With no other options, Hu Yin stepped forward, made the division himself, and began to distribute food in an organized manner.
Combat personnel were given priority, and the number of non-combat personnel under Hu Mingzhong was slightly reduced. Everyone began to have a quota to avoid being unable to survive the freezing period in case it was too long.
In this situation, the Song army was a little discouraged and the fighting was a little weak, but there was nothing they could do.
However, the Jin army was not much better off.
Although the Jin army was fighting on the interior front, its manpower was theoretically endless and it did not care about the lives of the civilians, but some things would not be problem-free just because they were unrestricted.
For example, under the repeated requests of Emperor Zhao, the Song army successively included earmuffs, gloves, and even masks into military supplies. This time, in preparation for war, they were one of the military supply reserves. Like military rations, they were all inspected by Emperor Zhao himself. Moreover, compared with other military equipment and armor, these things were not expensive. Basically, they cost millions and everyone had them. Of course, Yue Fei also had reserves here.
What about the Jin army? Although the Jin army had long known about this through normal civilian rumors and had actually begun distributing them in the army, and even the earmuffs and gloves made of fur in the Jin Dynasty were recognized to be more effective than the linen products of the Song Dynasty...but the Jin army did not have the awareness of unified stockpiling of millions of them.
It wasn't obvious before, but now that the cold wave has arrived, having those things has become a big problem. Although they have countless gold and silver in Yanjing, countless military equipment and armor reserves in Zhending Prefecture, and even a large amount of furs for keeping out the cold in Zhending, they cannot produce large-scale gloves and earmuffs for a while.
The small amount stored can only satisfy the needs of the war soldiers, and even that is not enough for all the soldiers.
In short, it was just small things like this. The Jin army, which was passively fighting, began to rapidly differentiate in its combat effectiveness because of a little thing here and a little thing there.
The elite troops and soldiers can barely maintain their combat effectiveness, but the lower-level auxiliary troops and signed troops are in trouble... However, a war of this scale has already exceeded everyone's original cognition. The auxiliary troops and signed troops have unknowingly become an indispensable part of the war. When the latter cannot play an effective role, the war will also be affected.
The most direct manifestation was on the river front. No matter how hard the Jin army tried, these auxiliary troops and signed troops could not play an effective role in consuming resources. Often the preparation for an offensive would take most of the day. If these signed troops and auxiliary troops could not play an effective role in consuming resources, who would be willing to send large numbers of combat troops to the Song army's defense line full of icicles again?
Therefore, after the cold wave arrived, the Jin army was shocked to find that although their morale was gradually recovering, their speed and ability to organize a large-scale offensive were becoming increasingly difficult.
On the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, Emperor Zhao began to cut off the Fen River west of Taiyuan City. Although the second large-scale attack of the Jin army did not result in a serious setback like Wang Bolun's, it was not surprising that the Song army held on.
However, from the overall perspective, this result seemed to put the Song army in a more dangerous and embarrassing situation, and also caused the top leaders of the Song army to fall into a certain sense of uneasiness.
"Marshal Yue."
Late at night on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, Hu Yin appeared in Yue Fei's tent with a dark face, and stretched out his almost frozen hands next to the brazier, and said directly, "I have something to say."
Yue Fei did not dare to be negligent. He immediately stood up and saluted respectfully, then signaled his attendants and staff to leave together.
As soon as they left, Hu Yin immediately spoke up: "I heard that the Jin Kingdom started to cut off the Yellow River on both sides in the south. Is that true or not?"
"Yes." Yue Fei had no intention of hiding anything. "To let Minister Hu know, the Jin army was frustrated in its attack the day before yesterday, and since yesterday, they have changed their plan and gathered a large number of civilians in the south to try to dig through the east branch of the Yellow River North Road and the west branch of the Yellow River East Road to cut off the two river channels on our side... Because of the huge scale, the scouts only figured out the enemy's intentions early this morning and reported back."
"What do you think?" Hu Yin did not question the other party why he did not tell him in time, but asked directly.
"It's hard to say." Yue Fei sighed. "I'm from Hebei, I know the local hydrology... It's no problem to cut off the river, but the key is that it will cost a lot, and it's almost the New Year, I don't know if it will be done in time... If they can finish it before the thaw, then they can succeed. Otherwise, if the project is not completed and the river has already thawed, then they will be courting death."
"So, this means we have to leave our success or failure to the Jin people?" Hu Yin responded coldly.
"Speaking of this matter alone, it is indeed true." Yue Fei said frankly.
"That's why I came to you." Hu Yin put down his hands from the fire and responded seriously. "If the Jin army succeeds, our logistics will be cut off, and we must make long-term plans... Starting tomorrow, we will change the food rations... How do you think?"
