Of course, Little Tartar Wanyan Gouying desperately wanted to get out alive, and he quickly figured out that it must be due to the different heights of the inner and outer walls, not some kind of sorcery, but a simple but practical trap. Once he understood the principle and dispelled the fear in his heart, the Jin army's youngest Meng'an, who was extremely eager to show off and survive, naturally wanted to try his best to climb back.

The simplest two ways were either to call out to the other soldiers who had fallen into the trap to form a human ladder for him, or to carefully move and stack the corpses himself to create a place to stand at the base of the wall.

Wanyan Gouying chose the second method, because the first would expose his identity as a front-line general, which would easily attract the attention of the Song army crossbowmen on the city wall, while the second seemed much more ordinary... at least many people were doing it that way.

However, things were still a bit difficult. First, most of the corpses slid down to the bottom of the trench, making them difficult to move; second, the gap between the inside of the sheep-horse wall and the moat was very narrow, making it difficult to pile up the corpses.

After several failed attempts, Wanyan Gouying, covered in crossbow bolts like a plucked hedgehog, noticed someone else's escape route – a young man who was clearly a 'robust civilian' under Zhang Yu, a few dozen steps away from him, was trying a seemingly feasible escape route.

This person was also stacking corpses, but not at the narrow base of the wall, but at the bottom of the inner moat... because there was a ladder beside him. Obviously, this person was preparing to use the corpses to create a stable base on the ice for the ladder, so he could climb back over the wall.

Wanyan Gouying didn't hesitate and directly chose to cooperate with this person.

A young Jurchen nobleman and a young Han civilian, probably from somewhere in Jingxi, were working together to move the corpses of Jurchens, Han, or other ethnic groups under the Song army's city wall, amidst the wails and the sound of arrows piercing the air, in order to escape back to the Jin army camp... Nothing could be more absurd, yet more reasonable, than this.

This was the powerlessness and helplessness of an individual in total war.

And their silent cooperation went very smoothly. They quickly erected the ladder successfully, but at the moment the ladder was erected, the nearest platform on the city wall noticed the movement. As the platform commander's shouts came, their chances of escape were greatly reduced.

Therefore, in the midst of the noisy battlefield, Wanyan Gouying didn't hesitate to slam his previous collaborator hard onto the ice at the bottom of the trench, and took the lead in climbing the ladder, preparing to escape before the upcoming volley... The latter struggled to get up and quickly followed, but as the two of them climbed the ladder together, the unstable base of the ladder suddenly slipped, showing signs of losing control.

Wanyan Gouying was furious and immediately reached for the knife at his waist on the ladder, preparing to chop the Han man behind him on the spot, but before he could touch the knife, he felt a pain in his armpit... The Jin army Meng'an turned his head and finally realized what had happened.

It turned out that the young Han conscript had keenly sensed Wanyan Gouying's intention, and then preemptively snatched the strange white blade hanging from his waist from below, and then directly inserted the knife from the side and below into the gap in the armor.

And as the knife was thrust out, Wanyan Gouying was still enduring the pain, but the Han man was the first to panic and actually gave up competing for the ladder, choosing to jump off the ladder in a panic and lie down behind the pile of corpses on the ice.

Relatively speaking, the intense pain stimulated Wanyan Gouying, and the Han man's retreat also relieved him of the need to worry about the stability of the ladder. Driven by a strong desire to survive, he continued to climb desperately, but the pain in his armpit severely hampered his movements. After barely climbing three or five more steps, he could no longer move. At this moment, many arrows flew specifically towards him, and at least four of them successfully pierced the weakest part of his arm, causing significant damage.

Under the combined pain, coupled with the location of the wound, he finally couldn't hold on to the ladder and fell directly onto the pile of corpses.

The Han man holding his head under the ladder saw this scene and realized the opportunity. He actually picked up the knife on the ground for the second time, rushed forward and pounced on the other man's back, and stabbed the white blade in his hand hard into the other man's neck, before finally climbing up the ladder and climbing over the deadly sheep-horse wall under the subtle gaze of the Song army crossbowmen on the city.

As for Wanyan Gouying, who was stabbed twice and hit by four arrows, he didn't make it out alive in the end.

