Fenghou

Chapter 984 A Night's Encounter

Tang Qian returned to the Dengzhou military camp. Liu Qiong, who got the news, greeted him out of the camp in person, appeased Tang Qian, and everyone returned to the military camp.

Tang Qian took a deep breath and sighed: "It's a shame that I was born as a scout leader, and I was caught by the other party. It's also fortunate that the other party is not a golden soldier, otherwise my life will be in danger."

"Because the other party is not a golden soldier, you relax your vigilance. You are going to inquire about the news, not to spy on the news. The meaning is different."

Speaking of this, Liu Qiong said again: "Received the military order from His Highness, asking us to seize Ruzhou and connect Henan Prefecture with Ruzhou, Dengzhou and Tangzhou."

Tang Qian lifted his spirits and said with a smile: "It seems that I came back at the right time!"

Liu Qiong nodded, spread out a map and said, "Actually, I'm still a little worried!"

He pointed to the map and said: "To the northwest of Dengzhou is Xiong'er Mountain, which stretches for thousands of miles. State, must take Tangzhou first, and use Tangzhou to attack Dengzhou."

"So the only thing the general is worried about is Xiangyang?" Tang Qian understood what Liu Qiong meant.

"Yes! If Xiangyang Yue Fei's army took advantage of our going north and used the excuse of assisting us in attacking the Kingdom of Jin and swallowed up Dengzhou, we would have nothing to do."

Tang Qian pondered for a while and said: "It seems that Xiangyang has no intention of attacking us, at least there is no atmosphere of sending troops, and it seems that something happened to Yue Fei, and he may be detained by the court in Lin'an."

"what happened?"

"I heard from Cai Kejian that it was a lie that the imperial court attacked the Jingnan Road, and that it was true that Yue Fei was deprived of his military power. Of course, this is just an internal rumor, and it cannot be regarded as true for the time being."

Liu Qiong nodded, "But at least it shows that the imperial court has no intention of attacking the north. They are still bound by the Song-Jin armistice agreement."

"So we don't need to think about the Xiangyang Song army, and we should focus on dealing with the Jin soldiers."

Liu Qiong smiled and said: "You are right, it is not a man's job to look forward and backward, we should face Jin Bing directly."

Liu Qiong pointed to the map and said, "The golden soldiers are nothing more than two routes to attack us. One is to attack Tangzhou and take our back route, and the other is to support Ruzhou. Of course, the opponent may take both routes."

"Whose army will the other party send to support?"

"It should be Li Cheng. There is Li Cheng's garrison at Yingchang Mansion, but it's not clear whether Li Cheng came here himself."

Tang Qian immediately said: "Soldiers are precious and fast, and troops will be sent to capture Ruzhou tonight!"

……

That night, Liu Qiong and Tang Qian led [-] cavalry to the north, followed by [-] camels loaded with food and grass. Two days later, they crossed the gap between Xiong'er Mountain and Fangcheng Mountain and entered the Ruzhou area.

Wherever the Song army went, they were warmly welcomed by the people along the way, and the people in each village rushed out to eat pots of pulp to welcome their troops.

"Long live! Long live King Yong!"

Wherever they went, the people raised their arms and shouted, unable to bear the excitement in their hearts.

The imperial court and the emperor ruthlessly abandoned them, but King Yong did not hesitate to save them, and never regarded them as a burden.

They had heard that King Yong's army was coming more than a month ago, and the people were looking forward to it, and finally the army of King Yong was coming, how could they not be excited?

The Song army passed through the densely populated plain area and entered the hilly area. At night, the army camped under a hill in the north of Longxing County.

There is a clear spring flowing down the hill. The water is extremely clear and sweet. In many cases, water is even more important to soldiers than food.

However, Chen Qing had made a strict order that no matter how clear the water was during the march, it must be boiled and drunk.

The soldiers have implemented this very well, and the first thing they do when they stop is to boil water and cook.

Put down the marching stove, lit the briquettes, boiled a pot of water, boiled a large pot of noodles, and then put in various seasonings, each soldier went in with a piece of dried sea fish, each with a large bowl, and squatted aside to eat. up.

Then continue to boil water, fill each soldier's water bottle, and keep busy until night falls, the soldiers have enough food and drink, and feed and water for the horses before lying down to rest.

At this time, just thirty miles to the north, an army of ten thousand people was marching rapidly eastward.

This army is the [-] troops led by Zhang Zhongxiong. The [-] troops were from Dengzhou to support Luoyang. When they approached Yiqueguan, they got the news that Dengzhou was captured by the Song army. Shu ordered his army to guard Ruzhou, and at the same time ordered Li Cheng's army to support Zhang Zhongxiong.