"Minister Hu." Yue Fei took a few steps forward, squinted his eyes, lowered his voice, and panted a little. "Minister Hu, I'm telling you the truth... I think you've got it wrong, or even the wrong way around."
Hu Yin was slightly startled.
Yue Fei also quickly explained: "First of all, the Jin army did this after being frustrated. On the surface, it was to cut off our logistics. It may be true that they did so, but considering the time, 90% of them were too late... 80% of them had other intentions."
Hu Yin was confused at first, but suddenly he became alert. He looked at the big-eyed general in front of him in astonishment, and then slowly said, "You mean... their original intention was to destroy the Yellow River embankment, so that the water would flood Hebei in the spring... and prevent us from advancing properly? But what about Hebei? Don't they want it anymore?"
"This is desperate." Yue Fei sighed. "If they can't stop us and the emperor from advancing on two fronts, Hebei will be Song territory. What do they have to worry about?"
Hu Yin was speechless for a moment... Not to mention that if we lose this battle, Hebei will no longer belong to the Jin Kingdom. To put it bluntly, wasn't the Song Dynasty able to do such a thing as changing its borders to Hebei three times?
It would be ridiculous to condemn the Jin people at this time.
And this is really impossible to prevent... Unless we drive the enemy away before the ice melts and then block the levee in time. But that can only save them temporarily... Four or five river channels extend all the way to Yanyun, and can be dug everywhere. Unless we keep pressing the enemy from tomorrow and make them breathless, the thought of it makes my scalp numb.
When he thought of this, Hu Yin felt almost cold in his heart.
"What else?" Hu Mingzhong came back to his senses after a long while, and asked with gritted teeth, suppressing his anxiety. "The Marshal said first, there must be a second, right?"
"After that..." Yue Fei stared at Hu Mingzhong and said seriously. "The more this happens, the less we can plan for the long term. Instead, we should loosen up the supply, let the soldiers and civilians have enough strength, attack instead of defend, tie down the forces, and even scare them with the offensive!"
Hu Yin thought for a moment and immediately realized: "Attack Yuancheng fiercely?"
"Yuancheng has been under siege for 40 to 50 days, and has also been attacked for 40 to 50 days. In the previous battle with Wang Bolong, Gao Jingshan sent out nearly half of the elite troops in the city, and the city has long been shaky." At this point, Yue Fei no longer had to hide anything. "If I wanted to break the city, I would have broken it long ago. The reason I didn't break it was for two reasons... One was that Hedong was tied up with the main force of the Jin army, and the other was that I had an agreement with the emperor to try to break the city together with the emperor tomorrow!"
"Tomorrow?" Hu Yin replied in a daze.
"Tomorrow." Yue Fei calmly bowed. "It's only because the Jin army tried to dig the river bank yesterday, and today doesn't matter, that's why I didn't say more to Minister Hu."
Hu Yin was silent for a moment, then asked again: "Which city will the emperor try to conquer tomorrow?"
Yue Fei laughed for once: "What do you think, Mr. Hu?"
Hu Yin shook his head slightly, unable to believe it for a moment.
It was already past midnight and the snow had stopped outside Taiyuan city. Wanyan Zhehe, a veteran general of the Jin Dynasty, came to the Guancheng tower in the south of Taiyuan city in full armor to overlook the Song army camp, but he was speechless for a long time because of the strange scene before him.
It turned out that in the cold winter, late at night, not long after the snow had stopped, the Song army camp was suddenly filled with mist, forming a sharp contrast with the surrounding white snow and the dark night sky.
"Wan Hu..." Meng An, the confidant in charge of the southern pass, couldn't help but step forward and say something. "It could be that there are too many Song soldiers. It could also be that Wu Jie led his troops here today, and it's the New Year, so the soldiers are eating and drinking freely and feasting without restraint."
"That Zhao Song official is not a person who feasts and drinks excessively." Wanyan Zhehe looked at the strange fog in front of him and spoke coldly. "It's just that there are too many people. The south is the main camp. Today, another 20,000 people came. It just snowed... His breath becomes clouds, and his exhalation becomes fog."
"Yes, that must be the case." Meng An nodded heavily, and then asked carefully. "Then do you want me to take advantage of the opportunity to rob the camp?"
"No need." Wanyan Zhehe shook his head without hesitation. "The city defense is not in danger, and the people under the city are all famous and experienced generals of the Song army. There is no need to easily throw away troops... However, I do have the intention to wait until the enemy is exhausted, or to rob the camp when I have no choice, but I am prepared to lead the troops to rob Yongli Prison myself."
"Yes, if they wanted to rob the camp, they should have robbed their rear camp." Meng An, a subordinate, suddenly realized, then laughed. "But who knows if it was the commander-in-chief or General Salihe who did this?"
