Northern Song Dynasty: Starting from the son of Song Renzong - Chapter 365
Chapter 365The next day.
Frederick I fled back to the small town of Kecskemét, a hundred miles behind, with a number of deserters.
The Song army, after defeating the enemy's vanguard, was certainly not idle either.
While strengthening the defense of the city of Szeged, he also ordered scouts to go out in all directions to continue to detect the enemy's movements.
Meanwhile, get the hot air balloon airborne.
Try to get a more comprehensive view of the surrounding area.
As for the villages and other things in the surrounding area.
If another army came, they might send people to the village to plunder.
Kill all the men and children. As for the women, it depends on the situation. If they are good-looking, they can be left alive.
But to be honest, in a rural area like this, it would be great if there is one good-looking woman among a hundred women.
therefore……
Most of them will probably die.
of course!
Yue Fei was not so cruel.
As for some of the surrounding villages, Yue Fei could only send people to these villages to talk to local village chiefs, businessmen who had their say, and other people like that.
Then he told them that he had no intention of harming civilians, and that as long as they did not move around, especially the men, they should not gather together to hold any gatherings that would affect their military operations.
I hope that both parties will avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings.
Perhaps the officers who went there were relatively friendly.
Therefore, the people in the surrounding area were skeptical and had not fled yet.
But let’s be honest!This area of Hungary is actually similar to the North China Plain of the Song Dynasty.
Basically, all you can see is plains.
No matter where you run, the result will be the same. Once you are caught up by the cavalry, you will die.
After pacifying the people around.
Two more days passed.
The subsequent logistics troops also delivered the military rations safely.
Immediately afterwards...
Yue Fei then sent troops towards the northwest again.
Next target.
Kecskemét.
And when Yue Fei continued to send troops to the northwest.
Kecskemét.
The originally unremarkable town has now been reinforced again and again.
All we can say is that Frederick I was worried.
His red beard was about to be twisted into a knot.
Because night attack was the best method they could think of.
However, due to various reasons.
For example, each member of the coalition forces had ulterior motives, and the soldiers were timid and did not dare to go forward to die, so that the best effect could not be achieved with the great opportunity.
There were some brave people who stood up.
But what's the use?
Once these people died in battle.
It will be even more difficult for these cowards who survived to accomplish anything.
At this time, there were nearly 100,000 people stationed in the town of Kecskemét.
Among them, more than 30,000 were cavalry.
The remaining 70,000 were all infantry.
Be reasonable!Because the town is too small, there is no room for all these people.
What if the Song army's artillery arrived here while all of them were still camping here?
It felt like they might die faster.
They must find a way to break the impasse as soon as possible.
"What do you think?"
Frederick I asked everyone.
Then he continued:
"We definitely can't win head-on. Even the night raid last night was unsuccessful."
Someone said, "If there is really no other way, then we can only fight openly."
Another person said, "Fight openly? They have artillery, how can we fight them?"
"So what you mean is that we won't fight anymore and just surrender?"
Frederick I quickly silenced them.
"Don't bring your previous personal conflicts into this battle."
Then someone said:
"If we can't defeat them head-on, we can only try to delay them."
"If the enemy has no more food, they might retreat."
"So I think the best solution is to build strong defenses, clear the fields, and then send out cavalry to see if we can cut off the enemy's food supply."
"There is a large plain to the east of us. We can send people to the east first, and then sneak south to see if we can find their grain transport team."
Frederick I looked at the other party and then replied: "Then I'll leave it to you! How many cavalry do you need?"
The other party replied: "The more the better. Kecskemét only needs infantry to defend it."
Frederick I said: "Then I will assign you 20,000 cavalry!"
After the other side got the 20,000 cavalry, they immediately divided the 20,000 cavalry into teams.
Among them, 10,000 cavalrymen headed east and then south.
In addition, there were another 10,000 cavalrymen who went directly south and waited on the west side of the road that the Song army had to pass.
It took about five days.
Yue Fei arrived at the city of Kecskemét with 50,000 people.
