Chapter 47: The Strategy for Besieging the City

The distance was not far, and the Northern Han army had not yet completely blockaded the city. Therefore, after Liu Jiyuan and Guo Wuwei jointly launched a coup and eliminated Liu Jieen, the Song spies lurking within Jinyang City tried every possible means to smuggle this critical intelligence out of the city, eventually reporting it to the Song commander-in-chief, Li Jixun.

As if by coincidence, on that very day, the Song reinforcements led by Ding Deyu also arrived at Tuanbai Valley, uniting with the main force under Li Jixun. Upon hearing that the enemy dared to launch a coup and create internal chaos at such a critical juncture, Li Jixun, Ding Deyu, and the other top Song commanders were naturally overjoyed. They immediately decided to advance toward Jinyang City as quickly as possible to launch a siege, striving with all their might to capture Jinyang before the Khitan reinforcements could arrive.

Knowing nothing of the true historical outcome—unaware that the death of Liu Jieen had actually had no impact on the military campaign—Zhao Dezhao was also immensely joyful. For a time, he believed this was the butterfly effect of his own transmigration, securing such a golden opportunity to defeat the enemy. Thus, Zhao Dezhao raised both hands in support of adjusting the tactical strategy, backing Li Jixun and the others in launching a swift and forceful assault.

This matter almost caused Zhao Dezhao to abandon a crucial arrangement he had previously made. Just as the meeting in the central command tent concluded and Zhao Dezhao returned to his quarters, Yu Jingsheng, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately hurried forward and reported to Zhao Dezhao with great joy, "Your Highness, the sick cattle you asked for have already been found within the borders of Luzhou, and I managed to find two of them in one go."

"Were they transported separately, kept away from contact with any other draft cattle pulling carts?" Zhao Dezhao asked anxiously.

"Your Highness, rest assured, this subordinate has kept your instructions in mind all along," Yu Jingsheng replied immediately. "As soon as I found those two sick cattle, I arranged a large number of men to specifically guard and escort them, preventing them from coming into contact with any other cattle."

Fearing any negative impact on the Song army's logistical transport, it was only after receiving this affirmative answer that Zhao Dezhao relaxed slightly. He then pondered inwardly: "Should I still proceed with the plan? If we capture Jinyang City ahead of time and the Khitan cavalry are forced to abandon their rescue plan, wouldn't all this hard work of mine go to waste?"

Although momentarily hesitant, considering the rarity of the opportunity—even if the original plan could not be carried out as intended, it would at least serve as an experiment—Zhao Dezhao took out several iron needles with their eyes pinched shut and handed them to Yu Jingsheng with the instruction: "Go and select some physically strong soldiers. Use these broken needles to pierce the pustules on the sick cattle, dip them into the thick fluid, and then prick them into the skin of our soldiers..."

After instructing Yu Jingsheng on how to inoculate people with cowpox, Zhao Dezhao first ordered him to carry out the task strictly as commanded. He then turned his gaze northward toward Jinyang, muttering to himself, "This trick can only be used against the Khitans. No matter how difficult Jinyang City is to attack, such a tactic must never be used against our own compatriots."

A little over a day later, the Song army—now numbering sixty thousand strong—finally arrived beneath the walls of Jinyang City. They began establishing camps in preparation for the siege. Ding Deyu, visiting Jinyang City for the first time, could hardly wait. Accompanied by a detachment of light cavalry, he immediately rode forward to personally reconnoiter the enemy's situation and study the siege plan.

However, Ding Deyu was soon dumbfounded. Only after conducting an on-site inspection did he realize that the sturdiness of Jinyang City far exceeded his imagination. The rammed-earth city walls reached a height of over five zhang, and their width was directly comparable to Bianliang City, currently the premier city under heaven. The moat beneath the walls was more than three zhang wide at its narrowest point, fed by flowing water that made it wide, deep, and exceedingly difficult to cross.

