At this time, there were no decent cities in Liaodong, and the role of Liucheng, the largest city, was also a military fortress, which was not comparable with the eastern and western capitals of China and those large cities along the canal. There are very few crops outside of Yingzhou, and the vast land is in a semi-civilized state, which looks desolate and primitive.

Tonight the wind is light, there is light snow under the night, and the sleepy night is so quiet and pure. But this is just the appearance, not the hustle and bustle that there is fighting, and the tranquility is necessarily beautiful. In the dim light, a group of people were marching in the dark, most of them Han Chinese, but they were dressed in animal skins and ragged clothes, and armed with a mess of various weapons, maces, spears, short knives, iron rods, bows and arrows, etc., mixed together regardless of their ranks, like a group of thieves roaring in the mountains. The leader of it is Cui Qigao, a group of Han people who escaped from Yingzhou, they are from the Central Plains of Wanghua and order, and even many of them are from the Shi family, but now people have returned to their savage and crazy nature. In the land of Liaodong, everything has returned to its primitiveness, and the rules of survival here are completely different from those of densely populated urban farming areas.

The temperature was very low, but fortunately, the wind was light, and the crowd did not feel cold when they rushed to the road. Cui Qigao, who was wrapped in fur, asked a middle-aged man next to him: "The road will not be wrong?" The middle-aged man held a compass and said: "I have walked this road many times, and I can't make a mistake, and the direction is right." ”

Another junior glanced back, and there were two Khitans following a dozen paces behind. Housheng whispered to Cui Qigao: "Aren't the Khitans talking with the Han people on the surface, but they are not ambiguous at all, they are not afraid of fighting with the Jin army again?" ”

Cui Qigao snorted coldly and said, "You have been in Liaodong for so long, and you haven't realized it yet?" There is no righteousness in this place, it is all spoken by the sword! If the Jin army is really easy to destroy the Khitan, what else can it talk about? It's one thing to talk on the table, it's another thing to go down to fight, don't be soft when you do it, whoever is soft will die. ”

There was no fire and no light, and they hurried in the dark along a road deep and shallow, but no one fled. The sparsely populated area and the harsh environment make it difficult for the isolated Han people to survive. People are forced out, and the courage is born from the evil side, and the difficult living conditions make people have fierce expressions on their faces.

After walking for most of the night, the middle-aged man who led the way with a compass pointed to a black thing in front of him, like a small hill: "That side should be Black Mountain Fort, and the Khitan people call it China Fort, it's all the same thing." ”

The people around listened to it and stopped, all stretched their necks to look ahead, the weather was not clear, there was no moon or stars, it was dark and I couldn't see clearly, I heard someone muttering: "There is not even a little light, that is a Jin army's fort?" Cui Qigao said: "This kind of walled fort on the border of Yingzhou, can it not be curfew at night?" Let's wait here for a while, and find a clever one to get closer. ”

Cui Qigao surrounded several people, among whom was an older one, also surnamed Cui Mingxuan, who was Cui Qigao's uncle according to his generation, but the relationship was actually relatively far away when he was in Huazhou, and he didn't have much contact with each other after being exiled to Yingzhou. Choi Myung-hyun is tall but old and frail, so he acts as a strategist to give advice. He reminded: "Do you want to ask those two Khitans, are the Khitans really here?" ”

"Zhao Si, you go and ask." Cui Qigao ordered, "Actually, it's a vain question to ask, they followed all the way, and I guess I don't know." It's pitch black, except for Zhao Si, we don't know the road. The Khitans are also touching when they want to come, and they don't know where they are. ”

Cui Mingxuan said with a worried face: "If the Khitan soldiers lose their trust, let's rush over and set fire, within a few incense plants, the Jin soldiers of the Black Mountain Barracks will definitely come to support, we can't win the fight, we can't run, the situation is dangerous." ”

"If that happens, let's run away. The generals of the Jin army mostly followed the art of war, and the road ahead was unclear and could not be chased lightly, for fear of ambush. No matter what happens to the Khitans, we must do it tonight, otherwise they will think that we are just talking!"

