The two sides faced each other for more than ten minutes. Although Jia Yu had less than a hundred men, the aura they exuded terrified the Mongols, making them afraid to approach.
“A bunch of cowards.”
Jia Yu waved his hand to his soldiers, who turned their horses and rode away quickly.
Seeing the Great Zhou cavalry leaving, some Mongols wanted to pursue them.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh
Three long arrows tore through the air and struck their chests.
The warhorses continued to run forward, but their riders had already fallen to the ground.
“Kill!”
The Mongolian cavalry leader couldn’t hold back any longer. He shouted, “Chase them!”
Jia Yu remained calm and shot his arrows, while the two sides were over a hundred meters apart.
He controlled his warhorse to run back while continuously shooting arrows.
Each arrow claimed the life of a steppe warrior.
He always maintained a certain distance from the enemy.
The Mongols pursued them for about fifteen minutes before stopping three hundred meters from the city wall.
They saw countless torches lit on the Guangning City wall.
This indicated that there were many defenders on the wall.
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
Three thousand warhorses entered the city, causing the civilians to almost think the steppe warriors had broken in.
Seeing that it was the Xuanjia cavalry returning, a large number of civilians came to watch.
During the battle earlier, the defenders had not allowed them to get close to the city wall, and the fact that manpower had been moved to the Xibian Gate meant there was a significant shortage of personnel at the Guangning Gate.
The situation at Xibian Gate had calmed down, and the young and strong had returned to the Guangning Gate.
After the warhorses stopped, the Xuanjia cavalry, carrying a large number of steppe warrior heads, returned.
One person rode two horses, and each had at least five heads.
Time was too short, and they didn’t have time to collect the heads of the fallen Mongols on the ground.
The body and banner of the Mongol Wanhu were tied to the back of a warhorse.
Jia Yu ordered his men to pile the heads together.
Five to six hundred heads placed together were a sight that could shock the heart.
There were also the three thousand warhorses, supplies, and some captured weapons and equipment.
The weapons and equipment of the Mongols were actually standard Great Zhou weapons and equipment.
After finishing all this, the city gate that was destroyed by the Mongols’ explosives earlier was almost repaired, and the gate was closed and blocked with a pile of wood.
They would open it again when they needed to leave the city.
Jia Yu calmly found a place to rest and eat, appearing quite careless.
He actually left the captured warhorses to the care of the guard commander.
These were all achievements, all battle merits.
Jia Yu was not in a hurry, but Liu Gonggong was worried to death.
He hastily counted the captured warhorses, finding 3,124, and the number of heads, 692.
One Mongol Wanhu head, one war flag.
There were definitely many more heads that hadn’t been collected.
Liu Gonggong, carrying the war flag and heads, ran all the way.
When the sky was just beginning to brighten, he returned to the palace.
The emperor, who had only slept for two hours, was dealing with affairs sent from the various city gates.
The besieged capital was generally not chaotic.
The Great Zhou Dynasty had only been established for a hundred years, and before the Grand Duke’s defeat at Xuanfu, the Great Zhou could be said to have been beating its enemies on all sides.
Even after the disastrous defeat at Xuanfu, the Great Zhou remained extremely powerful.
As long as reinforcements arrived from all directions,
The Mongols and Jurchen would have to withdraw.
It was just that each city gate was requesting more manpower, weapons and equipment.
All kinds of supplies were being consumed very quickly.
“Your Majesty, Liu Gonggong has returned. He is waiting outside, saying he seems to have something to report to you.”
A little eunuch came to the emperor’s side.
“Liu Hong is back?” The emperor said, suddenly realizing something, and turned to the chief eunuch, Xia Shouzhong, “No, Guangning Gate hasn’t been breached?”
Xia Shouzhong replied, “Yesterday, Liu Gonggong sent back news that the Guangning Gate was blown open by explosives, and there’s been no news since.”
The emperor said, “They held on? Quickly let Liu Hong in.”
