The more than 200 large ships that came from Xiangyang were half a day later than the Song army, arriving at the mouth of the Han River in the early morning. The fleet of the puppet Qi army was of course not warships, but more than 200 ships forcibly commandeered from all over the Han River.
There were large cargo ships, most of which were two thousand stone. The speed of the cargo ship was relatively slow, and it took five days to arrive at Hanyang carrying five thousand troops.
The general who commanded this sneak attack army was named Li Xiu, who was also Dong Xian's confidant and held the position of commander.
A sneak attack on the Song Army's logistical powerhouse is definitely a waste of money. Even if you don't need copper coins, you can make a lot of gold and silver. What's more, there is Hanyang City. If you send troops to plunder it, everyone can make a fortune.
, and there are countless women for them to enjoy.
So along the way, everyone's heart was full of longing, and they wished they could grow wings and fly into Hanyang City immediately.
It was just after the fifth watch, and the fleet was anchored on the bank of Han River. Li Xiu was still waiting for news.
At this time, the leader of the early spies came to report, "Report to the commander, there are a thousand soldiers guarding Hanyang City!"
Li Xiu was startled, then said angrily: "Didn't you say that Hanyang County has no soldiers to guard it?"
"There was indeed no army. They were thousands of state soldiers who came from Jiangxia a few days ago, and were personally led by the governor of Ezhou."
"boom!"
Li Xiu kicked the small stool hard and flew it down the river. He was extremely angry. How could they attack Hanyang City without carrying siege weapons?
"Dang! Dang! Dang!"
A rapid alarm bell sounded in the distance, coming from Hanyang County, indicating that they had been discovered by Hanyang County.
Just a moment ago, Li Xiu wanted to sneak attack Hanyang at night, but the alarm bell shattered his idea in the blink of an eye.
With no choice but to turn his attention back to Cangcheng, Li Xiu looked at Cangcheng for a long time and asked, "Is there any way to attack Cangcheng?"
The leader of the spies bowed and said: "General Qi, Cangcheng is three feet high and very strong. The only city gate is Water Gate, but Water Gate has two iron gates inside and outside, making it more difficult to conquer. The only way is to capture Hanyang County and force
The army from Cangcheng came to the rescue, and I heard that most of the soldiers in Cangcheng were locals, and perhaps their relatives were in Hanyang County."
Li Xiu nodded, "Are there woods nearby?"
"There are large woods around the county, and there are even taller trees on the other side, which can be used to make battering rams!"
Li Xiu turned his head and looked across the Han River. The other bank was pitch black. At this moment, he suddenly heard a rumbling sound, which was particularly clear in the quiet night.
Li Xiu was stunned, "What is this sound?"
He looked at the spy leader, who also had a blank look on his face. They had never heard this voice before.
"Why don't you hurry up and investigate!" Li Xiu said angrily.
"Follow the order!"
The leader of the spies hurriedly got out of the boat, and the boat quickly sailed towards the other shore.
At this time, Lieutenant General Ma Wen stepped forward and clasped his fists and asked, "Excuse me, Commander, do you want the brothers to disembark?"
Li Xiu looked at the other side in the darkness, shook his head and said, "Wait a minute, let's see the news about the sentry post!"
About an hour later, the patrol boat came back quickly, and the leader of the patrol shouted: "It's a Song Army warship! It's a Song Army warship!"
Li Xiu was so frightened that he suddenly shouted: "Send the order to retreat, and the fleet will return!"
He finally realized that the other party was prepared. This was a trap. They had fallen into the trap. Now he only had one thought, to retreat quickly.
The ships pulled up their sails one after another. The wind was still from the southeast, and the wind on the river was strong. The sails were bulging. The boatmen used bamboo poles to prop up the ships, and the cargo ships began to sail toward the northwest.
After walking for about half an hour, it was getting brighter. More than a hundred vehicles and ships launched an attack on the river. Gunpowder arrows lit up the sails. The Song army's arrows were like rain, but the target was the boatman. The boatman suffered numerous casualties.
The rest jumped into the water to escape.
Without sails and boatmen, the cargo ship completely lost its power. The Song army on the vehicle began to use kerosene balls to attack, and more than two hundred cargo ships completely became fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered.
The warships were set on fire one after another. At this time, it was impossible to escape to the shore. The soldiers on the ship were terrified. Most of them did not know how to swim and were either burned to death or drowned in the river.
Drown.
Many soldiers were so frightened that they cried bitterly and knelt on the bow of the ship begging for surrender. Li Xiu had no choice but to order the white flag to be flown to surrender. The main fleet of the Song army behind them also came over and blocked the river.
Zheng Ping stared at the warship for a long time and said: "Surrender is allowed!"
This was Chen Qing's order to Zheng Ping. There was no need to offend Li Gang with the killing and surrender, and the prisoners of war could be exchanged with the enemy for captured Song troops.
