"Dang Dang Dang"

The rushing bell rang, and the busy soldiers at the top of the city couldn't help but stop what they were doing and turned to look outside the city. Only a few miles away, a large variegated carpet suddenly appeared covering the snow, slowly moving forward. move.

The Mongolian army rolled in, like a flood. The originally noisy city wall suddenly became quiet. The soldiers all watched the Mongolian army coming towards the city without seeing its tail.

The craftsmen and soldiers who were assembling the artillery carriages on the back side of the city wall stopped when they heard the noise and asked each other what happened.

At this time, Zhao Tai was directing the craftsmen to arrange the artillery carts behind the city wall. After hearing the report from his subordinates, he hurriedly climbed to the top of the city and looked north.

It was approaching noon, the weather was clear and the view was excellent. Zhao Tai took a look and saw that the huge crowds of people could not describe the size of the Mongolian army.

This made Zhao Tai's heart tremble, but he remained calm on his face and asked casually, pretending to be relaxed, "How many troops are there?"

Li Chunzhu on the side had a long face and shook his head, "I'm not sure about the final estimate, but looking at the formation, I'm afraid it won't be less than 70,000 to 80,000."

Tang Liang frowned, "I think this formation must be at least 100,000!"

"One hundred thousand!" All the generals couldn't help but gasped, and someone exclaimed, "Then the Mongolian army that entered Shandong came to attack us."

"Hahaha" Zhao Tai laughed easily, attracting everyone's attention, "Okay! Come and beat us, then our guard station along Yimeng Mountain will be safe. In addition, Wuxian and Li Fen can also take a breather! We If we hold them here until March, it will be our turn to counterattack."

Seeing how relaxed Zhao Tai was, everyone managed to calm down a little. But at this moment, the iron cavalry was rolling outside the city, trampling the snow with ten thousand hooves, and the horses' hoofs were splashing with slush. They had already galloped to the front of the city, and then slowly stopped.

The Mongolian cavalry were in front, forming a long wall of horse heads in front of the city wall. The horses' hooves kept scratching the ground, and the white breath exhaled by the horses and cavalry gathered into clouds. The scene was extremely shocking.

The Mongolian army stopped one mile away from the city. Behind them, cavalry and infantry continued to gather. The thick crowd was like a black cloud, which gave the defenders a great sense of oppression.

Seeing this, Zhao Tai waved his hand and said, "Generals, obey your orders!"

Li Chunzhu and others came to their senses and quickly clasped their fists, "I'm here!"

Zhao Tai glanced at the generals and said, "The Mongolian army is besieging the city, so Pizhou and I will be left to you!"

Li Chunzhu, Tang Liang and others cheered up, "I will defend the city to the death and protect the king!"

Zhao Tai nodded, "Okay! You all perform your duties! If the Mongols attack by force, let them know that our loyal army defends our country and is invincible."

Li Chunzhu, Tang Liang, Chang Yu, Wanyan Chengde and other generals heard the order, immediately clasped their fists in salute, and then hurriedly set up defense.

At this time, the Mongolian troops outside the city continued to gather. Zhao Tai took another look and began to check the defense inside the city.

There is not much to say about the defense of the city. It is just to prepare more strong bows and crossbows, rolling wood, stones, gunpowder, and kerosene. It is no different from most city defenders, except for the addition of gunpowder.

Zhao Tai decided to defend Pizhou, mainly relying on the artillery group behind the city wall.

At this time, Zhao Tai came down from the city wall and asked: "How is the assembly of the artillery group going?"

Li Chunzhu followed Zhao Tai, "The stone cannons made by the king's craftsmen are simpler to manufacture than our original cannon carts, and they are very convenient to operate. Now, there are groups of cannons arranged all over the city wall to ensure that the enemy The artillery carriage cannot approach."

Zhao Tai nodded, "Although there are many Mongolian soldiers, they mainly rely on artillery groups to attack fortresses. Now we have stone cannons that are easier to operate and have a longer range. Even if there are more Mongolians, there is no need to be afraid."

