Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Under normal circumstances, Wanyan Zongwang should be standing in the tower, and it is impossible for any Han soldiers to approach him.

But the city tower had been blown down by artillery a few days ago.

Wanyan Zongwang only had more than 20 soldiers around him. Faced with the siege of two to three hundred people led by Zhang Di, he was still able to fight back.

On the one hand, these golden soldiers are top elites, but on the other hand, it also shows that Zhang Di's soldiers are too weak. Although they were all rebels who crawled out of the dead, their armor has always been leather armor, and only a few leaders can wear iron armor.

More of Zhang Di's soldiers were arranged under the horse path as a reserve team.

Jin soldiers from both sides came to attack, and Zhang Di was attacked from both sides. Nearly half of the more than 200 soldiers around him were killed or injured in the blink of an eye.

However, there were large groups of Ming troops nearby, and they continued to attack the city.

The soldiers of the Ming army who were hiding behind the parapet wall took the opportunity to carry out many flying ladders and set them up at multiple places next to the friendly troops' landing point to climb simultaneously.

The southern wall of Guocheng, a section on the east side close to Wengcheng, an area of ​​about twenty meters long, was quickly completely occupied by the Ming army.

Four Ming armies formed a long spear formation and stabbed repeatedly to the east.

The Jinbing reserve team here all ran to rescue Wanyan Zongwang. The Jin soldiers guarding the female wall not only had to deal with the Ming army climbing the ladder, but also faced the Ming army's gun formation coming from the side.

Not only were they pushed forward continuously from the side, but several Ming troops successfully climbed onto the city from the front.

What's even more unfortunate is that their commander was killed by a musket!

More and more Jin soldiers turned and fled, running towards the place where Wanyan Zongwang was besieged.

Wanyan Zongwang was so horrified that he drew his sword and fought in person, pressing against the female wall and killing Zhang Di's soldiers horizontally. Then, he immediately got into the golden soldiers further east and ran until he reached the east city wall before shouting: "Block the enemy!"

The Jin soldiers placed in the city are fighting Zhang Di's Han troops in the city.

Zhang Di's inner-city troops were even weaker. More than two thousand soldiers were defeated by hundreds of golden soldiers, and they fled towards Beicheng District in a swarm.

After hundreds of melee infantrymen boarded the city, the Ming army's musketeers also began to board the city.

They did not wait for the commander's order, and fired freely at the Jin soldiers who were going to the city for reinforcements along the horse road. They also gave priority to the officers, big and small, who targeted the Jin soldiers.

As the Ming army subsequently ascended the city, they quickly occupied the forty- to fifty-meter-long city wall.

Zhang Di was also rescued, with more than ten injuries all over his body and he was almost turning into a bloody man. He led more than 200 soldiers to attack Wanyan Zongwang. At this time, only sixty or seventy people were dead, and everyone was injured extremely tragically.

The reason why these Hebei Han soldiers did not flee was simply because they had stirred a hornet's nest and were surrounded by people with no place to escape.

Zhang Di was helped over by his cousin Zhang Hao. Just as he was about to say something, the Ming army general who came towards him said, "Good man, let's rest against the wall for now. The military doctor will come after the fight!"

"Thank you." Zhang Di smiled sadly.

Wanyan Zongwang was filled with shock and anger. He was so angry that he lost his composure and yelled: "Block the horse path!"

The bridleway is a slope on the inside of the city wall, with a staircase in the middle and smooth slopes on both sides. The smooth ramp can be used to rush horses up the city wall from inside the city, or it can be used to push some equipment up. The cavalry can use this thing to rush to the top of the city to fight.

The Ming army has only captured a few dozen meters of the city wall. As long as the horse road is blocked to prevent the Ming army from entering the city, the defending Jin soldiers still have a chance to kill the Ming army back.

The Jin soldiers had gone crazy and mobilized all the troops in the city. They ignored the other walls. Anyway, the Ming army had been suppressed in the camp. It was difficult to attack other places except the southern city wall.

The siege battle has turned into a positional battle!

