Chen Qing's 13,000 troops who entered the city quickly occupied key places such as warehouses, military camps, government offices, and city gates.
But to Chen Qing's expectation, the puppet Qi army did not collapse and actually retreated outside the city in an orderly manner. This shows that Dong Xian made a lot of preparations for the retreat.
What was especially unacceptable to Chen Qing was that Dong Xian also brought a large amount of strategic materials with him during his retreat. All the bags of kerosene and gunpowder were taken away. At least nearly half of the kerosene and all the gunpowder were taken away.
This was also the strategic material that Chen Qing was eyeing. He ordered Yanyun to move the remaining five thousand kilograms of kerosene back to the ship and transport it away. All other warehouse materials were sealed and handed over to Li Gang.
Chen Qingze personally led 7,000 cavalry out of the city gate from the north city and chased westward...
Originally, Dong Xian wanted to retreat, but Chen Qing didn't really care. He just left if he wanted to. However, Dong Xian took away strategic resources such as kerosene and gunpowder. This touched Chen Qing's vital interests. How could he possibly
tolerate?
It was already daybreak, and Dong Xian's 20,000 troops retreated all the way to the west. They were already about fifty miles away from Xiangyang, and the team entered the mountainous area.
Dong was well prepared for this evacuation. He even made a prophecy. He also specially recruited 2,000 mules and took away 10,000 bags of kerosene and 5,000 barrels of gunpowder. Other food items were only dry food.
Like Chen Qing, he regarded kerosene and gunpowder as extremely important strategic materials. These were materials left over from the Song Dynasty. In this battle of Jingxiang, he took away half of the entire inventory in Bianliang.
Other grains can be grown. For strategic materials such as kerosene and gunpowder, Qi State has no source of raw materials and no technology to purify them. The little inventory it has is extremely precious.
After walking another thirty miles, it was almost noon. There was a stream not far away, but the surface was covered with a thin layer of ice. Dong Xian ordered the entire army to rest where they were. The soldiers were tired and hungry, so they ran to get water.
Dry food.
Although Dong Xian was also very tired, he was still very happy. His retreat was orderly and the 20,000 main troops were saved. At least he could give an explanation to the emperor.
At this time, a general came over and said: "Beizhi just went to the Han River to take a look. The river is relatively shallow and not wide. I suggest that we don't need Fangzhou and build a pontoon bridge directly across the river."
"How far is the Han River from here?" Dong Xian asked.
"Not far, just three miles to the north."
Dong Xian heard that it was only three miles away, so he stood up and said with a smile: "Let's take a look!"
Not long after, Dong Xian led a group of generals to the bank of the Han River. Compared with the wide and mighty Han River in Xiangyang, the Han River here is indeed much narrower, not much wider than the moat. If it is spring and summer,
The water potential here may be strong and the current is fast, but now that it is winter, the water potential here is much lower and the current is gentle.
A soldier tested the depth of the water with a bamboo pole and shouted: "It's only three feet deep!"
The river is only three feet deep at the edge, and the center of the river is only one foot deep at most, and it seems to be only twenty feet wide. It would be great if we could cross the river here, so we wouldn't have to take a long way to Fangzhou.
"How to build a pontoon bridge here?" Dong Xian asked the generals.
Commander Ding Wenlan smiled and said: "Marshal, making a floating bridge is very simple. Just cut down a tree, tie it into a raft, then connect it front to back, put it into the river, and then fix the two sections on the land. The ready-made floating bridge is
It’s done.”
Dong Xian nodded and said to Ding Wenlan: "You led five thousand brothers to cut down trees to make a pontoon bridge, and successfully crossed the river. I will remember your great contribution!"
"Follow the order!"
Ding Wenlan took five thousand troops to the mountains to cut down trees.
But not long after Ding Wenlan's army left, a spy rushed over and reported urgently: "Marshal Qi, the Song Army's cavalry was found ten miles away to the south, and there were about seven or eight thousand people!"
Dong Xian was shocked and immediately stood up and shouted, "Send the order for the entire army to assemble!"
When they heard that there were seven or eight thousand cavalry, the whole team panicked and got up to assemble.
At this time, Dong Xian also saw black spots in the distance. They were densely packed and he didn't know how many there were. He knew in his heart that there was only one cavalry of the Song Army, and that was Chen Qing's cavalry, and they were actually chasing them.
