Chen Qing led 5,000 troops to the south via the northern official road. He was very cautious and marched cautiously. He knew very well the tactics of the Xixia army in occupying land. He sent a small army to occupy important counties in the south first, and then concentrated the army in
To the north, if the Jin Kingdom is dissatisfied, they can quickly withdraw. If the Jin Kingdom acquiesces, the army will immediately go south.
Chen Qing had good reason to suspect that the Xixia Army must have stationed a large army in the north, either in Dingxi County or Anxi County.
At this time, a county wall appeared in front, which should be Tongxi County in the central part. A scout cavalry rushed towards it, clasping his fists and saying: "There are no Xixia troops in the city, and there are no traces of troops stationed. The residents in the city said that there have been
I haven’t seen the army in seven or eight years.”
"How many residents are there in the city?"
"Reporting to the capital, there are less than a thousand residents in the city."
Chen Qing frowned. He was not even in the county town of thousands of people. He jumped off his horse, grabbed a handful of soil from the roadside, rubbed it carefully, and smelled it. There was basically no fertility and the land was barren. He looked around again.
Go, there are bare loess hills in the distance, it is early summer, and you don’t see much green.
The scout said to Chen Qing: "Du Tong, the main problem here is that drinking water is inconvenient. We have to fetch water from more than ten miles away. The residents in the city spend most of their time fetching water every day."
"Go and have a look!"
Chen Qing mounted his horse and led the army towards the county seat.
The army was waiting outside the city, and Chen Qing led dozens of soldiers into the county seat.
The county town was very deserted. There was not a single pedestrian on the street. There were empty houses everywhere. Many houses had collapsed. Due to the lack of water, there were very few weeds. Several scouts came forward to salute. The leading scout was
The leader said: "The residents in the city are very timid. Most of them are old and weak. They hide in their homes and dare not come out."
"Is there any government?"
The scouts all shook their heads, "The county government has collapsed."
It is really run-down. No wonder Tongxi County is no longer regarded as the county seat.
Chen Qing lost interest and urged his horse to turn around and leave. He saw two boys brought out by the scout cavalry. The older one was eleven or twelve years old and the younger one was about seven or eight years old. They were both sallow and thin, with faces full of tears.
"what happened?"
"I'm sorry, the father of these two children has just passed away. They fainted from hunger on the street. Let's give them some water and something to eat."
Chen Qing saw that although they were sallow and thin, they had good temperaments and had a gentle and scholarly air.
"What are their names?"
"The older one's name is Li Songnian, and the younger one's name is Li Songshi."
The ordinary people Chen Qing met were usually named "Shun, Fu, Ping, Ying, Xiaoer, Xiaosan" and so on. These two boys' names were quite impressive.
Chen Dao became a little interested and stepped forward and asked: "Who is your father?"
The older boy saluted and said: "My father's name is Jingwei. He was originally the magistrate of Fengtian County. The family fled westward and encountered thieves on the way. My mother and maid were kidnapped and all their money was robbed. The three of us, father and son, had no choice but to flee here.
We lived in Botian. My father was a scholar. After several years of hard work, he finally became ill due to overwork. Unfortunately, he passed away a few days ago. We are unable to bury our father. We sincerely ask the general to bury our father for us. We brothers will definitely repay each other by holding grass in our hands and forming a ring."
After saying this, the two brothers knelt on the ground and shed tears.
Chen Qing felt quite sympathetic. The dignified magistrate of Fengtian County had fallen to this point. He nodded and asked the scout: "Is there a shop selling coffins in the city?"
"There is a family!"
Chen Qing then told his soldiers, "Go and buy a coffin to bury their father. These two children will be brought back to Chengji County and handed over to Jiang Zhizhou so that they can continue their studies."
"Follow the order!"
Chen Qing left three soldiers behind to take care of the funeral arrangements for the two children. He led the army to continue south. After walking very far, he still saw the two children kneeling at the city gate.
In Longxi County, the Xixia army was still madly attacking the gap. On top of the city, one hundred state soldiers and two hundred Lijiazhuang soldiers fired arrows at the Xixia army. They were also counterattacked by the Xixia army's bows and arrows, killing and wounding more than thirty people.
The initial panic gradually stabilized, and they used the battlements as cover to continuously shoot at the Xixia soldiers on the pontoon bridge.
Although the state soldiers and Zhuang Ding lack actual combat experience, the crossbow arrows in their hands are genuine murder weapons. Just like a child who does not know martial arts can kill a martial arts master with one shot, the crossbow arrows can be killed no matter who is using them.
If hit by an arrow, he will either die or be injured.
The Xixia soldiers on the pontoon were constantly hit by arrows and fell into the water, with casualties reaching two to three hundred. However, a large number of soldiers still rushed across the moat and fought fiercely with the Song army scouts.
Half of the sandbags blocking the gap have been removed by the Xixia army, leaving only the eight-foot-tall sandbags. It is no longer easy to move, but the Xixia soldiers can also rush into the gap in one leap.
