The gratitude of the people in Yusha County was beyond Chen Qing's expectation. Black Bean donated one thousand dan because Yusha County is rich in rice but not black beans.
There were hundreds of thousands of cured meats made into strips, all of which were donated to the army without taking any money. Each soldier carried more than a dozen strips of dried meat, as well as dry food, fodder, black beans, and bare meat.
It weighs thirty or forty kilograms dry.
The soldiers could no longer ride horses and had to lead their horses. Early the next morning, the 10,000-strong army bid farewell to Yusha County, chose an official road along the Yangtze River, and marched toward Hanyang in a mighty manner.
Two days later, the army arrived in Jiayu County, where Chen Qing's army joined Zheng Ping's 10,000-strong navy. Zheng Ping led a hundred thousand-stone chariots and ships and twenty three-thousand-stone ships, bringing the number of Chen Qing's troops to 20,000.
People become a powerful main reinforcement.
In a large tent, Chen Qing pointed to Qikou Town on the map and said: "Zhao Xiaoyi's intelligence said that the patrol range of the puppet Qi army is about thirty miles, and Qikou Town on the riverside is about four miles away from Hanyang.
Ten miles away, Lao Zheng's navy will meet me in Qikou Town, and then we will discuss the next step based on the intelligence."
"Is the commander-in-chief trying to find loopholes in the enemy's army?"
Chen Qing nodded, "Their biggest flaw is that they don't know the battle situation in Jiangling, so they can't let them discover us in advance. Only by attacking the opponent by surprise can we have any hope of winning."
After setting the tone in Jiayu County, the 20,000-strong army continued to kill in the direction of Hanyang in a low-key manner.
Currently, Hanyang is surrounded by 70,000 puppet Qi troops. The Hanyang army has 35,000 people, including 5,000 defenders of Hanyang Cangcheng. The leader is Li Gang.
Amidst the fierce sound of war drums, the puppet Qi army attacked Hanyang City from three directions. A section of the north, south, and west sides of the moat was filled with soil, making the moat lose its defensive role.
The battlefield was filled with shouts of killing, and arrows were like rain, intertwining densely in the air. A siege ladder was overturned, and more than twenty puppet Qi soldiers on the ladder fell from the sky screaming.
At one corner, dozens of puppet Qi troops fought bravely to attack the city. On top of the city, the two sides fought fiercely. Reinforcements from both sides came in a steady stream, forming a fierce battle for the city head. In the end, the Song army paid a heavy death in battle.
Hundreds of people paid a heavy price, killing the enemy soldiers who rushed to the city one by one. In the end, a dozen enemy soldiers were forced to jump down from the city.
Dong Xian watched the battle from a distance. This was already the third attack on the city. The puppet Qi army invested 20,000 troops, while the Song army invested 10,000 troops. The Song army used its superiority to repulse the enemy's attacks again and again.
At this time, it was getting late. Dong first looked at the sky and then looked at the battlefield. After fighting for a whole day, the Qi army still failed to capture the city. They were defeated three times after attacking the city. He saw that the soldiers were exhausted.
Obviously, he had to give the order: "Send the order to withdraw the troops!"
'Dang! Dang! Dang!'
The bell rang to withdraw troops, and the siege soldiers retreated like a tide, carrying away the injured soldiers together.
After a full day of siege, the puppet Qi army suffered nearly 6,000 casualties, and the Song army suffered more than 3,400 casualties. Hanyang City was still extremely strong. After a short rest, the night battle was about to begin.
Several scout cavalry rushed from the east and arrived at Qikou Town. The leader of the scout cavalry was Zhao Xiaoyi. Following the order of the general Chen Qing, he rushed to the battlefield first to detect intelligence.
After Zhao Xiaoyi and several scouts waited in Qikou Town for half a day, Chen Qing led 10,000 cavalry to Qikou Town.
"For your humble position, see the capital!" Zhao Xiaoyi bowed and saluted.
Chen Qing turned over and dismounted and said with a smile: "Thank you for your hard work. How is the situation in Hanyang?"
"Reporting to the capital, the attack on Hanyang City is basically in a state of consumption. The puppet Qi army's offensive is very fierce, but they don't have many means of siege. Like Jiangling City, they lack large-scale siege weapons and mainly rely on siege weapons.
Ladder, both sides are currently suffering heavy casualties, the puppet Qi army has suffered nearly 20,000 casualties, and the Song army has suffered more than 10,000 casualties."
"Where are the navy troops of the puppet Qi army?"
Chen Qing was most concerned about the navy of the puppet Qi army. As long as they had enough warships, they would threaten the security of Baling County at any time.
