In the third year of Xingqing, the south of the Yangtze River in February is already in full bloom, but Lingzhou, which is located outside the Saiwai, is still cold and cold.

The dawn of dawn sprinkled up and down the city of Lingzhou, and the city walls were smoky and scarred, but they were still strong and stood proudly. For more than two months, although the Mongolian army attacked the city fiercely, the defenders of Lingzhou City ensured that Lingzhou City was not captured by the Mongolian army with amazing courage and tenacity despite the heavy casualties.

The 20,000 defenders of Lingzhou plus 10,000 people, and the 8,000 soldiers of the Song army, all lost nearly half, and the camp was full of wounded soldiers. These days, the drizzle has fallen several times in succession, the Mongolian army did not attack the city, the city took the opportunity to burn the corpses, the streets and alleys of paper money flying, the cry shook the sky all day long, the people wearing linen and wearing filial piety were endless, and the whole Lingzhou city was filled with thick sadness.

The camp of the teaching field, the flames in the field soared into the sky, the fallen soldiers of the Xia army and the Song army were burned here, and the soldiers of the Song army needed to collect the ashes, store them temporarily, and transport them back to the Great Song Dynasty in the future.

The corpses of more than 2,000 Song soldiers could not be stored for half a year, so they could only be disposed of in this way. The corpses of some soldiers fell outside the city wall during the battle, and they could not be picked up, so they could only collect clothing, which may be useful in the future to build a clothing mound.

"Zhu Mingcheng is at night, and he can't be drowned.

Gaolan was swept away, and Silu gradually.

The Zhanzhan River is full of water, and there is a maple on it.

The eyes are extremely thousand, and the heart is sad.

The soul returns, mourn Jiangnan! ”

On the teaching ground, everyone was mourning the soldiers of the Song Army who were mourning around the fire, and some soldiers knelt on the ground, weeping bitterly, and the mourning on the teaching ground was pervasive. Some soldiers of the Xia Army also came over to mourn in silence.

"Brothers, go all the way!"

Cao Youwan shouted loudly, with tears in his eyes, and then sprinkled wine on the ground to comfort the fallen Song soldiers and soldiers.

"The soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty, the people of Lingzhou City, will not forget you!"

Li Deren followed and sprinkled wine, his expression was solemn, generous and tragic.

Regardless of whether the Song people are selfish or not, at this moment, they died for the sake of more than 200,000 people in Lingzhou City, and it is worth their sacrifice and remembrance.

Back in the camp of the church, a group of generals of the Song army sat around the table, everyone was sad, and the commander Yang Daquan sighed with emotion.

"After this fierce battle, the brothers suffered heavy casualties, nearly 4,000 casualties. If you continue to fight, I don't know how much will be left in the end? ”

The guards who rescued Lingzhou City were basically the sons of Shuzhong, and many of them were his fellow villagers. There were so many dead and wounded people, and they didn't know how to explain to their parents and relatives when they went back.

"If it is for the people of the Great Song Dynasty, I Huang Xi has nothing to say, but for the sake of these Xia people, I always feel that it is not worth it."

Another general, Huang Xi, sighed faintly.

Two of his countrymen were killed in the battle to defend the city, and one of them was a close relative, and he was impressed.

"It's good that the Tatar army hasn't attacked the city these days, otherwise, the brothers don't know how many dead and wounded?"

Another Song general shook his head and sighed.

"What, are you going to run away?"

Cao Youwan's eyes widened, and he slapped the table with a "snap", and looked at the few generals in the camp who were complaining.

was ordered by the army to rescue Western Xia, did he have to change his mind halfway?

"You all remember, you and I are both soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty, and it is our duty to obey orders! Your Majesty has made it hold on until the end of June, which is a holy decree, a military order, and no one is allowed to disobey it. Do you understand? ”

The soldiers under his command suffered heavy casualties, and he was also depressed. At this time, it would be nice if Yu Jue was here. That guy is very clever and morale-boosting. I don't know, how is Yu Jue in Zhongxing Mansion?

However, Zhongxing Mansion did not send troops to reinforce Lingzhou, and it took a lot of effort to come to Yu Jue.

The general was angry. The last general is just to grieve the casualties of the brothers, and has no other meaning. The general will be the head of the general, and he will definitely wait for His Majesty's reinforcements to arrive. The general forgives the sins! ”

Yang Daquan hurriedly clasped his fists and saluted, pleading guilty to Cao Youwan.

I'm also looking for trouble, what kind of bullshit is feeling? Swords and guns have no eyes, can war not be dead?

Cao Youwan glanced at the generals in the camp, snorted coldly, and rarely broke out.

With many casualties and low morale, he did not want to severely punish the generals, lest the army would be separated and fall apart.

The food was served, there were only a few pickles in the bread, and the generals ate with their heads bored, and some generals couldn't help it, so they put their rice bowls on the table.

"When will it be a head when you eat these things that dogs ignore all day long?"

From the south of the Yangtze River, where the mountains and rivers are beautiful and the climate is warm, to the outside of the Gobi Desert, it is too unbearable to endure the cold climate, not to mention the cold climate, and the rice cannot be eaten.

"It's only February, and we're just over four months away from the end of June. If we continue to fight, I'm afraid the brothers will run out! Do you want to starve and die here? ”

There was Sun Du again, and he said indignantly.

When I first arrived, there was some rice, but then it was all pasta, and now it has changed from three meals a day to two meals a day.

"Be content. The people of the city did not have enough to eat every day, and people died of disease and starvation every day. Bear with me. ”

Song Jiang, who was born in the people, couldn't help but reply in a low voice.

The 200,000 people in the city have begun to restrict their food, and they are already good compared to the common people.

"Endure and endure, for how long? You can bear it, I can't bear it! ”

Wang Xiuwu, who was full of complaints, said unconvinced with a dark face.

