After the Yuan army captured the outer city of Fancheng, Ah Shu promptly filled the vacancies in Ali's Hague headquarters. Together with the 5,000 new reinforcements, the number of Yuan army officers and soldiers who besieged Fancheng reached 35,000. They were the defenders of Fancheng. Double of.
Under the cover of more than 2,000 Mongolian archers, about 6,500 Yuan Army soldiers, under the command of Kong Yuan, the commander of the southern capital, launched a fierce attack on the north gate of Fancheng. Although the Song Army archers guarding the city He fought back hard, but his speed and accuracy were slightly inferior to those of the enemy shooters. It didn't take long before he was suppressed by the opponent's hail of arrows.
When the leading troops of the Yuan army attacked the city, the trebuchet stopped firing and retreated more than a hundred steps. The accuracy of the trebuchet was very low. It was difficult to ensure that the stones would not hit your own military formation. But it is within the range of the opponent's artillery. You can only retreat.
At the same time, the archers of the Yuan army also slowed down the speed of firing arrows. Except for about 500 sharp archers who continued to shoot, most of the archers stopped shooting. If they are not skilled enough, it is easy to accidentally injure their own soldiers. Even if He was a marksman, so he became cautious. After all, the former soldier was already close to the city wall. If he didn't make a good shot, he would most likely shoot his companions.
The commander of the 19th Wing, Fan Tianshun, the commander of the North Gate garrison who was hiding in the bunker, shook the dust off his body and ordered: "Soldiers, prepare to fight."
Facing the Yuan army's siege ladder, the defenders responded with arrows, rolling logs, rocks, and boiling water. The Yuan soldiers who climbed up the ladder held a shield in one hand and waved a flying hook or sword in the other hand toward the edge of the city wall. The flying hook is a weapon that fastens an iron hook to a rope and is used for siege. Its history as a siege weapon is almost as long as its own history.
The tenacious soldiers of the Yuan Dynasty persevered. One group fell, and another group rushed forward.
Kong Yuan, who was supervising the battle, calmly ordered: "Five hundred sharpshooters listen to the order. Move forward thirty steps and continue shooting. Archers from the first to fourth teams of the archery battalion board the siege tower. The rest stay in place. One is rotated every moment." batch."
Siege towers and ladders are both auxiliary equipment during sieges. Their height is close to the height of ordinary city walls. Long-range shooters can stand on them to shoot. As tall as Xiangyang city walls, siege towers have no effect. But for relatively low Compared with the short city wall of Fancheng, it has great potential.
Nearly three hundred archers boarded more than a dozen simple siege towers and fired flatly at the north wall of Fancheng. The feathered arrows shot flatly matched with the feathered arrows thrown by the sharpshooters. A shower of arrows was seen. It accurately landed on the city wall of the north gate. Many of the soldiers guarding the city fell to the ground. The rest of the soldiers had to keep waving their weapons and shooting arrows. As a result, the Yuan army climbed at a much faster speed. accelerate.
Finally, a centurion stormed the city wall. Although this man was not tall, he was extremely strong. His stature was comparable to that of Niu Fu, the defender of Fancheng. The centurion waved the specially made flying hook in his hand. He swept away the approaching Song army and took advantage of this opportunity. Following him, another Yuan army climbed up one after another.
Guarding this section of the city wall was none other than the 228th Battalion of the Forty-sixth Army. The newly appointed battalion commander asked Wei Guohu's younger brother Wei Guozhong to quickly organize a team to counterattack. Although Wei Guozhong's martial arts skills were not as good as those of Wei Guohu, he was quite clever. Wei Guozhong was seen walking from his side. A soldier took a sword in his hand. Then he suddenly fell to the ground and rolled towards the centurion of the Yuan army. The centurion waved his flying hook. No one could approach within three meters, but he could not protect the lower three roads. Being rushed by Wei Guozhong, he was immediately in a panic. The surrounding Song troops hurriedly approached and started fighting with him at close range.
Wei Guozhong did not bother. He rolled directly to the city wall. He rose up bravely and ignored the enemies behind him. He slashed forward with several swords and killed the Yuan army who was climbing the city. Then he pushed the ladder outward with all his strength.
The archers on the siege tower who had stopped shooting here had no choice but to shoot arrows in the direction of Wei Guozhong, regardless of whether they would hit their companions. Wei Guozhong used both arms to shoot. The ladder was pushed away, but it could not avoid the Yuan army's arrows. He was hit by five or six arrows in a row and fell to the edge of the city.
A small team of the Black Carbon Regiment who was patrolling around saw the danger here. They hurriedly swarmed up. Together with the soldiers of the 228th Battalion who were fighting fiercely with the Yuan army, they took the Mongolian centurion and more than a dozen Yuan soldiers who had climbed up. The soldiers killed him.
The soldiers of the Black Carbon Regiment lifted Wei Guozhong up and evacuated him to a bunker behind the city wall. They removed the armor from his body. The health workers of the 228th Battalion quickly looked at Wei Guozhong's wounds because one of the arrows entered too deep. It was near the heart again. Naturally, I didn’t dare to pull out the feathered arrow. The health worker took out cotton balls and medical alcohol. After disinfecting and stopping the bleeding, he wrapped it with medical gauze and ordered the team defense members on the side to quickly send Wei Guozhong to the battlefield in the city. Hospital.
Kong Yuan, who was standing on a siege tower, saw that the Song army on the city wall was completely suppressed by his own archers. He said to the messenger on the side: "Send the order. The second team comes up. Replace the first team."
