A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 104 Bloody battle at the head of the city

The ladder was built firmly on the top of the city. Zhong Xiancai, the officer of the Left Sentinel Armor Team, could see clearly from the lookout hole in the side wall. Several Qing soldiers in heavy armor and armed with swords and shields had climbed the ladder. , kept climbing up, Zhong Xian shouted: "Golden juice, pour it!"

Immediately, the two auxiliary soldiers lifted the cauldron with iron rods, and lifted it to the height of the crenel with difficulty. The iron pan fell violently, and the boiling dung juice inside immediately poured out like a waterfall. Glows golden yellow.

The extreme stench filled the air, and the screams of inhumanity rang out. Three or four Qing soldiers in vests climbing up the ladder, and a few unarmored Qing soldiers who were following the wooden ladder under the ladder, were all boiled. The rolling dung juice poured all over his body and face, and he immediately fell to the ground screaming, rolling back and forth on the ground, making a howling sound that didn't sound like a human voice.

It was useless for those vests to hold up the big shields. No one could be spared from the boiling dung that covered their heads and faces. They all fell to pieces, and even the cotton armors on their bodies sneered and smoked, and they were scalded to the inside. iron leaf.As for the unarmored followers without shield protection, it was even worse. Their hands and faces were all scalded, and even the bones inside were exposed.

These people rolled on the ground and screamed in horror. Their feces were poured on their bodies, and they were severely burned. Even if they did not die on the spot, in such a hot weather, the feces were deeply corroded, and the wounds were severely infected and rotted. There is absolutely no possibility of survival.

These people also had the stench of golden juice coming from under the ladder, which made the nearby Qing soldiers vomit.

In just this moment, six or seven Qing soldiers were seriously injured at the ladder, and there was no possibility of resuscitating them.

Looking at their miserable appearance, they looked at the high city wall with hesitant and fearful expressions on their faces because of the viciousness of the dead soldiers of the Qing army who were about to ascend the city under the city or next to the trench.

Not only that, but stones were constantly falling on this section of the city wall. Although the accuracy was not high, they continued to cause casualties to the Qing soldiers who climbed the city, especially those Qing soldiers who had no armor or only cotton armor. , Many people were killed and injured!
Some thick stones were smashed down from above, and even those dead soldiers with vests holding their shields had their hands and feet broken.

Under the city, Qing soldiers kept screaming and falling down. This small square inch of land is a place of death.

Seeing those Qing soldiers standing still, Niu Luzhangjing, who commanded outside the trench, was furious. The trumpeters beside him immediately sounded drums to urge them. Aim at those comrades in the city.

The white-armored soldiers in the Qing army, in addition to waiting for opportunities to support, also had the role of supervising the formation. Once the forwards flinched or fled, these white-armored soldiers would execute them.Under such oppression, the dead soldiers mustered up their courage again. After the two ladders were close together, they raised their swords and shields and climbed up the city from the ladders.

It's just that the ladder was up, and after a few Qing soldiers climbed up, there was boiling and foul-smelling golden juice pouring down from the top of the city, causing these Qing soldiers to fall down screaming and rolling on the ground, screaming inhumanely.Fortunately, after three pots of golden juice were poured on the city, there was no more golden juice poured in. It seems that the Ming army's golden juice in the city wall had been used up, and even the number of stones dropped was greatly reduced.

The Qing soldiers under the city were greatly stimulated, and then more than 20 dead soldiers climbed up from the three ladders.

But at this moment, from the left side of the city wall and the urn on the right, those Ming army gunners who had disappeared from the crenel for a long time began to appear again, and they stretched out a few black guns from both sides In the pincer attack, they fired fiercely. Whenever the flames and smoke from the gun's muzzle rose, those Qing soldiers who were hit, even if they were wearing several layers of heavy armor, were dead and broke from the ladder, screaming and falling down from the ladder.

