"Guo Kan. Guo Kan." I read it twice and laughed loudly. "This is the highest-ranking general of the Yuan Army that our army has captured alive since the Northern Expedition. General Meng and General Duan are indeed a great achievement. ."
Lu Wenhuan said: "Your Majesty, this is not only the highest general of the Mongolian army captured alive by our army since the Northern Expedition, but also since the Song-Mongolian War."
"Well, General Meng, General Duan, tell me what happened." I said excitedly.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
At half past midnight (four o'clock) in the afternoon, Boyan, the commander-in-chief of the Yuan army, saw heavy casualties. He had no choice but to issue an order to withdraw his troops. Guo Kan and Suodu led a thousand new army soldiers to break up the rear. The street fighting in Mingzhou City was very fierce. In the end, most of them fought independently. Meng Tianxiang and Duan Donglou, who were the first to rush into the city, after many twists and turns, only a few personal guards around them were able to get together. Coincidentally, the two of them arrived at the north gate of Mingzhou at the same time. At that time, the Yuan army was at the end of its siege. Although it completed the task of covering the evacuation of the army, Guo Kan and others were all scarred. They were divided and surrounded by the Song army. Guo Kan was extremely brave and wielded a spear in his palm. It was so close that the surrounding Song troops could not get close. The besieging Song troops all knew that this was an important general of the Yuan army, so they did not use firearms.
Meng Tianxiang and Duan Donglou came close and attacked together. Meng and Duan were so skilled in martial arts. Then Guo Kan was extremely exhausted. How could they be the enemy of the two of them together? They only lasted five days. , after six rounds, he was exhausted and captured.
The two of them finished talking about the process of capturing Guo Kan alive. After listening to the story, it was already midnight.
Except for the soldiers who were on duty at night, everyone in the Song army fell asleep after a tiring day. Although Mingzhou City was dilapidated and they lived in houses with few walls, it was still better than camping in the wild. a bit.
In the early morning, in some remote corners of Mingzhou City, groups of people wearing black night clothes emerged from the ground one after another. These black-clothed people came in groups of two or three. They carried wooden logs filled with burning oil in one hand. The barrel, with the flint in one hand, spread out under the cover of darkness.
The men in black were very familiar with the roads in the city. Some went straight to the wooden buildings, threw the wooden barrels in their hands towards the houses, and then ignited the flints; some came to the surroundings of the city walls and covered the ditches under the walls. The board was opened and the flint was thrown down.
After the battle, the tired Song army just cleaned up the battlefield and did not carefully search every place in the city. Therefore, they did not know that the ditch beside the city wall was filled with fire oil.
At first, the Song army and the patrolmen, who were awakened by the fire, thought it was accidentally caused by the night watchman. But not long after, fires broke out in various parts of the city. At the same time, the patrolling soldiers discovered many unexploded fires. The man in black had time to hide underground, and then he felt that something was wrong. Although the man in black was killed quickly, the fire was getting bigger and bigger.
"Fight the fire. Put out the fire." The dark night in Mingzhou City was awakened by the word "fire".
In the north at the end of June, the weather was very dry. Coupled with the fuel of fierce fire oil, the fire quickly spread in all directions.
Although they were all sleepy-eyed, the well-trained soldiers of the Song Army did not panic. Under the command of their respective superiors, they looked around for water sources. However, everyone soon discovered that there was actually quite little water source in the city. What was even worse Yes. There is a ditch along the inner wall of the city wall, and a fire is burning in the ditch. Obviously, the water in this large circle of ditch is not water, but fierce fire oil.
"It's exactly the same as burning the outer city of Fancheng." Lu Wenhuan quickly came to his senses after receiving the news.
"Well. Trojan horse plan. I didn't expect that there are still a few talented people in the Yuan army. Send an order to the generals. Don't panic." I was also awakened by the fire. I stood in front of the commander's mansion and said. "Isolate the source of the fire first and control it. The fire spreads. Put out the fire one by one."
Lu Wenhuan didn't know what the Trojan horse plan was. However, he couldn't think too much about it at this time. He immediately conveyed my instructions.
The Marshal's Mansion where I was located was the original Mingzhou County government office. It was built entirely of bricks, tiles, and bluestones. The surrounding area was originally inhabited by local gentry and tycoons. It was basically a brick and tile structure. However, there was no fire. However, it can be seen from the fire and smoke everywhere that the entire Mingzhou City was engulfed in fire.
After a while, Lu Wenhuan said: "Your Majesty, there is an acute shortage of water in the entire Mingzhou City. The fires in many places have been connected into large areas. The general has given orders. Except for the officers in charge of city defense, all other armies are involved in putting out the fire."
At this time, on a mountain peak about ten miles away from Mingzhou City, more than ten Yuan army generals were standing on the top of the mountain, looking south.
Ah Shu first said: "There is a fire in the city."
Ali Hague, who offered the plan, said excitedly: "This time, let's see how Zhao Yu escapes."
"Ali Hague. If we succeed tonight, you will be the first to succeed." Ah Shu also seemed quite happy.
