stonecrandall They all exchanged fire in Chapter 3!
They all exchanged fire in Chapter 3!
Beneath the walls of Zhongdu, a bloody battle raged.
Jin general Wanyan Gangzheng led the remaining 20,000 troops in the city in a desperate resistance against the Mongol army led by Jebe.
Jebe became increasingly frustrated as the fight went on!
Since the southward campaign against the Jin dynasty, even the Battle of Yehuling had not allowed Yang Kang to make him so disheveled.
Before the war began, no one, including Genghis Khan, anticipated that the southward campaign against the Jin dynasty would be so successful.
Despite their best efforts to prepare, the Mongols were extremely lacking in experience in attacking cities, both in terms of strategy, tactics, and weaponry.
Rather than attributing the northern cities to the Mongols' skillful and forceful conquest, it was more accurate to say that the Jin dynasty was plagued by internal strife, cowardice, and disunity, leading to the surrender of one city after another.
When the Jin soldiers were roused to their fighting spirit and fought desperately to the death, relying on the city for their defenses, the Mongols were completely helpless against the city.
This capital city, which the Jin dynasty had ruled for a century, boasted towering walls, a deep and wide moat, ample reserves, and a sufficient garrison. While the Mongol cavalry was invincible in open field battles, their lack of experience in siege warfare was glaringly apparent when facing such a formidable city.
Of course, the exceptionally talented Genghis Khan Temujin might have had a way to conquer this city, but the price and effort required were not what he was willing to pay at this moment.
After a three-day siege, the Mongols left thousands of corpses beneath the walls of Zhongdu, yet they still could not budge the city an inch.
Jebe was forced to order a halt to the assault, and the Jin soldiers on the city walls cheered.
The Jin general Wanyan Gang, who was defending the city, led the remaining 20,000 troops in a back-and-forth struggle against the Mongols, relying on the city walls.
Every time the Mongols attacked, they were driven back. After three days and three nights, the loose soil beneath the walls of Zhongdu had turned into dark red mud.
Jebe, somewhat disheveled, led his army back to a distance and hurriedly summoned a messenger to request reinforcements from Genghis Khan.
"I must personally cut off the head of that brute Wanyan Gang."
Zhebie said bitterly.
"Tell the Great Khan to send me another 50,000 reinforcements, and I will surely capture Zhongdu."
The messenger had just received the order and was about to set off on horseback when an arrow shot through the air from afar, piercing his neck.
The generals immediately shouted loudly, the whole army rallied, and everyone focused their attention on the direction from which the arrows were coming.
Jebe's weariness froze in an instant, turning into disbelief.
The arrow was beyond his range. Is there anyone in this world who can pierce a throat with an arrow from beyond his range?
He raised his head and looked in the direction from which the arrow had come. On the hillside, a young man in white armor rode a black horse, his handsome face obscured by a ferocious mask, and slowly appeared in the sight of the Mongol army.
Jebe's pupils constricted slightly at the sight of that armor and that iron spear.
"Wanyan Kang!!!" The name was squeezed out of his throat.
His men rode up to report.
"General! Only Wanyan Kang has come!"
Jebe looked at the hillside in disbelief. There was only one person, one horseman, who dared to challenge his army of 100,000?
"What an arrogant brat! Does he really think he can handle our army of 100,000 by himself?"
Jebe said with a gloomy expression.
At this time, he did indeed lead 100,000 troops to besiege Zhongdu, but less than 10,000 of them were his elite Mongol cavalry; the rest were servants he had gathered during this period.
Regardless of the soldiers' actual combat effectiveness, the very threat of low morale was enough to weigh heavily on his mind. It was impossible to know how much of these men were truly willing to fight for the Mongols.
Even so, fighting a hundred thousand troops alone on horseback is still something only a madman would do.
But Jebe did not let his guard down because of the man's madness; he knew that the other party could not possibly be alone.
As soon as Jebe raised his hand, a small team of a hundred men galloped off on horseback in perfect unison, heading towards Yang Kang.
