vrcanaries Chapter 51 The Fall of Suiyang City
Chapter 51 The Fall of Suiyang City
Lin Ke paused for a moment before saying, "Zhang Xun ordered his men to dig many small holes in the city wall. When the siege ladders got close, small hooks would emerge from these holes to secure them firmly."
"Those on the siege ladders were unable to move forward or backward, and then buckets of boiling oil were poured down from the city walls. The rebels screamed in pain, and the hot oil splashed everywhere with their movements."
"Zhang Xun then ordered his men to extend burning wooden sticks through the holes in the city wall, instantly igniting the hot oil on the rebel soldiers' bodies. From a distance, it looked like fiery dragons darting wildly through the rebel ranks."
"Although Zhang Xun temporarily repelled the rebel attack, the Suiyang garrison, who had been subsisting on small insects every day, was exhausted."
"Having no other choice, Zhang Xun sent men out of the city to dig ditches, bury straw, and set a huge fire outside the city. The fire raged for twenty days, and although it held off the rebel army for those twenty days, they couldn't get a single grain of rice from outside."
"After the fire was extinguished, Zhang Xun dispatched his general Nan Jiyun and thirty cavalrymen to break through the encirclement and seek reinforcements."
"What we're seeking are the Tang generals Helan Jinming and Xu Shuji, whom Li Heng sent earlier."
"What's even more despairing is that Nan Jiyun received thousands of bolts of cloth as aid from Xu Shuji. What, are you going to eat the cloth or use it to fight the enemy?!"
Li Erfeng of the Tang Dynasty: ! Who the hell is this bastard?! I'll kill him!!
Emperor Li Longji of the Tang Dynasty: ...Even I am speechless...
"But Helan Jinming was even more shameless. He prepared a table of fine wine and food and said to Nan Ji: 'By the time you came out to ask for help, Suiyang must have been destroyed. I admire your bravery, so why don't you stay and work for me!'"
"Our Nan Jiyun was so angered by him that he cried. The entire city is starving; how could he eat all by himself? Even if he did, he couldn't eat it all. These two Tang generals possess a large army, yet they refuse to come to Suiyang's aid!"
"Nan Jiyun angrily bit off a finger to express his determination, but unfortunately, it did nothing to sway Helan Jinming."
"With no other option, Nan Jiyun charged back into the rebel encirclement and returned to Suiyang City, choosing to live and die with Zhang Xun and Suiyang."
Sima Guang commented on this account, saying: "Not only were they eager to advance and seek fame, but they also feared being attacked by Xu Shuji." This roughly means that Helan Jinming and Xu Shuji were not familiar with Zhang Xun and didn't want all the credit to fall on him. Furthermore, both of them feared being attacked if they went out to fight.
"I'm truly speechless. When the Tang Dynasty was facing a life-or-death crisis, the soldiers of Suiyang were risking their lives, while these people were busy fighting amongst themselves."
The sixth year of the Tianbao era of the Tang Dynasty
He Lan Jinming and Xu Shuji, who were mentioned, were not having a good time at the moment. They hadn't even done the thing yet, but they couldn't stand the stares from those around them.
The two were now at their most harmonious, exchanging a glance and both thankful that they still had an accomplice and weren't the only ones!
But they were just trying to avoid trouble and seek good fortune. However, it was still a bit unpleasant to have their despicable thoughts exposed in front of so many people.
On the other side, Li Longji was furious. What was going on? What time was it? Why were they still fighting amongst themselves?
It's not just this one day; I've completely lost face!
That rebellious son Li Heng actually dared to ascend the throne on his own!
"On the other side, Zhang Xun realized that Nan Jiyun had brought nothing back; he probably wouldn't be able to wait for reinforcements."
"At this point, some people advised him to abandon Suiyang, but he said that Suiyang was the safeguard of the Jianghuai region, and if he abandoned it, then there would be no more Jianghuai."
"Without the Jianghuai region, the Tang Dynasty would be in danger, so Zhang Xun chose to defend Suiyang to the death. However, without food for even a day, the soldiers could not withstand the powerful attacks of the rebels. Therefore, Zhang Xun set an example by personally killing his own concubine, which his generals then shared among themselves."
"Then came the women, the elderly, and the children of the city, and finally the men who couldn't participate."
"Sima Guang's *Zizhi Tongjian* states that when Zhang Xun first arrived in Suiyang, everyone he met greeted him warmly with their name, and later there was no one in the city he didn't know."
"It's really hard to imagine how Zhang Xun overcame his own conscience to take action against these people he knew."
"If he hadn't waited so long for reinforcements from the Tang Dynasty, and if Helan Jinming and Xu Shuji hadn't refused to send reinforcements, why would he have ended up like this?"
"Through such cruel methods, Suiyang City held out for another two months."
At this time, only four hundred people remained in Suiyang City.
"At this point, Suiyang City was also on the verge of collapse."
During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty
The officials below the court were deeply distressed, let alone the weeping emperor in the court.
Li Shimin's eyes were blurred with tears, and he could barely stand or sit up.
He couldn't understand how such a loyal general could have fallen to this state.
These are all subjects of his Great Tang Dynasty!
Li Longji, you deserve to die, you deserve to die!
If he hadn't been so indulging in pleasure and blindly misusing people, how could the people of the Tang Dynasty have fallen into such dire straits?
……
Lin Ke: "The city of Suiyang was completely devoured, and finally, unable to withstand the rebel attack, Yin Ziqi broke through the city and captured Zhang Xun alive."
He smiled and said to Zhang Xun, "I've heard that you always grit your teeth before battle. Is that true?"
"Then he ordered his men to pry open Zhang Xun's mouth with a knife, only to find that there were only three or four teeth left inside."
Zhang Xun said bitterly, "My ambition is to destroy the rebels, but I have no way to do so." He then bowed in the direction of Chang'an and shouted, "I couldn't repay His Majesty while I was alive, but after I die, I will become a vengeful ghost to kill the rebels."
Lin Ke: Li Longji is really not worth it.
"In the Battle of Suiyang, Zhang Xun, with fewer than ten thousand soldiers, killed hundreds of thousands of enemies. This fierce and tragic battle was ultimately recorded, and Zhang Xun's name was remembered by later generations."
"What is truly lamentable is that Tang Dynasty reinforcements arrived just three days later, and within a month, the entire territory of Henan had been recovered."
"Perhaps Zhang Xun would be happy to see Henan recovered; his efforts had not been in vain, nor had the sacrifices of everyone in Suiyang."
The people in the court were extremely distressed. They were just ordinary people who wanted to live a good life. Was that so difficult?
……
"However, Zhang Xun also suffered much criticism for cannibalism. Admittedly, the Battle of Suiyang was fierce and tragic, but the culprit was not Zhang Xun, who chose to defend Suiyang to the death."
"It was Li Longji, who lay down and enjoyed himself; An Lushan, who rebelled; and Helan Jinming and Xu Shuji, who chose not to send troops and abandoned Suiyang City."
"Similarly, there were those high-ranking officials in the court who were afraid of death and busy fighting amongst themselves when the country was on the verge of collapse."