On the tenth day of the battle, the siege finally began.
Under the supervision of the Mongolian army, 600 earthen castles that were taller than the city walls were built. The starving captives were freed on the spot.
Whether they could survive depended on their luck.
Some people tried to knock on the gates of Lin 'an, but they were rejected. The Mongolian archers had taken up residence in the earthen castles and thousands of cannons had been pushed to the frontlines.
Opening the gates now was tantamount to inviting a wolf into the house.
These people could just leave the battlefield and return to their homes. There was no need for them to enter Lin 'an. Lin 'an's food reserves were already stretched thin. It might not be a good thing for these captives to enter the city.
At around nine in the morning, the flames of war started.
Although the boilers were destroyed, the Mongolian siege strategy was still the same. The archers in the earthen castles were in charge of suppressing the long-range attackers while the cannons bombarded the city walls.
The defenders returned the favor.
The archers, catapults, and ballistae went into battle together and fought against the enemy.
The battle on the first day was limited to long-range attackers.
It was a tough battle, but the battlefield was cruel. The arrows shot by the archers from both sides formed a crisscrossing arrow net, taking away thousands of lives at every moment.
The roar of the catapults had not stopped since the battle began.
Be it the Mongolian camp outside the city, the top of the city, or even the vicinity of the city walls, there was smoke and fire everywhere. Although the catapults were catapults, they could also shoot gravel doused in corpse oil.
With one shot, the flames of war rose everywhere.
The defenders at the top of the city walls fought under the rain of arrows. The temporary laborers at the bottom of the city were not having an easy time either. There were injured people being carried down from the top of the city walls and sent to the nearest medical station.
All the doctors in Lin 'an, regardless of which department they were in, were sent to the medical stations by the imperial court to treat the injured.
Every time they saved a person, their combat power would increase.
Other than that, the military workshops in the city also worked day and night to produce bundles of arrows. A siege battle like this would consume an astonishing amount of arrows.
The whole city was united.
The Mongolian army returned without any success on the first day. Not only did they lose more than ten thousand people, but more than fifty earthen castles were destroyed and turned into ruins.
The defenders also lost more than ten thousand men.
The reason for such a high casualty rate was because they took down the earthen castles. With the earthen castles as cover, the Mongolian archers were not at a disadvantage. In addition, they were generally skilled in archery, so it was only natural that they were not at a disadvantage.
On the contrary, there were very few pure archers in the Inhuman Army. Most of them were cavaliers who joined the battle spontaneously, and it was clear that they were no match for the Mongolian archers. They were suppressed by the enemy.
In this battle, the two sides were evenly matched.
In the next two days, the situation of the war did not change at all. The Mongolian army, which had a million soldiers, was like a perpetual motion machine. They were constantly replenished with fresh blood and launched continuous attacks on Lin 'an.
In the meantime, the Mongolians used another dirty move.
They threw the corpses of the soldiers, whether they were enemies or allies, into the moat. For a time, the surface of the river was densely packed with corpses, making one's hair stand on end.
What was worse was that the canal in the city of Lin 'an was connected to the moat. The corpses soaked in the river rotted and smelled, which polluted the water source and then polluted the canal in the city.
Water became a problem for the people.
The only source of water was underground water. Lu Xiufu had no choice but to urgently organize officials from the Ministry of Works to dig wells in the city to ensure the supply of water to the people.
Fortunately, the duration of this siege was only one month. If it was a long-term war, even the underground water would be polluted, and the city's water source would be completely cut off.
This was a vicious plan.
The Mongolian army bombarded the city for three days. Except for the northern city wall, the other three sides were shaken to varying degrees. Especially the Song imperial army in the south. Their fear of the Mongolian cavalry seemed to have been awakened, and they were in danger one after another. If this went on, the defending army would fall into disarray before the city walls could be smashed by the bombardment.
In addition, the Mutants only defended and did not attack. With the help of the Mongolian spies in the city, the idea of "heavenly soldiers and generals" was gradually collapsing. People's hearts were wavering.
Everything was developing in a direction that was not favorable to the Southern Song camp.
The Mongolian general Boyan was very satisfied with this. He said to Zhang Hongfan with a smile, "This Mutants army looks good but is useless. They are no match for us at all."
Speaking of Boyan, he was not a simple person.
Boyan grew up in the Yili Khaganate. In the early years of the Yuan Dynasty, he was sent to the court by the Yili Khan Xulewu as an envoy. He was appreciated by Khubilai, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty. He became the Left Prime Minister of the Secretariat and was later promoted to the Director of the Privy Council.
In the eleventh year of the Yuan Dynasty, he led the army to attack the Southern Song.
After the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, he went to Peace Forest to quell the rebellions of the kings. After the death of Khubilai, he was supported by Tiemu of Yuancheng Sect to ascend to the throne. He was made the Grand Tutor and was in charge of military and state affairs.
He died in the twelfth month of the thirty-first year of the Yuan Dynasty at the age of fifty-nine. He was bestowed the title of Xuan Zhongzuo. He was appointed as a meritorious minister and the Grand Tutor. He was conferred the title of Prince Huai with the posthumous title of "Zhongwu".
Boyan was good at poetry and was a famous statesman and military strategist of the Yuan Dynasty. He led 200,000 troops to fight against the Song Dynasty. He successfully returned to the court. He did not say much and his luggage was only his clothes.
This person was wise and wise. He understood the principle of war and was superb in planning. He was worthy of praise by military strategists in leading, using and managing troops.
