Chapter 202: Outdated Gunpowder Technology

When Ashu's army arrived in Xiangyang, around the Song Dynasty official road for hundreds of miles along the way, grain, cattle and sheep were looted, and the population of the villages, regardless of men, women, and children, was gone. However, later the Song people along the way had already waited for the rumors, and when they heard that the Yuan army of Ashu was going to pass nearby, it was better than the Lord of Yama going on patrol, no matter whether they were rich or poor, they all hated their father and mother for having two legs less, and fled desperately.

In the Song Dynasty, Henan Mansion, which was once the capital of the prosperous and wealthy city, was ruined by Ashu's trip to the south, and the floating corpses were all over the field and the fertile fields were abandoned. However, the initiator was still not satisfied with this, because the grass seeds sent to be scattered all over the earth did not sprout very well, and it was difficult to form a large pasture that could be grazing.

However, Ah Shu can still distinguish priorities, and the important thing at the moment is to kill the remnants of the Song army, leaving the soldiers who are responsible for cleaning up the site and preparing for the pasture along the way, and arriving in Xiangyang one after another with a fruitful army of more than 100,000.

Ali Hague assembled a larger force in Xiangyang, eighty percent of whom were Mongol warriors, and the auxiliaries who followed were all foreign raiders, who were responsible for driving horses, cattle and sheep, and carrying food supplies.

Meng Yuan sent a total of about 500,000 cavalry to the south, and fought from the beginning of the scattered battles, but as more and more Han troops surrendered, the ranks grew stronger and stronger. The proportion of tribal warriors is getting smaller and smaller, some such as Zhu Qing's subordinates, and Mongolian warriors are even rarer.

The troops that really maintained eighty percent of the Mongol soldiers, that is, the subordinates under Ali Hague and Ah Shu, still maintained the traditional structure, basically composed of warriors from the same tribe, and were the most powerful sharp sword force in the Mongol Yuan.

250,000 cavalry, plus auxiliary miscellaneous soldiers and hard labor, nearly 400,000 people, plus hundreds of thousands of horses, countless cattle, sheep and livestock, overwhelmingly gathered in Xiangyang. The camp tent of the Yuan soldiers and the fence of the horses, as soon as they were pulled away, the length of the land was dozens of miles, and the mule and horse-drawn carts carrying grain were lined up into a river of cars, and the strength of the troops was twice that of the last siege of Xiangyang by Ah Shu and Liu Quan.

Ah Shu and Ali Hague are not very harmonious, and there is also a feud between the tribes under their command, so Boyan deliberately arranged for the two to lead their own troops, but they do not rule each other, so as not to cause conflicts between each other.

Both of them are close generals under Kublai Khan, and they both understand the importance of this battle, and if they still talk about personal grievances at this time, they will not be able to eat and walk around if they affect the war situation, so Ali Hague gave priority to replenishing Ashu's troops, food, horses, cattle and sheep, and first made a friendly gesture.

Ah Shu looted all the way in Henan Road, and the supplies at hand were also sufficient, so he stayed in Xiangyang for three days to rest and recuperate, and after the two carefully discussed the plan to send troops, it was decided that Ah Shu would send troops south first, and Ali Hague would then support and cooperate.

Boyan, who was in Lin'an, also hastily suspended the relocation of the Song Dynasty treasury and led the army to Quanzhou, Fujian, firstly, on behalf of Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan dynasty, to commend Pu Shougeng and invite him to the north of the capital of the Yuan Dynasty to meet the ancestor of the Yuan dynasty.

More importantly, Dong Wenbing's secret letter mentioned that he found the secret that Wen Tianxiang could stick to Zhangzhou, and had begun to establish a gunpowder workshop in Quanzhou, and began to produce gunpowder and imitation of the Song army's thunderbolt guns and other firearms in large quantities.

Of course, Boyan knew the importance of gunpowder, and it was used on a large scale during the Western Expedition, and the European knights who burned it were all in the air. However, the manufacture of bulky cannons is really difficult to transfer and maneuver, and it does not conform to the mobile and flexible tactics of the Mongol cavalry, so for so many years they have not concentrated on the development of firearms.

The lightweight and lethal weapons that appeared in Zhangzhou were simply the nemesis of the siege soldiers, and Boyan didn't care about anything when he arrived in Quanzhou, so he directly said to Suo Duo and Dong Wenbing, who came to greet him: "Take me to your workshop first, and I'll see what kind of firearms are made." ”

Dong Wenbing was full of smiles, and hurriedly led the way in front, he suffered a dumb loss at the beginning of the battle of Zhangzhou, and he destroyed all his lives for fear of being responsible, but he got the trust of Suoduo. In the later wars, Dong Wenbing fought bravely, faced the danger of life and death many times, did not take a step back, and established prestige in the army from the new, and gradually overwhelmed the main general Suo Duo with the position of deputy general.

When Zhangzhou City broke and captured nearly 10,000 people, Suo Duo was bent on revenge, indulged his subordinates to slaughter the city, and killed more than 8,000 soldiers and civilians in the city in half a day, Dong Wenbing risked the conflict and saved the lives of more than 2,000 people, including two craftsmen sent by Zhao Tianyou.

Looking for clues from these people, I found the two craftsmen who made gunpowder and firearms, as well as more than 50 people who used to work in the workshop, and killed more than a dozen loyal people when they were coerced and lured, and the rest of the craftsmen gave in in order to survive.

Dong Wenbing's mind was very careful this time, and he didn't worry that these more than 50 people were all working for him, so they were divided into different groups to verify the authenticity of the steps and formulas little by little, and finally let him master all the techniques.

But there is a key point in it, that is, the gunpowder formula brought by these four archers, as well as the technology of making thunderbolts, are all from the initial technology developed in the Mengjia fishing village, which is very different from the current level of Hong Kong Island, but the shock to Boyan is also quite large.

"The Song people are many skilled craftsmen, Dong Wenbing, you have made a great contribution this time, I will definitely report this credit to the Great Khan to ask for a seal for you, these gains are much more important than capturing Zhangzhou City." Boyan turned his head and said to Suo Duo again: "In the future, I will restrain my subordinates, these thousands of miles of rivers and mountains have all belonged to the Great Khan, you have killed all these Song people, who will cultivate food for us?" Who will weave and make clothes for you? Although they are untouchables, they are also very useful. ”

Suo Duo hurriedly bowed his head and said: "My subordinates know that I am wrong, thank you Prime Minister for mentioning it, Suo Duo will definitely correct it in the future, Prime Minister, you can rest assured." ”

"The world has changed now, although we won the battle before, but there is no way and no ability to defend, so killing and grabbing the light is the best policy. Now it is all our own world, no matter how humble they are, they are also our own livestock, those who don't work can be slaughtered, and most of them have to stay to produce and work for us, this is what the big man himself said! ”

In order to give himself an insurance, he also specially invited Kublai Khan's handwritten letter to let Boyan and other generals appreciate it.

The situation in the world has basically been decided, in his opinion, Wen Tianxiang, who escaped, and Zhang Zhensun in Guangzhou, can only hold out for a few days, what he cares most about is the port trade in Quanzhou, whether Kublai Khan will fulfill his promise, everything will be managed by him.

But just when he was concentrating on building ships to support the operation, Zhu Qing, who had returned from defeat, led the fleet to Quanzhou, which shattered Pu Shougeng's judgment of the future trend.

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