"Six hundred and thirty-seven! Six hundred and thirty-seven of my sons died!"
In the afternoon, Azashi found Haragu who was eating meat in the big tent, venting his anger about the casualties among his tribe in this battle.
Among them, most of them died in the attack on Jixi Fort, and a small number died in the attack on the Western Slope.
For Azashi, who only had 5,000 tribesmen, he needed to spend a lot of cattle and sheep to support their families if so many tribesmen were killed or injured in one fell swoop.
If he can't grab anything, he will become the biggest loser in this battle.
"Tulu Hucha'er asked someone to send Azashili Taiji 2,000 sheep and 200 cattle to make up for his losses."
Haragu ordered another person in the tent who was also eating meat. That was Taiji of the Uliangha tribe, Tuolu Huchaer.
"Yes, I'll let someone do it right now." Tolu Huchaer glanced at Azashili contemptuously, and then walked out of the big tent.
After getting the cattle and sheep, Azashili was not as angry as he was at first. He simply sat down and ordered outside the tent: "Bring me a leg of lamb too!"
After saying that, he looked at Haragu who was eating meat calmly: "We can't let my sons go to attack the city next time. They just suffered a setback."
"Don't worry..." Haragu said nonchalantly: "I won't let your people get involved in the future. You can also take your people to other savage cities to harvest grass and valleys."
"What do you mean?" Azashili's face changed drastically, but Haragu said contemptuously: "So many of your armored soldiers have died, and now you can't even get 400 of them together. Jilin City has been divided just now. Here you go.”
"It's only two thousand cattle and sheep, you..." Azashi suddenly stood up, his face flushed, obviously very angry.
But he also had to admit that his strength had been damaged.
Azashili's Wengniute tribe (Tainingwei) was originally the weakest among the three tribes. In addition, he only brought half of the tribe this time, so he naturally became the first to be squeezed out.
However, he still said harsh words to Haragu: "It's easy for more than 4,000 people to leave, but it won't be so easy if you want to find me to go south to thresh the grass valley in the future."
"I'm afraid you will come to me at that time." Haragu didn't care what Azashili said. After all, as long as he captured Jilin City, the gap in strength between Wuliangha and Wengniute would become wider and wider.
At that time, No matter what the Wengniu Special Department faces, they will still have to come to him.
"Huh!" With a cold snort, Azashi left the tent without looking back.
Soon after, Tolu Huchaer returned to the big tent, with a somewhat playful expression on his face when he came: "Why don't you keep him?"
"He killed and injured so many people that he couldn't stay even if he wanted to. It's better to let him go and save more than 4,000 people in food."
Haragu said his thoughts, and at the same time said to Tolu Huchaer: "Order the army to rest for one day, and continue to attack the city tomorrow. This time we, Uliangha's headquarters, will join us."
"Okay." Tuolu Huchaer nodded in agreement, turned around and left the tent.
While he was leaving his tent, Jilin City also took a short rest.
All the corpses were thrown into the Songhua River and flowed down the river. They might be seen by the six cities below the river.
"It seems that Wu Liangha is not planning to attack the city again."
On top of the Jixi Fort arrow tower, Zhu Gaoxu held his hands on the parapet, changed into black clothes, and looked at the Wuliangha camp in front of Jixi Fort.
Behind him, Lin Su, Wang Yi, and Yi Shiha stood, and they all breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.
One hundred and fifty armored soldiers were killed or wounded in one day, which was already an unbearable burden for Jilin City.
What Jilin City needs now is time. If the city is captured one day later, they will have more hope of reinforcements.
In fact, it is not that Zhu Gaoxu has never thought about leading troops out to fight in the field, but he only has 3,000 new and old soldiers in his hands. Although the armor is enough, he himself does not know whether he has a chance of winning against tens of thousands of Wuliangha people. .
Zhu Gaoxu would not do anything that had no chance of winning, and he could not joke with the lives of his brothers.
Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu looked back to the south, as if he wanted to see the scene of Jilin City at this moment.
Sixty-eight people died in the battle, and behind them were sixty-eight families, the backbone of hundreds of people.
This was only a tentative siege on the first day. Zhu Gaoxu could not predict how the war would be tomorrow, how tragic it would be, and how many people would lose their children, husbands, and fathers.
"Slaughter five hundred sheep and let all the brothers and subordinates participating in the war eat meat!"
