Chapter 50 Soldiers come to Zhongdu

After the Jin army was wiped out at Huihe Fort, Genghis Khan ordered the three sons of Jin Xijing to be besieged and launched a final attack on the target. At the same time, he ordered Jebe to pursue Yan Chengyu to the east, and he himself went south and then to the east to encircle Jin Zhongdu. . Shuchi, Chagatai, and Okuotai who besieged Jinxijing have been besieging and not attacking for several months, or they have carried out small-scale tentative attacks, completely following Genghis Khan's orders.Genghis Khan just wanted to contain Xijing's troops, and he tried to avoid fighting on two fronts.The victory in the Battle of Yehuling made him determined to resolve the war in Xijing, and his three sons launched a fierce attack on Xijing.

Hu Shahu, commander of the defense of Xijing, is not a commander, not even a general.For several months, the Mongols had besieged the city without attacking it. He stared blankly and did nothing.The commander of Xijing city defense, Mo Nian, was loyal and extremely contemptuous of Hu Shahu's ugly appearance of fearing the enemy like a tiger. The two had a conflict. When the defense battle started, the two had a fierce quarrel. Amidst the quarrel between the two, the northern city of Xijing was attacked by the Mongols. .With a loud cry, Hu Shahu led 7,000 people out of the east gate and went straight to Ding'an County (now Ding'an County Village, Huangmei Township, Yu County, Hebei Province), trying to withdraw from here to Zhongdu.Ma Nian was loyal and did not leave, but defended tenaciously. It was under the guard of this famous general that Xijing of the Kingdom of Jin persisted until 1214.

Hu Shahu's luck was very bad. When he fled to Ding'an, he happened to meet Genghis Khan himself who went south to outflank Jinzhongdu.Once the two sides came into contact, Hu Shahu's 7,000 men were like a flock of sheep meeting a herd of tigers. The battle began at dusk, and when dusk came, Hu Shahu fled south to Zijingguan with only a few hundred guards.Then escaped from the west of the Bauhinia Pass, and finally fled back to the central capital.Wanyan Yongji received the escaped famous general. What is surprising is that Wanyan Yongji not only did not convict Hu Shahu, but condoled him graciously.

Wanyan Yongji's attitude towards Hu Shahu caused an uproar among the courtiers.They said: "Abandoning the city without authorization should be beheaded. Even if the death penalty can be avoided, the living penalty cannot be escaped. Not only did you not punish the emperor, but you also treated him so courteously. This is a negative incentive." Wanyan Yongji was not in the mood to pay attention to these arguments, he was sitting on pins and needles, because according to intelligence, General Jebe of Genghis Khan was approaching Juyongguan.At that time, Wanyan Fuxing, the guard of Juyongguan, expressed to Wanyan Yongji with great righteousness that he vowed to guard Juyongguan to the death and make Juyongguan a nightmare for the Mongols.

This mediocrity is not bragging. Juyongguan was originally a dangerous place where one man should guard the pass, especially when the opponent is the Mongols who are not good at attacking the city, Juyongguan has become an unbreakable fortress without any suspense. Wanyan Yongji is not worried about the defense of Juyongguan, he is worried about the cunning of the Mongols.In the past year, the military offensive strategies implemented by the Mongols in various places have opened the eyes of the Jin people and made them tremble with fear.He urged Wanyan Fuxing thousands of times: just stick to it, and don't do anything else.

Wanyan Fuxing's understanding of this order was very casual, so when he easily repelled Zhebe's small-scale tentative attack, his arrogance swelled, and his reason was slipping away quietly.He said: "I don't understand how such an vulnerable enemy can drive straight to my door." The implication is that except for him, other colleagues are nothing. The supervising army sent by Wanyan Yongji had seen the bravery and wisdom of the Mongols in the Battle of Yehuling, so his face changed drastically, and he said: "General, don't underestimate the enemy, they are full of tricks, and every general uses his troops like a god. "

Wanyan Fuxing looked at the supervising army contemptuously, and said with a sneer, "This is also called using soldiers like gods, that fool has become a famous general!" Jebe is not a fool, but a famous general.After he made a tentative attack on Juyongguan, he immediately concluded that Juyongguan must not be attacked hard, but only outsmarted.The way to outsmart is to lure the enemy out of the customs and fight in the field. To get Wanyan Fuxing out of Juyongguan, the degree of difficulty is very low.Wanyan Fuxing is arrogant, impetuous, and has no brains.After launching several small-scale attacks, Jebe left some weapons and horses and "fleeed" eastward.Wanyan Fuxing saw the Mongols fleeing gracefully in the city, and he ordered with great pride: "Get out!"

The supervising army stopped: "Be careful of fraud." Wanyan Fuxing laughed wildly: "You are scared out of your wits by the Mongols. You can see that they are just running away, so let me chase them down. We need a victory so much now!" Many people don't understand why those tactics to lure the enemy in the history of war have repeatedly succeeded.People who have never experienced war will never understand that people will be excited on the battlefield, and they will seek victory like a madman, so when the enemy retreats, they will always be dizzy, thinking that the enemy is just fleeing.Anyone who has experienced battle knows that the place where the most enemies are eliminated is on the way of pursuit.

Wanyan Fuxing ordered to open the city gates to pursue, and all 10,000 Juyongguan defenders were dispatched. The farther they chased, the stronger their confidence was, because the Mongols left too many things on the way, even cheese.Wanyan Fuxing ran to the front almost recklessly. He wanted to wipe out this Mongolian army. He wanted to wear the victory laurel crown on his head and be received by the emperor under the eyes of everyone. It seems that he can indeed realize his dream.Because during the pursuit, he captured a few Mongolian soldiers. Under interrogation, the Mongolian soldiers confessed to him that there was a problem in their lair, so they hurriedly withdrew their troops.

