The Spring Festival passed quickly. The colorful lights hung on the Shangyuan Festival on Gaocheng Street have not been removed, and the paper scraps left after the firecrackers have not been cleaned up. County magistrate Dong Wenzhi went to the city to inspect early in the morning. He received a few days ago. The Emperor of the Song Dynasty issued the "Decree of the Yuan Dynasty" on the fifth day of the first lunar month, and vowed to the northern expedition in Gaoyi Daying. The army of east and west of Hebei was said to be a million march northward.

Dong Wen couldn't help but feel sad after directly reporting. Over the years, the Southern Dynasties sent troops several times to fight against the Yuan court, but none of them issued an edict. In the Battle of Jiangnan, the Southern Dynasties emperors sent troops in the name of protecting the tombs of their ancestors; the first northern expedition was to seize Lianghuai and Xiangfan in the name of border disputes and punishment, and to defraud Sichuan and Shu.

Even though the Southern Dynasty launched a large-scale military use this time, the war was still started on the grounds of the fact that the troops stationed in Huaibei, the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, which was unfavorable to suppress the bandits, which led to bandits robbing the ground and then sent troops to cross the border to suppress the bandits. Then they captured Henan and Shandong, occupying half of Hebei. According to the practice of national exchanges, it can still be regarded as a conflict between the two countries, not a war between the countries.

Now that the Southern Emperor issued an edict to attack, it was to formally declare war on the Mongol Yuan, which was a situation of dying. This not only completely cut off the idea of ​​peace between the court, but also dispelled the last trace of luck that still existed in Dong Wenzhi. After all, everything had the instinct to survive, and he did not want the lives of his hometown to suffer a disaster and his tribe were destroyed.

After the Southern Army vowed to the scene, it captured several counties such as Yuan, Zhaozhou, Ningjin, Shenze, Wuji, Luancheng, Jingxing, Luquan and others in just over ten days. Then the army from the middle line reached Gaocheng, and the east and west wings passed around the city and rushed directly to Zhending, cutting off the connection between the two places. Now Gaocheng has become an isolated city.

Dong Wenzhi received a report last night that the Song army had explored horses and the soldiers stationed in the castle camp outside the city did not send troops to fight because the enemy was unknown, but they were driven out with crossbows. The Song army spies did not engage in many entanglements and escaped while the darkness was happening. He knew that this showed that the enemy was not far from the city, so he went to the city to investigate after dawn.

Dong Wen climbed up to the south city tower and looked into the distance, but was blocked by morning fog, and there seemed to be a sound of horse hooves coming from afar. He listened to the sound of hooves getting closer and closer, from the tiny to the heavy and dense. Soon hundreds of cavalry broke through the fog and rushed down the city, until they crossed two miles below the city before stopping. The alarm bell on the city suddenly rang, and a large number of soldiers immediately rushed to the top of the city and looked nervously at the enemy under the city.

"Father, I will lead the troops to rush forward for a while and kill the morale of the Southern Army!" Dong Shi, who was standing behind his father, said.

"This is just a Southern Army outpost. The enemy army will arrive later. Don't be reckless!" Dong Wen turned his face and looked at his son who was eager to try and said in a deep voice.

"Father, you can take advantage of the enemy's distance and disrupt his formation and kill for a while, so that they dare not underestimate our Dong family!" Dong Shibiao said unwillingly.

"Bastard, how can the Southern Army come without preparation!" Dong Wenzhi snorted and said angrily, "For generals, you should avoid being reckless. The current situation of the enemy is unknown. Maybe they want to lure you out of the city!"

"Yes, my father taught me a lesson!" Although Dong Shibiao was the only son, his family education was very strict. He was very afraid of his father. Seeing that he was harsh, he lowered his head and said in a resentment.

As Dong Wenzhi expected, the morning mist gradually dissipated under the illumination of the rising sun, and countless soldiers and horses appeared. They formed a formation and rushed towards the city like ants. The dense circles made people dizzy. The dust on the footsteps was like rolling smoke. The marching brigade was about to spread to the two wings, shaped like two giant arms to carry the city into their arms.

Amid the sound of yellings, the Song army on the front continued to change its formation. The front army reached the two arrows in front of the city before stopping, and arranged a staggered small square arrays, maintaining a distance of dozens of steps between each other, while the two wings had hundreds of cavalry cruising, forming a vague surround the city.

"The wise man is kind and kind, and those who surrender will not be killed!" A group of Song soldiers stood still and shouted loudly to the city to persuade them to surrender.

"The wise and kind, the surrendered will not be killed!"

"The wise and kind, the surrendered will not be killed!"

...

"Shoot, shoot, shoot arrows!" Dong Shibiao was furious when he heard this, ordered the arrows to be fired, and snorted, "Although he is obviously a hypocritical person, he has to act hypocritical, damn it!"

‘Swish, swish, swish…’ When the soldiers on the city received the order, they immediately fired arrows at the shouting Song army. Although they were condescending, they still couldn’t shoot to the Song army under the city. Only sparse arrows floated in front of the formation, which caused bursts of ridicule.

"Haha..." Dong Shibiao was even more annoyed when the laughter under the city was stimulating. He took a bow and shot it with an arrow, and floated in the air for a while, but he was unable to match his strength and fell at Song Jun's feet, which made them jump, and then caused even greater laughter.

"Shoot again!" Seeing that the crossbows on the city were difficult to reach, Dong Shibiao sighed that the performance of the temporary crossbows was not satisfactory and was far inferior to that of the official arch. But he also knew the principle of "losing people but not losing formation". He must not lose morale at the moment, so he waved the flag to command the archers in the fortress in front of the city to shoot arrows to suppress the momentum of the Song army.

