Compared to the heroic army Sicheng captured by Wang De, purely in terms of the strength of the city wall, Yinzhou City besieged by Zhang Xian is more difficult to defeat!
Let’s not talk about being surrounded by water on three sides, let’s just talk about the thickness of the city wall.
Ancient Chinese city walls and county towns are usually 4 meters thick at the base and 5 meters thick at the top. Even if there are differences, the difference is not big.
The base of a state city 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 base of Beijing City was 24 meters and the base of Xi'an City was 18 meters.
The Yinzhou City in front of us has a city wall base thickness of 10 meters, which is within the specifications of an important city in this era.
It was built in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Since it has been in a war-torn area for a long time, it has been heightened and thickened in the past dynasties. Especially during the Hundred Years War between Song and Xia, the Mizhi Village of the Song Army was located right outside this place. After Yinzhou was captured twice by the Song Army
, the base thickness of the lower city wall has been increased to 14 meters.
The city is divided into upper city and 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-edged, and the wall is slightly curved according to the terrain.
Construct a three-dimensional defense system surrounded by water on three sides!
Zhang Xian continued bombarding with artillery for twelve days, but there was no sign of collapse of the Yinzhou city wall. Only in certain areas, the outer layer of rammed earth built a hundred years ago was destroyed, and even the wooden beam wall above the city gate did not collapse.
"Build more ladders and Lu Gongchao!" Zhang Xian could only order in frustration.
There is no problem in capturing this city, but it is estimated to take more than a month.
Breaking a fortified city in one month was very powerful in any dynasty, but all the armies of the Ming Dynasty were competing 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 the situation. Although the other side responded by blowing the trumpet, they were wrong.
"That's the enemy cavalry!"
The Ming cavalry blew their horns to intercept them.
Not many Xixia cavalry came, but in vain, the Ming army could not stop all the enemies.
Two Xixia Qingqi passed through the gap in the defense and rushed outside Yinzhou City in a panic.
The guard general of Yinzhou went to Li Nengyu, ordered the hanging basket to pull up the two of them, and asked, "Are you from Shizhou?"
One of the cavalrymen was hit by an arrow in the back. He lost too much blood and was depressed. He relied on his chest to hold on. At this time, he fainted when he reached the place.
Another cavalryman was panting and waited for two minutes before saying: "Shizhou is besieged and Longzhou has fallen."
Xiang Linengyu was shocked: "Why didn't Longzhou get there so fast?"
The cavalryman told in detail:
"Angel (Zong Cunli) led the army from Youzhou, and General Li led the army from Shizhou. The two armies planned to attack Xiazhou from the north and south. Xiao Heda, the rebel general of Xiazhou, attacked Angel at night on the way. Angel abandoned the army and fled.
, even the general’s flag was taken away…”
"Xiao Heda returned to Xiazhou holding the banner of an angel. General Li thought it was an angel who had arrived, and quickly led his generals to greet him. Xiao Heda killed him by surprise. General Li was killed on the spot. Xiao Heda led his army to charge and kill Shizhou soldiers.
Flee immediately..."
"Xiao Heda led the army to chase outside Shizhou City. Fortunately, Supervisor Liu ordered to defend it. Seeing that it was difficult to attack the city, Xiao Heda led his army to Longzhou..."
"Longzhou has been bombarded by the Ming army for many days. Xiao Heda took out the Angel flag again and said that the Angel army had been wiped out. Faced with the siege of the enemy army, the defenders in the city did not dare to fight anymore. They burned the food and grass and rode away at night.
We also sent a team of cavalry back to Shizhou to report the news."
"The enemy troops there (Zhong Yanchong and Xiao Heda) sent their troops north and surrounded Shizhou City."
After listening to this, Xiang Linengyu stood stunned on the spot.
Shizhou City was besieged and his retreat was blocked!
Don't talk about strengthening the walls and clearing the country, and evacuating the people of Shizhou, it will be difficult even for the army to withdraw.
The progress of the Ming army's siege was too fast, and Bin Cunli was too useless. As a result, Xiangyou Army Division and Shenyong Army Division's campaign to clear the country completely failed.