At this time, the dozens of archers of the Qing soldiers under the city, after shooting a few rounds before, they already felt that their arm strength was insufficient, and the number of arrows to support suppression was greatly reduced, and the threat was not enough.Those dead soldiers were busy climbing the city, and it was impossible to shoot arrows. The dozens of the most powerful white armored soldiers were far outside the trench, and they were powerless against the Ming army's musketeers on the horse-faced urn city.

The advantage of the Shunxiang Fort firecrackers was revealed at this time, unlike bows and arrows, they did not need strong arms at all to fire the firecrackers.As long as the firecracker is not hot and there is a sufficient supply of ammunition, it can continue to shoot.

……

"The warriors suffered a lot of casualties."

Not far from the outside of the trench, Niulu Zhangjing was in front, with left and right shield chariots, and under the heavy protection of white armored soldiers beside him, he just looked at the top of the city, feeling sorry for himself.

Under the order of Najialazhangjing, Niulu Zhangjing led two hundred soldiers and three hundred auxiliary soldiers to attack the city.Unexpectedly, before approaching the castle, there were more than ten casualties in the army, all of whom died under the artillery fire of the Ming army at the top of the city. Several of them were soldiers, and one white armored soldier's calf was crushed by a fallen horse. .

On the way to the castle, more than a dozen Qing soldiers were killed or injured by the Ming army's guns on the city.

After approaching the city, Niu Luzhang Jing's soldiers divided into two groups.On the left side of the city gate, Niulu Zhangjing led more than 150 soldiers and more than 200 auxiliary soldiers to personally command the siege.At the city wall on the right side of the city gate, there were more than 100 armored infantry soldiers and [-] auxiliary soldiers leading another Niulu's armored infantry to attack.

The following soldiers and archers covered, and those followers were filling the trenches and clearing the horses, antlers, and caltrops in front of the trenches. Only on Niulu Zhangjing's side, there were more than 40 casualties in the army.More than a dozen of them were soldiers in heavy armor.

Especially those followers who have no armor or only wear cotton armor. Not only do they have to risk the fire of the Ming army on the city, but when clearing the barbed caltrops, many unarmored followers have their feet pierced by sharp barbed caltrops. Many people also injured their hands when carrying those horses full of iron thorns.

After finally clearing away the horse thorns in front of the ditch, and filling in a ditch of more than ten steps, the Qing soldiers began to climb the ladder to climb the city. Here, they were hit again by the Ming army on the city. , and there were also many casualties under the fire of the Ming army on both sides.

It is roughly estimated that there were nearly 30 Qing soldiers casualties here, and half of them were soldiers in heavy armor.The casualties were so heavy before they reached the city wall, how could we not let that Niu Luzhangjing cry with his chest pounding?
In the distance from the city wall on the left side of the south gate to the front of the ditch, corpses of Qing soldiers and wounded howling were lying here and there. All the dead had huge mouths, especially those who The Qing soldiers who were scalded to death by the golden juice and smashed to death and injured by rolling wood and stones looked even more miserable.

Among the wounded and corpses, nearly 30 were soldiers from the Qing army. In addition to the damage to them caused by rolling wood and stones and golden juice in the city, some of them were hit by firecrackers. The two layers of heavy armor on their bodies were not Without bringing them safety, the firecrackers of the Ming army in the city could easily break through their double-layer armor, causing them to die tragically on the ground.

This kind of situation is rarely encountered in other castles in Ming Dynasty, which made many Qing soldiers in the city fear this place called Shunxiang Fort.

Under the hot sun, the smell of blood, gunpowder smoke, and the smell of golden juice permeated everywhere, making people want to vomit.

Niu Luzhangjing resisted the smell, and kept looking at the top of the city.Beside him, two Niulu official flags are standing tall, and beside him are all Kabashi soldiers in bright helmets with flying feathers on their helmets, and behind them are flying tigers carrying flags.There are also Baibaya soldiers with tall red tassels on helmets and double armor.