Zhang Zhongxiong's army went south from Liang County in the northwest, along the official road on the south bank of Rushui River, and went to Xiangcheng County, more than [-] miles away, to join Li Cheng's army. At this time, the team was marching in Longxing County. I didn't know that the main force of the Song army was thirty miles to the south, and it was night. If there were no accidents, the two sides would pass by like this.

It's a pity that thirty miles is not a safe distance. In the dark night, a group of scouting cavalry came galloping from the trail to the south. They were pathfinding cavalry sent by the Song Army. On the official road, there is actually a large army marching on the official road ahead, and the torches in the hands of the soldiers are like a long fire dragon.

"Beware!" shouted the head of the capital.

Dozens of arrows shot at them in the dark, and several soldiers screamed, and the arrows fell off their horses.

"There is an ambush, retreat!"

A dozen or so cavalrymen turned their horses and rushed towards the way they came. Suddenly, hundreds of ambushes came out from both sides, and countless spears stabbed at them. An enemy general shouted: "Kill them all, don't let them escape!"

The scout cavalry broke through desperately. They broke through the siege for the head of the capital and two cavalrymen, and fled southward on horseback. There were 15 of them in total, and only three of them broke through in the end.

The leading general inquired about the news from several wounded and surviving soldiers, and rushed to report to Zhang Zhongxiong.

Zhang Zhongxiong was furious. He whipped the general across the head and face with a whip, and cursed: "Five hundred soldiers besieged fifteen cavalry, and three of them escaped. Are you all shit eaters?"

The general lowered his head and reported: "The humble officer interrogated a surviving enemy soldier. Liu Qiong's main force is thirty miles to the south, with [-] cavalry. I'm afraid they will soon know that we exist."

"Shit! You killed them all, don't you know?"

Zhang Zhongxiong wanted to chop off the useless bastard in front of him with one knife, but he had no choice but to order: "The whole army speed up!"

Ten thousand soldiers speeded up their march and began to run.

Half an hour later, Liu Qiong was shocked when he received the report from the scouts, and immediately sent someone to find Tang Qian.

"General, what happened?"

Tang Qian took a nap and was woken up by the soldiers, saying that something serious had happened, so he hurried over.

"Our scouts found the main force of the enemy army on the official road to the north, and they were moving to the east. Fifteen of our scouts were surrounded by the enemy, and only three of them escaped."

Tang Qian immediately reacted, "It is very likely that the other party also knows about us. Why does the general think they moved?"

Liu Qiong said slowly: "I think the other side's reinforcements don't want to stay away from Yingchang Mansion, so let Zhang Zhongxiong go to join them, Xiangcheng County is the most likely."

There are three big counties in Ruzhou, Beiliang County, Nanye County, Dongxiang City, and Xiangcheng County. As the base of logistics, Zhang Zhongxiong must have withdrawn to Xiangcheng County.

Liu Qiong and Tang Qian immediately reached an agreement that Zhang Zhongxiong's army and reinforcements could not be merged, and Zhang Zhongxiong's [-] troops must be wiped out before the two armies converged.

Liu Qiong immediately ordered the whole army to stop resting and pack up and set off. It was still the fourth watch, and [-] cavalry packed up their luggage and got on their horses, leaving [-] troops in Longxing County to protect the logistics of [-] camels, and the remaining [-] cavalry The cavalry pursued to the east.

Chapter 985 Fighting for You

At dawn, Zhang Zhongxiong's [-] troops were exhausted. They were still [-] miles away from Xiangcheng County. caught up.

Lieutenant General Zhao Fei said anxiously: "Dutong, it's definitely not going to work like this. You have to fight or avoid it!"

All the generals were unanimously opposed to the battle, the opponent had [-] cavalry and their fighting power was strong, how could they be opponents, the entire army would definitely be wiped out.

"So what about avoiding the battle?" Zhang Zhongxiong asked.

Zhao Fei hurriedly said: "The humble officer said to avoid the war, it is to let the soldiers who can swim to the north bank of the Ru River, and the rest of the soldiers go to the mountains to hide."

Zhang Zhongxiong was a little hesitant. With this plan, soldiers would take the opportunity to escape. At this time, he had already seen a black spot in the distance, and the cavalry of the Song Army had already killed ten miles away. gone."

Zhang Zhongxiong had no choice but to order: "Order the whole army, those who can swim will go to the other side, and the rest of the soldiers will go to the mountains to hide."

As the order came out, thousands of soldiers took off their leather armor and swam to the opposite bank, while the rest of the soldiers ran to the forest two miles to the south, where the hills were rolling and covered with dense forest.