Frederick I and others tried everything to better hinder the attack of the Song army.
For example, raising and widening the city walls, and deepening the trenches.
of course!
Although this had some impact on the Song army, it was not that great.
Time is tight.
therefore……
After setting up camp the day before, Yue Fei ordered his men to start filling the trenches with earth early the next morning.
And ten thousand of the enemy's twenty thousand cavalrymen still thought they were very smart.
They were lurking more than fifty miles to the west of Yue Fei, thinking that the Song army could not find them.
In fact...
The light of the fire they made at night had long been seen by the Song army.
The Song army also sent people to make a detour.
Attack the opponent from an angle that the opponent does not expect.
Noon the next day.
It was time for lunch, and naturally the cavalry had to dismount and make a fire to cook.
at this time……
A large number of Song cavalry suddenly attacked from their southwest side.
If you don’t know, you might think they are our own reinforcements.
of course!
It is impossible for our reinforcements to go east, then south, and then west, making such a big circle.
Many soldiers were resting at this time and were not prepared for battle at all.
But they were suddenly attacked by the Song army.
Suddenly...
Those who can mount a horse should mount it.
Those who cannot mount their horses can only flee in different directions.
As long as you run faster than your companions, you still have a chance to survive.
The Song army charged in a group and dispersed all the enemies in one breath.
The sound from those muskets was like the whispers of evil spirits from hell, filling the minds of every one of them.
"It's an enemy attack!"
"The enemy is coming!"
However, the more they shouted, the faster they ran.
There were some people, more than a dozen or twenty in number, who were able to pick up swords and shields and gather together.
But what's the use of this?
The cavalry rushed past and a rain of arrows shot over. However, there were only three or five shields for a dozen or twenty people. There were simply not enough shields to block all the flying arrows.
When the 10,000 people here were unable to form a good formation to fight back, it already indicated that they were bound to lose the battle.
Ten thousand people.
In just half a day or an afternoon, more than half of them were killed, and the remaining half were still being hunted down.
Now these German nobles, Hungarians, and Poles would be terrified whenever they heard the sound of gunfire.
But this is normal!Not to mention guns.
Just setting off firecrackers during the Chinese New Year makes a loud bang, and many people feel scared when they hear it.
That night.
Several minor nobles who should have had some influence in the opposing army were also tied up and sent to Yue Fei's camp.
The other side was very stubborn and unwilling to surrender at first. Moreover, they were unwilling to disclose any information about the Holy Roman Empire, Hungary and Poland.
Yue Fei had no choice but to have him dragged away and tortured to extract a confession.
It would be fine if you could force him to extract some information, but if you can't, then just kill him.
Since you are qualified to go to this battlefield and serve as a soldier, you must be prepared to die here.
Two of them never said anything until they died.
The last one was afraid of pain, so he told the opponent's deployment in detail.
The opponent's deployment was almost no deployment.
At this time, they had no idea what to do with the Song army.
However, in order to struggle, they still sent out 20,000 cavalrymen, 10,000 of whom had been defeated by the Song army, and the other 10,000 were sneaking towards Constantinople, intending to try to directly cut off the Song army's food supply.
After Yue Fei learned about this, he ordered the hot air balloon and cavalry to continue searching for those people.
It’s actually very easy to find!After all, at night, when the hot air balloon takes off, wherever there is fire, that is the enemy’s base.
It can be said that you can find the right one.
only……
Now the enemy has set out earlier than them, so they may need to speed up a bit.
After two-thirds of the cavalry were sent out.
The remaining cavalry will remain where they are and be used as a surprise force.
Then...
A fierce siege battle broke out between the two sides.
The two sides were almost fighting a battle of attrition.
The Song army consumed gunpowder, while the other side consumed the lives on the city wall.
Then only half a day passed.
The morale in the city has already fallen to its lowest point.
In other words, the commander of the coalition forces, Frederick I the Red Beard, was still a relatively tough emperor.
