An unprecedented shame and humiliation broke out in Han Chang's chest. He actually fell into the trap and was deceived by the Song army. He lost 20,000 troops in vain. The key is that he was not deceived by Chen Qing, but by Niu Gao, Chen Qing's subordinate.
Deception makes you even more embarrassed and angry.
He pulled out his sword and cut the table in two with a single blow. He gritted his teeth and said, "I swear I won't be a human unless I kill this thief!"
All the generals silently looked at the furious Han Chang, worried about his gaffe. Before, Han Chang shouted that he would use 80,000 troops to fight the Song army. Now, instead of getting 80,000 troops, he only had 40,000 troops left.
But what Han Chang didn't expect was that there was a reason why Yang Zaixing's army had not moved northward. He was creating an opportunity for Liu Cui's other army.
Not long after Liu Cui's army came out of Gushe Mountain, he ordered his deputy general Hu Yantong to lead 20,000 troops north along Gushe Mountain, with the goal of capturing Huoyi County. Huoyi County is the southern entrance to Queshu Valley and has a garrison of 5,000 people.
, seizing Huoyi County would be equivalent to cutting off the northward retreat of tens of thousands of Linfen troops.
Before the formal siege of Linfen County, all peripheral affairs must be handled, especially Huoyi County, so that the Xie Cong Army cannot be given the opportunity to withdraw north to reinforce Taiyuan Prefecture.
Huoyi County is just a middle county, with a population of more than 10,000 people, and the city walls are not tall. It is a very ordinary county town, and has nothing to do with strategic locations.
In fact, the strategic importance of Queshu Valley was only reflected in the transition between the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Li Yuan raised troops from Taiyuan and marched south to Pujing Pass, but was blocked by Song Laosheng of the Sui Dynasty in Queshu Valley. If Li Shimin hadn't planned to kill Song Laosheng
, Li Yuan's army would not be able to pass through Queshu Valley, and in the end it would not be possible to establish the Tang Dynasty.
However, from the founding of the Tang Dynasty to the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, for nearly four hundred years, Queshu Valley basically played no military role and was always used as a commercial road. Huoyi County had no military use, so of course it was not necessary.
I hope its walls will be tall and strong, easy to defend and difficult to attack.
The actual situation is that Huoyi County is neither easy to defend nor difficult to attack, otherwise Han Chang would not defend Linfen County but directly defend it.
The main general responsible for attacking Huoyi County this time is the deputy commander Hu Yantong. Since Hu Yantong defected to Chen Qing a few years ago, he has been stationed in various places and rarely participated in battles. This time he was transferred back from Huangzhou to serve as Liu
A brilliant lieutenant.
He got his first chance to fight, and Liu Cui gave him the task of attacking Huoyi County.
Liu Cui was also worried that Huyantong had no experience in sieges, so he sent another commander, Zhao Hou, to assist Huyantong. Zhao Hou was experienced and had participated in dozens of sieges and defenses. With the help of his experience, he could capture Huoyi.
The county is not a big problem.
Hu Yantong was very excited and took advantage of the rest time during the march to invite Zhao Hou to discuss the battle strategy.
Zhao Hou was less than thirty years old. He was from Chencang County in Guanzhong. He was stable, mature and thoughtful. He had always been highly valued by Liu Cui. In just four years, he promoted him step by step from Dutou to commander.
Zhao Hou smiled slightly and said: "Actually, most of the cities we capture are based on sneak attacks or outsmarting them. There are not many cities that actually spend money to attack. This city in Huoyi County is only two feet high. I know that Jin Bing is not very good.
I value this county."
"Why?" Hu Yantong asked in confusion.
"General Huyan may not know that we have been calling for an attack on Hedong for a long time, at least for more than half a year! If we really paid attention to it, we should have made it taller and thicker in the past half year, but it is only two feet high. Without the battlements, it is only
It's one foot to eight feet, and a few soldiers can climb up using ladders."
Hu Yantong pondered for a moment and said, "Is it because there are dangerous passes in Queshu Valley that they don't pay much attention to Huoyi County?"
"That's right. There is also a Yangliang Nanguan in Queshu Valley. It is about forty miles north of Huoyi County. In fact, it is the entrance to Queshu Valley. It is very dangerous. I also think that it is for this reason that the Jin Kingdom does not pay attention to it.
Huoyi County, but they forgot one thing. Huoyi County also guards the official road to Queshu Valley. If Huoyi County is occupied by us in advance, the Jin soldiers from the south of Hedong Road will not be able to withdraw."