In the original history, this man lived to be seventy-four years old. As a rare long-lived member of the Jurchen clan, he experienced the rise of the Jurchens, internal strife, the Song-Liao War, and all the war and peace of the Song-Jin War. He finally ended his life with the military rank of Da Talan, which was the rank of Jin Deputy Marshal, and in a prominent position similar to his father's, as the Defender of the Western Capital, at the end of the most prosperous era of Emperor Shizong of Jin.

But now, at the age of twenty-three, he died under Nanyang City because of a moat and a wall, because of his own strong desire to perform and survive, at the hands of his uncle's saber, and under the resistance of a Han conscript of similar age...

Nothing could be more reasonable than this.

Otherwise, who should be held accountable for the millions of lives lost in this land since the war began?

Even in the afternoon, when the Jin army sounded the retreat and the Song army went out of the city to clean up the battlefield inside the sheep-horse wall, none of the Jin generals who knew about the situation of the inner moat behind the sheep-horse wall asked why Wanyan Gouying had gone and never returned. They didn't even know that the young Meng'an had been stripped of everything by the unknowing Song army, that even the crossbow bolts were pulled out with great effort, and that he, like other Jin soldiers, had been thrown naked out of the sheep-horse wall, becoming an obstacle on the outer perimeter of the wall.

Of course, everyone thought of similar possibilities, but most people didn't really care... as if the Jurchens had never lost a general. Wanyan Aguda personally braved arrows and stones, seizing passes and facing the enemy. Was that a lie?

As for how Wanyan Balisu would explain to his brother when he returned, that was his own business and had nothing to do with others.

In fact, after Wanyan Wushu and the other Jin generals understood the reason for the failure to capture the city, they briefly discussed it, but they were only concerned about two things in today's battle:

First, the casualties were a bit high.

Second, the Nanyang city defenses did indeed have some tricks, and it could be seen that the person defending the city had some methods and foundations.

And the two things eventually merged into one, which was whether to continue this intensity of siege before setting up a large enough and numerous enough stone cannon cluster.

The answer was beyond doubt. The Fourth Prince, Wanyan Wushu, had already made a decision. He wanted the Song people in the city to not even be able to breathe for a day.

But if that was the case, it would be a bit unworthy to use the lives of the Jurchens, or rather the main force of the Jin army, to explore the way towards the city.

Therefore, Zhang Yu, the "Swarm," was promoted as a matter of course. He was now the Henan Supervisor of the Great Jin Kingdom, and was bestowed with a large amount of military equipment and supplies. Then, Wanyan Wushu also allowed him to newly compile a 'New Army' of ten thousand men! And that wasn't all. The Fourth Prince also promised that in the future, when Nanyang was broken, in the area of Henan, the area of Jingdong would build a Qi Kingdom, with Tokyo City as the capital, and Henan would build a Zheng Kingdom, with Nanyang City as the capital. Those who contributed to this southern expedition, even if they called themselves orphans and widows, might not be impossible.

Of course, Zhang Yu was overjoyed at this. In addition to thanking the Fourth Prince for his great kindness, he vowed to do his best to capture Nanyang City for the Fourth Prince and capture Zhao Jiu of Cangzhou alive.

The Fourth Prince also rarely smiled and comforted him.

However, when this man returned to his camp in the east and entered his own military tent, his face suddenly turned black. After a while, he summoned his sworn brother and confidant deputy general, Li Dayin, and explained everything to the latter in the back tent.

"This means letting us brothers go to die!" Li Dayin collapsed in the tent as soon as he heard this, then his face was filled with helplessness. "Today, three Jurchen Meng'an helped in the battle, but they only suffered losses and couldn't even get past the sheep-horse wall... At this rate, how many days will it take to break the sheep-horse wall? And how many days will it take to fill the inner moat? And then there's the city wall!"

"They said they want to wait for them to set up the cannons!" Zhang Yu replied with a dark face, playing with the dagger in his hand. "We may not need to break the city wall."

"Set up the cannons?" Li Dayin couldn't help but sneer. "The Jurchens are not fools. After knowing that the city defense has some tricks today, they will definitely make enough catapults. In my opinion, the Jin people will not move without two hundred catapults, maybe even three or four hundred catapults. But now there are only fifty catapults in the camp... By then, I'm afraid we brothers will all die!"

Zhang Yu also sneered non-stop, but he didn't speak for a while.

"Brother, are you not fooled by that sentence 'call themselves orphans and widows'?" Li Dayin suddenly remembered something and asked seriously.

