The rainy night is dark and sticky, and the camp of the Koreans is full of people coming and going.

The front camp was basically completed, and the middle camp and the rear camp began to take shape. The officers wore two or three feet high golden flower hats, resisted the wind and rain, and shouted and commanded at the top of their voices; The partial generals and generals rode horses dragging mud and water, and kept urging to speed up the construction.

In the layers of camp tents, two generals dressed in clothes climbed the watchtower. Lightning flashed, revealing the black slimy shape of the twin cities.

"Guess the big handsome, will the red-headed thief attack tonight?" The interrogator was about thirty years old, with a leopard's head and eyes, and a bearded face; Between words and deeds, there is a general elegance and elegance. This person's name is Jin Depei, who was born in Jinshi, and is currently the commander of the Northwest Metropolitan Command.

The man next to him was named Qing Qianxing, the commander of the army on the Xijing Road; He was short in stature, and as soon as he opened his mouth, his voice was like a huge thunder, and he said: "My army has been here for a day and a night. The red-headed thief must have known that Dingzhou was trapped, so how could he not attack it in order to relieve its siege? "Look up at the sky," the hour is about to pass. ......" snorted softly, "at most an hour, the thief will arrive." ”

"The handsome man sees it." Jin Depei narrowed his eyes and looked towards the camp for a while, but the rain was heavy and the night was dark, and he couldn't see anything; With a worried face, he said, "The thousand-man cavalry that the thieves came to attack last night dared to fight. The last general was in battle, and when he saw that the thief's riding skills were excellent, and his archery skills were good, he shot down three of my generals in a row. I relied on the barracks and the cavalry to be able to stand up to the enemy. The responsibility of blocking the road is not light. ”

"I have too few cavalry. Otherwise, how can thieves come and go easily? Qing Qianxing arched his hand towards Wang Jing in the south and said, "The flood and drought have been out of balance for many years, the Japanese are rampant, and the 20,000 army is sent out, and the treasury is very struggling. I only hope to break the red thief as soon as possible and solve my king's worries. ”

Kim nodded in agreement. When the king of Goryeo was the prince, he entered the Yuan Suwei according to the custom, and he was one of his retinue. His status in the army is not as good as that of Qing Qianxing, and in terms of estrangement from the king of Goryeo, Qing Qianxing is not as good as him. The DPRK and China are embarrassed, and he knows more.

Not to mention natural disasters, nor to say that there are many parties in the court, and there is no more infighting. Since the year before last, there have been no less than 100 invasions of the Japanese invaders. burning villages, looting grain, and taking people captive; Just last month, hundreds of Japanese invaded Jeolla Province, looting tens of thousands of stones and killing more than 300 people.

When the plague was serious, the year before and the year before last, Wang Jing was under martial law twice. Last year, because of the large amount of taxes, rents, and grain, they were plundered by the Japanese bandits, and the DPRK and China reached the point where they could not even pay the salaries of 100 officials and the army. For this reason, the situation has improved by changing the sea warehouse to the land warehouse and changing the water transportation to land transportation.

Thinking of this, he was worried, and said: "The last general observed the military report of Dingzhou, and attacked the city several times in a row during the day, but it could not be broken, but it turned on a fierce general like Bahuer. ”

Li Shuai, who guards the door and serves Li Yan, is currently the marshal of the northwest and the commander of the coalition army.

Qing Qianxing was disdainful and said: "Li Shuai Wenchen, the rhetorical article, will be willing to bow down." When it comes to fighting with soldiers,......" sneered twice and did not continue. Before he served as the deputy marshal of the northwest, he successively served as the military and civilian government of Xijing, and the governor of the northwest; Jin Depei successively served as the deputy Wanhu of the Xijing Military and Civilian Wanhu Mansion and the Yin of Xijing. The two of them are old partners, they know each other well, and they speak directly.

