Chapter 683 Qin Qiong Test
Chapter 683 Qin Qiong Test
The soldier picked up the letter and ran to Fu Gongyou, who took it and handed it to the staff beside him. The staff read: "The army under the command of the Regent of the Great Sui Dynasty is heading north. Considering that you have not committed serious crimes, we will give you a chance to atone for your sins. If you surrender before dark, the whole army will be pardoned. Otherwise, even if you surrender during the war, you will have to serve three years of hard labor, and your commander will be beheaded. Qin Qiong, the general of the Tiger Guards under the command of the Regent of the Great Sui Dynasty and the commander of the Eastern Route Army of the Northern Expedition."
"what!"
Fu Gongyou was shocked to find that the other party was actually Qin Qiong. Back then, he was a cattle thief in Licheng and was caught by Qin Qiong, the head of the county police station. He was imprisoned for three years before he was pardoned.
Although Qin Qiong was his old enemy, Fu Gongyou would not surrender just because he received a letter of persuasion. He immediately ordered: "Defend the city to the death. Anyone who dares to surrender will be killed!"
As night fell, Qin Qiong summoned his generals to assign tasks. He said to them, "Since the enemy refuses to surrender, let's fight tonight. I will use iron fire bombs to blow up the city walls. According to the instructions of the King of Jin, those who surrender will be spared, and those who resist will be killed without mercy. In addition, no one is allowed to rob the people's property or rape women. Those who disobey my orders will be beheaded!"
Everyone bowed together, "Yes, sir!"
Qin Qiong said to Cheng Yaojin again: "General Cheng Yaojin, listen to my orders!"
Cheng Yaojin shuddered all over. He didn't expect that his name would be called first. He quickly stepped forward and said, "Here I am!"
Qin Qiong said to him, "I will give you 5,000 soldiers to intercept Fu Gongyou three miles outside the north city. If Fu Gongyou escapes, you must stop him, regardless of life or death!"
Why did Qin Qiong ask Cheng Yaojin to intercept Fu Gongyou? Because they knew each other and had fought many times. In particular, Cheng Yaojin had very poisonous eyes. Even if Fu Gongyou disguised himself as a soldier, he would not be able to deceive Cheng Yaojin's poisonous eyes.
"I accept the order!" Cheng Yaojin gritted his teeth and accepted the military order.
At two o'clock in the morning, five soldiers of the firearms army wearing heavy armor and carrying a 150-jin iron fire bomb ran towards the city gate. Under the moonlight, patrol officers on the city wall had already discovered them and shot arrows at them.
The arrows had no effect on heavy armor, and they hit the iron armor with a clanging sound and fell down one after another. At this time, the Sui army was less than fifty steps away from the city gate. They sped up and jumped into the moat. They also carried a large wooden basin that could withstand 150 kilograms of iron fire bombs.
The alarm bells rang on the city walls, and the sleeping defenders on the city walls were awakened one after another. They stood up and looked for the enemy everywhere, but they could not find any enemy soldiers.
Five soldiers had climbed out of the moat and were leaning against the city gate. There was a brick eaves above the gate that just blocked them.
The soldiers placed iron fire mines on the city gate, a soldier lit the fuse, and five soldiers jumped into the moat again and hid under the drawbridge. The drawbridge was like a huge shield that blocked them.
In just a moment, flames burst out on the city gate, followed by an earth-shaking explosion, "Boom!" and thick smoke rising into the sky.
The powerful shock wave blew the city gate to pieces. The city walls on both sides could not withstand the shock wave and collapsed. Even the iron chains of the suspension bridge were broken by the shock wave. The suspension bridge fell heavily, dust flew, and the sky was filled with broken bricks and stones.
The defenders on the city wall were completely stunned by the explosion, and most of them lost their balance and fell to the ground.
When they slowly got up, they found that the overwhelming Sui army was charging towards the city. The soldiers were frightened, their morale was completely destroyed, and they all ran down the city and fled.
Street fighting is impossible. Only those who are determined to perish and destroy their country and race will fight with the enemy in the streets and die to the last moment. These bandits don't have such will.
Fu Gongyou had just received a report and discovered that the Sui army was taking action. He immediately led 3,000 of his direct troops out of the barracks and rushed towards the south gate. Halfway there, he saw an explosion rising into the sky. His horse was frightened and threw him to the ground. The soldiers hurriedly helped him up.
Fu Gongyou looked out in horror at the mushroom cloud rising in the sky. He was also frightened when he saw the city wall collapse. When the dust settled, he could roughly see the city gate. It was gone. Only a huge gap dozens of feet wide remained. In the distance, an overwhelming army was rushing towards the city.
