In the second year of the Great Song Dynasty, winter, Hanzhong, Xingyuan Fucheng.

The night was vast, the cold wind was gusting, and the fire at the head of the city was blazing, illuminating the range of dozens of steps outside the city walls. The Mongolian army camp outside the city is dotted with stars, and the mountains are all over the field, which is magnificent. In the distance, darkness shrouded the sky, and heaven and earth became one.

"Zhao Er, it seems that the Tatars don't want to retreat yet."

Wang Ping was roasting his hands on the honeycomb coal stove, his face was flushed, and there seemed to be a small wound like fish scales on his cheek.

The rivers in Hanzhong are not frozen, there is no snow in winter, and the Qinling Mountains block the cold current from the north, but the temperature is not high, and when the wind blows, it is also cold and cold

"If you don't want to retreat, don't retreat! It's up to them to break the city and dream of it! ”

Zhao Er looked out of the city while roasting the fire.

These Mongolian troops can really withstand the cold! In the wilderness, living in tents, they are not afraid of the cold?

"Zhao Er, can Xingyuan Mansion City be defended?"

Wang Ping's brows tightened, his neck shrunk, and his face was full of sadness.

"Definitely can hold it! The emperor is sitting in the city, and there are soldiers and civilians, for sure! ”

Zhao Er is full of confidence.

"I heard that almost half of my brothers have been killed and wounded, if I keep guarding, I don't know if I will have any life to live?"

Wang Ping said in a low voice, his mood seemed to be a little low.

"We have killed so many brothers in battle, and the casualties of the Tatars are even greater!"

Zhao Er is open-minded and heroic as always.

"Afraid of what? If you die, you will have a 100-pass pension, and you can still enter the Martyrs' Shrine, and there will be sacrifices from generation to generation. There are bereavement pensions for the disabled, land grants, and care at home. What do we people want? ”

"Zhao Er, we are soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty, and we can't underestimate ourselves."

Wang Ping said with a straight face, rarely a little arrogant.

Zhao Er laughed, and was about to speak, when Wang Ping suddenly pulled him, whispered, held a spear, and stood up straight.

"Your Majesty is here!"

Zhao Er was startled and immediately stood up.

"Soldiers, it's hard to defend the city in the cold winter!"

Surrounded by all the ministers, Zhao Hong walked up to the city and loudly condoled the soldiers on the city wall.

After day by day, half of the soldiers have been lost. The Mongol army attacked the city regardless of casualties, but it must not lose morale.

"Kill thieves for the country! It's not hard! ”

Zhao and the second city head Song soldiers were impassioned, and they all answered the standard answers.

"Soldiers, you are all soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty, and it is your duty to protect your family and defend the country. I will not treat you badly, and the people will not forget you! ”

Zhao Hong pointed to the city, and his face began to become solemn.

"There are still two or three hundred thousand fathers and villagers in the city, we have no way out, we must defend the city wall!"

Zhao Hong looked at the soldiers who were listening carefully to the defenders of the city, and said loudly:

"The soldiers also rest assured, the Tatars can't break the Xingyuan Mansion City, they can't hold it anymore! In a few days, reinforcements from all walks of life will arrive, and no Tatar armor will be left! ”

Zhao Hong laughed and beckoned back.

"In the cold winter, the soldiers are full and drunk, and then defend the city!"

Buckets of hot soup and baskets of hot cakes were brought up, steaming, and the Song soldiers at the head of the city knelt on one knee together, speaking in unison.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The emperor was in Xingyuan Mansion City, and naturally reinforcements came. The emperor said that it would not take a few days, and he must have planned it a long time ago.

"Soldiers, eat and drink while it's hot!"

Zhao Hong picked up a hot cake, gulped it down, waved it away. He walked on the city wall, stopping from time to time to interact with the soldiers of the Song army, and everywhere he went, it was very lively and happy.

He looked at the fire-lit Mongolian army camp outside the city, and hesitated for a moment.

