Zhao Gou found a report from the cabinet next to him and smiled at everyone: "These are the results of the martial arts entrance exam. The person who ranked first was Chen Qing. I also said at the time that this name looked familiar.
"
Zhang Jun quickly smiled and said: "Your Majesty, since he can kill Wanyan Loushi, who is known as the most powerful general in the Jin Kingdom, his martial arts can certainly be ranked first in martial arts."
"Yes! It seems that he is well-deserved. Where is he now? I want to meet this brave general."
Privy Councilor Li Hui stood aside and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, I just remembered that this Chen Qing has revealed the first rank and should lead his army to Muzhou to annihilate the fierce bandit Zhang Kui."
One by one, not only the emperor Zhao Gou was more interested in Chen Qing, but several ministers also wanted to meet this legendary brave general of the Western Army.
...........
Muzhou is the area around Chun'an County in western Zhejiang, today's Qiandao Lake area. Of course, there was no Qiandao Lake in the Song Dynasty, and Muzhou's prefecture was Chun'an County.
Chen Qing led the army to march for two days. At noon, they were still about ten miles away from Chun'an County. Chen Qing ordered the soldiers to rest where they were, and asked Zhao Xiaoyi to lead a team of scouts to check the situation.
Since Han Shizhong told himself that He Zhizhou asked the court for help, it was probably Zhang Kui who came down from the mountain, so he should not be careless.
In the pine forest, the soldiers collapsed to the ground from exhaustion, and many of them were snoring loudly. In fact, they had been given rest on the road and had slept all night last night, but the soldiers were still exhausted and could not walk on the road.
Chen Qing shook his head secretly. This army was seriously undertrained and physically weak. If they fought against the enemy in this state, they would definitely lose.
To forge iron, you must be strong yourself. If you want to destroy bandits, you must first have an army capable of fighting.
Not long after, Zhao Xiaoyi rushed back with his men and shouted: "The bandits are attacking the county town, there are about four to five thousand people!"
The faces of a group of soldiers next to them turned pale. There were four to five thousand people on the other side, and they only had two thousand people. How could they fight?
Chen Qing did not hesitate. He had a plan for this situation. Chen Qing immediately told Hu Yantong and Liu Qiong: "Implement according to the previously planned plan!"
"Follow the order!"
Hu Yantong and Liu Qiong shouted to the soldiers: "Get up and follow me to chop down the branches!"
Soon, the soldiers cut down countless pine branches. Chen Qing asked the coachmen to untie the mules and tie several pine branches to each mule. He ordered three hundred coachmen to put on cloth armor, hold spears in their hands, and ride on the mules to pretend to be cavalry.
At the same time, Chen Qing asked a thousand soldiers to each hold two large flags. The leader's flag had a large Chinese character "Han" written on it, surrounded by gold rims, and the other side had the characters "Du Zong Zhi".
This was a handsome flag that Chen Qing specifically asked Han Shizhong for. It was also to implement his plan to mislead soldiers. He had already thought of this strategy and specifically asked the Privy Council for two thousand large flags.
"Everyone blow the horn together!"
Chen Qing made a gesture to the fifty soldiers, "Follow my command, one, two, three, blow!"
Fifty soldiers blew the horn together, "Woo--Woo--"
The sound of the trumpet was low and distant, and could be heard clearly from the county seat.
"Set off!"
Two thousand troops set off, flags fluttering, two thousand large flags fluttering in the wind, forming a cloud of flags, followed by three hundred mules, pine branches sweeping the ground, and dust flying, forming a spectacular sight of rolling yellow dust.
The huge war drums beat loudly, ‘Boom! Boom! Boom!’.
Looking from a distance, there are not two thousand people here, but ten thousand people.
Zhang Kui, who was attacking the county seat, suddenly heard the sound of a trumpet. This was the arrival of an army. He was shocked and ordered his men to go and inquire about the situation.
Not long after, the spies came to report on flying horses, "Commander, a detachment of officers and soldiers, about ten thousand strong, was found in the northeast. They are heading towards the county town, about seven or eight miles away."
"Have you seen where the army is?"
"It seems to be Han Shizhong's army, and a humble official saw his flag!"
"Are you sure it's his handsome flag?"
"Sure!"
Zhang Kui really didn't want to retreat. The county town was about to be captured. At this critical moment, reinforcements arrived again, and it turned out to be Han Shizhong.
