"Dashuai, the city of Zizhou has fallen, and the handsome of the hundred slaves have died in battle", Niu Ling, who heard the news, was hit by five thunderbolts and fell in place on the spot. He knew that Cao Ergou and his subordinates were extremely brave, known as the first main force of the Thunderbolt Army, and it was not surprising that Zizhou could not hold it. It's just that it was captured so quickly but it was beyond his expectations, you must know that there are thousands of defenders and people in the hands of Baijianu, as well as 2,000 elite cavalry led by Kudusuo to help. In Niu Lu's view, with the tall city of Zizhou, coupled with the women, children, and children on the city wall as meat shields, it is not difficult for a hundred slaves to keep a guard for more than a month, and they can even drag out the war until the dry season, but they did not expect to hold on even for ten days and a half months.

Seeing that Kudu was unkempt and his dodgy eyes flashed with horror, Niu Lin knew that he still had something to say. It's just that I'm so upset now that I don't have time to listen to what he says. After thinking for a while, Niu Ling finally instructed the scribe to write down the military order: "The armies outside quickly return to the city to hold on, I will lead the army to meet the reinforcements coming from the east, and the position of Fushun City Guard will be temporarily replaced by Liu Yuanzhen, and the Han army and the new annexed army in the city will obey his orders." At this time of urgency, the generals should work together to overcome the difficulties, and those who neglect should be engaged in military law."

Kneeling at the bottom, he heard the military order dictated by Niu Ling, and his originally gloomy face improved a little. He understood that this military order meant that Niu Ling had decided to retreat to Dongchuan, and that Liu Heima's son Liu Yuanzhen would be the defender, and the Mongol Han army and the new annex army would defend the city. His cavalry will retreat to the east bank of the river so that they can run away. As for the reinforcements coming from Dongchuan, they all knew that it was just a lie.

Suddenly, New's inner speculation is very accurate. The Thunderbolt military camp outside Fushun City could not be attacked for a long time, and it became a nail stuck in the throat of the Mongolian army. The naval army and the Banzhou army led by Zan Wanshou were approaching the five-mile river section downstream of the city, while Cao Ergou in the direction of Zizhou City was leading a large army along the land and water. Niu Lin understood that the city could not be defended, and if he did not retreat, the Mongol army would be surrounded on all sides.

It's just that if you retreat in a hurry, you will definitely be followed and pursued or even completely defeated, and you must leave cannon fodder to stick to Fushun City, this role is naturally none other than the Mongol Han army and the new annexed army. The two brothers, Liu Yuanzhen and Liu Yuanli, were brave and strategic, and the Mongol Han army under their command was also strong, and Niu Ling was not willing to use them as cannon fodder. It's just that he also understands that it is impossible to expect the new annex army with low morale and poor military discipline to hold on. In order to gain more time to retreat and let the Mongolian cavalry retreat calmly, they had to sacrifice the Liu brothers and the Mongolian Han army.

After the military order was issued, Niu Lu's face also improved a little, and he listened to Kudu talk in detail about the situation of the battle of Zizhou. Under the city of Zizhou, Cao Ergou extended the artillery position by digging trenches, first built artillery positions at the north gate and the east gate, and prepared to extend to the south gate - the west gate was near the water, which had long been blocked by warship fire. Knowing that something was wrong, the hundred slaves urgently ordered their men to go out of the city to raid, but they were all beaten back by artillery, and the cavalry of Kudu also participated in several raids, although they killed and wounded hundreds of Thunderbolt soldiers, and even burned a few guns that had not yet been installed with fire oil, but the price was more than 500 dead and wounded.

Seeing that Zizhou was difficult to hold, Hudu tried his best to persuade Baijianu to retreat to Fushun City or to Dongchuan. The hundred slaves used the thousands of people in the city as human shields, and they did not dare to shell the Thunderbolt army in the name of benevolence and righteousness, and refused to retreat no matter how much they persuaded them. Seeing that there was no persuasion, Kudu took advantage of the fact that the encirclement of the Thunderbolt army had not yet closed, and led his cavalry out of the south gate and waited for an opportunity outside the city. Of his 2,000 cavalry, only more than 1,200 horsemen remained at this time.

Cao Ergou's march to war does not play cards according to common sense. He first sent musketeers to shoot accurately at the Mongol troops on the city wall, killing the Mongol soldiers so that they did not dare to show their heads, and then ordered people to shout loudly into the city to publicize the capture policy of the Perak army. The defenders in the city are mainly the new annex army and the Mongol Han army, and after the siege of the city, the people are panicked, and now they can hear that there is a glimmer of life, and the fighting spirit has dissipated a lot.