"Isn't it okay to come all the way to die?"

"That's it! Anyway, sooner or later you have to die in battle, what is the difference between dying early and dying late, and you have to suffer these sins? ”

Sun Du echoed.

Under heavy pressure, at the moment of life and death, their hearts are already in turmoil.

The generals' faces were ugly, and Cao Youwan jumped like thunder, and immediately shouted angrily.

"Bold! Wang Xiuwu and Sun Du, do you dare to shake the hearts of the army, do you not want to live? ”

On weekdays, these two guys complain a lot. Today, in front of all the soldiers, it is neither light nor heavy, and I really don't know whether to live or die.

The Song army was strictly disciplined, and Wang Xiuwu and Sun Du immediately bowed their heads and remained silent, both of them had ugly faces and seemed not convinced.

"The general is angry! The generals just complained, and had nothing else to do. ”

Huang Xi hurriedly put down his rice bowl, stood up, and gestured to Sun Du and the others.

"Sun Du and Wang Xiuwu, still don't apologize to the general? Military law is ruthless, General Cao is generous, don't you know? ”

"Sun Du, Wang Xiuwu, it's okay to complain, hurry up and apologize to the general, don't do it again next time!"

Knowing that Cao Youwan eats soft and not hard, Yang Daquan also followed and diluted the mud, not wanting the incident to expand.

"The general is angry!"

"Sun Du and Wang Xiuwu, still don't apologize to the general?"

Huang Xi and Yang Daquan took the lead, and the other generals stood up one after another to persuade Cao Youwan to come.

"General Cao, the last general is just anxious, and has no other intentions. Please also forgive the general! ”

"General Cao, the last general's words are not disrespectful, and there is no malice. Please forgive the General! ”

Seeing that the situation was not good, Sun Du and Wang Xiuwu quickly stood up and pleaded guilty to Cao Youwan one after another.

In case Cao Youwan was severely punished according to the military order, wouldn't he lose his head in vain?

"General, the brothers are dead and wounded, and all the generals are anxious. They are all brothers in life and death, so don't be angry. ”

Huang Xi and the generals persuaded each other again, Cao Youwan looked at Sun Du and the others, and sat down with a black face.

"Remember, don't do it again next time! Hurry up and eat, everyone, the Tatars have not come to attack the city for several days, beware of deception! ”

Cao Youwan said coldly, Sun Du and the others hurriedly listened to the order, they were all relieved, the generals began to eat with their heads bored, and in silence, the sergeant hurriedly came in to report.

"General Cao, generals, General Zhang has military information, please go to the city wall!"

"What's wrong? Did the Tatar army attack the city? ”

Cao Youwan couldn't help but be stunned.

There was no sound of drums and horns at the head of the city, could it be that the Mongol army was attacking the city?

"General, the Tatar barracks outside the city, the Tatar army seems to be much smaller. The general went to the city wall and saw it. ”

The sergeant did not dare to be sloppy, and the dish was revealed.

"I see!"

Cao You was relieved, all the generals were in an uproar, and many people couldn't help but be overjoyed.

"Hurry up and eat! After eating, they all went to the city wall! ”

Cao Youwan gulped down the bread in the bowl, his brows furrowed, as if he was thinking about something.

Cao Youwan took the generals to the city wall, and Zhang Zhongxia, who had been waiting here, pointed to the empty Mongolian army camp and explained in detail.

"General, most of the Tatars went south, including Genghis Khan's chariot Golden Horde, about fifty thousand people. The other part went to the north, with about 20,000 people, and it seemed to be in the direction of Chungheungfu. There are also about 20,000 people left. ”

Zhang Zhongxia pondered for a moment, and then continued:

"General, the withdrawal of Tatar troops was premeditated, and some tents were already empty and were dismantled today. If you think about it, half a month to twenty days ago, most of the Tatars should have withdrawn their troops one after another. ”

Half a month and twenty days ago?

The generals looked at each other, all confused.

"Brothers, what do you mean by Tatar?"

Cao Youwan looked back from the Mongolian army outside the city, and looked at the surrounding generals, also with a puzzled face.

Seeing this, the Tatars withdrew most of their troops, leaving only about 20,000 troops to continue the siege. Could it be that as the emperor said, the plague epidemic in the Tatar army began to withdraw after a long attack?

"General, this needs to be said. The Tatars couldn't capture Lingzhou City, so they began to withdraw their troops! ”

Song General Sun Du was excited and blurted out.

These Tatars, finally withdraw!

What an unexpected surprise!

"That's not right! The Tatar withdrawal should have gone north, why did most of it go to the south? Could it be that they are going to attack the Kingdom of Jin, and then come back to attack Lingzhou City after a while? ”

Huang Xi shook his head in confusion.

Cao Youwan was shocked. The northwest border of Song and Jin is staggered, and the Mongol army attacks Jin, and Song is inevitable.

First, it was predicted that there was an epidemic in the Mongol army, and then the Mongol army entered the city to ask for rhubarb; Now that the Mongol army is attacking the Jin State in the south, it is likely to use troops against the Great Song Dynasty. Could it be that the emperor really has the ability to predict the future?

Cao Youwan unconsciously sweated.

"General Cao, since the Tatars have withdrawn their troops, why are there still 20,000 people left? Could it be that this is their ploy to lure the enemy? ”

Wang Gui highly admired the "Tatar Policy" and suspected that it was a strategy for the Tatar army to lure the enemy.

"Yang Daquan, Zhang Zhongxia, what do you think?"

Wang Gui urged, Cao Youwan woke up like a dream, and looked at Yang and Zhang.

These two are his right-hand men, one is fierce and resolute, and the other is resourceful and thoughtful, and he wants to hear their opinions.