Chapter 519 Messenger (for the Silver Alliance Lord Niema1/11)
Ezhou.
In Kublai Khan's southern expedition, he changed the style of massacres during the Genghis Khan and Ogodei periods. He raised the banner of "taunting the people and punishing crimes", and also strictly enforced military discipline, ordering that "sergeants who enter civilian homes without permission will be dealt with according to military law."
This move was indeed effective. The people in Huaixi hated Yuan Jie so much that they regarded Kublai Khan as their king's advisor and helped the Mongolian army cross the natural chasm of the Yangtze River.
But after crossing the river, this situation no longer existed. With the arrival of reinforcements from Gundam, the war had come to a stalemate.
Kublai Khan then stationed his troops at Huhuangzhou on the south bank to confront the Song army.
He built a five-foot-high observation tower outside the city and went up to the stage to command every day...
March 18th.
Jia Sidao led the army to arrive outside Ezhou City. He was originally stationed in Hanyang and came down the river very calmly.
When Kublai Khan saw the Song army's reinforcements coming, he ordered a fierce attack...
Mongolian generals Zhang Xi and Zhang Honggang and their sons then requested orders, willing to lead a death squad to break the city.
Zhang Xi is a member of Zhang Rou's clan, but his family had moved from Baoding to Shandong in his father's generation.
After the Zhang family surrendered to Mongolia, Zhang Xi first followed the Mongolian marshal Chahan to fight in all directions. He was not liked by the Mongolian people and was almost executed.
Later, after being introduced by Zhang Rou, he defected to Kublai Khan. From then on, he was devoted and loyal.
…
"If we cannot break the city for King Monan, my father and my son are willing to fight to the death and not retreat!" Zhang Xi's face turned red and he shouted loudly in Mongolian.
Although Kublai Khan was said to favor the Chinese system, he did not know Chinese.
Seeing Zhang Xi being so excited, he raised his head, closed his eyes, and said with compassion: "I, the king, will not allow both of you, father and son, to die in battle."
"Please, King Monan, trust me!"
Kublai Khan had no choice but to finally say in a deep voice: "You father and son must leave one person behind so that I, the king, can favor the blood of warriors."
Zhang Xi was very moved.
"Please wait for King Monan to return after the last general breaks the city!"
He clasped his fist heavily, snatched the spear from Zhang Honggang's hand, turned around and ordered the troops.
"You, you... follow me to kill the enemy!"
~~
On the observation platform, watching the death squads charging forward, Kublai Khan turned to look at Zhang Rou and couldn't help but admire: "The Zhang family are all warriors."
"Please rest assured, King Monan, even if the attack fails, I will still have a way to defeat Ezhou..."
In the middle of speaking, Zhang Rou suddenly heard a call coming from the north.
He turned around and looked, seeing several small boats on the Yangtze River rowing towards the south bank under the flag of the Mongolian army.
That seems to be... the banner of the West Route Army.
"King Monan, the Great Khan may be arriving soon." Zhang Ju said.
Kublai Khan did not look west, but turned his head and looked east.
He looked in the direction of Lin'an City and sighed.
"The three armies are about to converge, like the rushing Selenge River, but I am very worried. I am worried that the Great Khan will not listen to my advice and massacre these poor people."
After that, Kublai Khan said another sentence in blunt Chinese.
"How can I deserve this?"
Zhang Wenqian, Hao Jing and others suddenly became red-eyed. They took a step forward, raised their hands in salute, and choked with sobs: "I beg you, King Monan, to dissuade the Great Khan!"
"Can I really persuade the Great Khan to put down his butcher knife?"
The civil servants and military generals on the high observation platform were meeting each other. After these few words that seemed to be nonsense, they gradually gained the courage to stir up the world...
~~
Ezhou City Head.
"Break the city!"
Zhang Xi is indeed a fierce general, and all his subordinates are brave warriors like him who do not want to die.
They actually braved the Song army's wood, rocks, arrows, and fireballs to fight their way to the top of the east city of Ezhou.
At this time, Jia Sidao's reinforcements were approaching. Gao Da did not expect that the Mongolian army could come up and kill him, so he was shocked and angry.
"I will stop them!"
Gundam was also a fierce general who could charge into battle, and he personally went up and led his bodyguards to kill Zhang Xi's death squad.
…
Outside the city, Zhang Honggang was leading his troops to raid the formation.
Seeing Gundam charging towards him and Zhang Xi in danger, he couldn't help but become anxious.
In normal times, Zhang Honggang would have persuaded his father to come back and look for another chance.
