Zhao Xiaoyi ducked into the big hole, flicked the fire stick, and a large messy hole appeared in front of them. It was at least seven or eight feet long. Someone had lived in it, with tattered bedding, tattered dishes and basins scattered all over the floor, and
Several stoves for heating.
He poked dozens of times with his spear, and a large group of rats swarmed out of the darkness, squeaking and screaming, like a black shadow running past Zhao Xiaoyi's feet, fleeing desperately out of the cave, which really shocked Zhao Xiaoyi.
.
He checked again and turned around and said: "No problem, everyone come in!"
The scouts entered the city wall one after another. They followed the same pattern and quickly removed the wall bricks inside, revealing a large hole one foot wide. Outside was an abandoned temple, whether it was the Earth Temple or the City God Temple.
The scouts put up wooden planks and waved. Niu Gao was overjoyed and shouted in a low voice: "Enter the first battalion!"
A commander led a thousand soldiers to run quickly, crossed the moat, and ran from the city cave to the city gate.
Immediately after the second battalion, the third battalion, and the fourth battalion, in just two quarters of an hour, the entire army of 5,000 Song soldiers entered the city and instantly captured the South City Gate, which was guarded by only 300 people. Outside the South City Gate, Yang Zaixing
He led two thousand cavalry and had been waiting for a long time. When the city gate opened and the suspension bridge was lowered, the two thousand cavalry launched at the same time and rushed towards the county town like lightning.
The two thousand Xixia soldiers in the city were finally forced to surrender. They were blocked by the Song army at the top of the city. Although they also had bows and arrows, their bows and arrows were far inferior to the Song army's divine arm crossbows. They were blocked by the Song army's two
After the Thousand Arms soldiers shot hundreds of people from a distance, the soldiers completely collapsed and put down their weapons and surrendered.
General Xia Jin was killed in the first round of the breakout battle. He was in the lead, but was hit by more than twenty arrows from the powerful Divine Arm Crossbow and died instantly.
Groups of Xixia soldiers who took off their armor and dressed in white were escorted down the city. Thousands of soldiers took control of the city. Especially Niu Gao, who was the first to rush into the city, led two thousand soldiers to quickly control the warehouse.
The warehouses in Didao County are what Chen Qing values the most. There are two warehouses in Didao County, one is the county warehouse and the other is the Fu Jing Lue Mansion warehouse. From various records, it is known that the Fu Jing Lue Mansion warehouse already has
No supplies had been shipped out for seven or eight years. When Wu Hongwei was the county magistrate, there were 80,000 shi of grain stored in the county warehouse alone, not to mention the Jinglue Mansion warehouse.
Chen Qing is currently short of food. One of the important reasons why he attacked Lintao Prefecture is to seize food supplies.
Yang Zaixing was still clearing out the soldiers on the city. Chen Qing brought more than a hundred soldiers to the warehouse of Jinglue Mansion. Niu Gao brought up a middle-aged man, "This man is the warehouse manager!"
The steward knelt down and kowtowed, "Young man, please see the Jiedushi!"
"Are you Han Chinese?"
"The villain is Han. He has always been a warehouse manager. In his humble position, he has an immediate boss who is a Xixia official. He should be at home now."
"How much grain is there in the warehouse of the Jinglue Mansion?" Chen Qing asked anxiously.
"About 200,000 shi of food."
A hint of surprise flashed in Chen Qing's eyes, and he confirmed again: "Are you sure there are so many?"
"I don't dare to lie because of my humble position. There are indeed so many. Our Tao River Valley is originally a grain-producing land. The Xixia people pay heavy taxes. They charge 30% of military expenses and taxes per mu of land. So much has been accumulated in two years. I heard that
They plan to transport it to Lanzhou years ago."
Chen Qing's heart dropped. As long as he had 200,000 shi of food, he would be much more relaxed.
"How much food is there in the county warehouse?"
"There are about 50,000 to 60,000 shi of grain in the county warehouse. I don't know the exact amount. We are not responsible for that."
At this time, Yang Zaixing came over, clasped his fists to Chen Qing and said: "All the prisoners of war have been escorted to the military camp, but there is an important situation that must be reported in time!"
"What's the important situation?"
"We originally thought there were 3,000 enemy troops in the city, but now we find that there are not many. After asking, we found out that 1,000 troops were transferred to Dangchuan County yesterday."
There are two counties in Lintao Prefecture, one is Didao County and the other is Dangchuan County. Dangchuan County is located in a mountainous area and is far less important than Didao County.
But Chen Qing was a little strange. The defenders of Didao County should have discovered him the day before yesterday. At this critical juncture, they usually concentrated the troops from all over the country in Didao County. Why did they do the opposite now and evacuate the troops outwards instead.
"Why were a thousand soldiers evacuated? Do you know the reason?" Chen Qing asked
Yang Zaixing shook his head, "I didn't ask for the reason!"
At this time, the steward next to him whispered: "Jiedushi, maybe this villain knows the reason!"
Chen Qing turned around and looked at him and asked, "What's the reason?"
