On the walls of the canton of Vaud.
The cold wind howled on top of the city wall, cutting at people's bodies like knives. Their mouths were wide open, and the smell of rusty blood gushed out from their throats. The roars of killing were like thunder, boiling over the entire battlefield. The silhouette rushed over, and the iron cudgel in his hand smashed into the man's head. His body, which weighed close to 100 kilograms, was like a wild boar running through the mountains. He fell down with a loud bang. The sound of the skull hitting the bluestone was deep and terrifying, mixed with the countless other sounds.
Arrows danced in the air. In the world of ice and snow, there was smoke and fire on the city wall. Soldiers pushed huge rolling logs down the city wall. A stone flew across the sky and suddenly enlarged on one side of the field of vision. It dragged a soldier and rolled to the side. The splashing stone chips hurt people's faces, and their field of vision also became shaky with the loud bang. Shi Jin shook his head and got up from the ground. He grabbed a long spear in his hand and ran toward the two female soldiers who had pounced on the city wall more than ten feet away.
Affected by the stone, his vision and balance had not yet recovered. He stabbed the spear in his hand several times before piercing the chest of a female soldier. That Daoist Master was tall and sturdy like a wild ox. She held the spear tightly and refused to let go. Another Daoist Master had already rushed over from the side. Shi Jin let out a loud roar and exerted force in his hand, shattering the spear into pieces. He took a step forward and heavily chopped down on the Daoist Master's head. The Daoist Master's body collapsed onto the city wall.
The Jurchen warrior on the side missed. She held her saber and slashed back. Just when she turned around, Shi Jin's body had already rushed up. He opened his bloody mouth, and half of the spear in his hand stabbed into Shi Jin's neck. Thick blood burst out. The female Enlightened Master struggled and retreated. As Shi Jin pulled out the spear, she fell into a pool of blood under the wall, no longer breathing.
Only then did Shi Jin turn around and find his weapon. Not far away, at a corner of the city wall, more than ten female soldiers had already rushed up. The defending soldiers kept retreating in the battle. A general shouted loudly. Shi Jin clenched the iron cudgels in his hand and rushed over.
"Don't retreat — kill them all —"
Countless hoarse shouts converged into a huge tide of battle, and as far as the eye could see, the soldiers attacking the city were still divided into three groups on the snowy plains below, constantly rushing over. In the distant snow, the banner of the Jurchen general Shu Liesu was raised in the siege camp.
On the eighth of December, the traditional Laba Festival, this was the second time the Shu Liushi Army attacked Vaud.
The defense of the city was in danger.
Not long before that. In Fen Province, south of Taiyuan City, Prince Jin's army experienced a huge defeat. More than 400,000 people were defeated, retreating south, and fleeing in disorder. In the midst of the chaos, Prince Jin, Tian Shi, who had personally led the army, was scattered and his whereabouts were unknown.
…
A world of ice and snow.
Countless people trudged through the snow. Tian Shi was dressed in a black robe. He supported the soldiers beside him as they headed south. After a huge defeat, he fled through the night. At this time, he only felt that his body was hot and cold, but he did not tell the people around him. From time to time, he would turn around and shout at the crowd behind him.
He naturally had a horse, but he didn't ride it at this time. It was said that a good general should share weal and woe with the officers and soldiers around him. During the war, he didn't act like this. But now that he was defeated, he felt that as a feudal lord, he should set an example like this. He didn't know if it would be of any use at that time.
He didn't know how many soldiers were following him. There were still a lot of things he should think about, but he couldn't gather his thoughts. At some point, Tian Shi's eyes turned black and he fell on the snow …
…
The atmosphere was solemn.
The convoy of carriages passed through the long street, heading to the Tianji Palace at the other end of the city.
Lou Shuwan was in the carriage, looking at a huge map. At this time, the news of Prince Jin's disappearance had spread here at the fastest speed. She calmed herself down and looked for the traces of the various armies on the map that had already been marked and drawn. She summed up the various possibilities of the current situation.
As soon as the war broke out, the military information would be spread to the center of the various forces at the fastest speed. If she could receive the news, it meant that other people had also received the news. At this time, she must stabilize the situation of the entire center.
The surroundings of the carriage were closed. Under the light of the candles, the eyes of the woman, who hadn't rested since yesterday, were red, but she still opened her eyes wide. Suddenly, the carriage jolted. Lou Shuwan reached out her hand to hold the lamp. She heard a shout coming from outside: "Kill … that bitch …"
"A woman usurps the government, bringing disaster to the country and the people …"
"Traitor, bitch —"
"Open your eyes …"
"You've been used —"
"You deserve to die —"
…
The chaotic shouts intertwined. You Hongzhuo held his breath, pulled out his long sword, and walked towards the front of the room, faster and faster …
Through the vibration of the floor, there was a burst of footsteps in the next room. The light from the window became brighter and brighter. You Hongzhuo leaped out, and someone also rushed out from the next window. The person was holding a red spear and aimed at the convoy below. You Hongzhuo raised his long sword and swung it in the air. The other party looked at him in surprise.
