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

Chapter 371 The Mongolian army suffered another disastrous defeat

At this time, Meng Gong in the Song army's camp was also a little panicked. The flood flooded the Mongolian army, but also cut the Song army into two parts.

One part of the Song army is on the high ground where the camp is located, and the other part is on the embankment here.

Last night it was decided to flood the Mongolian army, so the Song army dispersed to both sides, most of them went to the high ground, and a small number stayed on the embankment with the civilians.

Originally, Meng Gong planned to flood Zhongxing Mansion, but this year the rain came early, and there was constant light rain, moderate rain and heavy rain, and the rain was intermittent, so there was not enough water to store.

At this time, the Song army was really short of food.

Meng Gong was not short of arrows. He brought thousands of carriages and a large amount of baggage with the army this time. In addition, he conquered several Mongolian cities and captured a lot of soldiers. The arrows could be used for another half month.

But he has nearly 3 soldiers and horses here, plus more than 7 Song people, and the food and drink of more than [-] people is a problem.

I also ate a lot of the cattle and sheep caught in the early stage. If there were none, I would eat the transport mules, then the transport horses, and finally the war horses.

At this time, Meng Gong didn't know that reinforcements were coming soon, but if he calculated the time, he and the Mongolian army had been stalemate here for so long. As long as Wo Kuotai was unwilling to negotiate a peace, he would definitely send troops.

Therefore, after studying with the generals, he decided not to flood the Zhongxing Mansion, but directly flood the Mongolian army. Without seeking to kill the Mongolian army on a large scale, he could also force the Mongolian army to retreat.

As a result, after the flood was discharged, the effect was quite good. At least [-] to [-] of the [-] attacking Mongolian troops were swept away by the flood. Most of them were not heavily flooded and had abandoned their troops and armor. Almost all the Mongolian troops' armor was lost. The Mongolian army even crossed the ditch and could not find any horses when they arrived at the camp. They either waited for the flood to recede on the high ground or waded into the water to escape to Zhongxing Mansion.

As the commander-in-chief, Meng Gong also accompanied the soldiers on the embankment. He happened to see Kuoduan and the others running north, which meant that the Mongolian army collapsed completely and the Song army was temporarily relieved.

"How many cattle and sheep are there?" Meng Gong turned around and asked Cao Youwen behind him.

Cao Youwen immediately said: "Back to the capital to command, there are still [-] oxen, [-] sheep - and [-] mules -"

After a pause, he added: "The cattle and sheep haven't eaten for a long time, and they have lost a lot of weight due to hunger."

The Song army was surrounded and it rained continuously. The fodder brought by the Song army was also eaten up. The cattle and sheep had nothing to eat. Recently, a large number of them died.

Song Jun didn't care about it at this moment. If it died, he would kill it and eat it immediately.

Those mules were used to pull carriages and baggage, and even the cattle and sheep could not last for a few days.

Of course, the Song army still had some dry food and rice. Cao Youwen and Mao estimated that they could last for more than ten days.

Therefore, as soon as the flood recedes, the Song army will immediately leave the camp, capture a city and defend it for a while, replenish some food, and then find a way to retreat or join forces with Mengying of Shazhou.

"What I'm most afraid of now is that it will rain again tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, and it will be difficult to leave." Zhang Xuan said at this time.

Meng Gong thought for a while: "We have to go even if it rains."

Surrounded by Oran.

"Kuduan and Chagatai did not return to Zhongxing Mansion, but went north. I have a hunch that Mongolian reinforcements may be in the north."

"At that time, we will first recruit Zhongxing Mansion to surrender. If we can recruit Zhongxing Mansion, we can enter the city. If we cannot recruit them, leave immediately."

"On a rainy day, the Mongolian army will not leave. If we leave first, it will be safe."

Cao Youwen whispered: "I wonder where Meng Tongzhi (Meng Ying) is."

Meng Gong didn't say anything. With the current state of his troops and horses, plus Meng Ying's troops, it would be difficult for him to be a match for the Mongolian reinforcements.