In a blink of an eye, [-] cavalry arrived, only to see leather armor and weapons thrown all over the place on the bank, black spots densely packed in the Ru River, it was the soldiers who went swimming down the river, and many soldiers climbed ashore and ran away into the distance run.

"General, over there!"

The soldier pointed to the south, and Liu Qiong looked south, only to see a large group of soldiers running towards the mountains and forests two miles to the south.

Liu Qiong said angrily: "Prepare the rocket!"

[-] cavalry turned around and rushed to the south. When they reached the forest, the cavalry of the Song Army fired ten thousand arrows, and ten thousand rockets flew into the forest. The forest was full of pine forests. Soon there were hundreds of fire spots. It burned rapidly.

Liu Qiong divided the cavalry into ten teams, each with [-] cavalry, and distributed them on various main roads around the mountain.

But this mountain stretches for more than [-] miles, it is impossible to burn all the more than [-] miles, and it is impossible to surround it for more than [-] miles in both directions.

There was thick smoke billowing on the mountain, and the fire was raging, and the fire was spreading rapidly. The more than 4000 people who fled up the mountain no longer cared about the crowd, but scattered in all directions, fleeing for their own lives. Many soldiers took the opportunity to detour down the mountain and surrender to the Song army. [-] people descended to surrender.

There are more than [-] people hiding on the mountain, including the leader Zhang Zhongxiong.

Zhang Zhongxiong's fighting skills are relatively poor, but his escape skills are very high. Once he enters the mountain, don't run up the mountain. He led hundreds of people around the mountainside and quickly went to the south of the mountain. The time difference between the military blockade.

When the siege ended at dusk, a night rain came unexpectedly. The rain was so heavy that it drenched the entire mountain forest, and the mountain fire was extinguished. At this time, more than [-] soldiers descended to surrender. The whereabouts of more than [-] people are unknown, either they were burned to death by the mountain fire, or they have fled. Judging from the composition of the surrendered soldiers, the latter is more likely. The top generals are only a few commanders. No, Zhang Zhongxiong has no news.

As night fell and the rain became heavier and heavier, the Song army had to end the siege and begin to evacuate westward.

At midnight, the army arrived in Longxing County, and the soldiers were exhausted. Liu Qiong handed over nearly [-] prisoners of war to the [-] left-behind soldiers in Longxing County. Like the other [-] 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 soldiers of the Song Army recovered from extreme exhaustion. Longxing County is a middle-level county with a small population. The transportation here is convenient, and the intersection of two official roads here also makes it a must-have for military strategists. In the land where wars continued, half of the people in the county ran away, and there were so many empty houses, which gave the soldiers of the Song Army a place to live.

The [-] prisoners of war were then escorted to Dengzhou by [-] cavalry, where they received reform training or were released home.

At this time, scouts sent news from Xiangcheng County that [-] Jurchen cavalry and [-] signing troops had set off from Xiangcheng County and were rushing towards Longxing County.

Liu Qiong and Tang Qian discussed for a while, and they unanimously decided to fight.

In order not to worry about the future, Liu Qiong ordered a thousand cavalry to send [-] camels back to Dengzhou.

Eighteen thousand cavalry reorganized the army, lined up outside the county seat, and marched to the east in mighty force.

The army coming from the east was the [-] support army led by Li Cheng himself. He made a mistake before and did not take the initiative to join Zhang Zhongxiong's army, but waited for Zhang Zhongxiong's army to come back in Xiangcheng County.

Of course there is an emotion in it, Li Cheng has always looked down on Zhang Zhongxiong, only bragging and flattering, his real ability is just like his name, Xiongyang.

But it was also related to Li Cheng's misjudgment. He didn't expect Song Jun to go north so quickly. It happened to encounter Zhang Zhongxiong's army, so that Zhang Zhongxiong's army was exhausted, and only brought back more than 1000 people, and another 1000 were swimming. The soldiers, restrained by deputy general Zhao Fei, 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 Longxing County. Li Cheng had rich experience and made a tactical strategy. He actually sent 1 troops, and another [-] people detoured from the south And go, ambush in the south of Longxing County, and attack at a critical moment.

[-] cavalry and [-] infantry rushed westward on the official road. Although these [-] cavalry carried the banner of 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 formed by mixing Donghu people, mainly Khitan people.

Although they were not Jurchens, the Donghu people were also quite powerful in combat. The cavalry was very powerful, and was led by the Khitan ten thousand commander Xiao Jilie.

