After the stone bridge was laid, the Iron Lion Army only made a half-day rest in the city, and then did not carry any baggage, and the soldiers of the whole army only carried three days' rations, and marched in the direction of Xintian.

The Iron Lion Army came too fast, the stone bridge had just been broken, and the refugees had not all fled to Xintian City, and the Iron Lion Army had already arrived in the city.

The defenders of Xintian were greatly alarmed by the sudden appearance of the Jin army outside the city, and their lord hurriedly ordered the city gate to be closed, blocking all the people who had not yet had time to enter the city.

Chu Chen didn't care about the life or death of the people of your Chiguo, seeing that Xintian was in a hurry to respond to the battle, he immediately ordered the whole army to attack the city.

Since the Iron Lion Army came on a hurried march this time, the large weapons were left on the stone bridge, and the only thing that could be used during the attack was the ladder.

This is a real hand-to-hand combat, and it is also a familiar style of play, which does not use siege weapons, and relies entirely on manpower to climb up. The battle between the two sides had not lasted long before the elite of the Iron Lion Army, which had previously infiltrated the city, suddenly attacked and rushed up from behind the defenders.

This was much beyond the expectations of the defenders, who were already afraid of the Jin army and had a weak fighting spirit, but now there was chaos inside, and the defense line was torn apart at once.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Jin army outside the city rushed to the head of the city and started a face-to-face white-knuckle battle with the defenders.

In the handover of short troops, even the Jin people have to bow down to the gold in front of the people, let alone the Red Army?

In the battle of Xintian, it only took two hours before and after, and the resistance of the Red Army was completely destroyed, and all the soldiers were scattered, and they fled to the city like a plate of scattered sand.

The Iron Lion Army did not leave a respite for the opponent, and chased after the Red Army's ass, and the two sides started a chaotic street battle in Xintian City.

At this point in the battle, the Red Army had no fighting spirit, and there was no suspense in the battle. The Nitta defenders were defeated, including its main general, and were slaughtered by the Iron Lion Army.

Perhaps it was because this battle was won too easily, or perhaps the soldiers of the Iron Lion Army were too tired after the battle for several days, and after the occupation of Xintian, it was rare that there was no large-scale massacre. Half of the Iron Lion was stationed inside the city and half outside the city for a short rest.

The Iron Lion Army was stationed in Xintian for three days, and after waiting for the baggage in the rear to catch up, they continued southward and marched in the direction of Jozan. In the eyes of the officers and men of the Iron Lion Army, the main force of the Red Army has fled to Dingshan, and they are bound to start a decisive battle with the Red Army here.

But the fact is that this is not the case at all, and the main force of the Red Army is not in Dingshan at all. The defenders of Joyama were only more than 10,000 people, and the Iron Lion Army took Joyama Castle lightly almost as soon as they walked. As for where the main force of the Red Army went, the spies of the Iron Lion Army did not find out clearly, but on the second day after the Iron Lion Army captured Dingshan, an urgent report came from the rear that the troops stationed in Panling by the Iron Lion Army were attacked by a large number of Red Army, and now Panling has been lost. Thousands of soldiers stationed there suffered casualties.

Hearing the news, Chu Chen was not surprised at all. On the contrary, this was already expected by him, Chen Xiu and others also made such an analysis at the beginning, the Red Army led the enemy deep into the front, and then turned back to Panling, cutting off their own retreat, and wanted to close the door and fight the dog.

It's just that the Red Army seems to have forgotten a little. The Iron Lion Army is nominally the Jin Army, but in fact it is the You Army, and for the You Army, logistics supplies are dispensable and irrelevant. He looked around at the generals on his left and right. Asked: "Guess what the enemy commander is thinking now?"

Chen Xiu smiled and said, "The commander of the Red Army will definitely think that after our army learns the news of the loss of Panling, it is necessary for the whole army to retreat and recapture Panling, so as to open the passage in the rear. ”

"That's right!" Chu Chen nodded and said, "If I'm not wrong, now the main force of the Red Army is already in battle in Panling, and only take our army back to attack, and this time, Panling will not be as easy to break through as last time." ”

A special general snorted coldly and said: "The Red Army, why be afraid? Since they want to fight our army to the death at Panling, then we will fulfill them! General, according to the opinion of the last general, our army will immediately turn back to Panling and fight a decisive battle with the Red Army!"

