In the morning, when the first bit of light shone onto the north outskirts, the north Mongol army who had tolerated it for an entire night were ready to charge out and teach South Song a lesson.
Just as they went out, they realized that the South Song army had already retreated like a flood, leaving behind a battlefield that was in pieces.
Looking out, there were no Mongol cavalry that were still alive.
The east, west, and south barracks were still in flames. Every tent was burned to ash, and the ground was charred black. Black smoke bellowed out, and corpses laid strewn all over. It formed a chilling sight.
The ownerless war horses neighed, defending by the corpses of their owners, not willing to leave.
The soldiers of the north camp looked at all this, and their eyes were filled with anger and confusion. What should they do? Continue sieging or retreat?
At this moment, only their emperor could make the decision.
“Return and wait for orders!”
The deputy general of the north camp led the men back. With the personalities of the Mongols, both sides now had a blood debt, which meant that this war was not over. The moment they broke through Lin’an, they would massacre the entire city.
…
Morning, the massacre that lasted for an entire night had finally ended. The three barracks of the Mongol army had collapsed, and the survivors either fled back to their bases or toward the north.
The South Song camp chased out and killed for an entire night. As the killings were too frequent, many soldiers had even spent their weapons.
The entire wilderness was filled with visible Mongol cavalry corpses. There were no prisoners in this war, and you either lived or you died; there was no third choice.
When the army returned to the city, there was an uproar.
Victory!
During this battle, not only did they kill Bayan and crush the Mongol army, but they also obtained large amounts of grain and solved the grain crisis.
A large half of the Mongol Xiangyang cannons were also destroyed in this battle.
When the news of Er’Lai killing Bayan spread back, the entire city was bustling.
As the main general of the Mongol attack on South Song, he had too much Chinese blood on his hands.
In just Lin’an alone, there were many families that had members that died directly and indirectly to his hands.
His death naturally delighted the civilians, and some even released fireworks to celebrate.
Of course, there was also some bad news amongst all the good news.
Just last night, Lu Xiufu was unfortunately sacrificed. After they learned that Bayan was killed, the Mongol troops in charge of locking up Lu Xiufu killed him in a fit of anger.
The moment the news spread out, Lin’an city was joyous but solemn at the same time.
As the chancellor of South Song, his death was a huge loss to the Imperial Court. The eight year old emperor cried his eyes out and made a lot of noise that he wanted to meet Mister Lu.
Lu Xiufu had sacrificed himself for the country, and all the descendants would remember that.
…
Lin’an City, north city gate.
Although Lu Xiufu’s death brought some tragedy to Lin’an city, a huge victory was still a huge victory. Very quickly, the officials of the Imperial Court and the civilians all celebrated.
In their eyes, the defense of Lin’an city was already a done deal. Some officials even thought about striking out and recovering their lost land.
Of course, they only talked about this. If one asked them to lead, they obviously did not have the courage to do so.
Early in the morning, under the accompaniment of Jia Xu and Xu Chu, Ouyang Shuo came to the north city wall. Every action of the Mongol north barracks was in his eyes.
Seeing the enemy reorganize their flags and drums, Ouyang Shuo’s expression became more and more solemn.
Ouyang Shuo was not blindly confident, and the Mongols were not rookies. Last night, they had only caught them off guard. The Mongol army had the name of the million army, and just the six bases alone had 400 thousand troops. Moreover, in the chaos last night, there were many Mongol troops that had escaped.
Considering the north barracks, once all these men were gathered together, they still had shocking strength.
During the battle last night, the South Song camp had suffered casualties. The Mongol cavalry were weak to the Great Xia Guards Legion Corps but not to the others.
They did not have much in terms of specifics but conservatively speaking, at least 30 thousand men died.
“Killing a thousand of them, we lost 800 in return.”
Of course, after a night of battle, the situation of the South Song camp slowly turned for the better. Ouyang Shuo looked out at the north land, and his field of sight seemingly
crossed through the air toward Sanhe city.
That was where Kublai Khan was at.
“It’s time for the final battle!” Who knows why, but Ouyang Shuo suddenly felt his blood boil. He yearned to go to battle himself and fight with the legendary Yuan ancestor.
Maybe the Chinese blood in his body was what was causing all this.
…
17th day of the Battle Map, Sanhe City.
Out of the six cities surrounding Lin’an City, the defense of Sanhe city was the highest, and it was the most well prepared one. Out of the 400 thousand Mongol troops, half were lined up around Sanhe City to protect their emperor.