But today was different. Thinking of King Monan's kindness, he gritted his teeth and simply led his troops to charge forward.
"Follow me to defeat the enemy!"
The trees on the city kept falling down.
By the time Zhang Honggang climbed to the top of the city, only about ten of the 200 people who followed him were left.
"Kill! Even if both my father and son die, I swear to destroy this city!"
"Kill..."
~~
Zhang Rou on the observation deck looked back at Ezhou City again, thinking that Zhang Xi and his son were a little too desperate.
He wanted to send troops to rescue them, but he knew what King Monan wanted and did not dare to make the decision without authorization.
So Zhang Rou looked at the ships on the shore again.
But after the ship docked, several Mongolian soldiers got off the ship and rushed towards this side.
It turned out to be a courier from the West Route Army.
Sichuan and Shu captured it so quickly.
Zhang Rou couldn't help but think that the Song people were really weak and incompetent.
Although there are always some people from the Song Dynasty, such as Yue Fei and Meng Gong, who seem to be talented people in the world and do earth-shaking things. But in fact, they are going against the will of heaven and do not know what to say.
The pattern of the world is now very clear. First destroy the Song Dynasty, and then follow God's will to help Mo...
"Report! King Monan, King Monan..."
The messenger had rushed to the foot of the observation tower and quickly climbed up.
Zhang Rou squinted her eyes and recognized them as Shi Tianze's subordinates.
Judging from their movements, they were slightly panicked.
Did something happen to Shi Tianze?
If so, his intent to spy on the situation was noticed by the Khan, or the hook test continues...
"What did you say?!"
During this stunned moment, Kublai Khan's thunderous shouts of questioning started.
When Zhang Rou came back to her senses, she realized that the messenger had reported something in a low voice.
"It's true... it's true... the shameless Song Army sneak attacked the Shizishan camp..."
"..."
"The watchtower was blown down. After it was knocked down, Dahan was seriously... seriously injured and on the verge of immortality..."
"..."
Zhang Rou's eyes widened in disbelief.
Then, he glanced quickly at Kublai Khan.
I saw a bit of disbelief on that majestic face.
"impossible."
"this……"
There was a sound of shock and exclamation all around.
When the messenger saw that everyone didn't believe him, he was so frightened that he fell to his knees.
"Really, really..."
"King Monan." Zhang Wenqian stepped forward and said, "Why don't we go down to the observation deck first..."
Kublai Khan raised his hand, pointed at Ezhou City, and said: "Send troops to rescue my king's warriors."
~~
Zhang Xi was covered in blood and already weighed eighteen arrows.
There was also an arrow shot by Gundam himself, which penetrated Zhang Xi's abdomen.
"Father!"
Zhang Honggang was furious and finally rushed to Zhang Xi's side.
"Break the city...open the city..."
Zhang Xi raised his hand and pointed forward.
He still refused to retreat.
"That kid..."
Suddenly, there was a loud sound of gold ringing outside the city.
"King's order! Withdraw!"
"General Zhang, withdraw quickly..."
The Mongolian army shouted, threw arrows, and covered the retreat of the death squads.
Zhang Honggang was so moved that he grabbed Zhang Xi and left.
"Father! King Monan orders you to live!"
"Stop them!" the Song army soldiers shouted.
Zhang Honggang turned around and saw Gundam in the distance.
He threw the spear in his hand violently.
"Walk!"
…
Gundam was worried that the Mongolian army was going to attack the city gate, so he intercepted it in advance.
The Mongolian army suddenly withdrew, so he had no choice but to turn around and wanted to stay with him, but suddenly he heard the sound of breaking wind.
Gundam quickly rolled on the spot to avoid the incoming spear.
When I got up again, I saw that the Zhang family and his son had been pushed off the city wall by the Mongolian army...
~~
"We'll talk about it later. Let's go meet the warriors first."
Kublai Khan saw that Zhang Xi, who was seriously injured, had withdrawn from Ezhou City, got off the observation tower, and greeted him personally.
A group of civil servants and military generals quickly followed.
Many of them started talking quietly.
"Is the Great Khan really dead?"
"Hush. The king of Monan is a true hero. In this fashion, he will take care of his soldiers first."
"..."
Zhang Rou strode behind Kublai Khan. When she saw the bloody Zhang Xi, she hurriedly shouted: "Zhang Demu, you are not allowed to die! Don't you see that King Monan wants you to live regardless of the critical military situation?!"
Kublai Khan stepped forward to investigate and saw that Zhang Xi was so seriously injured, he shouted in a deep voice: "Get Qilin Jie quickly!"