The spear, like a silver snake spitting its tongue or a blue dragon emerging from the sea, pierced through the hundred-man squad in an instant. One Mongol soldier after another fell before Yang Kang, their flesh and blood mangled.
But none of the Mongol soldiers felt any fear; instead, they charged towards him relentlessly.
Even though they were the ones who surrounded Yang Kang, they acted as if they were the heroes who bravely faced death.
Jebe narrowed his eyes, drew his bow and nocked an arrow, and aimed at Yang Kang in the crowd.
Beneath the mask, Yang Kang's pupils suddenly split, the original single pupil transforming into a double pupil.
With the enhancement of his double pupils, the sharp arrows from Jebe in the air seemed to slow down, and the movements of all the Mongol soldiers on the battlefield also seemed to slow down, like children fighting.
Yang Kang swept his spear across, clearing out the people around him. Then, with lightning speed, he held the spear horizontally in front of his waist, grabbed the bow and arrows from his hip, and fired two arrows in quick succession.
One arrow met Jebe's arrow head-on, and the two arrows collided and broke apart. The other arrow then shot straight toward Jebe's head.
Jebe was horrified and, almost instinctively, fired another arrow, narrowly avoiding Yang Kang's arrow.
However, the force of this arrow was far less than that of Yang Kang, who possessed the power of a hegemon. It only slightly altered the trajectory of Yang Kang's arrow, and the arrow still struck him squarely in the chest.
Jebe cried out in pain and fell to the ground.
Jebe's soldiers quickly dismounted to check on Jebe's injuries.
On the distant city walls of Zhongdu, the garrison commander and his soldiers saw Yang Kang's figure and, as if seeing a savior, they all shouted his name in unison.
"The young prince is back! The young prince has come to save us!"
Jebe endured the excruciating pain and broke the arrow from his chest, but the arrowhead and part of the shaft remained stuck firmly in his shoulder, causing him unbearable pain.
The ground beneath their feet trembled slightly as Wanyan Yi led the vanguard, eagerly following Yang Kang and slowly approaching.
"What terrifying archery skills! But if Wanyan Kang possesses such skill, how come he failed to hit the Great Khan that day!"
Jebe gritted his teeth and ordered a stern retreat.
Just as Yang Kang's appearance at Huihechuan instantly turned the tide of the battle, Jebe was not Muqali, and his keen grasp of the opportunity was ultimately a step behind.
By the time he realized what was happening, Wanyan Chenheshang, whose army was rushing towards him, had already passed Yang Kang and was pressing down on the Mongol army outside Zhongdu.
Upon seeing this, the defenders on the city wall were greatly encouraged. Despite their exhaustion, they roused themselves, opened the city gates, and led their troops to charge forward.
Between the two encirclements, Jebe's army, which had initially held the advantage, was decimated. Mongol soldiers were either scattered, trampled to death by warhorses, or trapped in cages by the Jin army that had surrounded them from both sides.
A small team of 100 men desperately protected the wounded Zhebie as they fled in disarray toward Juyong Pass.
The bloody battle continued until dusk. The people of Zhongdu surged onto the city walls, their cheers echoing through the sky. Yang Kang stood on the hillside, gazing in the direction of Zhongdu, his eyes deep and unfathomable.
The bloody battle continued until the setting sun slowly disappeared from the sky.
As the sun set, the gates of Zhongdu opened wide, and countless people spontaneously surged onto the city walls, cheering loudly for "Young Prince."
As one sun sets, another seems to rise in the hearts of all the Han, Khitan, and Jurchen people in the capital city.
In the imperial court, Wanyan Honglie's nonchalant demeanor was remarkably similar to Xie An's gesture of repelling the enemy with a chess move.
However, the barely suppressed smile on his lips and the animated look in his eyes clearly showed that his acting skills were still a notch below Xie An's.
Of course, this is more likely because he put so much effort into Yang Kang.
Palace servants had already ridden to the city gate and led Wanyan Kang, Wanyan Gang, and other guards into the palace.
