Chapter 455: Bloody Battle at Shuidonggou
The Mongolian army first released dozens or even a hundred bare-headed war horses. The riders stabbed the horses' buttocks hard with a knife, and the horses then ran away like wild horses that had broken free from their reins.
The Shenwei Army first engaged in battle with this group of wild horses.
Lu Huacai simply arranged three lines of defense outside the circular position. The soldiers lying in the trenches quickly eliminated the rushing horses with a three-shot firing method without exposing his artillery settings.
However, some of the troops were not knocked down until they rushed into the minefield barrier, which greatly weakened the defense capability of the minefield outside the formation.
When Andouer saw the mines of the Shenwei Army explode, he was overjoyed. His purpose of flattering was to step on the mines and clear the mines for the cavalry's attack. He immediately sent out 10,000 cavalry to charge, attacking the Shenwei Army from both sides.
When Lu Huacai saw the enemy cavalry gathering and about to launch a charge, he immediately ordered the artillery to attack.
However, the artillery commander Bai Heng requested to wait until the enemy cavalry started running before opening fire. He wanted three rounds of artillery fire to cover this group of fanatics.
Lu Huacai rejected his plan and ordered immediate action, because they were now attacked from both sides and could not afford to be careless.
At this tense moment, the Mongolian army at the mountain pass behind also released cavalry to rush over.
Lu Huacai immediately concentrated all his mortars and iron barrel cannons to deal with it. Shuidonggou was immediately turned into a mess. A round of volleys from the Shenwei Army's catapults blew up Android's cavalry into disarray. After three rounds of shooting, the 10,000 cavalry became sparse.
However, the Shenwei Army was not having an easy time either . The Mongolian Army took advantage of the cavalry charge to set up their Huihui cannons forward and actually broke into the Shenwei Army's formation. By the time the Shenwei Army sent out its artillery group to fight back and blew up the Huihui cannons that the Mongolian Army had deployed forward, considerable casualties had already been caused.
When Andouer saw that the 10,000 main cavalry were gone, he was so angry that his eyes were blazing with anger. He ordered 10,000 cavalry to charge ahead and 20,000 infantry to follow up. He also sent out 5,000 cavalry to attack the right side of Lu Huacai's circle.
This put the Shenwei Army in a state of panic.
Lu Huacai had to divide his forces to resist in three directions. The forward positions arranged outside the circular formation were quickly swept away by the Mongolian army, and the situation on the battlefield suddenly became tense.
Because the right side of the Shenwei Army's circular formation had no artillery support, the 5,000 Mongolian cavalrymen quickly rushed to the front of the formation, showing signs of breaking the formation. Lu Hua had no choice but to dispatch the Modao Brigade to fight. The Shenwei Army's circular formation suddenly became dangerous.
Andu'er saw it clearly from a small mound far outside, and with a ferocious face he ordered an attack on Lu Huacai's left wing. Driven by the poison of the short eldest son Mengge, the 5,000 Mongolian cavalry immediately rushed out.
Lu Huacai was in charge of the center of the circle formation and was shocked to find that the enemy had again sent out cavalry to attack his left wing. He immediately ordered Wang Gui to gather the cavalry to fight.
When Wang Gui set out, he brought with him 10,000 elite cavalrymen, but they suffered a lot of casualties after successive battles. In addition, with the 1,000 stationed in Yanzhou, there were only 4,000 cavalrymen who arrived at Shuidonggou. Just now, after a burst of rescue efforts from all directions like a fire brigade, there were less than 3,000 people following him.
The guy was already covered in blood, his eyes spitting fire with killing intent. He raised the iron trumpet and shouted: There are no cowards in the 4th Cavalry Column, let's fight to the death. Then he spurred his horse and charged towards the Mongolian army in the northeast.
In Xuzhou of Jiangdong, a Mongolian cavalry was also heading towards the border counties controlled by the New Song Dynasty.
When Hubili learned that the Shenwei Army had started a war in Lingzhou, he immediately realized that Zhao Yulin had gone to the northwest. He immediately went to find Damengge and asked him to send a large army to retake Xuzhou.
But Da Mengge disagreed, saying that Kuo Duan was being beaten, and that this was the punishment from the gods for the Khan family, and it was the will of the gods. If we attack Xuzhou, the Shenwei Army will be afraid and will not dare to kill in Lingzhou, and won't that be helping our enemies?
Hubili believed that helping Kuoduan was also helping themselves, or rather, Kuoduan was helping their Ture family. After all, the empire granted the Southern Song Dynasty to their family.
In fact, Brother Da Meng originally wanted to fight.
Hubili was right. This was a godsend opportunity. If the New Song Kingdom could fight the Shenwei Army in the northwest, it would definitely not start another war in Jiangdong. This was a chance for his Toure family to expand its territory. The two brothers discussed it briefly and immediately put it into practice.
Cao Youwen and Miao Gui were stationed in Jiangdong, urging the border troops to be on high alert. However, due to their small number and good battlefield concealment, this Mongolian cavalry still broke through the border defenses of the Shenwei Army and entered the Song territory, burning, killing, looting, and committing all kinds of atrocities in the counties and towns northeast of Xuzhou and Pizhou.
After receiving the military report, Cao Youwen told Huo Fenghuang: Brother Yulin's judgment is really accurate, the northern barbarians are indeed. He asked Huo Fenghuang and Wu Yuqi not to tell Zhao Yulin about the Mongolian army's southward march, and told the brothers in the northwest to fight with all their might.
However, the Mongolian cavalry moved from one place to another after each battle, and their movements were erratic, which gave Cao Youwan and Cao Youliang a headache. Old Cao was anxious, so he handed Jiankang Prefecture to Zhao Yulin's two women and then rode to the front line in Suzhou.
