Qian Siyi estimated that the baggage train could arrive in the afternoon of the next day at the earliest, but an autumn rain fell early the next morning, which made Qian Siyi feel anxious.
Although the official road is very wide, once heavy rain falls, the road will inevitably become muddy.
Shunjin is two days' journey from Jiping. If everything goes well, even if the baggage train is not fast, it will be able to transport the ladders needed to attack the city in time even if it travels day and night. But when it starts to rain heavily, it will be difficult to know when it will arrive.
It’s hard to guarantee.
What he wanted was a quick victory, and what he feared most was that reinforcements from the Long Rui Army would arrive before Jiping County was captured.
The Liaodong Army was eager to recapture Jiping, and Long Rui's Army would of course rush to help as quickly as possible at all costs.
Since Long Ruijun dared to take the risk of using surprise troops to seize the city, he would definitely think of the next step. It would be a sure thing to mobilize troops for reinforcements. Now it depends on who is faster.
As long as Jiping City can be captured before reinforcements arrive, and two thousand soldiers and horses can be stationed in the county, defenses can be deployed immediately. It will not be easy for Long Rui's army to capture the county again.
Jiping and Shunjin were at odds with each other. If Long Rui's army wanted to besiege Jiping County, they would be surrounded by both front and rear, which would naturally be a great disadvantage to Long Rui's army.
Moreover, Liaodong has been rapidly recruiting troops and expanding its army to prepare for war. If Long Rui's army wants to launch a full-scale offensive and prepare for a decisive battle between the two armies in Jiping, Liaodong will definitely send troops to reinforce it immediately. Shunjin and
With the two cities of Jiping in hand and well-established advance and retreat, it naturally occupies a great advantage in the situation.
The most urgent task right now is to capture the city in front of us.
At noon, the baggage train was still far away, and he could only send a few scouts to find out the news.
The autumn rain continued, and apart from some of the two thousand troops patrolling the surrounding areas, most of them were hiding in tents to take shelter from the rain.
Fortunately, when setting off, all the sergeants were equipped with water bags and enough dry food for three days, mainly sesame cakes and mystery rice balls. According to Qian Siyi's estimate, three days was enough to capture Jiping City, so for the time being
Don't worry too much about food rations.
The defenders at the top of Jiping City did not seem to be nervous about the overwhelming army. Although Sergeant Long Rui was always guarding the top, many people were even talking and laughing at the top of the city without panicking at all. This made Qian Siyi feel even more worried.
It's because I'm holding back my anger.
While Qian Siyi was anxiously waiting for the arrival of the baggage train, Yuwen Chengchao also looked stern and led thousands of cavalry across the land like the wind.
Long Ruijun knew the strategic position of Jiping County. From the beginning, Yuwen Chengchao and other generals insisted on defeating Jiping as soon as possible. Even before Qin Xiao returned to Guangning, everyone had already made several attack plans.
, but Qin Xiao did not come back and could not make the final decision. Yuwen Chengchao did not dare to make the decision without authorization, so he could only stand still.
After Qin Xiao learned about Jiping's situation, he finally decided on the plan to capture Jiping after discussing it with everyone.
Zhao Shengtai led five hundred Longrui Army soldiers disguised as the Liaodong Army and marched day and night. After arriving in Jiping, they pretended to be a food protection team and quickly entered the city. As long as they could successfully enter the city and control the city officials headed by the county magistrate, they could quickly take control of the county.
In this way, Jiping Castle can be captured without any bloodshed.
Qin Xiao and everyone else know that Jiping is very important to Long Rui's army and must be captured, but it is equally important to Liaodong Army. After Shunjin gets the news, they will definitely send troops to recapture Jiping City immediately, relying only on Zhao Shengtai and his five men.
Hundreds of soldiers and horses will definitely not be able to defend for long, so the backup troops and horses must keep up in time.
Qin Xiao and Yuwen Chengchao also knew that the Liaodong Army would definitely pay close attention to the movements in Guangning. If a large number of troops were dispatched at the same time, it would definitely arouse the alarm there. Huangfu Yunzhao was famous, so he was not incompetent.
Once he notices that Long Ruijun is moving troops, even if he doesn't guess that Long Ruijun will send people to pretend to be a food protection team, he will definitely realize that there may be risks in Jiping County and deploy troops to garrison. He will think about it later.
To seize Jiping without any blood is just wishful thinking.
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Therefore, Zhao Shengtai led five hundred soldiers and horses out of the camp at night, taking only remote roads and traveling day and night, in order to avoid the eyes and ears of the Liaodong Army.
After it was estimated that Zhao Shengtai would capture Jiping within the scheduled time, Long Ruijun immediately mobilized troops for reinforcements.
Both sides knew the importance of time. There were nearly 10,000 troops stationed in Guangning. After Qin Xiao discussed with everyone, he mobilized 4,000 reinforcements to quickly go to the reinforcements. However, there were many infantry among them. If they marched at the pace of the infantry, even if they traveled day and night, they would not arrive.
It would take nearly three days to reach Jiping at the earliest, so Yuwen Chengchao led the cavalry without stopping and rushed to the rescue first.
After nearly half a year of training by the Long Rui Army, although many soldiers have begun to learn to ride horses, most of the equestrian skills are ordinary. This kind of rapid march on horseback is actually quite difficult for the Long Rui cavalry.
Long Rui's army was not short of horses. Qin Xiao had already allocated thousands of horses from the pasture to Yuwen Chengchao for training in the barracks.
