The city of Jiuyuan City was first built by the Zhao State during the Warring States Period. It was a gathering place for the army, grain and grass during the Qin, Han and Tang Dynasties.
This is the northern end point of the Qin Straight Road, and it is also an important border town that Qin Shihuang wanted to visit last time before his death. It was last rebuilt in the Tang Dynasty and was called the "Successful City".
The city wall is two feet high, three feet wide at the bottom, and one foot wide at the top. It is divided into the north and south cities, in the shape of a double rhombus, which is called "Phoenix Spreading Its Wings." The north city is two miles long from east to west and one mile long from north to south; the south city is connected to the north city and is slightly smaller.
, the two cities cover a total area of about fifteen hectares.
Such a small city is a transportation hub and an important military town that connects the east, west, north and south.
After Zhang Jue learned about the battle report of Kublai Khan's personal expedition, he not only did not retreat, but burned the ships, thereby defeating the Yuan army Wanhu Manggu belt, and then pursued the victory and followed the defeated troops into Jiuyuan City.
When Hanzhong was recaptured, it was Zhang Jue who was the first to enter the city, kill the enemy and seize the city. This time Jiuyuan City was his goal when heading north, and he was finally able to capture it in this way.
Unfortunately, the meaning is completely different. Under the current situation, this move is not to recover, but to be trapped in an isolated city.
Not long after Manggu led his troops to defeat, more Yuan troops surrounded them again and completely surrounded the city wall.
If Zhang Jue still had an escape route to choose from at Nanhaizi Pier, he would have put himself in a desperate situation at this point.
The Yuan army did not expect him to be like this, so he disrupted their arrangements.
For more than twenty days after that, the Yuan army continued to attack the city. Knowing that the Tang army had no way to escape, the Yuan army did not attack regardless of casualties, so that the Tang army could barely support it.
In late October, heavy snow fell on the Hetao grassland, and the sky and the earth were covered with white snow.
Only there was no snow on the city walls, only red and dirty ice.
Every evening, the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty would drag down the corpses of their colleagues for burial, skin the corpses of enemy soldiers clean, place them at the top of the city, and pour water on them.
By the next day, the water would freeze into ice, making the battlements taller.
"vomit!"
A Tang soldier was dragging the corpse, and finally vomited it out, and then fell languidly against the wall.
Liu Jinsuo, who was standing not far away, saw him and hurriedly stepped forward to help him up, saying: "Don't lie here, it will freeze you. I said you are a veteran, and you can still vomit after seeing a corpse."
"General...I'm not feeling disgusted...I don't know what's going on."
"I'm too tired. I'm away from home, I'm not used to the climate, I'm anxious, and it's inevitable that I'll feel uncomfortable." Cheng Cong, the commander of the capital, stepped forward and asked someone to help the soldier down, saying: "Go and have a rest first. Today's Huotou Army
I got some rice and noodles and we’ll have dinner in a while.”
"Thank you, General."
When Liu Jinsuo heard this, he smiled and said: "Rice noodles? That's great! I eat horse meat all the time, which makes my stomach uncomfortable."
"General Liu came to help, and the two of us did the work." Cheng Cong said.
This general, who was born in Diaoyu City, is as thick as a barrel. Although he is old, he has a straightforward personality. While carrying the body with Liu Jinsuo, he said: "General Liu is really cheerful all the time."
"That's not the case." Liu Jinsuo said with a smile, "This is not a difficult time at present. General Cheng knows, right? When I returned to Lin'an from Kaifeng, I thought I would be promoted because I had made great contributions, but I ended up getting that job.
In the dark dungeon, I peeled off a piece of my tattoo, damn it. Now with such a big city guarding it, and tens of thousands of brothers, I'm afraid of nothing."
"Ha ha ha ha."
Cheng Cong laughed endlessly and gave some examples of difficult and dangerous experiences in his life.
"The situation now is just like when Brother Meng first arrived in Diaoyu City. However, Jiuyuan City is not as easy to defend as Diaoyu City."
"That's different." Liu Jinsuo said: "Speaking of Diaoyu City, the Mongolian army attacked our Sichuan and Sichuan provinces, but now we have attacked Hetao. Brother Cheng, don't think I look stupid, I understand strategy.
I tell you, even Kublai Khan rushed to defend us in a hurry. If we win this battle, the day will not be far when His Majesty will dominate the world."
"General Liu really knows strategy, but what if we don't win?"
"If you don't win, just go back and defend for another three to five years. It doesn't matter, you'll be happy."
"If you ask me, you have to win."
The two put down the body and poured water. Cheng Cong scratched his chilblained hand and said, "Aside from Your Majesty, Marshal Zhang is the one who knows how to fight in my eyes. How can I not win?"
"That's right, I also obey Marshal Zhang." Liu Jinsuo said: "In the past in the Song Dynasty, people always said that the most capable warriors in the Song Dynasty were Lu Wende, Liu Zheng, hey, fart. Not to mention your majesty, anyway, I know Marshal Zhang.
The most capable of fighting, much stronger than those from Meng Yuan."
"Haha, I feel so happy chatting with General Liu."
Cheng Cong smiled and thought again of that day when Liu Jinsuo and Wang Li fought to attack Ai Buhua. Then Wang Li went and an entire army was wiped out.
His eyes once again filled with sadness, he felt sorry for the child who came from Diaoyu City, and at the same time he felt that he could not live up to Wang Li's father.