If it were someone more cowardly, with no ideas of his own, the soldiers might not want to fight anymore.
Seeing that morale was so low, Frederick I did his best to boost it.
But the overall result is still not much changed.
Everyone still has to maintain a relatively pessimistic attitude.
even……
King Ladislaus II of Hungary certainly did not want to die here.
Laszlo II began to regret why he didn't just surrender at the beginning.
If he had surrendered to the Song Dynasty at the beginning instead of going to find Red Beard.
Who knows, maybe he is now an ally of the Song Dynasty, and is beating up Red Beard and Poland.
In the Duchy of Poland, the grand dukes, nobles, and lords were all calculating their own plans.
If we give up this place and escape back, we might still have a chance of survival.
Actually, let me tell you the truth!
They were not very clear why the Song Dynasty had to attack them.
Isn't it good for everyone to live a good life?
It must be those damn Crusaders who brought these people here.
But even if that's the case, can we still negotiate?After a long silence, someone asked, "How about we pretend to surrender?"
As soon as these words came out,
Everyone's eyes suddenly brightened.
But it soon dimmed again.
I began to wonder, are you pretending to surrender?
You are totally genuine, okay?And do you think others are stupid and won’t make conditions to you?of course!
This is indeed a good method.
Moreover, Frederick I thought that the enemy soldiers probably did not want to lose their lives by participating in the siege.
In fact, it would be a good thing if we could accept their surrender and then go back to our own homes.
Then...
Frederick I then had someone convey this message to Yue Fei.
even……
His envoy also said loudly in the tent: "Your soldiers must have families too, and they must not want to die, right?"
After hearing what the other party said, Yue Fei could only say that he was very unhappy to hear the other party's high-pitched voice.
Because it's like deliberately trying to suppress the morale of their people.
All I can say is that he could tell at a glance that the other party had bad intentions in saying this.
But since the other party has already talked about surrender.
Yue Fei had no choice but to accept it, but the conditions had to be harsh.
So he asked: "What conditions can you offer? We can't just accept your surrender casually."
Immediately afterwards...
The two sides negotiated the conditions for the Song army to accept surrender.
Don't tell me yet!
These conditions are quite good.
however……
A Khitan official, Yelu Yile, said that it was precisely because the conditions were too good that there might be something fishy going on!
What if the other party wants to use this to delay time?
Therefore, Yelu Yile said that they should continue to attack and the pressure should not be reduced.
Yue Fei thought this made sense!the next day……
The other side's surrender did not affect the Song army's siege at all.
in fact……
If you just kill your way in, you will definitely be able to get in.
However, if you force your way in, the other party will resist hard.
Then the number of casualties on our side will be much greater.
therefore……
The Song army was not incapable.
I just hope to destroy the last bit of the enemy's morale before launching a general attack.
the next day.
The Song army launched an attack more fiercely than the first day.
And the earthen hill was also built at this moment.
By deploying the Li Yuan army at a height slightly higher than the city wall, they can then snipe at the soldiers on the wall from a high vantage point.
therefore……
The next day, more defenders on the city wall died.
Moreover, barrels of gasoline were poured onto the walls and into the city by catapults.
Many people were burned into firemen.
Two days later...
The defenders on the city wall lost nearly 1,500 people.
And there are only less than 70,000 to 80,000 of them in total.
With this calculation, even if they exchanged their lives, they could only hold out for less than two months at most.
Day three.
Even the proud Frederick I Beard had to admit it.
It is really impossible for me to win.
He sent someone again to negotiate with Yue Fei.
Ask Yue Fei why they attacked them when they had clearly agreed to surrender.
Yue Fei said: "If you ask your people to lay down their weapons, take off their armor, and leave the city in white clothes, then I will believe that you want to surrender."
Good guy!Frederick I would certainly not agree to that.
Wouldn't that make us lambs to be slaughtered?
That night!
Frederick I raised the sword in his hand.
To the crowd:
"Tonight! Either we die or the other party dies. There is no other choice!"
(End of this chapter)