In the distance is the roaring Yellow River, near is the vast yellow sand, and Mingsha City is surrounded by hundreds of thousands of troops.
Even though they were besieged by party troops for twenty-seven days, the flag with the word "Zhang" written on Mingsha City was still flying.
But Mingsha City is not feeling well either.
There were only ten days to collect food in the city, so the defenders had to be frugal. General Zhang Zhi set an example by patrolling the city with only two cakes every day. Eventually, he was so hungry that he could only walk leaning on the wall.
There was not enough food for ten days, and the Song army had no choice but to slaughter the horses.
There were still many war horses in the city. They were injured and had to be slaughtered when there was no food. With these horse meat, the soldiers barely managed to survive for more than ten days.
The half-starved Song army had to face the Xia army attacking the city every day and attacking the stronghold at night.
At first, when the Song army attacked the stronghold, they still had to break the siege or harass the Xixia soldiers and horses, but later it became a matter of robbing [food].
Every time the Song army invaded the Xixia stronghold, they would capture party members or animals and take them into the city.
One time, two Song soldiers who had no time to retreat into the city faced the surrounding Dangxiang soldiers and horses. Knowing that there was no hope of survival, they gnawed a Dangxiang soldier in front of them.
This scene made all the party soldiers vomit.
Finally, the party soldiers quickly dug a trench around the city and blocked the Song army's night attack.
Now out of the five thousand Song troops in the city, there are only more than three thousand left, but they are already running out of food.
As the commander-in-chief, Zhang Zhi comforted the soldiers. Although he tried to remain calm on his face, when he saw the soldiers leaning against the wall, so weak that they could not even draw their bows, he felt despair bit by bit in his heart.
After Zhang Zhi visited the city in the past few days, he would return to his tent to write his suicide note and memorial.
After the night chapter is finished, the people who heard it will go inside to ask for an audience.
Zhang Zhi let out a long sigh and immediately met the generals.
More than ten generals, led by You Shixiong and Wang Fan, said one after another: "Mr. Jinglue, this isolated city cannot be defended. While the generals in the city still have strength, please ask Mr. Jinglue to lead his army to break out of the siege!"
Zhang Zhi shook his head and said: "How many of the three thousand remnant soldiers can survive being pursued by hundreds of thousands of Western bandits?"
All the generals said: "There are still more than two hundred strong horses in the city, and we are willing to fight to the death to protect them!"
Hearing this, Zhang Zhi sighed: "I don't regret dying, so why would I dare to bother you all to risk your lives? Now that the city is about to be destroyed, I know that there are some acquaintances among you who are unwilling to accompany me to defend this city any longer, so I can't force myself any longer."
"If you want to go, stand on the left. If you want to stay, stand on the right."
All the generals looked at each other in shock when they heard this.
They all had hesitant and complicated looks in their eyes, and then they all said together: "Jie Shuai, you are a man of wealth, please think twice."
Zhang Zhi said: "I killed Wang Zhongzheng, so I was lucky enough to abandon the city and abandon my soldiers to survive. I can't escape the punishment of the court. But you don't have to do this. You will die together with me in the city."
At the last moment of life and death, Zhang Zhi unabashedly spoke his true feelings.
When the generals heard this, they stopped trying to persuade them. Immediately, two or three generals stood on the left, and another general stood on the left. Wang Chen also struggled in his heart and said: "I am willing to die together with the general!"
After saying this, Wang Fan stood on the right side. Seeing this, most of the generals stood on the right side.
Zhang Zhi couldn't help but be touched that there were so many following him, and then he looked at You Shixiong who was still undecided in the field.
You Shixiong originally thought that as Zhang Zhi, the imperial court would send reinforcements to rescue him anyway, but he waited in the city for twenty-seven days, but did not see a single sign of reinforcements.
You Shixiong struggled between the fear of life and death for many days. In the end, the will to live in his heart defeated the will to die.
Zhang Zhi saw this and said: "I wouldn't be worried if someone else went south to ask for help. With Uncle Jing in the army, I feel much more at ease."
Zhang Zhi said something to You Shixiong and walked up to him and patted his shoulder.
