First, there was a slight tremor in the air.
The withered grass on the plain beside the short forest lay low, and the soil particles trembled slightly in the grass. Then, the sound gradually grew louder, and the light hooves gradually turned into a rapid roar. Suddenly, warhorses galloped out of the short forest!
One horse, ten horses, a hundred horses … The galloping horses rushed toward the plain like a clashing torrent. The riders on the horses were tall and rugged, wearing loose northern robes and fox tail hats. They were the Jin cavalry coming from the north. As they galloped at high speed, the riders were also skillfully drawing their bows and nocking arrows.
Along the ground in front of them, more than five hundred Wu dynasty soldiers had already formed a tight formation, their long spears piercing out in front of the formation like a forest. General Tang Weiguang looked at the elite Jurchen cavalry galloping over, clenched his fists, and raised them high, shouting, "Don't panic! Keep the formation in order! Stick close! Bows and arrows ready — "
"— Release!"
A stone's throw away.
The rain of arrows flew up into the sky, crisscrossing in the air and falling in different directions.
Hundreds of horses turned in the midst of galloping, drawing a huge arc in the midst of the roar. Arrows fell with pitter patter patter, some hitting the shields, some stabbing into the soil, and a small portion of them seeing blood.
Tang Weiguang pushed away the shield-holding guards beside him and stared at the Jurchen cavalry with wide eyes. The roaring torrent drew an arc in the front and flank them.
"Bows and arrows ready! Pass on my order! Turn the formation to the west — Don't panic! As long as we don't panic, they can't do anything to us — "
The formation of spears and sabers and shields turned in another direction and faced the Jurchen cavalry again.
"Push —"
The forest of spears slowly advanced. In front of them, the torrent of Jurchen cavalry rushed over again, forming an arc in front of them.
Almost at the same time that the Jurchen cavalry shot the arrows, Tang Weiguang suddenly waved his hand.
"Release —"
The rain of arrows crisscrossed again and fell sparsely. On the Jurchen side, some cavalry also fell off their horses.
"There's nothing to be afraid of. Focus on them and push!"
The infantry slowly advanced through the forest of spears, and the archers drew their bows once more. The Jurchen cavalry pulled away and then turned back to fire a third time. After this exchange of fire, the Jurchen cavalry split into two groups, crossing each other for a moment before flanking Wang Chong from different directions. The formation of the Infantrymen began to change again. They spread out and tightened in the middle. Another volley of attacks came from both sides. After gathering, the four-hundred-some Jurchen cavalry made a small circle before reluctantly departing into the distance.
In front of them were the corpses of several Jurchen soldiers and their wounded warhorses. It was too late for them to collect them.
Tang Weiguang clenched his fists and gazed in that direction. His palms were slightly sweaty and trembling. He was still confirming whether or not the Enlightened Lady had truly left. In the previous rounds of confrontation, neither side had suffered heavy losses, and the response and change of formation seemed simple. However, he knew in his heart that as long as there was a slight difference, his more than five hundred people would instantly collapse and be harvested like sheep by the Enlightened Woman in the wilderness.
"Milord, we won." Someone on the side joyfully said, "The golden dogs were chased away by us!"
"Uh …" Tang Weiguang was startled. He originally wanted to subconsciously refute, but then he nodded and said, "Find someone to collect the spoils of war and bandage the wounded."
He walked towards the soldiers in front and said, "Did you see that? The golden dogs were chased away by us! There's nothing to be afraid of. As long as we follow the drill, these golden dogs won't dare to clash with us! We've trained so much, what's there to be afraid of — "
Someone immediately shouted, "Milord, we're not afraid!"
"That's right, they're just some uncivilized Jurchen barbarians. If one of them comes, we'll chop off their pair —"
Someone laughed loudly. Tang Weiguang also laughed and said, "Good! That's how it should be. When we go back, I'll ask for your merits! "
Cheers erupted from the army.
