Chapter 53 Attack on Bauhinia Pass

The goal of Genghis Khan's third gold attack launched in July 1213 was to completely open the road from the grassland to the capital of Jin.In fact, this road began to be cleaned a year ago. The Mongolian army completely destroyed the defense facilities of the Kingdom of Jin north of Xuande (now Xuanhua, Hebei Province), including of course the strategically important Yehuling of the Kingdom of Jin, as the main force of Genghis Khan. When I arrived at Yehuling, there were many bones, and the crowing of cocks was not heard for thousands of miles. The first target of Genghis Khan's attack was Xuande. At this time, the Mongolian Corps was equipped with modern siege equipment - catapults and advanced stone throwing machines aimed at throwing stones, burning liquids and other harmful substances at the city walls. The thrilling ballista is a mechanical device that can shoot a large number of arrows at the same time. The arrows can destroy various building facilities within the range and eliminate all humans and animals.

Xuande City trembled in front of these modern siege equipment, and finally bowed its head and surrendered.After Genghis Khan captured Xuande, he quickly marched towards Dexing County in the southwest without stopping.Information about the fall of Xuande arrived at Dexing Mansion almost at the same time as Genghis Khan’s army. Facing the vast ocean of Mongolian soldiers and soul-stirring siege equipment, the defenders of Dexing Mansion couldn’t help being heartbroken. After unconsciously resisting for an hour, Raised the white flag of surrender. In August 1213, Genghis Khan's army entered Guizhou between Zhenzhou (now Yanqing District, Beijing) and Huailai, Hebei Province, eyeing Juyongguan.

But to enter Juyongguan, you have to pass Zhenzhou first.At that time, the defender of Zhenzhou was the outstanding figure of the Kingdom of Jin, Shuhu Gaoqi, calm-headed, daring, and a strong opponent.Shu Hu Gao Qi didn't panic at the front line, but Wanyan Yongji became nervous in the central capital. Everyone told him that there was no problem with Zhenzhou's defense, but Wanyan Yongji thought there must be a problem, so he ordered Prime Minister Wanyan Gang to urgently dispatch 100,000 elite soldiers from the Henan-Shanxi front line to Zhenzhou to assist in the defense. This is simply whimsical. From the front line of Henan and Shaanxi to the central capital, even if it is a plain, even if it is a Mongolian army with super speed, it will take a month. The guards of the capital were transferred to Zhenzhou to assist in the defense.

Wanyan Yongji had already become a frightened bird at this time, and the prime minister Wanyan Gang had no choice but to bite the bullet and lead the troops out of Zhongdu.Before sending out troops, someone said to Wanyan Gang: "If you don't go, the Kingdom of Jin still has a chance of winning. If you go, you will definitely lose." Wanyan Gang didn't understand this kind of logic: "Ask for advice." The other party said: "Shu Hu Gaoqi's 30,000 horses are all brave Khitan soldiers, enough to deal with the Mongols. Even if the town of Zhenzhou is destroyed, the Mongols will be injured, and Juyongguan is dangerous. They can't Fight to Zhongdu. In addition, Shuhu Gaoqi is a proud man. He will never give up the command when you go, and you are also an arbitrary person. You will definitely split for the command. You can take advantage of this opportunity. You might as well send reinforcements to go there yourself.”

Wanyan Gang immediately raised his eyebrows: "How can his military talent, Hu Gaoqi, compare to mine. I think it was child's play when I commanded a million troops on the Henan-Shanxi front line. If he had self-knowledge, he should give up his command." The person who spoke said "Ah!" and had nothing to say. As soon as Wanyangang arrived in Zhenzhou City, he had a conflict with Shuhu Gaoqi.Shuhu Gaoqi insisted that he was the supreme commander of Zhenzhou City, Wan Yangang asked: "Then where did you put me?" Shuhu Gaoqi said: "The court needs a resourceful person like you. I think you leave your soldiers and return to the central capital immediately."

Wan Yangang became angry, and sent out a wave of evil fire, then calmed down with years of experience in the officialdom, he ordered the Central Capital garrison he brought to stand still, waiting to see the jokes of Shuhu Gaoqi. Shuhu Gaoqi had no jokes for him to show him. When the Genghis Khan Corps launched an attack, Shuhu Gaoqi commanded it carefully, dispatched back and forth with limited troops, and easily defended the multi-directional attack of the Genghis Khan Corps. Wan Yangang started to look at Shuhu Gao Qi with admiration, but he still had a grudge about the commanding power.After a week of defense, Shuhu Gaoqi was a little powerless in front of the powerful siege equipment of Genghis Khan's corps.He said affectionately to Wanyan Gang: "You and I are responsible for the rise and fall of the country. Zhenzhou City cannot be lost."