"The puppet Qi army has about a hundred warships and about 4,000 naval troops. I have found out clearly that the puppet Qi army's navy was obtained by Xu Wen, the commander of Mingzhou, after he surrendered. Xu Wen was stationed in Wuhu and had sixty people.
A warship and more than 4,000 people were probably lured by high-ranking officials and generous salaries to surrender to the puppet Qi army. They also looted Wuhu County and committed serious crimes."
Chen Qing asked again: "Are the forty warships they captured later the same as the forty warships left to us by the Xuanfu envoy?"
"Exactly! At that time, forty warships were anchored on the Yangtze River in Hanyang, and the soldiers were all ashore. Only a few boatmen stayed behind to guard the warships. As a result, they successfully attacked them. Now a hundred warships are also anchored on the Hanyang River, but the opponent
We are very vigilant, 4,000 sailors are all inside the ship, and they are not even allowed to go ashore."
Chen Qing paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. It was very difficult to build a navy army. It required a lot of manpower and material resources and took more than ten or even twenty years to build.
All current warships are left over from the Northern Song Dynasty, including a large number of ships from Yang Yaoshui's navy, which were also seized from the Song army.
Chen Qing knew very well the serious consequences if the puppet Qi army or the Jin soldiers obtained a navy army. They could cross the Yangtze River at any time, invade the territory of the Song Dynasty, kill the people of the Song Dynasty, plunder property, and make the Song army unbearable.
The real target of Chen Qing's army to rescue Hanyang this time was not Hanyang, but the fleet of the puppet Qi army. He must completely eliminate this fleet.
In the evening, Zheng Ping led one hundred and twenty warships to Qikou Town. Chen Qing immediately summoned the generals on a large ship to deploy his troop plan.
Zheng Ping has a navy commander named Li Shihong. He is a general of the Huguang Navy. He is about 30 years old and a native of Jiangxia. He has ten years of naval combat experience.
Chen Qing asked him: "How do naval forces usually fight now?"
Li Shihong bowed and said: "To the commander-in-chief, naval warfare is the same as land warfare. It pays attention to formations. If the formations are properly deployed, several ships will often besiege a warship. In this way, you will have the upper hand and sink or sink.
After capturing half of the enemy's ships, the enemy will have to retreat and generally will not fight to the end."
"What about the specific combat methods?"
"There are also three types of combat methods: long-distance, medium, and near. For long-distance combat, for example, bows and arrows are used at a distance of about a hundred steps, or gunpowder arrows are used to burn the opponent's sails. Mid-distance refers to about thirty to fifty steps, and stone cannons are used.
There are more, and a thirty-kilogram boulder, when shot out, can smash a big hole in the opponent's ship within fifty steps."
"Where are the firearms and kerosene?"
"Firearms and kerosene are used to start fires. They are usually used at close range, such as two ships next to each other, but to be honest, they are generally not used much."
"Why is it not used much?" Chen Qing asked puzzledly.
Li Shihong smiled bitterly and said: "Because it is more troublesome. The ships are next to each other and are caught by iron hooks. In fact, it is no different from the battlefield. Who will use firearms at this time? Before you can light it, the opponent will shoot you with one arrow.
There is no point in killing, it is better to rush forward and fight the enemy fiercely. Firearms in water battles mainly use gunpowder arrows."
Zheng Ping also smiled and said: "Capital, although we used fire oil balls to destroy Yang Yao's carriages and ships, the fire oil balls really have no effect against the warship navy in the Yangtze River."
"Tell me why!"
"I would like to inform you that fire oil balls are good for dealing with immobile ships, such as ships used to attack cities, or ships whose paddle wheels are entangled in fishing nets. They cannot move. Throw dozens of fire oil balls at one go.
Soon it was fully ablaze.
But the sailing warship cannot. They are fifty or sixty steps away, the river surface is undulating, and the speed is very fast. It is difficult to hit the kerosene ball. I was lucky and hit one, but the burning area was very small. Others used a ball of fire oil to hit it.
The wet bedding on the bed will solve the problem.
If you throw kerosene balls at close range, all the opponent's navy will attack your ship. What's the point of burning the opponent's ship? Maybe you can't decouple and the two ships will be burned together. That's what General Li said just now.
, the ships are no different from the battlefield when they are next to each other.”
Chen Qing nodded and said to Yang Zaixing, Liu Cui and Liu Qiong: "The three of you each lead three thousand cavalry to roam around the perimeter to harass the enemy. Do not fight the enemy head-on. Give me time to wait until General Zheng and I have eliminated them."
After the enemy's navy is defeated, we will launch an offensive against the enemy's army!"