Chapter 64: Rescue Jiangnan

"Sir, look." The captain of the personal soldiers first discovered Zheng Jinghe's fleet approaching in formation, and immediately reported it to Bo Luo Huan, saying, "Sir, our navy, we have won." Thinking of Dong Wenbing's victory and defeating the Southern Song navy, he couldn't help but raise his voice by several decibels.

On the land of Huaixi, the Mongolian army has gained an advantage, and a great victory is just around the corner. Boluo Huan is in a good mood, which is infected with the pleasure of screaming with excitement from the captain of his personal soldiers. Looking at Zheng Jing and the fleet, he said with great relief: "The Dayuan Navy is naturally invincible. A little bit of the jumping clown is not the opponent."

"Hey, it's strange, why are there any flags from the Southern Dynasty?" The captain of the personal soldiers was a little confused and said to himself strangely.

Boluo smiled and said, "What is the flag of the Southern Dynasty? It must have been seized by us." What is daydream? This is daydream. It is no wonder that when people are happy, they always think about things in a good way. They are on the happy head of victory, and they cannot think about it better or not.

"What is that? Why are there so many big holes on the ship?" The captain of the personal soldiers looked at the copper cannon on the ship. He had never seen the cannon and said that the muzzle was a big hole. He really had no idea.

As soon as the captain's words fell, Boluo Huan's joy, who was originally full of joy, disappeared suddenly, his face turned pale, and the speed of the transformation was so fast that it was unbelievable. He was still very relieved at the last moment, but the next moment it was as pale as paper, without any blood. He said in a lost voice: "That is the ship of the Southern Dynasty, our ship..." He suddenly realized that he could not say "our ship is over" in front of so many people, otherwise his morale would be greatly affected, so he forced himself to stop his words.

Zheng Jinghe's ship was hung with captured Mongolian naval flags to celebrate the victory. From a distance, there were both large numbers of Mongolian naval flags and Song army flags. Boluo Huan, who had always been very confident in the Mongolian naval army, naturally thought that the Mongolian naval army had defeated the Southern Song naval army and even their flags were seized. When he saw the bronze cannon that looked like the god of death, he realized that the situation was not right, and then found that the ship was full of Song army, all of whom were energetic and full of joy. He was a person who was accustomed to the army. He knew that this would appear on the faces of the soldiers after winning the battle. He suddenly realized that the situation was not as good as he thought, but was very bad.

As soon as the Jiaoshanshui battle was over, Zheng Jinghe immediately sent steamships to patrol the river surface. The escaped Mongolian ships were not as fast as the steamships, and they killed a lot of them. Even the Mongolian ships that did not catch up with the steamships were only scattered, and there was not even a single one to report the news. It was only now that Boluo Huan knew that the Mongolian navy was defeated, and the empress dowager realized it.

Boluo Huan had been in battle for a long time and was very brave. When he thought of the terrible consequences of the Mongolian naval army's defeat, he had no choice but to be afraid. Not to mention anything else, the Southern Song naval army re-controlled the Yangtze River waterway, and his plan to cross the Yangtze River to attack Lin'an would be stranded, and the unparalleled merits he expected would be gone.

Think deeper, is it necessary for him to defend Anqing City now? After weighing this question, he realized that it was no longer necessary for him to defend Anqing. The reason is that the Southern Song naval army re-controlled the Yangtze River waterway, and Li Tingzhi and Zhang Shijie could cross the Yangtze River at any time. His plan to stop them from crossing the river was no longer feasible.

As for himself, the situation he is facing may not be very good. Not to mention anything else, Zheng Jinghe came at this time to help Li Tingzhi and Zhang Shijie cross the river and return to the south of the Yangtze River, as well as to come to help the war. As long as Zheng Jinghe gave an order, the navy army went ashore to participate in the war, the Song army, which was at a disadvantage outside Anqing City, would immediately turn around and launch a fierce attack on the Mongolian army. His best way to deal with it at this moment is to immediately break off contact and withdraw the army. Otherwise, the Song army would cooperate with the inside and outside, and it would be hard to say how much the Mongolian army surrounded like a flower roll could survive.

Boluo Huan is worthy of being a good general, and he instantly figured out the key point. Unfortunately, Zheng Jinghe no longer gave him a chance to deal with it. Zheng Jinghe waved the flag, and more than a thousand and two thousand cannons aimed at the top of Anqing City, and a firepower volley came. The shells dragged bright tail flames and flew towards the top of the city in a beautiful arc, densely packed, covering the sky and the sunlight was not visible. From a distance, bright arcs appeared in the air, which were extremely magnificent and beautiful, and Weiwei's wonder.

