Siege of Diaoyu Castle
The Siege of Diaoyu Castle was a battle fought between Song China and the Mongol Empire at Diaoyu Castle in 1259.
The Mongol Empire had to lay siege to the Diaoyu Castle, which served as the administrative center of Hechuan county, in order to seize control of the city of Hechuan. The Mongols initially tried to break through the Xin Dong Gates, but the approach was conclusively feeble, thus forcing the Mongols to take another plan of action, this time at the Hu Guo Gate under the cover of darkness that would be led by the Khan's commander-in-chief, General Wang Dechen. Due to disease, only the fittest could participate which included Bayan's Jagun.
When the time came, Wang Dechen rallied the troops and silently creeped across the terrain until reaching the walls of the fortress. There he signaled for his to prepare as the throwers sent their lines to the top of the walls, where the hooks lodged in stone. Just as Bayan's unit began to climb up, the troops were ambushed by Song archers northwest of them in the trees who used the darkness to mask their positions, killing a third of the horde with rains of arrows. General Wang Dechen ordered Bayan unit to rid of the archers, leading to a confrontation between Bayan and a veteran Song commander in the forest. In the end, the Song brought out their most powerful artillery and fatally wounded Dechen with an explosion, ending their battle. In the middle of the confusion, Bayan killed the veteran and the troops withdrew with their general who was barely alive and took him to their shaman, but perished nonetheless.
During the assault, Möngke Khan, the fourth khan of the Mongol Empire, was assassinated by the Assassin initiate, Zhang Zhi, in retaliation for the death of her father.[1]
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