Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

Chapter 739: It’s so difficult to pull out Xi’an

"What a majestic city! I was ordered to conquer Ningshan. The initial momentum was overwhelming, and I easily reached the gates of Xi'an. I never imagined that it would be so difficult to conquer the city!" General David, the general of the Northern Expedition, stood up and looked up at the towering city. The city wall sighed.

It is no exaggeration to say that it towers into the clouds. The city is three feet six (about twelve meters) high, four feet wide at the top, six feet wide at the bottom, and nearly thirty miles in circumference. The Ming Dynasty had a hobby of building cities. "Build walls high, accumulate grain widely, and be king slowly" is a valuable experience left by our ancestors. Emperor Taizu Gao was very discerning and believed that "the mountains and rivers in the world are only the most dangerous in the Qin Dynasty." He even planned to move the capital to Xi'an, so he built the city to be extremely large and strong. Later, he entrusted his second son, King Zhu Fang of Qin, here, forming the name "Xi'an". The Qin Palace is the center, and the two cities of Chang'an and Xianning are linked together. During the Ming Dynasty, Xi'an City was continuously reinforced. In the second year of Longqing (1568), Shaanxi Governor Zhang Zhi built green bricks on the outer walls and top of the city wall, turning the earth city into a brick city; in the ninth year of Chongzhen (1636), Shaanxi Province Governor Sun Chuanting built four earthen walls and four city gates: Changle in the east, Anding in the west, Yongning in the south, and Anyuan in the north. Each gate tower has three levels: gate tower, arrow tower and main tower. The gate tower is outside, the arrow tower is in the middle, and the main tower is inside. The wall between the arrow tower and the main tower is an urn city. The entire city wall forms a tight defense system, and there is a wide moat outside the city, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack!
Seeing his sadness, all the generals also looked heavy. Upon seeing this, Fu Shan, the governor of Shaanxi Province, quickly changed the topic and livened up the atmosphere. He said with a smile: "Have you ever heard of the saying, 'Pigs (Zhu) in Han Tombs and Tang Towers circle in circles'?"

"Oh? What do you mean by this?" Tuoli asked confused.

"Xi'an, known as Chang'an and Haojing in ancient times, is located in the center of the Guanzhong Plain, bordering the Wei River to the north and the Qinling Mountains to the south. Chang'an is moistened by eight rivers. It is an important place in the world. Thirteen countries including Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui and Tang The dynasties built their capitals here, especially the Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty who built city walls very well. Isn't it just like "Han Tombs, Tang Towers, Pigs (Zhu) Circles". If you want to capture such a majestic city, you have to have some skills. Patience is the best thing.” Fu Shan's words imply persuasion. This city was the capital of thirteen dynasties. It has been repaired by all dynasties. It is extremely strong. It is normal that you cannot attack it for a while. Don't be discouraged. Although he was trying to persuade, he was not wrong. The city of Xi'an was indeed incredibly strong. It had not fallen down despite being beaten by wind and rain. Later generations could still see the well-preserved ancient city walls, which are the best in China.

Hearing this, Tuoli felt much better. His eyes towards Fu Shan became gentler, but his words were extremely cruel, "The Qing army in the city is so stubborn and has injured countless of my warriors. After conquering Xi'an, I will Massacre everyone in the city!"

After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, in order to maintain their rule, they built Mancheng in strategic military locations. In addition to Beijing, in the second year of Shunzhi, Mancheng was built in Jiangning Prefecture (Nanjing) of Jiangnan Province and Xi'an Prefecture of Shaanxi Province. In the sixth year of Shunzhi, Mancheng was built in Shanxi Province. In the eleventh year of Shunzhi, a city was built in Dezhou, Shandong Province; in the fifteenth year of Shunzhi, a city was built in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province; in the sixteenth year of Shunzhi, a city was built in Jingkou, Jiangnan Province. The south wall of Xi'an's "Mancheng" runs from the south side of Changle Gate to the south side of the bell tower's east gate. The west wall runs from the east side of the north arch of the bell tower to the east side of Anyuan Gate. The east and north walls borrow from the city wall of Xi'an. Thirty feet is fourteen miles, six minutes and zero. The east-west distance is seven hundred and forty-five feet, which is four miles and two minutes. The north-south distance is five hundred and seventy-five feet, which is three miles, one minute and zero." It occupies a quarter of Xi'an Fucheng's area and has five city gates: the east gate is Changle Gate of Xi'an Fucheng; the south gate is in the west section of the south wall, named Duanlu Gate; the east arch of the bell tower is the entrance and exit to the southwest; the west wall is southward There is Xihua Gate everywhere; there is another gate to the north of the west wall, named Xincheng Gate. Beginning in June of the second year of Shunzhi, the Qing government stationed troops in Xi'an and established the Xi'an General's Office (originally known as the General's Office), which administered a total of 6,468 Manchu, Mongolian and Han Eight Banners soldiers.

