Wokuotai was worried that Qi would threaten Youzhou after it regained its strength, so he decided to eliminate Wuxian, then go south to plunder Qi and destroy Qi's production.
At this time, the Mongolian cavalry attacked the villages and towns in Baozhou and took tens of thousands of people captive to the Mongolian camp.
Wuxian built two cities, Langshan and Dong'an. The terrain of Langshan City was higher and that of Dong'an City was slightly lower. After discussing with his ministers, Wokuotai decided to attack Dong'an first and then Langshan City.
It was night, on Dong'an City, the Qi army holding torches was patrolling back and forth, and suddenly they heard a sound coming from outside the city.
"Hundred households, there's a situation!" A soldier pointed outside the city. The officer also heard the noise, but the light was not good at night, so he could only hear the noise but could not see the situation clearly.
"You guys keep staring, I'll report it!" Baihu looked at it for a while, then suddenly turned around and went to the city. The Qi general guarding Dong'an was Wu Yanbin, Wu Xian's nephew. He hurried to the top of the city and turned to give orders,
"Shoot fireballs and see what they are doing?" There are not many artillery pieces in Dong'an City, and the defense mainly relies on the Pizhou artillery group on the back of the city wall.
At this time, he gave an order, and the soldiers behind the city wall loaded the cannon cart with fireballs, and then lit them with torches. The gunner then knocked the cannon bolt and threw the burning fireball into the sky with his arm.
The fireball drew an arc in the sky, lighting up the ground outside the city. Wu Yanbin looked out while holding on to the wall stacks, and his expression immediately became solemn. He saw countless people, driven by the Mongolian army, carrying earth bags and running to the bottom of the city. A bag of earth had already been piled up in front of the city.
The Qi army also used this siege method, piling soil directly under the city wall, and then attacked the defenders from a high position.
"Commander, what should I do?" The general saw that they were all ordinary people and couldn't help but ask,
"Should we let go of the arrows!" War is very cruel and devouring human nature. Facing the ferocious Mongols, kindness cannot win victory, nor can it defend the city.
Wu Yanbin punched the wall with his fist, and said with gritted teeth: "Fire the arrows! If anything happens, I'll be responsible!" Archers were mobilized from the Qi army at the top of the city, and they immediately lit rockets and shot at the people and Mongolian troops who were piled up.
The overwhelming rockets fell like meteors and fire, and the people carrying earth bags were shot down one after another. However, the Mongolian army still waved their swords and scolded the people, asking the people to pile earth under the city regardless of the cost.
The Mongolian soldiers forced the people to carry earth bags and piled the shot dead bodies directly into the earth mound. The Mongolian army forced the people to pile up earth, and after thousands of people were killed or injured, multiple mounds of earth were piled up near the city wall in the south of Dong'an City.
Seeing that the preparations for the siege were completed, Wokuotai immediately ordered the accompanying Khitan army to launch a violent attack on Dong'an City.
In the early morning of this day, after a full meal, the Mongolian army set up a formation outside Dong'an City. Wokuotai sent thousands of cavalry to station outside Langshan City to monitor the Wuxian in the city and prevent the Wuxian from leading his troops out of the city and interfering with the Mongolian army's attack on the city.
According to the estimates of the Mongolian army, there should be 3,000 Qi troops and nearly 10,000 civilians in Dong'an City. Wo Kuotai sent 15,000 Khitan troops to besiege Dong'an City.
Dong'an City is surrounded by a river to the north and Langshan City to the west. Fifteen thousand Khitan soldiers were divided into two groups and attacked the East City and South City respectively.
Because they had lost too many troops before, Mongolia had to change its rough siege methods in the past and began to learn from Zhao Tai to cherish the lives of its soldiers.
This time it was the Khitan soldiers who participated in the siege, but the Mongolian tribes also came out to set up formations to give the Khitan soldiers a stronger momentum.
