Zhang Xun (Tang Dynasty) - During The Anshi Rebellion - Battle of Suiyang

Battle of Suiyang

Yin Ziqi launched repeated attacks on Suiyang, each time repelled by Zhang Xun. Meanwhile, though, the food supplies — which Xu Yuan had initially gathered plenty of in anticipation of a siege but which Li Ju had forced Xu to partially give to two other commanderies, Puyang (濮陽, roughly modern Puyang, Henan) and Jiyin (濟陰, roughly modern Heze, Shandong) — began to run out. By summer 757, Suiyang was in desperate straits, with the soldiers forced to eat a mixture of rice, tea leaves, paper, and bark. Many suffered from illnesses. Despite this, Zhang continued to fight off attack after attack. He also divided the defense zones with Xu, with him defending the northeast side and Xu defending the southwest side, both spending the days and nights with the soldiers in defending the city. He often called out to the Yan troops, trying to persuade them that the Tang cause was righteous, and it was said that often, Yan soldiers would be touched by his words and surrender and join his troops.

Zhang made one desperate attempt to seek aid. He gave his officer Nan Jiyun (南霽雲) 30 cavalry soldiers and had Nan fight his way out of the siege, to head to Linhuai (臨淮, in modern Huai'an, Jiangsu) to seek aid from the Tang general Helan Jinming (賀蘭進明), who had the strongest Tang force in the area. When Nan arrived at Linhuai, however, Helan refused to render aid — believing that by the time that he arrived at Suiyang, Suiyang would have fallen already and he would have merely put his own army at risk. (Historical accounts also indicated that Helan was jealous of Zhang and Xu, and also feared attacks from another Tang general, Xu Shuji (許叔冀), an ally of the chancellor Fang Guan, to whom Helan was a political enemy.) Instead, Helan tried to keep Nan on his staff, and Nan refused. He headed for Ningling and joined forces with Lian Tan and 3,000 men, then headed back toward Suiyang. However, when they arrived back at Suiyang and tried to fight into the city, they suffered heavy losses, and only 1,000 survived.

Zhang's officers urged him to consider abandoning Suiyang and fleeing east. Zhang and Xu discussed the proposal, but eventually decided to keep defending the city, believing that abandoning Suiyang would allow Yan forces to attack and capture the region between the Huai River and the Yangtze River, and that given how weak their troops were, they could not escape disaster even if they abandoned Suiyang. However, the food supplies further ran out, and they began to have to kill their warhorses for food. After the horses were gone, they ate sparrows and rats. Eventually, Zhang killed his beloved concubine and let the soldiers eat her body. Xu then killed his servants for food as well, followed by the women in the city, and then the non-abled body men. It was said that although everyone knew that he or she would die, no one resisted. Eventually, only 400 people remained in the city.