Chapter 563
In the withered forest, one hand pushed aside the cluttered branches of the bushes, and one face peeked at the scene ahead through the gap. This man had a fur hat on his head, was wearing a fur coat, was holding a hunting bow, and a machete was slung around his waist. , dressed as a mountain hunter.

"Brother Leizi, what's the situation ahead? Do you see anything?" Another person asked impatiently beside him.

Han Lei glared at his companion, and said in a low voice, "Shut up, I told you not to follow me a long time ago. You are not a scout. With your rough temper, we will be discovered sooner or later."

As soon as the voice fell, there was only a sound of "swish" breaking through the air!
An arrow pierced through the bushes, and with a bang, it nailed into a tree trunk not far behind the two of them, and the tail feathers kept trembling!

Both of them broke out in a cold sweat. If the arrow was more accurate, one of them would be killed here.

Han Lei touched his cold head, only to realize that the fur hat on his head had long since disappeared. No wonder the hat on the arrow looked familiar just now.

The two were still in shock, and there was a sound of footsteps, surrounded by several Ming soldiers in iron armor with red backgrounds.

"My lord is right, indeed there are mice hiding here! Please be honest with me, my lord, go and see my lord Zhang!"

Han Lei and his companions were escorted to the front battlefield by a group of Ming soldiers. The two observed it and found that all the soldiers who died on the ground were Hou Jin Nuzhen soldiers.The corpses of these Jurchen soldiers were in different shapes, but they all had one obvious characteristic, that is, there were traces of fire on their bodies and faces.

"My lord, two spies have been caught."

Zhang Jin was discussing the inadequacies of the battle with a few hundred households. At this moment, he stopped talking and turned to look at the two of them.

"Looking at you, you should be Han Chinese who surrendered to Houjin, right?"

Since Huang Taiji inherited Nurhachi's Khan position, he restored the original treatment of some Han people, and at the same time started to study Confucianism, which significantly improved the status of the Han people.More and more of those abducted Han Chinese and their descendants began to work for Hou Jin.

Han Lei quickly explained: "My lord, the two of us are not from the post-Jin Han Dynasty. We are actually the scouts of the Yingzhou Guard. A few days ago, it was reported that the Jurchens showed signs of mobilizing their brigade. Lord Qianhu is worried that the Jurchens intend to do it this time." The luggage was transported from the customs, so a large number of scouts were sent to investigate the news. This is our badge, if you still don’t believe it, we can take you to Yingzhou Wei to confirm it for yourself.”

Zhang Jin threw the other party's badge to a nearby Baihu. The man checked carefully before nodding and said, "My lord, it's really my Daming's badge."

Zhang Jin returned the badges to the two of them, and let them drink a few sips of wine to warm up and calm down. Then he asked about the situation of the luggage and the Jurchens.

The two naturally knew everything, and they had nothing to hide from their own people anyway.

After talking about the situation on his side, Han Lei was also a little curious: "My lord, since you are not here to escort the delivery team, why are you guys leaving the customs?"

"We are here to die." Zhang Jin said with a smile.

Hundreds of households around laughed.

Go out and die?Are you still so happy?Han Lei was at a loss. Could it be that these people are all lunatics? !
"Don't worry about us, you just need to do your job well and protect the luggage. As for us, just pretend you haven't seen us before." Zhang Jin patted him on the shoulder, and then said to others, "Send them away, At the same time, after the battlefield is cleaned up, let's go immediately!"

"Yes, my lord!"

After the battle just now, all the hundred households admired and trusted Zhang Jin even more.

As long as there is no misconduct in the world, a general who takes the lead and excels in martial arts is definitely more likely to win the admiration and support of the soldiers than those who only shrink back and command the soldiers, which is in line with the principle of alienating close relatives.

Ignoring the baggage delivery troops that were being targeted by the Jurchens, Zhang Jin led his troops around the route that the baggage troops passed by, avoiding meeting with the Jurchens troops, and directly attacked the empty towns guarded behind.

Under normal circumstances, anyone who dares to attack a city with 3000 troops is either a fool or a lunatic.

But Zhang Jin is not an ordinary person. The ancient city wall defense is like air to him, existing but not noticeable.

Led by veteran guides familiar with the local situation in Liaodong, Zhang Jin and 3000 troops quickly passed through the deserted Liaoxi Corridor and came to a place only fifty miles away from Shengjing.

"My lord, in front of you is the gate barrier of Shengjing. The locals call it Hada Fort, which is the garrison of the Jurchen Hada tribe." The veteran guide pointed to the fortress on the plain ahead, "There are about [-] people in the fort One Jurchen soldier, and two or three hundred slaves, these slaves have no fighting power, they are all used to serve the Jurchen soldiers and work in agriculture."