"Xiao Wanhu! The Qi bandits' artillery is sharp and powerful, but after testing it these days, you should already know that if the artillery is placed on the city, there will be a blind spot for shooting." Wo Kuotai said to Xiao Chongxi: "Your troops can only rush to the bottom of the city. , the artillery of the Qi army will not be able to hit you." Xiao Chongxi saluted and said: "Don't worry, Great Khan! Our troops have made complete preparations and will break through Dong'an City today!"
"Okay!" Wo Kuotai exclaimed with joy,
"If you capture the city today, I will add another five thousand households to your army!" On the battlefield, the horn of attack sounded.
Xiao Chongxi left the Chinese army on horseback and came to the Khitan army's formation outside the southern city. He drew his scimitar and rode back and forth to boost the morale of the Khitan army.
When the horn of the army stopped, Xiao Chongxi reined in his horse and swung his sword forward.
"Attack!" Outside the south city, 10,000 Khitan troops roared suddenly, carrying the siege ladder and rushing towards Dong'an City like a tide.
Because there were artillery at the top of the city and Pizhou artillery on the back of the city wall, large siege equipment would be destroyed by the Qi army's firearms before they even got close to the city wall, so the Khitan soldiers only used ladders to attack the city.
At this time, as the Khitan soldiers launched a charge, the artillery at the top of the city roared, and the artillery group threw out thunders that shook the sky.
Cannonballs and thunderbolts fell into the charging enemy group, splashing up clouds of mud, and the explosion overturned the running soldiers.
Because the Mongolian army arrived quickly, the Qi army had not had time to dig the moat, so the Khitan soldiers were able to rush directly to the city and then erect ladders to attack the city.
At this time, the Khitan soldiers carrying the ladder and charging forward were about to approach the city wall, but they stepped on an iron pear. The soldiers' feet were instantly pierced, and they fell to the ground with the ladder.
"Fire arrows!" the Qi army general at the city head brandished his sword and roared. The archers at the top of the city missed their arrows, and the arrows rained down.
"Whoosh", he shot down the Khitan soldiers rushing in front. A group of Khitan soldiers armed with large shields rushed to the city. They placed a shield as high as a person under the city wall. The Khitan soldiers' archers immediately hid behind the shields and fired at the top of the city.
At the same time, several groups of Khitan archers climbed onto the earth platform and shot arrows at the top of the city from a high position. The Qi army defending the city gradually fell into a bitter battle.
~~~~~~When the Mongolian army besieged Wuxian, Zhao Tai led the soldiers and civilians of Qi to plant rice. After the Qi army forced the Mongolian cavalry to Baozhou, the other six states in central Hebei could finally farm with peace of mind.
However, spring plowing has passed, and there is not much land in Hebei that can be converted into paddy fields. People work hard to cultivate it, but only 10% of the land can be planted with rice.
It was May, the farming season had passed, and Zhao Tai turned his energy to organizing the imperial examination. Zhao Tai led the people to farm to appease the people, while preparing for the imperial examination was to recruit scholars.
The State of Qi occupies a piece of land, and when it is digested, it becomes the symbol of Qi State's land. This means that the people in this land will be stable and the scholars will return to their hearts.
In Hejian Mansion, after Qi State announced that it would open schools to recruit scholars, the scholars in the mansion came to the city one after another. The imperial examination process in Qi was almost the same as that in the Southern Song Dynasty, and Zhao Tai did not make any changes.
In this situation where foreign enemies are around, rash changes to the rules and examination content will easily cause dissatisfaction among the scholars.
Early that morning, Zhao Tai came to the Yamen and was about to discuss with his subordinates about organizing the examination. A group of cavalry galloped to the Yamen.
At this time, the leader got off his horse, hurriedly entered the government office, and came to the outside of the festival hall. In the festival hall, Zhao Taizheng ordered the officials of Hejian Prefecture to arrange the examination room and prepare for the first imperial examination in Qi State. An official suddenly walked in and whispered in Zhao Taifu's ear: "Your Majesty, Dong'an City is lost!"
