Chapter 682: Troops Arrive at Mount Qushan
Chapter 682: Troops Arrive at Mount Qushan
The shopkeeper scratched his head and said, "It should be Du Fuwei's army! They passed through the west of our town, it's rare that they didn't pass through the town."
Cheng Yaojin picked up another bowl of wine and asked, "How many people are there?"
"I don't know, probably tens of thousands of people."
"Which direction did you go?" Cheng Yaojin asked again.
"Heading east!"
Cheng Yaojin grabbed the shopkeeper by the collar and asked fiercely, "You are not kidding!"
The shopkeeper was so frightened that his face suddenly changed. He said tremblingly: "I dare not make such a joke. There was indeed an army passing by. My servants also saw it."
The guy also said, "Really, there was one. I saw it clearly. There was no flag. They were walking in a hurry!"
Walking eastward, he did not encounter his own army. Cheng Yaojin felt that this information was of great importance. He drank the wine in the bowl, grabbed a handful of money and threw it on the table, then left in a hurry.
At this time, Qin Qiong had not rested yet. His personal soldiers said at the door: "General, General Cheng wants to see you. He said he has important military information to report!"
Qin Qiong then remembered that Cheng Yaojin was on duty tonight, and he nodded, "Let him in!"
After a while, Cheng Yaojin came in hurriedly, clasped his fists and said, "I have important military information to report!"
Qin Qiong frowned, "Have you been drinking?"
Cheng Yaojin's face suddenly turned the color of liver, and he quickly argued: "Listen to me, Marshal. I know the military regulations. Drinking is not allowed during wartime. I dare not disobey the military regulations. I did drink a bowl of wine, but I had to drink it in order to gather intelligence!"
"What kind of intelligence?"
"I led my men to patrol the town, hoping to learn about the situation from the locals. However, the town was dark except for one tavern, so I went in to ask. The owner was a little scared and hesitated to speak. In order to get close to him, I bought him a bowl of wine, and he started talking. He said that at noon, a troop of Du Fuwei passed by, about 10,000 men, and headed east."
"Ten thousand people went eastward?" Qin Qiong was a little confused. "Is the information accurate?"
"The shopkeeper and his clerk swore over and over that it was true."
Qin Qiong was puzzled. There was only one official road to the east, and he led the army through the east, so how come he didn't encounter the enemy?
Cheng Yaojin said anxiously: "I think the enemy has discovered us, so they are avoiding us. Marshal, will they attack us in the middle of the night, such as with fire?"
Qin Qiong nodded, "I understand!"
He suddenly glared at Cheng Yaojin, "Don't think you can fool me. I know what kind of person you are. I'm warning you first. If I find you drinking again, I will beat you with a hundred military sticks."
"Don't dare! Don't dare!"
"Continue to patrol and expand the perimeter, especially to the north and south."
"Follow the order!"
Cheng Yaojin secretly thought he was lucky and hurried out.
Qin Qiong immediately ordered: "Pass my order, the entire army must get up and prepare for battle, and put away the tents!" There was a loud gong sound in the temporary military camp, and the soldiers were awakened one after another. They hurriedly put away the tents, got up, and stood up vigilantly with their weapons.
Half an hour later, Cheng Yaojin suddenly came back on horseback, shouting, "There are enemies in the south! There are enemies in the south!"
Qin Qiong shouted, "What enemy situation?"
"There are enemy troops approaching us, about 10,000 of them."
Qin Qiong nodded and said to You Junda and Jia Wuben with a smile: "We will open tonight!"
To the south was an endless wheat field. An army of 10,000 people, led by General Zhou Wei, was crossing the wheat field and quietly approaching the Sui army camp.
Zhou Wei was originally ordered to garrison in Shuyang County. Unexpectedly, not long after passing Shanji Town, his spies discovered the main force of the Sui army in front of them. He immediately led his troops into the wheat fields and retreated southward.
After the Sui army set up camp at night, Zhou Wei realized that this was a good opportunity to ambush the Sui army, so he decided to ambush the Sui army at two o'clock.
But Zhou Wei never imagined that Cheng Yaojin discovered the existence of his army just because he was greedy for a sip of wine.
Ten thousand soldiers bent over and ran quickly in the wheat field, using the wheat field as cover to run towards the Sui army camp.
Suddenly, the sound of clappers rang out rapidly, "Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The Sui army soldiers who were ambushed on both sides fired thousands of arrows at once. The dense crossbow arrows penetrated the wheat fields. The sneak attacking soldiers wailed and fell down one after another. Trumpets sounded everywhere, and there were shouts of killing. The Sui army soldiers came from all directions.
From ancient times to the present, sneak attacks have always been a high-risk and high-return combat method. It is either successful or a miserable failure. There has never been a case of getting away with a failed sneak attack. The reason is simple. A sneak attack is meant to catch the opponent by surprise and make them panic and flee in panic.
However, once the enemy sets a trap and ambushes them, the sneak attack fails and they realize they have fallen into a trap. The attacking army will inevitably panic and the soldiers' mentality will collapse. At this time, running away is human instinct, and every soldier will rush to escape desperately and will never think of gathering together to resist.
This was exactly the case with Du Fuwei's army in front of them. They were suddenly ambushed in a surprise attack. Every soldier was terrified. They turned around and fled, leaving behind the injured or dead soldiers. The shouts of killing were deafening all around, and the soldiers were terrified.
The Sui army soldiers surrounded the enemy from all sides, leaving them with no way to escape. Seven to eight thousand of them surrendered, and the main general Zhou Wei fled to Qushan County with only a few hundred remnants.
The morale of the Sui army was greatly boosted. Qin Qiong made an immediate decision. He left 2,000 soldiers to manage the prisoners of war and logistics, and led 18,000 troops to attack Qushan County directly. Zhou Wei led the remaining troops to escape back to Qushan County, but the Sui army arrived right after him, leaving the other side no room for maneuver.
This was also because Qin Qiong knew Fu Gongyou well. He would flee when the timing was not right, and he escaped faster than anyone else. Therefore, Qin Qiong did not give Fu Gongyou a chance to escape. He led 18,000 troops directly to Qushan County. At this time, it was too late for Fu Gongyou to escape. He had to either leave the city and fight the Sui army, or defend the city and ask Du Fuwei for help.
Fu Gongyou chose the latter, but Du Fuwei's troops were all in the north of Langya County. It would take at least half a month for the messenger to go there and the army to attack again. Could they still defend the city?
Fu Gongyou stood on the top of the city wall and looked at the Sui army below. He looked nervous, but secretly happy in his heart. He was secretly happy because the other side had no weapons such as siege ladders, so they would have to cut down trees to make improvisations. However, all the trees in Zhou Wei were cut down by the defenders, and they implemented a policy of clearing the countryside, so they could only cut down trees fifty miles away.
At this time, Qin Qiong was also looking at Qushan County. Qushan was far inferior to the majestic cities of Jiangdu and Xiangyang. It could only be regarded as an above-average city. The city wall was also very ordinary, about two feet and five feet high. Although it was made of bricks, its history could be traced back to the Northern Qi Dynasty, which was too long ago. The key point was that the city wall was relatively thin. Not to mention the iron fire bombs, even the battering ram could not stop it.
The top of the city wall was full of enemy soldiers. Qin Qiong looked for a moment and found that the enemy commander was right there. He ordered, "Send the letter to him!"
A cavalryman galloped forward quickly, raised his crossbow and shot a letter onto the top of the city wall from two hundred steps away.
(End of this chapter)