Liu Hong ran into the imperial study, and upon seeing the emperor, he immediately knelt down: “Greetings, Your Majesty.”
“Rise. Did they hold on at Guangning Gate?”
The eunuchs around the emperor were all old men who had followed him for decades, and they were also his reliance in this palace.
The emperor was not the best choice.
The Grand Duke suffered a disastrous defeat at Xuanfu and rushed back to the capital.
He initially wanted to pass the throne to his favorite eighth son, but then he thought again and realized the capital was very unsafe.
So, he sent the eighth prince to the Jinling subsidiary capital to mobilize the army of the Jiangnan Grand Camp.
The mother of the second prince was from a family of military officials, and she had some influence in the military.
The third prince was the second prince’s sibling, born to the same mother.
After thinking for a whole night, the emperor passed the throne to the fourth prince, who had little influence, and who was now the current emperor.
The fourth prince had little power and faced the problem of being besieged by the Mongols upon becoming emperor.
However, in the face of the Mongol siege, all the forces in the city united.
No one would defy his orders.
“They held on!” Liu Gonggong excitedly told the emperor, “The Mongols blew open the city gate, and I was ready to set fire to the south city, but I didn’t expect that Jia Shenwei’s son, Jia Yu, the son of the late Duke of Rong, would turn the tide.
He led his men at the city gate, standing firm against countless enemies, killing so many Mongols that they dared not approach.”
Liu Gonggong’s body trembled with excitement as he spoke, “After nightfall, Jia Baohu personally led forty-two soldiers, riding captured warhorses, to launch a night attack on the Mongol camp outside Guangning Gate.
They killed the Mongol Wanhu in the camp. His body is still out there, along with his war flag.
They captured 3,124 warhorses, brought back 692 heads, and a large amount of supplies and weapons.
If the Mongol cavalry from Xibian Gate hadn’t provided support, they could have seized even more.”
“What!” The emperor jumped to his feet, “This…how is that possible!”
Forty-two people launched a night attack on a camp of several thousand, and killed their leader.
This was simply unbelievable.
“Your Majesty, I am speaking the truth. Those warhorses and captured supplies are still at the city gate, and I have brought back the Mongol Wanhu’s body and war flag,” Liu Gonggong knew it was hard to believe.
If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed it himself.
“You, go check it out.” The emperor said to Xia Shouzhong.
Xia Shouzhong nodded, took a few little eunuchs and left for a while, then returned with a jade pendant and a war flag, his eyes still filled with disbelief.
“Your Majesty, Liu Gonggong did bring back the Mongol Wanhu and his war flag.”
The emperor took the jade pendant and glanced at it, then couldn’t help but laugh.
This was one of the few pieces of good news in recent days!
“Good, good, good.” The emperor turned to Liu Gonggong, “Can we recruit him over to our side?”
If Jia Yu were a legitimate son, the emperor would never have asked this question.
The Jia family was the Grand Duke’s loyal supporter.
“I asked about him yesterday. Although Jia Yu is Jia Shenwei’s son, he was sent to a manor outside the city since birth and raised by former Jia family retainers.
He enlisted this time because of Your Majesty’s call, and he was pushed forward by the Jia family.”
Liu Gonggong’s lips curled up slightly as he spoke, “Jia Shenwei may not have expected that his illegitimate son, having grown up with former retainers and descendants of family soldiers, gained their loyalty.
After Jia Yu enlisted, the personal soldiers and descendants of the retainers of the late Duke of Rong and the current Duke of Rong all followed him.”
“This Jia Baohu is a man of integrity, similar to the late Duke of Ning and the Duke of Rong.”
The emperor nodded as he listened, “Good. He has achieved such great merit, he must be rewarded.
However, with the current enemy at our doorstep, specific rewards will have to wait until the war is over.
He is currently a Centurion, so promote him to a Chiliarch.
As for manpower issues, he needs to solve them himself.
If he requires weapons, equipment, or supplies, report them to me.”
The emperor said, his hand gripping the jade pendant, his veins protruding.
…