Jinting Han people

Chapter 738 The Siege of Taicheng

Just before Liu Xian arrived in Wuchang, Zhou Qi's situation in Jiangcheng continued to deteriorate.

Zhou Qi had hoped that Du Tao's troops would quickly march south to join him, and then they would first eliminate the Qi navy. However, the rapid advance of the Qi forces in various parts of Wu made Du Tao doubt Zhou Qi's loyalty, and he dared not rashly march south to join them.

The result was a growing demoralization within Jiangnan. Many of Zhou Qi's troops suspected the court had lost trust in them, and with the Qi people having occupied their homes, they feared that continuing down this path would bring neither any reward nor the loss of their families. Driven by this mentality, hundreds, even thousands, of soldiers deserted every night, either alone or in groups by boat. Despite Zhou Qi's best efforts to maintain discipline, he struggled to control the army. Within just ten days, before the Qi army even arrived, Zhou Qi's forces had dwindled from 30,000 to 20,000.

Zhou Qi had no choice but to retreat from Jiangcheng, knowing that he could not fight the Qi army in this situation. He was forced to retreat to the Taicheng in Jianye to reorganize his troops. As a result, several thousand more men quietly deserted during this retreat. When Zhou Qi returned to the Taicheng and recounted his troops, he had only a little over ten thousand men left, and only a hundred or so warships.

In contrast, the Qi people, through their recruitment of surrendered and defected soldiers, greatly increased their strength. It should be noted that Wang Mi's decision to cross the sea was an extremely risky, one-shot deal; he hadn't considered the consequences of a failed crossing. While the number of ships built appeared large, they were actually crudely made, each only usable for two or three years. However, the resounding success of the crossing at Jingkou allowed him to capture a large number of Wu people and ships, whose timber and craftsmanship were far superior to those of the Qi ships. For a time, the Qi navy held an overwhelming advantage in the Wu region.

At this point, even Zhou Qi had to reconsider the situation in Yangzhou and whether he should continue fighting the Qi people. He didn't consider himself a fool like his father, and he didn't think anything was worth risking his life for, much less willing to willingly walk towards a certain death, especially since Du Tao had openly expressed his distrust of him, making it even more impossible.

However, Zhou Qi was still unwilling to accept defeat. Firstly, as a military man, he could not bear the humiliation of defeat. Secondly, as a leader of the literati, he had the pride of not falling behind others. Finally, his family's teachings made it difficult for him to tolerate failing to fulfill his promise, so he hesitated again and again.

Fortunately, Wang Mi was still reorganizing his troops in the Wuxi area, forcing the Wu people to provide him with provisions and hostages, and did not immediately launch an attack on Jianye. But without a doubt, the morale of Zhou Qi's troops had plummeted to its lowest point, and perhaps a complete collapse would occur as soon as the Qi army arrived.

It was at this time that Zhou Qi finally received two imperial edicts. One was a personal letter from the emperor instructing him to hold his ground and await reinforcements; the other was an edict of self-reproach issued to all the people of Yangzhou. Both edicts reassured Zhou Qi. If there had only been one edict ordering him to hold his ground, Zhou Qi might have doubted whether Liu Xian was merely making empty promises and suspected that he was being used as a pawn. However, the issuance of the edict of self-reproach undoubtedly demonstrated the emperor's sincerity.

Because the "Edict of Self-Reproach" was not a private edict, but a public edict. Liu Xian's "Edict of Self-Reproach to the People of the Three Wu Regions" was copied dozens of times from the beginning, and after the messenger arrived in Jianye, it was quickly posted in various counties of Danyang Prefecture, making it absolutely impossible for him to go back on his word.

When the people of Danyang heard the imperial edict, they were first surprised, then excited. They were focused on the news that the emperor was going to personally lead the expedition, and they discussed among themselves, "What does the emperor look like? How many people has he brought?" Suddenly, rumors appeared that the emperor had sent hundreds of thousands of troops to the east, which immediately swept away the negative atmosphere in Jiangzuo.

Similarly, the remaining ten thousand or so Han soldiers, who had previously lost all will to fight, finally regained their morale. They gathered under the imperial edict and discussed among themselves, saying, "The Qi people may have some sorcery, but His Majesty is the True Lord of Peace, protected by the Heavenly Master. How can the traitors possibly stand against him?" Their confidence then soared.

