Chapter 467
Hot Air Balloon Performs Miraculous Deeds
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Zhao Yu's reply to Duan Zhengyan was as follows:
"You accuse my Song army of being undisciplined and of plundering if we attack Dali. When the two armies face each other and swords are drawn, do you expect my soldiers to be gentle, polite and courteous?"
You then cite the old stories of Zhuge Liang capturing Meng Huo seven times and Xianyu Zhongtong conquering the south—how foolish!
I hereby declare to you all: When Zhuge Liang captured Meng Huo seven times, the Shu Han state was already besieged on two fronts, with Cao Wei to the north and Eastern Wu to the east. If Yunnan were to descend into chaos again, tying down our military forces, how could the Shu Han dynasty survive? After capturing Meng Huo, it was not that Zhuge Liang did not wish to leave troops to garrison Yunnan, but rather that the nation's strength was insufficient to support the campaign! Therefore, granting Yunnan autonomy was a temporary expedient, not a sound policy for all ages. Yet you, the rulers and ministers of Dali, have turned a blind eye to this!
As for Xianyu Zhongtong, he was utterly mediocre! Rising from humble origins, he was short-sighted and lacked strategic acumen. Had it not been for the treacherous Yang Guozhong's rule and the resulting chaos in the court, how could he have been appointed as a leader? The Tang dynasty's rulers and ministers' inability to recognize talent and distinguish between the wise and the foolish was the root cause of the nation's decline, and had nothing to do with the defeat in Yunnan!
I further declare to you, the Duan clan: In the past, when I campaigned against the Joseon Dynasty and other states in the Indochina Peninsula, if you, the Duan clan, had raised troops to assist the Song Dynasty and jointly pacified the southern border, I would have gladly conferred upon you the title of King of Yunnan in recognition of your loyalty and obedience. However, you, the Duan clan, instead aided the Khmer states and became enemies of my Great Song Dynasty. Now that I have pacified the southern border, instead of surrendering, you have prepared your army for war, sent letters to threaten me, and presumptuously demanded a royal title. Do you truly believe that I dare not destroy your Dali Kingdom and capture the entire Duan clan?
Enough with the nonsense, you only have two paths to choose from:
Firstly, by quickly submitting a memorial of unconditional surrender, the Duan family could still maintain their wealth and power for a long time.
Secondly, build high walls and dig deep trenches to fight a decisive battle with the Song Dynasty!
But you must know that if we are defeated and then beg for a treaty under duress, I will not allow it, and it will be too late to regret it!
It requires careful consideration and should not be taken lightly!
Zhao Yu's letter was full of inflammatory rhetoric. Upon seeing this, the Dali side knew that an attack on Dali by the Song Dynasty was inevitable, so they simply stopped pretending.
Duan Zhengyan's third letter to Zhao Yu clearly showed that he had broken off all pretense and was no longer pretending.
Duan Zhengyan wrote in this letter:
“I suspect that among the hundreds of millions of people in the Central Plains, are there not a few dozen who are reasonable and know what is right and wrong?”
Spring is drawing to a close, and summer is fast approaching. The heat and miasma are beginning to rise. We need not use weapons to defend ourselves, nor shed blood to destroy you.
After May, the continuous rains will cause rivers to swell, cutting off your supply lines and leaving you with no way to advance or retreat. How does Your Majesty intend to respond?
Moreover, the various Yi tribes of Dali are scattered like stars in the sky. The weak will cut off your supplies, and the strong will attack your camps. Does Your Majesty not fear?
My final advice to Your Majesty is this: While the situation is still salvageable, quickly negotiate peace with Dali, so that both sides can live in harmony and share in peace.
An old saying goes: "Better to be a dead ghost in the Central Plains than a wandering spirit in the borderlands."
I humbly request Your Majesty to reconsider.
Having reached this point, the matter has reached its limit, and the only option left for the two countries is to go to war.
It must be said that the people of Dali actually had reasons to challenge the Song Dynasty.
Despite the Song Dynasty's sweeping conquest of the entire north and its annihilation of numerous small states in the Indochina Peninsula within just two years, having destroyed over a dozen countries in total, and possessing powerful firearms and the strongest cavalry of the time, the Dali Kingdom still had its own reliance.
This advantage lies in the geographical location of the Dali Kingdom.
The heartland of the Dali Kingdom was located west of Erhai Lake and east of Cangshan Mountain.
