As soon as the Mongolian cavalry archers stopped shooting, more than 3,000 Xiangyang troops hiding in the bunkers immediately emerged and blocked the Mongolian soldiers from ascending the city. Most of the soldiers in the Xiangyang Military Region were experienced veterans. For the defense of the city, They were well prepared. More than 20 soldiers took turns pouring pots of boiling oil and water from the city gate. The Mongolian soldiers next to the car were splashed so hard that they screamed. Then dozens of strong men appeared and threw them downwards. Huge boulders were thrown out one after another, smashing the ram chariot out of use. At other places on the city wall, some of the defenders used sticks and steel forks to overturn one ladder after another. Some threw stones and rolled logs to smash them. They attacked the enemy troops who were climbing the city. They never let the Mongolian troops climb even half a step onto the city tower.
Countless Mongolian soldiers fell from the ladder. The soldiers behind them followed closely as if desperate. Occasionally, one or two gaps were opened. However, the Fancheng defenders concentrated their superior forces to make up for it. Fan Tianshun led a hundred personal guards. Patrolling back and forth on the city wall, if there is any danger, rush there.
Round after round of attacks, round after round of defense, the attacks and defenses on both sides became more and more intense. It was not until an hour and a half later that the Mongolian army retreated at the signal of General Ali Hague.
When the Mongolian army withdrew from the sight of the Fancheng soldiers, Fan Tianshun shouted excitedly: "We have won. The reserve team has cleaned up the battlefield."
The outer perimeter of Fancheng is far less solid than Xiangyang City. Under the repeated bombardment of two hundred Mongolian trebuchets in recent days, the damage was extremely extensive. It cannot be repaired in time like the east wall of Xiangyang City. In recent days, Fancheng garrison commander Niu Fu, Fan Tianshun, and Wang Fu personally directed the battle in the outer city. Although they killed countless enemy troops, the city wall was riddled with holes. Although the civil defense team members and the people worked overtime to repair it, they still could not keep up with the rate of destruction. Helplessly Next. Niu Fu and others had no choice but to send the urgent battle report to the Xiangyang Commander's Mansion.
On April 9, Lu Wenhuan, deputy commander of the Xiangyang Military Region, led 500 soldiers of the Black Carbon Regiment to Fancheng. After listening to Niu Fu and Wang Fu's reports at the headquarters, Lu Wenhuan followed Niu Fu to the outer city for inspection.
"See Lu Shuai."
"General Fan, thank you for your hard work."
Fan Tianshun, who was on duty in the outer city, pointed to the surrounding city walls and said: "Shuai Lu, this area is the most severely damaged area. The enemy's trebuchets bombard us every day. It is very difficult to defend the outer city for a long time."
"General Niu, General Fan, and the commander-in-chief have sent the battle report on Fancheng to Lin'an. We will receive instructions from the Military Council in the near future. Two generals, what are the casualties in the past few days?"
Niu Fu said: "Go back to Commander Lu. More than 600 of our soldiers were killed and more than 2,000 were injured. The enemy's casualties were at least double ours."
"Okay, you two. How long do you expect this outer city to be able to hold on?"
Niu Fu and Fan Tianshun looked at each other and said, "It should be okay to stick to it until the end of the month."
Lu Wenhuan nodded and said: "In the original plan, His Majesty said that if it is difficult to hold on to the outside of Fan City, we can give up. As long as our army can destroy more enemies, it doesn't matter if we don't need one city or one place. General Niu, General Fan. Regarding the outer city We will wait until we receive His Majesty's instructions before making a decision. Before that, you must kill as many enemy troops as possible while reducing our military casualties. This is the most important task of our military in the early stages of the war."
"Yes. Lu Shuai. I will finally understand."
