Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1055 [Encirclement]

In Gaochang City, several karez (ground water reservoirs) were surrounded by people.

With soldiers maintaining order, city residents lined up to fetch water. Anyone who dared to cut in line was immediately dragged out and beaten.

The water has become quite turbid because the water in the open channel has run out, so we have to go into the underground channel to draw water.

The water in the underground canal has also run dry.

If you insist on taking it by force, it will definitely get muddy and watery.

Obviously, the Ming army blocked the upstream of the Karez!
The vertical shafts exposed on the ground were filled with large amounts of soil by the Ming army, seriously blocking the flow of the culverts.

The Ming army even ignored the river water on the ground and more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians drank the water from the karez upstream.

There were two theories about the karez in the early days.

One is the technology passed down from Shaanxi, and the other is the technology passed down from Persia.

But later, through archaeological murals, it was discovered that this thing had appeared in Xinjiang as early as the Xia and Shang dynasties.

There were more than ten karez dug in Gaochang City and its surrounding areas, but they were abandoned when the Mongols destroyed Gaochang. After the founding of New China, the remains of these karez were dug up again, and their age was determined by scientific technology, and it was found that they were built between the late Warring States Period and the Western Han Dynasty.

From time to time, cavalrymen would run back and forth in the city and shout, "Don't be afraid of lack of water. It's going to snow soon, and we can drink snow water then!"

Such publicity is naturally intended to reassure people. Who knows when it will snow this year?

Thousands of people were digging wells in various culverts.

The soil here is highly permeable, and the meltwater from the mountain snow and precipitation seeps down and becomes groundwater.

When groundwater resources are abundant, it is very likely that we can regain water by squatting in the culvert and continuing to dig downwards.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Suddenly, gunshots were heard in a karez culvert and echoed for a long time.

The shield of the Western Liao soldier who was responsible for protecting the well diggers was pierced by the musket at close range. The Western Liao archer who was at the back crouched and tried to draw his bow to fight back, but was killed by a few gunshots.

"The Ming army is approaching!"

The Western Liao laborers who were responsible for transporting the soil were so frightened that they rushed back.

The karez underground canal was about 1.7 meters high and 1.2 meters wide. There were too many people and it was too narrow, so they had no way of escaping quickly and in a panic they trampled each other to death.

"Come up!"

The Ming army soldiers shouted at the civilians who were digging the vertical well in the Uighur language they had just learned.

The laborer in the well trembled and climbed up along the rope.

Including other captured civilians, all were forced by the Ming army to backfill the sand and block the vertical shaft that had just been dug.

After blocking the enemy, the Ming army quickly fled!
Because this is already an underground area within the city, if we are a little slow we will be surrounded by the enemy.

Under the continued destruction of the Ming army, the defenders had to first block the culvert passages inside and outside the city, and then continue digging underground inside the city.

Even if more than a dozen wells were successfully dug, it would be a drop in the bucket considering the number of soldiers and civilians in the city, not to mention that there were a large number of war horses that needed drinking water.

"It's out of the water, it's out of the water!"

There was a Buddhist temple in the southwest of Gaochang's outer city, and the monks cheered in unison.

This temple covers an area of ​​more than 10,000 square meters, and Master Xuanzang once preached here for more than a month.

The southwest and southeast areas of the outer city are densely packed with temples. In addition to Buddhist temples, there are also Nestorian temples. The relationship between the two religions is extremely harmonious, and believers have long intermarried.

The Manichean temple is in the northwest of the inner city, and the Zoroastrian temple is in the northeast.

There are many other temples scattered throughout the inner and outer cities. Believers of various ethnic groups live next to their temples, and the abbots have great community power and high community prestige.

"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"

A group of cavalrymen rushed to the gate of the temple. The officer raised his sword and said to the monks: "The monks are always drawing water from the well and pouring it into the nearest water tank. When the residents in the city come to fetch water, the monks of our temple can use it first, and the rest will be distributed by the army!"

