Nine months, the city of Jiangning on the south bank of the Yangtze River, was surrounded like an impenetrable prison. Search: \(¨Complete¨ Book¨God¨Station¨) to read premium literature for free.

The light of dusk burned across the horizon, and beneath the sky, the city walls, as majestic as small mountains, revealed signs of collapse and ruin. From the beginning of the year to the present day, Jiangning had endured nearly eight months of attacks. Breaches appeared one after another on the walls, twisting bit by bit. Blood had soaked the city head red, and then it was blackened by fire oil. Sandbags and rolling logs were piled high in the moat. Countless corpses lay across the battlefield between the city walls and the Jurchen military camps, decaying.

The stench of corpses spread, and crows flew in waves, occasionally descending to the ground. At several heavily attacked points in the south and east of the city, several catapults still weakly hurled boulders over the sprawling pile of corpses.

On the city walls, soldiers of the Wu Dynasty, looking like stubborn rocks from afar, still held their ground.

Beyond the corpse field outside the city, the Jurchen main force under Zongfu and some Han Chinese troops from the Central Plains, who had tasted the sweetness of plunder and become resolute, guarded the front and second lines of the siege. Extending outward from this core camp, under the cover of the setting sun, various crude military camps were densely scattered across the land, stretching toward the seemingly boundless distance.

Wu Dynasty troops who had surrendered to the Jurchens and were then driven to the vicinity of Jiangning now numbered as many as a million. At this time, half of the soldiers' weapons had been taken away, and they were being divided into relatively closed camps. There were open spaces between the camps, and Jurchen cavalry patrolled occasionally, killing anyone they encountered.

Every day, Zongfu would select several units, driving them to attack the city. In order to break Jiangning as soon as possible, Zongfu offered extremely high rewards for entering the city, but for more than two months, the so-called rewards had not been claimed, and the number of dead and wounded troops was increasing, increasing...

Flames crackled and burned, rising into plumes of smoke between dilapidated tents. Iron pots of porridge were set over the fire, and cooks threw in grayish-green wild vegetables. Ragged soldiers walked over, saying, "Can those vegetables be eaten? They're like that!"

"You should be grateful to have anything to eat."

"Throw away the black ones."

"I've already thrown away the ones that can't be eaten! It won't kill you!"

"Your mother..."

The scrawny soldier didn't dare argue with the assertive cook. They glared at each other, and after a moment, the soldier wiped his face and turned away resentfully. Only now did a trace of grief and indignation flash across the wooden faces of the surrounding soldiers. The ash-covered cook's eyes turned red.

"If I had enough to eat, would I give you this swill? Go get the grain! It's not even winter yet, the rice was just harvested... damn it... why don't you just boil me..."

The cook's eyes were smoked by the fire, and tears streamed down his face as he spoke, washing away the black ash stuck to his face in streaks. Someone else tried to dissuade him.

"Alright, alright, you fatso don't have much meat left anyway..."

In the midst of the voices in the open space, the soldier who had left earlier suddenly ran back. He looked resentful, obviously unable to vent, and rushed toward the wild vegetables in the cook's hand. Someone blocked him: "What are you doing!"

"Those black ones can't be eaten--"

"Damn you, you're looking for trouble!"

"Kill me! Come on! Kill me!" Tears streamed from the soldier's eyes. He tore open his clothes, revealing his emaciated chest. "It's only autumn harvest! My family planted the land! It was all taken away by those Jurchens, and now we have to help them fight! What for! You cowards don't dare to speak! Kill me! Go report to those Jurchens, you're going to die sooner or later anyway! Those black ones can't be eaten--"

As he cried out, the soldier who had pushed him earlier wanted to punch him, but he bit his teeth and pushed him backward. Someone in the crowd said, "...He's crazy."

Someone pulled him: "Go, get away, don't harm everyone..."

"What else can we do, you want to rebel..."

The voices rose and fell, becoming noisy for a time. The cook gritted his teeth and picked off a few more of the already scarce wild vegetables. Before long, the soldier was pulled away, and someone's voice rang out: "I'm going to die anyway, this matter ends here. If anyone goes to report, I'll kill him even in death!"

Behind a dilapidated tent not far away, Tie Tianying stood hunched over, quietly watching this scene, then turned and left.

The orange sunset was casting down from the sky. The seemingly chaotic camps and listless soldiers were gathering and eating. He followed the soldier who had provoked the trouble earlier, passing through crowds of people.

Since Jun Wu's troops broke into Jiangning in June, both Wanyan Zongfu and observers from various forces were waiting for the moment when this seemingly last ray of light of the Wu Dynasty would be extinguished. In July, wave after wave of human-sea tactics began to wash over the city. Zongfu mixed elite troops with the surrendered soldiers attacking the city, trying to open up the situation. The head of Jiangning was broken through several times, but soon after they were driven out again - and even in several battles, it was said that the Crown Prince of the Wu Dynasty had personally taken the field, directing the charge.

