In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 369
Ouzhahui's recent suggestions have not been adopted, including more than ten days ago, when he suggested that Zhongxing Mansion dig a moat in the north and divert water further north. The project is not big, and the Song army is not outside, so the people can be mobilized to do it. , with thousands of people, a deep trench can be dug within dozens of days. If more people are used, it can even be directed to a sand lake dozens of miles to the north, which can reduce the pressure of flooding.

Chagatai did not take any measures at that time. He thought that he could break the Song Army's defense line and destroy the Song Army's embankments. As a result, the Song Army without city walls was more difficult to defeat than those with city walls.

Ouzhahui still has some ideas, but Chagatai and Kuoduan have never paid attention to them. It is very likely that Ouzhahui is a civil affairs official. In their eyes, although Ouzhahui is a good civil affairs officer, he may not be able to fight.

Chagatai and the other two took him with them and asked more about the local customs, climate and terrain, etc. Wuzhahui knew them all very well.

Several people discussed for a while in front of the formation, but Ouzhaqi's proposal today was not adopted again, and they felt a little depressed.

He no longer made random comments, but just followed Chagatai's questions and talked about the nearby climate, terrain, and water flow conditions.

One thing he can be sure of is that when the rainy season arrives, the water level of the Yellow River in the southeast corner will rise very quickly because the river channel is relatively narrow. Then the Song Army can first introduce the water from the Yellow River, then block it and rely on rain to store water. The water in the dam will rise faster. This is a method used by Mongolia back then.

Chagatai talked with Kuoduan and Ouzhaqi, but he didn't hear anything useful for fighting. He could only say: "Let's go and take a look ahead."

A group of people rode forward.

They first came to the east of Zhongxing Mansion.

This is the main attack direction of the Mongolian army, and the Song army's embankment is built here.

The high embankment can now be seen from far away. Visually, it is at least seven or eight meters high, which is very fast.

You must know that in order to store water, this dam was made quite large, bigger than the one in Mongolia.

The circumference is at least a dozen miles, and the entire Zhongxing City wall is only a few miles long?

The Song army brought tens of thousands of Song people to work here. In just over two months, it had reached a height of seven or eight meters, like a city, and it was still getting higher.

Chagatai and the others took a look around the dike on horseback and felt that there were Song troops and Mongolian troops everywhere, like ants, but the progress was very slow.

Several people found a position due east and started to move forward.

Soon we came to a ditch.

This is a ditch conquered by the Mongolian army, with many springboards on it.

In order to create a springboard, the door panels of private houses in Zhongxing Mansion were almost removed.

Several people stood on the door panel, looking at the turbid sewage in the ditch below and the belongings left by the fallen Mongolian soldiers, with extremely ugly expressions on their faces.

Every time the Mongolian army attacked a ditch, they had to pay huge casualties.

They also had to fish out the corpses of the fallen Mongolian soldiers and dispose of them, otherwise they would be afraid that the plague would affect their troops.

"The Song army brought so many people to work, and they would definitely not be able to support them with food and grass." At this time, Ozahuan said again.

Chagatai and Kuoduan said it was nothing, but they were thinking that the Song army was so inhumane that they might kill all the Mongolian herders first.

But with party people like O Zha Chuan around them, it is naturally difficult for them to tell them.

Saying it would only remind Ouzhaqi of their massacre of Shazhou and Guazhou.

After walking through three ditches in a row, low walls appeared in front of them.

At this time, General Delbatu said angrily, when our army attacked here, the Song army specially shot arrows at the feet, which was extremely insidious.

Chagatai was a little confused, and Delbatu explained to him the Song army's fighting style.

At that time, they finally broke through three ditches. When the Song troops behind the wall saw the Mongolian troops coming up, they turned around and ran away.

When the Mongolian army arrived at the wall and found that there was no ditch behind it, everyone happily climbed over the wall.

Unexpectedly, when I jumped down, there were traps underneath.

