Chapter four hundred and twentieth fourth battle of wits and courage
There are several obstacles in the cold mountains, and the wind is low and shatters the road in the Central Plains. The autumn sky is as blue as today and the past. I am drunk and bare my mink fur, and I remember the place where I called.
Who do you want to bet on your skills as a man? When you grow old, you will still show off your strength. There are so many idle foxes and rabbits in this world. The moon is black and the sand is yellow. I miss you so much at this moment.
——"Drunk and Desolate·Ode to the Eagle" by Chen Weisong (Qing Dynasty)
…
The news of An Lushan's sudden death reached Chengdu. The Supreme Emperor Li Longji sat by the Huanhua River and said nothing all day long. All the events in the past were like dew and lightning.
"Who was the first courtier who advised me to kill An Lushan? It should be Zishou, right?"
Prime Minister Zhang Jiuling had seen countless people and his eyes were as bright as a torch. After interrogating An Lushan, he felt deeply that this man "seemed to be foolish and straightforward on the outside, but cunning on the inside" and was by no means a good person.
Zhang Jiuling wrote a comment on An Lushan's case file: "If you obey the military orders of Gui, Lushan will not be spared death."
Xuanzong felt that An Lushan was brave and good at fighting, and hoped to pardon An Lushan and let him return to the army to serve his crimes.
Zhang Jiuling firmly opposed it and said to Xuanzong: "The wolf in Lushan is ambitious and has a rebellious face. I ask that he be killed for his crime in order to avoid future troubles."
"If I had listened to Zishou and killed this thief. Tonight, the moon is as full as a moon, and I should go boating in Taiye Pond with Yuhuan..."
Zhang Jiuling once wrote a poem: "Lovers complain about the distant night, but they miss each other at night", which is actually a portrayal of Xuanzong today.
Li Longji shed tears because of Zhang Jiuling's foresight, his heart was as sharp as a knife, and he regretted his mistake.
The next day, Li Longji sent eunuchs to pay homage to Zhang Jiuling's grave in Qujiang, Shixing County, and to show generous support to his family.
…
On the sixth day of the seventh month in the second year of Zhide, Yin Ziqi mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops and went south again to besiege Suiyang.
A few months ago, the Tang army's hundreds of brave cavalry attacked the camp. In the Yan army's camp, Yin Ziqi was shot and blinded in one eye. Yin Ziqi regarded this as a great shame and humiliation.
Yin Ziqi was determined to win this siege. He learned from the lessons of previous failures and specially transferred a group of siege equipment and ordnance craftsmen from Luoyang.
After several months of rest and recuperation, the Yan army had replenished a large number of soldiers, supplies, supplies, weapons and ammunition.
In contrast, Suiyang, which lacked military supplies, was increasingly running out of ammunition and food.
Suiyang originally had 60,000 shi of grain raised through bloodshed. However, Li Ju, the governor of Henan Province, repeatedly forced Xu Yuan to allocate 30,000 shi of grain to Puyang and Jiyin.
Xu Yuan was forced to have no choice but to hand over the grain to the two counties. However, not long after, Gao Chengyi, the prefect of Jiyin, surrendered the city. Xu Yuan's 15,000 shi of grain that he had painstakingly accumulated was in vain for the Yan army.
The Yan army began to besiege Suiyang in the first month of the second year of Zhide, and has been besieging the city intermittently for half a year. The armies of several neighboring counties failed to come to rescue, and the 30,000 shi of food in Suiyang city gradually depleted. Starting from July, each soldier can only eat 100 grams per day. When the rice reached only one hen of rice, the soldiers had no choice but to mix it with bark and tea paper to satisfy their hunger.
Bai Fu also tasted hunger.
At the beginning, Bai Fu relied on his pure internal skills and used the Big Valley Technique to breathe out, but the impact was not big. As time went by, he became unbearably hungry. When fighting the Yan army, he concentrated on killing the enemy and did not feel hungry. Once it was late at night, he became unbearable. At times, it feels very uncomfortable to feel my heart against my back.
Only then did Bai Fu understand the reason why Master Zhongsi attached great importance to food, grass, baggage, and logistical support. Only those who have actually been on the battlefield can know that starvation and cold can sometimes undermine the morale of an army more than fierce battles and injuries.
After half a year of hard fighting, the Tang army in Suiyang wiped out tens of thousands of enemies and suffered 5,000 casualties. The soldiers who defended the city were starving and sick. Of the 6,000 soldiers, only about 1,600 were left.
If it weren't for the impassioned and passionate pre-war mobilizations of the commander-in-chief Zhang Xun, sharing the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, taking the lead in charging into the battle, loving the soldiers like his own children, and showing heartfelt compassion and care, Suiyang City would have been attacked several times.
Bai Fu, like other soldiers, felt the same way. Although he was in dire straits every day, he had high fighting spirit and was willing to die for Zhang Xun.
The friendship of life and death made every man of the Tang Dynasty feel that it would be an honor to die in battle with his brothers! How majestic and happy!
After the fierce battles every day, when the smoke cleared, Bai Fu and other soldiers collapsed on the tower, panting and resting, joking and bickering. No one knew when the Yan army would charge next, or how long he could survive. So.