Kim Depei was silent. Li Yan's appointment is related to the court, and his identity is different, so he sighed and changed the topic: "People are not as good as heaven." God bless me this time, the last general will see, Li Shuai's idea is not bad, Dingzhou City can be broken sooner or later. ”

"God bless" Yunyun, Qing Qianxing agreed very much, nodded and said: "My army has just been assembled, the weather suddenly changed, there was strong wind and rain, and I was able to take the opportunity to sneak across the river and hide under the city, and the red-headed thief didn't know it." God willing, indeed. Pouted, he continued, "The small walls of Dingzhou City are short, and the red thieves have no time, no location, and no people. Now that Li Shuai is in charge, he broke early? Hum. ”

Jin Depei didn't want to dwell on this topic, so he asked about the military situation in front of him instead, and said: "Our army has a fixed layout. Look, what countermeasures will the red thief have? What will the Twin Cities Horse Club do? ”

Qing Qianxing has been in the army for a long time, skilled in military affairs, and he didn't even think about it, so he blurted out: "Dingzhou is broken, Shuangcheng is not guaranteed, and Shuangcheng will definitely not sit idly by and not save it." ”

"How to save it?"

"The Yamaguchi Prefecture Army, although it occupies a dangerous pass, is the weakest. The red thief has the best strategy, when he is going all out to break through the mountain pass, block the news channel between the mountain pass and our battalion, make a long detour, surprise the army, and rescue the mountain from a long distance. "Fighting on the battlefield is nothing more than you guessing my mind, I guessing your mind, whoever guesses right wins. Although Qing Qianxing people are rough and straightforward, they are not sloppy at all when it comes to marching and fighting.

Jin Depei said: "Then how should our army respond?" ”

"Keep the road to the mountain pass clear, one of them; Second, if the road is really blocked, the mountain pass will be lost,......" Qing Qianxing seemed to have seen this scene happen, and a contemptuous smile appeared on his lips, and said, "Our army just sits still." After a pause, he explained, "I'll go back to Dingzhou, and I'll be there in half a day." The red thief traveled a long distance and was exhausted, while I recuperated and made a judgment. Let the thief be cunning, and it is difficult to escape the echo of my long snake array. ”

"Handsome and clever. However, the red thief may not be able to see the power of the long snake formation. Jin Depei was born as a jinshi, thought carefully, thought of the other end, and said: "Dashuai, have you ever thought that the red thief is very likely to take the sea route?" Our army has only 500 ambushes on the seaside, and I am afraid that there will inevitably be omissions and inadequate precautions. ”

"Even if you call the red thief to mix up, how many people can you mix? It's not about the big picture. Qing Qianxing disagreed, "All the way to the seaside, what our army needs to watch out for is not the red thieves, but the red thieves attacking." However, his large-scale attack is not in the way, and you and I are the main battalion of military horses, and we can support immediately. ”

Jin Depei pondered for a moment and said, "Yes." The mountain pass and the seaside are not connected, and the red thief ......" Before he could speak, he vetoed his opinion, shook his head, and said, "With the mountain pass army responding to me, the red thief will probably not be stupid enough to come out of the city and attack my camp." ”

Qing Qianxing wished that the red scarf was willing to attack, and when he left Xijing, he received an order: strictly guard the line of Dingzhou and Shuangcheng; To be broken in Dingzhou, he is the forward, and cooperates with Li Yanbu to attack the twin cities again.

Although it is not explicitly stated, the implication is that the state cannot act rashly if it is not restrained. The king's order had to be obeyed, he looked down on Li Yan for his cowardice, and he was a little unconvinced. Having said that, the king's order only restricted him from attacking, but it did not restrict him from counterattacking.

According to intelligence, there are about 10,000 red scarves at most. Dingzhou is five or six thousand, and Shuangcheng is not more than six thousand. I heard that it has good firearms, and there are many cavalry; But now that the rain is pouring down and the roads are muddy, these two advantages of theirs are gone; It's a godsend.

Outside the watchtower, the rain is grounded. Jin Depei's words aroused Qing Qianxing's interest. He thought in his heart, if the red scarf really came to attack the city, how should he take advantage of the opportunity? Is there a possibility of counterattacking and conquering the twin cities first without waiting for Li Yan?