Thinking that many people would not survive tomorrow, Zhu Gaoxu stopped saving food and turned around to tell Yishiha to let his brothers have a good meal.
The deep meaning in his words was guessed by Lin Su and the others. They all returned the greeting in silence and separated after a while.
Standing at the top of the city, looking at the fluttering Bohai flag, Zhu Gaoxu knew very well that this was just an ordinary battle on his future growth path.
Wu Liangha, this group of people who were only qualified to act as a gang of horse bandits in the Ming Dynasty caused such a headache to me now. What if I ran into the Tatars and Oara headquarters?
In other words, what should he do if he had to face the Confederate army with more armor per capita?
The question appeared in his mind, and Zhu Gaoxu also subconsciously put his hand on the Hongwu Iron Cannon next to him.
Feeling the touch in his hand, he turned his head and looked at the Hongwu Iron Cannon.
Perhaps only the knowledge about the future in his mind can make the Bohai Navy stronger and stronger, and gradually get rid of today's embarrassment.
While he was thinking this, there was an uproar in the castle behind him, as if something had happened.
Hearing the uproar, Zhu Gaoxu quickly turned around and walked to the other side of the arrow tower. Then he saw Guo Yan riding a draft horse into the castle.
She was wearing a mandarin duck war coat, followed by horse-drawn carriages entering the fort.
Seeing her, Zhu Gaoxu frowned, not happy that she came to this dangerous front line.
As if feeling Zhu Gaoxu's gaze, Guo Yan also raised his head and met his eyes.
After a while, Guo Yan got off his horse and stepped onto the horse path, and Zhu Gaoxu also took this opportunity to get off the arrow tower.
The two met on the horse road, but Guo Yan saw Zhu Gaoxu's frown from a distance.
She said unhurriedly: "His Highness is not very happy that I am here, but most of the men in the city are being transferred to the front line. If I don't bring healthy women to transport food for the army, I will have to let the men in the academy go to the front line." Those kids are here to act as child soldiers."
Guo Yan told the reason why he appeared here. Zhu Gaoxu didn't say much after hearing this. He just said to Yi Shiha who came up behind Guo Yan:
"Take a few thousand soldiers to transport food to the city, enough for twenty days."
"My slave, take your orders..." Yishuha bowed in response, and Guo Yan also walked to the female wall and took a look at the endless stretch of Wuliangha's tent outside the wall.
The horse road was filled with the smell of blood. Guo Yan frowned and turned around, showing a maturity different from her age.
"Why don't Your Highness take this opportunity to ask His Majesty for more troops?"
Guo Yan's words were beyond Zhu Gaoxu's expectations. She did not expect that Guo's fourth granddaughter, whom Lao Zhu was close to, would come to teach her how to expand her troops on the fifth day after arriving in Jilin City.
Zhu Gaoxu was not sure whether this was Guo Yan's test or Guo Ying's test, so he could only prevaricate in a high-sounding way:
"Grandpa has his own considerations as to how many soldiers and horses he wants to give me. Even if he only gives me a thousand soldiers and horses, I can still defend Jilin City."
There was no flaw in his high-sounding words. After hearing this, Guo Yan only lost his eyes for a moment, and then bowed:
"In that case, I will go back to my residence and wait for His Highness to return in triumph."
"Yishuha, send the princess off." Zhu Gaoxu ordered Yishiha, and Yishiha turned sideways and made a gesture of invitation.
After a while, the two got off the horse track. Yi Shiha held the saddle, helped Guo Yan get on the horse and walked out of Jixi Fort.
Looking at Guo Yan's disappearing back, Zhu Gaoxu felt suspicious, but he had to admit that Guo Yan was right.
Haragu's invasion gave Zhu Gaoxu a good excuse to deploy additional troops.
Since the 22nd year of Hongwu, I can count on one hand the places in the north where tens of thousands of barbarian invaders have been encountered. Every time a new place encounters barbarian invaders, Lao Zhu will increase the number of local troops, ranging from as few as a thousand. There are more than a few thousand.
Once he seizes this opportunity, he can increase the number of troops in Jilin City.
However, Zhu Gaoxu knew very well that he could not do that, because actively requesting and passively accepting were two different things.
He was already jealous of Zhu Yunwen. If he took the initiative to ask for additional troops, even if Lao Zhu wanted to allow it, Zhu Yunwen would stand in the way.
Instead of asking for it, it would be better to let Lao Zhu make his own choice.
