You know what methods were used in ancient sieges—
And look at the defense of Xiangzhou
Wei Yushun Li Enyi
In the winter of the seventh year (1125) of the Song Dynasty Emperor Xuanhe, the Jin Dynasty East Road army, led by the fourth prince Guanyan Wushu, broke through the bamboo and attacked all the way to the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, Tokyo. In order to successfully capture Tokyo, they first sent troops to Xiangzhou to sweep away The important arch of Tokyo, Xiangzhou. At that time, Wang Boyan of Xiangzhou Zhizhou had no intention of handling military affairs, and handed over all defense affairs to Zhao Bu to judge. Zhao Buxian was the sixth grandson of Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhao Guangyi, and was a contemporary of the later Emperor Qinzong of Song and Emperor Gaozong of Song, ranking forty-fifth. Zhao did not try to accept the order in the face of danger, and deeply felt a heavy responsibility. In order to be able to save the city, Zhao, who was nearly forty years old, did not try to deny himself and fulfill his responsibilities, and almost every day he went to the city to prepare for war.
Yan Wushu thought that Xiangzhou was afraid of military might and would fight a battle, and he underestimated the city defense of Xiangzhou City and the confidence of the military and civilians in defending the city. Xiangzhou was a large prefecture in Zhending Province, on the east side of the Yellow River, with high and deep trenches, coupled with Zhao Bu's good command, the two sides had always formed a situation of confrontation.
In order to capture Xiangzhou City, the Jin army used artillery fire and also used a stone thrower to throw stones into the city at the same time. Flying stones rained down, and many soldiers defending the city were injured or killed by flying stones. The Jin army also used siege equipment such as cloud ladders, fire ladders, partial bridges, goose carts, caves, and opposing buildings to attack Xiangzhou in an attempt to open the gap in Xiangzhou. The cave is shaped like a house with a sharp point and a low roof, with wheels under it, made of logs, covered with cowhide and iron leaves, and soaked with water to prevent the Fire Attack and Arrow Stones of the Song Army, and some people inside pushed closer to the Song Army. The caves are connected section by section until they reach the moat, and then the soil, stones, grass and trees are transported from the cave, the moat is filled, and the moat is directly under the city, and then a hole is dug in the city wall.
The goose cart is shaped like a goose, and the outside is also covered with cowhide and iron leaves, and the stone is pushed under the city, and the golden soldiers in the car can enter the city from the goose head. The Jin soldiers pushed these tools from the wheel to the bottom of the city, and used iron hooks to touch the head of the city, while most of the Golden Army climbed from under the ladder or rushed up the city from the opposite building. Fire ladders are used to incinerate buildings.
The enemy has tactics, I have countermeasures. The Song army was not afraid of the various tactics of the Jin Wushu, and in the face of the various siege tactics of the Jin army, they adopted different defensive methods to resist. In addition to casting arrows and stones on the city walls, they sometimes went down to the city and burned the enemy's siege equipment. The walls of the city were netted with hemp cables, on which sacks were hung, in which wet bran and horse dung were placed. Wooden bamboo fences were set up on the horse's surface, and wet felt was suspended on it to prevent cannon stones and fire attacks. In addition, the enemy ladder car is hooked with a crashing rod to prevent the enemy from approaching the city wall.
On the second day of the first lunar month of the first year of the first year of the reign of Emperor Qinzong of Song (1126 AD), emperor Wushu of Song changed his strategy and personally led three thousand iron horses to attack Tangyin, burning and looting along the road. Tangyin County Order did not show weakness and organized the Baojia Army to resist tenaciously. Seeing that he could not take advantage of it, he had to abandon Xiangzhou and kill all the way to Tokyo.
Fearing the enemy like a tiger, Emperor Qinzong of A song rushed to sign a peace treaty with the Jin army, humiliatingly ceding the three towns of Taiyuan, Zhongshan, and Hejian to the Jin army. The first defensive battle of Xiangzhou ended with the withdrawal of the enemy army.