During the Battle of Jinyun Mountain, Wang Yixin used hooks and ropes to drag the Mongolian ships to the shore to fight. This is one of the most commonly used methods in river defense today. However, the casualties will be greater and the war will drag on for a long time.
Xu Kui went even crazier. He pierced Wang Hanchen's warship in the cold river...
When the stern of the warship slowly sank, the Orlu troops on board who were inexperienced on the battlefield were more likely to be confused than the old Mongolian soldiers.
One of the thunderbolts failed to be ejected in time and exploded on the artillery carriage, shooting up pieces of iron.
Wang Hanchen quickly put down the boat and ordered a retreat.
This was just a tentative attack. He only intended to demoralize the Song army while the Song army was not yet stable. There was no need to fight to the death.
But this noble man, Marshal Orlu of the Mongolian Army, was indeed defeated by an unknown person like Xu Kui.
In Wang Hanchen's view, the defeat was too easy, which can be described as a shame.
He couldn't feel how much courage and determination Xu Kui took.
This battle was a life and death struggle for the hundreds of soldiers of the Song Dynasty who went down to the river to build boats.
…
A ship rowed desperately, trying to go up the river back to Lizhou.
But it is easy to attack along the river, but difficult to sail against the current.
The Song army chased wildly on the shore, threw hooks and ropes, and captured the Mongolian ships one after another.
On the river downstream, the corpses of Song soldiers who had been frozen to the point of losing consciousness floated up and were carried downstream by the river...
"marshal!"
"marshal……"
Wang Hanchen felt a little cold from the river wind, so he wrapped himself in his military robe, got off the boat, entered Lizhou City, and strode up the tower.
His expression was as usual, and he didn't seem to be worried about this small defeat.
On the top of the city tower, Wang Weizheng had already greeted him.
"It's good that Uncle Wu is fine. I'm here to watch the battle. I see that Uncle Wu was going to win a big victory. I don't want the boat to sink accidentally in the river. I'm very worried about Uncle Wu's safety."
"Commander-in-Chief."
In front of all the soldiers, Wang Hanchen still saluted Wang Weizheng with clasped fists and said: "It didn't sink into the river accidentally, it was dug out by the Song army."
After just saying this, he walked to the tower and watched the ships coming back later.
When he saw nearly a thousand elite ships under his command going up the river and arriving at Lizhou Pier, Wang Hanchen immediately issued a military order.
"Send orders to all forts! Bombard the Song army's pursuing troops!"
Wang Weizheng took two steps, stood next to Wang Hanchen, and said in a low voice: "Fifth Uncle, if you release the cannonstone now, you are afraid that you will accidentally damage the ships behind you."
"If we break, we must break. Don't let the Song army catch up. If the war expands, some broken troops rush to the city."
"Can……"
Wang Wei was about to say something, but finally choked back.
His fifth uncle's exploratory attack resulted in the loss of at least a hundred small boats and more than a thousand people... and it only took less than two hours.
Wang Hanchen turned to look at Wang Weizheng, looking a little embarrassed, but he spoke with seriousness.
"In today's battle, I lost... badly."
"Uncle Wu, I don't think so."
"A defeat is a defeat." Wang Hanchen said: "I did underestimate the Song army. I can see that this Song army has good combat power, high morale, and is led by a capable man... It is not that I exaggerate the opponent because of the defeat."
"If the soldiers of the Song Dynasty are not afraid of death and can scuttle ships in the severe winter, they will be a strong army." Wang Weizheng said: "If I were to lead the troops, I would never have thought that the warships would be scuttled and that we would not even be able to withdraw in time..."
Wang Hanchen nodded.
What he was most worried about was that Wang Weizheng was young and energetic. Seeing that he had 30,000 troops on his side and only 8,000 enemy troops, he wanted to go out of the city to fight.
This time he went out to test the city. Although he lost embarrassingly, fortunately he found out the strength of the Song army, and then he only had to defend the city.
"The general manager of Chengdu Prefecture's infantry and horse army...Li? Li Xia?"
Wang Hanchen had obviously heard of Li Xia.
All the way back to the mansion, he immediately dug out all the battle reports and letters in recent years to understand Li Xia clearly.
By the Jialing River, Lu Da squinted his eyes and saw several Song soldiers working together to drag a body up from the river bank.
"It's the enemy coach! The enemy coach is dead!" Liu Jinsuo shouted and cheered.
"Let me see!" Lu Da tried his best to squeeze forward, but was blocked by the surrounding Song troops and could not get closer.
"Quick! Give it to the general..."
Lu Dayong watched the team of soldiers running past, grabbed Liu Jinsuo, and asked: "Really killed the enemy coach? So fast?"
Liu Jinsuo asked back: "Did you see the main ship of the Mongolian army sank?"
"I saw it."
"That's right. Wang Weizheng was young and energetic and insisted on coming to watch the battle. I didn't expect that Xu Kui would scuttle the ship and he would die."
"Is this how you capture Lizhou?"
"That's not true." Liu Jinsuo said carelessly: "Don't you think the Mongolian Lord died at the hands of my general."
Lu Dayong felt confused and murmured: "We fought for more than twenty days in a small city like Zhaohua..."
"Isn't the battlefield just like this?" Liu Jinsuo laughed and said: "If you calculate it this way, why fight? Everyone uses the abacus to calculate, this city belongs to you, and that city belongs to me, haha!"