Chu Chen shook his head and said faintly: "We have already fought Panling once, and now we will fight again, the morale of the soldiers will definitely be insufficient, in addition, the Red Army in Panling is bound to make all preparations, with the geographical advantage of the enemy, even if our army can win this battle, I am afraid, the losses will be very heavy." After a pause, he took a deep breath, cheered up, and sneered: "Since the Red Army is waiting for our army to turn back and attack in Panling, then let the Red Army wait in Panling, and our army will continue to move south and take Chengdu, the county seat of Zeping." ”

All the generals had no different meaning, and they all intervened and said, "The last general obeys the order!"

The Iron Lion Army still chose to advance southward even though it knew that the back road of the road was cut off, which was indeed much more than the Red Army expected.

In fact, the deployment of the Red Army is also very exquisite, the handover of Panling is indeed a plan to lead the enemy into depth, and after the introduction of the Iron Lion Army into the hinterland of Zeping County, the main force of the Red Army is divided into two roads, one way to take Panling, the other road is hidden in the mountains and forests of Panzhong County, as long as the Iron Lion Army turns back to attack Panling, the Red Army can be flanked back and forth, and the Iron Lion Army is difficult to care about.

However, what Yuan Cheng, the commander of the Red Army, never expected was that the Iron Lion Army came to a plan, and did not care about the problem of the back road being cut off, but took advantage of the absence of the main force of the Red Army to take the county seat Chengdu.

Now there are only two ways in front of Yuan Cheng, one is to give up Panling and go all out to save Chengdu, but to abandon Chengdu and continue to stick to Panling, blocking the supply line and retreat of the Jin army.

How to choose, Yuan Cheng had no idea for a while, and he asked the opinion of Shen Yuan, a think tank under his command.

The person who gave him the plan to lure the enemy deep was Shen Yuan, if he chose to give up Panling now and rescue Chengdu, it would be tantamount to saying that the plan he offered at the beginning was a complete mistake, how could Shen Yuan be willing to slap himself in the face?

Therefore, knowing that Lu Dao was wrong, Shen Yuan could only make a mistake, he proposed to Yuan Cheng that he must not give up Panling, as for the defense of the county seat, he could call on the local troops of each county and city to defend, as long as he could withstand the Jin army for ten days and half a month, the Jin army without logistics supplies would be defeated without a fight.

After listening to his analysis, Yuan Cheng felt that it was not unreasonable, and finally decided to adopt Shen Yuan's method, the main force of the central army continued to be stationed in Panling, and let the local army go to defend the county city of Chengdu, he did not expect the local army to defeat the Jin army. As long as it can hold off the Jin army for a while.

Of course, the strategy that Shen Yuan gave him was whimsical in itself, and the ferocity of the Iron Lion Army was so fierce that even the Central Army of the Red Kingdom could hardly resist it, not to mention the local army that was temporarily recruited together? Not to mention withstanding ten days and half a month, even if it was three or five days, it was too much.

Sure enough, the Iron Lion Army's southward march was like a bamboo. Along the way, Lian Zhan Lian won successes, it was really invincible, and it only took ten days to fight all the way from Panzhong County to Chengdu.

At present, the defenders of Chengdu barely gathered about 100,000 men, of which 20,000 were Zeping county troops and the other 80,000. They were all summoned from all over the country, and more than half of them did not even have military uniforms and armor, and they were recruited by the local government and the slaves were indiscriminately put together.

It is undoubtedly a fantasy for such an army to resist the wolf-like Iron Lion Army.

On the second day after the Iron Lion Army arrived in Chengdu, the whole army made a tentative feint, although it was tentative, the Iron Lion Army didn't even use three points of combat power, but it almost broke Chengdu's city defense. Chu Chen, who was watching the battle, only saw half of it and returned to the camp, and ordered the generals around him. Kill the pigs and sheep in the army, and wait until tomorrow for the celebration feast.

Before the city was defeated, Chu Chen had already begun to think about celebrating his achievements in the city, he was so confident, and the soldiers below were naturally full of confidence. The feint is hastily over, and the rest day is over. The next day, the Iron Lion Army's real attack began.

Of the 100,000 defenders in Chengdu, except for the 20,000 county troops who could fight, the rest of the 80,000 troops were basically decorations, that is, they had no actual combat experience. He has no combat training, and in the face of an opponent like the Iron Lion Army, he will be defeated with one blow, and he will be defeated for thousands of miles, and he will have no power to fight back.

The county seat of Zeping County, the huge Chengdu, was not held for even half a day under the all-out onslaught of the Iron Lion Army, and its defense line was torn to pieces and collapsed.

