Chen Qing met Huang Ning, Huang Jigu's son, alone in a separate tent. Compared with Huang Jigu's letter of surrender, Chen Qing was more interested in how Huang Ning got down from the mountain.
"Reporting to the general, there is a secret trail in the back mountain of Dingxi Village. It was discovered by a hunter from our village. It is just a little more difficult and dangerous. It is more than ten feet long and requires the help of a ladder or rope. The villain borrowed the rope ladder to get down."
"Can I still go back in the opposite direction?"
"Of course, otherwise how could the villain go back?"
Chen Qing walked to the map and looked for this secret passage. Huang Ning Zhiqu stepped forward and marked this secret passage on the map with a pen.
Chen Qing looked at the map carefully and asked, "How many people know this secret passage?"
"There are four people in total, a hunter father and son, my father and I, the hunter and the villain came together and were waiting outside the tent."
Chen Qing pointed to the map and asked: "Will there be a conflict between the water source and this secret passage?"
"There is no conflict. The water source is in the east and the secret passage is in the west. They are at least two miles apart."
Chen Qing nodded, turned around and ordered: "Go and notify Liu Cui and Zhao Xiaoyi to come over!"
Chen Qing then smiled at Huang Ning and said: "I always keep my word. Your Huang family surrendered to me in the dark and made great contributions. I will not treat you badly. I will treat you later."
Lead the way for my army to go up the mountain through the secret road!"
Huang Ning was overjoyed and quickly bowed and said: "I am willing to serve the Zhizhi Envoy!"
...........
At Haishi, that is, at nine o'clock at night, the night was already dark. Chen Qingbing divided his troops into two groups and ordered Zhao Xiaoyi and Liu Cui to lead fifty scouts and five hundred elite soldiers to go up the mountain via a secret road from the back mountain.
He personally and Yang Zaixing led 1,500 people to pretend to attack the mountain stronghold from the front.
The army marched to the foot of the mountain in a mighty manner. Such large mountains basically circle up the mountain to lower the slope.
There are two defense lines in Dingxi Village. One line is at the foot of the mountain. It is actually a sentry post. A wooden house was built at the first turn up the mountain and guarded by more than a dozen villagers. You have to pass through them when going up and down the mountain.
Guan, saying that this wooden house is a defensive line is a bit overestimating it.
Yang Zaixing led 300 soldiers of the Divine Arm Crossbow Army to shoot arrows at the wooden house from 300 steps away. They shot gunpowder arrows. All 300 gunpowder arrows hit the small wooden house. Thick smoke billowed and flames burned. In a moment, the wooden house was set on fire.
, more than a dozen villagers escaped in embarrassment and fled towards the mountain in panic.
The main defense line of Dingxi Village was built on the mountainside. A defensive wall was built. A thousand village soldiers were waiting with bows and crossbows in hand. There were also a large number of rolling logs and rocks beside them.
At this time, everyone saw the fire in the wooden house at the foot of the mountain, and everyone suddenly became nervous.
Guan Pingxu also stared at the fire at the foot of the mountain nervously. He knew that the Song army had begun to attack, which was also what he expected. It's business! You must bargain until the Song army cannot attack, or the cost of attacking is too high.
, let Chen Qing feel that the gains outweigh the losses, then the negotiation can continue.
The commander who led a thousand soldiers was called Cao Bo, who was Guan Pingxu's niece and son-in-law. He was originally a commander of the Xihe Route Army. He was about thirty years old. After Fuping was defeated, he fled back to Qinzhou. It happened that the Guan family formed a thousand village soldiers.
He naturally became the leader.
Cao Bo had heard of Chen Qing, the commander-in-chief of the Battle of Jianxiao Pass. He was promoted from the capital to the commander in just two years. He was the most shining star of the Western Army, and his popularity even surpassed that of Liu Qi.
Like Guan Pingxu, he also held a trace of luck in his heart. They had a geographical advantage and the opponent's army was not large. A thousand troops should be able to defend Dingxi Village.
"General Cao, the head of the Guan family has asked you to go!" a soldier ran over and shouted.
Cao Bo hurried over, clasped his fists towards Guan Pingxu and said, "What orders does the master of the house have?"
"Are there any defenses on the Eastern Front?"
The east line is a trail up the mountain from the east. It has little impact on this side, but it can lead directly to the water source on the top of the mountain. Guan Pingxu also attaches great importance to it. He is worried that the Song Army will go up the mountain from the east and cut off the water source. Moreover, once the Song Army reaches the top of the mountain, they will be able to
If you stand condescendingly, shoot arrows downwards from a high place, and attack from above and below, you will be in big trouble.
"Please rest assured, head of the family! I have deployed two hundred brothers on the eastern front. The terrain there is difficult. If one man is in charge of the pass and ten thousand men are not able to open it, the Song army will definitely not be able to advance."
"Are the eight hundred soldiers here enough? Do you want me to mobilize some more young men to help with the defense?"
Cao Bo bowed and said: "I feel that the Song army is just testing the attack tonight, not a real attack. There is no need to mobilize for the time being. Let's wait and see what happens tonight!"