Niu Luzhang Jing wore three layers of heavy armor, the innermost layer of chain mail, then the iron armor, and the outermost layer of armor inlaid with iron wool.Although these three layers of heavy armor can effectively protect his safety, in the hot weather, wearing armor weighing dozens of kilograms on his body made him extremely uncomfortable, and beads of sweat kept rolling from his head.

Fortunately, Niu Luzhangjing has been in battle for a long time, so he can bear it. He only hopes to capture the city as soon as possible so that everything in front of him can end.

The loss of so many people under this small Shunxiang Fort already made him very surprised by the fighting power of the Ming army in the city. Fortunately, many warriors climbed to the top of the city. With his insignificant hand-to-hand combat ability, he must be able to break through this damn city soon.

The huge number of casualties in the army has exceeded the psychological expectations of many Qing soldiers. If the city is not broken, if this continues, the warriors of our own side may collapse and retreat soon.

……

Just now when the gold juice was poured, although Zhong Xiancai heard the screams of the Tartar soldiers outside, he couldn't see the situation below the city. Juice, there was another scream from under the city.

Soon, the three ladders in front of him heard the sound of Tartar soldiers climbing up again. It seems that rolling wood and beating stones can't stop the attack of Tartar soldiers in the city. He only has one pot of Jinzhi on his side, and his signature A soft voice sounded urgently: "Resist the horse and prepare, the pikemen will fight!"

Soon, the same voice from the brother team sounded on the surrounding city walls.

The distance of dozens of steps from the barn city to the horse face of the left city wall is defended by the soldiers of the left sentry team A and some soldiers from the second team. Soldiers are climbing up.

Hearing the team officer's order, a group of auxiliary soldiers rushed up immediately, moved some refusal horses on the inner side of the city wall, and placed them on the crenel wall next to the ladder.These refusal horses were covered with sharp iron barbs, which looked intimidating. In order to enhance the blocking power and lethality, the auxiliary soldiers, under the command of the team officer, deployed the refusal horses front and back.

After the auxiliary soldiers set up their refusal horses, they quickly left this section of the city wall. Their mission here was completed, and the next battle was left to the warrior brothers.

Behind or next to these places on the city wall, 25 armored pikemen from the Left Sentinel Armor Team were staring at the ladder with their guns fixed. They were divided into five teams, each standing at a city wall. , each corporal led four people to fight.

In the prior military discussions of Wang Dou and others, the enemy soldiers came to the city, which is a good opportunity to kill and injure them in large numbers, and at the same time, it can also exercise the hand-to-hand combat ability of one's own soldiers.Only in the life-and-death struggle will those recruits grow rapidly!
In order to reduce casualties, Wang Dou stipulated that when encountering most of the Qing soldiers, those who could be shot with firecrackers should be shot from a distance first, and the remaining pikemen should rush forward to assassinate.

The left sentinel and the rear sentinel of Shunxiang Fort fighting at the head of the city had a total of 200 firecrackers. Under the two rounds of arrow rain that the Qing soldiers were caught off guard, they joined some young and strong auxiliary soldiers, and then shot each other up and down the city. , about 30 casualties.The Left Sentinel A team also suffered a few casualties, leaving a lot of blood in this area.

At this time, the firecrackers of team A, in addition to leaving a team of firecrackers in squad A to continue shooting down the horse facing the city, the remaining several teams of firecrackers were also led by their own corporal leaders in the team, and under the leadership of the pikemen. Waiting for opportunities to support shooting around or behind.

The upper part of the wall of Shunxiang Fort is about [-] meters wide. Even if these jumas are placed at the crenel, the teams can be comfortably accommodated behind and around the jumas.

In the end, the pikemen and firecrackers of each team were under the unified command of the chief armor, and the sergeants of the five teams were under the unified command of the team officer Zhong Xiancai. Beside him, two guards and two standard-bearers and drummers were also holding knives nervously. Stand by your side.

Listening to the voices outside the city, the sergeants of the Left Sentinel A team all pursed their lips tightly, their chests rose and fell rapidly, and they just nervously watched the movement on the other side of the ladder.

