As early as a few days ago, many guards and officials from the southern city secretly sent people to Huzhou to surrender, saying that they were willing to surrender the city to the imperial court. Now, tens of thousands of Song troops are rolling in, which makes many cities north of Hangzhou dare not put up any resistance, and they all surrender.
In just over half a month, more than a dozen prefectures and counties, including Xiuzhou, Guangde, and Changhua, were destroyed without attack. Even the cities such as Wukang and Deqing, which had just been recaptured by the Wu army, were also destroyed. Fei Song's army marched into the city and captured it almost in one day.
This excited the three Song armies who were dividing their forces, and made them advance faster and faster. Everyone thought that they could reach the walls of Hangzhou in a short time and deal a fatal blow to Fang La's rebels. With one blow, this huge first victory in pacifying Jiangnan was completely in his own hands.
The most urgent among them was naturally the Huaibei Road troops led by Zhang Gun. After taking four cities in a row, the troops were directed at Lin'an City, which was located at the throat of Hangzhou's main road. As long as he can capture this city, there will be no barrier to defend Hangzhou in the rear. He can lead his army to the city of Hangzhou and launch a frontal attack on the capital of the Wu Kingdom.
On the ninth day of September, the day of the Double Ninth Festival, the Huaibei Army's 58,000 soldiers and horses surrounded this small Lin'an county. Compared with the display of power by the Song army outside the city, the less than 3,000 Wu troops defending the city were already trembling with fear. Many people had already thought of opening the city and surrendering. However, due to the increasing prestige of their own magistrate He County, I dare not really take action.
He Guangchang stood at the top of the city, watching the flags covering up the sun. When he saw the scene of a forest of guns, his expression became extremely solemn. But he still turned around and shouted loudly to the many garrison soldiers around him: "Dear fellow villagers and brothers, I know that Lin'an is in danger now, and the enemy's strength is more than ten times mine. But I hope that all brothers can follow me to defend the city. , As long as there is one person alive, I, Lin'an City, will never surrender!
"I think you all can't forget what life we lived two years ago? The Song Dynasty was ruthless, corrupt officials were rampant, and there were countless exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes. How many people were forced to have their families ruined by those corrupt and corrupt officials? Your Majesty Only by leading the crowd and issuing an order did we regain everything that belonged to us. But now, when the court eagles and dogs come to kill us, it is time for us to be loyal to His Majesty!
"Lin'an is the gateway to Hangzhou. As long as we guard it for one more day, Hangzhou will be more secure and prepared. I believe that it won't be long before our Wu Kingdom's heavenly soldiers arrive. Commander Pang Pang and General Fang will definitely come in time. Rescue us! As long as everyone is willing to give it a try, I can defend Lin'an until then!"
The effect of these words was still clearly visible. The defenders and even the countless people in the city were affected by his words, and they roared: "We will never betray Your Majesty, nor will we betray Magistrate He. We vow to work with Lin'an together." Life or death!"
Hearing the roar of unity, He Guangchang finally had a smile on his face: "Well said, we will definitely achieve this final victory!"
"We must win! We must win! We must win!" In the shouts of the soldiers and civilians, He Guangchang looked at the tall general wearing armor and holding a sword next to him. He clasped his fists and bent over, saluting: "General Fang, after the war begins, , I leave everything in Lin'an to you."
"Don't worry, Magistrate He. As long as we live for a hundred years, we will definitely defeat the Song army." A flash of light flashed in General Fang's eyes.
With a complex light, he solemnly promised. After a pause, he suggested again: "Magistrate He, you'd better go back to the Yamen as soon as possible. Just leave the defense of the city to me. Otherwise, I'm afraid I'll hurt you." "
"No, I have promised everyone that I will live and die with Lin'an. How can I back down? From now on, I have been guarding the city with you all. Although I am only a scholar, I can throw a few rocks down. I still have some strength!" As he spoke, He Guangchang strode to the stones piled up beside the city wall. He bent down and lifted up a stone about a foot square, and panted towards the crenellations of the city wall. Everywhere he went, he made other people look stupid.
At this moment, shouts were heard in the city, which also caused a commotion among the Song troops arrayed outside the city. Immediately, Zhang Gun rode his horse forward and shouted to the city: "People in the city, listen carefully to me. This general will only give you one chance. As long as you open the city and surrender at this time, I can guarantee that your lives will be spared." If not, when my army attacks the city, we will all be destroyed!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the tens of thousands of troops behind him started shouting in unison: "Kaicheng surrender! Kaicheng surrender!" The sound rolled in, frightening the defenders who had just gained some morale into panic.
When He Guangchang saw this, he became angry. He stuck his head out and shouted sternly: "You eagle and dog officer, stop daydreaming! We in Lin'an City are united and will defend to the end. We will never surrender to you and others." Yes!" As he said that, with a strong effort from his waist and arms, he actually lifted up a large stone weighing dozens of kilograms. With a loud shout, he waved to Zhang Gun at the bottom of the city.
