The Mongolian army has a strong force. It should be just a small city and it is destined to be unable to defend it. It can only be used to delay the Mongolian army's offensive. The current situation is that it can only hold for a few more days at most. It is necessary to arrange the withdrawal of the infantry and the people in advance.
Towards the city to the south.
But how to do it under the strong presence of the Mongolian army is also a problem.
Li Zengbo had already made plans in his mind before the military meeting, and pointed at the map to make arrangements.
Lu Xiaoyou was ordered to go first with Minzhuang who was rescued today, Li Zeyi was ordered to lead the troops to respond, and Li Zengbo planned to continue to defend Yingli County to stop the Mongolian army...
Each of the generals took orders, but only Li Zeyi dared to ask Li Zengbo to assist the troops retreating south, and let him defend the city and cut off the rear.
The reason is also very good. After retreating to the southern city, Li Zengbo still needs to build a defensive line.
The matter was settled like this, and Li Zeyi got the most difficult and most meritorious job, and was very ambitious.
…
Yingli City is surrounded by the Yellow River to the west, the vast desert to the east, Xingqing Mansion to the north, and Lanzhou to the south.
Of course, the Mongolian army could bypass it and directly cross the Yellow River on ice to Longxi.
However, if the Song army's stronghold in Hexi is not removed and they have a large number of cavalry, they can harass the Mongolian army's rear at any time. The Mongolian army cannot ignore the Song army in Hexi.
In the following days, the Mongolian army continued to attack Yingli City, and requisitioned a large number of laborers from Xingqing Prefecture to build artillery carts and continuously shelled the city wall.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the day of the Lantern Festival, Li Zeyi saw that he could no longer hold on and finally ordered a retreat.
However, the cavalry had only been out of the city for more than thirty miles, and fast horses were coming from the front, but the artillery transport team was stuck in the desert and was moving slowly. I hope Li Zeyi can stop the Mongolian army for a while.
As soon as he finished speaking, dust and smoke was already billowing from the north, and the Mongolian army was already catching up.
The war started at the junction of oasis and desert.
The more than 3,000 Song troops first faced the more than 2,000 Mongolian troops who had outflanked them. Li Zeyi immediately ordered to fight.
The two sides fought fiercely for a whole day, each suffering many casualties. The Song army gained the upper hand with the help of thunderbolt cannons, crossbows, cotton armor and other weapons.
However, before they could defeat the Mongolian army, more and more Mongolian troops came from everywhere.
Li Zeyi looked from a distance and even saw the banner of the Mongolian sect king Hedan, and he couldn't help but trembled.
"Breakout!"
This was not the time to show off, so Li Zeyi took the lead and rode away, using flags to lead the troops to retreat.
He has completed the task of covering the main force, and has also used Yingli City to delay the Mongolian army for half a month.
But on this field battlefield, the Mongolian army's advantages in numbers and cavalry shooting skills finally emerged. Soon a group of cavalry surrounded the Song army's retreat route and opened a line of defense.
"Kill out!"
The cavalry collided with the cavalry. Amidst the screams of the horses, some of the cavalry fell heavily to the ground.
…
Li Bing was in this army, and gradually discovered that he had fallen into a desperate situation without knowing it.
If he hadn't suddenly decided to join the army that night outside Lanzhou, he might have been warming himself by the fire in a safe place.
But the strange thing is that he has no regrets.
There was no time for him to think about this at all. He raised his spear awkwardly and charged forward, keeping in mind the key points from his usual training.
After twenty steps, urge the horse to run with all its strength, hold the spear steady, and hold the reins tightly with the other hand.
Getting closer……
The spear was suddenly sent into the body of an enemy soldier. Li Bing failed to hold the spear, and the spear fell to the ground. At the same time, the reins were tightened, and the horse turned in one direction, slanting away from the Mongolian army's line.
Killed through the gap.
"Those who have broken through, let's go!"
"Eh..."
More and more Song troops fought out of the encirclement, gathered spontaneously, and reorganized their formation.
Li Bing looked back and saw Li Zeyi's flag still standing among the enemy soldiers.
"The general is surrounded by Mongolian troops..."
"Walk!"
Li Bing did not want to leave, and believed that the deputy commander and the two commanders should lead their troops back to rescue Li Zeyi.
But no, the command flag in the encirclement waved, indicating that they should break out separately.
This reminded Li Bing of the slap he received at the city gate on the day he rescued the captives, which made him dare not disobey orders.
They galloped southward from the edge of the vast desert on horseback, and the shouts of killing behind them became increasingly distant.
Li Bing looked back again and saw that the big flag was still standing there...
"Damn it, I saw the flags of three thousand households..."
Li Zeyi, who was surrounded, looked at more and more enemies surrounding her, and she didn't know whether it was despair or pride.
In today's fight, he had seen a Mongolian sect king who was in charge of three thousand households, and even more than a thousand households.
It was impossible to escape from this kind of military strength. Instead, he felt that it was really remarkable that he could hold off tens of thousands of Mongolian troops with Li Zengbo for so many days.
When Wang Shixian surrendered to Mongolia, he only faced such a military force.
