Like most cities along the Yangtze River, Anqing has a lake next to it. During the rainy season, under the thick clouds that seem to press down on the eaves, the surface of the lake has a feeling of smoke and waves. Now that the lake has been controlled by the Song army, they set up camp on the shore of the lake and besiege Anqing every day.

All kinds of news kept coming, and Xia Gui sat firmly in the mansion, not moved at all.

"Grand Duke, the bowstring has been slackened."

"Send a human fire to dry."

"Grand Duke, there are no stones left in the trebuchet."

"Demolish people's houses."

"Dadu Governor, the Song army divided its troops into two routes and stormed the two city walls."

“…… Take strict precautions and do not leave the city. ”

As soon as the colonel who delivered the news of the Song army's division of troops was about to leave, he heard Xia Dudu's order again, "Find out whether the Song army continues to divide its troops." ”

Not long after, the general guarding the north gate came in person, "Dadu Governor, the Song army's naval army attacked the water gate south of Anqing, and the infantry army was divided into two to attack the east gate and the north gate of Anqing. Now there are only more than 1,000 Song troops attacking the North Gate, so let's just rush out and fight them! I really can't stand being bombarded in the city! ”

"Hold on! Don't move! Governor Xia Gui replied calmly, "There are only four or five thousand people outside the city, and there are 20,000 people in our city, as long as we don't attack, we won't be able to hold it!" ”

This is very reasonable, but it is also very unreasonable. According to common sense, it should be 20,000 people besieging a city with 4,500 people defending, not 4,000 or 5,000 people besieging 20,000 people as it is now. Therefore, the guard general was very dissatisfied in his heart, and he muttered: "Governor, it is impossible for the Song army to have such a small number of men, if the reinforcements they send come." What should I do then? ”

As soon as Xia Gui heard this, his face immediately became extremely ugly. He shouted: "Is it difficult for you to shake the army's heart? ”

When the guards in the north of the city saw that Xia Gui actually lost his temper, his heart became even more unhappy. He thought to himself, Lao Tzu surrendered to Mongolia earlier than you Xia Gui, and you Song traitor can't eat hot. But at this time, I can only think about it in my heart, and the guard will not dare to really do anything. After all, Xia Gui himself is the governor of the capital, if he really committed murder, who will the guard go to reason? Don't say that this is Mongolia now and not the Great Song Dynasty, even if it is the Great Song Dynasty, it is not a particularly big deal for the generals to kill the generals before the battle.

So the guard hurriedly bowed his head and responded: "Don't dare, the last general is just thinking about it!" ”

Seeing that his subordinates were soft, Xia Gui did not get angry immediately. He ordered: "You hurry back to defend the city." How could 20,000 people be attacked by 4,500 people to break through a big city like Anqing. ”

In the evening of the same day, someone came to see Xia Gui again. This time, Xia Gui was much kinder than the guard, and he ordered: "You have been running for so long, drink some hot tea to warm up your body first." ”

This person was quite moved, and he was indeed cold and tired after running around in the rain, so he took the teacup and drank it in a big gulp, and it really felt much better. Putting down the teacup, he hurriedly took out an oilcloth bag from his arms, opened it and took out the letter inside and handed it to Xia Gui. Only then did he say: "Dadu Governor, after the Song army general finished his surname, he said that if Dadu Governor surrendered, he would not kill Dadu Governor." However, he will send the Metropolitan Governor to Lin'an and be disposed of by Taiwei Zhao. As for the conditions mentioned by the Grand Duke, he could not agree to them. ”

Xia Gui snorted heavily when he heard this, opened the letter and read it, and what the letter said was indeed the same as what the messenger Xia Gui discharged. Moreover, the letter also emphasized that Xia Gui's idea of using Huaixi as a festival to make Huaixi, but nominally returning to the Great Song Dynasty, did not wake up at all. The Great Song Dynasty will never spare the Song traitors.

"You! What the hell did you talk to the guy outside the city? Xia Gui was no longer as polite to the envoy as before, and he couldn't even do such a simple thing, and the governor of Xia was very angry.

The envoy hurriedly replied: "The Governor, it's not that his subordinates don't do things well, but that the guy outside the city is just a stunned young man, and he is powerful with firearms, and he doesn't take us seriously at all!" After the meeting, I heard what the governor said, but he immediately refused to agree. ”

The envoy didn't dare to tell the whole truth, not only did he not agree, but he was even more sneering. Because before leaving, Taiwei Zhao called him to talk, and there was the question of how to deal with Song traitors and then surrender. Taiwei Zhao's attitude was very simple, "Since we will not let go of the Song traitors, and we don't care to kill them after deceiving them, we will say it directly." ’

After finishing it, he is not good at playing tricks with clever words, and when he gets such clear instructions from the lieutenant, he will carry them out to the letter. After seeing off the people sent by Xia Gui, a meeting of the commanders of the four battalions was held to discuss how to break through Anqing.

The commander of the first battalion was more conservative, "I can't wait for 6,500 people, and the captured prisoners say that there must be 20,000 enemy troops in the city." We still have to wait for reinforcements to come, and then we will firmly surround the city and break through it in one fell swoop. ”

In terms of breaking the city, the commander of the third battalion and the commander of the first battalion had the same idea, but the rhythm of the attack was different, "I think we should find a wall to break through, with the sharpness of our firearms, the rebels can't resist it at all." ”

"Then let them run away like this?" The commander of the first battalion was very interested in the total annihilation.