"Not good! Retreat immediately."
Fu Gongyou was not interested in fighting anymore. He only had one thought in mind: "Escape!" This was his characteristic. When he encountered a crisis, his first thought was to escape. Qin Qiong knew him too well.
Fu Gongyou led 3,000 troops to flee towards the north gate. The north gate was already crowded with soldiers who had thrown away their armor and helmets. As soon as the gate was opened, the soldiers rushed out and fled in all directions into the wilderness.
Fu Gongyou no longer cared about other soldiers. He led three thousand guards to flee north along the official road.
Just after running three miles, an army suddenly rushed out from the front. Five thousand soldiers were lined up in an orderly battle array, and the leader was a great general, who was none other than the Eagle General Cheng Yaojin. Cheng Yaojin rushed up and shouted, "Cattle thief, do you still remember your grandfather Cheng?"
Fu Gongyou recognized Cheng Yaojin at a glance, gritted his teeth and sneered, "So it's you, this ugly ass. It seems that the King of Jin has no one else to use, so he actually let you, a scoundrel, be the general!"
Cheng Yaojin was furious. He rushed forward, swung his axe and chopped, "Chop off his head!"
A glimmer of hope ignited in Fu Gongyou's heart. He had fought with Cheng Yaojin before and beat him half to death. He knew Cheng Yaojin's true colors.
He raised his iron spear and thrust it outwards. "Bang!" The axe sprang up, and before he could fight back, the axe chopped down along the iron spear shaft, "Chop off your hand!"
"Crack!" Fu Gongyou's right hand was chopped off. Fu Gongyou screamed, his body was unstable, and he fell off his horse. Cheng Yaojin's men rushed forward, held Fu Gongyou down, and took him back.
The 3,000 soldiers on the opposite side were terrified and knelt down in surrender. Cheng Yaojin laughed triumphantly, "Seize their weapons!"
The war was over. Most of the enemy's 20,000 troops surrendered, and several thousand escaped. The enemy's main general Fu Gongyou was also captured alive by Cheng Yaojin, and Donghai County was successfully captured.
But at this time, the test for Qin Qiong had just begun. Qin Qiong received news that there were only 3,000 troops stationed in Linyi County, south of Langya County, but there were more than 300,000 shi of military rations and 500,000 shi of salt. Linyi County was also the county seat of Langya County and had a large population.
However, Du Fuwei's lair was in Dong'an County, north of Langya County. If he ran fast now, he could reach Linyi County in two days.
Everyone wanted to fight and asked to lead the army north. Qin Qiong was a little undecided, so he asked Sima Jia Wuben to discuss the matter.
Jia Wu was already over 40 years old and more mature. He thought for a moment and said, "Your Highness only gave the general a sand table for Donghai County because there was no sand table for Langya County. So he only wanted to give the general a sand table for Donghai County."
Qin Qiong nodded, "That's my concern. Your Highness gave me the task of taking over Donghai County, but the temptation of Linyi County is so great that I am in a dilemma. If I take over Linyi County, wouldn't it be a greater achievement?"
At this time, You Junda walked into the room and said with a smile: "It seems that Shubao doesn't understand Your Highness at all!"
Qin Qiong quickly stood up and said, "Please teach me, brother!"
You Junda had a very good relationship with Qin Shubao when he was young. During this expedition, the two got along very well and cooperated well, so You Junda wanted to help him.
He sat down and said with a smile: "His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin has been planning since last year. Do you think he doesn't know the situation in Linyi County? Let me tell you, His Royal Highness knows it very well, but why didn't he let you seize Linyi? Have you thought of the reason?"
Qin Qiong pondered for a while and said, "I thought about it on the way. Maybe it's because Donghai County is very important, much more important than Langya County!"
You Junda gave a thumbs up and said, "Shubao, if you can think like this, it means you have passed the test."
"What do you mean?" Qin Qiong asked puzzledly.
You Junda smiled slightly and said, "Before I left, His Highness told me that this expedition to Donghai County is a test for Shubao. If you take Donghai County and stop, you will pass the test. If you take Donghai County and continue to go north, it means that Shubao has no overall view and is unlikely to be of great use."
Jia Wuben was stunned. "I don't understand. What does it mean? Why does continuing to go north mean that the assessment has failed?"
Qin Qiong pondered for a moment and said, "My understanding is that since Donghai County is the northern gate of Jiangdu County, the purpose of attacking Donghai County is not to suppress bandits, but to control the northern gate. At this time, we must immediately switch from offense to defense, rather than rushing north for merit."
You Junda nodded slowly, "That's right, this is the strategic intention of His Royal Highness Prince Jin, Shubao understands it."
(End of this chapter)