Ming Dynasty Road

Chapter 20
It was already dawn, and both sides had exhausted their physical strength after several bloody battles yesterday. A round of red sun slowly rose from the east and shone on the icy head of Songshan City. Everyone yawned all night, and then the soldiers and civilians who were sleeping at the top of the city also came out of the cave for the soldiers at the top of the city, each with tired faces.

"My lord, let's retreat. Our soldiers have reached their limits. If the Tartars attack a few times, the city will be destroyed and our lives will be destroyed." Zhang Fengnian saw that the soldiers and civilians guarding the city were exhausted. , couldn't bear to dissuade.

Zhao Yi looked around, and all he saw were tired faces, and his eyes looked weakly at the Tartar camp outside the city. It seemed that he didn't have much combat power.

"How many Tartars did we kill in those battles yesterday?" Zhao Yi asked suddenly.

Hearing Zhao Yi ask this question, the soldiers and Min Zhuang on the side all cheered up, and they all talked about their achievements with joy. This one said that they killed two, that one said that they killed three, and some said that they were destroyed by artillery bombardment. With a ladder, the atmosphere was instantly ignited.

"Yesterday, everyone who guarded the city was very heroic. I made a rough count. We killed nearly 1000 Tartar soldiers yesterday. We lost more than [-] soldiers and hundreds of recruits. We don’t have much ammunition and ammunition, if this continues, we will be exhausted by the Tartars sooner or later, it is better to take the initiative to attack than to sit and wait.”

Seeing that everyone was excited, Zhao Yi briefly talked about yesterday's battle situation. When Zhao Yi said to take the initiative to attack, all the soldiers fell silent, waiting for Zhao Yi's next instructions.

"I don't want to say more, we can't sit still, but if we retreat with the people during the day, we will definitely be chased by the Tartars, so I decided that we have to evacuate Songshan at night, and keep the green hills, so we don't have to worry about no firewood. The Tartars will attack the city again, and all the defenders are listening carefully, if the Tartars attack the city, they must show the posture of a bloody battle to the end, so as to prepare for the evacuation of Songshan at night." Zhao Yi's deep voice resounded every day. in the individual's ears.

"Listen to your lord's arrangement, anyway, I already killed enough money yesterday!"

"That's right, yesterday I blew up a tartar ladder. That's enough money. It's all up to Mr. Zhao's arrangement!"

All the sergeants expressed their attitudes one by one, the atmosphere became active, and the tired body recovered some strength. Although there are 6000 soldiers in Songshan City who can fight now, there are only more than 2000 veterans, and the rest are all temporary recruits. The strength of the people in the army and the original Green Battalion of Songshan City were not high. With the addition of some wounded soldiers, the manpower became more tense, and the reinforcements from the court were delayed. The defense of Songshan City was at stake, so Zhao Yi had no choice but to give up Songshan. city.

"The ones who fought against us yesterday should be the Qing army with the white flag. These Qing troops are the main combat power of the Qing court. Everyone has seen it yesterday, so no matter how difficult it is for a while, everyone must defend Songshan for a day. , we will lead the people to evacuate Songshan at night." Zhao Yi looked at the soldiers and said firmly.

"Lord Zhao, look, the Tartars have reorganized their army, and it seems that the Tartars are going to attack again." While Zhao Yi was speaking, a small soldier pointed in the direction of the Qing army's camp and said. The soldiers adjusted their formation one after another and were ready to attack the city again.

"Kill, the Han people must be overwhelmed and go to Songshan City." The commander of the Qing army swung his saber, and the Qing soldiers of the brigade swarmed towards Songshan City. The casualties of last night have been forgotten, supporting their fighting spirit The only thing to do is to kill and plunder Songshan.

Seeing that the Qing army was attacking the city again, Zhao Yi gave an order, and Songshan City stood ready. Neither side had many long-range weapons like the return cannon and Frankie cannon, and there were not many stones and rolling logs left to defend the city. Fighting continued with melee combat, the Qing army attacked wave after wave, and the Ming army cut down the Tartars who rushed up the city wall time and time again. The Ming army took advantage of the city defense, and the Qing army left hundreds The corpse retreated in embarrassment.

The broken troops of the Qing army were retreating towards the camp like a tidal wave. These Qing troops were full of resentment because they were called up to attack the city by the chief without having breakfast. Coupled with the attitude of the defenders of Songshan City to fight to the end, the Qing army had no choice but to give up attacking the city. They only hated that they had grown two legs, and retreated towards the camp desperately. The soldiers in the front, the soldiers running at the front were shot into a hornet's nest, and they were considered martyrs when they attacked the city, and the court could still issue some pensions. Siege.

Although occupying a favorable terrain, under the crazy attack of the Qing army, Songshan also suffered heavy losses. The imposing new recruits did not know how to protect themselves, and blindly exposed to the outside of the battlements throwing stones and rolling logs, less than half a day Hundreds of people were lost.

It was another tragic fight. This time, the soldiers of Songshan City, under the leadership of Zhao Yi, unleashed their full potential. With the determination to die, they all fought against the Tartars, staring, roaring and rushing forward. The Tartars on the city wall fought hand-to-hand, and the Qing soldiers who were directly killed were terrified, and once again hurriedly withdrew from Songshan City, dozens of people were killed.

The battle lasted until evening. Hong Chengchou picked up the binoculars and watched the movement of the top of Songshan City. There were still figures on the top of Songshan City. Soldiers in helmets ran around the top of the city under the light of torches, as if transporting The utensils used to defend the city, the distinctive Ming flag still stands on the top of the city.