Wanyan Fuxing jumped up excitedly, didn't even want to eat, and chased after him wildly.When he chased to Jiming Mountain, he looked at the steep mountain and said triumphantly to the people around him: "If the Mongols lie in ambush here, we will be in trouble. Haha, it's a pity that they are too stupid." Just when he was complacent and self-satisfied, he suddenly heard a horse neighing. Jiming Mountain was like an overturned ant nest, and countless Mongolians rushed down from the mountainside suddenly. Like the government army, they fled when they lost their horses.His 10,000 horses were originally the most elite troops of the Kingdom of Jin in the north except for the Weihe Fortress, but they were defeated by his escape, and the Jebel Army easily wiped out most of them on the way of pursuit, and the remaining people wished they could live Four legs, eyes closed and fled to Juyongguan.

This is not yet Jebe's most powerful tactic. Just before the ambush, he had some Mongolian soldiers dress up as soldiers of the Kingdom of Jin and "flee" to Juyongguan among the deserters.Wanyan Fuxing didn't recover from his shock until he fled into Juyongguan and ordered the city gate to be closed.He said to the supervisor: "The Mongols are really cunning. If it weren't for my strong mobility, I'm afraid I would have been a ghost at this time." The overseer rubbed his hands and asked anxiously, "What should we do now?" Wanyan Fuxing regained his arrogance: "Don't worry, they won't be able to enter the pass. From now on, I will guard the pass wholeheartedly and never leave Juyongguan." While he was talking eloquently, he suddenly heard someone in the camp shouting: "The Mongols have occupied Juyongguan, run away!" Wanyan Fuxing ran out to watch, and he saw the Mongols’ flag flying on the wall of Juyongguan. It was the work of those Mongols dressed up as golden soldiers. Of course Wanyan Fuxing didn’t know it. He thought the Mongols really captured Juyongguan. He burst into tears, and then hurriedly escaped from behind the pass until he reached Zhongdu. Juyongguan was thus occupied by Jebe.After Jebe occupied Juyongguan, he drove southward and besieged Zhongdu.Genghis Khan stationed in Longhutai, Changping, and ordered Jebe to attack Zhongdu. At the same time, he ordered the three sons who had besieged Xijing to retreat from Xijing to Changping. In September 1211, Genghis Khan delivered a speech to the soldiers at Longhutai. Wanyan Yongji also held an emergency meeting in Zhongdu. At the meeting, he expressed his opinion: "The Mongols are overwhelming, we should avoid their edge and give up Central capital goes south." The deputy prime minister, Liang Tang, is a Han Chinese with the strength of character of the Han people. He grabbed the land with his head and cried: "Zhongdu has been operated by Dajin for many years. It has become a political, economic and cultural center. You must not give up at will. The high walls of Zhongdu Thick, the Mongols are all cavalry and don't know engineering skills, so they are not good at taking a step-by-step attack. And when winter comes, they are not used to the climate here, and they will definitely retreat automatically. We just need to defend the central capital and order troops from all over the country to serve the king. It will surely turn bad luck into good fortune, and come to the end of all hardships.” Wanyan Fuxing, the defeated general, became nervous and said, "The Mongols are like divine help, it's no joke. I think the emperor's view is quite correct. We should make plans early." Liang Tang took a step back and said, "If it's really not possible, we can negotiate a peace, but going south is absolutely impossible." The court is divided into two factions, one faction thinks to flee south immediately, and the other thinks to stick to the central capital.The pitiful courage in Wanyan Yongji's bones suddenly emerged, and he said: "Then guard the central capital, the family property left by the ancestors cannot be discarded casually, order the military regions of all regions to come to King Qin as soon as possible!" When Wanyan Yongji was in a state of desperation, Genghis Khan was enjoying himself in the Dragon and Tiger Terrace.He said to his comrades: "I never thought that the Central Plains people would be so vulnerable." Everyone believed that Genghis Khan was right, but Jebe had reservations. Zhebie said: "The field battles in the Kingdom of Jin are lackluster, but they are huddled in the tall city, and we have nothing to do. For example, the Central Capital in front of us, we have no way to capture it." Genghis Khan immediately put away his happy face, and said seriously: "The matter you mentioned is exactly what is on my mind. The city is our forbidden area, and this situation must be broken." Mu Huali said: "This is not something that happens overnight, we must be prepared." Genghis Khan asked: "How to prepare?" Mu Huali said: "Bring all the skilled craftsmen among the Central Plains people back to the grassland, and ask them to make siege equipment for us." Genghis Khan said: "This is a good idea, let's do it right away." Genghis Khan's order opened the curtain of the special "engineer battalion" of the Mongolian Corps. From then on, wherever the Genghis Khan Corps went, they were followed by a group of engineers. Their task was to obtain local materials and manufacture siege equipment.And these people were all from the occupied areas of the Kingdom of Jin. During the subsequent raids, the Mongolian Corps would tie up craftsmen they encountered and send them to the camp. In the winter of 1211, Genghis Khan announced the withdrawal of troops at Longhutai. Of course, he left with a large number of craftsmen and gold and silver treasures looted from nearby. After Wanyan Yongji heard that Genghis Khan withdrew his troops and returned to the grassland, he celebrated for three days and said to his imperial people: "The Mongols have been repulsed by us. They are helpless in front of our city and fled in desperation!" Things are far from what he said, and this is definitely not his truest thought. All the subjects of the Kingdom of Jin know that the retreat of the Mongols this time is only for the next comeback.It's just that no one knows when the next time will be.