In the earth-shaking explosion, countless fireballs appeared, countless broken limbs, broken arms, broken intestines and belly, and splashed flesh and blood set the fireballs up incredibly beautiful. There are magnificent and magnificent pictures of war. If Boluo Huan had not experienced it personally, he would not believe that it was true, there would be such an unbelievable tragic scene in this world. Even if the most imaginative national player of the painting Qing Dynasty could not have depicted such a shocking effect. At most, there would be swords and arrows flying everywhere, corpses all over the ground, and there would never be limbs flying everywhere and meat everywhere.

Artillery is known as the "God of War". If these shocking effects are not available, they will be denied this title.

This bombing was the first time in human history that so many artillery were invested in clearing ground targets, or an attack launched from the water surface, Zheng Jinghe set a precedent for a generation.

Bo Luo Huan fought countless battles in his life, fought countless tough battles, and had never seen any war scenes, but had never seen such scenes of bombing firearms. Even though he was brave and experienced, he was shocked. He was so scared that he forgot to deploy the cast iron bombs that day that day that Bo Yan had forgotten to deploy to welcome Zhao Liangchun's reinforcements. He stood blankly, forgetting to even give orders.

The first round of bombing not only killed and injured many Mongolian soldiers, but even the Anqing city wall was blown up in a disastrous manner, and there were already many signs of collapse. If the city wall collapsed, the Song army outside the city would definitely rush in like a tide. At that time, any consequences would be expected as long as there was no problem with the nerves.

Zheng Jinghe looked at the scene of the Mongolian army crying at her father and calling her mother with expressionless expression, waved the flag in her hand, and after the gunner loaded, there was another round of volleys. Another earth-shaking explosion sounded on the top of Anqing City, flashing one fire after another, and many Mongolian soldiers killed and injured. After these two bombings, the Mongolian soldiers on the top of Anqing City were killed and injured. They didn't know that there were firearms in this world, and they didn't know how to deal with it. They were silly bombing there as a living target.

If it were modern people, when their opponent's cannons came, they would immediately lie down and avoid shrapnel. They didn't even have the concept of cannons, so it would be strange if they stood stupidly and didn't suffer any losses.

There were also many rumbling sounds mixed in the explosion, which was the sound of the collapse of the city wall, and several gaps appeared in the city wall.

Li Tingzhi and Zhang Shijie were both worried about not being able to recover their disadvantages. They never expected that Zheng Jinghe would return. Zheng Jinghe's first round of bombardment made the top of Anqing's city look so terrible. They had no other thoughts except surprise. The reason for this is actually very simple, even if they had never seen such a shocking explosion scene, they could turn around for a while, and they couldn't do it even if they were not stupid.

It was not until the second round of volleys that the top of Anqing City was blown up so badly that it understood what was going on. He immediately ordered the Song army to attack Anqing City. Zhang Shijie waved his sword and roared: "Roar into the city and kill all the Tartars!" He rushed out first.

Although the Song army could not understand what artillery was, nor did they understand why Anqing was so miserable. It was always exciting to make the Mongols unlucky. The morale immediately rose. He shouted and rushed into the city with Zhang Shijie.

As soon as the city wall collapsed, Boluo Huan immediately realized something was wrong and shouted that the Mongolian soldiers would block the gap. The Mongolian soldiers were famous for Ying's ability to fight, and the Cowards and the Three Guards were even more brave, but they also robbed the cannons and ran away without the courage to resist. Look at their appearance, they wished that their parents would have two more legs. Not to mention Boluo Huan was supervising the battle, even Genghis Khan might not have any effect on supervising the battle. This kind of volley of more than 1,000 artillery fire, not to mention the ancients who did not even have the concept of artillery, even modern people would be frightened in this way. It would be strange if the scared Mongolian soldiers would not run away.

Boluo Huan yelled while using a scimitar to kill the soldiers, trying to re-stabilize the formation by force, but accidentally discovered that Zhang Shijie was rushing towards him with a cold steel knife. Zhang Shijie was tall and mighty, but at this time, Boluo Huan's eyes were as ferocious as a demon, and he was about to swallow it at any time. The Kublai Khan's beloved general couldn't help but get angry, so he had to follow the soldiers' footsteps, turn around and run away.