After discussing it for a while, the man who had been sent to explore the path came back and said that it was a fortress. Cui Qigao began to arrange it after hearing this: "The fortress on the border of the Jin army is generally only fifty soldiers and a few horses, and the construction of the Black Mountain Fort is about to be completed, and the number of soldiers and horses in the defense construction is about the same, and there are hundreds of hard laborers, these people will definitely not work hard for the Jin soldiers; The Montenegrin barracks are also estimated to be a few hundred people at most, with no more than two teams of horses. As for the distance between the soldiers and horses in Juro City, we don't have to think about it because we don't occupy the Black Mountain Fort. What we are going to do tonight is to attack the Black Mountain Fort together, and once we enter, a few hundred people will not be able to defeat the Jin soldiers and fifty soldiers? After the capture of Montenegrin Fort, it will depend on the situation, if you don't see the Khitan people and horses, you will run away only to see the Jin soldiers of the Montenegrin barracks, if the Khitans come, they will dig the fortress overnight and destroy them! ”

Everyone surrounded Cui Qigao in the center, and they all nodded with nervous eyes, and quietly responded. Cui Qigao simply divided the work neatly, and then gave an order and led a group of people to slowly touch the "small hill" in front.

When I got closer, I finally saw a rectangular fortress, like a small city, surrounded by walls on all sides, surrounded by ditches and obstacles such as horse piles. Cui Qigao has some understanding of the Han military and political system, and after being exiled to Yingzhou, he has seen it on the spot and knows the role of this thing. In the border of the Jin Dynasty and in Guzhou, the stronghold of the Jin army was the city, and most of the local main forces were in the city, and most of these fortresses and some outposts played the role of early warning and peripheral defense. Due to logistical constraints, there are not too many people stationed at the border forts, but it is indeed not so easy to storm a fortress like this, and the Jin soldiers are good at using fortifications as border defense.

At this time, Cui Qigao and others had already seen a figure on the wall swaying, he would walk into the arrow tower for a while, and then come out for a walk, shrinking his hands and shaking his head on it. It was indeed very cold at night, and no fire was allowed on the fort, so the sergeant on duty must have had a hard time staying up all night.

"Ignition!" Cui Qigao said. The people around were busy with their hands and feet, and there was a descendant who held the fire fold and carefully "whirred" and blew, and after a while, a small flame lit up, and the hands of the descendants holding the fire fold were shaking. At this moment the sergeant on the wall stopped, as if he had noticed, and was busy lying on the arrow stack and looking down. A moment later, a torch was lit on the fire breaker, and it lit up at once, and the man on the wall was suddenly shouted: "There are enemy soldiers!" Quick, there's enemy soldiers down there! A man under the wall shot an arrow with his bow and an arrow, and as if it had missed, the sergeant ran into the turret, shouting and beating the drum.

Cui Qigao and others quickly lit many torches, and suddenly there was a fire, and the drums on the fortress also "...... knock knock", and the noise of people followed. The people under the city don't have to pinch their throats to speak, although they shout and run, "Go to the door first, and wait for the people of the Cui family to open the door from the inside!" ”

The dead silence of the night seems to wake up in an instant, and it is rare to see such a lively scene in the desolate and sparsely populated snow. Cui Qigao and the others did not have any military discipline at all, and they flocked to the gate of the fort to block it, and they could hear the noise of people inside, as if Nei Ying had already arrived at the door, and people were so anxious that they used their bodies to hit the thick wooden door. Cui Qigao shouted: "Don't bump into it, what's the use of hitting it?" ”

"Ahh There was a cry of pain, and an arrow was inserted into a stick, and everyone looked up and saw two people swaying around the tower. The people with bows and arrows below also fired back at the top, and under the chaos, I don't know if they were shot, and the Jin soldiers were wearing armor, and it was difficult to shoot to death if they shot so chaotically at night.

