boyutpedia Chapter 58 The End of Wanyan Honglie
Chapter 58 The End of Wanyan Honglie
As the Mongols marched south, the main force of the Jin army mobilized to lay out a defensive line stretching for hundreds of miles from Shanzhou to Hangu Pass.
Wanyan Honglie planned to rely on the natural defenses of Hangu Pass to wait for the Mongols to tire themselves out and engage in a decisive battle.
However, Tolui clearly had no intention of confronting him head-on. Although Ögedei used him as bait, Tolui was not without room for maneuver.
After 40,000 Mongol cavalrymen cut into the Guanzhong Plain from the former territory of Western Xia, they did not advance eastward to Hangu Pass, but instead suddenly headed south, crossed the Qinling Mountains, and bypassed the Jin army's defenses from the direction of Wuguan Pass.
Wanyan Heda was unable to catch up and was left far behind the Mongol cavalry.
When Wanyan Honglie realized that Tolui's 40,000 men were just bait, and that the real killing move was Ögedei's 80,000 main force.
Ögedei Khan seized the opportunity to press forward from the east bank of the Yellow River. The Mongol central army of 80,000 men crossed the Yellow River and headed straight for Shanzhou, forming a pincer movement against the Jin army.
However, by this time, the elite Zhongxiao Army under Wanyan Honglie had already taken shape, and even during the two years of fighting between Tolui and Ögedei, they had won several major victories against the Mongol army, making them a formidable force.
Although Wanyan Honglie and his Jin army were driven to the brink of defeat, there was still a glimmer of hope in the decisive battle they were about to face.
Unfortunately, destiny ordained by heaven cannot be changed by one person's will.
In the twelfth lunar month, heavy snow blocked the mountain passes.
The heavy snow brought not a sign of a bountiful year, but a chilling extinguishing of all of Wanyan Honglie's ambition and courage.
The Jin army of 150,000 elite troops was besieged in a narrow strip of land around Hangu Pass. Their supply lines were cut off, and thousands of them froze to death every day.
The Mongol army, more accustomed to the bitter cold than the Jurchens, held their position in a sunny spot, waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out.
With the situation hopeless, Wanyan Honglie had no choice but to make a desperate breakout attempt.
But Tolui and Ögedei clearly wouldn't give him that chance; in this battle, the Jin army was almost completely wiped out.
Blood covered the mountains and fields, then was buried by snow. Corpses were broken like rubble, and human fragments were scattered along the roadside.
It turns out that humans can be broken not only like animals, but also like everything else in the world.
This decisive battle completely destroyed the last cornerstone of the Jin Dynasty.
Wanyan Honglie fought his way through the remnants of his army, but was still cornered by the Mongols on a hilltop.
Surrounded by his guards, Tolui arrived at the hillside and, seeing the Jin army still fighting fiercely, suddenly ordered a halt to the attack.
At Tolui's residence, all the Mongols immediately made way for the central army, clearing a path for one man.
Yang Kang rode the Golden Crow slowly to the front of the formation, dismounted, and looked at Wanyan Honglie.
"Father, it's been a long time! How have you been?"
Yang Kang asked calmly. He knew he had asked a pointless question; in this situation, how could Wanyan Honglie possibly be alright?
"I'm sorry, Kang'er, your father has disappointed you."
"My father failed to conquer an empire as he promised and then hand it over to you personally."
Wanyan Honglie said with a bitter smile.
He was left with only a dozen or so guards, who still held their weapons and stood firmly and unwaveringly in front of him.
"My father may have wronged everyone else in the world, but he has never wronged me."
"Father, now that you have come this far, it is time to repay the debt of gratitude you owe to the Jin Kingdom."
"Come with me. I'll arrange a place for you to retire. From now on, don't worry about anything else, okay?"
Yang Kang sighed.
With the last major force of the Jin army annihilated, the life or death of Wanyan Honglie was no longer of great importance to the Mongols.