His troops and horses fought with Kuoduan for more than half a month on rainy days. They were already exhausted and suffered heavy casualties. Meng Ying's troops were not in good condition. .

The generals thought that Meng Gong's words were reasonable, but there were floods everywhere, and the Song army was divided into two groups. They could only wait for the water to recede. Anyway, even if the Mongolian reinforcements arrived in a while, they would not be able to attack.

Throughout the morning, Meng Gong had been watching the water level at the embankment.

Zhongxingfu is in a low-lying area, and the water flow is quite fast in front, but starts to slow down in the back. By about [-] o'clock in the afternoon, it has almost stopped falling, but there are faint signs of rising.

"Damn it, there is no drain." Meng Gong knew immediately, because Zhongxing Mansion is on a low ground, like an upside-down cup. Now the water is in the cup. If no one digs the drain, the descent will be extremely slow. If If it rains again, the water level will rise.

In the afternoon, he asked Song Jun to go down with a spear and try it.

The Song army used the carriage box as a boat, carefully pushed it into the water, and descended into more than a dozen waves of water troops.

These carriages are all specially made and were originally intended to be used as boats. When lifted from the carriage and put into the water, a small boat can be formed, with three or four people able to stand on it.

Song Jun rowed forward and then measured the water level with a spear. He found that the water level was about 1.2 meters.

This side is relatively shallow. It is estimated that the area near Zhongxing Mansion will be about 1.3 meters four, or 1.5 meters six upwards.

The water level does not seem very high, but under normal circumstances, most people will drown.

Due to limited vision, Meng Gong didn't know how big the cup was, but the area for several miles to the east of Zhongxing Mansion must have been flooded.

Now Zhongxing Mansion and they are trapped by the flood. Zhongxing Mansion has food and they can't stay too long.

Of course, the Song army also made two preparations. In order to prevent themselves from being flooded, officials from the Ministry of Industry guided them to dig another deep ditch on the high ground near the south and build barriers. Once the Song army was trapped by the flood, they could escape from the Song Dynasty. The army discharged the flood on its own side and allowed the flood to return to the Yellow River.

If there were no Mongolian reinforcements and enough food, Meng Gong would not be able to use this flood outlet, but in this situation, he had to consider whether to use it.

And once he diverts the flood, how many Mongolian troops will be able to fight on the scene?Because the water level was not very high, just over one meter, there were many Mongolian soldiers who were lucky enough to be at high altitudes.

At this time, the Song Army stood on the embankment and could see that there was a swamp in front of them, but there were scattered highlands or Song Army's carriages.

A small number of Mongolian troops were either trapped on the high ground or standing on carriages, looking around in horror.

A few miles further away were the highland camp of the Song Army and the camp of the Mongolian Army. There were still men and horses in both camps.

There are still several thousand men on the Mongolian side, but they all failed to get their horses and had no time to leave, so they were trapped on the high ground.

Once the flood is released, it is estimated that there will still be thousands or even tens of thousands of Mongolian troops at the scene, and the Song army will have to fight them again.

Meng Gong looked up at the sky while thinking.

The weather is good today. It drizzled a little in the morning and it stopped raining. If the weather continues like this, the water level will drop quickly.

Just when Meng Gong was thinking about when to release the water, suddenly a boat appeared on the water in front of him.

Hey, the generals of the Song Army thought they were dazzled, but then they shook their heads and took a closer look, and it turned out to be a ship.

This boat came out of Zhongxingfu City and slowly moved towards the Song Army.

From time to time on the road, we passed some Mongolian troops on high ground. Some Mongolian troops waved and shouted for help, but the people on the boat ignored them and continued to move forward. The Mongolian troops were cursing everywhere.

Song Jun's simple horse-drawn carriage also noticed the ship coming from the opposite side and quickly turned back.

Meng Gong immediately said: "Don't shoot the arrow yet, let's see what they say."

After a while, Zhao Di's younger brother Zhao Bin came to the embankment.

