In Jianxiao Pass, a thousand soldiers were busy preparing for war. All the weapons and materials in the warehouse were cleared out and sorted.
There were tens of thousands of various spears and swords, and bundles of arrows piled up like mountains, but Chen Qing was more concerned about defensive weapons.
There are cavalry bows, foot bows, city defense bows, military crossbows, and bed crossbows, and there are more than 200,000 arrows of various types.
There are also more than a hundred barrels of kerosene and even twenty barrels of gunpowder. These are the strategic materials that Chen Qing values most. Unfortunately, the quantity is too small and can only be used at critical moments.
Chen Qing paid special attention to bed crossbows. There were forty-eight in total and two thousand jackdaw iron arrows. He had tasted the benefits of bed crossbows and they were a sharp weapon against Jurchen armored soldiers.
However, it is a pity to use it to deal with the Han army. The Han army is all leather armor, and the city defense bow and military crossbow are enough.
The key is that the city itself must be strong, not to mention the gate. The gate carefully crafted by Song Dynasty craftsmen is only four inches thick, and ordinary battering rams may not be able to break it open.
There is a trench three feet wide and one foot deep outside. The bottom of the trench is filled with sharp stakes. If you fall into the trench, you will definitely die.
Where there is a trench, there is naturally a drawbridge, which is also a powerful tool to protect the city gate so that the enemy's battering ram cannot hit the city gate directly.
The city wall is three feet high, all made of local large bluestones, and is extremely strong.
"Why is this wall protruding?"
Chen Qing found that the city wall above the city gate protruded five feet outward, which was quite distinctive.
"The commander doesn't even know this?" Yang Yuanqing looked at him in surprise.
"Of course I know about its existence, but I haven't studied it and don't care about its functions."
"It seems that the commander has not defended the city!"
Yang Yuanqing explained with a smile: "This is called a horse-faced wall. It looks like a long horse's face. Its biggest function is to shoot at the backs of both sides of the enemy attacking the city."
Chen Qing stood next to the horse-faced wall. He was indeed standing outside the city walls on both sides. He changed his mind and said with a smile: "Twenty crossbowmen can be arranged here to shoot the enemy troops in key positions."
Yang Yuanqing gave a thumbs up and praised: "The commander is brilliant, he can indeed deploy like this!"
Yang Hua, who had been relatively silent, asked: "Commander, can you tell us about our mission?"
Chen Qing pondered for a moment and ordered his men: "Go and find everyone!"
Chen Qing appointed ten captains in total, among whom Yang Hua, Zheng Ping and Luo Gan were promoted to reserve generals and concurrently served as captains.
Not long after, all ten heads arrived at the city.
"Shortly after the blizzard last year, I received an order from Zhang Shuai, the pacification envoy, and the two commanders, ordering us to capture and hold Jianjun Pass. Our mission was to intercept the Jin soldiers from Pingliang Prefecture from attacking Monk Yuan from the west.
Reduce the pressure on the original monk.
In addition, we have another task, which is to support the troops of Liu Qi and Liu Ziyu as they move south. It is easy to seize Jianxiao Pass, but whether we can hold the pass is the key to the success or failure of the entire battle."
Speaking of this, Chen Qing glanced at everyone and said slowly: "I don't know to what extent our interception mission will affect the defense of Monk Yuan, but one thing I know very well is that this will be an extremely difficult battle.
The offensive and defensive battle of Qilin Village was probably ten times more brutal than the battle of Qilin Village, so I asked all soldiers to leave a suicide note. I also solemnly promise that for every soldier who died in battle, I will do my best to give their families a generous gift.
shirt."
........
The next morning, a Han army of 3,000 people appeared at the mouth of the canyon. They set up camp outside the canyon. The 3,000 people then slowly pushed south. After entering the canyon for two miles, the tall and solid Jianxiaoguan city wall suddenly appeared.
in front of their eyes.
Guancheng is in a narrow place, but the front is wider, up to one mile wide, but the terrain is not flat and is in the shape of a shallow hollow.
This kind of terrain has two major disadvantages. First, it will reflect the relatively high terrain of Guancheng, and the city wall is particularly tall. Second, once it rains heavily, it will accumulate into a pond.
This is a common occurrence. Once water accumulates, caravans coming and going can only move aside.
General Xia Jin absolutely did not want to fight this pass offensive and defensive battle, but the military orders were overwhelming and everything was beyond his control.
Xia Jin rode his horse and looked at the pass a mile away. The terrain of Jianxiao Pass was slightly higher, which made the pass even more majestic and strong, making it difficult to conquer.
"Let us test it. Isn't the life of the Han army not life?"
Xia Jin cursed angrily and shouted loudly: "Chinese army, rear army assemble, form a bow and arrow formation!"
Two thousand Han soldiers quickly gathered, arranged in four rows with 500 people in a row, all dressed as crossbowmen, and a thousand soldiers were on standby.
