As night fell, Tang Qian slowly approached Tongxi County with dozens of people. Among the dozens of people were the scout leader Lin Tao and his men. Lin Tao had been monitoring the county for three days and was familiar with the situation on the city wall. He
He said to Tang Qian: "Go to the northeast corner. There is a big crack in the ground over there. You can't see clearly what's going on inside the crack from the top of the city."
Tang Qian pondered for a moment and said, "Are they more concerned about the earthquake?"
"No! I have carefully observed it. The defenders at the top of the city are not particularly concerned about the cracking of the ground. There are not many soldiers in the corners of the city wall."
Tang Qian nodded, "You keep an eye on the city for me, and I'll take two brothers to investigate!"
There are three thousand defenders in Tongxi County. Even though it is night, the lights on the city are still bright, and soldiers patrol back and forth. The defense is extremely tight.
At this time, Tang Qian ran quickly along the ravine in the northeast corner. This ravine was not deep. If he stood up straight, he would be discovered immediately on the city top, so Tang Qian and two of his men bent down and ran all the way.
After running to the bottom of the city, Tang Qian slowly climbed out of the ravine and pressed his body against the city wall. Two of his men also followed him and followed the city wall. They walked slowly along the north wall.
This area is a deep loess area, there are no big stones, and the city walls are made of burnt bricks. It has been a long time, at least a hundred years old, and has been basically destroyed by wind and sand erosion.
Tang Qian took out a small hammer and asked his men to look up. He struck the masonry gently and lightly. There was a slight muffled sound, but there was no response from the top. The wind was very strong at night, and the sound of the wind blocked the knocking.
Voice.
Tang Qian dug into the city wall with his fingers, and found that it had turned into powder and broken into countless small pieces, which made Tang Qian suspect that if he just smashed a few more bricks, the entire city wall would collapse.
Tang Qian chose another dozen city walls. This time he did not use a hammer to hit them, but used a dagger to dig. The dagger lightly scratched the bricks, and dust fell to the ground. They were all completely decayed. In at most ten years, this county town will be destroyed.
It will be in ruins.
"let's go!"
Tang Qian gave a low shout and ran away with two of his men, jumped into the ravine and ran towards where they came from.
.........
At this time, Yang Zaixing led the army twenty miles away. He was waiting for Tang Qian's confirmation. In the team behind him, there was a five-foot-long bumper made of jujube wood. It was unusually strong and weighed several thousand kilograms.
The head has been cut into a round shape, which is very suitable for hitting the city.
Tang Qian led his men and galloped over and reported to Yang Zaixing, "My humble duty has been confirmed. The masonry of the north city wall is loose and can be broken with a single blow. You can easily knock down the wall with a ramming log."
"You must have knocked down the city wall, not created a hole in the city?"
"Reporting to the commander-in-chief, the city bricks are too fragile and cannot hold up. The city wall will definitely collapse with one blow. I dare to use my head as a guarantee for my humble position!"
Yang Zaixing nodded and turned around to ask Liu Qiong: "When does General Liu think it is more appropriate to attack?"
Liu Qiong thought for a while and said: "I suggest attacking the city at the fourth watch, when all the enemy troops in the city are asleep."
"It's just what I wanted. I'll order the army to rest where they are and set out at three o'clock!"
.........
At the fourth watch, half of the defenders on the city wall had been reduced, but there were still soldiers patrolling the city. Three miles away, Yang Zaixing observed for a moment and said to Liu Qiong: "It seems that it is impossible not to alert the opponent, so we can only attack by force!"
Liu Qiong nodded, "I humble my duty and lead the army to cover with bows and arrows!"
Yang Zaixing waved his hand gently, "Attack!"
Two hundred tall and strong soldiers set off carrying the wooden sticks, and one hundred of them held large shields for cover. They were like millipedes, running quickly towards the city wall.
When they were still two hundred steps away from the city wall, they were discovered by the patrol soldiers on top of the city. The alarm bell immediately sounded on the top of the city, "Dang! Dang! Dang!"
The whole city was shocked. The Xixia troops were sleeping in their armor and would get up at any time when something happened. The entire Xixia soldiers in Tongxi City rushed towards the north city head from all directions.
Outside the city, the millipedes sped up their running speed, while Liu Qiong led two thousand cavalry to rush over and fired arrows at the top of the city. The arrows were like rain, suppressing the defenders on the wall.
There is no moat in Tongxi County. Seeing the Song soldiers getting closer and closer, they roared and hit the city wall with a hammer. The blow weighed ten thousand kilograms, and a five-foot-wide hole was immediately opened in the city wall.