Surrender is possible, Li Zeyi has not thought about it...but there is no such atmosphere in the army. The army prides itself on resolute resistance, and all the Pao Ze brothers look down on those who grovel.
Li Zeyi couldn't help but think that if she died because she couldn't bear to lose face, she would be at a loss. But if she firmly believed that the prince could succeed, even if she died in battle today, she could still keep her family's small share of stability and wealth without losing money.
It's much better than the third uncle who died after being identified by Wang Zhongchen...
His mind was in a mess for a moment, and Li Zeyi had already slashed the leather armor of a Mongolian soldier with another knife.
His long weapon had long been shot down, and he was holding a steel knife made in Hanzhong. Each knife could penetrate the leather armor, but only then did he realize that the blade had curled up.
When I looked down, I saw that the tiger's mouth was dripping with blood.
"puff."
At this moment of distraction, a Mongolian general rode up on his horse and killed Li Zeyi with a slash of his machete.
In fact, there were not many Song troops left in the siege, and there was only blood flowing all over the ground...
Suddenly, he carried Li Zeyi's head all the way to He Dan.
"Prince Zong, we have captured Yingli City and annihilated this Song army."
He Dan nodded and said a few words of encouragement.
"There are fewer and fewer truly brave warriors on the grassland. Suddenly, you are very brave. When your uncle withdrew from Liangzhou, you were the only one who could set fire to Liangzhou City. This time, you were the first to achieve military exploits...
"
Having said that, He Dan just glanced at Li Zeyi's head and didn't care too much.
He looked to the south, waiting for the other cavalry to come back and snatch the Song army's thundering firearm.
This is the difference between He Dan and Tie Bilie. Tie Bilie will only run away when encountering artillery, but He Dan can think of taking it for himself, so he is the commander-in-chief.
However, after a long time, a general rushed to report back, saying: "King Zongzong, we failed to intercept those Song troops and allowed them to withdraw with their baggage into Suohan Fort in the south."
He Dan was furious and ordered: "Continue the attack and capture Suohan Fort for me. I will make sure that these Song troops running around like rats in Hexi can no longer stop me..."
Lockhan Fort.
Lu Xiaoyou walked down from the cannon and cursed the Mongolian army.
Ever since he came back from Lin'an, he has been stuck in this long war, which seems to never end. Even his mother was delayed in helping him talk about his wife...
With these thoughts in mind, he saw Li Zeyi's troops entering the city to greet them.
"Where is your Commander Li?"
"Tongzhi was surrounded by the Mongolian army, fought... died in the battle..."
Lu Xiaoyou was in a daze for a moment, feeling unreal.
He had always known that the battlefield was dangerous and anyone could die in the next moment, but he never thought of Li Zeyi, because cavalry generals were the most lacking, and also because Li Zeyi spoke unpleasantly.
People who speak harshly shouldn't die so easily, as they will cause harm for thousands of years.
All night long, Lu Xiaoyou could not recover from this trance.
Until daybreak, with the sound of "Peng", the Mongolian army's catapults smashed down the stones, and the gravel flew everywhere.
Lu Xiaoyou responded with artillery fire.
The cannons roared like thunder, just like the roar in his heart, even though his face was as dark as water.
The small fortress was defended with artillery for a few more days. After that, Li Zengbo issued another military order.
"Destroy the artillery and withdraw."
Lu Xiaoyou didn't want to, but he could only pull the cannon onto the Yellow River, cut through the ice, and watch it sink.
When doing this, he felt very complicated...
At the beginning of the war, these people were all very high-spirited. They boasted that "no matter how many Mongolian captives came, they would never come back."
, famous throughout the ages."
Everyone wants to be Huo Qubing.
But over the millennium, there have been several Huo Qubing.
As the fighting continued, morale gradually declined and firearms were slowly used up. However, the Mongolian army's strength and strength began to show, making the war increasingly difficult.
Lu Xiaoyou looked at his feet, and he saw that the hole in the ice was gradually freezing again. It was still the middle of winter, and the Yellow River had not yet thawed.
Suddenly someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"Cry if you want." Li Zengbo sighed in an old voice: "In my eyes, you are still a little baby, there is no shame in crying."
"Commander, I didn't think about it..."
Lu Xiaoyou still wanted to deny it, but finally wiped his eyes.
Li Zengbo said: "It doesn't matter if you cry. After you cry, keep walking. All difficult battles will be fought to the end to see who is more tenacious. Don't let go of your anger."
…
In another two days, Li Zengbo had abandoned the Yellow River defense line and withdrew westward to Liangzhou, allowing the Mongolian army to occupy Gaolan County and separate him from Lian Xixian.
The defense lines of Hexi and Longxi were finally cut off by Hedan.
Li Zengbo and Lian Xixian had no choice. Their troops were too few, so they could only defend the city and were passive.
But although they retreated, they put up a strong resistance before taking each step back, trying their best to make every step forward of the Mongolian army more difficult.
It is still snowing heavily in Liangzhou. In the wind and snow, Li Zengbo's head turned white with sorrow.
Under his command, the defense on the Western Front would not fall apart, but after all, its strength was limited and it was retreating...