289 The Road to the South (IV)

The Horsehead Fort was built on a huge rock. When attacking from the flat ground, it was necessary to attack upward along the slope formed by the huge rock. Although this slope was not steep, it had three or four hundred steps and had no cover. It was a natural blocking position.

The Great Zhou army could not be deployed in front of the narrow horse-headed fortress. Thirty thousand horses formed a long snake formation, and the Great Zhou army facing the Horse-headed fortress had only 2,000 people. Such a number of people was not enough to offset the defensive advantage brought by the strong position of the Horse-headed fortress.

Hou Dayong approached the Horsehead Fort and stood at the beginning of the slope. He looked up at the Horsehead Fort. He saw the Northern Han army flag fluttering in the wind on the Horsehead Fort. On the left side of the Horsehead Fort, there was a large flag floating, with a large seal script word "Liu".

Hou Dayong looked at the flag with the word "Liu" and asked, "Is this Liu Jiye's army?" Qian Xiangnan's military intelligence battalion had already figured out the situation of the Northern Han army leaving Cizhou. Feng Sha naturally knew it and quickly replied, "It's Liu Jiye's men."

The Northern Han soldiers on the horse-headed fort were crowded with people, and several generals pointed at the bottom of the fort.

Shi Shouxin had followed Zhang Yongde to the Horse Head Castle many times. He suddenly had a bad premonition and immediately stepped forward and said, "Zhao Hou, the Horse Head Castle is equipped with three bed crossbows. If it is not destroyed, it will be within the range of the bed crossbow. Please step back a little."

On the Horsehead Fort, Liu Jicheng, the commander of the Northern Han Army, who was full of beards and rough-looking, put his hands on his forehead to block the rare sunshine in autumn and observe the Great Zhou army in front of the Horsehead Fort.

The Northern Han Army that seized the Horsehead Fort was the Northern Han Army's Forward Battalion. Liu Jicheng, the commander of the Forward Battalion, was the confidant general of Liu Jiye, the commander of the Northern Han Army. Although the two had similar names, they were not relatives. It was precisely because of the similar names that Liu Jiye chose Liu Jicheng to the personal guard. Liu Jicheng quickly proved with his strength that Liu Jiye's choice was extremely correct.

Wu Zheng, deputy commander beside Liu Jicheng, said: "The Great Zhou Army has a large number of reinforcements. It seems that there are more than 30,000." There are only one thousand Northern Han troops on the Horsehead Fort, and Wu Zheng is obviously not confident enough.

Liu Jicheng seemed not to hear Wu Zheng's words. He looked at him for a while and suddenly said excitedly: "Today I was in the great fortune. A group of people on the slope were all wearing black armor. It looked like they were generals of Zhou army. There must be one of them inside. The man with black armor in the middle was the one with black armor. The others were talking to him. Maybe this person was a general of Zhou army. You should quickly prepare the crossbows and I want them to catch them off guard."

Liu Jicheng led a thousand soldiers from the Forward Battalion to rush hundreds of miles. In order to facilitate movement, they did not bring heavy weapons such as crossbows, catapults, etc. After occupying the Horsehead Fort, they found three damaged crossbows of the Great Zhou defenders. Fortunately, one of the crossbows was slightly damaged and could be put into use after a slight repair.

Wu Zheng was a little hesitant. If he really shot and killed the Zhou army, under the revenge of the Zhou army, he was afraid that a thousand people in the vanguard camp would have their lives on the Horsehead Fort.

Liu Jicheng knew Wu Zheng very well. Seeing that he was hesitant, he widened his eyes and said, "Go quickly. If the Zhou army wants to reinforce Cizhou, he must pass by the Horsehead Castle. This bloody battle is inevitable. Shoot people and shoot horses first, and capture the thief first. If we shoot and kill the Zhou army general, we can seize his morale."

Liu Jicheng and Wu Zheng have been partnering with each other for several years. First, they were both soldiers, and then Liu Jicheng became the commander of the sergeant. Wu Zheng became the commander of the sergeant. As Liu Jicheng's position increased, Wu Zheng was always Liu Jicheng's deputy.

