Wu Songhan sneered and said: "General Boyan, Wu knows that you are a disciple of Tianya God Yin Tianya. With your martial arts, you are among the best among the Mongolian generals. But Wu may not be afraid of you. If you and I only He is a martial artist. Today Wu will definitely learn the general's skills. It's just a war between two countries. Wu doesn't dare to disobey the military order. He will go out of the city to fight with you."
Boyan said: "It is said that the soldiers of the Southern Dynasty only relied on the city and never dared to fight with our army in the field with real swords and guns. It seems true. Even a hero like General Wu can't shrink his head. Let alone others. .”
Regarding Boyan's humiliation without using curse words, Wu Songhan did not get angry but smiled and said: "General Boyan, as a soldier, can be called a hero only if he can win the war."
Boyan was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said: "Haha. General Wu's words are reasonable. But Boyan fell into the inferior position. Boyan has learned a lesson."
"I don't dare to be General Boyan. You have traveled thousands of miles to come to our country. The Song Dynasty is a country of etiquette. We pay attention to coming and not going back. Wu will give you an arrow." Wu Songhan said as he took out Chuanyun Bow, bending the bow and setting an arrow, said, "General Boyan, look at the arrow."
He had done research on Song generals and Boyan in the Xiangfan area. Naturally, he knew Wu Songhan's superb shooting skills. He did not dare to neglect it at the moment. He held Fang Tian's painted halberd with both hands and stared closely at the arrows shot by the opponent.
The feather arrow shot by Chuanyun Bow was extremely fast. In just a split second, it reached less than one meter away from Boyan's head.
Boyan suddenly shouted, "Open." With this sound, Fang Tian used his hands to draw an arc. The top of the halberd just touched the flying arrow. The halberd in Yan's hand weighed more than forty kilograms. Coupled with Boyan's deep internal strength, the two sides overlapped, and the arrow suddenly fell to the ground.
In the eyes of others, this arrow is extremely ordinary. Apart from its rapid speed, there is nothing fancy about it. Boyan's blow is also an understatement and looks equally ordinary. But both parties involved are very clear about it. The arrow Wu Songhan shot with all his strength was infused with the inner strength he had cultivated over the years. Coupled with the power of the Cloud-Piercing Bow, it was also shot from a high position, so it was very powerful. When the opponent shot the feather arrow, Boyan would The skill was all over his body, but this feather arrow actually broke through his self-defense Qi. In the end, he had to use the weapon in his hand to defeat it.
On the surface, the two were evenly matched. But Wu Songhan knew in his heart that he was still slightly inferior. The ability to maintain a tie was entirely due to the ability of the Cloud-piercing Bow and the advantage of the condescending environment. As Yin Tianya's disciple, Bo Yan also knew very well that although Wu Songhan's inner strength was slightly inferior to his own, coupled with the power of his strong bow, he was a worthy opponent.
"Excellent archery skills, General Wu. Boyan has accepted this gift. I will definitely return it in the future. See you later."
After saying that, Boyan turned the horse's head and drove away.
The military commander on the side, Zhao Wenyi, said: "General, the enemy only has four or five thousand people. Do you want to unite with the Imperial Forest Army at the east gate and defeat them?"
"No." The voice of Wang Anjie, the highest-ranking general in Yingzhou City, came from behind.
Wu Songhan looked back and said hurriedly: "See General Wang."
"See General Wang." Zhao Wenyi and other generals also hurriedly saluted.
"Hello, generals." Wang Anjie returned the greeting. "Bo Yan's Qixue army is all cavalry. There are four or five thousand people. Do you think our army's only 5,000 cavalry troops can fight against Qixue in the wild? Not to mention one-on-one, even two-on-one, our army will be at a disadvantage. Your Majesty has ordered that in the first stage of the Battle of Xiangfan, our army's task is mainly to destroy the enemy's effective forces, not to fight with the Mongolian army. Fight to the death."
Zhao Wenyi was unconvinced and said: "General Wang, are you going to watch Boyan come to Yingzhou to demonstrate like this?"
Wang Anjie smiled and said: "Haha. Don't worry, General Zhao. The Mongols won't last long. When I received the news about Boyan's invasion, I happened to also receive an express report from Commander Zhang Shijie of the Imperial Guard Army. The other two brigades of the Second Division of the Imperial Guard Army It has arrived at Ezhou in Hubei Province. It is estimated that it will arrive at Yingzhou within a few days. When our troops are deployed around Xiangyang, the anti-encirclement war will begin."
Wu Songhan said: "General Wang is right. Our Lin'an Army has been here for a while. Although we can only watch the brothers in the Xiangyang Military Region fighting bloody battles. Everyone is a little anxious. But once the anti-siege war starts. Naturally, I will have plenty of opportunities to fight the Mongolian army head-on in the third compartment. Are you afraid that there will be no battle then?"
"Well, General Wu. Since Boyan has retreated, I won't stay here any longer. I'll go to the east gate to have a look."
"Yes. General."
When Wang Anjie arrived at the east gate of Yingzhou City, Boyan led a group of cavalry who had just arrived at the city.
"Mr. Zhang. How is the situation?"
Zhang Shijie said slightly nervously: "General Wang is Boyan's cowardly Xue Jun."
"Well, Boyan Jun just came from Tanjiawan Village. I came from there too."
"So soon. General Wang. Is there a battle there?"
"Bo Yan didn't seem to be here to attack the city. After General Wu shot an arrow, he left."