The soldiers of the Han army wore bronze helmets and leather armor, held crossbows in their hands, and quivers on their backs. They were generally tall, strong, and well-trained.
"go ahead!"
Xia Jin shouted loudly, and the team began to march forward in formation. The dust was thick under their feet, and there was a bit of desolate and murderous atmosphere in the canyon.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The rhythm of the war drums was very strong, and the two thousand Han troops were lined up neatly and filled with murderous intent.
Xia Jin was indeed quite capable. He trained an army of three thousand to be quite strong. Although military discipline was poor, morale was high.
Although the Han army also made a few temporary siege ladders, Xia Jin knew that if he attacked the city as soon as he got up, he would easily suffer a heavy setback. It was better to take advantage of the large number of people to confront the Song army and suppress the opponent with bows and arrows first.
The sky was dark with dark clouds, and the early spring wind was still a bit chilly. A strong north wind blew in, blowing the black dragon war flag with a yellow background on top of the city.
On the top of the city, three hundred defenders were waiting with crossbows in hand. The city wall was only thirty feet long and three feet wide, and could accommodate up to three hundred people for defense at the top of the city.
Chen Qing stared at the dark mass of a thousand soldiers in the distance, with siege ladders in their hands.
Chen Qing understood the enemy general's strategy. He first used a bow and arrow formation to suppress the soldiers on the city wall, and then a thousand men behind him would launch an attack.
"Ready to shoot!"
The Song general who commanded the city was Luo Gan, who was also an early subordinate of Chen Qing and one of the survivors of Erlang Village. He has been following Chen Qing and has now been promoted to the rank of reserve general, commanding 300 troops and serving as the seventh capital.
head.
Luo Gan is usually taciturn, but today he took the initiative to volunteer and lead his troops to participate in the first round of combat.
Three hundred soldiers squatted half-crouched. They were divided into two rows, front and rear. The front row shot the enemy in a straight line from the shooting holes, while the back row fired parabolas from the air.
Chen Qing quickly walked to the female wall and shouted to the soldiers below the city: "The enemy's arrows are coming, retreat to both sides!"
Hundreds of soldiers retreated to the cliffs on both sides, clinging to the cliffs, exposing a large open space.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The sound of clappers suddenly sounded in the Han army, and two thousand soldiers shouted and charged forward. They stopped sixty paces away, raised their crossbows and fired arrows at the top of the city.
Black arrows shot towards the city head like raindrops, some of them hit the city walls and crenellations, but most of the arrows flew over the city walls and shot into the city.
At the same time, Rogan shouted: "Shoot!"
The Song soldiers began to fight back, firing three hundred crossbow arrows at the neatly arranged Han soldiers.
Three hundred crossbow bolts were far from being comparable to the density of the opponent's two thousand men, but they were more lethal. The powerful crossbow bolts penetrated the leather armor of the Han soldiers, and hundreds of soldiers screamed and fell down after being struck by arrows.
The two sides went back and forth, and an arrow battle broke out first.
Xia Jin saw that his soldiers had no protection and suffered heavy casualties. The enemy hid behind the battlements and shot down from the shooting holes with almost no casualties. He was heartbroken and angry, but there was nothing he could do. This was the disadvantage of the siege team.
Xia Jin immediately ordered: "Blow the trumpet and attack!"
‘Woo——’
The low antler trumpet sounded, and a thousand soldiers came up like a tide. They carried eight siege ladders made overnight. On the battlefield, soldiers holding spears and shields ran wildly, trampling on the corpses of the fallen soldiers.
Rushing to the trench with a breath.
The trench under the city wall had been boarded up by archery soldiers. The running soldiers rushed through the trench and put eight siege ladders up to the top of the city.
These siege ladders were made by carpenters in Liyang County in a very short time and were relatively rough. The wood chips and burrs on both sides and the beams were not removed.
But these are minor problems. The key is that there must be a pair of hooks at the top of the siege ladder to hook the city wall so that the defenders on the top of the city cannot overturn the siege ladder.
Each of the eight siege ladders has hooks, which are tied at both ends of the top with leather straps and are firmly hooked to the city wall.
The Han soldiers jumped onto the siege ladder and began to climb up. Arrows rained down from the top of the city. The siege soldiers held shields in their hands to block their heads and climbed up step by step.
At this time, the horse-faced wall came into play. Eight Song soldiers with excellent crossbow shooting squatted inside the horse-faced wall and shot at the soldiers on the eight siege ladders. The targets were clear, and they were all the first soldiers on the siege ladder.
A siege soldier.
In addition, there were sixteen Song soldiers who assisted in stringing and loading arrows, allowing the crossbowmen to fire continuously. In each round, eight enemy soldiers were hit by arrows in the back and fell from the ladder screaming. This pair of siege Han soldiers
