Outside Bianjing City, in various villages and towns, the village chiefs who received the order rang the gongs and shouted along the streets, "Young and old men, bring your rations and enter the city to avoid the Mongols!"
When people from every household heard the shouts, they helped the old and the young, and left the village with their shoulders and hands, heading to a nearby city to take shelter.
For a time, a stream of people formed on the roads outside the city, gathering towards Kaifeng City.
When the people were transferred to the Jin Kingdom, Wokuotai's army had already arrived in Zhongmou.
The defenders of Zhongmou City had no time to close the city gates before they were rushed in by the Mongolian cavalry. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians were brutally killed.
After Wokuotai crossed the Yellow River and occupied Zhengzhou, he only sent a small number of cavalry into eastern Henan to plunder, but did not invade Kaifeng on a large scale until the results of the battle at Sanfeng Mountain were announced.
Wokuotai originally planned to wait for Tuo Lei's army to approach Kaifeng, but when he learned that Tuo Lei had been poisoned, he became furious and decided to lead the army himself to avenge Tuo Lei.
After the Mongolian forwards captured Zhongmou and rested for a while, Wo Kuotai ordered the Mongolian troops of 10,000 Xue troops, 20,000 regular troops, as well as Han troops, Khitan troops, and Semu troops, totaling 100,000 troops, to march toward Kaifeng in a mighty manner. Advance.
On the way, anyone who resisted the Mongolian army would be massacred. At the same time, Wo Kuotai also ordered people to post a notice stating that anyone who could dedicate the Emperor of Jin to the end of his life would be rewarded with tens of thousands of households and be granted the title of Marquis.
In addition, for capturing the ministers of the Jin Kingdom, there are also different rewards according to different ranks.
It is worth mentioning that Zhao Tai is also on the list, and is ranked just behind Monk Chen. For his head, you can receive a thousand taels of gold.
This was tantamount to advertising for Zhao Tai, letting the people in the Central Plains know that the Mongols hated Mr. Zhao, and became a golden sign for the future resistance against Mongolia.
From now on, if Zhao Tai's banner is raised, it will definitely attract people who are willing to fight against Mongolia to come and seek refuge.
In early February, the Mongolian army's vanguard moved down the Yellow River and soon reached the western suburbs of Bianjing.
Bianjing City is luxurious and magnificent, with a circumference of 80 miles. It was built starting from the reign of Emperor Shizong of the Later Zhou Dynasty, and was reinforced by the Northern Song Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty. The city defense system is very complete.
The only disadvantage is that it is too large and requires a large number of troops to defend.
The Mongols have conquered many cities over the years, but when they took a peek at the city defenses of Bianjing, they were still shocked by this behemoth.
This can be said to be the largest city they have seen since the start of the Meng-Jin war. The tall walls and wide moat of Bianjing can be said to far exceed other cities captured by the Mongolian army.
At this time, the Mongolian cavalry was peeping around the city. The gate of Bianjing suddenly opened. Monk Chen led 300 loyal and filial soldiers to rush out and charged directly at the Mongolian cavalry.
The Mongols and Monk Chen fought for a while downstream of the city. They were worried that there would be cavalry rushing out and did not dare to fight. After charging for a while, they pulled their horses and retreated.
The Mongolian vanguard sentries rushed back to Zhongmou and reported to Wokuotai, saying that Bianjing City has high walls, a wide moat, an arrow tower, a horse face, and a crossbow bed, and complete defensive equipment. It was recommended that Wokuotai and other mine-towing troops enter the city. The Mongolian army from Shandong arrived and surrounded Bianjing again.
But Wokuotai had his own ideas. Bianjing was prosperous and he would earn a lot of money after conquering it.
After Temujin's death, Mongolia had Tuo Lei supervising the country for several years before handing him the throne.
Since Mongolia has a tradition of "young sons guarding the stove", when Temujin was still alive, Tolei had the best and most abundant fiefdoms and pastures.
This makes Wo Kuotai's strength worse than Tuo Lei after he succeeds to the throne.
