Chapter 22: Recovering Xiangyang through flanking attacks; Fleeing back to Mobei after being attacked from both sides
Last time, it was said that Ban Basi led his apprentice to assassinate the coach Meng Xian at night. The situation was urgent, and Guo Jing was forced to show up and defeated Ban Basi. Meng Xian toasted to calm down the shock and decided to send troops to Xiangyang. Huang Rong discovered that there was something wrong with the march, and under her planning, she changed the expedition strategy in time.
But Meng Xian raised his account, summoned all the generals, and ordered:
"The enemy our army faces is very incomparable, but the Mongolian army is powerful, brave in combat, and capable of conquering battles. Therefore, in the battle to attack the enemy and regain Xiangyang, we cannot show off our bravery and must be cautious. , can we remain invincible. Therefore, I decided to send a team to attack Xiangyang and another team to attack Suizhou so that the head and tail of the Mongolian army cannot respond. In this way, the certainty of victory will be greater. Who is willing to lead a powerful force to attack Suizhou City?"
Everyone was gearing up and eager to try, wanting to lead troops to attack Suizhou City. At this time, soldiers outside the tent came to report that a team dressed as Song soldiers came to vote. Meng Xian urgently ordered people to come in and see that it was Lu Wenhuan, the guard of Xiangyang City. That day, Lu Wenhuan fled south alone and met his own soldiers on the way. He knew that escaping from battle was a capital offense, so why not gather his old soldiers here and wait for the opportunity to make meritorious deeds. At this time, seeing that Meng Xian commanded the army to win successively, he hurriedly led the army to surrender, claiming that he was willing to be the vanguard to attack Xiangyang.
Lu Wenhuan was surprised when he saw Guo Jing sitting next to the coach and being treated as a distinguished guest. He thought he was dazzled, so he took a closer look, who was it not Guo Jing? He saw Yelu Qi and Guo Polu in armor standing behind him. The three of them were glaring at him, and they couldn't help but feel horrified, and they were so scared that they couldn't say a word.
Meng Xian saw that Guo Jing was furious with Lu Wenhuan. He thought to himself that this Lu Wenhuan and his brother Lu Wende were both confidants of the powerful Prime Minister Jia Sidao. Although Xiangyang City was lost this time, Jia Sidao was so powerful that he could dominate the world with one hand. This Lu Wenhuan might still be reused by the court. What's more, this is the time to employ people, why not be a favor and let him make atonement, so that he can have an explanation in the future. But just because Guo Jing and other people in the world have a problem with him, we can't refuse to take him in. Besides, Guo Jing is a broad-minded person, and the temporary grudges will be resolved soon. Thinking of this, Meng Xian pretended to be very happy and said:
"General Lu is willing to go, which is very much in line with my wishes. I have made arrangements to attack Xiangyang City, but now we are short of candidates to attack Suizhou City. Since General Lu intends to atone for his sins, I will dispatch generals Liu Zheng and Fan Tianshun to assist you. You three will lead fifty generals and 20,000 elite troops under your command to attack Suizhou City!"
Lu Wenhuan felt unhappy when he saw that he could not return to attack Xiangyang City. However, the defeated general was not brave enough. When he thought that he was guilty and might not be able to conquer Xiangyang City, which was easy to defend but difficult to attack, he shed tears of gratitude to Meng Xian and kept thanking him. Meng Xian secretly instructed the three of them:
"General Lu, General Liu, and General Fan are here to do it wisely, not to attack by force. As long as they prevent the enemy from rushing to help Xiangyang, it will be a great achievement. After the enemy retreats, they will lead their troops to Xiangyang to join our army."
Lu Wenhuan saw that Meng Xian did not despise him, but instead entrusted him with important tasks, and happily thanked him and left.
When Meng Xian saw Lu Wenhuan, Liu Zheng, and Fan Tianshun walking out of the camp, he turned back and comforted Guo Jing:
"Now is the time when we are all working together to regain Xiangyang. There was a dispute between Guo Daxia and General Lu before. In my opinion, Guo Daxia is a magnanimous martial arts hero. Why not make this a big deal and make it a trivial matter and let it go? "
Guo Jing blushed. He didn't expect Marshal Meng to be able to see the anger in his heart. If you continue to care about everything, it will appear that you are narrow-minded, so you smiled generously and said:
"Guo, a commoner, is just willing to do his best to protect the territory and the country and resist foreign aggression. How dare he compete with the imperial officials for this little leisure?"
