Chapter 73 Siege of Yulong Jiechi

Yulong Jiechi is a special city, which spans the Amu Darya River and is connected by a bridge in the middle.Jufeney praised it with exaggerated pen and ink: "The throne of the kings of the world is the seat of the celebrities of mankind; its four corners are used for the shoulders of the great men of the day, and its domain is the treasury for the modern treasures... Everything you expect, spiritual and material, is in it." But since the Mongols occupied the Hezhong area and took control of most of the territory, Yulong Jiechi has undergone a major transformation, "exposed in the center like a tent that collapsed after the rope was cut."

After Mahamo's old lady, Tu Erhan, left Yulong Jiechi, she did not appoint a top leader. There were 90,000 elite soldiers in the city, and they suddenly became a mob. In the summer of 1220, Timur Mieli, the Khwarazm hero who made the Mongols suffer so much, came to the city. He gave orders with merits that others did not have, rectified the army, and led his troops out of the city. He took the initiative to attack and was captured by Jochi. Yangji Gancheng killed the Mongolian garrison officials, which set off a storm of killing Mongolian officials in various occupied cities. On the eve of the Spring Festival in 1220, Zalanding came to Yulong Jiechi and gave an impassioned speech. The people in the city rejoiced and believed that the war against Mongolia would soon be won, but the army did not think so.

Yulong Jiechi's generals didn't like the new king because Zalandin was strong and unselfish.Moreover, they were originally from Tuerhan, and Zalandin was from Mahamo. Tuerhan and Mahamo had always been at odds, so they naturally rejected Mahamo's son very much. If a literati rejects a person, it is a big deal to criticize him, but if a soldier rejects a person, it is a matter of using a knife and a gun to kill him.The officers of Yulong Jiechi began plotting to kill Zalanding, and Timur Mieli immediately informed Zalanding when he got the news, and Zalanding shed a heroic tear, saying: "Yulong Jiechi doesn't welcome me, so I have to go. "

Timur Mieli sighed and said: "Nowadays, only Jade Dragon Jiechi has elite soldiers in the empire. If you leave here, where will you go to restore the country?" Zalandin said firmly: "As long as you have the heart, you can restore the country anywhere." Timur Mieli was moved by Zalandin. One night, the two secretly left Yulongjie Chicheng with 300 cavalry. Yulongjie Chicheng was leaderless again and fell into anarchy.In the chaos, Humaer, a member of the royal family, was elected commander in chief.This is a mediocre person who has no view of the big picture and can only see what is in front of him.

Three days after Zalandin left, the news of the Mongolian army's advance to Yulong Jiechi reached Yulong Jiechi, and Humaer pulled himself together and used his limited wisdom to formulate a resistance plan.In the end, the resistance plan has only two words: play by ear. Genghis Khan's plan was also simple. Jochi and his two brothers, Chagatai and Wokuotai, split into two groups to attack Jade Dragon Jiechi.Thus, the problem arises. Genghis Khan once promised Jochi that all the land west of Khwarazmo would belong to him.This aroused Chagatai's jealousy. Before sending troops this time, he said to his younger brother Wo Kuotai: "Yulongjiechi is so rich that his father actually gave this place to that bastard in Shuchi. Hurry up and take down Jade Dragon Jiechi first, turn it into ruins, and let Jochi get nothing."

Wo Kuotai shook his head and said, "It's not kind to do this." Without Wo Kuotai's support, Chagatai could not mobilize the army, so he had to sulk, and had to go to Yulong Jiechi according to the original plan. Jochi also has opinions on his two younger brothers, he thought, the two of them asked Father Khan to allow them to attack Jade Dragon Jiechi, it is obvious that they are dividing up my future fief wealth with me, and I will let you get nothing! So he ordered the army to walk slowly.His speed was as fast as an ox, but Chagatai and Okuotai were even slower. When Jochi could see the bridge of Yulong Jiechi spanning the Amu Darya River, the troops of Chagatai and Okuotai joined forces. There are no shadows.

Jochi had more troops than his two brothers, but he was still weak against Yulong Jiechi's 90,000 men.So he sent a vanguard force to plunder livestock and people in the surrounding towns of Yulong Jiechi. After this army plundered Yulong Jiechi's surroundings, they ran to Yulongjiechi's city to shout and curse.Huma'er could see clearly from the city that this army had less than a thousand people.He immediately decided that only a thousand Mongols had come, and someone reminded him that the Mongols are good at tricks and should not be fooled. Humaer said decisively: "The Mongols are sweeping the Khorasan area, and there may not be any rich troops coming. Genghis Khan thought we were scared by them, so he used such an army to show his prestige. We have to go out of the city to teach him a lesson. .”

