In the third year of Xingqing's reign, spring was already blooming in Jiangnan in February, but in Lingzhou, located outside the Great Wall, the spring was still freezing and freezing.
The dawn light shines on Lingzhou City. The city walls are smoky and scarred, but they are still strong and stand proudly. Although the Mongolian army attacked the city fiercely for more than two months, the defenders of Lingzhou City used amazing courage and tenacity to prevent Lingzhou City from being captured by the Mongolian army despite heavy casualties.
Lingzhou's 20,000 defenders plus 10,000 civilians, and the Song army's 8,000 soldiers, lost nearly half of them, and the entire camp was full of wounded soldiers. It rained several times in the past few days, but the Mongolian army did not attack the city. Instead, the city took the opportunity to burn corpses. Paper money was flying in the streets and alleys. The whole day was filled with cries, and there was an endless stream of people wearing hemp and mourning. The whole Lingzhou city was filled with In deep sadness.
In the teaching camp, the flames soared into the sky. The dead soldiers of the Xia Army and the Song Army were burned here. The ashes of the Song Army soldiers needed to be collected, temporarily stored, and transported back to the Song Dynasty in the future.
The corpses of more than 2,000 Song Army soldiers could not be stored for half a year, so they could only be disposed of in this way. The corpses of some soldiers fell outside the city wall during battles and could not be retrieved. They could only collect their clothes, which may be useful for building a cenotaph in the future.
"Zhu Ming is approaching the night, and the time cannot be flooded.
The Gaolan is passed by, and the road is gradually passing.
The Zhanzhan River is full of water and has maples on it.
My eyes are thousands of miles away, which hurts my heart.
The soul returns, mourning Jiangnan! "
In the teaching field, all the soldiers of the Song Army who gathered around the fire to mourn were in mourning. Some soldiers knelt down and cried bitterly, and the sound of mourning filled the teaching field. Some Xia Army soldiers also came to pay their respects silently.
"Brothers, have a good trip!"
Cao Youwan shouted loudly, with tears in his eyes, and then poured wine on the ground to comfort the spirits of the fallen Song soldiers.
"The soldiers of the Song Dynasty and the people of Lingzhou City will never forget you!"
Li Deren then poured wine, his expression solemn, generous and tragic.
Regardless of whether the Song people had selfish motives or not, at this moment, they died for the more than 200,000 people in Lingzhou City, and they deserved their sacrifice and memory.
Returning to the training camp, a group of Song army generals sat around the table. Everyone felt sad, and the leader Yang Daquan sighed with emotion.
"After these fierce battles, our brothers suffered heavy casualties, with nearly 4,000 casualties. If we continue to fight, I wonder how many will be left in the end?"
The guards who rescued Lingzhou City were basically Shuzhong children, and many of them were his fellow villagers. With so many people killed and injured, I don’t know how to explain to their parents and relatives when they go back.
"If it's for the people of the Song Dynasty, I, Huang Xi, have nothing to say, but for these Xia people, I always feel it's not worth it."
Another general, Huang Xi, sighed quietly.
Two of his fellow villagers were killed in the battle to defend the city, and one of them was a close relative. He spoke out of emotion.
"Fortunately, the Tatar army has not attacked the city these days. Otherwise, brothers don't know how many casualties they will suffer?"
Another Song general shook his head and sighed.
"What, are you going to run away from the battlefield?"
Cao Youwan's eyes widened, he banged the table and looked at the complaining generals in the camp.
I came to rescue Xixia under military orders. Did I have to change my mind midway?
"You all remember, you and I are both soldiers of the Song Dynasty, and it is our bounden duty to obey orders! Your Majesty ordered us to stand firm until the end of June. This is an imperial edict and a military order. No one is allowed to disobey it. Do you understand?"
