Chapter 8 Snowy Night

At this time, there were no decent cities in Liaodong. The role of Liucheng, the largest city, was also the nature of a military fortress, and it was incomparable to the big cities along the canal.

There is even very little cropland outside Yingzhou, and the vast land is in a semi-civilized state, which looks desolate and primitive.

The wind is light tonight, and there is light snow under the night sky. Everything is so quiet and pure under the sleepy night.

But this is just an appearance, not a struggle in the hustle and bustle, and a beauty in the tranquility.

In the dim light, a group of people were marching in the dark. Most of them were Han people, but they were wearing animal skins and ragged clothes, holding messy weapons, maces, spears, short knives, iron sticks, bows and arrows, etc., mixed together regardless of their troops, just like a group of thieves whistling in the Wushan Mountains.

The leader among them was Cui Qigao, a group of Han people who escaped from Yingzhou. They came from the orderly Central Plains of Wanghua, and many even came from the sage family, but now people have returned to their barbaric and crazy nature.

On this land of Liaodong, everything has returned to the original state, and the survival rules here are completely different from those of densely populated urban farming areas.

The temperature was very low and the water turned into ice. Fortunately, the wind was low, so the crowd didn't feel cold when they rushed to the road.

Cui Qigao, wrapped in fur, asked a middle-aged man around him: Isn’t the road wrong?

The middle-aged man held a compass and said: I have walked this road many times, but I can't make any mistakes, and the direction is right.

Another young man looked back and saw two Khitans following more than ten steps behind.

The young man whispered to Cui Qigao: Didn’t the Khitans openly discuss peace with the Han people, but they started to fight without any ambiguity. Are they not afraid of going to war with the Jin army again?

Cui Qi snorted coldly and said: You have been in Liaodong for so long, but haven’t realized it yet?There is no great thing in this place, it’s all about talking by a knife!If the Jin army really easily destroys the Khitan, what else can it discuss?It’s one thing to talk on the table, and it’s another thing to do when you come down. Don’t be ruthless when you do it later. Whoever is ruthless will die.

Everyone did not ignite the fire and leaned into a ball along a road in the dark, but no one ran away.

This place is sparsely populated and harsh, and it is difficult for outliers of Han people to survive.

People are forced out, and courage arises from evil. The difficult living conditions make people's faces look ferocious and evil.

After walking for the middle of the night, the middle-aged man holding a compass and leading the way pointed at a ball of black things in front of him, like a small hill: there should be the Black Mountain Fort there, and the Khitans called China Fort, which is the same thing.

After hearing this, the people around stopped and stretched their necks to look forward. The weather was not clear, there was no moon or stars, and it was pitch black and it was not clear. Someone muttered: There was no light at all, is it a Jin army fort?

Cui Qigao said: How can you avoid a curfew at night when you are a fort on the Yingzhou border?Let’s wait here first and find a clever approach and take a look.

There were several people around Cui Qigao, one of whom was the older one, named Cui Mingxuan. He was still considered Cui Qigao's uncle by seniority. However, his relationship was far away from Huazhou and he didn't have much contact with each other. He only recognized him after being exiled to Yingzhou.

Choi Ming-hyun is of high age but older but weak, so he acted as a counselor to give advice.

He reminded: Should you ask the two Khitans, are the Khitans really coming?

Zhao Si, go and ask.

Cui Qigao ordered, in fact, it was a waste of time to ask. They followed them all the way, probably don’t know.It's so dark that we don't know the way except Zhao Si.The Khitans came and touched them, and they didn't know where they were.

Cui Mingxuan said with a worried look: If the Khitan soldiers break their promises, we will rush over and set fire. If there is no time for a few fragrant plants, the Jin soldiers from the Heishan Barracks will definitely come to support them. We can't win the battle, and we can't run away, and the situation is in danger.

If things really turn out like that, let's run away.The generals of the Jin army often followed the military strategy, and the road ahead was unclear and they could not chase each other lightly, for fear of ambushing them.No matter what the Khitans are like, we must do it tonight, otherwise they would have thought we were just talking!

After a while of discussion, the person who was sent to explore the way came back and said it was a fortress.

After hearing this, Cui Qigao began to arrange: There were usually only fifty soldiers and horses on the border of the Jin army. The construction of Heishan Fort is about to be completed. The number of soldiers and horses inside the defense is about to be the same. There are also hundreds of hard laborers. These people will definitely not fight for the Jin army. The Heishan Army Battalion is estimated to have a maximum of hundreds, and the cavalry team will not exceed two teams.As for the distance between the troops in Ruluo City, we do not occupy the Montenegro Fort, so we don’t need to consider it.What we are going to do tonight is to attack Heishan Fortress with internal and external forces. Once we enter, hundreds of people will fight against Jin soldiers and still be able to defeat them?After capturing the Heishan Fort, we will see the situation. If we don’t see the Khitans, we will run away. If the Khitans come, we will dig the fortress overnight and destroy them!

Everyone surrounded Cui Qigao in the center, staring at her nervous eyes and nodding, and responded quietly.

Cui Qigao divided the jobs quickly and ordered the people to slowly touch the small hill ahead.

When I got closer, I finally saw a rectangular fortress hazy, like a small city, surrounded by city walls, surrounded by obstacles such as ditches and horse-repellent piles.

Cui Qigao had some understanding of the Han military and political system. After being exiled to Yingzhou, he had witnessed it on the spot and knew the function of this thing.

On the borders and prisons of the Jin Dynasty, the Jin army's stronghold was the city, and most of the local main forces were in the city, and such fortresses and some sentinels mostly played the role of early warning and peripheral defense.