Meng Xian was overjoyed when he heard this. He immediately wrote a letter and ordered someone to forward it to the Chaohu Navy to bluff and attack westward. Then the order was sent, and the whole army rose up from the stronghold. The troops divided into two groups and marched directly to Xiangyang. He led the army himself and provided support from the center.
Let us say that Guo Polu led 50,000 elite troops, assisted by 50 generals such as Dutong Niu Fu and Yeluqi leading the Beggar Clan, and marched towards Xiangyang City in a mighty manner.
In less than a day, the army approached Xiangyang City and set up a formation at the south gate of Xiangyang City. Guo Polu stood in front of the formation, wearing a pair of silver helmets and silver armor, carrying a spear, and a bow and arrow hanging from his waist. His face was like a crown jade, his eyes were like stars, he was eight feet long, and he had a tiger's back and waist. He looked extremely powerful and handsome, just like Changshan Tiger General Zhao Yunlong was reincarnated, and Yang Zaixing was resurrected. Zhang Rou heard that the Song army was attacking. Looking from a distance, she saw that the sun was covered with banners and the sky was filled with dust and flames. There were no less than 100,000 people. Not daring to underestimate the enemy, he hurriedly gathered his men and horses, personally led all the generals, came out in full force, and also set up a formation in front of the city gate. Guo Polu roared loudly and went out to fight alone.
Guo Polu pointed his silver spear and said:
"The dog thief surnamed Zhang is capricious. He helps the tyrants do evil. He designed to frame my father and led troops to occupy my territory. Why don't you get off your horse and die!"
Zhang Rou scolded:
"You are young and still young, yet you dare to speak nonsense in front of the two armies, overestimate your own capabilities, and offend our mighty army. Please dismount and surrender quickly, leaving a whole body. Otherwise, your father's fate will be yours!"
Guo Polu was furious and drew his horse to attack Zhang Rou.
Zhang Rouji pointed his finger and shouted:
"Who's going to capture this little boy?"
The Mongolian generals have long heard that Guo Polu challenged Wang Shixian with a gun and killed a thousand captains. He was very brave. How could he dare to go out into battle and die? Zhang Rou yelled several times, but no one dared to fight. Zhang Rou saw that the situation was urgent and said sternly:
"Whoever can kill this man will be promoted to a thousand households and rewarded with ten thousand taels of gold!"
As the saying goes: "Under a heavy reward, there must be a brave man." Sure enough, a centurion drew his horse and rushed to the battle, shouting loudly.
Guo Polu did not say anything, and concentrated on facing the enemy. When the centurion came to him, he raised his spear accurately and stabbed him in the chest. The centurion was caught off guard. As soon as he closed his arms, Guo Polu's spear penetrated his chest and penetrated his intestines, killing him.
Guo Polu picked up the centurion's body with a spear and threw it towards the Mongolian army. When Zhang Rou saw this, she was horrified and ordered the Mongolian army to fire arrows.
Guo Polu waved his spear, and thousands of arrows were fired from the Song army's formation. Suddenly, the arrows were like locusts, heading towards Zhang Rou's formation. Seeing the bravery of the Song army, Zhang Rou hurriedly ordered his troops to retreat back to the city. At this moment, I heard a commotion behind me. I looked up and saw the sound of fighting coming from the Xiangyang City Tower. The corpses of the Mongolian soldiers guarding the city fell into the moat one after another, causing countless splashes of water.
Seeing that she had been ambushed by the Song army, Zhang Rou urgently ordered an attack on the city. Unexpectedly, the suspension bridge hangs high and the arrows on the tower are like locusts. Standing on the city tower was a strong old man, holding an iron bow in his hand, drawing arrows and firing arrows. The soldiers who were attacking the city were invincible, and they were all shocked.
The old man roared loudly, like a tiger roaring and a dragon roaring:
"I am Guo Jing of Xiangyang. Anyone who dares to offend me in Xiangyang will be killed without mercy."
After saying that, he pulled out another arrow and shot it at Zhang Rou. Zhang Rou saw the arrows were like a rainbow, she hurriedly lowered her head, and a strong wind passed over her head. She heard the scream of a soldier behind her. Guo Jing's sharp arrow actually made the guard behind Zhang Rou become the scapegoat. Killed by piercing the chest. The commander-in-chief flag "Zhang" fell to the ground with a crash. All the Mongolian troops thought that their commander-in-chief had been killed and the city and land were lost. They had no intention of fighting and retreated north one after another.
At this time, Guo Polu led the Song army to attack from behind. When Zhang Rou saw that something was not going well, she let out a long sigh and led the remaining army to slowly retreat to the north.