The soldiers under his command suffered heavy casualties, and he was also depressed. It would be nice if Yu Jie was here at this time. The guy had a eloquent tongue and was very good at boosting morale. I don’t know, how is Yu Jie doing in Zhongxing Mansion?
However, the Zhongxing Mansion did not send troops to reinforce Lingzhou. I think it took a lot of effort for Yu Jie to come here.
"General, calm down. I am just sad about the casualties of my brothers and have no other meaning. I will follow the general's lead and will definitely wait for the arrival of His Majesty's reinforcements. General, forgive me!"
Yang Daquan quickly clasped his fists in salute and apologized to Cao Youwan.
I'm just looking for trouble, so why are I sighing like this? With swords and guns without eyesight, how can war not kill people?
Cao Youwan glanced at the generals in the camp, snorted coldly, and rarely got angry.
His subordinates suffered many casualties and their morale was low. He did not want to punish the generals severely to prevent the army from becoming disloyal and falling apart.
When the food was served, there were only a few pickles in the pancakes. The generals were busy eating, but some generals couldn't help but put their rice bowls on the table.
"Eating these things that dogs ignore all day long, when will it end?"
From the beautiful mountains and rivers in the south of the Yangtze River with a mild climate, to the Gobi desert outside the Great Wall, it was too unbearable not to mention the cold climate and not being able to eat rice.
"It's only February now, and there are still more than four months until the end of June. If we continue the fight, I'm afraid we'll all be wiped out! Are we going to starve here and wait to die?"
There was Sun Du again, who said angrily.
There was some rice at first, but later it was all pasta, and now it has been reduced from three meals a day to two meals a day.
"Be content. The people in the city don't have enough to eat every day, and people die of illness and starvation every day. Just bear with it."
A Song general who was born among the people couldn't help but replied in a low voice.
The 200,000 people in the city have begun to restrict food. Compared with the common people, they are already doing well.
"How long can you endure it? You can endure it, but I can't!"
Wang Xiuwu, who was full of complaints, said something unconvinced with a dark face.
"You have come all the way to die, and you can't even complain?"
"That's right! You have to die in battle sooner or later anyway. What's the difference if you die early or later? Why do you still have to suffer these crimes?"
Sun Du echoed.
Under heavy pressure, at the critical moment of life and death, their hearts were already in chaos.
The faces of the generals were ugly. Cao Youwan was furious and immediately started shouting angrily.
"Bold! Wang Xiuwu, Sun Du, you dare to shake the morale of the army, do you not want to live?"
Usually, these two guys complain a lot. Today, in front of all the soldiers, I was neither serious nor serious. I really didn’t know whether to live or die.
The Song Army's military discipline was strict. Wang Xiuwu and Sun Du immediately lowered their heads and said nothing. Their faces were ugly and they seemed unconvinced.
"General, calm down! The generals are just grumbling and have no other intention."
Huang Xi quickly put down his rice bowl, stood up, and looked at Sun Du and others.
"Sun Du and Wang Xiuwu still haven't apologized to the general? Military law is ruthless, but don't you know that General Cao is generous and generous?"
"Sun Du and Wang Xiuwu, it's enough to complain. Quickly apologize to the general and don't do it again next time!"
Knowing that Cao Youwan would take advantage of others rather than take advantage of others, Yang Daquan followed suit and did not want the incident to escalate.
"General, calm down!"
"Sun Du and Wang Xiuwu still haven't apologized to the general?"
Huang Xi and Yang Daquan took the lead, and other generals stood up one after another to persuade Cao Youwan to come.
"General Cao, I am just impatient and have no other intentions. Please forgive me, General!"
"General Cao, the last general's rude words were not malicious. General, please forgive me!"
Seeing that the situation was not good, Sun Du and Wang Xiuwu quickly stood up and apologized to Cao Youwan.
If Cao Youwan is severely punished according to military orders, wouldn't his head be lost in vain?
"General, brothers are suffering heavy casualties, and all the generals are impatient. We are all brothers in life and death, so don't get angry."
