Jingcheng is the only Taihang passage that can take the big car in the eight Taihang eight mountains, starting from Pingding County in the east of the river in the west, and reaching Jingcheng County of Zhending Mansion in the east, with a total length of about 280 miles, it is the most famous ancient pass road in Taihang Mountain since ancient times.

The Liao army also had no choice to go to Jingcheng, whether it was Puyin or Flying Fox in the north, it was from Hedong to Youzhou, which had no meaning to the Liao army.

Although the Fukou in the south is to Cizhou in the south of Hebei, it seems to be more suitable for the Liao army, but the Fukou is in Shangdang, and the Liao army needs to go south through the Mouse Bird Valley.

At this time, 120,000 Liao troops have entered Jingcheng, and are going to Hebei non-stop, but the mountain road is rugged, can not gallop on horseback, they need to walk for two days to go through Jingcheng, during which they have to pass through the three passes of Guguan, Niangzi Pass and Jingcheng Pass, among which Niangzi Pass and Jingcheng Pass are the most precipitous.

When night fell, the army of the Liao State arrived at Niangzi Pass, people were sleepy and horses were tired, and Yelu Na also saw that the mountain of Niangzi Pass was quite wide, and there was the remains of the ancient county town, so he ordered the army to rest on the spot.

At this time, it was early summer, and the weather began to get hot, but the canyon of Jingcheng was very shady, and the soldiers were sleeping very soundly.

Jeruhulu stepped forward and asked, "Isn't the king resting?" ”

Jeruna also sighed, "I don't know why? There was always a little uneasiness in my heart. ”

"Is the king worried that the Song army will block us in the well?"

Yeluna also nodded, "It's a little worried, I think the Son of Heaven thinks things are too simple." ”

Yelu Hulu was silent for a moment and said: "It shouldn't be, judging from the performance of the Song army, they should think that we will attack Taiyuan City, clear the wilderness, evacuate the people, and hoard a lot of grain and grass to prepare for war. ”

It makes sense for Yelu to think about it, the key is that the Song Dynasty didn't know about the Eastern Front plan of the Liao State, and he sighed softly, "I hope the Song army didn't realize this, and next time I hope the Son of Heaven won't take any more risks." ”

"The king rests early, and he will set off before dawn tomorrow, and it is estimated that he will be able to walk out of the well at noon the day after tomorrow."

Yelu Na also nodded, and asked again, "Is there any news from Yelu Xinfeng?" ”

Yelu Hulu shook his head, "There is no news for the time being, it is estimated that he is almost at Jingcheng Pass, and there should be news tomorrow morning." ”

At this time, several soldiers brought a monk, the monk carried a bamboo basket, and when he saw Yeluna, he clasped his hands and said: "The little monk is just a medicine picker, and I hope the general will let the little monk go." ”

"Where are you a monk?"

"The little monk is a monk from Mingguang Temple in Jingcheng County, and his law name is Benhui."

Yelu Na also glanced at Yelu Hulu, this monk came too timely, Yelu Na also smiled and said: "You don't have to be afraid, Liao has always respected Buddha and will not hurt the monks, as long as you answer us a few questions, we will let you go." ”

"The little monk is willing to answer!"

"Let me ask you, did you see the army passing by before us?"

The monk hesitated and said, "In the morning, I saw a cavalry, about 10,000 people, rushing through here, and the little monk didn't dare to show his face." ”

Yeluna also nodded, and asked again, "Is there a Song army stationed in Jingcheng Pass?" ”

"Yes! He also detained the little monk's degree, and asked the little monk to go back and pay the tax before returning me. ”

Of course, Jingcheng Pass will be guarded by the Song army, which is not surprising, and Yelu Na is also concerned about how many people?

"How many soldiers are guarding the gates?"

"About 200 people! They are all tax soldiers, all of them are fierce and greedy, and mosquitoes have to scrape off a little meat on their legs. The monk said angrily.

Yeluna also breathed a sigh of relief, that's right, he had long heard that the general passes within the Great Song Dynasty had become tax customs, just like the old customs they passed through during the day, although the tax soldiers all escaped, but the tax collection lists were scattered in a room, becoming veritable tax customs.

Yeluna also asked about the garrison of Zhending Mansion again, although Zhending County has stationed heavy troops, but the county seat is in the north of Hutuoshui, and they are coming out from the south, they will not be affected, they can directly turn around and kill Zhaozhou in the south, then there is basically no garrison, which is why they want to go to Jingcheng, which can bypass the heavy garrison of the Song army.

