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

Chapter 109
In the end, Zhong Xian, the team officer of the left sentry team A, said in a soft voice: "Humble job has an idea."

Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, he felt a little uneasy. This person was also strange. He sat alone in a far corner, as if he didn't want to be crowded with others.

He said: "The walls of Fort Guanshun are covered with bricks, and there are many neatly striped seams. If the firecrackers are placed on the crenels, they are at a certain angle to a certain thin seam on the brick wall, so they can be hit very accurately. A certain location outside the city. Perhaps we can set the shooting position of the firecrackers in advance and mark them, so that when we shoot, we don’t need to aim at all, which can greatly improve the shooting accuracy of the firecrackers.”

As soon as this remark came out, everyone clapped their legs and shouted: "Not bad, why didn't I think of it?"

Hearing everyone's praise, Zhong Xian blushed even more.

Wang Dou nodded with a smile, and asked the official Feng Dachang to write down this suggestion as well.

After that, everyone talked freely, and also talked a lot about how to cooperate with the firecrackers and pikemen at the top of the city, and put forward several effective suggestions, all of which were recorded one by one.

That night, Wang Dou asked the official Feng Dachang and other scribes to work overtime overnight, and asked them to sort out their suggestions and hand them to Wang Dou to watch. After Wang Dou thought the suggestions were feasible, he copied several copies. Every team of the sentry should have a copy, and let the team officers memorize it, especially the sentry officers of each sentry, it is necessary to master it in detail and use it flexibly.

On the tenth day of July in the ninth year of Chongzhen.

Early in the morning, when Wang Dou came to the top of the city, Han Chao and Wen Fangliang came to welcome him. There was nothing wrong last night, but the two of them, like all the soldiers, spent time on the city wall, getting dressed together in the straw factory. sleep.

At this time, the soldiers of the Qing Dynasty outside the city neighed and screamed, and teams of sentries just went out of the camp. Wen Fangliang was a little half awake, rubbing his face and wondering, "Are the Tartars going to retreat?"

Han Chao stared outside the city with a solemn expression: "I'm afraid it's not that simple."

He suddenly said to Wang Dou: "My lord, is it possible that the Tartars suffered a loss under our Shun Township Fort, and seeing that Shun Township Fort was difficult to attack, they attacked the rest of the Shun Fort's military fort, and then led us out of the city to fight ,If this is the case……"

His complexion changed a bit, Wang Dou and Wen Fangliang also looked ugly, besides Shunxiang Fort, there are also Jingbian Fort, Dongjiazhuang, Xinzhuang, Huiyao Fort and other big forts in the territory.If the Qing soldiers really adopted this tactic of besieging points to fight for aid, and the Shunxiang Fort did not come out of the city to help, those fortresses would be captured one by one by the Qing army, and they would be destroyed one by one. Sufficient and strong.

But to lead the rescue, it is inevitable to have a field battle with the Qing soldiers. It is good to stick to the city. When it comes to field battles, everyone in Shunxiang Castle is a little afraid. After all, the prestige and results of those Tartar soldiers are there.The Shun Township Army is just a new army that has just been established. It is good to stick to the city. If it is to go out to fight in the field...Whether it is a big defeat or heavy casualties, Wang Dou will not be able to bear it.

But, just watching those Qing soldiers take down the castles in the territory one by one like this?
Wen Fangliang said hesitantly: "Let's look again, maybe the Tazi soldiers were frustrated in our city, so maybe they retreated."

……

"Look, my lord, another group of sentry cavalry from the Tartars is coming."

On the gate tower of Ying'en Gate in the east of Dongjiazhuang Fort, several soldiers screamed at Gao Shiyin.

The flesh on Gao Shiyin's face trembled a few times, and he shouted angrily, "Isn't it just a few tartars? Just defend carefully, what's all the fuss about?"

He said to Yang Tongtong next to him: "Look at these recruits, they just haven't seen the world, and they seem to be scared by a few Tartars."

