Prime Minister

Chapter 1113 The Last Moment

Chapter 1113 The Last Moment

In the distance is the roaring Yellow River, in the near is the vast yellow sand, and there is the Mingsha City surrounded by an army of hundreds of thousands.

Even though Mingsha City was besieged by Tangut troops for twenty-seven days, the general's flag with the word "Zhang" inscribed on it was still flying.

But the situation in Mingsha City was not good either.

There was only ten days' worth of food in the city, so the defenders had to live frugally. Commander Zhang Zhi set an example by carrying only two cakes with him every day while patrolling the city. In the end, he was so hungry that he could only walk with the help of the wall.

There was not enough food for ten days, and the Song army had to slaughter horses.

There were still many war horses in the city, and the injured horses had to be slaughtered when there was no food. With the horse meat, the soldiers barely managed to hold out for more than ten days.

The half-starved Song army had to face the Xia army's siege every day and attacks on the camp at night.

At first, the Song army attacked the camp to break the siege or harass the Western Xia troops, but later they started to steal food.

Every time the Song army attacked the Western Xia camp, they would capture the Dangxiang people or livestock and take them into the city.

Once, two Song soldiers who did not have time to retreat into the city were surrounded by the Dangxiang soldiers. Knowing that they had no hope of survival, they bit off a Dangxiang soldier in front of them.

This scene made the Dangxiang soldiers vomit violently.

Finally, the Dangxiang soldiers quickly dug a trench around the city, which prevented the Song army from attacking at night.

There are now only more than 3,000 of the 5,000 Song troops left in the city, and they have run out of food.

The commander-in-chief, Zhang Zhi, tried to comfort the soldiers. Although he tried to remain calm, he felt despair growing in his heart when he saw the soldiers leaning on the wall, so weak that they couldn't even draw their bows.

These days, after Zhang Zhi patrolled the city, he would return to his tent to write his will and memorial.

After he finished writing the chapter that night, he heard that all the generals were coming inside to ask for a meeting.

Zhang Zhi sighed and met the generals immediately.

More than ten generals, led by You Shixiong and Wang Shan, said, "General, this is an isolated city and cannot be defended. While the soldiers in the city still have strength to spare, please lead the army to break out!"

Zhang Zhi shook his head and said, "How many of the three thousand remaining soldiers can survive the pursuit of more than one hundred thousand Western bandits?"

All the generals said, "There are still more than 200 strong horses in the city. We are willing to fight to the death to protect the general!"

Zhang Zhi sighed after hearing this, "My death is not a pity, why would I bother you guys to fight to the death? The city is about to fall, and I know that some of you acquaintances are unwilling to accompany me to stay in this city, so I can't force you."

"Those of you who wish to leave, stand on the left, and those who wish to stay, stand on the right."

The generals looked at each other in bewilderment when they heard this.

There was a hesitant and complicated look in their eyes, and then they said in unison: "General, you are worth a fortune, please think twice."

Zhang Zhi said: "If I kill Wang Zhongzheng, even if I abandon the city and my soldiers and survive, I will still be punished by the court. But you don't have to do this. Die with me in the city."

At the last moment of life and death, Zhang Zhi spoke his true feelings without any concealment.

When the generals heard this, they stopped trying to persuade him. Two or three generals stood to the left, and another general stood to the left. Wang Shan struggled in his heart and said, "I am willing to die with the general!"

After saying this, Wang Shan stood on the right side. Seeing this, most of the generals also stood on the right side.

Zhang Zhi couldn't help but be moved that there were so many people following him, and then he looked at You Shixiong who was still undecided in the field.

You Shixiong originally thought that given Zhang Zhi's status, the imperial court would definitely send reinforcements to rescue him. However, after waiting in the city for 27 days, he didn't see any sign of reinforcements.

You Shixiong struggled between the fear of life and death for many days, but in the end, the desire to survive overcame the desire to die.

Zhang Zhi saw this and said, "If someone else had gone south to ask for help, I would still be worried. With Uncle Jing in the army, I feel much more at ease."

Zhang Zhi said one word to You Shixiong and walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder.