After Zhao Bin stood on the embankment, he followed Song Jun to Meng Gong, watching as he walked, with a look of disbelief on his face.

They had seen a towering wall when they looked over from a distance before, but now they were there and saw the inside and top of the dam, and they were shocked by the sophistication of the Song Army's engineering.

The top of the Song Army's embankment was about 20 steps wide, and there were moat-like ditches on both sides. However, the Mongolian army had not broken through the carriage formation before, so they did not see this long ditch. After the last ditch, there is the embankment. You can also go around the embankment. Behind, a large number of Song Army and Song Army supplies were behind the last ditch and embankment. He also saw many cattle and sheep, various rainproof shelters, and the springboard they used to attack the Song Army was destroyed by the Song Army. After they were taken away, they were all turned into rainproof shelters, which made Zhao Bin dumbfounded.

These places are about two meters higher than the water level, so the Song Army looks very dangerous. If there is more water, the Song Army's supplies can be flooded.

Of course, most of their troops are on the dam now. If according to what the Mongolian shaman said, there will be continuous heavy rains from the day after tomorrow, the water level on the Song Army's side will also rise, which can flood their supplies.

Zhao Bin didn't have time to take a closer look, but when he came over, he was secretly shocked when he saw the Song army's posture. If the Mongolian army had more troops and stronger combat effectiveness, and had a chance to break through the carriage formation, they would be able to face the Song army in the end. A ditch.

The last ditch of the Song Army looked wide and deep. The Mongolian Army didn't have any more springboards, so it was probably useless.

Will we just be able to look at the river and sigh?
Zhao Bin soon met with Meng Gong and said that the city was willing to surrender to the Song Dynasty, led by his brother Zhao Di and the former Xixia native Wozhagui.

Meng Gong was overjoyed and said happily: "Gao Zhiyao and Ouzhachui are good friends. He also helped my brother when he left Xixia. They are all friends of our Song Dynasty."

Then he hugged Zhao Bin and said: "Your brother is originally a Han, and now he has returned to Hanxiang. On behalf of Your Majesty and the billions of people of the Song Dynasty, I welcome you home."

When Zhao Bin heard that they were welcomed home, his face was slightly moved. He looked up and looked at the familiar and unfamiliar faces of the Han people around him. Then he thought about the brothers and thousands of elite soldiers who followed the Mongolian army in the north and south, and in the end almost the entire army was wiped out. Mixed flavors.

"Zhao Bin pays homage to the general, and I hope the general will make it clear." He quickly knelt down and kowtowed to Meng Gong to express his stance.

Meng Gong helped him up, and the two chatted a few more words. Zhao Bin mentioned what the Mongolian shaman said: There might not be any rain tomorrow, but it will rain continuously the day after tomorrow.

Meng Gong was slightly startled and said, "To release the water level, you need people from Zhongxing Mansion to help dig up the water level and divert it to the north."

He also asked how the flooding around Zhongxing Mansion was?
Of course Zhao Bin didn't know, so he needed to send someone to test it out. The two chatted for a while and made a plan.

But Meng Gong was not sure whether the Mongolian army really surrendered or pretended to surrender, but he asked among the troops, who is willing to go to Zhongxing Mansion?
As soon as he finished speaking, young general Cao Youwen stepped forward.

At that moment, Cao Youwen brought two Song troops and Zhao Bin back to the city.

When Zhao Bin saw his brother Zhao Di and Ouzhajue, he said that there was a wider ditch behind the Song Army's carriage formation, like a moat, and there was high ground behind it, which was full of cattle and sheep, and they were countless.

He also said that the Song Army had built many rainproof shelters and had abundant supplies. The implication was that the Song Army was fully supplied and could still fight for a long time.

At this point, Zhao Di and Ouzhaqi completely gave up.