Liu Jicheng was bold and commanded his battles very well. Although the Northern Han was an affiliate of the Khitan, the Khitan army often entered the Northern Han territory to attack Caogu, and the Northern Han army and the Khitan army often fought on a small scale, with a thousand people in the vanguard camp. It was just right for friction with the Khitan army. After a while, the vanguard camp became famous in the Khitan army.

Liu Jicheng was careless and hated trivial matters the most. Wu Zheng seemed to be Liu Jicheng's deputy. He was not brave, but he was as careful as he was. Many specific affairs of the vanguard battalion were handled by Wu Zheng. When he was not fighting, Liu Jicheng often threw the troops to Wu Zheng and went out of the camp to have fun.

The two of them were together and managed the vanguard battalion of the Northern Han Army to become strong and powerful, becoming one of the most powerful men in Liu Jiye's hands.

Hou Dayong in front of the Horse Head Castle seemed to be very interested in the "Liu" flag. Shi Shouxin reminded him. Before Hou Dayong could respond, Shi Shouxin said anxiously: "Prime Minister Hou, you are the Grand Marshal, you should not take risks easily."

Hou Dayong then walked out of his thoughts. He looked at Shi Shouxin with praise, and while lifting the reins of the horse, he said, "Liu Jiye is a powerful general. In the first year of Xiande, I once fought with him. He was able to rush out of the siege of the Black Eagle Army and injured two captains. I am very interested in this person."

Shi Shouxin couldn't help but wonder. Although Liu Jiye of the Northern Han Dynasty was a little famous, he was full of brave generals in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and Liu Jiye was nothing.

Of course, Hou Dayong could not explain the reason why he was interested in Liu Jiye. In recent years, the military intelligence battalion has increased its infiltration into the Northern Han Dynasty. Not long ago, the military intelligence battalion completed the collection of intelligence in the Northern Han army. The family background, personality, expertise and shortcomings of all senior generals in the Northern Han Dynasty have been edited into a volume by the military intelligence battalion, and Liu Jiye's family background is naturally also included.

"Liu Jiye: his real name was Yang Chonggui, his father Yang Xin, and he was a great clan in Linzhou. During the Later Han Dynasty, he occupied Linzhou and claimed to be the governor of himself. When Yang Xin surrendered to the Later Han Dynasty, in order to make friends with Liu Chong, who was the governor of Hedong at the time, he sent the young Yang Chonggui to Taiyuan. Yang Chonggui was highly valued by Liu Chong, a young and heroic Yang Chonggui, and renamed Liu Jiye. Liu Jiye was known for his bravery and was promoted to the governor of Jianxiong Army for his merits."

At that time, Hou Dayong had read this record at least five times, and after reading it, he mocked himself: "It turns out that Liu Jiye is Yang Jiye, and I didn't expect that Yang Lao Linggong was so young." In front of the Horsehead Castle, Hou Dayong saw the "Liu" flag floating on the castle, which reminded him of the story of the Yang family generals that had been passed down for thousands of years.

As soon as Hou Dayong turned his horse's head, he heard a "bang" on the horsehead castle. A thick crossbow arrow flew towards Hou Dayong. Hou Dayong turned his back to the horsehead castle. He was too familiar with the sound and speed of the bed crossbow, so he didn't turn around and rolled down the war horse.

Behind Hou Dayong were his personal guards Luo Qingsong and Lin Zhonghu. At this time, Lin Zhonghu did not turn his horse's head. He heard the sound of the crossbow, and immediately pulled out the long sword without thinking. When the thick crossbow arrows were roaring, Lin Zhonghu rushed towards the direction of the crossbow arrow and hit the crossbow arrows. There was only a loud "bang" sound, and the long sword had already chopped the crossbow arrow shaft.

The crossbow and crossbow arrows had a great impact. The tiger in the forest slashed the middle of the crossbow arrows. However, the crossbow arrows did not diminish, but they were slightly tilted. This deviation made the crossbow arrows hit the head of Hou Dayong's mount "Son of Wind". Only the "Son of Wind" heard a long hissing sound and was nailed to the ground.

