The smoke of gunpowder remained in the air, replaced by an even stronger smell of blood. The Jin army had retreated, leaving behind corpses, wailing wounded, broken knives and guns, and curled banners.

Liu Qingfu walked on the blood-stained battlefield with more than a dozen personal soldiers, watching the soldiers kill the wounded soldiers of the Jin Army left on the battlefield with knives and guns.

If it is a complete captive, the rebels are happy to take it into account and use it for their own use. But the wounded soldiers cost both food and medicine, and these things are desperately lacking even for them, let alone adding to the burden.

The Red Turban Army only dispatched artillery, and the battlefield battles were all borne by Li Quan's department. It seems to be a loss, but this is also an agreement with Meng Jiucheng, which can be regarded as a kind of compensation.

But this battle seemed to satisfy the main general Liu Qingfu, after a fierce bombardment, the Jin army was already in disarray, he led the absolute advantage of men and horses to rush over, and without too much effort, won the victory.

Hehe, no wonder the Red Turban Army can win many battles, the power of this artillery is indeed terrifying and amazing.

Amid screams, begging for mercy, and cursing, a Jin soldier suddenly pushed away the corpse on his head and struggled to get up from the pile of dead.

The guy's face was covered in mud, and only the eyes that turned to indicate that he was still a living thing. There was a hissing sound in his throat, his armor soaked with blood, his left hand with five fingers spread apart and stretched forward, and his right hand still held a knife. It looks like a Jurchen officer.

Liu Qingfu pursed his lips and waved his hand, and several personal soldiers surrounded him.

A few disdainful and cold eyes stared at the lucky golden officer, who slowly retreated, and finally bent down, and took out the last of his remaining strength to make a preparatory move for a fight, his eyes rolling in fear, staring at several enemies who surrounded him.

With a snort, the captain of the pro-soldier stabbed the spear into the enemy's chest, and the golden officer's knife collided with the big gun, weak and powerless, unable to shake the powerful stab.

With a pop, the bayonet pierced into the chest of the golden officer, and the captain of the personal army turned his wrist slightly, violently withdrawing, and the blood was splashed everywhere, and the officer fell to his knees with a thud, and the knife in his hand also fell.

One of the soldiers flew up, the officer's knees still bent forward, but his body fell backwards, lying on the ground in a strange position, blood gushing from his chest, mouth and nose, and his body still giving out dying convulsions.

"Be careful." The captain of the pro-soldier glanced at the blood dripping from the gun and reminded his subordinates, "Maybe there are still guys hiding who are not dead, don't be injured by the cold." ”

As soon as the words fell, a golden soldier popped out of the corpse not far away, obviously frightened by the slaughter of the wounded soldiers by the rebels, and let out a scream that did not resemble a human voice, and fled in vain.

But after a few steps, several rebel soldiers quickly blocked the way of the golden soldiers in a fan shape, stabbed them with guns and knives, and after the screams, the golden soldiers fell down like broken pockets with blood splashed heavily.

After the remaining wounded soldiers of the Jin Army knew that begging for mercy was useless and knew that they would definitely die, many seriously injured Jin officers and soldiers barely stood up and scolded at the halberds of the righteous army.

There were also some wounded soldiers who were completely desperate, gasping for their last breath before dying, turning a blind eye to the rebel soldiers who were forced to kill, and not even bothering to fight and resist.

"The Jurchens are nothing more than that." Liu Qingfu walked to a mound and stood on a high place and raised his binoculars, "Now Zhang Lin should be too scared to fight, right?" ”

accompanied Li Quan to Weizhou, and as a gift, Liu Qingfu also got a telescope. He couldn't put it down for this novel play, and from time to time he took it out for a lookout, or to show it off.

Of course, this also made many generals envious. In order to appease everyone, Li Quan has promised to buy a few more and reward them with the size of their military exploits.

"Zhang Lin is a coward, without the support of the golden people, with the rabble he recruited, how dare he go out to fight and die?" The lieutenant will have fun on the side.

Liu Qingfu hummed, and after pretending to look at it again, he put away his binoculars and walked down the mound.

"I heard that in order to get this clairvoyant mirror, someone wants to fight to attack the city?" The adjutant general said with a smile on the side.

"That's normal, too." Liu Qingfu showed a smug look on his face and said: "They are all the same ranks, if he doesn't have them, he always feels awkward, doesn't he?" Then let's stop fighting, and let them have this city-breaking work. ”

"The general is generous." The adjutant general complimented and said, "With the artillery of the Red Turban Army, it is estimated that it will not be difficult to break the city." ”

Liu Qingfu nodded and glanced at the Red Turban Army's position, his expression a little complicated.

