Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 958 0953 [Zhang Zongbing is proud of himself]

Compared with the brave military city conquered by Wang De, the Yinzhou City besieged by Zhang Xian was more difficult to attack purely in terms of the strength of the city walls!

Not to mention that it is surrounded by water on three sides, let’s just talk about the thickness of the city wall.

The city walls of ancient China's county towns are usually 4 meters thick at the base and 3.5 meters thick at the top, so even if there are differences, the difference is not significant.

The base of a state capital 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 foundation of Beijing City was 24 meters, and the foundation of Xi'an City was 18 meters.

The Yinzhou City before us has a wall base that is 10 meters thick, which is a standard for an important provincial city of that era.

It was first built during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. As it was in a war-torn area for a long time, it has been heightened and thickened in successive dynasties. Especially during the Hundred Years' War between Song and Xia, the Mizhi Stronghold of the Song army was just outside. After Yinzhou was captured by the Song army twice, the base thickness of the lower city wall has increased to 14 meters.

The city is divided into the upper city and the 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, and the wall is slightly curved according to the terrain.

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

Zhang Xian used artillery to bombard the city for twelve days, but the Yinzhou city wall showed no signs of collapse. Only in some areas, the outer layer of rammed earth added a hundred years ago collapsed, and even the wooden beam wall above the city gate did not collapse.

"Build more ladders and Lu Gongche!" Zhang Xian could only give the order in frustration.

There will definitely be no problem in capturing this city, but it will probably take more than a month.

Taking down a fortified city in one month is an impressive feat in any dynasty, but the various armies of the Ming Dynasty were all vying 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 them. Although the other side responded with the trumpet, the response was irrelevant.

"That's the enemy cavalry!"

The Ming cavalry blew their horns to block the way.

There were not many Western Xia cavalrymen, but in the darkness, the Ming army was unable to stop all the enemies.

Two Xixia light cavalrymen slipped through the gap in the defense and hurriedly ran to the outside of Yinzhou City.

The commander of Yinzhou went to Li Nengyu and ordered a basket to be hung to pull up the two men. He asked, "Are you from Shizhou?"

One of the cavalrymen was shot in the back and lost too much blood, becoming dizzy and relying on the breath in his chest to hold on. When he arrived at the place, he fainted.

Another cavalryman panted and paused for two minutes before saying, "Shizhou was besieged, and Longzhou was lost."

Wang Li Nengyu was shocked: "How come Longzhou disappeared so quickly?"

The cavalryman recounted in detail:
"Tianshi (Wang Cunli) led his army from Youzhou, and General Li led his army from Shizhou. The two armies planned to attack Xiazhou from the north and south. However, Xiazhou rebel Xiao Heda attacked Tianshi at night. Tianshi abandoned his army and fled, and even his flag was taken away..."

"Xiao Heda returned to Xiazhou holding the angel's flag. General Li thought it was an angel and hurriedly led his troops to greet him. However, he was caught off guard by Xiao Heda. General Li was killed on the spot. Xiao Heda led his troops to charge and the Shizhou soldiers immediately fled..."

"Xiao Heda led his troops to the outskirts of Shizhou City. Fortunately, Liu Jianjun ordered them to defend the city. Xiao Heda saw that it was difficult to attack the city, so he led his troops to Longzhou..."

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

"The enemy troops there (Zhong Yanchong and Xiao Heda) marched northward and surrounded Shizhou City."

After hearing this, Wang Li Nengyu was stunned.

Shizhou City was surrounded and his retreat was blocked!

Not to mention clearing the countryside and evacuating the people of Shizhou, even the army would have difficulty withdrawing.

The Ming army's siege progress was too fast and Wang Cunli was too incompetent, which resulted in the complete failure of the Xiangyou Army and the Shenyong Army's plan to build strong defenses and clear the countryside.

Before the plan could be implemented, the Ming army closed the door and attacked the enemy.

Wang Li Nengyu left the city wall in a daze. He was now completely in despair.

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

Each clay Buddha can't save himself when crossing the river!
The worst hit was Yinzhou City, where Li Nengyu was stationed, being caught in the middle. He might be able to escape from the other two cities, but he would be surrounded by enemies wherever he went.

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

own people.

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

Zhang Xian was surprised and delighted: "Longzhou and Xiazhou have both returned to the Ming Dynasty, and Shizhou has also been surrounded by you? Then isn't Yinzhou City in front of us a turtle caught in a jar?"

The cavalry captain who reported the news smiled and said, "General Zhong said that General Zhang doesn't need to be anxious. Just surround Yinzhou and attack slowly. He will come to help after he conquers Shizhou."

"Bullshit, I don't need his help!" Zhang Xian was so angry.

Zhang Xian and Zhong Yanchong were equals, except that Zhang Xian was a local general, while Zhong Yanchong was an outsider. Therefore, this army had Zhang Xian as the main general and Zhong Yanchong as the deputy general.

Now, the deputy general has captured one city and is besieging another.

And what about the main general?

