Fenghou

Cheng Changyu and everyone left, Li Gang sighed and said to Chen Qing; "You have also seen that before the war started, the internal fighting began."

Chen Qingxiao asked: "It seems that there is a conflict between Cheng Changyu and Orihiko?"

Li Gang smiled wryly and said: "The two of them have deep conflicts, which happened during the process of exterminating Yang Yao. You also know that Orihiko is a relatively noble person, and he looks down on Cheng Changyu very much, and he is the kind of straightforward person. In fact, today He has restrained a lot, if they used to fight."

Chen Qing nodded, "Cheng Changyu's plan is relatively standard, but the casualties are too high, and the gains outweigh the losses!"

Li Gang smiled and said: "I know you are good at using tricks, you should have a plan in your chest, I would like to hear your plan."

Li Gang was very satisfied with Chen Qing's rescue of the Three Gorges Road, especially Chen Qing did not kill any prisoners.

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "I have some ideas, but I also hope to see Cheng Zhen's siege tomorrow. I also need to know the defense situation of Xiangyang!"

"That's good! After the trial battle is over tomorrow, I'll hear your opinion again!"

……

Dong Xian stood on the top of the city with his hands behind his back, looking worriedly at the camp outside the city. He has not received any news from the imperial court until now, as if the imperial court had given up on them. This is why Dong Xian felt a little regretful. After Yan Chang evacuated, he should have evacuated Xiangyang right after him.

Although Xiangyang is an extremely important strategic place, it also depends on whether it can play a role. If the strength cannot beat Jingxiang, then Xiangyang is meaningless no matter how important it is.

Now he can't retreat, so he can only bite the bullet and hold on, to see if the battle in the west can affect Jing Xiang's side.

At this time, a soldier rushed to report, "Report to Marshal, a group of small boats were found on the Cao River."

This was a new situation. Dong Xian hurriedly walked towards the North City. Not long after, he came to the North City Wall and looked out. He saw dozens of small boats moored on the Cao River, but he didn't know what they were going to use them for.

Dong Xian pondered for a while, and suddenly realized that this boat was obviously used to erect the pontoon bridge!

The Song army was about to attack the city, so he immediately ordered to the general on duty: "Give me close surveillance, especially at night, once the enemy builds a pontoon bridge, report to me immediately!"

……

That night, Chen Qing also got the news that Cheng Changyu started to build a pontoon bridge outside the East City. The reason why he chose to be in the East City instead of the North City was really because of some special structures in Xiangyang City.

The city wall of Xiangyang was still a foot away from the moat, so the craftsmen built a wall close to the bank of the moat. This was not for military purposes, but to prevent the city wall from flooding ashore after flooding, so as to avoid the root of the city wall being soaked in water for a long time.

This waterproof wall was built around the entire bank of the moat, and the waterproof wall outside the north city wall was the tallest, with a height of eight feet, while the height of the other three walls was only about three feet.

And if the pontoon bridge is built on the north city wall, there will be a problem. The attacking soldiers have to jump off the eight-foot-high waterproof embankment, which will definitely hurt them. It's much easier.

Chen Qing rode towards the east city with more than a hundred soldiers. When he passed by the north city, he looked at the high waterproof embankment, which was indeed built very high. The difficulty of the city is even greater, but Xiangyang City has thought of it, and it can be used for reference in the future.

At this time, Chen Qing saw the water gate again, which was next to the main gate. Compared with the city wall, he actually cared more about this water gate.

The strategy that Jiang Yanxian suggested to Chen Qing to capture Xiangyang refers to the Water Gate, which is a weak point in the defense of Xiangyang City. There are two iron fences inside and outside. At the head of the city, the guards usually come down the passage to check the ships in the door opening.

Jiang Yanxian told Chen Qing that the two iron fences had not been replaced for at least 50 years. They had been corroded by water and looked rough on the surface. In fact, they were no different from rotten wood and could be cut with a sharp axe.

At this time, there was a sound of horseshoes, and a soldier chased after him, clasped his fists at Chen Qing and said, "Report to Dutong, the ships from Baling have arrived and will be moored on the river north of Daying."

Chen Qing temporarily gave up his plan to go to the east of the city to check the pontoon bridge, and instead went to the west of the Hanshui River. Soon he came to the Hanshui River to the north of his camp. Special ships coming from Baling County.

