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

Chapter 426 There are also artillery pieces in Wokuotai

Chagatai saw that the Song army was gathering in the east, and Zailimi City had already surrendered. He had just fought a wave and failed to gain the upper hand. He could only grit his teeth and shake his head: "Retreat, retreat, retreat."

He led the army to withdraw for several miles in one breath, and then looked around blankly.

The Song army's attack on the city was unstoppable. As long as they set up their positions in the field, the Mongolian army would die if they attacked forcefully. Unless the Song army was lured out to fight on horseback, they could fight.

As long as the Song army in front of them wants to defend, the Mongols have nothing to do with them. How can they fight this battle?

Indeed, the weapons and equipment of the Song Army are currently several levels ahead of the world. If the opponent does not have artillery, it will be difficult to defeat the Song Army with twice as many troops, let alone equal strength.

It must be at least four or five times larger to beat.

Chagatai thought rapidly for a while and finally made up his mind.

"Come here, send the order and get ready to go to Halahe Forest."

Chagatai made an astonishing decision. He first tried to see if he could fight with the Song army in the field. If the Song people refused, he could only give up the territory he had worked hard for more than 20 years and the newly built heroic city of Alimari, and lead the army with him. With all the soldiers and horses, as well as those who can mount their horses, we go to Halahe Forest together.

There was a sound of panic all around, and the subordinates expressed their incomprehension.

After Temujin entrusted the territory, Chagatai and most of his subordinates had lived in this place for more than 20 years. It took another seven or eight years to build Alimari, the first male city close to Central Asia.

It took a lot of effort to complete the embryonic form of the future Khanate, but now Chagatai just gave up.

Chagatai had no choice but to persuade the generals earnestly.

First of all, the Song army cannot stop the attack on the city. Even if we retreat to Alimari now, Alimari city cannot be defended. Sooner or later, it will be burned down by the Song army.

Secondly, if the Song army engages in positional warfare, digs a few trenches on the ground, and builds a few walls, there is nothing we can do against them. Attacking will mean death.

Now there are only three ways to defeat the Song Army.

The first is to surround the Song Army, cut off its supplies, and force the Song Army to abandon positional warfare and take the initiative to fight.

The second is to engage in field battles with the Song army in the wild and give full play to the advantages of the Mongolian army.

The third is to attack forward with absolute strength, such as three times, four times or even five or six times, regardless of casualties, to consume the Song army.

Now it is difficult for Chagatai to achieve these three methods.

After the surrender of Solimi City, the Song Army had its back to Solimi City and was able to obtain supplies. On the contrary, Chagatai was far away from Quxian City behind it, making supplies even more troublesome than the Song Army's.

It is more difficult than anything to expect the Song army to come out to fight in the field.

Then Chagatai wandered around with his soldiers and horses, and at the same time Alimari City began to retreat to the northwest.

After the Song Army Shadel captured Solimi City, he left another 10,000 troops to garrison, and then continued westward. His next goal was Quxian City.

Chagatai led his soldiers and horses to follow them all the way, looking for opportunities to fight in the field with the Song army, but found that the chance was slim.

When a general army marches, or the Song Army marched before, the cavalry is outside and the infantry is inside.

The cavalry and sentry cavalry went around to explore the road and at the same time protected the infantry camp.

Now that there were Chagatai soldiers and horses around, the Song army did not even send out sentry cavalry. The infantry camp was outside and the cavalry was inside. The whole army slowly moved forward.

Only a large number of carriages and infantry camps can be seen on the outermost wings.

Chagatai waited for the Song army to leave Solimi City for more than ten miles, and then led his team to fight again, trying to use the previous tactics to deal with the Song army in the wild.

However, the Song army relied on the horse-drawn carriage formation and heavy armor to give Chagatai a hard lesson with arrows and flintlock guns.

Whether it was a pulley bow, a divine arm bow, a flintlock gun, or even an ordinary foot bow, the Song army's range was far greater than that of the Mongolian army's horse bow. The Mongolian army's harassment tactics were completely useless in front of the Song army.

