Under heavy siege, King Nan Gu's garrison did not expect any reinforcements from Taiyuan, but what came to the city was Zong Han's army who had made a comeback. Taiyuan in the Song Dynasty was just a small city with neither political nor strategic importance, and its material reserves were extremely limited. Taiyuan

The army and the people had been struggling under a tight blockade for more than eight months, and the food reserves were basically exhausted. The soldiers first slaughtered cattle, horses, mules and other livestock, and then had to cook crossbow leather armor to satisfy their hunger, while the people in the city could only eat chaff and hay.

There was even a tragic incident of cannibalism. Despite this, the Taiyuan soldiers and civilians remained determined and refused Zong Han's several attempts to persuade them to surrender and determined to die to serve the country.

As a nomadic nation, the Jurchens were good at field battles but poor at attacking fortresses. In order to seize Taiyuan, the Jin Army summarized its combat experience when they captured the five capitals of the Liao Kingdom. In addition to the "City Locking Law" that had already been implemented and was very effective, it also formulated a

A complete set of offensive tactics that were extremely advanced at the time. The Jin army brought thirty cannons, which could throw more than a dozen cannon stones into the city. The watchtowers used for defense at the top of the city were repeatedly hit and destroyed. When the Northern Song Dynasty captured Jinyang,

Bunker fortifications called "cave houses" were built for protection outside the city, and the Jin Army even built fifty large motorized cave houses with wheels at the bottom, which functioned like modern armored transport vehicles.

The Jin army attempted to use it to transport earthworks and fill in the moats. During the siege, the Jin army built a goose cart that integrated cave houses and ladders for both defense and attack. This goose-shaped equipment had wheels underneath and upper parts.

The crown and iron can effectively protect the soldiers from attacking the city.

Taiyuan guard Wang Xun responded tit-for-tat. For the cannons, he set up a fence in front of the enemy tower and covered the roof with chaff bags, so that even if the enemy tower was hit, there would be no major damage and could be repaired quickly. For filling trenches, the Song army dug

The tunnel led directly to the city moat. After the Jin army filled it with firewood, they set it on fire to make all their previous efforts useless. For the goose cart, the Song army set up a goose-shaped jumping building at the top of the city. From the jumping building, they set huge stones tied with rope nets on the goose.

Lift the top of the car to raise its center of gravity, and then use hooks and ropes to pull the goose cart down.

Human cannibalism means that the defense of this isolated city has reached its limit. Under the fierce attack of the Jin Dynasty's new forces for half a month, the brave and tenacious Taiyuan City fell on the third day of September after holding on for more than 250 days.

Although the situation was over, Wang Xun still led his hungry and exhausted soldiers to fight in the streets. He broke out of the city carrying the imperial portrait of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty enshrined in the Taiyuan Temple on his back. The Jin soldiers pursued them with all their strength. Wang Xun, who was shot dozens of times, threw himself into the Fen River and committed suicide. The Jin soldiers

After getting Wang Zhen's body, Zong Han cursed loudly and ordered his soldiers to ride their horses and trample him to pieces to vent his anger. After the city was captured, more than 30 local officials in Taiyuan died heroically. The Jin soldiers massacred the city in revenge, and the people of Taiyuan survived the hunger.

Almost slaughtered.

Another hero of the Taiyuan Defense War, Zhang Xiaochun, the prefect of Taiyuan, was captured and taken to Yunzhong. Four years later, the puppet Qi regime supported by the Jin Dynasty was established. Zhang Xiaochun, who was in prison, accepted the pseudo-post office against his will and became the right prime minister of Shangshu.

He wrote to Zhao Gou, Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty, expressing his desperation, and revealed the plan of the puppet Qi Emperor Liu Yu to send assassins to assassinate the Southern Song monarchs and ministers. After another eight years, due to repeated failures in the war with the Southern Song Dynasty, the puppet Qi Dynasty was captured by the Jin Dynasty.

When the imperial court was abolished, Zhang Xiaochun and others were deported back to the Southern Song Dynasty. Zhang Xiaochun was deeply ashamed of his lack of integrity and asked himself to serve as an official. He died of illness in Xuzhou.

After capturing Taiyuan, the strategic center of gravity, the Jin Dynasty's West Route Army sent its troops southward, echoing the East Route Army's forces, and joined forces in Kaifeng at the end of the year. The Northern Song Dynasty was successfully destroyed because of the "Jingkang Disaster".

During the siege of Taiyuan, the Jin soldiers once stationed themselves in the ruins of Jinyang City. When they looked up at the majestic walls of the old city of Taiyuan, did they ever think that if Jinyang City was not destroyed, the Jin soldiers might be able to break through the city?

Is fine food enough to survive the ages? When the two emperors of Hui and Qin were humiliated while hunting in the north, did they ever think that this was the retribution for Zhao Guangyi’s order to burn down Jinyang?

Although Taiyuan's geographical location is still important, the Taiyuan War against the Jin Dynasty was the last time that Taiyuan, the Dragon City, had an important impact on the political and military situation of the country in the long feudal society. Since then, Taiyuan has basically not created anything like the feudal dynasty.
Chapter completed!