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Chapter 1038: King Versus King, General Versus General

At 8 AM, Kublai Khan arrived as expected.

Along with him were the 200 thousand troops housed in Sanhe City. The golden imperial chariot of Kublai Khan was heavily protected by the army, looking really eye-catching and stunning.

Zhang Hongfan rode on a black warhorse and followed beside the chariot.

In front of the army, there were 100 thousand Han race civilians, and they were all yellow and thin, their eyes devoid of sense and energy. Their clothes were torn and tattered, and they were all thin like bones.

Since Mongol attacked Song, the entire Chinese land had been trembling under the horse hooves of the Mongols. Numerous Chinese daughters were raped and murdered, and the entire race was facing a dark period.

After Yuan wiped out South Song in history, to protect the Mongol nobles, they set up a caste system. The top would be Mongols, second would be the Semu people, third would be Han, and last would be the South people.

The Han they referred to did not refer to the Han race people but the Nuzhen, Han, and other people that were conquered by Mongols later on like Sichuan, Dali, and the Koreans.

The last caste was the South people, which were the various civilians of South Song.

As a result, the true Han people were the lowest class in the entire dynasty, being treated unfairly and looked down upon. They were no different from slaves. For example, they were prohibited from hunting, learning martial arts, having weapons, praying to gods, walking around at night, and the like.

Yuan Dynasty did whatever they wished toward the Han people. Out of 10 houses, they could only have one cooking knife, and they needed to feed the Mongol soldier that monitored them. Whoever’s daughter was married off, the first night had to be given to a Mongol. The Han people could not even have a surname, and their name would be their birth date.

The Yuan Dynasty law also had rules that if one killed a Mongol, they would die, while those who killed a Semu would need to pay 40 units of gold. On the other hand, when one killed a Han, they only needed to pay a mule.

When they faced war, the difference in treatment would become even more evident. Like when they attacked Annan in 1286. Out of three horses of the Semu people, two were taken, while all the Han people’s horses were taken.

Most of the positions were taken by the Mongols, and when they were not enough, the central Asians who gave enough bribes would be chosen.

Most of the Mongol official positions were hereditary. For each state magistrate or County Magistrate, the land under him was his, and the Han were his slaves. They had no ruling or lawful obligations to the Han.

The Mongol emperor could treat the Han like grain, giving them to relatives like seeds.

After South Song was wiped out, there was a huge rewarding ceremony. Those who got little were awarded 10 or 100 houses, whilst some were given ten thousand. If one house had five men, that meant 50 thousand slaves.

The Mongol people could even invade the farms as and when they wanted. They often suddenly appeared and chased the Han people away from fertile soil, allowing the crops to grow without care for the animals to eat.

Maybe because of such a cruel rule, but the Yuan Dynasty only lasted for 98 years before it was replaced by the Ming Dynasty.

...

At 8 AM, Kublai Khan’s imperial chariot was brought into the north barracks.

After meeting the defending general, Kublai Khan left the chariot and went to the commanding tower. He noticed the 200 thousand troops gathered right away and said, “They really have some soul!”

The South Song camp’s action had surprised Zhang Hongfan as he said carefully, “Your majesty, should we stick to the plan or wipe out the enemies first?”

“Stick to the plan! Leave 400 thousand here, and the remaining 300 thousand spread out on the three sides. We must take down Lin’an.”

“Yes, your majesty!”

Spies in Lin’an city had reported that apart from the 200 thousand troops outside, there were only 140 thousand left within the city. The moment the city was broken into and the army entered it, these forces would not even be a concern.

As for the recruits that South Song had gathered up, they were not even in the eyes of Kublai Khan.

Since starting his attack on South Song, the South Song civilians had been synonymous with weak in his eyes. They did whatever was asked of them and did not have any killing intent, and they did not resist no matter what the Mongols did to them.

How could these civilians give birth to a strong army?

Although Kublai Khan’s thoughts were a little biased, they were also true. South Song was a peaceful dynasty, and the civilians were far away from war, so their weakness was an undeniable fact.

What Kublai Khan did not know was that in desperate times, people could give out exceptional strength.

...

Very quickly, the Mongol army spread out in four directions. The following 100 thousand Han Civilians were also split into three and chased toward the east west and south gates.

At 9 AM, the Mongol army had already gotten into position.

“Siege!”