After finally getting out of all the traps, the Mongolian army climbed up and charged forward.

On the opposite side is another ditch.

The Song army stayed in the ditch and began to shoot the Mongolian army's feet.

When the Mongolian army attacked the three ditches in front, they all carried shields. The Song army also mainly used direct fire and projectiles. Moreover, the Song army was behind the wall at that time and could not shoot the Mongolian army's feet.

When the Mongolian army climbed over the wall, the Song army hid in the fourth ditch without water, then squatted in the ditch and shot the Mongolian army at the feet.

The shields of the Mongolian army could not block the missiles from above, but could not block the missiles from below. At that time, countless Mongolian soldiers were shot in the legs and feet by the Song army and fell to the ground in large pieces.

After being shot in the foot, it would be difficult for the Mongolian army to climb back over the wall.

The Song army suddenly counterattacked again, and the Mongolian army suffered heavy casualties. The Mongolian army retreated directly. Many injured legs and feet rolled back into the ditch, unable to climb over the wall, and were stabbed to death by the Song army one by one.

After some preparations, the Mongolian army attacked again. This time they gained experience. After climbing over the wall, they all squatted on the ground and stopped rushing forward.

Instead, a group of people squatted on the ground, protected their legs and feet with shields and wooden boards, and slowly moved forward.

Another man held a shield over his head to protect himself from the projectile.

The Mongolian army and the Song army were fighting for wits and courage, changing their fighting styles every day.

Chagatai and Kuoduan were angry and funny when they heard this, and felt that the Song army had never had any martial ethics in fighting.

After passing the fourth ditch, you can see that there are potholes everywhere on the road, which were caused by the artillery of the Song Army.

The Song army's artillery began to be used here, and the Mongolian army continued to charge forward with the artillery.

Fortunately, the two sides fought for more than ten days, and the sound of artillery fire from the Song Army became less and less. There should be no shells or gunpowder left.

After all, the Song army's expedition to Xixia had limited baggage.

At this time, many dilapidated horses appeared in front of them. They were all temporarily built by the Song army. Some of them were very crude. Many of them had been damaged in the battle between the two sides.

Kuoduan suddenly lowered his head and picked up a few arrows from the ground.

"The Song army fought for so many days and shot arrows every day. Can't you use up all the arrows?"

The Song Army currently relies mainly on long-range weapons in position battles. There is still very little hand-to-hand combat between the two sides, and artillery is used less and less.

If they shoot arrows every day, won’t the Song army run out of arrows?
The answer is of course not, because the Mongolian army shot more arrows.

Delbatu picked up the Mongolian army's arrows from the ground and said that the Song army shot back some of the arrows we shot, and we would do the same and shoot back the Song army's arrows.

Both sides use a lot of arrows. When they start fighting, the sky will be filled with arrows. After a truce every day, both sides will start picking arrows.

Chagatai's expression changed slightly: "Why don't we use arrows?"

Everyone looked at him puzzled.

Chagatai said, the Song army's armor was thick, and our army's arrows were not very effective, and they were used by the Song army instead. Do you know how Li Ling died in the Han Dynasty?
Everyone suddenly realized.

Li Ling brought 150 million arrows and fought fiercely with the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu could do nothing against him. He suffered heavy casualties from the Han army. The Han army used 50 arrows on the last day. The Xiongnu planned to retreat. Later, a traitor told the Huns that Han The army was almost out of arrows, so the Xiongnu continued to attack wildly. The Han army was completely wiped out after they ran out of arrows.

With so many people in the Song Army using arrows, they must have carried an astronomical number of arrows, but if you shoot like this every day, you will eventually run out.

When several people discussed, the Mongolian army in front was less than [-] steps away from the Song army's embankment.

Chagatai and the others found a high place to watch the Mongolian army.

The wilderness was full of Mongolian troops, but the Song troops in front used various carriages to form a new line of defense. There was a long ditch three or four steps wide in front of the carriage, which was full of water and quite deep.