Finally he asked, "Who's going to fight?" The generals looked up at the sky. He was aggrieved and ordered his troops to fight. Three thousand cavalry walked out of the city gate and lined up with their backs to the city wall. The Mongolian cavalry watched them from a distance, laughing and laughing. The Yulongjie Red Corps took only a few steps forward when the Mongols turned around and ran away. After running a long distance, they stopped and looked back, like the owner of the lost livestock.Yulongjie's red corps chased after them, secretly vowing to wipe them out.When they pursued for ten kilometers, suddenly the Mongolians shouted and killed in all directions. As you know, they fell into the ambush circle of the Mongolians.The Mongols pounced on the sheep like hungry wolves, but Yulong Jiechi's regiment was not in vain. Although they were tightly besieged, they did not panic and resisted in an orderly manner. They retreated while fighting, and finally withdrew from the encirclement Returning to Yulongjie Chicheng, the price is the loss of a thousand people.

After this battle, Chagatai and Wo Kuotai came to the city first, and they repeated their old tricks, always yelling and cursing outside the city. When Yulong Jiechi couldn't take it anymore, he sent a small number of cavalry to attack the city.The Mongols immediately ran away, trying to lure them into an ambush.But the Yulongjie Chibing Regiment had suffered a loss and had become cautious. The Mongols ran away, but they did not chase after them. After playing this kind of game for a few days, Chagatai and Wo Kuotai launched a high-quality attack, and both the attacker and the defender were reluctant.Outside the city of Yulong Jiechi is a desert without stones, so the Mongols' trebuchets are useless. Yulong Jiechi's defense cannot be concentrated because all the generals have their own plans.

Chagatai and Wo Kuotai quickly solved the problem by cutting down the mulberry trees outside Chicheng in Yulongjie and soaking them in water for a period of time to increase their weight.Hu Ma'er of Yulong Jie Chili also quickly solved the problem. He held a meeting and proposed to surrender. The officers of the Kangli Corps scoffed. Mongols, otherwise the Mongols will be laughed at." All the officers looked at me and I looked at you, and they generally agreed that Hu Ma'er should be unified in command of Yulong Jiechi's entire corps.The two sides are now evenly matched, and whoever wants to win will have to pay a heavy price.