The city bricks were all shattered, and the mud inside poured out.
The Song soldiers retreated quickly. This was the key, otherwise they would easily be buried by the collapsed city wall. They had experience that there would be a very short interval between the hole in the city wall and the collapse. This interval was their only chance to evacuate.
The soldiers of the Song Army retreated more than ten steps away in an instant. At this moment, the city wall could no longer hold up and collapsed suddenly. Dust suddenly flew up and filled the air with fog. The soldiers of the Song Army continued to retreat and ran for dozens of steps in one breath.
The outside slowly stopped.
When the dust and smoke cleared, a thrilling scene was revealed. The city wall had completely collapsed. Tang Qian was absolutely right. The knocking out of a hole triggered a chain effect, just like dominoes. One section followed another, and the whole collapsed.
Two miles away, thousands of Xixia soldiers were buried by the collapsed city wall.
Liu Qiong pulled out his sword and shouted: "Follow me and fight in!"
"Kill--"
Three thousand cavalry shouted, rushing towards the gap in the city wall like a flood, and rushed into the city.
Seven thousand cavalry from afar also launched, led by Yang Zaixing, and charged towards the north wall.
...........
On the third day of February, Cao Baozong's 50,000-strong army arrived in Longxi County and set up camp three miles away from Longxi County. Cao Baozong was confident this time. According to his intelligence, there were only five or six thousand defenders in Longxi County. He
His troops were powerful enough to crush the Song army in the city, not to mention that he also carried a huge number of heavy siege weapons.
Under the protection of hundreds of cavalry, Cao Baozong walked along the city wall and saw that there were not many defenders at the top of the city. They totaled only about 5,000 people, which was completely in line with his expectations.
The new deputy general Tuoba Chengqing suggested: "General, the opponent's army does not have enough numbers. It is better to take advantage of our strong military strength and attack Dongcheng and Beicheng at the same time to crush the opponent with absolute strength advantage!"
Cao Baozong nodded. This suggestion spoke to his heart. He also had the same idea. He would attack the city with all his strength and seize Longxi County as soon as possible. Then he would occupy Longxi County to fight Chen Qing's main force. At the same time, he would send troops to sneak attack Chengji County and take advantage of the enemy's panic to withdraw.
At this time, launch a massive attack and defeat the enemy's main force in one fell swoop!
The top priority now is to launch a siege as soon as possible.
"Instruct the three armies to have a good rest and prepare food supplies. After capturing the city, each person will be rewarded with five taels of silver."
Speaking of this, Cao Baozong turned around and asked: "How long does it take to assemble the trebuchet?"
A general hurriedly cupped his fists and said, "Reporting to the general, thirty heavy trebuchets can all be assembled tonight!"
Cao Baozong said happily: "Tomorrow morning, we will first attack the opponent's city with a trebuchet, and then launch a large-scale attack!"
.........
That night, the lights were brightly lit in the Xixia Army camp, and hundreds of craftsmen were assembling the trebuchet. They started in the afternoon and made very rapid progress. Half of it had been assembled by dark, and by dawn tomorrow, it should all be assembled.
At the same time, craftsmen also have to replace the rungs of the three hundred siege ladders. At least the first three must be replaced with iron rods to prevent them from being cut off by the Song army. The Xixia army suffered heavy losses when attacking Ganquan Fort and will not make the same mistake again.
Second error.
The trebuchet of the Xixia Army is a large trebuchet. It is relatively primitive and requires fifty soldiers to pull it at the same time. It can throw a stone of fifty kilograms 250 steps away. Because it is relatively primitive, it is easier to assemble.
.
At the same time, in Longxi County, Xie Changzhi led 20 craftsmen to prepare two thousand-step guns. In addition to the thousand-step guns, the Song Army also had 20 medium-sized trebuchets installed on the north and east city walls.
, can throw a 20-pound gunpowder barrel 200 steps away.
Both sides are actively preparing for war, and the war is about to begin.
.........
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
As soon as the sky dawned, the huge war drums sounded in the camp.
Ten thousand troops were left to guard the camp, and 40,000 Xixia troops quickly gathered. Cao Baozong wore a golden helmet, silver armor, and held a spear in his hand, looking majestic.
He galloped in front of the 40,000-strong army, waved his sword and shouted: "Brave Xixia warriors, today is the time to show off your military exploits. Let the Song army tremble in front of our powerful troops! In this battle, we must
Win!"
"We must win! We must win!" tens of thousands of Xixia soldiers shouted loudly, their shouts reaching into the sky.
"Set off!"
Cao Baozong shouted, and the 40,000-strong army set off, accompanied by thirty large trebuchets.