Within the city, there was a really outstanding golden tent. The neighboring buildings were destroyed so as to build this tent.
Within the magnificent and bright tent, Kublai Khan had a sleepless night.
The successive bad news made him furious like a beast that swallowed all
men, so no one dared to get close to him.
From last night till today, there were already three maidservants who were killed by him.
The entire Sanhe City was covered in a terrifying atmosphere.
No matter who it was, they were really careful, afraid of infuriating the emperor.
The Chinese people in the city were really afraid and hid in their homes, unable to fall asleep.
When the Mongols were furious, who knows what they would do to them?
At 9 AM, the sound of horse hooves suddenly spread out from the south gate official path. Looking up, it was a group of cavalry that had fled from the frontlines.
When the defending soldiers saw that, they did not think too much about it. That was because since last night, there were many troops that had fled back from the frontlines. The group in front of them was nothing special.
When the defending troops saw these people, they could not hide their despise and mocking expressions.
In the eyes of the Mongols, fleeing was a really disgraceful act. The Mongol army also had rules that if troops fled without fighting, if they were captured, they would be tortured.
How so? It was simple.
They would place these deserters into a bag and throw them onto an empty section of land.
Then cavalry would charge and trample on these bags until no one could move.
How gory and cruel the scene was. It could cause bystanders to be terrified till their faces turned ashen white.
At this very moment, the guard noticed the leading general and exclaimed, “General Zhang?”
Only to see a person with eyes that lacked spirit. His body was covered in blood, and his face was dirty. The armor on his body was torn and tattered and hung from his body.
People unfamiliar with him definitely would not recognize that he was Zhang Hongfan.
When Zhang Hongfan heard that, he took a look at the man, showing a look of surprise. This guard was someone who worked as his Personal Guard for a long period of time. As such, it was no wonder he recognized him so quickly.
With this layer of relationship, Zhang Hongfan felt a little more confident.
“Bring me to see the emperor, I’ve sinned,” Zhang Hongfan said with a coarse voice.
Listening to his words, all the soldiers looked over.
Zhang Hongfan’s fame was not only in South Song, and he was really famous in Mongol too. Along with him being one of the main characters of the huge battle yesterday, he naturally attracted a lot of attention.
The soldiers either looked at this fallen general with empathy or despise.
Based on Mongol rules, the death of Bayan meant that Zhang Hongfan had to die in battle. If not, the problem would only get worse.
Not only would Zhang Hongfan be executed, but he would also drag down his family members.
Hence, normally, in such circumstances, if the deputy survived by luck, he would rather kill himself. Who knows? He might get a title for it that would help out his family.
Seeing something like Zhang Hongfan appearing in Sanhe City and wanting to meet the emperor was rare.
As an experienced Mongol general, Zhang Hongfan obviously knew that he might not even manage to meet the emperor and his death would even be ordered.
Zhang Hongfan obviously wanted to die. However, thinking back to the battle, he could not die. It was not because of his loyalty to the country or for his family.
It was because deep down, he still had some plans and thoughts.
The defeat of the Mongol army and the death of Bayan meant that even if Kublai Khan wanted to personally lead, he badly needed a general to help him. Hence, he wanted to take a gamble that Kublai Khan would not kill him for the moment.
It would be more worth it to keep his life.
Furthermore, during the battle last night, he only followed instructions as a deputy general and tried his best to save Bayan. He did not fail his job and did not flee from battle. Once Kublai Khan understood the situation, he should let him off.
Zhang Hongfan was a person that cherished his life, but more so, he was someone that had ambition.
Hence, during the previous night, when he killed his way out, he thought about it and decided to rush over to Sanhe City.
“Bring me to see the emperor,” Zhang Hongfan said once more.
Only then did the guard react, “Wait, I’ll go report right away.”
Maybe the heavens did not forsake Zhang Hongfan, as the first difficulty of meeting Kublai Khan had been cleared right away because of a familiar face.
If no one went to report, Zhang Hongfan would probably not get the chance.
Not long after the guard left, he returned with the decree from the emperor, “Tie him up and send him to the golden tent.”
Zhang Hongfan heaved a sigh of relief. As long as the emperor was willing to see him, he would still have a chance.
What he was afraid of was getting beheaded without even getting a chance.
What outsiders did not know was that during that short time, Zhang Hongfan’s hands were drenched in cold sweat. No one knew that this general had walked out from hell.
Zhang Hongfan took in a deep breath and was ready to enter the city.
From now on, he had to think about how to assist the emperor’s expedition.