This wasn't Yang Kang's first time entering this palace, but at this moment he felt an unusual sense of absurdity.
History repeats itself. He vaguely felt as if he were not walking in a palace built by a minority ethnic group, but in the palace of the Han dynasty in the story, which had become a place of so-called peace and debauchery after it emphasized civil administration and suppressed military affairs.
Under the watchful eyes of the civil and military officials, and with Wanyan Honglie's approving gaze, Yang Kang calmly raised his head and looked at Wanyan Yongji on the throne. There was no awe for imperial power in his eyes, only a hint of curiosity.
Such a cowardly, incompetent, yet arrogant monarch, his ancestors were actually the Jurchen people who had conquered the Central Plains with their iron-fisted and terrifying military force.
"As expected of the prodigy of the Wanyan family, he has accomplished such great things at the young age of seventeen."
"Wanyan Kang, you were the first general to repel the Mongols. What kind of reward do you desire?"
Wanyan Yongji said in a deep voice. Even though he had many suspicions in his heart, they couldn't compare to the joy of surviving this ordeal.
Every emperor is like this: when the world is at peace, they all think they are wise rulers, gods among men.
But when the enemy's swords reached the capital, he could only entrust his life to the general, cowering in the palace in a sorry state, awaiting his fate.
They will also realize that they are just ordinary mortals after all.
Upon hearing this, Yang Kang remained calm and composed, and immediately responded.
"The siege of Zhongdu has been temporarily lifted, but Genghis Khan's army is still entrenched at Juyong Pass. We urge Your Majesty to send someone to govern Liaodong as soon as possible, to rally troops from across the land to defend the capital, and to retake Juyong Pass."
With the life-or-death crisis resolved, Wanyan Yongji's imperial ambitions involuntarily resurfaced.
"Alright, I understand. I will make the arrangements."
"However, today is a joyous day, so let's not talk about these things for now."
"Guards, prepare a feast. I wish to entertain the prodigy of the Wanyan family and General Wanyan Gang."
He calmly accepted Yang Kang's suggestion, but his gaze swept over the prime minister, who shared Yang Kang's views. A flicker of doubt crossed his face, and within moments, his suspicion of his minister had overshadowed his consideration of the crucial strategic importance of Liaodong's defense.
Yang Kang saw all of this, shook his head slightly, and then calmly walked to Wanyan Honglie's side.
Looking at Wanyan Honglie's eyes filled with surprise and relief, he couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. This unreserved favoritism contrasted sharply with his later choices, inevitably stirring up complex emotions in his heart.
After the banquet ended, the rewards arrived as scheduled. Wanyan Yongji bestowed a whole host of fancy honorary titles upon Yang Kang, but made no mention of the defense of Liaodong, nor did he grant him any legitimate authority to control the 100,000 troops outside the city.
Inside the Zhao Prince's residence, Wanyan Honglie dismissed his attendants, looked at his son, and spoke with a hint of complaint.
"It seems the Emperor still harbors some suspicion towards you and my son. Now that you have made such great contributions, he is unwilling to give you and my son even a little bit of real power."
Yang Kang remained silent, only unconsciously rubbing his eyes. After days of fighting, his eyes had been feeling slightly sore and he had a strange sense of discomfort.
He unconsciously rubbed his eyes. After days of fighting, his eyes had been sore and had a strange stinging sensation.
The brief period of peace in Zhongdu did not last long. Soon, news that Genghis Khan had ordered Muqali to launch a major offensive to conquer Liaodong quickly reached the capital.
Chaos erupted instantly in the imperial court. The veteran general Antu and the old prime minister Tu were both anxious and alarmed, shouting repeatedly.
"Quickly send troops to retake Liaodong! We must not allow Liaodong to fall into the hands of the Mongols!"
Upon hearing the news, Wanyan Yongji slid off the dragon throne, collapsed to the ground, and his voice trembled.
"Quickly send someone to negotiate peace with Temujin... Go negotiate peace immediately!"