Late at night, Yantou Town was very quiet under the cover of night. Except for the many torches burning on the top of the city and the occasional police patrol patrolling the town, there was no other movement.
Suddenly, there was a sound of iron hoofbeats. Several Qing soldiers on patrol looked at the dark night outside in surprise. One of them even joked: "It's so late. I wonder which flag the soldiers and horses are from?"
As soon as he finished speaking, an army of cavalry came out of the night. The Qing soldier who spoke looked outside and said to his companions: "Is it the Mongolian red flag?"
"It's so late, but there's an emergency military situation!"
The cavalry army outside the city were the soldiers of the cavalry battalion. At this time, Xu Ming was wearing a suit of Niulu Zhangjing's armor. He rode a few steps forward. Xu Ming, who was born in the night and knew Mongolian, said loudly: "Prince Fengrui." Order, come and transfer food and grass and open the city gate!"
Several Qing troops patrolling the city at night did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly sent one person to report to the flag master.
Yantou Town is a small town. At this time, Yibai, the leader of the Mongolian Zhengbai Banner, was in a better house in the city. The Qing soldiers who reported the news quickly ran over. After reporting, Yibai asked in surprise: "Did you see clearly?"
"Look clearly, it is indeed Mongolia's armor and flag with a red flag."
"That's strange. The master sent people to transport food. Why did he use men and horses with red flags?"
"Master, the visitor is still waiting outside the city. Should you send someone out to check?"
"Well, it's better to be careful."
Yibai called one of the guards, Niulu Zhangjing, and said, "Take the people out of the city and check Prince Rui's grain adjustment warrant."
"嗻!"
Then Yibai was also fully dressed and led a group of horse-armored soldiers to the south wall. Looking around, there was indeed a large cavalry army outside the city, numbering hundreds. But the strange thing is that many people in this cavalry army are hidden in the night, and there are only two or three hundred people in front of the city.
Yibai frowned slightly, feeling something was wrong in his heart, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong.
Soon, Niu Lu Zhangjing led a dozen infantry soldiers out of the city gate. When they came to Xu Ming, they saw Xu Ming dismounting from his horse and coming over with a big smile.
"Show me Prince Rui's..."
Before he finished speaking, Niu Lu Zhangjing looked horrified. He saw the sideburns under Xu Ming's helmet at a glance: This man has not shaved his hair!
Xu Ming stepped forward quickly, pretending to take out something, and quickly put a sharp dagger directly against Niu Lu Zhangjing's throat. At this time, Niulu Zhangjing happened to have his back to the city wall, and the dozen or so infantry soldiers behind him couldn't see what was going on here. They thought Xu Ming had come up for inspection on his own initiative.
"do not move!"
Xu Ming warned in a low voice in Mongolian: "Tell the people on the top of the city that the warrant is correct and let them open the city gate!"
Niu Lu Zhangjing's eyes widened, and he subconsciously wanted to scream, but suddenly felt pain in his neck. Xu Ming stabbed the dagger forward with force. At this time, Niu Lu Zhangjing's neck had been pierced, and blood flowed down his collar. down.
"Do as I say!"
The severe pain made Niulu Zhangjing dare not move rashly. He carefully raised his right hand and waved it, and said loudly: "The warrant is okay, open the city gate!"
Yibai on the top of the city hesitated for a moment when he saw this. After a moment, he said to the people around him: "Open the city gate and mobilize another thousand warriors to guard."
"嗻!"
Soon the city gate opened, Xu Ming waved his hand to the back, and Dong Yun, the commander of the Zuo Sentai Hundred Commando, immediately led his troops through the city gate, and then dismounted one after another inside the city gate.
Although the soldiers of the cavalry battalion fight on horseback, they are still divided into spearmen and gunners. However, the gunmen equipped by the cavalry battalion soldiers are specially made, that is, the overall length is shorter than that of the infantry, making it easier to shoot on horseback.
At this time, Dong Yun arrogantly said words such as "rest" and "wait" in Mongolian, while commanding his spearmen to gather on the outside, and the musketeers arrayed behind them, and quietly occupied the south gate. area.
At the same time, Du Zhongming, the right sentry general, was also preparing to lead his troops into the city, but at this moment, Niu Lu Zhangjing pushed Xu Ming away, then turned and ran away: "Ming army! They are the Ming army!"
Xu Ming roared and threw the dagger in his hand, hitting Niu Lu Zhangjing's cheek and piercing his head.
After killing Niu Lu Zhangjing, Xu Ming got on his horse and shouted: "Kill in!"
