Anti Qing

Chapter 32 Cave City
As the sun sets, the flames of war rage across the city.

To the east from Jindou Pass for more than [-] li, Malays came and went, and the sun was covered by smoke and dust.

Looking from a distance, the flags of Dashun were swaying with the wind, and the soldiers of Dashun surged eastward like a flood that broke the embankment.

Doduo looked down from the camp wall, and couldn't help being startled secretly.

All I saw was within a radius of five miles of the Qing army's camp, with flags covering the sun, a battalion of drum horns, and the infantry and cavalry of the Dashun army arranged in an orderly manner.

The soldiers of the Shun Army are forming a team of eight, carrying the ladder on their shoulders and holding the wooden boards in their hands.

"Are you scared?"

Duoduo put down the binoculars and suddenly asked beside him.

Nikan, who was wearing a red flag armor, shot out from his eyes, and his tone was firm.

"What's so scary about rogues?"

"Just wait for Prince Yu's order, and our Jianzhou warriors will be able to fight against a hundred!"

Duduo was very appreciative and patted Nikan on the shoulder.

"it is good!"

"Ambition is the style of my Jianzhou warrior!"

"Send an order to the two wings, no matter how the central army fights, as long as there is no military order from the king, they will be nailed to death!"

Nikan nodded, and a rider under his feet galloped out from the camp.

He knew in his heart that Duoduo had concluded that although Liu Zongmin's formation was large, it was absolutely impossible for him to focus on the front.

In other words, the Manchurian formation will face the impact of the rogues.

Nikan's palm holding the knife gradually oozes fine beads of sweat, his eyes move slightly, and he suddenly raises the knife and roars.

This is an old Jurchen language, and the surrounding Qing soldiers are also different from the previous green camp. They all raised their knives and shouted fiercely, and the filthy Jurchen language shot up into the sky.

"Woooooo-"

A burst of urgent trumpets sounded from the rear of the Dashun Army, and the storm commanded by Liu Zongmin began.

The soldiers of the Dashun Army raised their large shields, formed a formation of geese, charged forward roaring, and rushed towards the big banner of the Yellow Dragon where Duoduo was.

At the same time, Liu Zongmin gathered thousands of veterans dressed in green clothes to ride around on both sides, sometimes rushing towards the camp, sometimes stopping suddenly and rushing back.

But no matter how Liu Zongmin tried to test it, the three formations of the Qing army relying on the camp and fortifications remained unmoved, tightly condensing into a huge "V".

"Bang bang bang-"

More than [-] light cannons on the Niutou Plateau were constantly swallowing their flames, and the screams pierced through the air, and the place where they landed was full of screams.

In the camp, immediately beat the drums.

The green battalions on both sides, under the command of Wu Zhaosheng, the leader of the Zhenghuang Banner Han Army, and the Zhenghong Banner Han Army Zuo Territory Guobao, began to fight back against the Dashun Army.

Arrows flew from both sides to the Dashun army charging in the middle. Amidst the screams, many Dashun soldiers fell down one after another, bleeding all over the ground.

Nikan came down from the camp wall and returned to the Jurchen cavalry on the left. He rode on the horse and brandished a knife, supervised the battle back and forth, and shouted loudly.

The Jurchen cavalry is different from the green battalion. Everyone is surrounded by heavy armor and is good at riding and shooting. Liu Zongmin's tiger eyes flicker on and off.

He understood that these Jurchen cavalry could not be allowed to approach his wild goose formation.

Even if the goose-shaped formation was not directly dispersed, it would still be entangled by the heavily armored Jurchen cavalry. At that time, the front light would stop, and the green battalion on both wings would completely outflank it, making it difficult to retreat.

"kill!!"

Liu Zongmin brandished the Yanling Saber, roared loudly, and took the lead.

Behind him, thousands of veteran cavalry from Dashun rushed towards Nikan's Jurchen cavalry against the arrows and artillery of the Qing army.

The sudden rush of thousands of experienced riders disrupted Nikan's original plan to charge the front of the Dashun army, just when he didn't know what to do.

"Woooooo-"

In the Qing army camp, the sound of horns sounded urgently.

Hearing this voice, the Jurchen cavalry under Nikan were all wielding broadswords, and under the helmets were lifeless eyes.

It seemed that in front of them, these Dashun cavalry who rushed forward were already dead.

"kill!"

Nikan no longer had any worries, and led his team to fight back head-on.

The horse's hooves are stepping on the loess, and its mane is flying.

The most elite cavalry on both sides fought together, and their limbs were cut off in an instant. The mourning of the horses and the fierce shouts of killing were intertwined, which was breathtaking.

The cavalry on both sides are veterans who have experienced many battles. It is hard to say who is afraid of the other.

However, more intense battles ensued.

Liu Zongmin, the chief general of the Chinese army, personally led the team, which greatly boosted morale.

