"It's too much to bully others." Atahai had never experienced such cowardice before. He laughed angrily and said, "Why don't you dare? Ignorant boy from the Southern Dynasties. Wait. Your grandfather Atahai will go out of the city to fight with you right now."
Mongolia has advocated offense since the time of Genghis Khan. After destroying the Jin Dynasty, it has become even more invincible. It has always forced the enemy to defend. And being forced to defend the city has almost never happened. Now it is better. It is completely reversed. Ata Hai also He was from a Mongolian aristocratic family. How could he endure Meng Tianxiang's provocation.
With one move of the spear, Atahai was about to leave the city to fight.
"Wait a minute." Zhang Hongfan stopped him. "General Atahai, this is not the time to act impulsively."
"General Zhang, why have you lost your courage? The other party will fight alone. Let me go and kill him."
"General Atahai. Remember, I am the one who guards Dengzhou." Zhang Hongfan said seriously without giving Atahai any face. "Meng Tianxiang is very powerful in martial arts. He is one of the best even among the generals of the Southern Dynasty. Although you and I We are not afraid of him. But when the enemy is strong and we are weak, and we have just been bombarded. If you and I are defeated, the morale of our army will be even worse. This is the purpose of Meng Tianxiang's challenge. Send the order, archers, let go of the arrows. "
Meng Tianxiang saw random arrows shooting down from the city wall. He hurriedly waved his spear. Suddenly, he saw clusters of gun shadows. The top was protecting his body, and the bottom was protecting his horse. The dense rain of arrows could not get close to him. Sometimes, Meng Tianxiang laughed. Said: "The Mongolian army is nothing more than that. Atahai, you are the same. It turns out that they are just bullies and afraid of the strong."
Atahai snorted. He reached out and took out a strong bow. He opened the bow and nocked an arrow. Then he shot at Meng Tianxiang at the foot of the city. Compared with ordinary archers, Atahai's skill was much higher. This The arrow is extremely fast and flies out.
Meng Tianxiang knew that this arrow was different from ordinary feathered arrows. He showed off his flaming spear skills and shook away the surrounding feathered arrows. He raised the tip of the spear and blocked the arrow shot by Atahai. Then he let out a long roar and turned his horse away. The Song troops in the distance shouted in unison: "The Mongolian army bullies the weak and is afraid of the strong. It shrinks its head. It bullies the weak and fears the strong. It shrinks its head."
The Mongolian soldiers on the city wall called for battle one after another: "General Zhang, let your subordinates go out of the city and charge for a while."
"Can you block the firearm?"
"This, this..." As soon as firearms were mentioned, the soldiers on the entire city wall were speechless. Everyone knew very well that if possible, they would not retreat to Dengzhou City.
At this time, Atahai calmed down: "The Southern Dynasty has withdrawn its troops."
"Yes. It's the same as the method used to attack the Lumen Mountain camp. It's just that the number of artillery in the Southern Dynasty is more than doubled." Zhang Hongfan watched the Song army leave without expression. Then he ordered: "Treat the wounded and repair the damaged city wall. .”
After dinner, I gave instructions on the memorial for a while. At about nine o'clock, Gongsun Xiaochen, Tian Xiuyan and Xu Sanquan returned to Shangying Village.
The three of them did not bother to eat. They just drank a bowl of water each. Gongsun Xiaochen reported to me: "Your Majesty, the last general and others left Shangying Village in the early morning. Under the leadership of Xu Baozheng, they headed to Nanyang. After a whole day of field investigation, Mo Jiang and others confirmed that there are two roads to go from Dengzhou to Nanyang. One is to go east through Lianhe Town. This road is slightly farther. At the speed of war horses. It takes nearly four hours. The other way is to cross the Baihe River through Wadian Town and then go north. Not counting the time to cross the river, it takes about two and a half hours. Both roads are very flat and surrounded by open areas, suitable for cavalry. A large-scale frontal operation. But there is nowhere to set up an ambush."
"Well, Xiaochen, after your on-site inspection, how do you think our army should pass through this section of the road?"
Gongsun Xiaochen said: "Your Majesty, the last general and General Tian discussed it on the road. They thought that we should go to Lianhe Town and advance in a step-by-step manner."
"Really? Be specific."
"Your Majesty, our army is mainly based on infantry. Naturally, it is not as fast as the cavalry. However, our army has the advantage of firearms, so it is suitable for positional warfare. After capturing Dengzhou City, our army will use Dengzhou as the starting point to advance towards Nanyang and dispatch along the road.
All scouts should keep abreast of the movements of the Yuan army in Nanyang. Once there is any sign of the Yuan Dynasty cavalry dispatching, our army will stop immediately.
Advance and build positions on the spot. The land from Dengzhou to Nanyang is soft and trenches are easy to dig. Only one or two large trenches can slow down the Mongolian cavalry's attack speed. Our army can arrange its formations leisurely.
We need to set up the artillery and set up the artillery. Even if the Mongolian cavalry attacks from all sides, as long as the artillery is set up, our army will be in an invincible position."
I thought about it and said: "It will take some time to capture Dengzhou. Let's all think about it carefully. Xiaochen, Xiuyan, Xu Sanquan. You go to eat first."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Under continuous bombardment, by the third day, the city wall of Dengzhou City was completely incomplete. Although the casualties of the defenders in the city were not large, all the Yuan army officers knew very well that one more day of bombardment would damage the area around the south gate.