At this time, someone stood on the side of a large ship and waved to Chen Qing, "Chen Dutong!"

Chen Qing recognized the person who came, it was Xie Changzhi, the chief craftsman in his army.

Chen Qing stepped onto the big boat and asked with a smile, "Is what I asked to do done?"

Xie Changzhi smiled and nodded, "Report to Dutong, it's already done, Dutong please follow me!"

Chapter 331 Trial attack

Xie Changzhi asked more than a dozen soldiers to carry out a raft-like long board from the cabin. It was about [-] feet long and [-] feet wide. It was a head taller than a person.

The soldiers put the raft on the side of the ship and turned it horizontally. Xie Changzhi said with a smile: "Soldiers can stand behind it to avoid arrows. When using it, stand it upright and put it directly on the city wall. The iron hook is hooked to the city wall, and the other end is fastened to the side of the ship, and the other party will not be able to drag it. In addition, this ship ladder is actually two floors up and down, which can be adjusted and extended, and the longest can be extended to two feet."

This thing is called a siege boat ladder. It was Chen Qing's idea, specially designed by the craftsman, and installed on the boat. This is actually the professionalization of Changde's siege weapons. No, you must use professional siege weapons.

Each of the twenty three-thousand-stone ships was equipped with one such siege ladder, which soldiers could use with a little training. If they were used proficiently, they could reach the top of the city within ten seconds at most.

Chen Qing pondered for a while and said, "Actually, I still want to modify another collision ship."

"The humble officer knows that the bow is equipped with a special bumper, usually made of pig iron, which can smash the enemy's warship to pieces and sink it."

Chen Qing nodded, "It's this kind of ship collision, with a pig iron head bumper, about two thousand stone."

Xie Changzhi nodded, "There are ready-made pig iron bumpers, as well as ships, but it takes time to install them, and I will give you three days to do so."

"Well, I'll wait for your good news in three days!"

……

After a night of construction and at the cost of hundreds of casualties, at dawn the next day, two pontoon bridges appeared on the moat in the east of the city.

Above the head of Dongcheng, seven thousand puppet Qi troops were waiting in battle. They launched more than [-] small trebuchets, which could throw a [-]-jin kerosene ball dozens of steps away.

Now the puppet Qi army wants to destroy the two pontoon bridges with ease. They just throw fire oil balls and burn them down, but Dong Xian also needs a victory to boost morale.

They were not in a hurry, and waited patiently for the Song army's attack.

At this time, a soldier ran to Dong Xian and whispered a few words, Dong Xian was startled, "Are you sure?"

"It should have started last night. A brother discovered it just now."

"Take me to see!"

Dong first got on his horse and ran towards Beicheng. He came to Beicheng not long after. He dismounted and stared at the city wall. A soldier pointed to the opposite side of the moat and said, "Over there, there is a big baffle that appeared last night. of."

Dong Xian also saw a long baffle, which was more than ten feet long and one foot high, and the situation behind the baffle could not be seen.

This kind of situation is usually to dig a tunnel, but the moat is so wide, it is obviously meaningless to dig a tunnel. Another possibility is to install a large siege weapon. I am afraid that the top of the city will find it, so I use a baffle to cover it.

"What's behind the baffle, haven't you seen it?" Dong Xian turned around and asked the soldier.

A soldier hesitated for a moment and said, "I saw a little bit last night, but I can't see it very clearly in the night, so I'm not sure."

"Tell me! What did you probably see?"

"I saw a lot of thick logs, very long and thick, and the soldiers carried them over. The humility must be wood, but I don't know what it is."

Dong Xian nodded. His guess should be correct. The Song army must be installing giant siege weapons. Only the bed crossbow can reach this distance, so they used a baffle to prevent the bed crossbow from shooting.

"Ugh-"

The horn blew outside the east city, and Dong Xian had no time to waste here. He said to several soldiers, "Keep an eye on them, and let me know when there are specific objects!"

He got on his horse and ran towards the east city...