Before it could be implemented, the Ming army closed the door and beat the dogs.
Xiang Linengyu left the city wall in despair. He was completely in despair.
The three cities in the shape of an irregular triangle - Shizhou City, Yinzhou City, and Shenyongjunsi City. They were originally the horns of each other and could quickly rescue each other, but now they are all under siege by the Ming army.
Clay Bodhisattvas are crossing the river one by one, but they cannot save themselves!
The Yinzhou City where Lin Nengyu was stationed was the worst, being caught in the middle. The other two cities might still be able to escape, but wherever he ran here, he would be surrounded by enemies.
Another group of cavalry came over. The Ming army's cavalry blew their trumpets to test them, and the cavalry on the opposite side also blew their trumpets in response.
own people.
The cavalry team was taken to Zhang Xian's military tent. After the military salute, 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, both Zhong and Xiao
The generals each left troops to garrison the city, and have led their troops to encircle Shizhou."
Zhang Xian was surprised and happy: "Longzhou and Xiazhou have all returned to the Ming Dynasty, and Shizhou has been surrounded by you? So the Yinzhou City in front of you is like catching a turtle in a urn?"
The cavalry captain who reported the news smiled and said: "General Zhong said that General Zhang does not need to be anxious and will attack slowly around Yinzhou. When he captures Shizhou, he will come over to help."
"Fart, I don't need his help!" Zhang Xian was furious.
Zhang Xian and Zhong Yanchong have equal positions, but Zhang Xian is the local commander-in-chief, while Zhong Yanchong is the foreign commander-in-chief. Therefore, this army has Zhang Xian as the chief general and Zhong Yanchong as the deputy general.
Now, the lieutenant general has captured one city and besieged another.
And what about the general?
It’s not fucking open yet!
The lieutenant general even kicked his nose and said that he would come to help if he could conquer another city.
It simply makes no sense.
In the early morning of the next day, Zhang Xian called the chief craftsman and issued a fatal order: "Step up to build the ladder, Lu Gong's car, the current speed is too slow. Within ten days, I will take Yinzhou in one fell swoop!"
That afternoon, the artillery was still bombarding, and the craftsmen were busy working.
Suddenly there was a horn warning sound from the north, which was rapid and continuous. This was to remind Zhang Xian to send troops.
Zhang Xian put on his armor and shouted: "The whole army is wearing armor, the cavalry is on horseback and ready, and the infantry is guarding the camp!"
Fighting has begun in the north, and the sound is getting closer and closer.
Xiang Li Nengyu in Yinzhou City was also attracted by the battle in the north.
He saw a large group of Xixia cavalry fleeing from the north, followed closely by the Ming army cavalry, while Zhang Xiansa's scout cavalry ran to help intercept them.
Soon, Zhang Xian led thousands of brave cavalry to attack, and together with his friendly troops, they attacked the Xixia cavalry from the north and south.
Only two or three hundred of the Xixia cavalry remained, and they fled towards the west, unable to approach the Yinzhou city wall at all.
what's the situation?
Xiang Linengyu looked to the north stupidly, could it be that Sicheng of the Divine Warrior Army had also been captured by the Ming army?
Zhang Xian didn't understand either, so he rode up to him and asked, "How are you doing in the battle?"
Wu Lin, one of Yao Pingzhong's subordinates, smiled and said: "I would like to teach General Zhang to know that we have captured the city of Yinzhou City, and all the four Xixia villages further north have also been eradicated by our army. General Zhang does not have to worry, he will surround Yinzhou City."
You can just stay here, and my general soldier will come to help you the day after tomorrow at the latest."
Zhang Xian hesitated to speak, and it took him a long time to say a few words: "I can do it myself."
Wu Lin laughed loudly.
Zhang Xian returned to camp depressed, getting angrier the more he thought about it.
Those straight thieves took the city too quickly, making me look like a waste.
Wu Lin's military position is not high, and his bright spots have been obscured by his brother Wu Jie, and he has never had the opportunity to fully demonstrate his abilities.
Nowadays, Wu Jie is the commander-in-chief, but Wu Lin is still Yao Pingzhong's subordinate.
