Volume 2 Chapter 48: Five Paths (Part 1)
On the sixth day of the siege, Emperor Zhao got his wish and went to the battlefield. As the Son of Heaven, he personally put on armor and took up weapons, drew his bow and carried a sword, waiting for the battle.
Although Liu Yan personally led hundreds of Liaodong loyal guards for this purpose, and generals such as Wang De and Fu Qing were also wearing armor beside them, the densely packed armored soldiers almost filled that section of the city wall, and because the watchtowers were demolished, many young civil servants also followed, making the city wall look fancy... But no matter what, this action still boosted the morale of the soldiers on the city.
However, Emperor Zhao did not wait for the "opportunity" like the previous few days, and his archery skills, which he was proud of, were not put to good use. Because on this day, the Jin army adopted an unexpected siege method.
"What is the Golden Man doing?"
Beside Emperor Zhao, a group of civil and military officials looked at the front line of the Jin army, which was far beyond the attack range. They were all at a loss as to the bustling situation there. After watching for a full half a quarter of an hour, Chief Censor Hu Yin was the first to ask.
Hearing Hu Yin's question, the people around looked at each other, but didn't know how to answer.
As for Emperor Zhao, perhaps because he was well-informed and skilled in science, he realized almost immediately what the Jin army was going to do, but he just didn't know what professional words to use to describe it.
"Are you going to dig a tunnel?" Hu Yin continued to ask.
"No." Zhao Jiu, who was wearing iron armor, came back to his senses and finally spoke. "Nanyang has abundant water systems, and it is cold in winter, so it is impossible to dig a tunnel. If you have to say it, it means building a tunnel on the ground and then advancing towards the city wall."
Hu Yin and others were still confused, but General Wang De and other generals seemed to be awakening... It was obvious that these generals with rich military experience, like Emperor Zhao, at least understood the Jin people's intentions in their hearts .
"It's a tunnel." Just then, Xiao Lin, a scholar, suddenly spoke up. "It's something that existed during the Qin Dynasty. It's about building a road, building walls on both sides, and adding a roof on top to avoid arrows. If there's a ditch, fill it up, if there's a wall, push it up... When Zhang Han, Wang Li and the King of Chu fought a decisive battle in Hebei at the end of the Qin Dynasty, they built a wide tunnel to connect the main camp to protect the food supply and facilitate the transportation of troops."
"I remember now." Hu Yin also suddenly realized. "It is indeed a tunnel. During the Three Kingdoms period, Emperor Cao Mengde of Wei also built a tunnel, but he just connected it with carts and made a fence... It is exactly this thing! But how can this tunnel be broken?"
For the last sentence, Hu Yin still asked Bachelor Xiaolin, but it was obvious that Bachelor Xiaolin did not understand it, and he did not speak for a long time.
As for Emperor Zhao, who was watching coldly from the side, he had thought of no less than three methods in an instant, but did not say them out loud. He just asked someone to call Chen Gui and wait for the latter to make the decision.
While they were struggling on the city wall, a completely different atmosphere had already taken place in the Jin army camp... To be honest, Wanyan Wushu never expected that Zhang Yu would give him such a big surprise!
Not only Wanyan Wushu, but also the other Wanhu and Meng'an were extremely excited. After all, with this thing, trenches and sheep-horse walls seemed to be no problem!
Therefore, after summoning and rewarding Li Dayin who came up with such a brilliant plan, Wanyan Wushu formally ordered that in addition to the three tunnels originally built by Zhang Yu in the north, the rest of the main forces of the Jin army should also build tunnels, two in the north, and one each in the west and south.
In other words, after the leaders of the Jin army realized this outstanding siege strategy, they did not hesitate to increase the stakes and built seven tunnels at the same time, either leading directly to the city gate or directly to the foot of Nanyang City in order to dig through the city wall!
On the top of the city wall, Chen Gui came hurriedly. After watching from afar, his expression became serious: "Sir, there are only three strategies for now..."
