Chapter 11

The Song soldiers on the city wall hesitated, slightly relaxing their bowstrings, but they did not lower their bows. They had received orders: the people below were a group of Jurchen spies.

At this moment, the commander, Zhang Zhongyan, appeared on the city wall. He sneered and said, "If I'm not mistaken, you must be Chen Qing of the Eight-Character Army!"

"I am Chen Qing. Who are you?"

Zhang Zhongyan was overjoyed. It was indeed the wanted Chen Qing. He glanced around and feigned sincerity, "I am the commander of the Huanqing Army, Zhang Zhongyan. I suspect you are Jurchen scouts attempting to infiltrate the city and lie in ambush!"

"Nonsense! We are the honorable Eight-Character Army. When did we ever surrender to the Jurchens?"

"If you are not spies, then put down your weapons and accept our thorough inspection!"

Capturing Chen Qing's head would only earn him a promotion of two ranks, but presenting him to Wanyan Zongbi would earn him a promotion of three ranks. Zhang Zhongyan naturally wanted to capture Chen Qing alive.

Although Zhang Zhongyan's plan was good, he overlooked one point: he should not have known about Chen Qing, which made Chen Qing suspicious.

Chen Qing suddenly remembered the large reward notice he saw at a small village entrance yesterday. Wanyan Zongbi must have found the appointment letter in his horse's saddlebag.

He quickly understood.

Chen Qing sneered, "General Zhang, you want to capture me alive and get a promotion of three ranks, right?"

Zhang Zhongyan, his true intentions exposed, was enraged and shouted, "Damn it! I'm giving you one last chance. If you refuse, I will take your head!"

Chen Qing pulled open his shirt, exposing his chest, and shouted loudly, "Brothers, we one thousand Song soldiers fought to the death to cover the main force's retreat, killing countless enemies, breaking through the encirclement of ten thousand Jurchen cavalry, and slaying hundreds of Jurchen scouts. Only fifty of us remain. If you want to betray your ancestors and sell out your country for glory, I will grant you this life!"

The fifty soldiers also put down their weapons, tore open their shirts, and exposed their scarred chests, raising their heads and shouting, "Come and kill us! We, the Song soldiers, will not flinch!"

Zhao Xiaoyi raised the battle flag, and the tattered Eight-Character Army flag appeared in the air, with the eight large characters "Loyal Heart for the Country, Vow to Kill the Jurchen Bandits" written in blood.

The Song soldiers around were moved. They finally understood the truth and put down their bows and arrows.

Zhang Zhongyan was furious, "Wang Ping, Lu Shaowu, Zhang Qun, do you dare to disobey my orders? Order them to shoot!"

The few commanders remained silent, and without their orders, the soldiers would not shoot.

Zhang Zhongyan, helpless, turned and shouted at the more than twenty personal guards, "Quickly fetch the military crossbows!"

The guards rushed to the small stone house on the city wall where the crossbows were stored. At this moment, a large group of soldiers surged up the city wall through the passageway. This was Deputy Commander Li Hua leading over a hundred soldiers, who instantly surrounded Zhang Zhongyan's personal guards.

Zhang Zhongyan was shocked. Wasn't Li Hua under house arrest?

He pointed at Li Hua, stammering, "You... how did you get out?"

Li Hua sneered, "Zhang Zhongyan, do you think all the soldiers will be as traitorous as you?"

Zhang Zhongyan was flustered and shouted to the surrounding soldiers, "Whoever kills Chen Qing will be promoted three ranks and receive three thousand strings of cash!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a commander behind him shouted, "I'll take the reward!"

A flash of cold light appeared, and the commander's sword cut through Zhang Zhongyan's neck from behind.

...

At the same moment Zhang Zhongyan was beheaded, a two-thousand-strong army was marching toward Chunhua County.

This army was dressed strangely. They were neither Jurchens nor Khitans. Their faces were Han, and they wore Song military black lacquer armor, but their helmets were the old copper helmets of the Liao army, and their flag was a black flag with a white dragon.

The black flag with a white dragon revealed the true nature of this army. They were the newly established Qi army, the historical puppet Qi of Liu Yu.

The Jurchen cavalry attacking Guanzhong numbered only about thirty thousand, and the Jin emperor, Wanyan Sheng, ordered Liu Yu to send reinforcements.

Liu Yu did not dare to disobey and immediately sent his brother, Liu Yi, with fifty thousand troops into Shaanxi. However, they arrived too late, and the Fuping battle was already over, which greatly displeased Wanyan Lou Shi.

This two-thousand-strong puppet Qi army was sent by Wanyan Lou Shi to Chunhua County to accept Zhang Zhongyan's surrender.