According to his own understanding, if Lao Zhu knew about Jilin City, he would definitely decide to strengthen Jilin City, or send more soldiers and horses, or send enough war horses and firearms. In short, he would not leave Jilin City without the ability to protect itself. .
Except for Queen Ma, no one can interfere with Lao Zhu's decision.
Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu looked into the distance and saw the back of Guo Yan's retreating team.
"Although this woman has many mature peers, she is still too young to hide her thoughts."
After giving his evaluation, Zhu Gaoxu got off the horse trail, waited for twenty of the five hundred sheep to be processed, and then took more than ten soldiers and twenty retinues to Hadal Ridge.
When they arrived at the mountain, it was already Yin Shi (15 o'clock).
Upon learning that Zhu Gaoxu was coming, Zhang Chun quickly brought a few people to greet him.
"Your Highness!"
Zhang Chun ran over, but Zhu Gaoxu turned sideways and gestured to the mutton carried by the subordinates behind him: "These are twenty muttons. First ask your brothers and subordinates to pack them up. I will also eat at your place today. By the way, let me tell you how it feels to guard the mountain today." .”
"Yes!" Upon hearing this, Zhang Chun turned around and ordered the hundreds of households around him: "Do as His Highness said and eat mutton together today."
"Take the order!" Baihuguan grinned and accepted the order, and then he took the 20 baskets of mutton with the screaming guards and ran away with the mutton in his arms.
After they left, Zhu Gaoxu patted Zhang Chun and motioned for him to follow.
Zhang Chun followed and said immediately: "This mountain is easy to defend. Your Highness, your arrangement is enough for us six hundred brothers to defend the offensive of thousands of people."
One day's comradeship has already made Zhang Chun's soldiers and Jurchen retinues not so open-minded.
Zhu Gaoxu was happy for this, but Zhang Chun continued: "Today, the Hulu sent more than a thousand people to attack the mountain, but they withdrew without even taking a few steps out of the forest. They were smashed by wood and left behind more than fifty weapons. He didn't dare to take away the body and then fled in a hurry."
Zhang Chun excitedly talked about Xipo's victory. Zhu Gaoxu did not interrupt him, but just smiled and listened to his story.
"Your Highness, I don't dare to say anything else. As for this western slope, unless the Hulu send thousands of troops to attack, six hundred people are enough to defend it!"
"Okay, okay..." Zhu Gaoxu smiled and shook his head. He was not mocking Zhang Chun, but felt that it was good for him to have such courage at his age.
Although Zhu Gaoxu was only seventeen years old, he was already thirty-two in his previous life and lived for another three years in this life, so he was almost thirty-five in total.
However, the thirty-two years in his previous life were too dull compared to the three years in this life.
Standing on the dirt road between the wooden platforms, Zhu Gaoxu looked down the mountain and could clearly see the Ulliangha camp that stretched for several miles.
This was Zhu Gaoxu's first time looking at the Ulyanha camp from this direction, but just by looking at it, he saw something was wrong.
"The Hulu have mobilized their troops."
"where?!"
Zhu Gaoxu spoke in surprise, and Zhang Chun also looked over quickly.
After looking around a few times, he saw thousands of Ulyanha people being mobilized, leading cattle, horses and sheep through the camp and heading to the rear.
Since the location of the wooden platform can see the entire Jixi Fort and the hills and plains in the west and north, Zhu Gaoxu and others can have a clear view of the movements of the Uliangha people.
"What are they going to do? Are they going to take a detour and attack us?"
"It's not like..."
Zhang Chun asked confused, and Zhu Gaoxu was equally confused, but he could conclude that this army was not planning to attack Jilin City.
There are many places to attack Jilin City. For example, the plain bypass on the north bank of the Songhua River can directly enter Jilin Bay, but if you want to attack Jilin City, you still have to cross the Songhua River.
Zhu Gaoxu was not worried that the Uuliangha people would do that, because the Ming army's warships could sink their rafts even if they collided with them.
If you can't take the waterway, you can only take a detour from the west side of Hadaling all the way south and take the mountain road into Jilin City.
It's just that these mountain roads are narrow and rugged, and horses can't pass at all.
If you want to open up a road, even if you use thousands of people, it will take a month or two to open a mountain road. Therefore, Zhu Gaoxu doesn't think that this team will take a detour and take a mountain road to attack.
"The direction they are leaving..."