The carriage was right at the edge of the ditch. If the Mongolian army wanted to put the springboard, they had to put it on the carriage. The Song army immediately pushed it away with a hook gun.

When the Mongolian army attacked every day, each person had to bring a bag of soil to pour into the ditch in order to fill it up.

The Mongolian army did not attack the city, but it was the same as attacking the city.

This kind of defense was simply unbelievable. It was difficult for the Mongolian army to put down the springboard. Even if they put it up, they would be shot by various arrows and stabbed by guns before they even got on the carriage.

A large number of Mongolian troops were knocked down in the ditch.

And the arrows and crossbows of the Song army's rear formation shot at the Mongolian army from time to time. Now any Mongolian army who dares not to carry a shield will surely die quickly.

But not all Mongolian soldiers have shields, so many Mongolian soldiers will grab shields or even find ways to make simple shields themselves.

Chagatai and Kuoduan looked at it for a moment and felt that fighting like this would cause heavy losses every day and that they had to change their approach. He quickly ordered the withdrawal of troops.

After a while, with the sound of the Mongolian army withdrawing, the Mongolian army retreated like a tide, and Zhao He and other generals soon came to Chagatai. Everyone's faces were ugly, and they obviously felt that they had lost money again today.

Now when the Mongolian army and the Song army are fighting, we have to evaluate every day how many Song soldiers were killed today and how many of us died. Then every time we feel that our losses are more severe.

"The springboards are almost used up. They will either fall into the ditch or be taken away by the Song army - how many springboards are there in the army?"

"If we continue to fight like this, we are risking our lives. I don't know how many people will die."

Several generals were complaining. They fought for more than ten days, and the casualties were no less than when they attacked the city.

The Song Army's defense lines one after another are really disgusting.

"The Song army has used carriages, which should be the last line of defense." Chagatai said at this time: "Starting from tomorrow, the entire army will use less arrows and continue to attack."

"Exhaust the Song army's arrows. Tomorrow you will move forward slowly, use shields more often, and try to reduce the number of ants crossing the ditch--"

Chagatai and Kuoduan made some arrangements and said that the Song army did not have many arrows and they would just attack once or twice.

The generals had no choice but to obey orders, but everyone was quite excited when they heard about the Song Army's last line of defense.

Breaking through the last line of defense of the Song Army can destroy the dam that the Song Army worked hard for more than two months.

The next day, the Mongolian army attacked again. They put on all the shields that the Mongolian army could carry and moved forward slowly. When they arrived in front of the ditch, they were all shouting and screaming, attracting the Song army's back row to use arrows. The front row's attack was huge, but the offensive insufficient.

The Song army on the opposite side fired arrows wildly, and both sides cursed across the ditch.

In order to prevent the Song army from becoming suspicious, the Mongolian army used very few arrows, but not without them.

The Mongolian army fished for a day, and soon someone rushed to Chagatai to report that the Song army's arrow rain was fierce in the morning, but something should have been felt in the afternoon. The Song army shot less arrows, or the Song army did not have many arrows.

The Song army shot at least 30 arrows today, but the Mongolian army shot less than [-] arrows.

The Mongolian army picked up a lot of arrows from the Song army at night, and they felt like they had gained a lot of money instantly.

Chagatai laughed loudly and asked the Mongolian army to continue to consume the Song army's arrows tomorrow.

If the Song army keeps shooting like this, it won't be long before all the arrows are shot. By then, they can only rely on hand-to-hand combat, and the Mongolian army will no longer be afraid.

Unexpectedly, just after the Mongolian army attacked the next day, there was a sudden thunder in the sky, and then it started to rain lightly.The rainy season that Chagatai and the others feared most has finally arrived.

But it was still raining lightly and intermittently. The Mongolian army continued to attack, and the Song army also used arrows.

Originally, it was difficult to use arrows during the rainy season, as the bows were easily damaged, but the Song army did not care about it now and continued to use them, but the amount of arrows used was also decreasing.

