Nanming Engineer

Chapter 400
The smoke of the wolf rose, and the mess was everywhere.

The towering and majestic city wall of Taiyuan City is like a piece of cheese riddled with holes. The originally neat wall is covered with holes of different sizes. The blue bricks wrapped with rammed earth are cracked and broken, and the stone crenels are There are missing corners and few edges. Compared with the appearance of Jubaxiong City three days ago, one is heaven and the other is underground.

At noon on May [-]th, the tide of rebel troops retreated from the city again. Some mutilated corpses were left under the city wall. Along with them, there were many poorly made ladders, shield carts and other equipment piled up. At the root of the city wall, it looks like a huge garbage dump surrounding the city wall.

The smell of blood emanated from the scattered corpses, fermented and rose in the abundant sunlight, and spread for several miles, and soon turned into a smell of corpses, attracting a large number of mosquitoes and flies, excitedly flapping their wings to participate This dinner party.

The defenders on the top of the city breathed a sigh of relief, and today's hardship seemed to be over.

Over the past three days, as regularly as the sun rises, the rebel troops besieging Taiyuan City beat drums and set up formations on time every day. The whole section of the city wall was beaten up and down, and the soldiers on the city had nowhere to stay. Then countless infantry carried ladders and pushed shield carts and filed up, shouting to attack the city.

The Qing soldiers at the top of the city also mastered the rules and hid under the city or elsewhere before the Ming army's bombardment. As soon as the bombardment stopped, they immediately rushed to the city to defend. Therefore, although the Ming army attacked fiercely in the past three days, they did not capture even a single victory. For a section of the city wall, Taiyuan City was still firmly in the hands of the Qing army.

The rebel soldiers retreating like ants in the distance retreated in embarrassment, crossed the flat ground left between several wide trenches, and ran back to their respective camps.

Li Dingguo, Han Zhaoxuan, Yu Yin and other leaders, under the protection of a group of elite soldiers, stood on a hillock behind the trench and stared at it.

"We've been attacking for three days, so I guess it wouldn't be too bad. If I were Zhu Shichang, it would be too much." Li Dingguo narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice, "How many people ran out from the north today?"

"There were 25 horses leaving the city, and the people at the north gate did not deliberately stop them according to Lord Hou's instructions. They left a gap and let them escape." Yu Yin replied immediately.

"Basically, dozens of people have escaped from the city every day for the past three days. They are all Mongolian horses, and the riders are also skilled in riding. They should be Mongolian soldiers." Han Zhaoxuan also responded: "It seems that Zhu Shichang used the most Quick cavalry for help."

"That's more than 100 emergency messengers." Li Dingguo smiled slightly and said: "That's enough. Starting from the afternoon, the long trenches will be closed, the attack will stop, and the siege will be transformed into a trapped city. Wooden fences will be erected outside the long trenches to prevent the city from letting go. Someone escaped!"

"Okay!" Yu Yin laughed gruffly: "In the past three days, the trenches have been dug seven or eighty-eight, and it only takes one day to connect them. In a few days, the second long trench can be dug, and it will be so solid that not even a mouse can escape from the city."

"Please be careful, both of you. There are still more than 2 people in the city. Be careful of them jumping over the wall and rushing out with all their might." Li Dingguo reminded: "I will lead Fengziying to leave in the afternoon. Once we leave, the rest will depend on It’s up to you.”

"Please don't worry, general, we must keep our eyes wide open and live up to Lord Hou's entrustment." Han Zhaoxuan hastily expressed his position: "After the Tartars in the city are trapped to death, Lord Hou can set up an ambush in the north with no worries. A little responsibility, we can still bear it.”

The other leaders of the rebel army standing behind also echoed, saying loudly that it was handed over to them.

Li Dingguo's smile became even stronger. He cupped his fists and bowed his hands, and said to everyone: "In this way, I will help you all. Dingguo will definitely report your hard work to the Marquis truthfully!"

"General Li, you are being polite. This is what we should do. General, please report back to Lord Hou. I will wait here. Taiyuan will be like a cage. Nothing will go wrong!" Everyone hurriedly bowed their hands and shouted.

Li Dingguo grinned from the corner of his mouth to his ears, his smile made his eyes narrow into slits, and he secretly sighed in his heart, Mr. Wang is really powerful, he can control this group of rich people in the palm of his hand with a few words and empty promises that do not require any money from him.

Of course, Li Dingguo also understands that without the thunderbolt means shown by the sharp soldiers and cannons of the Kuizhou army, these arrogant people would not submit obediently. After all, seeing the deep bullet holes on the city wall of Taiyuan, any soldier Self-respecting warlords will silently feel whether their backbones are hard or not.

He turned to face the direction of Taiyuan City, and put away his smile. In the midday sun, the beacon smoke made the world in his sight a little sad, and the battlefield with blood-stained corpses was even more heroic.

"I wonder if the city of Beijing is bigger, taller and more spectacular than Taiyuan?" Li Dingguo thought, his eyes a little blurry: "When will I be able to stand outside the Forbidden City and see what Zhang Xianzhong thought about all the time but couldn't do it?" Where is the Meridian Gate where you enter?"

……

Datong.

A more tragic battlefield than outside Taiyuan City appeared under the same sun. Within five miles outside the city, it had long been turned into a piece of scorched earth. Arrow shafts and rolling wood were mixed with human remains, which were exposed to the air, exuding a pungent smell. The stench of the Datong City Wall is five feet higher than the Taiyuan City Wall. The outer bricks are riddled with bullet marks. The towering towers on each city gate are in dilapidated condition. Wisps of green smoke come from the burnt chariots. The remaining trees sprouted from the sandbags that filled the moat, and the blood-stained water turned the sandbags into mud ponds.

If Taiyuan is a cruel battlefield, then Datong is hell.

At noon, the Qing soldiers who also retreated bypassed the triple deep trenches that besieged the city, returned to the barracks, ate and rested, and accumulated strength for the continued onslaught in the afternoon.

Azig's big tent was built in a military camp fifteen miles away from Datong City, next to the Shili River, surrounded by mountains, where the wind couldn't blow in, and it was close to the water source, which was an excellent place to camp.

At this moment, there are many powerful generals gathered in the tent, surrounded by dignitaries. Many Manchu princes, princes, Baylor and Beizi level nobles are sitting on a circle of carpets. These people have gloomy faces and tired expressions. They sit cross-legged in boots. Drinking tea, no one said anything.

Standing high in the middle behind a short table is Prince He Shuoying and General Pingxi Azig. This man has a fierce face and a strong figure. In the tent, the cherry helmet on the head was not worn, revealing a bare head and a small bunch of braids at the back of the head.

He frowned and looked down at a letter spread out on the low table. There were several unopened envelopes on the low table. The envelopes were covered with wax and had the official seal of the Taiyuan governor's office.

After a quick glance, Azig raised his head, frowned at the person standing respectfully in the middle of the big tent, and asked, "I remember sending such urgent letters these days, how many are there?"

This man is Zhengbai Banner Zhangjing, who is in charge of the documents sent by the army. He heard Azige's question and quickly replied: "Returning to the prince, the emergency from Taiyuan started ten days ago, and it has increased day by day. Today, it has already involved 53 letters, more and more urgent every day, and about ten letters have been delivered today."

After hearing this, all the generals in the tent couldn't help but look at each other and started talking quietly, shaking their heads slightly as they spoke.

Azig's frown deepened. He dismissed Zhang Jing casually and looked at the two people in the seat with wolf-like eyes.

(End of this chapter)