As the Great Khan of Mongolia, it is impossible for Ogedai not to have a grudge in his heart.
Therefore, when the news of Tuo Lei's poisoning came, Wo Kuotai was both angry and a little happy.
Tuo Lei's strength far exceeds his own, and he has achieved great military exploits in the Western Expedition and the Battle of Destroying the Gold, making him a great khan with no sense of existence.
Now that Tuo Lei has defeated the main force of the Jin Kingdom in Sanfeng Mountain and has made great achievements, he must capture Bianjing.
In this way, he can gain the merit of capturing the Jin capital and capturing the Jin emperor, which will increase his prestige and stabilize his status.
Secondly, after capturing Bianjing, he can let his men plunder, and if they get the benefits, they will be more loyal to him.
Therefore, Wokuotai decided to send troops. Bianjing was not a big city, and Zhongdu was not small. Wasn't it also defeated by the Mongolian army?
Besides, the main force of the Jin Kingdom has been completely lost. If they can't take Bianjing with their 100,000 troops, how can they talk about seizing the Central Plains and then plotting against the Song Dynasty?
At that moment, Wokuotai ordered a hundred thousand troops to drive directly to Bianjing.
On the third day of February, just after the first lunar month, the weather became warmer.
It was supposed to be the planting season, but because of the war, the people around Bianjing did not go to the fields to farm. Instead, they hid in Kaifeng City and participated in the city defense.
At this time, on the wide city wall, the defenders and people were busy carrying supplies for the city defense, placing arrows, rolling stones and wood on the top of the city in preparation for the Mongolian attack.
The defense of Bianjing City is complete and there are many equipments on it. If the troops are sufficient, there is really no fear of Mongolian attack.
However, now that the main force of the Jin Kingdom has been lost, there are only 40,000 troops in the city who have been withdrawn from the Yellow River defense line. To defend the huge Bianjing, it can be said that there are loopholes everywhere.
Because they were afraid that the Mongols would massacre the city after conquering Bianjing, the people in the city spontaneously helped the defenders transport supplies and defend the city without any mobilization by the Jin government.
Zhao Tai also helped carry stones and arrows at the top of the city, and learned how the Jin army defended the city.
Although the Southern Song Dynasty was still stronger in terms of defending the city, now that Zhao Tai was in the Kingdom of Jin, he could only learn from the Jin army and prepare for the future.
At this time, he was carrying stones while watching Heda, Monk Chen and others deploying the city defenses. He pricked up his ears to steal the troops, but there was a sudden commotion on the city wall.
Zhao Tai couldn't help but straighten up and looked outside the city. He saw a black line suddenly appearing on the horizon and billowing yellow dust rising in the sky.
"There is enemy situation!" Someone in the city immediately shouted a warning.
Zhao Tai quickly put down the stones and came to the edge of the city wall with Monk Chen and others, looking westward.
In the wilderness on the western outskirts of Bianjing, the Mongolian cavalry galloped in front, and the infantry marched across the wilderness, killing towards the city like a tide.
Zhao Tai was a little surprised when he saw so many Mongolian troops, "How many soldiers and horses are there?"
Monk Chen had a long face and held on to the wall with one hand, "One hundred thousand? Looking at the formation, the enemy soldiers are at least one hundred thousand."
Zhao Tai naturally did not doubt Monk Chen's experience. When he saw the galloping war horses and the heaving heads in the distance, he felt a huge sense of oppression and thought to himself: "The black clouds are pressing down on the city and are about to destroy it!"
Monk Chen ordered his subordinates to prepare for defense, and then ordered one person, "Go and report to Your Majesty quickly."
At this time, in the Mongolian army, many Mongolian generals surrounded the burly Ogedai Khan and came towards Bianjing.
When Wokuotai saw the majestic Bianjing City, he was a little shocked, and at the same time he was extremely excited. He was full of energy and pointed forward with his whip, "I am determined to break through this city and destroy the Jin Kingdom in order to repay the Jin people for their abuse of Mongolia."
