Bajiao City is like a permanent Mongolian camp.
The entire camp surrounds the monastic and secular buildings left by Xiao Lazun in this ancient city, and countless yurts of various sizes are set up, forming three yurt camps in the north, east and south of the city.
Each group is relatively independent, with fences, fortifications and sentries set up outside, and streets lined with felt tents inside.
Except for the city wall outside, this place is almost a replica of a nomadic settlement town. However, the layout of the town they built was greatly affected by the cannonballs bombarded from outside the city.
No one set up camp in the middle, because during the roar of artillery fire on the first day, people found that the middle of Bajiao City was the most vulnerable place to be hit by artillery shells.
Under the west city wall, Chuoktu Taiji drew a line along the shadow of the city wall in the evening on the second day of the war, and ordered all the herdsmen in the army who knew how to blacksmith to build twelve furnaces in the shadow, and pick up and forge under the protection of the west city wall. The incoming iron cannonballs were smelted and forged, and hammered into arrow clusters suitable for their use.
This place is out of reach of artillery, allowing craftsmen to concentrate on making arrow clusters to strengthen the Mongolian soldiers' ability to resist after the city is broken.
Liu Chengzong outside the city did not know that Chuoktu Taiji was using his cannonballs to make arrow clusters. He, Zhang Tianlin, Li Wanqing and other leaders were doing their best to add personal goods to the surrender letter. .
The letter of persuasion Liu Chengzong drafted for the first time was very simple. It was a response to Chuoktu Taiji's desire for him to withdraw from the siege. At the same time, he gave the conditions for withdrawing from the siege and asked them to lay down their weapons and surrender.
But this letter was later seen by Zhang Tianlin, who had entered the account to discuss setting up an ambush during the Double Ninth Festival. The two of them used their brains, and later simply summoned the lower-level officers of the Lion Army to come up with bad ideas.
As rebel leaders who started in northern Shaanxi, everyone has rich experience in being persuaded to surrender.
It's just that in the past, when I was in the position of being persuaded to surrender, it was difficult to think about which words were more subtle, but now it is interesting.
In contrast, the general tent where the discussion was held was full of belated generals, scolding the court officials for being too ill-intentioned.
Of course, scoldings were reviled, and these tricks were indeed good. People turned around and used the tactics of persuading them to surrender and dividing them up against Chuo Ketu's defenders.
The general content of the letter did not change, but it added the promise that the holder of the letter could save ten people from death, that those who held Nayan's head would be rewarded with a reward of 500 taels of silver, and those who held the head of Chook Rabbit would be rewarded with 500 taels of silver.
Because the letter to persuade surrender was too large, Liu Chengzong finally had someone carve a board and print it out. However, he did not leave Xie Erhu idle. Erhu was responsible for writing the page numbers, jumping from one to two thousand and wrote one thousand two hundred. open.
This idea came from Liu Chengzong. He felt that if these letters were sent to Bajiao City, Chuck Rabbit and the nobles would definitely collect the letters. No matter how they collected them, they would not be able to receive 2,000 letters, and they would have to be suspicious of each other.
I don’t know yet whether the effect is good or not. Anyway, Xie Erhu looked at Liu Chengzong with a little fear.
On the morning of the eighth day of September, two catapults outside the city roared again. One thousand, two hundred large paper bags for persuading surrender were glued into twelve large paper balls. Several small cannons with leads were tied to the outside, and they were fired into the Bajiao City one after another. .
The large paper ball exploded in the air, and the letters were scattered over the city like a goddess scattering flowers.
The whole Bajiao City was in chaos because of these letters. Chuck Rabbit learned the news immediately. After reading the letters, his temples beat violently. He was so angry that he yelled: "The children of the Han family are not good people!"
Then the nobles of the third camp were summoned to discuss matters. Monk Zhuoerji held the letter with trembling lips and whispered to Chooktu: "Taiji, if that doesn't work, just surrender. If the people are not united, no matter how strong the camp is, it will be broken."
