The fierce siege battle between the two sides lasted for more than an hour, but the Song army never used the kerosene weapon to deal with the puppet Qi soldiers. Even so, the puppet Qi soldiers failed to attack the city. Their ferociousness was far from the
Far inferior to Xixia soldiers and Jurchen soldiers.
But there was another reason that Li Cheng never imagined, and that was the heavy siege ladder that made the soldiers unwilling to sacrifice their lives.
In the past, the siege ladder was very narrow and could only accommodate one soldier. The attacking soldiers had to rush up to the city with all their strength or jump down from the city half dead. There was no third way.
But now the heavy siege ladder can accommodate three people side by side. The siege soldiers found that the Song army on the top of the city was too sharp and powerful to resist, and their lives were in danger. As soon as they saw that there was a way to retreat, they immediately retreated to the side and refused to do so.
Worked hard to the death.
This resulted in that although the two sides fought fiercely, the casualties were not heavy enough. There were two hundred heavy siege ladders, and none of the soldiers on the siege ladder could rush to the top of the city. This is understandable. Many times, the soldiers had no way to retreat.
A last-ditch fight can actually stimulate your potential and fight to the top of the city with all your might.
On the contrary, if you have a way out, you will cherish your life, and your combat power will naturally not be able to explode.
Li Cheng, who was watching the battle from a distance, also saw the clues. He was really a little annoyed. There was no point in fighting these battles, but it would destroy morale...
"Send the order, stop the siege, and withdraw the army!"
"Dang! Dang! Dang!"
The bell for withdrawal rang. If the army retreated like a tide, Chen Qing ordered: "Stop shooting and let them withdraw!"
Liu Cui stepped forward and said hurriedly: "Capital, the crossbowmen can kill the enemy in a large area by shooting from behind!"
Chen Qing said calmly: "If we want to kill the enemy on a large scale, I have already ordered the use of kerosene!"
Liu Cui was a little discouraged. This battle was not pleasant, but it was far less enjoyable than the battle with the Xixia people.
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "I have said before, after this battle, we will truly stand up. How can we stand up? Of course, there will be more than 100,000 troops. If they are killed, where will my sources of troops come from?
Add more."
"You're stupid for your humble position!" Liu Cui clasped his fists and retreated.
Tens of thousands of enemy troops retreated like an ebbing tide, leaving more than 5,000 corpses on the battlefield. The Song army also suffered more than 600 casualties.
At this time, Yang Zaixing stepped forward and said: "I have some ideas!"
"you say!"
"Biji feels that in order to capture a large number of enemy troops, it is necessary to defeat them through positional warfare. I am willing to lead another cavalry to increase the attack and harassment of the enemy troops and disrupt the enemy's morale."
Chen Qing thought for a while and said: "Your idea is right. Sooner or later we must use positional warfare to defeat the opponent. This is actually my idea, but the time has not come yet, and you don't have to go out anymore. With Liu Qiong's five
It is enough for thousands of troops to harass us outside."
"In today's battle, Li Cheng will definitely realize the importance of kerosene and gunpowder. I'm afraid he will strengthen the protection of the second batch of kerosene, and we must also respond accordingly."
Chen Qing nodded, "I have already made arrangements for Liu Qiong. I have thought of all possibilities. I believe he will not let me down. All we have to do is wait patiently."
The puppet Qi army temporarily stopped attacking the city, but Li Cheng was very depressed. He already understood that he could not capture Chengji County with conventional warfare. Today, the Song army did not try its best to defend. If they burned the soldiers with kerosene, they would lose their soldiers.
It must be at least 10,000 people.
But even so, they struggled to attack, and the soldiers simply refused to work hard to attack the city.
Li Cheng was upset and asked people to invite his staff member Yao Bing.
"Did you see today's siege, sir?"
Yao Bing shook his head and said: "I was watching the battle from the sidelines. Frankly speaking, it is not very ideal. With today's status, we will definitely not be able to win Chengji County."
Li Cheng sighed and said: "I feel the same way, but there is nothing I can do. The Song Army's defense is really impregnable."
Yao Bing smiled and said: "It's not even close to being impregnable. If we have enough resources, we still have hope to break into Chengji County."
"What resources do you mean sir?"
"Fire oil and gunpowder!"
Li Cheng was stunned for a moment and said: "Do you have gunpowder and kerosene? Our trebuchet has been destroyed. How can we use it?"