When he was in a hurry, he heard a "bang" and the gate loosened, and everyone rushed to the fort gate, and immediately the gate was closed, only to see that there was also a group of people in short clothes at the door, who should be some exiles, and there was still a fight behind. Cui Qigao and others rushed in before they had time to speak, only to see that a fire was also lit in the fortress. Inside, there were some simple houses made of wood and stone, and some people with weapons ran out of the houses one after another, some of them wearing only dirty clothes. The Jin soldiers obviously did not expect the enemy soldiers to rush into the fortress without warning, which shows that no matter how strong the fortress is, it is easy to break through from the inside. Among them, there was a man in armor on horseback who was shouting loudly, it seemed to be a military general, Cui Qigao noticed him with sharp eyes, and hurriedly shouted behind him: "Bow and arrow!" Shoot that guy! ”

As soon as the words fell, a few people drew their bows and flew towards the general, the fortress was already small, and the place was not open after rushing in, and the range was short, and several arrows hit the general, but he didn't seem to have anything to do, so he rode his horse and ran. Cui Qigao hurriedly shouted: "Shoot the horse!" ”

"Whoosh!" With a bang, the horse neighed and threw the man off the horse. Cui Qigao took advantage of the situation and shouted: "Kill!" Hundreds of people swarmed with weapons of all kinds. Before the Jin soldiers had time to form a formation, they fought with Cui Qi's high troops. Arrows flew from the arrow towers on all sides, but in the crowd they were like pebbles thrown into the lake, which could not arouse any prodigal sons. The Jin soldiers threw away their long weapons, picked up their swords and fought with short weapons one by one, and they were still resisting in the face of nearly ten times the number of people, which was indeed commendable courage.

The general, who had fallen off his horse, drew his sword and shouted: "The fort is here!" Soon some Jin soldiers moved closer to him. Cui Qigao also waved his sword and rushed over first, knowing that only after killing that general would he give up resistance. A few men had already pounced like hungry wolves, but unexpectedly, the general was skillful in swordsmanship, wandering back and forth and stabbing one by one, and those men couldn't even parry, only splashed the general's blood. The chaotic people in front of him were frightened, and the momentum suddenly weakened a lot, and the crowd greeted the general with bows and arrows, but he was not dead by arrows, and many Jin soldiers next to him were also hit by arrows.

Cui Qi ran up with a scimitar and shouted, and the people around him hurriedly followed to protect him. As soon as the crowd rushed up, they surrounded the Jin Corps, and slashed and killed when they got close. The children of Cui Qi Gaoshi clan have learned the six arts, and they can ride and shoot with bows and horses, and they wanted to be brave and that martial arts will make two moves, but unexpectedly, a mace flew over from nowhere and smashed on his helmet, and then was quickly overturned to the ground, and was beaten by knives and sticks.

The Jin soldiers lost command and scattered around the fortress, being beaten by the crowd and suffering from all the dead and wounded. The rioters set fire to the wooden houses again, and for a moment the fortress was filled with flames and smoke. And the slaves who were forced to work were also released from the house, and when they saw that the attackers were also Han Chinese, they really didn't help at all, and just huddled into a crowd of onlookers.

The rioters were busy collecting weapons and armor to arm themselves, while Cui Qigao led people to climb the wall and watch. Except for the bright fire on the side of Black Mountain Fort, it is still dark in all directions, where is there any trace of Khitan people and horses?

Choi Myung-hyun said: "Montenegro Fort is a necessary place to go in the direction of Jura City, and if the Khitans want to intercept the reinforcements of the Montenegrin barracks, they will definitely see movement here." Did they not come at all? ”

Another person said: "Wait for the horse team of the Jin army to come, it's too late to dig up the fortress, we might as well take those coolie prisoners and evacuate, so there will be seven or eight hundred people, and it will be a climate!" ”G