At noon the next day, it was not lunch time yet, but the soldiers on the ship rushed to the stern of the ship impatiently, waiting for their meal. The roasted mutton they had for lunch today, each piece of mutton weighed half a catty, and it was as golden as honey. The soldiers were so greedy that their mouths watered.
The soldiers at the stern huddled together. Wang Miao gave the captain a wink and walked towards the bow.
"Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!" The bell rang. It was the bell for lunch, and it was also the signal to get started together.
Wang Miao thought about the excuse all night, but now he found that there was no need for an excuse at all. There was no one at the entrance of the cargo hold. They all ran to eat. He took out the key and opened the iron lock, and then opened the heavy door. Large wooden cover.
At this time, screams were heard in the distance. This must have been his men taking action forcefully. Not everyone was so lucky to be able to open the cargo hatch cover directly.
Wang Miao didn't have time to think and jumped in. The cargo ship was filled with densely packed large wooden barrels, neatly stacked, all filled with kerosene.
Time didn't allow him to take a closer look, so he pulled out his dagger and stabbed it hard. A jet of black kerosene spurted out. He stabbed several more times, and suddenly the ground was covered with kerosene.
He took out the fire stick and lit it, threw it on the ground, and with a bang, the ground burst into flames. Wang Miao turned around and ran towards the deck. He saw shouting in the distance and black smoke rising from most of the ships.
"Jump off the ship!"
Wang Miao saw the boat boss covered in blood and waving to him desperately. He was desperately trying to resist the enemy soldiers from rushing towards him.
At this time, a spear pierced the chest of the ship boss. The ship boss screamed and died immediately...
Wang Miao's eyes were red. He endured his grief, jumped off the boat and disappeared into the water. A dozen soldiers rushed up and fired arrows into the water.
Just then, someone shouted, "Fire! The cargo ship is on fire."
I saw thick smoke billowing from the cargo hold and smoke coming out. The soldiers on the ship were so frightened that they shouted: "The ship is docked! The ship is docked!"
Large ships slowly docked one after another. Four of the twenty-five large ships were not successfully burned. The kerosene of the other twenty-one ships was all ignited. The cavalry on the shore watched helplessly as they were burned to only their skeletons.
In the end, the puppet Qi army only managed to save 1,600 barrels of kerosene. This amount of kerosene may be useful for small-scale battles, but it is almost insignificant for a large city like Chengji County.
However, the Song Army scouts also suffered heavy losses in this battle. Only 12 of the 25 Song Army scouts survived, and the remaining 13 Song Army scouts died together with the enemy.
On the south bank of the Wei River, a small convoy of fifteen large vehicles, escorted by two thousand soldiers, was heading west quickly. They traveled day and night and were very hidden. These dozen large vehicles were transporting eight thousand people. With only a few kilograms of gunpowder, they built a plank road openly and secretly visited Chencang. It seemed that they boarded a ship and took the water route, but in fact they took the land route in order to deceive the Song army's scouts.
From the current point of view, their strategy is relatively successful. Most of the ships carrying kerosene were burned on the Wei River, but the convoy carrying gunpowder remained unscathed. They seemed not to have been discovered by the Song army's scouts.
On this day, the convoy arrived at the edge of Monk Plains. This area was hilly and had many ravines, which was the best place for an ambush. The convoy was even more cautious.
That night, after a day's rest, the convoy prepared for the night journey. The soldiers stood up one after another to avoid scratching the grass clippings on their bodies. The coachmen yawned and lazily walked towards the cart.
At this moment, there was a "whoosh!" sound, and a burning gunpowder arrow hit a cart and nailed it to a wooden barrel.
"There are enemies!"
A soldier shouted, and the soldiers were so frightened that they fell down one after another. Then hundreds of gunpowder arrows were fired at them, but the target was not the soldiers, but fifteen carts.
"It's over!" the leading general shouted in fright.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Gunpowder barrels exploded continuously, filling the air with gunpowder smoke and deafening. Several coachmen were killed on the spot. The other coachmen lay on the ground, covering their ears and shouting. The soldiers also fell down one after another, daring not to move.
When the explosions stopped and the smoke cleared, the fifteen carts were gone, and mangled mules lay on the ground.
The leading general shouted: "It's on the top of the mountain on the left, kill me!"
Two thousand soldiers of the puppet Qi army rushed to the top of the hill. The top of the hill was empty. There was no one left. There was a large pine forest in the distance. The ambushing Song army had already withdrawn into the pine forest.
Five days later, the Puppet Qi Army's board-walled camp was completely built, with thousands of soldiers patrolling on the high walls. The Song Army could no longer harass the Puppet Qi Army, and the Song Army's harassment completely stopped.
But at this moment, bad news came from Guanzhong. Their kerosene and gunpowder were attacked by Song army scouts. Only 1,400 barrels of kerosene were left. The other kerosene and gunpowder were all destroyed.
Burned to the ground.
This news made Li Cheng furious. He drew his sword and hacked and slashed in the big tent. This was his only hope of breaking the city. He sent 4,000 people to protect him, but they were still destroyed by the Song army. These fools succeeded but failed.
