Chapter 59 Battle of Tongguan

After Genghis Khan obtained Yelu Chucai, he often discussed the general trend of the world with him.Yelu Chucai will answer every question, and the answer will hit the mark.Genghis Khan didn't like fighting on both sides very much, so after returning to the grassland in 1215, he never sent troops, because Mu Huali was managing the Northeast battlefield at that time.But Yelu Chucai said that they should cooperate with Muhuali's northeast battlefield, enter Shaanxi from the territory of Xixia, attack Tongguan, and oppress Kaifeng City.He finally added that if Kaifeng City does not launch a major offensive at this time, when Kaifeng City accumulates forces to counterattack to the north of the Yellow River, the consequences will be disastrous.

Genghis Khan approved Yelu Chucai's analysis. In August 1216, Genghis Khan ordered General Samuhe to lead ten thousand households of the Mongolian Corps to enter Guanzhong from the territory of Xixia, threatening the right side of Kaifeng.After the Samuhe Corps entered Guanzhong, it was like a broken bamboo and successfully captured Jingzhao Mansion (now Xi'an, Shaanxi). In October 1216, the Mongolian Corps arrived at Tongguan and quickly launched a fierce attack.Tongguan is located at the confluence of the Weishui River and the Yellow River, in the canyon between Huashan Mountain and the Yellow River. It is an important military town for Kaifeng to stop all enemies.This important military town played a huge role, and Samuhe could only sigh at it.

After sighing, Samuhe withdrew his army and marched roundabout from the South Road to Ruzhou (now Ruzhou, Henan). Kilometers of Xinghua Camp. The city of Kaifeng was flying like cats and dogs, Wanyan Xun urgently ordered the Shandong side to rescue.Shandong has long been tossed to the brink of death by the Genghis Khan Corps, and has no troops to send.General Guo Zhong was quick-witted, and got in touch with the Huamao Army active in the local area, and finally won their trust, so this rebel army was pulled into the Henan battlefield. The two sides fought fiercely in Xinghua Camp, and it was difficult to distinguish the winner.Samuhe discovered that there was such a brave corps in the Kingdom of Jin, so he withdrew from the battlefield of Xinghuaying, led the corps to retreat westward, and crossed the north bank of the Yellow River from Shanzhou (now Shanxian County, Henan Province) to rest for a while.

It is equivalent to saying that Samuhe was driven to the north bank of the Yellow River by the Huamao Army.This is the first time that the Mongolian army has been strongly blocked since the war with the Kingdom of Jin.Samuhe readjusted his thinking, thinking that Tongguan should be attacked first. In October 1216, he came to Tongguan for the second time.However, he did not launch a strong attack, but took a detour to attack the barrier to the south of Tongguan—the Forbidden Pit. Forbidden Pit is called Forbidden Ditch by the Mongols. It is a 15-kilometer natural and deep valley that runs from north to south. It starts from Haochayukou in the Qinling Mountains in the south and ends at Shimenguan about two kilometers south of Tongguan in the north.The valley is like a wall, with bushes and vines mixed in it, and there are few people.On the west side of the forbidden ditch, the Jin army built 12 connected cities, forming an artificial barrier, proudly guarding Tongguan.When Samuhe attacked Tongguan for the first time, the forbidden ditch defenders always attacked him when he was not paying attention, which made him often restless.So he finally decided that in order to conquer Tongguan, he must win the Forbidden Ditch.

Taking down the forbidden ditch is easy to say, but it is too difficult to do.It is delusional for Samuhe to take it by force. To take down the forbidden ditch, he must sneak attack, and the only way to sneak attack can only be to climb the peak and attack the Jin Shoujun condescendingly. Even the birds are reluctant to walk on the way to the peak. According to the locals, the looming path is overgrown with weeds and filled with prehistoric reptiles, and ghosts can be heard crying in broad daylight.What's more terrible is that in the mountains and valleys, there is no other way but to fly.But the Mongols couldn't fly, so they tied up several iron guns and built a "bridge" over the mountain stream and valley. .The Mongols' spirit of overcoming dangers was fully demonstrated. After a difficult trek, they finally climbed to the peak and controlled the commanding heights. When all the Mongolian soldiers entered the position, the onslaught began.

When Jin Shoujun found an enemy above his head, he was violently attacked.No one knows how the Mongols transported the attack machinery to the top of the mountain. The Jin Shoujun just felt countless deadly stones falling from the sky.They were frightened out of their wits by the group of aliens, threw away their weapons and ran for their lives desperately.Samuhe captured Jingou easily. Without the protection of Jingou, Tongguan was crying like a frightened child.Tongguan was at stake, and Wanyan Xun ordered Wanyan Yongxi, who had rescued Zhongdu and escaped halfway, to rescue Tongguan urgently.

