In September, Jiangning City on the south bank of the Yangtze River was surrounded and turned into a watertight prison.
The light of dusk burned across the sky, and the towering city wall like a hill under the sky was showing signs of collapse and dilapidation. From the beginning of this year to now, Jiangning has experienced nearly eight months of attacks. Everywhere on the city wall has been destroyed.
There were holes in the city, twists and turns, blood drenched the city head red, and then burned black with kerosene. Sandbags and rolling logs raised the moat, and countless corpses lay on the battlefield between the city wall and the Jurchen military camp.
,rot.
The stench of corpses spread, and crows flew in waves, descending to the ground from time to time. At several key attack points in the south and east of the city, several catapults were still feebly throwing boulders over the endless piles of corpses.
On top of the city, the soldiers of the Wu Dynasty who looked like solid rocks from a distance were still holding on.
Across the corpse field outside the city, guarding the first line of the siege, the second line was still the female main force under Zong Fu and some of the Central Plains Han troops who had tasted the sweetness of the plunder and became determined. From this backbone camp extending outward, in the sunset
Under the cover of the sky, various simple military camps were densely covered on the ground, pushing towards the seemingly endless distance.
The Wu Dynasty troops who surrendered to the Jurchens and were then driven to the vicinity of Jiangning now numbered in the millions. At this time, these soldiers had half of their weapons taken away and were being divided into relatively closed camps. There were lines between the camps.
At intervals in the open space, Jurchen cavalry occasionally patrolled and killed anyone they encountered.
Every day, Zongfu would select a few troops and drive them to the city to fight. In order to defeat Jiangning as soon as possible, Zongfu offered extremely high rewards to the troops entering the city. However, for more than two months, no one has received the so-called rewards.
It’s just that more and more troops are dying and injured, more and more...
The flames burned cracklingly, and columns of smoke rose between the dilapidated tents. Iron pots for cooking porridge were set on the fire. Some fire-headed soldiers threw green and gray wild vegetables into them. Some soldiers in ragged clothes walked over: "Then
Can the food be eaten? It’s like that!”
"Just think about it while you're eating."
"Throw away the black ones."
"I've already thrown away the inedible ones once. I won't kill you if I eat them!"
"Your mother..."
The thin soldier couldn't argue with the powerful Huotou Army. Both sides stared at each other with bulging eyes. After a while, the soldier wiped his face with his hand and turned around angrily. Only then did a trace of sadness and anger flash across the dull faces of the soldiers around him.
, the gray-faced Huo Toujun’s eyes turned red.
"If you need enough food, I'll feed you these pigs. You go and get the grain. It's not the beginning of winter yet, and the millet has just been harvested... Damn it... do you want to cook me..."
The fire-headed soldier's eyes were blurred by the smoke, tears rolled down his face as he spoke, and the black ash on his face was washed away in streaks. Someone else tried to persuade him on the side.
"Okay, okay, you fat guy doesn't have much meat anymore..."
Amidst the voices in the clearing, the soldier who had left earlier suddenly ran back. He looked angry and obviously couldn't relieve himself. He rushed towards the wild vegetables in the hands of the Huotou Army. Someone blocked him: "What are you doing!"
"It's too dark to eat."
"Fuck you, mother, are you looking for trouble!"
"Kill me! Come on! Kill me!" Tears flowed from the soldier's eyes, and he pulled off his clothes to reveal his bony chest, "It's just the autumn harvest, and what I planted on the ground has been taken away by those Jurchens.
Now we have to help them fight, why! You cowards don’t dare to speak! Kill me! Go tell those Jurchens, sooner or later you will die! You can’t eat it if it’s black.”
While he was crying, the soldier who was pushing him wanted to hit him with his fist, but bit his teeth and pushed him back. Someone in the crowd said: "...he is crazy."
Someone pulled him: "Come on, get away, don't harm everyone..."
"What else can you do? You want to rebel..."
The voices were high and low, and it became noisy for a while. The fire-headed soldier gritted his teeth and reached out to pick off some more wild vegetables. After a while, the previous soldier was pulled away, and someone's voice rang out: "
I’m going to die anyway, this is the end of this matter, if anyone informs me, I will do it to him!”
Behind a dilapidated tent not far away, Tie Tianying hunched over and watched the scene quietly, then turned and left.
The orange sunset was casting down from the sky. It seemed that the camp was in chaos, and feeble soldiers were gathering and eating. He followed the soldier who had caused trouble before and turned around the crowds.
Since Junwu's troops broke into Jiangning in June, both Wanyan Zongfu and bystanders from various forces were waiting for the moment when the last light of the Wu Dynasty was extinguished. In July, the human wave tactics began one after another.