In this era, the feasibility of crossing the mountains and Erhai Lake from the east to launch an attack on the Dali Kingdom on the west bank was not very high. Moreover, the relative elevation difference between Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake on the left is as high as two thousand meters.
Therefore, launching an attack from the west, towards Cangshan Mountain, is not feasible.
Let's talk about the north and south ends.
To the south lies the Xier River, and here stands a formidable pass—Longwei Pass, ten meters high with a seven-meter-thick foundation, stretching from the foot of Cangshan Mountain all the way to Erhai Lake, cutting off the land route in half.
Back then, Xianyu Zhongtong, the military governor of Jiannan during the Tang Dynasty, led an army of 120,000, but his advance came to a halt here.
The same layout exists to the north, with Dali City and Sanyang City. Of course, the most despairing place for the attackers is Longshou Pass.
—At this point, Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake almost merge together, leaving only a passage less than 600 meters long. Longshou Pass is located in this passage, thus cutting off the threat from the north.
In addition, there is a city called Dengchuan in the north.
Double insurance.
Even if all the above defenses are breached, the two major fortresses inside Dali remain impregnable.
These two fortresses are:
Yangjiamie City, the capital of the Dali Kingdom;
Taihe City, the capital of the Nanzhao Kingdom.
This Taihe City is particularly extravagant. It is built against the mountain, with an outer city inside an inner city. The inner city is built directly on the hillside, and if there is any trouble, there is also a small barbican inside.
Some ancient historical records, due to a lack of understanding of remote regimes, even described Taihe City as a nine-layered city.
In other words, Taihe City had nine layers of city walls.
The entire Erhai Basin in Yunnan, or more accurately, the Erhai Dam, is just that bizarre.
Although Yangjumei City's defenses are not as strong as Taihe City's, they are not far behind.
This explains why Duan Zhengyan and his ministers were so confident and dared to challenge Zhao Yu.
The commanders in charge of attacking the Dali Kingdom were Chen Kangbo, Wang Yan, and Yao Youzhong.
Chen Kangbo was appointed by Zhao Yu as the Pacification Commissioner of Dali, Wang Yan was the Chief Administrator, and Yao Youzhong was the Supervisor.
Chen Kangbo, Wang Yan, and Yao Youzhong led an army of 100,000 to Kunming.
After discussing it, the three moved their troops to Chuxiong, and then set off from Chuxiong to break through at Xiaguan, also known as Longweiguan.
Meanwhile, Dali has amassed 50,000 troops to defend this strategic location.
In the first battle, Dali, relying on its geographical advantage and its ability to use poison, repelled the vanguard of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Zun.
Zhao Zun was no ordinary general; he was Wang Yan's top general, with numerous military achievements. Historically, he came from the Eight-Character Army and later followed Wang Yan to Lin'an, where he participated in the Battle of Shunchang in the tenth year of Shaoxing.
At that time, Wang Yan had already died, and the Eight-Character Army was commanded by Liu Qi.
Jin Wuzhu led an army of 100,000 to attack Shunchang City, which was defended by Liu Qi.
Zhao Zun was ordered to lead several thousand men out of the city to attack Jin Wuzhu's elite troops. Despite being hit by several arrows, he did not retreat and inflicted a great defeat on the enemy.
After Liu Qi left his post, Cai Zun was transferred to the Ma Jun Si (Military Cavalry Command).
When Wanyan Liang invaded the south, Cai Zun served as the commander of the central army of the cavalry.
At that time, Ma Shuaicheng Min was the commander-in-chief of the Song army in the middle reaches, and Zhao Zun was ordered to garrison troops in De'an.
Unwilling to remain passively defensive, Zhao Zun rushed to Xinyang upon hearing of the Jin army's attack and repelled the enemy. He then left his general Song Yi to defend De'an while he led his troops across the Huai River to attack Caizhou.
The main force of the Jin army was upstream, but unexpectedly, the Song army launched a counterattack in the middle reaches. Zhao Zun's army made good progress, capturing Baoxin, Xincai, Pingxing and other counties in succession, and besieging Caizhou. The Jin governor Xiao Maode defended the city to the death, and the two sides were locked in a stalemate for two months before the Song army finally captured it under cover of night.
Unwilling to accept defeat, the Jin army launched a series of counterattacks.
In the first Battle of Caizhou, Zhao Zun's troops numbered only three thousand. The Jin soldiers fired powerful arrows at the city walls, which the defenders could not withstand, and the Jin soldiers scaled the walls.
