In February, the northwest is still dry and cold, the sky is spotless, a few white clouds are swimming slowly, and goshawks are soaring in the sky, overlooking the earth.
To the west of Mianzhou, low hills are undulating. This is Langao Town in the southwest of Jiangli County, Mianzhou. The town's walls were in ruins, smoke was billowing, and the streets of the town were littered with corpses of Song people.
Obviously, this place has been poisoned, leaving only a mess and the devastation of war.
On the slopes west of Langao Town, there were sounds of fighting, and the corpses and blood of men and horses were everywhere. The Mongolian light cavalry with light armor and iron helmets roared strangely. They circled and fired arrows. The arrows flew towards the besieged Song army's position like raindrops, never ending and tirelessly. War horses galloped, iron hooves trampled on the wheat fields, and the young and weak wheat seedlings staggered and fell into pieces. There was no hope for this year's harvest.
On the outside of the Song Army's formation, swordsmen and shieldmen erected their shields one after another, and arrows shot on the shields, making a "bang bang" sound. In the formation, soldiers of the Song Army continued to fall down due to arrows, either dead or injured. The Song army tightened their shields and fired dozens of small cannons from time to time, struggling to hold on and prevent the fierce offensive of the Mongolian light cavalry.
The Mongolian cavalry wore iron helmets, and both men and horses had body armor. Each knight had 2-3 bows, 3 huge quivers filled with arrows, a sharp ax on the horse, and a rope to drag the weapon. The man is tough and the spirit is fierce.
Noticing the powerful artillery of the Song Army, the Mongolian cavalry dispersed further. Some cavalry dismounted and used the hills to cover their bodies, taking the opportunity to shoot the Song Army gunners.
"Don't panic, everything is stable!"
In the "low wall" surrounded by the corpses of the Song Army, Wu Feng, the commander of the Qifangguan Artillery of the Song Army, held a shield in his left hand, with a bright red patch on his shoulder. He tied it with cloth strips at will, and loudly directed the gunners to load ammunition.
In the past, he was a dandy scoundrel in Lin'an City and a graduate of the Jinling Martial Arts Hall. Now he was risking his life to fight on the battlefield, and his life was turned upside down, which is unimaginable.
Shi Miyuan wanted to depose the crown prince Zhao Hong, but his plan failed. Empress Yang lost power, and the Wu family was in the dark, unable to return to its old glory.
Without power, no knowledge, and only brute strength left, it was difficult to blend into the colorful world of Lin'an City. He had no choice but to go to the Jinling Martial Arts Hall, wanting to change his appearance, start over, and restore the Wu family's former glory.
When we arrived at the frontier, we realized how painful and dangerous the battle was. In an instant, we were between life and death, between yin and yang.
The Song Army artillerymen covered by shields all had serious faces. They hurriedly loaded ammunition and fired continuously.
The arrows were like locusts, and the shield bearers of the Song soldiers around the gunner were continuously shot down. The shields were picked up by the Song soldiers who followed and erected again to prevent the Mongolian archers from shooting.
A group of Song grenadiers held up shields and relied on armor to protect their bodies. They braved the rain of arrows and rushed to the Mongolian infantry. They were shot down along the way. The remaining Song grenadiers lit up thunderbolts. , smashed into the Mongolian infantry in the depression.
A thunderous explosion sounded, and the Mongolian infantrymen suffered numerous casualties. The grenadiers of the Song Army rushed into the depression, slashing and stabbing with swords and spears, and soon killed all the remaining Mongolian soldiers. The rain of arrows from the Mongolian cavalry came from all directions. The Song grenadiers fell to pieces, leaving corpses along the way as they retreated to the formation. The wounded fell to the ground screaming and were mercilessly killed by the rain of arrows from the Mongolian knights. .
Seeing that the Song army's artillery was weakened, the Mongolian cavalry began to roar around the field again. Wave after wave of arrow rain came, and the Song army fell down one after another. They braved the rain of arrows to shoot crossbow arrows, and the arrows blocked the sky. , but due to the small number of crossbowmen, the damage was limited.
