If Qianyang County is just a general county, then Pingliang County in Pingliang Prefecture is a large county of great strategic value. One of the importance of Pingliang County is that it happens to guard the entrance to Jingyuan Road, and it also happens to be
Located in the center of a large cross for north-south and east-west transportation, its value is very important both for military and commercial trade.
However, it is much more difficult to attack Pingliang Prefecture from Deshun Prefecture. Dalong Mountain stretches across the north and south. There are dozens of large and small passes on Guangda Long Mountain, such as the famous Shimen Pass, Muxia Pass, Liupan Pass, and Long Mountain.
There are mountain passes, victory passes, etc. It can be said that one man can handle the pass and ten thousand men cannot open it.
Therefore, Chen Qing chose the southern route, crossing the Qinling Mountains from the Weihe River Passage, then going north through Jianxiao Pass, taking over Miyang County, and then using Miyang County as the base, heading north to Pingliang County. This was considered a shortcut.
But Pingliang County is far more important than Liyang. Of course, Liyang is also very important. Capturing Liyang is equivalent to opening the door to Fengxiang Mansion. It is only more than a hundred miles away from Fengxiang County and seriously threatens the control of Fengxiang counties.
It is safe, but Liyang County is easy to attack and difficult to defend, and has little strategic value.
Chen Qing sent the prisoners of war back to Chengji County, and ordered Wang Qi, the commander-in-chief, to lead 2,000 troops to guard Mianyang County. Chen Qing himself led 16,000 troops to go north to Pingliang Prefecture, hoping to seize Pingliang County in one go.
That afternoon, the army arrived in Huating County. Chen Qing, the original magistrate of Huating County, knew him, but he had been transferred elsewhere. The current magistrate was named Zhang Qing, who was a local gentry.
Like all magistrates, when the Song army arrived in Huating County, Zhang Qing immediately organized a group of pigs, sheep, grain and grass to reward the army, hoping that the army would not enter the county.
Chen Qing also understood the difficulties of these officials and ordered the army to station outside the city overnight. That night, scouts came from Pingliang County and brought the latest information about Pingliang County.
This really gave Chen Qing a big headache. In just a few days after he attacked Longzhou, the puppet Qi army quickly increased its troops to Pingliang Prefecture. The garrison in Pingliang County initially only had 4,000 people, but now it has surged to 20,000 people.
And it was personally led by Li Cheng, the governor of the capital.
This is the fighter plane. The fighter plane is fleeting. It can be said that now that the fighter plane is gone, it will be even more difficult for him to capture Pingliang County.
"Tell me about the condition of the city walls and gates in Pingliang County!"
"Reporting to the capital, the height of Pingliang County is about three feet. It is made of large bluestones. It is very strong and wide. The moat is also three feet wide. The suspension bridge and city gate were all newly built last year and covered with iron bars. The entire county perimeter is
About thirty miles away, all 20,000 enemy troops were stationed in the city."
"How many scouts and spies are there in the city?"
"Including humble positions, there are eight people in total."
Chen Qing was pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back. Several generals next to him were also worried. They were all experienced in defending the city. Judging from the descriptions of the scouts, even if they captured the city, they would have to pay a heavy price. The most important thing was that their
There are not many troops.
To deal with a city wall guarded by 20,000 people, at least 60,000 troops are needed. Only with a strength ratio of three to one can it be possible to capture the city.
At this time, Chen Qing stopped and said slowly: "Since we are here, we must give it a try no matter what!"
...........
On the morning of the third day, Chen Qing led an army of 16,000 troops to arrive three miles away from Pingliang County. They lined up neatly. He immediately ordered a soldier to approach the top of the city and fire a message arrow.
On the top of the city, Li Cheng looked coldly at the Song army three miles away, and said to the generals: "I didn't even bring the camp luggage. It seemed that I was just for a sneak attack on Pingliang City. It was originally possible, but he is late now."
One step and the fighter plane is lost."
The generals laughed, "Didn't he claim to have a perfect plan? I didn't expect him to be so embarrassed!"
Li Cheng said calmly: "He did not make a mistake when he sent troops, but the basis of his sending troops was based on Wu Jie's army sending troops to Monk Yuan. Once the Song army sent troops to Monk Yuan, Wan Yanhe Li Sa would not dare to act rashly.
He can divide his troops into two groups, one to capture Miyang County and the other to capture Pingliang City. Perhaps he can capture Pingliang City before us. At that time, he was the one who laughed at us from the top of the city for not bringing tents and luggage."
Everyone was in awe, "The general sees clearly!"
Li Cheng smiled proudly, "Now he is embarrassed, I want to see how he wants to seize the city?"
At this time, a Song Army cavalry galloped over, bowed and nocked an arrow, and shot an arrow letter up to the top of the city. A soldier picked up the arrow letter and ran over to present it to Li Cheng.
Li Cheng opened the letter, read it and said with a smile: "He asked for a duel with me and hoped that I would go out of the city to fight him!"
All the generals said one after another: "The general must not be fooled. Without the general, the city's defense capability will be reduced by half."
Li Cheng was secretly annoyed. Everyone was not optimistic about his duel with Chen Qing. Was he that bad?
