Tang Qian led 10,000 cavalry and galloped all the way, and finally arrived at Datong City in the afternoon of the next day. He was still more than ten miles away from the city. Suddenly, thick smoke billowed from a high mountain to the east. This was the beacon of Datong City, and the enemy troops
They have been discovered.
Tang Qian originally wanted to rush into the city while the enemy's gates were still open, but now it seems that he thought too much. The defense of Datong City is very complete and does not give them a chance to make a surprise attack.
The billowing beacon smoke on the top of the mountain made Tang Qian feel a little regretful. If he had known this, he would not have launched a surprise attack. He would have carried out a sneak attack at night and captured Datong City at night.
But now it's too late. When the other party discovers them, they will inevitably close the city gate and take more precautions.
There were still two miles away from the city. Tang Qian stopped the army. He urged his horse to rush up a hill and looked at Datong City two miles away. Datong City was once the Xijing of the Liao Kingdom. It had an important political status.
It is at least forty miles away. The city walls are about two to five feet high. They are all made of large green bricks. They are strong and tall, and each of the city towers is magnificent.
Tang Qian was worthy of being a scout, and his eyes were very sharp. He noticed that the south gate was shaking slightly. There was only one reason why such a heavy gate was shaking, and that was that the opponent was blocking the gate with huge rocks.
But this kind of blocking of city gates has no meaning at all. Datong City has nine city gates. In addition to the four main city gates, there are also auxiliary gates in the north, south and east. In addition, there is a water gate in the south.
Tang Qian looked at the top of the city again, and suddenly a lot of soldiers appeared on the top of the city, but not many, probably about a few thousand. Tang Qian could basically judge that there were about four to five thousand people defending the city.
He looked at the sky. The sun was setting in the west, and the sky was filled with sunset. It was already dusk. Tang Qian immediately ordered: "Rest on the spot and act after dark!"
It is not that there are no troops in Datong City. There are still 5,000 Khitan troops left to guard the city. The general is called Yelu Cibao. He was originally the deputy general left in Xijing. After leading his army to surrender to the Jin Kingdom, he was named the commander of ten thousand men and the commander of the soldiers and horses of Datong Prefecture.
.
However, his military and horse commanders could only command five thousand Khitan troops, and they had to obey the orders of Wanyan Helisa, the commander-in-chief of the West Route Army.
At this time, he already knew the news that the Song Army's 100,000 troops were marching north, and he also sent someone to notify Wanyan Helisa.
But he never expected that the Song army would come so quickly. When the beacons on the top of the mountain outside the city were lit, Yelv Cibao was stunned. He immediately ordered to block the city with huge rocks.
Of course, there are so many gates in Datong City, and he can't block them all with huge rocks. They don't have that many huge rocks, so he can only block two gates at most, one south gate and one north gate, and several other gates.
He doesn't care about the door. This is actually a bit of self-deception.
But it is different for an old official like Yelv Cibao. He knows that many things are actually a matter of attitude. The result is not important. The key is whether you do it or not. If you do it, it is not your problem to defend the city. If you
If you fail to do so, then the responsibility for losing the city gate will be heavy.
At the same moment when Tang Qian was looking at the city, Yelu Cibao was also looking at the official road in the distance. He faintly saw the silhouette of the Song Army's cavalry, but it was blocked by a small mound.
"Captain Ten Thousands, it seems that the other side does not have a hundred thousand troops!" Xiao Huaisheng, the prefect of Datong, whispered.
Of course Yelv Cibao knew that the opponent did not have a hundred thousand people. If there were a hundred thousand people, how could a small mound of earth stop them?
"There are about 10,000 people, they are the vanguard of the Song army. We have to be careful of the enemy attacking the city at night."
After pondering for a while, Yelv Cibao said again: "Prefect Xiao, it's best not to rest tonight and be prepared to retreat at any time."
"Ah! Will the city be lost?" Xiao Huaisheng was shocked.
Yelv Cibao glanced at him and said, "We only have five thousand soldiers. It is not easy to defend a forty-mile city wall. Besides, the other side also has a chance tonight. They will definitely go all out. Of course, I will go all out too."
Defense, it’s just that we have to be prepared for danger in times of peace!”
"I understand, I'll be ready!"
