after another, and saw five gunpowder arrows flying behind them, which were clearly visible in the night sky. Qishan County was ten miles away. They had been discovered, and enemy spies were reporting to Qishan County.
All the soldiers looked at General Chen Qing to decide whether to bypass Qishan County or face the challenge head on.
"We are not scouts!"
Chen Qing calmly told everyone: "Our mission is to harass the enemy. If capturing Qishan County can disrupt the enemy's deployment, that is exactly what we want to do."
Lieutenant General Yang Yuanqing pondered for a while and said: "Perhaps the other side's scouts are just reminding the Qishan County defenders to be careful about our night attack on the county town. The Qishan County defenders may not leave the city!"
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "No matter what the possibility is, as long as we are prepared and know ourselves and the enemy, even if a battle is inevitable, we will not fail!"
He immediately ordered Dutou Yang Hua: "Take a dozen brothers to Qishan County to observe the enemy's situation. If the enemy leaves the city, notify us immediately!"
"Come with me!"
Yang Hua rushed towards the county seat with a dozen soldiers.
Chen Qing immediately led his soldiers and ran towards a forest a few hundred steps away.
.........
Qishan County was also garrisoned by a thousand gold soldiers, including 500 Jurchen soldiers and 500 Han soldiers.
The general's name is Wanyan Keli, a fierce general, also known as the commander of thousands.
"Are you sure there are only 500 cavalry?" Wan Yankeli asked loudly.
"There are only five gunpowder arrows, and there should be no more than five hundred people!"
Peripheral spies determine the number of enemy troops by the number of gunpowder arrows fired. The upper limit is nine gunpowder arrows, which means that the number of enemy troops exceeds a thousand.
Wanyan Keli immediately ordered the entire army to assemble immediately to fight the Song army.
The chief general of the Han army, Shi Yang, was shocked and said quickly: "General, it's still midnight!"
Wanyan Keli glared, "Fart! Hundreds of Song troops crossed the border in the middle of the night. Where are they going? What do they want to do? If the fourth prince asks, I don't know anything. Do you want me to lose my head?"
Shi Yang had no choice but to go and gather the troops. In fact, they were just the Fengxiang Xiang Army, not the main imperial army. The tasks of the Xiang Army were to defend the city, build bridges, transport and other logistical matters. They did not participate in the Battle of Fuping and served as Jin soldiers.
When they came to cover up the killing, they descended one after another and were organized into the Jin Army and the Han Army.
Let them fight against the elite of the Song army. Firstly, they felt guilty, and secondly, they had little combat experience, especially fighting at night, as they had never been trained.
But the five hundred Han soldiers had no choice. They could only follow the Jurchen cavalry and run south along the official road.
After running five or six miles in one breath, Song Jun's shadow was not seen.
Shi Yang breathed a sigh of relief and whispered to Wanyan Keli: "Could it be that the Song army also discovered the gunpowder arrows and bypassed Qishan County?"
Judging from the time, this is indeed very possible. Wanyan Keli is still a little hesitant. If he can catch a lone Song army and learn the whereabouts of the enemy army, he can also explain it to his superiors.
At this moment, a soldier suddenly pointed at Qishan County and shouted: "Fire! There is fire!"
A pillar of fire burned blazingly on the wall of Qishan City. It was the Qishan County beacon that was lit.
"not good!"
Wanyan Keli shouted, there are only a hundred defenders in the county! He fell into the trap of diverting the tiger away from the mountain.
A thousand gold soldiers quickly turned around and ran towards the county seat.
When we were still one mile away from the county seat, a shout came from a forest thirty steps away: "Shoot!"
The dense arrows were shot out like a storm, mostly aimed at the cavalry. The cavalry were suddenly caught off guard, and suddenly a group of people fell on their backs.
Hundreds of cavalry immediately came out and plunged into the Jurchen cavalry like a dagger.
Lieutenant General Yang Yuanqing led a hundred cavalry to kill the Han army behind them. The Han army were all infantry. It was obvious from their running in formation that they lacked morale and training.
But it is still more dangerous to use one hundred cavalry to deal with five hundred Han troops. However, Chen Qing has no choice but to make a desperate move. If the Song cavalry is defeated, he will retreat immediately!
Wanyan Keli had already reacted to the chaos. In desperation, he shouted repeatedly: "The Song army is small in number, please cheer up and annihilate all the enemy troops!"
But Wanyan Keli only shouted a second time, and Chen Qing swung his gun in front of him. Shooting the man first, shooting the horse, and capturing the thief first, capture the king. This has always been Chen Qing's first principle in combat.
Wanyankeli's shout revealed his position, and the spear instantly pierced his eyes. Wanyankeli was shocked and raised his spear to block. Unexpectedly, it was a feint and he missed.
Wan Yankeli secretly screamed that something was wrong and lay back in a hurry, but it was too late. The enemy general's spear was too fast. He only felt a sharp pain in his chest. The sharp spear point pierced his armor and penetrated hard.
His chest.
Chen Qing could feel the moment the opponent's heart exploded. He drew his spear and blood spurted out from the hole.
Without looking back, Chen Qing charged towards the densest concentration of enemy troops...
Two soldiers of the Song Army beheaded Wanyan Keli, picked him up with a spear and ran shouting: "The enemy general is dead! The enemy general is dead!"
This not only demoralizes the enemy, but also boosts your own military morale.
The morale of the five hundred Song troops was high, and all of them were extremely brave. They killed the Jurchen cavalry and retreated step by step.
Shi Yang heard what he heard clearly. When he saw the head on the spear, he knew that the battle was over. No matter what the outcome, the Jurchens would kill him to vent their hatred, so they might as well take the first step.
He ignored his soldiers and turned his horse's head and ran towards the west. Several soldiers hurriedly followed him to escape...
Shi Yang's escape made the Han soldiers seem to have had their spines broken. Hundreds of them collapsed instantly. The soldiers threw off their helmets and armor and fled for their lives. Only the parents gave birth to two feet for themselves.
"Leave them alone, kill the Jurchen Tatars!"
Yang Yuanqing led more than 80 Song army cavalry to turn around and fight back. A group of Jurchen cavalry who were struggling to resist were attacked from both sides and finally could not resist. Under the leadership of a centurion, they retreated to the west.
"Kill the Tartars!"
Chen Qing yelled: "Kill them all and leave no one behind!"
He took the lead in chasing down the Jurchen cavalry with a spear in hand. His horse was so fast that he kept knocking over the running Jurchen cavalry and assassinated more than 20 of them in a row.
"General, beware!"
Yang Yuanqing shouted, and a wolf-fang arrow shot out from the darkness. In an instant, it was in front of him. Chen Qing instinctively turned his head to the side. The wolf-fang arrow grazed his ear and shot, causing him to break into a cold sweat. He was a little slow to react.
Little by little, this arrow hit the head.
Yang Yuanqing rushed forward, watched the Jurchen cavalry fleeing far away, and said: "Although the Jurchen cavalry fled, they cannot be pursued. Their cavalry and shooting are really powerful. If it is a trick to lure the enemy, defeat will often turn into victory. We must guard against it!"
Chen Qing secretly cried out that he was ashamed, but he ignored the point.