Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Compared to the brave army Sicheng captured by Wang De, purely in terms of the strength of the city wall, Yinzhou City besieged by Zhang Xian is more difficult to defeat!

Let’s not talk about being surrounded by water on three sides, let’s just talk about the thickness of the city wall.

For ancient Chinese city walls, county towns are usually 4 meters thick at the base and 3.5 meters thick at the top. Even if there are differences, there is not much difference.

The base of a state city is generally above 6 meters and below 9 meters.

The base of Kaifeng City in the Northern Song Dynasty was 18 meters.

In the Ming Dynasty, due to the brickwork inside and outside, the walls were thicker. For example, the base of Beijing City was 24 meters and the base of Xi'an City was 18 meters.

The Yinzhou City in front of us has a city wall base thickness of 10 meters, which is within the specifications of an important city in this era.

It was built during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Since it has been in a war-torn area for a long time, it has been getting taller and thicker in every dynasty. Especially during the Hundred Years' War between the Song and Xia Dynasties, the Mizhi Village of the Song Army was immediately visible from here. After Yinzhou was captured twice by the Song Army, the base thickness of the lower city wall had increased to 14 meters.

The city is divided into upper city and lower city.

The upper city is on a hill and the lower city is on flat ground. The two cities are connected. The corners of the city wall are arc-shaped, not sharp-edged, and the wall is slightly curved according to the terrain.

Construct a three-dimensional defense system surrounded by water on three sides!

Zhang Xian continued bombarding with artillery for twelve days, but the Yinzhou city wall showed no sign of collapse. Only in certain areas, the outer layer of rammed earth built a hundred years ago was destroyed, and even the wooden beam wall above the city gate did not collapse.

"Build more ladders and Lu Gong cars!" Zhang Xian could only order in frustration.

There is definitely no problem in capturing this city, but it is estimated to take more than a month.

Breaking a fortified city in one month was very powerful in any dynasty, but all the armies of the Ming Dynasty were competing for credit and time.

…

A group of cavalry came from the west at night. The cavalry sent by Zhang Xian blew the trumpet to test the situation. Although the other party responded by blowing the trumpet, they were wrong.

"That's the enemy cavalry!"

The Ming cavalry blew their horns to intercept them.

Not many Xixia cavalry came, but in vain, the Ming army could not stop all the enemies.

Two Xixia Qingqi passed through the gap in the defense and rushed outside Yinzhou City in a panic.

The guard general of Yinzhou went to Li Nengyu, ordered the hanging basket to pull up the two of them, and asked, "Are you from Shizhou?"

One of the cavalrymen was hit by an arrow in the back. He lost too much blood and was depressed. He relied on his chest to hold on. At this time, he fainted when he reached the place.

Another cavalryman was panting and waited for two minutes before saying: "Shizhou is surrounded, Longzhou has fallen."

Xiang Linengyu was shocked: "How come Longzhou didn't get there so fast?"

The cavalryman told in detail:

"Angel (Zong Cunli) led the army from Youzhou, and General Li led the army from Shizhou. The two armies planned to attack Xiazhou from the north and south. Xiao Heda, the rebel general of Xiazhou, attacked Angel in the middle of the night. Angel abandoned the army and fled. , even the general's flag was taken away..."

"Xiao Heda returned to Xiazhou holding the banner of the angel. General Li thought that the angel had arrived and quickly led his generals to greet him. Xiao Heda was caught off guard. General Li was killed on the spot. Xiao Heda led his army to charge and kill Shizhou soldiers. Flee immediately..."

"Xiao Heda led the army to chase outside Shizhou City. Fortunately, Supervisor Liu ordered to defend it. Seeing that it was difficult to attack the city, Xiao Heda led his army to Longzhou..."

"Longzhou has been bombarded by the Ming army for many days. Xiao Heda took out the Angel flag again and said that the Angel army had been wiped out. Faced with the siege of the enemy army, the defenders in the city did not dare to fight anymore. They burned the food and grass and rode away at night. We also sent a team of cavalry back to Shizhou to report the news.”

"The enemy troops there (Zhong Yanchong and Xiao Heda) sent their troops north and surrounded Shizhou City."

After listening to Xiang Linengyu, he was already stunned on the spot.

Shizhou City was besieged and his retreat was blocked!

