Chapter 389: Surprise Attack on Shanshan
Chapter 389: Surprise Attack on Shanshan
Kang Yandian smiled and said, "The climate seems to have warmed up a bit in recent years. The snowmelt in the mountains has increased. Puchang Lake has also had heavy snow for three consecutive years. The same is true in Shanshan City. This small river in front of us has been dry for hundreds of years. It suddenly appeared three years ago and now has abundant water. This is just one of the dozen or so rivers that have suddenly increased. The amount of water in Puchang Lake is also increasing. In two years, the water on the east bank can be drunk directly."
Kang Siyuan was surprised and asked, "Could it be that the Qiemo River has stopped flowing?"
Kang Yandian shook his head. "In the past, the Qiemo River only had water for two or three months a year. Now there is water in winter. The dead poplar forests have begun to revive on a large scale. Shanshan City is no longer short of water. So Tuhuohun began to send more troops to Shanshan City last year, transported a large amount of supplies, and rebuilt the city walls in preparation for expanding the city. The Tuyuhun prince also sent someone to find me and asked the Sogdians to return to Shanshan. He didn't say anything about the massacre that year. It was obvious that he was not sincere. I ignored him."
Yin Shishi knew the reason why the Tuyuhun people migrated westward. Climate warming was only a minor reason. The real reason was the Sui Dynasty's crackdown on Tuyuhun, which made the Tuyuhun nobles think about migrating westward.
"How many troops are there in Shanshan City now?"
Kang Yandian thought for a moment and said, "At the beginning of the year, there were about 10,000 people. I don't know now, but is there a chance to attack Shanshan City now?"
"what chance?"
Kang Yandian smiled and said, "Shanshan is expanding. The old city has been demolished, and the new city has not been built yet. Just look at the north side and you will see that there is no city wall for several miles. It is easy to break into the city."
This is very good news. Yin Shishi pondered for a moment and asked, "Are there any Tuyuhun spies in Puchanghai?"
Kang Yandian hurriedly shook his head, "No, the Tuyuhun people did not go east, but west to manage Qiemo City. They may come to Puchanghai one day, but not now!"
Yin Shishi pondered for a moment and said, "Do you know how Tuyuhun deployed his troops in the city?"
After a long while, Kang Yandian nodded gently, "I know!"
Before dawn the next day, Yin Shishi decisively dispatched troops. His trusted generals were Xu Min and Cao Taiyue. Yin Shishi left 3,000 troops as logistics and stationed them in Puchanghai. He also ordered Cao Taiyue to lead 2,000 troops to bypass the west of Shanshan City and cut off the retreat route of the Tuyuhun army to Qiemo City. He personally led 15,000 troops lightly and marched along the Qiemo River towards Shanshan City.
The army stopped advancing when it was still thirty miles away from Shanshan City. It did not move forward until nightfall, when it approached Shanshan City under the cover of darkness.
At the first watch in the middle of the night, they arrived at the other side of the Qiemo River. Shanshan City was just south of the Qiemo River, facing them across the river. The river was about one mile wide, and the riverbed was full of various pebbles.
The Qiemo River does not enter its flood season until June. It is only early April now and there is water flowing in the river, but the water is relatively shallow, only covering the calves, so you can walk directly across the river.
According to the prior deployment, Xu Min led a thousand infantrymen across the Qiemo River, landed on the south bank, and moved towards Shanshan City.
Sure enough, Shanshan City was expanding, and the other three sides had been repaired, except for the north side. The old city wall had been demolished, but the new city wall had not yet been built, and even the foundation had not been dug.
A thousand soldiers lay on the ground and observed for a moment. Under the cover of dark night, the city was very quiet. No one could be seen, and not a single light was visible in the windows of the mud houses.
"Go in along the east wall, follow me!"
Xu Min led his soldiers to the easternmost part and rushed along the city wall of the old city. According to Kang Yandian's information, the military camp was located between the new city wall and the old city wall in the east, one mile wide and four miles long. Thousands of large tents were set up in this area.