Huang Xi and the generals persuaded them again. Cao Youwan looked at Sun Du and sat down with a dark face.
"Remember, don't do it again next time! Let's eat quickly, the Tatars haven't attacked the city for several days, be careful of fraud!"
Cao Youwan said coldly, and Sun Du and the other two hurriedly obeyed the order, feeling relieved. The generals began to eat in silence. In silence, the sergeant hurriedly came in to report.
"General Cao, generals, General Zhang has military information, please go to the city wall!"
"What happened? Did the Tatar army attack the city?"
Cao Youwan couldn't help but be stunned.
There was no sound of drums and horns coming from the top of the city. Could it be that the Mongolian army was attacking the city by surprise?
"General, in the Tatar military camp outside the city, the Tatar army seems to be much smaller. General, you can tell by looking at the city wall."
The sergeant did not dare to be careless and tell the truth.
"I see!"
Cao Youwan was relieved, all the generals were in an uproar, and many people could not help but smile with joy.
"Hurry up and eat! After eating, everyone goes to the city wall!"
Cao Youwan ate the noodles in the bowl with big mouthfuls, his brows furrowed, as if he was thinking about something.
Cao Youwan led the generals up to the city wall. Zhang Zhongxia, who had been waiting here, pointed to the largely empty Mongolian camp and explained in detail.
"General, most of the Tatars went south, including Genghis Khan's chariots and golden tents, there were about 50,000 people. Another group went to the north, about 20,000 people, apparently in the direction of Zhongxing Mansion. The ones left behind There are about 20,000 of these."
Zhang Zhongxia thought for a moment before continuing:
"General, the Tatar withdrawal has been planned for a long time. Some tents have been empty for a long time and were only dismantled today. If you think about it carefully, most of the Tatar troops should have withdrawn one after another half a month to twenty days ago."
Half a month and twenty days ago?
The generals looked at each other, all confused.
"Brothers, what does Tatar mean?"
Cao Youwan withdrew his gaze from the Mongolian army camp outside the city and looked at the surrounding generals with a look of confusion on his face.
Seeing this situation, the Tatars withdrew most of their troops, leaving only about 20,000 troops to continue the siege. Could it be that, as the emperor said, the plague was prevalent among the Tatar army and they began to withdraw their troops after being unable to conquer it for a long time?
"General, this goes without saying. The Tatars cannot attack Lingzhou City and have begun to withdraw their troops!"
Song general Sun Du was so excited that he blurted out.
The damned Tatars finally withdrew!
What an unexpected surprise!
"No! The Tatars should have withdrawn their troops to the north. Why did most of them go to the south? Could it be that they are going to attack the Kingdom of Jin and then come back to attack Lingzhou City after a while?"
Huang Xi shook his head and expressed confusion.
Cao Youwan was shocked. The northwest border of the Song and Jin Dynasties is crisscrossed, and the Mongolian army will attack the Jin Kingdom. The Song Dynasty is probably inevitable.
First, it was predicted that there would be a disease among the Mongolian army, and then the Mongolian army entered the city to demand rhubarb. Now the Mongolian army went south to attack the Jin Kingdom, and it was very likely that it would use troops against the Song Dynasty. Could it be said that the emperor really has the ability to predict the future?
Cao Youwan was sweating profusely.
"General Cao, since the Tatars withdrew their troops, why did they still leave 20,000 people behind? Could it be that this is their plan to lure the enemy?"
Wang Gui highly praised the "Tatar Strategy" and suspected that it was a strategy used by the Tatar army to lure the enemy.
"Yang Daquan, Zhang Zhongxia, what do you think?"
Wang Gui urged, Cao Youwan woke up from his dream and looked at Yang and Zhang.
These two people are his right-hand men, one is fierce and decisive, a warrior on the battlefield, and the other is resourceful and considerate. He wants to hear the opinions of these two people.