Zhang Chun looked at Zhu Gaoxu cautiously, and Zhu Gaoxu also frowned slightly: "They are going north, is it possible that they are going to Six Cities?"
"Maybe we are running out of food, so we are going to the six cities to harvest grass and grain." Zhang Chun guessed, and Zhu Gaoxu also guessed the same.
No matter what they thought, they couldn't think about retreating. After all, Wu Liangha still maintained an absolute advantage.
They only made a tentative attack and caused more than 200 casualties in Jilin City. Therefore, there is hope for the capture of Jilin City and Jixi Fort.
"You should pay more attention in the future. If this army has not returned for more than a day, send someone down the mountain to tell me."
"yes!"
Zhu Gaoxu has many guesses in his mind, but he needs time to confirm them one by one.
As long as Zhang Chun reports how long the team has been missing, he can eliminate the incorrect answers one by one.
Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu also continued to patrol the wooden platform defense line of Hadaling with Zhang Chun.
But what they don't know is that because of the siege of Jilin City, Liaodong Dusi has become a mess.
Although Liaodong Dusi has more than 100,000 military households, seven of them are villages and three are battles.
The number of 40,000 soldiers is actually the total number of troops that Ming Dynasty can leave the city to fight in the field in Liaodong.
However, 10,000 of these 40,000 soldiers had been led by Chief Military Officer Zhou Xing to Quaning Guard as early as early February to participate in the northern patrol with Zhu Di.
In other words, there are currently only more than 30,000 soldiers in Liaodong, and some of them cannot be mobilized at will. For example, soldiers and horses in Guangning Sanwei, Jinzhou, Dingliao and other places cannot be mobilized.
After the soldiers of these guard posts cannot be mobilized, only 15,000 soldiers and horses can be dispatched. The guards in northern Liaoning still need to leave enough soldiers and horses to defend the city, so the number of soldiers and horses that can be dispatched in Liaodong is no more than one. Ten thousand.
In the past, it would have been enough for 10,000 soldiers and horses to rush to Jilin City, but now Zhou Xing, who is headquartered in Liaodong, is not in Liaodong, which makes Liaodong unable to recruit a reliable general to rush to Jilin City.
Of course, the more important point is that the Liaodong Governor does not have the power to mobilize the army at will. All matters need to be reported to Nanjing and then decided by the Governor's Office.
But now Jilin City is under siege, Bohai County Prince Zhu Gaoxu is in danger, and everyone is anxious and anxious.
Send troops. If you break the law, even if you save Zhu Gaoxu afterwards, you will still be punished.
If you don't send troops, you will still be punished if you fall into the trap of the feudal lord.
Faced with this situation, Liaodong Dusi finally dared to send more than a thousand cavalry out of the fortress and rushed towards Jilin City step by step.
Although it was said to be an urgent matter of 800 miles, the current distance between Liaodong Capital Division and Nanjing and Zhu Di was far more than 800 miles.
Time passed little by little, and soon one night passed again, and April 16th arrived as scheduled.
"Woooooooo..."
In the early morning, before dawn, the sound of horns echoed in the Songhua River Valley.
The sound of the horn not only woke up the Uuliangha people, but also woke up the Ming army defending the city.
Amidst the anxious shouts, the Ming army put on their armor and walked onto the horse path nervously.
Unfortunately, today's weather was thick and foggy. The heavy fog obscured Jixi Fort and Ulyanha Camp, and the visibility was no more than twenty steps.
There was heavy water vapor in the mountains, and soon after many soldiers with beards walked onto the horse path, their beards were covered with water drops as they breathed.
Zhu Gaoxu also got up wearing double armor, holding a chair and sitting at the door of the city gate tower, quietly looking at the thick fog.
Gradually, the sound of the wooden wheels of Lu's car began to be heard clearly in the thick fog.
Further on, one after another Lu Gong cars slowly emerged from the thick fog, attracting attention like black lighthouses in the white ocean.
Yesterday's four-seater Lu Gong chariot had been pushed to the ground by the Ming army with a specially made wooden mallet. The fallen Lu Gong chariot prevented today's Lu Gong chariot from attacking the city at the same position, but this did not disrupt Haragu's rhythm.
"The ten Lu Gong chariots are all armored soldiers..."
Lin Su, who was standing next to Zhu Gaoxu, took a deep breath. He saw Lu Gong's car, which was only a few dozen steps away from the city wall. When Lu Gong's car entered the range of twenty steps, he saw the Wuliang wearing armor. Ha elite.
