In the dark night, a cavalry of two thousand people was galloping southward.
This army was Chen Qing's cavalry who went north to fight against the Xixia Army two days ago. After running north for more than a hundred miles, they turned south and attacked Zhoujiabao.
Going north to fight Xixia and the so-called negotiations were just smoke bombs used by Chen Qing to relax Zhoujiapu's alert and prepare for the Song army's raid on Zhoujiapu.
Now that he has decided to kill Zhou Jiabao's chicken as a warning to all the monkeys in Qinzhou, Chen Qing will kill it regardless of whether Zhou Jiabao is sincere or not.
The army was still ten miles away from Zhoujia Fort. The cavalry stopped moving forward. The soldiers dismounted, adjusted their equipment, and left their horses in a forest. Two thousand soldiers ran towards Zhoujia Fort on foot.
Not long after, the army arrived at the bridge. Zhao Xiaoyi, who arrived early, stepped forward and reported to Chen Qinghui: "To report to the commander, all hidden sentries under the mountain have been removed."
The last time Chen Qing came here, he found some shacks next to the wheat fields. They looked like they were used by farmers to guard the crops, but the farmers in the shacks blew their horns when he arrived. Chen Qing suspected that these shacks were actually Zhoujiapu.
There are secret posts placed at the foot of the mountain, and there are even secret posts in Chigu Town, such as tea sheds selling snacks.
"Where is Chigu Town?"
"We searched three tea shacks and found gunpowder bows and arrows in one of the mud huts."
Chen Qing nodded. They had arrived at the foot of the mountain, but there had been no alarms so far, so they could conclude that all the Zhou Family Fort's hidden sentinels at the foot of the mountain had been pulled out.
Chen Qing raised his head and looked up the mountain. The first defensive wall was about 300 steps away from the foot of the mountain. During the day, 300 steps looked not far away, but at night, 300 steps seemed very far away. The torches stuck on the top of the wall
It turned into dots of stars, as if hanging in the night sky.
The day tonight was chosen well, with dark clouds and no moon or starlight visible in the sky. The wind was high and the moon was dark, making it suitable for a sneak attack.
While everyone was still waiting, two Song Army scouts had already gone up. Not long after, there was movement in front, and the two scouts who went up the mountain to investigate came back.
"Control has paid off!" Zhao Xiaoyi reported.
Chen Qing immediately ordered a military tent to be built, with a candle lit inside and a thick curtain outside the tent, so that no light could penetrate.
A scout described it while drawing on paper: "To enter the first defensive wall, you must pass through a sentry gate. There is a sentry gate above and a thick wooden gate below. However, there may be a mechanism on the wooden gate. Pushing the iron gate at night will cause
This caused the alarm bell to ring, and I estimate that the alarm bell switch is in the sentry building."
"What does the sentry building look like? What is the status of the sentry now?" Chen Qing asked.
"Actually, it shouldn't be called a sentry building, but a sentry box. It has a cover on top, a circle of wood below, a bell hanging directly above, and a torch on each of the four corners. It's easier to identify. Then inside the sentry box
There were three sentries, and none of them slept."
"Are you sure there are only three of you?"
"You can be sure that when I saw the change of guard, there was no fourth person."
At this time, Yang Zaixing asked from the side: "At what distance are you observing the sentry post?"
"About sixty steps, there happen to be two stone monuments over there. You can hide behind them."
Chen Qing understood what Yang Zaixing meant. He asked Yang Zaixing to wait and then continued to ask: "Have you observed the route to the second defensive wall?"
"Bizhi only saw a mountain road, and there was a heavy gate on the mountain road. I couldn't tell whether it was a wooden door or an iron door."
This information was what Chen Qing wanted to know. It was basically exposed after he rushed to the first defensive wall. He was more concerned about the preparations needed to get to the second defensive wall. Obviously, they needed to prepare a collision log.
Chen Qing told Zhao Xiaoyi to prepare to hit the wood. Then he smiled at Yang Zaixing and said, "Call Liu Cui and we will kill the three sentries!"
...........
Two large stone tablets were erected on the mountain road about sixty steps away from the first defensive wall. One smaller stone tablet was engraved with the three characters "Zhoujiapu", while the other larger stone tablet was engraved with the words "Enter the Zhou Dynasty".