Thinking about it, he heard Jin Depei sigh lightly, took two steps forward, and said, "The big handsome man sees that the red thief is here again." ”

When you look up, you can't see it from afar. The shadow is sufficient, and the ambiguity is a large piece. There are many flags, a cursory glance, the scale of one or two thousand people, all of them are foot soldiers. The soldiers of the front battalion drilled out of the canopy, exercised their weapons, and the high-pitched shouts of the generals were faintly in their ears.

Jin Depei bowed: "The red thief has changed his footmen, and the offensive is not as good as last time, but please climb up and watch the battle; The last general will take command. "Turn around and go downstairs. He has a low official position, and then he is a close confidant of the king of Goryeo, and he has always been on the front line in everything.

Qing Qianxing is confident that the camp is stable, standing still, watching the battle from afar.

His camp was in an excellent position, at the narrowest point of the east-west passage. The camp of 5,000 people is divided into three parts, the first camp is heavy, the second camp is heavy, and the rear camp is light. In the dark clouds and rainy night, lightning struck, illuminating the two large flags in front of the watchtower clearly. On one side it reads: Northwest Deputy Marshal Qing; On one side it was written: The northwest side is in command of the envoy Jin.

The soldiers of the middle and rear battalions stopped the work at hand just in case. The team is organized, the team is lined up, and it is kept as a reserve. Those who rest in the battalion are supplemented as second-line echelons, ready to support the front battalion at any time. Jin Depei was very fast, got off the watchtower, took his own soldiers, rode on his horse and galloped directly forward. The speed of the red scarf was faster, and before he reached the front line, Qing Qianxing saw that the red scarf was approaching, and the two sides were shooting arrows.

Although the wind was not very strong, the rain was dense, the night was dark, the arrows were affected, and the accuracy was greatly reduced. The soldiers in the front row of the red scarf held up a half-man-high shield to cover the slow advance of the troops; The Goryeo army prepared trebuchets for the siege of the city, and it played a great role in repelling Lu Qian's 12 cavalry last night. At this time, it was pulled open again, and dozens of pounds of stones whistled to split the rain curtain and smashed into the red scarf array.

It was so far away that the screams sounded small. Qing Qianxing held on to the watchtower railing, imagining the scene of flesh and blood, and smiled.

Reflecting the fire of the front camp, seeing the banner of the Red Army waving a few times, one stopped and stopped in front of the battalion; Hundreds of men were separated, pushed and crashed, protected by half-cut boats, and bent over to the camp gate, trying to fill the trench. The trench was only dug during the day, not too deep. They didn't go far, and some stepped on thistles mixed in the mud, pricked their feet, and fell behind the team. The formation gradually became loose.

Several four-wheeled trebuchets were mounted underneath, adjusting the distance as the red scarf advanced. The crossbows were cast together, and only the jet-black half-cut boat was seen, capsizing from time to time. The crossbowman of the red turban rushed forward in the rain of arrows and cast a burst. When a goryeo was struck by an arrow, he was immediately carried off the battlefield.

Jin Depei galloped to the front, jumped off the horse, and didn't know what to say to the former battalion general. The general of Nabee took the order, and the side door on one side burst open, and the hundred and ten selected cavalrymen raised their strong bows and detoured back to the front side of the red scarf, trying to swim and strike from a long distance.

Qing Qianxing looked at the red scarf banner again, waved it a few times, and without waiting for the cavalry of the Li Army to rush closer, he dragged the wounded and retreated. Far away, he could also see the ground in front of the camp, the red scarf had left many corpses, the rain was pouring down, and a large area of red blood was dripping. It was very visible in the night firelight.

The rain is rainy, and there is no problem for the cavalry to do a little short gallop. The Koreans did not have as many red turban cavalry, but as the defensive side, they had an advantage in this regard. Repelled the Red Turban Offensive, and the Goryeo camp cheered; The cavalry circled around and galloped back into battle as a victor.