Along with the order, the Han people were like sheep as they got herded forward. If they walked too slowly, they would get shot. The scene was really gruesome.

Being provoke like that, the civilians pushed forwards while they cried out.

Weirdly, the drawbridges on all sides were placed down, but the city gates were locked shut. What did they mean by that?

The Mongol cavalry in charge of supervising these people was ready to shoot the civilians to force them to open up the gates.

At this very moment, a banner hung down from the city walls. On it were words written in fresh red color, “Brothers, follow the wall and walk toward the north gate.”

At the same time, soldiers shouted down from the city walls to ask the civilians to gather toward the north.

This confused the Mongol cavalry, who immediately reported it upward. The news quickly spread to Zhang Hongfan. For this siege, Kublai Khan did not personally command it. Instead, he passed all control over to Zhang Hongfan.

This was undoubtedly a huge honor to him.

When Zhang Hongfan received the report, he frowned. However, he was not that shocked. He had fought a few rounds with the players and knew that they were not simple and would not easily give up like that.

At the crucial moment, he needed to use some methods.

“Order the cavalry to freely fire and force the civilians to charge at the city gate,” Zhang Hongfan ordered.

“Yes, general!”

The moment the military order was given, the hundreds of civilians outside of the city fell prey.

The Mongol cavalry were well-trained in archery, and they could kill more than one civilian with one arrow. In less than 10 minutes, the civilians at the back of the group all fell.

This provoked the will to live in these civilians, and all of them charged forward and smacked on the city gates, “Let’s us in! Let us in!”

They only thought about hiding from the threats coming from behind and did not think about what a catastrophe it would be when the Mongol cavalry charged in.

In front of death, everyone was selfish.

There were those smart ones that decided to give it a try and run toward the north city gate.

When the Mongol soldiers saw that, they naturally would not let them off. Their focus of shooting turned right to those civilians that tried to escape. If they really escaped, how could they force South Song to open up the city gates?

As the civilians were right at the wall, if they wanted to shoot, the Mongol cavalry had to go further in front. This caused them to enter the range of the defending troops.

“Fire!”

Only to hear an order given on the city wall as the archers and arcuballistas fired altogether, causing the Mongol cavalry to retreat, escaping the shooting range.

Jia Xu had made use of the structure of the city wall to create a dead zone for the civilians, which would allow them to escape the shooting range of the cavalry.

The strong retaliation from the defending troops let the civilians see hopes of surviving. They did not care much anymore, rushing right for the north city gate.

With someone leading them, there would be people following.

The situation was already really clear. The city gates would not be opened, and they would only die if they continue to squeeze here. Why not take a gamble and follow what the banner says and rush to the north city gate?

In an instance, large amounts of civilians swarmed toward the north.

The Mongol cavalry did not know what to do, and even Zhang Hongfan was in a pickle. He understood why South Song had arranged 200 thousand men at the north. They were there to protect these civilians.

With that, his plan had already failed. Thinking back to the look from the emperor, he could not help but shiver.

Zhang Hongfan gave a vicious order and ordered the three sides of troops to siege.

Using the 100 thousand civilians as hostages was not totally useless, as at the very least, the drawbridge was placed down and the city protection river was now useless.

As long as they broke through the city gates, they would still win.

That’s right, the Mongol army mainly consisted of cavalry, but that did not mean that they did not have infantry.

Apart from archery, they loved wrestling. Their three biggest sports were wrestling, horse racing, and shooting. Their love for it gave birth to a bunch of Mongol warriors. Zhang Hongfan was going to send out the most elite Mongol force to break down the city gates.

At the same time, the Mongol army pushed out the Xiangyang cannons.

These were brought from the six bases, and along with them were a batch of siege ladders. Although simple and lacking in sophistry, it could still be considered a siege weapon.

Along with Zhang Hongfan’s orders, the three sides started a large-scale siege.

In his eyes, since the South Song camp had moved 200 thousand troops to camp outside the city, the defending troops within would be really empty. They would not even be able to last a day under the attacks of 300 thousand men.

Once they broke into Lin’an City, the troops outside would be useless.

“How foolish, wasting 200 thousand troops for just 100 thousand useless people.” Zhang Hongfan really despised South Song’s actions.

To the Lin’an civilians, their greatest test had arrived. They had to hold on under the ferocious Mongol army and buy time for the 200 thousand army outside.

Victory or defeat completely depended on this.