It only took half a day to assemble the three heavy trebuchets. By this time, it was already dusk.
Chen Qing rode to the dam building site to inspect. Thousands of Song soldiers had used 30,000 sandbags to build a two-foot-high dam, but a gap of one foot wide was left.
It flows out from the gap and flows downstream to Jinsuoguan.
Hu Yanyun, who was in charge of the construction of the fortifications, told Chen Qing: "The momentum of the river is very strong. I still need to lay dozens of wooden piles in front of the sandbag wall, otherwise the mud and sand wall will be easily overturned by the water."
"If it is sealed, will the river overflow and affect the soldiers upstream?" Chen Qing asked again.
"Reporting to the capital will definitely have an impact, so it shouldn't take too long."
“How long can the flow be cut off for at most?”
Hu Yanyun thought for a while and said: "An hour at most, if it's longer it probably won't work."
"One hour is enough. Follow my orders and cut off the flow."
"I understand the humble position!"
........
After inspecting the river dam, Chen Qing returned to the camp. Three heavy trebuchets were ready, and the scout commander Tang Qian led a hundred scouts to perform a special mission.
Yang Zaixing led the Song army with 10,000 cavalry and 5,000 infantry as the first round of attack.
The time gradually reached one o'clock, and the Song army began to take action. Three heavy trebuchets, pulled by Jianniu, began to march towards Guancheng. In front of them, there were two-foot-high baffles, and five baffles were placed side by side.
On the road, it blocked the enemy's arrows at the top of the city.
The three heavy trebuchets moved very slowly and did not arrive at their respective positions until the second watch. The craftsmen began to quickly adjust their positions.
At this time, there was a bang on the top of the city, and the five hundred soldiers on the top of the city fired crossbow arrows at the three trebuchets, but it had no effect. The dense crossbow arrows were blocked by the high wooden boards.
Li Boxheng also hurried to the city. He stared at the three behemoths 300 steps away for a moment, turned around and shouted: "The Song army is likely to attack at night, so order the entire army to be on alert!"
Suddenly, three loud noises of "Bang! Bang! Bang!" were heard in succession. The Song Army's trebuchet had been launched, and three dark objects appeared in the air with fire on them. No one knew what they were.
.
When three large clay pots filled with kerosene hit the city wall, they shattered and eighty kilograms of kerosene spilled out. They were immediately ignited and formed a sea of fire.
The soldiers on the top of the city screamed in surprise. Many soldiers were ignited by the fire, jumping and jumping, crying and running towards the bottom of the city.
Li Boxheng's face turned pale. He suddenly remembered a fatal thing. There were thousands of barrels of kerosene on the city wall. What if they were all ignited?
"Quickly move the kerosene down and move it down! Move the kerosene down and move it down!"
Li Bosheng was so anxious that he stamped his feet. He had already seen dozens of kerosene barrels burning in the fire, and it was likely that they would be leaked soon.
At this time, the second round of trebuchets was launched, and the three large clay pots hit the top of the city again. This time, the three kerosene barrels were knocked over, and the kerosene flowed out, burning a large area, and half of the city was ablaze.
.
Li Boxheng had been pulled down from the top of the city by the soldiers. The five hundred soldiers only moved down 300 barrels of kerosene. There were still more than 700 barrels of kerosene left on the top of the city, but they could no longer get up.
When the third round of fire oil cans hit the top of the city, it was already a sea of fire, with thick smoke billowing and flames rising into the sky. It was impossible for there to be any more soldiers on the top of the city.
At this time, Tang Qian launched his plan. They brought a small boat with a weight of three hundred stones. A dozen soldiers stood in the waist-deep river and walked towards the city wall. On the small boat were two large boxes, each containing a thousand kilograms of gunpowder.
, the box is made of very strong double-layered beech wood, and the board alone is only one inch thick.
Two thousand kilograms of black powder is one ton of gunpowder. It explodes with great force, enough to collapse the city wall.
The Song Army had long discovered the power of a big explosion. When Li Gang was guarding Bianliang, they used thunderbolts with violent explosions. Thunderbolts may not be iron shells, but may also be thick-walled porcelain bottles. The key is the amount of gunpowder.
A hundred pounds of gunpowder can produce a powerful explosive effect.
Although they knew the power of the big explosion, the Song Army in Xihe Road did not use it much. The key was cost. The output of gunpowder in Xihe Road was not large. There were only 4,000 kilograms of black powder a year. This time, they used 2,000 kilograms of black powder.
Gunpowder is only half a year's production. It can be used once in a while, but there is no condition to use it in large quantities.
The ship approached the city wall, and Chen Qing immediately ordered someone to notify Duanliu.
Hu Yanyun gave an order, and thousands of soldiers came forward with sand bags on their backs. Countless mud bags were thrown in. The wooden stakes prevented the sand bags from being washed away by the water. The sand bags piled up quickly, and the final gap was blocked.