"Two strategies!" Zhao Jiu interrupted without even turning his head. "I just saw that they have started preparing the felt cloth. They must soak it in water and lay it as the outer layer to prevent fire and smoke."
"Then..." Chen Gui was slightly startled, but he became more serious. "Which of the remaining two strategies do you think should be used ?"
"Go to battle!" Zhao Jiu turned around and gave the order without any hesitation. It was obvious that he had already made up his mind. "There are more than 10,000 soldiers and squads in the city. They must go to battle."
Chen Gui was slightly startled, then nodded slowly.
As for the people around, from Scholar Kobayashi who knew everything in his mind even though he didn't speak, to Hu Yin and others who were a little confused before, to the generals in the army who were either rude or careful but more or less calculative, almost all of them understood.
Speaking of which, there are three so-called strategies for dealing with this kind of artificial wooden tunnel... One of them must be to set it on fire and blow smoke to fumigate it like dealing with a cave; another must be like the military order that Emperor Zhao just issued, which is to wait for the enemy to arrive at the city and then go out of the city directly behind the sheep and horse wall, and use the terrain to engage in hand-to-hand combat; and the third one, neither Emperor Zhao nor Minister Chen said it directly, but everyone knows it for sure, which is that it is most likely to be bombarded with cannonballs!
In fact, if anyone still has doubts at the moment, it is why Emperor Zhao still insists on not firing? ! You must know that the cannonballs in the city have already been prepared.
"The other two sides are easy to deal with, but who is willing to lead the troops down the five corridors in front?" Without having time to think too much, Emperor Zhao stared at the generals behind him.
It's not like these people haven't fought hand-to-hand with the Jin people before, not to mention the official said that they would fight under the protection of the city walls? So from Wang De on down, all the generals simply bowed their hands and asked for orders!
"After we go down, we will not only have to fight, but also tear down the tunnel." Zhao Jiu asked seriously. "What are you going to do?"
"The walls of the corridor must be hastily nailed together with wooden planks. They can dodge arrows, but they may not be strong enough. They can be pulled apart with iron hooks!" Fu Qing answered first. "I would like to take one thousand soldiers from my army and divide them into teams. Five hundred soldiers will be divided into five teams to fight the enemy head-on with swords and shields. The other five hundred soldiers will also be divided into five teams to pull and dismantle the corridor from all sides with hooks. It will definitely work! Even the corridors on the other two walls leading to the city gate can be handled in the same way, without exposing the gate mechanism."
This countermeasure was extremely pertinent, and Zhao Jiu nodded immediately.
"Your Majesty!" Wang De quickly spoke up upon seeing this.
At this time, Huyan Tong was in Fangcheng, Qiao Zhongfu was in Xiangyang, Zhang Jing was in Guanghuajun, Xin Xingzong (Daxin) was in Wuguan, and the remaining five generals in the city were Wang De, Fu Qing, Xin Yongzong (Xiaoxin), Yang Yizhong, and Liu Yan. The total force was 17,000 to 18,000, including 12,000 to 13,000 armored soldiers and more than 10,000 civilians. So it stands to reason that Wang De, who had the highest military rank, should be in charge of the situation. But in fact, because Chen Gui, the Minister of War, was in charge of the city defense, and Lu Shuxiang of the Privy Council was the master, and Liu Canjun of the Zhifang Division was responsible for making some plans, Wang Yasha was indistinguishable from the crowd, basically no different from the other generals, just obeying orders.
Therefore, Wang Yasha, who had always been thinking about the defense commander of the four walls of Nanyang, was really unwilling to give up this good opportunity to show up in front of the emperor.
However, when Zhao Jiu turned to look at Wang De, the deputy commander of the imperial camp was speechless for a moment, and then his face turned red with anxiety. It was obvious that he could not think of a solution for the time being, but he did not want to repeat what others had said.
"It's understandable that Commander Wang is eager to fight." Zhao Jiu smiled slightly. "But since Commander Fu has offered a suggestion, let him handle it this time! If it doesn't work, Commander Wang will go down to provide support."
