As the sun began to set in the west, on top of the city walls of Taiyuan, the spreading vanguard retreated from sight.
Black smoke rose into the sky from both near and far, and the flames on top of the city walls were still burning. People pushed the corpses off the walls, hung the wolf fang and other defensive items on top of the walls, and piled up sandbags inside the parapet wall.
In the wilderness below, the dark red blood and corpses interweaved to form a tragic picture. Most of the corpses belonged to the civilians of the Wu dynasty who had been driven to attack the city. The dead and the undead were mixed together. Painful moans continued, but most of the moans had become weak. Countless corpses and people who were about to die lay in the wilderness. Further away were the civilian captives who had not died but were close to despair, and the murderous and ambitious Jurchen army.
Qin Shaohe stood on top of the wall and looked at the Jin camp on the other side. During the battle, as the commanding officer, he had also participated in the battle on the wall and killed two Jin soldiers with his own hands. At this moment, his body was mottled with blood, and a corner of his official robe had been burnt black.
After a day and a night of fierce fighting without rest, when people saw the countless tragic scenes on top of the wall, their emotions were no longer compassion. The numbness and trembling of the body resonated with the whole world, and a buzzing sound filled the surrounding air. Every inch of the world, the awareness of death, the fear hidden behind it, the impulse for blood, and the lingering fear after being injured all mixed together.
At the same time as these things came, there was also some kind of even greater emotion that surpassed all of these, expanding before his eyes. Of course, perhaps only in the heart of a Confucian general like Qin Shao would this kind of emotion appear. The collision and life and death of more than a hundred thousand people, pain and hope, countless people's pasts extending to this point, many were about to come to an abrupt end in this wave of anger.
"It's not that difficult to defend." Looking in the direction where Wanyan Zonghan was, Qin Shaohe murmured in a hoarse voice, but his words did not gain the approval of the generals behind him.
Because the Jurchen's previous achievements were too glorious, when the enemy's vanguard reached Taiyuan, the people defending the city did not know whether they could defend the city under the first wave of attack. It was also because of the worry and self-awareness in his heart that Qin Shaohe, as one of the main officials, personally rushed to the city wall to fight. Although they had waited for the Female Enlightened to retreat after a day and a night, they did not feel relaxed at all. Because of this emotional influence, when Qin Shaohe said words to boost morale, the generals behind him did not immediately agree.
Of course, this also proved that under Qin Shaohe's deployment, the generals did not slack off in the rear. They had already felt the pressure brought by the Female Zhenren in this first collision.
After looking at each other for a while, the time to express their agreement had passed. One of them pointed to the front and said in a low voice, "Magistrate, the reason why the Jins failed to attack the city the first time was because they rushed here and did not prepare the siege weapons properly. Even if they retreat now, they will definitely not retreat. Instead, they will need to spend some time to prepare the weapons. The next attack will be even fiercer. We must not let our guard down."
"General Han is right." Qin Shaohe nodded. "Now that things have come to this, we already know how fierce the Female Enlightened Master has become. Look at those people below the city wall. From today onwards, the only path in front of us is to defend. But the good thing is that we have never fought before. Everyone has been speculating about the Female Enlightened Master's strength. Now that we have clashed, we know that although the Female Enlightened Master is powerful, she is not a demon with three heads and six arms. There is a limit. Everyone, from now on, the hundreds of thousands of lives in Taiyuan are in our hands … work hard. "
He cupped his hands, and the other generals also solemnly cupped their hands. Qin Shaohe said with a smile, "But this is also good. I heard that Wanyan Agu only used six hours to capture Shangjing. We have already defended well." As he said this, he walked to the side, picked up a bow and arrows, and went to the city wall. Looking down at the moaning people, he aimed for a moment and released an arrow.
Among the corpses below, a Wu dynasty commoner whose hands and feet were broken but who was still alive was shot through the heart. Finally, he breathed his last.
Holding the bow, Qin Shaohe stood there staring blankly at the corpses below for a long time. Finally, he took a step back and waved his hand. "Pass on my order. Let the Divine Archer Unit and the Military Law Unit choose the commoners below who are seriously injured and can't be saved. If it's too painful, let's send them on their way …"
He walked down the city wall. Not far away, a man named Cheng Zhouhai walked in his direction. Although his clothes were neat and tidy, not a hair out of place, whether it was the dust on his robe or the complexion on his face, it was clear that he had been working hard for the past few days. When he walked in front of him, Cheng Zhouhai cupped his hands and bowed. "Sir Qin, since the battle has come to an end, it's time to let the young men I've organized take turns to go up the city to take a look."
Qin Shaohe nodded. "Send them up. It's time to let them see what the people outside the city are like. Tell them that if the city is breached, they will look like this … But although the Female Zhenren has retreated, it's hard to say if it's a feint. When you send people up, don't send too many. Beware of the Female Zhenren's spies mixed in. In addition, if the Female Zhenren attacks the city again, immediately withdraw …"
After talking for a while, Qin Shaohe felt that he was being too long-winded. Then, he smiled bitterly and patted Cheng Zhouhai's shoulder. Having worked in the Prime Minister's residence for so long, in terms of meticulous planning, Cheng Zhouhai was superior to him. Smiling slightly, Cheng Zhouhai only answered, "Yes." Then, he glanced at his assistant beside him. The assistant nodded and left.