Shi Shouxin, Feng Sha and other generals were all scared and pale. Luo Qingsong leaned over and reached out to Hou Dayong. Hou Dayong leveraged his strength and jumped on Luo Qingsong's war horse. The war horses and the two quickly left the range of the crossbow.

Just as the generals retreated from the range of the crossbow, a war horse ran towards the Horsehead Castle. He quickly approached the Horsehead Castle along the slope, and three carved feathered arrows rushed towards the Horsehead Castle like lightning.

Liu Jicheng, standing on the horse-head castle, was quick-wild and turned sideways. A carved feathered arrow swept across his face, and the arrow clusters had left a blood mark on his face. The two guards behind Liu Jicheng were not so lucky. They screamed, and each of them had a carved feathered arrow inserted into their faces.

The Northern Han army on the Horsehead Fort had just dropped, and the cheers of the Great Zhou army began to sound.

The archer who established his authority in the Horsehead Fort was the first magical arrow in the Black Eagle Army. After he arrived at Daliang from Lingzhou, he was trapped in the shallows like a dragon, and he had a rare opportunity to show his skills. When he saw Hou Dayong in danger this time, he immediately stepped forward and used accurate archery techniques to return the color to the Northern Han army.

Liu Hei's magic arrow was amazing. The Northern Han army on the Horse Head Fort did not expect to fight back for a while. They stared blankly at Liu Hei's in front of the fort. When Liu Hei's horse turned around and rushed down the slope in a daze, the Northern Han army on the fort woke up and shot arrows down one after another. Liu Hei's speedily left the arrow.

Shi Shouxin sincerely praised: "Commander Liu's magic arrow is invincible, and Houyi is really reborn. I'm afraid that only Ma Renyu can have such magic arrows in the army."

When Liu Heiyan heard this, he just smiled proudly, hung the longbow and returned behind Hou Dayong.

"Son of Wind" was nailed to the ground by a bed crossbow and crossbow arrow. He had been alive for a long time. Several soldiers were carrying a generous infantry shield and drove a grain truck to carry the "Son of Wind" back.

After the crossbow of Horsehead Castle fired an arrow, the damaged plate machine was damaged again and there was no way to fire. Liu Jicheng's face was bleeding. At this time, he had already restrained his contempt and luck and ordered: "All teams are ready to welcome the enemy. The soldiers under the castle are ready to transport wood and stones upwards at any time."

Liu Jicheng was ready to fight to the death with the Zhou army, but the Zhou army was slow to move.

Hou Dayong squatted beside the "Son of Wind". The strong war horse had exhausted the last energy of his life. He lay on the ground with his eyes wide open. Hou Dayong was stroking the "Son of Wind" over and over again as usual.

When Hou Dayong stood up, the generals were all calm and ready to attack the Horsehead Castle. Hou Dayong was silent for a while and made a decision that surprised everyone: "Each army retreated and set up camp."

In the new camp, Shi Shouxin, Wang Tengxiang, Fengsha, Wang Yansheng, and Guang Zitu were all covered in their bodies.

"The Horsehead Fort is built on a huge rock. You can overlook every move under the fort. It is difficult to use gunpowder to blow up the walls of the fort. The soldiers will inevitably suffer heavy losses when attacking."

"From today's on-site view, the area inside the Horsehead Fort is not large. We just need to put dozens of catapults in front of the fort and attack with stone bullets and fire bullets in turn. Within a few days, there will be no war on the fort, and the Horsehead Fort will be destroyed without attacking."

"This is a pre-war discussion. If any good ideas or doubts are raised, please raise them."

All the generals were veterans, and they kept thinking about Hou Dayong’s proposal.

Wang Tengxiang was the first to raise objections, "The strategy of the Marquis and Prime Minister is a complete strategy to break through the Horsehead Fort. However, our army went north to reinforce and did not expect to attack the city. Therefore, there were only ten catapults in the rear army. The ten catapults could not completely cover the Horsehead Fort. If the catapults were transferred from Daliang City at this time, it would probably take half a month to arrive. In half a month, I wonder if the Cizhou defenders could withstand the crazy attack of the rebels."
Chapter completed!