Nanming Engineer

Chapter 381 Blitz

Yicheng County is not big, with a radius of only ten miles. It is still a typical mountain city. The entire city is built on a mountain. The city stands along the mountain. The streets are winding up and down, basically climbing uphill and up the mountainside. The few pieces of flat land were occupied by the government and the wealthy and built into government offices and houses, while the houses of the common people were built on slopes.

The whole city was built like this, because this place was originally a Wubao, which was built by a local family to avoid disasters since the Yuan Dynasty. Due to the dangerous terrain, the nearby people moved and attached themselves. The city and county yamen simply moved here, forming the scale it is today.

Because of this, the city wall of the county city was built on the mountainside, which is equivalent to raising the ground by tens of feet, and the road up the mountain is not easy to walk. Therefore, although Han Zhaoxuan has a large number of people, he has nothing to do with this city.

Therefore, Pingyang Prefecture was in full swing, and the anti-Qing storm swept across counties and prefectures, but this place was like a paradise. Take the lead in defending the city.Fearing that the city would be murdered and their homes ransacked after the city was broken, many wealthy families who fled from the city took out real gold and silver to recruit strong men.

On this day, as usual, the county magistrate went to the city early in the morning to take a look. He saw that the wind was blowing and the grass was low in the wilderness outside the city, and there were no rebellious people. Everything was peaceful and peaceful, with a gentle spring breeze and a bright sun.

Several soldiers on the top of the city were laughing and complaining that the elders of the Ming Dynasty were really hateful. They rebelled during the spring plowing time, which not only messed up the court program, but also made the people afraid to work in the fields, delaying the farming season, and this year’s grain harvest will fail again. up.

The county magistrate reprimanded them with a stern face, telling them not to think it was useless and to guard the city with all their heart.

However, he didn't pay too much attention to it, because this period of time was really peaceful. The rebel army from Jiezhou made a fuss for more than half a month, leaving countless dead bodies under the city, without shaking the city at all, and retreated in despair.Now that a small group of Mongolian cavalry has begun to operate in the territory of Pingyang Prefecture, the county magistrate feels more at ease. In time, these Ming Dynasty rebellious parties will be wiped out by the Qing Dynasty official army rushing to help.

After patrolling around, the county magistrate saw that there was nothing wrong, so he ordered the guards to strictly guard, and hurried down to the city by himself. Last night, a small group of Mongolian cavalry came from Taiyuan and stayed in the city overnight. He had to hurry to accompany him.

The Mongols are difficult to serve and want to eat mutton. Where can I find these things during the siege?The county magistrate was very worried and sent people to search from house to house. He waited in the county office himself. As soon as he sat down and took a sip of tea, he heard someone outside shouting heartbreakingly.

The county magistrate immediately became angry. Will this keep people quiet?When he stood up and was about to go out to take a look, he saw the door being pushed open with a bang, and the county lieutenant rushed in with sweat on his face.

"Xianzun, go to the city and have a look!" The county lieutenant is a warrior, tall and burly, full of flesh, but at this moment his face is pale, frightened like a child: "The Ming army is here again!"

"Stop panic!" The county magistrate's heart trembled, but his face was forced to be calm, and he said angrily: "A few days ago, there were so many people in the Ming army, what can I do? Didn't they retreat on their own, and now they are coming again, don't they? Can you break the city?"

The county lieutenant jumped up anxiously, and said in a panic: "This time it's different, the Ming army who came here is very strange, county lord, go and have a look!"

"Oh?!" The county magistrate was also a little panicked. He jumped out of the door in a few steps, ran for a while, and turned around and shouted: "Quick, quick, tell the Mongolian uncles who live in the official post, please hurry up!" Dress neatly and come to the city together!"

By the time the Mongols in the official post rushed to the top of the city in armor and holding knives, the county magistrate and others had already stayed there for a long time, and the city wall was full of rows of guards. Defending the city only needs to defend in one direction, and there is a mountain behind, so there is no need to worry.

There are several small iron cannons on the top of the city. They were put up in the Ming Dynasty to defend against bandits. They were also neatly cleaned up at this time. Small iron bullets were placed at the back and could be fired at any time.

However, the people on the city stared down nervously, with fear evident in their eyes. The county magistrate, county lieutenant and others stood behind the battlements, talking in low voices with complicated eyes.