Cheng Zhouhai gazed at the city walls. Qin Shaohe, who had patted his shoulder, gazed forward. The buildings on the outskirts of Taiyuan near the city walls were being demolished. Soldiers and commoners bustled about in their field of vision. Farther away, the rows upon rows of buildings in Taiyuan stretched out. The war had already begun. The lives of hundreds of thousands of people still had to continue in a tense manner.
In the wilderness outside the city, the autumn wind of August whistled through the wilderness filled with the smell of blood and smoke. Corpses, the wounded, and the assembled, restless army stretched all the way. What awaited them was also an unknown fate.
This was the beginning of the battle of Taiyuan …
Not long after, Qin Shaoqian led the Wu Rui Battalion to meet the enemy at Shou Zhang. What met them was the army led by Wanyan Zongwang and Guo Yaoshi. The two armies fought back and forth for a whole day near Shou Zhang, which had already turned into scorched earth. Qin Shaoqian did not order the Wu Rui Battalion to confront the enemy head-on. He divided the Wu Rui Battalion into five groups of nearly ten thousand men. Taking advantage of the geographical advantage, he allowed them to deal with Guo Yaoshi near Shou Zhang, and from time to time assumed a feint attack posture. From time to time, they would assume a feint attack, while large numbers of scouts and squads would erupt in the surroundings.
In this kind of back and forth battle, Guo Yaoshi chose to advance in a relatively conservative manner in order to determine the situation. In this kind of feint attack and small-scale attack, Qin Shaoqian led the most elite group of soldiers, turning the feint into reality and charging directly at Zhang Linghui's army. The two sides erupted in a fierce battle near Xizhi Village to the north of Shou Zhang. Qin Shaoqian tried to swallow up the weaker Zhang Linghui with his first attack, but he only managed to gain a partial advantage.
On the other side, Guo Yaoshi was engaged in a fierce battle with a group of ten thousand soldiers who were in charge of restraining the enemy. After an hour, the group of ten thousand was defeated.
The defeated soldiers fled in all directions. Qin Shaoqian had already arranged for many liaison officers to gather in the vicinity. Following that, the entire battlefield of Shou Zhang seemed to turn into a vast expanse of loose sand. The enemy seemed to be everywhere, and the fighting became more and more intense. However, no one was the main force. Qin Shaoqian led the ten thousand soldiers who were good at fighting to hide in the surroundings. At the same time, he used his greatest strength to maintain the operation of the battlefield, waiting for an opportunity to deliver the fiercest blow to Guo Yaoshi and the others. Meanwhile, Guo Yaoshi began to gather his troops and pounced on Shou Zhang County, which was guarded by ten thousand soldiers.
This chaotic battle lasted for a day. Dozens of small scale battles erupted, and two large-scale battles broke out. However, this made it impossible for Guo Yaoshi and the others to concentrate on attacking the county. A day later, Wanyan Zongwang's main force arrived. Eighty to ninety thousand soldiers met up in Shou Zhang. After colliding with the Wu Rui Battalion, they marched majestically through Shou Zhang County.
The Wuwei and Wusheng troops, who were supposed to attack Zongwang's troops in a pincer formation, were stationed in Jinan and Daiming. However, they did not appear from the beginning to the end. As for the Wu Rui Battalion, who had taken the initiative to intercept the Jurchen army, apart from Qin Shaoqian's superb commanding skills, there wasn't much to mention in this battle …
After this battle, Wanyan Zongwang killed his way into the Central Plains!
*****
A large number of wounded soldiers, defeated soldiers, and the civilians near Shou Zhang retreated from the front. Sounds of chaos filled the sky.
Ning Yi and Wenren Bu 'Er stood by the roadside, watching the scene of defeat.
"Although we knew that General Qin would lose, we really don't have much time left."
Wenren Bu 'Er took a deep breath and sighed in a low voice. After a while, they met a wounded general who was retreating. "Where is General Qin? Where is your General Qin? "
The general looked at Wenren Bu 'Er and Ning Yi, then shook his head. "I don't know! I don't know! He only ordered us to retreat to Dongping! You can ask someone else! "
The general blended into the crowd and left. Wenren Bu 'Er looked at Ning Yi, who looked serious and calm. Ning Yi tilted his head and looked at the crowd. "Don't you think it's a leisurely retreat?"
"What?"
"Look at these people. They are the civilians. It means they didn't leave in a hurry, right?"
"… Yes." Wenren Bu 'Er hesitated for a while and then said, "But the Jurchen Zhenren left too fast. We can't keep up with the original plan …"
"We have to do it even if we can't keep up." Ning Yi closed his eyes and opened them after a while. "After all, this is a game of chess. You can't expect others to move at your pace …"
After saying this, he walked into the crowd and pulled a defeated general. The general stretched out his hand to draw his saber, but Ning Yi held his wrist. "General, where is General Qin? Where is your General Qin? "
The general was still in shock. He looked at Ning Yi up and down and then waved his hand. "How would I know?"
