At dawn, Zhang Zhongxiong's ten thousand troops were exhausted. They were still seventy miles away from Xiangcheng County. At this time, dust was flying more than ten miles behind and the earth was shaking. The Song Army's 20,000 cavalry were about to attack.
Caught up.
Lieutenant General Zhao Fei said anxiously: "Du Tong, this is definitely not going to work. We must either fight or avoid fighting!"
All the generals unanimously opposed the battle. The opponent had 20,000 cavalry and their fighting power was very strong. How could they be their opponents? The whole army would definitely be destroyed.
"So what if we avoid fighting?" Zhang Zhongxiong asked.
Zhao Fei hurriedly said: "The idea of avoiding battle according to the humble position is to let the soldiers who know how to swim swim to the north bank of Ru River, while the rest of the soldiers go into the mountains and forests to take shelter."
Zhang Zhongxiong was a little hesitant. This plan would lead to soldiers taking the opportunity to escape. At this time, he had already seen black spots in the distance. The Song Army cavalry had already killed ten miles away. The generals were anxious and shouted: "Du Tong, if you don't decide, it will be too late."
Already."
Zhang Zhongxiong had no choice but to issue an order: "Send an order to the whole army. Those who can swim should go to the other side, and the rest of the soldiers should go into the mountains and forests to take shelter."
When the order came out, thousands of soldiers took off their leather armor and swam to the other side. The remaining soldiers ran towards the forest two miles away to the south, where the hills were undulating and covered by dense forests.
In an instant, 20,000 cavalry arrived. All they saw were leather armors and weapons scattered on the shore. There were dense black spots in the Ru River. They were soldiers swimming in the river. Many soldiers climbed up the shore and walked into the distance.
Run.
"General, over there!"
The soldier pointed to the south. Liu Qiong looked south and saw a large group of soldiers running towards the mountains and forests two miles away.
Liu Qiong said angrily: "Prepare rockets!"
Twenty thousand cavalry turned around and ran southward, rushing to the mountain forest. The Song army's cavalry fired thousands of arrows and flew into the mountain forest. The mountain forest was full of pine forests. Soon hundreds of fire spots appeared. Taking advantage of the wind, the fire started.
Burned quickly.
Liu Qiong divided the cavalry into ten teams, each with 2,000 cavalry, and distributed them at various strategic points around the mountain. Soldiers who escaped were allowed to surrender, but those who resisted in the corner were shot without mercy.
However, this mountain range stretches for more than 30 miles. It is impossible to burn it all for more than 30 miles, and it is impossible to surround it for more than 60 miles from north to south. There are many loopholes here. In fact, it only recruits soldiers who are willing to go down the mountain and surrender.
Thick smoke was billowing on the mountain ridge, and the fire was raging into the sky. The fire was spreading rapidly. The more than 6,000 people who fled up the mountain no longer paid attention to the group. Instead, they scattered and fled for their lives. Many soldiers took the opportunity to detour down the mountain and surrendered to the Song army. By noon, there were nearly
Four thousand people came down the mountain and surrendered.
There are still more than 2,000 people hiding in the mountains, including the general Zhang Zhongxiong.
Zhang Zhongxiong's fighting ability is relatively weak, but his escape skills are very high. Once he enters the mountain, don't run towards the mountain. He leads hundreds of people around the mountainside and quickly goes to the south of the mountain. From the south of the mountain, he breaks out and fights a Song Dynasty.
The time difference between the military blockade.
The siege lasted until dusk, when a night rain came unexpectedly. The rain was so heavy that it soaked the entire mountain forest. The mountain fire was immediately extinguished. By this time, more than 5,800 soldiers had surrendered down the mountain, and there were also
The whereabouts of more than 600 people are unknown. They were either burned to death by wildfires or have escaped. Judging from the composition of the surrendered soldiers, the latter is more likely. The top generals are only a few commanders, and there are only a few commanders and generals above.
No, there is no news about Zhang Zhongxiong.
As night fell and the rain became heavier, the Song army had to end the siege and begin to evacuate westward.
At the third watch, the army arrived in Longxing County. The soldiers were extremely exhausted. Liu Qiong handed nearly 6,000 prisoners of war to the guard of 2,000 soldiers left behind in Longxing County. Like the other 18,000 soldiers, he drank a bowl of ginger.
Tea, changed into dry clothes, and fell asleep.