Moreover, when they were stationed at the camp that night, the Song Army launched artillery to attack the Mongolian camp from a distance. The Mongolian army almost blew up the camp at night. If Chagatai had not been prepared, it would have almost collapsed.

After doing this, Chagatai had no way to deal with the Song Army. They could harass the Song Army during the day, but the Song Army could harass them at night.

Chagatai followed the Song army for two days, but there was nothing he could do. The generals had to admit that they could not defeat the Song army.

In late September, Chagatai turned around and led the entire army to withdraw towards Hara Helin.

At this time, he also met his son Hedahai who had returned.

Previously, he sent Hedahai to cut off the Song army's supply money from Bieshe Bali, and Hedahai went to circle Bieshe Bali, but the Song army dared to come out to fight them.

Hedahai decisively adopted the tactics commonly used by the Mongolian army and divided it into two parts. He first used one part to lure the Song army in the city, then pretended to be defeated and fled back. He waited for the Song army to pursue and move away from Bali City before setting up an ambush.

This trick was often used in major battles in history. In the late Ming Dynasty, the peasant army used this method with great success. There are also more advanced ones, which can throw some property on the ground. The pursuing officers and soldiers often dispersed and snatched everywhere, and then the peasant army counterattacked. , the officers and soldiers were defeated.

The Mongolian army also used this trick during the Western Expedition. Obviously this trick is their old routine.

Unexpectedly, the Song army did not accept this trick. The Song army and the Mongolian army fought in the city. Hedahai led his army to retreat. The Song army pursued them and lost less than eight miles and three miles, so they turned back one after another.

He Dahai had no choice but to know that Song Jun would not be fooled.

At this time, Chagatai also decided to retreat. Soon, Hedahai and his men joined Chagatai in despair.

In late September, Chagatai made the extremely painful decision to lead all the herdsmen in his territory to the northeast to avoid the Song army.

He knew that it was impossible to defeat the Song army on his own, so he could only avoid it first and move north to support Mobei Harahe Forest.

Many herdsmen in the territory could not accept leaving their homes, and there were cries of pain everywhere.

The herdsmen could not take away the cattle and sheep, so they had to kill them one after another in order not to leave them to the Song army.

Alimari City, which was painstakingly built, originally wanted to burn it down and not give it to the Song army, but Chagatai was reluctant to let it go after all, and felt that he could take it back when Batu came back in the future.

At this time, not all herdsmen in his territory were willing to leave. Finally, by late September, Chagatai took away more than 40,000 households, about 160,000 to 70,000 people, and more than 400,000 large and small war horses.

There were more than 20,000 households and 78,000 people who refused to leave. They all continued to stay in the territory and surrendered to the Song army.

While Chagatai's entire clan moved, Shadr led his people to gradually occupy various places.

After occupying Ye Milili in early October, the front line was only a few hundred miles away from Qianqian Prefecture.

Qianqian Prefecture, also called Qianzhou, Qianqianzhou, Qianqianzhou, is located in the upper reaches of the Qianhe River (the upper reaches of the Yenisei River in the Principality of Rus). Qianqian Prefecture was originally affiliated with Xiliao and Jilijisi.

Qianqianzhou is what the Mongols call them by the place name, and Tuba is what they call themselves.

The local land is fertile and suitable for farming. You can plant crops in the summer and harvest them in the autumn without hoeing. Therefore, in addition to animal husbandry and hunting, some people also engage in extensive agriculture, which can harvest millet, wheat and other grains. They also produce high-quality iron.

After Temujin's death, Qianqian Prefecture and Gilgis were inherited as a territory by their youngest son Tolei and his wife Soluheteni. They often moved their Han people who were not adapted to the Mongolian customs to live here.

When the Mongolian army conquered gold, they moved captured craftsmen from the surrounding areas here and set up crafts bureaus. Some made weapons and armor, some "weaved silk and brocade silk", and they also worked in fields for grazing.

This is the largest gathering place of craftsmen for the Mongolian army outside Harahe Forest, a logistics supply base, and an important supply point during the Western Expedition. As long as the Song army invades Qianzhou, it will be surrounded by the territories of Wokuotai and Batu to the west or northwest, and to the east is the mine-trapping Harahe forest. At this time, the Song army can divide the Mongolian army into two and intercept Batu's return eastward. route.

