Chapter 406: The Army at the City Gates

Iron cavalry swept past the formation, autumn waves crashed against the mountain and turned back.

In the latter part of the twelfth month, the Song army suddenly shifted from slow to swift, from few to many. The speed of their advance and the scale of their forces so shook the Jin garrison in the Taiyuan Basin that they were unable to mount a systematic response before being easily surrounded and cut off in various fortresses and stockades. As for the Zhao Song Emperor's own dragon banner, it reached the heart of the Taiyuan Basin—beneath the walls of Taiyuan city itself—in just eight days and nights.

For a time, the great army had arrived at the city walls, and the Jin troops within could not help but feel terrified.

At this critical moment, the defending general, Wanyan Zhehe, led several hundred cavalry out in a bold sortie, swept past the enemy formation, and returned, greatly stabilizing the morale of the city's garrison.

The victory of this surprise attack was beyond doubt... The Jin force numbered no more than seven hundred riders. Seizing the gap when the Song infantry formation had not yet stabilized after the main body of Song cavalry had ridden north, they launched a raid, inflicting no fewer than four or five hundred casualties while losing only about seventy riders themselves.

What's more, before the main force withdrew, they even pressed forward to within two or three hundred paces of the Zhao Song Emperor's dragon banner.

If this wasn't a great victory, what was?

However, within the Song army, there wasn't much of a discouraged view of this battle... First, it was said that in such a large-scale engagement, a skirmish of this size didn't mean much; the losses were not even comparable to the attrition caused by the forced march in the dead of winter. Second, most of the casualties inflicted by the Jurchen iron cavalry were among the newly arrived Japanese warriors. It was hard for soldiers of any system to feel a sense of kinship with these warriors. Even the Imperial Guard at most shouted, "True men who do not begrudge their lives!" and then let the matter drop.

Finally, wasn't there still a tally of seventy or eighty enemy riders killed? In the eyes of a considerable number of mid-level officers, this meant they hadn't taken a loss.

However, these were considerations from the middle and lower ranks. For the highest echelons of the Song army, this battle revealed some other information.

First, under the Song army's assault of such scale and speed, Wanyan Zhehe's attitude was fully revealed through this show of force, which was completely different from Wanyan Salihuo on the west bank of the Fen River.

Second, Taiyuan city itself, especially the three fortress-gates outside the city, was indeed a tough nut to crack... At the time, although the Japanese warriors' surprise attack failed, it undoubtedly gave the scattered Song cavalry time to regroup. The tally of seventy-odd enemy riders was achieved by these Song cavalry afterwards.

However, once these Jurchen cavalry realized the problem and fought desperately to escape, reaching the corner between the fortress-gate and the city wall via the passage reserved within the sheep-and-horse wall, the hunt had to stop. The Song army couldn't even use divine-arm crossbows to kill the enemy... because the Jurchen cavalry had turned directly into the corridor between the fortress-gate and the city gate, which was a dead angle for shooting. Instead, the powerful crossbows on the fortress-gate threatened the pursuers.

In the end, the Song army could only watch helplessly as the Jin troops turned back into the city, powerless to do anything.

"The most lethal thing is the fortress-gate. It shields the city gate, turning weakness into strength."

"And the fortress-gate is too large, shielding half the city wall. Just from rough estimation, the giant crossbows at the corners of the fortress-gate should be able to interlock their fire with those at the wall corners. No matter where you attack from, you can't avoid them..."

That evening, inside the hastily erected Song army camp, the Emperor, already out of his armor, was holding an exaggeratedly long Japanese bow, amusing himself on the open ground beside the main army tent. At the same time, some military officers who had previously served in the Martial Academy or the Imperial Guard were summoned and were engaged in a somewhat tense and serious discussion nearby. Han and Li were not present; Wang Yan was presiding over the discussion, with many close ministers listening in and participating.

It should be noted that these people, including the Emperor himself, had not been idle all afternoon. After the situation was brought under control, basic reconnaissance was indispensable. Although the Emperor had rejected Han Shizhong's proposal to be guarded by the Beiwei Army, he had, after comforting those Japanese warriors, taken his dragon banner and made a long circuit around the city, only returning just now, as a show of presence.

With the Emperor doing this, the officers of the various units under the city naturally had to put in some effort. However, no one expected that the Emperor would not immediately summon the senior commanders and generals to discuss military intelligence. Instead, he suddenly gathered a group of officers who had previously served in the Imperial Guard to inquire about the city's defenses.