By mid-August, people had become numb to such offensives. Faced with the stubborn resistance of the 200,000 troops inside the city, some people even felt a sense of awe.

However, all of this did nothing to improve the situation.

Zhou Yong's escape devastatingly shattered the morale of all the people of the Wu Dynasty. Troops surrendered batch after batch, gradually forming a huge avalanche trend. Some generals surrendered genuinely, while others felt that they were feigning compliance, waiting for an opportunity to slowly plot and wait for a chance to revolt. However, after arriving under the city of Jiangning, their supplies and rations were controlled by the Jurchens, and even most of their weapons were taken away, only to be distributed inferior supplies when attacking the city.

At this stage, the order to surrender was more of a choice by the generals. The soldiers still could not understand the fact that the Wu Dynasty had begun to die. In the process of attacking Jiangning, some soldiers even thought of surrendering on the battlefield and helping kill the enemy under the command of the Crown Prince of Jiangning. But what awaited them were the unbearable gazes and resolute swords and spears of the soldiers on the city head.

Throughout the entire offensive process, Wanyan Zongfu had long issued orders to some troops to feign surrender randomly. Under the current circumstances, the defending army in Jiangning City did not even have the room to take in, isolate, and distinguish between friend and foe. There were as many as a million Han Chinese troops outside the city. In a disadvantaged situation, if the other party shouted that they wanted to revolt and were accepted, these troops would soon become an uncontrollable powder keg in Jiangning City.

People soon discovered that the more than 200,000 Jiangning defenders in the city did not accept any surrenders. The morale of the Han Chinese troops, who were driven to the battlefield, was already low. They could not compete with the soldiers on the city head, and there was no way to surrender. Some soldiers aroused their last bit of bloodlust and rushed towards the Jurchen camp in the rear, but what followed was nothing out of the ordinary.

In more than two months, there had been several mutinies in the camps of the surrendered Han Chinese troops. The Jurchen cavalry killed a large number of people who tried to escape. The supplies in the mutinous camps were divided among the surrounding Han Chinese troops who participated in the suppression, and the Wu Dynasty defectors who were in charge of guarding and cooperating poorly were dragged out by the Jurchens and beheaded as a warning to others. Thus, by August and September, although the atmosphere enveloping the military camps was becoming more and more desperate, there were fewer and fewer rebels. Some generals and soldiers were even looking forward to the early collapse of Jiangning City.

As long as Jiangning City fell, everyone would not have to endure this life-and-death dilemma.

More than ten years had passed, and these people, who had been swaying back and forth, had finally reached a dead end where they had no choice but to avoid it.

At the end of April, Tie Tianying was seriously injured in the assassination of the Jurchen envoy. Later, in May, Lin'an City fell. Although he was lucky enough to save his life, he was extremely difficult to escape, and then his injuries were aggravated. By the time he recovered from his injuries in August, he secretly came to the vicinity of Jiangning, and all he could see was such a desperate situation.

There were still many forces in the world who nominally supported the Wu Dynasty, but no one dared to rush to Jiangning and face the Jurchen's military might. The defenders in Jiangning City were reorganized from the Beiwei Army, the Zhenhai Army, the original Zhenjiang garrison, the Jiangning garrison, etc., forming a garrison of more than 200,000. But even with the Crown Prince's tenacious support, Jiangning City had stood firm for several months despite the daily attacks by the Wu Dynasty surrendered army. But after more than two months, Tie Tianying could not see clearly how difficult the situation in the city had become.

In late August, the news that Zhou Yong had passed the throne to Jun Wu after escaping to the sea was brought ashore and quickly spread throughout the world. This meant that in the eyes of those who were willing to believe, the Crown Prince in Jiangning City was now the legitimate emperor of the Wu Dynasty, but it was difficult to stir up too many ripples in the surrendered army camps outside Jiangning City. Even the emperor was in a desperate situation like a millstone.

Seeing such a situation, even Tie Tianying, who had experienced many storms, could not help but shed tears - if such a decision had been made half a year earlier, the situation in the world today would probably be completely different.

He had considered risking entering Jiangning and joining forces with the Crown Prince and others; he had also considered mixing in with the soldiers and waiting for an opportunity to assassinate Wanyan Zongfu. There were many other ideas, but soon after, relying on years of experience, he also discovered some incongruous people who were still acting in this desperate situation.

On September 5th, he followed the back of the thin soldier all the way forward. Before he reached the hiding place of the other party's line, the man's footsteps suddenly slowed down and he looked north.