"King Monan, there are not many unicorns left. If..."
"Go get it!"
This Qilinjie is a magical medicine in southern Yunnan. There is a fat liquid in the trunk that is as red as blood, and has a miraculous effect in promoting blood circulation.
Kublai Khan got a few pairs when he campaigned south to Dali, but now there are very few left in the army.
When Zhang Honggang heard this, he knelt down and cried loudly, thanking him for his kindness.
Kublai Khan did not leave immediately, but stood beside Zhang Xi, seeming to be deep in thought, like a silent statue.
He didn't speak until he saw Zhang Xi taking Qilinjie and then putting it into the belly of a freshly slaughtered cow.
"Go on and talk about the bad news you brought."
"..."
After a long time, Kublai Khan asked: "My most admired brother, the most noble Khan in the world, Changshengtian took him away at the beginning of November last year... But why did you arrive now?"
"After the villain followed Marshal Shi Tianze out of Hanzhong, he was ordered to report to King Monan. When he bypassed Xiangyang, he was discovered by the Song army."
"Xiangyang? At that time, Xiangyang... was it Gundam again?"
Zhang Wenqian took a step forward and asked, looking a little confused.
"yes."
Zhang Wenqian pondered: "Why did he arrive so quickly... Well, you go on."
"By the time the villain arrives at the Huaihe River, King Monan has already crossed the river. At this time, Marshal Liu Heima's messenger has also arrived."
These messengers are not the same group.
Another person had already stepped forward and said: "King Monan, I am under the command of Marshal Liu Heima of Shaanxi Province, and I have been ordered to report the news."
"explain."
"Jianmen Pass has been lost, Lizhou..."
"..."
Zhang Rou has gradually come to believe that these are true.
If it were made up, there would be no such outrageous things. No one would dare to make it up...
Suddenly, he was stunned again.
Because a familiar name came to his ears.
Li Xia?
Zhang Rou suddenly thought that she had heard wrongly.
But the messenger's voice still came through clearly.
"Liu Shuai believes that the Song people's defense in Sichuan and Shu was all arranged by Li Xia..."
"Shi Shuai also thinks so. During the battle in Diaoyu City, Li Xia..."
Zhang Rou has lost her mind.
The sounds in my ears are getting farther and farther away.
In his mind, he seemed to hear Zhang Hongdao's voice.
"Father, if Li Xia is not cured, he will be in serious trouble sooner or later!"
"Father, a child is incompetent, Li Xia..."
Suddenly, the voice that sounded was Zhang Wenjing's voice again.
"My father didn't do this properly. If he had let his daughter handle it, he might have found a genius for the Zhang family..."
"Father, just wait and see, sooner or later he will impress you..."
Zhang Rou shook her head to dispel the thoughts in her mind.
At this time, the killing cries on Ezhou City in the west stopped, and the Song army cheered as they welcomed the reinforcements into the city. However, the Yangtze River in the north was still flowing.
As a result, a word suddenly appeared in my heart.
It was a song that made him extremely angry when he first heard it, but now it completely touched the bottom of his heart.
"The rolling Yangtze River flows eastward."
"The waves wipe out the heroes."
"Success or failure turns into nothing..."
~~
"Recently, I always think of the poem that Li Xia left when he killed Jian Zhang."
The next day, Hao Jing sighed and stroked his beard and said: "The Great Khan is an unrivaled hero, but he is just like this... success or failure turns to nothing. Who can say clearly?"
Zhang Rou didn't say anything. He had been sitting in the camp for a long time and seemed to have received a huge blow.
Hao Jing said again: "Commander, please don't be so rude, in case King Monan thinks you are..."
Zhang Rou came back to her senses and asked: "What does King Monan mean? Do you want to withdraw his troops?"
"It is such a big event and the news is so hasty that it is difficult to tell whether it is true or not. How can we make a decision easily?"
"What about this Ezhou?"
Hao Jingdao: "Today the King of Monan asked me something... Should I take captive poultry to reward the soldiers first? Or should I hunt wild animals in Mobei first?"
Zhang Rou understood, nodded, and said: "I will defeat Ezhou City tonight."
Hao Jing stood up and said, "Commander, please cheer up and go see King Monan again."
Zhang Rou sent him out of the tent and stood alone by the camp, rubbing his face.
"well."
"Father." Zhang Hongyan came over, his face a little ugly.
"What's the matter?"
"My kid can't figure it out, I really can't figure it out..."
"explain."
"Someone threw...this at our camp."
Zhang Rou turned around and looked, her face changed drastically.
The bright red that entered his eyes seemed to sting him.