Chuck Rabbit turned his head sharply, his eyes like a predatory tiger, but in the end he said nothing. He just ordered the nobles to collect the letters.
He fought many defeated battles and tasted defeat all over the world, but he never surrendered.
Ahai Daiqing sat aside, looking at the three battalions of nobles in the tent, folding his arms and thinking quietly behind him... These letters of persuasion to surrender made him feel very complicated.
It's not sad or anxious, in fact I'm a little happy.
After the defeat, his more than 800 tribesmen had a very low status in the city. Although people did not say anything on the surface, everyone could feel that others looked down upon them.
Each of the three battalions of nobles occupied a section of the city, and his people could only crowd into a corner near the middle. That was a place where they were likely to be hit by cannonballs whenever the cannons were fired.
But with Liu Chengzong's two-day attack, all the battlements of the west city wall were demolished. He could clearly feel that their status was back!
It seemed that people were relieved of his defeat, and even understood a little more: there was nothing shameful in being defeated while carrying such a cannon.
Because of this, Ahai Daiqing didn't dare to tell others that Liu Chengzong didn't have such heavy artillery when he fought him.
Just as he was thinking about where to go from now on, he saw Chuck Rabbit think about it for a short time and said to everyone: "What he said in this letter is quite nice, but he just wants to kill us all so that the people can be left to work for him. It's better to defend the city with all his life." Even if he only takes Bajiao City, it will be enough to support his tribe after he retreats."
Chuo Ke Rabbit found the key point of these letters of surrender. Just like Liu Chengzong was not afraid of the imperial court's escape card, it was not only the peasant army in northern Shaanxi that could not read, but Chuo Ke Rabbit's Mongolian tribesmen were also illiterate.
As long as he can protect these nobles, things are not dangerous for him.
And all the nobles, whether they were pretending or sincere, finally agreed with each other, making the atmosphere in the large felt tent very harmonious.
Ahai Daiqing also said: "Han'er is only good at guns and cannons, but cannons can't be brought to the city!"
In fact, he wanted to surrender, but the shells flying over his head frightened him a little.
But he didn't dare to surrender, just like the Mongolian Nayans in this felt tent now. Ahai Daiqing didn't believe that everyone was like Chuck Rabbit, and he had to hold on to the end.
Just because Liu Chengzong was outside the city, Ahai Daiqing was worried about his treatment after surrendering. It would be better to be defeated than to surrender.
The prerequisite for their attack on Qinghai was Liu Chengzong's southern expedition. Who doesn't know what he did in the south!
Doesn't that mean that the nobles are to be driven out? The Western nobles are nobles, but Mongolian Nayan is not a noble?
Without being the first to take the lead, not to mention whether you think about it or not, just whether you dare to do it or not is enough to make the nobles in the tent hesitate.
During the past few days of being surrounded in Bajiao City, Ahai Daiqing had been thinking carefully. Now he realized it in hindsight. He felt that Liu Chengzong's ability to return to the north alive meant that this was an enemy they could not defeat.
Touching the interests of the nobility is equivalent to killing lives, changing the concept of slaves is digging the graves of ancestors, and the underlying concepts are precisely tied to the source of the nobility's interests.
Liu Chengzong offended both sides of the Western Fans, and finally he was able to retreat and lead his army to the north. Appearing in front of them can explain a lot of problems.
At least this shows that Liu Chengzong can conquer Kang Ning Xifan without cooperating with the nobles, and he can also conquer them without cooperating with Na Yan.
Because of this, instead of surrendering, Ahai Daiqing was more willing to delay for a few more days to see if there was any chance of escaping.
However, in order to ensure his personal safety, Ahai Daiqing still hid hundreds of letters persuading him to surrender in case of emergency.