Don't talk about building a strong wall and clearing the country. If you evacuate the people of Shizhou, it will be difficult for even the army to withdraw.

The progress of the Ming army's siege was too fast, and the soldier Bin Cunli was too useless. As a result, the operations of the Xiangyou Army Division and the Shenyong Army Division to strengthen the wall and clear the country completely failed.

Before it could be implemented, the Ming army closed the door and beat the dogs.

Xiang Linengyu left the city wall in despair. He was completely in despair.

The three cities in the shape of an irregular triangle - Shizhou City, Yinzhou City, and Shenyongjunsi City. They were originally the horns of each other and could quickly rescue each other, but now they are all under siege by the Ming army.

Clay Bodhisattvas are crossing the river one by one, but they cannot save themselves!

The worst situation was in Yinzhou City where Lin Nengyu was stationed, being caught in the middle. He might be able to escape from the other two cities, but he would have enemies wherever he ran here.

Another group of cavalry came over. The Ming army's cavalry blew their trumpets to test them, and the cavalry on the opposite side also blew their trumpets in response.

own people.

This group of cavalry was taken to Zhang Xian's military tent. After the military salute, he reported: "General Zhang, Xiazhou City is still in the hands of Xiao Heda, and Longzhou City has been captured by General Zhong. At present, Zhong and Xiao The generals each left troops to garrison the city and led their troops to encircle Shizhou."

Zhang Xian was surprised and happy: "Both Longzhou and Xiazhou have returned to the Ming Dynasty, and Shizhou has also been surrounded by you? So the Yinzhou City in front of you is like catching a turtle in a jar?"

The cavalry captain who reported the news smiled and said: "General Zhong said that General Zhang does not need to be anxious. He will attack Yinzhou slowly and come to help him when he captures Shizhou."

"Fart, I don't need his help!" Zhang Xian was furious.

Zhang Xian and Zhong Yanchong hold the same rank, but Zhang Xian is the local chief soldier, while Zhong Yanchong is the foreign chief soldier. Therefore, this army has Zhang Xian as the main general and Zhong Yanchong as the deputy general.

Now, the lieutenant general has captured one city and besieged another.

And what about the general?

It’s not fucking open yet!

The lieutenant general even kicked his nose and said that he would come to help if he could defeat another city.

This is simply unreasonable.

The next morning, Zhang Xian called the head craftsman and issued a death order: "Speed ​​up the construction of the ladder and the Lu Gongche, the current speed is too slow. Within ten days, I will take Yinzhou in one fell swoop!"

That afternoon, the artillery was still bombarding, and the craftsmen were busy rushing to work.

Suddenly, there was a horn warning in the north, and it was rapid and continuous, which was to remind Zhang Xian to send troops.

Zhang Xian put on his armor and shouted: "All troops are in armor, cavalry get on horses and get ready, infantry guard the camp!"

The fighting in the north has started, and the sound is getting closer and closer.

Wang Li Nengyu in Yinzhou City was also attracted by the battle in the north.

He saw a large group of Xixia cavalry fleeing from the north, and the Ming cavalry behind them were chasing them closely, and the reconnaissance cavalry sent by Zhang Xian ran to help intercept them.

Soon, Zhang Xian led thousands of brave cavalry to kill, and together with friendly forces, they attacked the Xixia cavalry from the north and south.

The Xixia cavalry, only two or three hundred people left, fled far to the west, and could not get close to the Yinzhou city wall at all.

What's going on?

Wang Li Nengyu looked at the north stupidly. Could it be that the city of the Shenyong Army was also captured by the Ming army?

Zhang Xian didn't understand it either, so he rode up and asked, "How is your battle situation?"

Yao Pingzhong's general Wu Lin smiled and said, "Let General Zhang know that the city of the Shenyong Army has been captured by us, and the four Xixia camps in the north have also been removed by our army. General Zhang, don't worry, just surround Yinzhou City. My general will come to help the day after tomorrow at the latest."

Zhang Xian hesitated and said a few words after a long time: "I can do it myself."

Wu Lin laughed.

Zhang Xian returned to the camp depressed, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

Those bastards took the city too quickly, making me look like a waste.

Wu Lin's military position was not high, and his bright spots were all overshadowed by his brother Wu Jie, and he never had the opportunity to fully demonstrate his abilities.