"Crossfire."

Zhao Jiu silently recited in his heart, but he remained silent, playing with the long bow in his hand. Only when he actually held it did he realize that the Japanese long bow was not symmetrical. This undoubtedly piqued his interest... In any case, this Emperor was considered an expert with the bow, just not skilled in actual combat.

"The sheep-and-horse wall is also fully set up, basically encircling the city," someone else spoke up. "But from a distance, it looks like it was newly built by the garrison in the city."

"Not just the sheep-and-horse wall. Outside it, across a moat, there are also outer ditches and abatis," another person mentioned. "And the passages within are quite complex. I saw with my own eyes today that the Jin troops only groped their way in under the guidance of flags on the fortress-gate."

"And there are trebuchets," yet another person spoke. "Previously, the Prince of Anhua (posthumously granted to Wang Bing) pioneered using trebuchets to counter trebuchets here... Wanyan Zhehe took over the city defenses over forty days ago. There's no reason for him not to imitate this. Therefore, I suspect that by now, trebuchet positions have been set up in the east, south, and north corners of the city. There was just no need to reveal them today as a show of force. But once we set up our trebuchet positions nearby, we'll be falling into his trap..."

"If that's the case, although Your Majesty has always been one to personally face arrows, you must absolutely not easily go to the front lines this time."

Just as the discussion was gaining some momentum, Ren Baozhong, the close minister in charge of military affairs, suddenly turned and bowed respectfully to the Emperor, his expression serious. This caught everyone off guard and interrupted the rhythm of the discussion.

Of course, after being caught off guard, from Wang Yan on down, although speechless, everyone couldn't help but hold their noses and quickly agree... However, everyone also knew that Taiyuan city was different from Nanyang or Dongjing. Although the terrain was strategically important, the city wall itself was limited in scale, and the main core wall was made of rammed earth. This meant that trebuchets simply couldn't be mounted on the wall. Moreover, the Jurchens should lack the technology for small trebuchets. So, as long as the Emperor wasn't stupid enough to go right up to the base of the wall, this kind of thing would never happen... Ren Baozhong was just finding a way to show his loyalty.

With the topic brought right to him, Zhao Jiu finally smiled and spoke, still fiddling with the bow: "I understand. I will stay in the camp and watch you all breach the city. I will absolutely not take risks."

Everyone quickly voiced their agreement, putting on a show of relief. But when they came back to their senses and continued the discussion, the Emperor's mention of "breaching the city" forced them into the main topic prematurely. At this point, the conversation became rather dry and difficult.

Because breaching the city was indeed very difficult.

"So, to breach the city, we must use trebuchets layer by layer. First, smash the fortress-gate, then clear the abatis, fill the ditches, and possibly fill the moat. Finally, we can have a trebuchet duel and win by volume," Wang Yan attempted to summarize after some discussion.

"If that's the case, doesn't Taiyuan city have any weaknesses?" At this moment, Zhao Jiu suddenly interjected while still fiddling with the long bow. "Look, the city has fortress-gates on three sides. Isn't one side missing? And according to what you said, the inner city is adjacent to the west and north sides, so trebuchets can't be placed at the northwest corner... Why can't we attack from the west side?"

Everyone paused, then looked at each other in bewilderment.

In the end, Wang Yan couldn't avoid it and had to take the initiative to bow and explain: "For Your Majesty's information, the west side of Taiyuan city indeed has no fortress-gate, and the northwest corner cannot have trebuchets. Not only that, the west side of the city wall only has a sheep-and-horse wall, without much extension. Even the bastions on the wall are far fewer than on the other three sides... But just over a hundred paces west of the city wall is the Fen River channel. Now it's freezing cold, and the Fen River is passable. However, in at most ten days or so, there might be a risk of thawing. By then, the west side of Taiyuan city will actually be the most secure place... Your Majesty, it's not that we can't try a risky attack from the west, but we don't have ready-made siege equipment. I'm afraid we won't have enough time."

Zhao Jiu smiled and shook his head, but it was unclear whether he was being deliberately inscrutable or happy because he had finally figured out how to draw the long bow in his hand.

"Could Your Majesty's intention be to divert the Fen River?" Ren Baozhong thought for a moment and asked seriously. "Taking advantage of the cold weather, first dig a new channel on the periphery. Once the ice melts, cut off the original channel. This would turn the riverbed into open ground, allowing us to set up positions on the west side and deploy trebuchets to attack the city?"