Atahai, who was tied up and obviously injured, followed: "Burn it. Burn it. It's best to burn all these people from the Southern Dynasties to death. Haha." Atahai's laughter was loud, but full of laughter. Hatred, in this silent night, is like a roar from hell.
Seeing the fire getting bigger and bigger, Boyan said calmly: "General Azahan, General Zhang Hongfan."
"The end will be here."
"Be prepared. Wait until Mingzhou is burned. Attack immediately. To avenge General Guo Kan, General Huaidu and other soldiers."
"Yes, Marshal." The two of them saluted and walked down the mountain quickly.
Although the soldiers in the city tried their best to put out the fire, the fire was still getting bigger and bigger. Lu Wenhuan and Yuan Ji looked at each other and said: "Your Majesty, Concubine Ling, the fire in the south gate area is not big yet. Your Majesty and your Majesty, please leave the city for safety first. "
Yuan Ji also said: "That's right. Your Majesty, let's leave now." After saying that, without waiting for my consent, Yuan Ji ordered the personal guards to surround Fang Ling and me in the middle and go to the south gate.
Although few soldiers were burned to death, there were many injured soldiers seen along the way.
After a while, I arrived at the south gate of Mingzhou. Compared with standing here during the day, I actually felt like I was running away.
The situation at the south gate was not bad. There were basically no open fires on the left and right sides. The ditch had been filled with gravel by the soldiers guarding the city. I breathed a sigh of relief. At least, the communication with the outside of the city had not been blocked.
"Should we order the army to withdraw from Mingzhou?" I stopped at the south gate and thought to myself.
Yuan Ji saw me stopping and said, "Your Majesty, there is a lot of smoke in the city and the air is not good. It is better to retreat outside the city as soon as possible."
"Wait a minute." I turned around and said to Gongsun Xiaochen who was standing aside. "Send the order..."
At this moment, a loud noise suddenly came from the sky. Then, a bright light flashed. The deafening loud noise interrupted me and made everyone look up. I heard Fang Ling shout loudly: "Brother, it's thundering." ."
As soon as I finished speaking, I felt my head get wet. I couldn't help but reach out and touch it. I suddenly said ecstatically: "It's raining."
The thunder continues and the lightning continues.
Heavy rain poured down from the sky. The guards and soldiers beside me all shouted: "It's raining."
This sudden heavy rain seems to be the most anticipated rain in my life.
God's will.
The accompanying officials of Qin Tianjian and Gongsun Xiaochen watched the sky every day, but they did not predict that it would rain in recent days, and it would rain heavily.
Is there any other explanation other than God's will?
What I didn't expect was that the next day, Gongsun Xiaochen's explanation would be recognized by everyone who knew about it.
Although the heavy rain did not last long, it was enough. The fire in Mingzhou City was quickly extinguished by firefighters sent from heaven.
As for everything in the world, some people are happy and others are worried. Just when the defenders inside the city were rejoicing, the Yuan army outside the city looked sad.
I heard Boyan let out a long sigh and said, "Send an order to General Achahan to withdraw his troops."
The other generals on the top of the mountain were silent. Despite the impact of the rain, a common thought emerged in their hearts, that is, the Central Army was abandoned by Changshengtian. At least tonight, Changshengtian was not on their side.
After a while, Ah Shu said: "Generals, go back to camp."
Boyan, who was walking at the end, said to Ah Shu: "More than a thousand years ago, Zhuge Liang of Shu designed to trap Sima Yi of Wei in Shangfang Valley and burned it with fire. The Wei army fought desperately but could not break out. When Sima Yi looked up to the sky and sighed, heavy rain fell from the sky and extinguished the fire. What happened tonight is very similar to it. It seems that God's will is like this. I am in danger."
Ah Shu nodded and whispered: "Bo Yan, do your best."
"That's all it can do."
The two war gods in the Yuan army were always full of confidence in front of the soldiers. But they also knew in their hearts that firearms were invincible. Coupled with what happened tonight, they felt an unprecedented crisis.
The sky gradually brightened. In Mingzhou City, the ecstatic Song Army soldiers were no longer sleepy at all. In addition to treating the wounded, they were all cleaning up after the fire and heavy rain under the command of their superiors.
At this time, I had returned to the commander's house. After changing into clean clothes, I told the story of the Trojan Horse at Fang Ling's request. The story of the Trojan Horse will be known to everyone in future generations. I told it very carefully. Not only Fang Ling, but also Yuan Ji, Zhang Quanyi, Lu Wenhuan and others on the side listened with great interest.
After finishing speaking, Fang Ling suddenly asked: "Brother, you are a god. Do you know what happened with the heavy rain just now? Could it be a coincidence?"
The terrain of Mingzhou City is special. It is located in a canyon between two mountains. During the day, a hundred thousand troops were fighting fiercely. The heat emitted by artillery, muskets and more than 20,000 projectiles concentrated in it. It could not disappear in a short time. Here we are. At night, it was burned by fire again, and its heat was even greater. It rose when it was hot and sank when it was cold. It happened to encounter a cumulonimbus cloud passing by in the sky, and this heavy rain formed.