Wanyan Yongxi and his parents embraced each other and wept. This well-known dutiful son told his parents that the Mongols are not human beings but beasts, and that his departure would be a farewell forever. The whole family wept with their heads in their arms, and wept the soldiers who were preparing to go out crying to their wits and morale.The rescue of Tongguan was urgent, but Wanyan Yongxi took it easy. When he reached Mianchi (now Shengchi, Henan), he ordered the whole army to stand by on the spot.No one knew what to expect, his aides asked him, but he didn't answer, just looked in the direction of Kaifeng with tears in his eyes.

Three days later, he ordered to go on the road and continue to advance. The army had given up hope for him, and deserters were already in droves.This is a vicious circle, the more depressed Wanyan Yongxi is, the more deserters snowball, the more deserters, the more depressed he is. When this dispirited waste entered Jingzhao Mansion, he was ordered to stand by on the spot.His aides and the supervising army sent by Wanyan Xun were very annoyed and asked him to move forward quickly to rescue Tongguan.Because information came one after another, if Tongguan had no more reinforcements, it would definitely be lost.

Wanyan Yongxi took the information, showed them tremblingly, and said in a trembling voice, "I told you that the Mongols are all beasts. I have seen their power. Our rescue is like a sheep going to a tiger's mouth." The aides asked: "Then what do you say?" Wanyan Yongxi was stopped by the question, and it took him a long time to hold back a spineless sentence: "Look at the destiny!" God will always take care of those who go forward bravely, such as Samuhe.Samuhe knew that Kaifeng City had reinforcements coming, so he used all his strength to attack Tongguan frantically.Tongguan finally fell under the attack of Samuhe. When the Mongolian army entered Tongguan with a roar, Wanyan Yongxi was still in Jingzhao Mansion, looking at Kaifeng with tears in his eyes.

Someone cried out and begged him to rescue Tongguan, but he was forced to lie and said: "The emperor has ordered me to wait here, so how can I send troops so easily? Is the emperor not as smart as you?" When the news of the fall of Tongguan came, Wanyan Yongxi exhaled a sigh of relief and said, "It's finally over, let's go, let's go back to Kaifeng." A drama in the political history of the Kingdom of Jin was staged.The supervisors believed that Wanyan Yongxi should be sentenced to death for sitting back and watching Tongguan fall, so as to warn the whole army and cheer up the army.

Although Wanyan Yongxi is a person who is full of wine and rice, he has a big advantage, that is, he is good at handling things, so he is very popular with people.Therefore, first, the military circles of the Kingdom of Jin strongly opposed it, and then more than a hundred clans petitioned Wanyan Xun, asking for a discretionary sentencing and the pardon of Wanyan Yongxi's capital crime. Wanyan Xun suddenly became clear-headed, refused flatly, and said in a high-sounding way: "Wanyan Yongxi returned without a fight in the rescue a year ago, causing the capital to fall, and the crime deserves to be punished. Reinstatement and control of military power. How can the imperial court grant amnesty for such a crime again today, and how can the law allow personal affection to be trampled on? Wanyan Yongxi’s two rescues did not go to war, which made my Dajin Kingdom lose face. Kill him, heaven will not allow it." Shu Hu Gao Qi immediately stood up to protect his good friend: "Wanyan Yongxi is a loyal and filial figure, killing him will chill the hearts of all the officials." This is very level. After Wanyan Xun arrived in Kaifeng, Kaifeng officials were the main force. Due to the short time, he has not yet formed a mentality of loyalty to him.Wanyan Yongxi is loyal to him, and everyone in the world knows it.If such a person was killed by him, who would be willing to serve him in the future? Thinking of this, Wanyan Xun immediately changed his face and said: "The death penalty can be forgiven, but the living crime cannot be forgiven. Cut off his official title and title, let him honestly reflect at home." What he didn't understand was that everyone in the Jin Kingdom's government should reflect on themselves, especially him. He was the first to reflect on how the Jin Kingdom had fallen to this point. Of course, Wanyan Xun and his government officials did not have this kind of awareness, so the Jin Kingdom is in decline. After Samuhe captured Tongguan, he did not take immediate action, but rested for dozens of miles.Someone in the Jin Guo government suggested that they should be raided when they were resting.But Wanyan Xun vetoed this suggestion, he could vaguely hear the neighing of people from Tongguan, this sound disturbed his soul, so he regarded any proactive behavior as an ominous act. Samuhe believed that any active attack would bring good luck, so after the army rested, he sent a vanguard force to go straight to Ruzhou from a small path, and then arrived at the western suburbs of Bianjing City, and the Battle of Kaifeng began.