"Swoosh."
The white-haired, long-bearded head flew into the sky. You Hongzhuo landed on the ground. The people who had rushed out were shouting. He held his sword horizontally and rushed towards the Greenwood Assassins.
"Protect the courtesan!"
"Muddleheaded —"
"You don't even listen to the Dragon King!"
Murderous intent soared —
…
"What's going on?" Lou Shuwan asked, but she had a rough idea of what was going on.
"Someone is trying to assassinate you, and someone else is here to protect you. Lord Lou, we … "
"…" Lou Shuwan quietly listened to the mixed voices outside. Perhaps because she had been in the fire for too long, her eyes were a little warm. She then reached out and wiped her mouth and nose. "Leave a team to catch the assassins. We'll continue to the imperial city."
"Yes."
The carriage started moving again, leaving the fighting on the long street.
…
Another round of siege continued in Linzhou City. The side attacking the city was the Wisdom King's most elite army under Wang Juyun's command. Due to the haste of the attack, they did not have enough siege equipment. However, under Wang Juyun's leadership, the situation was still extremely tragic.
Linzhou City was originally part of Zhangde, which was similar to Vaud City. It was also one of the cities on the northeastern border of King Jin's power. The general defending Linzhou City, Li Chengzhong, led more than 37,000 soldiers. Four days ago, he announced that he had changed sides and pledged allegiance to the Great Jin Army. Along the way, Wang Juyun, who led his elite troops to the nearby area, attacked the city by force. He wanted to destroy Linzhou City before the Jurchen reinforcements arrived to serve as a warning to others.
The losses were great.
The defending army of Linzhou City was not having an easy time either. Although the Jurchen's despotic power had been hanging over their heads for more than ten years, they did not encounter too much resistance when the army came. Of course, it did not inspire too much morale. As the two sides attacked and defended, Li Chengzhong also ran to the city wall and kept encouraging the defending army.
"Defend the city wall! The Jin Army will be here soon … "
"The Great Jin General Wanyan Saba is coming with his army. We only need to defend for one more day! One more day … "
Wanyan Saba's army was indeed on its way. Wang Juyun's army had been attacking for three days, but they did not manage to take down the city wall. The morale of both sides gradually declined. In the afternoon, a flag appeared in the southeast of the city.
Saba's army must have come from the north. Then, the one coming from the south should be the reinforcements of King Jin's power, or the Jurchen Eastern Army had already decided to send reinforcements? Li Chengzhong ran to the east side of the city wall. Then, he saw an army appear in his field of vision. The color of the flag was exceptionally bright on the snow-covered ground …
"Who is it … Why is it … Why is it black …"
The black flag started to spread towards them …
*****
Winter of the ninth year of Wu Jianshuo. The snow gradually froze the land north of the Yangtze River. However, the battle north of the Yellow River did not stop for a moment since it began.
In September and October, the Jurchen Eastern Army and the Western Army successively fought with the enemies in front of them. The Eastern Army quickly compressed the battle to the Daimyo Residence. However, the tenacious resistance of the Western Army had only just begun.
From Yanmen Pass to the ruins of Taiyuan, Wang Juyun and Tian Shi's resistance came one after another. After being scattered, they continued to gather again. Millions of troops gathered and scattered, as if they were grinding away at the willpower of the Jurchen Army. However, as the most outstanding veteran generals of the founding generation of the Great Jin Dynasty, Zong Han and Xi Yin continuously defeated the waves of attacks. At the end of October, Shu Liesu led an army to invade Vaud. With the cooperation of Yin Shuke, Balisu, Saba, and the other generals, they created one difficult problem after another for the opposing forces.
Shu Liesu's first attack on Vaud, under the tenacious resistance of the Vaud garrison, Lin Zongwu, Shi Jin, and many other civilian forces, they finally managed to delay the siege until Yu Yulin's army came from the south. In November, the battle that unfolded in the world of ice and snow was only slightly slower than in other seasons. The successive defeats of Wang Juyun, Tian Shi, and Yu Yulin reduced the number of troops at the front line. The defeated soldiers retreated to the south, surrendered, and even froze to death in the snow along with the rest of the army.
At the beginning of the war, the leaders of both Wang Juyun and Prince Jin had determined that this was a war of attrition that would lead to continuous defeats. But after more than a month of attrition, even though they had prepared for the worst, the morale and strength of the two armies had fallen to the lowest point.
On the third day of the twelfth month, Li Chengzhong led the entire Linzhou City and announced their surrender to the Jurchen Army. This caused a sudden change in the entire situation. The 400,000 troops led by Tian Shi were defeated and fled in the face of Xi Yin's attack. In order to kill Tian Shi, the Jurchen Army chased the fleeing troops for dozens of miles and slaughtered countless of them. They announced to the outside world that Prince Jin had received the news that Tian Shi had received the news. As for Wang Juyun, who had been defeated and fled to the south, he could only gather about 30,000 elites at the moment. He immediately mobilized all his troops and attacked Linzhou, hoping to hold down the bulging deck before the whole ship sank.
