The moat of Taiyuan City originates from the Fen River. A two-mile-long Cao River leads the Fen River into the moat, and then enters the city through the water gate of the moat, forming a complete defense and water transportation system.
At the fourth watch, thirty siege ships sailed slowly along the Cao River towards the moat. Behind the fleet were 30,000 troops. This was the first wave of attacking troops, and there was a second wave of five attacking troops two miles away.
Ten thousand troops and fifty thousand cavalry were stationed on the outside.
As soon as the fleet entered the Cao River, it was immediately discovered by the Jurchen soldiers on the city wall. A rapid alarm bell sounded on the west city wall, "Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!"
As soon as the alarm bell rang, the whole city was shocked, and countless Jurchen soldiers woke up from their sleep. They all slept with their armor on, put on their shoes, picked up their weapons and ran towards the head of the city.
The ship had entered the moat, and the troops immediately divided into two groups, heading north and south, sailing along the edge of the moat. There were a hundred soldiers on each large ship. They hid behind the ship's sides and cabins and fired arrows at the top of the city.
The arrows on his head were also like rain, shooting at the unexpected ship.
At this time, Wanyan Yinshuke was also carried up to the city. He watched the ships passing by from behind the city tower. Most of the defenders on the city were confused. They didn't know what the Song army wanted to do.
Wanyan Yinshuke suddenly saw the ladder on a large ship. With a thought, he suddenly understood and shouted: "It's a ship attacking the city. The ship is not allowed to approach the city wall. Use kerosene to burn it!"
When the order was passed down, the soldiers on the city were in a hurry, and they threw pots of kerosene at the opponent's ship. However, the Song army had been prepared. Thick burlap blankets were spread on the deck. The pots shattered and the kerosene was thrown.
As soon as it flowed out, soldiers rushed up, rolled up the blankets and kerosene, and threw them overboard.
However, more than a dozen ships were still ignited by kerosene. At this time, thirty large ships were in place, and a sky bridge across the city was set up on the battlements. The bridge was five feet wide and had four-foot-high baffles on both sides.
It can protect against arrows and prevent people from falling into the water from the overpass.
There is an iron hook at the front end of the overpass, which hooks the battlements tightly like a siege ladder. Dozens of Song soldiers, holding shields and short spears, ran up the overpass and rushed towards the city. At the same time, on the outside of each large ship,
They all hung up the ladders, and the Song soldiers quickly made pontoons with rafts. There were nearly a thousand soldiers behind each large ship. The soldiers ran across the pontoons, climbed the ladders and rushed to the ships.
This kind of siege ship is actually a siege platform, similar to the nest car. The nest car has always been called a siege weapon, but the weakness of the nest car is also obvious. Its outlet is too small, and it is easy to be kerosene and gunpowder.
The barrel never destroys the internal structure, but the siege ship does not have the weakness of the nest car. It has two cross-city overpasses and can attack at multiple points. Kerosene and gunpowder have no way to deal with it for the time being.
The only way to deal with it is to turn against the enemy. The soldiers on the city head rush to the big ship, seize the big ship, and turn the big ship into an outward extension of the city head defense. This is the safest way. There are also some tips, such as preparing a large number of
Wheat straw and wood can be thrown onto ships to set them ablaze, or gunpowder barrels can be used to blow up cross-city bridges. However, such opportunities are fleeting and difficult to catch unless adequate preparations are made in advance.
But at least for Taiyuan City, these opportunities were gone. Song troops began to rush towards the city and fought with the defenders on the city. The battle between the two sides was extremely cruel and bloody. Either you died or I lived, and even surrendered.
None of them are possible.
There is a large open space in the north of Taiyuan City. This is the horse pen of the Jin soldiers. Twenty thousand war horses are kept here. More than a hundred sheds are built in it, and two hundred war horses are raised under each shed.
Two soldiers are in charge.
But two soldiers alone could not raise so many war horses. The Jin soldiers also hired hundreds of Han grooms to be responsible for cutting grass, cooking beans, fetching water, washing mangers, etc. The two hundred Jurchen soldiers were only responsible for guarding these Han grooms.
In the evening, all Han horsemen must leave and are not allowed to spend the night in the horse pen. Two hundred soldiers are responsible for patrolling and keeping vigil at night, and every two people are responsible for one greenhouse.
