Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 922 The Wind Rises in Luoyang

Yang Yuan set up his central command tent in front of Luoyang City, personally overseeing the siege.

Yang Yuan certainly hoped to subdue the enemy without fighting, but it was obviously unrealistic to expect Wanyan Tieli to make up his mind to surrender without a single battle.

When it comes to attacking cities, Luoyang is actually easier to attack than Kaifeng in terms of city defense system, geographical environment, and strategic position.

As the former capital of the Song Dynasty, Kaifeng's city walls have been reinforced many times, making them tall and sturdy. The moat is wide, and defensive facilities such as barbicans and ramparts are also provided.

After the Jin dynasty established Kaifeng as Nanjing, it repaired and reinforced it again.

It is said to be difficult to defend because it is located in the plains south of the Yellow River, with no natural defenses.

If the enemy wants to attack, they can simply block the gate and attack; defending the city relies entirely on manual city defenses.

But this man-made city defense was exceptionally strong, and it was extremely difficult to breach if the people inside were determined to defend it to the death.

In contrast, Luoyang has historically been extremely difficult to defend once it was besieged by enemy forces.

Its danger lies in its strategic location, easily defended yet difficult to attack, a natural barrier.

Luoyang is located in the Yi-Luo Basin, bordered by Mangshan Mountain to the north, Longmen Pass to the south, Hulao Pass to the east, and Hangu Pass to the west. Its natural terrain makes it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Therefore, as long as we divide our forces to guard these strategic locations, the enemy will have to pay a heavy price to reach the walls of Luoyang.

However, Wanyan Tieli retreated into Luoyang City and completely abandoned the outer defenses.

By playing like this, he essentially threw away Luoyang's biggest advantage.

Therefore, Yang Yuan first conquered the surrounding prefectures and counties of Luoyang, isolating Luoyang, and then launched an attack on Luoyang. Wanyan Tieli could only rely on the city walls of Luoyang for defense.

For Yang Yuan, conquering Luoyang was a sure thing.

The only thing to consider is how long it will take to capture Luoyang.

The same propaganda offensive that was once used against Kaifeng was naturally applied to Luoyang as well.

Moreover, this time there is also a letter from Wanyan Liang, and the power of this psychological warfare is even greater than the pressure exerted on Kaifeng.

However, Wanyan Tieli actually withstood it.

"The kingdom of my Wanyan clan is already in grave danger. If Luoyang is lost, Shaanxi will also be in jeopardy."

"I, Wanyan Tieli, swear to live and die with Luoyang! Anyone who dares to surrender the city will be killed without mercy!"

In Luoyang, Wanyan Tieli was the sole ruler. He was determined to live and die with Luoyang, which inspired the Luoyang garrison to display a stronger fighting spirit than the Kaifeng garrison.

This treatment lasted for seven or eight days, but still had no effect.

"Those who wish to rule the world must first control the land of the Three Rivers. Although this statement is an exaggeration, Luoyang is indeed a strategic location that military strategists must contend for."

Yang Yuan summoned his generals and said, "Especially since our army is so well-prepared and ready to recover the entire Central Plains."

Luoyang is like a nail driven into this place; once it's removed, the whole game will come alive.

Gan Quan volunteered for the battle: "Prime Minister, I am willing to be the vanguard. Let us gather all the cannons and bombard a section of the city wall. We will not be afraid that Luoyang will not fall."

Yang Shou rubbed his hands together eagerly: "Uncle, entrust the important task of attacking the city to Shou'er. I, Yang Shou, will take the credit for being the first to scale the walls!"

Upon hearing this, Shao Hongyuan couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

His performance during the Huaihe River Campaign was inferior to that of Wu Ting in Huaidong.

After entering the Central Plains, his performance on the battlefield was also slightly inferior to Wu Ting's.

This already made him very uneasy.

At this point, Gan Quan and Yang Shou both volunteered to fight, which made it impossible for him to remain seated.

"Prime Minister, Luoyang is mine. Please grant me three more days, and I will take Luoyang."