"How do you know it's a tentative attack?" Guan Pingxu asked puzzledly.
"Master, you can tell from the enemy's attack on the cabin at the foot of the mountain. A dozen people all fled back. If we attack formally, they will not be given a chance to come back. The Song Army wants to use them to go up the mountain to understand our defense situation."
At this time, a soldier shouted: "The Song army is coming to kill!"
Guan Pingxu was startled and quickly ordered: "Go and command the battle quickly."
Cao Bo cupped his fists and saluted, turned around and ran away.
Yang Zaixing led five hundred soldiers and walked close to the mountain wall without being noticed. When the enemy discovered them, they were only two turns away from the defense line.
The soldiers behind the defensive wall panicked and fired arrows downward one after another without any meaning. Cao Bo came running and shouted: "Stop firing arrows!"
The soldiers stopped firing arrows, and Cao Bo cursed: "They must go straight up in the end. That's when we have a chance to fight. Shooting arrows now is of no use!"
There is a straight line up the mountain at the end, about 70 steps. This is specially built for defense. Attack from top to bottom. The advantage is very obvious. This is the most difficult section of Dingxi Village to attack, and it is also the basis for Guan Pingxu's unwillingness to compromise easily.
However, the Song army refused to attack and formed a confrontation with the villagers of Dingxi Village.
........
On the secret road in the back mountain, a strong and agile hunter led the way. A group of soldiers climbed up along the rope ladder. The secret road is located in a deep ravine. It is inaccessible and has lush forests. There are roads up and down this secret road.
Walking, there is only a section of cliff with a depth of more than ten feet in the middle, which makes people feel that there is no way to go here. However, if you use a thick climbing rope ladder to fix it up and down, this section of the cliff will not be a problem.
The five hundred soldiers climbed up the cliff smoothly. Above was a sloping pine forest. The pine forest grew extremely lush, but it was unknown how long and wide it was. Gradually, it became flat under their feet.
"Master Huang, have we reached the top of the mountain yet?" Zhao Xiaoyi asked.
"We have reached the top of the mountain. The top of the mountain is covered by pine forests. The water source is to the east, still two miles away from us. Going down from here is the top row of cave dwellings. They used to be warehouses, but they are now abandoned."
Everyone speeded up and soon walked out of the pine forest. The front suddenly opened up. They reached the east side of the mountain. Below was the cave dwelling area. Under the moonlight, they could clearly see the village soldiers halfway up the mountain.
"Go down and attack!"
Liu Cui gave an order, and everyone ran down the mountain along a ravine...
On the mountain road, nearly a hundred soldiers of the Song Army climbed up to the edge of the mountain road and used the big rocks as cover to shoot arrows into the mountain. The soldiers on the mountain also fired arrows at random. Arrows were fired continuously from both sides. It looked very lively, but basically there were no casualties.
At this time, Cao Bo gradually felt that something was wrong. The Song army was neither testing nor attacking, but seemed to be delaying time. It seemed that they were waiting for something?
Cao Bo felt uneasy. Could it be that the Song army still had some surprise troops?
At this moment, a scream suddenly came from the soldiers around him, and the soldiers were hit by arrows in the back one after another. Cao Bo was shocked. When he looked back, he only saw an arrow coming towards him, and it was too late to dodge.
'Poof!' This arrow hit Cao Bo's throat. He covered his throat and took two steps back. Immediately afterwards, he was hit by more than a dozen arrows. He died tragically on the spot. His body fell off the stone wall and rolled down the slope.
.
A single round of crossbow arrows from Liu Cui's men killed more than a hundred soldiers. Facing the slope of the mountain road, the defenders were in chaos and scrambled to escape in both directions...
Yang Zaixing seized the opportunity and led five hundred soldiers to rush out and fight towards the top of the slope. There were no soldiers to defend it, and there was no threat from bows and arrows or rolling wood and rocks. After a while, the five hundred soldiers rushed up the defensive wall and attacked from behind.
Chasing and killing enemy troops.
The defense of Dingxi Village collapsed instantly under attack from both front and rear.
Chen Qing was still at the foot of the mountain. He led a thousand soldiers and patiently waited for the moment when Dingxi Village was breached.
At this time, a long team appeared on the mountain stronghold, and Liu Cui escorted more than a hundred people down the mountain, including family members of the Guan family, the Yang family, and the Luo family, and the leader was Guan Pingxu.
He was escorted in front of Chen Qing. Guan Pingxu shouted in horror: "General Chen, this villain is willing to surrender unconditionally!"
Chen Qing sneered and said: "The opportunity has been given to you. Only the Huang family took what I said seriously and sent people to surrender to me before dark. The other families ignored me and turned a deaf ear to my words.
Do you think I’m a person who doesn’t keep my word?”
Guan Pingxu and Luo Tao were regretful and afraid, and begged for their lives. Chen Qing waved his hand and said, "Follow the rules of Zhoujiabao!"
The rules of Zhoujiabao are that adults will be killed, but women and minors will be spared.
Amid the cries, more than 20 adult men paralyzed by fear were dragged aside and beheaded by the soldiers...