Wanyan Zhehe looked at the other party and said seriously: "Salihe will not come, and the chances of becoming the commander-in-chief are only 50-50."
Meng'an's expression suddenly changed.
"I don't want to hide it from you." Zhehe continued to answer seriously. "If Salihe had the courage and ability to rob the camp, he shouldn't have let the Zhao Song officials come so quickly, and he shouldn't have let Wu Jie come so quickly... and since the Song army came so quickly, Salihe would have been useless, and there is no hope at all." Zhehe's face remained unchanged at this point. "As for the commander-in-chief... I have seen the situation map of Daming Prefecture drawn by the commander-in-chief for me. They can either annihilate the Song army under the city, and then go to Tokyo and turn to Heluo; or they will be helpless and tied to Daming Prefecture... But no matter which one it is, we have to rely on ourselves to hold on."
"Yes, since we are defending the city, we should have done it ourselves." Meng'an forced a smile. "The Song people were able to defend this city for 200 days, so why can't we defend it for 100 days? In 100 days, the commander-in-chief would have moved to Tokyo, and the Song army should have retreated on their own."
Wanyan Zhehe nodded, still serious: "Attack and defense of cities are the specialties of the Song people. We are in the field first... Although Taiyuan City is strong, I am not prepared to defend it for a hundred days. Fifty days will be enough... If the city is lost before fifty days, it will be me, Zhehe, who has failed the commander-in-chief. I will die with regrets. After fifty days, it will be the commander-in-chief who has failed me. I, Zhehe, will die without regrets... These are the original words I said to the commander-in-chief when I first accepted this position."
Meng'an next to him finally curled his lips helplessly, and it would be better if he didn't say anything... When encountering such a general, let alone fifty days or a hundred days, the key point is that his words are so boring, how can people tolerate it?
Time passed easily, and in just a few hours, the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month arrived in the biting cold wind. In the huge camp under Yuancheng, Daming Prefecture, Yue Fei held a military meeting with Hu Yin and Zhang Rong early in the morning and announced the decision to launch a large-scale siege on the city. Then Hu Yin announced the temporary suspension of rations on the grounds of the New Year, relaxed logistics, and rewarded the stored dried meat and fermented rice.
When the news came out, although the three armies knew that they would be attacking the city today, they still cheered loudly.
Next, the Song army was not in a hurry. They first had a leisurely breakfast, and then, while preparing for the siege, they lit a big fire and prepared a snack for the siege.
Unlike the evaporation of moisture caused by melting snowflakes under the city of Taiyuan, the moisture under the dry and cold city of Yuan could only be turned into clouds due to the rising water vapor. The Jin army, who were separated by a river, saw the smoke and steam coming from the other side of the river and heard constant noises from the opposite side, so they knew that the Song army was taking action, but they hurriedly regrouped their troops.
Immediately, Wuzhu and Balisu led the generals to climb the tall earthen hill that had just been built in Hexi in the past few days. They observed the situation from afar and immediately realized that the Song army was going to attack the city today.
However, these senior officers looked at each other in bewilderment, but none of them seemed too surprised... A few days ago, they had heard the news that the Zhao Song officials were making rapid progress in Hedong, and their hasty attack had failed, so they decided to cut off the river. They knew at that time that the Song army would respond.
The most direct reaction of the Song army, of course, was to attack the city.
However, since the Japanese military had made that decision, everyone tacitly understood that they wanted to give up Gao Jingshan and Yuan Cheng.
However, these words were destined not to be spoken, especially since there were two other people, Shaohe and Pu Suyue, in the army.
In this way, the four-character flag of the Song army and the five-color sun-holding flag of the Jin army were flying on the earthen hills on both sides of the river. The commanders of both sides saw the situation clearly. In addition, Gao Jingshan should have also climbed up the city wall in full armor, but in order to avoid being recognized and eliminated, he did not raise any flags or wear any overly obvious clothes.
Of course, the Song army also had an extra hot air balloon, but it had not been launched before the battle.
In this situation, the Song army openly prepared for the siege, and then openly used the extra meal on the battlefield, while the Jin army in the city also gathered behind the city wall early, ready to fight. The main force of the Jin army in Hexi decisively attacked before the Song army launched a formal attack.
However, this attack was undoubtedly easily suppressed by the Song army relying on the river embankment fortifications.
In the afternoon, as the hot air balloon of the Song army rose, the battle officially began. The artillery carts roared first, bombarding the remaining corner towers and temporary fortifications on the city wall, and more cannonballs fell directly on some of the weak points of the already shaky city wall. Then, under the cover of the artillery carts, the Song army from three sides and multiple directions almost moved out at the same time. Under various flags, the flashes of armor and white blades were like sparkling waves. Countless Song soldiers holding bows and crossbows pushed forward and suppressed continuously, and the goose carts also started one after another and headed straight to the city.