Shao Hongyuan was a veteran, and Yang Yuan didn't want to embarrass him, so after a moment's thought, he nodded.

"Alright, then I'll give you three more days."

Yang Yuan said, "The faster Luoyang is captured, the easier it will be to turn the tide of the entire battle."

Therefore, I cannot wait too long. If Luoyang cannot be captured within three days, I will have to find someone else to lead the attack.

"If I fail to capture Luoyang within three days, I will bring you my head!"

This provocation was too much for Shao Hongyuan to bear.

"I'll give you five days!"

Yang Yuan gave Shao Hongyuan two more days, which gave him more time, but also blocked Shao Hongyuan's way out.

If he still cannot take Luoyang within five days, and Yang Yuan wants to replace him, then he will have nothing to say.

Shao Hongyuan made a pledge and returned to his camp, issuing a death order to launch a fierce attack day and night, not allowing the Luoyang defenders a moment's rest.

This kind of fighting style, of course, resulted in heavy losses.

However, this calculation only considers Luoyang. In the overall context, if Luoyang can be captured as soon as possible, the number of lives saved in the entire battle will be many times greater.

As night fell, the flames of war raged beneath the walls of Luoyang.

The drums and gongs sounded in unison, the battle cries shook the heavens, and tens of thousands of lanterns and torches, like stars, illuminated the surroundings.

Shao Hongyuan divided his army into four groups and attacked the city day and night without rest.

Cannons, catapults, crossbows, and all sorts of siege weapons used projectiles, stones, and arrows to shatter the walls of Luoyang.

As the weather begins to warm up, the water can no longer freeze quickly, and even if it does, the ice won't be very solid. This greatly reduces the efficiency of repairing the damaged city walls.

The city walls were well-equipped with defensive weapons, with logs and boulders constantly being transported up the walls, and soldiers on both sides fell down with screams of pain from time to time.

Wanyan Tieli, leaning on his broadsword, stood atop the city wall, looking like a fierce god.

He had just killed his youngest son, whom he loved most. Before Luoyang fell, the Kaifeng garrison commanders, Nalan Shuofeng and Yang Tang, surrendered.

Now Luoyang has become a ghost town. How could the officials and gentry in the city still have the idea of ​​defending it to the death?

However, Wanyan Tieli had already given the order in public: anyone who dared to surrender would be beheaded!
Therefore, they bribed Wanyan Tieli's youngest son with a large sum of money to speak to his father on his behalf.

As a result, after Wanyan Tielitao found out who had given the order, he immediately drew his sword and personally beheaded his beloved son.

He then ordered his soldiers to kill all the families who had bribed his son.

In an instant, more than a hundred heads, men, women, and children, were hung on the walls of each of the four cities.

Wanyan Tieli even pickled his son's head with lime and displayed it to the garrison troops of the four cities to demonstrate his determination to hold the city.

"General Tie Li has gone mad!"

Upon learning of Wanyan Tieli's outrageous actions, officials, gentry, common people, and even the guards on the city walls couldn't help but discuss it amongst themselves.

However, they were even more terrified of Wanyan Tieli and dared not show the slightest sign of fear or war-weariness.

Beneath the walls of Luoyang lay piles of mangled corpses, along with broken siege ladders, battering rams, and trench-crossing carts.

Some of them were doused with gunpowder and were still burning.

From time to time, siege ladders were hooked down by the Jin army's scythes, and the city walls flashed with the light of blades.

Some Song soldiers who rushed onto the city wall fought desperately, and corpses fell from the wall from time to time.

Some Song soldiers were attempting to cross the moat and approach the city walls, digging tunnels beneath them.

However, the continuous attacks by the defenders on the city walls proved ineffective.

With only two days left until the five-day deadline set by Yang Yuan, Shao Hongyuan felt both ashamed and angry.

If Yang Yuan hadn't given him two more days, wouldn't he have already broken his promise?
"Remove your armor from this general!"

Shao Hongyuan roared, he was going to personally take up his sword and climb the city wall!
It was at this moment that the group of four quietly entered the military camp outside Luoyang.

