Nanming Engineer

Chapter 331
The spirit can be fanatical, and the blood can go to the brain, but the spirit alone cannot kill people.

Although Wang Yongqiang followed Wang Huan's instructions and ordered some smart-spoken people to mix in with the vagrants who came together to confuse, incite and incite these people's hostility towards the Qing court, it was indeed effective, and it did not take much effort. Emotions are mobilized.

After the Ming court was driven away, the lives of common people in Shaanxi did not improve. To some extent, they worsened. For various purposes, Dorgon did not abolish the three major taxes After the Ming Dynasty, the collection continued, which aroused continuous public grievances, and the hair-shaving order, which was angry and angry, was even more of a barrel of oil poured on the raging fire.

Therefore, Wang Yongqiang's people easily made the refugees angry, and rushed towards the city wall of Xi'an like an invulnerable Boxer with a burst of anger.

The mental fanaticism came and went quickly. When the artillery on top of the city smashed down large iron balls with the smell of gunpowder smoke, easily decomposing the flesh and blood into meat paste, the spirits of the refugees immediately collapsed. .

Those who watched from a distance were shocked, but the 5000 people who experienced it in person were terrified.

In the eyes of the ignorant refugees, those flaming iron cannons and iron bullets are no more than the demon-conquering pestles in the hands of heavenly soldiers and heavenly generals. They will kill you if you touch them. No matter what food or rewards, everything is just a cloud after death.

Seeing the refugees who were stumbling and crying for their fathers and mothers running closer and closer, the head of the team's stern eyes became serious, and he turned his head to look at the sergeant beside him.

The sergeant understood, raised his hand, and led a dozen soldiers to ride forward a few steps. Qiyun Dantian held his breath, and then shouted loudly together.

"The Commander-in-Chief has an order. If you cower in front of the formation and do not follow the lead, behead! If you run away from the formation, behead! If you do not respect the order, behead!"

"Those who are waiting in front must not retreat any further, otherwise military law will be ruthless!"

Following the shout, more than ten people stretched their bows and set up arrows, and shot a row of feathered arrows accurately not far in front of the fleeing refugees.

The feather arrows are nailed to the ground, and the white feathers at the end are very conspicuous on the yellow ground. The wind blows the yellow sand, and the white feathers tremble. It is very beautiful to shake.

The leader squinted his eyes, staring at the row of feather arrows, and saw that the refugees continued to retreat regardless, crossed the line of feather arrows, and trampled them under their feet.

Commander-in-Chief's order?Don't be kidding, the front is an iron bullet. Compared with it, the command of Zhen Shuai will not be fatal, right?And in this chaotic scene, how many people can hear the soldiers' warning is also a problem.

"Listen to my orders!" The leader showed murderous intent, and drew out the long knife at his waist: "Follow me to supervise the formation!"

"Here!" The cavalry team of more than 100 people roared in unison, their lances raised flat.

The leader rode his horse forward, his legs gripped the horse's belly, and the horse began to trot. As the speed increased, the rider's legs pinched the horse's belly with increasing force, and the horse ran faster and faster. Within a short time, it had already accelerated to the point of flying like lightning, and the more than a hundred riders around him closely followed the leader, forming a galloping horizontal line.

At this moment, the shelling on the top of the city had stopped. Amidst the sound of rumbling horseshoes, the refugees running wildly were surprised to notice the cavalrymen who were approaching them quickly, and they were very surprised.

Refugees who have no concept of military discipline have no idea what these cavalry are here for.

"Turn around and go back! Pick up the mud bags and fill the trench!" the leader roared: "Those who don't follow will be killed!"

His horse ran ahead, and had already approached the fastest runner among the scattered and retreating refugees.

It was a relatively young and strong man. Although the clothes on his body were ordinary, there were no holes. He obviously did not look like ordinary poor people. He should be a businessman or a person who had studied, and his mind was relatively clever. This can be seen from his position during the escape. come out.

The long knife held high by the leader gleamed coldly in the sun, and he saw it as intimidating. The man was shocked and immediately realized that these cavalry were definitely not here to support him.

He suddenly stopped under his feet, turned around nimbly, and ran back. He heard clearly that the cavalry on the horse told them to go back and carry the mud bags, otherwise they would kill people.

Although the iron bullet was terrifying, but after all, he hadn't shot it now, but the knife in front of him was very close at hand, so he could tell which one was more important and which one was more serious.

But it is not easy to turn back and run in the frantically retreating flow of people. Although the people ran scattered, as soon as he turned around, he collided head-on with another person who was running for his life.

There were stars on top of their heads, both of them staggered and fell to the ground, each other was furious, sitting on the ground and trying to get up, they suddenly felt dark in front of their eyes.