Seeing this, Zhou Qi was deeply moved. He said to his brother Zhou Zha, "The ancients said that the emperor's power could reach thousands of miles away. I thought it was an exaggeration. Now it seems that it is indeed true. Even his words can calm people's hearts."

At this point, he put aside his previous hesitation and decided to hold the city and continue fighting the Qi army.

It was probably mid-October of the sixth year of the Qiming era. The cold wind was getting stronger, and the leaves were falling. Wang Mi's letter of persuasion to surrender arrived right after the imperial edict.

This letter was written by Dai Yang, a close friend of Zhou Qi. Dai Yang was a renowned Taoist priest in the Wu region, skilled in divination and fortune-telling. He had once told Zhou Qi that he would become a nobleman in Jiangnan. Zhou Qi therefore held Dai Yang in high esteem, frequently hosting banquets for him and consulting him on important matters. This time, however, Dai Yang had allied himself with Wang Mi, acting as his advocate.

In his letter, Dai Yang lavishly praised Wang Mi and Liu Bogen, claiming that Liu Bogen was a celestial being descended to earth and Wang Mi was a true inheritor of the Dao. Furthermore, this year was the Xinwei year, belonging to the element of "roadside earth," which, according to the saying "earth generates wood," and the Qi army, dressed in blue and carrying blue banners, perfectly embodied the virtue of wood; therefore, the Qi people were destined for a great victory this year. Zhou Qi was born in the Wuyin year, the Year of the Tiger, and Wuyin is known as "the tiger roaring in the valley" or "earth of the high mountains." Thus, it was clear that Zhou Qi's destined benefactor was the Qi army. Therefore, Dai Yang urged Zhou Qi not to hesitate, for hesitation would mean missing out on great wealth and fortune.

In Wang Mi's mind, the situation in Yangzhou was already largely settled, and Zhou Qi had never been known for his loyalty. He believed that a letter from a fellow villager or friend should be enough to persuade Zhou Qi to surrender. Therefore, when he heard that Zhou Qi had sent an envoy to Wuxi to reply, he laughed to his men, "Yangzhou is now entirely in my hands!" He then summoned his generals to witness this moment of complete surrender for the Wu people.

The messenger returned not a letter of surrender, but the imperial edict, "Imperial Edict to the People of the Three Wu Regions," which the emperor had just issued. Thus, the people of Qi learned that Liu Xian planned to personally lead the expedition, causing a great uproar and a change in everyone's expression.

Wang Mi's heart was also in turmoil, but having been a Taoist priest for so long, he was able to suppress his emotions. He stood up and asked the envoy in a seemingly casual manner, "How many troops does Zhou Xuanpei currently have?"

The messenger, of course, could not answer. Wang Mi paced back and forth for a moment and said, "Whether Liu Xian comes in person or not, Gong'an and Jianye are thousands of miles apart. In less than a month, how could he possibly arrive? I already have 300,000 armored soldiers and thousands of ships under my command. With the current garrison in Jianye, how could Zhou Xuanpei possibly hold out?"

The messenger still did not answer, so Wang Mi patted the scabbard of his sword and laughed, "Good, I, Wang Feibao, have always respected men of integrity the most. Since Zhou Qi is so brave, even if it means fighting among his own men, he still wants to test me. Then let's test it out and see who is the real man of iron!"

Three days later, Su Jun's vanguard cavalry appeared near Jianye.

This cavalry force, led by Su Shuo, the eldest son of King Xing Su Jun, numbered about a thousand. They first bypassed Jinchengwu south of Jiangcheng, attempting to sneak into Zhongshan under cover of night and seize this high vantage point to overlook the entire city of Jianye. However, Zhou Fang had left troops and camps there, with his eldest son Zhou Xie in command. They quickly discovered the Qi people's unusual behavior, then sounded the horns, and Han soldiers fired arrows from the watchtowers, forcing the Qi people to come down. The Qi people had no choice but to retreat from Zhongshan and turn to challenge Yanque Lake to the southeast.

