At two o'clock in the morning, the main force of the Song army quietly approached the woods where the Jin soldiers were resting. At this time, several scouts galloped over on horseback and reported with clasped fists: "Alert to the capital, the enemy troops in the woods have moved to the other side of the river!
"
Chen Qing was startled, "When did it happen?"
"Just half an hour ago, the enemy built a pontoon bridge in the south."
Unexpectedly, the enemy army was so alert and ran away in the middle of the night. This was the first time Chen Qing encountered it.
It seems that this enemy army cannot be eliminated by sneak attack. Chen Qing thought for a moment and said to Yang Zaixing: "General Yang can lead an army of 10,000 people to go south and go behind the enemy army. I will intercept the enemy army to the north. We
If we attack halfway across the north and south, we will definitely defeat the enemy!"
"I humbly obey orders!"
Yang Zaixing agreed immediately, but he hesitated and asked, "Should I use the other party's pontoon bridge to cross the river?"
Chen Qing thought for a long time and said: "You don't need the opponent's pontoon bridge to cross the river to prevent the other party from ambush. You can build a pontoon bridge yourself. No matter how the enemy goes, Qianyang County is to the south of the river. They will definitely cross the river and come back. When they are halfway across the river, they will
This is our chance to strike halfway!"
Yang Zaixing led 10,000 troops to continue southward, while Chen Qing sent scouts to swim across the river to keep an eye on the 10,000 enemy troops.
At noon the next day, 10,000 gold soldiers arrived at the north bank of Liyang County. They could already see the city wall on the south bank more than ten miles away. Zhao Yong was hesitant. He was worried about being attacked by the Song army halfway across the river, but Wanyan Tietou was a little impatient.
, for fear of this and that, shouldn't they just cross the river? They don't have much dry food to begin with, and if this delay continues, even if they are not defeated by the Song army, they will starve to death.
Wanyan Tietou immediately ordered a pontoon bridge to be built across the river. The water was about a hundred feet wide, or more than 300 meters. Jin Bing used sheepskin rafts and ropes to build a pontoon bridge, which was more convenient. It only took an hour to build a pontoon bridge.
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"Can the enemy be detected on the other side?"
"Reporting to the captain, no enemy was found!"
"Cross the river!"
Wanyan Tietou gave an order, and ten thousand soldiers began to cross the river in a mighty manner. Wanyan Tietou was still more cautious. The two thousand Jurchen cavalry did not go first, but let the Qi army soldiers go first. Two thousand Qi army soldiers got on the pontoon bridge.
, walked quickly towards the other side.
On a hill two miles away, Chen Qing watched the Jin soldiers crossing the river. He also waited for the best opportunity to attack, which was when the Jurchen cavalry crossed the river.
Ten thousand Song Army cavalry were ready. They were hiding in a forest, waiting for the order to attack.
After passing about 4,000 Qi soldiers, 2,000 Jurchen cavalry stepped onto the floating bridge. At this time, Chen Qing gave the order, "Set fire!"
Suddenly dozens of flaming rafts appeared upstream and rushed towards the pontoon a few hundred steps away.
The light of fire on the river was an order, and a low horn sound suddenly sounded in the woods, "Woo!"
Ten thousand cavalry surged out from the woods and attacked thousands of puppet Qi troops one mile away...
Dozens of flaming rafts on the river quickly approached the pontoon bridge. The gunpowder barrels in several rafts were burned and exploded, blowing the rafts to pieces. The remaining more than 20 rafts hit the pontoon bridge one after another.
The cavalry on the pontoon bridge was in panic. At this time, the gunpowder barrels on the rafts exploded one after another. The pontoon bridge was blown into more than a dozen pieces, and more than a thousand Jurchen cavalry on the bridge fell into the water.
Ten thousand cavalry rushed into the ranks of the Puppet Qi Army. Four thousand Puppet Qi Army responded in panic. Their morale was low and their ranks were in disarray. They were unable to form effective resistance. Within a moment, soldiers began to flee southward.
At this time, the situation on the north bank of the river was equally dangerous. Yang Zaixing led 10,000 cavalry to attack from behind, and the troops on the north bank were killed and caught off guard.
Attacking halfway across the river has always been a nightmare for the crossing army. Once encountered, there is almost no way to save it, and defeat is inevitable. If you are lucky, you will lose the part of the army that crosses the river. If you are not lucky, the whole army will even be destroyed. Therefore, the general army tries to avoid crossing the river.
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This time, the Jin soldiers were attacked halfway across the river. The root cause was Zhao Yong's decision last night. He suggested crossing the river to the other side. Although he successfully avoided the sneak attack by the Song army, it also laid hidden dangers for today's half-crossing attack.
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The Jin soldiers on the south bank were the first to collapse. The soldiers trampled on each other and scrambled to escape. The Song army's cavalry chased them behind, killing the enemy soldiers into rivers of blood. Countless people knelt down and surrendered.
The Song army in the north encountered strong resistance from a thousand Jurchen cavalry. Yang Zaixing divided his troops into two groups. He personally led 3,000 cavalry to encircle and suppress the Jurchen cavalry, while Gao Ding led 7,000 cavalry to attack the 4,000 puppet Qi army.
They were all golden soldiers. The morale and willpower of the Jurchen cavalry far exceeded that of the puppet Qi army. The puppet Qi army collapsed first and fled to the north. Countless soldiers fled into the forest.
However, the Jurchen cavalry refused to retreat. In the end, due to the huge disparity in strength and the siege of the Song army's cavalry, the entire army was destroyed.