At this time, a fierce battle was going on on top of the city. All the grooms were in their respective positions. Coach Wanyan Yinshu had already arranged the retreat steps. Once they could no longer defend the city, they would retreat immediately. All the soldiers ran to the horses.
Riding in the circle, 20,000 war horses were prepared to retreat at any time.
More than twenty black figures entered the horse pen. They directly cut off the outer railings and overthrew all the railings. At this time, the war horses were able to run out of the horse pen, but they still stayed in the stable quietly.
Inside, the Song army scouts still need to build some momentum.
The Song army scouts rushed through one stable after another, killing nearly a hundred Jurchen guards in succession. They directly set fire to the horse materials, and dozens of greenhouses began to burn. The fire horses were frightened and began to run outside.
"There's a fire! Put out the fire quickly!"
The remaining Jurchen soldiers screamed in shock, but they could not stop the horses. Many people were knocked directly to the ground by the horses. At this moment, 'Boom! Boom! Boom!' More than a dozen gunpowder barrels were fired in succession.
There was an explosion in the horse pen. The violent explosion frightened the remaining horses. The horses screamed and ran desperately out of the city. Twenty-five soldiers rode on the horses and rushed into the horse pen with the large group of horses.
, and ran towards the streets and alleys of the city.
After an hour of fierce fighting, all 30,000 Song troops attacked the city. Both sides suffered heavy casualties. Nancheng was the focus of the Song army's attack. The army outnumbered the defenders by three times. Nancheng was the first to be captured by the Song army, and all 3,000 Jurchen defenders were killed.
Immediately afterwards, the South City Gate was opened, the suspension bridge was lowered, 50,000 Song troops rushed outside the South City, and the mighty army rushed directly into Taiyuan City.
At this time, Wanyan Yinshu was still supervising the battle at the head of the west city. At the head of the west city, the Jurchen army had the upper hand, killing thousands of Song troops and retreating steadily.
But after several pieces of news came out, Wanyan Yinshu was completely heartbroken.
"The southern city head has been captured by the Song army, and all the soldiers defending the city were killed. The Song army opened the south city gate, and tens of thousands of Song troops entered the city."
"Thousands of Song soldiers are coming from the direction of Nancheng. Brothers can't resist it!"
Wanyan Yinshuke let out a long sigh, "The southern city has been lost, what can we do even if we defend the western city? Send an order, the whole army retreats to the north city gate!"
"Woo-wu-wu-"
The low sound of the ram's horn was blown continuously, which was a pre-arranged order. Once such sound of the horn was heard, the entire army assembled towards the north city gate, mounted their war horses and broke out outside the north city.
More than 8,000 Jurchen soldiers in the west city quickly retreated, and the army in the east city also retreated. After nearly an hour of fierce fighting, more than 7,000 Jurchen soldiers were killed in the battle, and almost 5,000 people in the Song army were killed.
There were still 13,000 Jurchen troops left, and they were rapidly retreating towards Beicheng. As soon as they arrived near Beicheng, a captain of thousands rushed to report.
"Marshal, something bad has happened. Our war horses are no longer in the horse pen!"
"What?"
Wanyan Yinshu, who had always remained calm, finally got angry and whipped him hard, shouting: "What's going on?"
"I don't know. It seems that the guardrail was knocked down and a fire broke out inside. The horses were frightened and ran away. I only found more than 2,000 horses."
Wanyan A'falcon lazily advised: "Marshal, when a war broke out, the Song army set fire to the horse pen. It is normal for the war horses to be frightened. The war horses should be in the city and cannot escape!"
Wanyan Yinshu was so angry that he almost fainted. He had considered everything but the problem of the war horses. It was good that the war horses were all in the city, but they didn't have time.
At this time, shouts of killing came from behind. Wanyan Yinshu turned around and saw a wave of Song troops coming towards them. Less than a mile away from them, there were also Song troops coming from the top of the city, coming from three directions.
Surrounded.
All the soldiers suddenly turned pale. Only then did they realize that it was no longer realistic to get the horses back. They had no chance.
Wanyan Yinshu knew very well that once a street fight broke out, their numbers would be too small and the whole army would soon be destroyed.
He gritted his teeth and ordered: "Ignore the horses, the whole army will leave the city."
There were more than 13,000 people, but only about 2,000 found their horses. The other Jurchen soldiers had no choice but to run out of the city.