You Shixiong cried, "Marshal! Shixiong..."

Zhang Zhi said: "Uncle Jing, I am really grateful that you are willing to stay here with me. You go back first. If I can survive one more day, we can drink together when we meet again."

After saying this, Zhang Zhi asked the other generals to disperse. He returned to the inner hall and handed over the will and memorial, and then said: "Zhang is incompetent in commanding troops. He only knows how to stick to the rules and is inflexible. Now I entrust my affairs after my death to Uncle Jing."

"There is also this memorial. If you return to the capital to see His Majesty, tell him that the Tangut soldiers are indeed brave and good at fighting, and that we must not underestimate this enemy. However, no matter how difficult it is, the court must not abandon the strategy of advancing from Jingyuan Road. If you can truly destroy Xia in this way, I will die without regrets!"

After saying this, Zhang Zhi placed his suicide note and will in You Shixiong's hands.

At dawn, the Song army opened the city gates. You Shixiong and more than a hundred cavalry broke through the Dangxiang army's "three sieges and one" side. Zhang Zhi saw that although the Western Xia ambushed troops were pursuing, nearly half of the Song cavalry still escaped.

You Shixiong should be fine. Zhang Zhi was relieved to see this and returned to the top of the city wall to sit alone. He looked at the wolf-tooth moon in the sky, and his heart was extremely peaceful.

Zhang Zhi thought to himself, no wonder people can only transcend and realize the great truth in the moment of life and death.

Just at this moment, the war drums were beaten in the Western Xia army, waking up the sleeping Song army soldiers.

Zhang Zhi guessed that some of the Song troops who broke through the siege last night must have been captured and revealed the situation of the city being out of ammunition and food, so Western Xia would definitely send troops today to attack the city with all their might.

Zhang Zhi carried a sharp knife in his hand. He had made plans. If the city was breached, he would never commit suicide. He would fight and die without surrendering, keeping his integrity for the country and not bringing shame to his family.

Thinking of this, Zhang Zhi looked toward the southern sky and bowed deeply in the direction of Bian Jing!

"Father and mother, please forgive me for being unfilial!"

……

What Zhang Zhi didn't know was that the twenty-day siege also allowed Xixia King Li Bingchang and his followers to see the Song army's endurance and resilience.

Zhang bluntly said that the generals and soldiers were incompetent.

But the rulers and ministers of Western Xia did not think so.

Zhang Zhi besieged the isolated city with only 5,000 soldiers and horses, and resisted the siege of an army of more than 100,000 for nearly a month, leaving them helpless.

Li Bingchang was very angry with Renduoyading, who led the siege, and the leaders of various tribes. He even executed several leaders of small tribes who fought poorly.

Now the 30,000-plus Song troops from Huanqing Road have captured Weizhou, threatening Lingzhou and the food supply route of the hundreds of thousands of troops. After the Song army captured Weizhou, they also sent a group of troops to Mingsha.

On the front, Shen Kuo led an army of more than 70,000 soldiers to advance along the Huluchuan line and won several battles in a row. Li Bingchang was troubled by the fact that all his elite soldiers and generals were under the city and he was unable to divide his troops to resist.

Now the vanguard of the Song army on Jingyuan Road is very close to Mingsha City.

While they were hesitating whether to retreat, the generals learned from the soldiers captured by the Song army who broke through the siege yesterday that the city was no longer able to hold out.

Li Bingchang was overjoyed and decided to attack the city with his entire army today.

Under the yellow tent, Li Bingchang looked at Mingsha City and said to his trusted Han minister Li Qing: "After we capture Mingsha, I will immediately negotiate peace with the Eastern Dynasty!"

Li Qing said: "That's right, Your Majesty, you must not listen to the Queen Mother and the Prime Minister and fight with the Eastern Dynasty. The best strategy is to negotiate peace and recuperate while you are victorious!"

Li Bingchang nodded. At this time, the Dangxiang Army had already pushed various newly built siege equipment and slowly launched an attack on Mingsha City.

Li Bingchang looked towards the top of the city wall. This battle had already made everyone in Western Xia tired of it.

(End of this chapter)