Lu Wenhuan said: "The Battle of Xiangyang has been going on for some time, and the real battle will only take place in the next month or two. At present, the Mongolian army has invested more than 100,000 troops in the Xiangfan area. At the end of last month, Xia Gui The general led two troops from the Jianghuai Military Region to Suizhou. According to the latest news, the other two reorganized brigades of the Second Division of the Yulin Army have also set off from Lin'an. They will arrive in Yingzhou in the next few days. The coming May will be a A month worth looking forward to.”
The generals of the Xiangyang Military Region are very convinced of Deputy Commander Lu Wenhuan's strategy. Lu Wende's power, Lu Wenhuan's strategy, and Lu Wenxin's courage are the strengths of the three brothers of the Lu family. Among them, Lu Wenhuan is known for his resourcefulness. The analysis of the current battle situation. Naturally. It won't be aimless.
Niu Fudao: "Shuai Lu, that means our army's anti-encirclement plan will be implemented soon."
Lu Wenhuan whispered: "Well, two generals. Half of the Yulin Army has arrived. It means that Your Majesty will be visiting Xiangfan in person soon."
"Ah." Niu Fu and Fan Tianshun said in surprise at the same time.
"Haha. You two, just listen. It is not allowed to be shared for the time being."
"The general will finally understand." For a general like Niu Fu, of course he would not know about the imperial commander's personal expedition.
"Okay. Return to the headquarters first."
"Yes. Lu Shuai."
As soon as everyone returned to the headquarters, they heard Wang Fuda, the deputy commander of the 17th Wing, say: "Shuai Lu, the marshal has an order for you to return to Xiangyang immediately."
"General Wang, what's the matter?" Lu Wenhuan said with a slight frown.
"Lü Shuai. Thousands of Mongolian cavalry appeared on the road from Xiangyang to Yingzhou. The direction of advance seems to be Yingzhou. Judging from the flag, it is the cowardly Xue army."
"Qie Xue. Is the coach Boyan?"
"What is displayed on the general's flag is Boyan."
"What's the purpose of Qianqian Xue?" Lu Wenhuan seemed to be talking to himself.
Fan Tianshun said: "Commander Lu, with these thousands of timid troops, it seems unlikely that he will attack the city. Perhaps he is testing our Yingzhou defenses just like Suodu's troops did back then."
"Well, it's very possible. Three generals. I'll return to Xiangyang first. I'll leave it to you here. Also, the five hundred Black Carbon Regiment soldiers I brought will stay with you."
Niu Fu and others said happily: "Don't worry, Commander Lu. I'm here in Fancheng."
Nearly five thousand Qixue troops, led by Boyan, marched in the direction of Yingzhou in a swaggering manner. Boyan was not worried at all about the Qie Xue troops he had trained with his own hands. The officers and soldiers of the Qie Xue troops were only one in a thousand. Their quality and talent are beyond ordinary soldiers. Coupled with almost cruel training, they can achieve such achievements. On the open road, this proud and timid Xue army is eager for the Song army to attack so that they can have a good time.
After Boyan took office, he expanded the original 10,000 Qixue troops to 50,000. After several years of rigorous training and selection, 29,000 qualified candidates were left.
The Qiexue Army originated from Genghis Khan. It is one of the most important troops of Genghis Khan. It is usually stationed around Genghis Khan's Great Or'er (tent hall). It is divided into four squads. They take turns to guard every three days; in wartime, they go out with Genghis Khan. The Xue Army is composed of three teams: the Suwei, the Bodyguard, and the Environmental Guard. Each team has a captain. They are all under the command of Commander Qi Xue. The Qi Xue Army is the same as other Mongolian armies. The smallest organization is the Hundred-Man Team, and above it is the Thousand-Man Team. Above that is the Thousand-Man Team. It was an army of ten thousand people. In the later years of Genghis Khan, the number of the Qixue Army once reached 120,000. Later, successive Mongolian Khans made clear regulations on the number and treatment of the Qixue Army. Regarding the number of Qixue Army, generally It is controlled between 10,000 and 30,000. The treatment of ordinary soldiers will not be lower than that of a hundred or even a thousand households of conventional troops. With the improvement of the treatment of the soldiers of the Qixue Army, it is not so easy to feed a hundred thousand Qixue Army. thing.