His remarks about the cannon being unable to be loaded onto the cart won Chuk Rabbit's heart, and he immediately responded: "Yes, when he attacks the city, let them eat the arrows forged by his own cannon!" Gu Huo
Everyone in the tent loudly discussed the chances of street fighting for them. Everyone in this group was holding on to a life-saving straw and discussed tactics in all possible ways, such as inserting arrow clusters in the manure pit for later use, applying grease on the west city wall, etc. thing.
Some people even shouted that they wanted to send the warrior Ye Li out of the city to move reinforcements to the east, which attracted everyone's attention.
Move reinforcements from the east. Why move reinforcements? The Ming army?
If it weren't for his tall cheekbones and silver-plated face, people would be somewhat suspicious of his lineage.
But later, when Chuk Rabbit and several nobles worked together, it seemed that this matter was indeed feasible. At worst, they couldn't get the Bajiao City, and Liu Chengzong couldn't get it, so they all gave it to the Ming Dynasty.
But then someone put forward the opposite opinion. After all, at Guide Qianhu Residence, the army of the Marshal's Mansion could join with the Ming army to resist them. Don't turn around and the Ming army came to surround them together. It would be self-defeating then.
At this moment, the waiters who collected the letters to persuade surrender came back. With a strange look on their face, they approached Chuck Rabbit's ear and whispered: "Taiji, these letters are all numbered, from one to one thousand nine hundred and eighty, there may be two thousand." , we only received four hundred and forty."
Chuck Rabbit glared directly, then pretended that nothing was wrong and asked the waiter to go down.
After everyone's discussion was over, he left Ahai Daiqing alone and said with a serious expression: "You were defeated by Han'er. I believe you. You may not know that while we are talking about tactics here, someone secretly hid Han'er's surrender." Book!"
Ahai Daiqing stared in disbelief: "This is actually happening?!"
Chuck Rabbit Taiji nodded heavily: "We only received 440 of the 2,000 letters of surrender, and there are more than 1,500 scattered among the army. What do you think we should do?"
Ahai Daiqing cursed, his face flushed with anxiety, and he took a few deep breaths. After calming down his nervous mood, he said: "Taiji, could it be that the subordinates hid the letter? We should be in the camp." Search! But don’t make it too public, otherwise it will be detrimental to military morale.”
"That's right. How should we search?"
Chuck Rabbit didn't know either, but before he could figure out a solution to the matter, he heard a report from the sentry connected to the west city wall that there was something strange happening in the enemy camp, and someone was transporting a lot of livestock into the camp.
They quickly climbed to the city and looked outside the city from a distance. They saw soldiers in Liu Chengzong's camp gathering and cheering. They were killing sheep and cattle in each camp. There were also people carrying tables and driving livestock to the mountains to the south.
Chuck Rabbit said something bad. Is he going to attack?
Ahai Daiqing was anxious to divert Chuktu's attention and said quickly: "Are they going to attack at night?"
Chuck Rabbit shook his head: "How can there be such a grand night attack?"
He felt that Ahai Daiqing was an old fool. If he thought about Liu Chengzong according to his thinking, he would definitely lose the battle. On the contrary, there was still hope of victory.
But since there are concerns in this regard, we must take precautions tonight.
Xie Erhu knew that the Double Ninth Festival was for robbery, but Chuoketu and Ahai Daiqing, the nobles from Mobei, rarely interacted with Han people and had no idea about the Double Ninth Festival.
On the contrary, because the pontoon bridge on the moat has been set up, there is only one trench left to protect them. There is indeed the possibility of being attacked at night, so that all night long, the Mongolian Nayans cannot sleep easily because of worry.
The strength of the night garrison was increased by 30%, and they could only watch the camp of the Marshal's Mansion in the dark night, staring until midnight.
When the sky was getting dark, the Yan nobles who were on duty at the top of the city were all anxious. They cursed and criticized Liu Chengzong for not coming for a night attack. If he didn't come for a night attack, I would run out and attack him at night.