Torre is persistent enough to not give up until he breaks the city; The Mongolian army is tough enough and is not afraid of death and injury. If the Mongolian army attacked again, he considered lighting the beacon fire and calling troops to save him.

He can't let the defenders of the city lose everything, and he will be caught in the urn.

It's another day, and it's another fierce battle.

On the head of the city of Xingyuan Mansion, Zhao Wei covered the top with a shield, looked at the surging Mongolian army outside the city, and shouted loudly:

"After fighting for so many days, how can the Tartar soldiers still have so many earth-shattering thunders?"

Outside the city, the earth-shattering thunder rained like drops, and the impermeable shields at the head of the city blocked the city wall one after another, falling under the city wall and exploding, and the Mongolian soldiers wailed. There were also some earth-shattering thunderbolts that exploded at the head of the city, and there were constantly Song soldiers who could not dodge and were wounded and killed by shrapnel.

"I don't know, it doesn't seem to be our army's earth-shattering thunder, it's bigger, and it's not that powerful!"

Meng Heng commanded the Song soldiers at the head of the city to fight back, but he was also confused.

An earth-shattering thunderbolt fell on the top of the city and exploded instantly, only blowing into two pieces, one hit the battlement wall and hit the ground, and the other hit the waist of a Song soldier, and it was dripping with blood.

After more than ten days of fierce fighting, both the Song and Mongolian sides were killed and wounded outside the city, and the losses on both sides amounted to thousands, but the Mongolian troops who attacked the city suffered more casualties. The Mongol army attacked the city for more than ten days, either urgently or slowly, or half a day or a whole day, intermittently, I don't know what the plan is.

Compared with the Song army's earth-shattering thunder that exploded into more than a dozen pieces, the speed was extremely fast, and the shooting power was great, and the Mongolian army's earth-shaking thunder was mostly blown into two or three pieces, and the dumb fire rate was much higher. Even so, the earth-shattering thunder of the Mongolian army also caused a lot of casualties to the Song army at the head of the city.

In the loud sound of "Pengpeng", the white gas at the head of the city rose, several alphabet cannons roared together, hundreds of iron pills roared out, splitting their heads and covering their faces, the Mongolian troops outside the city wall fell one piece, their shields were torn apart, and the blood arrows on their bodies were shot, and many people fell in pools of blood, the dead and wounded were mixed, and the wails resounded through the wilderness.

Another burst of artillery sounded, and the Mongolian infantry soldiers who rushed to the city wall were overturned, and the ballista and artillery carriages were smashed to pieces.

"Shoot!"

In the formation of the Mongolian army, the feather arrows were fired together, one after another, covering the sky and the sun, taking advantage of the Song army at the head of the city to dodge, the remnants of the Mongolian army's vehicles were pushed up.

The Mongolian shield bearers covered it, dozens of small cannons were mounted on the side of the moat, and the Mongolian gunners hurriedly loaded ammunition and couldn't wait to light the fuse.

"Puffy Puff!"

The roar sounded by the moat, the fire flashed, the smoke was filled, the iron pill went straight to the city, the Song army fell over, the screams came one after another, and the Song soldiers at the head of the city were frightened.

"Well done!"

In the Mongolian army's big array, Liu Heima saw it really and applauded loudly.

Artillery, as expected, is a sharp weapon for attacking and killing the enemy. It's a pity that the range of their own artillery is not enough, it can only be about 100 paces, and the power is not as fierce as the artillery of the Song army.

If the Mongol army had the firearms of the Song army......

It's a pity that the gunpowder and iron smelting of the Mongolian army could not reach the fire of the Song army. Even the professionalism of the gunners is far inferior.

"Look at what, aim at Lao Tzu and kill him!"

At the head of the city, Meng Heng roared angrily, commanding the gunners to load ammunition, and several artillery pieces at the head of the city were aimed at the Mongolian artillery by the moat outside the city.

When, the Mongolian army also had artillery?

That's a bad sign!

"Fire!"

Meng Heng shouted angrily, and the gunners put the red-burned iron chisels on the fire door one after another.

