Ten thousand puppet Qi troops carried fifty large siege ladders and rushed towards the city. The commander was none other than Han Chang. He also learned the lesson from the original attack on Ganquan Fort and dispersed the troops into a team of two hundred people to attack the tall tower.
The city wall rushed away.
The heavy trebuchet in the city was launched, and thirty gunpowder barrels were accurately thrown at the puppet Qi army. Each gunpowder barrel exploded in the running crowd. The soldiers were so frightened that they hurriedly fell down, but many soldiers were unable to do so.
He was hit by flying poison nails and screamed in agony.
Han Chang knew that the poisonous nails of the Song army would not cause much damage temporarily, but would affect the morale of the army. He immediately ordered: "Beat the drum!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!" The earth-shattering sound of war drums sounded.
Five hundred Jurchen sword and axemen also rode forward to force the puppet Qi army to attack. Many soldiers who were shot by poisonous nails had no choice but to suppress their inner fear and run forward as if resigned to their fate.
The soldiers of the puppet Qi army rushed to the city and built wooden planks on the moat. At this moment, thousands of arrows were fired in the city. The arrows, as dense as locusts, crossed the city top and rained down on the soldiers below the city.
The puppet Qi troops raised their shields one after another, but many soldiers were still hit by arrows and fell into the moat.
The soldiers rushed across the moat and put heavy siege ladders up to the top of the city. The soldiers of the puppet Qi army jumped up and climbed towards the top of the city.
What greeted them were rolling logs and stones, which were like hailstones falling from their heads. The soldiers on the siege ladder were smashed to death and their heads were bleeding. They all screamed and rolled down the city.
A Jurchen cavalry rushed to Han Chang and asked: "The captain asked if the whole army can press forward?"
Han Chang looked at the city head calmly and said: "Tell the captain that if the Song army has gunpowder, they must have kerosene. Wait a moment!"
The Jurchen cavalry turned their horses and galloped to report. The reason why Han Chang did not suggest that the entire army press forward was not just that the Song army might have kerosene, but that he found more serious clues, that is, the number of Song troops in the city, and the number of people on the top of the city.
There were at least seven or eight thousand people, but nearly ten thousand arrows were shot from the city just now.
This shows that the Song army is far more than the number of people on the city. The number of troops is at least 15,000 to 20,000, and may even be 20,000.
They only have 30,000 people, but the opponent has strong and tall city walls and nearly 20,000 troops. How can they possibly capture the city?
It's just that Han Chang knew the Jurchens' pride very well. He had to withdraw his troops as soon as they attacked the city. Wanyan Ahuli would never do it. He could only wait for a certain opportunity before ordering the troops to withdraw.
Niu Gao could clearly see from the top of the city that most of the enemy troops had crossed the moat, and the time was ripe to attack with fire. He immediately ordered: "Defend with fierce fire and oil!"
The kerosene had been prepared a long time ago. The general gave an order. Thousands of barrels of kerosene were poured down from the top of the city. The black kerosene filled the siege ladder. Hundreds of torches were thrown down, and the siege ladder suddenly became a mess.
Sea of fire.
The soldiers on the siege ladder immediately became a mess. Many soldiers had experience and knew that there would be hell-like fire soon. Countless soldiers jumped into the moat desperately.
At this time, the flames also spread under the city and quickly spread into one. The soldiers of the puppet Qi army panicked. They were so frightened that they yelled and fled desperately to the other side of the moat. Arrows rained down from the top of the city.
The soldiers of the Qi army ignored their heads and had long forgotten the arrows above their heads. They were shot down by sharp arrows one after another. This round of arrows caused heavy casualties.
‘Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!’ Han Chang ordered to withdraw his troops.
Thousands of soldiers of the Puppet Qi Army ran desperately for their lives, only wishing that their parents had given them two fewer legs.
This exploratory attack lasted less than half an hour and ended with a disastrous defeat for the Puppet Qi Army. However, because the soldiers of the Puppet Qi Army had some experience and ran faster, the number of casualties was much lower than before, and the total casualties were nearly
Half of the four thousand people were killed by arrows from the front and back, which had nothing to do with the burning of kerosene.
When Han Chang came to the Jurchen army formation, he saw Wanyan Ahuli's face was gloomy and his eyes were filled with anger.
Han Chang stepped forward quickly and explained: "The coach must have noticed that the opponent has at least 20,000 troops, and ours only has 30,000 troops. It is impossible to capture Pingliang City, and maybe the entire army will be annihilated."
"Is this the result of a probing attack?"
"Exactly!"
Wanyan Ahuli thought for a while, and it was indeed true. The opponent's troops were far more powerful than the thousands of troops on top of the city, otherwise they would not be able to shoot a formation of ten thousand arrows.