These four men were all dressed as Song soldiers and looked very thin.

With that kind of physique, he wouldn't be well-liked in the local militia.

However, upon receiving the news, Yang Shou rushed out and personally welcomed "them" into the camp.

"Auntie, what brings you here?"

During the Song Dynasty, the colloquial term for one's great-aunt was "shūpō".

Yu Ye, Ji Xiang, Hua Yin, and Xiao Nai, four young and beautiful aunts-in-law, all like the polite young Yang Shou very much.

Ji Xiang wanted to pat his head, but Yang Shou was too tall, so she had to give up.

"Xiao Shou, your aunt has come today because there is a very, very important matter that requires your help."

Ji Xiang lowered her voice and whispered something to Yang Shou.

Upon hearing this, Yang Shou's eyes immediately lit up.

"That's wonderful! I've always thought my uncle should be..."

Yang Shou suddenly became alert, covered his mouth, and cautiously glanced at the tent opening before whispering:
"I understand. You four aunts can stay with Shou'er's army for now. Shou'er will make arrangements when the time comes."

Yu Ye nodded and asked, "What's the situation now? How much longer will it take to break through the city?"

Yang Shou pursed his lips and said, "Auntie, you don't know this, that guy surnamed Shao is good at defense, but not good at offense."

He can hold the defenses like a turtle shell, but he's no match for attacking cities and raiding strongholds.

Yang Shou held up two fingers and said, "Two more days. If the Shao fellow fails to capture Luoyang in two days, I'll ask my uncle for permission to take over the battle!"

However, what Yang Shou didn't know was that just as he was feeling smug about having the chance to claim the "first to scale the wall" credit in just two more days, a white banner had already been hung on the side of the city wall that Shao Hongyuan was in charge of attacking.

With his back bare, a knife in his mouth, and ignoring the advice of his personal guards, Shao Hongyuan, who was about to personally climb the ladder to attack the city, suddenly came to a stop at the foot of Luoyang City.

Because he was standing too close, he couldn't see the flags on the city wall clearly even with his head tilted back.

He had to awkwardly take more than twenty steps back before he could see what was hanging on the city wall.

Yes, it was indeed a white banner.

Is this... a sign of surrender?

Before Shao Hongyuan could even show a joyful expression, nearly a hundred of his personal guards breathed a sigh of relief.

The coach is going all out, and they have no choice but to follow him and fight desperately.

Unexpectedly, before the commander-in-chief could even climb the ladder, the Jin army had already surrendered!

On the city wall, Wanyan Tieli leaned against a pillar next to the city gate tower, his hands supporting his sword, standing upright without falling.

His eyes were wide open, his face was contorted, and purplish-black blood was flowing from the corner of his mouth.

Under the pretext of rewarding the troops, he climbed the city wall to deliver food, but poisoned the wine and meat, killing Wanyan Tieli's wife, Pei Manyayin. She didn't dare to look Wanyan Tieli in the eye.

She averted her gaze slightly, her voice trembling as she said, "Your Highness, please don't blame me. You want to be loyal to the Great Jin Kingdom, but my whole family shouldn't die! Your son and your grandson..."

The old princess wept uncontrollably: "Now that you are dying on the city wall, it can be considered that your wish has been fulfilled. You died for Wanyan Liang, and you can rest in peace on your way to the Yellow Springs. Go in peace."

"The princess is very righteous, and all the officials, gentry and common people in the city are grateful for her kindness."

The transport commissioner and the provincial inspector of Luoyang, who had rushed to hang the white banners, led a group of officials and gentry who had come under the pretext of rewarding the army, and knelt down before the old princess.

"The most urgent task is to quickly contact the Song general and surrender to Prime Minister Yang of the Song Dynasty. Otherwise, wouldn't the old prince have died in vain?"

"Now the situation still needs the Princess to take charge. Please, Princess, accept this difficult time and send an envoy as soon as possible to negotiate the surrender of the city!"

(End of this chapter)