I thought for a moment and said, "Okay. Just give the Fancheng defenders another week. Junshi immediately sent an order to the Xiangyang Military Region. The time I gave them is to hold on until the 23rd at the end of this month. Of course. If The defenders of Fancheng have the ability to kill many enemies while preserving themselves. They can also extend the time to retreat to the inner city."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Junshi. Your Military Academy once again reiterated to the frontline military districts the mission of the first phase of the war. That is to rely on the city to eliminate a large number of enemy troops. At the same time, it is also necessary to protect our soldiers and avoid unnecessary casualties. This point Just like the battle outside Fancheng, the number of Mongolian soldiers twice as many as ours was eliminated at a relatively small cost."
"Yes. I obey your order." Lu Xiufu stood up and saluted. "Your Majesty, I take my leave."
The Mongolian soldiers who besieged the outer city of Fan City, under the command of Ali Hague and Kong Yuan, launched attacks one after another. As the damage to the outer city wall intensified, the Song Army officers and soldiers on the defensive side felt more and more strenuous. Niu Fu, Fan The three members of Tianshun, Wang Fu and City Lord Fan devoted themselves almost whole-heartedly to the defense of the outer city.
At 19:00 on April 19 (7 am), when the Mongolian trebuchet roared again, dozens of members of the death squads fought hard. Under the leadership of Yantai Hezong, the head of the 100th household, they finally opened a gap and boarded the Guarding this section of the city tower is the 228th Battalion of the 46th Army of the 17th Wing of the Xiangyang Military Region. As soon as he saw the Mongolian soldiers boarding the tower, the battalion commander Wei Guohu immediately led a military force of a capital (a capital of 100 people) Step forward to meet the enemy.
This group of Mongolian death squads was extremely ferocious. They were armed with Mongolian scimitars. All of them were skilled in swordsmanship. They engaged in fierce close combat with the Song soldiers who rushed up. Yantai Hezong, the head of a hundred households, was tall and powerful, with both hands horizontally. Holding an extremely rare iron caltrop bone, he smashed or rinsed it. Once the weapons of the Song army touched it, they were knocked out immediately.
The caltrop bone is equipped with a handle on one end and an oblong end with iron thorns on it. It is an improved version of the war hammer. That is, many sharp spikes are added to the hammer head, and it becomes the caltrop bone, a Qimen weapon. This This rare foreign eight-door weapon requires a person with great strength to use it, so it is not common in the military. According to legend, the only famous person in history who used iron caltrops as weapons was the leader of the ethnic minority in Wuling County during the Three Kingdoms period (i.e., the Romance of the Three Kingdoms) The King of Wuxi Fan) Samoko is gone.
The Mongolian soldiers who climbed up the city tower closely followed Yantai Hezong, intending to hold on to this hard-won gap so that subsequent reinforcements could climb up from here.
The Song army guarding the city naturally knew that if the enemy was not driven off as soon as possible, the consequences would be disastrous. As the top general guarding this section of the city wall, Wei Guohu roared angrily, held up his spear, and attacked Yan Zong. The two of them were at the wall in an instant. They fought together. Although Yantai Hezong's moves were heavy and fierce, Wei Guohu was not a vegetarian. He swung the spear in his hand up and down dexterously, and he was able to block Yantai Hezong for a while.
About seven or eight minutes later, when the thirty Mongolian soldiers who first climbed up the tower were all killed, more than a hundred Mongolian soldiers climbed up from the gap one after another. With the addition of these more than one hundred Mongolian soldiers. The Song army in front of the gap immediately fell into a hard fight.
When Wei Guohu saw this, he became very anxious. In addition, his martial arts skills were slightly inferior to that of Yantai Hezong. In desperation, his marksmanship was messed up and several flaws were exposed. An experienced opponent seized the opportunity and "swept the entire army with one move" "It hit the spear in the tiger's palm of Wei State.
Under the collision, Wei Guohu was immediately shocked to the point where his blood was boiling. His hands were connected to his shoulders and they were numb. A mouthful of blood spurted out immediately. Yantai Hezong was unreasonable and used his backhand with another move "White Snake Upper Body". He just heard With the sound of howling wind, Dejun Guduo slashed at him viciously. At this time, Wei Guohu was unable to fight back. The surrounding soldiers could not distinguish themselves to save him. Even if he had the intention, he would not have the ability to attack him from Yantai. He rescued his battalion commander from He Zong's sword.
At this moment, Wei Guohu moved.
To the surprise of Yantai Hezong, Wei Guohu did not offer any form of resistance. Instead, he suddenly dropped the spear in his hand and rushed forward alone. He hugged his opponent with lightning speed and rushed towards the city with all his strength. The gap in his head had long been smoothed by rocks. Unprepared, the two of them fell off the tower together.
From Wei Guohu abandoning his gun to falling off the tower, this series of movements was only between lightning and flint.
The sudden change stunned the soldiers on both sides.
The first person to react was the commander of the Song Army. He just heard him shout loudly: "Brothers, avenge the commander." Wei Guohu's heroic actions immediately infected all the Song Army officers and soldiers present. Everyone worked hard and fought without regard for their own safety. Fight with the Mongolian soldiers.