The commander was named Wang Shijie, who wielded an iron spear, was skilled in archery and horsemanship, and was a formidable warrior. Less than five miles from Chunhua County, Shijie ordered the army to rest and sent a commander to Chunhua County to make contact.

The struggle in Chunhua County had ended. Zhang Zhongyan and his thirty-seven followers had all been beheaded. Deputy Commander Li Hua took over Zhang Zhongyan's army and appointed Chen Qing and Commander Yao Ling as his deputy commanders.

Chen Qing was initially reluctant to accept Li Hua's appointment, but after much persuasion, he reluctantly agreed.

On the city wall, Chen Qing was considering their next move. Li Hua wanted to go through Jingyuan Road to Pingliang to join the commander Liu Qi, but Chen Qing did not want to go. After his men's injuries were treated, he still intended to lead them to Dasha Pass to join the main force of the Eight-Character Army.

"General Chen! General Chen!"

A soldier called out twice before Chen Qing realized he was being called.

"What is it?"

"Commander Li wants to see you. It's urgent!"

Chen Qing followed the soldier quickly to the south city wall, where Li Hua greeted him and whispered, "A force has come from the south. They are Liu Yu's army, sent by Wanyan Lou Shi to accept the surrender. The envoy is already at the city gate."

Chen Qing leaned out to look down. He saw three soldiers standing below, led by a junior officer who was looking up at the city wall.

"Commander Li, do you want to annihilate this force?"

Li Hua nodded. If it were Jurchen cavalry, he might not have the courage, but since it was the puppet Qi army and only two thousand strong, he had an idea.

Chen Qing smiled slightly. "Then let's use a stratagem."

"But Zhang Zhongyan is already dead!"

"But they don't know what Zhang Zhongyan looks like!"

Li Hua slapped his forehead, realizing his mistake.

"I have a plan. I'll arrange it right away!"

They had a headman who had a thick, bushy beard just like Zhang Zhongyan, and his build was similar. With a bit of eyebrow modification, he would look almost identical.

...

The city gate slowly opened, and 'Zhang Zhongyan' came out with the other commanders, bowing and smiling, "I am Commander Zhang Zhongyan. May I ask the general's name?"

"I am Lu Xinzheng, a commander under the Qi army, sent by my general to discuss the surrender."

"May I ask your general's name?"

"Commander Wang Shijie, sent by General Wanyan to accept the surrender."

"Please come in and let's discuss further!"

"Please!"

The commanders escorted Lu Xinzheng into the county like a star.

After a few cups of wine and a few dozen taels of silver, Lu Xinzheng's attitude improved.

Less than half an hour later, he left the city and instructed Zhang Zhongyan, "Just follow the points I mentioned. First, change the flag. You can temporarily use a white flag, but not the Song flag. Second, tie a white bandage around the left arm of the soldiers. Third, prepare barracks and food and drink. Slaughter some pigs and sheep, prepare plenty of wine, and find a hundred women. We have traveled a long distance from Bianjing and need to rest."

"Don't worry, I'll arrange it."

As he left the city gate, Lu Xinzheng remembered something else. "By the way, when the main force arrives, have the soldiers put down their weapons and gather outside the city. We will reorganize them then."

"I understand. I won't let you down!"

Lu Xinzheng left with his men, and Li Hua gathered several commanders to discuss the next steps. "What do you think we should do next?"

Commander Yao Ling said, "I have a plan. Select a thousand strong men from the city to pretend to surrender and gather outside the city. We have extra armor, and the men can hide in the upper part of the city gate. When the enemy enters the city, we can trap them like fish in a barrel!"

The other commanders applauded. "Good plan!"

Seeing Chen Qing deep in thought, Li Hua asked, "What do you think, General Chen?"

"I think this plan has flaws."

Yao Ling raised an eyebrow, dissatisfied. "What flaws?"

"The thousand laborers must all be obedient and not make mistakes. Ten can manage, a hundred is difficult, but a thousand... Do you think it's feasible, General Yao?"

"They are not soldiers but laborers. Some will be afraid of being slaughtered, some will try to escape, and some will run away in the chaos. It will definitely be exposed."

Everyone nodded silently. Having untrained laborers pretend to be soldiers was indeed unreliable. An experienced commander would see through it immediately.

Seeing that no one supported him, Yao Ling was annoyed and coldly said, "I'd like to hear General Chen's brilliant idea!"

Chen Qing calmly replied, "The more complex a plan, the more likely it is to fail. Simplicity is key!"

Yao Ling sneered, "Easy to say, but how do you plan to lure them into the city?"

Li Hua smiled faintly, "Use human weaknesses!"