And Li Cheng's army is also a well-trained elite army, ten times sharper than Zhang Zhongxiong's army. His [-] troops have always been the backbone of the Puppet Qi Army. The Jiedushi of Yingcai led an army of [-] to sit in the three prefectures of Yingchang, Caizhou, Yingzhou and Chenzhou.

So this time Wanyan Wushu sent [-] Donghu cavalry to cooperate with Li Cheng's [-] troops to rescue Ruzhou, and it was logical.

Li Cheng set off in the afternoon, and in the morning of the next day, [-] miles away from Longxing County, the spies sent information. Ten miles ahead, they found the main force of the Song army.

At this time, Li Cheng also saw a black line appearing ten miles away, and he ordered: "Army array!"

Although Xiao Jilie is the Commander-in-Chief, his military rank is lower than that of Li Cheng, and Wanyan Wushu has repeatedly told him that he must obey Li Cheng's orders.

The [-] cavalrymen of the Donghu Army also quickly lined up, raising their spears.

At this time, Liu Qiong and Tang Qian led 9000 cavalry to stop slowly three miles away. They also formed a large formation on the left and right wings, each with [-] people.

Liu Qiong squinted at the enemy formation for a moment, and said to Tang Qian: "I will deal with the enemy cavalry, and you will be responsible for defeating the enemy infantry. Both sides will attack the cavalry!"

Liu Qiong saw it very accurately. The only weakness of the opponent was the infantry. He could defeat the infantry first, and then jointly deal with the cavalry to win the battle.

But Liu Qiong never thought that there were still [-] enemy infantry ambushing ten miles to the south of them.

Chapter 986 Fighting for You

"Attack!" With a wave of Liu Qiong's spear, he led nine thousand cavalry to charge out suddenly. The nine thousand cavalry rushed towards the enemy with an unstoppable momentum like a sea tide breaking a bank.

Xiao Jilie also brandished his knife and shouted, "Kill me!"

The [-] Donghu cavalry also mobilized, and their horses galloped like dark clouds rolled up by a strong wind. Everything was black, with black helmets and armor, horses with black saddles, and even the battle flags were black of death.

Their battlefield was originally a lush and large wheat field, but at this time it has been almost trampled to death by the fierce battle of the [-] army.

At this time, Tang Qian also led an army of [-] troops to launch, but he divided his troops into two groups, [-] cavalrymen held shields and swept towards the infantry positions, while the other [-] cavalrymen attacked the enemy army from the side in an arc. There was only one reason. Li Cheng deployed three thousand crossbow troops in front of the team.

In the cavalry training of the Song Army, there was a strategy of attacking the enemy's bow and crossbow array, that is, the cavalry who took the arc to kill the enemy's large array first, forcing the enemy's two rounds of crossbow to shoot only one round, and the second round Too late to launch, must retreat.

At this time, the two cavalry collided violently while galloping, and the soldiers on both sides uttered screams. Hundreds of soldiers died on the spot in this violent collision, but death was inevitable, and no one took it to heart. The cavalry of both sides staggered together, brandishing spears and fighting fiercely together.

At the same time, Li Cheng ordered: "Fire the arrow!"

Three thousand army crossbows were fired at the same time, and the dense crossbow arrows rose into the air, shooting at the Song army cavalry two hundred steps away.

The cavalry of the Song Army raised their shields to meet them while galloping at high speed, but arrows rained down, and hundreds of soldiers or horses were hit by arrows and fell down.

"Jiedu Envoy, Song Jun is coming from the side!"

Only then did Li Cheng realize that the Song army who came from the side was already a hundred steps away, [-] steps faster than the cavalry who came from the front, but it was these [-] steps that had a fatal impact on the soldiers of the crossbow army. , I am afraid that the crossbow army soldiers will not have time to retreat.

"Damn it, it's too fast!"

Li Cheng cursed and ordered: "The Crossbow Army retreats, the Spear Army goes up!"

Three thousand soldiers of the Crossbow Army retreated quickly, and five thousand soldiers of the Spear Army rushed up. At this time, the cavalry on the side shot random arrows while running. Hundreds of arrows shot at the enemy's spear soldiers, and the outer spear soldiers dodged Too late, more than a hundred people were shot down, causing a slight commotion.

This is also the tactic of the Song army, disrupting the enemy's spear formation, and before the soldiers behind them stepped forward, four thousand cavalry rushed into the spear formation from the side, and the front cavalry also rushed up suddenly, "Boom!" With a sound, it collided violently with the enemy's spear formation, and hundreds of cavalry in the front were stabbed by spears on the spot, but the Song Army cavalry did not stop, and continued to charge forward, entering the formation.