At the same time, Shu Liesu's army turned back and attacked Vaud again. On the other hand, Saba led a small group of troops towards Linzhou. Yin Shuke and Balizhi's troops rushed to the middle, intending to attack the hinterland of Prince Jin's territory.
In the short period of time when Tian Shi was suspected to be dead, the entire territory of Prince Jin was about to collapse. On the afternoon of the eighth day of the twelfth month, the Huaxia army led by Zhu Biao crossed a distance of hundreds of miles and arrived at the city of Linzhou before Wanyan Saba.
On the same day, Linzhou was captured.
The leader of the rebellion, Li Chengzhong, committed suicide before the city was breached. The rest of the generals who participated in the rebellion, together with their families, were dragged to the city wall and beheaded.
However, the whole situation was still constantly collapsing. On this night, the city defense of Vaud was breached. Shi Jin kept fighting on the city wall and almost died of exhaustion. Then the army guarding the city opened the city gate and let the people in the city escape to the south. The defending general of Vaud, Yu Xiaoyuan, ordered the army to block the attack of the Jurchens in the front and tried to launch a street battle for a period of time, hoping to buy time for the fleeing people. However, the morale of the army was close to the bottom. In order to boost the morale, Yu Xiaoyuan led his bodyguards to the front twice and personally fought, but was then shot dead by the flying arrows of the Jurchens.
The defending army of Vaud fled in disorder. The Jurchens slaughtered their way over, and Shi Jin and his comrades were also forced to retreat while fighting. That night, the people who had escaped and survived looked back in the direction of Vaud. The entire sky had been ignited by flames, and the massacre continued.
Shi Jin stood on the foothills in the darkness, and there was a moist breath falling from his face.
Men did not easily shed tears. Perhaps it was because the hot blood that flowed from his body had lost its temperature in this world of ice and snow.
Many people surrounded him, and there were even more people than after the disbandment of Chifeng Mountain.
Although he knew that he did not have the ability to command an army, the reputation of the Eight-armed Dragon King still had some use. After the first battle of defending Vaud, he still ran around to kill the Jurchens' spies and the scum of the Han people. During this war, Lou Shuwan, who was far away in Wei Sheng, had encountered many assassinations. She had killed too many people, and she was also a woman. The outside world had portrayed her as cruel and vicious. Some people with ulterior motives scolded her as a traitor, a poisonous woman who wanted to help the Jurchens destroy Prince Jin's foundation and make the people have no way to live.
Shi Jin also spoke out in the Greenwood to clear Lou Shuwan's name. After this news spread for a month, many people were finally persuaded. They spontaneously began to run around in Wei Sheng to clear Lou Shuwan's name. They even stood opposite the assassins during the outbreak of assassinations to protect Lou Shuwan's safety.
Shi Jin, who was running around killing in Vaud, had no way of knowing the situation in Wei Sheng. As the city of Vaud was breached, what he saw was the most tragic scene of the massacre. For more than ten years, he had been fighting all the way, but he had also been defeated all the way. The defeats seemed endless, but he still did not die. He just thought, 'The city of Vaud is gone. Brother Lin has been here for more than ten years, but he is also gone. I can't find Mu Anping. When the little, parentless child returns here, he can't see anything.'
He went to the city in the south and continued to fight.
The snow sometimes fell, and sometimes it stopped. The flames of war continued to spread in the heavy snow. To the south of the Yellow River, wandering hungry ghosts were also surging in the snow, causing a certain amount of trouble to the Jurchens who went south. Some small-scale grain transport teams were completely swallowed by the hungry ghosts, but as the cold deepened, the hungry ghosts also died one by one. Only the large group of hungry ghosts near Xuzhou was still breathing in the wind and snow.
Daming Residence. The number of soldiers guarding the city gradually decreased in the cold weather. The Jurchens' siege was the most intense in the first month. A large number of casualties appeared at that time. Some seriously injured soldiers could not survive this winter. The 30,000 elite Jurchens led by Wanyan Chang and the 200,000 Han soldiers also wore down the life and spirit of the soldiers guarding the city every day. By December, after careful calculation, there were still about 30,000 of the original 50,000 soldiers guarding the city, and most of them were injured.
The snow and ice eventually suppressed the strength of the Jurchens' siege. Wang Shanyue and Xue Changgong still guarded the city wall every day, cheering for the soldiers every day. For the few residents in the city, Wang Shanyue occasionally sent people to send food and relief, and also spread the spirit of resistance to the people. But because of the heavy snow, such things could not be carried out vigorously.
The encircling tents outside the city were connected into a sea. They were waiting for the arrival of spring. Spring was the season of growth and life. However, whether it was Wang Shanyue, Xue Changgong, Shi Jin, Lou Shuwan, Tian Shi, Zhu Biao, or Ning Yi who was far away in the southwest, they all knew that the spring in the tenth year of Wu Jianshuo and the thirteenth year of Jintianhui was not the season of life.
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