But it is really not an easy task to select a thousand cavalry who are good at riding and shooting.
But precisely at this juncture, six hundred dragon scale forbidden troops arrived in Guangning in time.
All the way from Ninghua Port to Guangning, the Forbidden Army was quite tired. However, after learning that there was an urgent task to be carried out, these Forbidden Army thought it was a great opportunity to make meritorious deeds. After all, they had just arrived. If they could make military exploits immediately, they would be
It's like having a foothold in Long Rui's army.
Although it was felt that the 600 forbidden troops were physically exhausted and should not fight immediately, they could not wait to capture Jiping, and in the end these 600 forbidden troops were included in the plan.
In addition to the 600 forbidden troops, Yuwen Chengchao also organized a group of soldiers with good cavalry and archery skills into the vanguard, and personally led the team to help Jiping, while Qin Xiao followed up with 3,000 infantry.
Yuwen Chengchao knew in his heart that Huangfu Yunzhao focused his defense on Shunjin. Even if he sent troops to recapture Jiping City, he would not send too many troops. If he and his cavalry could arrive in time, Jiping City would still be in Zhao Shengtai's hands.
, then the Liaodong Army is likely to retreat without a fight.
He led thousands of cavalry, all of which were equipped with two war horses per person. He would switch to war horses at regular intervals, so that he could always maintain the fastest speed. Even drinking and eating was done on horseback.
And such a rapid march really shows the quality of the Dragon Scale Forbidden Army. These people have extremely strong physiques and are skilled in equestrian skills. Even during the rapid march, the formation is still not messy at all, and when changing vehicles,
The movements of these forbidden troops were also crisp and neat.
On the contrary, although a few of the hundreds of cavalry who originally belonged to Long Rui's army were not weak in ability, overall they were much weaker than the Forbidden Army. Thousands of cavalry were like a blue dragon sweeping across the earth in the autumn rain.
"Jun Lieutenant, in front of us is Longbagou." Yu Wencheng said loudly to a subordinate beside him: "After passing Longbagou, turn to the southeast. Less than thirty miles away, we will reach Jiping County."
Yuwen Chengchao raised his head and looked at the sky. It had darkened but the rain was still heavy.
That subordinate was originally a lieutenant of the Guangning Military Academy. After Qin Xiao settled in Guangning, he incorporated the Guangning Army. The Liaoxi generals of the Guangning Army were also reused by Qin Xiao. Many of them were incorporated into the Yuwen Chengchao and obeyed Yuwen Cheng.
Dispatch.
This person would be very familiar with the terrain in Jiping County, so Yuwen Chengchao took him with him as a guide.
Hearing that it was less than thirty miles away from Jiping County, Yuwen Chengchao breathed a sigh of relief.
Since setting off last night, we have been working non-stop all day and night. Although everyone is very tired, they still arrived in time.
He knew that with everyone's current physical condition, it was really impossible to engage in direct combat with the enemy. However, as long as these troops appeared at the city gate, even if they did not take action, it would be enough to form a great deterrent to the Liaodong Army attacking Jiping, so he waved his hand to everyone.
move on.
When the cavalry led by Yuwen Chengchao was less than thirty miles away from Jiping City, Qian Siyi finally waited for the arrival of the baggage train.
More than 300 sergeants escorted dozens of ladders to the foot of Jiping City. Qian Siyi and his soldiers were excited.
"Listen up." Qian Siyi summoned his generals and said in a deep voice: "A total of forty ladders have been brought this time, and our soldiers are also divided into forty teams, each with fifty people, lined up in a row.
Open, and launch an attack on Jiping City at the same time. Each team leads with shield soldiers, covering the brothers behind as they approach the city wall, and archers behind to restrain the defenders' archers from firing arrows at will. After approaching the city wall, set up ladders,
Attack the city at the same time. You all remember, whoever climbs to the top of the city first will be rewarded heavily by the general, and will be reported to the general and promoted greatly."
Everyone is in high morale.
"There are not many enemy troops in the city." Qian Siyi said: "Forty teams launched an attack at the same time, and the defenders couldn't hold on at all." He slowly turned around, looked at the head of Jiping City, and sneered: "Also,
If anyone captures Zhao Shengtai alive, I will be rewarded with a reward of one hundred taels, and I will cut off his head with my own hands." He waved his hand and said, "Go and get ready!"
The officers and soldiers of the Liaodong Army also acted quickly. The generals gathered the sergeants and divided them into small teams according to the number of people. Each team of fifty people received a ladder. Shield bearers and archers were also distributed as evenly as possible to each team according to the number.
In just an hour, the officers and soldiers of the Liaodong Army lined up under the city, a team of fifty, ready to attack the city as soon as Qian Siyi gave the order.
While the Liaodong Army was preparing, the hundreds of defenders at the top of the city also began to disperse and deploy their defenses. However, their strength was limited after all. After they were dispersed, the soldiers at the top of the city seemed quite sparse.
"General Lang, our brothers are all ready." A general reported: "You can launch an attack at any time!"
Qian Siyi's eyes were like a knife, and with a "choking" sound, he pulled out his saber and was about to order an attack on the city. Suddenly he heard the faint sound of the earth shaking, which was also mixed with the sound of horns. He frowned and followed the sound to the northwest.
, in the night, I could vaguely see shadows flashing in the distance, and countless black shadows were like rolling waves, quickly sweeping towards this side.