Due to logistical restrictions, there are not many people stationed at the fortresses on the border, but it is indeed not easy to attack such fortresses. The Jin soldiers are good at using fortifications as border defense.

At this time, Cui Qigao and others had already seen a figure swaying on the wall. He walked into the arrow tower and then came out to walk, shrank his hands and head on it.

It was indeed very cold at night, and there was no fire on the fortress, so the sergeant on duty would definitely be difficult for the night.

ignition!

Cui Qigao said.

The people around were busy working hard. A young man was holding the fire pie and blew carefully. After a while, a small fire lighted up, and the young man holding the fire pie was shaking his hands.

At this time, the sergeant on the wall stopped and seemed to have noticed it. He hurriedly lay on the stack of arrows and looked down.

A moment later, a torch lit on the fire note and suddenly lit up. The man on the wall suddenly shouted: There are enemy soldiers!Hurry, there are enemy soldiers below!

A man under the wall shot an arrow, but it seemed that he didn't hit him. The soldier ran into the arrow tower, shouting and beating the drum.

Cui Qigao and others quickly lit many torches, and suddenly there was a fire, and the sound of drums on the fortress was also pounding... The earth was making a big fuss, and the noise of people rang out.

The people under the city didn't have to pinch their throats and talk. They shouted and rushed to the door first, waiting for the Cui family to open the door from inside!

The deadly night seemed to wake up in an instant, and it was rare to see such a lively scene in the desolate and sparsely populated snow.

Cui Qigao and his group had no military discipline, so they rushed to the fort gate to block it. They heard the noise inside and seemed to have reached the door, and people were so anxious that they used their bodies to hit the thick wooden door.

Cui Qigao shouted: Don’t hit it, what’s the use of hitting it?

Ah！

With a scream of pain, a man had an arrow inserted into his stick. Everyone looked up and saw two people swaying on the arrow tower.

The people with bows and arrows below also fought back against the top, and they didn't know whether they shot in the chaos. The Jin soldiers were wearing armor, so it would be difficult to shoot so randomly at night.

Just when they were anxious, they heard a clang and the door loosened. Everyone rushed over the fort gate and immediately the door was in. There was also a group of people in short clothes at the door, probably some exiles, and there were still fighting behind them.

Cui Qigao and others rushed in without having time to call, and saw a fire lit up in the fortress.

There were some simple houses made of wood and stone inside, and some people with weapons ran out of the house one after another, and some people were only wearing underwear.

The Jin soldiers obviously did not expect that the enemy soldiers rushed into the fortress without warning. It can be seen that even the strongest fortress is easy to break from the inside.

Among them, a man in armor was shouting loudly. It seemed that he was a general. Cui Qigao noticed him with sharp eyes and hurriedly shouted behind him: Bow and arrow!Shoot that person!

As soon as he finished speaking, several people pulled their bows and flew towards the general. The fortress was small, and after rushing in, the place was not open and the range was short. Several arrows shot the general, but he seemed to have nothing to do, so he rode his horse and ran away.

Cui Qigao hurriedly shouted: Shoot the horse!

Whoosh!

With a sound of the ground, the horse fell heavily under the neighing of the horse.

Cui Qigao took advantage of the situation and shouted: Kill!

Hundreds of people rush over with various weapons waving.

Before the Jin soldiers could form a formation, they started fighting with Cui Qigao's troops.

Arrows flew over the towers on all sides, but in the crowd, they were like small stones thrown into the lake and could not arouse any prodigal sons at all.

The Jin soldiers threw away their long weapons and picked up their swords and fought against short weapons. They were still resisting nearly ten times more people, which was indeed commendable.

The general who had fallen off his horse draws his sword and shouts: The fort is here!

Soon some Jin soldiers moved closer to him.

Cui Qigao also waved his sword and rushed over. He knew that he would give up the resistance only if he killed the general Jin soldiers.

Several men had already pounced over like hungry wolves. Unexpectedly, the general was skillful in swordsmanship and swam around and slashed one by one. The men could not even resist, but only splashed the general's blood.

The rioters in front of him were frightened, and their momentum suddenly became much weaker. The crowd greeted the generals with bows and arrows. He was shot all over his body but was not dead. Even the Jin soldiers next to him were shot by many people.

Cui Qigao Xin shouted with a scimitar and ran up, and the people around him hurriedly followed him to protect him.

As soon as the crowd surged up, they surrounded the Jin army and slashed and slashed.

The children of the gentry of Cui Qigao learned the Six Arts and knew how to take archery, horses, and archery. They wanted to boost their courage and martial arts skills, but unexpectedly, a mace flew over and hit him on his helmet, and then they were quickly overturned to the ground and were beaten to the bloody and bloody by random knives and sticks.

The Jin soldiers lost their command and were scattered in the fortress and were beaten up by crowds, killing and injured.

The rioters set fire to the wooden house again, and for a moment, the fortress was filled with fire and smoke.

The hard-working slaves were also released from the house. Seeing that the attackers were also Han people, they really didn't help at all, just crowded together to watch.

The rioters were busy collecting weapons and armor to arm themselves, while Cui Qigao led people to climb up the wall to watch.Except for the bright fires on the Black Mountain Fort, there are still dark all over the place. Where are the traces of Khitan people?

Cui Mingxuan said: The Heishan Fort is a must-pass place to Ruluo City. The Khitans wanted to intercept reinforcements from the Heishan Battalion, and there would definitely be movement here.Did they not come at all?

Another person said: The Jin army's cavalry will come later. It is too late to dig the fortress. We might as well bring those coolie prisoners to evacuate. In this way, there will be seven or eight hundred people, which will be almost the weather!