"If I was fooled by them, I wouldn't have come to you today." Zhang Yu glanced at the other party and shook his head repeatedly. "We know our own affairs. How can I have the fate of those noble seeds? Wasn't I surrounded by the Jin people and driven all the way here?"

Li Dayin finally breathed a sigh of relief and then explained a thing or two: "It's not that I'm suspicious, it's just that I feel uneasy because I'm controlled by others..."

"No need to say more." Zhang Yu shook his head again. "I called you here just to let you think of a way to both give the Jin people an explanation and save some troops as much as possible... Actually, I'm just like you, feeling like I have a knife to my throat with the Jin people, and I just feel uncomfortable all over. I don't expect any rewards or future in this battle, I just want to survive peacefully until after the war, and then I can still save a few thousand troops in my hands, so we brothers can find a remote corner and live happily for a few years!"

Li Dayin nodded repeatedly, then got up, cupped his hands, and obeyed, then left the tent... He was a carpenter by trade, but later he was conscripted as a soldier. He was a gunner when defending Tokyo City, and he had also defended Huazhou before. He was a master of city defense.

Seeing Li Dayin go to work, Zhang Yu didn't say much. After preparing a little, he unloaded his armor, and despite the winter cold, he went out of the tent bare-chested, only carrying a dagger. He ordered his subordinates to drive out the 'one-club Hans' and 'new recruits' who had just returned from the battlefield that morning to continue expanding his troops.

But it was obvious that, like Zhang Yu and Li Dayin, after experiencing today's tragic siege, many people in this special unit had doubts and hesitations about the prospects of the war, or at least their own prospects in this war.

"What did you say?"

After a moment of silence, under the afternoon sun, Zhang Yu, bare-chested, revealing a red flower tattoo on his chest, sat on the railing at the high point of the camp and asked the first middle-aged civilian who spoke out with a smile. "You're not happy that I'm not letting you be 'one-club Hans' anymore?"

"Commandant." The middle-aged man, who was obviously nominated, quickly kowtowed to Zhang Yu and explained carefully. "We are naturally grateful for the face and promotion that the Commandant has given us..."

"Supervisor." Zhang Yu played with the dagger in his hand and corrected the other party nonchalantly. "The Fourth Prince just promoted me to Henan Army Supervisor... Where did the Commandant come from?"

"Yes, Supervisor!" The middle-aged man continued to kowtow. "We are naturally grateful for the face and promotion that the Supervisor has given us, but we are not soldiers, mostly merchants and farmers. We don't know how to use knives, swords, or kill people. Wouldn't we be just sending ourselves to death if we went to the battlefield? It would be fine if we were just sending ourselves to death, but I'm afraid we would also delay the war and delay the Supervisor's future with the Jin people."

Zhang Yu raised his eyebrows slightly upon hearing this, seemingly thinking about something.

Seeing this situation, the crowd inside the fence seemed to be encouraged in some way, and under the nomination of another group of people, another person stepped forward, but it was surprisingly a young man who had already been promoted to a conscript, carried the ladder today, and then returned alive.

Unlike the middle-aged man on the ground who seemed careful but was actually resourceful, this young man was obviously cowering for a while, but he still勉强伏地叩首 kowtowed with difficulty: "Supervisor, we... we actually want to go back to being civilians... Today, we carried the ladder out with a team of one hundred people, but only eighty-some came back alive, and more than a dozen were injured by arrows. At this rate, we can't survive with just a wooden board. But if we are civilians, the officers and soldiers on the city will raise their hands and let many of us go."

Zhang Yu turned his head to look at the dazzling sun, then touched the tattoo on his chest before turning back and nodding: "What you said is all reasonable, and it's all the truth... When going to battle, the government troops naturally shoot arrows at the soldiers first. And those who change from farmers and merchants to soldiers do not know how to kill. Even if they really carry the ladder to the top of the city, they will only be chopped down by the government troops."

The two people below kowtowed repeatedly, along with the two large groups of people behind them who saw hope.

"But there's no way around it." Zhang Yu suddenly sighed loudly. "If you were soldiers from the beginning, wouldn't it be fine if you knew how to kill people? At the very least, if you were craftsmen, you wouldn't have to go to the battlefield and you could eat and drink well... But you are just farmers and merchants! In this world, what's the use of farmers and merchants?"