Finally, a few steps away from the first horse-faced city wall on the left, at the entrance of the ladder, a Qing soldier holding a round shield and a half-moon hatchet in his right hand appeared. There are also several deep scars.Judging by his armor and the banner on his back, he is actually a special leader in the vest of the Qing soldiers.

As soon as he appeared at the top of the city, he didn't even look inside. He used a round shield to protect his front to prevent the Ming army in the city from coming.Holding a hatchet in his right hand, he yelled and jumped down from the top of the city. Usually, his aura can scare away many Ming troops in the city, and it has been tried and tested.

This Zhuanda has this confidence, as long as he jumps on the top of the city, he can open a foothold for the team behind him.

Unexpectedly, under the city wall of the ladder, there were several horses standing all over the place. The sharp iron thorns were shining coldly. When he jumped down, he just jumped on one of the horses. In an instant, many sharp iron thorns pierced him deeply. In his body, he screamed loudly, twisting his heavy body desperately.

"kill!"

This crenel is guarded by the spearmen of Team A and Team B. Several spearmen have already leveled their spears and are ready to go.The officer jumped on the rejecting horse, the corporal shouted loudly, he rushed two steps away, and immediately the spear in his hand pierced the iron-inlaid cotton armor and the inner chain mail on his body, piercing deeply into his chest heart.

At the same time, the remaining spears of Team B's team leader stabbed all of Boda's body. One spear pierced his eye, one pierced his throat, and two spears pierced his chest. On the left and right breasts.

The Qing soldier's body was entangled by the horse, and he couldn't move at all. He held a round shield in his left hand and a half-moon hatchet in his right. Roaring like this, he was trapped in the horse and died, his eyes were wide open, as if he was dying!

Then two Qing soldiers in vests appeared at the top of the city. They were holding round shields, one was holding a cloud ladder knife, and the other was holding a long-bladed broadsword. They had already heard the roar of the master, and they hesitated for a moment. After sweeping it, he could clearly see the movement inside the city wall.

Surprised expressions appeared on the faces of the two, the vest with the long-bladed broadsword jumped onto the dead Qing soldier Boda, and pushed the shield in his left hand violently, trying to push away the repelling horses in front of him.

The leader of the second team hurriedly shouted: "Pikemen, retreat!"

Immediately, the sergeants of Team B's spear team quickly drew their guns from Na Boda's body and retreated.

The leader of Team B shouted, and quickly stabbed the Qing soldier's vest holding a long-bladed broadsword with his long spear. Just as the vest was about to push away the last repelling horse in front of him, there was a sudden sound, and the long spear was extremely fierce. When he stabbed in front of his eyes, he hastily blocked it with his round shield, and there was a loud bang, and the spear was blocked by him.

This shot was so powerful, the vest hadn't breathed a sigh of relief, but the armor chief followed up with another heavy stab. This armor chief practiced sprinting every day, and the spear was indescribably ruthless and accurate. Putting on the vest is still trapped inside the horse, how can he block this gun?
With a scream, the vest was stabbed heavily in the throat by the captain, and the tip of the gun came out through the throat.

The armored commander drew his gun, and the armored soldier spurted out blood from his throat. He staggered for a while, and then fell on the ground and died.

Another armored soldier with a round shield and a ladder knife in his right hand took a few quick steps on the wall and jumped down from a place where no horses were refused.In front of him were the pikemen and firecrackers of Team A and Team C of the Left Sentinel. He raised the round shield and broadsword in his hand, with a grin on his face. Although it was a pair of eleven, there was no fear on his face.

He let out a big roar, and was about to charge forward with a big knife and round shield. There were a few loud bangs, and the pungent smoke and gunpowder smell spread, but all the five guns from the C team hit him.

This vest soldier was wearing a double layer of heavy armor and was holding a round shield. However, at such a short distance, five firecrackers came at him at once. Not to mention the shield in his hand, even the heavy armor on his body was completely destroyed. When it was broken, several huge blood holes were punched out of his body, and all the bones in his chest were shattered.