Wanyan Gang put on a rascal look: "You are the commander, why are you telling me these things?" Shuhu Gao Qi held back his anger and begged him, "Let your people go up the city wall." Wanyan Gang still acted like a rascal: "Are they following your orders or mine?" Shuhu Gao Qi replied: "Of course I listen to you, but..." Wanyan Gang had already jumped up, straightened his armor: "I told you earlier, I'm tired of you." More people do not necessarily mean more power, because when there are too many people, the thinking becomes complicated and cannot be unified. The more people, the weaker the power.

Shuhu Gaoqi thought that the defense should be focused on the northeast corner of Zhenzhou City, where the Mongol ballista had blasted a big hole.Wan Yangang believes that putting too many troops in a dangerous defensive location is the work of an idiot, and should not be passive in defense, but should be changed from passive to active.So as soon as he reached the wall, he gathered his archers together and shot fiercely at the Mongols below.In his words, this is to provoke the enemy and let the enemy attack his strongest defense. But there is no such stupid enemy in the world as Wan Yangang imagined. Genghis Khan is like a fox who has become a fine fox on the battlefield. He quickly discovered the weakest defense of Zhenzhou City. Amidst the howling sound, the Mongolian corps divided into several groups and stormed any place outside the gap. Shuhu Gaoqi and Wanyan Gang commanded separately on the city wall. Usually, the orders issued by Shuhu Gaoqi were immediately rejected by Wanyangang. Gang's orders were ignored by Shuhu Gaoqi, and the entire town of Zhenzhou seemed to have a large number of people, but in fact it had become a mob.Just when several corps attracted the attention of the enemy, Genghis Khan sent the most elite corps to attack the gap.

When Shuhu Gaoqi wanted to rescue him, it was too late, and Mongolian soldiers rushed into the gap.Like hungry wolves, this group of people pounced on the chaotic Golden Shoujun. The city wall was in chaos, and several Mongolian troops climbed up the city wall by ladders. The tragic hand-to-hand combat began. , and finally forced them into the streets and alleys, the defenders under the city gate had fled in all directions, the Mongolian soldiers opened the gate, and Zhenzhou City fell. Before the fall of Zhenzhou City, Shuhu Gaoqi and Wanyangang had led the elite to escape from the city wall, and then escaped in a hurry from the south gate. Wanyangang wanted to see Shuhu Gaoqi's jokes, and now he got his wish.

The two tried their best to flee south into Juyongguan before they were relieved. Genghis Khan chased after him, but stopped the horseshoes a hundred miles away from Juyongguan, because there was no way ahead. Juyongguan has two passes, the north and the south, which are called "South Pass" and "North Pass" respectively.There are lofty mountains on both sides of it, and a valley of about forty miles is formed in the middle, which is called "Guangou", and Juyongguan is on top of Guangou.Extending along the east and west sides of Juyongguan is the world-famous Great Wall. Juyongguan and the Great Wall constitute the impeccable defense of the northern part of the Kingdom of Jin.

