Nanming Engineer

Chapter 329 False Siege, Real Lizhai

Wang Yongqiang moved very quickly. Within a day after Meng Qiaofang and Hahamu got the news, his team appeared in the suburbs of Xi'an one after another.

At this time, it was early in the morning, when the sun was on the high hill, after receiving the alarm from the top of the city, Meng Qiaofang and Hahamu hurried to the top of the north gate. The rebel army came from northern Shaanxi, and the north gate was the first to bear the brunt.

The two stood under the gate, leaned on the crenel, and looked far into the distance. Under the morning sun, the rolling hills outside the north gate were still shrouded in silence, the morning breeze was blowing, and the trees were lush.

But after a closer look, one can find that the familiar hills have changed their shape and are moving slowly. The two of them were shocked, rubbed their eyes, and looked intently, only to see that the moving hills were actually moving slowly. It's a wave of people.

The overwhelming wave of people surged along the undulating terrain, like a dense swarm of ants, covering the ground, but they were so far away that no sound could be heard, and only the terrifying picture came into view.

Judging by the scale, there are tens of thousands of people outside.

Meng Qiaofang and Hahamu looked at each other. Relying on their bravery, Hahamu originally wanted to urge the troops to go out to fight, but seeing the wave after wave of people outside the city, he immediately dismissed this idea.

"This bandit Wang used the tricks used by Li Zicheng's bandit army back then!" Meng Qiaofang with a pale face, recalled the past when she was a Ming general and fought against the bandits in Shaanxi: "The bandits drove out the refugees. Tens of hundreds, hundreds of thousands, come roaring like locusts, roar away, the officers and soldiers rush and disperse, and the officers and soldiers reunite when they go, killing and catching them endlessly, it is a headache!"

Hahamu's face was shaking, and he said angrily: "It doesn't matter, they are just refugees, and killing them is harmless. When our Eight Banners army attacked fortified cities in Liaodong, they often drove the Han people as the vanguard, leading the Ming army to shoot and kill them. When the gunpowder and ammunition were exhausted without reloading, the Eight Banners athletes swarmed up, all of them were defeated. But with so many people, even if they were pigs waiting for us to chop, it would take a lot of time. So cruel."

Meng Qiaofang looked at him unnaturally, raised her eyelids, and said insincerely, "The king thief is despicable, and only he can do such things."

Hahamu nodded in agreement: "It's really despicable, Master Meng, you and I are in the same city, and there are only more than [-] soldiers, and the others are stationed in four counties. It's too late to transfer them back. The most urgent thing is to find a solution first The best strategy is to defend the city and stabilize the position, and wait until King Xi's army returns, and we cooperate internally and externally to attack together."

Meng Qiaofang thought to herself that this was just a coward. I didn’t expect that you would be scared sometimes even if you were so awesome and coaxing.However, he did not dare to confront the rebels who could see them outside the city head-on, so he nodded desperately.

"Then, Lord Meng's army should hurry up and defend the city. I'll gather the soldiers of the Eight Banners in the city and gather them in one place to support the gates of the city at any time." Hahamu said decisively. Meng Qiaofang was similar, but he was naturally superior: "Although I have only two thousand bannermen, I have five hundred Ba Yala soldiers, and each of them is worth one hundred. In the words of the Han people, good steel is as good as a hundred." Use them wisely. Don’t waste them in defending the city, and wait for any loopholes everywhere, so that the thieves who invaded the city can be rushed back.”

Meng Qiaofang cursed in her heart, you are hiding behind me again, using my Han army as a scapegoat. You know clearly that defending the city will cost the most, but you are just trying to preserve your strength with your rhetoric and strong words. Do you really think I am stupid and can't see that? ?

But he has nothing to do, this is the usual practice, the Han army is in the front and the banner is behind, and it has always been like this.

Meng Qiaofang swallowed her anger, cupped her hands and said, "That's it, Mr. Ha, please take the trouble to run away."

Hahamu waved his hand, and said solemnly: "You and I are trapped in the same city, so you don't have to be polite. If we win in the future, I will definitely praise Master Meng's loyalty to the court."

Meng Qiaofang let out a long sigh, stopped talking nonsense, turned around and walked away as soon as she cupped her hands, busy calling her generals to arrange for the defense of the city.

……

On a small hill five miles away from the city of Xi'an, countless strong soldiers stood all over the hillside. Watching their armor, each of them was clattering with iron leaves, with sharp swords and long knives, and ragged clothes who kept walking by the edge of the hill. The refugees with broken guns and sticks are very different.

These soldiers were obviously from servants, they were strong and sharp-eyed, and they were used to seeing old soldiers who had killed people with blood. Naturally, they were guarding leaders such as Wang Yongqiang.

Wang Yongqiang, his younger brothers Wang Yongzhen and Gao Youcai, each riding a horse, stood on the top of the hill, built a pergola with their hands, and tried their best to look forward.

"The city of Xi'an is really not built, it's such a big city!" Gao Youcai was amazed again and again, and couldn't help praising: "Look at the city wall, it's probably more than ten miles long?"