The Mongolian army, led by Zhang Rou and his son, slowly retreated northward. Seeing that the Mongolian army retreated in an orderly manner, Guo Polu did not dare to pursue it rashly, so he restrained the Song army, cleaned the battlefield, and sent people to Meng Xian's camp to report the victory. Then, he led the Song army and entered the city proudly. When the residents of Xiangyang City heard that the Song army had entered the city, they were all very happy and lined the streets to welcome them. Guo Polu went out to pacify the people and welcomed Meng Xian's army into the city. When the soldiers and people in Xiangyang heard that the hero Guo Jing was still alive, they all rushed to tell each other.
It turned out that when Guo Jing and Huang Rong assisted Guo Polu in leading the army to Xiangyang, Huang Rong summed up:
"The Mongolian army is strong, with fine soldiers and brave generals. It also has Zhang Rou as its commander. This man is extremely brave and very resourceful. If we only rely on the battle on the battlefield, it is difficult to predict who will win. It would be better to use surprise troops and attack from both front and rear. Only then can we win.”
Guo Jing and Guo Polu were quite satisfied, and Huang Rong gave them a plan:
"The current plan is to let Guo Polu lead the army to attack frontally, but it is just a bluff, not a fight, and try to delay as much time as possible. The other team is led by Guo Jing, assisted by Guo Xiang and Yeluqi, and leads the Beggar Gang disciples and martial arts heroes to sneak into the city. Attack the Mongol army from behind."
Under the guidance of Huang Rong and Guo Xiang, Guo Jing led the Beggar Clan heroes, sneaked past the guard posts, and sneaked in through the west gate by surprise. This road was familiar to Guo Xiang. After a while, Guo Jing and his troops sneaked into Xiangyang City without anyone noticing.
When Guo Jing and Huang Rong led the heroes to sneak into Xiangyang City, Zhang Rouzheng hurriedly led the army out of the city. Only the Mongolian generals and the former Xiangyang City surrendered generals were left guarding the city. How could they care about this strange army led by Guo Jing?
Guo Jing and others first subdued the Ximen defenders and asked Elder Wu Jingfeng to lead some Beggar Clan disciples to put on Mongolian army uniforms and guard the place. Then the troops were divided into three groups. One group led by Huang Rong and Guo Xiang led the female heroes to surrender the North Gate defenders; the other group led by Yeluqi led the Beggar Gang Liang, Chen, Wang and other elders to sneak into the East Gate and wait for an opportunity to take action. He led his troops, large and small, and headed straight for the south gate... The Song troops who surrendered to the Mongolian army in Xiangyang City were overjoyed when they heard that the hero Guo Jing was not dead. Seeing that the Song army was about to attack the city, they had no intention of fighting, so they changed their military uniforms and defected to the south. Guo Jing and others quickly occupied the four city gates, killed the Mongolian soldiers guarding the city, pulled up the suspension bridge, and cut off Zhang Rou's retreat.
Mongolia coach Zhang Rou calculated everything, but he didn't expect that Guo Jing was not dead yet. When Jingzhou was careless, the quilts in Xiangyang City had no time to cover the heat, and the Guo family and his son easily attacked Xiangyang City.
Guo Polu entered the city and arranged for the generals to divide their troops to guard the four gates and restrain the soldiers. The military discipline was strict and there was no offense in Qiu.
Early the next morning, Meng Xian led his army to move into Xiangyang, made announcements to calm the people, and recruited the original defenders of Xiangyang City to surrender. Xiangyang City was captured, and everyone surrendered. The Mongolian armies in Junzhou and Fangzhou also retreated following the defeat of Zhang Rou's tribe, and the Mongolian garrison stationed in Suizhou retreated without a fight. After Lu Wenhuan captured Suizhou City, he sent Fan Tianshun to garrison, and he and Liu Zheng led their troops back to Xiangyang City to join the army.
Seeing that the Song army was powerful, Zhang Rou was too anxious to make a contribution. After informing Kublai Khan, the fourth prince of Mongolia, she negotiated peace with Jia Sidao and made a secret agreement. Jia Sidao promised to cede the land in Jiangbei to Mongolia and pay an annual tribute of 200,000 silver and silk to Mongolia. Han and Mongolia divided the river and ruled. Zhang Rou led his troops back to the north, and other Mongolian armies also withdrew and fled back to Mobei.
Exactly, the veteran still showed heroic courage and performed extraordinary feats in conquering Xiangyang. I don’t know how it will end after Xiangyang City is captured. Please see the next chapter for the breakdown.