"My lord, there is a flat river around the fort. If you go out of the forest, you can't hide. It's good to say that [-] Jurchen soldiers are fighting in the field. If they defend the city, we can't do anything about it." Said a hundred households.

"Perhaps we can use the strategy of luring the enemy to attack, nibble away the [-] Jurchen soldiers little by little, and then attack the city after they have fewer people. The casualties of our brothers will be much less." Another Baihu suggested road.

Zhang Jin waved his hand and said: "This place is very close to Shengjing, the capital of the Houjin Kingdom. We must make a quick decision. If the Jurchens pass the news on for too long, our surprise advantage will be gone. Let's attack the city tonight, before tomorrow Let's leave here and rush to Shengjing without giving the Jurchens a chance to react!"

Since the Jurchens wanted to pay attention to the state guard's luggage, they naturally had to mobilize a large number of people.Moreover, in the midst of winter, people would not be transferred from far away. Nine out of ten soldiers used were troops stationed near Shengjing. Shengjing's defense must be weaker than usual.

Zhang Jin didn't expect to catch up with such a good opportunity before he left the customs, so he naturally wouldn't let it go.

Since you want to do something, you might as well do it bigger!Invading Shengjing is nothing, he intends to take this opportunity to turn Shengjing upside down, it would be best if he could burn down Huang Taiji's palace, or even kill him!
"My lord, even if we succeed in sneak attacking in the middle of the night, I'm afraid these brothers will suffer heavy casualties!"

Zhang Jin glanced at the talking Baihu: "Are you scared?"

"It's not that I'm afraid, it's just that it's not worth dying like this. It's better to go all the way to the hinterland of Houjin, brothers can still kill enough!"

"I've made up my mind, stop talking nonsense, go back and pass the order." Zhang Jin looked around the crowd, "Don't worry, I won't let my brothers die in vain, I will take everyone to Shengjing City, and die It's a pity to be in such a small place!"

"Yes, my lord!" Thirty hundred households said in unison.

The master and general have orders, and the subordinates can only obey orders, even if there are mountains of swords and seas of fire, they have to fight their way through!
The 3000 men and horses were hidden and repaired in the forest until nightfall. Then, under the leadership of their respective families, they were divided into three groups according to the prepared plan, and sneaked towards Hadabao under the cover of night.

In winter, the night sky is dark with stars and moons, and the torches on the walls of the fortress can’t light up for a few steps. The scenery outside the city can hardly be seen, only a black blur.

Zhang Jin led the soldiers of the Ming army who had first ascended to the outside of the range of the fire, and half-hid their figures by the undulating mounds in the field, and looked up at the top of the fort to observe carefully.Although it has been observed for a long time during the day, no one can guarantee that the defense at night will not change.

It took him a long time to figure out the situation of the fort's defense at night.As long as the patrols are staggered, the remaining fixed guard posts can be easily disarmed.

"Get the bow." Zhang Jin stretched out his hand, and soon, his iron tire bow was handed over to him.

He drew his bow and set an arrow to aim at a sentry guard on the wall of the village. With the help of [Precise], he only heard a hum, and the arrow flew across the night sky and directly nailed the guard on the opponent's head!
After shooting the first arrow, Zhang Jin immediately aimed at another sentry guard.Two seconds later, the second arrow shot out.

The two guards were killed by arrows one after the other, within a second of each other.

"Follow me first!" Zhang Jin got up from the ground and rushed out with an arrow in his bow.

The [-] Ming soldiers who went up first followed closely behind with their swords on their backs.

A group of people ran quickly to the bottom of the fort against the flames, and clung to the wall of the fort built with earth, stone and wooden piles.

"Wait, I'll go up first." After Zhang Jin said to the left and right soldiers, he climbed up the wall of the village with his bare hands.

The wall of the village is not too high, only about seven or eight meters. With the help of [Tianxing Bracelet], he easily reached the top of the wall.

Zhang Jin first hid his figure and observed the surrounding situation, and after confirming that it was safe, he tied the rope and threw it down.He only brought three ropes up this time, and he could only put down more ropes for climbing after the people behind him came up one after another.

"The two patrol teams of the Zhaibao are over there and over there. I will lead people to ambush the patrol team that is about to come, and you take people to take down the gate of the Zhaibao." Zhang Jin ordered the hundred households who entered the team first.

"Yes, my lord." Baihu nodded.

After waiting for a while, three or forty people came up from the top of the wall. Zhang Jin took 40 soldiers with bows and arrows to ambush first, and the rest were all handed over to hundreds of households to capture the gate of the fort.

The topography of the walls of the fortress is crude, and there is almost no place to hide.

Zhang Jin had no choice but to let the twenty soldiers who followed him lie down on the ground to hide, while he climbed outside the wall of the village and went around behind the patrol.With the help of [Sky Star Bracelet], he was silent and did not disturb the sentry guards on this section of the wall at all.

