More than four years have passed since Meng Ge's death to Kublai Khan's full-scale attack on Long, and Li Xia has been going smoothly.
At least in these years of war, he has been winning and marching forward with great success in recovering Hanzhong, Guanzhong, Longxi, Dali, and Hexi.
But in the first month of the fourth year of Xianding, not long after the war started, Li Xia already felt a long-lost sense of oppression...
Although Shi Tianze maintained his strength during the war on the Eastern Front, it was not without attacks.
In fact, the Mongolian army's attack on Hancheng was very effective.
If an ordinary general were to direct a violent attack regardless of the cost, no matter how many people were killed or injured, the effect might not be as good as Shi Tianze's safe offensive.
You should know that Li Xia immediately began to deploy defenses after regaining Guanzhong. In more than two years, many defense fortifications have been built along the Yellow River. There are countless deep trenches and hidden fortresses outside Hancheng.
Shi Tianze didn't need to think about it to know that in addition to these deep ditches and hidden barriers, Li Xia must have other traps.
Just like when he was in Diaoyu City, he saw with his own eyes that when the battle with Li Xia reached its climax, the stone mountain exploded...
In short, he had a premonition that if the Mongolian army attacked forcefully, they would suffer heavy losses.
Therefore, Shi Tianze's choice was to advance layer by layer and destroy the defense lines outside Hancheng layer by layer.
This is only on the surface.
On the surface, Shi Tianze was attacking Hancheng steadily, trying to advance to the west of the Yellow River for a decisive battle with Li Xia.
Secretly, he was actually preparing to attack the Heyang camp of the Song Army, not to occupy the stronghold on the west bank, but to block Li Xia.
The reason is also simple. If Li Xia were to attack Li Xia, the Mongolian army would suffer heavy losses under the defense lines. But after finally advancing in front of Li Xia, he could still escape to Chang'an. If he continued to attack Chang'an, he didn't know how long the fight would last.
.
So Shi Tianze relaxed a little on the surface, pretending to preserve his strength, and then quietly blocked Li Xia's retreat, and then killed Li Xia. Guanzhong, Hanzhong, Sichuan, Shu, and Dali were all easily pacified, and all was accomplished in one battle.
This is his style of play.
Although others may say that "70,000 to 80,000 troops and more than 10,000 people have been confronting each other for more than half a month with no progress," this kind of war is something that ordinary people can never be sure of.
The war in Hancheng continued smoothly until the twentieth day of the first lunar month, but the Song army gradually became anxious...
~~
"Alang, we seem to have made a mistake."
As night fell that day, after the fighting that lasted all day ended, Han Qi'an took a few letters and newspapers and read them, and pondered: "We said before that it would be more beneficial to us if the war dragged on longer, and we hoped that Shi Tianze would not come.
The attack is fierce, but if it continues like this, I'm afraid the other groups won't be able to hold on."
The letters in his hand were letters asking for help from various places, probably all sent out a few days ago. Tongguan and Wuguan both expressed that they were short of troops and needed support.
Li Xia said: "We are right. It is true that the longer the war drags on, the more beneficial it is to us. The problem now is that there are some places where it cannot be delayed."
Han Qi'an couldn't help but sigh, feeling deeply helpless.
Looking at the entire battlefield, Li Xia has used the smallest force to fight against the strongest Mongolian army. If Shi Tianze attacks, it will be difficult to resist.
"That's right. Just now I was thinking that if we could fight Shi Tianze quickly, we would support other directions after victory. But then I thought about it, it is almost impossible to quickly defeat 70,000 or 80,000 people with more than 10,000 people."
"Looking at the history books, there are many battles in which a small number of people defeated a large number, and the numerical comparison was more exaggerated, but the opponents were different."
"Shi Tianze has too few flaws?"
"He's so stable."
Li Xia walked out of the garrison, stood by the city wall, looked at the Yellow River in the dark night, and said: "I haven't found many flaws in Shi Tianze these days, but he has pushed the defense line to the edge of Han City."
"What about these requests for help?" Han Qi'an came out and asked, "Are we going to mobilize more troops from Chongqing or Hanzhong?"