The so-called goose cart refers to a siege vehicle with four wheels and covered with iron sheets. It can be equipped with a battering ram underneath, or it can be left without a battering ram. It can directly carry people to the weak points under the city to carry out fortification work, such as digging tunnels, digging walls, or even just setting up a safe point under the city to facilitate subsequent sieges. It is considered the basic configuration for sieges.
Turning back to the present, at this scene, Gao Jingshan, who was wearing ordinary armor of a low-level officer, did not choose to leave the city, but stood on the bare north wall with a sword in his hand... Since sending Pu Suyue out, he has taken off that set of armor and no longer wears fur to climb the city walls. Instead, he has always stood on the front line in ordinary armor like today to stabilize the morale of the troops in the city.
However, despite the overwhelming artillery shells and goose carts heading straight for the city, Gao Jingshan's gaze remained uncertain... because he had not yet found the main means of siege used by the Song army today.
If the Song army wanted to launch a saturation attack, they would have cooked at four o'clock in the morning and started attacking the city early in the morning. However, on a winter day when it got dark very early, they delayed the attack until noon. This meant that they must have a core, main, and key killer weapon.
However, the rumbling of the artillery carts was only a general attack, and they were not concentrated in a certain direction to target a weak city wall. The same went for the goose carts. There were some in front of every city gate, and in front of several city walls where fortifications had been destroyed. But there were no backup goose carts prepared in front of any city gate or specific city wall. There was only one goose cart for each one... For example, here in the north, seven or eight goose carts were dispatched together, almost moving in parallel towards the city, with no connection in depth at all.
"There are movements in the tunnels we heard about before." An officer came up to the city wall and reported. "The east-west two tunnels are very obvious in the north of the city."
This made Gao Jingshan even more confused... The Jin army had already dug a trench in the city, so what was the use of the tunnel? And if this was the killer of the Song army, then maybe they could survive today.
However, would Yue Fei, who defeated Wang Bolun so decisively and efficiently that day, and who moved his camp directly to the foot of the city so ruthlessly, place his hopes on the tunnel?
The other party thinks that he is a fool and doesn’t know how to dig a trench?
Could there be an inside job?
While Gao Jingshan was thinking, the Song army's goose carts were approaching the city wall. Without time to think, he turned around and ordered his subordinates to go up to the city wall for defense and prepare for a rockfall attack... Stones were very precious. Basically, all of them were fired by the Song army in the past few days. The Song army was very cunning. After the fortifications on the top of the city were worn down, most of the projectiles turned into hard mud balls that had been polished and dried. This kind of projectile was still very lethal to humans, and would explode once it hit the ground, so it could not be used by the Jin army.
When facing a goose cart, mud balls are mostly useless. You still have to rely on stones and hooks, and more importantly, gunpowder and fuel for burning.
"Marshal, please use a little more force!" Wanyan Wushu, who could not see the specific details but could still see the Song army's offensive from a few miles to the west, could not help but whisper to Balisu beside him in the biting cold wind. "There are some things that I still need to explain to the Bohai Wanhu... Besides, there must be some reserves in the city. If Yue Fei suddenly captures it and there is no time to burn it, it will be disadvantageous to the situation."
Balisu was silent for a while. After a while, he turned around and looked at a Wanhu from Datong. The latter understood, shook his head and left.
In fact, what caused the Jin army to finally change its strategy was not the failure of the second general offensive due to the cold wave. In other words, there was another reason for the failure of the second general offensive - the scouts behind them reported that after the Song army broke through Queshu Valley, they suddenly attacked northward at an astonishing speed.
Just from the time sequence of the messengers sent out before several important towns were besieged, and the time sequence of several mountain passes in Taihang Mountains being blocked, the Jin army also realized that the main force of the Song army, and even including the Zhao Song official, the man who liked to sign his name as Zhao Jiu of Cangzhou, had arrived directly at the city of Taiyuan.
This news, coupled with the speed of the march and the scale of the army, really shocked the high-ranking officials of the Jin army in Hebei, especially the several Wanhu in Hedong Road, including Marshal Balisu, who quickly changed their positions and began to give up their insistence on Yuancheng. And if it failed, they could also take advantage of the situation to open the river to prevent Yue Fei's troops from going north, and the plan to block the river was also supported by Balisu at that time.
However, as the saying goes, everyone is more worried about Taiyuan, a few have begun to think about Zhending or Hejian, and some people are still concerned about Yuancheng... The new Wanhu Pu Suyue is fine, but Shaohe's attitude is particularly firm, and the Jin army's top leaders must consider the attitude of this powerful Wanhu.
The Jin army suddenly intensified its offensive on the river, which caught the Song army off guard, but this did not delay the advance under the city. Finally, two huge siege towers that completely matched the height of the Yuan city walls were also started.