Zhao Zun fought a major battle in the city streets, defeating the Jin army and driving them out of Caizhou.
Soon after, Jin general Fei Mo led tens of thousands of troops to attack Caizhou. At this time, Zhao Zun received support from Wu Gong (son of Wu Jie), the commander of the Ezhou Military Region, but the total number of troops was only six thousand. The Jin people sent people to persuade him to surrender three times, but Zhao Zun shot them away each time.
So, under cover of darkness, the Jurchens filled in the city moat and launched a fierce attack on Caizhou, breaching the south gate.
Song generals Hua Wang, Cheng Gao, Jiao Yuan, and others attempted to escape through the east gate but were stopped by the gatekeeper Liu An.
Zhao Zun then resorted to his ultimate tactic, "street fighting," engaging in fierce battles with the Jin soldiers within the city, and dispatched a suicide squad to recapture the city walls in one fell swoop.
The Jurchens were terrified and fled out of the city. Those who remained inside were all annihilated, and Zhao Zun piled up the Jurchen corpses to form two Jingguan (a type of ancient Chinese mound).
In this battle, the Song army suffered over 400 dead and over 3,700 wounded, leaving only 2,000 able-bodied soldiers.
Two days later, the Jin army returned with a vengeance, intending to burn down the west gate with large carts loaded with firewood. Zhao Zun sent strong men to lie in ambush in the barbican. When the enemy arrived, he opened the city gate and launched a surprise attack. The Jin soldiers abandoned the carts and fled.
Soon after, Wu Gong sent his general Wang Xuan with 13,000 men to aid Caizhou. They defeated the Jin army at Queshan County, and the Jin army was relieved and fled.
Despite the Song army's repeated victories, Wu Gong believed that Caizhou was ultimately indefensible and forced Zhao Zun to retreat, while he himself withdrew first.
Zhao Zun had no choice but to cover the people's retreat overnight.
For his contributions in the Battle of Caizhou, Zhao Zun was promoted to commander of the Ezhou Military Region.
The Battle of Caizhou, commanded by Zhao Zun, was undoubtedly one of the most exciting battles in the history of the Song-Jin wars, even comparable to the Battle of Suiyang, commanded by Tang Zhang Xun. The heroes of the Battle of Shunchang finally reappeared twenty years later.
Given Zhao Zun's prowess in battle, and being in his early twenties—the prime of his life when he was most capable and unwilling to admit defeat—he certainly wouldn't easily concede.
In fact, Zhao Zun was indeed defeated by the Dali army.
It is not hard to see that the natural defenses that Dali is so proud of are indeed difficult to attack, and the poisonous smoke and arrows unique to Yunnan are indeed terrifying.
In addition, the number of troops garrisoning Dali was indeed quite large.
Therefore, Zhao Zun failed to break through Longwei Pass in his first battle, and he himself was seriously injured before being defeated.
Faced with this situation, Chen Kangbo, Wang Yan, and Yao Youzhong discussed it and felt that they needed to come up with a plan for the people of Dali.
Therefore, Wang Yan and Zhao Zun held the line at Longwei Pass and continued to fight against the main force of Dali, while Yao Youzhong led a detachment of about three thousand men in small boats to bypass Longshou Pass along Erhai Lake and attack it.
At the same time, Wang Yan sent Liu An to lead a small force to quietly walk along the south bank of the Xier River to the foot of Cangshan Mountain in the middle of the night. They then crossed the river, circled around to the western foot of Cangshan Mountain, and climbed up the mountain, making it seem as if they were going to cross Cangshan Mountain to attack Dali.
A few nights later, the Song army at Longwei Pass, Longshou Pass, and Cangshan Mountain simultaneously released hot air balloons that flew over the dangerous passes and high mountains.
The hot air balloons were crafted by artisans of the Song Dynasty into all sorts of monstrous shapes. Some had blue faces and fangs like Taotie charging forward, others had huge wings spread like Peng birds swooping down, and still others had scales covering their bodies and spewing starfire from their mouths. In the dark night, each one was ferocious and terrifying, exuding a murderous aura.
The people of Dali, who had long lived in the remote and backward region, could hardly bear the visual impact of these "monsters." They thought they were demons descended from the sky, and their souls were shattered.