Jochi also came to the city.Seeing the two brothers preparing for the siege, he felt uncomfortable.Yulong Jiechi will be his fief in the future, and he doesn't want to really get a pile of ruins.He sent someone to the city to persuade him to surrender, and the reason was very touching: "Genghis Khan has sealed the land of Khwarazmo to himself, so you should understand that I very much hope that Yulong Jiechi will be intact. As long as you surrender, the people and soldiers in the city , I will not kill a single person, and I will not move a single blade of grass or tree in the city." Suddenly the horse was tempted.He didn't have the noble sentiment to protect Yulong Jiechi, he was just a low-level motive to save his life.The massacre of the Mongols does not distinguish between high and low, rich or poor. A big official like him can avoid many things, but he cannot avoid the Mongolian butcher knife.He asked the generals for their opinions, and those generals were very hard-headed, and they all said: "If you surrender before the official start of the war, how will future generations evaluate us?" Suddenly, Ma'er thought of something, and he said: "This is also what the former leader Mahamo meant. He once said that if Yulong Jiechi couldn't resist himself, it would be better to surrender to save the lives of the people. Although we have nine Ten thousand people, but the Mongols are like sand and sea, and we surrendered because we respected the attitude of the previous leaders." The generals of Yulong Jiechi laughed loudly and said: "We, Yulong Jiechi, have never respected Mahamo, and we only have Queen Mother Tuerhan in our hearts." Humaer had nothing to say.We are all in the same boat, if he persists, he may be thrown into the river by everyone.Therefore, the two sides can only go to war. Ten days after Jochi arrived at the city, the Harsha'er team from all over the city also arrived at the city. Jochi issued an order to fill the trench. Under the environment of arrows raining down, Hasha'er completed the task in two days , the preparations for the attack were completed. Chagatai advocated an immediate attack on the city, but Jochi was hesitant. The reason is simple. Once the city is attacked, Jade Dragon Jiechi will be razed to the ground. That is his property! He came up with a clever plan.Yulong Jiechi crossed the Amu Darya River to form two cities, and a bridge was erected on the river to facilitate the traffic between the north and south cities. Taking this bridge can achieve the effect of "killing three birds with one stone".First, cut off the connection between the north and south cities; second, cut off the water source of Yulongjie Chicheng; third, a trebuchet can be easily erected on the bridge with a moderate distance. This was an idea that Chagatai could not object to. Jochi ordered the engineering troops to build more than 100 ships, and selected 3,000 special forces to attack the Yulong Jiechi Bridge by boat.Humaer and his generals responded positively. When the Mongolian special forces advanced to the middle of the bridge, thousands of archers were suddenly killed from the two cities in the north and the south. , and fell down the bridge.The Mongols blocked the arrows with their shields, but they could not withstand the hot oil.They retreated, but the material of the boat was made of mulberry wood, which became heavy when it hit the water, and the speed was greatly reduced. In the end, all 3,000 Mongolian special forces were wiped out, and the corpses flowed along the Amu Darya River, and the river was stained with blood. Into bright red one. For the Mongols, this was a major blow. Since the war with Khwarazmo, they have never suffered such a heavy loss.For the defenders of Yulong Jiechi, this is a big Easter egg, the morale of the city is boosted, and the determination to resist is unprecedentedly high. Humaer delivered a speech to the whole city, saying that there is no invincible army in the world, and Yulongjie Chicheng will be remembered in history, because it will soon become the tomb of the Mongols. Hu Ma'er is a typical mediocre person, discouraged when he loses, and arrogant when he wins.Taking the victory of one battle as the victory of the whole war, the price he will pay will be heavy.Jochi was drawing lessons from this failure, and Chagatai had already begun to attack the city.All the siege equipment was placed on the trench filled by Hashaer in Yulong Jiechi, and the trebuchet threw out soaked mulberry bullets and small jars filled with liquid gunpowder.Mulberry bullets are like today's missiles. The gunpowder cans emit dazzling fire. As soon as they touch the wood buildings, a raging fire will immediately ignite. It is very difficult to extinguish it. After the trebuchet worked for an hour, Chagatai ordered an attack.The ocean-like Mongolian soldiers rushed to the bottom of the city and began to climb with the help of siege tools such as ladders.Seeing this scene on the city wall, Hu Ma'er was so frightened that his liver and gallbladder were torn, and he ran down the city wall timidly, abandoning his duty as a commander, and the defenders on the city were in chaos. Just as the Mongols climbed to the top of the city and were already in close contact with the defenders of Yulong Jiechi, they suddenly heard the sound of gongs to withdraw troops.The military order was like a mountain, and the Mongolian soldiers had to retreat from the city wall.But it was easy to go up the city and difficult to go down the city. Yulong Jiechi didn't expect such a fortune, and suddenly counterattacked vigorously. The Mongols who rushed to the top of the city were greeted by their random arrows and kerosene, and none of them survived. It was Jochi who ordered the withdrawal of troops.Chagatai was furious and questioned Shuchi.Jochi said lightly: "The casualties are too great, so we should think about it in the long run." Chahetai screamed, he was going to fight Shuchi desperately, the guards of both sides also heightened their vigilance, caught each other and looked at each other, the tent was full of swords and gunpowder.Wo Kuotai hurriedly stood up and intervened between the two elder brothers, persuading them to calm down, the big things are the most important, and brothers should be affectionate.Wo Kuotai said again: "Father Khan asked you two to jointly attack Jade Dragon Jiechi, isn't that