Did the real Zhao Song emperor go directly to Hebei? Did Yelu Ma Wu surrender?
But even so, shouldn't we bring the troops?
With so many soldiers under his nose, it couldn't be fake. The Zhao Song officials under the dragon flag must also be real!
As time passed, Zhehe became more and more stunned and uneasy, to the point that he was sweating profusely. But when he looked around, he saw that the Song army's artillery carts had clearly not been built yet. They were still lying in the workshop within his sight and were indeed being assembled.
Even the small artillery carts used by the Song army in Queshu Valley were nowhere to be seen.
The situation became increasingly uneasy. On the general platform in front of the camp in the south of the city, beside Emperor Zhao, except for a few calm and confident generals, almost all the officials and officers present had already become uneasy... This was indeed a banquet with wine and meat, so they could not accept that Emperor Zhao would suddenly do such a thing, and they became more suspicious and vigilant.
This official in particular did not eat the chicken, duck, fish or meat in front of him from beginning to end. He just sat there with his hands clasped together, urging others to eat and talking to the general, as if he was just waiting for something.
This uneasiness and vigilance reached a climax when Yang Yizhong returned, covered in dust and dirt.
"The government has issued an order!"
Shao Chengzhang, the guard, stepped forward and announced loudly under the dragon banner, "Today's New Year's banquet is over. Prince Han Shizhong of Yan'an, Li Yanxian, the commander of the Central Army, and all the commanders should return to their respective units and wait for orders!"
After the order was issued, the generals in full armor on the platform stood up one after another, but suddenly realized that most of the so-called headquarters were actually on the large open space on both sides of the platform, so they turned to the sides of the platform one after another, except Han Shizhong and Li Yanxian who went east together, preparing to return to the east and north of the city.
For a moment, there were only a few close ministers and Wu Jie, Wang Yan, and Ma Kuo who were still eating calmly on the platform... The latter three were definitely insiders, after all, their ranks were there.
Because then, Emperor Zhao, who had been silent all this time, suddenly took action, tore apart a duck that had already gone cold, and then began to eat it wantonly... At this situation, all the close ministers were shocked, except Wu, Wang, and Ma, who were just stunned and did not react much.
Of course, the commotion caused by many generals leaving the platform and Han Shizhong and Li Yanxian returning to their respective directions with their banners also made Wanyan Zhehe on the south gate of the city more alert. He was also keenly aware of what was coming, so he paid more attention and began to hesitate whether to launch the artillery carts in advance to drive away these goose carts in the south of the city to prevent future troubles.
"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief! The noise from the tunnel west of the city has stopped!"
"General, the offensive in the south of the city is slowing down!"
"General, the noises from the two tunnels here have stopped. They must have noticed the inner trench."
"General, the offensive in the west of the city has also eased, and most of the Song army has begun to abandon their goose carts and retreat."
"General, the Song army's artillery vehicles in the northwest of the city stop."
One report after another made Gao Jingshan, who was already exhausted, feel relieved. After the battle with Wang Bolun, he had lost all hope of defending Yuancheng. Therefore, when the Song army retreated today, he didn't want to think about it anymore and just thought that he had to get through the day.
"How many goose cars are still occupied?"
After glancing at the open space on the north side of the city, which was destined to be the main attack direction, Gao Jingshan felt more and more relieved, because as far as he could see, even the Song army on this side began to gradually relax and calm down... When the two siege towers were halfway there, they were fired at by several artillery carts that he had been holding back, and were destroyed on the way. This should be the turning point of the battle that made the Song army lose the desire to attack the city. The Song army's artillery carts had gradually stopped at this time, and only a few goose carts were still clanging under the city, and it seemed that some soldiers were still knocking on the base of the city wall.
"Four... three... only two left!" Meng An, who was standing next to him, observed carefully and gave an answer. "The one in the doorway below has not made any movement for a long time, and it has not penetrated deep into the city gate. The one in the west just escaped..."
"Use gunpowder!" Gao Jingshan just wanted to end this battle quickly. "Throw the firewood first, then spread the gunpowder, and then throw the torches down to burn the last three cars, and also burn the one in the doorway under your feet!"
Meng'an, who was standing next to him, was also feeling overwhelmed and responded immediately.
A moment later, the Yuan city defenders who had been prepared fetched firewood, oil, gunpowder and other items and threw them directly onto several goose carts under the city. As these things were thrown, the last few threatening Song army teams abandoned their carts and fled regardless of everything. They were shot and killed by the Jin army from the top of the city, which then attracted a counterattack from the Song army crossbowmen who were covering them.
But these are all unimportant things. The most surprising thing is that at the foot of Gaojing Mountain, several people escaped from the goose cart that had been motionless as the firewood fell... No one knew what they had been busy with before.
"Go check on the goose carts that are not moving elsewhere!" Gao Jingshan snatched the unlit torch from the officer beside him and shouted harshly. "Maybe there are people inside who are waiting for the night to launch a surprise attack!"
The officer did not dare to delay and turned around and left.
Gao Jingshan did not hesitate. After the soldier beside him threw down a bag of gunpowder, he lit the torch and threw it down.
On the distant hill, Balisu, Wuzhu and others had already felt relieved as the Song army's offensive had subsided... No matter what, they all hoped that Yuancheng could hold on a little longer.
"marshal……"
Wuzhu, whose eyes had left Yuancheng, called out to Balisu and pointed in the direction of Yue Fei's banner under the hot air balloon in the Song army camp. He was about to say something when suddenly, in the clear sky and under the cold wind, something boomed like thunder, drowning out his voice.
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