When the morning sun rose and the view from the city became better, the crossbow bed that Zhao Tai arranged at the top of the city showed its power.
These giant crossbows, relying on precise shooting, nailed a famous Mongolian soldier to the ground like a gourd.
Zhang Rou led his men and horses and fought with the Zhongyi Army until dawn. When he was about to eat all the Zhongyi Army who left the city, a spear-like crossbow arrow came with a whoosh, knocking off the bodyguard around him and sending him flying backwards. Finally nailed to the low wall.
This scene frightened Zhang Rou, and as the crossbowmen at the top of the city continued to attack, the Mongolian army's casualties began to increase.
This made the Mongolian army, which was originally flanked by Li Chunzhu and Tang Liang, finally overwhelmed and was torn open.
Once the hole was opened, it was difficult for the Mongolian troops blocking the door to close it.
"Brothers, retreat inside!" Li Chunzhu shouted angrily after fighting hard all night.
The loyal troops outside the city retreated into Wengcheng while wielding their swords. The Mongolian army wanted to pursue them, but arrows rained down from the top of the city. The Mongolian troops below the city were shot to death one after another. Get closer to the city wall.
Seeing this, Zhang Rou couldn't help but throw her helmet to the ground, "Damn it, let the thieves run away."
When the sun fully rose, the battle outside Pizhou City was over. As the loyal army retreated into Wengcheng, the Mongolian army could only withdraw its troops.
At this time, the sun was shining on the earth, and only layers of corpses were left on the ground.
Under the cover of the crossbows at the top of the city and the artillery group behind the city, the loyal army withdrew into the city. The Mongolian army, which had fought all night, did not dare to rush into Wengcheng and could only retreat outside the range of the crossbows and artillery groups.
"Commander, what should we do now?" the general, covered in blood, asked with his sword in hand.
Zhang Rou turned her head and glanced at him, "What else can we do? Harvest the heads and clean up the battlefield."
Zhang Rou was very upset that she could not annihilate all the loyal troops who came out of the city, but then she became happy again.
After all, he caused a lot of damage to the Zhongyi Army, which was considered the first victory since the attack on Pizhou.
"What to do with the corpses below the city?" the general asked as he looked at the corpses piled all over the city.
Because the Loyalty Army did not enter the Mongolian camp, the Mongolian ambush troops came out. As a result, the main battle last night took place outside the city gate.
The loyal army at the top of the city had a poor view at night, so the archers and crossbows at the top of the city did not dare to shoot indiscriminately. The Mongolian army had not yet come close, and they had to be knocked down by the crossbows four hundred paces away.
Looking at the corpses on the ground, Zhang Rou felt a little pity. Those were all battle achievements and rewards!
"The crossbows at the top of the city are sharp, and your life is at stake. We'll clean them up at night!" Zhang Rou said solemnly.
At this time, a group of cavalry came over, and the leading Mongolian officer said condescendingly: "Zhang Wanhu, the prince has an order for you to count the harvest, and then go to the big tent to discuss matters."
Zhang Rou said quickly: "Please report back to the prince, I will be there later."
Since the battlefield was close to the Pizhou city wall, the Mongolian army was unable to clean up. Zhang Rou's men could only harvest heads and pick up weapons outside the range of the crossbow beds and artillery groups in the city.
At this time, Zhao Tai stood at the top of the city and looked down. He saw layers of corpses everywhere under the city, and his expression was a little heavy.
Tang Liang and Li Chunzhu, covered in blood, hurried up to the city and came behind Zhao Tai, "Your Majesty!"
Zhao Tai recovered his thoughts and asked in a deep voice: "How are the casualties?"
Tang Liang pointed the hilt of his sword upward, cupped his fists and saluted, "Replying to the king, I humbled myself and led the army out of the city to meet him. Two hundred brothers were killed and more than three hundred were injured."….