The fortress in front of the city was built outside the moat, and was used to guard the access roads into the city and cover the city gates to prevent the enemy from driving directly under the city along the main road. It was also the first line of defense for the city defense. In the past, the fortress in front of the city was not big, and its function was more to prevent bandits from invading, protecting the bridges entering the city, and collecting tariffs, which was more like personal income tax cards.

It was not until the Song army invaded the north that it began to rebuild and reinforce. Now the village walls are built with stones and reinforced with rammed earth. They are about meter high, three feet thick, and about fifty steps long and wide. There are sentry towers built inside, and a horse-resisted horse was arranged in front of the village. After receiving the order, the soldiers stationed in the fort immediately took arrows to the Song army based on the cliff.

At the moment, the two armies were close together, but the lack of bowing power was still difficult to hurt the Song army, but their behavior seemed to anger the Song army, and they immediately expanded their formation to shoot against them. The Song army fired quickly and had great power in a row. With only three rounds of volleys, the archers in the fort could not be raised, and could only hide behind the wall to avoid.

Even so, the Song army refused to rest. The front infantry retreated a little. The artillery army stepped forward. After more than ten Weiyuan artillery simply built a position, they began to fire. The thunder-like cannons made Dong Shibiao's body involuntarily shake his body and his face changed drastically. Although he claimed to have participated in the Battle of Huaibei, he had never fought with the Song army. He had "retreated" into Henan long before they arrived.

"Still!" Although this was the first time Dong Wenzhi saw the power of Song's weapons, he was deeply shocked, but he was more calm than his son and hummed.

"Yes!" Dong Shibiao immediately realized his situation. At the moment, the whole city was watching their father and son. If he was panicked, it would definitely cause panic among the people in the city, and he would be calm and straight in his helmet.

Dong Shibiao looked down at the city. He thought he could block the first round of enemy attacks. Under the bombardment of artillery, the village wall had collapsed. Then the Song army's artillery fire fired again after a brief stop. The projectile fell into a panic and dodged stroke and exploded. Suddenly, there were casualties and howlings came.

In this situation, the soldiers watching the battle on the city were stunned, and some even trembled their hands and feet and could not hold the weapons in their hands. Obviously, they did not expect that the Song army weapons were so sharp. In just a moment, the fortress was engulfed by the raging artillery fire. But they could only watch the robes struggled in the explosion of fire and smoke, and they were helpless.

"General, open the city and let them enter the city!" The Nancheng garrison saw the soldiers who escaped from the village calling for help from the city, cried and asked to put down the suspension bridge and let them enter the city, and expressed his promise to Dong Shi with a slight plea.

"No, the fortress is not defended. At this time, the enemy troops in Kaicheng will take advantage of the situation to chase and kill into the city!" Dong Shifei felt that all the fleeing soldiers were injured, but he still refused.

"Lord, if you don't save them, they will lose all their money under the city!" Seeing that the proposal was rejected, the guard general turned to Dong Wenzhi and asked.

"Dong Shun, Ci does not take charge of the troops. They do not resist, abandon the village and flee, and they should be killed according to the law. And you open the city to rescue and be taken by the enemy and lead to the city being destroyed, which is the same crime!" Dong Wenzhi looked at him coldly and said in a deep voice.

"I understand the humble position!" The lord has always been generous and never blamed him. Dong Shun thought he would not refuse to save him, but the fact was unexpected, so he could only bow and respond.

"I know you are dissatisfied and think I will not save you when I die. But you must understand that this is an extraordinary time. If you do not punish the fugitive army and just indulge them, how can you lead the army?" Dong Wenzhi saw that he seemed to be dissatisfied in his words and said again.

"I dare not do it for a humble position!" Dong Shun felt a chill in his bones after hearing this, turned around and went down the city tower and ordered, "Retreat without fighting, behead them according to the rules, shoot them immediately to serve as a warning to others!"

After Dong Shun finished speaking, he drew his bow and arrow to shoot the leader under the city, and the personal soldiers behind him also fired their bows and shot arrows. The soldiers who had finally struggled to escape were unprepared and were shot by arrows on the edge of the moat. Seeing this, all the soldiers on the city were ashamed. The soldiers fleeing in the fortress stopped and dared not retreat again.

The Song army's shelling came and went quickly, but in two quarters of an hour, the entire fortress turned into ruins. And they did not stay for long, leaving an ultimatum saying, "If you still do not surrender tomorrow, you will launch an attack on the city." Then they alternately covered and slowly retreated and set up camp for two miles.

"Open the city to save people!" It was not until the Song cavalry that broke the rear left that Dong Shibiao ordered the city gate to open and lower the suspension bridge to rescue the remaining soldiers.

"Let other fortresses be withdrawn back to the city!" Dong Wenzhi thought about it and said.

"Father, if you withdraw all the forts outside the city, the enemy can attack the city directly!" Dong Shi said.

"The Song army's artillery fire is sharp, and the castle outside the city is useless under it, it only increases casualties!" Dong Wen said bluntly, "But don't restrain the bodies of those deserters, just put them there!"

"Why is this? Will it damage morale?" Dong Shibiao knew that his father had always been kind and righteous in his work. Even refugees who died on the way would send someone to buy a coffin. But now the soldiers who were "dead in battle" were exposed to their bodies outside the city, which was contrary to their past style, so he asked in confusion.
Chapter completed!