The fierce battle took place on a small section of the city wall in the south. There were Jin soldiers arrayed on both sides, and the Ming army arrayed in the middle.

Although the Ming army had fewer troops, the Jin soldiers were unable to take advantage of their strength. More Jin soldiers could only stand in the back row and shoot randomly.

The 210 artillery pieces in the Ming army camp were all aimed at the walls on both sides of the city. If the golden soldiers outside the city dare to go around and attack the siege position below the city, they will be fired by a large number of artillery fire from 100 meters away.

Realizing that a section of the city wall had been lost, Wanyan's mother began to go crazy as she besieged the camp outside.

While he let a large number of infantry attack the chariot formation, he also sent four hundred men and Zha Meng'an to mix in. This was to use the iron pagoda's abandoned horses as infantry.

Don't think it's outrageous, Hezha Meng'an often does this.

The most typical example is the first attack on Song Dynasty. Song general Shi Qi led 2,000 heavy infantry. After all tens of thousands of friendly troops fled, they continued to fight in formation. Wanyan Zongwang and Wanyan Talan led 6,000 cavalry and remained steadfast despite repeated mounted and archery charges. The Jin cavalry, including Hezha Meng'an, all dismounted and fought on foot to annihilate the 2,000 Song heavy infantry.

Speaking of this time and space, General Shi Qi was nowhere to be found, and the two thousand heavy infantry of the Song Dynasty under his command also disappeared.

Perhaps it was when he was in Shaanxi that Gao Qi generously gave the Bu Renjia to Ju Ming.

"Your Highness, there is something strange happening to the golden soldiers on the east side!"

Ju Ming, who was standing on the high platform, picked up his binoculars and soon saw Hezha Meng'an mixed in with the infantry. Those iron cans were too conspicuous.

Ju Ming ordered: "Musketeers go over!"

There were only more than 4,000 musketeers who went into the siege, and nearly 2,000 were by Ju Ming's side.

After receiving the order, these musketeers immediately rode out of the camp passage.

Si Baihe Zha Meng'an, wearing heavy armor and carrying maces, iron rods and other blunt weapons in his hands, had gathered in a group outside the car formation.

The Ming army's near and far weapons were all ineffective against them.

These guys had already approached the van, smashed the short spears inserted in the van, and sent their hands to untie the iron chains.

Immediately afterwards, they stepped forward and charged forward with the Ming army's spears.

Nearly two thousand musketeers, armed with muskets that had been loaded long ago, dismounted and gathered behind the melee soldiers.

"Raise the gun!"

The Musketeers' herald raised his flag.

The commander of this group of infantry immediately ordered: "Down!"

"Uu uh uh!"

The squad leaders blew their bamboo whistles fiercely.

The Ming soldiers in front crouched down one after another, raised their spears and pointed outwards, with the tail of the spear leaning on the ground and the head of the spear pointing diagonally upward.

Facing the forest of erected guns, Baihe Zhameng'an was still charging forward. Some people even held long guns and smashed the Ming army's gun barrels with blunt objects.

"First row, let go!"

"Bang bang bang bang!"

The bullets flew over the heads of the friendly troops and were fired at Hezha Meng'an less than ten meters away. Some of the bullets even broke the Ming army's gun barrels that were standing at an angle.

"Second row, let go!"

After firing a shot, the musketeers in the front row immediately squatted down to reload their ammunition, and the musketeers in the second row fired another volley.

"Third row, let go!"

The unstoppable Sibaihe Zhamengan was shot and fell down one after another, and the few survivors turned around and fled.

The Jin soldiers were horrified, and the elite infantry following Hezha Meng'an were also frightened by the rounds of musket fire and retreated one after another.

"Cavalry pursuit!"

Li Yanxian took the opportunity to detach 500 cavalry, passed through the troop transport channel, and rushed out along the gap in the vehicle formation destroyed by Hezha Meng'an.

The command flag beside Wanyan's mother was waved continuously, and Jin Guobu, a reserve team, rode over to resist, preventing the Ming army's cavalry from taking the opportunity to overwhelm the entire western front.