Zongfu mixed his elite troops among the descending troops attacking the city in an attempt to open up the situation. Jiangning's city walls were also breached several times, but they were killed again soon after. Even in several battles, it is said that the warrior
The princes of the dynasty all personally went into battle and commanded the charge.
By mid-August, people began to become numb to such an offensive. Some people were even a little in awe of the tenacious resistance of only 200,000 troops in the city.
However, none of this actually helps improve the situation.
Zhou Yong's escape devastated the hearts of all the people of the Wu Dynasty. The armies surrendered one after another, gradually forming a huge avalanche trend. Some generals actually surrendered, while others felt that they were being arrogant and were waiting for opportunities.
However, after arriving at Jiangning City, all their supplies and food were controlled by the Jurchens, and even most of their weapons were disarmed. Low-quality supplies were not distributed until the siege.
At this stage, the order to surrender was more a choice of the generals. The soldiers still could not understand the fact that the Wu Dynasty had begun to die. During the attack on Jiangning, some soldiers still thought about surrendering on the battlefield and entering Jiangning.
The prince's men helped to kill the enemy. But what greeted them were the unbearable looks and determined swords and guns of the soldiers at the top of the city.
During the entire offensive process, Wanyan Zongfu had already randomly issued false surrender orders to some troops. Under the current situation, the defenders in Jiangning City did not even have room to contain, isolate, or distinguish between ourselves and the enemy. There were as many as a hundred Han troops outside the city.
Wan, in a disadvantaged situation, if the opponent shouts that I will accept it anyway, these troops will soon become an uncontrollable gunpowder depot in Jiangning City.
People soon discovered that the more than 200,000 Jiangning garrison in the city would not accept any surrenders. The morale of the Han army that was driven to the battlefield was already low. They could not compete with the soldiers on the city wall, and there was no way to surrender.
, some soldiers stirred up their last bloody passion and rushed to the Jurchen camp in the rear. After that, they only encountered unsurprising consequences.
In more than two months, several mutinies occurred in the military camps that surrendered to the Han army. The Jurchen cavalry killed a large number of people who tried to escape. The supplies in the mutinous military camps were separated by the surrounding Han troops who participated in the suppression.
The generals from the Wu Dynasty who were under guard and failed to cooperate were dragged out by the Jurchens and beheaded in public. So in August and September, although the atmosphere hanging over the military camp became more and more desperate, there were fewer and fewer resisters, and some generals and soldiers even
Everyone is looking forward to the early collapse of Jiangning City.
As long as the city of Jiangning is destroyed, no one will have to suffer in this life and death dilemma.
More than ten years have passed, and these people who have been vacillating have finally inevitably reached a dead end that they cannot choose.
At the end of April, Tie Tianying was seriously injured in the assassination of the Jurchen envoy. Later in May, the city of Lin'an was destroyed. Although he was lucky enough to survive, he fled with great difficulty, and his injuries worsened.
After his injury healed in August, he secretly came to the vicinity of Jiangning, and all he could see was this desperate situation.
There are still many forces in the world that nominally support the Wu Dynasty, but no one dares to rush to Jiangning and face the Jurchens' troops. The city of Jiangning consists of Beiwei Army, Zhen Haijun, the original Zhenjiang garrison, Jiangning garrison... and other troops
A total of more than 200,000 defenders were reorganized. However, even with the stubborn support of the prince, for several months, Jiangning City remained motionless under the daily attacks from the Wu Dynasty's surrendering troops, but in more than two months
In the past, Tie Tianying could not clearly see how difficult the situation in the city was.
In late August, the news that Zhou Yong, who had fled to the sea, passed the throne to Emperor Wu was brought ashore and spread quickly throughout the world. This meant that in the eyes of those who were willing to believe it, the prince in Jiangning City was now the legitimate emperor of the Wu Dynasty.
, but in the surrender camp outside Jiangning City, it was difficult to cause too many ripples. Even the emperor was in a desperate situation like a millstone.
Seeing such a situation, even Tie Tianying, who has weathered many hardships for a long time, could not help but burst into tears. If such a decision had been made half a year earlier, the current world situation would probably be completely different.
He considered venturing into Jiangning to join the prince and others; he also considered hiding among the soldiers and waiting for an opportunity to assassinate Wanyan Zongfu. There were many other ideas, but soon after, relying on many years of experience, he also found in such a desperate situation
There are some people who are out of place and still acting.
On the fifth day of September, he followed the back of the thin soldier. Before he reached the hiding place where the enemy was on the line, the man in front suddenly slowed down and looked towards the north.