Both Tolui and Ögedei were happy to go along with it and let Yang Kang take him back to Shandong and imprison him.
"Kang'er, I have finally discovered something in you that is exactly the same as your father. It seems that my eighteen years of teaching have not been in vain."
Wanyan Honglie suddenly burst into laughter.
"We all like to use our own will to decide the fate of the people we love, but we never care about what the other person thinks."
Wanyan Honglie smiled with relief.
"Your mother and Yang Tiexin must have been very happy together all these years, right?"
She never replied to any of the letters I wrote to her.
"In your letters to me, you never mentioned a single word about her."
"Kang'er, what can I do if I go to Shandong with you?"
"To see the woman I love most in my life being all lovey-dovey with another man?"
Wanyan Honglie shook his head and sighed.
"Li Qingzhao, a scholar of the Southern Dynasties, once wrote a poem praising Xiang Yu: 'To live, one should be a hero; to die, one should be a ghost of valor.'"
"I am the king of the Great Jin, and the fate of the Great Jin has come to an end. I am not going anywhere else."
"A hero at the end of his road, how can he seek only a life of ease and comfort?"
"We've been father and son, Kang'er, please grant me one request."
Wanyan Honglie said silently.
Yang Kang looked at Tolui, who hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"My guards fought with me to the last moment, and they proved their loyalty with their blood, but they were all young and should not have died for an old man like me."
"Take them with you, let them protect you, just as they would protect me."
"As for me, I will be cremated on the spot after I die."
"Take my ashes back to Shandong and ask your mother. If she is willing, after she passes away, scatter my ashes in front of her grave."
"If she is unwilling, then take my ashes back to Zhongdu, back to the place where our family of three once lived, and scatter them anywhere."
Wanyan Honglie smiled with relief, then swung the long sword at his waist and slit his own throat.
"Your Highness!!"
"Your Highness!!"
Blood gushed out, and his guards cried out in grief.
More than a dozen guards held swords to their necks, intending to commit suicide and accompany Wanyan Honglie on his journey.
Yang Kang raised his hand, and a surge of true energy shot out, instantly knocking the weapons out of the hands of more than a dozen people.
"You are all loyal and righteous men. Since my father entrusted you to me before his death, you shall leave with me."
Yang Kang sighed, stepped forward, embraced Wanyan Honglie's body, and slowly left.
Tolui raised his hand, signaling the central army to make way for Yang Kang.
After this battle, the last of Jin's elite forces were wiped out, and Ögedei and Tolui captured Bianjing with an overwhelming victory, almost effortlessly.
Several thousand remaining soldiers escorted the puppet emperor Wanyan Xun as he fled south, eventually reaching the Caizhou area.
Wanyan Xun was merely a puppet emperor. Even though Wanyan Honglie was dead, the Jin Dynasty, which was already on the verge of collapse, naturally had little power to command.
In the eyes of the Mongols, the Jin dynasty had already been effectively destroyed.
At this time, Tolui and Ögedei were not as enthusiastic about destroying the Jin as before, and only sent a detachment to continue to pursue Wanyan Xun.
After looting Bianjing, the army set off northward.
The Mongols were so eager to destroy the Jin Dynasty for two reasons: first, it was Genghis Khan's dying wish; second, the newly enthroned Ögedei Khan desperately needed a major victory to consolidate his position; and third, Tolui also needed to gain more military achievements so that his brother would have to give him enough respect.
Tolui truly achieved an unprecedented feat in Mongolian history in this battle. He made the greatest contribution by single-handedly holding back Wanyan Honglie's main force.
This forced Ögedei to join forces with him to destroy the Jin dynasty, and Ögedei had to acknowledge his younger brother's abilities.
Tore thought he could gain more respect and status, but he was unaware of the oldest principles of the relationship between ruler and subject among the Han people.
That would be a case of someone whose achievements overshadow their master.