Chapter 46 Battle of Yicheng
Yicheng is a city on the northern border, separated from Qianfeng Pass by Yan Lake.
It is also a relatively important city in the northern defense line.
Qianfeng Pass is surrounded by mountains, while Yicheng is surrounded by Zhuoer Lake and Yan Lake.
Beyond Yicheng, you will find Dongcheng and Beishuicheng. Further south, you will reach the heartland of Dachen State.
Three years ago, Shan Li, who was then just a vanguard general, was ordered to garrison there.
As in previous years, when winter first arrived, the cavalry of Yan State began to harass and plunder the northern border towns such as Yicheng and Qianfengguan.
The soldiers stationed on the border were ready to meet the enemy, but they did not expect that they would not be able to defend Yicheng this time.
Fighting in winter is hard enough. Not only do we have to face enemy attacks, but we also have to resist attacks from the climate.
The Kingdom of Dachen is not as rich and powerful as it appears.
The military funds that can be allocated to the Yicheng Army are getting less and less every year.
Many times, the General's Mansion had to pay out of its own pocket to make up for the military expenses.
The winter three years ago was particularly cold.
The soldiers' winter clothes were already very worn out and could not resist the biting cold in the north. There was no sign of new winter clothes. If the cold could be resisted by one's own physique, then hunger was something that could not be endured.
Soldiers who are hungry can't even lift a sword, so how can they kill the enemy?
At that time, Shan Li thought that the food and military pay were just delayed on the road and would arrive in a few days.
He distributed all his rations, hoping that they could hold out for a few more days until the food and grass arrived. But how much could he have? It was just a drop in the bucket.
There are strong enemies outside and no food inside.
None of the scouts sent out returned alive.
At that time, Yicheng was like an isolated island forgotten by everyone.
The people in the city were deeply moved when they saw these soldiers who were so hungry that they could hardly stand, but still guarded the city gates. They donated their own food rations.
However, Dayan did not give them a chance to breathe.
On a snowy night, the Yan cavalry broke into the city using fire attack.
The soldiers of Yicheng Army led by Shan Li vowed to fight to the death.
Faced with the thunder-like cavalry, the soldiers of Yicheng Army, who were so hungry that they had little strength left, could only become meat shields.
Shan Li was also stabbed several times and fell in front of the people he had fought so hard to protect.
In that battle, almost the entire army was wiped out.
Even more than half of the civilians in the city were killed.
When Shan Li woke up, he thought he had arrived at the Yama Palace, but he didn't expect that he would see his deputy general Ma Yuan.
Ma Yuan had been sent out by him to ask for help, but he never came back. He thought he had met with an accident, but he didn't expect to see him again.
Ma Yuan said that he was ambushed on the way to Qianfeng Pass and fell off a cliff. After waking up, he did not see the people who ambushed him.
That cliff is closer to Yicheng. If you want to go to Qianfeng Pass, you must go back to Yicheng and take a detour.
Unexpectedly, he learned the news of the fall of Yicheng just after he retreated back to the city. When he rushed to the battlefield, he saw Shan Li lying in a pool of blood. Ma Yuan desperately killed the enemy who was finishing off the enemy on the battlefield and saved him with only one breath left.
Shan Li was seriously injured at that time, and he had no desire to survive at all.
Thinking about the brothers who had been with him day and night, all of them died on the battlefield, while he, as the supreme commander of the battle of Yicheng, survived.
Shan Li was not unable to accept his failure, but the price of this only failure was too heavy. Not counting the civilians of Yicheng, there were a total of 20,000 soldiers in Yicheng alone, and only he and Ma Yuan survived.
He was so overwhelmed with worry that he couldn't properly recover from his injuries.
The people of Dayan did not find his body on the battlefield, so they guessed that he was not dead and felt very uneasy. They sent people to look for him everywhere.
He was seriously injured and had not yet recovered, so he had been hiding in a remote mountain village outside Yicheng.
This is the hometown of Ma Yuan's wife. It is a small village with only a dozen households, deep in the mountains. Few outsiders come here, so the people of Dayan searched for a long time before finding this place.
Ma Yuan hid Shan Li and his wife in a dry well behind the village.
He went to lure away the enemy who was coming.
And once he left, he never came back.
Two days later, Shan Li and Ma Yuan's wife climbed out of the well.
When I returned to the village, what I saw was bright red all over the ground and corpses lying all over the place.
Ma Yuan's body was hung under the tallest and thickest tree in the village.
Judging from the shape of the corpse, he must have been subjected to extremely harsh punishment before death.
Ma Yuan's wife couldn't stand such shock and fainted on the spot.
Shan Li also suddenly came to his senses at that moment. He simply couldn't continue to feel sorry for himself. He had no right to do so.
He had to survive. Only by surviving could he avenge his brothers.
In the Battle of Yicheng, it would be better to say that it was a collusion between the internal and external forces rather than saying that the enemy was too strong.
Everyone knows that food and supplies must be sent before troops move forward.
However, the food and grass from Yicheng were slow to arrive.
They can face powerful enemies without flinching, but they cannot immediately see clearly the arrows coming from behind.
If you are stabbed by the enemy, you can just fight back. But if you are stabbed in the back by your own people, you really can't fight back immediately.
Shan Li calmed himself down and sneaked into Dongcheng with the widow left by Ma Yuan, hiding all the way.
At that time, Yicheng had already fallen into the hands of Dayan.
Including Zhuoer Lake and Yan Lake near Yicheng, they were also occupied by Dayan.
In Dongcheng, Shan Li contacted Fengxue Tower. Using the power of Fengxue Tower, she settled Ma Yuan's widow in a city further south.
Ma Yuan is gone, but Shan Li will do his best to take care of his wife and the baby in her belly.
He himself returned to Qianfeng Pass.
At this time, Qianfeng Pass was not much better than Yicheng. Because of worrying about his condition, the old general was exhausted and killed by the enemy during the battle. If Shan Li had not returned in time, Qianfeng Pass would probably have been lost.
It was under such an urgent situation that Shan Li took over the military affairs in the northern border. When a general is away from home, he is not subject to military orders.
In the battle of Yicheng, Shan Li not only lost tens of thousands of his brothers, but also failed to save Yicheng and the people in the city. He even failed to protect his grandfather. He could only pick up a skeleton from the battlefield.
When Yicheng was lost and the battle report was sent back to the capital, Emperor Chengtian was furious and was about to issue an imperial decree to punish the enemy, but was stopped by the Queen Mother.
It is stated that the most important thing at the moment is not to hold those responsible accountable and punish them, but to retake Yicheng.
The Queen Mother's proposal was seconded by many people in the court, including many of her most trusted ministers.
Emperor Chengtian could ignore the opposition of a few people, but if more than half of the ministers in the court opposed it, even if he was the emperor, he would be helpless.
After the battle of Yicheng, the General's Mansion was not punished, so Emperor Chengtian ordered them to make meritorious contributions while serving their sentences.
When will Yicheng be recaptured and when will Shan Li be able to return to Beijing? Before that, all the privileges and preferential treatments of the General's Mansion will be temporarily suspended.
Apart from the General's Mansion and Shan Li, the only person held accountable for the Battle of Yicheng was the quartermaster who was in charge of transporting food and fodder.
Because of his mistake, all the food and grass sank into Zhuoer Lake, causing Yicheng to be cut off from food and grass supplies.
The entire family of this quartermaster was executed.
It can also be regarded as an explanation to the tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians who died in the Battle of Yicheng.