"Puffy Puff!"

Dozens of small cannons fired together, the city was filled with gunsmoke, in the muffled thunder, the iron pellets tore the air, roared away, hit the moat by the earth and stones, the Mongolian army's artillery carriage sawdust and wood thorns flew, several artillery fell from the tattered artillery carriage, and the gunners around the artillery carriage were covered in blood holes, and they were almost shot and killed. The artillery offensive of the Mongolian army fell silent for a while.

In the large array of the Mongolian army, the cowhide drum "dong dong" sounded, the Mongolian army spread all over the mountains, braving the artillery fire of the Song army, rushed to the city wall of Xingyuan Mansion, and when it reached the firing range, the arrows were immediately like flying locusts, wave after wave, shooting to the head of the city.

Under the cover of the rain of arrows, countless ladders set up the city wall, and countless Mongolian troops climbed up. Feathered arrows galloped outside the city, both sides were shot over, countless Mongolian soldiers climbed up to the city, and the tragic hand-to-hand combat immediately began.

"Thorn!"

The generals of the Song army took the lead, in the shout, the spear was like moving steel from the forest, one in and one out, everywhere he went, there were pieces of blood flying, in the scream, countless Mongolian soldiers fell down the city like dumplings, tragic and spectacular, the blood stained the city head, and the breath was full of pungent blood.

The two sides fought fiercely for a long time, and there were countless corpses under the city wall, until the sound of Mingjin collecting troops in the Mongolian army's large array came, and today's offensive and defensive battle came to an end.

Outside the city, in the military tent of the Mongolian army, Tori Subutai and others sat around, all speechless.

In the past ten days, dozens of battles have been fought large and small, and the city of Xingyuan Mansion has stood tall and unmoving, as stable as Mount Tai.

The key is that the Song Emperor is in the city of Xingyuan Mansion, and the Song troops from all over the country did not come to King Qin, which really puzzled them.

"What the hell is Song Jun doing? Their emperor is in the city of Xingyuanfu, why didn't they come to the rescue? ”

The atmosphere in the tent was dull, and Kuoduan couldn't help it, so he spoke first.

"It seems that this time is the same as a few years ago, and the Song army has already been fortified. Otherwise, only a few hundred Song people would have been caught. ”

Su Butai frowned, and the battle situation in front of him reminded him of the battle in Chuzhou City three years ago, how similar the situation was.

According to the words of the Song people, the Song people ordered the people to move into the city a month or two ago. Are there immortals in the Song army? How did they know that the Mongol army was going to pass through Hanzhong?

"The Song people ordered the fortified wall to clear the wilderness two months ago, and it seems that they have been prepared for a long time. Otherwise, Emperor Song would not have come to Hanzhong for no reason. This Song Emperor is very evil! ”

Liu Heima shook his head, worried.

After more than ten days of fighting, the Han army under his command suffered nearly 10,000 casualties, and the camp was full of wounded soldiers, which made people anxious.

If the fight continues, I am afraid that the Han army will die.

"What, are you scared?"

Torre looked up, a fierce glint in his eyes.

"Emperor Song is in the city, as long as the Emperor Song is destroyed, it is much stronger than destroying the Jin State. The Song Kingdom has many people, food is all over the ground, and there are firearms, which is much stronger than the Jin Kingdom. After destroying the Song Emperor, the Jin Kingdom will be much easier to fight! Without Emperor Song, when our Mongolian army goes south, there will be no opponent! Do you understand? ”

Torre said clearly, and Liu Heima nodded yes again and again.

He also felt that Emperor Song was mysterious and difficult to deal with, and he was a character who was not easy to mess with.

"What the hell is Balshu doing? We've been fighting here for a few months, why hasn't there been any news from him? Didn't he send troops? ”

Broadend couldn't help but complain.

The reason why the Western Route Army did not go south from Keyimen, attacked the land of Xingling in Western Xia, and did not enter Hexi from Yumen Pass, was to take advantage of Hanzhong to take the Song people and the Jin State by surprise. No one thought that it would be unfavorable to be a teacher.