You must know that his bosses Miao Fu and Liu Zhengyan were killed by Han Shizhong. He hated Han Shizhong, but he was also afraid of this man from the bottom of his heart.
"Pass my order, the army is arrayed and ready for battle!"
Four thousand bandits gave up attacking the county town and began to gather quickly. Zhang Kui was extremely suspicious. He wanted to see with his own eyes whether he was Han Shizhong?
At this time, Chen Qing's leader had already fought six miles away. He could see the county seat and the assembled troops in the distance.
Zhao Xiaoyi rushed over and shouted: "Alert to the commander, the enemy has formed a formation and is ready to fight us!"
Several of them were shaking with fear and whispered to Chen Qing: "Commander, the enemy must have seen through our disguise, why don't we stop!"
Chen Qing coldly ordered: "Don't stop, the mule and driver move to the front and run faster!"
The soldiers' faces turned pale with fear, and each one of them was thinking about how to escape for his life during the battle.
Not long after, the team of officers and soldiers had already reached five miles away. They saw cavalry in front, holding spears in their hands, behind them were covered with billowing yellow dust, and behind them were overwhelming battle flags. The momentum was astonishing.
Zhang Kui saw the flag clearly, and it turned out to be Han Shizhong's own flag, and he was in the team.
The rebels were also shocked by the opponent's momentum and shouted: "Commander, retreat quickly! We can't outrun the cavalry."
"withdraw!"
Zhang Kui gave the order, and the four thousand bandits were already frightened and ran away towards Qianli Gang in the south. After a while, they gradually ran away.
The thousand urban and rural soldiers guarding the city suddenly cheered.
The two thousand soldiers had already run three miles away and finally stopped. Everyone was trembling with fear and so tired that their calves were cramped and they could no longer run.
The three hundred cart drivers were so frightened that their faces turned pale, they could not hold their spears firmly, and their whole bodies were shaking like chaff. Fortunately, the dust swept up by the tree branches obscured the mules and the cart drivers, so they could not see clearly.
If Zhang Kui later learned that the so-called cavalry actually rode mules, he would probably be so angry that he would vomit out his blood.
Hu Yantong laughed loudly and gave a thumbs up, "The commander's move was really brilliant. Hundreds of mules actually scared away four thousand bandits."
Chen Qing laughed and said: "The key to this trick is not to show any weakness at all. Since you have already put your chips on the table, just play boldly. In the end, whoever can't hold on will lose."
"Not bad! Not bad! No wonder our Han Shuai praises you for your courage, but what is stud?"
Chen Qing said calmly: "Study means putting all your family property, including your wife and children, on the line. To put it in a more elegant way, it means burning the boat, fighting with your last ditch, risking your life and surviving!"
…………
Chun'an County was rebuilt by Fang La, and the city wall was very tall and strong. The magistrate He Jian mobilized a thousand soldiers from the countryside and the entire city to defend the city, and the city was defended.
He Jian accompanied Chen Qing to inspect the city wall. As he walked, he said: "Zhang Kui was very cruel. Many people did not want to rebel with him, so he wiped out his entire family. He wiped out hundreds of families in Muzhou. As for those who had a little bit of property, he
Wealthy households were also robbed completely by him, and women were also robbed and taken to the mountains to be used as concubine wives. They had to be redeemed with money. If they could not be redeemed, they would wait until they had ruined enough and then sell them to brothels in other places."
Chen Qing nodded, "It was precisely because of his unscrupulous robbery and killing that his men were willing to sacrifice their lives for him."
"It's true. His men are very tough. When attacking the city, none of them are afraid of death. Fortunately, they don't have many siege ladders. If they were fully prepared and fully prepared, the county seat would have been lost long ago."
Speaking of this, He Jian said to Chen Qing with some worry: "With all due respect, your troops are too few and your training seems to be insufficient. I'm afraid you are really no match for Zhang Kui!"
He Jian said it very politely. When two thousand soldiers entered the city, they were all as tired as dogs. They could no longer walk. They supported each other, stuck out their tongues, dragged their legs, took off their armor, and threw it on the ground.
After dragging him away, there was no trace of military appearance at all. He looked like the kind of soldier who was just going about his life with plenty to eat. This really disappointed the soldiers and civilians all over the city.
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "So I am not in a hurry to suppress the bandits. I will sharpen the knife before chopping wood. I will sharpen the knife first and then I will attack Zhang Kui!"
He Jian sighed, "Commander, if you need anything, just ask!"