The Jin army outside the city entered the city with all its might, and even the most basic street fighting did not take place, and the defeated Red Army was led by the county leader, waving the white flag, disarming and surrendering.

The opponent was weak, and the officers and men of the Iron Lion Army could not lift their spirits, so as long as these surrendered Red Army, as long as they did not wear military uniforms and armor, they were all driven away, and the rest were imprisoned and waited for treatment.

Chu Chen did not execute these prisoners of war, but only had the head of Zeping County hanged, and then changed the flag and hung the banner of the Jin Kingdom at the head of Chengdu.

After occupying Chengdu, Chu Chen decided that the whole army would not fight for a short time, and used it as a base to station, and only sent a small force to conquer the villages and towns around Chengdu in the future.

Now the Iron Lion Army has penetrated hundreds of miles deep into Zeping County, and if it fights further south, it will reach Haowan County, which is close to Jiankang, the red capital, and it will be very troublesome to attract the main force of the Central Army in Jiankang at that time. At this time, he needed to wait, wait for the First Army and the Fifth Army to catch up, and also wait for these two armies to help him clear out the main force of the Red Army entrenched in Panling.

In any case, it is much better to have no worries than to be cut off, and to serve the Jin country, he only needs to do his best, and he will not risk the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the whole army.

The Iron Lion Army led by Chu Chen did not move after occupying Chengdu, firstly, it firmly controlled the center of Zeping County, so that the Jin Army took the initiative in Zeping County, and secondly, it also ensured the supply of the whole army, Chengdu is a county town, and the granary is well stocked, even if it can't support the hundreds of thousands of troops of the Iron Lion Army, but with the plundering ability of the Youren, hunger can't starve them, at best, it is bitter to the people of the Red Kingdom inside and outside Chengdu.

The Iron Lion Army stopped to make repairs, and the main force of the Red Army stationed in Panling could only be left to the First and Fifth Army Corps to deal with. Originally, according to Lin Haotian's meaning, the Iron Lion Army was the vanguard army, and the task of fighting with the main force of the Red Army naturally fell on the head of the Iron Lion Army, so that it could eliminate the main force of the Red Army in Zeping County, and greatly weaken the strength of the Iron Lion Army, killing two birds with one stone, but by chance, the Iron Lion Army and the main force of the Red Army passed by, but the First Army and the Fifth Army had to gnaw this hard bone.

Don't look at the fact that it was easy for the Iron Lion Army to open Panling, but now that it is the turn of the First Legion and the Fifth Legion, the situation is already different. When the Iron Lion Army fought Panling, the Red Army deliberately released water and did not do a decent resistance at all, but now, Panling has become the only life-saving straw for the Red Army, only by holding Panling, they can block the reinforcements of the Iron Lion Army, and there is still hope for victory, and once Panling is lost, their operation in Zeping County will be a complete failure, and at that time, they will only have a dead end.

Therefore, at this time, for the Red Army, the Battle of Panling can only be won, not defeated, and it is the last fight to break the cauldron and sink the boat.

Before the First Army Corps and the Fifth Army Corps launched an attack on Panling, the commanders of the two armies, Ding Feng and Jin Cheng, had a premonition that this battle would be very difficult.

Jin Chengyou made a detailed analysis of the current situation of the Red Army and came to the conclusion that: The 400,000 Red Army troops stationed in Panling will definitely defend Panling, and the 16 camps set up in Panling are all uniquely located, and they are easy to defend and difficult to attack, as long as the Red Army's fighting spirit is tenacious, even if the First Army and the Fifth Army join forces to attack. It's also hard to break.

Regarding Jin Cheng's conclusion, Ding Feng disagreed, he also admitted that Panling is not easy to fight, but he can't stop fighting because Panling is difficult to fight, right?

He said to Jin Cheng: "If you say a thousand things and ten thousand, it is better to put yourself in your shoes and take a look." ”

Jin Cheng smiled bitterly and said, "I'm afraid that after reading it, General Ding will even lose what he attacked." ”

"Not necessarily!" Ding Feng smiled. and Jin Cheng led a cadre of generals out of the camp to the first camp set up by the Red Army in Panling.

This camp was built on a gentle slope, and if you want to attack, you have to attack from the bottom up, and the terrain alone will put the attacker into a three-point disadvantage.

Ding Feng, Jin Cheng and the others did not dare to get too close, and the two of them looked at the enemy camp from a distance of 100 meters and watched for a while. Jin Cheng turned his head to look at Ding Feng and asked, "What does General Ding think?"