According to what Meng Gong said, the two sent people to row out to measure and find the place. They found that the flooded area was roughly around the Zhongxing Mansion. The southeast was the widest, covering more than ten miles, and the north and south were only a few miles. It almost covered the Song Dynasty. The place where the two armies fought was completely flooded. Fortunately, the depth was not very long. The deepest place was close to the place where the two armies fought. It was less than two meters deep. After more than 500 steps out of the city in a straight line from the north, the water was less than half a meter deep. The places are shallower.

Seven hundred steps out of the city in a straight line from the west gate, the water is less than half a meter deep.The Song army's water storage capacity was obviously still insufficient, so according to Meng Gong's request, the city sent civilians to dig ditches due west to drain the water, and then circled to the north to guide the water flow north.

To the northwest is the direction of Uluohai City where the Mongolian reinforcements are located. Once the rain stops, the Mongolian army will have to pass through Keyi Gate, the last pass of Zhongxing Prefecture, to go to Zhongxing Prefecture.

They directed the water flow toward the main road from Keyi Gate to Zhongxing Mansion.

Thousands of people came out of the city one after another, and they all chose those who could swim. After swimming out of the city, they started digging.

At this time, the people did not know that the Zhongxing government was going to surrender to the Song Dynasty. They just wanted to avoid being covered up. Everyone worked hard, including the Jurchens, Khitans, Dangxiang and others.

What Ozachuan and Zhao Di said was that it would rain the day after tomorrow. If the water was not diverted away, the rainwater would rush into Zhongxing Mansion. After hearing this, the people of course worked hard.

Meng Gong chose the west side because the Song Army was the farthest away, and the Song Army also discharged floods on his own side. In this way, when the water level sank, the water level on the Song Army side dropped the fastest.

Floods were released from both sides at the same time, and the floods quickly divided into two streams, flowing east and north respectively.

The Song Army had already dug a flood outlet, and after removing the blockage, it discharged quickly.

Meng Gong asked everyone to eat and drink enough that night and go to bed early to replenish their strength.

Before dawn the next day, Meng Gong went to the embankment and saw that many of the Song Army's carriage wheels were exposed out of the water, and more than half of the wall built in front of the Song Army was also exposed. This proved that the water level closest to the Song Army was less than half a meter.

"Send an order for Yang Qi and Wang Zhensun to look for an opportunity to attack the Mongolian camp." Following Meng Gong's order, Yang Qi and Wang Zhensun stationed at the Song Army's highland camp opposite quickly received the news, and two black poles were erected on the embankment in the distance. Flag.

Yang Jie was overjoyed and immediately ran to the high ground to take a look, and sure enough he found that the water level was much lower.

This is the highest land, and the distance between the Mongolian army and their camp is five or six miles.

When the Mongolian army attacked, it was all a fake attack here, and the main attack was still in the direction of the missing embankment.

The Song Army also asked Mongolian civilians to build a large number of fortifications here.

After half a day and one night of flood discharge yesterday, the water level in the ditch below Song Jun was much lower.

"Light up the troops and horses, let's go, get out of the camp."

Yang Gui ordered the eight thousand soldiers and horses in the camp and went down the mountain one after another. When they approached the low mountain where the Mongolian army's camp was located, the Mongolian soldiers were noisily gathering at the foot of the mountain, ready to run away.

The water level dropped, and of course the Mongolian army on the mountain also saw it, but the main generals were not there. The composition of the Mongolian army was complex, with soldiers and horses from all ethnic groups, so the scene was noisy, and there were still a few people fighting for horses.

Zhao Di and the others released a lot of horses that day. The Mongolian troops who were trapped in the camp now wanted to run away and started to grab the horses.

Some Mongolians believed that they had the highest status and wanted to leave first. People from other tribes refused to do so. Before the Song army arrived, a fight broke out.

As soon as the Song army arrived, the Mongolian army immediately dispersed.

Most of this wave of Mongolian troops had been flooded and had been fighting hard for several days. They had already lost their energy. Most of the Mongolian troops even lost their weapons when the flood hit.