Soldiers of the Dashun Army followed one after another, filling in the ravines, crossing the earthen walls, and bumping into the Manchurian formation set up by Manchuria Duoduo in front of the camp.

The sharpest part of the wild goose formation intersects fiercely with the tightest part of the Manchurian formation.

On the wall of the camp, Duoduo commanded the Qing army to fire catapults, bed crossbows, arrows, and cupping cans in an orderly manner, using all available fortifications.

However, he did not expect that the real murderous intent was hidden under the Shura-like battlefield.

At the foot of Duo Duo, a long and narrow tunnel exiting from Jindou Pass is leading to his camp non-stop.

After Liu Zongmin left the battle, Li Zijing commanded more than a hundred veteran soldiers in the front battalion of the headquarters to find a large log, hollow it out, fill it with gunpowder and various explosives and firearms, wrap it with cloth strips, and transport it to the city wall of Jindouguan down and wait.

Once the tunnel is dug, they will push these logs full of gunpowder and transport them to the camp of the Qing army, and give the Qing army a grand fireworks show at their feet!

The idea is good, but it is difficult to put it into practice.

The first is the geographical conditions outside Tongguan. Although the loose soil has been found, there is still a difference when viewed with the naked eye on the city wall.

When actually digging, the soldiers would often dig the tunnel down directly, and the soil layer that was too loose could hardly last for too long.

Second, is the human heart.

In Li Zijing's headquarters, three veteran soldiers and more than a hundred ordinary soldiers who dug tunnels were buried in the dark underground.

Therefore, at the beginning of tunnel excavation, many people did not dare to go in and continue digging.

Sensing the suspicious eyes of others, Li Zijing understood that if he wanted the plan to go ahead, he must be the next one to get in.

Liu Zongmin's Chinese army alone could not break through the Duduo camp, and this is also true of historical facts.

No one dares to go in now. This method was proposed by Li Zijing. The soldiers of the Chinese army fought bloody battles as a cover.

If he is afraid at this time, all previous efforts will be wasted, and he will not even think about having any right to speak in the future.

Li Zijing hesitated again and again, but was the first to go in.

Behind him, the rest of the old soldiers and soldiers of the Shun Army looked at me and I looked at you, and they got in one after another.

In the dark tunnel, although the lantern in his hand was dark, it became the last light source.

Once the light source is turned off, the whole person will be in the darkness where the hands and fingers can't be stretched out, and then there will be no way to enter the sky or the earth.

Li Zijing raised his eyes to observe, the excavated tunnel was extremely narrow, only allowing two people to pass through side by side.

It was okay at the beginning, but as we moved forward, the tunnel that was several kilometers long could not be seen at a glance, and when we looked back, we couldn't see the path we came from.

Li Zijing's breathing gradually became heavier and faster, and he felt that the oxygen content in the air was extremely thin, no matter how hard he breathed, it was not enough.

It is more unacceptable to be buried in a tunnel and suffocate than to fight the enemy and die heroically on the battlefield.

Holding a torch, Li Zijing came to a fork in the road and saw the collapsed tunnel ahead.

It was just here that the tunnel collapsed accidentally, and a veteran soldier and more than forty ordinary soldiers who dug the tunnel were buried in front of them.

Li Zijing stopped in his tracks, and carefully lifted the lantern to observe.

Li Zijing stared at the left and right soil layers with burning eyes, constantly searching for the knowledge learned by later generations in his mind.

After a while, Li Zijing came to the right side, which is the landslide.

The shape of the soil layer here is different from that on the left side. If you look closely, you can see that the two wings are bent upwards. This geological structure is extremely unstable.

Li Zijing understood that the reason why the soldiers of Shun Army excavated here and collapsed was because the soil layer changed in this place.

This kind of change cannot be seen with a telescope on the city wall, even if it is on the ground at this moment, it is difficult for non-professional geologists to see it.

Unaware of the change in the soil layer, the soldiers of the Shun Army dug the tunnel forward according to the original plan, and dug out the rock layer, which caused the collapse.

Knowing the principle, it is not difficult to avoid it!
Li Zijing's confidence increased greatly, and he immediately raised the lantern and looked to the left.

The soil layer on the left is curved and dome-shaped, shaped like the back of an animal. If I remember correctly, the scientific name seems to be called an anticline soil layer or something.

Li Zijing didn't think about what it was called. He just remembered that this type of soil layer is very stable and should not be prone to collapse.

The old soldiers who followed behind didn't know what Li Zijing was observing, so they followed suit and observed the surroundings.

But in their eyes, loess is just loess, how can there be any soil structure?
After looking at it for a long time, I didn't find any reason. For a while, there were whispered discussions, and some people even retreated.

"dig!"

"Dig in this direction!"

Li Zijing picked up the shovel and started filling the basket with soil while speaking.

Seeing this, the rest of the soldiers of the Shun Army also started to move one after another, and some people shuttled back and forth in the tunnel, transporting soil outward.

(End of this chapter)