Although Bayan was already 70% convinced, he still decided to delay for another day.
On the second day, the siege became more and more intense. Both sides gave it their all. Bayan sent all the puppet troops regardless of the casualties. He was determined to use this batch of cannon fodder to their fullest potential.
The Southern Song's camp did not dare to be negligent and fought back resolutely.
As dusk fell, Lin 'an was once again surrounded by rivers of blood and corpses. It was a ghastly sight. The Southern Song's camp paid the price of nearly 30,000 casualties. Not only did they clear out all the forts, but they also annihilated all the Mongolian puppet troops.
When the "sick cat" showed its might, its lethality was astonishing.
Although Bayan's original goal was to eliminate the puppet troops, he was still shocked to see them all die in battle. Bayan didn't dare to be careless with the strength of the mutants.
That night, Zhang Hongfan received the second letter from Zhang Shijie.
The content of the letter was very simple. There was only one short sentence: "Since your army is not willing to accept our surrender, then we can only fight to the death. We swear to live and die with Lin 'an. See you on the battlefield!"
It seemed that Zhang Shijie had completely given up on the idea of surrendering.
After reading it, Bayan felt relieved. He smiled and said to Zhang Hongfan, "You can talk to them now!"
Early this morning, Khubilai had sent a reply to Boyan, giving him full authority to negotiate with the Southern Song. Therefore, Bayan didn't need to ask for instructions.
Zhang Hongfan nodded.
"Remember, let the Southern Song send a powerful minister out of the city to negotiate. Also, only two hundred people can go out of the city." Bayan was still very cautious.
"Understood!"
… …
On the 16th day of the battle.
This day was still filled with the flames of war and the fighting was fierce.
After replying to Zhang Shijie, Bayan didn't call a truce in order to cover it up. He only agreed to secretly negotiate the surrender in the southern suburbs in the evening.
In the morning, in a secluded house in the west of the city.
Also to cover it up, the members of the Grand Council chose this secret location for the meeting.
Before the meeting started, the atmosphere in the room was a bit heavy. Because it was a fake surrender, according to Bayan's request, going out of the city to negotiate would put one's life in danger.
The only powerful ministers that Bayan mentioned were Lu Xiufu, Zhang Shijie, and Wen Tianxiang. Now that Wen Tianxiang had been "sidelined", only Lu and Zhang were left.
"I'll go!" Zhang Shijie said. "I wrote the letter, so I have a good reason to go out of the city to negotiate."
Lu Xiufu firmly shook his head. "It's not appropriate for you to go. The army can't do without you. Let me go."
Zhang Shijie wanted to say something else, but Lu Xiufu cut him off and continued, "Negotiations are the work of civil officials, and I'm duty-bound to do so. General, there's no need to say anything more."
Regardless of their abilities, the Three Heroes of the Late Song Dynasty were worthy of respect.
Lu Xiufu, on the other hand, was calm. He said with a smile, "Now that I've done something important for the imperial court, I can die in peace."
Ouyang Shuo couldn't help but sigh with emotion. He couldn't imagine what Lu Xiufu was thinking when he carried the young emperor and jumped into the sea.
Xiong Ba glanced at Ouyang Shuo. For the first time, he agreed with Ouyang Shuo's' willfulness'.
Seeing that Lu Xiufu had made up his mind, and that no one present was an ordinary person, they calmed themselves down and began to confirm the details of this decapitation operation.
Ouyang Shuo originally wanted to arrange two hundred Divine Guards to protect Lu Xiufu, but on second thought, the Divine Guards were too conspicuous and might be seen through by Bayan. In the end, he could only give up.
Whether Lu Xiufu could survive this calamity was up to the heavens.
… …
Soon, it was evening.
The orange-red sun hung in the sky, and the gorgeous color grew fainter and fainter. A flock of vultures circled in the sky, letting out ear-piercing screeches that annoyed people.
Once the military order was given, the mighty Mongolian army retreated like the tide, leaving behind tens of thousands of corpses and a broken and dirty battlefield.
Suddenly, a side door in the south opened from the inside.
Lu Xiufu, the Prime Minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, quietly left the city under the protection of two hundred Imperial Guards of the Great Song. They hadn't gone far when a group of Mongolian cavalrymen came toward them. After verifying their identities, they continued to lead them forward.
Bayan and his group were already waiting on a flat ground in the southern suburbs.
Seeing that the Southern Song Dynasty followed the agreement and really only sent two hundred soldiers to protect them, Bayan finally smiled. If they could successfully persuade the Southern Song Dynasty to surrender, Bayan's credit would be added to his glorious record.
After the personnel of both sides met each other, they officially entered the negotiation.
Everything looked very normal, but little did they know that the current situation in Lin 'an was already very different.
According to the plan, in the west, Lian Po, the commander of the West Gate, would personally lead 50,000 elite cavalrymen and quietly gather near the three western gates. In the east, Zhao Zhuang, the deputy commander of the East Gate, would lead 50,000 elite cavalrymen and also gather near the city gates.
Then there was the north.
E Lai led 30,000 elite cavalrymen of the Fourth Imperial Guard Corps and 30,000 elite cavalrymen of Luofeng City, a total of 60,000 elite cavalrymen quietly gathered in the south.
In the south, Zhang Shijie, the commander of the South Gate, led the only 20,000 cavalrymen of the Great Song, ready to set off.
For this decapitation operation, the Southern Song Dynasty's camp sent a total of 180,000 cavalrymen, almost wiping out all the cavalrymen in the city. They had to achieve the greatest results and complete the counterattack.