Despite being dissatisfied, Li Cheng still knew that he had no chance of winning if he could kill Wanyan Loushi.
He wrote and replied: "The four seasons are unlucky, so it is not advisable to leave the city!"
Hand the letter to the soldier and "Shoot it back!"
.........
Chen Qing decided to conduct a tentative siege. Since he wanted to see the opponent's defense ability, he also needed to understand the defense situation of Pingliang City. More importantly, he wanted to understand the siege ability of his own army.
There will definitely be casualties in the war and it is inevitable. He must obtain the information he wants with minimal casualties.
Opportunities for this kind of battle are relatively rare. The generals fought one after another. Finally, lots were drawn, and Niu Gao got the chance to fight.
Chen Qing took out a golden order and said to him: "I will give you 6,000 infantry and 120 siege ladders. You are allowed to advance but not retreat. It is up to me to decide to retreat. If you retreat without permission, behead!"
"I humbly obey orders!"
The war drums in the Song army were beating, 'Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!'
Six thousand elite infantrymen went into battle. They wore double-layered leather armor, held large shields and short spears, and carried swords on their backs. The reason why they did not use iron armor was mainly because the cost was too high. Secondly, they were protected by shields, so the chance of being hit by arrows was low.
It can also reduce the load, making it easier for soldiers to climb the city and fight.
Among the six thousand soldiers, there are also 600 kerosene firearms soldiers, which are already standard equipment for the Song Army on Xihe Road. They are not only equipped with kerosene skins, but also two gunpowder barrels.
The six thousand troops quickly gathered and, under the leadership of Niu Gao, attacked the southern city wall in a mighty manner.
Li Cheng did not expect that the opponent actually attacked the city. He immediately ordered the entire army to enter combat mode and mobilized 10,000 troops to deploy at the south end of the city. The trebuchets had not yet arrived, mainly bows and arrows, rolling wood and stones, as well as some firearms and kerosene.
.
Li Cheng was so impressed by the tremendous power displayed by the Song army in using firearms and kerosene at Ganquan Fort that he obtained 10,000 imitation poison-quenching nail gunpowder barrels from the Jin soldiers.
As for how the matchlock technology came into the hands of the Jin soldiers, it is basically impossible to verify. Generally speaking, as long as the Song army started to equip it on a large scale, the Jin soldiers would soon appear in the army.
There is also kerosene, but the kerosene of the Jin Army has not been refined and can only be called kerosene or crude oil, not the fierce kerosene of the Song Army. Although it can also burn, the effect is still worse.
The Song army was getting closer and closer, only two hundred steps away from the city wall. Li Cheng shouted: "Fire the arrow!"
Five thousand crossbow arrows were fired from the top of the city at the same time, densely shooting at the Song army. At this time, the six thousand Song army had been completely scattered in the wilderness more than ten miles wide.
There were fifty people in each team, and each team was equipped with a siege ladder and six long planks.
This is actually a change in tactics. Before the Jin soldiers and Xixia troops attacked the Song army's city, they first sent people to build three simple wooden bridges on the city protection. This resulted in thousands of troops crossing the single wooden bridge, and the army was crowded.
into a ball.
Chen Qing also discovered the serious drawbacks of this tactic. It was easy to be mass-killed by the defenders' bows and arrows. The key here was the problem of the single-plank bridge on the moat. He changed his concept and allowed each army to have a single-plank bridge. In this way, battlefield combat
The area will be greatly broadened, which will effectively reduce the probability of being shot by enemy bows and arrows.
The soldiers of the Song Army held their shields high while running, facing the roaring rain of arrows. The shields effectively blocked the powerful crossbow bolts, but there were still soldiers who fell down with arrows in their legs. This was the only loophole. If the crossbow bolts were fired,
If the angle is lower, it may hit the soldier's leg.
Although being hit by an arrow in the leg will not cause death, if treatment is not received in time, you will bleed to death. In fact, in the cold weapon era, unless the head was chopped off with a knife or the internal organs were pierced, most soldiers actually died.
Treatment was not provided in time.
The injured soldiers of the Song Army were all trained. They reluctantly pulled out the crossbow arrows, took out the first-aid kits from their arms, and poured wine on the wounds. The pain made the soldiers tremble all over. The desire to survive made them endure the pain and continued to chew to stop the bleeding.
Apply the ointment to the wound, sprinkle with gold wound powder, and then wrap the wound with a cloth bandage.
After completing this set of simple self-treatment, your life can basically be saved."
The Song army continued to run to the sound of war drums, rushed to the moat, put up long wooden boards, rushed across the moat in an instant, and erected a siege ladder on the top of the city.
On the top of the city, rolling logs and stones fell like a torrential rain, and burning gunpowder barrels were also thrown down.
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[The body still hasn’t recovered quickly, hey! When a person reaches middle age, getting sick is a hardship and a purgatory. Unlike in the past, such a minor illness was not taken seriously at all. Now at half past eleven, it is...
I feel like my energy and energy have been drained out, and I can no longer hold on. I will try to update three times tomorrow and write more to improve my efficiency during the day.】