Heavy rains for several days not only caused rivers to swell, but also flooded low-lying areas. The camps of the newly attached troops and civilians also had ankle-deep water. Although they had made waterproof preparations in advance and their food, grass and baggage were not lost, the inconvenience caused by the water was obvious.
The camp became a mess, with floating leaves, debris, grass stems and even feces and other debris. In this case, clean drinking water became a big problem.
The newly attached soldiers and civilians lived in a camp soaked in water. Obviously, they could not eat and drink normally, and even rest and sleep became a luxury.
The cavalry directly under Mi Zhe Huoli and the Mongolian and Han army camp had no major impact due to the high terrain. However, the ground inside and outside the camp became muddy under the trampling of people and horses, and they would fall down if they were not careful.
To say that the heavy rain had the greatest impact on the Mongolian army was that it damaged the earthen wall in front of Hengyuan Fort, and even destroyed all the attack tunnels they had worked so hard to dig.
Under the despotic power of Jiagu Long's ancient belt, the civilians finally dug the tunnel under the fortress wall. It only took a few more days of digging to collapse the city wall or dig into the fortress.
Unexpectedly, fate is not as good as man. Although the Mongolian army built a high barrier at the entrance of the tunnel, it could not stop the torrential rain for days.
The earthen walls and enclosures first became squishy under the erosion of rain, and then gradually collapsed. Then the torrent caused by the rain poured into the tunnel, and the tunnel filled with rainwater began to collapse section by section, making the Mongolians' efforts of more than half a month in vain.
The heavy rain severely frustrated the Mongolian army's siege plan, but it did not affect the defenders of Hengyuan Fort, and did not even cause inconvenience to their lives.
When designing and building the fortress, Ouyang Xuan asked the construction company to build not only housing, but also living facilities such as bathhouses and toilets according to long-standing standards, as well as warehouses and drinking water cellars dedicated to storing food and meat. .
In order to ensure the health of the defenders, Ouyang Xuan even sent people to regularly deliver fresh wild vegetables to the defenders. As for combat, there is no impact.
At the beginning of the design, in order to prevent heavy rains and flash floods, the fortress at the mountain pass was even abandoned, and the current high platform was chosen instead.
Although building forts at mountain passes can better block enemy penetration, they are also threatened by mudslides and boulders rolling down the mountain.
Although the rainfall was extremely heavy this time, it was all discharged to the nearby Wenjing River. There was no water accumulation in the fortress, and there was not even much water in the ditch in front of the fortress.
As for core military equipment such as artillery and ammunition, in addition to being protected by the top of the city wall and special moisture-proof warehouses, it has also been carefully maintained by the defenders and has not been affected at all.
On the contrary, the river water swelled due to continuous heavy rains, making the river surface wider, allowing the Perak Army and Navy to move more easily.
At the beginning of the day after the rain, while the newly attached troops and civilians were busy draining the water from the camp, a group of Mongolian cavalry brought an order from Mi Zhehuoli - to immediately transfer the food to the mountainside east of the cavalry camp.
This order puzzled the general in charge of reattaching the troops and couldn't help but ask a few more questions. The leading Mongolian officer was drinking in the camp, but was assigned to deliver the order. He was really annoyed. In addition, the road was muddy and he was walking in a hurry. After the horse slipped, he fell and the dog gnawed in the mud. He was full of anger and had nowhere to vent. At that moment, seeing that this lowly cannon fodder officer dared to talk too much, he slapped him with a riding whip, causing the unlucky new general of the annex to roll in the mud.
Within the Mongolian army, the pure Mongols are naturally the first class, the Semu people are the second class, the Khitan and other Mongolian Han troops are the third class, and the new auxiliary troops surrendered by the Song army are the fourth class and are in a contemptuous position. the bottom of the chain.
In the eyes of the Mongolian officer who passed the order, although he was only a centurion, he was a private soldier in the secret fire. He was much nobler than the generals of the new vassal army, and he naturally had the right to whip them at will.
Although the Mongolians, including Huo Li and himself, all understood that since these new auxiliary troops would rebel against the Southern Song Dynasty, they would certainly rebel against the Mongolian army.
It was just arrogance that made him believe that Mongolia was about to conquer the Southern Song Dynasty. These new vassals did not dare to betray the Mongolian army, because doing so would only lead to death.
Anyone with a discerning eye knows that transporting grain in stagnant water is a stupid decision. On the one hand, the transportation efficiency is extremely low, and on the other hand, it is inevitable to get wet with water during the transportation process, causing the loss of grain.
As a veteran general on the battlefield, Mi Zhehuo Li would not be unaware of the arbitrary nature of this order. In fact, he made the decision after careful consideration.
Because he received news from the Mongolian Army stationed in Chongqing Fucheng and Sandu Shui respectively, saying that a large number of warships from the Pili Army had appeared in the nearby waters, and it seemed that there would be big movements.
Without exception, the two batches of messengers were covered in mud, and they looked extremely embarrassed along the way. Two of the messengers from Sandushui had several injuries on their bodies, apparently caused by falling while running too fast.
The secret agent Huoli questioned the messenger carefully and found that the Pili Army warships always appeared in sight as soon as the rain stopped. Such unified actions were obviously coordinated in advance, which made him feel uneasy, recalling the scene when the Pili Army warships bombarded Chengdu.
The same sky after the rain, the same river surge, the same sudden appearance, which made the secret person Huoli suddenly realize: "Are they trying to grab food again?"
This thought made his back shiver, and the hairs all over his body stood up, and he immediately issued an order to transfer grain.
Although he was confident that the iron chain could stop the Thunderbolt Army and the Navy, he could never go wrong with being careful. He wanted to transport the grain to the woodland on the mountainside further away from the river.
It was five miles away from the Wenjing River, and the artillery on the Pili Army warships should not be able to reach it. Secret Master Huoli's prediction was correct, although he only guessed part of it.
In Ouyang Xuan's plan, he not only wanted to seize the food from the Huoli Department of the Secret Masters, but also cut off their food channels.
In fact, under repeated attacks by explosive boats, the water barriers and pontoons set up by the Mongolian army in the water could not last for several days.
Ouyang Xuan let the navy lie dormant, waiting for the best opportunity. Secret Master Huoli predicted the beginning correctly, but failed to guess the ending.
Shortly after his order was issued, twenty ships came upstream from the lower reaches toward Hengyuan Fort and easily destroyed the Mongolian army's pontoon bridge in the river.
In order to obtain supplies from Qiongzhou, Dayi and other places west of the Wenjing River, the Mongolian army set up a pontoon bridge near the river near the grain and grass supply camp.
It's just that this simple pontoon has already become crooked under the heavy rain and swollen river water, and it was easily broken apart by the approaching ship.
When the boats reached the middle of the river next to the grain and grass camp, they stopped. The newly attached soldiers and civilian husbands who were carrying food turned around and saw that the warship at the front began to flash fire and emit thick smoke.
In an instant, with a loud rumbling noise, the mud and water around the granary were blown up in all directions. The navy that came this time was the Liao Nilu tribe lurking in Huangjiadang. There were many ships, but there were only one heavy gun ship and four light gun ships.
In fact, only one light gun ship opened fire this time, and only eight solid rounds were fired. These eight shells fell among the Mongolian cavalry overseeing the work, knocking down a few unlucky ones.
It's just that the power of the solid bullets is really terrible. Those who were hit or scratched were either dead or injured, but it also frightened these Mongolian cavalry and fled in a hurry.