This was really beyond the expectations of Zhang Gun and everyone under his command. Since they marched south from Huzhou, almost every city they came to was captured without a single blow. This gave them the illusion from top to bottom that the Wu army did not dare to resist before arriving in Hangzhou. So even though there were shouts in the city just now, they didn't take it seriously, let alone take any precautions. It wasn't until the boulder whizzed down from above that Zhang Gun let out a low cry in shock, quickly pulled his horse and ducked back.
Fortunately, he reacted quickly enough, and He Guangchang's strength was indeed not too great. The stone crashed to the ground only five or six feet away from his horse's head, sending out a large plume of smoke. Even so, it frightened General Zhang quite a bit, and even made him lose face, his face distorted with shock and anger.
The generals and soldiers on his side and rear were even more frightened. They hurriedly swarmed up and quickly set up their shields to completely cover him. If the enemy suddenly fired another burst of arrows, something would really happen to his general.
As Zhang Gun retreated, he shouted loudly: "Attack the city! Archers, shoot arrows for me. After the city is broken, everyone will be rewarded!" He was really angry. In addition to being afraid, he was also because of Loss of face. Since the defenders of Lin'an City are so stubborn, let them know what the consequences will be if they resist my imperial army!
Following his order, more than two thousand crossbowmen who had been prepared immediately took a step forward, and then threw arrows like raindrops towards the top of the city above. Immediately, there was a burst of exclamations and screams from the top of the city. The defenders quickly found a place to hide from the arrows, and their simple shields were also propped up one by one.
But this rain of arrows was just the appetizer for this siege battle. While suppressing the defenders, more troops were already shouting and charging forward. The two or three thousand people in front of me all mentioned
Carrying two bags of earth and rocks, he ran directly to the small and shallow moat. With a shout, thousands of bags of earth and rocks were thrown into the river. In an instant, the water in the moat was cut off, paving the way for the army behind.
Then, another group of men and horses pushed forward with various siege equipment. Ladders, rams, battering rams... all kinds of weapons were methodically moved against the city walls and gates, rushing towards the enemy. Before a decent defense system could be organized, they were about to attack the city from all directions.
Although Zhang Gun is impatient and greedy for merit, he is still quite capable as a leader. Just from his interlocking siege arrangements, we can see that he spends a lot of time on this. Under this arrangement, the Song army also fought bravely, and soon some people climbed straight up the ladder. At some weak points of the city gates and walls, various city-breaking weapons began to roar and hit, directly hitting. The entire city wall was trembling.
After all, Lin'an is just a small county town with neither high nor thick walls. Under an all-out attack by tens of thousands of troops, it may not be able to defend it for even a day. Break the city, today!
Even though He Guangchang did not avoid arrows at all at this time, running back and forth at the top of the city, motivating the soldiers, but under the threat of arrows raining from the sky, the defenders were still struggling, and it was difficult to organize a decent resistance. After all, they were not the elite of the Wu army, and had never experienced such a life-and-death battle before, so it was naturally difficult for them to have much effect.
Seeing this, Fang Baibai raised his sword to encourage the troops and dragged He Guangchang to go down to the city: "Magistrate He, you really can't help here. You'd better go back first. I will lead the troops to defend the city."
But He Guangchang still had the same attitude: "No! Since I have said that I will live and die with everyone, there is no possibility of escaping alone. You don't need to persuade me anymore. Even if I die, I will die on the top of Lin'an City!"
"Then... I can only say I'm sorry..." Fang Bainian said, and the knife in his hand suddenly moved forward. The blade immediately sank into Magistrate He's chest and popped out from his back.
"You!" He Guangchang's eyes widened, full of shock and disbelief. He really didn't expect that the city guard who had always cooperated with him would suddenly kill him like this. Even if he would be wary of anyone, he would not be wary of Fang Bainian, because Fang Bainian was Fang La's clan brother. Anyone could surrender and betray, but he would not...
how so
This was He Guangchang's last thought, but he could no longer get an answer to this question.
After killing He Guangchang with one knife and shocking everyone on the city wall, Fang Bainan's eyes flashed with pain, which was immediately replaced by determination. He immediately shouted: "Stop it all, open the city gate, we surrender!"
The two main backbones were dead and surrendered. Even if those soldiers still wanted to hold on, they no longer had the courage and confidence. After only a moment of silence, the defenders at the top of the city threw their weapons to the ground with loud cries, and at the same time, they moved away various heavy objects blocking the city gate, then raised the huge door latch, and with a bang, the city gate opened...
"We, the soldiers of the Song Dynasty outside the city, are willing to surrender. He Guangchang, who was stubbornly resisting, has been killed by the villain!" Seeing the Song army coming in a surging force, Fang Baianian shouted loudly and at the same time dropped his weapons.
As he spoke these words, Lin'an City, the last gateway to Hangzhou, finally fell completely!