At this moment, although more and more Mongolian soldiers were climbing up, the 200 soldiers of the Black Carbon Regiment arrived in time under the leadership of General Wang Fu. As the most elite unit of the Xiangyang Military Region, the Black Carbon Regiment's combat effectiveness It was no small matter. In addition, they had an advantage in numbers. Three strikes and five divided by two quickly drove down or slaughtered all the Mongolian soldiers who had climbed onto the tower.
The soldiers of the 228th Battalion immediately came to the city tower and looked down. They saw more than 20 meters away from the city wall. Yantai Hezong was carrying Wei Guohu and walking towards the Mongolian army that was plundering the formation.
"General Wei is still alive."
The wall outside Fancheng was not very high, and there were many corpses of Mongolian soldiers at the bottom of the wall. Wei Guohu and Yantai Hezong happened to hit one of the corpses when they fell, so their lives were not in danger. He was only temporarily unconscious. After the strong-bodied Yantai Hezong was woken up by the Mongolian soldiers, he saw that Wei Guohu beside him was still breathing, so he carried him on his body and stepped back.
Yantai Hezong was rude on the outside, but he was very thoughtful. Although the siege failed, he captured a general of the Song army. He was the only enemy general captured alive since the attack on Fancheng. He can be accounted for.
However, the Song army could not judge Wei Guohu's life or death, let alone rescue him.
With his eyes fixed on the front, the deputy commander of the Seventeenth Wing Wang Fudao said: "No matter whether Commander Wei is dead or alive, he is the hero of our Seventeenth Wing. He is the hero of our Xiangyang Army. He is also the hero of our Song Dynasty Army. ." After saying that, facing the direction of Wei Guohu, Wang Fu solemnly saluted a military salute.
Although the two hundred soldiers of the Black Tan Regiment were arrogant and had always looked down on the soldiers of other fraternal armies, they were impressed by Wei Guohu's heroic deeds. They followed General Wang Fu in the direction of Wei Guohu's departure and saluted in unison. Tribute to the heroes.
The intensity of the battle that day was the most intense since the Mongolian army attacked Xiangfan. It took more than two hours before the soldiers on the city heard the Mongolian army's order to retreat.
Looking at the traumatized walls of the outer city, Wang Fu said worriedly: "If Ali Hague continues to launch several such violent attacks, I wonder if the outer city can still hold on until the end of the month."
Fan Tianshun also said with a serious face: "Our army is having a hard time. The Mongols are also having a hard time. According to their military strength, Ali Hague has already used at least 70% of its troops in today's battle. In two or three days, the Mongolian army will once All the troops were used. That was the real war."
"Yes. But, our army finally killed and injured nearly 10,000 Mongolian soldiers in the outer city. We completed the task assigned to us by the court." Niu Fu smiled and said. "General Fan, General Wang. I guess. The court It’s time for the instructions to arrive.”
On April 22, Lu Wenhuan and counselor Lu Shimeng of the Xiangyang Military Region came to Fancheng again.
After a brief exchange of greetings, Lu Wenhuan said: "Three generals, the order from the Military Affairs Council has arrived. Master Meng read."
"Yes." Lu Shimeng took out the military order from his arms and read. "Generals of the Xiangyang Military Region, the war on the outskirts of Fancheng has been discussed by the Military Council and approved by the emperor. Fancheng soldiers can retreat to the inner city as early as April 23rd. Defense. If you have the ability to continue, you can postpone the retracement until the end of the month."
"The 23rd is tomorrow." Fan Tianshun said.
Lu Wenhuan said: "Yes. It will be tomorrow. The three generals. Your Majesty is very satisfied with the battle outside Fancheng. He emphasized again that the first task of our army is to kill and injure the enemy as much as possible while preserving ourselves."
"Yes. Lu Shuai. I will finally understand."
"Well, let's discuss the battle outside Fancheng together. You three, what do you think? When will we withdraw our troops?"
Fan Tianshun first expressed his position: "Commander Lu, in my opinion, it is better to hold on until the end of the month. In the past half a month, our army, relying on the walls of the outer city, killed and wounded nearly 10,000 Mongolian soldiers. The effect is still very good. Obviously. According to our estimation, Ali Hague will launch a more violent attack tomorrow and the next day. This also creates favorable conditions for us to severely damage the enemy."
"Is there any danger?" Lu Wenhuan asked with some worry. "For example, if the Mongolian army takes advantage of the situation and breaks through, it will force our army to fight outside the inner city."
Wang Fuyan said: "Shuai Lu, this possibility is not impossible. If the Mongolian army is allowed to climb the city tower and our army is unable to withdraw to the inner city for a while, the situation that Shuai Lu said may occur. Between the outer city and the inner city We will engage in street fighting with the Mongolian army. However, I think General Fan is right. Since we have this opportunity, our army should give it a try."
Lu Wenhuan said: "We must avoid this situation. Such an outcome is difficult to predict. If something goes wrong, the inner city may also be lost."
Niu Fu said: "Our Fancheng garrison has a total of more than 17,000 people. In addition to the killed and seriously injured soldiers, including the lightly injured and militiamen, there are still 13,000 to 4,000 people. Currently, all of them are stationed in the outer city. If you are outside There is no way to retreat to the inner city before the city falls. Then there is the risk of the entire army being annihilated. The general thought it was better to hold on until the 23rd. There is no need to take this risk."
Just when Lu Wenhuan was hesitant, Lu Shimeng, who had been listening, suddenly asked: "Three generals, do you have fierce fire oil in Fancheng?"