Lu Xiufu had been having a headache ever since he took on the job of the Demolition Office.
It was human nature for the common people to care about their homes. Even during the war, it was very difficult for them to move out of the house that they had lived in for their entire lives.
After the meeting, Lu Xiufu posted a notice to announce the demolition.
Due to the continuous years of war, the people were homeless and homeless, and there were heavy casualties. Even the capital, Lin 'an, was already empty. Therefore, the people who moved away did not have to worry about finding a place to stay.
Even then, there were only a few who were truly willing to move away obediently, and this caused Lu Xiufu to be badly battered.
Demolition and relocation was the first step in settling down the city guards, so it had to be done as soon as possible. Ouyang Shuo received the news and immediately gave Lu Xiufu two suggestions.
First, he told the citizens who lived near the city walls that the Mongolian army had brought a large number of return cannons this time, and they could fire their cannons into the city walls. If he didn't want to be caught in the crossfire, he'd better move obediently.
The Mongolians brought back quite a number of outstanding craftsmen from the Middle East during their three expeditions to the west, and to a certain degree, they promoted the upgrading of Mongolian weapons and equipment. The return cannon was one of the best among them.
The return cannon, also known as the Western Region Cannon or Xiangyang Cannon, was a new type of catapult.
This kind of trebuchet was created by two Muslims who believed in Islam. They improved on the basis of the ancient trebuchet, innovated and improved it to be more advanced and powerful.
In the Battle of Xiangyang during the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the Huihui Cannon showed its prowess and broke through the thick walls of Xiangyang City in one fell swoop. It contributed greatly to the Mongolian army's capture of Xiangyang City, hence the name Xiangyang Cannon.
Secondly, he would directly deal with the truly stubborn ones and use the military to forcefully demolish them, showing no mercy.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. Lu Xiufu was a civil official, so he liked to do things according to the thinking of civil officials. Ouyang Shuo, on the other hand, was a typical realist. He would do whatever was most effective.
As expected, after hearing about the power of the returning cannons, the people living near the city walls ran away faster than rabbits. It wasn't just the civilians within the 500-meter radius, even those outside the 500-meter radius took the initiative to evacuate.
This was the herd mentality of the people.
After the civilians were evacuated, a large-scale renovation began that lasted for several days. Speaking of which, it was strange. Over the past few days, the Mongolian army outside the city had been very quiet.
Just as the troops were changing the guard, a rumor spread out in Lin 'an.
They said that the Mongolian army was cruel and merciless, slaughtering the people of the Central Plains, and that the heavens would punish them. Because of this, the Jade Emperor in the heavens sent celestial soldiers and generals to assist the imperial court in fighting against the Mongolian army.
Some people who lived near the Western Barracks vowed that on that day, the sky changed color. Balls of dazzling white light flashed, and 400,000 celestial soldiers and generals appeared out of thin air.
Because there were many people who saw this matter, the more it spread, the more exaggerated it became. Even the soldiers in the camp were discussing this matter, speaking with certainty and certainty.
Furthermore, the armies on the four sides had been changing defenses recently. The common people could easily see these troops. Seeing these troops wearing armor that was clearly different from the Song Nation's army, the common people were even more convinced.
People gradually began to believe in the theory of heavenly soldiers and generals.
At this moment, there was a decree from the imperial court. Ouyang Shuo was conferred the title of King Xia and was ordered to fight against the Mongolian army.
Some people said that Emperor Xia was a celestial sent by the Jade Emperor. He could summon the wind and rain and summon the ancient celestial generals, such as Wu Lai and Xu Chu.
E Lai rode the Rakshasa around the city, causing many exclamations.
This time, the commoners were convinced.
Taoism flourished in the Sui and Tang Dynasties and reached its peak in the Song Dynasty. Thus, this rumor had a strong foundation and was easily accepted by the people of Linan.
Once they accepted this, their confidence increased.
Although the Mongolian army was very scary, no matter how powerful they were, they could not be compared to the celestial soldiers and generals. In just a few days, the people who were in a panic were slightly comforted.
All of this was naturally planned by Ouyang Shuo from behind the scenes.
When Xiong Ba heard the news, he laughed and shook his head. "I didn't expect it to be so simple!" Indeed, many things that seemed complicated were actually easier to deal with.
The difference was whether one could think differently.
…
On the sixth day of the battle, in the morning.
For the past few days, there was no movement from the Mongolian army. This made Ouyang Shuo very uneasy. The four sides of the army had already sent scouts out of the city to investigate. They wanted to find out what the Mongolian army was doing.
Ouyang Shuo was accompanied by the General of the North Gate, Guo Ziyi. He went up to the north gate tower and looked into the distance.
As far as the eye could see, the outside of the city was densely packed with Mongolian camps. The white yurts were connected to each other, and one could not see the end of them.
And this was only the vanguard of the Mongolian army. The real main force was not in the suburbs, but in the city that was further away.
A million soldiers surrounding a city was a game. It would never happen in reality.
Not to mention other things, just the consumption of food and other resources could deplete the whole of Jiangnan in half a year. Nothing would be left, and it would become a wasteland.
Obviously, Gaia in the battle map was blurred.
"General, what do you think the Mongolians are planning?" Ouyang Shuo suddenly asked.