Gao Jingshan became a little nervous and focused more on the two siege towers. However, the good news was that he could clearly feel that the sun seemed to be gradually moving westward.
This meant that time was running out and he just had to hold on.
By the way, if Gao Jingshan in Daming Prefecture was persisting in despair, then Wanyan Zhehe in Taiyuan Prefecture was in a strange mood at this time, because the Zhao Song officials in the south of the city seemed to be holding a banquet and conducting a formation that was obviously a performance.
The scene was grand. On the general platform in front of the Song army camp, which had just been built with rammed earth two days ago, there were tables and desks spread out widely, and countless officers, close ministers and aides were sitting in rows. Although the specific movements could not be seen clearly, the afternoon sun, coupled with the reflection of a little snow, made the vision clear. Wanyan Zhehe on the city wall could clearly perceive that there was someone behind the table placed in the middle under the dragon flag, and there seemed to be many things placed on the table.
In fact, it does not seem to be something incomprehensible to hold a banquet at this time, because it is the New Year. A banquet is held under the city, a military parade is conducted, and then generous rewards are given to boost morale of the troops, and to intimidate the people in the city by displaying military strength and supplies.
If you think about it this way, even Wanyan Zhehe, who said last night that Emperor Zhao was not the kind of person who would feast before a battle, felt that it made some sense.
But he was still caught in a complex emotion of confusion, vigilance, suspicion and astonishment, and his brows were furrowed.
Because he still could not accept that the Zhao Song official who defeated Wanyan Loushi would do such a thing - at the same time, countless Song soldiers and civilians were still digging pits and building embankments beside the Fen River west of the city as usual, and dozens of newly built goose carts were advancing from the east, north and south, continuing the previous work of removing deer fences and destroying sheep and horse walls.
This kind of thing happened every day before. Judging from the progress, it would take at least four or five days to completely destroy it. This was under the premise that Wanyan Zhehe endured and did not fire the artillery in the city.
And it was under such a circumstance that Emperor Zhao came out to feast in public and watched these ordinary things as if he were watching a drama.
At the same time, even tens of thousands of Song army soldiers were sitting in line in the snow on both sides of the general platform in front of the camp. They had eaten and drunk in front of the Jin army before, and now they were wearing full armor that was destined to be useless today, holding long spears, powerful crossbows, and axes that were also destined to be useless today, and they were like a guard of honor, posing for the people under the dragon flag in the middle, and also followed the official to watch the auxiliary soldiers and civilians do such ordinary things.
But what's so good about this?
Even with the protection of the goose carts, there are bound to be casualties... What's the point of eating and drinking while watching your soldiers die?
The man under the dragon banner was really the one who planted mulberry trees in the harem for seven or eight years as rumored, and who vowed to destroy the Jin Dynasty. In the span of ten years, he went from being an exiled official on the verge of national destruction to establishing himself in Nanyang, retaking Tokyo, defeating Loushi, and annihilating Western Xia. Has he become the Zhao Song official with a sword hanging over the heads of almost all the nobles of the Jin Dynasty?
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 vehicles 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, only a few close ministers and Wu Jie, Wang Yan, and Ma Kuo, who were still eating calmly, were left 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 areas 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 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 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, took 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 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 eased... 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.
At the same time, the earthen hills under the feet of the Jin army generals also rumbled and trembled, and then the neighing of the horses under the crotch of the generals began. But for some reason, it was clearly the horses under their crotch that were neighing, but the sound was as small as the sound of mosquitoes in summer. Instead, there was obvious tinnitus and a continuous but compact rumbling sound that came from an unknown direction.
Wuzhu was puzzled for a moment, and tried hard to suppress the tumbling of the warhorse under him. Then he turned around to look, but saw that almost all the cavalry on the hill were in the same struggle. Everyone was trying hard to control the warhorse under them, and many people who were caught off guard were thrown off the out-of-control and frightened warhorses.
The mountain collapsed!
Wuzhu finally caught the "reason" of the incident from the corner of his eye - a corner of the earthen hill suddenly collapsed, and someone had fallen down with his horse.
There will definitely be a lot of casualties this time. Even the rammed earth mound cannot be made solid. The officer in charge of the mound must be killed!
Wuzhu, who was still awkwardly holding down the warhorse under his crotch, was half angry and half speechless, and this thought flashed through his mind.
But, so I said but, just the next moment when the Fourth Prince caught the so-called truth and had this idea, suddenly, in the cold wind, an inexplicable heat wave rolled in from the east, which completely stunned Wuzhu, and he instinctively looked to the east.
However, at the first sight, the ruling prince of the Jin Dynasty fell off his horse.
But then, with blood all over his head and face, Wushu tried hard to get up, climbed onto a warhorse that belonged to someone unknown, and then took a closer look.