Then the scouts went to investigate the whereabouts of the Jurchen cavalry. A group of soldiers dragged away the corpses of the Enlightened Woman and the horses that fell from the wilderness.
Within a radius of a hundred miles outside Bianliang City, a large number of troops had gathered from all directions. There were as many as 170,000 soldiers stationed in the core area, mainly gathered around Lan Kao and Qi County to confront the Jin soldiers. At this time, the total number of troops in Bianliang City was between 70,000 and 90,000. On the other hand, there were tens of thousands of soldiers scattered around Kaifeng Prefecture. They were responsible for defending the place and evacuating the crowd, putting pressure on the Jurchen's grain raiding team and squeezing the living space of the Enlightened Woman.
Teams of five hundred, one thousand, two thousand were scattered around this area. Every day, conflicts broke out everywhere. The Jurchen's grain raiding team met with them and started fighting. Battle reports after battle reports showed the intensity of the conflicts before the war …
*****
"… On average, there are at least 20 conflicts involving more than 200 people every day. Eighty percent of the reports on our side are victories. I think the Jurchen is about to surrender."
Yellow leaves drifted down, and the small group of carriages moved forward on the road in the forest. Ning Yi rode on a horse, frowning as he spoke in a low voice. Beside him was Su Wending of the Su Clan. The young and inexperienced young man at that time also had a calm expression on his face.
"Seeing that the war is imminent, I think the army also wants to boost their morale."
"The problem is that these things are actually not very meaningful." Ning Yi said, "And you are too naive. The war is imminent … but many people are not confident. The upper echelons of the military, Tong Guan, Gao Qiu, and the others don't have the confidence, and neither does Minister Li … Of course, we can't say that Minister Li doesn't have the confidence, but this time he is under too much pressure. There are more than 80,000 troops in the capital, but they won't send a single soldier. And now, there are nearly 200,000 troops outside. If they fight with Wanyan Zongwang, no one has the confidence to win. What everyone is really waiting for is negotiations. "
"Of course, we can't worry too much about these things." Ning Yi did not continue to talk about the overall situation and sighed. "Recently, I've been having a headache about how to deal with the cavalry. It's really difficult to deal with the kidnappers of the Jin, except for another cavalry unit."
Su Wending thought for a moment. "Didn't the army say that if the infantry formation is maintained well, it's not impossible to defeat them?"
"That's just a nice thing to say." Ning Yi shook his head. "After all, the Jurchen has fewer people here than us, and the war hasn't started yet. They don't want to fight head-on, so they are probing with a circular formation. If you can handle it, he will leave. If you can't handle it, he will take advantage of it. But if you want to chase him, you can't catch up with him no matter what. So the current reports of victory are all fake and meaningless. "
"The Jurchen is afraid of fighting head-on. Is there a way to force them to fight head-on …" Su Wending said.
"Let's not talk about how to force them. Even if they really did fight head-on, they would still be courting death. If they really used the cavalry to charge, there would be some casualties at the front, but after the infantry formation was broken, the formation would naturally be messed up. With the current combat power of the Wu dynasty army, the next step would be to reap the harvest. At that time, the real battle report would most likely be a crushing defeat. Right now, it's just that the Jurchen doesn't want to pay even this little loss. "
As they spoke, someone suddenly galloped over on horseback from the front. It was an expert recruited by Takeshi. At this time, as a scout, he whispered a few words, causing Ning Yi's expression to change slightly …
*****
Outside the forest was a smooth hillside. At the foot of the hillside, a fierce chase and slaughter was coming to an end. The fleeing soldiers were caught up by the cavalry that came running from behind, and their heads were chopped off with their long swords. A large number of tragic casualties spread in front and behind the road.
This was a Wu Dynasty army that had been scattered. Some of the defeated soldiers were chased into a small village in front of them, but most of the people in the village had already evacuated. Some cavalry rushed in, and not long after, they set the village on fire.