The two people below were about to speak, but Zhang Yu suddenly became serious: "I have a way that can make you soldiers quickly, so that you won't cower on the battlefield anymore, and maybe you can even make contributions and become officers... Surround these two leaders!"

The two people below looked at each other in dismay, and in an instant, dozens of armored soldiers stepped out from the left and right and surrounded the two leaders, obviously experienced. At the same time, the people on the outer perimeter also retreated in a panic, but soon armored soldiers also subtly held them back from behind.

"Get up!" Zhang Yu didn't care about these things, but raised his hand and shouted at the two people in front of him.

The limbs of the two people trembled. The young man even reached out to help the middle-aged man before they managed to get up with difficulty.

"Report your names." Zhang Yu squinted and shouted non-stop, but suddenly drew out his dagger. The dagger was sharp in the sunlight. "What is the young man called? And what is that pretentious middle-aged man called? What are your origins? What do you do?"

"I am from Zhengzhou. I am a shopkeeper in the city. Because I was a little fat when I was young, I was named Ma Fei." The middle-aged man trembled in response. "Supervisor, please forgive me."

"Zhou Bin, Bin as in 镔 tie of 镔 steel... I'm from Ruzhou." The young man was also panicked. "I was originally a scholar."

Zhang Yu nodded, suddenly threw the dagger in his hand in front of the two, in the middle of the armored soldiers, and then said a random passage with a smile that wasn't a smile: "Whether you are scholars or merchants, it doesn't matter. When I whistle later, the two of you will start fighting, but only one can survive... In that case, the winner will be considered to know how to kill people, and can be promoted by one level, one-club Han becomes conscript, conscript becomes regular soldier, regular soldier can even be promoted to armored soldier. The loser, who is destined to be useless in this world, might as well die early!"

Everyone around was horrified, but Zhang Yu suddenly whistled on the fence.

The two who were surrounded looked at each other instinctively upon hearing the sound, and almost at the moment the two people's eyes met, the young man, Zhou Bin of Ruzhou, suddenly grabbed the dagger on the ground. Seeing this, the middle-aged merchant Ma Fei turned around and tried to escape.

No sooner said than done, when Zhou Bin saw Ma Fei flee, he shoveled forward with all his strength and knocked him down from under his feet, then got up and pounced again, pinning him behind him, and finally poked the dagger directly into Ma Fei's neck.

Ma Fei lay on the ground, only struggling a few times before he stopped moving. However, even after his death, the blood from his neck continued to spurt, staining half of Zhou Bin's face and half of his chest blood red. However, Zhou Bin didn't dare to get up easily and could only let the blood splatter while crying.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Yu clapped and laughed from above: "Although your actions are sparse, you act extremely quickly. Have you killed anyone on the battlefield today? But today you couldn't even touch the edge of the government troops. You must have killed your own people while escaping, right?"

Zhou Bin, covered in blood, raised his head blankly, but didn't dare to speak.

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter." Zhang Yu shook his head and laughed more and more from the fence. "This world... When I was in Tokyo, I didn't get along with a Commander named Wang Shan. That bird was from Hedong. Relying on his large number of troops, he often bullied me. But that bastard said a sentence that was very good, and I remember it clearly... He said that the world is in chaos, and it is time to redefine the rich and the poor, the noble and the base! Scholar, remember, from today onwards, you scholars will be trampled under the feet of us tattooed thieving exiles! And since you have made a good start today, I will make an exception and give you armored soldier treatment, and the dagger is also yours. I will also let someone tattoo a flower on your body to determine your origin! From now on, you are also one of the upper classes in the chaotic world!"

Zhou Bin was still bewildered, but was directly dragged away by the surrounding armored soldiers.

After Zhou Bin left, Zhang Yu looked down at the one-club Hans and conscripts who were already horrified, but no one dared to meet his eyes anymore.

"Since these two groups of birds stood out, none of them can escape. Let them face each other and decide the outcome... As for the others, measure them with a ruler. Those who are taller and stronger, compile another three thousand, and if there aren't enough, send someone to tell the rear camp to get some people from the surrounding villages." After saying these words, Zhang Yu jumped directly off the fence and went back to the military tent bare-chested, as if nothing had happened.

As for the group of civilians and the group of conscripts behind him, they were almost in despair.