Lu Dayong spat: "Mother, I didn't let you see the capabilities of my Lu family army."
After a while, Lin Zi came over and patted him on the shoulder.
"Brother Lu, my general calls you over."
Lu Dayong then followed Lin Zi to the tent, no longer as arrogant as when he first arrived.
…
When they got outside the tent, they heard Li Xiazheng and Kong Xian discussing something inside.
"Today's formation killed Wang Weizheng. I guess the city will be broken soon?"
"It's difficult. Although the defenders in the city are ownerless, they have never seen us attacking the city, so they may not surrender soon."
"It's just a few days of strong attack..."
"Report! General." Lin Zi shouted: "Lu Da is here."
"come in."
When Li Xia saw Lu Dayong, he gave a rare smile and said, "When you came to deliver the message, I detained you for two days in order to plan the recovery of Lizhou. Don't worry about it."
Lu Dayong looked at Li Xia blankly for a while before nodding stupidly.
Li Xia raised his hand, and Lin Zi came forward with a box.
"This is Wang Weizheng's head and flag. You quickly bring it back to Lu Shuai and just say, 'Please delay Brother Mo for ten more days, and something big can be accomplished.'"
Only then did Lu Dayong come back to his senses and said: "Don't worry, General Li, I won't tell the commander that you detained me."
"Okay, the military situation is very strong. You must quickly take the Jiameng Pass trail and bypass Bazhong. I will send someone familiar with the terrain to lead the way... You must see Lu Shuai within three days. Is it possible to do it?"
"Okay!" Lu Dayong said loudly: "Don't worry! I used to be a woodcutter! I haven't drilled through any old forest before."
"Okay! What a strong man! Go ahead."
Lu Dayong held the box and walked away. After only two steps, he turned back and said: "General Li, my dagger was taken by your people..."
"It's urgent. I'll pay you back when we meet again."
Although Lu Dayong was a rough man, he was filled with heroism as he held the head of a Mongolian commander-in-chief in his hand.
"See you later, General Lee!"
…
Kong Xian watched Lu Dayong leave the tent and sighed deeply.
"Is this possible?"
"It would be nice if we could let Lu Wende delay the move for a few more days." Li Xia said, "It won't be troublesome after all."
Kong Xian rubbed his face, looking extremely tired, and said: "We only set up half of the camp today. We will set up camp tomorrow and build a pontoon bridge... The war has not started yet, and the three or four days have passed."
Li Xia nodded, the smile on his face completely dissipated.
Kong Xian said again: "I have observed Wang Hanchen's arrangement after retreating. This man can fight."
"That's right. If it weren't for Xu Kui's bravery, the outcome of today's battle would have been unpredictable."
Kong Xian was even more worried, and after careful consideration, he said: "If we can't regain Hanzhong, should we retreat to the second best and take Lizhou first..."
"Sichuan and Shu without Hanzhong would be like a house that should have four walls missing one wall."
As Li Xia spoke, he added, "Besides, this is the only chance."
Kong Xiandao: "How can the general not understand? But even if there are ten more days, Lizhou City..."
"There will always be a way until the last moment." Li Xia said: "General Kong, let me think about it again."
"good."
Although Kong Xian agreed, he still felt that Hanzhong was out of reach. It was difficult to capture Lizhou before the reinforcements of the Mongolian army and consolidate the results of the war.
Li Xia had already stood up and said, "I'm going to see the wounded soldiers..."
"How are they?"
"General, I have severe frostbite. I couldn't get off the ground for ten days and a half."
"No matter what, you must do your best to treat her. If you need any medicinal materials, please come to me directly..."
Xu Kui vaguely heard the conversation between Li Xia and the army doctor.
He tried his best to open his eyes and murmured: "General... brothers... how long have you lived..."
Li Xia stepped forward and said without hesitation: "Thirty-one, but I promise you, I will do my best to save every one of these thirty-one."
"They...in order to regain me...my hometown..."
Li Xia could understand what those vague words meant.
He patted Xu Kui and said, "I know that you have a lot of things on your mind lately, and you are timid when you are close to home...it's all like this."
Xu Kui suddenly wanted to cry.
He was a rough man, and when he heard the word "cowardice in close proximity" for the first time, it hit him hard.
"The soldiers are not only trying to regain your hometown, they are also protecting their own."
Li Xia fiddled with the bonfire to make Xu Kui warmer. Then he changed the topic and said, "But I interrogated a few prisoners today. Do you know what they said?"
"The villain...the last general..."
"Wang Weizheng said that Lizhou is his hometown. His father has governed for ten years and made the people of Lizhou happy..."
"No!"
Xu Kui was furious and forced himself to get up.
In fact, he didn't know whether the people in Lizhou were happy or not, but he just didn't allow Wang Weizheng to say that.
Otherwise, all he did was lead more than a hundred brothers into the cold water and freeze to death eighty-seven people. Why?
Li Xia held Xu Kui down.
"I don't know if the people's livelihood and happiness are real, but in any case, it is not enough. The elders and elders in your hometown, in front of the lower class people, speak out and speak out, untouchables... The happiness of the lower class people is far from enough."
"Yes! Not enough!"
"Of course, this truth cannot be explained clearly with words. It's as simple as recovering from your injuries, going to Lizhou City, and letting Wang Weizheng see with his own eyes... whether this is his home or your home."