Yanque Lake is located south of Zhongshan Mountain. The area is flat and offers a perfect view of the east gate of Jianye City. The Qi people almost burst out laughing at the sight, for Jianye City's defenses were extremely loose. With the obstacle of crossing the river gone, all that lay before them was a bamboo fence gate, easily breached. While the merchants and scholars who could leave had already done so, a large number of civilians remained within the city.

In this situation, the Qi army only needed to breach the gate, seize the people, and then occupy the palace, Jianye, to fall into their hands. Conversely, the Han army had only two options: one was to abandon the gate and the people, and defend the Sun Wu palace, the palace; the other was to go out of the city gates and engage the Qi army, thus protecting the people. Neither option was entirely safe.

After a moment's thought, Zhou Qi decided to open the gates and engage in battle. He also sent out several hundred armored soldiers to form ranks, intending to fight the Qi army.

The Qi people had assumed Zhou Qi would hold the city walls, but instead, he launched a preemptive attack with his infantry. They thought Zhou Qi was senile; how could infantry possibly fight cavalry? They immediately charged forward. Logically, no matter how solid a military formation, it would inevitably crumble and weaken under the threat of a charging cavalry. Once it weakened, the cavalry could easily break it apart, then outnumber the enemy and annihilate them one by one.

Initial developments seemed to confirm this; when the Qi cavalry were only a few dozen paces away from the Han infantry, the infantry began to stir, seemingly frightened and about to retreat.

But then the situation suddenly changed. When they were only a dozen paces away, someone shouted, and the foot soldiers at the front, holding spears, suddenly turned around and threw their spears at each other as if they were crashing into an iron curtain. At such close range, the Qi soldiers in front had no time to react or dodge, and were caught off guard. The spears pierced through their armor with a terrifying force, piercing through the Qi soldiers or horses in front of them. Then came a horrific scene of men and horses falling and horses neighing, with blood everywhere, leaving the Qi soldiers behind stunned.

It turned out that this unit was not a traditional infantry force, but a javelin-throwing squad that Zhou Qi had meticulously trained to counter the northern cavalry after learning of his father's death. They didn't use spear formations for defense, but instead threw javelins at close range when facing a cavalry charge. Under the weight of their javelins, no matter how heavy the armor, both man and horse would perish. However, warriors with such skill were few and far between; even with Zhou Qi's prestige and wealth, after more than a decade of searching, he had only managed to gather a little over six hundred men. But at this moment, against the Qi cavalry, they proved remarkably effective.

The Qi people had never seen such tactics before and were greatly shocked. They could only retreat from Yanque Lake and wait for reinforcements from infantry and cavalry.

Within about ten days, the various armies of Qi, including Grand Marshal Wang Mi of Yan, General Cao Yi of Song, General Gao Liang of Chen, General Su Jun of Xing, Grand Commandant Ju Peng of Shen, General Zhang Song of Zhu, and General Li Yun of Wei, arrived one after another.

They launched a combined land and sea offensive, dividing their forces into three routes. The northern route, led by Gao Liang and primarily composed of naval forces, advanced to Mufu Mountain; the southern route, led by Cao Yi and primarily composed of cavalry, crossed the Zhuque River and headed towards Xinting; the central route, commanded by General Wang Mi, encamped in the area from Zhongshan to Gushu and Jurong. For a time, banners filled the sky, and canopies stretched like clouds, boasting an army of 300,000, advancing on Jianye City in a three-sided encirclement.

Under such overwhelming pressure, Zhou Qi naturally could no longer venture out of the city to challenge them. With his forces stretched thin, the only way to continue holding out was to withdraw all his troops from the surrounding area back to Taicheng and Shitoucheng. As a result, the strategically important cities surrounding Jianye, such as Yecheng, Yuecheng, Dongfucheng, and Xizhoucheng, all fell into enemy hands. Wang Mi then calmly ascended to the top of Zhongshan Mountain, overlooking the geography of Jianye, and commanded his three armies to attack the city.

The gates of Jianye were indeed easily breached, and the Qi army easily advanced to the city walls. They then forced the surrounding people to build earthen mounds, intending to use them to attack the city. However, to the Qi people's surprise, Zhou Qi had dug tunnels beneath the city walls beforehand. When the earthen mounds were completed, he personally led his troops out of the tunnels and launched a surprise attack on the Qi camp waiting behind the mounds. He indiscriminately hacked and killed, succeeding in one fell swoop and throwing the Qi troops into chaos.