He sent a small group of cavalry back to report the news, and he led the remaining cavalry to Zhang Xian's camp to eat and drink.
Not long after, Zhang Xian sent a large number of cavalry to shoot into Yinzhou City to persuade them to surrender. At the same time, he also asked these cavalry to shout.
"Sicheng, Xiazhou City, and Longzhou City of the Divine Warrior Army have all been occupied by our great tomorrow's soldiers. Shizhou City has also been besieged. You are an isolated city here! If you are trapped in an isolated city and do not surrender, are you all waiting to die in the city?
?”
After some shouting, the morale of the soldiers in the city was in chaos.
Several surrounding cities, except Shizhou City which was under siege, have all fallen.
Yinzhou is already an isolated city!
An isolated city means there are no reinforcements.
Xiang Li Nengyu was at a loss. He could not imagine how many troops the Ming Dynasty had dispatched.
Without hundreds of thousands of people, it would be impossible to attack all Xixia border towns at the same time on a long front.
With such a large number of troops and such strong combat power, not to mention the declining Xixia, even the Xixia in its heyday could not withstand it!
Not to mention resisting, the Ming army's offensive was so fierce that the Xixia border army did not even have a chance to retreat.
Improving the walls and clearing the country could not have been carried out last winter, otherwise there would be no need for the Ming army to come and kill the countless soldiers and people who had been moved away, and they could rise up and kill the Xixia Emperor.
We can only wait until the spring snow melts before taking action, move... use a hammer.
They haven't moved yet, but they are all under siege.
Linengyu was unwilling to surrender to the Ming army, so he called his generals to talk one by one and test each general's mind.
Half of the generals, especially the local chiefs, vaguely expressed the idea of surrender.
They did not want to die trapped in an isolated city.
Xiang Li Nengyu said to these generals: "You all go back to the camp. I will sort out the map and household register. Tomorrow we will open the city and surrender to the Ming army."
The generals who expected to surrender were overjoyed, those who did not want to surrender were angry, and those who were undecided were relieved.
Xiang Linengyu quietly called back the angry-looking general. After some instructions, he began to change defenses and made an appointment to burn food and escape at night.
Escape towards the northwest, first going to Anqingze (Wushen Banner), and then crossing the desert to Shengweicheng - which is the route the Dingzhou uprising army took to escape to Xiazhou last year.
The plan is good, but the idea is too beautiful.
If Xiang Linengyu didn't want to burn food, even if his arrangement was discovered, the chiefs who were ready to surrender would probably turn a blind eye.
But it’s wrong for you to burn food.
These are grains and grass collected from various ministries, and every grain of grain contains the hard work and sweat of our people. Moreover, we brought the city and grain to the rescue, so we can say that we have a small amount of credit.
You burned the damn food, weren't you obviously trying to trick us? What should you do if you pissed off the Ming army?
With so much food and grass, it was too difficult to burn them all. They were discovered as soon as they started to change their defense arrangements.
The chiefs of each department secretly contacted and discussed, and decided to keep the grain and cut it off to Linengyu Xian City to receive the reward.
"kill!"
A military camp in Beicheng District took the lead and rushed towards the city gate.
The military camp near the granary rushed to kill those who were preparing to set fire.
The remaining chiefs attacked Lin Nengyu's mansion from all sides.
Lin Nengyu sent all his confidants to his military camp. He stayed at the mansion and pretended to organize the map and household register. The family was only protected by more than 20 personal soldiers.
The troops suddenly rose up, and Xiang Linengyu was so frightened that he jumped over the wall and fled.
His entire family was arrested, and he was also arrested on a street.
The confidant generals under Li Nengyu's command, as well as the generals who planned to escape with him, all panicked and became scattered. Some people rushed out of the city gate with cavalry to escape, while others led troops to fight with the rebels in the city.
There are mountains two or three miles to the north and south of Yinzhou City, and there are Ming troops on the mountains who have been observing the city with telescopes.
Seeing fighting breaking out in the city, the lookouts quickly waved flags.
Zhang Xian laughed loudly when he learned about the situation: "Finally, I don't have to look at their faces anymore. Sons, follow me to seize Yinzhou!"