The Mongolian army continued to attack for two more days. The Song army's arrows were getting less and less. The two sides had fought many times in front of and behind the carriage. There were still a small number of Mongolian troops who were able to cross the carriage. It seemed that the Song army's defense line was becoming more and more unstable.

When the Mongolian army attacked every day, they dug soil from behind and poured it into the ditch in front. The ditch became more and more turbid, but it was filled up higher and higher.

The light rain continued intermittently for three days. On the fourth day, it started to rain moderately in the morning, then stopped, and then it started to rain again in the afternoon.

It started getting muddy all around and everyone was getting dirty.

The Mongolian army continued to attack when it rained lightly, but stopped when it rained moderately. Both armies became like clay figures.

Chagatai did not expect that the battle would reach this point, and the Song army in front of him was almost the strongest force with the strongest fighting willpower he had ever encountered.

On the fifth day, it rained again, and the Mongolian army continued the truce. But at noon, they suddenly received news that a large number of Mongolian herdsmen were released from the north by the Song army.

Three to four thousand people came back one after another that day. The herdsmen who came back said that they had eaten less and less recently. The Song army seemed to be short of food and began to let people back.

Is there such a good thing?Chagatai and Kuoduan were a little unconvinced.

If it were the Mongolian army, they would definitely rather kill these enemy herdsmen than release them back.

Of course, after being put back, the Mongolian army's food and grass can still be consumed.

After entering late August, the rainy season becomes longer and longer, and heavy rains begin.

The Song army and the Mongolian army almost reached a complete truce.

At this time, Chagatai looked at the embankment on the opposite side, which was less than ten meters high and stopped. It had just rained for a few days and could not store much water. As long as the Mongolian army attacked quickly, the water storage would definitely not be enough to flood Zhongxing Mansion. My heart was finally at peace.

This year's rainy season came earlier than in previous years. The Song army's water storage dam was bigger than the one built by the Mongolian army. But it had only been a few days since the rain fell, and it would definitely not be able to store it for less than half a month.

Kuo Duan tried to ask the returning herdsmen, how did the Song army build the dam?

Whether only soil was used, or wood and boulders were used, I still don’t know, because those who participated in the construction of the dam were all people from the Song Dynasty.

And all the defense lines attacked by the Mongolian army were done by Mongolian herdsmen.

At this time, Chagatai received news that the Song army from Shazhou had also arrived nearby, about two hundred miles away from him.

Chagatai was not very worried about this wave of troops. He believed that the Shazhou Song Army would only defend the city and would not be as good as the Meng Gong in front of him when they went out to fight in the field.

Meng Gong's army had carriages, artillery, and trebuchets, and all kinds of equipment. The Shazhou Song Army had more war horses and ran faster, so they did not dare to engage in large-scale field battles with their Mongolian army.

He sent a cavalry force of 5000 men to keep an eye on the Song army, led by the [-] Alchi troops of Xueti's tribe, all of whom were elite Mongolian troops, and asked them to hold off Meng Ying's troops.They planned to continue fighting with Meng Gong here, but the Song army seemed to be out of food.

September soon entered. On the first day of September, the sky suddenly became clear, and the Song army on the opposite side began to build the dam again.

Chagatai and Kuoduan discussed it and decided to attack again to consume the Song army's arrows.

It rained for a while and then stopped, and the two sides fought for several more days.

The Mongolian army became more and more anxious, because it rained longer than it stopped, and every day, more and more water filled the Song army's dam.

Starting from mid-September, the Song army's arrows became less and less. Sometimes the Song army only shot less than [-] arrows a day. The rain was also intermittent, and the truce between the two sides lasted longer than the fighting.

In this weather, let alone the Song Army, the Mongolian Army was not willing to go into battle.

However, Chagatai was afraid that the Song army would accumulate water, so he could only force the Mongolian army to attack hard.

On the [-]th, the Song army released another [-] herdsmen.

Of course, the herdsmen who came back still said that they felt that Song's army did not have enough food and there were no fortifications to be done.

