The morning sun rises, and the rays of rays fill the interior and exterior of Yanjing City. The wilderness is peaceful, birds are flying in the sky, the mountains are stacked, and the earth is silent.
Outside Yanjing City, in the Song army's formation, horns sounded one after another and drums beat intensively, breaking the silence of the early morning. Countless artillery carts were pushed out from the Song Army's camp. The cold light of the gun barrels was dim, and there was a large black cloud. There were nearly a thousand artillery carts. The artillery carts moved forward straight towards the south wall of Yanjing, making the people at the top of the city covered in fog. The soldiers were frightened.
With so many artillery pieces and this indiscriminate bombardment, was the southern wall of Yanjing City still not destroyed?
Although there are four to five hundred cannons on the four walls of Yanjing City, they are distributed on the four walls, with no more than a hundred cannons on each side. What frustrated the Mongolian army the most was that the range of the Mongolian army's artillery was less than one mile. Many Mongolian soldiers had seen the range of the Song Army's artillery, which was at least two or three miles away. Compared with the two sides, their strength was not at the same level.
The artillery carriages of the Song Army rolled forward and did not stop until they were a few miles outside the south city. The artillery carriages were deployed one after another, and the artillery was aimed at the head of the south city of Yanjing.
As the Mongolian troops on the city wall watched, the Song army gunners outside the city began to load ammunition.
It seems that the Song Army's attack today is focused on the south wall of Yanjing.
On the south wall of Yanjing, Zhang Hongyan, the eldest son of Zhang Rou, a member of the Han army in Baozhou, looked outside the city with a gloomy face and shouted loudly.
"Brothers, prepare to challenge!"
The Mongolian soldiers on the city wall clenched their swords and guns, opened their eyes wide, and looked outside the city.
"Brothers, the Song people are despicable and assassinated the marshal. The Song army is just outside the city, and they want to capture Yanjing City. Now is the time for revenge! Join me now to kill Song Dog, and you will be rewarded after the war!"
Zhang Hongyan loudly encouraged his subordinates, his face full of sadness and anger.
"Kill Song Gou! Kill Song Gou! Kill Song Gou!"
Zhang Rou's old men on the top of the city all raised their swords and spears and roared, their faces red and their voices spread far away.
"Okay! Brothers, prepare to challenge!"
Zhang Hongyan came to the city wall and looked outside the city with wet palms.
The father's hatred is irreconcilable, and the Song army is approaching fiercely. The only plan now is to fight to the death.
The Mongolian troops on the city wall hid themselves and looked outside the city.
"Puffy!"
The early morning sun shone on the field, and large plumes of smoke rose from the Song Army's artillery array outside the southern city. Cannonballs filled the air. Huge cannonballs flew toward the city head. Some of the cannonballs passed over the city head, fell into the city, and exploded. The violent explosion caused the houses around the southern city wall to collapse, and dust rose into the sky, as if the sky was falling and the earth was falling.
Some artillery shells fell on the top of the city. The iron flakes and pellets produced by the explosion of the artillery shells scattered on the top of the city. There was a bloody storm, and at the same time, pieces of Mongolian soldiers were shot and wounded, and there was a bloody rain on the top of the city. The wind was blowing, and there were dead, injured and screaming Mongolian soldiers everywhere.
Several huge cannonballs roared in and landed just on the gate tower of the south city. The smoke was filled, the rubble and dust were flying, killing and injuring several Mongolian soldiers around, and the city wall was in a mess.
"General! Get down!"
A shell fell on the top of the city, only five or six steps away from Zhang Hongyan. The guards threw the panicked Zhang Hongyan to the ground and pressed him on top of him. A violent explosion sounded, bricks and stones flew from the city wall, and most of a stacked wall was missing.
Zhang Hongyan pushed away the guard on his body, stood up in fear, and hurriedly hid behind the wall and hid in a pile of earth bags.
Beside him, a Mongolian soldier lay groaning in a pool of blood with his arms covered with bones. Another man's abdomen was gurgling with blood, staining the ground red. There were pieces of meat everywhere on the ground, as well as colorful intestines and human organs.
"Hide it!"
Zhang Hongyan shouted loudly, directing his frightened subordinates to avoid.
With such indiscriminate bombing, these Song troops don't need money for artillery shells?
"Puffy!"
This time, the Song Army replaced it with a solid iron ball, which made the Mongolian soldiers on the city wall breathe a sigh of relief.