Wang Yan and the others seemed thoughtful, and after a moment, quite a few appeared tempted, and soon voices of agreement arose... Clearly, although this method sounded clumsy and wasteful of manpower, it seemed to have a certain degree of feasibility against Taiyuan city, a military fortress with almost no blind spots.

The Emperor did not rush to respond. After studying it for a long time, he finally pinched the lower third of the Japanese long bow's lower arc and properly drew the bow. Taira no Kiyomori, who had been silent and not daring to interrupt, hurriedly handed him an arrow.

Then the Emperor nocked the arrow, drew the bow, and released the string towards a mound of earth a few dozen paces in front of him. He then looked thoughtfully at the arrow deeply embedded in the mound.

This shot also attracted the attention of many.

"What do you think of this Japanese great bow?" Zhao Jiu turned back to look at them, asking a clearly off-topic question.

But, who was he? He was the Emperor.

As for how the bow was, everyone present was an expert. A single glance was enough to understand its qualities, but due to their status, not everyone was necessarily in a position to speak.

"Your minister believes this bow has one or two merits," Wang Yan, already somewhat impatient, could only bow and reply. "For precise shooting at close range, in terms of pure killing power, it can compare to a Jurchen hard bow with heavy arrows. But in actual combat, it is far inferior to a Jurchen hard bow..."

"Is it because the bow body is too long, or because it's made of bamboo and wood?" Zhao Jiu pressed on.

"Both," Wang Yan said, somewhat stifled. "The bow body is too long, making it inconvenient to draw. To use it for precise shooting on horseback, one would almost certainly need to train in this archery technique from childhood to use it effectively. As for being made of bamboo and wood, in close-quarters combat, a Jurchen hard bow with a horn-and-iron core can block blades, but this Japanese bow can be easily cut in two."

"Correct," Zhao Jiu sighed, handing the bow to Taira no Kiyomori beside him. "This bow is not without use, but here, it doesn't get a chance to be used. For close-range shooting, we have horn-and-iron core hard bows; for long-range shooting, we have divine-arm crossbows. Where could it be used? It's like those warriors today. Their loyalty and courage are commendable, but their land has no heavy armor, while here, lamellar armor is the norm. So their courage can only go to waste. But we have no right to laugh at them. Back then, when the Jurchen heavy cavalry first appeared, we were helpless at the start. It was only slowly that we figured out the way: heavy armor against heavy armor, powerful crossbows against strong bows, long axes against iron cavalry... Anything new is extremely effective at first, but given enough time, it will eventually be adapted to."

Everyone was increasingly baffled.

"Now, for besieging a city, the most fundamental thing is the trebuchet, right?" Zhao Jiu continued. "Once the trebuchets start firing, any city is just a matter of time. And the city's countermeasures are mostly trebuchet against trebuchet, isn't that so?"

"Correct."

"Yes."

Wang Yan and Ren Baozhong spoke almost simultaneously.

"What I mean is this," Zhao Jiu finally turned around and gave his verdict. "Taiyuan city is not an ordinary city. It is the hub of the entire Hedong region. Once we take it, the Hedong region will be secure. Any price is worth paying, any method is worth trying... In fact, this is one of the reasons I spared no expense to get here so quickly. Gentlemen, I want to breach the city, and I want to do it quickly. Otherwise, why would I have come so fast?"

As for those young officers, they said nothing. Among the surrounding close ministers, almost everyone seemed to want to speak but held back. However, Wang Yan, the most contrary of them, first frowned, then appeared thoughtful.

"There are about thirty or forty thousand men in the camp now. Commander Ma should arrive tomorrow. I don't know when Commander Wu will get here... We'll base it on manpower... First, set up the trebuchets, starting from the south side of the city where we are. This side is entirely your responsibility, Minister Wang!" Zhao Jiu ordered thus.

"Yes!" Wang Yan's spirits suddenly lifted.

"If manpower exceeds fifty thousand, simultaneously set up siege positions, burn the abatis, fill the ditches, destroy the sheep-and-horse wall... Start destroying from the west side. Issue calls for surrender, launch night attacks... Minister Ren, you are in charge."

"Understood." Ren Baozhong was overjoyed.

