stubborn thief

Tongguan.

The dusty rat jumped up suddenly and slammed into the ajar wooden door on the threshold again and again, squeaking in annoyance.

Tao Hui sat next to the coffin in the room, raising his hands to scratch the rotten lumps in the collar of his soldier's uniform. The pain made him brace himself and continue to load the three-eyed gun.

The sound of heavy breathing was like pulling a bellows. Tao Hui had long known that Tongguan could not be defended.

He is the servant Xuanfeng of Zhang Eryou, the commander of the Tongguan Guards.

Fifteen days ago, he fought against the rats in Tongguan; ten days ago, he developed a fever and realized that he was infected with the plague. He voluntarily followed Zhang Eryou out of the border, fought against the marshal's army with his sick body, and lost three battles in a row.

After escaping back to Tongguan, he couldn't bear the fever and almost died. The scholar Sheng Zhaozhi saved his life with three bowls of ephedra and cohosh soup.

But it was just to save his life. Tongguanwei's medicinal materials were limited. The plague took away his wife, children and mother within a few days, and they all lay in the coffin behind him.

Five days ago, Wei Qian'er was working on a key problem, but Tao Hui couldn't get out of bed. Until now, his face is still as yellow as Dian Wei in Bangzi Opera.

Coupled with the pimples and scars all over his body, his whole person exuded the aura of a finished person whose death was imminent and reincarnation was not far away.

In a situation like his, the Tongguan garrison was already relatively lucky.

During the three days when he was lying on the bed to recuperate, Tongguan Guancheng was overwhelmed by the swarming marshal's army. Although the number of soldiers and civilians in the pass was actually far greater than that of marshal Wei Qian'er's army, they were still overwhelmed.

Wei Qian'er had no siege weapons, not even a ladder truck, and used very primitive ant-assisted siege methods.

They first cleared the countryside west of Tongguan, and then divided their troops into two groups. They demolished houses and packed earth bags outside Xiguan, ran all the way to the south plateau, crossed the forbidden ditch on foot, and launched an attack on the empty Twelve Company City.

Most of the cities that also belonged to the Tongguan defense system were abandoned due to the plague. There were no defenders in the cities at all, and they were captured at about the same speed as the march.

Within a day, Tongguan, which was still preparing for the epidemic, became an isolated city.

Then Wei Qian'er's sergeants used strong bows, muskets, lion cannons, and thousand-jin cannons to cover the Guan Guan garrison on the river bank. At the same time, they drove the mule and horse teams to push bricks, wood, earth and rocks into the forbidden ditch, bury the moat, and further move the earth. Throw the bag at the bottom of the city and climb the city on the soil.

Tongguan is a mountain city built on the mountains with the Yellow River in the north.

It has a complete defense system in both east and west directions. It is not only the gateway to the west to protect the Central Plains, but also the gate to the east to protect the Sanqin.

In the Yuan Dynasty, this pass was an important place where Mongolia suppressed the Central Plains. It also determined the ownership of world hegemony in the early Ming Dynasty, which determined its important military position.

But for most of the Ming Dynasty, it was not that important in reality.

Since the Jiajing period, a large amount of silver has flowed in, and the Ming Empire has entered a period of rapid development and prosperity, which has lasted a hundred years.

In the past hundred years, Tongguan, as an inland pass with complex jurisdiction, had the biggest mission of garrisoning daimyo.

In the Daming Prefecture in North Zhili, the flag army of Tongguan Guard will be stationed there, subject to the control of the Daming Army.

Because Tongguan began to come under the jurisdiction of Northern Zhili in the sixth year of Yongle, the military and political examinations were in charge of the governor and inspector of Zhili.

Even five years before Xuande, because it was the Zhili Guard, the Tongguan Guard Banner Army had to undertake the water transportation task in the northern section and ran to the Grand Canal in the east to escort the water ships.

In the military, the superior of the Tongguan Guards is the Governor's Office of the Chinese Army in Nanzhili. Therefore, as the Beijing Cao Ban Army, the flag army has to go to Nanjing every year to work.