In order to fight against Mongolia, Zhao Tai could only take one step ahead of Mongolia and use counterattack artillery.

This kind of gun carriage is much more convenient than the stone trebuchets of the Song and Jin Dynasties that required hundreds of people to operate.

Zhao Tai did not dare to manufacture it in advance before. Firstly, it was of no use, and secondly, he was worried about the leakage of technology and giving Mongolia the ability to attack difficult problems.

The Mongolian army was almost invincible in field battles. If they had obtained sharp weapons like Huihui artillery in advance, it would be easy to attack the city. The Southern Song Dynasty would definitely not be able to withstand it.

The artillery carriage now manufactured by Zhao Taiming is an improvement on the trebuchet of the Song Dynasty. It adopts the principle of lever counterweight and is specially used to target the Mongolian artillery group.

At this time, Zhao Tai was walking on the back of the city wall, and the busy soldiers saluted him one after another. He walked behind the city gate, where more than ten gun carriages were arranged.

Zhou Quan was directing the craftsmen to fiddle with a newly assembled gun carriage. The gun carriage was quite simple. It only consisted of a bracket, a counterweight, a throwing rod, a live hook, a throwing rope and a leather bag. It was hard to believe that it It has a range of 250 steps and the terrifying power of throwing boulders ranging from 100 kilograms to 150 kilograms.

"Your Majesty, do you want to test it?" Zhou Quan couldn't help but ask when he saw Zhao Tai coming.

Zhao Tai shook his head and said with a smile: "Don't show such sharp weapons to others easily! Wait for the Mongolian army to attack and catch them by surprise!"

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While Zhao Tai was inspecting the city defenses, Kublai Khan had arrived outside the city, which immediately attracted more than 100,000 Mongolian troops who cheered.

The terrifying sound was overwhelming, as if it was about to turn into a strong wind and overturn the city.

At this time, the defenders standing at the top of the city looked down and saw that the crowds were surging, like ants marching.

In this dense sea of ​​​​people, towering siege equipment is sandwiched among them. All kinds of artillery vehicles, rams, siege towers, and wells are all available, and it is even more like an exhibition of siege equipment.

Obviously, after the destruction of the Xixia and Jin Kingdoms, the Mongol Empire had completely mastered the siege technology of the Central Plains, and their combat effectiveness had once again leapt forward.

Kublai Khan was wearing iron armor, hanging a scimitar on his waist, and wearing a pointed leather hat on his head. He rode his horse to the front of the battle. He looked at Pizhou City from a distance and saw that there were banners and people flying above. He couldn't help but be overjoyed on his face, "Okay. !Zhao Tai really didn’t give up on Pizhou!”

Zhang Judao: "Pizhou is the gateway to the Jianghuai River and a flank of Kaifeng. Now Zhao Tai wants the Southern Song Dynasty to appease and embrace the Southern Song Dynasty, so he definitely does not dare to retreat."

Yang You also said: "What Marshal Zhang said is reasonable. If Zhao Tai gives up Pizhou, then the Southern Song Dynasty will suffer heavy losses from the prince, and he will definitely hate Zhao Tai. Zhao Tai cannot fight against the prince in Shandong, let alone fall into a situation where he is attacked from both sides. situation, so he must defend Pizhou for the Southern Song Dynasty."

"Hahaha" Kublai Khan laughed heartily. He had not laughed so happily for a long time since Tuo Lei's death. "It's just right! I think this Pizhou is nothing more than a booger town. Zhao Tai is seeking death by holding on to this city." Road!"

Wu Lianghatai on the side echoed: "How is Pizhou better than Xi'an? How is it better than Luoyang, Kaifeng, or Jinzhong? Zhao Tai is also confused. He thinks he has won several battles, so he doesn't take Mongolia seriously. Now he is holding on to Pizhou. After the prince breaks the city, he will definitely catch him and humiliate him!"
Chapter completed!