Chapter 547: Battle of Yizhou (2)

Although Dong Shixiu is young, he is strong in martial arts, and he fought with Jiang Cai for seventy or eighty rounds, regardless of victory or defeat.

"This Jiang Cai is worthy of being the commander of the Broken Army, with exquisite marksmanship, no wonder he is known as the number one master in the Yangzhou Army." Dong Wenbing secretly praised himself.

"This Dong Shixiu is proficient in swordsmanship, and he doesn't show any flaws under Jiang Cai's gun, and he is also a master." Li Tingzhi, Xie Daolin and other generals of the Song Army also secretly claimed to be surprised.

The guns and knives came and went, and everyone was dazzled. In the blink of an eye, the two of them were full of spirits and fought for more than 50 years, but they were still evenly matched. Jiang Cai fought vigorously, waved his spear, and said with a big sword that held Dong Shixiu: "General Dong, you and I will each return to the battle, and after changing the war horse, we will fight for another three hundred rounds." ”

Dong Shixiu was born with extraordinary endowments and outstanding martial arts, and after his skills were completed, he rarely met a master like Jiang Cai, so he immediately agreed: "Why not? ”

The two were about to change horses, but they heard the war drums of the withdrawal of troops sounding in both camps at the same time. Although they were still unsatisfied, they could only turn the horse's head and return to the camp.

Waiting for Jiang Cai to return to the formation, Li Tingzhi stepped forward slightly and said to Dong Wenbing: "General Dong, in today's battle, you and I will win or lose, tomorrow morning, this commander will lead a large army to attack the city, leaving you and your Han subordinates with little time. It will only leave a thousand years of infamy and a stench for thousands of years. ”

The term "traitor" came from the Qing Dynasty and did not appear in this era, but its meaning can be easily seen literally. Li Tingzhi, who learned this term from me, scolded Dong Wenbing in public for the first time not to be a traitor who has been stinking for thousands of years, which made Dong Wenbing think a lot, although his face was still the same, he always seemed to feel a little uneasy.

Compared with yesterday, the large battalion of the Northern Expeditionary Army has advanced more than 30 miles. After returning to the camp, Li Tingzhi said: "General Xie, Xia Shuai, that Dong Wenbing has a good way of governing the army, his army is neat and full of murderous spirit, at a glance, he knows that he is a battle-hardened elite soldier, if there is no help of firearms, even if our army captures Yizhou, it will lose its troops." ”

Xie Daolin said with a smile: "Yes, since the artillery was used in siege warfare, no matter how strong the city wall is, it will not last long, and once the city gate is broken, the enemy will only have one way to retreat." ”

The next day, Li Tingzhi led a large number of Song troops to the outside of Yizhou again. In the center were the two infantry soldiers, the Breaker Army was divided into two, and the only cavalry army in the Eastern Route Army was lined up on either side of the main army, and the soldiers of the Royal Forest Army were mixed in with the infantry army.

Dong Wenbing and the others on the city wall silently watched the Song army in the distance.

Since following Kublai Khan sixteen years ago, Dong Wenbing has been attacking cities and plundering land, destroying Dali, attacking the Southern Song Dynasty, quelling Li Pu's rebellion, and then guarding Shandong for several years, so that Li Tingzhi, a famous general of the Song Dynasty, can only defend with all his strength and is unable to attack. Now it is putting the cart before the horse, learning the consistent tactics of the Song army, relying on the city to defend, and waiting for an opportunity to counterattack.

"Father, today's Song army is more than twice as large as yesterday, and it seems that the city is about to be attacked."

Dong Wenbing nodded, turned around and said, "Shixiu, pass the order, all the armies are on alert, and prepare rolling stones, sassal wood, ramming poles and other equipment to defend the city." ”

"Dong Shuai, look, what is Song Jun doing?" Dong Wenyong on the side said suddenly.

Dong Wenbing hurriedly looked down, only to see that Song Jun was separated from the left and right, and twenty straight iron pipes were exposed in the middle.

"Could this be artillery?" Dong Wenbing muttered involuntarily. Although he had not seen artillery with his own eyes, as a high-ranking general of the Yuan army, Dong Wenbing naturally knew that the most powerful firearms in the Song army were artillery, and the shape of these iron pipes in front of him was exactly the same as the artillery drawings provided by the Privy Council.

"Why does Li Tingzhi's department also have artillery?" Dong Wenyong exclaimed.

Dong Wenbing's heart sank, and a bad premonition arose.

As the commander of the Eastern Route Army of the Yuan Army, Dong Wenbing is both civil and military, calm, and has always been quite self-aware. The most elite middle route army in the DPRK is dominated by Mongolian and Semu cavalry, and it is also defeated in the face of the firearms of the Song army, and there is almost no resistance, not to mention the Eastern Route Army, which is weaker than the middle route army?

"Literal."

"The end will be."

"You immediately go out of the city, lead three thousand elite cavalry, and storm the enemy's Chinese army, hoping to stop the firing of its artillery."

After Dong Wenyong left, Tian Yingdu whispered: "Dong Shuai, the artillery of the Song army is two hundred and fifty steps away from my city wall, which is beyond the range of bows and arrows, can the artillery be ......?"

"General Tian, this commander knows what you mean, according to the Privy Council of Dadu, the range of the Song army's artillery can reach more than 300 paces at most."

"Three hundred steps?" Tian Yingdu said in surprise.

The cavalry of the Yuan army moved quickly, and a cavalry army that had been waiting in the city gate rushed out of the city gate one after another under the leadership of Dong Wenyong.