Guo Ziyi was obviously stunned. These few days, he was busy building the North Gate Command Post and liaising with the Southern Song Dynasty. At the same time, he led a team to familiarize himself with the defense facilities in the north.
Since Ouyang Shuo asked, Guo Ziyi had to answer him.
After thinking for a while, Guo Ziyi answered, "There are only two reasons why the enemy is not attacking the city. Either there is an internal change, or there is something else that they are not ready. "
"In this situation, the possibility of an internal change is very small. The biggest possibility is that they are preparing a trump card." Guo Ziyi said his judgment.
"Then, what trump card would it be?"
Ouyang Shuo looked at the Mongolian camp. It was not known if he was asking Guo Ziyi or asking himself.
"My king, please be at ease. I predict that the scouts will bring back news in these two days. By then, everything will be clear." Guo Ziyi comforted him.
Ouyang Shuo did not express his opinion, "I can faintly feel that in a place further away, there is a monstrous resentment that is slowly gathering. I do not know what the Mongolian army is doing."
Guo Ziyi heard this and his heart trembled. He heard from his lord, Feng Qiuhuang, that Emperor Xia was not only good at politics and martial arts, but his personal cultivation was also amazing. What he cultivated was the highest level of mysterious martial arts.
With this feeling, he was not far from the truth.
Guo Ziyi cupped his fists and said, "Rest assured, my king. I will tighten my guard."
Ouyang Shuo nodded and walked down the city gate tower. He faintly felt that this was the last calm before the storm. A bloody war was about to begin.
…
Ouyang Shuo's premonition was very accurate.
On the seventh day of the war, the Mongolian army that had been quiet finally made a move.
On this day, the sky had just brightened. Outside of Lin 'an, hundreds of thousands of Han people suddenly came from all directions. They were dressed in rags and their bodies were thin. They looked terrified. They were being herded by the Mongolian army towards Lin 'an like a flock of sheep. They only stopped when they were a stone's throw away from the city wall.
On the south gate tower, Zhang Shijie looked at the refugees outside of the city. His face was extremely ugly. "I knew that this group of bastards would use this method."
Wen Tianxiang, who was beside him, also had a grave expression. He clenched his fists and his eyes were burning. Looking at the situation, Zhang Shijie and Wen Tianxiang seemed to know what the Mongolian army was going to do.
The reason why the Mongolian army did not attack the city for the past few days was that they went around to plunder the Han people. They drove them together like cattle and sheep on the grassland and gathered them outside of Lin 'an.
What happened next made Ouyang Shuo and the others' eyes almost pop out of their sockets.
They saw that these sallow and emaciated people were holding simple tools. Under the supervision of the Mongolian army, they dug the soil on the ground and used the soil to build a fort.
During the process, if anyone dared to be lazy or slow, the supervisor's whip would fall mercilessly. These inspectors had grown up on horseback, so their whippings were ruthless.
With one lash, the victim's clothes would be torn and his skin would be torn.
The Mongolian army's expression made people even angrier. Looking at the situation, they did not treat these people as human beings at all. They beat and scolded them wantonly. They even laughed perversely as they beat them. It seemed that they were enjoying it very much.
"A group of bastards!"
The Mongolians regarded the Han people as meat on the chopping board. They had barbarically conquered civilization. It was really infuriating.
Seeing their comrades being abused like this, the soldiers guarding the city could not bear to kill them. If they really did that, they would be no different from animals.
Just like that, the Mongolians smoothly used the Han people to build forts around the city walls. Looking at the situation, these forts were probably taller than the city walls of Lin 'an. If these forts were really built, they would become the best outpost for the Mongolian army to attack the city. They were even more useful than moving arrow towers.
What made people even more indignant was yet to come.
These captured people were already hungry. In the process of building the forts, they could only get a thin porridge every night. They could not even fill their stomachs, let alone eat their fill.
How could they support themselves if they did not have enough to eat and had to do heavy work? Since the afternoon, there were people who fainted due to exhaustion.
How did the Mongolian supervisor deal with these people who fainted?
Not to mention carrying them away for treatment, they did not even have the time to whip them. They just killed them with a sword and threw their bodies into the forts that were being built as "building materials".
This kind of behavior was truly shocking.
On the second day, the behavior of the Mongolians had completely exceeded the category of "human".
They saw the Mongolians suddenly set up boilers that were as tall as a person in between the forts. Ouyang Shuo and the others were confused by what they were doing.
"What are they doing? Are they lighting a fire to cook?" Feng Qiuhuang was puzzled.
Ouyang Shuo shook his head. He also did not know.
Fortunately, the answer was soon revealed.
They saw the Mongolian army throwing the living people into the boilers and burning them alive. Their goal was to use the living people to refine corpse oil.
The mournful cries of the people in the boilers caused everyone's faces to turn pale.
"Ugh ~ ~ ~"
Seeing the Mongolian soldiers collecting corpse oil from the boilers, Feng Qiuhuang could no longer hold it in and vomited on the spot.
Ouyang Shuo's expression was extremely unsightly. He stared at the Mongolian army outside the city and said coldly, "These bastards do not deserve to live in this world."
This was the first time Ouyang Shuo hated a group of people so much.
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