In order to prevent the defenders from fighting against the enemy, the Qi army adopted the tactic of surrounding three and missing one.
Early the next morning, the Qi army, having had a good meal, came out of camp to set up formation. The Qi army's artillery group outside the city took one step ahead of the attacking troops and launched an artillery bombardment into the city.
Wokuotai did not want to fight Zhao Tai, and Zhao Tai actually did not want to fight Mongolia.
In order to scare Mongolia, Zhao Tai used gunpowder regardless of the cost.
At this time, the officer ordered the flag to be waved down, and a gun carriage was mounted outside the city. With a flick of its arm, thunderbolts arced in the air and fell into the city.
There was a loud "boom", the house was overturned by the explosion, and black smoke billowed.
The artillery group outside the city kept swinging its arms, and thunderbolts fell one after another inside the city. Explosions occurred everywhere. Mongolian soldiers ran around in fear on the streets, and people kept being knocked over by the air waves.
Facing the Qi army's long-range attack, the powerful Mongolian army had no power to fight back. They could only hide behind the ruins and shivering to avoid the bombardment.
While the artillery group was bombarding Zhaozhou City, 10,000 loyal soldiers had already set up a formation outside the city.
"Commanders, all battalions are ready!" The general came to Li Chunzhu on horseback to report.
Li Chunzhu pulled out his sword, pointed forward, and calmly ordered, "Attack!"
After the military order was given, the mighty Qi soldiers, armed with all kinds of equipment, moved forward with steps that they did not recognize their relatives.
The Mongolian troops who were watching on the city wall took the risk to poke their heads out and saw the Qi army soldiers coming up. They quickly stood up and ran to the inside of the city wall.
As soon as he stood up, before he could take two steps, a giant arrow shot from the earthen base, piercing his back directly and nailing him to the ground.
When the Mongolian general hiding behind the wall saw this, he immediately ordered several of his subordinates to stand up and warn the city. The Mongolian soldiers could only brave the arrows shot by the Qi troops on the earthen base and miss them, and ran to the edge of the city wall to attack the city. Shouting, "The thieves are attacking the city!"
The Mongolian soldiers who were hiding from the shelling behind the city wall, at the urging of the officers, climbed up the steps to defend the city.
They held up their shields, but the shields could protect against bows and arrows, but they could not protect against the big arrows shot from the crossbow bed.
Suddenly, huge spear-like crossbow arrows were shot over with a "swish", and the Mongolian troops who densely descended on the city were instantly pierced into meat skewers by the big arrows.
The Mongolian army at the top of the city was suppressed by the Qi army's crossbows on the mound and could not show their heads at all. The Qi soldiers only risked scattered arrows and easily reached the city.
The Qi army laid a flying bridge on the moat, crossed the river slowly, then erected the ladder to climb the city, and began to climb up the city.
The soldiers of the Qi army who were fighting outside the city saw their comrades scaling the city wall, and they all shouted to cheer for the soldiers who were attacking the city.
The cries of tens of thousands of soldiers shook the heaven and earth, and the overwhelming sound made the defenders breathless, and their bodies and minds were gradually swallowed up by fear.
The Qi army climbed onto the city wall and fought with the defenders. The crossbowmen on the earthen ramparts used all their strength to suppress the steps to the city and prevent the Mongolian army from going up to the city for reinforcements. At the same time, the artillery groups continued to exert their power and bombarded the city.
With the cooperation of various arms and weapons of the Qi army, in less than half an hour, the Qi army began to occupy the city wall and attack downwards from the steps to the city.
Not long after, the Qi army rushed down the city, killed the defenders behind the city gate, cleared the obstacles, and opened the city gate.
Inside the Zhaozhou County Yamen, Subotai and Shi Tianze hurriedly came out surrounded by their generals. They got on their horses outside the Yamen and led their subordinates in a hurry towards the north city.
The Qi army had already entered the city and Zhaozhou could no longer defend it. Subotai could only lead the Mongolian elites to assemble towards the north gate and break through to Zhending.
"The Zhao thief is surrounded by three and one is missing, leaving the north side for us to break through. But in my estimation, he must have ambushed the cavalry outside the city. Your infantry will be covered up by the cavalry when they break out. It is better to let them stay in the city and join forces. The thieves are fighting to delay the thieves for us!" Seeing that Shi Tianze still wanted to wait for his subordinates, Subotai said in a deep voice.
Shi Tianze felt bitter in his heart, but he understood that Subotai's words made sense, so he could only sigh, lead a few personal guards, follow the Mongolian cavalry, and break out of the city.
Zhao Tai did not disappoint the two of them. Subutai led more than 5,000 cavalry. Just fifteen miles away from Zhaozhou, he saw nearly 10,000 Qi cavalry in the wilderness, waiting for them for a long time.