Such a large military operation naturally alarmed the Mongolian spies lurking in Lin 'an. Unfortunately, Lin' an had already been under martial law, and the Mongolian spies could not send information outside the city.
At half past five.
When the time came, like a starting gun, the east, west, and west gates of Lin 'an opened at the same time. The 180,000 elite cavalrymen of the Southern Song Dynasty's camp divided into three groups and killed their way out of the city.
The horses' hooves were hurried, rolling up smoke and dust.
At this time, the sky was beautiful, and the sunset was high, casting a dazzling red light, extremely dazzling.
In the south, E Lai, riding the spiritual beast Rakshasa, led the elite cavalrymen of the Imperial Guard Corps and walked in front of the team. After leaving the city, he did not think twice and went straight to the negotiation place between the two sides.
Zhang Shijie led the rear army, forming a fan shape, and followed closely behind the vanguard.
After leaving the city, the cavalrymen of the east and west made a big turn and turned to the south, like two big arcs, forming a semicircle, weaving a big net.
In the south gate, General Wu Qi was ordered to command the three armies to complete the encirclement.
Once the encirclement was formed, Boyan would not be able to escape even if he had wings. The long-distance encirclement tactic was originally a masterpiece of the Mongolians, but now it was used by the Southern Song Dynasty to deal with them.
…
When the Southern Song cavalry left the city, the Mongolian army, who had just retreated from the frontlines, was resting in their tents, preparing to eat.
Seeing the cavalry suddenly leave the city, the Mongolian cavalrymen in charge of guarding the perimeter were completely stunned. In their impression, the Mongolians were always the ones who initiated the attack. They had never seen any city that dared to voluntarily leave the city under the repeated attacks of the Mongolian army.
But even though they were stunned, the patrolling troops' reaction was not slow at all.
They sent people to warn the camp, and at the same time, they turned their horses around and met the Southern Song cavalry.
Of course, it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
The Mongolian cavalry was powerful, but that was only when they were on a large scale.
The mere patrolling troops could not do anything in front of a cavalry of at least 50,000. Before the two sides even got close, the patrolling troops were completely annihilated, all shot down from their horses.
The cavalry on the two flanks did not stop at all, and continued to rush south, determined to complete the encirclement.
When the Southern Song cavalry was far away, the Mongolian army, who had just received the news, sent out the vanguard. Looking at the billowing smoke, they could only eat dirt, unable to catch up.
The entire Mongolian camp was in chaos, and the southern side was even more chaotic.
Bayan was a cautious man. Even though Lu Xiufu had really only brought 200 men out of the city as promised, Bayan was still worried, and set up three sentry posts along the way.
Not long after the Evil Battalion left the city, they were discovered by the sentry posts, and immediately warned.
Bayan's face turned from sunny to gloomy when he received the report. He said to Lu Xiufu darkly, "Fine, you dare to play tricks, I'll take your life first!"
As he spoke, he had already drawn the scimitar at his waist.
Lu Xiufu pretended to be surprised, and said hoarsely, "What happened?"
"Keep pretending, keep pretending!"
Bayan gnashed his teeth, "Do you really think that you can defeat us with just a surprise attack?"
Seeing that Lu Xiufu was really at a loss, Zhang Hongfan said, "Lord Lu, you are still negotiating with us, and now the cavalry is charging out of the city. It is obvious that they want to kill you."
At this time, neither Bayan nor Zhang Hongfan knew that the Southern Song army had actually come out in full force. They still thought that it was just the vanguard of the Evil Battalion, so they didn't panic.
Lu Xiufu's expression changed. "General, you misunderstand. I believe that it is definitely not the Song Imperial Army. Perhaps the Mutants have found out that we are about to surrender, and they have come out of the city for revenge. "
Bayan and Zhang Hongfan looked at each other. They couldn't immediately tell whether Lu Xiufu was telling the truth or not, because according to the reports from the scouts, it was indeed the Mutants army that was charging over.
"Detain them first, and prepare for battle!"
Bayan was very decisive, and he quickly came up with an idea.
With a single order, the 200 Song Imperial Army soldiers were all captured by Bayan's bodyguards. As they spoke, the vanguard of the Evil Battalion had already broken through the two sentry posts and was heading straight for the negotiation.
"How can they be so fast?!"
Bayan's heart trembled, and for the first time, he felt a hint of satisfaction.
The battle between the two sides had been limited to the top of the city walls, and the cavalry of the Mutants army had never had a chance to enter the battlefield. As soon as they appeared, they suppressed the Mongolian cavalry.
As an experienced general, from the speed of the enemy's attack, Bayan could vaguely tell that the attacking force was probably even stronger than the Mongolian cavalry.
This conclusion was enough to topple Bayan's worldview.
Ever since Genghis Khan unified the Mongolian plains, the Mongolian cavalry had swept through the Eurasian continent, and had never met a worthy opponent. In the hearts of the Mongolians, their cavalry had long been the symbol of invincibility.
Now that such a cavalry had suddenly appeared, how could Bayan not be shocked?
Zhang Hongfan saw that his commander was hesitating, so he patted his horse and walked over. He said in a low voice, "Marshal, we don't know how many enemies there are, and their arrival is too sudden. We don't know if it's a trap. Why don't we temporarily hide and figure out the enemy's situation before making our plans? "
Zhang Hongfan's plan was considered a safe one.
Bayan's expression flickered, and he couldn't make up his mind.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
