The atmosphere in Liaoyang Mansion was so tense that it almost solidified.
Ever since Wanyan Agu made the wise choice to lead his army back to Liaoyang Prefecture a few months ago after the Northern Expedition of the Great Zhou Dynasty was defeated at the gates of Xijin Prefecture, Wanyan Agu knew that the Liao army would sweep in sooner or later. So, before retreating
After Liaoyang Prefecture, Wanyan Aguda immediately made the decision to comprehensively strengthen the city's defense and prepare for the war.
Last year, after the Jurchen army conquered Liaoyang, Liaoyang Prefecture's city reinforcement plan had actually begun to be implemented. Of course, it was not because we could foresee today's situation, but simply because Liaoyang Prefecture was an important stronghold for the Jurchen tribe from the mountains to the city.
, is the first decent city occupied by the Jurchen tribe. From now on, all the focus of the Jurchen tribe will shift from the tribes in the mountains and deserts to this city, so it is necessary to strengthen the construction and scale of its city. This, of course,
When Wanyan Mingyue proposed it, Wanyan Aguda immediately agreed. Therefore, in fact, since the capture of Liaoyang Mansion last year, the reinforcement and construction of the city had already begun.
Now, we are about to face the inevitable Liao army's attack. Based on the original foundation, it is natural to strengthen the city's defense system. Therefore, under the leadership of Wanyan Aguda, reinforcements were quickly mobilized from various Jurchen ministries to strengthen the defense system.
More than 200,000 Jurchen warriors, including the original 150,000 soldiers and horses, temporarily put down their swords and guns and turned into civilians, and carried out substantial transformation and reinforcement of the city. The original defense system was actually vulnerable, but now, Wanyan Agu
I still have some confidence in my heart.
Although the alliance with Da Zhou did not get real help in the battle, the vulnerability of Da Zhou's soldiers and horses made Wanyan Agu angrily scold them for their incompetence. But at least they got the same benefit from the alliance with Da Zhou, that is
They received a large number of craftsmen and manufacturing blueprints for city siege and defense equipment given to them by the Zhou Dynasty. This allowed them to suddenly evolve from an almost barbaric fighting force that came out of the mountains to a force capable of siege and defense.
The city's combat methods, soldiers and horses. This finally showed at this moment that it is more valuable than gold.
All the manpower spent this month constantly digging, constructing, and moving. In one month, the city wall was raised by several feet, hundreds of defense tools were built, and hundreds of arrow towers and enemy towers were built.
Three ditches were dug outside the city, and the moat was widened by one foot. This almost miraculous feat was completed in just one month. Under the tremendous pressure of survival, more than 200,000 Jurchens completed a
An almost miraculous feat.
In one month, more than 200,000 Jurchens were so tired that they shed layers of skin. The fat ones became thinner, and the thin ones became more capable. But watching the defense system take shape, and watching a bed crossbow installed on the top of the city
, when the watch towers stood up one after another and the ravines were winding around, everyone felt a sense of peace of mind and thought that the hard work was worth it. The whole city was already like a monster armed to the teeth.
, the Liao people should be disappointed.
However, when the Liao army began to gather under the city and war clouds slowly enveloped the city, this feeling of peace of mind was slowly lost bit by bit. When the first batch of 200,000 Liao troops arrived at the city
, the Jurchen warriors did not take it to heart. One hundred thousand more troops came one after another. When the number reached 300,000, the Jurchens became a little worried. The number of the opponent's siege troops was one hundred thousand more than their own.
This was already a bit stressful. But because we were prepared, this worry was not a panic. When the last batch of 200,000 tribal cavalry from the Liao people arrived at the battlefield below the city from the edge of the sky, the Jurchen soldiers in the entire Liaoyang City
They suddenly fell silent.
Even if you are extremely undisciplined on weekdays, under the worst circumstances
The Jurchens, who could survive with a smile in any environment, could no longer laugh when faced with an army of 500,000 soldiers approaching the city. That was an army of 500,000 people. Everyone looked down from the top of the city and saw each other.
The Jurchens, who have been camped for dozens of miles, with banners covering the sky and the sun, and men and horses like a vast ocean, will feel cold in their hearts and weak in their calves. Five hundred thousand versus two hundred thousand, the outcome of this war seems to have been decided.
In the face of such a huge gap between troops and horses, all efforts seemed to be in vain. Many people were already discouraged and lost their fighting spirit.
Wanyan Agu could naturally feel the tense and suffocating atmosphere in the army. He could not allow this atmosphere to spread. He convened more than 600 generals in the army to hold a morale-boosting meeting.
Tell these people not to be intimidated by the situation in front of them. The Liao people's fighting power is far inferior to our own. Two hundred thousand Jurchen warriors can defeat a million Liao troops, because one Jurchen warrior can fight ten. He told these people that when he
He led only 5,000 tribal warriors and fought with Yelu Zongyuan's 200,000 troops. In the end, Yelu Zongyuan not only did not eat him, but instead sent Liaodong away. This shows how stupid Yelu Zongyuan is and how capable the Liao soldiers are.
He told the Jurchen generals, don't look at the opponent's many soldiers and horses, but they are all patchwork soldiers and horses. They are not united internally. As long as there is a slight change in the weather, they will collapse on their own.
Finally, Wanyan Aguda also told his generals that the Jurchens had nothing to begin with, and today's situation was snatched from the hands of the Liao people. Even if the battle was lost ten thousand steps back, so what?
? At worst, they will retreat to live in the deep mountains and old forests of Changbai Mountain. Do the Liao people dare to enter the mountains? Do Liao people dare to enter the desert deserts of the Gobi? They dare not at all. At worst, they have to start over from scratch, at worst, everything will return to zero. The Jurchens have not lost anything, opportunities.