The red scarf paused for a moment. The trebuchet threw a few stones, landed in front of them, seemed to feel unsafe, and retreated a few hundred meters. It didn't take long for another attack, and there were still a few hundred people in the front, which seemed to be a little less than just now. It is expected that the people who attacked this time were all selected brave and brave people.

Qing Qianxing noticed that after sending the front attack, most of it began to slowly retreat again, and from his position, it was completely submerged into darkness. The front battalion, though closer to the enemy, did not stand as tall as him; And his eyesight is far better than ordinary people, and it is estimated that Jin Depei sees the enemy situation similar to him.

"Want to take advantage of the rainy night to make a sound?" Qing Qianxing guessed the intention of the red scarf. The general led by the red scarf tonight is obviously not as good as last night. Such childish tricks are also embarrassing to use. He looked around the front camp with satisfaction, 5,000 people had worked hard for a day and a night, and there were many enemies who did not dare to boast, and in the face of only 2,000 or so people, it could be called impregnable.

His judgment was confirmed. Most of the red scarves faintly showed their heads on the right side of the camp gate, and then, they were hit by the overwhelming number of arrows and crossbows in the Goryeo camp, and they retreated in defeat without fighting.

Look back at the front of the camp. The hundreds of red scarves that impacted couldn't support it and retreated one after another. The defeated armies of the two roads were mixed together, in a mess, the banner was waved upside down, and the flowers retreated and retreated.

Qing Qianxing waited for a while, but he didn't see the military horses of the front battalion chasing, and knew that it must be Jin Depei who did not give the order. That was the case last night. The Red Turban cavalry was defeated, and some generals proposed to take the opportunity to cover up the killing, but Jin Depei did not agree, because "when you first arrive, you must defend steadily; The red thief is a cavalry army, and he can't catch up."

Last night, he thought it was right; But tonight is different, the foothold is steady, and the enemy is full of foot soldiers, and it is time to teach them a lesson. However, he was reminded by Jin Depei that he had other thoughts at this time, and this idea was thought about for a while, and then he put it aside.

While thinking about it, Jin Depei returned to the watchtower. Qing Qianxing said with a smile: "General Jin worked hard, and he repelled two attacks of red thieves for two nights in a row, and his credit is not small. As he spoke, he turned around, but when he saw that Jin Depei had returned victorious, his face was sad, and he knew that something was wrong, so he stopped talking and waited for him to speak.

"Commander, the last general is just the right person to watch the battle, and there is quite a strange situation in the red thief camp."

"What's the matter?"

Jin Depei took off his helmet, took the soft towel handed by his own soldiers, wiped the rain on his face, and said: "Before arriving at the front camp, the last general will look at the red thief formation from afar, and the flags are dense, and I am afraid that there will be no less than 2,000 people." When I got closer, I couldn't see most of it clearly, but I didn't think it looked like two thousand people. ”

"How?"

Jin Depei recalled what he had seen before the formation and said, "There are three doubts. First, the scale of 2,000 men, two attacks on the camp, only three or four hundred men were sent, and the second time was even less than the first soldier; secondly, most of them made a gesture to attack the east and west, but they took the initiative to retreat when they were far away from the trench, and the signs of feint were too obvious; Third, compared with the thousand-man cavalry last night, there are more people, and the offensive is weak and weak. ”

He asserted: "The last general, the red thief is bluffing. ”

He was on the front line, and perhaps the enemy situation observed by the naked eye was not much stronger than that of Qing Qianxing; However, some emotional things, such as the strength of the enemy's attack, whether there is a pretense or not, etc., are much more intuitive.

"Bluffing?" has been a partner for many years, Qing Qianxing's judgment on him is still relatively trusting, frowned, and said, "You mean, the red thief's offensive is not to break the camp,...... Thinking of a possibility, "Are you luring me out of the camp and setting up an ambush to surround me?" He regretted it slightly, and he knew that he would not stay in the watchtower. It is entirely possible to take the opportunity to organize a large-scale anti-annihilation war.