It was not until noon the next day that the Song army officers and soldiers recovered from extreme exhaustion. Longxing County is a middle county, but it has a small population. The transportation here is convenient, and two official roads intersect here, making it a must-win for military strategists.
In this land, wars continued, half of the people in the county ran away, and there were many empty houses, which gave the Song army soldiers a place to live.
Six thousand prisoners of war were immediately escorted to Dengzhou by a thousand cavalry, where they would receive rehabilitation training or be released home.
At this time, the scouts came from Xiangcheng County with news that 10,000 Jurchen cavalry and 10,000 sign troops had set off from Xiangcheng County and were heading towards Longxing County at a rapid speed.
Liu Qiong and Tang Qian discussed for a while, and they unanimously decided to fight.
In order to have no worries, Liu Qiong ordered a thousand cavalry to send 10,000 camels back to Dengzhou.
Eighteen thousand cavalry organized the army, lined up outside the county town, and marched eastward in a mighty manner.
The army coming from the east was the 20,000-strong relief army led by Li Cheng himself. He had made a mistake before and did not take the initiative to join Zhang Zhongxiong's army. Instead, he sat in Xiangcheng County and waited for Zhang Zhongxiong's army to come back.
There is certainly a sentiment in this. Li Cheng has always looked down on Zhang Zhongxiong. He only boasts about flattering horses, but his real ability is just like his name, like a bear.
But it was also related to Li Cheng's misjudgment. He didn't expect that the Song army would go north so quickly. By such a coincidence, they happened to encounter Zhang Zhongxiong's army. As a result, Zhang Zhongxiong's entire army was wiped out and he only managed to escape with more than a thousand people. There were still a thousand more people.
The swimming soldiers were restrained by deputy general Zhao Fei and did not take the opportunity to disperse.
Li Cheng knew that he could not explain to Wanyan Wushu, so he simply led his army to attack Longxing County. Li Cheng was rich in experience and made a tactical strategy. He actually sent 30,000 troops and another 10,000 people to take a detour from the south.
They left, ambush in the south of Longxing County, and attacked at the critical moment.
Ten thousand cavalry and ten thousand infantry were marching westward on the official road. Although these ten thousand cavalry were flying the banner of the Khitan cavalry, they were Khitan people in a broad sense, that is, Donghu people. They were composed of Khitan people, Xi people, Bohai people, and Mohe people.
It is a mixture of Donghu people, mainly Khitan people.
Although they are not Jurchens, the Donghu people are also quite powerful in combat, and their cavalry is very powerful. They are led by Xiao Jilie, the Khitan captain of ten thousand men.
Li Cheng's army is also a well-trained elite army, ten times sharper than Zhang Zhongxiong's army. His 50,000 troops have always been the backbone of the puppet Qi army. Li Cheng was also valued by Wanyan Wushu, who named him
Yingcai Jiedushi led an army of 50,000 to sit in three prefectures: Yingchang Prefecture, Caizhou, Yingzhou and Chenzhou. His Jiedu Envoy's office was in Xuchang County, where the government office of Yingchang Prefecture was located.
So this time Wanyan Wushu sent 10,000 Donghu cavalry to cooperate with Li Cheng's 20,000 troops to rescue Ruzhou, and it was logical.
Li Cheng set out in the afternoon, and in the morning of the next day, when he was still thirty miles away from Longxing County, spies sent information that the main force of the Song army was found ten miles ahead.
At this time, Li Cheng also saw a black line appearing ten miles away. He ordered: "Army in formation!"
Although Xiao Jilie was a commander of ten thousand men, his military rank was lower than that of Li Cheng, and Wanyan Wushu repeatedly told him that he must obey Li Cheng's orders.
The 10,000 cavalrymen of Donghu Army also quickly formed a formation with their spears raised.
At this time, Liu Qiong and Tang Qian led 18,000 cavalry to a slow stop three miles away. They also formed a large formation on the left and right wings, each with 9,000 men.
Liu Qiong squinted at the enemy formation for a moment and said to Tang Qian: "I will deal with the enemy's cavalry, and you will be responsible for defeating the enemy's infantry. Both sides will attack the cavalry!"
Liu Qiong saw very accurately that the only weakness of the opponent was the infantry. He could defeat the infantry first and then jointly deal with the cavalry to win this battle.
But Liu Qiong never imagined that there were still 10,000 enemy infantry ambushing them ten miles south.