"I'd like to see how long they can last. The order continues. All the soldiers will rest for an hour. After an hour, they will launch a general attack in the dark. The defenders in the city can't hold on anymore. Remember not to hurt the people in the city after entering the city. , those Ming soldiers also try their best... Forget it, the Ming army will kill without mercy!" Hong Chengchou hesitated for a moment, and then said resolutely.

As soon as it was getting dark, the gate of Songshan City was quietly opened, and there were hundreds of big cattle, mules and horses in the gate, and their hooves were wrapped with cloth strips. They were all tied with the same firelighters and explosives, and chews were put in their mouths, and their voices were kept to a minimum.

A sharp whistle sounded, and the soldiers in the city ignited the tails of the animals and the inflammable materials on their bodies. I saw these big animals running madly because of the burning pain, and rushed to the Qing army camp outside the city. In the past, the Qing army fought fiercely during the day. After receiving the order to attack the city at night, the soldiers who were exhausted earlier had already fallen asleep. The big animal, covered in flames, came before him, and in a daze, it rushed into the Qing army's camp.

The soldiers of the Qing army were all resting with their armor on. When they heard the noise, they immediately picked up the weapons around them and rushed out of the camp. They saw large animals covered in fire running around, and the firelighters and gunpowder on their bodies were burning rapidly. They lit up the tents of the big camp, and when the big animals saw someone rushing out, their painful nerves were stimulated again. The barracks tents were full of fire, and the Qing army panicked in an instant, and they couldn't care less about seeing how many enemy troops there were.

However, this army is an elite force of the Qing army. In less than a while, under the leadership of the commander, the horse-drawn carriages in the army were connected into a formation, and all the large animals were trapped in the formation. Shi Ye came back to his senses, hid behind the chariot formation and fired arrows, and shot and killed all these big animals within a stick of incense.

Zhao Yi stood on Songshan City and watched the Qing army's camp. The flames were still soaring into the sky. The Qing army was busy fighting the fire. Originally, the Qing army was fighting steadily and it was a tie with the Ming army. However, after this battle, the Qing army The army suffered a great loss, and all the soldiers shouted happily in the city. Niu Yong shook his head and said, "Master Zhao, you are so tall. This battle was fought beautifully."

Zhao Yi ignored the pleasantries, and hurriedly sent someone to the east gate to check on the Qing army's movements. After a while, a report came: "My lord, the Qing army at the west gate has been attracted, and now they can retreat safely."

"Very good, Niu Yong, you go and lead two thousand soldiers to arrange for the people in the city and the wounded soldiers to evacuate to the direction of the Tumubao." Zhao Yi said.

"My lord, what about you? If you don't leave, I won't leave either." Niu Yong asked quickly.

"Niu Yong, don't you even listen to my orders? Now we are fighting for time with the Tartars, and we will not be able to withdraw when the Tartars react. This time I want to entrust you with a major event. The 10 taels of silver and the remaining food and grass found have been packed, and you escort the people and these things first, and ensure that the people, money and food are safely evacuated to the Tumubao." Zhao Yi said resolutely.

Niu Yong didn't dare to be stubborn, so he had to go down to the city to organize the evacuation of the people. In order to dissuade them from evacuating lightly, it took Niu Yong a lot of effort. Finally, after ensuring that they evacuated to a safe place, every citizen could get a house and fertile land. Under the guarantee, the people quickly packed up their simple luggage and embarked on the road of escape.

Songshan City was running rapidly like a huge machine. Under the mobilization of Niu Yong, the people in the city, the elderly, women and children sat in the car, and the strong men walked on foot with the help of the wounded soldiers. Niu Yong led the cavalry on two sides The side and rear pressed the formation, and for a while the chariots and horses walked side by side.

At night, the war drums of Songshan City rang throughout the night, and the torches at the top of the city were shining with crowds of people, and the bells of war horses running could be heard in the city, as if they were going out of the city to attack immediately. Waiting for the battle, Hong Chengchou ordered the whole army to stay on guard, assuming that they would never repeat the same mistakes, but it took a whole night to see no Ming army coming to attack in the city.

It wasn't until dawn that the sound of war drums in the city gradually weakened. Hong Chengchou saw that the sky had brightened, so he ordered the Qing army to attack. On the top of Songshan City, there was no counterattack from the defenders in the city. The Qing army quickly boarded Songshan City, and saw that there was no one on the city. Several big sheep were tied to the drums on the city, and their hooves were kicking and kicking. The battle drums were played, and several bells were hung on the hoofs of dozens of old horses in the city. They were obviously hungry all night. On the other end of the rope, there is also a lamb tied to it, which is gently pulling the rope, pulling the helmet and moving it, like a soldier walking back and forth.

When Hong Chengchou got the news, he quickly climbed to the top of Songshan City, only to see an inscription on the city wall: Zhao Yi and the Ming army have visited here, and they will surely enter Shengjing in the future to capture Huang Taiji alive.
Looking back at the deserted city, looking at the corpses outside the city, and losing so many elite soldiers in exchange for an empty city, Hong Chengchou's eyes darkened, he almost fainted, he managed to regain his strength, He couldn't help yelling like thunder, and after venting, the first thing he thought of was to quickly write a memorial to report the situation of Huang Taiji Songshan City.

At this time, the people of Songshan had already embarked on the journey to the Tumu Fort, and even Zhao Yi and others who were the last to evacuate had already followed the main force.

(End of this chapter)