Jeruna immediately ordered, "Take him down to rest, and let him go early tomorrow morning." ”

Early the next morning, the 110,000-strong army assembled again, crossed the Niangzi Pass, and marched quickly in the direction of Jingcheng Pass in the east.......

Not long after the Liao army left, the monk Ben Hui appeared in a very secret canyon, he whistled, and two Song soldiers came out of it.

They didn't dare to laugh and saluted together, "The brigade commander is back." ”

The true identity of the monk Ben Hui was a scout brigade commander of the Song army, but ten years ago, he was indeed a monk.

This time, his task was to appear in time to stabilize the worries of the commander of the Liao army.

The valley is very deep, covering a wide area, hiding 20,000 Song troops, and the commander of this army is Cao Wenjing, the former defender of Baosai City.

After Cao Wenjing listened to the report of the scout brigade commander, he asked left and right, "Is there an enemy army left behind on the Niangzi Pass?" ”

"Returning to the general, the Liao army left five hundred people."

Cao Wenjing said lightly: "It seems that the other party is not stupid, and he knows the importance of Niangziguan." ”

Although the Liao army sent people to guard the pass, the Song army had already prepared, and they had ambushed hundreds of people on the ridge of Niangzi Pass in advance, and the ridge was very steep on both sides, making it difficult to go up, so they could only go up from the building next to Niangzi Pass.

Unless the Liao army immediately sent people to search the surroundings after guarding the pass, it would be difficult for them to spot the Song army ambushed on the flank.

Cao Wenjing was worried that the Liao cavalry would retreat after receiving the news from the front, so he immediately ordered a partial general to lead 3,000 soldiers to seize Niangzi Pass.

Niangzi Pass is not just a simple pass, it is a defense system, there are the former pass city, the back official city, along the side of the hill built dozens of buildings, used as the barracks of the guards, warehouses, etc., the outermost circle of buildings with huge stones to repair the foundation, the high foundation and then use the green bricks to build a warehouse, and the outside is a steep and steep ridge.

Three hundred soldiers lay in ambush on the ridge, patiently waiting for the right moment.

A shout suddenly sounded in the city, and three thousand Song soldiers appeared on the mountain road, causing panic among the five hundred defenders in the city, and more than two hundred people climbed the city and the wall on the side, stretched out their bows and arrows, and aimed at the thousands of Song troops in the distance.

The mountain road was so narrow that it could only accommodate dozens of people walking side by side, and only a few hundred soldiers could climb at a time, and the Song army stopped moving three hundred steps from Guancheng.

At the same time, the Song army ambushed on the ridge used a ladder to climb into the back window of the warehouse, and in just a moment, all three hundred Song soldiers infiltrated the Niangzi Pass, they occupied a high place, condescendingly, and fired arrows at the Liao soldiers on the gate together.

Arrows rained down, the Liao soldiers were caught off guard, they were hit by arrows, more than a dozen soldiers who were carrying rolling logs to the city were also hit by arrows, screaming and rolling down the city, for a time the city was in chaos, and the soldiers took refuge behind the tower.

The Song army launched an attack, hundreds of Song soldiers raised their shields and ran towards the city, the soldiers on the city took care of one or the other, more than a dozen soldiers were just about to throw a log to the city, but their backs were exposed, and the arrows above whistled, and immediately shot down seven or eight people.

But there are still two rolling logs thrown down the city, Niangzi Kandong is high and the west is flat, the east slope is dangerous, about forty-five degrees, and the west slope is slightly gentle, about thirty degrees, but it is only a thirty-degree slope in the west, but the threat to the Song army is still very great, two rolling logs rolled and smashed towards the Song army, although the Song army dodged, but still four or five people were hit in a row, rolling down the cliff.

But the counterattack of the Liao army ended here, the hook ladder of the Song army was hung on the head of the city, and the soldiers climbed the ladder one after another, the so-called hook ladder is the siege ladder designed for Xiaoguan City, there are two large iron hooks in front of the ladder, directly hook the battlements, the length of the ladder is slightly shorter than the height of the city wall, so that the weight of the soldiers is all hung on the ladder, and it is difficult for the soldiers at the head of the city to push the ladder out.

In just a few moments, the Song soldiers climbed to the top of the city and swung their swords at the Liao soldiers.

More and more Song soldiers climbed the city, the city gate was opened, and the three thousand soldiers below shouted to kill the city, and the five hundred soldiers finally left less than 100 people, and fled from the Niangzi Pass in panic and rushed to report to the commander.

The Yellow Dragon banner of the Song Army was planted on the head of the Niangzi Guancheng.