During the western expedition, Wu Jie's tactics in attacking Ghazni, the capital of Ghaznavidy, were included in the Imperial Military Academy's case studies on siege warfare.
Traditional siege tactics often involve using ladders, overwhelming numbers of soldiers, or prolonged sieges.
However, Wu Jie adopted a deterrent tactic, aiming to psychologically inflict a fatal blow on the enemy in the city.
This would cause the enemy to collapse without a fight, thus greatly weakening their combat effectiveness.
As Lu You stated in his essay "On War," military strategy dictates that "military tactics are like water, which has no constant shape." When Wu Jie attacked Ghaznavidy, he employed psychological pressure based on the Chinese army's superior artillery. This tactic is only viable when possessing a powerful and sufficient artillery force. Furthermore, it must be combined with internal division tactics, such as persuading those who surrender to form a peace faction within the city. Otherwise, a desperate, all-or-nothing battle could ensue, placing immense pressure on the ensuing fighting and causing even greater casualties.
The internal divisions here stemmed from the spread of news of Amu Muzaffar's surrender within Ghazni before the siege, along with the bribery of those whose interests had been harmed, which created internal strife.
In this way, during the siege, once the situation becomes critical, those lurking surrender factions will all jump out, incite the civilians, thereby disrupting the situation within the city and further undermining the fighting will of the city's inhabitants.
The sky was cloudless, and the sun shone down on the earth without any obstruction.
The eagles that once darted away no longer dared to circle over Ghazni.
A dense barrage of cannon fire streaked across the sky, scorching the air and creating waves of heat that pounded against the city walls.
This place once gave birth to a powerful empire, and its iron cavalry once swept across the Western Regions and even along the Mediterranean coast, causing Christians to groan and bleed, and making the world tremble.
However, now, all strong will has been crushed in front of the Song army.
All obstacles were swept aside!
At this moment, everyone in Ghazni felt the enemy's strength and burning rage.
Finally, more voices of rebellion arose within the city: "It's all the Sultan's fault! He surrendered to the Khitans and turned against the Easterners, bringing disaster upon us! God! Please punish this foolish Sultan!"
"That's right! The Sultan must step down!"
"Open the gates and surrender!"
"The Imperial Guard could not protect us, our property was threatened, and this disaster is man-made!"
"The Sultan surrendered to the Khitan for his own selfish desires, betraying the will of God!"
"Open the gates and surrender!"
"We don't want war!"
"Open the gates and surrender!"
"..."
"No! If we surrender, those Easterners will kill us all!"
"Yes! Have you all forgotten about the holy war? Heretics are devils! We must fight to the death! We must fight for God!"
"No! I saw Governor Amu Muzaffar with my own eyes in the Eastern army. He was still alive and had even been promoted. The Easterners did not kill him!"
“I have been to the East several times to buy silk. The people of the East are very gentle and they generally do not kill people indiscriminately. As long as we surrender, Governor Amu will protect us!”
...
"No war! Open the gates and surrender!"
"No war! Open the gates and surrender!"
"No war! Open the gates and surrender!"
"No war! Open the gates and surrender!"
...
"Destroy the Khitans!"
"Destroy the Khitans!"
"Destroy the Khitans!"
...
Anti-war and pro-peace sentiments spread rapidly throughout the city, and more and more civilians took to the streets, shouting their protests.
Even ten-year-old children shouted, "We want peace!"
Clearly, this war extended into the political and diplomatic spheres of the Ghaznavid Kingdom, with all the pressure falling on the Sultan and the Grand Chancellor's attitude toward the Khitans.
boom……
Finally, the city wall was bombarded and cracked, and a section of the city gate tower shattered.
Debris was thrown out by the shockwave, crashing down like a torrential rain.
Those soldiers who didn't have time to dodge were hit on the spot.
Some had their heads smashed open, while others had their bones broken.
The order that had been barely maintained at the city gate finally collapsed.
Sultan Abu Muzaffar and Prime Minister Yeri Muzashi were the first to shout: "Run!"
Panic and despair spread like a plague.
The soldiers turned and ran, and the narrow streets became crowded with people.
Some people even lost their minds in despair and began to draw their knives and stab or slash at people in the road ahead.
Screams erupted one after another.
"What do we do? General, things are completely chaotic!"
"Move the main force to the palace and city hall, prepare for street fighting, and make the enemy pay a bloody price!" Sannir's eyes revealed determination and resolve.
"yes!"
The defensive line in front of the city gate had completely collapsed, leaving only panic and escape.
"General, something terrible has happened! The common people and merchants in the city have rioted, demanding that we hand over the Sultan and the Prime Minister!"
What's going on?
"They believe that the Sultan and the Prime Minister colluded with the Khitans, which caused the war, and that they want to use the Sultan and the Prime Minister in exchange for peace!"
"Damn it! The war has already begun! How can the enemy give us peace! Even heretics slaughter us, and those abelians are even more brutal and inhuman!"
In fact, Sanil was a pro-war advocate from the beginning, and his so-called peace talks were just a delaying tactic.
Unfortunately, Abu Muzaffar and Yeli Muzaxi were too eager for quick results.
Deep down, they don't believe that people without faith have humanity.
God spreads humanity and civilization to the human world.
How can those who do not believe in God possess civilization and humanity?
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