As soon as he rode downstairs, the guards came up to report: "Dingzhou Military Report." "According to the agreement, the military newspaper is twice a day.

"Report it."

"Deputy marshal, commander of the envoys. In the afternoon, the city was attacked once, and the west city wall of Dingzhou was broken by my trebuchet, and the red-headed thieves used the female wall, the wooden city, the Saimen knife car and other things to block desperately. The thief led several people and killed them in front. There are embroidered tattoos, and the red thief calls it a tiger, which is particularly brave and almost unacceptable. Our army was frustrated. Li Shuai personally supervised the formation, and once attacked three feet into the city. The rain was too heavy, the climbing city wall was slippery, and the backup was not effective, and the success fell short. ”

The city wall has been broken, but it still can't be attacked, and the governor's bird array. Qing Qianxing turned back with disdain and ignored it. Jin Depei regretted it and said, "In this case, has the night offensive been launched?" ”

Li Shuai said, the attack for one day and one night, hundreds of casualties, the sergeant is tired, and he will rest tonight. Early tomorrow morning, we will attack in a big way, and we must completely destroy the western city wall, and strive to break the city within two days. ”

Resting for the night, isn't it a chance to give the red scarf a chance to repair the city wall? Jin Depei was disappointed, seeing that Qing Qianxing was depressed, he hurriedly restrained himself and stretched out his hand to hold him. The messengers are all cronies of the commander, and they can't be angry in front of him, otherwise the words will reach Li Yan's ears, and the generals will be discordant, and the soldiers will be taboo.

He smiled reluctantly and said, "Li Shuai is very worried. The red thief is dying, so it's better to slow down. Knowing that Li Yan would not listen, he couldn't help it, and said, "However, Ben General has some opinions, please tell Li Shuai when I go back: Our army has been fighting for a day and a night, and the red thieves are also not allowed to rest." Now that the wall has been broken, the last general thinks that it is better to keep up the work at night. The last general's opinion is slight, but it is determined from Li Shuai. ”

The messenger nodded yes, asked Qing Qianxing, and said, "Has the deputy marshal submitted a military report?" Sometimes, the villain is brought back with him. ”

Jin Depei replied instead: "Our battalion has only repelled the night attack of the red-headed thieves, and everything is fine. The defenders of the mountain pass, two hours ago, made a military report, but there was no trace of the enemy. ”

The messenger wrote it down.

Qing Qianxing snorted at his back: "Gao Diliang will be cowardly like a chicken!" Strive to break the city in two days? …… Bah! ”

There is a basis for him to look down on Li Yan like this. Three years ago, when he attacked Shuangcheng, the general who led the army was the same as Li Yan, who was born in a famous family and a civil servant. Commanding the army, fearing the enemy like a tiger, he stayed two hundred miles away from the twin cities. If Li Zichun hadn't taken the initiative to come to see him, Xu Wei would have responded internally, and the great opportunity would have slipped away in vain. However, when he returned to the court, the general was not only not held accountable at all, but his official position rose all the way.

If the DPRK and China employ people like this, how can the troubles in the south not become more and more intense?

The more he thought about it, the more angry he became, and Jin Depei persuaded on the side: "The situation between the DPRK and China, the marshal is not ignorant. China is in turmoil, although our king wants to take the opportunity to make great efforts, and three years ago abolished the Mengyuan Zhizheng year name is not used, but unfortunately the factions in the DPRK and China are complicated, and sometimes, I have to endure a little. In order to divert Qing Qianxing's attention, he picked up the conversation and said again, "The red thief is bluffing, and the end will be ,......."

His words were interrupted by his own soldiers, and another military report came. The ambush army on the seaside found a red scarf, and there were not many people, five or six hundred. The two armies faced each other, and the red scarves flickered together and retreated without a fight. The cruising trail detected that they had not withdrawn to the Twin Cities and seemed to be still waiting for an opportunity to go to sea.