Of course, when Batu returns eastward, he can skip Qianzhou and bypass it directly.

But if Haraholin is also occupied by the Song army, Batu will definitely attack Qianzhou.
-

Time goes back to July of the sixth year of Yuanzhen.

Since October last year, Song envoys have gone to Guanshan many times to discuss with the Mongolian army how to continue peace negotiations.

Finally, in April of this year, the Song Dynasty decided to continue negotiating peace with Mongolia, and at the same time agreed to the humiliating conditions of the Mongolian army. The Song Dynasty negotiated peace with Mongolia for another five years, with an annual currency of 200,000, 300,000 pieces of silk, and 50,000 pieces of silk. , 300,000 pounds of sugar.

Emperor Zhao Yurui of the Song Dynasty called himself his younger brother to Wo Kuotai, and personally went to Baozhou (Baoding) to sign a peace agreement with Wo Kuotai.

Emperor Zhao Yurui of the Song Dynasty was willing to go to Baozhou occupied by the Mongolian army to meet with Wo Kuotai in person. This shows the courage of Zhao Yurui, the determination of the Song Dynasty to negotiate peace.

There was an uproar between the government and the public in Mongolia, and many people directly proposed to kill Zhao Yurui when the time came.

Even the wise prime minister Yelv Chucai suggested to Wo Kuotai that if you plan to sign a new "Chanyuan Alliance" with the Song Dynasty and Song and Mongolia have been friendly for a hundred years, then you cannot kill him. If the Khan intends to attack the Song Dynasty, you must kill him. kill.

Yelu Chucai has always been someone who did not advocate the use of fierce soldiers and sharp weapons to govern the country, but he proposed to kill him, which made Wo Kuotai very entangled.

In July, Wokuotai came to Datong to prepare for the trip to Baozhou.

Song envoy Zhao Gong conveyed the itinerary of Emperor Zhao Yurui of the Song Dynasty in June. Zhao Yurui set out by boat from Linqing in the Song Dynasty, first to Cangzhou in the Mongolian territory, and then by land from Cangzhou to Hejian and Baozhou.

It takes two days by water and five days by land.

Zhao Yurui asked for two thousand Song troops to escort them and one hundred carriages.

Wokuotai agreed immediately.

This time the Song army penetrated more than 400 miles into the Mongolian territory, and the Mongolian army occupied territory all around. He did not even agree to the two thousand troops and horses requested by Zhao Yurui, which simply showed the incompetence of Mongolia.

On the sixth day of July, Wo Kuotai, Yelu Chucai and other Mongolian nobles came to Yizhou, which was only a few dozen miles away from Baozhou.

On the same day, Han and Mongolian generals from nearby Hebei came to Yizhou to welcome him.

The scene was also full of stars, including Hu Shengsun, Tuochala, Chongxi, Shi Tianze, Shi Tianan, Liu Heima, Xiao Naitai, Kuokuo Buhua, Jingzhaer, Zhabili, Shi Xingzu (son of Shi Tianlu) and Yan Shi, Alu Da and others all arrived.

These people were all the great contributors to the destruction of the Song Dynasty in history, and they all left various reputations in the history books. Unfortunately, they are now suppressed in Hebei by the Song army and have not been able to enter Shandong. They are currently quite frustrated.

After Wokuotai arrived, Shi Tianze reported to him and asked the Great Khan to watch the Mongolian army's artillery drill.

Wo Kuotai was greatly surprised and excited.

After the Mongolian army was defeated in Shandong, Shi Tianze came back to learn from the Song army in building artillery, but the quality was always very poor and it could not shoot far and was not durable.

After nearly ten years of continuous improvement, the Mongolian army finally built an artillery that can be used in actual combat.

That day Wokuotai brought all the Mongolian nobles to the scene.

There are several artillery pieces made by Mongolia on the shooting range.