Not only that, but the city defense facilities of Jinyang were also exceptionally complete and numerous. Spear-studded defensive obstacles could be seen everywhere along the city walls, and the tops of most walls were sheltered with reed awnings to deflect arrows. Corner towers, arrow towers, battlements, and barbicans were all present without exception. Below the city walls, an immense network of caltrops, chevaux-de-frise, trenches, and earthen ramparts formed a vast system of sheep-and-horse walls, resembling a gigantic hedgehog that made onlookers flinch in dismay.

Because of this, upon returning to Li Jixun, Zhao Dezhao, and the others, Ding Deyu's expression carried a noticeable weight of gravity. Yet, unwilling to resign himself to failure, he forced a smile and insisted: "No wonder this city of Jinyang once baffled even our Emperor; its reputation for impregnability is truly well-earned. But it doesn't matter—the city has just undergone severe internal turmoil, making this the golden opportunity for us to capture this formidable city under heaven in one fell swoop. As long as our actions are swift, we will surely break through this city before the Khitan reinforcements arrive!"

Equally convinced that the internal strife in Northern Han was a prime opportunity for the Song army to take the city, Li Jixun naturally agreed with Ding Deyu's view. Zhao Dezhao, on the one hand severely lacking in experience and on the other hand also feeling that this was an excellent chance to profit from someone else's misfortune, raised no objections whatsoever. Without delay, Li Jixun immediately deployed his forces: on one hand, they vigorously constructed sturdy camps for a protracted campaign; on the other hand, they dispatched men to cut down timber, rapidly manufacture various siege engines, and quarry stones and transport earth to fill the moat and clear pathways for the attack.

Years of continuous warfare had left the qualified timber around Jinyang pitifully scarce, forcing the Song soldiers to venture deep into the Taihang and Lüliang mountain ranges to fell usable wood. Between rugged mountain paths and long distances, despite all the urging from Li Jixun and Ding Deyu, it was not until Zhao Dezhao personally inoculated his new body with cowpox that the Song soldiers finally managed to hastily manufacture a batch of siege weapons.

It was now mid-September in the first year of Kaibao. Although the potential reinforcements from the Liao Dynasty were still nowhere to be seen, calculating the timeline, as long as Liao had agreed to Northern Han's plea for help, they must have already taken action and could enter Northern Han territory via the Yanmen Pass at any moment. Daring not to slacken, Li Jixun personally commanded the Song soldiers to launch a direct, frontal assault against Jinyang City on the sixteenth of September.

It was precisely at this juncture that the top Song commanders, including Li Jixun and Ding Deyu, experienced the bitter disappointment of realizing that their pre-battle judgments had been far too optimistic. Not only was the defensive tightness of Jinyang City beyond their estimates, but the morale and fighting spirit of the Northern Han army were entirely different from what they had anticipated.

Amidst deafening battle drums, the peak-condition Song soldiers pressed forward bravely, shouting as they launched wave after wave of fierce assaults against the walls of Jinyang. Skillfully operating various siege weapons, they delivered the heaviest possible blows to the Northern Han defenders. Everyone strove to be first, and each man was fiercely valorous. Soldiers who fell from scaling ladders, covered in wounds, only to silently rise and renew their swarm-like attacks could be seen everywhere. Their combat effectiveness and steadfast will were far beyond the capabilities of the weak Song of the middle and late periods.

What a pity that fiercely as the Song army attacked, the Northern Han army defended with even greater tenacity. Personally commanded by the powerful Northern Han minister Guo Wuwei, the defenders—having just experienced two imperial successions—showed no drop in morale whatsoever. Instead, they fought with extreme stubbornness, utilizing pre-prepared defensive weapons and supplies to meet the Song army with crushing blows. No matter how madly the Song soldiers charged, they simply could not secure a foothold on the ramparts of Jinyang.

On the blood-soaked battlefield, one Northern Han defender would fall only for another to immediately step into the breach. A Northern Han warrior would embrace a Song soldier and tumble off the city wall to their mutual doom, while his comrade immediately stepped forward, eyes red with fury, to fight to the death with the subsequent wave of ascending Song troops. Like an iron wall, no matter how desperately the Song forces battered themselves against it, the defense stood unwaveringly firm before them.

