Linfen County is the second largest city in the south after Hedong County. The city wall is about 30 miles in circumference and has about 100,000 residents. But now that 60,000 troops have been squeezed into the county, the county is really overcrowded and the people are complaining. The fear of war has made many people
The people fled in a hurry and fled Linfen County.
In front of the west city gate, tens of thousands of people crowded in front of the city gate. Several bullock carts from wealthy families blocked the city gate due to competition for the road. Roars, curses, and cries came one after another. Inside the city gate, there were dense crowds of people holding support.
People, old and young, were mixed in with many bullock carts.
At this time, a group of soldiers rushed in and captured the drivers and housekeepers of the bullock carts blocking the road and beat them up. The owners of the bullock carts did not dare to argue anymore. The bullock carts left the city gate one after another.
It was unclogged.
Han Chang stood at the top of the city and said to the general next to him: "Give me the order. You are only allowed to leave but not enter. Once you leave the city gate, you are not allowed to come back. No one is allowed to be an exception."
The dense population in the city also gave Han Chang a headache. He knew very well that there must be many Song Army spies lurking in the city. The larger the population, the easier it would be for these spies to move around. Moreover, Linfen City's fire prevention capabilities were too weak, and the areas close to the city wall were full of repairs.
Once the Song army launched a fire attack, the entire city would turn into a sea of flames, and the military camps and granaries would not be spared.
Wan Yan Huo Nu had previously opposed the demobilization of the people and had a different opinion with Han Chang. When Wan Yan Huo Nu was transferred and there was no constraint, Han Chang immediately ordered a large-scale evacuation of the people in the city and at the same time demolished all the buildings within a hundred steps of the city wall.
There is sufficient food in Linfen City, with as much as 300,000 shi, 80,000 shi of black beans, 100,000 dans of fodder, and countless military supplies. If the city is well defended, it can be defended for at least half a year.
However, Han Chang did not have much confidence in defending the city, especially when faced with the fire attack of the Western Army. Their powerful fire oil offensive was difficult for any army to withstand.
Looking at the people fleeing in fear outside the city, Han Chang smiled bitterly in his heart. Deep in his heart, why didn't he want to escape like the people?
At this moment, a commander rushed to report: "Captain Ten Thousands, there is news about the Zezhou Army and the Longde Army!"
Han Chang was overjoyed and asked anxiously: "Where are they?"
"They were gathering on the north bank of Pang River seventy miles to the east, but they were intercepted by 20,000 Song troops and begged us to rescue them!"
Yesterday morning, Han Chang received an express message from Li Zhouheng, the commander of the Longde Mansion garrison. Their troops had joined forces in Ji County and Zezhou and were heading towards Lintao. Han Chang was waiting for the arrival of this army with great expectations, but he did not
I thought I was actually intercepted by the Song Army.
"Where is the messenger? Bring him to me!"
Not long after, the reporting sergeant was led to Han Chang. The reporting sergeant knelt down on one knee and said: "See the Captain of Ten Thousands!"
A soldier presented the command arrow and the letter for help to Han Chang. Han Chang looked at it and found that yes, it was the command arrow that he had given to Li Zhouheng, and it was also a letter written by Li Zhouheng himself.
He asked: "Where was the army intercepted?"
"Reporting to Captain Ten Thousand, this is Song general Niu Gao's army. They should be coming from the direction of Jiezhou."
Han Chang nodded. He was familiar with this army. He himself was attacked from behind by this army and was defeated. Niu Gao should have come from Shaanzhou and was not a subordinate of Yang Zaixing. He was an independent army.
"What's going on now?"
"The two armies are now facing each other on both sides of the Pang River, about seventy miles away from Linfen County. The Song army should also be waiting for reinforcements."
Han Chang asked anxiously: "Where is the main force of the Song Army now? I want the latest information."
"Information from an hour ago shows that the main force of the Song Army is currently in Xiangling County."
"Bring me the map!"
A soldier handed a map to Han Chang. Han Chang opened the map and took a closer look. Xiangling County is on the west bank of Fen River, about fifty miles southwest of Linfen County. It is about one hundred and twenty miles from Xiangling County to the confrontation between the two armies.
Ten miles, half a day's journey farther than me, the key is that they are still on the west bank of Fenshui River.
The 20,000 troops were extremely important to Han Chang. The 60,000 troops and the 80,000 troops were completely different in nature. With the 60,000 troops, he did not dare to confront the Song army, but with the 80,000 troops, he could pull them out of the city and pave the way.
Form a battle with the Song army. The 20,000 troops are bound to win against Han Chang.