Earthen walls were built on the north and south sides to block the biting wind in winter, forming a wide open space that was sealed on all sides. People could enter and exit from the two inner and outer city gates, so it seemed very safe.
But a very safe place is actually not safe. As long as you block the inner and outer city gates, you are basically trapped.
At this time, Yin Shishi saw three fires on the other side of the river. He left a thousand men to guard the horses, and led more than ten thousand troops down the river and rushed to the other side.
The Tuyu army camp suddenly caught fire, and countless torches were thrown from the top of the inner city wall. Hundreds of tents near the inner city wall were ignited first. The tents were wool tents that had just been replaced. Winter ended and spring came. The sheepskin tents were put away and replaced with wool tents. Sheepskin tents were not easy to ignite, but wool tents were made of fiber and would catch fire at a touch. The fire spread rapidly, and shouting and screaming began in the camp.
Countless soldiers rushed out of the big tent and ran towards the inner and outer city gates, but the inner city gate could not be opened. The outer city gate slowly opened, and thousands of soldiers swarmed out, many of them barefoot and shirtless, and headed towards the wilderness outside the city.
The fire in Jiacheng grew bigger and bigger, spreading to all parts of the city, and more and more soldiers fled out of the city.
At this moment, dense groups of Sui soldiers suddenly appeared from three directions outside the city. They quickly approached the fleeing soldiers with spears in their hands. Nearly 10,000 soldiers escaped, almost all of them unarmed, without even clothes or shoes, let alone weapons.
There was a raging flame behind them, and spears in front and on both sides. They had no way out and the Tuyuhun soldiers were trembling with fear.
At this time, more than 10,000 Sui soldiers shouted in unison: "Those who surrender will not be killed!"
"Those who surrender will not be killed!"
The voice was mighty and loud, shocking everyone. The Tuyuhun soldiers were so frightened that their legs went limp. They knelt down and shouted, "We surrender! We surrender!"
The Sui army made way for a passage, and the surrendering soldiers raised their hands and ran out of the passage, where thousands of cavalry were waiting for them. All the surrendering soldiers were asked to sit down on the spot.
Just like peeling off threads from a cocoon, fewer and fewer soldiers surrendered, and finally hundreds of Xianbei soldiers hiding among them were revealed, including their main general Murong Feng, who would not surrender either.
Seeing that these hundreds of people refused to surrender, Yin Shishi guessed that they were Xianbei people, so he immediately ordered: "Shoot!"
Thousands of crossbow arrows were fired, and hundreds of people were pierced by them and fell in a pool of blood.
Xu Min led 500 soldiers to surround the royal palace in the city, which was the Shanshan royal palace of Dayan Mangjiebo, the second son of the Tuyuhun king.
At this time, there was a fire in Jiacheng and shouting. Without waiting for the guards in the palace to wake up, five hundred soldiers broke open the gate, swarmed in, and killed their way into the palace. There was a sudden scream in the palace.
Soon, the screams stopped and the soldiers pulled out a young man of about seventeen or eighteen years old, who was Dayan Mangjiepo, the second son of Tuyuhun King Fuyun.
His hands were tied behind his back and there was fear in his eyes. After Xu Min confirmed his identity, he took him away.
At this time, the fierce fighting at the warehouse group to the east of another important stronghold also ended. Half of the 300 warehouse defenders were killed and half surrendered. The Sui army completely controlled the warehouses.
At four o'clock in the morning, the battle of Shanshan City was completely over. More than 700 Xianbei people, including the second prince Dayan Mangjiebo, were all killed. More than 10,000 Qiang soldiers will be escorted back home after the war.
Yin Shishi immediately sent Xu Min to lead 3,000 cavalrymen to Qiemo City to destroy the 1,000 Tuyuhun troops entrenched in Qiemo City.
Qiemo City is the backup of Shanshan City. If Tuyuhun cannot defend Shanshan City, they will flee to Qiemo City. Currently, Qiemo City has no status and has only one thousand garrisons. Three thousand cavalry are enough to destroy them.
Yin Shishi personally led 8,000 people south to the Altun Mountain Grand Canyon 500 miles away to intercept the Tuyuhun people heading north.
(End of this chapter)