The huge impact force of several firecrackers sent the body of the vest flying backwards heavily, and his body hit the battlement, and then fell forward to the ground again with a blow.

His head was tilted, his mouth and eyes were wide open, and a large amount of blood clots gushed out of his mouth. He was already dead beyond the point of death.

The leader of Team C scolded: "Who told you to shoot out all the firecrackers?"

According to the regulations in advance, when there is only one enemy in front of you, one firecracker is usually used to shoot, at most two, and the remaining firecrackers are used to attack more enemies and support the operations of the pikemen in the squad.But just now, the firecrackers of Team C got nervous and shot out all the firecrackers in their hands. If there were any enemies, they could only rely on the pikemen's brothers to fight with flesh and blood.

Hearing Captain A's scolding, the firecrackers of Team C all showed shame on their faces. Under the command of Corporal Leader, they quickly exited this area to load ammunition. This place is no longer safe. Fire guns are not as effective as burning fire sticks.

……

In this short period of time, seven or eight Qing soldiers jumped from the two ladders in this area, and the section of the city wall that passed the first horse face on the left side of the city wall also jumped from the ladder. Several Qing soldiers jumped off the ladder.But from that side, the C and D teams on the left whistle are responsible for the defense.

At this time, more than a dozen dead Qing soldiers had already jumped off the city wall, and there were still more dead Qing soldiers climbing and jumping down from the ladder behind.

These Qing soldiers were all wearing two layers of heavy armor. Except for some of them holding round shields and broadswords, most of them did not hold shields. Holding heavy long-handled tiger-tooth knives, or carrying tiger spears and eight-banner spears, they just kept jumping down from the top of the city.

However, these Qing soldiers who jumped down from the ladder, the first few of them, without exception, jumped on the rejecting horse and were injured and screamed, or were blocked by the rejecting horse, and they were wearing heavy armor, which made their movements very inconvenient.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhong Xian shouted: "Squad B, Squad D, gunners, shoot!"

The firecrackers of the two teams had already aimed at the horse-rejecting places at the entrance of the two ladders. When they heard the order, they moved their boards at the four or five Qing soldiers who landed at the two horse-repelling places at a distance of a few steps. machine.The sound of gunfire was loud, and the Qing soldiers in front of the two repelling horses were wearing heavy armor. They were inconvenient to move, and it was extremely difficult to move inside the repelling horses. They had no power to resist, and could only scream and be beaten to death.

When they were dying, these Qing soldiers waved their shields and hoped that the armor on their bodies would protect them, but they were all disappointed. No matter how thick their shields and armor were, the power of the Shunxiang Fort's firecrackers was without exception. I was beaten to death.

All of a sudden, the bloody corpses of Qing soldiers were strewn all over the range of the two refusals.Some Qing soldiers who survived for a while were still screaming loudly.

The following Qing soldiers ran and jumped from the wall in surprise, risking falling into the city, and two of them rushed to Team B's side.One of them held a round shield and broadsword, but the other did not hold a shield, and carried a heavy long-handled tiger-toothed knife in his hand.

"kill!"

The captain of squad B gave an order, and the five pikemen of squad B rushed over. They divided into two waves to meet the two of them respectively.Two people attacked the Qing soldier holding a shield, and three attacked the Qing soldier holding a tiger-toothed knife.The chief armor is watching from the side.

Five long spears stabbed at the two of them, their spears were neat and sharp, all aimed at the vital points of the two people's throat and heart.

The sergeants in Shunxiang Fort have all undergone rigorous training, grouping spears and knives together, and the tacit understanding of martial arts has been deeply rooted in their bones. They only practice one move on weekdays, and I don’t know how many times they have practiced it. !
Their sprints and fierce aura made the eyes of the two Qing soldiers look surprised. The fighting power of these Ming army spearmen was more fierce than the servants they had seen many Ming army generals!A thought flashed across their minds, this small city of thousands of households, where did these Ming troops come from?
The shield in the left hand of the shield-wielding soldier quickly blocked the block, and the sound of defeat sounded, a long spear pierced the shield in his hand, and a long spear slipped away.

