After the Abbasid dynasty flourished, the historical law of prosperity and decline began, and the rulers began to enjoy luxury. During the reign of Caliph Mansour, a new capital was built on the west bank of the Tigris River in Baghdad. The construction of the new capital involved more than 100,000 people, took four years, and cost more than 4.8 million dirkhans, which shows that it spared no expense.

New Baghdad is a circular city, so it is called the "regimental city". The diameter is five miles long, and it is divided into three layers: the outer city, the inner city and the imperial city, and there are three city walls. The Imperial City is located in the center of the city, with the Forbidden City as the center, and the city walls form three concentric circles. Each of the walls has four gates at equal distances, and four avenues stretch from the central area to the gates, resembling the spokes of wheels. The Forbidden City has imperial palaces, official residences, mosques, libraries, gardens, etc. Later, on the east bank of the river, a barracks, a mansion and a mosque were built for the crown prince, and the east and west banks of the river were connected by pontoon bridges, forming a city that straddled both sides of the Tigrus River.

The Great Song Expeditionary Force entered by land and water, placed its troops on both sides of the Tigrus River, and launched a pincer offensive against the city of Baghdad. They first launched an attack on the east of the river, swept the castle in it, and with the experience of attacking the castle of the Grand Duke of Fechia, and the powerful naval artillery fire support, the battle went very smoothly. It took only a day and night to capture the most fortified castle of the prince, which caused a great shock, and the people fled or surrendered to avoid being washed in blood.

After occupying the east bank of the river, in order to prevent the human boats in the main city from escaping along the river, Cheng Xishou ordered two iron cables to be pulled up in the upper and lower reaches of the city to block the river and send boats to patrol along the river. Troops were deployed on the shore, and anyone who wanted to escape by boat could not escape from the encirclement. This precaution proved to be necessary. The ministers in the chaotic city wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to escape by water, and they sent warships to break through the checkpoint set up by the expeditionary force on the river. But in front of the Song warships. Their operation soon failed, the ships were sunk, the soldiers were eliminated, and the men fled back to the city in disarray.

As the castles and castles around Baghdad were breached one by one, Ma Wei, who was in charge of the land attack, ordered the troops and captured prisoners to cut down trees and demolish houses and build a wooden fence along the main city, surround the city, close all the roads, and set up camp three miles outside the city.

Fatah, the caliph of the Seljuk Empire, initially sent emissaries to blow cowhides in front of the Song army. It's a boiled duck, and it's left with a hard mouth. He was not prepared for war at all, that is, he did not mobilize the army, nor did he strengthen the fortifications of the city, and seeing that the Song army was attacking fiercely and the roads out of the city were all blocked, he panicked and was completely desperate, knowing that he could no longer escape from the hands of the Orientals.

At this time, the main forces in the city were all Sultan Sanjar who was out on the march. Only 5,000 court gullams were the main force defending the city, and now they can only temporarily recruit 50,000 city defense troops from the city to defend the city. The army was very competitive and repelled a siege attack from the west, and the victory made Fatah forget about it. Thinking that there is nothing to fear in the East, claiming that their rights are given by Allah, whoever rebels against me. It is against Allah, which is a great rebellion. He who will be punished by Allah.

But as soon as Fatah's words were spoken, the enemy army began to attack the city again. And it's getting more violent. What particularly surprised and frightened the defenders was the black iron bumps, and they wondered why those guys in the city flashed with a fire, and after a loud bang, human stumps flew all over Baghdad, and the human race realized its dream of flying.

Hearing that the battle outside the city was fierce, Fatah was so frightened that he sat on the ground, from all his pride to depression, his mind was blank, and the six gods were gone. He hurriedly asked his ministers, who had given him the idea that he needed to bribe the enemy with rich gifts. He also enlightened him that the treasures that have been accumulated are for the preservation of honor and the happiness of men. A large number of treasures should be prepared to be carried with a thousand camels and a thousand Arab horses to be given to the commander of the Orientals and his men. He pleaded with them and prayed for them on festivals, agreeing to the terms of trade with the Orientals.

The great caliph felt that it was a pain to give the enemy the treasures he had accumulated for generations, but the enemy was already in the city and could not come hard, so he sent a great imam out of the city to ask for peace. And this patriarch is obviously also spoiled, and even if he has a bad attitude, he is not able to speak, claiming that if he offends the caliph, something unfortunate will happen:

The horses fell, the soldiers fell ill; If the sun does not rise, the world will fall into boundless darkness; The rain does not fall, and the world is bare and wild; A cold wind will blow, and the world will be destroyed by an earthquake; Plants will not grow from the ground, and countless people will die of starvation; Then there is the fact that the man who commanded the war will be the first to die that year.