"No. If we adjust again, Chongqing and Hanzhong will be completely empty. Once empty, all kinds of ghosts and monsters who originally didn't dare to take our ideas will appear, and the situation will only get worse... Ask Zhang Jue for help and let him share more burdens.
Please mobilize more troops and horses to support me."
"Support Hancheng?"
"Well, send three thousand people to Huazhou first to support Tongguan or Wuguan at any time."
"this……"
Li Xia raised his hand to stop what he was saying and said: "Modify your troops. If other lines of defense are lost, it will be useless to defend the Yellow River."
But Han Qi'an still said: "Alang thought deeply, how can such a long Yellow River defense line be defended?"
Li Xia seemed to sigh slightly.
"Then let's use all our arrangements on the Yellow River in advance."
~~
Shi Tianze soon discovered that Li Xia had transferred his troops elsewhere.
This is simply an insult to him.
Looking at the various Mongolian armies now, He Dan's 60,000-strong commander faced nearly 20,000 Song troops in Hexi and 20,000 to 30,000 Song troops in Longxi; Dong Wenbing's 20,000 troops attacked Jinling Pass, and Tongguan's nearly 10,000 Song troops...
After calculation, only he, Shi Tianze, compared with Li Xia, had the largest difference in military strength, five or six times. And Li Xia transferred some of his troops, and the number of troops on the Yellow River defense line was no more than 10,000, and the gap had reached eight times.
As Zhang Hongfan reminded at the beginning, if the soldiers and horses on other routes get the opportunity, but Shi Tianze cannot hold back Li Xia with a fierce attack, the war may change.
Now that Li Xia has transferred his troops elsewhere, it can be seen that Dong Wenbing, Zhudu, Dong Wenwei, and even Yang Dayuan or the Sultan further away have pushed into Guanlong. If Li Xia sent people to support, these troops and horses were lost.
Shi Tianze couldn't afford the opportunity.
Therefore, on the 22nd, the Mongolian army finally launched a fierce attack on the west bank of the Yellow River.
The weather was not good that day. The cold wind was blowing from the northeast to the southwest. It picked up the snowflakes and threw them on the faces of the soldiers of the Song Dynasty.
The Mongolian army came from the east bank of the Yellow River on ice.
Fifty thousand people went out to fight this time, forming a huge formation that was so overwhelming that there was no end in sight.
In fact, such a force cannot allow every soldier to come into contact with the Song Army. After all, the entire Yellow River defense line of the Song Army is less than 10,000 people. After the Hancheng garrison mobilized more than 3,000 people, the maximum number will be 3,000.
Most of the Mongolian army only had to stand at the back.
But it is by no means meaningless. With them standing behind, the Mongolian army in front will think that this battle will be won, and the Song army will be afraid when they see so many enemies.
War is all about psychology. Whoever thinks one side will lose first will really lose, and someone will immediately abandon their weapons and surrender.
Just like when Meng Ge attacked Shu, what he wanted was that the Song army could surrender in the face of the wind. If every mountain city was really defended like Kuzhu Pass and Diaoyu City, not to mention 100,000 Mongolian troops, even 200,000 Mongolian troops would not be able to defeat it.
Go to Sichuan and Shu.
Momentum is important...
The trumpet sounded, and the Mongolian army began to charge.
They are not densely packed and spread out widely.
Because I have experience...
"boom!"
A cannonball ejected from the head of Hancheng City, penetrated the bodies of four Mongolian soldiers, and smashed through the ice of the Yellow River.
Some people were screaming and rolling on the river. The Mongolian soldiers stepped forward and stabbed the screaming comrade to death.
They looked at the ice hole again with a lot of heart, but the scattered formation meant that the damage caused by the shells was not high.
When we arrived at the west bank, we saw another high ice wall ahead.
The Mongolian soldiers became a little irritable when they saw this ice wall.
It was these fortifications that were constantly being demolished and built that made it impossible for them to surround Hancheng.
But today is different. Marshal Shi has given an order not to withdraw his troops unless Li Xia is executed.
~~
"Huh...huh..."
Ge Shun ran at the forefront of the Mongolian army.
