Chapter 31: Conquering Yanshan Prefecture (10)

  The broken corpses, the roasted skin and flesh under the city wall, the entire air was filled with a nauseating smell. Mr. Fang looked at Jin Jun, who was frightened by the scene in front of him, and sighed: "General Wanyan Zongwang, please order to proceed according to plan."

  Wanyan Zongwang let out a sigh and ordered: "Bring them over."

  Before long, nearly ten thousand civilians gathered in front of the Jin army's camp outside the city. These civilians were dressed in tattered clothes and had pale faces. Having been tormented by the Jurchen-led Jin regime, they had already lost their courage.

  Zhao Kan stood up, his eyes emitting a hateful gaze. Wanyan Zongwang looked at this group of Han people with disdain and ordered: "Drive them forward, the central army will lead the troops from behind, advancing slowly."

  The Jin army drove nearly ten thousand civilians forward, most of them trembling with every step, dodging the whips of the Jin army's overseers while walking forward in fear. If they accidentally fell down, they would soon be trampled to death by the people behind. Those who retreated and did not move forward were directly beheaded, and the Jin army's overseers molested Han women in the back row, killing anyone who dared to resist. At this time, they seemed to be driving cattle and sheep, cold-bloodedly slaughtering at will. ?? Xin Rui Song Shi 31

  The Jin army followed closely behind the civilians, advancing slowly. This plan was indeed vicious. Mr. Fang coldly smiled as he gazed at the city gate of Yanshan Prefecture. If Zhao Song dared to order the opening of the city gates to rescue the civilians, the cavalry would immediately charge into the city. If Zhao Song refused to open the gates, not only would he lose the hearts of his soldiers, but there might also be a mutiny. Even if they were to win and return to the capital in the future, it would still be a dead end.

  More and more civilians fell to the ground, trampled to death by others due to overcrowding. Many civilians were squeezed into the moat, and soon the moat was filled with layers of corpses, which made Zhao Yan's heart extremely uncomfortable. He asked himself: "The people have just suffered a massacre, whose fault is it? I must calm down and not be provoked by the Jin army to go out of the city and fight, that would be suicidal."

  At this time, the soldiers guarding the city were all stirred up, because some of them saw their own relatives in the crowd, and they all rushed to go out to rescue them. Some were so excited that they wanted to jump down from the city wall, but were held back by others just in time.

  Zhao Yun's deep voice resounded: "Pass on my military order: anyone who dares to engage in battle without permission will be beheaded."

  The imperial guards surrounding Yan Mountain Prefecture looked at Zhao Dan with eyes full of disappointment, resentment and distrust.

  Yanshan Prefecture was almost overthrown, and the surrounding civilians naturally couldn't take care of themselves. After being looted by the Jin army, they were driven here. Zhao Song stood on the city wall with a frown, if he didn't think of a solution soon, he believed that the morale of Yanshan Prefecture would immediately collapse.

  "Countrymen, I, Zhao Jiong, owe you an apology. If I were to open the city gates and let you in, the Yan Mountain Prefecture would surely be lost, and I would owe an even greater debt to the soldiers defending the city. Today, I swear to you that your blood will not flow in vain. I will use the heads of every person in the Jin State to offer sacrifices to you. I, Zhao Jiong, take this oath: as long as I still draw breath, I will avenge your deep-seated grudge." As he spoke, he removed his ceremonial hat, and his hair fell loose. Zhao Jiong used his sword to cut off a large lock of his hair, and shouted loudly, "If I break this vow, may my hair wither like this!" "Bring forth the thunderbolt cannon and fire at will!"

  "But Your Highness, the golden dog is mixed in with the villagers. If we open fire, it will inevitably cause heavy casualties among the people. Please reconsider, Your Highness." Hou Yi knelt down and begged.

  Zhao Kan drew his sword and pointed it at Hou Yi, saying in a cold voice: "Carry out the execution, or you will die."

  "Yes, Your Highness." Hou Yi replied in a low and melancholic tone, his eyes dim.