And the Gaochang Kingdom in the Western Regions, with tens of thousands of cavalry, is a field battle, and it should have broken through the blockade of the Song army in Hexi.

"The Song army has heavy troops in Hexi and Lintao Road, and it may not be easy for Balshu to come over. Earlier, he said that he had fought a battle with the Song army, and that thousands of people had been killed and wounded on both sides. Now I'm afraid we're on our own. ”

Subutai was secretly worried. Balshu only served Genghis Khan, and now that Genghis Khan is sick and dead, Balshu may not be easy to dispatch.

"Marshal, according to the report of the soldiers, the Song army stationed 40,000 troops in Longtingpu, Yangzhou, which happened to block the main road behind our army inserted into Tokyo. Something is not good! ”

The fierce general pressed Zhu Er hesitated.

All the way south, there are strange things everywhere. First, the Song army was strong and clear, and then the Song Emperor appeared in Hanzhong, and followed the Song army to block the main road to the east. All this cannot but make one suspicious.

"Now it's about Emperor Song, nothing else!"

Torre was determined, and asked with a cold face:

"Liu Heima, you tell the truth, is there a way to break the city? Can you kill Emperor Song? ”

"Marshal, I'm afraid there is only a siege, and there is no food or drink inside. I'm afraid there is no other way. ”

The elite Song army in the city will definitely be difficult to capture for a while. If it is attacked, I am afraid that the loss of soldiers will be even greater.

Liu Heima's words made Su Butai shake his head again and again.

"The Song army is strong and clear, and there must be a lot of grain and grass in the city. On the contrary, we can only hold on for a few more days. If you can't plunder anything, you can only go east. ”

There are 60,000 troops, and people eat horses and chew every day, and the consumption of grain and grass is astronomical. If it hadn't been for the breaking of the Wuxiu Pass and the supply of some grain and grass, I am afraid that the army would have run out of food.

"Marshal, don't let Liu Heima continue to besiege the city and dig trenches to prevent the Song army from breaking through. The cavalry marched eastward, defeated the Song army on the eastern front, opened the passage to the east, and plundered grain and grass by the way. ”

According to Zhu Er's words, let all the generals nod.

Blindly attacking the city, the cavalry cannot be used, and it is difficult to volatilize combat power. The Eastern Front was a field battle, which the Mongol iron cavalry could handle. Defeated the Song army, opened the passage to the east, plundered grain and grass, attacked and retreated, and was already invincible.

"If you want me to say, go south directly, attack the hinterland of Sichuan, kill him with a river of blood, see if he is afraid of Emperor Song?"

Kuoduan said hatefully, but he had a different opinion.

Historically, in 1236 A.D. (the third year of Duanping in the Southern Song Dynasty), it was Kuoduan who led troops to attack Sichuan and massacre the residents of Chengdu. The thousand-year-old city has only been left without a single person, and the remains in the city have reached a staggering 1.4 million.

Torre's heart moved, but he shook his head.

"Our army is rushing to destroy Jin, and if we can't kill the Song Emperor, we will go east first and destroy the Jin State first. If you want to fight Sichuan, there will be opportunities in the future, and there is no need now. ”

Torre straightened his face and said seriously:

"Attack the city again tomorrow and see if we can break it. If you can't, stay and besiege the city with 10,000 cavalry. The remaining 40,000 cavalry and 10,000 foot soldiers marched eastward, and first broke the Song army on the eastern front! ”

The generals listened to the order, and they were all excited.

Siege warfare, there is no strength. In the field, you must vent your breath well.

This time, the army went south, aiming to destroy Jin. If you can defeat the Song army by the way and plunder it, it will be an unexpected surprise.

The generals left, Liu Heima secretly breathed a sigh of relief, Su Butai's face was gloomy, and the generals had different thoughts. Torre stepped out of the tent and looked at the hazy sky, the cold wind gusting, and couldn't help frowning.

Looking at it like this, I'm afraid it's going to rain.

This does not bode well!