The Wang brothers looked at him contemptuously, and said in unison: A local tyrant sitting in a well and watching the sky.

Not everyone in this era is able to travel thousands of miles. Most people's living area is limited to a radius of more than ten miles. The county is rich and powerful, and the family has tens of thousands of acres of fertile land, but because Shenmu County is nearly two thousand miles away from Xi'an, Gao Youcai has never been here.

"It's not easy to capture this city." Gao Youcai didn't notice the eyes of the Wang brothers, but still observed Xi'an City, and said to himself.

Then Wang Yongzhen nodded and said: "That's true. The city wall of Xi'an is three feet high. The loess is mixed with glutinous rice and rammed, and it is covered with green bricks. It is extremely strong. Fortunately, Li Zicheng abandoned the city back then. Otherwise, the Tartars would take Xi'an. I don't know how many people will die." Talent will do."

"Not only that, after the Tartars acquired this city a few years ago, they built another full city on the northeast corner of the inner city, and it was garrisoned by banner men, which was even more solid. He Luohui had been stationed in it for several years. Now I heard It's Hahamu who rushed to help and guarded inside." Wang Yongqiang said in a deep voice, and he got a lot of information from Chen Xiang: "At this moment, the defenders in the city, including the Eight Banners Army, have a total of 1000 people, and tens of thousands of stones are accumulated in the city. The equipment is sufficient, and there are a lot of gunpowder and arrows stored, so it is really difficult for us to attack the city."

He paused, and then said: "Maybe we have to confess all our background here."

Wang Yongzhen and Gao Youcai looked at each other, and they both saw retreat in each other's eyes.

"Since that's the case, brother, why are we still so focused on it?" Wang Yongzhen said with a guilty conscience: "Didn't the general Chen sent by Pingliang Bo say that? As long as the Qing army is contained under the city, we will set up a vertical fence , wouldn’t it be the same to attract Tartars if you walk around outside the city?”

Gao Youcai's eyes lit up, he nodded and said in agreement: "Yes, yes, Brother Yongzhen is very right."

"It's a fart!" Wang Yongqiang said angrily, his eyebrows were all knit together: "I want to stay outside the city, but there are so many people, what shall we feed them? What to eat and drink? All the way, along the way We cleaned up all the prefectures and counties, and did not spare much food. The thief Meng Qiaofang was smart, and collected all the food from the nearby prefectures and counties into Xi'an City. It will turn around and eat us!"

Gao Youcai nodded quickly and said: "Yes, yes, brother is right, the mudlegs are more ruthless than locusts when they are hungry!"

Wang Yongzhen glared at him, wondering if you have an opinion of your own.Then he arched his hands and said in a deep voice, "So, what should we do?"

Wang Yongqiang narrowed his eyes and scanned his surroundings. He saw that the crowds of people all over the mountains and plains were like boundless waves. Every hundred people formed a team, with men in front and women, children and the elderly behind. They were led by some strong men, holding crude weapons, heading towards the city of Xi'an. direction.

The men who lead the team are old and young, the only thing they have in common is that their mouths are sharp.As they walked, they kept yelling loudly: "The city of Xi'an is ahead, everyone work harder, the commander-in-chief said, as long as you enter the city, there will be endless food inside, everyone has a share! "

"It's us Han Chinese who guard the city. We are fellow citizens. They won't take us seriously!"

"As long as you attack the city with all your heart tomorrow, the commander-in-chief said that the first one to rush to the top of the city will be rewarded with tens of thousands of households, and everyone who has meritorious service will be rewarded!"

"Zhen Shuai provided food and drink for everyone along the way. Everyone saw it and ate it. Zhen Shuai really did it for us Han people. The Tartars want us to shave our hair and change clothes, so that we can forget our ancestors. Is that what people did? ? Everyone unite and fight against the Tartars!"

Slogans like these, one after another, were shouted hoarsely in the crowd, and the people who followed the crowd enthusiastically listened to them. From time to time, some people shouted in response and waved their weapons. The whole crowd was filled with a fanatical atmosphere.

"The method passed on by Uncle Pingliang is effective. Let these refugees willingly follow us all the way to Heilongjiang. It is quite similar to the method of the White Lotus Sect. It seems that this lord is not easy." Wang Yongqiang sighed sincerely. : "Things have come to this point, what else can I do, just do it!"

He said: "Today we are camping outside the city. There are few soldiers in the city. Seeing that we are powerful, we will not dare to come out to fight. Let us rest in peace and cut wood to make ladders. Tomorrow morning, we will send people to fill in the trenches and attack the city, and the rest will hurry up." Set up a stronghold and dig trenches, waiting for the reinforcements from the Qing army to come to fight, if, as General Chen said, you can bring back Wu Sangui's troops, then it will be a success."

A crowd of [-] people could shake down a wall just by shouting, and the Qing army was not afraid, but in this way, it is unknown how many people will die and how many corpses will be buried under the city of Xi'an.

Wang Yongqiang shook his head and sighed secretly.

(End of this chapter)