He was a soldier under Zhang Hongfan and loved Zhang Hongfan very much.
Ge Shun always remembered that during the months when Jinan was besieged, he fell ill, and his general came to visit him in person and asked the doctor to use medicine carefully for treatment.
Just this little thing can make him remember it for a lifetime.
He was a lowly man. After serving in the army for so many years, Zhang Hongfan was the general who cared most about him.
What's more, Zhang Hongfan's belief in governance must be rewarded and punished. After defeating Jinan, Zhang Hongfan sent the coffins of all soldiers who died in battle back to their hometown. For those who had military merit but did not receive rewards, Zhang Hongfan distributed his rewards to the soldiers...
Therefore, Ge Shun was willing to fight to the death for Zhang Hongfan.
But Zhang Hongfan said, "You are not fighting for me, you are fighting for yourself, your family, and your career and future."
Finally, Zhang Hongfan struck a chord in the hearts of these soldiers.
"Whoever kills Li Xia today will be ennobled and will be hereditary, and will become a wealthy and noble person from generation to generation."
This was not the first time that Ge Shun attacked Hancheng. Every time he encountered an ice wall in the past, he would smash it open with a cannon truck from a distance. After completely smashing it, he would slowly advance and continue to smash the next ice wall.
In the previous attacks, the Mongolian army had cracked countless ice walls, and the Song army kept rebuilding them overnight.
Now that the strength of the Song Army in Hancheng has been significantly reduced, the Song Army is finally unable to rebuild. Today, it only smashed a few cracks in the ice wall in front, and the army has ordered a charge.
Ge Shun then carried the knife through the crack in the ice wall, raised his head, and could already see the Song Army's banner on Han City.
That "Li" means that Li Xia is at the top of the city.
As long as he climbed to the top of the city, beheaded the generals and captured the flag, he would be the first to succeed.
"boom!"
Another cannonball hit, not far from Ge Shun.
He quickly lay down, and then he realized that he had stepped onto the west bank of the Yellow River. The ground was no longer ice, but ice and sand.
Without even thinking about it, screams started to sound, and blood and flesh splattered all over him, like rain.
This rain of blood came from several comrades who were smashed by shells.
Ge Shun got up, surrounded by stumps and internal organs, and the fishy smell was nauseating. In just a moment, someone rushed in front of him, trying to snatch Li Xia's head and the hereditary title.
The Mongolian army was too numerous and had been steadily attacking Hancheng for too long. Everyone knew that the marshal and generals planned to break the city today.
Ge Shun was unwilling to be left behind and quickly moved his legs and ran wildly.
He used to be a cavalryman, but it was difficult for him to cross the Yellow River on ice and ride a horse. Moreover, today was a siege battle, so all the soldiers dismounted and fought on foot.
This section of the road is not far, and the short city wall of Hancheng is already in sight.
There are many civilians carrying ladders around, so if you drive out, it will be their cover.
However, while running, Ge Shun suddenly stopped.
He leaned forward, almost falling to the ground, but not far in front of him, the charging soldiers, Minzhuang, all fell into a trench.
Only the ladders and various siege equipment remained on the trench.
Screams broke out one after another, and then a salvo of rockets fired from the top of the city.
Some of the soldiers who had fallen into the trench climbed out, still carrying bamboo poles and branches that had pierced their bodies. Fire had suddenly broken out from the trench.
"ah!"
Ge Shun opened his eyes wide and saw distorted faces in front of him.
He was startled and subconsciously shrank back...
~~
Shi Tianze raised the jade and amethyst telescope given to him by Ahema, looked at the battle situation, and shook his head.
He turned to Zhang Hongfan who was standing behind him, sighed, and said, "See? This is the result of your persuading me not to be 'hesitant'."
Zhang Hongfan bowed and said: "Commander Shi is right to worry. If we attack Li Xia by force, we will indeed suffer heavy losses. I am willing to lead the troops in person and climb to the top of the city first."
He didn't think his proposal was wrong.
A strong attack will inevitably cause heavy casualties, but how can there be no war without casualties?