This battle also had a negative side for the Song army, that is, the roads on both sides of the river were narrow, which was not conducive to the full pursuit of the cavalry, and there were many woods, especially those in the north. Of course, this was the place where Zhao Yong deliberately chose to cross the river.
Most of the puppet Qi soldiers in the north fled into the forest, and together with the 1,000 Jurchen cavalry who were completely destroyed, about 1,800 people were killed, and only more than 1,000 people surrendered.
However, the Jin soldiers in the south suffered heavy losses. Most of the Jurchen cavalry who fell into the river were drowned. The 4,000 Jin soldiers who crossed the river were killed, and more than 1,000 of them were killed. More than 3,000 surrendered, and only a few hundred escaped into the woods.
Chen Qing did not continue to pursue, and immediately ordered his men to re-build a pontoon bridge, and the two armies met on the south bank.
Although none of the Jurchen cavalry surrendered in actual combat, the commander-in-chief Wanyan Tietou led more than 30 men to successfully break through at the last moment and managed to escape into the woods.
After Wanyan Tietou collected the remnants of the army after the war, he only collected 2,000 heads, almost all of them Qi soldiers, including deputy general Zhao Yong, who was also missing, and some people saw him being captured by the Song army.
Wanyan Tietou was terrified, and after nightfall, he took the remaining troops and fled towards Fengxiang Mansion.
The Song Army captured more than 4,800 prisoners of war, all of whom were Qi Army prisoners of war. The Song Army had always killed the Jurchens and refused to accept surrender.
However, nearly a thousand Song cavalrymen were killed in this battle, mainly due to the cost of encircling and suppressing a thousand Jurchen cavalry.
This also shows that the Jurchen cavalry were brave and good at fighting. Despite the favorable weather, location and people, they fought against the odds and actually maintained a one-to-one death ratio with the Song army.
At this time, Gaoding brought a prisoner of war, Zhao Yong, deputy general of the puppet Qi army, and Chen Qing was very interested in him.
Chen Qing ordered someone to untie him and asked with a smile: "Do you know me?"
Zhao Yong nodded silently, "I met the general at the top of Jingzhao City. You are Chen Dutong!"
"I see that you are quite experienced. You could have guessed that I would have a sneak attack last night, and why I withdrew my troops to the north bank. Didn't you expect that you would be attacked halfway when you came back?
Zhao Yong sighed and said, "How could I not have thought of this! It's just that the Jurchens didn't listen to my advice. After retreating to the other side, I suggested that Wanyan Tietou go north immediately, march forty miles and then cross the river south. When your army arrives,
, we have entered Mianyang City, but Wanyan Tietou refused to listen. He thought that you would use the pontoon bridge he built to cross the river to catch up, so he led 10,000 troops to ambush on both sides of the pontoon bridge, waiting for you to cross the river, which was delayed for three hours.
, when he wakes up, the time to cross the river is gone."
Chen Qing nodded. Zhao Yong still had experience. He smiled and asked, "Who was General Zhao's subordinate before?"
"Biji was originally a bandit from Hedong. He had tens of thousands of soldiers and plundered for a living. He was given the nickname Hornless Ox. Later, General Zongze recruited Beiji. After General Zong died of illness, Beiji followed Du Chong. Later, Du Chong surrendered to Jin.
Soldier, we are not immune either."
Chen Qing added: "Now I will give you a chance to follow me and serve as a general commander. I will also bring your family to Chengji County. Are you willing?"
Zhao Yong knelt down and said with tears: "Meng Dutong will not give up and let me return to the right path. Even if I meet General Zong under Jiuquan, I will feel no guilt in my heart!"
Chen Qing ordered Hu Yantong to lead 4,000 men to clear the battlefield and escort prisoners of war, while he himself led 15,000 troops to ambush outside Mianyang County.
Of course, Chen Qing also brought baggage for this eastern expedition. Two thousand camels carried food supplies and dozens of siege ladders. Dozens of siege ladders had been installed in the Jianxiaoguan Canyon and delivered to the Song army.
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The county seat of Mianyang is neither high nor generous, only two feet and six feet, and there is no horse-facing wall. It is an ordinary city wall. Most of the city walls in the Song Dynasty were like this. Only those county towns in strategically important places were built tall and strong, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.
, Liyang County obviously does not belong to this category.
But no one expected that when Chen Qing used Longzhou as a springboard for his eastward expansion, the strategic position of Miyang County would become highlighted.
At present, there are three thousand troops in Liyang County, all of which are puppet Qi troops. The leader is called Mo Wangu, but he is a Bohai Jurchen.
Mo Wangu ordered the city to be closed a few days ago. People inside the city could not leave, and people outside the city could not come in. However, this also led to a loss of intelligence. He only knew that 10,000 troops would come to support him, but he did not know this.
Wan Yuan's army had been defeated by the Song army and was defeated halfway across the river.
On the top of the city, Mo Wangu stared at the south, his eyes wide open, and the delay in the reinforcements coming made him a little irritated.
At this time, a general whispered: "General, please bear with me for a few more days. I believe that reinforcements will come!"
Mo Wangu didn't understand Chinese. He couldn't understand what his men were saying, and he didn't want to find a translator. He vented his anger on the general, and he picked up the whip and hit the general head and face.
"You bastards have ruined my life!"
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[Thank you all for your tolerance and understanding. After taking medicine for two days, I have been much better. However, I have a severe cough. When I cough, I curl up into a ball. The muscles in my stomach are pulled very painful. It is really painful, but there is no way. I have to have a
During the process, my energy was not very good. I didn’t dare to stay up late anymore. I went to bed around ten o’clock and tried to resume the third update tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.]