The picket officer Lu Yuan and the soldiers of the Chinese army charged forward and killed all the dozen or so infantry soldiers of Niu Luzhangjing in a blink of an eye.
Du Zhongming, the commander-in-chief of the right post, was leading his men through the city gate at this time. The soldiers heading to the left post had already encountered a thousand Zhengbai Banner Mongolian soldiers who were coming.
I saw Dong Yun roaring loudly: "Fire!"
The left whistle gunner fired a volley at the Qing soldiers crowded in the streets, killing and wounding a large number of them immediately.
The Qing soldiers coming from the top of the city were also stopped by the spearmen in front. Soldiers from both sides fought each other with spears and swords. Hundreds of Qing soldiers could not break through the battle formation composed of the cavalry battalion soldiers. The large groups of people were blocked on the city wall. on the bridleway.
"Shaking thunder!"
Dong Yun gave an order, and a dozen sword and shield players began to throw thunderbolts. At this time, the Qing army was large in number and very dense. The killing effect of thunderbolts was very good, and it exploded into a large area.
"boom!"
A thunderbolt collapsed a nearby house, and flying rubble and sawdust even flew to the top of the city.
At this time, Yibai looked at the city gate that had been occupied by the new Lingshan Guard army, and looked at the warriors in the banner who were suppressed and defeated by the new Lingshan Guard army, and he felt very anxious in his heart.
Yantou Town is an important place for the army to store grain. I don't dare to lose it. Even though I am also the leader of a banner, in the eyes of the Manchus, I am a slave. If I really lose Yantou Town, maybe Dorgon will be the real one. Will kill myself!
So Yibai mobilized troops and horses to come to support, and at the same time commanded the Qing troops on the top of the city to fire arrows from a high position to suppress the new soldiers of the Lingshan Guards who broke into the city.
Most of the soldiers on the right outpost of the cavalry battalion were crowded near the city gate. Xu Ming and dozens of soldiers from the Chinese army couldn't squeeze in, so they could only worry at the city gate.
At this time, arrows rained down from the top of the city. Soon, more than a dozen New Army soldiers were hit by arrows, and three of them were killed directly.
Xu Ming was so anxious that he was hesitating whether to withdraw first. He couldn't be a target here.
Suddenly, there was a loud noise from inside the city gate, and a huge fireball rose into the sky. Xu Ming even saw the roof of an entire house flying into the air. The South City Gate suffered a huge impact, and half of the city tower collapsed. Many Lingshan Guards officers fled on horseback, thus avoiding being hit by falling stones and wood.
Xu Ming looked up at the top of the city and saw that there were no more Qing soldiers on top of the city. Almost all the Qing soldiers near the city gate were knocked down or died. Even the battle flag of the Qing army general had disappeared. trace.
The corpses of many Zhengbai Banner Tatar soldiers were also flying in the air, like fairies scattering flowers. Then many broken limbs and broken arms fell down mixed with blood and internal organs. Many soldiers retched, and Xu Ming also felt nauseated. .
"Wan Sheng!"
A burst of cheers came, and the city gate was open. The soldiers of the cavalry battalion cheered and rushed in. Xu Ming and picket officer Lu Yuan led dozens of soldiers also rushed in.
After everyone entered the city, they found that the city was in a mess, with collapsed houses everywhere and corpses on the ground, most of which belonged to the Zhengbai Banner Mongolian soldiers.
"grown ups!"
Dong Yun, the commander-in-chief of Zuo Shao, rode up on horseback with his whole body in tatters and his whole face was scorched black.
Xu Ming asked in surprise: "What happened just now?"
Dong Yun grinned and said: "Just now, my subordinates got smart and tied twenty thunderbolts into a group, tied them to a war horse, lit them and drove the horses towards the Tatar soldiers. I made four in total. Such a war horse, but the timing was not calculated correctly and it exploded almost at the same time. Fortunately, these four war horses did not turn back halfway, otherwise you would not be able to see me."
After saying that, Dong Yun burst out laughing. This explosion not only nearly destroyed the city gate, but also took away hundreds of Qing soldiers in one wave, which was very satisfying.
Unexpectedly, Xu Ming punched him and said angrily: "This place is only a dozen miles away from the main force of slave thieves. You are afraid that the slave thieves won't hear such a big movement!"
Dong Yun was immediately dumbfounded and said blankly: "I, I didn't expect..."
Xu Ming said angrily: "Why did Master Cheng let us raid here? We just don't want to alert the main force of the slave thieves. Otherwise, we would just mobilize the artillery commander and bombard the city head!"
"Then what should we do now?"