Two years ago, after Jebe used tactics to capture Juyongguan and retreated, the Jin people immediately strengthened the defense of Juyongguan.First, elite soldiers were dispatched, and then iron juice was poured into the closed door of the "North Exit", as if determined to never open this door from now on.Finally, the range of 100 miles outside Beikou Pass is covered with caltrops, which can stab horseshoes. It is a bit like landmines in modern warfare. In ancient warfare, it was often used to block and slow down the speed of enemy cavalry. The place where Genghis Khan stopped his horse's hooves was where the caltrops ended at the northern entrance of the Juyongguan Pass, a formidable obstacle that anyone knew would cost a fortune to overcome.Genghis Khan didn't want to pay this unnecessary price, so he asked an expert.The expert is Alaqian, he is a geography expert, and he often plays extreme sports near Juyongguan, so he knows the geography of the place like the back of his hand. Alaqian told Genghis Khan that a few years ago he was chasing a rabbit in the west of Juyongguan, and he chased into a black forest. There was a narrow path in the depths of the forest. The local people called it Bauhiniakou. Passing through, the army can steal through the Bauhinia Pass at night and enter the Great Wall. Once successful, Juyongguan will become a decoration. Hearing this, Genghis Khan's eyes were full of light.He dispatched troops and generals, and he and Jebe went down to Bauhiniakou under the guidance of Alaqian, while the main force continued to stay where they were and waited for further instructions. Genghis Khan's corps entered the Black Forest in the evening. Due to the dim light in the forest, an accident happened.Everywhere Ah Laqian looked looked like that path. If he could have overlooked the black forest at that time, he would have seen a cavalry running around like headless flies in the forest.This made Genghis Khan very anxious, and of course Alaqian was the most anxious. If he couldn't find the path before dawn, he might lose his head.He prayed to heaven for a rabbit to appear. His prayer seemed to be very effective. In the dark night, a snow-white rabbit jumped out from under the horse's legs, stood there for a while, as if to give Ah Laqian time to react, and then ran into the depths of the forest.As if seeing a god, Ah Laqian shouted happily: "Follow the rabbit—" The rabbit led them on the right path, and they proceeded cautiously, finally appearing at Bauhinia Mouth at dawn the next day.As expected, the Jin army did not set up heavy troops at this intersection where only rabbits would walk. There was only a lazy patrol team sleeping soundly.Genghis Khan's soldiers cut off their heads in their sleep.As a result, the Mongols easily broke through the Great Wall defense line north of Zhongdu. After Wanyan Yongji got the news, he was furious.According to him, he had already informed Hu Shahu that he wanted him to pay attention to Zijingkou, but Hu Shahu remained motionless like a sick cat.Hu Shahu yelled that he was wronged, because he had not been reused since he escaped from Xijing and returned to Zhongdu. He didn't remember the emperor told him about the defense of Zijingkou. Wanyan Yongji couldn't solve the problem of the loss of Zijingkou, so he poured all the evil fire on Hu Shahu. Hu Shahu was scolded so badly that he wanted to find a crack in the ground to get in. It is normal for a leader to scold his subordinates, but a wise leader will choose subordinates who are not in danger to scold him. Wanyan Yongji doesn't understand this truth. Hu Shahu can't just scold him casually. After the Central Capital, Hu Shahu, who was in charge of the Imperial Guard, became the leader of the military.After returning home, the military tycoon became more and more angry with his thoughts. He slapped the table and ordered the imperial guards to attack the imperial city. Wanyan Yongji was captured alive.Only after Wan Yangang showed a little dissatisfaction, Hu Shahu ordered his entire family to be executed.The distraught Wanyan Yongji asked Hu Shahu: "Are you going to kill me?" Hu Shahu said: "Yes, you trash, let's see what you've made of the Great One Empire, you don't deserve to live." Wanyan Yongji died. After Hu Shahu killed the emperor, he looked around in a daze.Although he claims to be a general of the state of Wei and has great power in his hands, he doesn't know how to solve the current plight of the Mongolian army.Someone immediately suggested to him that another emperor should be established and let him take care of everything. Hu Shahu chased Wanyan Yongji's nephew Wanyan Xun to the dragon chair, and he warned the emperor: "Be careful to be your emperor!" make a verdict. Hu Shahu's verdict on Genghis Khan's smuggling into Zijingkou was to send troops to meet him, and the leader he sent was Ao Tunxiang, who was ambushed by the Mongolian army after rescuing Xijing a year ago. Before departure, Ao Tunxiang specially ordered a high-quality goose feather fan. It was late autumn and the temperature in the north was extremely low, but it did not affect his demeanor of shaking the feather fan lightly.Ao Tunxiang waved his fan and ordered to stop when he arrived at Wuhui Ridge. He said that this place was the place where the Mongols were buried.Everyone looked at it carefully, but they couldn't see anything like a Mongolian cemetery.Anyone who knows Ao Tunxiang knows that he is bluffing. Since this is a plain, everyone knows the field combat capabilities of the Mongols, so they started preparing to escape. Genghis Khan led the army to arrive very quickly, and before Ao Tunxiang formed his formation, Jebe had already led his army to send out an impact that shook the world. Ao Tunxiang's army was defeated in an instant. escape back. Genghis Khan's regiment took the opportunity to capture Zhuozhou (now Zhuozhou, Hebei) and Yizhou (now Yixian, Hebei).However, Genghis Khan's large army was still at the "north entrance" of Juyongguan. In order to let the large army enter the pass, Genghis Khan ordered Jebe to attack the "south entrance" of Juyongguan. From a defensive point of view, the "North Gate" of Juyongguan is a warrior in full body armor, and the "South Gate" is a naked beggar.Only one militia unit was stationed at the "South Pass" of Juyongguan, which is probably understandable, because anyone who wants to think of "South Pass" must go through the North Pass, and the Jin people never expected that Genghis Khan would detour through Zijing Pass. "Nankou" fell under the shouts of the Jebel Corps. Once the "North Pass" was lost, the "North Pass" became a decoration. The Jebe Corps launched a fierce attack behind the rear of the "North Pass" defenders.When they arrived at "Beikou", the "Beikou" city wall had already planted the flag of the Mongolian Corps.Since then, Juyongguan was captured by the Mongols for the second time. After Genghis Khan captured Juyongguan, Gao Qi, the Shuhu who escaped from Juyongguan and returned to Zhongdu, was so angry that he almost fainted.Because he saw that there was no target of allegiance, Wanyan Yongji had become a dead body, and the one sitting on the dragon chair turned out to be Wanyan Xun.Wanyan Xun understood him very well, and said to him: "Wanyan Yongji and I are both descendants of Wanyan, who is your allegiance to? At this time of crisis, you should devote all your heart and soul to me, and the sky will see." Shuhu Gao Qi was trembling all over, pointing at Hu Shahu who was standing beside Wanyan Xun alive and kicking and showing off his might, "Wow" spit out a mouthful of blood.