, everyone cherishes this moment of tranquility, having fun at home, recalling the quiet and warm hometown before the war, loving parents with dyed white hair, affectionate lovers, naughty children...
At this time, Bai Fuchang lay down behind the arrow stack, looking through the arrow holes at the sunset. The warm sunset was like a ray of glow on the top of Mount Huashan...
…
Looking at the dilapidated Suiyang City Tower that was riddled with holes, Yin Ziqi knew that the isolated Tang army would not be able to hold on for long, and the city would soon be destroyed.
Yin Ziqi ordered the Yan army to step up the attack on the city.
The Yan army dispatched a large siege equipment - the ladder. The ladder was huge, as high as the city wall, and was indestructible. The middle layer of the ladder was a siege tower, which could accommodate 200 elite soldiers. The top of the ladder was an arrow tower and a springboard.
There are wooden wheels at the bottom of the ladder. Soldiers can hide behind the ladder bunker and push the ladder towards the city wall.
The soldiers of the Yan army first pushed the ladder to the bottom of the city. The soldiers of the archery tower used arrows to suppress the firepower of the Tang army and at the same time lowered the springboard.
The soldiers climbed onto the siege tower and entered the tower through the springboard connected to the city wall.
…
The Yan army's first siege by Yun Lai caused a lot of losses to the Tang army's soldiers who were not well prepared. After repelling the Yan army's attack, Zhang Xun summoned his soldiers to discuss ways to deal with Yun Lai.
The generals brainstormed and came up with many brilliant ideas.
After the combat meeting, Zhang Xun ordered his men to dig many hidden holes in the city wall. Each group of three holes was designed to deal with a ladder.
The next day, the Yan army once again sent ladders to attack the city. Thousands of soldiers pushed ten ladders slowly towards the city wall. The ten ladders were like ten giant beasts, with ferocious faces, which frightened the defenders of the city.
When the ladder was about to approach the city wall, the Tang army stretched out a wooden pillar from the first hole with an iron hook tied to the capital. The iron hook hooked the ladder so that it could not retreat; at the same time, a wooden pillar stretched out from the second hole with an iron hook tied to the capital.
The steel fork was firmly against the ladder, preventing it from getting close to the city wall; a long wooden stick was extended from the third hole, with an iron cage tied to the end, and a torch placed in the cage. The iron cage torch burned the middle section of the ladder, and a raging flame instantly
Set the ladder on fire.
Once the middle section of the ladder was broken, the two hundred elites hidden at the top were like roasting pigs in a furnace, their bodies were on fire and their hairs were all burning. Many soldiers would rather jump off the ladder and fall to their death than be burned alive.
The powerful ladder suddenly became a nightmare for the Yan army. There were screams under Suiyang City and the smell of burnt air filled the air.
Yin Ziqi's face was ashen and he ordered his troops to retreat.
Looking back, he saw Zhang Xun and the generals in the city tower and pavilion, wearing feather fans and silk towels, talking and laughing happily, which made Yin Ziqi even more angry.
A few days later, Yin Ziqi sent out "hook chariots" to attack the city, specifically hooking up pavilions on the city. These pavilions can not only avoid arrows, but also provide shade from the sun, so that the generals can relax while waiting for work while guarding the city.
That day the Yan army was defeated, and these pavilions became Yin Ziqi's punching bag. If he could not capture the city, he would destroy the city tower facilities first.
The hook cart newly invented by the Yan army was indeed powerful. The tents and pavilions collapsed wherever the hook reached it.
Not to be outdone, Zhang Xun led the barracks craftsmen to make a batch of "leather carts" overnight, using wood, chains, and iron rings to form "leather cart long arms."
Once the Yan army's hook cart appears, immediately use the iron ring at the end of the leather cart's long arm to catch the iron hook on the hook cart, and drag the hook and cart together to the top of the city.
If the soldiers of the Yan army refused to let go, and the two sides reached a tug of war and reached a stalemate, the soldiers of the Tang army used sharp axes and long knives to cut off the iron hooks, and then let the hook cart go back.
The ladders and hook carts were all scrapped under Zhang Xun's whimsical defense methods, so the Yan army had to use another new type of siege equipment - the 'wooden donkey'.
The Yan army soldiers were in groups of five, hiding under a shield made of wood. The shield was shaped like a donkey and was covered with wet cowhide. The soldiers hid in the belly of the 'wooden donkey' and carried it forward.
The 'wooden donkey' served as a bunker, and the soldiers of the Yan army were not afraid of arrows, including flaming arrows.
After fighting for several rounds, Zhang Xun found a way to crack the 'wooden donkey'.
Zhang Xun ordered his soldiers to melt the metal into liquid. When the Yan army's wooden donkey mountain rushed to the city with a tsunami, the Tang army poured copper liquid and molten iron on their heads. The boiling soup instantly turned the 'wooden donkey' into charcoal.
The soldiers of the Yan army rolled out from the belly of the "wooden donkey", their whole bodies were on fire, and they rolled on the sand in an attempt to extinguish the flames. The sharp archers of the Tang army at the top of the city killed the Yan soldiers one by one with one arrow.