PDLP Chapter 146 The Battle of Jin and Mongol Reversal
Chapter 146 The Battle of Jin and Mongol Reversal
As the number of Jin soldiers on the south city wall continued to increase, the pressure on the Mongol army intensified. The Mongol leader in charge of defending the city immediately ordered reinforcements to be drawn from other city gates. In fact, the Mongol soldiers were also very formidable, easily overwhelming the Jin soldiers in both archery and individual combat. However, the Jin soldiers possessed superior overall combat strength; under unified command, they formed groups of three or five, constantly surrounding and killing the individual Mongol soldiers.
Seeing that only about a dozen Mongol soldiers remained guarding the East Gate, the leader of the Golden Feather Guard lay on a rooftop and said to his men, "In a moment, I will lead seven brothers to open the city gate. You will then set fire to the grain stored in the Mongol camp inside the city. Whether we can take Zhen Ding Prefecture today depends on you and me. If we win, we will enjoy endless wealth and glory for the rest of our lives."
After saying that, he led his men down from the roof and divided the dozen or so men into two teams, each going off to carry out their assigned objectives.
Before long, thick smoke rose from the Mongol camp inside the city, indicating that the Golden Feather Guard had succeeded.
Seeing this, the leader of the Golden Feather Guard smiled and said, "They've already made their move; now it's our turn."
They were dressed as Mongolian soldiers, and their leader shouted in Mongolian, "Fire! Our supplies have been burned by Jurchen spies! Everyone hurry and help put out the fire, or we'll all go hungry!"
The dozen or so Mongol soldiers responsible for defending the east gate were stunned. Their orders were to defend the gate well, even though the main battlefield was in the south, they also had to guard against the Jurchens attacking from other directions.
The captain of the ten-man squad said to the approaching leader of the Golden Feather Guard, "We cannot abandon our posts. The commander's task is to defend the city gate. What are you doing here instead of putting out the fire?"
The leader of the Golden Feather Guard, who had already approached, smiled and whispered, "We're here to take your lives."
After saying this, a short knife was plunged into the heart of the Mongol captain. Since both of them were wearing the same clothes and the captain had just been talking to the other party, the Mongol soldiers nearby did not notice anything unusual.
Taking advantage of this moment, the six Golden Feather Guards quickly approached the other Mongol soldiers and swiftly dispatched those nearby. The remaining soldiers, seeing the situation was dire, tried to intervene, but were immediately killed by several Golden Feather Guards using small crossbows.
This scene at the city gate did not immediately attract the attention of the soldiers on the city wall. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Golden Feather Guards quickly opened the city gate from the inside. Since there was a drawbridge outside the city gate with a wide moat below, the leader of the Golden Feather Guards used his Mongolian scimitar to cut the ropes of the drawbridge. The drawbridge crashed down, and the loud noise was noticed by the Mongolian soldiers on the city wall.
"Jin people! They're Jin spies! Quickly take back the city gate!"
The Mongol soldiers on the city wall fired their bows and arrows at the Golden Feather Guards below. Caught off guard, two Golden Feather Guards were killed instantly. More Mongol soldiers were rushing down the ramp of the city wall when the leader of the Golden Feather Guards lit a firework, which shot into the sky and quickly exploded.
Upon receiving the signal, the Jurchen cavalry swiftly charged into the city from the east gate. Just as the cavalry entered the city, the Mongol soldiers on the city wall also managed to escape. However, in the era of cold weapons, cavalry was superior to infantry, and the Mongol soldiers were quickly slaughtered. The leader of the Golden Feather Guard led a group of men to charge towards the city wall.
With the breach of the east gate, a large number of Jin soldiers poured into the city. Upon hearing this news, the Mongol army, which was fighting on the south wall, knew that Zhen Ding Prefecture could not be defended. Without their tribal chiefs giving orders, they began to retreat on their own.
Upon seeing this, Wanyan Ping immediately ordered: "Shock the west gate and open the north gate to let these Mongols retreat."
One of the generals under his command asked, somewhat puzzled, "Your Highness, why not surround and kill these Mongols inside the city? That way, we won't have to go and hunt them down."
Wanyan Ping smiled and said, "I have already laid an ambush three miles outside the north gate. If we block all four gates, these Mongols will fight to the death, and our Jin soldiers will suffer heavy losses. Once we open one gate, these Mongols will see hope for survival and will lose their will to fight to the death."
Zhengding Prefecture fell. Due to the hasty retreat, most of the Mongol soldiers were not on horseback, which greatly benefited Wanyan Ping, who gained so many warhorses for free. Although Mongol warhorses are not tall, they have great stamina. As long as they are given a little food, they will have inexhaustible strength, which is somewhat similar to the laborers of later generations.
Nearly 30,000 routed soldiers had just run about three miles out of the city when some of the exhausted Mongol soldiers began to lean against tree trunks, panting heavily. In the past few days, they had wasted most of their strength on women, so they had no energy left.
Just as they caught their breath, a cannon fired, and the Jin cavalry, who had been lying in ambush in the woods, began to charge at the fleeing soldiers. This terrified the Mongol soldiers, who abandoned their weapons and threw them to the ground, then began to run again.
In fact, Wanyan Ping only ambushed 15,000 cavalrymen, but faced with the overwhelming momentum of the Jin cavalry, the Mongol army completely lost its fighting spirit. Some fled, some knelt down and surrendered. The scene of the army collapsing like a mountain is a perfect description of this.
Although the Jin army pursued and intercepted them all the way, nearly 10,000 Mongol soldiers still managed to escape back to Weizhou City.
At this time, Naza and Wan Hanzhong were stationed in Weizhou City. They had only 20,000 troops under their command. After learning that Zhending Prefecture had fallen, Wan Hanzhong began to arrange defenses and was ready to resist the Jin army's attack at any time.
The war situation began to turn against the Mongol army, as the Jin army reinforcements from Xianping Road had reached Fengsheng Prefecture north of Weizhou, and together with the army of Wanyan Ping from Zhending Prefecture in the south, Weizhou was now facing a situation of being attacked from two sides.
The Mongol army had a large number of soldiers concentrated in Taiyuan and besieging Datong. One has to admire Wanyan Zonghan's command ability. Facing a Mongol army that was several times larger than his own, he still stubbornly resisted the Jin army's repeated attacks on Datong.
Wan Hanzhong said to Naza, "I'm afraid we won't be able to defend Weizhou City this time. Please make plans as soon as possible, Chief."
Upon hearing this, Na Zha was unwilling: "We have excellent weapons, our soldiers are incredibly brave, and Weizhou City is in a very important position. Once it falls, the tens of thousands of troops in Taiyuan Prefecture will be completely surrounded by the Jurchens. Even if we die, we will die here. You must know that the Mongol troops in Taiyuan Prefecture are the elite of the Ongud tribe. Once they are gone, the Ongud tribe will be gone too."
Upon hearing this, Wan Hanzhong frowned and said, "Then you should quickly send a message to Taiyuan Prefecture, telling them to retreat north immediately, or they might really be unable to retreat."