The Ming cavalry chased and killed nearly a thousand people. Li Yanxian ordered the trumpets to retreat, and before the Jin cavalry could encircle them, he safely withdrew the 500 cavalry sent out.

"Haha, kill me happily!"

This time it was not Yan Ping who led the cavalry into battle, but Luo Ruming, another cavalry officer under Li Yanxian.

The large formation of carriages was closed again. In front of the formation were the bodies of Si Baihe and Zha Meng'an. Those who were lucky enough not to be shot were also caught up by the Ming army's knights on the way to escape, and they were beaten to death with blunt instruments. Smash.

The battle on the city continues.

Those personal guards who had not changed into the new infantry armor, but also wore heavy armor weighing seventy or eighty kilograms, climbed up the ladder one after another from the section of the city wall occupied by the friendly forces.

Gradually, the main frontline combat force of the Ming army became these heavy infantry. The spearmen hid behind them, poking out through the gaps between the heavy infantry and assisting the heavy infantry in attacking.

More Jin soldiers were mobilized, climbed up the city wall from both sides of the Ming army, and gathered in formation to fight positional warfare.

The musketeers on the city wall, protected by friendly troops on both sides, continued to shoot at the golden soldiers in the city who had not yet climbed up the wall.

But the two hundred musketeers in the watchtower car were pushed along with the car, slowly advancing towards the fighting zone on both sides. Below them, there were Ming troops pushing the female wall to protect them from the Jin soldiers rushing over from the base of the city wall.

Liu Bubai...well, Liu Jizhong loaded up his ammunition and was pushed away in a cart by friendly troops.

Seeing that he had almost arrived at the position, he pulled out the small flag in the car and waved it to the cart soldier below.

The city wall twenty meters away was so densely packed with enemy troops that Liu Jizhong could hit him with his eyes closed!

Soon his eyes lit up and he saw Yelu Mawu who was conducting.

It is very conspicuous. Not only is the equipment better, but it is also protected by personal soldiers.

Raise the gun and aim.

"Bang bang bang bang..."

There were at least ten musketeers aiming at Yelu Mawu's head.

"Damn it, you were too slow!"

Before Liu Jizhong had time to shoot, Yelu Mawu had already fallen, and even four soldiers around him also fell together.

“Dong, take, take, take, take…”

A swallow-tailed armor-piercing arrow was shot, inserted into the outer skin of the watchtower cart, and shook violently below the shooting port.

Liu Jizhong quickly searched for the enemy archer. It was difficult to find him in a short time, so he simply aimed at a messenger who was waving the command flag.

"boom!"

There was a gunshot and someone fell.

However, after the messenger issued the military order, he immediately turned around and ran away. The bullet accidentally hit the passenger car.

Yelu Ma Wuli died in confusion, causing huge chaos to the golden soldiers guarding the city. The heavy infantry of the Ming Army, with the cooperation of long gunmen, took the opportunity to advance more than ten meters away.

Kong Yanzhou's troops were also sent up, but they did not engage in battle yet. Instead, they set up a gun array and stood on the outside of the horse road.

Two bullets flew over. They were shot by the musketeers on the city wall. These musketeers were far from accurate. They originally aimed at Kong Yanzhou, but missed and killed his own soldier.

Kong Yanzhou was so frightened that he ignored any military orders. He jumped off the horse track and ran away. His soldiers also fled with him.

Subsequently, the Ming army climbed onto the city wall and found that there was no fighting space, so they ran to move the wood and build it into multiple small platforms as high as one person.

They called some musketeers, stood on the wooden platform behind the friendly forces, and fired from a high position at the Jin soldiers on the opposite side.

"ah!"

As soon as a musketeer stood up, a golden arrow was thrown towards him, and accidentally fell and hit his eye socket.

This guy covered his eyes and retreated, and another musketeer stood up and continued.

Wanyan Xiyin didn't know when he entered the city, so he came to Wanyan Zongwang and said: "There are trench barriers to the east and south of the Ming army's camp, and there are carriages blocking the west side. Four Baihe Zha Meng'an just died in the battle. We couldn't attack, and the Ming army also had firearms in the camp. I ordered more than a thousand infantry to rush towards the Ming army's siege equipment along the base of the city wall. I wanted to attack the enemy from the rear, but they were defeated by artillery just halfway through. . If we can’t attack the outside of the city, can we still defend the inside?”