Zhao Yulin had just arrived in Lingzhou at this time, and the garrison captain told him: Commander Gao led his troops to pursue Androider, and there were still 5,000 soldiers in the city who were determined to protect the third young master's safety to the death.
He waved his hand and told them to stop wasting time and talk about the situation on the battlefield.
The captain of the garrison told him that Android had escaped in advance. Commander Gao was worried that Commander Lu would be attacked from both sides, so he gave a death order to the hot air balloon air force to fly directly to Shuidonggou for the rescue.
However, the southwest wind was strong, and if the sky army ignited and took off in Lingzhou, they would not be able to fly over due to the inconsistent direction and fail to complete the rescue mission. Later, the astronomers accompanying the army came up with a trick, letting the sky army take a cart out of the west gate and walk ten miles northwest before taking off to fight. I believe that our air warriors will definitely be able to fly to Shuidonggou.
Holy shit, what the hell is this?
Zhao Yulin felt a little numb after hearing this.
However, Lu Huacai had already arrived at Shuidonggou early. Looking at the distance on the map, he estimated that Huacai was most likely trapped by Android.
He closed his eyes and pondered for a stick of incense before saying that everyone was betting, so let's bet that Coach Lu and his men are not afraid of sacrifice and will be nailed to the ground in Shuidonggou.
He called the garrison captain to the map and said, "We bet that the enemy is blocked and cannot enter Shuidonggou, so they will inevitably collapse . A large number of Mongolian troops will go to Hajiadu in the west to seek escape by crossing the river. Immediately collect all the boats and rafts within ten miles above and below the ferry and burn them."
The garrison captain was worried about his safety and asked him what would happen if all the troops left?
Who will protect the third young master's safety?
There are still more than 20,000 surrendered soldiers in the city.
Zhao Yulin glared at the man and said, "Don't we still have guards? Just organize the young and strong people in the city to defend the city."
The captain of the garrison disagreed and told him that this was already the territory of the Northern Barbarians. Even the few poor Xixia people had been educated by the Northern Barbarians for more than ten years. How dare he play with the safety of the third young master?
The garrison left 3,000 men to protect the Third Young Master, and he took the rest to seize the ferry.
Zhao Yulin was worried that after Andou'er escaped, two thousand men would not even be enough to fill the gaps between Andou'er's teeth. After a dispute, he was told to take four thousand away, leaving him with one thousand to guard the prisoners.
He told the garrison to only carry two days' dry food and enough weapons and march lightly, and to seize the ferry before the enemy and build fortifications. Once the enemy came, they would definitely fight to the death for the ferry, so it was necessary to build more fortifications based on the terrain.
The garrison captain stood at attention, saluted him, then turned and left.
Looking back, Zhao Yulin asked Ke Zhenxie to go with him to see the prisoners. The garrison guarded the prisoners, and the guards had to monitor the entire city. Ke Zhenxie knew that the burden on his shoulders was heavy, so he quickly went out to chase the garrison captain to find out the situation.
At this time in the Shuidonggou battlefield, Lu Huacai's circular formation had reached a critical juncture. Almost no one was idle at the edge of the position, and everyone was fighting desperately to kill the enemy.
Wang Gui led the remaining cavalry out of the circle to fight against Meng Gedu. This guy took the lead and rushed towards Wang Gui. His specially made thick armor actually blocked the attack of the musket bullets. Mongolian soldiers on both sides were shot and fell off their horses, but he rushed forward without any injury. The two armies soon engaged in a fight.
Wang Gui's troops were exhausted from fighting continuously. After firing three shots, the three-barreled guns could only be used as maces, and soon they fell into a slump. Wang Gui retreated to the circle while standing and walking.
When Androuer saw that the Shenwei Army was about to be defeated, he ordered the conch horns to be blown and the army to charge. He wanted to wipe out the Shenwei Army in one swoop without leaving a trace.
The Mongolian army's charge sounded, and they rushed towards Lu Huacai's circular formation with all their might. Huacai saw that Wang Gui's troops were getting fewer and fewer and had retreated, so he ordered the captain of the guard beside him to lead his men to charge forward and make sure to plug the gap.
The Mongolian army launched a fearless charge, with riders continuously breaking into the circular defense circle, and it seemed that the Shenwei Army's position was about to collapse.
Androu was showing off and asked for some wine so that he could drink to celebrate.
The guards immediately brought him a wine bag. The guy took a big gulp with great satisfaction and let out a long howl. However, he was surprised to see a string of hot air balloons flying rapidly over his head. Then there was a deafening explosion. He was knocked to the ground by the blast, covered in mud.
The guards helped him up, and he felt his face was wet. He wiped it with his hand, and found it was covered with bloody dirt. Andre was so angry that he screamed and yelled, "Kill, kill, kill for me."
However, the Mongolian army was looking at the sky in surprise. Nine hot air balloons were trying hard to adjust their formation and exploding as they flew.
The flag of the Mongolian commander fell, and there was a deafening explosion at the Huihui artillery position. Then the Mongolian army attacking the right wing of the circular formation was bombed by the heavenly army. Then the nine balloons continued to lower their altitude and flew straight over the circular formation to bomb Meng Gedu's cavalry.
He was fighting happily, but when he heard the explosion of thunder bombs getting closer and closer, and saw the hot air balloon of the Shenwei Army rushing towards his cavalry, he drove his men forward without hesitation, shouting: Charge, charge up and fight with the little southern barbarians, we will die together.
The Mongolian infantry and cavalry were awakened by his shout, and they really started running forward desperately.
The nine hot air balloons of the Shenwei Army Air Force were constantly lowering their altitude, from the initial fifty feet to ten feet quickly, dropping one thunder bomb after another accurately, which blew the Mongolian soldiers away in all directions, quickly reversing the situation on the battlefield.