What the Grand Imam said was very terrifying, but he forgot that the people he was facing were from the far east, their beliefs were completely different from here, and they didn't know who their god was, especially these Great Song Expeditionary Forces, the god in their hearts was the emperor. The result was that after the Grand Imam issued the prophecy, it only caused a burst of laughter, in exchange for a military stick, and everyone wanted to see if beating the messenger of God would be the result of a miracle!

When the peace talks broke down, the city's generals began to persuade the caliph to prepare for war and recruit warriors to form an army. He also warned Fatah that if he did not take measures to repel the strong enemy, the armies of the Easterners would surely break through the city, as they did in other castles, rob them of their money, and that both rich and poor would become slaves, and if things backfired, noble men would rather die honorably on the battlefield. After receiving assurances from the generals that they would disperse the enemy and hold the city, Fatah agreed to call them an army.

The city of Baghdad, known as the center of the world, was a large city on a par with the Great Song Dynasty, with a population of one million and no shortage of soldiers, and quickly assembled a large army at this critical moment. The generals were not afraid of death, but their caliph loved money, and when he heard that the army had gathered and it was time for him to give money, Fatah was reluctant, and he did not mention the matter of giving money. There was no money, the troops that had already been gathered dispersed again, and the generals were completely desperate, resigned to fate and waiting for fate to be at the mercy of fate.

This is in line with the old saying that 'people die for money, birds die for food', if Fatah gives up his money, he will gather a strong army, even if he can't repel the Song army, as long as he holds out for a while, the monsoon will come, and the Song army, who is eager to return, may agree to peace talks, and they did not want to overthrow the current regime. But by being so stingy with money put himself and the inhabitants of the city, and even the country at risk. He didn't want to think about the use of having so much money if his life was going to be gone.

A few days after the siege, a section of the outer wall of Baghdad collapsed under the constant bombardment of artillery, and Fatah, who was in a state of semi-shock, remembered to surrender, but it was too late, and the Song army quickly occupied the wall and took control of the city defenses, which marked the fall of the city of Baghdad......

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"Marshal, please slow down the troops into the city first!" When Cheng Xishou and Ma Wei were about to wave their troops into the city, the captain of the 'Pixiu' task force, who had been silent, found them and stopped the expeditionary force's next military action.

Chen ...... Vice Chen, Your Majesty has a plan first, and your contingent must not interfere with the military operations of our expeditionary force, what do you mean by this? Cheng Xishou took the gold medal handed over by the captain of the Pixiu task force, and only then did he know that the surname of this person who had been on the same ship with him for half a year was Chen Minggu, and he was still the deputy of the Intelligence Department of the Imperial City Division, and he was actually a lieutenant general, with a military rank one level lower than himself, and the same level as the deputy marshal Ma Wei, he asked puzzled and surprised.

"Marshal, the humble position does not mean to interfere in the affairs of the army, but only to ask for something!" Chen Gu said with a respectful military salute.

"Then why are you stopping us from entering the city?" Ma Wei also looked this person up and down and asked, he was born and died in the army and followed the emperor for many years before he was awarded the rank of lieutenant general for his military exploits, and this person is a few years younger than himself, and he has never seen, or even heard of, this person in the army.

"This ...... Can this be a step forward? Chen Gu hesitated and said.

"Vice Chen, please have something to say!" Cheng Xishou immediately understood, and he waved his hand to let the left and right sides exit the tent.

"Xie Dashuai, Deputy Marshal is considerate!" Chen Gu still said very politely, "Your Majesty launched an expedition this time, do you know what the two marshals are for?" ”

"Didn't you punish the Seljuk Empire for robbing and killing our Great Song caravan and open up the sea trade route from the Great Song Dynasty to Persia? Is there anything else? Cheng Xishou and Ma Wei were very surprised when they looked at each other, and he said in a deep voice.

"What the marshal said is good, this expedition is to open up trade routes, but there is another reason why His Majesty is inconvenient to express!" Chen Gu said in a low voice, "Persia has been established for hundreds of years, although it has undergone a long period of change, but after all, it is also a great country, with a deep accumulation and many merits, and Your Majesty also yearns for it......

"We know this very well, the good things in the city will never be let go, they will be brought back to His Majesty, Ben Shuai once walked all over the world, this bit of vision is still there!" Without waiting for Chen Gu to finish speaking, Cheng Xishou said with a smile, secretly glad in his heart that the emperor was worried that he had missed the treasures in the city, so he sent someone else to keep an eye on it.

"No, no......" Chen Gu waved his hand again and again, "How can Your Majesty not worry about the sight of the marshal, but this time taking his property is only secondary, what His Majesty wants is something else, and the humble position is worried that the marshal will lead the troops into the city rashly and destroy it, so he rashly hindered it!" ”

"Oh, is there anything more important in this city than treasure? It can't be the caliphate! Cheng Xishou thought about it, and couldn't figure out what else in the city was worthy of His Majesty to launch an expedition and send people to fetch it...... (To be continued......)