"It's not easy to attack!" Ding Feng held back for a long time before he said this. He frowned, put his hands on the pergola, looked up at the sky, and muttered, "Why is it so hot!"

It's the height of summer, and there is no shade around, and the temperature in Chi is already higher than that in Jin. Ding Feng was extremely uncomfortable, and stood for a while in the direct sunlight, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Jin Cheng glanced at him and didn't speak. From September to September, can it not be hot?

Then. The golden generals behind urged them to step forward and whispered: "General, the sun is too poisonous at this time, let's go back to the camp first!"

"Don't worry!" Ding Feng waved his hand, looked around again, and wanted to find a place to take shelter and enjoy the shade, and suddenly found that the trees on the left and right slopes were tall and stout, straight to the sky, he asked Jin Cheng, "General Jin, what kind of trees grow on the mountain?"

What kind of tree? Jin Cheng looked at him strangely, and couldn't help but underestimate in his heart: Could it be that Ding Feng was so confused by the sun that he didn't even know the pine tree? He took a deep breath and said, "It's all pine trees." ”

"Pine!" Ding Feng nodded, turned his horse's head, and walked into the shade of a nearby tree. When he got under the tree, he turned over and dismounted, touched the trunk of the tree, raised his eyes and looked at the Red Army camp opposite, the corners of his mouth raised, he laughed, and said to everyone behind him: "Tonight, we will sneak attack the enemy village!"

Sneak attack at night? Jin Cheng's generals all showed a look of astonishment, the enemy village was heavily defended, and it was not easy to attack during the day, but a sneak attack at night could be defeated?

Jin Cheng rolled his eyes and asked, "General Ding has thought of a clever plan to break the enemy?"

Ding Feng smiled indifferently and said, "I don't dare to say the clever plan, but if it goes well, it will be no problem to take three or four camps in a row tonight." ”

When Jin Cheng heard this, he wondered, just now he was still frowning, and he had no confidence in whether he could break through the enemy village, so how could he become full of confidence in the blink of an eye? How could it be possible to take down three or four enemy villages in a row?

Jin Cheng was puzzled, but he didn't ask, anyway, when he returned to the camp to make tactical arrangements, Ding Feng would naturally say the 'clever plan' he thought of.

After inspecting the camp of the Red Army, on the way back to his camp, Ding Feng asked the generals around him as he walked: "How many red clothes are there in our army?"

A general of the 1st Army replied: "Not much, but some were captured during the capture of the Red Army prisoners, no more than 10,000 sets." ”

The Iron Lion Army passed through the area, and basically killed all the Red people, and the prisoners captured by the First and Fifth Legions were just some stragglers, and there were pitiful few.

Ding Feng pondered for a while and said, "Although it is a little less, it is almost enough." ”

The weather in the mountains is unpredictable, and during the day the sky is clear and cloudless, but at night, it is so cloudy that you can't see your fingers.

This kind of weather is of course very favorable for the party that wants to sneak attack at night, but Ding Feng has a gloomy face and a sad brow, and he is a little unsure whether to do it tonight.

After much consideration, he decided to act tonight and try his luck.

Under the cover of night, the Jin army quietly pushed out the stone throwers and city-breaking crossbows in the army, and quietly transported them to the front of the Red Army camp.

The range of the stone thrower and the city-breaking crossbow was two or three hundred paces away, but the Jin army kept pushing the stone-throwing machine and the city-breaking crossbow until it was only one hundred and fifty steps away from the Red Army camp before stopping.

At such a close distance, the Jin soldiers transporting the stone throwers and the city-breaking crossbows could clearly see the flickering and swinging torches on the walls of the enemy camp.

People subconsciously held their breath, half-squatted on the ground, and did not dare to move.

In fact, if the Red Army could really see their side, it would be useless for them to be motionless, after all, the size of the stone thrower and the city-breaking crossbow were too huge to hide, but the visibility tonight was too low, and the Red soldiers on the wall could see about twenty paces at best, and they couldn't see them at all.

Just when the Jin soldiers and soldiers were all raising their hearts to their throats, Ding Feng's direct order suddenly came from the rear, asking them to attack immediately.

Several Jin sergeants walked out of the crowd carrying oil drums, poured the oil into the ditch that had been dug in advance, and then blew the fire fold to ignite the fire oil in the ditch.

In an instant, as if a fiery snake had emerged from the ground, the long trench burst into flames. (To be continued......)