  Before long, the cannons were deployed and in place. Zhao Kuo secretly wiped away his tears and said: "Fellow villagers, I'm sorry."

  Ancient people attached great importance to hair, often saying that one's hair and skin are gifts from their parents, and cutting one's hair is like cutting off one's head.

  The garrison on the city wall saw Zhao Kuo's actions and their morale was boosted, but the civilians were intimidated by his move. The Jin army's supervisors were enraged and killed dozens of people with a wave of their swords. Seeing their fellow villagers being slaughtered like grass, many young men burst out with unprecedented bravery and turned to fight the Jin army behind them.

  An old man panted heavily and roared: "Let's fight to the death with the Golden Dog!" Before he had even finished speaking, his head was chopped off by a Jin soldier. His head flew out, but his eyes were still open, clearly unwilling to die with his eyes closed. The Jin soldiers sneered at him, one of them saying with a twisted face: "You don't know life from death, you thing."

  "Village head!!" several young men roared with red, dry eyes. A youth in his twenties suddenly rushed forward and hugged the murderous Jin soldier. The Jin soldier was furious and stabbed the youth's body with his horse knife. The youth endured the intense pain and still tightly hugged the Jin soldier's body. The Jin soldier repeatedly stabbed the Han man's body with his knife, and fresh blood continuously spurted out of the Han man's mouth, along with broken internal organs.

  Another young man rushed up with a furious gaze, biting the ear of the golden soldier. With a "crack" sound, the golden soldier's ear was severed, and he fell to the ground, covering his ear and groaning in pain. The dead youth still tightly hugged the golden soldier.

  Just as the young man who had bitten off Jin Jun's ear was about to continue biting, his body suddenly jerked, and his chest had already been pierced by a short gun. The cavalry of the Golden Kingdom all charged in, starting a bloody massacre.

  Wanyan Zongwang was furious when he saw that these usually gentle Song people, who were like sheep, dared to resist. He suddenly became enraged and shouted: "Kill them all, leave not a single one."

  Jin Jun's cavalry charged into the unarmed civilians, and a bloody massacre began. The wailing and crying sounds were endless. Zhao Yin stared with wide eyes along with the defending soldiers as they watched nearly ten thousand civilians being slaughtered, yet they were powerless to stop it. Zhao Yin continuously pounded on the wall with great force, his hands already covered in blood. Life was as fragile as a blade of grass, disappearing quietly in the gentle breeze. ?? Xin Rui Song Shi 31

  At this time, the thunder cannon sounded, and the burning shells whizzed into the dense crowd. The weapon was icy iron-blooded, its mission was to eliminate the enemy. No matter if this enemy was a powerless civilian or a powerful war troop, the result was the same.

  Blood and flesh flew everywhere, the flames of the bullets ignited the people who were hit, and the Song Dynasty civilians or Jin army soldiers who were engulfed in flames rolled on the ground, letting out mournful cries. The Jin army was initially able to suppress the captured civilians, but now the civilians had turned around and blocked the Jin army's advance, adding to the bombardment of the thunderbolt cannon, causing the Jin army to be frustrated again, all of them were intimidated by the Song army's firearms and did not dare to move forward.

  Many of the garrison's Imperial Guards were in tears, and Zhao Dun had no choice but to replace them with the Ever Victorious Army, which barely managed to salvage the morale of the defenders.

  Mr. Fang and Wanyan Zongwang stood together with a heavy heart, Zhao Yan actually dared to order the opening of fire on civilians, it's really daring to defy the heavens, I believe that if those who claim to be righteous hear this news, verbal condemnation is a small matter, I estimate they will collectively petition the emperor to execute Zhao Yan.

  But it was precisely because Zhao Jie didn't fall for the Jin State's tricks that they were left with no other options. Wanyan Zongwang sneered and said, "Mr. Fang, your plan isn't of much use after all. On the contrary, it has caused our soldiers' morale to be dampened once again. You'd better think of a solution quickly, or else when the higher-ups place the blame on you, I'm afraid Mr. Fang will not be in a good situation."