Just when I finally closed my eyes in a daze, I heard gongs and drums beating outside the city. Countless soldiers held torches and formed several fire dragons, covering their bright armor and walking south.
For a while, no one in the city could sleep. The leaders of the tribes were walking up to the city in a hurry. They could only see big flags gathering southward in the morning mist. It looked like there were at least several thousand people, and the head of each team was given to cattle. The sheep, clad in red and colorful, finally climbed up the mountain and were out of sight.
The Mongolian nobles were all wondering: "What are they doing?"
No one knew. Finally, a nobleman said uncertainly: "Han'er's Double Ninth Festival?"
"What is the Double Ninth Festival?"
The person who said it didn't know, but I just heard it mentioned by others, and then people began to speculate about it.
I kept guessing until noon that the Han troops who had gone to the mountains had no intention of coming back. Although there were still defenses in the camp, there were no Han troops in the past. Only warriors who could clearly be seen as Ban soldiers patrolled back and forth carrying weapons.
People couldn't hold it any longer, and the nobles asked for an attack out of the city.
The midday sun made people sweat on their foreheads, and Chuo Ketu was in a dilemma. On the one hand, he was worried that this was Liu Chengzong's strategy to lure the enemy, but on the other hand, he felt that no matter whether it was to lure the enemy or not, the enemy troops climbing the mountain could not do anything fake. , this is a good opportunity to weaken the besieging army.
If you miss this time, you may never have the chance to attack the besieging army again.
What if it’s a real holiday?
In a moment of thought, with an order, four Mongolian nobles each led a team of thousands of cavalry, and filed out from the south gate. The Xifan noble cavalry that was suddenly attacked was not an enemy, so they ran to the west.
The four-way horse team galloped all the way, directly attacking the siege camp, setting fire to the catapults and building carts, jumping on horseback to directly attack the Spanish defenders behind the trench, and defeated them in an instant. Then they dismounted and formed a formation, heading towards the artillery position on the hill outside the west city. Attack.
The Xifan soldiers were retreating steadily. Changhexi soldiers, who had the responsibility of guarding the main camp, formed a formation to resist the enemy, but they were also outnumbered. They had no time to reorganize their formation and retreated to the mountain camp.
Chok Rabbit Ji saw it clearly in the city. He saw the cavalry seizing the artillery position and dragging more than a dozen artillery in the position. He quickly ordered another two thousand cavalry to go out to fight in the city, intending to completely defeat the enemy at once.
The formation of herdsmen has even approached the commander's tent on the mountain. To break through the defenders in front of them, they only need to advance a hundred steps westward at most to seize the high-flying Liu-character flag at the commander's tent on the top of the mountain.
But before they could transport the heavy artillery halfway, there was a sudden loud bang on the top of the hill where the dismounted herdsmen were attacking.
An unprecedentedly huge cannonball hit the air at a slow speed, then fell down at a faster speed, falling diagonally into the rear of the herdsmen's phalanx.
Before people could react, there was a man on the top of the mountain wearing armor and holding a bow. He led more than ten people to rush out from the commander's tent, drew his bow and shot down the mountain. He shot three arrows in succession, killing three people.
At this moment, the huge cannonball that fell behind the formation exploded, and fragments of the explosion flew everywhere. No one was hurt, but it caused the phalanx of herders to panic.
Immediately afterwards, Han soldiers rushed out of all the camps, fired their muskets at the nearest location, and then dropped their firearms and rushed into the smoke of battle with their knives.
The horse teams dragging the artillery couldn't care less about the heavy artillery. They quickly unloaded the artillery cart, but they didn't know whether they should support the battle or escape back to the city.
From the foot of the mountain in the distance, a high-pitched sound of suona was heard. The elite cavalry of the Marshal's Mansion were arrayed behind the mountain, and accompanied by eight ladder trucks, they slowly pressed towards the center of the battlefield.
"Damn..." Chuk Rabbit cursed tremblingly on the city wall: "I want to steal your camp, but you actually want to attack my city!"
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