Mongolian artillery adopts the splicing type, that is, after cutting the steel into pieces, rolling them into barrels, and then splicing them together again, and wrapping them with iron hoops to fix them. This is basically the way Hongwu cannons were built in the early Ming Dynasty, and it is also the most primitive artillery.

There have been problems in Mongolia since the beginning. This kind of splicing is not airtight enough, the iron is brittle, and the chamber is easy to explode.

After changing to steel, they first solved the brittleness problem, and then thickened the muzzle to reduce the chance of bombing. In order to seal it, an iron hoop was added.

As a result, the Mongolian army's artillery was both steel-consuming and extremely heavy.

Moreover, the Mongolian army has never been able to learn the Song army's black water medicine, so the performance of the propellant is far lower than that of the Song army's artillery.

Shi Tianze didn't dare to brag, so he could only shoot a few shots honestly.

Boom, boom, the sound of artillery was booming at the scene. Wo Kuotai watched a few cannons and was still quite satisfied.

The Mongolian army's artillery fired very close, with a maximum range of only more than 200 steps, but it was far beyond that of bows and arrows.

The Mongolian army's artillery speed is also relatively slow. After firing, the gun barrel is full of traces of dregs and needs to be cleaned carefully. In actual combat, it is estimated that the Song army fired two cannons and the Mongolian army could only fire one.

The Mongolian army's artillery batteries had to cool down after firing four or five shots, otherwise the gun barrel would definitely deform or even explode.

Therefore, the durability is far lower than that of the Song Army.

Although Shi Tianze mentioned so many shortcomings of artillery, it was a great news for Mongolia and Wokuotai.

In the positional battle between the Mongolian army and the Song army, they were severely hit by the Song army's artillery, and they were also very afraid of the Song army's artillery. Now that the Great Mongol Empire finally had artillery, Wo Kuotai suddenly felt that his back was much stronger.

"In the Hebei area, if we go all out to build it, how many artillery can we build?" Wo Kuotai asked Shi Tianze at this time.

Shi Tianze said: "The craftsmen from Ji Zhending, Baozhou, Yanjing and other places can probably build eighty doors per month, but other armor equipment will have to be reduced -"

What Shi Tianze meant was that if most of the craftsmen from the entire Hebei area joined in, they could build eighty doors a month, but there would be a lot of weapons and less armor.

Because there will be a large number of Mongolian craftsmen in the Tuo Lei area of ​​Haraholin and Qianzhou, as well as Shanxi and Guanshan areas.

There are already many craftsmen in Yanjing, but they still have to make other weapons and armor.

Wokuotai immediately said, go all out to build it, I want to see a thousand artillery as soon as possible.

This guy Wo Kuotai is also crazy. He is probably scared of being beaten by the Song army and wants to build a thousand artillery pieces at once.

At this time, there were voices of opposition from the crowd.

According to the nobility, the Song army's armor is heavy and heavy. Our troops still mainly use light armor. We often suffer losses when shooting on the battlefield, so we should focus on building a batch of heavy armor.

This Mongolian army also suffered a lot. When the Song army was defending the city, the lower half of the body would often be exposed. The exposed upper part had extremely heavy armor and strong defensive power. Some even had face helmets, with only the exposed part exposed. With eyes outside, he stood on the spot with his bow and arrows and fired at the Mongolian army. The Mongolian army shot dozens of arrows, but they might not be able to severely damage the opponent.

Some people at the scene thought that the Mongolian artillery fired too slowly and was not effective. Others thought that the range was too close and needed to be increased.

Shi Tianze could only say that to have a longer range, the barrel of the gun must be thicker and longer, and the amount of gunpowder used must be increased, so that the gun becomes heavier.

This kind of artillery can only defend the city, not field battles.

Shi Tianze also built a batch of city-defending artillery in Baozhou, Hejian, Zhending and other places. They were very heavy, weighing several thousand kilograms each, with long barrels, a large amount of gunpowder, and could shoot more than three hundred steps.

Because the cannon is too heavy, it cannot be used in field battles and cannot be pushed.

After hearing this, Wokuotai thought that heavy artillery should be equipped more and could be used to defend the city.

(End of this chapter)