At this time, Military District Establishment Commander Lu Wende personally led the First Brigade of the Independent Division across the pontoon bridge connecting Xiangfan and entered Fancheng.
Niu Fu, who was guarding Fancheng in the city, hurriedly came up to him and said, "I have seen the commander-in-chief."
"Well, General Niu. How's the war going?"
"Return to the commander-in-chief. Early this morning, the Mongols launched an attack from the north gate and the west gate at the same time. The fighting at the north gate is currently the most intense. All the troops of the four armies of the 19th Wing of our army have gone to the city to defend. The last general is preparing to attack the last one. An army of troops was also sent to the north gate."
"No need." Lu Wende pointed to a young general next to him and said, "General Niu. This is General Li Long, the chief musketry instructor of the Royal Forest Army and commander of the independent division. He has been ordered by His Majesty to assist in the defense of Xiangfan. The independent division has two brigades of soldiers. The first brigade is responsible for assisting in the defense of Fancheng."
Niu Fu was overjoyed. He clasped his hands and said hurriedly: "I have seen General Li."
Li Long returned the courtesy and said, "I have met General Niu."
"Stop talking, General Niu. Go directly to the north gate."
"Yes. Marshal."
Half of the soldiers of the second team of the Yuan Army were Semu soldiers from the Western Regions. Their combat effectiveness was more powerful than the first team of the Han and Jin Dynasties. This round of attacks by the Yuan Army was even more fierce. The four armies of the Nineteenth Wing had nearly ten thousand soldiers. All the people have gone up to the city to defend themselves. Even Fan Tianshun and the main generals of the Nineteenth Chamber have devoted themselves to the forefront of the battle. The 400 Black Carbon Regiment soldiers at the north gate are divided into ten teams, patrolling each section. On the city wall, wherever there is danger, it appears there.
Under the command of Fan Tianshun, the Song army defending the city tenaciously withstood the Yuan army's attack. After repelling two consecutive attacks by the Yuan army, the casualty rate of the Fancheng defenders began to rise sharply. Fan Tianshun made a rough estimate. .To Fan Yong, the captain of the Guards: "Report quickly to General Niu and ask him to transfer the 51st Army as a reserve force."
"Yes. General."
As soon as Fan Yong ran down the city wall, he saw Niu Fu and a large number of soldiers wearing different military uniforms approaching quickly.
"See General Niu."
Niu Fu recognized that the dusty soldier in front of him was Fan Tianshun's personal guard: "Fan Yong, why are you in such a hurry?"
"General Niu. I came to find you on the orders of General Fan..."
Niu Fu interrupted: "It's about calling in reinforcements."
"Exactly."
"No need to go. Reinforcements have arrived. Go up and tell General Fan that the commander-in-chief has arrived."
Among the Xiangyang Army, only Lu Wende, the envoy of the Xiangyang Military Region, could be called a general.
After a while, Fan Tianshun came to the city wall. He cupped his fists and said, "I have seen the commander-in-chief."
"General Fan, there is no need to be polite in war." Lu Wende pointed to Li Long beside him and said. "This is Li Long, the commander of the independent division of the Royal Forest Army. The team behind them are the soldiers of the first brigade under General Li."
"General Lee."
Li Long nodded towards Fan Tianshun and said, "General Fan, the war is urgent. Let's go up and discuss it later."
"Okay, General Niu. You and the commander can rest here for a while. General Li and I will go up to the city wall first."
The 1,500 soldiers of the first brigade followed Fan Tianshun and Li Long up to the city wall. Li Long took a look around and saw rubble on the wall. Then he ordered: "Soldiers, look for a good shooting point immediately. Watch out for enemy bows and arrows."
Fan Tianshun looked at the situation outside the city and said to Li Long: "General Li, this should be the third round of attacks launched by the Mongols. However, the Yuan army must not have imagined that I, Fancheng, also have musketeers. This time you Ali Hague should be taught a lesson.”
"Don't worry, General Fan." Li Long nodded and said to Wu Xindao, the commander of the first brigade, "pass the order. The sword and shield men will cover to prevent the enemy's bows and arrows. The musketeers are ready to light fire. Fire according to the three-stage shooting method. In addition. Tell the sniper. Target. The enemy archer on the siege tower directly ahead."
"Yes. Master."
Following Li Long's order, more than a thousand musketeers took turns pulling the triggers. In an instant, deafening gunshots rang out on the city wall. Smoke dispersed. Hearing the gunshots from the muskets, Ali Hague suddenly felt his heart sink. A sudden feeling of fear arose spontaneously. Kong Yuan, who had withdrawn from the siege tower earlier, also cursed secretly: "There are also musketeers in his grandma's Fancheng."
Although the soldiers of the Independent Division are not as skilled in marksmanship as the soldiers of the Imperial Guard, their hit rate is quite high when shooting at close range.
There were two soldiers beside Li Long specially lighting the match rope for him. There was almost no pause. Every time he pulled the trigger, one of the Yuan troops on the opposite siege tower would fall. As the top marksman among the musketeers, he had no ammunition. It is no exaggeration to describe Li Long's marksmanship as a virtual one.
After a few rounds, all the Yuan Army archers on the siege tower were wiped out. "Sniper. Target. Yuan Army archers in the distance." Li Long ordered again. Although the sharpshooter a little further away hit the target in time. I hid behind the dilapidated house, but I could only hide. I couldn't continue shooting.
As for the soldiers of the Yuan Army who were attacking the city, they neither had the heavy shields of the Divine Forces nor faced muskets for the first time. They were at a loss for a while and fell to the ground one after another.