Huaidu is similar to Qie Xuejun. His position is only a captain of Qianhu, the commander of the guards. But he can be on an equal footing with the commanders and envoys under A Shu. Moreover, many outstanding generals such as Aqihan and Huqi are like It came from Qixue's army. It shows Qixue's status in the Mongolian army.
After passing Longweizhou, passing through the eastern part of Yicheng County (the county seat is located to the west of the Han River), and then heading south for about two and a half hours, Huaidu said: "General Boyan, further ahead is the city of Yingzhou. "
"Yes. Order all the soldiers to rest where they are. Pay a visit to General Ziri. Map."
Yezhili. The Mongolian Qixue Army's Environmental Guards are in charge of thousands of households.
Huaidu pointed to the map and said: "General, Yingzhou City has three gates. According to the intelligence obtained by our army, the east gate is garrisoned by a corps from the third wing of Lin'an Military Region of the Song Army and part of the Royal Forest Army. The southwest gate It is garrisoned by the navy of the Southern Dynasties. The northwest side is garrisoned by four other armies in the third wing. Its defense line is at Tanjiawan Village, about two miles outside the city gate. The total strength of the Song Army in the entire Yingzhou City is about 20,000. People around."
"Okay. Let's go to Tanjiawan first and visit Ye Zhili. We will set off in a quarter of an hour."
Tanjiawan Village is located in the northwest of Yingzhou. It is the only way to enter Yingzhou City from the north. Because of its dangerous terrain, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack. After Wang Anjie led the soldiers from the third wing of the Lin'an Military Region to Yingzhou, they moved to Tanjiawan. The village was converted into a barracks. It serves as the main defensive area to the north of Yingzhou City. It is also called the West Camp by the Yingzhou garrison. The headquarters of Wu Songhan, the commander of the third wing, is located here.
Wu Songhan, who had already received the news, stood at the gate of the stronghold. The main generals of the armies stood around him. After a while, only the neighing of war horses was heard. Then countless smoke and dust were seen flying in the air. Thousands of cavalry troops were seen. Like a gust of wind, they arrived in front of the Tanjiawan Village. The entire team formed a tight formation. It was hard to imagine that this was a large group of cavalry after a long journey.
Wu Songhan and others looked down. They saw one of the generals in front. He had a white horse and a silver helmet. He was holding a painted halberd from Fang Tian. He looked majestic and majestic. If he replaced his mount with a red rabbit and a horse, he would look like a real person. The Rebirth of Lu Bu in the Three Kingdoms.
"The general will be named." Wu Song shouted loudly with anger.
"That's Boyan, the deputy marshal of the Great Yuan Zhengnan." Boyan reined in the reins and asked, "Which general of the Southern Dynasty is above."
"Commander of the Third Wing of Lin'an Military Region Wu Songhan."
"It turns out to be General Wu. General Wu comes from the Wu family, one of the three most famous martial arts families in the Southern Dynasties. No wonder he is so energetic. He has been admired for a long time."
Wu Songhan knew that Boyan's skills were superior to those of the Tianya God. He hummed: "General Boyan, you have entered our territory without any reason. You are actually an unjust master."
Boyan smiled. He was not worried. He raised his Dantian and said loudly: "General Wu. Boyan heard that the general knows the general situation and knows the current affairs. Now our Yuan Dynasty is prosperous. General, why don't you work with Boyan to protect the Ming Dynasty."
"If you don't agree with each other, don't conspire against each other. General Boyan, Wu Jing, you are a good man. Stop talking nonsense. If you want to fight, then fight."
"Okay, General Wu. I heard that your Wu family has great martial arts skills. Do you dare to go out of the stronghold and fight Boyan?"