…………

As the night deepened, Li Quan finished inspecting the camp and returned to the camp tent to look at the map, constantly thinking and studying.

Qingzhou raised Ali Buge to lead 2,000 cavalry out of the city to fight, but was broken by the coalition forces, and he was blown to death. Zhang Lin did not have the supervision of the Jurchens, gathered the army, and became a self-defense, and became a turtle with a shrunken head.

Now, nearly 40,000 troops have besieged Qingzhou City tightly, and as long as the city is breached, the purpose of this battle will be basically achieved.

The current variable is that the reinforcements of the Jin army, if they are under the fortified city and cannot be broken for a long time, not only will the soldiers be tired, but also the danger of being attacked from inside and outside.

Although Li Quan placed more than 10,000 men and horses in the west as a blocking force, he was still not at ease.

"Marshal, several generals have arrived." Guards report on their accounts.

"Please." Li Quan stood up, walked to the entrance of the tent, and made a gesture of greeting.

Several people stepped into the big tent and greeted Li Quan one by one. Although Han Shouzhong, Wang Xian and others are not as official as Li Quan, Li Quan is also very humble and does not dare to take it.

In addition to Han Shouzhong and Wang Xian, there were also Wang Xie Guo, who was under the command of the engineers, and Zhao Bang, who was under the control of the artillery.

In fact, they can be regarded as old men who follow Meng Jiucheng, but they were sent to the technical arms, and they want to teach Meng Jiucheng and bring newcomers, but their reputation is not obvious.

And artillery and engineers, according to the battle plan, are the key to the Qingzhou Campaign, and Li Quan's hope.

Seeing that the ceremony was over, everyone sat down one after another, and directly reported to Li Quan their preparations and the arrangement of the siege.

Zhao Bang said relatively briefly, nothing more than first far and then near, with the advance to the city wall, the various types of artillery according to the firing range of the configuration properly, give full play to the power of artillery fire, not only bombard the city, but also kill and injure the enemy.

When it comes to the work of sappers, Wang Xie Guo spoke in more detail.

After investigation, there is no problem in carrying out tunnel excavation and tunnel blasting in Qingzhou.

Of course, there are many things to pay attention to the difference in soil quality, the depth of the groundwater level, the location of the blasting, the time of blasting, etc. From this point of view, the sappers are becoming more and more professional and skilled.

"Digging will begin tonight, in the east of the city." Wang Xie Guo said: "If the siege proceeds smoothly, it will take up to three days to dig under the city wall. ”

Tunnel blasting once showed great might, coupled with Meng Jiucheng's attention, not only the establishment of a special engineering team, and the team continues to expand, the technology is also becoming more and more sophisticated.

The engineer team has a relatively mature plan for how to excavate under different soil conditions, how to support and drain water, and how to create a more powerful gunpowder chamber to increase the blasting effect.

"Hehe, three days is already very fast, but I don't know if the city walls of Qingzhou are strong enough to withstand three days of artillery fire." Zhao Bang was half joking, half serious at Wang Xie Guo squeezed his eyes, both of them were eating small stoves at Meng Jiucheng's place, often in contact with each other, and the relationship had become very close.

Whether it is to blast open the city or blow up the city wall, the Red Turban Army has basically given up the traditional and tragic methods of climbing the ladder and attacking the city with ants, which is quite new to Li Quan.

In three days, even if the reinforcements of the Jin army will come, it will take at least five or six days to receive a request for help and mobilize people, right?

Li Quan estimated the time, and couldn't help but feel relieved in his heart, and a smile appeared on his face.

After some research and discussion, after determining the specific plan for tomorrow's siege, everyone dispersed, and only Li Quan was left in the camp.

Li Quan thought for a while, sighed lightly, and then showed a resolute and cold look on his face. In any case, this Qingzhou must be captured as soon as possible, and it must not be delayed.

…………

The bright red of the morning sun has faded, emitting a bright light in the air, but another bright red has begun to appear in the city of Qingzhou.

With a loud and deafening sound, a puff of smoke mixed with sparks erupted, and the bronze heavy cannon let out a roar, firing the cannonball towards Qingzhou.

His ears were buzzing, the ground was shaking beneath his feet, and the earth and rocks were flying above the city, raising clouds of dust.

The four bronze cannons bombarded intensively, and one by one solid cannonballs fell, and the gravel and dirt on the city wall flew sideways. By noon, the gap was already exposed.

Under the cover of artillery fire, the artillery of the Red Turban Army approached the operation, the mound of earth was horizontal, and the flying thunder artillery entered the position.

In the afternoon, the bronze cannon continued to bombard the city, and in the time of cooling down and resting, the flying thunder cannon behind the mound began to exert the power of curved fire again, and the flowering bombs flew up to the city, flew into the city, killing and injuring the golden soldiers in the city.