Faced with real swords and guns, the monks dared to be angry but not to speak out.

The next day, another well was dug in the inner city. There was even a riot among the residents as they scrambled for water. The riot was suppressed by the soldiers who killed more than 20 people.

"Boom boom boom!"

The daily bombardment outside the city began again. Since there was no hope of bringing down the city walls, all light and heavy artillery were aimed at the defensive facilities on the walls.

Several city towers, especially those with barbicans, had been mostly destroyed by artillery shells.

From time to time, shells fell into the city, smashing the nearby houses into pieces and even damaging many statues of gods of various religions.

The soldiers and civilians in the city were terrified by the continuous artillery bombardment.

Moreover, they dared not go out of the city to collect firewood, as they would be killed by the Ming cavalry if they were not careful. The firewood stored by the military was barely enough, but ordinary people could only dismantle doors or furniture.

Finally someone couldn't stand it anymore!

That evening, while the Ming army was withdrawing to the camp, the defenders opened the city gates and let the people go out to collect firewood - mainly shrubs, hay and crop residues.

Many men, even monks, mustered up their courage and rushed out.

They were soon discovered by Ming army scouts, who blew trumpets to summon more Ming cavalry.

The Western Liao cavalry responsible for protecting the firewood collection immediately went up to fight with the Ming army, but most of them fled in the direction of the city wall after shooting a few arrows.

The civilians who went out of the city to collect firewood would grab anything that could be lit and run.

The Ming cavalry chased all the way to the outside of the city wall, but they had no choice but to stop in the face of the rain of arrows and silently watched the Western Liao soldiers and civilians enter the city wall. However, several Western Liao cavalry did not enter the city. They "ran away in panic" and ran farther away, then knelt down and surrendered and asked to see the commander of the Ming army.

"Who is your master?" Li Yanxian asked.

The cavalrymen replied: "Our master's name is Zhuoweng."

In fact, his master's name was Zhang Xing.

Wěng (meaning dawn) is a common name among Zoroastrians of the Han nationality in the Tang Dynasty and has a special religious significance.

Regimes change, ethnic groups shift.

The descendants of Han Zoroastrians in the Western Regions can no longer speak Chinese or write Chinese characters, but they still remember the pronunciation of their surnames and still like to be named "奣", but they have completely forgotten how to write their surnames and the character "奣".

Although his Chinese name was Zhang Xun, he was called "Zhuoweng" by his subordinates.

Li Yanxian naturally couldn't figure this out, so he continued to ask, "Where is that old man from? What position does he hold in the Western Liao army? What religion does he believe in?"

A cavalryman replied: "Our master is the second most powerful noble in Yizhou, serving as the deputy lord of Yizhou, and believes in the glorious Zoroastrianism."

When Nestorianism spread to the East, its doctrines underwent great changes, and the same was true for Zoroastrianism.

Although the orthodox Zoroastrianism of Persia has several auxiliary gods, it is ultimately a monotheistic religion. However, when it spread to the East, it became the polytheistic Zoroastrianism, which constantly absorbed and added gods along the way, even adding the gods of Hinduism.

If the Ming Dynasty ruled here for a long time, it would not be impossible for Confucius to become a Zoroastrian god.

Emperor Zhu was very happy to accept this sect that kept pace with the times.

"How many soldiers does Zhuoweng have?" asked Li Yanxian.

The cavalryman who came to contact them replied: "Many people were killed or injured. There are only more than 300 cavalrymen and more than 2,000 infantrymen left. The master is leading his troops to defend the Wucheng Gate in the northwest, and the Wengcheng there is also under the master's garrison. If the Ming army attacks the city, the master can immediately switch sides."

Li Yanxian did not express his opinion, but asked about some military intelligence and then sent these cavalrymen away.

The generals expressed their opinions. Some thought that they could take the opportunity to attack the city, while others thought that the old man was pretending to surrender.

Before Li Yanxian made a decision, a telegraph officer came over and said, "More than 40 miles to the west, we found some scattered Western Liao cavalry. They may be scouts sent by the Western Liao reinforcements."

