Nanming Engineer

Chapter 243 Battle in Hanzhong ([-])
Dozens of Qing soldiers who escaped from Fangjiaji ran back to Hanzhong City in disgrace, and reported what happened to Tuge to the two Niu Luzhangjing who stayed in the city. Fangjiaji had been surrounded by a large Ming army, at least there were The scale of 6000 to [-] people was far beyond what the Hanzhong garrison could handle, and Tuge, who was trapped in a tight siege, was in danger.

The two Niulu Zhangjing were shocked. How long had there been no sign of the Ming army in Hanzhong?Where did so many Ming troops come from?I originally thought that Li Zicheng, who was scattered outside Yulin, Gansu Province, surrendered and started to cause trouble under the banner of the Ming Dynasty again, but I never thought that there would be thousands of people.

They didn't dare to be careless, and they didn't dare to think about going out of the city for rescue. There were less than a thousand bannermen left in the city.

After some deliberation, they decided to immediately send emergency messengers to Guangyuan Haoge and Ankang Tanbai separately, and to Xi'an to report to Xi'an, in case the Ming army bypassed Hanzhong and went straight to Xi'an.

At the same time, the gates of the city were closed, and more people were dispatched to rush to repair the city walls. Several wooden fences were erected at some damaged places that could not be reinforced with bricks and stones.

In tension, night fell.

A huge fire was lit on the top of the city wall, and the inside and outside of the city wall were brightly illuminated for a distance of several feet. The conscripted men stood on the top of the city, holding wooden sticks and patrolling under the supervision of the Qing soldiers. He yelled a warning.

Two Niu Lu Zhang Jing, one at the west gate and the other at the east gate, set up bedding on the tower and slept inside, not daring to slack off at all.After all, Tuge was trapped in the battle, and his life and death were not servants. The death of a Shangguan in battle is a serious crime, enough for two people to drink a pot.

At the middle of the night, when the moon was in the sky, there was still silence outside the city without any abnormal movements. Niu Luzhangjing, who was guarding the west gate, finally breathed a sigh of relief. The night was dark and he should be fine.

Most of the people in this era suffered from severe night blindness due to lack of nutrition. They could not see at night without a light source, and could not march and fight at all. Moreover, when the army was dispatched, thousands of sergeants were mixed together, unable to It is difficult to distinguish flags and signals, and it is difficult to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy. It is also difficult to meet the conditions for fighting with torches and fires. Therefore, except for a small number of elite sneak attacks, no one dares to fight at night.

Niu Luzhangjing went into the tower to sleep. He had just taken off his hood, without even taking off his boots, when he was startled by a rifle that pushed open the door with a bang and raised his head.

"There are torches, such a long string of torches!" Bu Jia cried out in panic, "A long string of torches appeared five miles outside the city, approaching the city gate!"

Niu Luzhangjing didn't even have time to put on the boot he had just taken off. He picked up the long knife beside the bed and ran out of the door, heading straight for the city.

The banner soldiers on duty at night on the top of the city had already sounded the gong and beat a big cowhide drum loudly, and there were constant Qing soldiers who heard the sound and ran up from the hiding caves below the city and went up to the city wall in disheveled armor.

Niu Luzhang Jing was lying on the top of the city, and sure enough, in the distance outside the city, a continuous string of torches, shining like stars, was coming towards the top of the city. Just by looking at the number of torches, one could tell that at least thousands of people were approaching. .

"Be alert, be alert!" Niu Luzhangjing's hairs stood on end, and he shouted loudly: "Prepare the rocks, prepare the artillery arrows, it is likely that the Ming army is coming!"

The top of the city suddenly became busy. Qing soldiers lit firewood, burned gold juice, and urged the young and strong Han people to move stones and logs up and down, and moved bundles of arrows from the warehouse below the city to the top of the city. There were also solid iron bullets for iron cannons and barrels of gunpowder that were brought up on the crenels. These are things that are prone to moisture and rain, and they cannot be placed on the city wall all the time.

After all the fuss, they finally got ready before the torches approached the city. When the torches meandered to the city walls, the city walls were covered with Qing soldiers, their knives were out of their sheaths and their arrows were stringed, and their compound bows were stretched like a full moon. Ready to go, the gunner's fire stick is in his hand, and the fuze can be ignited with an order to fire the cannon.

Niu Luzhang Jing stared nervously at the light of the torches below the city. In the darkness, he couldn't tell how many people were coming, but with so many people, they probably couldn't be his own. It was impossible for Hauge, Tan Bai, or Meng Qiaofang to send reinforcements. Come so fast.

The large group of torches approached two miles away from the city, then gathered together and stopped moving, and then two or three torches separated out and ran towards the city.

When the torch reached a distance of three feet under the city wall, it was illuminated by the huge fire set up by the Qing soldiers outside the city. When everyone on the city saw it, they suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

Under the light of the fire, three horses ran to the foot of the city. Immediately, the three of them were all armored and eight-petal helmets, which were standard Qing army equipment. Judging by the color of their uniforms, they should be men from the Han army with blue flags.

It turned out to be one of his own, Niu Luzhangjing's tense face finally relaxed, put down the bow and arrow tightly held in his hand, and motioned for a Ba Yala soldier beside him to shout.

Baya Labing put his hands to his mouth like a trumpet and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Who is coming down below?"

Someone immediately at the foot of the city opened his mouth and replied: "We are under the command of Master Li of the Xianglan Banner of the Han Army. We have returned from Yinping Road. Let us enter the city quickly. Master Li fell from the cliff and was seriously injured. We need to seek medical treatment quickly." "

The faces of the three people were all lit up under the firelight, standing on the top of the wall, they could see their faces clearly.