Ten rules of the castle.
Chen Qing took Yang Zaixing and Liu Cui each with a divine arm crossbow and quickly went up the mountain and hid behind the large stone monument. Chen Qing hid behind a smaller stone monument, and Yang Zaixing and Liu Cui hid behind another slightly larger stone monument.
Chen Qing observed for a moment. Just as the scout Dutou had just described, a heavy wooden door was built in the middle of the mountain road, with high walls made of stones on both sides. Above the wooden door was a sentry box, with one under each of the four eaves.
The torch illuminated the area around the sentry booth very clearly. Three sentries were standing in the booth, with bows and arrows on their backs and spears in their hands, looking around vigilantly.
There was a warning bell above their heads. It didn't matter how to open the wooden door. After killing the three sentries, everything was solved.
Chen Qing made a gesture to Yang Zaixing and Liu Cui. The three of them each shot one person according to their position. Chen Qing was on the far right and he shot the person on the far right. Yang Zaixing shot the sentry in the middle. Liu Cui was responsible for the sentry on the left. The key was not to
To let them speak out, they must be killed with one arrow.
The three of them all carry light divine arm crossbows. Although they cannot be compared with the heavy divine arm crossbows, they are equally powerful, surpassing ordinary military crossbows and can shoot through the skull with one arrow.
The three of them raised their crossbows and aimed at the sentry together. Chen Qing coughed lightly, and three crossbow arrows were shot out at the same time. It was extremely fast. The three sentinels were shot through the head by the crossbow arrows almost at the same time, and they fell softly without saying a word.
Chen Qing waved back, and twenty scout soldiers flew up. They were all highly skilled in dexterity and climbed up to the guard box. After a while, the heavy wooden door was opened.
In the darkness, densely packed Song soldiers rushed up from the mountain. According to the prior agreement, they divided into two groups. Chen Qing led a thousand soldiers to attack the second defensive wall, while Yang Zaixing and Liu Cui each led 500 soldiers from their own battalions to capture it.
The first defensive wall.
As the soldiers of the Song Army swarmed up the first defensive wall, they were immediately discovered by the guarding Baoding. Shouts suddenly started, and Yang Zaixing gave a loud order: "Anyone who does not surrender will be killed!"
Behind the defensive wall are cave dwellings. The cave dwellings are basically soldiers' barracks and warehouses for storing food supplies. The soldiers kicked open the doors and fought their way in...
Chen Qing led a thousand soldiers to rush up the mountain road on the left. Their target was the second defensive wall. The second defensive wall was exactly the same as the first defense. It was made of high walls built with huge stones on both sides, and in the middle of the high wall.
There is a heavy wooden door with a sentry box above it, but there are only two sentries.
The two sentries had already seen the Song army coming up from the bottom of the mountain, and hurriedly sounded the alarm bell, 'Dang! Dang! Dang!' The piercing sound of the alarm bell rang through the night sky.
The second wooden door can also be climbed up, but Chen Qing chose the simple and crude method.
"Bump the door!" Chen Qing turned around and ordered.
Dozens of soldiers rushed forward holding a thick siege log.
"Boom!" There was a dull loud noise, and the wooden door shook violently. It was almost dead.
"Come again!"
The soldiers stepped back dozens of steps and rushed forward again. The door could not withstand such force, and the bolt was broken, leaving the door open.
Chen Qing waved the Fangtian painted halberd and rushed forward first, but he was met with a dense rain of arrows. Chen Qing waved the halberd and deflected dozens of arrows shot at him, but behind him
However, the soldiers fell down one after another after being hit by arrows, screaming in agony.
"Change to the heavy shield army!"
Chen Qing turned around and shouted loudly, sprinted for more than ten steps, jumped up, and swept the crossbowmen on the left with his halberd. The four crossbowmen squatting on the wall had nowhere to dodge, and were swept off the high wall by the halberd.
, Chen Qing shook his halberd, and like a fierce tiger, he charged into the crowd of crossbowmen.
Three hundred soldiers with heavy shields also rushed up the steps and charged into the hands of the crossbowmen on the right...