Huyan Zan was struck by arrows twice, tumbled from scaling ladders three times, and yet mounted the ladders with injuries a fourth time to lead the swarm assault. Countless other Song commanders and soldiers displayed the same fearless valor. However, the Jinyang defenders led by Yang Ye, Feng Jinke, and others performed with equal brilliance. More than once, the tragic and heroic spectacle of elite warriors fighting bare-chested to slay the enemy played out. Thus, despite exerting their utmost strength, the Song army still failed to establish a firm foothold on Jinyang City.

As evening approached, with their siege weaponry gradually exhausted, the battle-hardened Li Jixun had no choice but to order the sounding of the gongs to withdraw the troops. Upon retreating to the camp, the very first order Li Jixun issued was: "Dispatch more men! Continue into the mountains to fell timber and manufacture more siege weapons for me, so we can avenge the soldiers who sacrificed their lives today!"

Li Jixun's order was executed with resolute determination. Through the concerted efforts of the sixty thousand Song soldiers, more siege weapons were quickly built. The moat of Jinyang, which had already had three passages filled in, saw two additional paths created, granting the Song army more options for their assault. Only then did Li Jixun issue the command, leading the Song soldiers in another direct, frontal onslaught against Jinyang City.

This battle was even more brutal and fierce than the previous one. To boost morale, the Song commander and deputy commander, Li Jixun and Ding Deyu, took turns visiting the front lines personally to command and direct operations, inspiring the soldiers to press forward bravely. Tempered through the crucible of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the Song soldiers possessed soaring morale, with each wave of attack rising higher than the last and every charge growing more resolute.

Yet, all of this proved futile. These were equally battle-hardened veterans who had clawed their way out of piles of corpses. Leveraging their absolute geographical advantage, the Northern Han army once again defeated superior numbers with fewer men, thwarting the fierce Song assaults and rendering all the efforts of the Song soldiers null and void. Once more, Li Jixun was forced to sound the gongs, voluntarily abandoning a frontal assault that proved perpetually fruitless.

When this battle concluded and the demoralized Song troops trudged back to camp, the sky had already turned pitch black. Disregarding his own exhaustion and adhering to the routine he had set for himself, Zhao Dezhao first visited the wounded soldiers undergoing emergency treatment. After offering hypocritical expressions of warmth and concern, he returned to the main military camp to await news.

On his way back to his sleeping tent, seeing from afar that the central command tent was still brightly lit, Zhao Dezhao guessed that Li Jixun must still be inside. Stepping into the tent, he found that it was indeed as he thought: Li Jixun, who was ten years older than Zhao Taizu, sat alone in the commander's chair, staring blankly up at the ceiling. His expression was quite dejected, clearly weighed down by the current state of the campaign.

Knowing that Li Jixun's mood was heavy, Zhao Dezhao stepped forward to comfort him: "Uncle, victory and defeat are routine matters in military affairs. Although our siege suffered setbacks today, there is no need to take it to heart. Another day, we will reorganize our forces and go back to settle the score with those Northern Han thieves!"

Li Jixun nodded slightly, indicating he had heard the advice, but the dejection on his face did not lift. Observing his expression, Zhao Dezhao hastily persuaded further: "Uncle, do not worry. Just as I told you before, Your Majesty and the others did not make sufficient preparations for this Northern Expedition. Even if we cannot capture Jinyang City, as long as we can besiege the city to draw and destroy the Khitan reinforcements, that in itself will be a great merit."

Li Jixun managed a bitter smile and said, "His Highness's kind intentions are deeply appreciated by this subordinate, but on this matter, Your Highness still lacks a degree of experience. The Khitan Liao soldiers are not fools; seeing that we have failed to conquer Jinyang after a prolonged siege, why would they rush south to rescue it? Standing by to watch the fire from across the river, waiting for us and the Northern Han rebels to exhaust each other before swooping in to reap the spoils—that is the best choice for the Khitan Liao army."

After a brief pause, Li Jixun added, "This is also why I launched a desperate, forcible assault on Jinyang regardless of the cost. If Jinyang City does not sound the alarm, let alone eliminating the Northern Han rebels, even hoping to besiege the city to destroy the Khitan reinforcements becomes utterly impossible."

