In the dark night, Chen Qing led 5,000 elite soldiers to appear one mile away from Ganquan Fort. Although he already knew about Ganquan Fort from written records and knew that it was tall and strong, guarded strategic arteries, and was easy to defend and difficult to attack, now he saw it with his own eyes.
Arriving at Ganquan Fort, Chen Qing was really shocked. It is located on the edge of a big mountain and stands high, like a peak.
More importantly, it blocks the official road that must pass from Deshun Prefecture to Huizhou. Not far from it is the main north-south official road. Although there are many various trails on the Loess Plateau, they can carry cavalry and baggage.
These are the two official lines.
The night sky is clear, the stars are shining brightly, and the huge dark castle stands under the dark blue sky full of stars. It looks a bit more mysterious, especially the tall pointed observation tower on the top of the city, which feels a bit like a medieval European city wall.
At this time, Zhao Xiaoyi bent forward and whispered: "My subordinates discovered that there was also an army ambushing in a forest to the east, about three thousand people, about three miles away from Ganquan Fort."
Chen Qing immediately realized that this must be the Xixia Army preparing to capture the city tonight. It is now the first watch, and it is likely that the Xixia Army will capture the city during the second watch.
There are not many night attacks on the city during the first watch. The main reason is that most of the soldiers are not asleep during the first watch, or they sleep very lightly. Generally, the siege time at night is scheduled for the second or third watch. Chen Qing originally decided
He attacked the city during the second watch, but now, he must change his plan.
"Send the order to Zhang Dutou, the Flying Ape Team comes forward!" Chen Qing gave the order.
Zhang Dutou, named Zhang Yin, was originally a young hunter from Zhongnan Mountain. He joined Chen Qing's army in Zhongnan County.
Zhang Yin's greatest skill was climbing trees and rocks. Chen Qing saw with his own eyes that he climbed a 30-foot-high cliff with his bare hands using only a knife, and only took a cup of tea.
With him as the core, Chen Qing established a twenty-member flying ape team, which was affiliated with the scout camp. They were basically hunters. Chen Qing had always actively recruited such strange people with unique skills, such as those from Dingxi Village
The young hunter they led was also recruited into the Flying Ape Team by Chen Qing.
A young man waved his hand and rushed away with nineteen men carrying siege poles.
Chen Qing also ordered Liu Cui and Niu Gao to each lead a thousand crossbowmen and a thousand spear troops to ambush on both sides of the official road to the east to deal with the Xixia people's sneak attack.
Zhang Yin and his men used long poles to attack the city tonight. The reason why Zhang Yin did not use swords to climb the city was that he had already found out before he came. The Ganquan Fort was built with glutinous rice paste and lime as mortar, and was built with large bluestones.
It has a history of only more than ten years. There are no gaps in such a city wall, and a knife cannot be inserted into it.
So they adopted another way of climbing the city, using long poles to climb up the city.
This kind of long pole is made of bamboo poles. It is not chopped directly from the mountain. It is similar to the throwing pole of a siege vehicle. The bamboo pole is soaked in oil for several months and then dried for several months. This is repeated four or five times. It takes about 10 years.
Two years, if it is a siege vehicle throwing pole, it will take longer, at least nine times of soaking and nine times of drying.
The bamboo poles soaked in this way are extremely tough and difficult to break. Therefore, these bamboo poles are called siege poles and are mainly used for sneak attacks at night.
This method is to use a group of three people to use a five-foot-long siege pole. The soldiers at the front end are required to be thin and capable, while the soldiers at the back end are usually two people and are required to be tall and fat.
Seeing that there was no movement on the top of the city, Zhang Yin waved his hand and said, "Up!"
Two groups of six soldiers rushed out carrying two long siege poles. They had all undergone extensive training and cooperated extremely well. They ran to the city wall. The short soldier in front held the front end of the siege pole and jumped towards the city wall.
After jumping, the two tall and strong soldiers behind held the back end of the siege pole and continued running, supporting the soldiers in front. The soldiers ran higher and higher on the city wall, and gradually reached the top of the city.
Two short soldiers went up to the city one after another. They climbed up the battlements and looked to both sides. There were no golden soldiers on either side. They quickly took off the rope ladders they were wearing, hung one end on the battlements, and threw the other end down.