Logically speaking, such a famous general should not underestimate the enemy. However, the disparity between the performance of the Mutants army surprised Boyan and caused him to make a wrong judgment.
"Pass down my order. From tomorrow onwards, intensify the attack and try to break through Linan within three days."
Since he had already figured out the enemy's strength, Boyan did not intend to dawdle anymore. He was ready to launch the strongest attack on Linan with the force of a thunderbolt.
After sending out the archers, Boyan was ready to send the infantry to attack the city walls.
Although the Mongolian army was mainly cavalry, during the conquest of the Southern Song Dynasty, they had continuously revived the Han army. The Mongolians called them the puppet army. This batch of puppet army was mainly infantry.
"It's time for them to show their value."
In Boyan's eyes, the puppet army was a group of cannon fodder. Whether they died or not did not affect the overall situation. The only role of the puppet army was to be thrown into the battlefield at the right time to shine and heat.
"Yes, Sir!"
Zhang Hongfan received the order and went to make the arrangements very conscientiously.
Boyan looked at Zhang Hongfan's back. There was a slight fluctuation in his eyes, but he immediately calmed down. Speaking of which, as the vanguard of the conquest of the Southern Song Dynasty, most of this batch of puppet army was recruited by Zhang Hongfan.
No matter what Zhang Hongfan's purpose was to recruit the Song army, Boyan would not allow this hidden danger to exist in the army. It was a good opportunity to wipe it out.
Zhang Hongfan's indifference made Boyan think more highly of him.
"He is indeed an incredible person. No wonder His Majesty thinks so highly of him." Boyan narrowed his eyes, but he had no intention of getting rid of Zhang Hongfan.
The reason was simple.
No matter how much the Emperor trusted Zhang Hongfan, a Han, he would not trust him more than Boyan, a Mongolian general who had served the Genghis Khan Family for generations.
"Those who are not of our race will not be of the same mind!"
The Emperor was broad-minded and accepted a large number of Han officials. He even worshipped Confucianism and wanted to rule the world with it. But at the end of the day, these were the means of the Emperor.
The true pillars of the empire were the Mongolians.
No matter how highly the Han officials were regarded by the Emperor, they were still inferior to the Mongolians. Zhang Hongfan's military exploits might be impressive, and any Mongolian nobleman would be able to trample on him when he returned to Beijing.
This was why Bayan had never seen Zhang Hongfan as a threat.
In history, Zhang Rou, Zhang Hongfan, and Zhang Gui, their grandfather, father, and grandson were all generals in the Yuan Dynasty, and all of them had accomplished illustrious military exploits. But the fate of their descendants was extremely miserable, which seemed to confirm Boyan's judgment.
After the Taiding Emperor's death, the Yuanming Sect and Yuanwen Sect brothers fought with the Tianshun Emperor for the throne. The supporters of the two factions fought, and the Shangdu Kings defeated the Dadu Kings' army at Zijing Pass.
When the Dadu Kings' army retreated, they plundered wantonly. Zhang Gui's son, Zhang Jingwu, was the Wuchang Wanhu of Baoding Road. Relying on the fact that he was a local tyrant and had been loyal to the Dayuan Dynasty for three generations, he led the militia and killed hundreds of Yuan Dynasty soldiers who were looting and plundering during the retreat.
In the end, the various princes of Dadu won. Prince Er Sen led his army through Baoding and charged into the Zhang family's courtyard. He captured Zhang Hongfan's five grandsons, including Zhang Jingwu, and tortured them to death.
Then he handed the Zhang Family's women over to the Yuan Army and killed them. The only survivor of the Zhang Family was Zhang Hongfan's granddaughter. Esente saw that she was beautiful, so he raped her and took her as a concubine.
As traitors, the Zhang Family had worked for the Mongols for many generations, but in the end, they ended up like this. How sad, how lamentable!
Esente ordering his troops to rape and kill the Zhang Family's women was not a new practice. In the Yuan Dynasty, and even before that, in the Great Mongolian Empire, sometimes the victims were Mongolians.
The most famous case was a tragedy during Ogedei's reign.
In the sixth month of the year 1237, there was a rumor in the Ogedei tribe that there was an edict to marry off the girls of the tribe. The people hurriedly married their daughters within the tribe, and some were directly sent to the men's families.
When Ogedei heard the news, he was furious. He ordered all girls above the age of seven to be gathered together. Those who were already married were to be taken back from their husbands' families. Then he gathered four thousand girls in one place and ordered the soldiers to rape them in public.
Two of the girls were killed on the spot, and the rest were lined up. Some were sent to the harem, some were rewarded to the servants, some were sent to brothels and diplomatic residences to serve the guests, and some were taken away by the people present.
Their fathers, brothers, and relatives had to stand at the side and watch. They were not allowed to complain or cry.
They were different from the nomads who slaughtered cows and sheep since they were young, and they took pleasure in killing. Farmers rarely saw blood, and Buddhism was also popular in the Song Dynasty. The Southern Song Dynasty's civilization made the Han people far away from killing.
Because of this, the Mongol army used psychological warfare such as massacring the city, refining the corpse oil, and throwing the corpses into the river. It was easy to make the Southern Song people fall into extreme fear. Many people died before the Mongol army arrived.
…
Lin 'an, the Grand Council.
"We can't go on like this. We have to make a change!"
Ouyang Shuo realized that they had fallen into the rhythm of the Mongol army.
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