There was no other reason. At this moment, on the north side of Yuancheng, nearly a hundred steps away from the city gate tower, there were seven or eight white clouds in the sky that had not dissipated. And under the clouds, the city walls and gate towers that had stood tall before, as well as everything on the city walls and gate towers, and everything in front of the city walls and gate towers, had all disappeared.
Just like magic, it was all gone.
The warm wind dissipated and his hearing gradually recovered. The hill was still in chaos. Uncontrolled war horses were running rampant below the hill. Many people wearing heavy armor were thrown to the ground, suffering unbearable pain. Many others had bruised faces and noses, some even had blood all over their faces like the Fourth Prince. Some even fell headfirst from the collapsed hill and lay motionless.
At the same time, the troops in the river and behind the river were already in chaos. The Jin army camp was also in a mess, with countless people running and screaming, because they had no idea what was happening.
There was no good result in the Song army camp either. Countless Song soldiers and civilians were running around in their respective camps like headless flies. The most outrageous thing was that the hot air balloon broke free from the rope and floated to the north with the elite officers on it.
However, several senior officials such as Wuzhu and Balisu were either still on their horses or could only stand or sit on the earthen hill, without any reaction at all. No one cared about the chaos. Everyone just stared in a daze at the disappeared northern wall of Yuancheng.
After a long while, Wuzhu took a few deep breaths and came back to his senses. Then, with his face covered in blood, he turned around and sat on the dirt hill. Pu Lisu said, "Marshal... this smell is gunpowder... what the Song people wrote in the court newspaper a few years ago is true... their gunpowder is more powerful than thunder!"
Balisu, his face covered in mud, opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly, the Jurchen commander remembered something, then hugged Wuzhu's horse leg, stood up like crazy, and blurted out:
"Taiyuan! Taiyuan! Yuancheng is already like this, what's the point?! My Taiyuan is gone!!!"
Wuzhu was stunned for a moment, and felt the back of his head rolling towards him three times. He almost fell off the horse, but he used his feet to kick Balisu's body to prevent himself from falling off the horse for the second time.
Under the city of Taiyuan.
After a terrifying roar, Yuan Weiyi fled from the purple-robed wizard's tent in panic, but his warrior instinct made him firmly grasp a mallet with his still usable left hand... That was the mallet that Master Dahui had just used to help the kitchen in the tent smash rice cakes... There were many people in the army who were from the south of the Imperial Camp.
However, this was not the time to discuss this. Yuan Weiyi was in front, holding a club, and Monk Dahui was behind with empty hands. The two of them staggered and walked out of the tent in a daze, only to see that the entire camp and tent were filled with civilians and auxiliary soldiers running around!
Yuan Weiyi glanced at the inexplicably huge cloud in the northwest of the camp, and without caring whether Master Dahui knew Japanese or not, he turned around and spoke to Master Dahui in Japanese:
"Master, this is either an earthquake or a volcano. I've seen it before. Let's go and protect the official's house!"
Even though Monk Dahui was well versed in Buddhism and his ability to compose tongue twisters was even greater, he was still confused and panicked at this moment. He just instinctively followed the studious Japanese samurai in front of him and moved forward.
However, after walking for only half a minute and leaving the camp, the tinnitus disappeared and his mind recovered slightly. Suddenly, dozens of horns sounded from all directions. These were the horns for the army to march forward. Upon hearing this, all the panicked people, including some soldiers who were trying to camp in the camp, looked in the direction of the sound. However, in the panic, they saw the dragon flag on the general's platform suddenly raised and then slowly moved forward.
Then, countless noises came from the general platform. It was the imperial guards on the platform who were all shouting and yelling. At first, it seemed chaotic, but as the dragon flag moved forward a few steps, the sounds gradually became uniform. Monk Dahui could hear clearly that the guards on the platform were all shouting - "The city has been breached! The emperor is marching out!"
"The city has been breached! The government has marched out!"
Dahui repeated it several times, stumbling, but running forward with his hands clasped together. "The city has been breached, the emperor has marched out... the emperor has marched out!"
Not only that, at the same time, everywhere in the sky, everywhere on the ground, all around Taiyuan City, people seemed to be shouting: "The city has been breached, the government is marching out!"
Moreover, those soldiers lined up in front of the camp south of the city, tens of thousands of them, soldiers holding spears, soldiers holding long axes, soldiers holding bows, crossbows, swords and shields, all turned in the same direction as Monk Dahui, following the movement of the dragon flag, that is, swarming towards the west side of Taiyuan City.
Monk Dahui walked out of the camp gate in confusion and quickly ran to the side of the general platform, only to see that under the dragon banner was Emperor Zhao himself. He was not wearing armor, but only a military cotton coat. For some reason, his hands were shining with oil and spread out on both sides. He did not hold a sword, nor did he ride a horse or hold a bow. He just walked forward slowly, but with extraordinary determination, and was about to step down from the general platform.