In this battle to attack Anqing, Zheng Jinghe not only created a precedent for attacking the city from the water, but also set a precedent for landing operations, and made attempts for future large-scale landing operations. Under his command, the naval guns continued to move, firepower extended, and bombed Mongolian soldiers in the deep.

Seeing the Mongolian army running away from Anqing City for life, Zheng Jinghe changed his mind and immediately had an idea. He ordered the Song army on the ship to land immediately except sailors, gunners and essential left-behind troops to assist Li Tingzhi and Zhang Shijie in pursuing the Mongolian army.

After the order was reached, more than 10,000 20,000 naval troops jumped into the water immediately, and the sound of falling into the water came everywhere. From a distance, water splashed everywhere, and Song troops were everywhere on the riverside, like hemp poles, countless. As soon as the naval troops got on ashore, they waved their steel knives and went with the Huaixi Huaidong Army, chasing the Mongolian army like ducks.

The defeat at Anqing City seemed like a fuse, triggering a chain reaction. As soon as the news spread, the Mongolian troops who had not arrived in Anqing immediately lost their fighting spirit. They ran away after they threw away the Song army, fully leveraging their advantages of many cavalry and good physical fitness. After unremitting efforts, they kept throwing away the Song army, which had a more sensitive nose than the hunting dog.

The Mongolian army in the melee of Huaixi was like a rat crossing the street, and everyone shouted and beaten. The Song army, who received help from the people, naturally had a hundred times more sensitive sense of smell, and they would chase them wherever they fled.

In this way, the Huaixi land, which was originally full of melee, became a racing venue. This time, the Mongolian army was not marching towards Anqing, but the Mongolian army desperately fled to this deadly ghost place, while the Song army used its strength to chase and kill the Mongolian army and maximize the results of the battle.

If you look from the air, you will be surprised to find that the entire Huaixi is full of Mongolian troops running for life, and there are amazing scenes where ordinary people lead the Song army to beat the dogs in the water.

The Qixue Corps, an elite unit that was established in the era of Genghis Khan and made great contributions in the history of Mongolia's development and the Three Guards' Imperial Army went south this time. Kublai Khan had high hopes for them to take Lin'an with thunder and cover up his ears. Unexpectedly, even the Yangtze River was defeated before it even crossed, and the Huaixi and Huaidong Army, which had not received supplies for the court for a long time, had poor equipment and poor nutrition, chased them like ducks, and had no choice but to escape.

Kublai Khan was a master of his great talent and praised by history, but he could not have imagined that this would be the result.

Fortunately, the Mongolian army had many cavalrymen, and four legs were faster than two legs. Besides, they were physically good, so they could not beat the Song army. After a difficult escape competition, they finally left the Song army behind, and the casualties were not large. Boluo Huan's losses were mainly at the city of Anqing. Fortunately, the number of troops arrived in Anqing was not large, with only 40,000 people. After paying the price of nearly 20,000 people, they finally withdrew.

This Huaixi melee was very dramatic. At first, both Mongolia were playing a game and wanted to win Anqing. Later, it turned into a melee. The Mongolian army was in sight, but it made Zheng Jinghe's fleet a mess, but he also suffered a big defeat. For the Qiexue Corps and the Three Guards, who rarely dispatched, the loss was not too great, but it was of great significance. This was the elite among the elites. After the defeat, it had a great impact. Kublai Khan was furious and triggered a major earthquake.

Commenting on the melee of dramatic changes in the battle, Li Jun said: "At first glance, this melee will definitely think that this is a complete coincidence. It was Zheng Jinghe who accidentally arrived and reversed the crisis. I don't see it like this. I think this is because Zheng Jinghe is not only an excellent naval commander, but also a strategist with a global perspective. It is this global perspective that made him realize that he must return to Anqing to help Li Tingzhi and Zhang Shijie cross the river.

"In this Huaixi War, not only did Zheng Jinghe show a strategic vision of looking at the overall situation, but Li Tingzhi and Zhang Shijie also started from the overall situation, which led to this far-reaching melee.

"There are two innovations in this melee. One is that Zheng Jinghe concentrated a large number of artillery to face ground targets from the water. The scale is the highest in history. The second innovation was the first to attempt a large-scale landing operation, which accumulated experience for the future large-scale beach battle.