Therefore, Tongguan Guard has always been under multiple jurisdictions. Geographically, it is governed by Shaanxi Province, it is governed by Zhili in the administrative region of the north, it is governed by Zhili in the military region of the south, and it is governed by the garrison in Henan.

For a long time, the daily routine of the Tongguan Flag Guard was to travel around the country and do some small business.

Over a hundred years, the most important battle took place here. During the Jiajing period, the abundance of gold led to rampant mining bandits. The commander, Sheng De, led his army on an expedition and was killed in the battle.

In fact, if we only count it in terms of military strength, firepower, and equipment, the Tongguan defenders will not lose no matter how hard they fight.

Their manpower was twice that of Wei Qian'er's camp, and their artillery was five times as many.

However, as peace prevailed for a long time, trees were planted on the river embankment outside the western pass of the city, and residential buildings were everywhere in the western suburbs, which provided excellent cover for Wei Qian'er's army. On the contrary, it made it difficult for the defenders of the pass to aim. create a disadvantage.

The failure of the cannon to hit anyone not only made Wei Qian'er's soldiers laugh, but also hurt the morale of the defenders.

So much so that Wei Qian'er used only one battalion of field artillery and muskets to suppress a city wall, allowing the soldiers to climb and attach themselves to the city gate.

When the first marshal's troops climbed onto the city wall, Tongguan was declared to have fallen.

The Tongguan Guards' flag army did not have an advantage in the shooting stage at the top of the city. When the marshal's troops climbed up to the top of the city, the sick soldiers of the flag army had trouble even wielding weapons, let alone fighting.

However, the battle after entering Tongguan was not as smooth as Wei Qian'er imagined.

As early as receiving the news that Wei Qian'er's troops were in Bocheng, Zhang Eryou, the commander of Tongguan Guards, had already made a judgment in his heart: it was only a matter of time before Tongguan fell.

Although there are many defenders, more people have fallen ill. Even though there are over 10,000 soldiers and civilians in Guancheng, they cannot be organized. So far, they have not even done anything to strengthen the walls and clear the fields.

The beams, columns, bricks and tiles of the houses outside the city will be used by the rebels to fill trenches and attack the city, which means that it is easy to climb the city.

In the battle on the city, half of the soldiers and civilians who were injured and injured were even less likely to be the opponents of the Marshal's army.

After all, through the strategizing of the commander Sheng Yida, the two talents Sheng Kuizhi and Sheng Zhaozhi, the descendants of the Sheng family, prescribed the right medicine. Tongguan Wei now has a basic understanding of the disease.

Counting the days, it will be at least two days before a large-scale infection breaks out in this battalion of the Marshal's Army.

How easy is it for them to use sick and wounded soldiers to resist the able-bodied men of the Marshal's Mansion?

But you have to defend if you can't. Not only must you defend, but you must also drag the Marshal's army to Tongguan as much as possible. Even if you die, you must drag them to die together.

Tongguan's defensive deployment was very simple. Li Jizu, a fellow commander, led the soldiers and civilians to the city to preside over the defense. They could hold it as long as they could.

The commander Sheng Yida led the remnants of the army who had no combat effectiveness but were still alive in the city, and escorted vehicles, grain, and property to move to the Qin Wangzhai outside Dongguan.

As for the commander Zhang Eryou, he gathered all the flag troops in Tongguan who were still able to fight, and prepared for street battles in the intricate streets of the city.

Zhang Eryou's mobilization of officers and flag troops was also very simple.

He told the hereditary officers of the Guard: "I have been blessed by the country and received honors and honors for my whole life. Since I cannot defend our territory, today is the time for us to serve the country with our lives!"

As for the Banner Army, it was another way of saying: "If there is a way to survive, there is no harm in surrendering, but we are seriously ill, and they are also infected with the disease. Even if we surrender and be humiliated, we still cannot escape death. Why not fight hard and die here?" Homes in the east will be safe."

Naturally, the hereditary officers had nothing to say. The flag soldiers had children who followed Sheng Yida eastward, so they could accept such a result. However, all their family members died in the plague, and they had little to live on. OK.