Some of the cavalry on the road outside searched the corpses for oil, but they moved very quickly. The small amount of unpalatable rations that the army had brought were also quickly thrown away. It seemed that these cavalry still had something to do. After gathering, they ran back in the direction they had come from. In the afternoon sun, a Jurchen cavalry cheered and threw a head into the sky.
The cavalry left. After a while, Ning Yi, Qi Xinhan, and a few other guards appeared at the edge of the woods. He knew that he had encountered the 20% chance of success other than the report of victory.
They came down from the grassy slope to check if there were any survivors. When they finally found a wounded man on the verge of death in the grass by the side of the road, Ning Yi was slightly stunned when he heard what the man said. He looked in the direction that the Jurchen cavalry had left in.
But at this time, there was nothing he could do …
The Jurchen cavalry ran back several miles. A group of over a thousand people was surrounded by some of them. At this time, the Jurchen Zhenren was forcing them to hand over their belongings, belongings, rice, and other things. It was already nearing the end. The things that they had handed over were piled up into a small mountain in front of the formation …
*****
Tian Ashan felt his hands and feet were cold, and his whole body was trembling. He felt that he might die.
His wife held his hand and kept crying in a low voice. She cried but didn't dare to make a sound to alarm the Jurchen Zhenren, so she kept trembling.
When the Jurchen Zhenren drove them to hand over their belongings and rice, they went over and threw their belongings and gold and silver on that small mountain. Then, he heard the Jurchen Zhenren say something. He was stunned, and then the other party repeated it. He was very clear that the other party was saying in Chinese, "Take off your clothes!"
"Wh, what …"
"Take off your clothes. Who knows if you're hiding something on your body. And all of you, take off your clothes!"
A Jurchen Zhenren suddenly said, "That's right! That's right! "
Then, there was a roar of laughter.
Tian Ashan was stunned and could only subconsciously shake his head. In the next moment, the Jurchen Zhenren came over impatiently and pulled his wife to the side. With a swoosh, she tore her clothes. "Take off your clothes!"
"Ah —" The woman screamed crazily. Tian Ashan subconsciously waved his hand. "What are you doing? Don't …" Not far away, a Jurchen general walked over with a gloomy face. With a swoosh, he slashed with his saber and then kicked Tian Ashan away.
Tian Ashan saw his hands fly out and blood spurt out. The Jurchen general's saber had pierced through his wife's back.
"What are you doing! Don't delay. "The general shouted in Jurchen language," Kill — "
"Yes!"
More than four hundred Jurchen cavalry pulled out their sabers at the same time and slashed into the crowd.
…
The intense and boiling time only lasted for a moment before the sound gradually disappeared. The Jurchen Zhenren each picked up their spoils of war. Looking at the afternoon sun, they returned in the direction of Camel Mou Hill. Not long after, on their way back, they encountered a thousand-man army of the Wu dynasty. The two sides confronted each other for a moment. The Jurchen Zhenren threw down some heavy objects and a few large carriages. Carrying only the valuable belongings and grains, they ran to the side.
Not long after, Ning Yi saw this victory report among the many intelligence reports. It was about the Jurchen Zhenren brutally slaughtering a troop of more than a thousand civilians. After plundering their belongings, they encountered a flanking troop of the Martial Victory Battalion. After a fierce battle, the Jurchen Zhenren fled, and this troop took back a large amount of belongings.
This kind of victory and defeat played out intensely every day.
*****
In Taiyuan, the autumn wind rustled.
When Qin Shaohe walked out of the city gate tower, he subconsciously coughed a few times and wrapped his clothes tightly around himself.
The city walls were filled with soldiers standing guard. Inside and outside, there were countless traces of battle, bloodstains, traces of fire, and traces of stone bullets. Outside the city, the Jurchen Zhenren's tents stretched out. Separated by thick wooden walls, one could see the figures of soldiers walking among them. The attack and defense that had lasted more than a month had ended several days ago. It seemed that the Jurchen Zhenren was planning to defend for a long time and would no longer attack. Walking on the city walls and among the soldiers, Qin Shaohe suddenly felt as if the world had quietened down.