"The commander-in-chief is right. After Xi'an is captured, the general will have to kill all the Manchus in the city. Who will dare to resist in the future?" "Yes, if you don't massacre the whole city, I will be sorry for the many warriors who died in the attack." At the end of the day, the head of Prince Jian of the puppet Qing Dynasty will be chopped off to pay homage to his heroic soul."... The generals were aroused by Tuoli's words and were filled with rage and curses.

"Commander, there is finally a way to defeat the city of Xi'an," Xin Sizhong, the commander-in-chief of Lanzhou, suddenly said.

"Oh, what are your plans? Tell me quickly." Tuoli was overjoyed.

"The last general suggested digging a tunnel to the vicinity of Changle Gate and blasting it with gunpowder," Xin Sizhong said his idea. Instead of hearing praise, he heard a sound of discouragement.

Tuoli glanced at him angrily, "I thought it was some clever plan, but it turned out to be the collapse method. This method has been used a few days ago. Three tunnels were dug and covered with gunpowder. Just listen to three big firecrackers, and the damn city wall is solid and not moving at all."

"Commander, that's because I didn't find the right place when I exploded. Blasting near Changle Gate should have a miraculous effect," Xin Sizhong said calmly.

"Haha, that's strange. It doesn't collapse if you blast it from other places, but it can collapse if you blast it from Changlemen?" Tuoli asked doubtfully. "The last general once followed King Li Chuang. I remember that King Chuang invaded Xi'an from Changle Gate. When he saw the "Changle Gate" plaque hanging on the city gate, he angrily said to the soldiers: 'If the emperor Changle is allowed, the people will be It's going to be a long time of suffering.' When the subordinates heard this, the crowd was so angry that they set fire to the Changle Gate Tower. The current Changle Gate Tower was rebuilt by the Manchus. The general thought, it must not be as strong as before. Why not put it here? It may have a miraculous effect if it collapses,” Xin Sizhong said.

"What a 'Tiger Flame Squad'. If it's true as you said, after Xi'an City is conquered, I will personally ask the Great Khan for your credit." Tuoli was so happy that he called Xin Sizhong's nickname when he was a thief. This nickname was originally only given to the old brothers of the Chuang Army who surrendered to the guard together. For example, Fan Dingge, the commander-in-chief of Yan'an, liked to call him this bandit. Unexpectedly, the general who conquered the north also knew it.

Once you have a good idea, implement it immediately. Tuoli ordered his men to dig three more tunnels, leading directly to the Changle Gate. He also ordered Qianhu's Balebazi and Ramadash, and the generals Wang Yongzhen and Ji Jiao to lie down outside the Changle Gate, waiting for the city gate to be blown down. Charge into the city and kill him till his blood flows like a river.

The city of Xi'an was quiet and beautiful in the early morning, but someone wanted to break the tranquility. "Boom~Boom~Boom~" Three continuous loud noises made the Changle Gate in the east of Xi'an tremble three times.

"Haorui~Haorui~Haorui~"

While the smoke was still lingering and the defenders were stunned by the bombing, Balebazi and Ramadash led 5,000 Mongolian cavalry and rushed towards the city gate, followed by 10,000 infantry.

"what?"

Balebaqi rode his horse close to Changle Gate, only to find that although the city wall had just shaken, it had not collapsed. Only a lot of wall bricks had fallen off the outside, and there was not a single gap in the entire east wall.

"Bah! Bad luck!" He cursed and shouted: "If you can't move, fight back to camp!"

After hearing the news that the weakest Changle Gate had failed despite its collapse, Tuoli once again looked up to the sky and sighed, "When I was young, I followed the late emperor in the south and north, and rarely lost. What kind of battles have I not fought? I didn't expect that I was actually in Xi'an. The city has repeatedly hit the wall. Tengger! This makes me look embarrassed!"

(End of this chapter)