Zhang Hongyan wiped his cold sweat. He turned back and looked into the city. He saw countless solid iron balls far over the city wall and shooting into various places in the city. Dust was flying everywhere in the city. Houses collapsed and walls collapsed. Even the Mongolian army camp in the south of the city. can not avoid. Many sergeants and civilians fled in panic from the houses and military camps and ran towards Beicheng. Some people were affected by the artillery fire and were either killed or injured.
Zhang Hongyan looked at it without feeling frightened.
The Song army's artillery shells were like hail, and half of the city was within the range of their artillery. If we are bombarded like this every day, then what's the point?
The outside of the city can penetrate three or four miles into the city. How can the Song army's artillery hit so far?
Also, the Song Army shot so many solid iron balls into the military camp, and the shots were so accurate, there wouldn't be any finesse, right?
The Mongolian army at the head of the city was so suppressed that they could not raise their heads. Artillery shells flew into the city, and there was a lot of chaos. However, the Song army did not attack the city. They just allowed the artillery to ravage the city at the head of the city, batch after batch, endlessly. .
In Yanjing City, in the yamen of Zhongshu Mansion, Zhongshu Ling Yelu Chucai was sitting in the lobby with a gloomy expression. The sound of shelling outside the government office came. Yelu Chucai looked at the official documents in front of him and remained motionless.
"Mr. Yelu, iron balls don't have eyes. Do you want to avoid them?"
Chen Shike, the deputy tax envoy of Yanjing who was next in command, softly advised.
The artillery of the Song Army was so fierce that if it hit the government office and accidentally injured one of the others, it would be a huge loss.
"Ms. Chen, please be patient. You haven't noticed that the Song army's artillery hit the city head and the military camp in the city. As for the civilian houses, it was only affected."
Yelu Chucai pretended to be calm and did not focus on the official document.
In fact, there are no official documents worth reading.
"Mr. Yelu, are you saying that the Song Army does not want to harm innocent people?"
Chen Shike felt relieved a little.
As long as Song Jun really made no mistakes, he would feel more at ease.
"Mr. Yelu, if the Song army bombards like this every day, people in the city will be panicked. If this continues, I don't know how long we can defend it? Those defenders, I wonder if they still have the heart to defend it?"
The sound of artillery outside continued, and the Song Army's solid iron balls came in for free, which made Chen Shike's heart twitch again.
"Mr. Yelu, the soldiers guarding the city come from all over the country, and not all are Tatar soldiers. People's hearts are unpredictable. If this continues, I'm afraid the morale of the army will be dispersed."
Another deputy tax envoy, Zhao Fang, was also worried.
"Just get used to it. The Song Army's bombardment will always stop. You don't have to worry about it."
"Yes, sir."
Chen Shike and Zhao Fang saluted together and calmed down for a while.
Outside Yanjing City, in the Song Army's formation, Meng Gong and other Song Army generals held up telescopes to look at the city. Everyone looked solemn.
"General, the walls of Yanjing are very tall. If we attack the city by force, we will probably suffer many casualties."
The cavalry commander Lu Wende looked at the tall Yanjing city wall and put down his telescope.
Compared with the cities in the northwest of the Song Dynasty, including many large cities in Hebei, Yanjing City is tall and solid, which is intimidating.
"Yanjing City was once the capital of the Jin Kingdom, with a radius of nearly fifty miles. Even though it was captured by the Tatar army and the city was destroyed, it was still so majestic and tall. It is the largest city in Hebei and its reputation is well-deserved."
Uncle Zhou Ping frowned slightly and said softly from the side.
Compared with Jinling City, which is less than ten miles in radius, Yanjing City is unusually large. In the Song Dynasty, many ministers and people thought that after the success of the Northern Expedition, the emperor would move the capital to Yanjing, and indeed they had some insight.
"No matter how majestic and majestic he is, will he still be reduced to ashes and pissed off after being bombarded indiscriminately?"
Cao Youwan, the deputy commander of the cavalry, said nonchalantly.
It's just a rush, and he hasn't had enough of it yet.
"General, the bombardment is almost over, do you want to attack the city immediately?"
Meng Jing on the side said softly.
"Don't be anxious first. Let's continue the bombardment for a while, and then attack the city in the afternoon."
Meng Gong glanced at his brother and shook his head slightly.
No matter how well-trained the Song army was and how sharp their weapons were, they would still suffer a lot of casualties when attacking the city. Just let the artillery shells fly for a while. Anyway, the Song army has many artillery shells.