His expression suddenly softened a lot, and he asked again: "Then what should we do next?"
"Confront Pingliang City first, and then ask the Governor's Army for instructions!"
Wanyan Ahuli nodded, "Okay! Ask the Metropolitan Supervisor Army for instructions."
Wanyan Ahuli immediately wrote a letter and sent someone to deliver it to Jingzhao City.
Twenty-six thousand troops returned to the main camp and stopped attacking Pingliang City.
...........
Jingzhao City is also actively preparing for war, mainly building large-scale siege weapons.
But what makes Wan Yanchang depressed is that the court has been slow to approve his plan to attack Xihe Road. It has been almost a month, and there has been no exciting news.
In the morning, Wanyan and Lisa rushed to the Supervisory Army Mansion. When he saw Wanyanchang, he asked anxiously: "General Du, I heard that the attack on Pingliang is not going well?"
Wan Yanchang said slowly: "It's not that the attack was unfavorable, but that our judgment was wrong. Chen Qing actually stationed 20,000 troops in Pingliang City, as well as large trebuchets, firearms, and kerosene. It is impossible for 30,000 troops to capture Pingliang.
The city suffered heavy losses on the first day.”
"How heavy is the loss?" Wanyan asked Lisha nervously.
"About four thousand Qi troops were lost."
Wanyan drank from Lisa and he breathed a sigh of relief. There were only 4,000 people, and they were still Qi troops. It was not a big problem.
"Capital Supervisory Army, what is the attitude of the Wolf Lord? Why is there no news yet?"
Wanyan drank to Lisa and said with some dissatisfaction: "Does the imperial court want to attack Bashu?"
Wan Yanchang said after a while: "I got some news from private channels. I'm afraid the situation is not good for us."
Wanyan Helisa knew about Wanyanchang's private channels only because Wanyan Zongpan wrote to him.
"What's the news?"
"Wanyan Wushu and Wanyan Zonghan, both supervisors of the army, opposed the increase of troops to Shaanxi. They believed that even if they captured Hanzhong, they would not be able to invade Bashu. They believed that the road to Shu was too difficult and would only consume a large number of Jurchen soldiers. Unless the Sichuan-Shaanxi plan is revised, otherwise
They opposed sending more troops to Shaanxi Road."
Wanyan drank from Lisa and said angrily: "Who is wasting away the Jurchen soldiers? Isn't it Wanyan Wushu? More than 200,000 Jurchen soldiers have died in his hands in the past few years, and he still has the nerve to say that Shaanxi is wasting too many soldiers."
many."
Wan Yanchang said angrily: "Everyone understands the truth, but the problem is that their forces have the upper hand in the court. To put it bluntly, they don't want us to command more Jurchen soldiers."
Wanyan drank from Lisa and was speechless for a moment. Today's passive situation was actually caused by the failure in the fight for the crown prince position last year.
Last autumn, the wolf lord Wanyan Sheng suffered a stroke and was bedridden. Various forces rushed to Beijing, and the Jin soldiers completely withdrew northward. A fierce battle for the crown prince was held within the Jin Kingdom.
Emperor Wanyan Sheng of the Jin Kingdom wanted to pass the throne to his eldest son Wanyan Zongpan. He received support from the Wanyanchang and Wanyanhelisa factions. However, the Taizu faction headed by Wanyan Zonghan insisted on following the ancestral system.
, Wanyan Hela, the eldest grandson of Taizu Wanyan Aguda, was appointed as Banbo Jilie, the crown prince. The two sides fought fiercely, and in the end most of the royal family supported Wanyan Zonghan.
The emperor Wanyan Sheng had no choice but to appoint Wanyan Hela, who was only fourteen years old, as the crown prince, and appointed him as Banbo Jilie.
Wanyanchang's faction lost the fight for the crown prince, so now Wanyanchang wants to use the attack on Bashu and Chen Qing as an excuse to ask the emperor Wanyansheng to allocate 100,000 Jurchen troops to Wanyan Helisa. There are hundreds of thousands of Jurchen troops.
In their hands, they can at least compete with Wanyan Wushu and Wanyan Zonghan.
Once the Wolf Lord dies and the young Wanyan Heci ascends the throne, he will not be able to take control of the government. Wanyan Zonghan, Wanyan Wushu and others must be the regents. At that time, he does not have hundreds of thousands of troops in his hands, so he can only let them deal with it.
Already.
Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Wushu were also very clear about his purpose of having an army, so they firmly opposed sending more Jurchen troops to Shaanxi Road.
While the two were discussing, a soldier came to report: "Inform the capital supervisor that the envoy to Beijing has arrived!"