But the strange thing is that as soon as a group of dozens of Xixia soldiers rushed forward, they were blocked by the dense spears in the city. For a moment, the soldiers who rushed forward were pierced through their bodies and fell to the ground. A group of Xixia soldiers behind them rushed forward again.
.
The hundreds of Song army scouts guarding the gap are the best among the best. They have experienced hundreds of battles and have high martial arts skills. They are very powerful in individual combat and collective cooperation. They especially cooperate with each other tacitly. Three people cooperate to deal with one person, so that batches of
The Xixia soldiers who rushed forward were killed by the Song army in a matter of seconds, and the corpses piled up higher and higher.
Xia Hu was really a little depressed. He could clearly see the defenders on the city. They were all very immature novices. They had to look for standard postures to even shoot arrows. They obviously had no experience in actual combat. But the defenders on the gap were different. The number of them was different.
There are many, but they are extremely powerful. His men are all the elites of the captured army. How come they are wiped out every time they go up, and they can't attack the gap at all.
At this time, a general offered his advice in a low voice: "General, it seems that all the defenders in the city have gathered here at the gap, so the rest of the city must be empty. We might as well send a few hundred soldiers to find an uninhabited place to build ladders up to the city, and attack the enemy from above.
!”
This sentence reminded Xia Hu. He secretly cursed himself for being confused and immediately said: "You quickly lead five hundred people to the city from the south. First kill the soldiers with crossbows at the top of the city. Then we will release arrows downwards. Let's see how long they can hold on."
"
"Follow the order!"
The general led five hundred men and ran towards the south. When Li Ziheng saw a Xixia army carrying a ladder running towards the south, he secretly thought that something was wrong. He quickly shouted to the city: "General Huyan, the enemy seems to be coming from somewhere else."
I'm afraid Zhuang Ding can't resist the city."
Hu Yanlei said to Dutou Wu Zhongnan: "You lead forty brothers to the city and help them resist the Xixia soldiers!"
Wu Zhongnan waved his hand, "Follow me for the second part!"
He led his forty men and ran towards the city. As soon as he reached the city, he found Xixia soldiers approaching the city a mile away.
The Xixia soldiers did not run to the south city at all. They only ran two miles and found that there was no one on the city. They immediately put up ladders to go up to the city. Although they were just ordinary people's wooden ladders, as long as they were high enough, they could go up to the city.
There will be no problem.
Taking advantage of the fact that there were not many enemy troops approaching the city, Wu Zhongnan led his troops to rush over, shooting arrows while running, and more than a dozen Xixia soldiers who had just entered the city fell down one after another.
The forty or fifty Xixia soldiers who had already gone to the city shouted and waved their spears to fight. The two sides fought fiercely on the top of the city. Wu Zhongnan's goal was to overthrow the wooden ladder, but the Xixia soldiers also knew their intention and fought to the death on the city.
Fighting head-to-head, the Xixia soldiers under the city accelerated their approach to the city. More and more Xixia soldiers came to the city, and soon there were more than a hundred people.
At this time, Wu Zhongnan's left arm hurt. He was hit by a cold arrow from the city. Not only him, but also several Song soldiers were hit by cold arrows.
The Song army began to struggle and gradually retreated. More and more Xixia soldiers came to the city and immediately entered the battle. In less than a quarter of an hour, there were more than two hundred Xixia soldiers on the city. The casualties of the Song army's scouts increased, leaving less than
Thirty people began to be unable to withstand the crazy attack of Xixia soldiers.
At this critical moment, Xixia soldiers suddenly screamed in the distance, and a Song Army cavalry arrived. Two thousand cavalry led by Yang Zaixing finally arrived.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
The Xixia generals below the city shouted that the Xixia soldiers at the top of the city began to retreat downwards again. One ladder was not enough, and many Xixia soldiers jumped directly from the top of the city into the moat.
The morale of the Song army's scouts was greatly boosted, and they resumed a sharp counterattack, killing the Xixia soldiers and retreating steadily.
Yang Zaixing should have arrived at noon. He was worried that Longxi County would be lost, so he led two thousand cavalry on the road at lightning speed. Finally, he arrived at Longxi County an hour in advance and rescued Hu Yanlei's men at the most critical moment.
Yang Zaixing saw the enemy general Xia Hu at a glance. Seeing that he was about to escape with his army, Yang Zaixing made a quick decision. He took off his shooting star bow, drew out a wolf tooth arrow, drew the bow like a full moon, and shot the arrow with great accuracy.
It hit Xia Hu on the back of the neck. Although Xia Hu looked extremely fierce, his flesh and blood body could not stop Yang Zaixing's spiked arrow.
'Poof!' An arrow shot through the back of the neck. The tip of the arrow protruded from the throat. There was still bloody throat tissue hanging on the tip of the arrow. Xia Hu covered his throat and fell off his horse. He didn't want to die, but his life was passing quickly.
In just a moment, his sinful life ended.
Yang Zaixing shouted, "Kill the enemy and leave no one alive!"
This was the first time that Yang Zaixing issued a killing order. Two thousand Song troops galloped on their horses, waving their spears and sabers to kill the fleeing Xixia soldiers.