The scene was full of shouts of killing. The Song army was like cutting chickens and slaughtering sheep. Many Han troops and Dangxiang people surrendered directly. After finishing them, the Song army followed the flooded periphery and began to hunt down the Mongolian troops who escaped from the flooded area.

Most of these Mongolian troops had no horses, were soaked all over, and could not run far even if they wanted to.

That afternoon, Meng Gong's troops of the Song Army waded out of the water. The water outside was half a meter deep, and the ditches were even deeper. Because of the Song Army's fortifications, there were invisible ditches everywhere on the ground.

Each group of Song troops, or a group of ten, waded out of the water cautiously. If someone fell, they would immediately pull them out.

When the remaining Mongolian troops in some high places outside the city saw the Song troops coming out, they waded into the water to escape regardless of whether there was water or not.

Many people accidentally step into puddles and fall directly into them. If they don't survive, they will be drowned alive.

Before dark, at about five or six o'clock in later times, Zhao Di and Ouzhahui announced the surrender of the entire city to the Song army, and then attacked the south gate.

The people in the city were in an uproar, but no one dared to say anything.

At this time, there are no Mongolian troops in the city, only some of the family members left behind by the Mongolian troops. Zhao Di and Ouzhahui have been organizing young people together from yesterday to today. The two of them now have three to four thousand party members and Han young people in their hands. .

After the first batch of Song troops waded into the South City Gate, Zhongxing Mansion was basically firmly occupied by the Song troops.

When it got dark, the Song army entered the city with more than 1 people and immediately took control of Zhongxing Mansion. Then they heated hot water, took a bath, changed the clothes in the Mongolian army warehouse, and kept themselves dry. At the same time, they found all the doctors in the city to collect medicinal materials for Song Jun's treatment.

Song Jun also brought a doctor with him and was very busy.

Everyone stayed in the wild for two or three months, and many of them smelled bad. If it weren't for the fact that the training of the Song Army was usually difficult, they wouldn't have been able to survive. After entering the city, most of the Song Army didn't even have time to take a shower, and they collapsed. Sleep, I am too tired after being outside the city for so long.

If Zhao Di and Ouzhaqi rebelled at this meeting, the Song army would probably suffer heavy losses.

Because the floods had not fully receded, the Song army waded into the city that day and only entered a little over [-] people.

On the other side, after Yang Jie destroyed the Mongolian army on the opposite highland, he went to the bottom of the highland to take a look. The water was still deep and he could walk, but he couldn't ride on horseback. Otherwise, he would easily lose his horses, so he could only wait for the flood to recede.

After one night, the water level continued to sink. When Meng Gong looked at the embankment the next day, the water level had dropped a lot. The ground could be seen in many places, and of course there were many small pools with bumps.

The Song Army continued to organize troops to move to the city before dawn, but the most difficult part was the more than 120 artillery pieces.

The Song Army's trebuchet can be disassembled and carried in by soldiers. Although it is difficult, the distance is not very far.

Meng Gong certainly couldn't leave the artillery to the Mongolian army. Fortunately, the Song army made a lot of awnings of its own and grabbed a lot of springboards from the Mongolian army.

Song Jun laid the ground with sandbags and springboards and spent the whole day doing this.

It didn't rain much that day, just light rain intermittently. By dark, the floodwaters had been discharged from both sides and had almost reached the bottom. Except for a few low-lying areas, more ground was exposed, but the road was muddy and there were war horses and horses everywhere. The scene of the bodies of the Mongolian soldiers was very tragic.

The Song army didn't care. Most of the [-] civilians that day followed them into the city with the baggage and supplies they could carry. A small number continued to pave the road outside with the Song army, and began to transport artillery and other supplies.

The medium-sized artillery of the Song Army was less than [-] kilograms. Eight people were forced to carry it. They walked for a while and rested before changing.

Like ants moving, medium-sized artillery pieces were gradually brought into the city before dark.

Because they heard that it would rain heavily tomorrow, the Song army continued to work after dark. Hundreds of people built a heavy cannon and pushed and pulled it. The remaining cattle and horses in the army joined in the dragging. There were people lighting torches around.