You Shixiong cried: "Commander! Shixiong..."
Zhang Zhi said: "Uncle Jing, I can't thank you enough for your willingness to stay here with me. You go back first. If I survive another day, we can have a drink together when we meet again."
After saying this, Zhang Zhi asked the other generals to disperse. He returned to the inner hall to write his suicide note, and then said: "General Zhang is incompetent. He only knows how to stick to the rules and doesn't know how to adapt. Now he has entrusted his posthumous affairs to Uncle Jing.
"
"There is also this posthumous note. If you return to Beijing and see His Majesty, tell him that Dang Xiang's soldiers are indeed brave and good at fighting, and we must not underestimate this enemy. However, no matter how difficult it is, the imperial court must not give up the strategy of advancing troops through the Jingyuan Road.
If you can destroy Xia in this way, I will die without hatred!"
After saying this, both the suicide note and the suicide note were placed in You Shixiong's hands.
At dawn, the Song army opened the city gate, and You Shixiong and more than a hundred cavalry broke out on the side of Dangxiang's army that was "encircling three columns and one". Zhang Zhi saw that although the Xixia ambushing soldiers and horses were pursuing them, nearly half of the Song army's cavalry escaped.
You Shixiong seemed to be fine, Zhang Zhi was relieved upon seeing this, and returned to the top of the city to sit alone. He looked at the wolf-moon crescent in the sky, but felt extremely peaceful in his heart.
Zhang Zhixin said, no wonder people can transcend and realize the great truth only at the moment of life and death.
Just then, war drums were beaten in the Xixia army, awakening the sleeping Song army soldiers.
Zhang Zhi guessed that the Song army that broke out last night must have been captured, and revealed the situation in the city that was running out of ammunition and food, so Xixia would definitely send troops today to attack the city with all its strength.
Zhang Zhihuai carries a sharp blade with him, and he has already made plans. If the city is defeated, he will never commit suicide. He will fight hard and die unyieldingly to uphold the integrity of the country and not lose his family's reputation.
Thinking of this, Zhang Zhi looked towards the southern sky and bowed in the direction of Bianjing!
"Father and mother, forgive the child for being unfilial!"
…
What Zhang Zhi didn't know was that the siege of the city for more than twenty days also allowed the Xixia leader Li Bingchang and others to see the resistance and resilience of the Song army.
Zhang bluntly said that the generals were incompetent.
But the Xixia monarchs and ministers did not see it that way.
Zhang Zhi surrounded the isolated city with 5,000 troops and resisted the siege of hundreds of thousands of troops in recent months, leaving them helpless.
Li Bingchang was very angry with Ren Duoyading and the tribal leaders who commanded the siege, and even beheaded several small tribal leaders who were not effective in fighting.
Now more than 30,000 Song troops dispatched from Huanqing Road have captured Weizhou, threatening Lingzhou and the supply route for more than 100,000 troops. Moreover, after the Song army captured Weizhou, they also separated a line of soldiers and horses towards Mingsha.
Come.
On the front, Shen Kuo led an army of more than 70,000 people to march along the Huluchuan line, and had won several battles in a row. Li Bingchang suffered from the fact that all his elite soldiers and generals were under the city, and he was unable to divide his troops to resist.
Now Song Jun's forward on Jingyuan Road is very close to Mingsha City.
Just when they were hesitating whether to retreat, the generals learned from the soldiers captured by the Song army yesterday that the city was unable to support itself.
Li Bingchang was overjoyed and decided to attack the city with his entire army today.
Under the yellow tent, Li Bingchang looked at Mingsha City and said to his confidant Han minister Li Qing: "After capturing Mingsha, I will immediately negotiate peace with the Eastern Dynasty!"
Li Qingdao: "If this is the case, Your Majesty should no longer listen to the words of the Queen Mother and the Prime Minister and engage in war with the Eastern Dynasty. The best policy is to take advantage of the victory to negotiate peace and rest and recuperate!"
Li Bingchang nodded. At this time, Dang Xiangjun was slowly launching various newly built siege equipment towards Mingsha City.
Li Bingchang looked towards the city. This battle had long made Xixia people tired of it.