As soon as he saw the gate of Yizhou City open, Xie Daolin, who reacted quickly, immediately ordered: "Senior Commander Zhang, the musketeers are ready." ”

The soldiers of the Royal Forest Army who received the order immediately stepped forward a few steps, lined up with their guns on standby, and the infantry soldiers who were mixed in all retreated.

"Muskets?" Dong Wenbing vaguely saw that thousands of sergeants armed with muskets appeared in the Song army's array, and at this moment, Dong Wenbing suddenly felt that his head was about to explode, empty.

"Two hundred steps, one hundred and fifty steps, one hundred and twenty steps." When Xie Daolin counted to one hundred and twenty steps, Zhang Shijie waved his right hand and gave the order to ignite the fire. It would take several breaths from ignition to launch, and when the forward troops of the Yuan army advanced another fifty or sixty paces, the muskets rang out.

The sound of the musket of "bang, bang, bang" shocked Dong Wen's heart, and then he saw the smoke of gunpowder everywhere, the neighing of war horses everywhere, and most of the soldiers who rushed to the front fell from their horses one after another.

The Eastern Mongol Route Army had seen the power of throwing grenades, but this was the first time they had seen muskets fired. The discipline of the Eastern Route Army was strict, and although everyone was frightened, they did not hear the order to withdraw the troops, and they marched forward bravely.

After several battles, the officers and men of the Imperial Forest Army did not panic, although they saw the Yuan army getting closer and closer, they still followed the procedure to orderly ignite, reload, and pull the trigger. The Yuan army at the front occasionally rushed within twenty or thirty paces of the Song army, but died under the intense fire of thousands of muskets. Dong Wenbing saw that his cavalry could not rush into the enemy formation at all, and he was worried about the projectiles of the Song army, so he had to order: "Beat the drum and collect the troops." ”

By this time, twenty guns had already been prepared. Seeing the retreat of the Yuan army, the soldiers of the Imperial Forest Army in the middle immediately prostrate on the ground and gave up the gun position.

Xie Daolin pointed to the city gate in front of him and said: "Artillery battalion, target, Yizhou city gate, open fire." ”

The sound of artillery was deafening, and all sounds on the battlefield were annihilated in an instant. The cavalry of the Yuan army, who had not yet had time to withdraw to the city, hurriedly separated left and right, and under the command of Dong Wenyong and other generals, they made a detour.

After half an hour of continuous shelling, Li Tingzhi saw the incomplete city wall and said: "At most, there will be two or three more rounds, and the gate of Yizhou City will be destroyed under the artifact of our army." ”

At this time, Xie Daolin had already given the order to stop shooting, and said with a smile: "Li Dashuai, this is the power of artillery." ”

Li Tingzhi was in a good mood and ordered: "The artillery battalion will recruit troops, and the rest of the armies will slowly retreat, and the army will be broken off." ”

Xia Gui said: "It seems that the siege warfare in the future will be completely changed, and the attacking side will no longer sacrifice more soldiers as a price." ”

"Well, Your Majesty is wise, it is a blessing for our dynasty to be able to invent such a powerful firearm, and our army will take Yizhou City, just around the corner." Li Tingzhi looked quite excited, smiled and changed his words, and said to Xia Song, "General Xia Song, order the scout battalion, select a few capable people, and go to Dadu and Jinan respectively, just say that General Dong Wenbing is unwilling to be a traitor, conspire with our army, and retreat without a fight in the battle of Yizhou." ”

Xia Song said: "Yes, Dashuai, the last general will arrange it." ”

An hour later, in the marshal mansion of Yizhou City.

Dong Wenbing said to several of his henchmen and generals: "Li Tingzhi's department not only has firebombs, but also muskets and artillery, according to the destructive power of its artillery fire, this commander estimates that it will not take a few days for the city gate to be broken, and then, will our army conduct street battles in the city, or retreat north?" ”

Tian Yingdu said first: "Dong Shuai, if there is a street battle, it will definitely be a bitter battle, and the outcome is difficult to know, not to mention that in the face of firearms, Marshal Ashu's middle route army also chose to retreat, so the last general thinks that he will retreat to Jinan Mansion and make plans again." ”

Tian Yingdu is scheming and calculating, and he is loyal to Dong Wenbing, and most of what he said is for Dong Wenbing's consideration, you must know that as a general in the DPRK, the strength of his troops is the real guarantee of his status in the DPRK.

As for the Yuan Dynasty or Mongolia, it seems that it has nothing to do with him. Tian Yingdu's view may represent the view of most of the Han people in the north, for these Han people in the north, the Song Dynasty is already a hundred years ago, and as a Han people, it is impossible to have a sense of belonging to Jin and Meng after all, so no matter who is in power, you must first protect yourself and be the right way.

The generals present here are all Dong Wenbing's cronies and Han Chinese, so they naturally agree with Tian Yingdu's suggestion.

Dong Wenbing also has the idea of preserving his strength in his heart, although the Great Yuan Emperor Kublai Khan attaches great importance to him, and when he deprived the Han prince of the power three years ago, only the Dong family has not been touched, but because he is a Han person, it is inevitable that there will be a day. It is undeniable that Tian Yingdu's plan is completely feasible, and since Ashu's middle route army can do this, then the eastern route army also has a reason to withdraw.

Hesitation, contradiction. The emperor has always been very fond of the Dong family, and he only cares about preserving his strength, regardless of the country's society, this does not seem to be Dong Wenbing's personality.

After thinking for a long time, Dong Wenbing finally waved his hand and said, "Generals, you should step back first, and wait for Ben Shuai to think about it himself." ”