He pushed quickly, taking advantage of the situation to get close to the spearman who pierced his shield, and slashed his shoulder and neck deeply, the armor shattered, and the spearman screamed loudly.

The shield-wielding soldier showed a cruel smile on his face, and he pulled out his saber vigorously, but unexpectedly, the pikeman held down his saber firmly, preventing him from pulling it out, and stared at him fiercely with his eyes.

There was a chill in the heart of the Qing soldier holding the shield. On the top of Shun Township Fort, there were such brave and brave soldiers, which was very different from the Ming army in his impression. How did these people appear?
Suddenly the Qing soldier heard a loud shout: "Kill!"

He hastily discarded his sword and shield, and just jumped away, with a muffled groan, he was already bending down deeply in pain, but the spearman who slipped away just now fired his spear again, and the long spear pierced his two legs Layers of heavy armor pierced deeply into his lower abdomen.

Big chunks of blood gushed out of the Qing soldier's mouth, and he knelt down on the ground until he was about to die. He was still wondering why after he killed the Ming army spearman, the rest of them ran away without fear. Woolen cloth?It doesn't make sense!

What he didn't understand was the Qing soldier holding a long-handled tiger-tooth knife. He killed a Ming army spearman, but when he was dying, the Ming army spearman's spear also pierced his body. At the same time, several long spears also pierced his body, throat, heart, eyes, everywhere.

……

On the wall on the left side of the south gate, there were the dead bodies of the Qing soldiers as footsteps, and a few Qing soldiers desperately pushed the horses away with their shields, and the horses in the two sections of the Left Sentinel A team were finally killed by all of them. sweep away.

The Qing soldiers kept jumping down from the three ladders, and the battle became more intense. From time to time, there were screams of both the enemy and us being injured or dying.

On the wall on the right side of the south gate, the guards led by Sun Sanjie were defending. Compared with the wall on the left, the battle here was not as intense as that on the other side, and there were only two ladders erected by the Qing soldiers.

However, the battle was equally brutal. Under the city wall and beside the trenches, there were scattered corpses of Qing soldiers, as well as wounded and howling wounded.

Sun Sanjie estimated that their casualties reached more than 20 people, including more than a dozen soldiers.There were also nearly [-] casualties on our own side, mostly firecrackers and young auxiliary soldiers. As the Qing soldiers continued to climb up, the number of pikemen casualties also increased.

Sun Sanjie kept directing the battle back and forth, but at this time he was standing at the first horse face on the right side of the city wall, looking out from the observation hole of the battlement wall, and from the corner of the hanging door through the crenellation, he watched those people coldly from the side. Qing soldiers climbing up from the ladder.

The archers of the Tazi soldiers under the city were obviously exhausted, and they had no time to react to the obvious movements of the Shunxiangbao sergeant on the horse. Outside the shield chariot, it is often necessary to use the shield chariot to protect it from the Ming army on the city.

Sun Sanjie has been observing a Tazi soldier in the city for a long time. Surrounded by a few white armored soldiers, under the protection of a shield chariot, he poked his head over the city from time to time. It can be seen that this man is such a man. The commander of the Tartar soldiers on the city wall, if he can kill him, the morale of the army will be greatly boosted, and the captives will be frightened.

"Buddha said: Living in this world is like being among thorns. If you don't move your mind, you don't move rashly. If you don't move, you won't get hurt..."

Sun Sanjie stroked his beloved blunderbuss. As a Buddhist, he closed his eyes slightly and muttered something in his mouth, hoping that the Buddha would appear and bless him to kill the enemy.

"If the heart moves, people will move recklessly, hurting the body and hurting the bones, so they experience all kinds of pain in the world..."

Suddenly Sun Sanjie opened the hanging door, raised the blunderbuss and shot out, with a bang, flames burst out.

(End of this chapter)