It was hard to imagine how great the pressure of repeated attacks and defenses for more than a month was. The city walls had been breached several times and taken back several times. Several times, Qin Shaohe had thought that Taiyuan was about to fall. Outside the city, Wanyan Zonghan had long since threatened to kill everyone in Taiyuan after it was breached, but in the end, the city walls were still firmly defended.
Even though Qin Shaohe had never truly fought with his blade after he took the lead for the first time, he had still been injured a few times on the city wall. His body was now much thinner, and his body emitted the smell of medicine, giving off the illusion that he would be blown away by the wind. But his eyes had become even more calm and resolute than before. This was something that had accumulated after the deaths of so many people around him.
He looked quietly in the direction of the Jurchen tent from a distance. And at this moment, he actually understood why the world was so quiet.
Taiyuan had become a lonely city.
In the second half of the siege, the commander of the Jurchen side was not Zonghan, but his subordinate, Great General Yin Shuke. Zonghan had led some other troops to flatten all the cities near Taiyuan in half a month, turning Taiyuan into a lonely city.
But it was also like a nail, nailing the Jurchen Zhenren's Western Army here, making it impossible for them to advance south with peace of mind.
Someone came over from the side. It was Li Pin, who also smelled of medicine and was thin. Not long ago, Qin Shaohe had ridiculed him, saying that scholars were weak and that Li Pin had fallen ill from exhaustion. But even though he was ill, he was still accurately responsible for his work. Cheng Zhouhai, who had been responsible for inciting many people to climb the city walls, was also in poor health.
"Lord Qin, the food has been gathered and counted," Li Pin said. "There's still enough food in the warehouse to feed the people in the city for three months. If we start saving now, we can drag on for half a year."
"That's enough." Qin Shaohe laughed. "When the news outside was cut off, I knew that hundreds of thousands of people were gathering in Bianliang. As long as we can solve the siege of Bianliang, the siege of Taiyuan will naturally be solved. The Jurchen advance is so fast and their offensive is so strong, so we have to win quickly. In my opinion, they won't be able to last through the winter. Cough cough … you and I can only stay in Taiyuan and waste time with Ni Han and the others. "
"This lowly officer is fortunate." Li Pin cupped his hands and smiled.
"You wouldn't know if you didn't fight." Qin Shaohe held his hands behind his back and looked up at the sky. He let out a long sigh. "If I hadn't defended the city this time, I wouldn't have known that I could fight so well, that I could actually … defend this city …"
His voice became softer. As he spoke, he thought of the many people he had seen die on the city walls. Among these people were soldiers and commoners. The fighting over the past month had been too fierce, and his body was often stained with blood. He often ran over corpses and even fell into pools of blood. At the time, he hadn't had the time to look at these dead people, but now he remembered.
In the end, they were the ones who had defended this city …
The bitter autumn wind blew. Winter was coming. When the snow sealed off the mountains, even the Jurchen who had walked out of a world of ice and snow would find it very difficult to launch a siege in such weather. At that time, the situation in Taiyuan City would perhaps be greatly alleviated. Qin Shaohe relaxed slightly. He knew that as long as he could pin down the Jurchen's Western Army, it would be enough to greatly alleviate the situation in the capital. Within the city, whether it was Qin Shaohe, Li Pin, Cheng Zhouhai, or the numerous generals and officials, they all understood all of this.
They were about to accomplish something incredible.
And because the news was cut off, Qin Shaohe didn't know that, under the leadership of Zhe Keqiu and Liu Guangshi, the strongest Western Army of the Wu dynasty was already fighting with Wanyan Zonghan at Heaven's Gate. He also didn't know that, at the same time, in the midst of the standoff outside the capital, the Imperial Court was discussing Wanyan Zongwang's proposal to cede Taiyuan and other places for peace talks.
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