Yang Tong's face was also a little pale, and he said repeatedly: "That's right, there is a brave general like Brother Gao who has killed the Tartars here, our Dongjiazhuang must be impenetrable, those soldiers are indeed making a fuss. But they have never beaten the Tartars. , no wonder they are so scared.”

He looked at the sergeants on the city wall who were aiming carefully with firecrackers, and he felt relieved. Those firecrackers were all high-quality firecrackers from Shun Township Castle. They were very good and would never explode. It was dangerous and powerful enough to break through heavy armor, so the sergeants couldn't put it down, so they threw away all the original three-eyed guns.

But apart from these firecrackers, Dongjiazhuang doesn't have much defensive equipment at its disposal, two small copper cannons, a treasured tiger squat cannon, and several bundles of flying swords and big rockets. .The armor worn by the soldiers was also the simple cloth armor, with red hats on their heads.The iron armor made by Shunxiang Fort was far from enough for even the four sentinels in his own fort, so it was impossible to remove any armor.

Dongjiazhuang Castle is zero 220 steps on Monday. It was covered with bricks during the Wanli period. There was an urn outside the east gate. There are more than one hundred soldiers in two teams, half of which are firecrackers and half of pikemen. In addition, there are ten artillery soldiers who will not be recruited for several nights.Gao Shiyin and Yang Tong each lead a team of soldiers on weekdays. When there is nothing to do, Gao Shiyin is in charge of the sergeants, and Yang Tong is in charge of the farming affairs inside and outside the fort.

It turned out that there were several military officers in the fort, but after Zhang Gui, the former Dongjiazhuang management officer, was transferred to Zhoucheng, a dozen of his servants, as well as his confidants Zhang Tanggong and Hong Qiu were transferred along with him.In addition, the post team officer Xiao Daxin was killed by the bandits together with the former defense officer Du Zhen, so only the original Jiachang Wu Tian and Jiajia Zhongyuan remained in Dongjiazhuang.

Right now, the two are also the captains of a small team in the new army. Zhong Yuan was originally the confidant of Xiao Daxin, the officer of the Dongjiazhuang sub-team, but after Xiao Daxin died, Zhong Yuan leaned towards Gao Shiyin immediately.

Looking at more than a dozen sentry horses of the Qing soldiers showing off their might outside the city, Yang Tong said worriedly: "Yesterday, the Shun Township Fort's guns rang all day. I don't know what's going on there. Can your lord block the attack of the Tartar soldiers?"

Dongjiazhuang is only a few miles away from Shunxiang Fort, yesterday's battle between the Shunxiang army and the Qing soldiers, the sound of guns was heard even in Dongjiazhuang.

Gao Shiyin looked at the direction of Shun Township Fort from a distance, and said worriedly: "There are four sentries in Shun Castle, should they be all right?"

When Najiala's army passed by Dongjiazhuang yesterday, Gao Shiyin and Yang Tong's faces were ashen. A small fort of their own would never be able to resist the attack of so many Tartar soldiers, but fortunately they were just making noise. And go, do not stay under the fort, let everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

But then they became worried again, wondering what the situation in Shun Township Castle was like.Now that the Qing soldiers are gathering, the connection between Dongjiazhuang and Shunxiang Fort has been completely severed.With the Qing sentry cavalry out everywhere, although Dongjiazhuang did not take them in for a few nights, they did not dare to send them out. Otherwise, when they faced off against the elite Tazi cavalry in the field, they would have no choice but to die and die in vain.

Gao Shiyin suddenly smiled at Yang Tong: "Brother Yang, you are so concerned about the situation in Shun Township Castle, maybe you are more concerned about the safety of your mother-in-law in Shun Castle?"

Yang Tong glanced at Gao Shiyin, he opened his big mouth without front teeth and said with a grin: "Brother Gao, didn't you secretly send your wife and child to Shun Township Castle a while ago? Adults are just pretending not to know."