Speaking of which, as it got dark, not to mention what was happening outside the city, the atmosphere inside the Nanyang Palace after the victory was also a bit strange... It turned out that after returning to the palace after the war, Yang Yizhong, the Imperial Commander leading the Imperial City Division, who had been missing before, finally appeared, but did not mention how many were killed or captured, but only reported some strange matters in detail, from the soldiers' breakfast on the city wall in the morning to the consumption of coal reserves stored in the ice water, to the soldiers' cotton clothes and other matters, which can be said to be all-encompassing, and all were specific numbers that Zhao Guan loved the most, making people feel bored.

Zhao Guan quietly listened to Yang Yizhong's report and then nodded: "Zhengfu has worked hard, but I just remembered that there is one more thing I want you to investigate..."

"Your Majesty, please order." Yang Yizhong quickly lowered his head.

"Now the soldiers on the city should be eating, and the stoves of the military workshops under the city should be burning water for washing feet. Go and see if there is enough hot water for the city. If not, immediately take the gold medal and look for Yan Shaoyin and let him prepare it properly." Zhao Guan said seriously. "Then come back here to reconcile the numbers of coal."

Yang Yizhong was silent for a moment, but still bowed his head and obeyed, and immediately left the palace.

After Yang Yizhong left, the other important ministers in the palace looked at each other, and then the Censor-in-Chief, Hu Yin, stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, if Your Majesty cares about the soldiers on the city, why not take the initiative to go to the city to take a look? Sending the Imperial Guards to check the foot-washing water like this, the soldiers may not be grateful!"

"That's right." Prime Minister Lu Haowen, who was really energetic after today's battle, also stepped forward and said with difficulty. "In my opinion, Your Majesty should personally go to the city wall at this time to reward those who have made outstanding achievements in the battle, so as to show the Emperor's grace and prestige!"

"In the Jingkang period, the weather was cold and the ground was frozen, and the soldiers on the city of Tokyo were in short supply of military supplies. Soldiers often deserted, so Emperor Yuansheng (Emperor Qinzong of Song) ordered that thousands of palace women from the Empress and below should personally embroider and make hug-necks (scarves) and send them to the city. The soldiers on the city were very grateful, but they said, 'Hug-necks are good, but there is a lack of winter clothes and coal, so it is difficult to persist,' and then the deserters remained the same..." Zhao Guan read the documents non-stop and then called out one person: "Military Advisor Hu (Hu Hongxiu), were you on the city that day? Do you know about this matter?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, there is indeed such a thing." Hu Hongxiu quickly stepped forward and said. "And not only that, the number of dignitaries in the palace is limited after all, and the hug-necks are actually insufficient, so they are sent to the city, so we can only tighten the Imperial Army first. And on that day, some of the King-Protecting troops who didn't get the hug-necks simply dispersed the entire unit, and some even surrendered to the Jin people... Your Majesty doesn't go to the city to comfort one or two of them as examples, but cares about whether the soldiers on the city have enough hot water to take. In my opinion, it is really appropriate."

Hu Yin opened his mouth and was speechless, and Lu Haowen was also silent for a moment... After all, this was too inconsistent with their understanding of the values of war, but it seemed very reasonable, and there were lessons from Jingkang there.

However, there is always someone superior. At this time, Chief Counselor Lu Yihao suddenly flashed out: "Your Majesty, if so, why not ask Your Majesty to personally put on armor and go into battle, and kill the enemy with a bow during the battle tomorrow? The soldiers will definitely be grateful, and it won't delay Your Majesty from ensuring the fairness of the soldiers' logistics after the war..."

Zhao Guan put down the documents, lost in thought.

But the other ministers were all discolored, and Lu Haowen even ignored the rules and turned to look at the several censors of the Censorate, meaning that these people should come out and stop him.

However, Hu Yin, the Censor-in-Chief, who was originally embarrassed, was overjoyed when he heard this, and then directly cupped his hands to express his agreement: "I think what Chief Counselor Lu said is very reasonable."

Zhao Jiu nodded heavily upon hearing this, while Lu Haowen and the other ministers were dumbfounded... This temporary establishment of Nanyang City is probably not as appropriate as the group of people at Mount Bagong that day!

What was Zhao Guan thinking when he assigned the candidates that day?!

ps: Keep doing good things.