The two of them had just exchanged a few words when Boyan, who was at the foot of the city, said, "General on the city, listen. This general is Boyan, the deputy marshal of the Great Yuan Zhengnan. Do you dare to fight with me?" Boyan The voice is loud and clear. It can be heard clearly both above and below the city.
"Bo Yan, if you have the ability, come and attack the city." Wang Anjie was not like Wu Songhan. He had internal strength. He could only answer with his own voice. The momentum was naturally much weaker.
Boyan sneered and shouted: "Soldiers of the Southern Dynasty, if you don't have a city to support you, you won't be able to fight."
The soldiers of the Yulin Army who had never fought against the Mongolian army, from Zhang Shijie to the ordinary soldiers, were furious. Seeing this, Wang Anjie hurriedly said: "Master Zhang, don't be angry. War is not about talking. All the soldiers listen Order. Wait calmly. The archers will prepare first. The rest and the soldiers of the Imperial Forest Army will hide in the bunker."
Although Zhang Shijie had never fought in a war, he had become familiar with the art of war in recent years. After arriving in Yingzhou City, he learned a lot about war from Wang Anjie. He soon returned to normal and said: "Thank you, General Wang, for reminding me. Yan wants to provoke our army to go out of the city to fight with him."
"Well, it's possible."
Boyan, who was under the city, saw that no one in the Song army answered. He waved his halberd and said, "Fire the arrow."
Five thousand timid Xue troops were divided into two groups. They took turns shooting a round of feather arrows. Thousands of black and numb feather arrows fell mercilessly on the east gate of Yingzhou City. Fortunately, the soldiers on the city were prepared. The moment Qie Xue fired, he hid in a bunker or under a shield. However, more than a hundred people were still slightly injured. Fortunately, no one was killed.
After a round of powerful shots, Boyan said to Huaidu beside him: "Retreat."
"General, won't you force out the firearms of the Imperial Guard?"
Boyan shook his head and said: "Unless we attack the city, it will be difficult to force the imperial army to use muskets. Although Yingzhou City is not big, it is built with rocks and is very difficult to attack. I am afraid that General Xue and his soldiers are treasures in the army. If it is consumed in the siege, then we have to stop trying. After all, Yingzhou is not as important as Xiangyang."
Huaidu said: "Yes. General."
Afterwards, Boyan led his army to continue southward until they stopped at the south gate of Yingzhou on the bank of the Han River. After watching carefully nearby, Boyan said: "There seems to be a fortress downstream of Yingzhou. Where is it?" land."
A scout said: "General, that is Huangjiawan Fort. There is a ditch to the west of the fort. It is several feet deep and wide. It leads to Teng Lake in the south."
Boyan listened and nodded: "Okay. Very good. Pass the order. Return to Lumen Mountain."
Ye Zhili said: "General, are you going back now?"
Boyan smiled and said, "Why? Ye Zhili. Could it be that he still wants to attack the city?"
"General, there is nothing to gain from this trip."
Boyan said: "Why not? First of all, the Song army in Yingzhou City did not dare to go out to fight. This has already lost morale. In addition, the most important thing is that this general has a plan to attack Yingzhou City."
Huaidu and Ye Zhili were both surprised and said, "General, you said before that Yingzhou City is difficult to attack. We will find a way soon."
Boyan nodded and said: "The land route is not possible. There is also a waterway. The scout just said that there is Huangjiawan Fort downstream of Yingzhou. There is a ditch to the west of the fort. It is several feet deep and wide. It leads to Teng Lake in the south. If there is heavy rain, the water level will definitely rise. . Then you can tug the boat into the lake, take a detour into the Han River, and then go to the south gate. The city wall around the south gate is low, making it easy to attack."
"The general's advice." He was able to come up with a way to attack the city in such a short period of time. No matter whether it was feasible or not, Huaidu and Ye Zhili were convinced.
In history, Boyan adopted the above method when he besieged Yingzhou. He first captured the Huangjiawan Fort, then sent troops to repair Pingjiang Weir, broke bamboos to make mats, and then towed the boat into the lake and entered the Han Dynasty in a roundabout way.
Although this idea was feasible, Boyan never thought at this time that he would never have the chance to come to Yingzhou again.
In the afternoon of April 16th, in Lin'an Palace.
I was sitting in the imperial study, drinking tea and listening to Lu Xiufu's report on the Battle of Fancheng.
"Your Majesty, General Lu Wende, the commander of the Xiangyang Military Region, has reported that in the past few days, under the bombardment of about two hundred Mongolian trebuchets, the outer walls of Fancheng have been seriously damaged. Please give your Majesty's instructions whether to give up as planned."
I did not answer directly. Instead, I asked: "What were the casualties on both sides in the Battle of Junshi and Fancheng?"
"Back to Your Majesty. Starting from April 2nd, the Mongols first launched artillery bombardments for several days. On April 6th, they officially launched an attack on Fancheng. In the following days, they launched attacks every day. As of noon on the 10th. On the 4th, In five days, our army lost a total of 794 soldiers and wounded more than 3,000. The casualties of Mongolian soldiers were at least twice that of our army. According to the estimates of Fancheng garrison Niu Fu and others, the proportion of Mongolian soldiers killed in battle was There will be far more troops than ours."
"Jun Shi, did Lu Wende say how long Fancheng's perimeter can be held?"
"Your Majesty has said in his battle report that we can hold on until the end of this month."