Countless close ministers and guards crowded around him, staggering and rushing forward in a hurry as if they couldn't wait.
The highest-ranking ones were, of course, the yellow-faced Wu Jie and the black-faced Wang Yan. They were fully armed, one holding a sword, the other stroking a sword, standing on the left and right. When the emperor took one step, they took three steps forward, then turned back two steps, and just looked down at all the officers and soldiers below the stage within their sight, issuing orders non-stop:
"The city has been breached, the government has marched out! Follow them! Follow them!"
Wu Jie and Wang Yan did the same, and below them, Ren Baozhong and countless attendants followed suit. Only Yang Yizhong and Liu Yan remained silent, following Emperor Zhao closely, one in front and one behind. Fan Zongyin, Mei Li, Yu Yunwen and other civil officials also followed behind, but they just staggered and followed.
Taira no Kiyomori was among them. He turned around and saw Minamoto no Tameyoshi there, but he shouted in Japanese without hesitation: "The city has been breached, the emperor is marching out! Tameyoshi-sama, follow me!"
At this moment, Yuan Weiyi finally understood and hurried forward, but he had already lost his composure and had no time to think. The only thought in his mind was to catch up with the official. He did not even know to go around the platform and follow him from the front. Instead, he tried to climb up the platform in a straight line, holding the hammer and pulling his injured right arm, but fell down on the spot.
Monk Dahui seemed to be confused at this time. Instead of pointing the way, he pretended to be the origin of the matter and dragged the other person up to the steps of the platform, and then climbed up himself.
Climbing onto the already bare rammed earth platform, Yuan Weiyi instinctively glanced around, and as far as he could see, all around him were flags of the Song army and soldiers. These elite soldiers of the time, like an iron stream, rushed up from all directions regardless of everything. Behind the soldiers, countless auxiliary soldiers and civilians in red also poured out of the camp like crazy and followed closely behind them.
Everyone was repeating those two sentences, everyone was shouting those two sentences, as if these two sentences had some magic power.
The camps, the cities, the shining frozen rivers, the white snow, the countless surging iron streams of soldiers, the red tide behind the iron streams, and the dragon banner that was slowly but firmly moving forward.
After focusing on the dragon banner again, Yuan Weiyi immediately chased forward with the club in his hand. At the same time, an unprecedented intense thought came to his mind: This is a samurai, a real samurai! This is war, a real war! This is an emperor, a real emperor! This is the world, the real world!
What on earth was I doing in the first half of my life? Was I serving as a dog to those nobles who only slept with my daughter and granddaughter-in-law? !
However, the anger and excitement that was about to burst out turned into a voice, but it was just a sentence with a strange tone - "The city has been broken! The government has set out to fight!"
Yuan Weiyi, holding a rice cake beating mallet, ran forward, chasing Zhao Guanjia's dragon flag like a madman towards the huge cloud of smoke, which was south-west of the city. Then, he finally became part of the huge trend together with other Japanese samurai, Mongolian princes, Tangut auxiliary soldiers, Tibetan cavalry, and nearly 100,000 Song army soldiers and Han civilians.
At the same time when Yuan Weiyi was eager to integrate into the times, the monk Dahui, whose hair was already half an inch thick, stood on the podium in a daze, with his hands clasped together, staring at the smoke, the city and the dragon banner under the smoke, smelling the scent, and then hesitated a little.
As smart as he was, he had combined the rumors about the military parade several years ago, reacted on the spot, and then realized the truth of the matter.
So, he began to fear and hesitate instinctively... because this power was too strong, so strong that he didn't know whether he should be born, and the emperor under the dragon banner who mastered this power so skillfully was also too powerful, so strong that he didn't know what unspeakable things that person would rely on this power to do in the future?
But at the same time, a thought was about to come to his mind - isn't this the fate that the Buddha asked him to see?
Hasn’t this power already been born?
At this point, should we fear and escape from things that already exist?
As a practitioner, should we avoid existing things, whether they are karma or blessings?
With some determination, Dahui finally moved again, but he also uttered the only different voice on the battlefield.
As the saying goes:
"When the body, speech and mind are pure, it is called the Buddha's coming into the world.
The body, speech and mind are not pure, which is called the Buddha's extinction."
"Go back to the inner city!"
As if he was awakened by the monk Dahui's jingle, Wanyan Zhehe, who was climbing the battlements on the southern city wall of Taiyuan and feeling a tightness in his chest, suddenly looked at Meng'an beside him.
The man named Meng'an had a pale face and was chanting Buddhist mantras, but he seemed not to hear anything.