The feathered arrows broke through the air and were as hard to avoid as locusts. The soldiers of the Song Army fell one after another, either dead immediately, or dripping with blood, screaming and moaning. Wang Ping, a good general on Lizhou West Road and the deputy commander of Xianrenguan, saw this and was heartbroken. Like a knife being twisted, but angry and helpless.
Without chariots, especially without fast artillery, the number of small artillery was too small, only about twenty were brought, and they could only be slaughtered by others.
"Archer, shoot!"
Wang Ping pulled out the feather arrow stuck on the ground, stretched his bow and nocked the arrow, and shouted loudly. The archers of the Song Army shot arrows one after another against the rain of arrows from the Mongolian army.
The arrows from both sides covered the sky and blocked the sun, heading towards each other in the air. They were densely packed and screamed through the air. Dozens of Mongolian cavalry fell down on horseback. In the Song army's formation, nearly a hundred soldiers fell one after another, and the formation became even weaker. .
The essence of Mongolian cavalry tactics is to use arrows to attack the opponent from a long distance, and to attack continuously, not only killing the opponent arbitrarily, but also not giving the opponent a chance to fight back. Only after killing most of the opponent with bows and arrows, did the Mongolian cavalry engage the opponent at hand-to-hand combat.
Thanks to the dozens of small cannons in the army, the effective range reached more than 300 steps, exceeding the range of the Mongolian cavalry archers, so they were able to sustain themselves.
Dozens of feathered arrows roared towards him. Wang Ping, who was setting up his crossbow, accidentally got hit by the rain of arrows. He fell to the ground along with several Song soldiers next to him. His body was covered with feathered arrows, like a hedgehog.
Blood kept pouring out of his chest, dyeing half of his body red. Wang Ping's body kept twitching, and finally he did not stand up again.
"General!"
The surrounding Song soldiers shouted loudly, and some couldn't help but shed tears.
The Mongolian cavalry formation spread out. Many Mongolian cavalry dismounted and squatted on the ground to shoot arrows. The artillery was unable to effectively kill on a large scale.
It has been more than two hours since the battle at noon. More than half of the army's officers and soldiers were killed or injured, and numerous minor injuries were suffered. Once night comes, it is not known how long the Song army can hold out under the hunting of Mongolian cavalry.
"Has the ammunition been loaded? Hurry and fire for me!"
Wu Feng was anxious and roared loudly.
The gunners pressed the red-hot iron to the fire door, spread out and squatted down, covering their ears.
"Puffy!"
The remaining five or six small cannons opened fire together, the smoke filled the air, the fire suddenly appeared, and countless shotguns sprayed out. The Mongolian light cavalry dispersed one after another, and there were still twenty or thirty cavalrymen who were knocked off their horses.
The Mongolian light cavalry dispersed further, and they began to circle again, and the formation spread out even more. Their horses were faster and their bodies were strong, and they began to shoot arrows at the Song army again.
In view of the lethality of the small artillery, the Mongolian light cavalry was more cautious. They gave way to the east, and the original surrounding formation was surrounded by three and one was missing, leaving a large gap.
On the Song Army's position, the roar of small artillery became weaker and weaker. Apparently, after half a day of fierce fighting, the Song army was almost out of ammunition.
The Song Army's position was littered with dead bodies, and there were wounded soldiers everywhere. Even the medical officers accompanying the team suffered several casualties. The remaining few had sweat on their faces, fighting fires everywhere, and were exhausted both mentally and physically.
Suddenly, cries and shrill screams came. It turned out that the Mongolian cavalry were killing and intimidating the Song prisoners who had been plundered, and driving them towards the Song army's position.
Behind the captives of the Song army, countless Mongolian cavalry leaped on their horses, raised their swords, and drew their bows and arrows. Judging from their eager posture, they seemed to use the prisoners to break up the Song army's position and take the opportunity to kill the Song army.
The Mongolian cavalry mingled among the Song prisoners, slashing and shooting. The Song prisoners cried for their fathers and mothers, staggering, with panic on their faces.
Thousands of troops and horses roared in, and in front of them were driven Song people crying for their fathers and mothers. The sound of horse hooves rumbled and the ground trembled. Many Song soldiers in front were breathing rapidly, and everyone changed their color.
Even if they risk their lives, the Song army's formation may have to be dispersed.