Zhao Tai looked at Li Chunzhu again, who suddenly cried bitterly and knelt down, "Your Majesty, more than half of our two thousand men were killed in battle, and all those who returned to the city were injured."
Although Zhao Tai was well prepared, the Zhongyi Army suffered heavy losses in the face of the Mongolian ambush.
There are 10,000 troops in the city, and the casualties last night are estimated to be close to 2,000, leaving the loyal army with only a loss of 20% of its combat strength.
However, the casualties were worth it to confuse Kublai Khan.
Zhao Tai helped Li Chunzhu up and said, "Commander Li, don't be sad. I will provide you with pensions for the soldiers who died in the battle. I will heal and resettle the injured. I will replenish the number of soldiers and horses you have lost." How many troops do you have?"
Li Chunzhu wiped away his tears after hearing this, "I will lead my brothers to thank you, Your Majesty.
"
Zhao Tai patted his shoulder and comforted him: "You have worked hard after a hard night's battle. This battle should be able to confuse Kublai Khan. When the breakout is successful, I will reward you based on your merits."
Having said this, Zhao Tai waved his hand and asked them all to rest, and then arranged manpower to clean up the corpses under the city to prevent the Mongolian army from knowing the specific casualties of the Zhongyi Army.
Zhao Tai's judgment was good. There was a lot of movement last night, and the battle lasted until dawn, which made Kublai Khan feel that he had won the battle.
Zhao Tai was satisfied with this battle, and so was Kublai Khan.
Although Kublai Khan learned that the loyal troops who left the city fled back to the city, judging from the movements last night, the Mongolian army should have gained a lot.
Because it was dark, Kublai Khan could not know how many loyal troops had left the city. In order to find out the results of the battle, Kublai Khan urgently ordered all ministries to report their gains and wanted to know the results of this battle.
The battle last night mainly took place in Beicheng, so Zhang Rou counted the losses and seizures later than the Mongolian troops three doors away.
After he finished counting, it was already noon when he arrived outside Kublai Khan's tent, and other generals had already arrived.
"Zhang Wanhu, Your Majesty has been waiting for a long time!" The Mongolian guards guarding outside the tent smiled when they saw him coming.
Zhang Rou was in a heavy mood. The fight was quite chaotic last night when it was dark. He didn't know his losses at first and thought he had taken advantage. However, when he did a count after the battle, he discovered that nearly 2,000 people on his side had died in the battle.
The Mongols set up an ambush and Zhang Rou killed two thousand people in battle. The loyal and rebel army must have been destroyed at least two to three thousand. However, Zhang Rou counted the corpses and found only more than three hundred.
Although the city was not cleaned up, it was still too little.
But Zhang Rou soon stopped worrying about the lack of corpses.
Because there were only three hundred corpses, but there were as many as two thousand heads handed over by the subordinates.
This number does not include the heads under the city wall that have not had time to be harvested.
If the heads of the people under the city are included, the Zhongyi Army lost at least four to five thousand people, and half of the Zhongyi Army in the city fell to Zhang Rou.
Although it was difficult to see clearly at night, Zhang Rou knew that the report reported by his subordinates must be watery. Most likely, someone took advantage of the chaos and killed the civilian husband and used the civilian husband's head to claim military merit.
Zhang Rou did not intend to expose the behavior of his subordinates, but he could not report it like this.
He made a rough estimate and felt that half of the five thousand were still alive, so he decided to set the harvest at three thousand.
At this time, the Mongolian guard raised the curtain, Zhang Ju thanked him, and then got into the commander's tent, only to find that Kublai Khan had already drank the wine to celebrate his victory.
Kublai Khan was in a good mood. When he saw Zhang Rou coming in, he immediately pointed at him and said, "Zhang Wanhu, I'm waiting for you! The Zhao thieves broke out from the North City last night, and the fighting was the fiercest on your side. Tell me what to do. How many thieves have you killed?"
The words are bleak