At this time, a soldier came to report, "Report to the Commander of Ten Thousands that we discovered that the Song Army was building a pontoon bridge on the Fen River in Xiangling County."
That's right, the Song Army was also sending troops to support Niu Gao. Han Chang no longer hesitated and immediately took out a command arrow and handed it to Commander Cai Mingde and said: "TongZhi Cai can speed 20,000 troops to rescue TongZhi Li!"
Cai Mingde took the order arrow and saluted, "I'll set off now!"
Soon, 20,000 troops left the north city gate and rushed eastward along the Pang River.
Li Zhouheng, the commander of the Longde Mansion garrison, was about forty years old. He was also a general of the Western Army. He was an old subordinate of Guan Shigu. He followed Guan Shigu for more than ten years, and later surrendered to the Jin soldiers along with Guan Shigu.
As an individual, Li Zhouheng was of course afraid of death and wanted to gain glory and wealth, but he was also unwilling to surrender to a foreign race and become a traitor, letting himself and his descendants be reviled by others. In the past few years, his heart has been worrying about gains and losses, and being a member of the Niu Gao faction
After delivering an autographed letter from Guan Shigu to Li Zhouheng, he led his army to surrender to Niu Gao that night.
Getting 15,000 surrendered troops was not enough, so Niu Gao tried again to lure Han Chang to send troops to rescue. Yang Zaixing built the pontoon bridge at the right time, which became the most critical step to dispel Han Chang's doubts.
Niu Gao currently had 35,000 troops in his hands. When he learned that the rescue troops were coming along the north bank of Pang River, he immediately made careful arrangements and ordered Commander Cheng Xin to lead 5,000 troops to go around the enemy's rear and cut off the enemy's retreat.
, and ordered Zhang Bu, the commander-in-chief, to lead an army of five thousand on the south bank of Pang River to collect the enemy's defeated troops.
Let Li Zhouheng lead 15,000 troops to attack the reinforcements from the front, while he himself led 10,000 troops to ambush in the woods, waiting to cut off the enemy's troops.
In the wilderness, Cai Mingde led 20,000 troops to gallop along the north bank of the Pang River. The team stretched out for ten miles. For them, time was the most urgent. They had to join their own army before the reinforcements of the Song Army, and then defeat Niu.
Gao's army.
The distance of seventy miles is neither close nor far, but the arrival time is awkward. No matter how you calculate it, you will arrive in the middle of the night.
At night, the moon is bright and the stars are sparse, surrounded by endless wheat fields. The winter wheat has been harvested, and many farmers have sown a season of millet seeds and are waiting for another harvest in the fall.
A patch of hills gradually appeared in front of them. The hills were very low and gentle, only a dozen feet high. They were covered with lush trees, most of which were pine trees, and stretched for dozens of miles.
However, the hills are a little far away from the official road and are beyond the range of crossbows, so there is no need to worry about being ambushed by enemy crossbows.
At this moment, the general Cai Mingde suddenly felt that something was wrong. When he turned around, he saw an army coming out of the woods. The number of people was so densely packed that there were ten thousand people. It was like a flood that burst an embankment and cut his army into two.
part.
Cai Mingde was shocked and was about to turn around when a soldier shouted: "General, there is an enemy situation ahead!"
They saw an army suddenly appear from the front and attack them head on with great momentum.
"Hold it! I'll hold it!"
Cai Mingde shouted to the soldiers to hold on, but he himself was panicked. His front section of the army stretched for three miles, but the opponent was a hundred steps away. There was no time to assemble. He finally managed to assemble more than a thousand people, but was overwhelmed by the opponent's tidal force.
Crushed.
At this time, an army also came from the rear. The 20,000-strong army collapsed and the soldiers fled in all directions. Fortunately, the Pang River was not very deep or wide. Countless soldiers abandoned their helmets and armor and weapons and swam towards the other side.
They fled for their lives, but there were five thousand troops waiting for them on the other side. They had no other way out except surrender.
More than 3,000 soldiers from the Zhan Xie army were killed. General Cai Mingde died in the rebellion. More than 12,000 soldiers surrendered. However, a large number of soldiers fled successfully, but they did not return to Linfen County.
Using the cover of darkness, they each fled home.
These soldiers of the Confederate Army are all Han people, and they are not fools. The Jin Kingdom has been defeated repeatedly, and even Wanyan Nianhan's army was completely destroyed. At this time, who is willing to work hard for the foreigners, waiting to be liquidated in the end, so as long as there is
If given the chance, they would all run away and go home, even refusing to admit that they had ever served as auxiliaries.
However, a very small number of soldiers followed the rear army general Luo Wu and fled back to Linfen County.