"But they can send troops from the north to attack Huoyi County southward and open this channel. Anyway, the wall of Huoyi County is not high, so it will be easy for them to recapture it."
Zhao Hou laughed and said: "General Huyan's speculation is close to the truth. They may also be worried that once Huoyi County is built too tall and strong, if it is captured by us, it will be difficult for them to take it back. But the problem is that things are unpredictable. If
Did we also capture Jiexiu County in the north?"
Hu Yantong nodded, "The king personally sent troops to Fenzhou, Jiexiu County is in danger."
After a pause, Hu Yantong waved his hand and said with a smile: "Let's take the topic away and talk about Huoyi County! How to capture it?"
Zhao Hou smiled slightly and said, "It's still the old method, easy first and then difficult. If the sneak attack fails, then just break open the city gate."
At two o'clock in the night, 20,000 troops arrived in Huoyi County. Huoyi County was already located in a mountainous area, surrounded by vast mountains. The terrain in Huoyi County was not dangerous, but further north, the Fen River was between the mountains.
It passes through the gorge and flows into the depths of the mountains. Only a mountain road halfway up the mountain is passable.
Zhao Hou was a little stunned. Queshu Valley was simply the second Luoshui Road! The biggest difference was in the landforms. Luoshui Road was all loess ravines, while Luoshui Road was a hard rock canyon.
But what puzzled them the most was Huoyi County itself. Although Huoyi County did not guard the dangerous point, it guarded the only official road to the dangerous point. It was a strategic city that just blocked the passage to the north, and the team detoured
It is not possible to walk through the city, but must pass through the city from Huoyi County. Shouldn't such a city be built into a dangerous and large city?
However, this county town is dilapidated and small. It does not even have a moat, only a trench.
"I see!"
Zhao Hou pointed to a river in the distance and said with a smile: "That's the Swine River over there! They originally wanted to connect the trench to the Swine River, but they dug half of it and nothing was done."
"It should be that they didn't even have time to build a strong wall and clear the field, which shows that they dug trenches in a hurry."
Although it was the middle of the night, there were many defenders on the city, thousands of them. They said they had discovered the Song Army brigade and wanted to attack at night, which was basically impossible, so they could only use a battering ram.
Although it was Huyantong's first attack on the city, it was well arranged. He sent a commander and more than a thousand soldiers to look for thick and tall trees nearby. There were mountains all around, and there were many towering trees on the mountains.
But there is a suspension bridge in front of the city gate to protect the city gate. Huyantong doesn't know how to deal with it?
Wang Hou had rich experience. He smiled slightly and said: "The best way to deal with the suspension bridge is to use fire to burn the front end into carbon. The iron chain pile heads will not be able to support the heavy suspension bridge."
Hu Yantong nodded and gave an order. Five thousand crossbowmen rushed forward with their large shields in hand. Using their large shields as cover, they fired arrows from the top of the city. The stormy arrows suppressed the soldiers on the top of the city.
Then hundreds of soldiers rushed forward carrying bedding soaked in kerosene, and threw dozens of beddings onto the suspension bridge, and more than a dozen beddings were even hung on iron chains.
The torch was thrown up, and dozens of beddings immediately burst into flames. Thick smoke billowed, and the flames burned the iron chains. Within half an hour, two iron chains were burned one after another, and the suspension bridge suddenly fell.
At this time, the soldiers also cut down hundreds of big trees from a nearby place. One of the big trees was five feet long and three feet in diameter, which could easily be made into a huge battering ram.
At this moment, Wang Hou proposed a new siege plan, burning the south wall and using a battering ram to attack the north gate.
Wang Hou explained: "The south city gate must be blocked by huge rocks, but the north city gate will definitely not be blocked. They have to leave themselves a way out."
Hu Yantong pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said: "I think it's simpler than you. There is no need to attack the city, burn the south city wall, and then set up a dragnet outside the north city gate. They will fall into the trap themselves."
Hu Yantong's idea was very simple. Since the other party did not value Huoyi County, he would not stick to it. If the situation was not good, he would give up immediately. Then he would simply lay a dragnet on the official road in the north.
Of course, the terrain of Huoyi County is not as dangerous as Nanguan in the north. It only guards the official road. There are rugged slopes on both sides. It is difficult for cavalry to walk, and heavy vehicles must pass through the city. But if it is only infantry, it is still
You can go around the slopes on both sides to the north of the county.