The Meizhou infantry were homesick and fearful of the Mongolian army's brutality. Now General Pi was killed, making them even more panicked. In addition, members of the "Fire Fox" secretly instigated the soldiers in the army. These soldiers were originally recruited by force. When this group of dragons had no leader, they first sneaked away in pieces, and later they simply mutinied at night. They broke through the interception of the Mongolian cavalry, escaped from the camp and scattered in all directions. Although Hudu ordered the mutineers to be killed without mercy, most of the Meizhou soldiers fled to the nearby low mountains and hills under the cover of night. It was June when the vegetation was lush and lush, and people could still be found there if they hid themselves. At dawn the next day, the Mongolian army took inventory of the camp and found that only a few dozen of the thousand Meizhou soldiers were left.
While Le Quan'an was commanding the navy brigade to encircle and annihilate the Meizhou navy, the Mongolian army was also storming Jiading City. The main force in the siege was naturally the new auxiliary army. After Hudu reported the news that the Perak Army was about to move south, Niulin sent people to urgently summon the Meizhou navy back to Jiading. However, Liu Daer was defeated and died before the messenger arrived. On the other hand, he ordered his new vassal troops to storm Jiading City in an attempt to use their numerical superiority to break the resistance of the defenders. The new auxiliary army that besieged Jiading was divided into various factions such as Jianzhou, Longzhou, and Yazhou, and they blamed each other. In order to solve the problem of mutual cooperation, Niulin ordered each new auxiliary army to take turns to attack, and if there was any slack, he would kill people to establish his power.
Cao Zhizhou was an old cunning man. Every time it was the Yazhou army's turn to go into battle, he would send troops from the Yi and Qing Qiang tribes to go with him. The first few times the Yi and Tibetan barbarians charged, on the one hand they were very useful to Cao Zhizhou's deliberate flattery, on the other hand they were also tempted by the money and beauties in the city. "There must be a brave man under a heavy reward." Niulin, who was well versed in this principle, promised that the first person to climb the city would be promoted to the third level and given thousands of acres of fertile land and hundreds of slaves, and the children in the city would be allowed to take money and silk for themselves. The places where these Yi and Tibetan barbarians lived were high mountains and valleys, and their lives were very poor. Naturally, they were willing to risk their lives for fame and wealth.
However, after two days of offensive, the new annexed army not only failed to make any progress but suffered thousands of casualties. The most serious casualties were the Yi and Tibetan barbarians. Although the Yi and Tibetan barbarians were extremely brave and adept at climbing city walls, their bodies of flesh and blood were no match for fire and iron. In less than half a day, they suffered more than half of their casualties, and they no longer wanted to listen to Cao Zhizhou's sweet words. The new annexed troops such as Jian and Long were no better and suffered heavy casualties, with hundreds of corpses falling under the city wall. For a time, the morale of the newly attached troops dropped to the bottom, and they began to shrink back. On the one hand, this is the chilling effect caused by huge casualties, and on the other hand, it is the despair caused by firearms' dimensionality reduction strikes. Here and there, it is siege, and it is purely to die. Upon seeing this, Niulin ordered to kill the fleeing soldiers in the siege. He killed dozens of people in one day, and then he was able to maintain the offensive.
Under the Mongolian army's repeated offensive, the situation in Jiading City became increasingly critical. Although there was no shortage of food and grass in the city, the siege equipment was constantly being damaged. The firearms and ammunition brought by Yu San were also used up. Even the black powder that was made later was not much left. Although the old houses in the city could still scrape a lot of fire and saltpeter, they were so short of sulfur that Hou Xing and his men rummaged through the Chinese medicine shop and found only dozens of kilograms of sulfur before preparing several hundred kilograms of black powder. What was more serious than the lack of materials to defend the city was that the defenders were exhausted. Zan Wanshou had no choice but to mobilize a large number of civilians to go to the city wall, and he himself risked stones to command on the front line of the most intense attack and defense. After two days, his voice was hoarse and his hair was disheveled, but there was still a hint of grace in him.
The newly attached troops violently bombarded Jiading City with ballistae and trebuchets all the time, causing serious casualties to the soldiers and civilians in the city. Since the siege, the defenders suffered more than 400 casualties, and the civilian population suffered more than 300 casualties. Most of these people were injured by arrows and thrown stones. The more than 200 Pili troops who assisted in defending the city suffered more than 80 casualties, with a casualty rate of nearly one-third. Even Yu San was hit by two arrows. Fortunately, his injuries were not serious and he could still command while lying on a stretcher. After the ammunition of the three armed merchant ships and the light artillery squadron was exhausted, the sailors and gunners were also organized into the special company. Together with the personal troops led by Hou Xing, they became the strongest shield in the hands of Zan Wanshou, and were repeatedly sent to the most critical situations in the city defense. place, which is why their casualty rate is so high.
After the destruction of the 2,000 Meizhou Army, the Mongolian army that attacked Jiading, except for the more than 1,000 dead and wounded, still had 6,000 new auxiliary troops and 2,000 cavalry. Even if it faced the tens of thousands of troops of the Perak Army, it could still fight. Niulin blocked the news of Liu Dal'er's defeat and death and the mutiny of the Meizhou army, but still forced the new annexed troops to attack the city in turns. However, the high-intensity offensive and defensive battles in the past two days have almost exhausted the siege equipment of both sides. The Jiading defenders frequently went out of the city to blow up the Mongolian army's newly built siege equipment such as city rams and ladders. The Mongolian army wanted to enter the city. There is only one way to fill the gap with human life. It is said that the Jiading defenders carried explosives and attacked the siege equipment at night, leaving the Mongolian army unable to defend themselves, or in other words, they did not dare to stop them at all. These Jiading soldiers were too crazy in the eyes of the newly attached soldiers. They lit the fuses of the explosive packs and jumped on the siege equipment, with no intention of returning alive.
Although Niulin ordered a strict blockade, the news of Liu Dal'er's defeat and death in Meizhou was also known to other newly attached generals. At this moment, they were in a dilemma. Continuing to attack when there is a lack of siege equipment will inevitably lead to heavy casualties. Even if the men do not mutiny, they will be severely weakened due to excessive losses after the war. How can we survive in these troubled times without soldiers? It's just that the consequences of disobeying orders are more serious. Among the dozens of heads hanging on the fence of the camp, there are soldiers who cowered and ran away, and generals who failed to supervise the battle. The Mongols were always rude to the new annexed troops, and the same was true for Niulin. Anyone who hesitated a little bit about military orders would be punished with swords and axes. The leading generals of these new vassal armies had no choice but to drive their men to attack the city and kill those who flinched.
Niulin's wishful thinking was to capture Jiading before the arrival of the Perak Army, and then use the new auxiliary army to defend the city. The Mongolian cavalry took advantage of their mobility to attack the Perak Army's food road, and even attacked Chongqing Prefecture, Qiongzhou and other places, forcing it to have no choice but to By returning to defense, the situation of the battle can be reversed, and the main force of the Perak Army can even be defeated in one fell swoop. If Jiading City is not captured, the Mongolian army will be trapped in a situation where it will be attacked from three sides. By then, the Perak Army's navy will cut off the connection between the east and west banks of the Minjiang River, and the Mongolian army will be under attack from the Jiading defenders and the Perak Army going south. If Jiading City and Lequan'an Navy are the anvils, then the field division led by Cao Ergou is the hammer, and the Mongolian army will be the red-hot iron, which will be hammered into what the Thunderbolt Army wants. The way you want it.