Moreover, there are copper mines here in Jiangxia. If there is no exchange, you can use prisoners of war to mine copper mines.
The Song army boarded the planks of cargo ships one after another and ordered the enemy soldiers to put down their weapons and take off their armor. Groups of prisoners of war ran along the planks to the ships. They were so excited that they cried bitterly and knelt down, raising their hands.
An hour later, two hundred cargo ships disappeared on the river. All were burned and sunk, leaving no traces. Only a few sentry ships managed to escape and rushed back to Xiangyang to report the situation.
Chen Qing's army has a set of rules for managing prisoners of war. Generally, prisoners of war and generals are separated and imprisoned in different cities. This can effectively prevent prisoners of war from rioting. Prisoners of war without a leader are just a bunch of lambs. As long as they are given hope of survival, they can basically
I won't resist anymore.
Dozens of puppet Qi generals, including general Li Xiu and deputy general Ma Wen, were sent to Hanyang County for detention. The other 5,000 soldiers and prisoners of war were sent to Jiangxia for custody, awaiting the disposal of Xuanfu envoy Li Gang.
According to Chen Qing's advance arrangements, Li Feng led two thousand naval troops to stay and defend Jiangxia and Hanyang, while Zheng Ping led a fleet full of supplies and three thousand troops to Jiangling County to establish a logistics base.
Niu Gao, on the other hand, led a hundred vehicles and ships and 3,000 troops north along the Han River, preparing to cooperate with Chen Qing's operations by water.
...........
The transmission of information on the battlefield is much faster than usual. This is also because a large number of scouts or spies are deployed around the battlefield to be able to grasp the situation on the battlefield at any time.
The news that the eight thousand troops attacking Yiling and the five thousand troops attacking Hanyang were completely wiped out was sent to Xiangyang almost at the same time.
Wan Yanchang was not surprised, he knew that fighting Chen Qing would have such consequences.
But Dong Xian was shocked. Chen Qing actually killed eight thousand people. Is he going to repeat his tactics on Shaanxi Road, issue a killing order, and build Jingguan to deal with the Qi army?
Wan Yanchang sneered and said: "Marshal Dong, why don't you read another battle report? Hanyang's 5,000 Qi troops didn't kill any of them. Why do you think this is?"
Dong Xian pondered for a moment and said: "Is it because the general is not Chen Qing?"
Wan Yanchang snorted disdainfully, "That's nonsense! The generals of Hanyang will still carry out Chen Qing's orders. If Chen Qing orders them to kill them all, none of the prisoners of war will be saved, and they will all be buried in the Han River."
"What is the reason? I really don't know the humble position. I beg the Supervisor to tell me!"
Wan Yanchang said calmly: "Chen Qing is indeed a murderous demon. He kills without blinking an eye, even if the opponent surrenders. This is the case in the northwest, and it is the same here, but he actually changed his character.
, not a single one of the five thousand people was killed. This was because of Li Gang, the envoy of the Xuanfu. Li Gang was once the prime minister and a civil servant who had read the books of sages. He would not see a bloodthirsty person and would not see cruel killings. If I guess correctly,
It should be Li Gang who restrained Chen Qing."
Dong Xian pondered for a moment and said: "Does it mean that in the future, Chen Qing will have no autonomy in commanding and making decisions on operations, and will have to be controlled by civilian officials?"
Dong Xian was a civilian who had commanded the army in the Song Dynasty. He had an extremely deep understanding of the Song Dynasty's civilian army leadership system. If Chen Qing was restrained by Li Gang in the future, he would be confident in the attack on Jingxiang.
Wan Yanchang shook his head, "But I am not very clear about this, but it is extremely important, so we must find a way to figure out the details of Song Army's command and decision-making. I want to know how much autonomy Chen Qing has."
At this moment, a soldier reported in the hall, "Please report to Marshal Dong and the Capital Supervisory Army. An eagle message has been sent from the sentry in front. Chen Qing and his 10,000 cavalry have left Changlin County for Yingzhou."
Wan Yanchang and Dong Xian looked at each other, and both of them realized that Chen Qing was eyeing the 30,000 troops retreating to Yingzhou again.
Dong Xian couldn't help but said: "Dujun, Chen Qing's cavalry is so sharp that our army can't compete with it. Can we mobilize a team of 10,000 Jurchen cavalry to help in the battle?"
Wan Yanchang shook his head, "This requires the approval of our Emperor of the Jin Kingdom, but it is unlikely. You don't have to think too much. I suggest you write to the Emperor of Qi to transfer 10,000 Qi army cavalry from Jingzhao. This is easy to achieve.
idea.”
Dong Xian sighed, "Okay! I will write to the emperor today and ask for cavalry support."