Wanyan Chenghu raised his spear, and the nearly 10,000-horse army spurred their horses and gradually increased their speed.
Without saying a word, Subotai swung his machete forward and shouted loudly, "Get out!"
The Mongolian cavalry pulled the reins to avoid colliding with the Qi cavalry, while the Qi cavalry also constantly adjusted their direction in order to intercept the Mongolian cavalry.
Two cavalrymen galloped in the wilderness. The Qi cavalry kept firing arrows and chased the Mongolian cavalry all the way north. The Qi cavalry stopped chasing them only when they were close to Zhending.
Li Chunzhu said he would take Zhaozhou in a long time, but in less than two hours, he took control of Zhaozhou City.
At this time, the fighting in the city came to an end, and groups of Mongolian prisoners were escorted out of the city. Teams of Qi soldiers, led by officers, inspected the houses one by one, searching for the defeated Mongolian soldiers hiding in private houses.
At noon, Zhao Tai, surrounded by generals, entered Zhaozhou City.
Because of Mongolia's stubborn resistance, the Qi army used a large number of firearms. Zhaozhou was severely damaged. Many houses in the city were blown up. Fires in the houses on the streets had just been put out.
Wang Bin smiled and said: "Your Majesty, in this battle, the 15,000 Han troops in Hebei were either killed or captured. Only Subotai led the Mongolian cavalry and a small number of Han cavalry to break out from the north."
Zhao Tai said: "On the plains, it is not easy to block the cavalry. However, with nearly 10,000 cavalry deployed outside Beicheng, Subotai will lose his skin even if he escapes."
"Your Majesty, now that the war in Zhaozhou is over, I think that Zhaozhou is important and can directly threaten Jingxing. I should arrange manpower to repair the city and then send troops to garrison it." Wang Bin suggested.
Zhao Tai nodded slightly, "Gu Zheng has this intention! If Wo Kuotai avoids the battle and the Song army attacks the Huaihe River, even if Zhaozhou cannot stop the Mongolian army from going south, it can still break up the siege of Wo Kuotai with thousands of troops."
Wang Bin said: "Now that the king has captured Zhaozhou, he can approach Zhending. As for restoring Zhaozhou's city defense, he can leave it to me."
Zhao Tai smiled and said: "Gu Zheng has this intention!"
~~~~~~
Really determined.
As soon as Subotai entered the city in embarrassment, he was summoned by Wo Kuotai for questioning.
"Khan, the Qi thieves' firearms are even sharper than before!" Subotai said about the process of guarding Zhaozhou, and he is still satisfied with it.
The Qi army had powerful firearms, and the Mongolian army was completely suppressed in defending the city, with no countermeasures at all.
"Listen to what you say, the city is basically useless against the thieves!" Wo Kuotai frowned after hearing this. In less than two years, the Qi army seems to have become stronger again.
Shi Tianze said: "Great Khan, the Qi bandits' cannons have a long range, and the thunderbolts they throw are powerful and continuous. We can't defeat the Qi bandits in the city, so we can only be bombed in the city. From the perspective of the minister, the current city is , there is no one who can guard against the Qi thieves."
Wo Kuotai took a deep breath, and Zhao Tai surrounded Zhaozhou. Wo Kuotai thought that Zhao Tai wanted to lure him over for a decisive battle. He did not lead his troops to Zhao Zhou, but hoped to delay sending troops until the Southern Song Dynasty.
But he didn't expect Zhao Tai to conquer Zhaozhou immediately when he saw that he couldn't go there. This made Wo Kuotai a little worried. After Zhao Tai defeated Zhaozhou, he would rush to Zhending again.
"You guys go and rest first!" After learning about the fall of Zhaozhou, Wo Kuotai waved his hands with a black face.
Subotai and Shi Tianze bowed and left, while Ogedai sat on a chair and fell into deep thought.
That night, Wokuotai was lying on the bed, unable to sleep for a long time. All he could think about was Zhao Tai's next move after taking Zhaozhou, and he was worried that Zhao Tai would press forward step by step and kill Zhending.
Wokuotai tossed and turned and didn't fall asleep until five o'clock in the morning. But not long after he fell asleep, he was awakened by a report from his subordinates, "Sweat, Qi Thief Ben Zhending is here!"
"What?" Wo Kuotai woke up when he heard the sound.
"Great Khan, the bandits set out from Zhaozhou, tens of thousands of people, coming towards Zhending!" The guard outside the house reported again.
Wo Kuotai couldn't help but gnashed his teeth, "Zhao Thief, he forced me to do this. I'm really angry!"
