Tang Qian used the method of disguising himself as a general of the Xixia Army and frightening his horses to deceive some sentries and shorten the distance by more than half. He finally got a chance, and he only had this chance. Once he missed it, the Xixia Army would never give it to him again.
Second chance.
Tang Qian rehearsed this arrow countless times. His target was a kerosene barrel. All details were taken into consideration. Even the arrow he chose was a three-edged armor-piercing arrow. This kind of arrow is different from the wolf-fang arrow. It shoots on three sides.
There is a bleeding groove. Once the gunpowder arrow hits the kerosene barrel, the kerosene will flow out of the bleeding groove. When the gunpowder arrow burns, the kerosene will ignite immediately.
The Xixia people stacked kerosene barrels and gunpowder barrels in layers. Tang Qian shot from the top layer, and the array of spears in front could not stop them.
He also knew that he only had one chance. After shooting an arrow, he ignored it, threw away the bow and arrow, killed an enemy soldier with his knife, grabbed a spear, and broke through with the spear.
Xia Lian watched helplessly as a rocket soared into the sky and hit the kerosene barrel. He was so shocked that his liver and gallbladder split, his legs went weak, and he knelt down on the ground.
In just a moment, a ball of fire burst out, and the barrel of kerosene exploded. Then a larger fireball appeared. This was dozens of barrels of kerosene that exploded, and a thick smoke rose into the sky.
And rise.
Everyone was shocked and dumbfounded, but what was even more terrifying was yet to come. The gunpowder barrels were also ignited and exploded. The explosions continued, and the gunpowder barrels were blown away and flew hundreds of steps away.
It exploded a few hundred steps away.
The soldiers were frightened and ran away. Tang Qian ducked and hid under the horse's belly. His horse followed a herd of frightened cattle and ran wildly. At this time, no one cared about him.
Xixia soldiers rushed to the river to fetch water to put out the fire, but the fodder and grain were surrounded by burning kerosene flowing out in all directions. The hay fodder and grain were ignited and burned quickly. Three thousand barrels of kerosene flowed and burned in all directions.
Many soldiers fetched water from the river, but were unable to enter because they were blocked by burning kerosene.
The night wind was strong, and the fire became more intense. Twenty-five thousand Xixia soldiers watched as five thousand stones of grain and 30,000 pounds of fodder were completely swallowed up.
Everyone was desperate, and the Song army repeated its old tricks. They once again encountered a food crisis.
Eighty miles to the south, Chen Qing was standing on a hill, looking at the faint fire in the distance. He turned back and smiled at Niu Gao: "It seems that the scout succeeded."
Niu Gao nodded and sighed: "With Xia Lian's cautiousness in marching all the way, it is not easy to burn down his baggage. We must commend this scout team for their outstanding performance."
Chen Qing had roughly guessed that it was the deputy scout commander named Tang Qian who made the greatest contribution.
"Yes, I need to commend him!"
Agan County in Lanzhou is a small county, located forty miles south of Lanzhou City. It has a population of only a few thousand people and mainly makes a living by farming. There is no military camp in the city, only a warehouse that stores thousands of stones of grain and 300 Xixia soldiers.
Guard here.
That evening, a caravan of more than a hundred mules came to the south city gate, fully loaded with goods. The owner of the caravan was a middle-aged man riding a donkey, and he was followed by more than a dozen guys.
The city gate was guarded by a few militia soldiers. They were sitting by the city gate chatting when they suddenly saw a caravan approaching. Their eyes lit up, and the opportunity to make money came.
Lanzhou City may be more heavily guarded, but in a small county like Aqian County, there is no need to guard the city gates. There are only a few state soldiers responsible for opening and closing the city gates.
What they call guarding the city gate is actually just to get money and water.
The leading soldier came up to him and pretended to shout, "Stop, what are you doing?"
The businessman smiled and said: "I'm going to Xixia to do business. The Yellow River has not completely thawed yet. Come here and wait for a few days."
"what kind of business?"
"Small business, some wine business."
The leading soldier slapped his thigh and shouted: "Alcohol is contraband!"
The businessman looked at him with contempt, "Do you think this is Lin'an? There are also contraband items! Just tell me how much you want, and don't do this with me."
The leading soldier chuckled and said, "Brother is a smart man and I can't fool you. We brothers just want the money for a drink, this amount!"
He held out a finger, indicating that he wanted a lot of money.
He has seen many businessmen traveling around, and he knows that as long as he gives them one piece of money, they will definitely ask for two more pieces of money, endlessly.
"It's too much. Lanzhou City only charges 500 coins. How dare you, a small county town, to ask for a lot of money? If you break the rules, you will have to drink from the northwest wind in the future."
Seeing that the other party actually knew the rules, the leading soldier did not dare to ask for more, so he nodded, "Then just follow the rules!"
The businessman took out half a pound of money and threw it to the other party. Several soldiers smiled and said, "Proprietor, please come in!"
The merchant waved his hand and led the caravan into the city.
They came to the county town and temporarily rented a large house. The large house was close to the city wall and the group unloaded all the goods, which were all heavy leather bags.
The businessman's surname is Liao. He is really a businessman, but his dozen or so clerks are disguised as soldiers of the Song Army. Boss Liao is very familiar with Agan County. The large house he temporarily rented fully meets the soldiers' requirements and is located under the city wall. .
These leather bags were filled with kerosene, and they made two preparations. If a tunnel could not be opened, the kerosene would be stored directly in the city. If a tunnel could be opened, the kerosene could be transported from outside.
As night fell, more than thirty soldiers came from all over the county. Fifty soldiers gathered in the entire mansion. They closed the door and began to dig a tunnel in the woodshed close to the city wall.
Chen Qing adopted Cao Baozong's suggestion and must capture Lanzhou City first. He gave this task to Yang Zaixing.
At this time, there were 20,000 Xixia troops in the camp on the north bank of the Yellow River, commanded by Shang Dongyan. However, Lanzhou City on the south bank of the Yellow River only had 1,000 defenders, which was even less than the number of troops in Dingxi County. Mainly because it was far away from the camp. Recently, there is no need to station more troops. Stationing a thousand troops is just to control Lanzhou City.
Early that morning, at dawn, a group of two thousand Xixia cavalrymen came rushing from a distance. The defenders at the top of the city saw it from a distance and quickly closed the city gate.
Not long after, the cavalry rushed to the city, and a general stepped forward and shouted in Dangxiang dialect: "Why are the city gates closed?"
The general at the top of the city had never seen this general before. He hesitated and asked, "Do you have any military orders?"
The leading general scolded: "We haven't slept all night, why do we need any military orders? If we delay something important, I will blame you for it!"
Despite the scolding, the general took out a command arrow and raised it high, "Have you seen clearly? The command arrow is here!"
Sure enough, it was the general's order. The guard did not dare to neglect it and immediately ordered the city gate to be opened.
This general named Men was just a Song Army soldier who knew Dangxiang. The real general behind him was Liu Qiong. This time, Yang Zaixing gave Liu Qiong the opportunity to outwit Lanzhou City.
The city gate slowly opened, the suspension bridge slowly lowered, and the general waved his hand, "Enter the city!"
Two thousand cavalry rushed into Lanzhou City in a mighty manner
Half an hour later, Yang Zaixing led 6,000 cavalry troops to the city. The top of the city had been replaced by the flag of the Song Army. Liu Qiong said with a proud smile on the top of the city: "General Yang, I'm sorry, I didn't even leave any soup for you!"
Yang Zaixing snorted and led the army towards the city.