The two looked at each other and smiled, both thinking: "You are the same."

After the Qing soldiers invaded, Wang Dou ordered the Shun Township Army to fortify the walls and clear the fields. However, the area of ​​the Shun Township Fort is limited, and it is impossible for all the residents in the territory to move into the fort. In particular, Dongjiazhuang and Jingbian Fort are also considered large forts, so the two forts Wang Dou is strict in order to stand firm and prepare for battle.

Jingbian Fort is okay, but in Dongjiazhuang, there are still some officers who secretly sent their families to Shunxiang Fort, such as Gao Shiyin and Yang Tong.Wang Dou understands their mentality, so he turns a blind eye and closes his eyes, but if the officers and sergeants leave their posts without permission, they will be beheaded on the spot if they are caught.

After the two laughed, Gao Shiyin looked at the Qing soldiers roaring outside the city, and said fiercely: "My old Gao has killed countless people in his life, both good and bad people. God's gift has given me old Gao a queen. Even if you die in battle now, and your ancestors have spirits, you won't blame me for being unfilial!"

His words were quite absolute, and Yang Tong fell silent when he heard it.

……

The situation outside Dongjiazhuang Fort was also repeated outside Xinzhuang and Jingbian Fort.

Seeing the Qing soldiers approaching, the young Zhuang Ding in Xinzhuang panicked, but outside the Jingbian Fort, those Qing soldiers sentry cavalry encountered serious trouble.

The entire outside of Jingbian Fort is covered with large pits, just like the west side of Shunxiang Fort, so that the sentry cavalry of the Qing soldiers could not get too close.However, after the detection outside Dongjiazhuang and Xinzhuang, everyone in Najia Lazhangjing in Shunxiang Fort knew their hearts. Bai Yijia's banner was all in one place, but he left Shunxiang Castle in a solemn and orderly manner.

Seeing the Qing soldiers leaving, the walls of Shunxiang Fort were full of cheers, only Wang Dou and others felt serious. The departure of the Qing soldiers may not be a good thing, and they don't know what happened to the rest of the castles.

He ordered Han Chao to call Wen Daxing, a senior sergeant from the Ye Bu Shou B Team, and Li Youde from the Ye Bu Shou B Squad. These two men had outstanding scouting abilities, especially Wen Da Xing, who left a deep impression on Wang Dou. impression.

He said to Wen Daxing: "The Tartars have left Shun Township Fort, I want to know what their movements are, do you dare to take people to check them out?"

Wen Daxing gritted his teeth, knelt down on one knee, clasped his fists to Wang Dou and said, "The little one is willing to die for you."

Wang Dou stared at him: "Good job, after you come back, you can be the leader of the team who will not be hired at night!"

A look of joy flashed across Wen Daxing's eyes, and he leaned on the ground: "Don't worry, my lord, the humble official will definitely spy out the intelligence movements of the Tartars!"

Wen Daxing led a small team of Yebushou out of the city, but after they left, they never came back.

At the end of the afternoon, suddenly Wang Dou and the others heard the faint sound of gunfire coming from the direction of Dongjiazhuang, and everyone's expressions changed. Could it be... But Wen Daxing and the others have not returned for a long time, and they don't know the situation there how.

Another quarter of an hour later, Wang Dou became anxious, and was about to send another team of Yebushuo to sent out a sentry. At this time, Wen Daxing and others came back. There were 11 people in a team, each of them was covered with scars and blood.Their horses also brought back a person, but Dongjiazhuang didn't take them all night.

That night, Bu Shou was hit by a few arrows, and his mind was a little unclear, but when he saw Wang Dou, he suddenly came to his senses. He struggled and knelt down on the ground, crying, "My lord, please save Dongjiazhuang, please save me!" Save Master Gao and the others, the slaves are powerful, if you take another step late, Dongjiazhuang Castle will be destroyed!"

(End of this chapter)