"If manpower exceeds one hundred thousand, then simultaneously set up trebuchets on three sides... At that time, the north of the city will be given to the Prince of Yan'an, and the east of the city to Commander Li."

"Yes."

"If we can still get more manpower, dig a channel west of the city to prepare for the river ice to thaw, and attack from the west side." As he spoke, His Majesty Zhao looked toward an unexpected person. "When the time comes, Minister Yang, you will oversee this matter."

Yang Yizhong was stunned for a moment, then clasped his hands: "Your servant understands."

Wang Yan and Ren Baozhong were also stunned for a moment, then each seemed to realize something, but said nothing.

A strange meeting—from the results, there seemed to be no problem, a saturation attack based on manpower. But that the organizational work for the siege was settled without the participation of several Military Governors and seasoned generals made it seem as if His Majesty Zhao was taking too much upon himself.

The matter spread that evening. From Wang De on down, many veteran generals had complaints and doubts.

There was even a bold attendant scholar who wrote a memorial, advising His Majesty Zhao not to imitate the precedent of the late Emperor Taizong of this dynasty, and to trust the great generals more, and not to use close ministers, and so on... This was, of course, just a minor detail.

In fact, there were also more reliable rumors. A deeply ingrained theory was that His Majesty Zhao did not distrust the various commanders, but rather that he was waiting for Wu Jie, Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Camp's Rear Army. When facing a major scene, this sovereign inherently trusted this Military Governor Wu a bit more. Even the Commandery Prince Han and Military Governor Li had long understood this, which was why they had no comment... And before Military Governor Wu arrived, it didn't matter if these preparatory tasks were handled by close ministers.

But such gossip was not worth mentioning, especially since the next day, with the imperial decree issued, they truly began setting up trebuchets to besiege the city.

Moreover, as more troops arrived, the siege positions grew larger, and everyone became busy.

His Majesty Zhao arrived beneath the city on the twenty-third day of the twelfth month. That evening, there were forty thousand men below the walls.

By the twenty-fourth of the twelfth month, as Ma Kuo arrived later, and more straggling soldiers and laborers came in, the number of troops and laborers below the city reached seventy thousand. Thus, almost simultaneously, Wang Yan formally established a workshop north of the city, marked out trebuchet positions, began large-scale logging to prepare the trebuchets, and under Ren Baozhong's command, various units began attempting to burn the deer-pit obstacles and destroy the sheep-and-horse walls... But honestly, the latter had little effect, because the crossbows on the pass walls were too strong. The only effect was on the west side, but as everyone knew, without cutting off the Fenshui River, losing one layer of sheep-and-horse walls on the west side meant little.

On the twenty-fifth of the twelfth month, subsequent main forces arrived one after another. The number of combat troops and support troops below Taiyuan City absolutely exceeded one hundred thousand.

And His Majesty Zhao did as he said, ignoring that more than half of the laborers still had to focus on rear logistics transport, and directly began setting up trebuchets on three sides.

On the twenty-sixth of the twelfth month, the two small stockades at Xugou and Tuanbai were successfully breached, allowing more troops and laborers to arrive at the city in the following two days. From this day, the west side officially began digging the channel. Under these circumstances, even though the Song army camp had a rear logistics base at Yongli Supervisor behind it, the camp's scale passively surrounded the entire city of Taiyuan.

This caused panic among the Jin army inside the city. Someone advised Wanyan Zhehe to sally out and attack the trebuchet positions in time, but Wanyan Zhehe sternly refused... This veteran general knew very well that, to put it bluntly, this was still far from the real thing.

That is, Wu Jie hadn't arrived yet. If Wu Jie led the Zhao Song Imperial Camp's Rear Army along with the Tanguts and Khitans, they might learn from Great Ming Prefecture and raise another city to surround Taiyuan.

And even then, they would still need to conserve their strength and prepare to sally out when the trebuchets were nearly complete.

On the twenty-ninth of the twelfth month, only two days before the New Year, what made the Song army below the city cheer with joy and also made Wanyan Zhehe momentarily panic was that twenty thousand troops bearing the banner of Wu suddenly appeared from the west... Wu Jinqing had come too quickly.

That same afternoon, a moderate snowfall fell from the sky.

And these two events made His Majesty Zhao, who had been "waiting for Commander-in-Chief Wu," feel somewhat caught off guard.

PS: I'm going to meet up with a friend today... I've been too nervous to write for three days... And Xiao Yu has been in heat these past few days... Please forgive me.