At the end of the view to the north is the majestic and broken city wall that is still under attack from catapults. At the moment when the setting sun shines, a huge white flag slowly falls on the top of the city, even though it is several miles away.
That touch of white is also clearly visible in people's eyes.
Doubts flashed through Tie Tianying's heart. At this moment, his steps became a little weak. He still didn't know what happened. The news of the prince's death was immediately reflected in his mind.
Whispers spread like a tide in every military camp, but soon after, as the Jurchens increased the reward for Zhou Junwu, people learned about Zhou Yong's death, so the Jianshuo Dynasty was also known to have ended. It's formed in people's minds.
Some people couldn't help but burst into tears.
But so what?
In such a desperate situation, no matter how stubborn and wise the former prince was... his death was only a matter of time...
****************
The buzzing sound spread across the land outside Jiangning City, and also formed a wave in Jiangning City.
At this moment when the colorful tides in the sky spread, Jun Wu came out of the room dressed in plain clothes. Shen Ruxin, also dressed in white, was waiting for him under the eaves. He looked at the setting sun and walked to the front hall: "Look at this glow, it's like It’s like the current Wu Dynasty…”
"I hope... Your Majesty will take this seriously..."
Jun Wu pressed the sword on his waist. In fact, he didn't have much consciousness of being a king. There were tears that had just been wiped away on his face, and there was also a smile: "The night is coming, but no matter how long the night is, the sun will also rise again."
The difference is... who can see it.
His eyes became solemn, and he stopped talking about what was in his heart. The news of Zhou Yong's death came to the city last night. By this time, some decisions had been made. Everything in the city was covered with pall, and there were hundreds of people in the front hall. The famous general, dressed in linen and wearing a white scarf, was quietly waiting for his arrival.
This may be the last emperor of the Wu Dynasty. His succession came too late and there is no way out. But the more times like this, the more tragic and solemn the emotions are.
"Fellow soldiers!"
The setting sun gradually disappeared and the fire was burning brightly. Jun Wu stood on the steps in front of the palace and let the sound come out.
"Today I have learned that my father passed away at sea seven days ago. This means that the year of the founding of the Wu Dynasty... has passed. I have heard people say since I was a child that the Wu Dynasty was blessed for more than two hundred years. The river is endless, but here today, everyone, I want to say...it doesn't matter anymore."
In the rising firelight, he drew his sword.
"Today, you and I are guarding Jiangning City. In front of us are the Jurchens and the surrendered Jurchens' millions of troops. Everyone knows that we have nowhere to go! There are still people from this city behind me, but we Our world has been invaded and ravaged by the Jurchens. Our families and relatives died in their original homes and on the way to escape, suffering humiliation. There is no way to go before us. I am not a prince, nor a warrior. The emperor of the dynasty and all the soldiers are here... I am just a man who feels humiliated. The world has fallen. I can't do anything. I can't wait to die here."
He waved the long sword in his hand, and looking down from the dark night sky, there were only a few lights on the square. After that, the solemn and solemn wake music sounded in the city, and the whole night and day passed.
The news fermented in the military camps inside and outside the city.
September 7th, sunny.
A huge dragon flag was raised on the top of Jiangning City surrounded by white flags. An hour later, accompanied by the solemn sound of trumpets, Jiangning opened the city gate. After holding on for more than two months, faced with a million troops surrounding,
When Jiangning City opened its doors for the first time, everyone was immediately alarmed. Their first reaction was that the prince was preparing to break out.
But no.
The mighty army, dressed in plain silk, led by Jun Wu, who was already the emperor of the Wu Dynasty, rushed towards the Wanyan Zongfu camp in the west of the city. Zhen Haijun came out from the front, and the Wei army on his back surrounded him from the south of the city. There were also different generals.
The army he led rushed out of different city gates to face the millions of troops ahead.
"Here... I'm just a man who feels humiliated. The world has fallen. I can't do anything. I wish I could die here."
"...I will die with you all!"
At this moment, the cauldron was broken, and the soldiers were sure to win. After more than two months of hard fighting, the Jiangning army that was able to take to the battlefield was only more than 120,000 people, but no one retreated at this moment. The consequences of retreat and surrender were not seen before.
In two months, enough demonstrations had been made by the millions of troops outside the city, who charged into the rolling crowds.
"Today I will die here. As a Han Chinese, please join me in killing the Golden Dog and beheading Wanyan Zongfu."
The soldiers and generals who rushed out of the city shouted wildly in the fight. Soon after, millions of people were washed away by a rewinding tide outside Jiangning City...