Thinking it over carefully, Zhao Dezhao realized this reasoning was indeed sound. He could only change his tune and say, "Even so, Uncle, you must not overwork yourself. You have been exhausted for an entire day today; quickly go back and rest. Our Great Song soldiers are still waiting for your command and direction."

After much talking and persuasion, Zhao Dezhao finally coaxed Li Jixun back to his tent to rest, before returning to his own tent to prepare for sleep as well. Throughout this period, Zhao Dezhao's mind remained preoccupied with a single question: How to break the current stalemate and force the Khitan Liao army to hasten to the Jinyang battlefield for a decisive showdown with the Song forces?

Having chugged plenty of mineral water before his transmigration, Zhao Dezhao racked his brains during his deliberations and naturally thought of the historically renowned strategy of flooding Taiyuan. He was tempted for a moment, but upon deeper reflection, he realized this plan held little hope of success.

There were two reasons: First, when the old House of Zhi flooded Taiyuan in ancient times, the defenders of Taiyuan relied on the city walls to withstand the floodwaters and weathered that crisis. The Northern Han army could certainly replicate this method. Second, the supply lines of the Song army posed a massive problem; the grain supplies in the northern route could only last until the end of the year at most. Even if the Song army flooded and besieged the city, they might not necessarily outlast the Northern Han troops inside Jinyang.

"Is there another way to trick the Northern Han army out of the city and deal with them?"

New ideas surfaced in his mind, but after a brief calculation, Zhao Dezhao shook his head helplessly. He was well aware that the Northern Han army had suffered consecutive losses at his hands twice. As long as the enemy were not fools, they would never fall into the same trap a third time.

At that moment, Wang Zhifa walked before Zhao Dezhao holding a bowl of herbal soup, saying with a concerned tone, "Your Highness, you have also been exhausted for a day. Drink a bowl of Xiangru beverage before washing up; it will help you sleep better tonight."

Xiangru beverage was a popular herbal soup in the Song Dynasty, known for multiple benefits including promoting perspiration, aiding digestion, and assisting sleep. After coming to this era, Zhao Dezhao had followed local customs and grown quite fond of this drink, so he casually accepted the bowl and drank half of it. However, once the liquid hit his palate, he noticed something amiss with the flavor and asked, "What's wrong with the Xiangru beverage today? Why is there a strange taste? And why is it so sweet?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, this subordinate added brown sugar," Wang Zhifa explained. "Seeing that Your Highness has been worn thin by military affairs lately, this subordinate felt distressed and added some brown sugar to nourish your vital energy and blood."

"Thank you for your trouble."

Zhao Dezhao smiled warmly, couldn't help recalling the past events in Bianliang City when he and Wang Zhifa had teamed up to process brown sugar into white sugar to scam people. Then, reminiscing about the ubiquitous white sugar of the twenty-first century, Zhao Dezhao suddenly thought of a group of bros...

A group of bros living in the desert, bullied to the limit by the soap-makers, who had created numerous miracles using white sugar!

Next, an expression of ecstatic joy instantly appeared on Zhao Dezhao's face. Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately stood up, strode out of his tent, marched directly to the entrance of Li Jixun's sleeping quarters, brushed past the saluting guards without ceremony, and forced his way inside. Facing Li Jixun, who was tossing and turning sleeplessly on his bed, Zhao Dezhao shouted loudly, "Uncle, I have a way! I've found a way!"

"What way?"

Li Jixun was completely dazed. But Zhao Dezhao's reply made Li Jixun leap straight up in excitement as he declared, "I have a way to force the Khitan Liao army to come and rescue Jinyang as soon as possible! If our luck is even slightly good, capturing Jinyang directly is not entirely out of the question!"

As a side note, Zhao Dezhao's previous two consecutive instances of luring the snake out of its hole had already shown Li Jixun what extraordinary talent Zhao Dezhao possessed in the art of deception. Therefore, when Zhao Dezhao suddenly announced once again that he had a way to capture Jinyang City, Li Jixun, having tasted the sweetness of success twice before, was naturally overjoyed on the spot!