"Before the villain came to report, the red thief stopped at a fishing ground and was on strict alert. Tanma can't get close, and from a distance, there is an endless stream of reinforcements, divided into small groups from the direction of the twin cities. One of them was a Golden Hammer general, dangling outside. ”

There are two capable generals around the Red Turban Master, one is trapped in Dingzhou, and the other is in Shuangcheng, and he likes to use the golden hammer. Qing Qianxing and Jin Depei glanced at each other, and Qing Qianxing asked, "Can you see clearly?" ”

"The golden hammer is very eye-catching against the night rain, and there is a gold chain around the waist. You say you can't be mistaken. ”

Jin Depei asked: "Has there been an increase in the number of fishery flags?" ”

"I don't see an increase. But seeing that the back door of the fishing ground was opened from time to time, and occasionally the torches were shining, it was indeed a team of soldiers, supplementing the entrance. In addition, the red thieves can't help but scatter and spy on the coast. ”

"While coming to attack the camp with great fanfare, while secretly increasing troops along the coast, does the red thief want to go by sea to aid Dingzhou?" It is not impossible for the red scarves to come out of the city, occupy the coast with one blow, and then make a raft to transport three or four thousand people. The navy is weak, and I am afraid that it will not be able to stop it. I was shocked, if the red scarf took the sea route back to the back of the Dingzhou army, it would be a big trouble.

After thinking about it: "The red thief who attacked the camp was bluffing, could it be that the red thief in this fishing ground was also bluffing?" Jin Depei thought hard and didn't dare to judge easily. If it's easy to bluff all the way, and if you bluff both ways, then, "Could it be a red thief, intended for the mountain pass?" ”

The enemy situation was unpredictable, and Qing Qianxing decisively ordered: "Dispatch capable scouts and horses, sneak into the vicinity of the twin cities, and observe whether there are any troops out of the city." Then send a messenger to contact the mountain pass. ”

——

1, Golden Flower High Hat.

Goryeo soldiers wear "...... The iron armor is subordinate to the top and bottom, the golden flower high hat is a few three feet, the brocade robe and green robe are slowly draped hakama, covering the dwarfs of his countrymen, and the special high hat and brocade clothes are pretending to be their appearance. ”

2. Plagues and disasters.

The Goryeo plague was first recorded, around 1280. In February 1350, the invasion of the Japanese invaded Gucheng, Zhuzhu, Geoje, and Hepo. In other words, in this year, the Japanese invaded Goryeo on a large scale.

In the fifth year of King Gongchou, in May, "the Japanese Kou Qiaotong, the capital was under martial law". - Qiao Tong: An island at the northern end of Ganghwa Island.

In the sixth year of King Gongchou, in April, "Qiao Tong was burned, martial law was imposed in the capital, and Liding was a soldier in the workshop". In October, there was a "great hunger in the northeast".

In the seventh year of King Gongchou, in the summer and April, there was a "great drought" and "relief to the northeast". In May, he "sent relief to Gangneung Province in Jiaozhou" and "called for ...... with military salaries" to beg for the return of the Japanese army.

3. Change water transportation to land transportation.

The phenomenon of Japanese raiding in southern Goryeo was very serious, and there were often invasions of Japanese fleets consisting of dozens or even hundreds. For example, in April 1354, "more than 40 ships of Jeolla Province were plundered"; In April 1355, "more than 200 ships of Jeolla Province were plundered"; In March 1358, "more than 300 ships were burned in the Japanese Fortress Mountain".

In this case, King Gongchou first "taught,...... Cao transportation is not passable, and all transportation is by land. Later, he "migrated to the coastal warehouse in the interior".

4, Iron Feather Arrow.

A ballista arrow made of iron leaves as arrows. "The division is Xuzhou, and the west gate is attacked." The thief went out to fight, shot the horse's head with an iron arrow, and did not move, and the army fought hard, broke through the crowd, and entered its outer corner." Although artillery was available at that time, the use of crossbows and ballistas was quite widespread.

As for the weapons used in Goryeo, they were basically the same as those in China.

5. The trebuchet is installed on four wheels.

Four-wheeled ones are installed under the gun mount, which is convenient for movement and transfer. It is called a "cannon".