Xu Ming glared at Dong Yun and said: "Quickly decide! In addition, Ye Bushou should contact the Master of Conduct immediately!"
"yes!"
Just when Xu Ming was extremely anxious, Yibai was withdrawing from Yantou Town in embarrassment.
The big explosion at the south city gate not only killed hundreds of elite Qing troops, but also injured Yibai. At this time, he was riding a horse covered in blood and commanding the Zhengbai Banner Mongolian soldiers to withdraw from the city.
"Master, withdraw now. How can we deal with Prince Rui?"
Yibai glared at his subordinates and said: "Prince Rui will definitely notice such a big movement, and reinforcements will arrive soon. The city is small, which is not conducive to the maneuverability of our cavalry. Let the warriors withdraw immediately and move Yan Surround me in Touzhen!"
"嗻!"
Soon the Qing troops in the city withdrew one after another. At this time, there were still more than 3,000 people in the Mongolian Zhengbai Banner, and they had all assembled outside the city.
In the city, Xu Ming ordered his men to search the city and climbed to the top of the city. He saw the Qing troops mobilizing outside the city and could not help but frown.
"Report!"
Soon the picket officer Lu Yuan came over and said, "Sir, a large amount of money and food were found in the city."
"Where are the people who were taken captive?"
"Not found."
Lu Yuan said: "According to a captured Qing soldier, this afternoon, slave thieves took away thousands of people in the city and went to Jinan Fucheng."
Xu Ming punched the city head angrily, and then said: "Get ready to set fire to me and burn all the money and food in the city! After lighting the fire, the entire battalion will immediately withdraw from Yantou Town."
"What!"
Xu Ming looked at Lu Yuan who was stunned on the spot and said: "Those Mongolian Tatars under Zhengbai Banner have not been defeated. They are preparing to pester us outside. With such a big movement, the main force of slaves and thieves will come at any time. We don't have time to transfer the money and food." ”
Lu Yuan sighed suddenly and turned around to make arrangements.
Not long after, Lu Yuan rushed back to resume his life. Xu Ming immediately ordered a fire, and the cavalry battalion soldiers withdrew from Yantou Town from the south gate. They did not ask for any money or food in the city, but took away all the heads captured in this battle.
"What!"
When Yibai received the news from the scouts and learned that Xu Ming's troops had withdrawn, flames had begun to appear in the city, so Yibai ignored the pursuit and hurriedly sent people into the city to put out the fire, but it was too late.
Lu Yuan led his people to deploy a large amount of gunpowder and even a lot of thunder in the city. At this time, the fire in Yantou Town was soaring into the sky. It was not accompanied by several explosions. Those Qing soldiers did not dare to enter the city at all. They just stayed in the city. He was shouting in vain.
Yibai's face turned pale when he saw this, and the injuries on his body became more painful. As soon as his vision went dark, he fell off his horse.
At dawn, Duduo led five thousand cavalrymen with white flags from Manzhou and rushed to Yantou Town. At this time, the fire in the city was still not extinguished, illuminating the darkness before dawn like daylight.
At this time, Duduo's face was livid, he turned to look at Yibai who had just been awakened by the water, and said coldly: "How many warriors have you lost in your banner?"
Yibai knelt on the ground and said, "I am reporting to Prince Yu that the warriors in the slave banner have lost more than 1,200 people."
"Where's the money and food in Yantou Town?"
"They were all burned by the Ming army."
Duduo gritted his teeth and said, "Then why were you not burned to death by the Ming army!"
After saying that, several Bai Baya soldiers nearby rushed up and beat Yibai violently. The surrounding Mongolian generals and soldiers lowered their heads and did not dare to say a word.
After the fight, Duduo looked at Yibai who could no longer get up and said, "Because you knew how to withdraw your troops and threaten the Ming army's retreat, and did not use this money and food to support the enemy, I will spare your life for the time being."
"Thank you, thank you Prince Yu."
"Which Ming army did it?"
Although Duduo had probably guessed it, he still wanted to confirm it again.
"This Ming army is disguised as Mongolian soldiers and horses with red flags. The flags and armor are all real. I didn't see the Ming army's own flag. But such an elite Ming army is probably under Liu Yan's command!"
"Liu Yan!"
Duduo called Liu Yan's name fiercely, then glanced at Yibai and said: "I have been ordered by the general and Prince Rui: the entire army returns to Jinan Fucheng to garrison. Starting tomorrow, the Mongolian Zhengbai Banner warriors will collect money and food from the surrounding areas. , to support the army!"
Yibai's eyes suddenly lit up and he hurriedly kowtowed and thanked him.
Some people died, but not completely...