If you come back and make a comeback, what are you afraid of?
The previous words were of limited persuasiveness, but it was the last words that made the soldiers feel relieved. Yes, they had nothing to begin with, and at worst they would return to the old days when they had nothing, and return to the deep mountains and old forests of Changbai Mountain to hunt for a living. The Liao people thought
To exterminate the entire Jurchen clan is just wishful thinking. Once the Jurchens, who had been living a life of peace and open-mindedness, figured this out, their pressure was relieved and their mentality became much calmer.
As for Wanyan Aguda, he never wants to go back to the starting point. He has his own plan. The reason why he spends so much effort on Liaoyang Mansion's city defense system is to use every possibility to delay
The time for the opponent to capture Liaoyang Prefecture is because winter is coming. It is not because the Liao people cannot tolerate the severe cold, but because as long as there is a heavy snowfall, the Liao people will be defeated on their own because their supplies will be cut off.
It relies on transportation from Zhongjing Road to here. The severe cold will freeze the Daling River, and the ice and snow will block the road. As long as we persist until then, the crisis in Liaoyang Mansion will be resolved. And when spring comes next year, the situation will
There may be other changes. Whether Yelu Zongyuan can mobilize so many troops to attack again is unknown.
…
At the end of September, amid high expectations, a large number of catapults finally arrived from thousands of miles away. Seeing these siege equipment arriving in the military camp in darkness, Yelu Zongyuan was in a good mood. From now on,
Everything is ready and the siege is about to begin.
On the second day of October, on a cold and sunny morning, the loud horn broke the silence of dawn. Then the war drums and horns sounded loudly and resounded through the sky. The Liao army's siege finally started.
The first to be dispatched were the 50,000 Liao infantry. They were not responsible for fighting, but for defending the outer trenches.
Channels were opened in the trenches. What they had to do was to carry bags of sand, gravel and mud to fill in at least a dozen channels so that the trenches dug by the Jurchens would lose their blocking effect.
It seemed that the Jurchens could not stop their actions at all, because they did not dare to go out of the city to stop them. However, the facts soon shocked the Liao army. When the infantry rushed to the edge of the trench carrying mud and sandbags, an inexplicable fire broke out
Suddenly it ignited along the trench, with thick smoke billowing and flames steaming, quickly spreading throughout the trench. The entire outer trench turned into a wall of flames and black smoke. Although the flames did not look high, the smoke was particularly special.
The large, thick smoke was extremely pungent. When the black smoke fell down, it turned out to be traces of black cotton-like stuff.
Yelu Zongyuan and his ministers and generals were dumbfounded when they saw this scene on the high observation platform in front of the camp.
"What's going on? How was that done? Is there firewood in the trench?" Yelu Zongyuan asked in surprise.
News soon came that the front reported that the trenches were not filled with firewood, but a kind of black oil. At some point, half of the trenches were filled with black oil. This was what was burning.
Yelu Zongyuan was dumbfounded. He looked at the people around him and asked, "What is that?"
"Is it oil from stone? The oil from the stone found in Beiyang Mountain in Liaoyang Prefecture is flammable, and the smoke can be used to make ink. Looking at the burning situation, the veteran asked, could it be that the oil from stone was poured into the trench and ignited?" Han Yanshou pondered.
"But... where did so much oil from the stone come from? I also know that this kind of thing comes from Liaoyang Prefecture, but it is just burned to make smoke and ink. It needs to be filled with trenches to be burned. Where did you get so much?" Yelu
Zong Yuan asked in shock.
"..."
No one can answer his question, because no one knows. It is not unusual for Liaoyang Prefecture to find oil in stone. There is a black oil swamp in the mountain depression of Beiyang Mountain, and this oil in stone is black. But although this thing can
It burns, but the smoke is too thick and the smell is too strong to be used as fuel. Some smart people collect the smoke and black ash to make ink and sell it, which can make the best use of it. However, the quantity of petroleum in petroleum is limited, and no one will use it.
This thing was taken seriously, just as a strange phenomenon. Who would have thought that the other party would actually inject this kind of thing into the trench, and no one knows where they got so much oil-in-stone.
On the top of the city, looking at the outer ditch with black smoke billowing and burning, Wanyan Agu laughed loudly, and smiled at Wanyan Mingyue beside him: "Sister, you have done a great job. Your method is absolutely effective.
This fire and smoke are enough to stop their attack. Girl, you are so smart."
Wanyan Mingyue smiled and said: "That is also the blessing of the Immortal God. In the spring, I went to Beiyang Mountain. I originally planned to lead the people to clean up the black mud land, because many cattle, sheep and livestock got stuck in it and died.
I wanted to do something for my tribe, but I didn’t expect that when I dug out the black mud, a black spring came out. I read a book called "Mengxi Bi Tan" in Da Zhou, which said that there was a place in Da Zhou that was rich in
Oil in stone can be burned to make ink. I then knew that the thing here was also called oil in stone. This time we have to defend the city, dig trenches and fill them with this stuff, and we will be able to stop it. This is the eternal heaven blessing us.
"
Wanyan Agu laughed loudly and said: "Yes, my sister is sent by the Changsheng Heaven to bless my Jurchen tribe. She is a fairy in the sky."
Wanyan Mingyue smiled, then suddenly she covered her mouth and lay on the battlement, retching. Wanyan Agu hurriedly asked: "What's wrong? What's wrong? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"
Wanyan Mingyue waved her hand and said, "It's okay, I just inhaled the smoke and dust. I'll just go down to the city and rest."