A healthy horse galloped in front of the eyes, and the knight's figure was burly, blocking the sun above his head, so that the two people sitting on the ground felt as if a cloud was floating to block the sunlight. They opened their mouths and were about to speak out. The arc slashed head-on.

The knife slashed twice, beheading two heads.

The leader poked the long knife on the ground twice, put two heads on the tip of the knife, and held it high.

At the same time, the cavalry lined up in a horizontal line started killing, like a flood dam, stopping the retreating flow of people.

Knives and spears were used.

"Kill those who retreat!"

The leader shouted loudly again: "Go back and fill the trench with mud bags, otherwise you are not allowed to turn back!"

The cavalry imitated the leader's example, stringing the severed heads on their spears and lances, like a fence holding up the heads, or like a ferocious Shura, raising them high in the air, frightening the refugees.

The sudden killing, of course, suppressed the mentally broken refugees. They cried out, knelt on the ground and begged, hoping that the soldiers could give them a way out, because the artillery fire on the top of the city was too fierce, and they would die if they continued to move forward.

The cavalry were unmoved, but urged their horses to take a step forward.

The refugees stood up in desperation, gritted their teeth, and ran towards the city wall with all their strength, hoping to get to the ditch before the artillery fired, or followed the crowd and ran with the flow. I do, but I don't know what to do.In short, the action of the cavalry paid off, and the 5000 men turned around again.

The Qing soldiers on the top of the city became nervous. The refugees running back and forth were not scary, and the number of 5000 people was not scary. Even if the moat was filled up, it would not be scary.

What is really terrifying is the methods of the northern Shaanxi rebels. This was originally the method of Li Zicheng and his like. As the original Ming army and the Qing army now guarding the city, they know it all too well.

At the beginning, the bandit army surrounded the refugees and attacked the city, and they used this kind of move to confuse the refugees to attack the front, while the real soldiers were behind, and the defenders had to shoot back the refugees with artillery. Only when the ammunition and food in the city are exhausted will the main combat power of the bandit army come into play. How many big cities and giants have been captured in this way.

Meng Qiaofang on the bell tower, although she had been psychologically prepared, was pale at the moment. The thing she was most worried about was this matter.

"I didn't expect you Han people to use the method of driving the people into the army." A voice suddenly sounded beside her, startling Meng Qiaofang. When she looked back, it was Hahamu. This Tartar official did not know when, Also stood on the bell tower.

Seeing Meng Qiaofang's twisted face, Hahamu snorted coldly and said calmly: "Mr. Meng's face is so ugly? Could it be that he was frightened by the rebels?"

Meng Qiaofang came to her senses, frowned, and said, "No, I'm just worried because I see so many thieves."

But Hahamu pointed his big hand and sneered again and again: "Master Meng doesn't need to do this. These rebels seem to have a large number of people, but they are not beaten. When King Pingxi's army arrives, they can be easily suppressed."

Meng Qiaofang thought to herself, of course, but where is King Pingxi?

Thinking of this, he said: "Master Ha is right, but judging by the posture of the rebels, the moat can be filled within today, and then the real siege of the rebels will begin. You and I have to fight hard. I wonder when King Pingxi will return to his teacher?"

Hahamu frowned and said in a muffled voice, "I don't know!"

At this moment, the cannons roared again on the top of the city, and the second round of shelling began, but the refugees braved the shellfire, and no one dared to turn around and run away. They picked up the mud bags on the ground as if desperately, rushed to the side of the trench like crazy, and threw them away. When they went down, some people panicked and couldn't find the mud bags they left behind, so they grabbed corpses and threw them into the ditch. Isn't it just to fill up the ditch anyway?It doesn't matter what you throw.

The wide and deep trench was gradually filled up for a distance of nearly ten feet wide.

The archers and bird commanders at the head of the city were not idle either. The trench was only ten feet away from the city wall, and bows, arrows and lead could be hit. The refugees who rushed to the edge of the trench like ants were living targets. They easily drew their bows and raised their guns, aiming and shooting with precision.

The battle lasted for most of the day, and in the afternoon, the northern Shaanxi army rang the gong to signal the withdrawal of troops.

Wang Yongqiang was very satisfied. It was a good start to fill up a section of trenches in one day. Although it cost nearly 3000 people, it was worth it.

Filling up the trenches is a kind of pressure, and the people in the city will know that these 10,000+ people are not here for tourism, but for real.

He accepted it as soon as he saw it, and ordered that in addition to sending soldiers to monitor the four gates of Xi'an to prevent the people inside from breaking out, the rest of the people should continue to rush to repair the camp. The moat in Xi'an was broken, which made the people below bewildered: Are we here to attack the city, or to build the city?
.......
At this moment in Wu Sangui's army, the atmosphere was tense, all the generals gathered together in the tent of the Chinese army, and surrounded King Pingxi who was sitting in the middle, arguing endlessly.

(End of this chapter)