Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 397: Battle of Afu City (Special thanks to book friend Lao Tong Hou Ren/2022…6970 monthly tickets!)

The three of them discussed until late into the night before they finalized the details of the operation.

The Longxiong Guards also received warm hospitality from the Afu tribe.

The next day, on the morning of May 12, the 30th year of Kaixi, Zhang Yong sent a hundred Longxiang Guards and ten envoys sent by Afu leader Yan Lie to leave the Afu tribe and rush to Yaqing Mountain where the Xiajiasi royal court was located.

Zhang Yong led the rest of the Longxiang Guards to stay in the Afu tribe and guide his people in building various city defense offensives.

With thousands of years of Chinese experience in building and attacking cities, the experience of Zhang Yong and others was unprecedented and astonishing to the people of the nomadic Afu tribe.

The basic form of city building in ancient China, it is a defensive project composed of city walls as the main body, combined with barriers such as ditches and pools and outer forts. According to statistics, there were more than 1400 county and prefecture cities and pools built during the Western Han Dynasty, and the number increased later.

The city construction system is composed of a city as a unit, which is generally composed of five parts: walls, trench protection facilities, shooting facilities, entrance and exit defense facilities, command and observation facilities and outer forts.

According to the records in "Shiben" and archaeological excavations, China's city construction originated in the transition period from primitive society to slave society, around the time when the Xia Dynasty was established.

The earthen walls that appeared earlier were the prototypes of cities. The city construction system came into being with the emergence of war, and evolved with the development and changes of weapons and tactics. Mozi, a thinker and politician in the Warring States Period, made important contributions to the theory of city construction in ancient China.

For example, he advocated that the location for building a city should be chosen in a military and economically important place, and attention should be paid to the use of terrain; the city construction system should be able to defend on all sides and have multiple protective facilities; the outer perimeter of the city wall should be surrounded by moats, and the outermost layer should be strengthened by building a wooden fence; the configuration of the city and the towers should be able to cover and support each other.

Although Zhang Yong and other Longxiang Guards only knew a part of all these technologies of the Great Zhou Dynasty for building city defenses, they had already opened the eyes of the black-haired people of the Khitan people and they were amazed.

At this time, the Afu leader Yan Lie was both respectful and fearful of Zhang Yong, and did not dare to say a word against his proposals.

Under the command of Zhang Yong and other members of the Longxiang Guard of the Great Zhou Dynasty, a hundred thousand able-bodied men of the Afu tribe built a castle with two layers of interior and exterior walls, tight defenses, and as many as six thousand shooting holes in twenty days on the basis of the original site of the tribe.

During these days of getting along, Zhang Yong and other Longxiang guards did not bully the weak and treated people with kindness and courtesy, which also made the people of the Afu tribe very fond of them and admired the magnificent atmosphere of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

After having dinner together every day, Zhang Yong and other Longxiang guards would sit by the campfire and chat with the Afu people.

The stories about the Great Zhou Dynasty and the anecdotes from Chinese history told by Zhang Yong and others also gradually made the Afu people feel close to the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Li Qingshan said:

"Commander Zhang, if that's the case, then your Majesty is an eternal saint!

According to the legends passed down by our elders, the Han Dynasty was the most powerful country on earth, with beautiful women, countless wealth, and a mighty and invincible army.

But according to what Commander Zhang said these days, the power of the Great Zhou will surely far exceed that of the Han and Tang dynasties!"

Zhang Yong nodded and said:
"Of course! Your Majesty is wise and brave, and is proficient in politics, military affairs, and economics. What's more, he loves the people like his own children, allowing the people to participate in governing the country and supervising officials. As a result, the people of the country are extremely excited and full of energy every day.

Under your Majesty's wise rule, our Great Zhou Empire is different from any previous dynasty in that it is the empire that places the greatest emphasis on "industry, commerce and maritime trade."

The people are also unprecedentedly wealthy." The people of the Afu and Jianhe tribes, who were sitting around the campfire, asked the Longxiang guards around them about the living conditions of the people of the Great Zhou.

When these black-haired people of the Great Zhou heard that everyone had enough food and clothing, that every family had many sons and daughters, that each family had a horse on average, that they regularly ate chicken, duck, fish and meat, that more than half of the people wore silk and satin, and that there was a just society, a harmonious atmosphere and fair justice, they went from being unbelieving to being fascinated.

At noon on June 2, the 30th year of Kaixi, the scouts of Longxiang Guard returned to the city to report that the leader of the Chiwu tribe, Juli, had indeed led 30,000 soldiers and 100,000 royal guards to the Afu tribe.

Zhang Yong had anticipated this event, and had therefore directed the Afu people to build a solid and fierce city defense over the past twenty days.

Under Zhang Yong's command, 3,000 Longxiang Guards and 50,000 combat-capable soldiers from the Afu tribe were stationed at various locations on the city walls, ready to await the arrival of the enemy.

About an hour later, the leader of the Chiwu tribe, Juli, with a flattering look on his face, rode on horseback accompanied by a general of the Khitan imperial guards and rushed to the vicinity of the city of the Afu tribe. They stopped more than a mile away to observe the situation of the Afu tribe.

The enemy obviously knew that the effective range of the Great Zhou Divine Arm Bow was one mile.

Zhang Yong, who was standing on the city wall, looked intently and saw that the general of the Khitan imperial guards was none other than Li Jiqian, a rebel from the Tangut clan of the Great Zhou Dynasty!
After a moment, Li Jiqian, who was looking around at the city defense of Afu, suddenly saw Zhang Yong standing on the city wall, and his body was shocked.

Zhang Yong once set up an ambush with Cao Guangshi's troops from the 5th Corps of the Longxiang Army in Xiazhou City, and almost wiped out Li Jiqian's rebel troops.

Li Jiqian's younger brother Li Jichong was beheaded by Zhang Yong himself when he attempted to set fire to Xiazhou City and open the city gate.

When enemies meet at this moment, they are particularly jealous of each other.

Li Jiqian roared with anger:
"Zhang Yong, it's actually you!

There is a road to heaven, but you don't take it, and instead dare to stay in my land of Khitan.

Today, I swear to kill you to avenge my brother Ji Chong and hundreds of thousands of my Tangut soldiers and civilians!"

Zhang Yong laughed and said:
"Rebel Li Jiqian! This commander has come here today in person from afar to deal with you in compliance with the imperial decree of His Majesty!
Do you think that you can call the shots by escaping to the Khitans and manipulating the ruler and people of the Khitans?
As long as our Great Zhou Empire exists, there will be no chance for you, Li Jiqian, to bring disaster to the people and abuse your power!"

Li Jiqian was furious. After looking at Afu City for a while, he immediately assigned 100,000 Khitan imperial guards and 30,000 Chiwu soldiers to attack the city from all directions.

The "Battle of Afu City" began immediately.

After more than twenty days of careful preparation, the defense of Afu City was solid, and there were sufficient arrows and food.

The three thousand Longxiang Guards were the core of the defense, assisted by the fifty thousand soldiers of the Afu Tribe. Once the enemy entered within five hundred meters, arrows rained down from the city walls.

Iron was scarce in the Khitans. Although plate armor with simple manufacturing technology has been used in the military of many countries, the Khitans were restricted by the scarcity of iron ore, so only officers above the rank of captain were equipped with it.

Under the volley of divine arm bows, the 130,000 enemy troops were like paper-made pieces, with heavy casualties. A few soldiers hid in siege vehicles and rushed to the city, but were also killed by 50,000 Afu soldiers using kerosene, boulders, huge logs and other weapons.

(End of this chapter)