The city wall will completely collapse. Once the cover of the city wall is lost, everything inside will be completely exposed to the range of the southern artillery.
"General Zhang, you are very resourceful. What should you do about the current situation?" Atahai said, standing on the city wall with a confused look on his face.
Zhang Hongfan looked grim. He watched nightfall coming little by little and said: "Follow the commander's instructions and try to delay as much time as possible. If we can't hold on, we will retreat to Nanyang first."
"Hey, that's all we can do." Atahai sighed and whispered, "General Zhang, in your opinion, how to deal with firearms."
Zhang Hongfan shook his head and said in a low voice: "To be honest, General Atahai, Zhang has no confidence at all. Unless, unless we also have firearms in our hands."
While the two were talking, it suddenly started to rain lightly.
"It's raining. General Zhang, please go back to the house."
Atahai saw that Zhang Hongfan didn't respond. He seemed to be thinking about something. Then he shouted again: "General Zhang."
"Ah, oh, it's raining," Zhang Hongfan said. "The Tianya Yin God once mentioned that a major weakness of the Southern Dynasty's firearms is that they are afraid of water. If the rain is heavier, their firearms will not be usable. Although this
It has not been confirmed. But I also agree with Yin Shenzun's point of view. There are no cavalry in Dengzhou City. Otherwise, we can take the initiative and give it a try."
Atahai said: "General Zhang, it only takes more than two hours from Dengzhou to Nanyang according to the speed of my horses. Why don't I go to the Nanyang camp and ask the commander to send troops."
"Okay." Zhang Hongfan thought for a while and said, "General Atahai, then you set off immediately. I estimate that the rain will be the heaviest in the early morning of tomorrow."
Atahai knew that Zhang Hongfan was knowledgeable and talented, and he also knew a little bit about astronomical phenomena. He said: "Although rainy days are also quite disadvantageous for our army, the Southern Dynasties cannot use firearms. So the starting point of both sides is the same."
"Yes. Once the firearms of the Southern Dynasty cannot be used, our army will have a chance. After all, our cavalry army is invincible." Thinking of the cavalry army facing off, Zhang Hongfan seemed to have regained some confidence.
The autumn rain brings a bit of coolness and a refreshing feeling.
After careful analysis and discussion, Gongsun Xiaochen and several officials from Qin Tianjian reported to me: "Your Majesty, the rain will probably stop tomorrow evening. It may rain heavily during this period. According to the inference of the general and others. The heaviest rain should occur between midnight today and the end of tomorrow morning (9 a.m.)."
"Well, Jiang Aiqing, please pass on my decree and order all gunpowder depots to strictly follow the rainy day regulations to prevent rain."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Tian Xiuyan said: "Your Majesty, if Shi Yuqi of Luzhou is related to the gun theft case, then the Mongols should know that our army's firearms cannot be used in rainy days. Maybe they will take the opportunity to launch an attack."
"It's possible." I nodded. "Dengzhou City is full of infantry troops. The number is smaller than our army. They will probably not be dispatched. Tian Xiuyan will send more scouts to expand the inspection range to the east of Dengzhou City. Be prepared for a sudden attack by Nanyang A'shu."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Wanyan Tianlei. Crete."
"The end will be here."
"The artillery battalion immediately set up simple houses. The first and second teams. The muzzles of the guns are facing the northeast. The target is fifty to eighty meters outside the camp. During heavy rain, the guns are completely unusable. But the artillery only needs to be fixed in position. There is an obstruction. It can still be fired. Although the accuracy is greatly reduced. It is no problem to scare the Yuan army."
"Yes. The last general honors your order."
"Your Majesty, it seems that tomorrow's bombardment plan will be postponed for a day." Yuan Ji sighed.
"Sir, this is good. It can make the Yuan army in Dengzhou live in fear for one more day." Fang Ling said with a smile.
"Haha. Not bad." Yuan Ji said with a smile.
About three hours later, Atahai arrived at the Yuan Army camp in Nanyang. Almost at the same time, Shi Yuqi, who was galloping all the way, also arrived in Nanyang.
After listening to the reports from Atahai and Shi Yuqi, Ashu said: "There are about 90,000 Southern Dynasty troops south of Dengzhou. Firearms cannot be used on rainy days. The Royal Forest Army can be excluded. In addition, there are four compartments of the Xiangyang Military Region. There are nearly 60,000 horses in half a compartment with Lin'an Military Region. Among them, the number of cavalry in the Southern Dynasties is only about 10,000. However, our army's Middle Route Army in Nanyang has more than 60,000 cavalry. It can actually fight against Boyan and Shi Jianjun. .What do you mean?"
"Commander Boyan believes that we can fight. Before we find a way to restrain the Southern Dynasty's firearms, our army will be unable to defend itself sooner or later by relying on defense alone. Since General Shi Bi has returned to our country, we should seize it The weakness of the Southern Dynasty's firearms. Strike hard. Boyan suggested that the entire army be dispatched. Zhang Hongfan was ordered to send troops at the same time. A full blow. Even if we encounter any unfavorable situation, our army can easily leave. The Southern Dynasty army has insufficient cavalry. Yes I won’t pursue you.”
Supervisor Shi Tianze also expressed his position: "Commander General Boyan's words are reasonable. Even if the outcome is unfavorable to our army, our army can advance and retreat freely."
Ah Shu said: "Okay then. Take action immediately."