"Four Baihe Zhamengan was killed in battle?" Wanyan Zongwang was shocked.

Wanyan Xiyin said: "Chamu was forced to have no choice. When he saw that one part of the city wall was lost and his soldiers could not break the camp, he asked Sibaihe Zhameng'an to dismount and fight on foot. Who knew that Prince Zhu was so cunning that he actually There are firearms soldiers left in the camp.”

At this moment, Wanyan Tarlan also rode back to the city: "We can't attack the outside, and I'm afraid the city is almost gone. Let's withdraw our troops quickly."

"We can still fight in the city, but we can drive the enemy out." Wanyan Zongwang said.

Wanyan Talan pointed to the place of battle: "The warriors of Dajin were killed and kept retreating. The front row of the opponent was all heavy armored soldiers."

Wanyan Zongwang said: "It is better to transfer the remaining Hezha Meng'an to the city wall to fight on foot."

"You're crazy!"

Wanyan Xiyin and Wanyan Talan exclaimed at the same time.

Wanyan Talan added: "If we delay any longer, the Ming army will occupy the horse road. When the time comes, they will rush down and open the city gate. How can they evacuate safely in the chaos?"

Wanyan Zongwang looked at the city wall where the battle was stalemate, feeling really unwilling to let him withdraw his troops.

Wanyan Xiyin said: "The Ming army has firearms and heavy armor. If the army fights hard at the top of the city or inside the city, it will suit Prince Zhu's wishes. Could it be that our army's 20,000 cavalry have to be mobilized to fight on foot inside the city?" ?"

"When the Jurchen warriors started their campaign, they didn't have that many cavalry. Didn't they just rely on infantry fighting?" Wanyan Zongwang asked.

Wanyan Xiyin angrily scolded: "You are carried away by anger!"

Wanyan Talan said: "While there is still fighting on the city wall, we should withdraw immediately. Otherwise, when the Ming army captures the city, the cavalry can safely withdraw. How many infantry troops of each tribe can be withdrawn? How many infantry troops of each tribe can be withdrawn? If there are too many casualties here, the military commanders of all races will be resentful and rebellious when they return home."

"Quickly retreat, what are you waiting for?" Wanyan Xiyin said.

Wanyan Talan said: "Abandon the city, lure the Ming army to pursue, and maybe use the cavalry to defeat the enemy in the wild. If you don't give the order, I will take my troops to evacuate!"

Wanyan Xiyin also turned and left, probably wanting to lead his troops to retreat.

It is true that Wanyan Zongwang is the marshal, but his prestige is far less than that of Wanyan Zonghan. He has a cooperative relationship with Wanyan Talan and Wanyan Xiyin.

"return!"

Wanyan Zongwang held back his anger: "We must also discuss the withdrawal of troops. We cannot act independently, otherwise it will become a rout!"

Wanyan Talan said: "Let the Han army cut off the rear. Even if it is quickly defeated and the Han army breaks up and flees, it can still stop the Ming army from pursuing it. If the Ming army can still pursue them, let the Bohai and Khitan troops cut off the rear. The more deaths these two groups have, the easier it will be to control them."

Wanyan Xiyin said: "If there are not many soldiers and horses pursued by the Ming army, or if the pursuit makes all the troops confused, the Dajin cavalry can take the opportunity to kill back. This battle may be able to turn defeat into victory."

"Bang bang bang bang!"

The sound of gunfire continued.

Wanyan Zongwang stared at the watchtower cars, filled with resentment and not knowing how to vent it. He really couldn't think of a way to guard against firearms.

If the Ming army had no firearms, how could the Jin soldiers be in such a predicament. Even though the Ming army had three heads and six arms, it could not quickly capture the city wall!

Withdrawal can remove the main force, but how should we fight in the future?

Unable to deal with firearms, Jin soldiers will always be passive.

Wanyan Zongwang felt a sense of despair.