At the end of the field of vision to the north was the towering and dilapidated city wall that was still under attack by catapults. At this moment, illuminated by the setting sun, a huge white banner was slowly lowered on the city head. Even though they were several miles apart, that touch of white was clearly visible in people's eyes.

A doubt flashed in Tie Tianying's mind. At this moment, his footsteps became somewhat weak. He still didn't know what had happened. The news of the Crown Prince's death was the first thing that reflected in his mind.

Whispers spread like a tide in every military camp. But soon after, as the Jurchens increased the reward for Zhou Junwu, people knew the news of Zhou Yong's death, and the realization that the Jianshuo Dynasty had ended took shape in people's minds.

Some people couldn't help but shed tears.

But so what?

In such a desperate situation, no matter how tenacious and wise the former Crown Prince was... His death was only a matter of time...

****************

The buzzing sound spread across the land outside Jiangning City, and also formed a tide in Jiangning City.

At this moment when the colorful tides of the sky were spreading, Jun Wu, dressed in plain white, came out of the room. Shen Ruxin, also dressed in white, was waiting for him under the eaves. He looked at the setting sun and walked to the front hall: "Look at this glow, it's like the present of the Wu Dynasty..."

"Hope... Your Majesty takes care..."

Jun Wu pressed on the sword at his waist. He actually didn't have much awareness of being a monarch. There were tears on his face that had just been wiped away, and there was also a smile: "The night is coming, but no matter how long the night is, the sun will rise again."

The difference lies in... who can see it.

His eyes became stern. He didn't continue to say the words in his heart. The news of Zhou Yong's death had been spread into the city since last night. By this time, some decisions had been made. The city was covered in white, and in the front hall, hundreds of generals were wearing hemp clothes and white scarves, quietly waiting for his arrival.

This may be the last emperor of the Wu Dynasty. His succession came too late, and there was no way out around him, but the more this was the case, the more people felt a tragic emotion.

"All the soldiers!"

The setting sun gradually disappeared, and the fire was burning fiercely. Jun Wu stood on the steps in front of the hall and let his voice out.

"Today I have learned that my father passed away at sea seven days ago. This means that the Jianshuo years of the Wu Dynasty... are over. I have heard people say since I was a child that the Wu Dynasty has been established for more than two hundred years and its blessings have been extended, but today here, everyone, I want to say... it doesn't matter--"

He drew out his sword in the rising fire.

"Today, I and all of you are guarding this Jiangning City. In front of us are the Jurchens and the million troops who have surrendered to the Jurchens. Everyone knows that we have nowhere to go! Behind me is still this city of people, but our world has been invaded and ravaged by the Jurchens. Our family members and relatives died in their original homes, died on the road of escape, and suffered humiliation. We have nowhere to go in front of us. I am not the Crown Prince, nor am I the Emperor of the Wu Dynasty. All the soldiers, here... I just feel like a humiliated man. The world has fallen, and I can't do anything. I wish I could die here--"

He waved the long sword in his hand. Looking down from the sky in the darkness, there were only dots of fire on the square. After that, the tragic mourning music sounded in the city, passing through the night and day.

The news fermented in the military camps inside and outside the city.

September 7th, sunny.

The huge dragon flag was raised on the head of Jiangning City surrounded by white banners. An hour later, accompanied by the tragic horn sound, Jiangning opened its city gates. This was the first time that Jiangning City had opened its gates after defending for more than two months, surrounded by a million troops. Everyone was shocked at the first moment, and the first reaction of the people was that the Crown Prince was preparing to break through.

However, it didn't.

A mighty army, wearing plain clothes, led by Jun Wu, who was now the Emperor of the Wu Dynasty, pounced on Wanyan Zongfu's camp in the west of the city. The Zhenhai Army came out from the front, and the Beiwei Army outflanked from the south of the city. There were also troops led by different generals, who rushed out of different city gates to meet the million troops in front.

"Here... I just feel like a humiliated man. The world has fallen, and I can't do anything. I wish I could die here--"

"...I will die with you all!"

At this moment, burning the boats and breaking the cauldrons, an army grieving over its defeat was bound to win. After more than two months of hard fighting, only more than 120,000 Jiangning troops could walk onto the battlefield, but no one retreated at this moment - the consequences of retreating and surrendering had been sufficiently demonstrated by the million troops outside the city in the previous two months. They rushed towards the rolling crowd.

"Today, I will die here with you. Those who are Han Chinese, kill the Jurchen dogs with me and skin Wanyan Zongfu--"

The soldiers and generals who rushed out of the city shouted wildly in the battle. Soon after, outside Jiangning City, a million people were rushed into a reversed tide...

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