Chagatai asked these herders what they were doing. They all said they were digging ditches. They dug every ditch attacked by the Mongolian army in front of them.

He also said that he helped the Song Army build a high ground with artillery and trebuchets on it. The Song Army also built a rainproof shelter.

On this day, the Song army suddenly shot a letter from the front of the formation.

Chagatai and the others were so angry that they wanted to laugh after getting the letter.

Meng Gong said that we should not continue fighting like this. It is meaningless. We, the Song Dynasty, want to negotiate peace with Mongolia. As long as you give us the land to raise horses in Xixia, from now on we will be a country of brothers who do not interfere with each other.

If you don't agree, we will kill all the remaining more than 1 Mongolian people.

At this time, both Chagatai and Kuoduan believed that the Song army was unable to hold on.

There were fewer and fewer arrows from the Song army, and many ditches in front of the carriage were filled up by the Mongolian army.

It's going to be a full-scale hand-to-hand fight from behind.

Chagatai and Kuoduan discussed it again and decided to let the Mongolian people who returned tomorrow fill the ditch with all their strength and consume the Song army's arrows at the same time.

Not all of these Mongolian people are Mongolians, there are Han, Khitan, Jurchen, and Dangxiang.

Early the next morning, there was only light rain, and the Mongolian army ordered their own people (non-Mongolians) to transport soil and fill the ditch.

The Song army continued to shoot arrows, and the people suffered heavy casualties and fell into the ditch one after another.

Some Mongolian soldiers were so jealous that they hacked these civilians to death with their swords and then pushed them into the ditch.

Now the ditch has been filled in a lot, and there are some places where you can directly wade across. There were many hand-to-hand battles that day. Some Mongolian troops actually crossed the ditch. There were many fewer arrows on the other side. The Song Army's spearmen kept coming. Come up and fight.

At this time, both sides were a little jealous. The Mongolian army was more anxious and did not want to delay it. The rainy season had been coming for less than half a month, and there had been moderate to heavy rain. They were afraid that the Song army's dam would accumulate too much rainwater.

Fortunately, there were not many places where they could wade through the water, and the Mongolian army could not meet the requirements for a full-scale attack.

The next few days became even more brutal. The Mongolian army continued to attack violently, and began to attack in moderate rain. Unless it rained heavily, the Mongolian army now began to attack even in moderate rain, and the Song army also resisted fiercely.

Every time they attack, they drive their own people forward and require everyone to carry a bag of soil.

In a few days, the [-] civilian infantry released by the Song army were consumed by the Mongolian army.

The ditch that the Song Army spent more than half a month digging was filled up higher and higher. After each day's fighting, the Mongolian army withdrew, and the Song Army lined up people to enter the ditch and drag the corpses out, not wanting to be filled up.

Then the Mongolian army would step forward and shoot arrows in the rain to prevent the Song army from doing so.

This happens repeatedly on both sides.

During the day, the Mongolian army attacked and filled the ditch. At night, the Song army cleared the ditch and pulled away the springboards that the Mongolian army fell into. There were fewer and fewer springboards on the Mongolian army's side.

But filling ditches is obviously easier than clearing them. The ditches are filled up at a speed visible to the naked eye.

By September 26, a Mongolian army fell into a ditch directly east of Zhongxing Mansion. The water only reached their chests. The Mongolian army was ecstatic all the time.

That day, the Mongolian army continued to test, and the deepest part reached to the chin, and the shallowest part reached to the chest. The Song army would clean up a wave at night, but tomorrow they will fill in another wave, basically reaching the waist and chest, then they can wade through the water and directly attack in an all-out way.

At this time, the Mongolian army still has a small number of springboards, which can be pushed directly into the ditch and can be used.

