But Kong Yanzhou never imagined that the withdrawal of troops now would lead to more serious casualties.
At this time, there was no need to order a retreat. There was already a sea of fire below the city. The Song army threw down three thousand barrels of kerosene. The smoke was billowing and the flames were raging into the sky. The pontoon was so crowded that it was difficult to move. Many soldiers jumped off the river and swam to the other side, while the soldiers above their heads were
Arrows fell like raindrops, and countless people were shot and killed in the moat.
Gunpowder barrels exploded over the heads of the crowd, poison nails flew, and cries and wailings echoed outside the city.
Chen Qing's heart was as hard as iron and he coldly ordered: "Crossbow shooting!"
Five hundred crossbows were brought up again, and dense iron arrows were fired at the chaotic enemy crowd. This time, the jackdaw arrows exerted great power. The iron arrows passed by, as if cutting grass, and the enemy troops fell one by one.
Down.
Then the second crossbow shot out
The entire city outside Jiangling City seemed to have turned into a hell on earth. Even the soldiers on the city walls were so frightened that they couldn't even shout out cheers.
This siege battle that lasted less than an hour was ended by the Song army with an asymmetrical tactic. The puppet Qi army suffered heavy losses. More than 7,000 of the 10,000 troops invested were killed, and only more than 2,300 were killed.
The man fled back in embarrassment.
This fierce battle made Kong Yanzhou extremely unwilling, and he had to withdraw his troops back to the camp. The morale of the entire puppet Qi army was in a low state.
Chen Qing pondered for a moment, and then ordered all generals above the commander level to be summoned to the city. He said to everyone: "Kong Yanzhou's army basically belongs to his private army. He originally had 25,000 men, but he lost them on the Han River.
He lost 5,000 people, and lost more than 7,000 people today. Now there are only more than 12,000 people left. With this army, it is impossible to attack Jiangling City. I believe he will not launch another large-scale offensive, but
If Jiangling City cannot be captured and he cannot go back to explain, I estimate that he will probably sneak attack Jiangling tonight or tomorrow night."
Having said this, Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "But don't forget, we also have an army ambushing outside the city. This is a mutual game process. I will leave Jiangling tonight to command the cavalry. If I am not in the city
, the commander will be temporarily replaced by General Niu Gao."
Niu Gao nodded silently, feeling deeply that he had a heavy responsibility on his shoulders!"
In the camp, Kong Yanzhou summoned three close generals to discuss countermeasures.
Kong Yanzhou said with a sad tone: "Today's battle was indeed unexpected. Everyone said that Chen Qing was very good at defending the city. Now I have learned the lesson. He used kerosene and gunpowder to the extreme, but we were not well prepared and did not have large-scale trebuchets or the like."
The siege weapons and our lack of numbers led to today's disastrous defeat. I lost half of my army in two battles. If we continue to fight, I will lose all my strength. I can't even hope to get the recognition of the Jin soldiers at that time.
In any case, we cannot attack the city again like today."
"But the commander-in-chief issued a military order in front of Marshal Dong. If Jiangling cannot be taken, there is no way to explain to Marshal Dong!"
"I think we should report the situation to Wan Yanchang. He knows Chen Qing very well and can better understand our defeat. As long as he opens his mouth, even if I issue a military order, Mr. Dong will have nothing to do with me."
"Is the capital planning to retreat to Xiangyang?" another general asked.
Kong Yanzhou walked to the big tent, looked at the city wall in the distance, and said for a long time: "I am really unwilling to retreat like this! And if we retreat after a battle, it will be difficult to explain to Wan Yanchang. We must at least fight repeatedly.
Wanyanchang will let us go only after repeated defeats and repeated defeats!"
"How do you plan to attack the city?" Several confidants felt that the lord was going to launch an offensive.
Kong Yanzhou said calmly: "Chen Qing used warships to capture Changde Mansion. Although we don't have such tall warships, we have medium-sized warships and siege ladders, and we can still climb into the city at night."
As soon as night fell, Chen Qing led a dozen soldiers out of the south city gate and rushed westward under the cover of darkness.
In a forest more than ten miles away, five thousand cavalry were patiently waiting for the order to attack. They were ready. When Chen Qing came to the edge of the forest, brothers Liu Cui and Liu Qiong came to meet him. They held fists for ten miles and said, "See Dutong!"
"
Chen Qing waved his hand and said, "How are you preparing, brothers?"
"Report to the capital, we can attack at any time!"
Chen Qing nodded and asked, "Have any enemy spies come here?"
"No! Commander Zhao said that the enemy troops were only active within five miles of Jiangling City and did not continue to the west."
"Has Zhao Xiaoyi been here?"
"He has always maintained close contact with us, allowing us to keep track of the trends on the battlefield!"
"Get some rest first. I'll probably have a chance to send troops tonight."
At the first watch, two scout cavalry came rushing from the east. They were brought to Chen Qing. They knelt down on one knee and saluted, "See the capital!"
"Is there any movement in the puppet Qi army?" Chen Qingxiao asked.