Outside the east city, [-] Song troops had assembled, and [-] crossbowmen rushed to the moat first, shooting arrows at the top of the city. [-] Song troops ran to the sound of fierce drums, carrying huge siege ladders. This kind of siege ladder is not the ordinary siege ladder used by Jurchens or Xixia people, but a heavy-duty siege ladder. A siege ladder weighs several thousand catties, is four feet high and six feet wide, and is made of very heavy materials. There are three huge iron hooks on the front end.

This kind of siege ladder needs more than thirty soldiers to carry it. Each rung is square, half a foot wide, instead of round. It is not so easy to cut it with an axe.

Soldiers of the Song Army carried more than a dozen heavy siege ladders. They ran across the pontoon bridge and ran to the other side of the moat.

The soldiers of the Puppet Qi Army on the top of the city were completely suppressed by the Song Army, but the small trebuchets were not affected. Balls of fire oil flew out of the top of the city, or fell into the moat, or hit them. The pontoon bridge was overflowing with fire oil and began to burn rapidly.

But the soldiers had a countermeasure. They spread wet burlap on the fire oil, and the soldiers ran on the burlap, and the fire went out.

This is a very good way to deal with Huoyou, but the key is to be prepared in advance. For example, Kong Yanzhou attacked Jiangling City without preparation in advance, and the result was extremely heavy losses.

"Throw a shocking thunder!"

Zhentianlei is a firearm invented during the reign of Xuanhe. Simply put, it is a gunpowder porcelain ball. This kind of porcelain ball is very thick and will not break when thrown in the soil from the top of the city. , It is a sharp weapon for defending the city and dealing with cavalry, so it is called Zhentianlei.

Compared with the Zhentianlei of the Song Army or the Puppet Qi Army and Chen Qing's double-layer gunpowder barrel, the power and lethality of the two are similar, but the difference lies in the ignition.

The gunpowder barrel uses match rope, that is, the fuse, while Zhentianlei uses a gunpowder paper tube, which is the powder cartridge bound to the gunpowder arrow, but it is slightly thinner. One end is inserted into a specially reserved hole, and the other end is outside Light the gunpowder cartridge and throw it with a trebuchet.

Generally speaking, it can ignite and explode on the test site, but it may not be so on the battlefield. The fundamental reason is that the explosion time is not well controlled, and it is often thrown out too early. After landing, it has not exploded, and the opposing soldiers directly pour it with water gourds. Went out.

When Li Gang was defending Tokyo, he used to throw a large number of these thunderbolts, which were very powerful, but the effect was not good, because a large number of thunderbolts turned into dumb mines.

Thunderbolts were thrown one after another, but only two landed on the pontoon bridge and exploded, killing dozens of soldiers of the Song army, but the others fell into the moat and there was no further movement.

"Change the kerosene ball!"

Dong Xian found that Zhentianlei had little effect, so he immediately ordered to replace it with fire oil balls.

At this time, the heavy siege ladder of the Song Army was on the top of the city, and hundreds of soldiers began to climb up the city. The rolling wood and boulders on the top of the city fell like hailstones. The raging fire, bundles of hay were thrown down, which intensified the fire, and there were continuous explosions of thunder and thunder in the raging fire, and the sound was deafening.

Chen Qing and several of his men watched the battle from a distance, including Zheng Ping who also rushed over.

Zheng Ping frowned and said, "I saw that they used wet linen to put out the fire, and the effect was good! Why don't you continue to use it?"

Chen Qing shook his head, "The fire is so fierce that it cannot be extinguished at all. Fire oil is indeed the most powerful weapon for defending the city, but the output is too small. After capturing Xiangyang, we must first grab fire oil and gunpowder!"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

At this time, Liu Cui also asked curiously: "I think this kind of heavy-duty siege ladder is very good, why didn't the golden soldiers use it?"

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "Of course there is a reason, who of you thought of it?"

Gao Ding blurted out, "It's too heavy!"

Chen Qing said with a smile: "That's right, it's too heavy. The Song Army's ships can be transported. Each weighs a few thousand catties, and you can transport hundreds of them at a time. It is completely unrealistic for you to ask the Jin soldiers to haul them with carts. It is still ordinary." The siege ladder is more convenient."

Yang Zaixing also said: "Dutong, isn't their porcelain fire thunder more powerful?"

Chen Qing shook his head, "Unless the casing is made of cast iron, the power of all kinds of fire mines is about the same, but I don't advocate the development of iron shell fire mines."