Now, Wu Jie is a leading general, but Wu Lin is still a general of Yao Pingzhong.

He sent a small team of cavalry back to report the news, and he led the remaining cavalry to Zhang Xian's camp to eat and drink.

Soon, Zhang Xian sent a large number of cavalry to shoot letters of persuasion to Yinzhou City, and at the same time let these cavalry shout.

"The Shenyong Army Sicheng, Xiazhou City, and Longzhou City have all been occupied by our Ming Dynasty soldiers. Shizhou City has also been besieged, and you are an isolated city here! You are trapped in an isolated city and don't surrender. Are you all waiting to die in the city?"

After shouting, the army in the city was in chaos.

Except for Shizhou City, which was besieged, the rest of the surrounding cities had all fallen.

Yinzhou is already an isolated city!

An isolated city means no reinforcements.

Wang Li Nengyu was at a loss. He couldn't imagine how many troops the Ming Dynasty had dispatched.

Without hundreds of thousands of people, it would be impossible to attack all the border cities of Western Xia at the same time on a long front.

With so many troops and such strong fighting power, not to mention the already declining Xixia, even the Xixia at its peak could not withstand it!

Let alone resistance, the offensive of the Ming army was so fierce that the Xixia border troops did not even have a chance to retreat.

It was impossible to clear the fields last winter, otherwise there would be no need for the Ming army to attack, and countless soldiers and civilians who were relocated would be able to rise up and kill the Xixia emperor.

They could only take action after the snow melted in spring, and they could move... move a hammer.

They hadn't moved yet, and the city was surrounded.

Wang Li Nengyu was unwilling to surrender to the Ming army. He called his generals one by one to talk and test each general's mind.

Half of the generals, especially the local chiefs, vaguely revealed the idea of ​​surrender.

They didn't want to die in an isolated city.

Wang Li Neng Yu said to these generals: "You all go back to the camp, I will sort out the maps and household registers, and we will open the city and surrender to the Ming army tomorrow."

The generals who were looking forward to surrendering were overjoyed, those who were unwilling to surrender were angry, and those who were undecided breathed a sigh of relief.

Wang Li Neng Yu quietly called back the angry generals, and after some instructions, he began to change his guard and agreed to burn the food and escape at night.

Escape to the northwest, first go to Anqingze (Wushen Banner), and then cross the desert to Shengwei City - that is, the route that the Dingzhou uprising army took to escape to Xiazhou last year.

The plan is good, but it is too beautiful.

If Wang Li Neng Yu did not think about burning the food, even if his arrangement was discovered, the chiefs of the tribes who were ready to surrender would probably turn a blind eye.

But it is wrong for you to burn the food.

These are the food and grass collected from various tribes, and every grain of food has the hard work and sweat of our people. Moreover, we surrendered to the Ming with the city and food, so we have a little credit anyway.

You burned the grain, isn't it obvious that you are trying to trick us? What if you anger the Ming army!

It's too difficult to burn all the grain and grass, and we were discovered when we just started the rotation.

The chiefs of each tribe secretly contacted and discussed, and decided to keep the grain and kill Wang Li Neng Yu to surrender the city for the reward.

"Kill!"

A military camp in the northern city took the lead and rushed towards the city gate.

The military camp near the granary rushed to kill the people who were preparing to set fire.

The remaining chiefs of each tribe rushed to Wang Li Neng Yu's mansion from all sides.

Wang Li Neng Yu sent his confidants to his own military camp, and he stayed in the mansion pretending to organize maps and household registers. There were only more than 20 personal soldiers protecting his home.

The tribes suddenly rose up, and Wang Li Neng Yu was scared and fled over the wall.

His whole family was arrested, and he was also arrested on a street.

Wang Li Neng Yu's confidant generals, as well as the generals who planned to escape with him, all panicked and became a mess. Some led cavalry to rush out of the city gate and escape, while others led troops to fight the rebels in the city.

There are mountains two or three miles north and south of Yinzhou City. There are Ming soldiers on the mountains who have been observing the city with telescopes.

Seeing the fighting in the city, the lookouts waved their flags.

Zhang Xian laughed when he learned about the situation: "Finally, I don't have to look at their faces anymore. My men, follow me to capture Yinzhou!"