  Mr. Fang was furious in his heart, this Wan Yan Zongwang was not a good thing, just now he was still full of joy for himself to take credit, but seeing the poor effect of the plan, he immediately turned around and pushed all the responsibility onto him.

  Mr. Fang said calmly, "General Wanyan Zongwang doesn't need to worry about being under me, it's better to quickly send someone to contact the mole inside Bianjing and find an opportunity to petition the Song Dynasty court to strip Zhao Jie of his military power." After finishing speaking, he left on his own.

  Watching Mr. Fang disappear into the distance, Wanyan Zongwang's eyes narrowed slightly, filled with murderous intent.

  When the Jin army withdrew, nearly 10,000 civilians had been killed, and those who remained were not spared. They were all tied to pillars by Wanyan Zongwang's order, and their flesh was cut off with a single knife, amidst the mournful cries of the bound victims. The Jin soldiers surrounded the pillars, drinking and dancing, creating a scene that was extremely terrifying and inhumane.

  If the people who were cut for half a day still did not die, it would be even more miserable. Their lower bodies were supported by wooden stakes and set on fire, sometimes several Great Song civilians would be burned at the same time. The Jin soldiers nearby would comment on whose screams were the loudest and most pleasant to hear. The women of the Great Song were even more miserable, having their limbs cut off by the Jurchen people and being played with randomly. At that moment, the area below the city wall of Yan Mountain was like a hell.

  Zhao Kui threw the Jin captives down from the city tower, and attacked the Jin soldiers who were tied up with thunderbolt cannons or heavenly thunderbolts, pouring oil and boiling water on them.

  War has its own rules, the two armies have long lost their humanity, enduring the torment of war and torturing each other's nerves. After Jin Jun killed the civilians and Zhao Ze killed the prisoners of the Jin State, the confrontation between the two armies officially began.

  Early in the morning, Jin soldiers pushed carts and carried cloud ladders under the cover of a small number of captured catapults to charge towards Yanshan Prefecture. Although the vanguard troops led by Wanyan Zongwang suffered heavy casualties, their main force was still intact and had extremely strong combat effectiveness, temporarily occupying a significant advantage.

  Zhao Can had in his hands only 20,000 men from the Changsheng Army who could be relied upon to fight again, while the rest of the imperial guards were unreliable.

  The cannon thundered incessantly, a burning shell burst into the enemy ranks, shattering the wheels of the charging chariot. A Jin soldier pushing the chariot was struck in the waist by the shell and his body was severed in two. The Jin soldier gazed incredulously at his bisected self before slowly closing his eyes.

  The archers on the city wall continued to pour arrows down, and the Jin army fell one after another, struggling and rolling in the blood. The Jin army struggled to reach the bottom of the city, but before they could set up a cloud ladder, the rolling stones and logs came crashing down with a loud noise, especially the logs with iron thorns on both sides, which would cause the bodies of those who were hit to break apart instantly. Several Jin soldiers were directly crushed by the logs, their brains bursting out along with blood and water. At this time, the casualties of the Song army also began to rise, although they were shooting arrows from below, but the nomadic warriors were naturally good archers, their arrow shots were accurate, often when the Song army stood up to throw rolling stones and logs, they would be shot in the forehead and killed by a single arrow.

  Zhao Kui hastily ordered the halberd and shield soldiers to move forward to cover the city's warriors, and casualties began to decrease. Some of the Jin soldiers who rushed up were immediately stabbed to death by Song soldiers. From time to time, the Jin army's cloud ladders were pushed down.

  Before long, Wanyan Zongwang ordered the retreat and the Jurchen army withdrew slowly, leaving behind nearly a thousand corpses.

  The Song army also deployed hundreds of people online, and Zhao Kuang's assessment of the Jin army's combat effectiveness has risen to a new level. Zhao Kuang knew that this attack was just a probe by the Jin state, and the key to the battle would be later.