It’s not open yet!
The deputy general even went so far as to say that he would come over to help if they conquered another city.

This is simply unreasonable.

The next morning, Zhang Xian called the chief 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 want to capture Yinzhou in one fell swoop!"

That afternoon, artillery was still bombarding and craftsmen were busy working.

Suddenly, there was a warning horn from the north, which was rapid and continuous, reminding Zhang Xian to send troops.

Zhang Xian put on his armor and shouted, "All soldiers, put on your armor, cavalry, mount your horses, and infantry, guard the camp!"

Fighting had already begun in the north, and the sound was getting closer. Wang Li Nengyu in Yinzhou City was also attracted by the fighting in the north.

He saw a large group of Western Xia cavalry fleeing from the north, with the Ming cavalry behind them chasing closely, while the reconnaissance cavalry sent out by Zhang Xian ran to help intercept them.

Soon, Zhang Xian arrived with thousands of brave cavalry and, together with friendly forces, attacked the Western Xia cavalry from the north and south.

There were only two or three hundred Xixia cavalrymen left, and they fled far to the west, unable to get close to the Yinzhou city wall.

what's the situation?
Wang Li Nengyu looked towards 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 either, so he rode up and asked, "How is your battle going?"

Yao Pingzhong's general Wu Lin smiled and said, "Let General Zhang know that we have taken over the Shenyong Army City, and the four Xixia camps further north have also been eliminated by our army. General Zhang, don't worry, just surround Yinzhou City, and my general will come to help the day after tomorrow at the latest."

Zhang Xian hesitated for a long time before he managed to utter a few words: "I can do it myself."

Wu Lin laughed out loud.

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

Those damn thieves took the city too quickly, making me look like a useless person.

Wu Lin's military rank was not high, and his shining points were all overshadowed by his brother Wu Jie, so he never had the opportunity to fully demonstrate his abilities.

Now, Wu Jie is the main general, but Wu Lin is still a subordinate 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 for surrender into Yinzhou City, and also let these cavalry make calls.

"The Shenyong Army's Sicheng, Xiazhou City, and Longzhou City have all been occupied by our Ming soldiers. Shizhou City has also been surrounded, and you are left with an isolated city! Are you all waiting to die in the city if you refuse to surrender?"

After these shouts, the morale of the troops in the city was in chaos.

Except for Shizhou City which was under siege, all other surrounding cities had fallen.

Yinzhou has become 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 Western Xia border towns at the same time on a long front line.

With such a large number of troops and such strong combat power, not to mention the already declining Western Xia, even the Western Xia at its peak could not withstand it!

Let alone resistance, the Ming army's offensive was so fierce that the Western Xia border troops didn't even have a chance to retreat.

It would have been impossible to clear the countryside last winter, otherwise the Ming army wouldn't have had to come, and the countless relocated soldiers and civilians would have risen up and killed the Western Xia emperor.

We can only take action when the snow melts in spring. What the hell is the point of moving?

Before they even made a move, the city was surrounded.

Wang Li Neng Yu was unwilling to surrender to the Ming army, so he called his generals one by one to talk and test each general's thoughts.

Surprisingly, half of the generals, especially the local chiefs, vaguely expressed the idea of ​​surrender.

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

Wang Li Nengyu said to these generals: "You all return to your camps. I will go to 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 surrender were overjoyed, those who were unwilling to surrender were resentful and angry, and those who were undecided breathed a sigh of relief.

Wang Li Nengyu quietly called back the angry general, gave him some instructions, and started to change guards. They agreed to burn the food and escape at night.

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

Good plan, but too good to be true.

If Wang Li Nengyu did not intend to burn 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’s wrong for you to burn grain.

These are the food and fodder collected from various tribes. Every grain of food has the hard work and sweat of our people. Moreover, we surrendered to the Ming Dynasty with the city and food, so we have made some contribution.

You burned the food, isn't that a clear way to cheat us? What if you anger the Ming army?

It was too difficult to burn all the food and supplies, and we were discovered as soon as we started to change our defense.

The chiefs of each tribe secretly contacted and discussed, and decided to keep the food and chop down the enemy to present the city to Li Nengyu to receive the reward.

"kill!"

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

The military camp near the granary rushed over and killed the people who were about to set fire.

The remaining chiefs of various tribes rushed towards Li Noyu's residence from all directions.

Wang Li Nengyu sent all his trusted aides to his military camp, and he stayed in his mansion pretending to organize maps and household registers. There were only a mere twenty or so personal soldiers protecting his home.

The various tribes suddenly rose up, and Wang Li Nengyu was so frightened that he jumped over the wall and fled.

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

The trusted generals under Li Nengyu, as well as those who planned to flee with him, all panicked and became scattered. Some led the cavalry to rush out of the city gate and escape, while others led the troops to fight the rebels in the city.

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

Seeing the fighting in the city, the lookout waved his flag quickly.

Zhang Xian laughed out loud upon learning the situation: "Finally I don't have to look at their faces anymore. My men, follow me to seize Yinzhou!"

(End of this chapter)