Zhou Ping and Meng Gong looked at each other and each withdrew their gaze.
At five o'clock in the morning, the city of Yanjing in the night was silent and peaceful, shrouded in darkness.
After half a day of indiscriminate bombardment, at midnight, the Song army began to attack the city with the help of firecrackers and artillery cover. It was tepid. When it got dark, the Song army abandoned hundreds of corpses and retreated with gold.
The Song army harassed them all night, and it was a good time to sleep before dawn. On the south wall, the Mongolian soldiers snored constantly. On the dilapidated South City Gate, Zhang Hongyan, dressed in iron armor, was looking at the Song Army camp outside the city wall.
For some reason, his eyelids were twitching, and he always felt that something was happening. Fortunately, it was almost dawn. It seems that the Song army will not attack the city until dawn.
Looking over to the east, Zhang Hongyan couldn't help but be stunned.
"Brother Yelushan, if you don't have a good rest, why are you here?"
Brother Yelushan, wearing armor and a sword, led a group of followers and came along the south city wall. He went up and directly hugged Zhang Hongyan's shoulders, making him extremely affectionate.
"Dalang, the Song army is approaching the city. How can I sleep, brother? I'm so bored that I came here."
The two are about the same age, both young people, and get along well on weekdays.
"Brother Shan, don't look at it. It was my south city wall that we attacked yesterday. At dawn, it might be your west city wall!"
Zhang Hongyan glanced at Brother Yelushan angrily.
"Brother Shan, don't say I didn't warn you. The Song Army's artillery and thunder are powerful. They need earth bags. Have you prepared them?"
"Da Lang, you are already ready."
Brother Yelushan nodded and let go of Zhang Hongyan's shoulders. The two of them lay on the wall and looked out of the city.
"Dalang, tell me, can we defeat the Song army?"
"Brother Shan, I don't know either. But Song Jun killed my father, and my father's hatred is irreconcilable. I must fight to the end with Song Jun!"
There was some helplessness and tragedy in Zhang Hongyan's voice.
"Dalang, you did the right thing! The Song army is powerful, and we don't know if we can survive the battle to defend the city. If my brother has done anything I'm sorry for before, I hope you won't take it to heart."
Brother Yelushan patted Zhang Hongyan on the shoulder, his eyes were complicated, and he said with emotion.
The two southwest gates did not block the city entrance. To the west was Temutai and to the south was Zhang Hongyan. Only Zhang Hongyan could reach it.
"Brother Shan, what are you talking about? We brothers can all survive if we work together. When the time comes, please..."
Before Zhang Hong finished speaking, he turned his head with difficulty. He looked at Brother Yelushan with surprise in his eyes.
"Shan... you..."
"Brother, I'm sorry. I'm still young and I still want to live. I can only apologize."
Brother Yelushan whispered softly, stabbed Zhang Hongyan a few more times in the chest with the short knife, and then helped Zhang Hongyan lie down on the city wall. He turned his head and saw that from the east direction, countless subordinates were rushing over from the east wall.
Brother Yelushan's men took action together. Several of Zhang Hongyan's soldiers were caught off guard and were killed by Brother Yelushan's followers one after another.
Brother Yelushan's followers threw out the smoking thunderbolts in their hands. Earth and rocks flew everywhere around the exploded city gate tower, and gunpowder smoke filled the air. Several of Zhang Hongyan's confidants were blown up and fell on the city wall with their flesh and blood flying everywhere.
Brother Yelushan shouted loudly.
"Brothers, the Song Army is coming! Run for your life!"
He and a group of henchmen went straight to the city wall. The henchmen held shields and followed closely. Soon they arrived at the city gate, and the city gate was quickly opened. Brother Yelushan picked up the torch and waved it toward the outside of the city.
"Brothers, hold up your shields, guard the city gate, and welcome the Song army into the city!"
The shouts of killing were loud on the south wall. Countless Dongliao soldiers entered the south wall. They smashed thunderbolts and fired crossbows. They quickly occupied the area around the gate tower of the south city and lowered the suspension bridge.
There were blazing torches outside the South City Gate. Countless Song troops crossed the suspension bridge and quickly entered the city gate. Brother Yelushan and others led the way and rushed into Yanjing City.
The Song troops were divided into two groups. One group of Song troops went straight up the city wall, while the other group of Song troops entered Yanjing City and went straight to the Mongolian military camp in the city.