"Let's go and eat some rice noodles." Liu Jinsuo was not aware of Cheng Cong's state of mind and said to himself: "Let me tell you, Marshal Zhang rarely ordered the rice noodles to be steamed today. There must be a tough battle to fight. I believe
I, Liu Da, am smart..."
really.
This night the army not only had rice and horse meat, but every soldier also had a sip of strong wine to drink.
Zhang Jue snatched it from a businessman in the city.
At this time, he didn't care about the various disciplines required by Li Xia. He was the second person in the Tang army. He was willing to die for the common ambition with Li Xia in this battle, and he didn't care about this little detail.
At the military meeting that night, after taking a sip of wine, Zhang Jue was still not finished, so he handed the jug out and put forward his idea.
"When I burned the ship before, the Yuan army didn't expect it. They must have been thinking, how are these Han people going to get back after burning the ship? I have more ways to get back."
All the generals looked refreshed.
They clearly saw the situation and knew that they would definitely die if they were besieged. At this time, they heard Zhang Jue say that they had a way to survive.
Only Liu Jinsuo was very puzzled and asked: "Commander, aren't we going to attack Kublai Khan? Why are we going back again?"
Zhang Jue rolled his eyes at him and said: "I originally thought so. But I sent a detective horse to risk my life to visit the Urad Pasture. There are too many troops near Kublai Khan's camp and the defenses are tight."
"Does he know we plan to attack him?"
"Of course not. We were surrounded, and he wouldn't be so defensive about us." Zhang Jue said: "Kublai Khan was afraid that His Majesty would go out of Yinshan Mountain to attack him, so he was prepared."
"Then why did Your Majesty go around Yinshan Mountain?"
"Don't interrupt. I just talked about how to get back."
"Yes, the commander is wise!" Liu Jinsuo shouted.
The generals no longer paid attention to him, and all looked at Zhang Jue.
But Zhang Jue tapped the map and said: "The Yellow River is going to freeze. Get ready, let's break out first..."
~~
"Zhang Shuai is really clever. He first burned the boat to give the Yuan army a hard blow, then captured Jiuyuan City, and held the captive chief in the Hetao for a month. When Guanzhong was ready, the Yellow River froze, and hey, the Yellow River froze again.
Walk back on the street, hahaha!"
Two nights later, Liu Jinsuo figured out the idea behind Zhang Jue's strategy and applauded him repeatedly.
At this time, Tang soldiers were removing the wood blocking the city gate and breaking the ice used to seal the city gate.
The horses have been fed fodder and are ready to break out and cross the Yellow River on ice.
Liu Jinsuo's riding skills were not good, and the soldiers and horses he led were not like the Yan'an army, so they were placed at the back of the team.
They streamed out of the city.
It was a snowy night, and I could barely see.
After running south for a few miles, shouts of killing came from the front, indicating that the soldiers and horses at the front had begun to break through.
Liu Jinsuo ordered his soldiers to maintain their physical strength and wait for Zhang Jue's order so that they could go up to support at any time.
Fortunately, the breakout went smoothly, and the battle report from the front came that the army had passed through the Yuan army's defense line and began to cross the river on ice.
By the time Liu Jinsuo arrived at the Yellow River, it was actually already the third quarter of the Yin hour, but the daybreak was late in winter and the sun had not been seen for a long time.
"Wrap the cotton cloth around the horse's hooves and cross the river!"
It was extremely cold while walking on the ice of the Yellow River. After walking for a while, Liu Jinsuo realized belatedly that the atmosphere in the army was warmer than usual.
"Finally the return trip."
"What's good about the return trip? It's better to kill the leader."
Halfway through his words, Liu Jinsuo realized that not everyone was as optimistic as he was, and many soldiers were actually too tired.
Even with cotton armor, they couldn't adapt to the severe cold in the north. Their hands were covered with frostbite, and every time they held the knife, it hurt. When the day's fighting was over, they had to tear their hands off the handle of the knife.
And the Yuan army was several times more powerful than them, so how could they not want to go home?
In this way, the soldiers comforted Liu Jinsuo and said: "Don't worry, general, we will fight back when the army is assembled..."
A sharp whistle interrupted their conversation.
Then there is a long trumpet blast.
Liu Jinsuo quickly greeted the ordering soldiers and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Under attack!"
"Send Zhang Shuai's order, and Liu Jinsuo will immediately support the right wing."
"The last general takes command!"
At this time, the sky finally dimmed. He looked around at his soldiers and saw disappointed faces.
At this moment, Liu Jinsuo wanted to take all these soldiers back.
They have delayed the Yuan army for long enough, giving Guanzhong an extra month of preparation time. What they need now is to return to Guanzhong to join more soldiers and horses, and then there will be a decisive battle with the Yuan army.
They shouldn't die here.
"The ice is too slippery, no need to ride a horse, just charge with me!"
…
The more they ran, the more they panted, and the more they ran, the more they panted. Finally, they saw the fighting ahead.
The number of Yuan troops shocked them. Looking around, they saw a whole row of bonfires lit up on the ice of the Yellow River.
As the sun shone down, a Yuan army flag with the word "Yang" written on it stood in front of them.
That's when Yang Wen'an arrived.
If not for Kublai Khan's personal conquest, Yang Wen'an might still be hiding somewhere to preserve his strength.
But at this time, he guessed Zhang Jue's plan and ambush here early.
It is not yet the twelfth lunar month, and although the ice on the Yellow River can be walked on, there is still a possibility of cracking under the sunlight in the afternoon and the temperature of the bonfire.
The Tang army must break out before the afternoon.