Although it was impossible to see clearly whether the other Wuliangha soldiers following Lu Gong's car were wearing armor, everyone already had the answer in their minds.
Today is destined to be a bloody battle.
"put!"
At the critical moment, the Ming army launched the first counterattack of today's defense.
"Boom boom boom!!"
Fire suddenly appeared in the thick fog, and then small fire projectiles were fired towards Lu Gong's car as if for free.
Like pear blossoms in a rainstorm, thousands of iron pellets penetrated the not-thick Lu Gong's chariot. Some of the unlucky ones who were exposed were even penetrated by their armor and fell on the road to attack the city.
"They used artillery."
In Ulyanha's main formation, Tolu Huchaer listened to the dull sound of cannons and the flash of fire and judged the Ming army's methods.
Beside him, Haragu, who was sitting on the horse, had a smile on his face: "The fact that they used artillery means they have no other means."
"Their methods have been used up, now it's up to us..." As he said that, Haragu stood up and turned to look behind him.
When he turned around, standing in front of him was a long line of armored soldiers, so many that they spread into the thick fog.
"Tanma Red Army is out!"
"Woooo!!"
Following his words, a duller sound of horns began to sound, and a large number of armored elites began to enter the battlefield.
The Ming army did not know about all this.
"Your Highness, there are ten Lu Gong chariots and about a thousand soldiers ready to climb the city!"
Zhu Gaoxu, who was behind the female wall, only learned the number of soldiers who pushed Lu Gong's car to attack the city when it had already hit the city wall.
The number of more than a thousand armored soldiers made people take a breath of cold air, but Zhu Gaoxu knocked the mace in his hand on the ground, his eyes calm: "Fight!"
"Yes!!"
Seeing Zhu Gaoxu's calmness, everyone seemed to have taken a reassurance.
Yi Shiha continued to command his followers, and Lin Su continued to organize the defense on the horse path.
With yesterday's experience, today's Ming army began to rely on artillery to attack the Hu soldiers hiding behind Lu Gong's chariot. The soldiers on the horse road also prepared round shields and spears, and lined up on the horse road to attack the Hu soldiers who boarded the horse road one by one. One by one, they were pushed down into the fort and watched as they were hammered to death by the retinue under the city wall.
Things seem to be going on the bright side. With the cooperation of the Bohai Navy and the Liaodong Army, there is no longer a situation where Hu Bing can gain a foothold as soon as he steps on the horse road.
Although the opponent was a thousand armored soldiers, the Ming army still controlled the rhythm of the war.
With such a good situation, even Zhu Gaoxu breathed a sigh of relief.
But before he could relax, his ears were sensitive to the sound coming from the mist.
Gradually, Zhu Gaoxu's expression began to change. He stood up and walked behind the parapet, holding on to the parapet and staring into the thick fog.
Soon, neatly arranged Hu soldiers came out of the heavy fog. They were wearing rough armor, holding blunt weapons in their hands, and scimitars hanging from their waists.
The fog was so thick that Zhu Gaoxu could only see one team, and he couldn't even see clearly.
He walked along the female wall and stared at the newly-appeared Hu soldiers.
They came out of the mist and stretched on, as if they could never see the end.
"Hu Bing's reinforcements are coming!"
"Why are they all armored soldiers!"
"Straight bitch, come on! Let's fight!"
"Killing one is enough, killing two is enough to make a profit!"
On the horse road, many Ming troops saw the second batch of Uuliang Hajia soldiers participating in the siege. Their number far exceeded the number of Ming troops on the horse road.
Seeing this scene, Zhu Gaoxu did not dare to delay. He turned around and ordered a guard beside him: "Tell Yishiha that all the followers will participate in the battle. The Hu soldiers who fell from the city took off their armor and put them on to fight." !”
"Yes!" The guard shouted, and Zhu Gaoxu also turned to look at Hu Bing in the thick fog.
He admitted that even a man like him could not remain calm at this moment.
There are too many enemy troops...
"kill!"
"Fire the arrow!"
"Ascend the city, don't seal the sword for three days, kill all the men taller than a wheel, and don't touch any craftsmen!"
Mongolian and Chinese echoed on the Jilin river beach. Hearing the increasingly louder shouts of killing in front of him, Harawu became more confident in his heart.
"There are more than three thousand armored soldiers, I want to see how these southerners can stop them!"
(End of chapter)