The Mongolian cavalry came with a team of more than [-] cavalry. There were not many people, but there were three horses per person. They were very mobile. The battle spanned the southwestern part of the mountain for more than a month. Before encountering an enemy, the rebel soldiers would go up and kill if there were few rebel soldiers, and they would flee when there were many rebel soldiers. Therefore, they were very arrogant. As soon as they went to the top of the city, the cavalry leader shouted to the county magistrate: How much did you pay? Don't panic, the magistrate, wait for me to retreat!"

The county magistrate and the county magistrate looked at him, and slowly moved away, revealing an empty space.

The leader leaned forward, looked outside the city, and was stunned.

At the foot of the mountain outside the city, a white ocean covered the land. The brigade of the Baijia Ming army formed dozens of square formations, like pieces of square clouds, arranged in front of your eyes. Each square formation had flags of different colors. Like the sea, the sound of horns and war drums is like thunder, and the sound is long and long, which makes people's eardrums hurt.

What is even more frightening is that there are dozens of huge iron cannons as big as millstones erected in the open space in front of the formation. The muzzles of the cannons are enough to fit a strong man in, and it is unknown how big the iron bullets will be fired.

"It's not the thieves who came here a few days ago." The county lieutenant said from behind: "The armor and clothes are different in color, and the ones who came back here are much more regular, and they are also strong enemies!"

The magistrate's face was pale, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Don't be afraid, this group of people is just uniform in uniform, there is no difference! The thieves are a mob, what can they do? Everyone cheer up and defend the city as usual That’s right, the old rules! One tael of silver will be rewarded for killing one, and one hundred taels of silver will be rewarded for killing one general!”

As soon as he shouted out the reward, the fear on the top of the city dissipated slightly, and the hearts of the soldiers and civilians were obviously higher. After all, the temptation of money is still huge.

The county magistrate turned his head and was about to say something to the Mongolian cavalry, but the cavalry leader turned around and spoke first.

"Your Excellency, this group of Ming soldiers are numerous and arrogant. I thought that I should take advantage of them and kill them off guard, and then come back with more than a dozen heads chopped off to boost the prestige of our army and destroy their morale! "The leader has a bald head, with a slender braid dragging behind his head. His eyes are wide and wide, and he has a bit of a sturdy momentum, and every word he speaks is full of murderous intent.

The county magistrate was in a dilemma, and seemed a little hesitant: "Well, the soldiers in the city are all horse-quick archers. There are not many people. If we rush out to fight in the field, I'm afraid..."

The leader waved his hand and said proudly: "You don't need the county magistrate, I will just lead the brothers under my command. We have many horses. If we are exhausted, we can change horses. We can run faster than the thieves, and we will definitely be able to escape unscathed!"

The county magistrate was overjoyed, cupped his hands and said, "Since that's the case, I'll trouble you all."

The leader was loyal and said boldly: "It's all for the Qing Dynasty, regardless of each other. If you guard the city, you will trouble the county lord. When we come back, I will ask the county lord to open the door for me."

The county magistrate quickly agreed: "Yes, yes, yes, definitely."

After saying that, the Mongolian leader led dozens of cavalrymen, stepped down from the city, and walked quickly to the place where the horses were tied in the city. He didn't bring the spare horse with him just now.

As soon as he got off the top of the city, a Mongolian soldier approached him and asked him in a low voice: "Brother, do we really want to go out of the city to fight with the Ming army? Those Ming troops look very strong. We are small and the risk is high." ah!"

The leader kept on stepping, with a pair of bow legs almost running forward, while running, he replied in a low voice: "Fighting? What's the matter! Didn't you see those cannons? When did the rebels have such big cannons? Besides, the formation is too big. Compared with the Jurchen Eight Banners soldiers, how can they act like thieves? There is something wrong with these Ming troops! In my opinion, this city will surely perish, and we will leave the city from the back mountain at this moment, and escape!"

The person who asked the question was caught off guard and almost fell to the ground. It turned out that the eldest brother just said impassionedly, so he wanted to take the opportunity to escape.

But after thinking about it, right, this is not my own city, so why bother with him?Let's get winded.

Dozens of Mongolian cavalrymen didn't even take the things in the official post, and ran away with their horses, went out from the small gate behind the mountain, and ran along the mountain road without a trace.

Not long after they left, there was a deafening sound of cannons from the foot of the mountain. The cannons pierced into the thunder, mixed with the loud noise of the collapse of the city wall, and echoed among the mountains for a long time.

(End of this chapter)