Wang De wanted to say something but stopped himself. However, the official in front of him had demonstrated his abilities from Huaishang to the present, so he still had some prestige... So, Wang Yasha didn't dare to say anything in the end.
Just like that, after deciding that Fu Qing would be the main attacker, Emperor Zhao instructed Xin Yongzong and Yang Yi Zhong, who should have been in charge of the military square in the city at this time, to attack from the south and west respectively to cut off the corridor. He then sent Chen Gui to guard the rest of the city walls, and then waited on the city walls for the Jin army's corridor.
Time passed neither fast nor slow. By the afternoon, the tunnel had been laid to the outer moat and was within the range of the Song army's conventional projectile weapons on the city wall... and with three-sided cover, the tunnel, which was only more than ten feet wide and one person high, tightly protected the Jin army inside. Although they did not have much hope, when the crossbow arrows and rockets were ineffective on the wet felt cloth, the Zhao Song civil and military officials under the dragon flag on the city wall were indeed a little disappointed.
In contrast, on the general platform just over 300 steps opposite the city wall, most of the Jin army generals, including Wanyan Wushu, were excited.
That’s not all. The seven tunnels were dug together and when they reached the outer trench, the effect was even more obvious. Because the Jin army in the tunnel only had to face a narrow tactical cross section of more than ten feet, in less than half an hour, the continuously extended tunnels reached the Sheep and Horse Wall as easily as the tentacles of the Jin army! The wall that had worked wonders yesterday was no longer powerful at this time. It was soon easily dug by the Jin army with shovels in the tunnel, opening seven gaps.
Next came the inner moat, and by this time, Wanyan Wushu, the three Wanhu, and dozens of Meng'an could no longer sit still, and almost stood up at the same time to watch from afar.
As expected, the narrow inner moat could not prevent the extension of the corridor... But just when the Jin army crossed the inner moat and came to the last dozen steps before the city wall, deafening shouts of killing suddenly rang out from behind the sheep and horse wall.
This situation formed a sharp contrast with yesterday...Yesterday, the Jin army kept shouting, while the Song army remained silent. Today, the Jin army kept building the tunnel, while the Song army was the first to shout and kill.
"Why were the soldiers in the tunnel not on guard?" Wanyan Wushu turned his head and asked.
"The soldiers who escaped from the Yangma Wall yesterday said that there is no drawbridge in front of the Nanyang city gate, but a thin wall instead." Han Chang blurted out. "I thought it was strange at the time, but now it seems that it is to cover the opening and closing of the city gate and facilitate the troops to sneak attack... Just like the low ground inside the Yangma Wall, it should be a strategy of the defenders. It's quite interesting."
"I see." Wanyan Wushu suddenly grinned as he watched the hand-to-hand combat taking place at the foot of the city wall in front of him . "But such tricks are at best cunning. Since we are in close combat, we still have to use real swords and guns to decide the outcome!"
"The Fourth Prince is right." Han Chang blurted out, but the next moment his face changed color just like Balisu, Chizhanhui and others around him.
It turned out that Wanyan Wushu's trusted general saw with his own eyes that the Fourth Prince's personal guard Meng'an actually separated five Moukes without saying a word, and then directly rushed into the five corridors in front... and almost all of these five Moukes were wearing full body armor!
You should know that there are some special terms for these armored warriors. Since they usually fight on horseback, once they get on the armored horses, they are covered with iron armor from the gourd-shaped helmets to the horse's knees. They look like an iron pagoda, so they are called Iron Pagoda!
Even as noble as Wanyan Wushu was, he only had one thousand Iron Pagodas in his hands, and the other half was borrowed from his brother, the Third Prince Erlido.
But no matter what, the five hundred Iron Pagodas dismounted and fought on foot, and they were still Iron Pagodas! Now that the Iron Pagodas were out, it was a foolish dream for the Song army to break through the tunnel with hand-to-hand combat!