"Of course, this melee is not all good. The bad result is that the Sanhewei Imperial Army of the Qiexue Corps was defeated. Kublai Khan was furious and learned from his mistakes, which triggered the military changes of the Mongolians. The strength of the Mongolian army made great progress, causing great difficulties for our future operations."

Finally, Li Jun concluded with a philosophical saying: "This is how war is, it improves through mutual learning! Whoever wins, don't look at who is better at learning!"

"General Zheng not only helped us fight the Tartars away, but also brought so many boats. Are you here to help us cross the river?" Li Tingzhi looked at Zheng Jing and her young face and smiled: "It's really like a great charity who gives alms to the Buddha."

Zheng Jing and Qian said: "Mr. Li is too rewarded. Zheng is a latecomer and has a shallow knowledge. Please don't make any jokes."

"General Zheng is far-sighted and promptly solved the crisis between Lord Zhang and me. Mr. Li is very grateful. Lord Zheng has such courage at a young age, and has made such merits, and the champion Marquis was just like this back then." Li Tingzhi has always been known for promoting backwards, and is very pleased that Zheng Jinghe has such a global vision.

The Champion Hou refers to Huo Qubing, who defeated the two famous generals of the Xiongnu in the Western Han Dynasty. Huo Qubing went to the Huns at the age of 18, attacked the Huns six times in his life, two as a captain, and four as a commander to lead troops, establishing extraordinary merits, and is still praised by people today. Li Tingzhi used this to compare Zheng Jinghe, which shows how he valued Zheng Jinghe.

Zheng Jinghe hurriedly said: "Mr. Li has been too much. Zheng Jinghe has a meager talent and dare not compare with General Cavalry."

"You two, don't praise each other and humble one here. It's just a gong, otherwise it's like a show, and it's a sing." Zhang Shijie patted Zheng Jinghe's shoulder and smiled, "I'm going to say, let's prepare to cross the river quickly. If you go too late, the consequences will not be great."

Li Tingzhi looked at Zheng Jinghe and smiled and said, "General Zheng, what are you thinking about this Zhang Shijie?" Zhang Shijie also wanted to hear Zheng Jinghe's opinion, and looked at him without saying anything.

Zheng Jinghe smiled and said, "Mr. Li is really embarrassed. Jinghe can't guess General Zhang's thoughts. I think General Zhang is thinking that if he goes too late and the time goes on, and if Guo Kan kills the war horses and eats them, our cavalry will be gone."

Guo Kan brought 250,000 cavalry, had more than 200,000 war horses, seized Guo Kan's war horses, and formed the cavalry unit of the Song army. If the siege was too long and without food, he would definitely order the slaughter of war horses. For the Song army, the loss was really too great.

The strength of the Song army is constantly increasing, and all the troops are increasing. However, the cavalry cannot expand due to the relationship between horses. If Guo Kan's war horse is seized, it will take no time for a powerful cavalry unit to appear in the Song army.

Zhang Shijie stroked his hands and said, "Miaomiao, what General Zheng said is exactly what I think."

"This is called the heroes' views are the same!" Li Tingzhi concluded.

On the Yangtze River, there are thousands of miles of land, with no heads in front and no tail in back. Countless ships are loaded with reinforcements from Li Tingzhi and Zhang Shijie down the river and heading straight to the south of the Yangtze River.

The task of Zhang Shijie and Li Tingzhi crossing the Yangtze River south has changed. At first, they considered that Kublai Khan might send reinforcements to aid Guo Kan, so they were eager to cross the Yangtze River to meet with Li Jun. The purpose was to strengthen Li Jun's troops so as not to fail due to insufficient troops in the decisive battle in the south of the Yangtze River. In that case, the consequences would be unimaginable. Now the Yangtze River waterway has been controlled by the Song Dynasty naval army, and even if Kublai Khan had many troops, he would not be able to cross the Yangtze River. Guo Kan had become an isolated army and could eat him at any time. Of course, it would be better to eat early.

It is inevitable that Guo Kan's army will reach Jiangnan and Kublai Khan will reinforce Jiangnan. Then Jiangnan will become a place of life and death. We must have strong troops to protect Jiangnan, a fundamental important place. Not only Li Tingzhi and Zhang Shijie think so, but one person also thinks the same. The reinforcements led by this person are flying towards Jiangnan on the avenue south of the Yangtze River.
Chapter completed!