"General... what should we do?"
The sergeant on the side was dumbfounded and asked in a trembling voice unconsciously.
With so many people in the Song Dynasty, can they fire cannons? If the artillery is not fired, the Song Army's formation can only be overwhelmed, and the Song Army's officers and soldiers can only be slaughtered.
Wu Feng looked at the Song people who were driven by the Mongolian cavalry with pain in his eyes and was speechless for a moment.
"General, something bad happened! Cheng Xin... escaped!"
The sergeant was sweating profusely and hurriedly stepped forward to report. Wu Feng was shocked. He turned his head and looked at the rear army. Sure enough, hundreds of Song Army cavalry, surrounded by a group of men and horses, rushed out from the gap left by the Mongolian army. They rushed toward them like bereaved dogs. Flee east.
"Cheng Xin, you stupid bastard!"
Wu Feng cursed hard, hardened his heart, and shouted loudly.
"Brothers, do you want to be driven to death like dogs?"
The soldiers of Song Dynasty looked at each other, but the young officers were impassioned and shouted angrily.
"For the country and the people, sacrifice your life to be a benevolent person!"
This is a slogan often shouted by Jinling Martial Arts Hall. These young officers are also dignified graduates of Jinling Martial Arts Hall. In their hearts, everyone is determined to die.
"Brothers, everyone who dies in battle is honored, his name will be left in history, and his family will receive pensions. If he escapes from battle, he will be punished by death, and his family will also be affected!"
Wu Feng pointed at the chaotic crowd swarming across from him and roared at the top of his lungs.
"Brothers, take aim at those Tatar cavalry and shoot them all down!"
"Wu Feng, there are so many people..."
The tough and brave Ma Zhong was a little hesitant at this time.
He has a bold nature and has a good friendship with Wu Feng. Both of them are generals guarding Qifangguan. Although Ma Zhong is the commander-in-chief, he is generous to his subordinates and has great military morale.
But because of his generosity, he is always indecisive and easily influenced by the outside world.
"General Ma, the military orders are like mountains, and they will not surrender without a fight!"
Wu Feng interrupted Ma Zhong sharply and shouted angrily.
"Brothers, fire!"
As soon as Wu Feng finished speaking, a gunner quietly dropped the iron drill and ran away. As soon as he ran a few steps, two officers surrounded him and caught up quickly. The gunner avoided one knife, but was stabbed on the spot by another gun. .
The officers were all masters of assassination. The gunner fell to the ground and screamed, his slightly delicate white face looked painful, blood gushed out from his throat like a spring, and his upper body turned red and bloody.
"Anyone who escapes from battle will be killed without mercy!"
The officer was holding a bloody spear, and the air was cold. He was wearing a helmet and armor, tall and mighty, with big eyes like cowbells and thick black eyebrows, like a bloodthirsty evil ghost. Wu Feng took a closer look and saw that it was Ma Yi, a warrior in the army.
Ma Yi, Wang Ping, and Ma Zhong, the Three Musketeers in the Northwest Army, are all superb in martial arts and brave and good at fighting. It seems that Wang Ping died in battle, and Ma Yi felt uncomfortable.
"Brothers, fire!"
Wu Feng roared loudly.
The Mongolian cavalry driving away the Song people on the opposite side had already started firing arrows. And those hundreds of Song prisoners who were driven away fled in a steady stream.
"Escape from battle and you will be killed without mercy!"
Ma Yi and the officers roared, and the bodies of the deserters were thrown out. The gunners calmed down and lit the matches one after another. No one dared to escape again.
Ma Yi secretly shook his head. These young officers of the Jiangwu Hall are brave and fearless, and the military discipline under their rule is strict, but they are extraordinary.
"Puffy!"
The sound of artillery sounded, and the Song prisoners who were desperately fleeing fell to the ground. Dozens of Mongolian cavalry who were mixed in the crowd of prisoners were also beaten down, their bodies were bruised, and they were turned upside down. The rest yelled in shock and anger, and scattered one after another, hiding on their horses, widening the distance between them.
The Song prisoners were even more frightened. The Mongolian cavalry shot and killed them desperately. The Song prisoners panicked and fled forward desperately. The mountains and plains were covered with black clouds.