In this era, street fighting is the last resort.

Because once the commanding heights like the city gate tower were occupied, it could be said that the movement of the garrison in the city could be seen at a glance.

Secondly, although the defenders have the advantage of being familiar with the terrain and road conditions, their vision is blocked and it is difficult to follow the flag and drum orders, but the commander cannot command quickly and can only command the soldiers in front of him.

This determines that it is difficult for the defenders to organize themselves in street fighting, and it is difficult to quickly mobilize support and move quickly after the attack.

But these problems do not exist for Zhang Eryou and the Tongguan Banner Army.

They do not need the command of senior generals, organization, transfer, or transfer. As soon as the city was broken, the stragglers took up residence in the houses and courtyards of the city. The able-bodied flag soldiers went up to the houses to shoot at each other, while the weak ones squatted in the houses with muskets in their hands, staring at the door, ready to kill anyone who rushed in at any time. the first person.

It doesn’t matter if no one comes in. Anyway, we don’t have much time left and we are just waiting to die.

At the corner of the street, from time to time, five, six, or seven or eight cavalrymen would rush into the formation with spears. The cavalrymen would sometimes be shot down by muskets, and there were also warriors who would rush into the formation and chop and trample them randomly.

In short, the Tongguan Guards Banner Army is trying to find a decent way to reincarnate.

On his first day in the city, Wei Qian'er, who was suffering from a high fever, heard that the forwards were attacked by the Ming army at various street corners and that houses were shot at by the Ming army. This made him even more irritated, as he was already weak and weak: "The city walls were all attacked." Now that I'm down, can I still be bullied by him?"

"Turn the muzzles of the cannons on the city wall upside down and face them into the city, and hit anyone you see."

"Don't fight with them house by house. If you feel like someone is there, just throw something in your hand and blow it up first."

"Hurry up and kill everything that moves!"

Ever since this camp sent troops to Tongguan, everyone thought that their time in this world was numbered.

Liu Chengzong's carefully crafted bridle fell to the ground, and more than 4,000 battalion soldiers broke free from their shackles. There were no longer so many taboos.

Following Wei Qian'er's order, all kinds of artillery fired on the city walls soon, firing solid iron bullets, loose bullets and even explosive shells of various sizes into the residences of soldiers and civilians in the city.

These are all the defensive equipment left by the Ming army on the city, from bowl-mouthed cannons that fired flower bombs to general cannons that fired solid iron bullets, as well as Fran cannons that fired a mixture of loose powder and live ammunition. The head was hit so loudly that the sound of cannons was heard.

The iron bullets were like hammers, smashing through brick walls.

The scattered particles are like slag, breaking through walls and windows, tearing doors and windows into pieces.

Even the frontline infantry, each team brought a few flying cannonballs. When they encountered a house that sensed danger, they would first pour two cannonballs into it.

Not to mention, the flying cannon is not a very useful weapon when used. Two ignitions increase the number of accidents. At the same time, the longer range makes it easier to knock out the shell's signal tube and cause flameout.

But in special terrain like streets and alleys, throwing cannonballs directly into houses is surprisingly useful.

The ease of use is very good and the lethality is even more impressive.

Two hours after entering Tongguan, a huge explosion came from the direction of Wei Yamen.

Wei Qian'er could see the smoke and dust raised by the explosion from the gate tower of the west city wall.

Soon, the messengers running through the streets reported to him that the Ming army commander Zhang Eryou was killed in the formation.

When the soldiers of the camp advanced from west to east in Tongguan and were about to attack the Wei Yamen, Zhang Eryou led more than 40 riders to clash several times on the small road.

This was a genuine fierce general. Although he was in poor physical condition after contracting the disease, he was still able to wear armor, ride a horse, shoot, and slash with a sword. As many as sixteen soldiers were killed or injured in his hands alone.

Correspondingly, many of his cavalry were also killed, and in the end only five were left.

During the last charge, Zhang Eryou, who had been hit by more than ten arrows, was hit head-on in the chest by a musket at close range.