Night fell quickly, and Tang Qian's troops were divided into two groups. He ordered seven thousand cavalry to gather near the water gate of the city wall and shoot arrows at the top of the city. The other three thousand men quietly ambush outside the deputy gate of the west city, only two meters away from the city gate.
Three hundred steps.
The reason why Tang Qian placed the breakthrough point at the auxiliary gate of the West City was because he found that there were the fewest defenders on the West City. This showed that the enemy did not pay attention to the West City. Naturally, they would not block the city gate with huge rocks if they did not pay attention to it.
The gates must be the South City and the North City. There are the most enemy troops in these two places, both with more than a thousand people. At most, the east and west main gates will be blocked, but the secondary gates will definitely not be blocked.
Another important point is that according to the intelligence, there are urns at the north and south gates, but not at the east and west gates.
Yelu Cibao also misjudged the Song army. When he saw the Song army gathered near Shuicheng gate, he concluded that the Song army was preparing to break through Shuicheng gate. For this purpose, he deployed 1,500 troops above Shuicheng gate and inside the city.
Soldier.
As a result, his military strength was stretched thin. Only 400 soldiers were deployed on each of the two ten-mile-long cities in the east and west.
Under the city, the Song army's arrows were like rain, and the dense raindrops of gunpowder arrows and wolf-fang arrows were shot at the top of the city, overwhelming the Khitan soldiers and unable to lift their heads.
On the Datong River to the south, two medium-sized ships were slowly approaching the moat. Yelv Cibao could see clearly and shouted: "The ships attacking Shuicheng Gate are coming, and the entire army is ready to counterattack!"
Thousands of soldiers became nervous and at war with the Song soldiers, ready to fight to the death.
On the moat outside the deputy gate of the West City, a large black wooden basin floated silently towards the city gate. There was an iron fire thunder in the wooden basin. This iron fire thunder looked like a big winter melon and weighed about five
About ten pounds.
This kind of iron fire mine is called an iron dog in the firearms camp. It is filled with thirty kilograms of gunpowder, and its explosive power is equivalent to the previous box-type wooden fire mine with five hundred kilograms of gunpowder.
Although Chen Qing asked Tang Qian to use the iron rhinoceros, Tang Qian had seen the power of the iron dog and it was enough to blow up the city gate. If he used the iron rhinoceros, it would most likely blow up the entire city wall. Once the Jurchen cavalry came back, they would not be able to defend it either.
Datong City.
This is the flexibility of the generals. Strategically, they must strictly implement Chen Qing's orders, such as attacking Datong City after the beginning of spring. However, in terms of specific tactics, they must be flexible according to the situation and cannot be rigid.
Chen Qing gave him a 250-pound iron rhinoceros, not that he would definitely use it. Chen Qing gave him an order to capture the city. In order to prevent the explosion from not being enough, he gave him the iron rhinoceros. This was just a means of guarantee.
, and it is by no means a necessary means.
Tang Qian also understood it. According to his experience, a fifty-pound iron dog is enough.
The three scout soldiers pushed the big wooden basin under the suspension bridge. They jumped ashore and quickly dragged the wooden basin ashore. The wooden basin was rectangular. They placed the wooden basin close to the city gate and used a wooden stick to support the wooden plate.
Only then did the man carefully place the iron fire thunder on the wooden basin.
"There's an ambush over there!" Someone suddenly shouted from the top of the city.
Three thousand Song troops who were ambushing two hundred steps outside the city were discovered by the defenders on the top of the city. There was chaos on the top of the city. "Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!" The rapid alarm bell rang.
At the same time, three Song soldiers lit their match ropes and jumped into the water, but were immediately spotted on the city wall.
"There are people under the city, shooting arrows!"
Arrows were fired from the top of the city, but three Song army scouts hid under the suspension bridge, quietly waiting for the explosion.
Three thousand soldiers simply got up and ran towards the city gate. Since they were discovered, they no longer ambush, but after running fifty steps, they heard an earth-shattering explosion.
"boom!"
The fire burst out, and the huge shock wave blew the city gate to pieces. Wood chips flew everywhere, and thick smoke filled the air. The dozens of Khitan soldiers on the city head were basically stunned to death.
Three thousand Song soldiers shouted and ran quickly. They put up wooden planks, ran across the moat, and rushed into the city brandishing spears and swords.