The Ming army had temporarily set up an antenna in a fortress northwest of Gaochang City.

Although the antenna was not high and not large in scale, the troops within a radius of dozens of miles could quickly send messages to Li Yanxian as long as they carried a hand-cranked radio transmitter.

“No need to think about it!”

Li Yanxian stood up and said, "We should attack the reinforcements first and then the city. With the morale of the defenders in the city, we can take it down in one fell swoop as long as we destroy the reinforcements."

Li Yanxian ordered Chen Ziyi to lead thousands of cavalry to set off overnight, carrying only three days' worth of food and fodder, and march westward along the southern foot of the Huoyan Mountain, going around the Gobi Desert to the rear of the Western Liao reinforcements.

He then ordered his deputy commander Zhong Yanchong, who had arrived two days ago, to lead his main force to set out overnight and move to the camp 20 miles southwest of Gaochang City. Although there were no rivers there, it was the area with the most karez and the essence of the farming area around Gaochang City.

Troops were drawn from other camps to gather at Li Yanxian's main camp.

The Western Liao reinforcements marched quickly all the way, but slowed down 200 miles from Gaochang City. One reason was that they were afraid of being attacked by the Ming army, and the other was that they wanted to reduce their daily march time to recover their strength.

"Drip drip drip!"

The telegraph operator came running to report: "General Chen Ziyi called: Our troops are already at the westernmost part of the desert. We don't know if the main force of the enemy has passed. The drinking water we brought can last for two days. According to the guide, we can get more water by going west or south."

Li Yanxian said to the telegraph operator: "Let him continue to lurk in the desert and wait for my order!"

Where is Chen Ziyi now?

Continue west and you will go to Grape Valley to eat grapes.

Another day passed, and the number of cavalry reinforcements from Western Liao increased. Although Li Yanxian had not yet figured out where the main force was camping, he was basically certain that the enemy was nearby.

A day later, probably in a hurry to rescue Gaochang City, Xiao Worila took the initiative to show up with reinforcements and headed straight for the water-rich area where Zhong Yanchong was.

Li Yanxian ordered the telegraph operator: "Send a message to Chen Ziyi, he can start now."

Led by a guide, Chen Ziyi rushed towards Grape Valley along the southern foot of Huoyan Mountain.

There are no enemy troops here, not even a few young and strong men. Only some old, weak, women and children are left.

The local villagers were forcibly conscripted as laborers by the reinforcements and are now in Xiao Worila's camp.

He followed the river south again, and after galloping for more than ten miles he found a large camp.

That was the main camp of Xiao Worila's reinforcements, and also the most suitable place to camp nearby - the city of Turpan!

Xiao Wulila had already led his troops to fight Zhong Yanchong, and only a few thousand soldiers and a large number of civilians were left in the camp.

Before Chen Ziyi approached, smoke was already rising from the camp.

As they got closer, they found that the fortifications here were so strong that the cavalry had to dismount to fight. However, Xiao Wulila had wasted two days asking the civilians he had recruited along the way to dig trenches and build fortifications to consolidate his main camp. It was obvious that he had been preparing for a surprise attack by the enemy.

"The entire army retreats two miles, dismounts and rests for a while."

At Chen Ziyi's command, thousands of cavalry retreated, leaving only a small number of cavalry on guard.

The rest ran to the river to fetch water, filled the empty water bags, and then fed the war horses water, salt and bean cakes.

They mounted their horses again only after the soldiers and horses had rested.

Instead of attacking the enemy camp which was short of troops but had deep trenches and high fortifications, they blocked the enemy's main force and the enemy's main camp.

The current situation is that Xiao Wulila is surrounded on three sides by Zhong Yanchong's troops in front, Li Yanxian's main force in the northeast, and Chen Ziyi's cavalry in the back.
Of course, if the defenders in Gaochang City broke out, it could also be seen as Western Liao encircling the Ming army from the front and back.

(End of this chapter)