Iron armor cannot stop the marshal's army's standard heavy guns. Lead bullets weighing one, two, and five cents can kill cattle and horses at a distance of two hundred paces, let alone hit the body at close range.

Only a piece of armor leaf was broken into pieces on the front of Zhang Eryou's armor, but a hole as big as his head was punched out on the back of the armor, and even the goggles behind were broken into pieces by fragments of lead bullets.

Four of the remaining five cavalrymen were surrounded and captured by the marshal's army while they were snatching Zhang Eryou's body.

This group of people did not want to surrender at all. They fought for Zhang Eryou's body just because this was the order Zhang Eryou gave them before the war started.

"If I die in battle, don't let the thieves get my body."

Even though they were surrounded, they still wanted to resist and were not captured until their weapons were knocked down.

However, one person did not fight for the body and ran directly back to the Wei Yamen. It didn't take long for a loud noise to be heard there.

According to the prisoners, she was Zhang Eryou's wife, concubine and daughter.

He originally had two sons. The eldest son followed him out of the city to fight and died in the first conflict with Wei Qian'er.

The younger son contracted the disease when the plague hit. Just as the doctor died of the disease, the two sons of the Sheng family had not yet come out to practice medicine with medical books. The garrison at the gate did not understand the disease and died before being rescued.

Only his wives, concubines, and daughters were left. None of them wanted to follow Sheng Yida to the Qin Wangzhai outside Dongguan, so they piled gunpowder and firewood in the Wei Yamen. When they learned that Zhang Eryou had been killed in battle, they ignited the gunpowder and blew themselves up and the Wei Yamen to pieces. broken.

In this way, the last organized defense army in Tongguan was destroyed under Wei Qian'er.

Then the stragglers who were still resisting in the corner of the house were eliminated, which was even smoother.

They even found the barn where the Ming army stored grain and grass that day, with countless rice grains and countless rats.

The hole-drilled barn has almost turned into a rat's nest.

When Wei Qian'er received the news, he immediately came down from the city gate tower and galloped all the way into the barn. When he saw the mountains of grain, he smiled with relief for the first time since the plague struck.

Ignoring the rats scurrying around, he cut open the grain sack with a knife and watched the grain flow out of the crack in the sack. He said to the people around him: "Great, this way, even if all of us die from the plague, we can still survive." Leave something for the Commander's Mansion to repay the Commander's support."

Having said that, Wei Qian'er, who had been suffering from a high fever for two days and had been awake for two days, finally couldn't stand it any longer. He took two steps, fell into a trance, and fell on the grain bag.

Everyone hurriedly moved him from the barn to a shady place.

Fortunately, Tongguan's problems are no longer big, and now only Daying's own problems remain.

No one gave the order, and I don’t know which team started it first. In short, in less than half a day, except for the two hundred people stationed at the east gate, everyone in the entire camp took off their armor, took off their weapons, and took off their armor. Team flag.

According to the team organization, weapons, artillery, and gunpowder were neatly placed outside the west gate of Tongguan.

Then they found a place in the city for those who were sick and unable to get up. The remaining soldiers who were still able to move began to demolish houses, chop trees and boards, and rush to make coffins.

At the same time, the Ming army corpses that could be seen everywhere in the city were pulled outside the east gate.

The soldiers took out the barns to stock up on grain, slaughtered the dead and wounded horses in the city, and cooked delicious food in various ways from morning to night.

Some people even dug graves outside the city, set up signs for themselves, and occupied carefully selected Feng Shui treasures.

The entire Tongguan camp was thinking about what would happen after death.

As dusk approached, the defenders stationed on the east city wall suddenly discovered that huge shadows appeared in the open space in the city and quickly passed over the ground from time to time, again and again.

People looked up at the setting sun in the evening, and their numb faces showed a strange look.

The sacred snow-capped mountain bird that should not appear in the Central Plains spreads its wings, and its wings are bathed in the sun and emit golden light, circling and gliding over Tongguan.

"Vulture, the vulture is here, the commander is marching!" (End of Chapter)