Suddenly, flames appeared atop Cangshan Mountain, and several "giant beasts" rose with the wind, sweeping across the night sky above the mountain peak. Their shadows obscured the moon, frightening the guards who were protecting Cangshan Mountain into thinking that the mountain god had brought down his wrath. They no longer cared about guarding the mountain and abandoned their armor and weapons, rushing down the mountain in a panic. Countless people trampled the wounded and fell off cliffs and into ravines in their panic.
In an instant, the skies above Dragon Tail Pass and Dragon Head Pass lit up simultaneously, and dozens of monster-shaped hot air balloons hovered in the night sky, billowing in the wind as they approached the city walls.
The Dali garrison, already exhausted from days of standoff, was terrified by this unprecedented phenomenon. Some knelt and kowtowed, crying out that divine punishment was coming, while others turned and fled, trampling each other. The camp was instantly thrown into chaos.
Before the people of Dali could react, the Song army dropped explosive charges and bombs from the hot air balloon.
Longshou Pass was hit hard first. Thunderclap landed and exploded, flames shot into the sky, and debris flew everywhere. The wooden palisade of the city tower collapsed. The cries and screams of the defending soldiers were mixed together. The soldiers, whose morale was already in chaos, were even more frightened and fled in all directions. No one dared to turn back to resist. The defense line of Longshou Pass collapsed in an instant.
Yao Youzhong seized this opportunity and quickly led the Song army to capture Longshou Pass. He took the lead and, under the protection of his personal guards, was the first to reach the top of Longshou Pass.
Yao Youzhong was frighteningly calm. He immediately ordered that they set fire to the city while seizing all the strategic points of Longshou Pass, and then open the city gates.
Yao Youzhong made this decision mainly because he brought too few troops this time, only a mere three thousand. Even if they opened the city gates, they wouldn't be able to let in too many soldiers.
Setting fires, coupled with bombing them with hot air balloons, would likely scare all the people of Dali away.
As it turns out, Yao Youzhong was right.
Seeing divine punishment descending from the sky and fires raging everywhere on the ground, a scene resembling the end of the world, the Dali garrison, along with the people of Dali, all transformed into birds and beasts and scattered in all directions.
Upon seeing this, Yao Youzhong quickly sent men to open the city gates of Longshou Pass, and at the same time, sent men to report the victory and request reinforcements from Chen Kangbo and Wang Yan.
The same thing happened at Longwei Pass. Hot air balloons hung above the pass, and explosive charges rained down, blasting bricks and stones off the pass walls and filling the air with smoke and fire.
The Dali garrison watched helplessly as the "monster" unleashed its power from the sky, and divine punishment swept indiscriminately across the camp. They were already terrified and had no will to resist. They threw down their weapons and armor and rushed to flee into the pass. The crowd was so dense that countless people killed each other. The general guarding the pass could not stop them and was instead knocked down and trampled by the chaotic soldiers. The defense of Longwei Pass collapsed in an instant.
However, unlike Longshou Pass, where the capture was achieved through intimidation, Zhao Zun at Longwei Pass immediately opened the city gates upon reaching the pass, letting in all 100,000 Song soldiers.
Those monster-shaped hot air balloons still hovered in the night sky, their firelight reflecting off their hideous faces. The remaining soldiers of Dali felt as if the monsters were chasing their souls, and they only cared about fleeing desperately, not even bothering to carry their weapons and provisions. Corpses littered the roads, and cries shook the heavens. The two passes of Longwei and Longshou, which Dali relied on as natural defenses, were completely lost overnight because of these "monsters" filling the sky.
Seeing the chaos below, the Song army on the western slope of Cangshan Mountain took advantage of the situation and crossed the mountain to launch a surprise attack along the banks of the Xier River, further disrupting the main force of the Dali army and rendering them unable to organize resistance or counterattack.
in fact--
Chen Kangbo, Wang Yan, and Yao Youzhong's plan was that if any one of the three routes succeeded, they could disrupt Dali's plans and then take advantage of that opportunity to launch a large-scale attack on Dali from Longwei Pass.
In other words, both Longshou Pass and crossing Cangshan Mountain were actually feints; only Longwei Pass was the main direction of the Song army's attack.
Unexpectedly, the people of Dali were too easily frightened, and the Song army broke through in all three places.
There's not much to say. After breaking through Longwei Pass, the 100,000 Song troops immediately marched into Dali and headed straight for Dali's capital, Yangjumei City...
Meanwhile, reinforcements from the Song Dynasty flocked to Dali, preparing to deliver the final blow...
...(End of chapter)