If there are more than enough, everyone should be killed.
Li Cheng was so depressed that he got extremely drunk that night. His staff Yao Bing had never seen Li Cheng so rude before, so he had to go to his deputy general Guan Shigu to discuss the matter.
Guan Shigu sighed and said: "If you really can't attack, then retreat! As long as we can keep the main force, even if Wan Yanchang is dissatisfied, the emperor can explain it to us."
Yao Bing shook his head, "I have already felt it. Chen Qing will never let us retreat easily. If we retreat, he will definitely come out to fight us."
Guan Shigu was startled, "Will this happen?"
Yao Bing nodded, "When we attacked the city, Chen Qing refused to kill us. His intention was obvious. If he wanted to surrender his troops, he couldn't just defend the city by surrendering his troops. The two armies must fight to defeat us.
I guess he is waiting for an opportunity, and when our morale is low and we are about to retreat, he will attack."
Guan Shigu thought for a while and said, "Can we use his mentality to fight an ambush?"
Yao Bing smiled bitterly, "He has deployed a large number of scouts around us. Every move we make is under his control. How could there be a chance to ambush General Guan? We can only accept the challenge and fight him head-on. There are no other ideas."
Reality,"
Guan Shigu nodded slowly, "You are worried that Li Dutong's condition will affect the final battle."
"Exactly! I want to ask General Guan to persuade him and cheer him up. Even if the attack on the city fails, we still have a chance for a final decisive battle. We can defeat the Song army in one fell swoop and achieve our goal."
Guan Shigu pondered for a moment and said, "Okay! I'll go and persuade him."
Guan Shigu walked into the handsome tent. Li Cheng was still pouring himself a drink. When he saw it was Guan Shigu, he waved and said with a smile: "Old Guan is here just in time, let's have a drink!"
Guan Shigu stepped forward and said solemnly: "The opportunity to defeat the enemy is right in front of us. Why is Li Dutong willing to give up the opportunity?"
Li Cheng was startled, raised his head and laughed: "General Guan must have drunk too much!"
Guan Shigu stepped forward and grabbed his wine glass, looked into his eyes and said: "If you order the withdrawal now, within fifty miles, Chen Qing will lead an army to chase them out. At that time, it will be a decisive battle between the two armies, with one hundred thousand people fighting against each other.
Fifty thousand people, isn’t this an opportunity to defeat the enemy?”
Li Cheng said in shock: "Why did he chase him out?"
"Then when your 30,000-strong army attacked the city, why didn't he use kerosene to burn all 30,000-strong troops to death? Does he have the heart of a Bodhisattva? Don't forget what his nickname is?"
"Man-demon!"
Li Cheng blurted out, and he nodded after a while, "Then what should I do?"
"Cheer up first, stop drinking, prepare well for two days, and then withdraw!"
"I see!"
Li Cheng stood up and ordered sternly: "Come here, take away all the food and wine!"
About five miles away from the enemy's camp, Tang Qian, the Song army's scout commander, stood by the woods and looked toward the camp.
He turned back and asked his subordinate Yang Ruidao: "How sure are you?"
Yang Rui thought for a while, "About 50%!"
"Only 50% sure?"
Tang Qian shook his head, "If the certainty is so low, I will not agree to let you go."
Yang Rui became anxious and said quickly: "General, listen to me and then make your own judgment."
Tang Qian laughed and said, "I know you are more modest. Just tell me! I'll listen."
"Beizhi served as the commander of the Jingzhao Defense Force under Li Cheng before. He had 2,000 men under his command. These two thousand brothers are currently in the camp. Yesterday, Beizhi had contacted an old soldier. He is from my hometown and was promoted by me.
My confidant, he happens to be on guard outside and is willing to help me sneak into the camp. As long as I enter the camp, I will be able to attack the food and grass with my martial arts skills."
Tang Qian pondered for a moment and said: "The key is whether your old subordinate is reliable. Will he betray you to gain wealth?"
"General, don't worry! I know him very well. His parents died at the hands of the Jin people, and his wife was also raped and killed by the Jin people. Moreover, he is also from Qingshui County, Qinzhou. He defected to me because he was desperate. If there is a chance, he can help his parents and his wife."
To take revenge, he will definitely do his best to help me."
Tang Qian frowned, "With such deep hatred, why would you join the puppet Qi army instead of the Song army?"
"He joined Liu Qi's army, but he didn't have enough to eat and was defeated repeatedly in battles. He became a little discouraged, so he came to me, hoping to have a full meal."
Tang Qian thought for a long time and said: "According to what you said, the certainty can be increased to 60%. There is still a lot of risk, but it is not as good as the tiger's den to catch the tiger's cub. I will go with you. The two of us will cooperate with each other and we will be sure of success."
It’s about 70%.”
"I am determined to die in order to repay the capital for not pursuing me, so the general will not have to go."
Tang Qian patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "How can I be promoted to commander if I don't go? If I don't get promoted to commander, how can I give up my position to you? Let's bear the risks together and take the credit together, how about that?"
Yang Rui was moved and nodded, "Then let's go together!"