The sky was filled with an ominous atmosphere. This was just a part of the chaos. The Jurchen Zhenren's advance meant that the plan of strengthening the defense and clearing the field was lagging behind from the beginning.
On the seventh day of the eighth month in the thirteenth year of Jinghan, Emperor Zhou Zheqian issued an order to strengthen the defense and clear the field in five directions, namely Hedong East, Hedong West, Jingdong East, Jingdong West, and Hebei. However, the public opinion in the court and society was still in a very subtle state.
The Jurchen Zhenren came too fast. The whole society hadn't been shrouded by the fear of war. While Ning Yi and the others were strengthening the defense and clearing the field with the Prime Minister's Mansion, the impeachment memorials were flying to Emperor Zhou Zheqian's desk like snowflakes.
In a war, using a method like fortifying the walls and clearing the fields was too decisive a measure. The benefits involved in the migration of tens of millions of people and the destruction of resources was an astronomical figure. Not to mention that it was just before the autumn harvest. In any case, the majority of the people who wanted to strengthen the defense and clear the field basically had two attitudes. One was because of the benefits. To strengthen the defense and clear the field, to migrate people and burn down the fields and houses, the ones who would be affected the most were the big landlords and gentry in the north. What could support this position was a relatively rational attitude. That was: Strengthening the defense and clearing the field was of no use. It would only cause a large number of civilians to die at the hands of their own people.
This argument was very tenable. On the most intuitive level, the Jurchen Zhenren's entire army to the south was only 200,000 people. How many places could they sweep by fighting along the way? How many people could they kill? Most places would not be affected by the disaster of war. These people could survive in the cracks of the war. And even if they really strengthened the defense and cleared the field, if these 200,000 people wanted food, they could easily conquer a place and satisfy their needs. On the land of tens of millions of people, how much could you clear the field to make all the food disappear?
"Even if the imperial court can't stop the Jurchen Zhenren, they should let the people live!"
In the discussions of the Confucian scholars, this measure caused an indescribable backlash. But the real support for this measure was the attitude of Emperor Zhou Zhe. In a sense, Zhou Zhe was the synonym for boldness. Only his support could allow this matter to remain unshakable in the face of so many denunciations. And as the upper echelons of the Wu dynasty, Cai Jing, Tong Guan, Li Gang, Qin Siyuan, and the others might have faintly seen the seriousness of this matter. When the middle and lower echelons quarreled fiercely, the attitude of these people with real power was surprisingly consistent. They just watched the matter silently. This was something that Li Gang and Qin Siyuan could not explain.
Under the operation of the low-level officials north of the Yellow River, the initial stage of strengthening the defense and clearing the field had achieved great results. But the real focus of Ning Yi and the others was actually placed south of the Yellow River from the beginning. They led a large number of refugees south, exaggerated the atmosphere of war, and promoted the necessity of strengthening the defense and clearing the field. The atmosphere of terror quickly accumulated. But just as Wenren Bu 'er said, the Jurchen Zhenren came too quickly.
The denunciations and impeachment war in the imperial court were still going on chaotically. In restaurants and brothels, scholars and scholars talked passionately about the war and the heroism of the frontline. On the 20th of the eighth month, Wanyan Zongwang's troops began to cross the Yellow River. Zhou Zhe shouted in the throne room, "Why hasn't the area around the capital been cleared yet!"
Just before this day, the troops near the capital had already transported a large amount of food into the city. Then, they finally began to drive away the commoners wantonly and plunder the food. A huge and chaotic civil unrest began to break out. When a county magistrate asked the commoners to evacuate, he was stoned to death by an angry commoner. Then, the army began to clash with the commoners. Under this rapid and violent situation, the debate about strengthening the defense and clearing the field in the capital came to an abrupt end. An atmosphere of panic began to envelop every corner of the city. A large number of people poured into the capital, and a large number of people poured out towards the south.
On the 23rd of the eighth month, the Yellow River defense line collapsed. The Jurchen Zhenren's Eastern Army crossed the Yellow River.
Ning Yi and the others' previous plans had created a certain order and convenience for the transportation of food and the migration of people near Kaifeng. But a large number of people were still swept up in the flames of war. For the first time in more than two hundred years, the flames of war had spread to the south bank of the Yellow River. No one had expected the beginning of the war to extend so quickly. It seemed that it had only just begun, but it had already come to an end.
On the 28th of the eighth month, only slightly more than a month after the Jurchen Zhenren's war, Wanyan Zongwang killed thousands of miles and began to besiege Dongjing. Then, he launched an attack.
The defense forces of the capital of the Wu Dynasty had all been pulled back into the city. At the same time as the defense of Dongjing began, Zhou Zhe's orders were sent out. More than 300,000 troops from all over the country began to gather in Dongjing. Among them were the troops of Wuwei and Wusheng, who had not moved in the battle of Shouzhang. An even larger and more chaotic war was about to begin outside Dongjing.
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