Wanyan Zhehe did not blame the other party, nor did he try to pull him by force. He just turned around immediately, went down the city wall alone, came to the foot of the city wall, found a frightened horse, and galloped directly into the city along the suspension bridge at the inner gate of the city wall.
After entering the city, he noticed that there was a huge gap and a dark pit in the southwest of the city, and a large number of Song army soldiers had already poured in from there. At this time, on the streets on the west side of Taiyuan City, teams of people with long axes and heavy steps began to sweep in sequence, and the sounds of Song army shouting and advancing were heard all around the city.
The words "The city has been breached, the government has gone out to fight" shook the world.
But Zhehe just ignored him and rode his horse hard, trying to get back to the inner city before the Song army.
However, just as he arrived at the famous T-junction in Taiyuan City and was about to turn, suddenly, a loud thunderclap was heard again in the northeast corner of Taiyuan, between the two east and north city gates, which should have been the most strongly defended.
This sound was far less shocking than the one that came from the southwest of the city a quarter of an hour ago, but it still frightened the warhorse under him again, and it fell to the ground.
After Wanyan Zhehe struggled to get up, he ignored the pain and stuffiness in his body and quickly climbed up to a small tavern building on the side of the road. Then he leaned on the railing and looked into the distance. He saw that behind the smoke, the iconic red copper masks of Han Shizhong's troops were swarming in from the gap.
As he entered the city, he kept repeating the same words: "The city has been breached, the government is marching out!"
Zhehe looked back at the inner city wall of Taiyuan City in front of him, which was identical to the outer city. Just one glance and he realized that it didn't matter whether he went to the inner city or not.
Then, the man looked up to the sky and sighed. He no longer rushed into the city, nor did he turn back to the sturdy city wall, nor did he try to escape. Instead, he began to estimate the situation in his mind.
Not a hundred days, not fifty days, not even ten days, the key to the world, Taiyuan City, the heart of Hedong, was only defended for eight days? !
When he thought of this, he didn't know whether it was because he was too close to the first explosion, or because his heavy armor was knocked to the ground by his horse, or because he suddenly caught a glimpse of the dragon banner urging countless soldiers to pour in from the southwest gap. The old Jurchen general felt a tightness in his chest and then collapsed on the restaurant next to the T-junction.
However, after another quarter of an hour, after watching many soldiers enter the city, Emperor Zhao, who was standing outside the gap with his hands hanging down, finally walked to the gap. Then, after climbing to the inner edge of the pit, he suddenly stopped and rubbed his greasy hands on the exploded rammed earth wall.
That was caused when I was eating the duck just now.
After wiping off the grease, the unarmored Emperor Zhao, with his hands covered in black ash, turned his head through the gap to look at the civil and military officials in the pit behind him who had already regained their composure, and announced openly:
"My lords, the city has been breached!"
Upon hearing the official's words, Wu Jie was the first to react. He took a half step forward with his sword, took off his gloves, and imitated the official wiping the dust on the ground with his hands. Then he bowed respectfully in the gap and replied:
"Reporting to the emperor, congratulations to the emperor, Taiyuan City has indeed been captured!"
The people around followed suit, smearing dust on their bodies and bowing down. Zhao Jiu said nothing, just sneered, then turned around and walked into Taiyuan City.
Thousands of miles away, Yue Fei was caught off guard and it took him a long time to stop the chaos among his subordinates. He then calmly ordered his troops to enter the city, but he was actually half an hour late for Emperor Zhao.
The poem says:
"In simple terms, I am picking radish in the new fields over there, in the radish fields over here.
Fang Shu stopped at the riverside with his 3,000 chariots, and tried his hand at the battle.
Fang Shu led the army to a halt, riding on his four horses, which moved with great caution.
The carriages on the road have chariots, mats, fish-shaped clothes, and hook-shaped anklets.
I am talking about picking radish in the new fields over there and in the countryside here.
Fang Shu stopped at the riverside, with three thousand chariots and flags in the center.
Fang Shu led the group to a halt, and the eight phoenixes were in a state of confusion.
He who obeys his command, is the emperor of Zhu Fu, and has jade beads and green onions.
The falcons fly high into the sky and gather here to rest.
Fang Shu stopped at the riverside with his 3,000 chariots, and tried his hand at the battle.
Fang Shu led the troops to stop, the gong players beat drums, and the troops were deployed and marched.
Xian Yun Fang Shu, beat the drum loudly, and mobilize the troops to march forward.
You are stupid and barbaric, and you are the enemy of a great nation.
Fang Shu is an elder, and he is able to strengthen his strength.
Fang Shu led his men to stop and arrested and interrogated Chou.
The chariots rumbled and roared like thunder and lightning.
Xian Yun Fang Shu, conquer the Xianyun, and the Man Jing will come to show their power. "
(End of Volume 5)