"Why?" Everyone looked at Chen Qing together.

Chen Qing said indifferently: "Any weapon is a double-edged sword. We use it to kill the enemy, but the enemy also uses it to kill us, just like the iron armor and riding bow, which were created and improved by the Han people, and finally used by the nomads to destroy us , The same is true for the iron-shelled fire and thunder. This is not because of choking, but who is it more valuable to?

When we deal with the Jurchen cavalry, there is not much difference in the killing effect of the iron-shelled fire mine and the wooden barrel fire mine. It easily blows down city walls one after another, and it will become a disaster for the Han people. "

"If we keep it a secret, the Jurchens won't learn it either!"

Chen Qing sneered and said, "Can our court keep this secret?"

If everyone has realized something, it seems that some things cannot be easily released.

At this time, the bell for withdrawing troops rang, 'When!when!when!when! '

The Song army suffered heavy casualties in the siege, Cheng Changyu was so anxious that he jumped on his feet and ordered the troops to withdraw.

Chapter 332

In the first tentative attack, the Song army suffered more than [-] casualties, seven heavy siege ladders were burned, and two pontoon bridges were also burned. The attacking Song army retreated in embarrassment, and the defenders at the top of the city cheered.

Although it was only a tentative attack, Li Gang retreated so embarrassingly, his face was also very ugly, he snorted dissatisfiedly, turned and went back to the camp.

At this moment, a soldier ran up to Chen Qing and said, "Chen Dutong, the envoy Xuanfu invites you to command the tent!"

Chen Qing nodded, and said to his opponent: "You go back to the camp first, pay attention to your vigilance, I'll go see the Xuanfu envoy!"

The generals saluted and left, and then Chen Qing followed the soldiers to the main camp.

In the commander's tent, Li Gang paced back and forth distractedly, when a sergeant reported, "Chen Dutong is here!"

"Let him in!"

Li Gang sighed in his heart, he found himself relying more and more on Chen Qing, the success or failure of this battle against Xiangyang rested on Chen Qing.

After a while, Chen Qing opened the curtain and walked in, bowed and said, "See Xuanfu envoy!"

Li Gang waved his hands and said helplessly, "How is Chen Dutong doing in today's battle?"

"Today's battle situation is as expected by the humble official. The Song army is tenacious, but tenacity alone cannot attack Xiangyang. The opponent is also tenacious and good at fighting. Relying on the tall and strong city and advanced weapons, if you don't use more powerful siege weapons , it is impossible to capture Xiangyang City."

At this time, Zhe Yanzhi and Xie Qian also walked into the handsome tent. They did not disturb the conversation between Chen Qing and Li Gang, but stood aside and listened carefully.

"What is the most powerful siege weapon?" Li Gang asked.

Chen Qing said calmly: "The most impressive siege weapon in the humble position is the nest cart. It is the most powerful siege weapon so far. Even if you use fire oil, you can't do anything about it."

Xie Qian next to him couldn't help but said, "But with such a wide moat, what's the point of talking about nest cars?"

Chen Qing smiled slightly, "The nest car doesn't have to be on land!"

Orihiko immediately came to his senses, "Chen Dutong refers to the boat?"

Chen Qing nodded, "If you build a ship into a nest ship, it will be a sharp weapon for attacking the city. I transferred twenty large ships from Baling County, and with a little modification, they can be used as nest ships to attack the city."

Li Gang, who was originally depressed, was full of emotions again. He stroked his beard and said with a smile: "How much time does Chen Dutong need to reform?"

Chen Qing raised three fingers, "It takes three days for a humble job!"

"Okay! Three days later, we will wait and see."

Chen Qing resigned and left, Li Gang asked Xie Qian and Zheyan, "Chen Dutong said that Xiangyang can be taken in three days, what do you think?"

Xie Qian shook his head, "Nest carts are not omnipotent, and nest boats are the same, not to mention that the city wall of Xiangyang is still one foot away from the moat, and soldiers must rush across the footbridge. As long as the opponent uses a powerful crossbow to block it, this It is very difficult to rush across the one-foot-long bridge, even with a shield, not to mention that the opponent has heavy kerosene and firearms, and I am not optimistic about Chen Dutong's nest car battle."