A general stepped forward and said: "Marshal, it's a bit strange. Logically, the Song army should attack us while we are resting, but they didn't do this. Did they want to attack us while we were crossing the river?"
"marshal!"
A commander rushed over, holding an arrow letter in his hand, "This is an arrow letter shot by the opponent!"
Dong Xian quickly took the letter and saw on the envelope it was written, 'Yue, governor of Hubei Province, governor of the capital, Chen Qing, Duke of Jing State, sent a letter to Dong Xian, Marshal of the Qi Dynasty.'
Sure enough, it was a letter written by Chen Qing. He quickly opened the letter and read it carefully. After a while, he smiled bitterly and said to the group of generals gathered next to him: "He asked us to keep all the kerosene and gunpowder, and then he would let us go.
otherwise......."
"What would happen otherwise?" the generals asked.
Dong Xian sighed, "He is nicknamed the Human Demon. What do you think he will do?"
Unexpectedly, the generals did not jump up and shout, but were unanimously silent.
Everyone knows that with 20,000 troops fighting against 7,800 or 8,000 cavalry, there is basically no possibility of victory. Moreover, they are now in a losing position, and any delay will drag them to death.
Dong Xian saw what everyone was thinking, and all of them were eager to return home and did not want to fight.
He pondered for a moment, then sighed and said: "Chen Qing's requirements are not too high. The kerosene and gunpowder are all external things. It's fine if you can't take them with you. So be it! I'll send someone to talk to him. I guess he
I don't want to fight either.
...........
Chen Qing is not a bloodthirsty person, and his mission is not to destroy the puppet Qi. Of course, he must also consider the cost. Dong Xian's 20,000 troops were not defeated, but an evacuation. The morale and combat effectiveness of this kind of army are still there, even if
He annihilated 20,000 people, but he himself had to pay the price of 2,000 to 3,000 cavalry.
He didn't want to waste his precious cavalry in such a meaningless battle, so as long as the other party was willing to keep the kerosene and gunpowder, Chen Qing could let them live.
At this time, the soldiers brought in a civil servant who was about thirty years old. He looked very elegant and looked like a scholar.
The civil servant bowed and said: "I am Han Xiu, who joined the army under Marshal Dong. On the order of Marshal, I came to confirm some things with Chen Dutong."
Chen Qing asked coldly: "What does your marshal need to confirm?"
"If we hand over the kerosene and gunpowder to the governor, will the governor turn around and leave?"
Chen Qing nodded, "The premise is that all the kerosene and gunpowder must be handed over to me. I checked the quantities in Cangcheng. There are 10,000 bags of kerosene and 5,000 barrels of gunpowder. It doesn't matter if one bag or one barrel is missing."
"Of course, if you hand over everything, there is no point in leaving any. My marshal said that he will hand it over to the governor together with two thousand mules. The condition is that the governor leaves immediately and we all go our own ways."
"Yes, I can agree!"
Han Xiu bowed, turned and left.
Yang Zaixing said to Chen Qing with some worry: "If we let them go, I'm afraid I won't be able to explain to the Xuanfu envoy."
Chen Qing said calmly: "You have to understand that we did not receive any orders when we went north from Baling. The Xuanfu envoy just hoped that we could go north to support. Every battle we go north is decided by ourselves, including us.
Attacking Xiangyang and now chasing Dong Xian's army have nothing to do with the Xuanfu envoy."
Yang Zaixing sighed softly and said: "Beizhi understands what the capital commander means. We are an independent army. It is different from other Huguang armies. Beizhi is just a little worried. The court will not tolerate our independence forever. If things go on like this, I am afraid that it will be harmful to the capital."
It’s not good for the system.”
Chen Qing smiled slightly, "Don't worry, Zhang Jun, Liu Guangshi, Han Shizhong, and Yue Fei are all independent armies. It won't be our turn until they are dealt with."
Yang Zaixing wanted to say something more, but he also knew that it was meaningless to discuss this issue now, so he said no more.
Half an hour later, hundreds of soldiers drove two thousand mules loaded with kerosene and gunpowder and handed them over to Chen Qing.
Chen Qing confirmed that the kerosene and gunpowder were correct, and then led the army to turn around and head east.
Dong Xian's army crossed the Han River overnight and evacuated to the north. A few days later, Li Gang's army regained Fangzhou, Junzhou, Dengzhou, Suizhou and the lost Guanghua Army.
This battle between Jingxiang and Jingxiang lasted for two months and finally ended with the disastrous defeat of the puppet Qi army...