Just when Chagatai was preparing for a full-scale attack, he received two more news. About [-] Song troops were approaching here. These Song troops were quite fierce and capable in field combat. They used similar tactics to the Mongolian army. Al Chiwu The Qianmeng headquarters fought and retreated. The two sides had retreated to about a hundred miles away from Zhongxing Mansion. Due to heavy rain, the two sides were currently suspended a hundred miles southwest of Zhongxing Mansion, waiting for the rain to stop.

Another news is that the reinforcements sent by Wo Kuotai, mainly composed of Kouwenbuhua and Tasi, are one hundred thousand elites who have detoured from Mobei, bypassed Ulahai City, and have arrived at Oluohai City.

Oluohai City is about [-] miles away from Zhongxing Prefecture. It was an important town in the northwest of the original Xixia. However, because Ouluohaicheng is also on the bank of the Yellow River, it is also raining heavily at this time. Kou Wenbuhua and Tasi are both in Ouluohai City. He took shelter from the rain and sent an envoy to report to Chagatai in the rain, telling him to wait a little longer and the army was about to arrive.

These two pieces of news reached Chagatai first, and Chagatai was surprised and delighted.

What was surprising was that Alchi was afraid that he could not stop the Song army in the west. The Song army in the west played exactly the same way as the Mongolian army, with more powerful armor. The Song army came slowly because half of the Song army carried armor and half were light cavalry.

The Mongolian army was all light cavalry and had very few troops. It was somewhat unable to stop the Song army. This Song army was still very close. The distance was only a hundred miles. As long as they ran quickly, they could reach it within a day.

Fortunately, it is raining everywhere now, and the Song army is holding back, giving the Mongolian army a glimmer of hope.

Similarly, the [-] troops of Kouwen Buhua and Tasi were also blocked in Oruohai City by heavy rain.

It's six or seven hundred miles away over there, and even further away, there's actually heavy rain.

Chagatai and Kuoduan immediately called Ouzhaqi to ask about the rainy season on both sides.

Ozhachuan said that when the rainy season comes in Xixia, it is mainly concentrated on both sides of the Yellow River. Oluohai City is on the edge of the Yellow River, closer than Zhongxing Prefecture. The rainy season is similar to here. There will be heavy, medium and light rains along the way.

On the contrary, the Song army coming from the west will stop raining at any time.

Chagatai and the two were shocked. At this moment, Kuoduan called Chiduhe, the shaman in the camp.

Chi Duhe was the shaman who poisoned Tuo Lei with O Chen Nayan that day.

He is proficient in witchcraft and astrology, and is a disciple of the Mongolian Tongtian wizard.

Whenever the Mongolian army encounters difficulties and setbacks, they like to use shamans to divine fortune.

At this time, Chagatai was also in a dilemma and could only try to use the shaman to calculate.

They mainly hope that Chi Duhe will look at the astrology and luck.

As a result, Chidu pretended to do some divination, and finally said that it would not rain tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, but after the day after tomorrow, it would rain heavily for several days.

Chagatai and Kuoduan were shocked. In other words, they must decide in the next two days, either to attack the Song army wildly and break it, or to retreat and leave Zhongxing Mansion.

The Song Army has been flooded for almost a month. In addition, water from the Yellow River is introduced, which will definitely be more dangerous and will be raised at any time.

Kuo Duan asked again, if our army attacks tomorrow, what will happen to the hexagram?

Chi Duhe said: "Good or bad luck is unpredictable."

This is not nonsense, neither good nor bad.

But Chagatai is older and believes in this theory more and is a little hesitant, while Kuoduan doesn't believe in evil.

Brothers Meng Ying and Meng Gong led nearly [-] Song troops to run around in the territory of their Xiliang king, killing countless of his people. They could bear their shit and their urine. In addition, nearly [-] Mongolian troops risked their lives here. We have been fighting with the Song army under heavy rain until now. How can we just retreat?

Moreover, they spent nearly a month with the Song Army and used [-] of their own herdsmen to finally fill up the ditch almost enough to wade through the water and attack. The Song Army on the opposite side was still short of arrows. How could such a good opportunity come about? Can you give up?

(End of this chapter)