Zhang Jin climbed outside the wall of the village, listening carefully to the movement above, and only after the footsteps of the patrol passed by did he suddenly turn over the top of the wall from the outside.

"Who is it!?" The nearest sentry guard noticed someone out of the corner of his eye, and subconsciously turned his head and asked.

Before he finished speaking, a cold front directly cut his throat.

Zhang Jin killed the sentry guard who found him with a horse spear, and at the same time drew out the arrow in his bag and threw it backhandedly, killing another sentry guard who heard the movement with a headshot!
But the sound of the two falling down caught the attention of the patrol team who hadn't gone far. The ten-member patrol team stopped immediately and turned to look behind them.

"There is an enemy! Kill him!"

Seeing that Zhang Jin was alone, ten Jurchen soldiers rushed over immediately.

Behind them, those Ming soldiers who were lying on the wall and the ground took the opportunity to get up one after another, stretched their bows and set their arrows. The twenty arrows were divided into two rounds. There are two or three feather arrows stuck in them.

Taking advantage of the Jurchen soldiers being attacked and beaten from behind, Zhang Jin waved his horse and appeared in front of the front enemy in the blink of an eye. The sharp blade of the dagger was as sharp as cutting melons and vegetables. The head is chopped off!Then step forward and stab out, easily piercing through the bodies of two Jurchen soldiers!

Zhang Jin exerted strength with both arms, and Ma Qian swept aside with his man and pole. The other Jurchen soldiers who couldn't dodge at all were hit by this force, as if hit by a boulder, sprayed blood, and fell over the wall down!
The two sides decided the winner almost as soon as they met face to face, and the Jurchen soldiers had no strength to fight back.

After the patrol team was dealt with, Zhang Jin asked the 20 people to stay here on guard, while he quickly rushed to the gate of the fort.When he came to the gate of the stronghold, the Baihu of the first team had already taken the gate and was notifying the follow-up troops to enter.

"My lord, everything is going according to plan." Baihu was a little excited, thinking that he would be able to break through Houjin's city one day, even if it was just a small fortress, he felt that this trip was worthwhile!
"Hmm." Zhang Jin nodded, "Once all our troops come in, it's hard to cover up the movement, which will definitely cause the Jurchen's alert resistance. When I charge in with the cavalry team, you must seize the time to set up a defensive line."

"Yes, my lord!" Baihu clasped his fists and said firmly, "I will let the Jurchen have a taste of the firearm!"

Not long after, there was a thunderous sound of horseshoes outside the fort, and the cavalry of the Ming army filed in through the gate of the fort.

The three hundred households headed off their horses came to Zhang Jin and clasped their fists to report: "My lord, three hundred cavalrymen have arrived, please give me an order!"

Zhang Jin asked, "Is everything ready?"

"All the kindling is brought."

"Very good, divide into three groups according to the plan, and set off!" Zhang Jin took his horse, turned over and rode on it, and the horse's blood-stained blade pointed to the depths of the fortress in the dark.

The [-] cavalrymen of the Ming army divided into three groups, and all the houses along the road were lit with kindling.

The sound of horseshoes was very clear in the night, which quickly attracted the attention and vigilance of the Jurchen soldiers who were watching the night in the fortress. The fire that broke out also awakened the Jurchen soldiers who were resting in the house!

After a while, the three hundred Ming army cavalry had just walked halfway, and the whole fortress was awakened by their movement, and Jurchen soldiers appeared in twos and threes on the streets and alleys.

Most of these Jurchen soldiers had loose hair, wore thin clothes, and held weapons in their hands. Some were trying to fight the fire, while others were looking around to find the enemy.

After Zhang Jin led a hundred Ming army cavalry around a few street corners, he bumped into some Jurchen soldiers who looked like they were acting in a team, led by a few guards on duty at night.

The two sides met on a narrow road, and there was no time to talk nonsense, so Zhang Jin urged his horse to charge forward, and the cavalry behind him also rushed forward.

The long-stemmed lance exceeded the horse's head, Zhang Jin raised his hand and waved, under the firelight, the lance cut a cold light yellow streak in front of him!

Armor cracked!Blood splattered everywhere!

Four Jurchen guards on duty were killed on the spot!

With great momentum, the war horse plunged into the crowd of Jurchens who had just woken up in cloth clothes and leather jackets behind them, and knocked them out!
The cavalry of the Ming Army behind Zhang Jin followed Zhang Jin's pace and rushed in, beheading these unarmored and unorganized Jurchen soldiers like cutting melons and vegetables.

"Set it on fire!" While Zhang Jin was speaking, he suddenly heard the sound of gongs and golden bells.

He turned his head and looked due east for a while. He didn't need to guess to know that there must be a Jurchen general who had observed the situation and was preparing to gather troops to organize a counterattack.

"Order all the people to return the same way." He immediately said to the subordinates around him.

(End of this chapter)

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