Yao Bing said slowly: "The last time our gunpowder ship exploded, to be honest, I was shocked. I went to the scene the next day. Two ships were blown to pieces. One ship contained three thousand kilograms of gunpowder, and the other
One ship had 2,500 kilograms of gunpowder, and other ships also had a lot of gunpowder, but they did not explode, but just burned. Later I learned the reason. The gunpowder in other ships was placed outside, covering it with a layer of fire.
cloth, and those two ships were installed in the cabin, which was equivalent to a large powder keg, so they exploded.
I was thinking, if we make a very strong and sealed big box, put three thousand kilograms of gunpowder in the big box, and then put it next to the city gate of Chengji County and detonate it, it will definitely blow up the city gate of Chengji County.
If it has to be smashed, let’s blow up the inner and outer city gates so that our troops can surge into the city.”
Li Cheng felt a little like he was just waking up from a dream. He struck with his fist and said, "Sir, you are right. Don't blow up the city gate. Blow up its water gate, which is enough to collapse the city wall."
"So this transportation of kerosene and gunpowder is very important. I believe that Chen Qing will definitely take action."
"But Weishui City is in our hands, how can their cavalry get there?"
"Either take the waterway, or go south to Beixianren Pass. You can get around it from there."
Li Cheng nodded, "Sir, you are right. Although I have made arrangements, I am not afraid of ten thousand, just in case, I still have to send troops to respond!"
From Jingzhao Weishui Pier, more than 20 large ships loaded with military supplies set off. The large ships were traveling against the current to go west. Although the southeast wind was blowing, the wind was still not strong enough. Trackers had to pull the fibers on the shore.
Hundreds of trackers were shouting slogans and walking on the shore. Long ropes pulled more than 20 large ships slowly. There were 2,000 puppet Qi army cavalry escorts on the shore, strictly protecting the safety of the fleet.
In addition to the cavalry and trackers, there are nearly a hundred boatmen who are responsible for steering the ship and stabilizing the ship's navigation.
The boss of the ship is a man in his thirties. He is shirtless on the bow, revealing his bronzed muscles. There are also twenty soldiers on each ship to guard the safety of the ship.
After finding an opportunity, the boat boss walked to the stern of the boat and smiled at the boatman holding the pole: "Let me do it!"
"No! No need! I'll do it anyway."
The boss of the ship also picked up a long pole to help support the boat. When he saw the soldiers entering the cabin to rest, he lowered his voice and said: "I just got off the cargo ship and took a look. It is true that there is only kerosene and no gunpowder as you mentioned."
"Do you have a key to the cargo bay?"
The captain laughed and said: "The key has been handed in, but I still have one more. There are three keys in total, and I only handed in two."
"Do the other twenty ships have keys?"
The captain of the ship nodded, gave some instructions, and then turned around and left.
The boatman who punted the boat was called Wang Miao. His true identity was the Song Army's scout Dutou. Not only him, there were twenty-five scouts in total. There was one person on each boat. When they were carrying the goods on the boat, they discovered
No, no gunpowder was seen, only 10,000 barrels of kerosene.
The news from the boss of the ship just now confirmed their guess that there was only kerosene on the ship, and the gunpowder was transported by another route, probably by land.
Wang Miao had sent one of his men to spread the news last night. What he had to do now was to burn down the ship and all the kerosene.
But it was more difficult. During the day, each large ship was strictly guarded by twenty soldiers. When it stopped sailing at night, all crew members had to go ashore. There were only soldiers on board. What's more, the entrance to the cargo warehouse was locked with a big lock, making it impossible to enter.
But today the boss of the ship went in, mainly to check whether there was a water leak, but Wang Miao had already seen the opportunity. The boss of the ship had the key to unlock the door.
At night, the ships docked to rest, and the boatmen were driven to sleep on the shore. Two thousand cavalry were not far from them. They carried small tents, and the soldiers rested in the small tents, but there were still five hundred cavalry patrolling the shore.
Not only are there cavalry patrols on the shore, but there are also ten patrol soldiers on each large ship, which are heavily guarded at the entrance to the cargo hold.
The ship boss found Wang Miao, handed him a bunch of keys, and whispered: "Each key has a number on it, corresponding to each ship. Don't make a mistake."
Wang Miao nodded, "Thank you very much!"
"You're welcome, when do you plan to take action?"
"I'm afraid there won't be a chance at night. I plan to agree on the same time during lunch tomorrow to check whether the cargo hold is leaking. There will be no communication between the soldiers guarding the ship."
The captain of the ship grinned and said, "I will ring the bell at noon tomorrow, and you should take the ringing of the bell as a signal!"