Niu Luzhang Jing was a little strange, Li Guohan knew about it, didn't he send him out to take a trail to copy the back route of the Jianmen Guan Ming army?Why are you back late at night?So he simply shouted: "Didn't Mr. Li be ordered to go to war? Why are you here late at night? Where is Mr. Li? Why didn't you show up?"

The man at the bottom of the city replied: "The Yinping path is too dangerous and difficult to walk. Mr. Li accidentally fell off the cliff, he was unconscious, and there were many casualties in the soldiers, so we were forced to retreat and traveled all the way, so we arrived at the city late at night. Master Li is now in the army."

As he spoke, a group of people came out from the torch pile in the distance, carrying a stretcher, and a person was lying on the stretcher, with a pale face and closed eyes, tightly wrapped by a quilt, who looked real. was seriously injured.

Niu Luzhangjing recognized Li Guohan's appearance. The fire under the city was bright and he could see it clearly at a glance. His eyes, eyebrows, and appearance made it clear that the person lying on the stretcher was indeed Li Guohan himself. The horseman who spoke to him was also recognized by a soldier. He was also a soldier in Li Guohan's army. undoubtedly.

The man on horseback yelled again: "Please open the door as soon as possible, Mr. Li is seriously injured, if you don't treat him quickly, it will be bad!"

Niu Luzhangjing hesitated for a moment. As a rule, the gates of the city must not be opened late at night. No matter who came, they had to camp outside the city, and the gates could not be opened until dawn.

After such a slight delay, the horseman under the city shouted again: "Why don't you open the door? Master Li's injury cannot be delayed. If there is any trouble with him, I will definitely report it to Lord Su. Can you bear it? "

The other soldiers in the city also shouted and cursed.

All the flag soldiers in the city looked at Niu Luzhang Jing. Niu Luzhang Jing naturally knew that Li Guohan and Hauge had a good relationship, and he was a big celebrity in the Han army. If Li Guohan died because he obeyed the rules and refused to open the door, Hauge would definitely not He will praise himself for this, and he may even be punished, which is not easy to handle.

He struggled fiercely in his heart for a while, and finally couldn't hold back the loud shouts of the soldiers, and said to the banner soldiers on the wall in a muffled voice: "The soldiers below the wall are friendly troops, open the door and let them in."

As soon as the city gate opened, the men on horseback rode their horses and rushed into the opening, stood still, and then the soldiers with torches rushed in and went straight into the city, their movements were extremely fast.

Niu Luzhangjing quickly walked down to the city gate. Since everyone was let in, he had to take a look and ask about the situation. Besides, Li Guohan was seriously injured, so it was right to express his concern.

A large group of soldiers came in from the outside of the city, and went straight to the city along the street without touching the ground. in the helmet.But the stretcher was left behind and didn't come in for a long time.

Niu Luzhangjing stood on the side of the road and watched the soldiers entering the city walk one by one for a long time. When almost everyone had entered, he saw a group of people walking in slowly, holding the stretcher.

Niu Lu Zhangjing was a little displeased and scolded: "Why so slow? Mr. Li is so seriously injured, he should be brought in quickly."

He quickly walked to the stretcher and looked closer. He saw that Li Guohan's face was as white as paper, without any blood. His forehead was wrapped in bandages again and again, like a rice dumpling. His eyes were closed tightly, like a Motionless as a dead man.

Niu Luzhang Jing couldn't help being speechless, how high did he fall from, and he was so injured, since Li Guohan was in a coma and couldn't speak, expressing concern was boring, so he was going to get out and walk away.

At this moment, the bandage on the top of Li Guohan's head suddenly softened, like a hollow, and collapsed, and his head immediately sank like a bowl.

Niu Luzhang Jing was stunned.

The four soldiers carrying the stretcher were also stunned and stopped.

How could the brain of a living person be like this?

Niu Luzhangjing immediately realized that there was something wrong, he was about to draw the knife, but before he touched the handle of the knife, among the soldiers carrying the stretcher, the first two threw the stretcher away at the same time, drew the knife in their hands, and moved quickly to With a wave forward and a flash of cold light, Niu Luzhangjing's head was chopped off.

This knife was a signal, and the soldiers who entered the city by the side of the stretcher drew out their weapons together, and slashed at the Qing soldiers who hadn't reacted, and there were shouts of killing.

Among the two people who took out the knife, the taller one shook off the blood on the knife and complained: "Zubian, let me tell you, your bandage was wrapped wrongly. It was not tied tightly. Look, it collapsed."

Scratching his head, Zu Bian replied, "My lord, this tartar's head was flattened by a stone. It's not easy for me to restore him to this state. You can't blame me."

These two people were Wang Huan and Zu Bian disguised as Li Guohan's soldiers, and the ones chatting on horseback at the base of the city were a surrendered soldier captured on Motianling and two Kuizhou soldiers in custody. The Kuizhou army secretly held the mountain-destroying crossbow, and if the soldiers said something wrong, they would die under the crossbow.

"Haha, my lord is so cunning, I cheated open the gate of Hanzhong city so easily, I didn't expect that this tartar would be useful even if he died." Zu Bian looked around excitedly, the Kuizhou army had already hacked at the city gate by more than a dozen Qing soldiers. He fell to the ground and was attacking the city.

Wang Huan smiled calmly, his eyes reflected the blazing fire, shining like a star at night, he waved the long sword in his hand, and shouted: "The whole army should disperse, and act in squadrons. If you encounter tartars, kill them!" , Withdrew from Hanzhong City before dawn!"

(End of this chapter)