trying to ease your relationship? Even if you don't want to ease the conflict, you can't intensify the conflict. What are the consequences of going against Father Khan's wishes? Don't you have no idea?" The words were pleading and threatening, and Jochi responded with a sneer.I don't know when he started to show a little bit of disrespect and even contempt for his father Khan.This probably has something to do with his origin, and it may also have something to do with his expanding territory and ambition. Although Chagatai had a rude temperament, he listened to Genghis Khan's words the most. Hearing what Wo Kuotai said, he let go of his nervous emotions helplessly.There is no conflict between the two on the surface, but in fact, both sides are fully prepared to ask the other side to get nothing. Jochi wants to preserve Yulong Jiechi's wealth as much as possible, but Chagatai insists on destroying it.Chagatai's attacks on Jade Dragon Jiechi became more and more fierce every time, but Jochi stood still and stood in front of the city gate of his attack target to watch the excitement. Chagatai had the quality of a madman, and his troops took turns in squadron after squadron, plunging down on the city wall of Yulongjie Chi.The mulberry bullets and wet gunpowder fired by the trebuchet crackled into the city wall and rolled into the city like hailstones.However, the Yulong Jiechi defenders also showed great tenacity. No matter men, women, old or young, they took turns to fight, smashing the climbing Mongols with bricks and agricultural tools, and pouring boiling water and hot oil on all sides, like watering crops. Same.Those who were trying to climb the city wall were hit by hot water, boiling oil, and bricks, and fell to the bottom of the city like clods, and the battered corpses piled up like mountains. The scene at that time was like this: at the north gate of Yulong Jiechi, there was a piercing sound and thick smoke billowing, while the east gate of Yulong Jiechi was dead silent.Because Chagatai was attacking the north gate, and Jochi was attacking the east gate.Jochi didn't encircle and don't attack, but he didn't come as forcefully as Chagatai.He is invoking a trick, which is to dig tunnels. His soldiers did not fight in broad daylight, but worked tirelessly underground.Soon, an underground tunnel was dug, leading directly into the city.One night, the Shuchi regiment filed into the tunnel, opened a hole, and climbed up the main street of Yulongjie Chicheng.To the surprise of all the Mongols, the Yulongjie Red Corps had been waiting on that street for many days, and as soon as they saw the Mongols showing their heads, they rushed up and killed the Mongols who had climbed to the ground. Finally, they poured boiling water into the tunnel and boiled the Mongols alive in the tunnel. When Chagatai heard the news, he applauded.At this moment, he and Jochi were at odds with each other, and both wanted to see each other's biggest joke.Under the mutual hatred of the two brothers, the Mongolian Corps has lost discipline and reduced combat effectiveness.The Mongolian Corps, which was once invincible, has now become a half-bottle army, which is enough to give us a deeper understanding of the saying "a raging soldier, a raging nest". When Hu Ma'er learned that the Mongolian Corps had split, he was ecstatic and became courageous. He often ordered soldiers to sneak out of the city late at night to attack the Mongols.The effect of this behavior is remarkable. In a certain military operation that raided the Mongolian camp, the Yulong Jiechi raid team captured several Mongolians alive.They brutally executed those captives in front of the powerful Mongolian army with discord in face and heart on the city wall. Huma'er's stupid behavior aroused the dissatisfaction of all the Mongolians. Turn it back on. However, the conflict between Jochi and Chagatai still existed. Six months later, the envoy sent by Genghis Khan saw the Jade Dragon Jiechi still standing on the banks of the Amu Darya River, and the bones of Mongolian soldiers in the suburbs of the city were piled up like mountains.The envoy was heartbroken, and Genghis Khan was furious when he got the news. He ordered the abolition of the "troika" leadership model and appointed Wo Kuotai as the frontline commander. Within three days, Yulong Jiechi must be taken down. Wo Kuotai held Genghis Khan's order and talked with his two elder brothers. Jochi and Chagatai had no choice but to stretch out their big hands, shook hands and made peace, and started the general attack on Yulongjie Chicheng. Wo Kuotai vigorously launched an offensive at the north gate, attracting all the main forces of Yulongjie Chicheng, and Jochi took advantage of the situation to launch an attack at the east gate. Soon, a large number of Mongols climbed to the top of the city, erecting Jochi's gate. handsome flag.Yulongjiechi's defenders were in a panic, and the city gate was breached again, and many Mongolian soldiers poured into the city.The defenders and civilians of Yulong Jiechi knew what their fate would be, so they rose up and fought against the rushing Mongolian soldiers in all lanes and corners. All the people in Yulong Jiechi were soldiers, and the Mongolian army indiscriminately killed anyone they met. At the same time, they used oil to set fire to the houses in the city.Their slogan is that to capture Jade Dragon Jiechi, it should be destroyed first. They did, and every time they captured a block, a courtyard, they tore it down and set it on fire.After seven days of fierce street fighting, the Mongols finally took control of the city, and Yulongjie Chicheng was miserable. The massacre began as expected.The Mongols drove the surviving people out of the city. The massacre lasted for three days and three nights. Chagatai finally came up with another bad idea, digging the embankment of the Amu Darya River and diverting water to irrigate the city.In the past when the city fell, there were always some people who escaped the slaughter because of hiding. Only Yulong Jiechi, no one survived. The world-renowned Jade Dragon Jiechi City was wiped out like this. Zhifei Ni wrote sadly, since then "Jade Dragon Jiechi, the center of fighters and the gathering place for wandering girls, fortune once came to its gate, and Luanfeng once used it as a nest. Now become the mansion of the jackal, and the haunt of the owl".