"Reporting to the Jiedushi, there is a large silver mine in Dangchuan County. Last year, the Xixia army escorted a group of mining slaves from an iron mine in the north, about 8,000 people. They mined the silver mine in Dangchuan County.
, these thousand soldiers went with a thousand camels, probably hoping to transport the smelted crude silver back to Lanzhou."
"How much silver did they refine?"
"The villain doesn't know!"
"You can't know anything, tell me quickly!" Chen Qing's eyes were as sharp as a knife.
The steward was frightened and said, "I have inquired about it, and the amount of silver is not less than one hundred thousand catties."
One hundred thousand catties is one million six hundred thousand taels of silver. The mine has only been here for more than a year. Will there be such a large output?
"You didn't tell the truth!" Chen Qing's dagger-like eyes pierced the steward's heart.
The steward was so frightened that he knelt down and said, "This is what I know. I have never deceived Jiedushi. But I don't know if it is one hundred thousand catties or more. I have never seen real silver."
"Were you in charge of Sichuan County last year?" Chen Qing's eyes softened slightly.
"I went there once at the beginning of the year to escort food."
"Do you think eight thousand mining slaves can produce one hundred thousand catties of crude silver in more than a year? Is it possible?"
"This is what the manager of the silver mine told the villain himself when he was drinking. He told me that there are 80,000 jins of crude silver in the warehouse, and there will be 100,000 jins by the end of the year."
"How far is it from here to Dangchuan County?" Chen Qing asked calmly.
"About eighty miles are all mountain roads!"
"Can I take the cavalry?"
"Of course you can, but it's not as flat as the official road in the valley."
Chen Qing now secretly estimated that the camel team had not yet reached Dangchuan County after setting out yesterday, a journey of eighty miles.
Chen Qing immediately said to Yang Zaixing: "You lead five thousand cavalry and rush to Dangchuan County immediately. You must intercept this camel team!"
"I humbly obey orders!"
Yang Zaixing turned around and hurried away.
Chen Qing then said to Niu Gao: "Leave it to Hu Yanyun to take over the warehouse. Just leave it alone. Immediately fill up the holes in the city wall and organize soldiers to defend. The only cavalry we ambush today is the vanguard army, and there should be more behind us."
The main force must not be careless!"
"The humble position will be arranged immediately!"
Niu Gao took the steward to find Hu Yanyun.
Chen Qing probably understood that one hundred thousand kilograms of crude silver might not be fake, and there should still be old stocks here. But the question is, why did he never know that there was another Guichuan Silver Mine?
Not only himself, but also the officials in Qinzhou and Gongzhou don't know what secrets are hidden here?
Chen Qing came to Xihe Road to the west of the warehouse and visited the Luefu Yamen, but now it was renamed Hehuang Army Sifu Yamen by the Xixia people. Xixia had twelve military divisions, and they planned to set up a thirteenth military division in Hehuang.
Of course, the ambitions of the Xixia people are far from complete. They still have great obstacles to annexing the entire Xihe Road area. They need the formal consent of the Jin Kingdom, seize Qinzhou and Gongzhou from the Song army, and deal with it.
The complicated relationship between the Tubo people and the Qiang people.
They themselves are aware of these huge obstacles, so the Military Administration is still located in Lanzhou.
The government office covers a large area and is also the core area of the city. It has been occupied by the Song army. Hundreds of soldiers are busy cleaning up the government office and driving out all the Xixia officials who live in the government office. There are also dozens of Xixia women. They
They all squatted aside in fear and were guarded by Song soldiers.
The government office is also an important place for storing supplies. There is an ice cellar in the backyard, which stores a large amount of meat and wine.
There was also a treasury that was managed by Xixia officials, but it could not be found. The soldiers smashed the lock and began to count the belongings inside.
Chen Qing saw that the soldiers in the government office were quite busy coming in and out, so he did not bother him and went to the military camp to rest. It was already the third watch and he had not slept for three consecutive nights. He was really sleepy.
As soon as the group arrived at the gate of the military camp, they saw Liu Cui walking out hurriedly with an official.
"General Liu, why haven't you rested yet?"
This time Chen Qing brought three commanders, Yang Zaixing, Liu Cui and Niu Gao, each commanding 5,000 troops. Yang Zaixing led 5,000 cavalry to Dangchuan County, and Niu Gao's 5,000 infantry were on duty tonight.
, Liu Cui's five thousand cavalry will rest and will replace Niu Gao's infantry during the day tomorrow.
"I found out that the county captain of this county was a Han Chinese. He knew the situation of the Xixia people in the city better. I handed him over to General Niu and then came back to rest."
When Chen Qing saw this man, who was only thirty years old and looked elegant, he asked, "What's your name? Are you from this county?"
The chief registrar bowed and said: "The villain's name is Huang Yaozong. He was originally the county bureau chief. Because he can speak the Dangxiang language and knows their writing, the Xixia people appointed him as the county captain to assist their magistrates in managing Didao County.
.”
Chen Qing nodded, "You go to see General Niu first, then come see me early tomorrow morning!"
"The villain obeys your orders!"
Chen Qing asked some simple questions and asked his own soldiers to take Huang Yaozong to see Niu Gao. He and Liu Cui entered the military camp.