Even if the soldiers are injured or killed, they can fight again. If the opportunity to kill Li Xia is missed, it will never happen again.
And Shi Tianze's strategy may not be wrong. There is never right or wrong in the battlefield, only the winner and the loser.
At this time, facing Zhang Hongfan's invitation to fight, Shi Tianze nodded slowly.
He had no intention of sending Shi Ji or Shi Ge to take credit.
This battle seems simple, but Shi Tianze doesn't think that Li Xia will fail so easily, so why not let Zhang Hongfan take the credit?
Presumably there were still many ambushes along the way from the Yellow River to the foot of Hancheng City.
Zhang Hongfan originally sent out only ordinary soldiers under his command. At this time, after receiving orders from Shi Tianze, he began to lead his elite troops to prepare to attack the city.
He calculated this timing well.
Sure enough, as soon as the horn sounded, Zhang Hongfan's flag moved forward. Seeing that Zhang Hongfan wanted to steal the credit, several nearby princes' troops also attacked with all their strength.
…
When Ge Shun heard the trumpet, he turned around and saw his general leading troops to support him. His morale was greatly boosted.
At this time, the fire in the trench ahead had gradually extinguished.
The Mongolian soldiers began to shovel snow into the trench, covered the burnt corpses, laid wooden planks, and began to climb the city despite the rain of arrows from the Song army.
However, Ge Shun had already thought carefully and did not rush to the front stupidly, but let the Minzhuang and Xukou die first.
No one knows how many more trees and rocks were smashed down from the top of the city. When corpses were piled up layer after layer, Zhang Hongfan's elite soldiers finally reached the bottom of the city.
Ge Shun could no longer avoid it, so he bit his sword and climbed up the ladder.
This time, he was lucky beyond his expectation. The trees and rocks that were being pushed down did not hit him, the ladder was not pushed away, and the golden juice was not splashed on him.
Amidst the screams of his comrades around him, Ge Shun jumped onto the top of the city.
He was not the first to climb up, but he was determined to be the first to capture the city...
There were really few Song troops on the city wall.
It was much less than expected, and even the battlements were not full.
The big bamboo pole was already more than thirty steps in front of him...
~~
Zhang Hongfan was rushing to the bottom of the city. He looked up and saw that his soldiers were climbing the city wall with all their strength one by one.
He was a little surprised that it was going so smoothly.
But it is foreseeable that this small city, which is only garrisoned by thousands of people, cannot withstand the daily offensive.
No matter how many people die, he will take them down...
~~
Ge Shun saw Li Xia, who was wearing armor under the banner, surrounded by the Song army.
Li Xia did not turn around to look at Ge Shun, but was looking ahead seriously, raising his hand as if commanding something.
"Let's order it, order it all at once."
Ge Shun rushed forward fiercely.
At this moment, he was really close to his achievement.
As long as he breaks through those layers of Song troops and kills Li Xia, he will not only repay General Zhang's great kindness, but also be granted a title and be rich for generations to come.
"Kill!"
"puff"
A column of Song soldiers rushed forward with their spears and mercilessly stabbed Ge Shun through.
It seemed like they were distracted just now, but when they regained consciousness they easily pushed him down the wall.
At the moment when he fell off the city wall, Ge Shun suddenly heard a loud sound of the earth shaking and the mountains shaking.
This sound is not artillery.
He was already familiar with the Song army's artillery, and this time it was louder.
Blood spattered from Ge Shun's chest, and he turned his head and looked towards the Yellow River.
The river has long turned into a glacier, and standing on the glacier are densely packed Mongolian troops, covered in wind and snow, boundless.
The spectacular scene of the army arraying inspired him and gave him great confidence that the Mongolian army would win.
However, just upstream, the ice was bursting.
"boom!"
Countless fine lines appear instantly.
It was like a huge dragon hiding under the Yellow River. It was about to turn over and overturn the entire continuous glacier.
"boom!"
Ge Shunru was in his dream and tried to open his eyes wide to see what was happening.
It was as if he could see the giant dragon rising from the Yellow River the next moment.
"Peng!"
But the next moment, his body was smashed under the city wall and smashed to pieces...