When the Qi people came to their senses and tried to give chase, Zhou Qi openly withdrew back into the city through the tunnel. The Qi people then attempted to seize the tunnel, which fell right into Zhou Qi's trap. After several days of fighting, Zhou Qi suddenly burned down the support pillars of the tunnel beneath the city wall, causing the tunnel to collapse abruptly. The earthen mound above the tunnel also collapsed, crushing the Qi people inside and killing them all. The scene was extremely horrific.

Then the Qi people used pointed wooden donkeys to transport soldiers and hack at the gates. Because the city gates of Taicheng were made of wood, these soldiers, with the spirit of the Foolish Old Man Who Moved Mountains, hacked and chopped with all their might. Even though the wood was sturdy, it couldn't withstand the constant hacking and smashing and was eventually breached. However, this was not enough to break through the city's defenses, because Zhou Qi had already modified the city walls with barbicans. After breaching one gate, there was another behind it, and they would face attacks from arrow towers on all four sides. The Qi people wanted to repeat their tactics to break through more gates, but with arrows and stones raining down from all directions, they couldn't hold out for long and were forced to retreat.

Two days later, the Qi army suspended its siege. Wang Mi personally rode to inspect the fortifications of the city. After surveying the city, he exclaimed, "Zhou Qi is indeed capable. He dares to defend the city in such terrain. Only a person knowledgeable in military affairs would dare to do this." He then added sarcastically, "Unfortunately, he was only relying on Liu Xian's momentum. Now that Jianye's strategic points are all in my hands, what do I, Wang Feibao, have to fear?"

Having said this, he ordered his soldiers to build a long siege around the city, determined to completely block it. Then he divided his forces to attack Stone City first. Stone City was Jianye's most important and last stronghold. If they could capture it, the Qi army could besiege the city without attacking, and deal with the Han army that might come.

However, at this time, Stone City was guarded by Zhou Qi's younger brother, Zhou Zha, with three thousand men inside. The terrain was also very treacherous. How could they break through the city? Wang Mi was known for his ingenuity. After surveying the terrain, he discovered that Stone City had many trees and watchtowers. He quickly came up with a plan: "Now that the weather is dry, we should use warships to lure the enemy army to the south of the city. Our army can then set fire to the north side of Stone Mountain in the north of the city. The city will surely be ablaze. Then our army can take the opportunity to break through the gates and let the cavalry rush in. How can the enemy resist?"

The generals of Qi were all convinced and proceeded according to the plan.

Unexpectedly, on the day the fire was set, a strong northwest wind suddenly arose. As the Qi army set fire to Stone Mountain, the wind fanned the flames, causing them to spiral out of control and fly southeast, igniting the gates of Jianye City. The flames quickly spread and became uncontrollable. Smoke rose rapidly, and the raging fire below spread throughout the entire city of Jianye within half a day. Many residents panicked and were unable to escape; they either trampled each other to death or were burned alive or suffocated by smoke.

When Wang Mi and the generals of Qi army saw the sea of ​​fire on Zhongshan Mountain, they couldn't help but sigh with sorrow. Even with Wang Mi's hardened heart, he couldn't help but feel a little lost, but he still said to his generals, "It's alright. I have prayed to the Heavenly Emperor to let these innocent dead ascend to the celestial realm. They will no longer suffer in the mortal world and will go to the celestial realm to enjoy happiness. We are doing good deeds and accumulating merit!"

Regardless of the cost, Zhou Zha was indeed ill-prepared for fire attacks. He had prepared water jars in the city to extinguish the fire, but the winter fire was too fierce to put out. This allowed the Qi army to take advantage of the fire and storm the city, successfully destroying the defenses of Stone City. The Han army fought fiercely inside, but seeing no hope of defending the city, they had no choice but to surrender. Wang Mi did not hesitate and immediately ordered the massacre of all the prisoners under the pretext of offering sacrifices to heaven and appease the souls of the dead.

By this time, the Qi army had occupied all the strategic locations of Jianye. Although Zhou Qi of Taicheng had not yet surrendered, they could use it as a base to prepare for the battle against the main Han army that was coming from the east to reinforce them. (End of this chapter)