Zhang Yin and other soldiers quickly climbed to the top of the city, and they fixed the climbing net made of thick ropes to the city wall.
Not long after, Yang Zaixing led five hundred soldiers to swarm over, grabbed the rope net and quickly climbed to the top of the city...
Chen Qing watched Yang Zaixing's army enter the city from a distance. He was relieved. In fact, there were only a hundred golden soldiers in Ganquan Fort. He was not very concerned about it. Chen Qing was more concerned about the three thousand Xixia troops in the east. That was
Their rival...
At this moment, the city gate opened, the suspension bridge fell, and Yang Zaixing stood at the city gate with a spear in his hand. Chen Qing was overjoyed, "The army will go in!"
More than two thousand cavalrymen suddenly launched into action, and there was a thunderous sound of horse hooves. Chen Qing suddenly reacted, 'No!'
With the sound of horse hooves, the Xixia people should be anxious.
"First Battalion follow me!"
Chen Qing shouted, and the five hundred cavalry behind him followed him and ran northeast...
'Woo--Woo--' The horns from the east also sounded continuously, followed by the sound of horse hooves, and three thousand Xixia cavalry also broke out at the same time.
The leader of the Xixia Army was called Cao Li, a general who was equivalent to the commander of the Song Army. He was ordered by Li Mingxiu, the chief general of Deshun Prefecture, to look for opportunities to seize Ganquan Fort.
In the past, they had always been wary of the Jin Kingdom and had not dared to attack Ganquan Fort. When the news came that the Song Army's new Sichuan-Shaanxi coach Zhu Shengfei had taken office, Li Mingxiu no longer cared about the Jin Kingdom's attitude and decided to attack Ganquan Fort. What a big deal.
After capturing Ganquan Fort, send a hundred gold soldiers out of the country as a gift.
Ganquan Fort is of great significance to Xixia. If Ganquan Fort is not captured, the Xixia army in Huizhou and Deshun Prefecture will not be able to go south to capture Qinzhou. If Qinzhou is not captured, they will not be able to form a pincer attack on Pingliang Prefecture. At the same time, they will not be able to use Qinzhou as a springboard.
Attack Longzhou and Fengxiang Prefecture.
Ganquan Fort is of great strategic significance to Xixia.
Cao Li originally decided to attack Ganquan Fort at two o'clock, but he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves coming from the south. This was clearly the sound of horse hooves from the cavalry. There were as many as two to three thousand people. Cao Li changed his mind and immediately understood that Song Dynasty
The Song army must have come to kill them.
Unexpectedly, the Song army also chose to attack the city tonight. Cao Li was anxious and shouted: "Blow the trumpet and attack!"
The horn sounded, and three thousand Xixia cavalry suddenly launched into action. Thousands of troops rushed towards the east gate...
But just after running five miles, there was a sudden banging sound in the woods on both sides, and then, dense arrows were shot from the woods on both sides. The Xixia army was caught off guard. A burst of people fell from their horses, and the soldiers were hit by arrows and fell from their horses.
Cao Li was shocked and immediately ordered: "Kill to the woods to the north!"
The opponent is a crossbowman, so it should be easier to deal with.
The Song army's second round of arrows was fired, and Fengxiang's army fell hundreds of people again. Cao Li made up his mind, if the ambushed Song army was not dealt with, how could they capture Ganquan Fort?
The Xixia cavalry turned their horses and headed towards the woods to the north. Killing in the north was inevitable. The south was full of rocks, which was not good for the cavalry.
Before they could reach the woods, a thousand spearmen came out from the woods and blocked the Xixia army. The two sides fought hand to hand and fought together.
But not long after the fierce battle, the horn sounded from the west city wall. This was the trumpet of victory, announcing that Ganquan Fort had changed hands.
Cao Li was extremely anxious. They were held back by the Song army and watched helplessly as Ganquan Fort changed hands. At this moment, the thunderous sound of horse hooves sounded from the west, and a sharp Song army cavalry came to kill them.
Cao Li saw that there was no hope of capturing Ganquan Fort, and the situation was very unfavorable to him. He had no choice but to shout: "Withdraw the troops! Withdraw the troops!"
'Woo! Woo!'
When the trumpet for withdrawal sounded, more than two thousand Xixia cavalry turned their horses and galloped away to the east...