The third battalion commander laughed, "How far can they run long distances in the rainy weather?" ”

Everyone is southerner, and it's hard to argue. Dirt roads, non-stop rainfall. Wet, cold, and hungry, everyone was impressed by the march in the rain that had been made. The march in the rain was well equipped and knew that there was an end to such sins. The biggest problem for the defeated soldiers is that they don't know where the end is. The Song army had now recaptured southern Henan, and Xia Gui of Anqing City now had to flee westward. According to the information, the west of Anqing was a difficult mountainous area, and it was also a terrible march for the strictly trained Song army to travel through the mountains during the rainy season.

Seeing that his suggestion had been approved by everyone, Mei Gan, the commander of the third battalion, said in a demagogic tone: "If we can break through Anqing of 20,000 with 6,500 people, what a merit it it will be. And 30,000 people broke Anqing, what credit do we have? ”

As soon as these words came out, the congregation knew that they probably had no choice. The new musket issued to the troops by Captain Zhao uses a fire cap to fire at least twice the rate of fire. According to the lieutenant, with proper training, the rate of fire could reach three or even four times that of an arquebus. The ratio of muskets to spears is now half, which means that musketeers under one battalion can now exert the power of at least three battalions. If they don't take advantage of such a favorable time and place to make great contributions, they will only be able to stand out from the crowd when other units get new equipment in the future.

So the Song army outside Anqing immediately began to formulate a battle plan for the siege. In the Xia Gui army in Anqing City, the guards in the north of the city are also carrying out their own plans. Xia Gui was regarded as the airborne governor of the two Huai Prefectures, and in the battle of Dingjiazhou in the Mongol campaign to destroy the Song Dynasty, Xia Gui's own troops had basically collapsed. Now most of the defenders in the city still surrendered to the Mongols with Fan Wenhu.

Fan Wenhu ran away with a large amount of property, and these people thought that Fan Wenhu was too stupid and gave up the opportunity to continue the search. Now that these people have seen Song Jun's ability, they have begun to think that Fan Wenhu is too smart. The south of Anqing is the Yangtze River, and the west of the city is a mountainous area. The only places that can run away are the east and north of the city. The Song army was originally stationed in the east of the city, and when they sent troops to the north of the city, the de facto encirclement was completed.

The defenders in the north of the city felt that the road was wrong. If the Northern Song army could not break through the city, Anqing City would be besieged on three sides. So he hurriedly contacted the guards in the south of the city. Unexpectedly, the defender in the south of the city told the defender in the north of the city that the governor of the capital, Xia Gui, was preparing ships for battle, so even if he came, it would be late. The defender of the north of the city just slept first. In the middle of the night, he was woken up. The dazed Chengbei guard scolded his own soldiers who woke him up a few words, and then asked angrily, "What's the matter?" ”

"I'll see you in the future." The pro-soldier replied with some grievances.

"Please!" The defenders of the north of the city are completely sober.

As soon as the two guards met, they quickly exchanged messages. It turned out that Xia Gui was preparing to run away. The general of the south of the city angrily recounted his discovery. Xia Gui looked like he wanted the navy to fight, but he actually had his own little abacus. In the name of an ambush, he first let some of the military ships rush out, and then went upstream. The explanation for this is that the Song army poured out at this time, and he would arrange for men and horses to board empty boats to cross the river to the opposite bank, and then attack from north to south, taking the Song army's stronghold opposite Anqing in one fell swoop.

This plan was very reliable, and the defenders of the south of the city were deceived for a time. However, what he didn't expect was that Xia Gui didn't do it at all. The boat was sent out, but it was not the soldiers who crossed the river who were going to get on the boat on the west side of the city, but the property that Xia Gui had gotten. The governor of Xia was ready to leave Anqing behind and flee Anqing with his belongings upstream.

As soon as the guards in the north of the city heard this, many things suddenly became clear. If Xia Gui really wanted to defeat the Song army, he would have no reason to defend himself so strongly. So he scolded: "Xia Gui is a pickled talent, I will never spare him!" ”

The defender of the south of the city nodded angrily, "Brother, don't be angry. Xia Gui is unkind, don't blame us for being unjust. It's better to do this, brother, you take your belongings and secretly go around the city from my side and rob Xia Gui's things. When the time comes, I will send a boat to pick up my brother, and we will run away by ourselves. What do you think? ”

The eyes of the defenders in the north of the city lit up, this idea is really good. Not only did the disgusting Xia Gui end, but everyone made a lot of money while escaping, so why not. So the two agreed to act, and they went their separate ways.

Early the next morning, the water gate in the south of the city was opened, and all of Xia Gui's naval army came out to fight. Whether it is the Xia Guijun or the Song army, the military ships are full of artillery, and no matter which side it is, the ships will be damaged after being hit by a cannon. Everyone was warring with caution.

In this situation, the defenders of the north of the city anxiously waited for news from their families. It was not until he learned that his family had arrived at the agreed place outside the city with their belongings first, that he led his troops south. During the rainy season, everyone tries to stay in a place where they don't get wet. There are so many troops in the city, and no one cares where an army is transferred. Leave the matter of defending the city to the lieutenant general, and the defender of the north of the city will lead a small army to disappear in the rain.

Genius site address:. Mobile version reading URL: m.