Three days later, Cao Ergou ordered the artillery to bombard the four city gates, and although many civilians were injured by mistake, it also opened the way for attack. In the face of the swarming Thunderbolt army, the Mongolian army with no fighting spirit knelt down and asked for surrender, and only Baijianu and his own soldiers hid in the state government to resist desperately, and injured many Thunderbolt soldiers. Cao Ergou was angry in his heart, so he ordered someone to use artillery to blast the state government into a piece of rubble, and buried the hundred slaves alive in it. Outside the city, Kudu saw that the general trend had gone, so he went straight to Fushun City.

After listening to Kudu's introduction to the battle situation in Zizhou, Niu Lu had mixed feelings in his heart, which made him both frightened and happy. To the horror, the Thunderbolt cavalry not only had the ability to fight the elite Mongol cavalry in the field, but even the infantry defeated the cavalry of Kudu in the field; Fortunately, it is not himself who guards Jianzhou and Zizhou, but Liu Heima and Baijianu, otherwise it is unknown if he is defeated and killed.

After retreating from Shenjian City to Fushun City, he ordered the erection of a pontoon bridge leading to the east bank of the Neijiang River. Now it's time to cross the river while the Thunderbolt ships arrive. Although the pontoon bridge has a much faster traffic capacity than that of ferries, there are a lot of soldiers and horses to cross the river, plus the necessary food and grass materials, and the time is really tight.

Although he was anxious to escape, Niu Ling was silent on the surface, and he first comforted Liu Yuanzhen, Liu Yuanli and the rest of the generals who stayed behind, claiming that he would lead reinforcements back to Fushun City in the near future. Liu Yuanzhen and other generals are all human spirits, where it is easy to be fooled, they are extremely resentful of being left to defend the city, and they have already asked the eighteenth generation of the ancestors and female relatives of Niu Ling countless times in their hearts, but on the surface, they are smiling, and they are trying to praise Niu Shuai for his wisdom and martial arts.

Next, he pretended to go to the city wall to inspect the defenses. He looked around, and saw that the Thunderbolt military camp in the distance was not moving, it was still a stubborn posture, and there was silence in the field of vision, except for the faint sound of thunder on the horizon in the direction of the south gate. Niu Lin knew that it was the Thunderbolt Navy who had traveled up the river to blast the water barrier in the river.

After four major battles of attack and defense in Jianzhou, Zizhou, Shenjian City and Fushun City, there were still more than 8,000 Mongolian troops under Niuxuan and those who retreated to Fushun City, including more than 6,000 Mongolian Han troops and new annexed troops, and 2,300 Mongolian cavalry. After the death of Lida, Niu Ling personally led his subordinates, and transferred some elites from the Kudu Department, with 1,500 people, to form the army of the palace queen of Dongdu, which was personally commanded by himself.

Just when Niu Ling was pretending to be at the head of the city, and the generals of the Mongol Han army and the new annexed army were vain, Kudu led 800 cavalry as the vanguard of the eastward crossing and began to cross the river. After Kudu crossed the river, it would be Liu Cheng who led a thousand new annexed troops under him to cross the river. What Liu Quanwan didn't expect was that in just a few months, he would change from a coach with 20,000 or 30,000 troops to such a situation, and he really regretted that he shouldn't have done it at the beginning.

The status of the new annexed army is the lowest in the system of the Mongolian army, and the status of the new annexed army depends on the time of surrender to Mongolia. Liu Quan, as a new general, did not bring Liu Yuanzhen, Liu Yuanli and other Mongolian Han army generals with him when he retreated, which was really surprising to everyone. In fact, this move was not unintentional, but carefully considered. On the one hand, only Liu Yuanzhen had enough prestige to command the Mongol Han army and the new annexed army that remained to defend the city. Only by holding on to Fushun City for a few days or even longer can he ensure his safe retreat.

Another aspect of the move is based on political considerations. After Liu Zhen rebelled against the Song Dynasty and surrendered to Mongolia, in order to establish the image of "a thousand gold buying horse bones", Kublai Khan personally ordered to rescue Liu Quan. Now not only has the Divine Arm City been lost, but even the Tongchuan Mansion Road will not be protected, if Liu Quan is killed in battle, it will make Kublai Khan lose face, and he will inevitably be furious. Now that Liu Heima is sick and has died in battle, this monstrous anger must be borne by himself.