Li Quan held the binoculars to observe, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned.

The Jin army was completely in a position of being beaten passively and was unable to carry out an effective counterattack. The Red Turban Army is already very mature in the echelon use of artillery, and if it continues like this, it is not necessary to use tunnel blasting, and it is afraid that the city wall will be destroyed within three or two days.

……………

The night was dark, the government in Qingzhou City was brightly lit, and several Jin army generals sat together with heavy faces to discuss the defense of the city.

"I didn't expect the enemy's artillery to be so sharp." Zhang Lin frowned, very distressed, his confidence in holding on to the city had been shaken.

The first day of the attack and defense was really unexpected, and the shock of the artillery fire not only frightened the soldiers, but also the officials.

"I have long heard that the Red Turban Army has powerful weapons, which are deafening and earth-shattering to use. When I saw it today, it was true. "The deputy general Wu Jinzhong was a little sluggish, he was the main general in charge of the defense of Xicheng, and he was hit hard by the bombardment of the day.

Deputy General Sheng Yunlong felt that the city was difficult to hold, but he couldn't say this, who knows what Zhang Lin was thinking? If you give him a shake to the army's heart and push him out and cut it down, wouldn't he be looking for his own death?

Therefore, Sheng Yunlong kept silent, pretending to be thoughtful, and kept touching the beard on his chin.

Zhang Lin thought that there would be no major problem for ten days and half a month to hold on to the city, and when the reinforcements arrived, it would naturally turn the corner. But now, he feels that there is more than one bad luck.

The point is that morale is greatly damaged, and in the face of the unknown, fear is magnified several times. The enemy has not yet officially attacked the city, and the defenders have already suffered a lot of casualties, and they dare not dare to enter the city to fight.

But the decision to surrender, Zhang Lin was really difficult to make, hesitated, and he was a little undecided.

"The enemy's hanging weapons are also very powerful. It's so close to the city, can you go out of the city to capture or destroy? Wu Jinzhong subconsciously plucked out his ears, and a cannonball that crossed the city wall exploded not far from him, shocking his ears to some discomfort now.

Sheng Yunlong glanced up at this guy, slandering in his heart, but he didn't say anything. Obviously, he was afraid of this, and he did not approve of it, or he preferred someone else to do this dangerous errand.

"General Sheng, what do you think?" Zhang Lin didn't want to let Sheng Yunlong go, and asked politely.

Sheng Yunlong thought for a while and said, "I'm afraid it's not good to go out of the city, whether you go down or rush from the city gate, I don't think it will be possible to achieve results." The art of war has clouds: one is prosperous, then it declines, and three is exhausted. The defense of the city has been organized, as long as it is dealt with properly, how long can the enemy be strong? ”

What is he talking about, as if he has not come up with anything but to oppose going out of the city?

Zhang Lin was also very helpless, and he couldn't help it. After all, such a siege method and such a sharp weapon are all seen for the first time, so how can you have any experience?

The few generals below either bowed their heads and were silent, or sighed in frustration, as if they had lost confidence and were waiting for the city to surrender.

At this moment, the sound of explosions and gongs and drums suddenly rang out in all directions. A few people were immediately shocked, and there was only one thought in their hearts: the enemy's tactics were really different, and this began to attack the city at night?

……………

Under the noise of the besieging army, and from time to time a cannon or two were fired to cheer on, the defending Jin army spent a tense night.

This action was not only to harass the tired Jin army, but also to cover the excavation of the tunnel.

The sun rose again, another day, and the second day of the siege of Qingzhou by the coalition forces.

There was no bombardment on this day, but an arrow book was fired into the city, persuading Zhang Lin to surrender, and Li Quan's conditions were still very good.

Zhang Lin already had a hint of surrender yesterday, but the opponent stopped the bombardment and persuaded him to surrender, but he had some luck.

Could it be that the enemy is just bluffing, but in fact there is no certainty of breaching the city?

Zhang Lin in history is a bit like a resentful woman, especially in the complex situation of the Song, Jinmeng and three families fighting for Shandong, Zhang Lin swayed from side to side, and never had a firm position on which side to throw.

Now, Zhang Lin's hesitation has recurred, and he wants to wait and see, and he doesn't want to make a decision too early.

And the Red Turban Army stopped shelling because the performance parameters of the artillery were already well documented, and in order to save ammunition, they turned to tunnel blasting.

By the evening of the second day, the excavation of the sappers could be said to have been completed ahead of schedule, and in two hours they could begin to fill the medicine and install the leads.

Li Quan was notified and immediately mobilized his men and horses at night to prepare for a general attack in the early morning.