Finally, around nine o'clock in the evening, all the artillery was transported into the city.

At this time, there were still a large amount of supplies, cattle, horses and sheep outside the city.

At eight o'clock in the morning the next day, the Song army was still transporting things. Sure enough, it started to rain. It rained lightly for half an hour, and then it rained harder and harder.

The Song army did not care about the rain and continued to transport things despite the rain. Those that could be transported were transported to the city first.

Many cattle, horses and sheep fell into the pit while walking. In order to save time, they did not pull them out, but killed them on the spot and then divided them up and took them away.

On the afternoon of the first day of October, there was heavy rain in the sky and the ground was covered with mud. Meng Gong stood at the top of the city and saw puddles all around. There were corpses of all kinds, including horses, people, cattle, and sheep, as well as countless supplies and equipment. .

A large number of Song army's carriages were submerged, covering an area of ​​more than ten miles.

Temporarily safe, Meng Gong finally felt a little relieved. It took two and a half days for all his troops to enter the city.

There were still some supplies that had not entered the city, and Meng Gong also decided to give up because the heavy rain made it difficult to travel.

The next step is to quickly pour hot water on the soldiers to keep them warm and to drive away diseases. Fortunately, it is October and the temperature in Zhongxing Mansion is not low. If we do this in winter, more than half of them will probably fall.

Among the doctors in the city, a large number of herbal medicines were used by the Song army.

On the morning of the second day of October, Meng Gong had a slight cough. He must have been exposed to rain for several days. After the doctor came to see him, he gave him some medicine. He took a few sips and went up to the city.

He was a little worried about his younger brother Meng Yingbu.

Fortunately, soon a Song army sentry came from the north.

There was no way, the water was the shallowest in the north. A Song army sentry cavalry circled from the north to the north gate of Zhongxing Mansion. As they approached Zhongxing Mansion, people fell off their horses one after another, and there was laughter at the top of the city.

The Song army's sentries were cursing, and then someone got off their horses and led them away.

Because the Meng banner had been erected at the top of the city, the sentinels who came knew that they were occupied by the Song army.

This group of sentries was naturally sent by Meng Ying.

Before Kuo Duan left, Meng Ying was only a hundred miles away. They were all cavalry, each with two horses, and some even had three horses.

But it was also raining where he was. Meng Ying was afraid that the road would be difficult and the cavalry would not be able to run, and he was also afraid of insufficient supplies. In addition, there were five thousand Alchi cavalry watching eagerly. Meng Ying still followed the old routine, leading Meng Ying with him. The army went around and around, running where it didn't rain.

The two sides continued to engage in battle. Alchi wanted to use kite tactics, but the Song army on the opposite side was not bad, and the Song army was more numerous than him.

Meng Ying wanted to ambush Bahexue the same way she did last time, and divided her troops into two groups to ambush Alchi. Alchi was almost fooled. After a melee between the two sides, Alchi retreated, causing both sides to suffer heavy losses.

At this point, Alchi knew that the Song army on the opposite side was good at cavalry and shooting, and its tactics were similar to the Mongolian army, so it was difficult to fight.

You must know that Alchi's Xueti tribe is the elite of the main Mongolian army and the foundation for the founding of the country. Although the Song army opposite them was several times larger than them, Alchi was still quite shocked by the fight.

The two armies circled around the outside of the rainy area and fought several times. The Mongolian army did not take much advantage. In addition, the Mongolian army was very uncomfortable due to the small number of troops. Fortunately, not long after, Alchi received the order and knew that Kuoduan and the others were flooded and could only leave with regret.

At this point, the first phase of the Battle of Zhongxing Mansion was temporarily over. The Mongolian army suffered a disastrous defeat, losing troops and countless horses. It could be said to be the biggest defeat after the Battle of Fangcheng Mountain.

This battle also shocked the cities of Xixia, and allowed the party members to see that the Mongolian army was not invincible, and there were still people who could restrain them.

(End of this chapter)