The river water quickly dropped and disappeared. After a while, the city wall revealed a crescent-shaped channel. The Song army stuffed the ships into the channel and blocked them with huge rocks at the bottom, so that the ships were tightly pressed against the bottom of the city wall.
"retreat!"
Tang Qian shouted, and the soldiers quickly retreated. He took out the fire stick and lit the thick match rope, which burst into flames.
Tang Qian turned around and ran away. All the soldiers retreated, covering their ears and squatting down. Even the soldier operating the trebuchet retreated five hundred steps away.
The world suddenly became quiet, and then there was an earth-shattering explosion. The earth shook, and a huge mushroom cloud rose. The huge shock wave caused by the explosion of two thousand kilograms of gunpowder blew up the city wall. Bricks and stones fell, and dust filled the air.
When the dust subsided a little, Chen Qing pointed his sword and said, "Go in!"
Yang Zaixing brandished a big gun and shouted, "Brothers, follow me and fight in!"
"Kill!" Ten thousand cavalry followed Yang Zaixing and killed into Guancheng...
The ones who were greatly affected were the soldiers in Guancheng. They did not take any precautions. When the river stopped flowing, Li Boxheng led dozens of soldiers to check. They became the first batch of victims. The general Li Boxheng was blown to pieces.
Dozens of other soldiers were also killed. No one survived.
Thousands of soldiers were so shaken by the violent explosion that they could no longer hear anything. Huge fear enveloped everyone's hearts.
"The city wall collapsed, and the Song army came to kill!"
I don't know who shouted, and saw the Song Army's cavalry rushing into the city like a tide. The will of thousands of defenders had been destroyed, and no one had the intention to resist. They turned around and fled, but they could not escape the pursuit of the cavalry. Five thousand soldiers
There was only one choice left, either be killed or surrender.
The gates of Guancheng were opened, and the main force of the Song Army began to march into Guancheng. At this time, there was a muffled sound in the distance, and white waves were seen rolling on the river bed. A water line rushed here quickly, and the soldiers rushed to the high ground.
Fortunately, the water storage did not last long and did not cause flooding. The water that overflowed the river bed only slightly submerged the soldiers' ankles.
A cavalryman rushed to report to Chen Qing, "Reporting to the capital, the explosion just now collapsed the embankment. No matter how hard it is, it cannot be blocked. The embankment has been completely washed away!"
Chen Qing waved his hand, "Don't worry about the dam, let General Hu Yanyun pack it up and go south!"
"Follow the order!"
The cavalry turned around and ran away.
Chen Qing led a mighty army through Guancheng and headed towards Tongzhou.
At this time, Guancheng was still burning, and black smoke enveloped the sky.
.........
The city of Jingzhao is already in turmoil. Some people are happy and some are worried about the news that Chen Qing has begun his Eastern Campaign. The ordinary people are happy. Guanzhong is still the territory of the puppet Qi State. Although the puppet Qi army has abandoned the Shaanxi Road militarily, the government
Jurisdiction was not given up.
In the Guanzhong area, like the Central Plains, the people in the Guanzhong area are subject to higher taxes year by year. The directly collected field tax has reached five to two, which means that 40% of the harvest must be turned over to the government. The household tax is as high as ten guan per household per year.
There is also a 30% commercial tax.
These are only direct taxes, there are also terrible indirect taxes, such as the price of salt at 110 Wen per catty, the price of rice at 80 Wen, and the tea and wine tax, etc. The people in Guanzhong have long been exploited and impoverished.
Of course Wan Yanchang would not care about this kind of thing. The supplies for their Jin soldiers were provided by the people in Guanzhong, and more than half of the wealth collected through expropriation was used to support the Jin soldiers.
This year's taxes are still being paid, but most people are using various methods to delay them. Especially when the news of Chen Qingdong's expedition came, they saw hope. Everyone knows the price of salt and rice on Xihe Road.
It was much cheaper than Guanzhong, and the taxes were extremely low, so that all the people were eagerly looking forward to the arrival of the Song army.
Although the people were happy, the army was very worried. There were only 10,000 puppet Qi troops in the city. The leader was called Zhong Lin. Zhong Lin was originally Li Cheng's general. Li Cheng led an army of 100,000 to march westward to Chengji County, and Zhong Lin led the army.
Thousands of people stayed behind in Jingzhao City.
Zhong Lin knew very well that his 10,000 troops could not defend Jingzhao City, but he could not abandon Jingzhao City and retreat eastward. Once Wan Yanchang knew that he had abandoned Jingzhao City, he would have to kill him. So these days, Zhong Lin
Lin has always been in a state of panic.
In fact, not only the general Zhong Lin, but also his 10,000 troops are also in a state of confusion. The reason is very simple. These 10,000 troops are all state soldiers from the northern Shaanxi states. Their hometown has been occupied by the Song army. Who is willing to replace him now?