"There's something going on. We found out that they got a two thousand stone cargo ship loaded with soldiers and sailed towards Jiangling City, passing through Xiashui!"
The Xia River flows into the Yangtze River from the east of Jiangling. There is a Cao River that connects the Xia River to the moat of Jiangling City. The water city gate of Jiangling is also on the east side. It is obvious that the other party wants to follow the example of Changde Mansion and use warships to attack the city.
Kong Yanzhou was very well informed! He actually knew what was going on in Changde Mansion.
"Is there any movement from the Song Army?"
"Yes! The Song army began to gather towards the east city."
The time has come, and Chen Qing immediately ordered: "The whole army is on horseback and ready to go!"
Five thousand cavalrymen mounted their horses one after another. Chen Qing took the lead and led the five thousand cavalrymen towards the northeast.
The leader was a large ship worth two thousand stone, followed by more than twenty small boats. It seemed that they had learned well and were preparing to attack the city with the big ship worth two thousand stone, and then build pontoons with the small boats.
The number of people cannot be too large. Kong Yanzhou personally led four thousand troops to participate in tonight's raid.
On the top of the city, six thousand defenders gathered towards the east city, but they were running close to the female wall, so the puppet Qi soldiers outside could not see them.
In the eyes of the Puppet Qi Army in the distance, the city was very quiet, full of the peace of a battle. The Song Army seemed completely unaware that the Puppet Qi Army would arrive in the middle of the night. Even ordinary soldiers felt this false tranquility.
Of course Kong Yanzhou also knew, but he had no choice. The arrow was already strung and he had to shoot. No matter he won or lost tonight, he could give Wan Yanchang an explanation. It was not that he was incompetent, but Chen Qing's army was too defensive.
Sharp.
The ship was still sixty steps away from the city, when suddenly a sound of 'Bang! Bang!' was heard, and a dozen bright red flaming balls flew towards the ship.
Nine of the kerosene balls hit the ship, and fire broke out on the deck and hull. Kong Yanzhou shouted, "Impact! Impact!"
There was still some time before the ship was completely burned, and he had to use this short period of time to let the soldiers rush to the city.
The big ship accelerated towards the Shuicheng Gate. Suddenly, nearly a hundred crossbows and three hundred divine arm crossbowmen appeared on the city wall. They fired at the same time, and dense arrows hit the big ship like a storm.
The deck of the big ship was filled with white-armored soldiers who were preparing to rush to the city. They were carrying short ladders and eager to rush to the top of the city. However, powerful arrows swept towards the crowd, and there was a wailing scream on the deck, and even two or three people were killed.
An iron arrow shot through, and the soldiers fell down one after another. After a round of powerful bow and crossbow fire, there was no one left standing on the deck.
But it doesn't matter, the puppet Qi army still has 4,000 soldiers. As long as the first big ship can reach the bow, the small boats behind can quickly build a pontoon bridge.
Kong Yanzhou made a desperate move, but the Song army was unequivocal and did not give them any chance. The kerosene balls continuously hit the two-thousand-stone ship at the head. The entire ship was engulfed in raging fire. The dozen or so soldiers hiding behind to support the ship really couldn't stand it.
The flames were scorching, and they jumped off the boat one after another.
The big ship was still thirty steps away from the city head, but the whole ship was filled with flames, turning it into a fire ship. Even if it leaned against the city wall, no one could get on.
A dozen small boats formed a pontoon bridge behind them. The soldiers rushed to the pontoon bridge, but could not get on to the big ship. Anyone who got on would be dead.
More importantly, the big ship stopped twenty steps away from the city wall, and the siege ladder could not reach the city wall.
The soldiers were so anxious that they stamped their feet. Kong Yanzhou looked at the two-thousand-stone ship completely engulfed in flames in despair. His heart was filled with despair.
But at this moment, there was a chaos in the military camp in the distance, crying and shouting, and then the fire quickly started burning.
Kong Yanzhou's eyes widened suddenly, what's going on?
He turned his horse and led more than a hundred soldiers and generals towards the camp three miles away. He was still one mile away from the camp, but saw that the camp was engulfed in flames.
The soldiers ran wildly in all directions, and behind them were countless Song Army cavalry. The groups of Song Army cavalry were extremely sharp, killing the deserters until they cried for their fathers and mothers, and corpses were scattered all over the ground.
I saw a general, followed by hundreds of cavalry, wielding the Fangtian Painted Halberd and going on a killing spree. Blood and flesh flew everywhere in his path, and heads rolled to the ground.
"It's Chen Qing! It's Chen Qing!" More than a dozen generals shouted in fear.
Kong Yanzhou suddenly shouted, turned around and ran away. He understood that Chen Qing had not evacuated at all. He was pretending to evacuate and was waiting for him!
Kong Yanzhou also found the best reason for his defeat. Chen Qing did not withdraw his troops at all, and he fell into a trap.
He didn't care about attacking the city anymore, nor did he care about the life and death of the soldiers in the camp. He only led four thousand soldiers to run eastward to escape for their lives.