After noon, a few Xiangyong were patrolling in the city. Most of the soldiers from the two battalions of Dongchang were sleeping in the watch tower or gambling for money. Jia Waixiong, Lao Jiu, Song Luoshu and Qin Fugui were gambling in the North City. At this time, King Heng came to the city with the palace chief and his servants.
Jia Waixiong and others hurried to greet him. They didn't dare to pretend that the vassal king's young eunuch could pretend to be sexy. However, when it was time to employ people, Prince Heng didn't dare to put on airs. He asked the winner with a pleasant look and then looked out of the city, his face pale. !
"Your Majesty, the Tatars have been logging in the west of the city all morning without any movement. That's all they can do to go around the city and curse a few words without itching." Jia Waixiong knew that the old man was timid and soothed him.
"They are cutting down wood to build siege equipment. This is to prepare for the main attack from behind." Zhu Youyi clenched his fists and shook continuously.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. When the soldiers come, they will block the water and cover up the earth. The Tatars can just build those guys. We have prepared enough stones for them on the city. We will hit them as many as they come. As for the main force of the Tatars, there is no need to be afraid. He will come." Our reinforcements have also arrived, not to mention the young governor is waiting for them outside..."
Any words of comfort were feeble. Zhu Youyi walked around the city. His legs were weak and shaky, but he was helped down by his servants. Jia Waixiong and others continued to gamble and had a great time.
Until I heard Song Luoyu's voice in the evening, Lao Jiu grinned angrily. No wonder he lost so miserably. Why do girls come here when gambling? It's so unlucky.
Just as he was about to make some teasing remarks, Song Luoyu yelled angrily: "You are a fool to gamble with money. Can't you see the Tatars when they come?"
This roar shocked everyone, and they quickly got up and looked outside the city. In the distance due north, densely packed Qing troops were rolling in like locusts.
The Qing generals led by Shang Kexi, Geng Zhongming, and Nikan led more than ten thousand Qing troops to slowly approach, and the real army siege began.
The alarm signal sounded loudly in the city, and the people in the city could not hide their panic. Zhu Youxi, who was in Prince Heng's palace, and Qian Lianghan, the prefect, were making tea when they heard the sound, their faces turned pale and their whole bodies were trembling: "It's coming, it's finally coming."
Qian Lianghan also had a solemn look on his face when he saw Zhu Youyi was so frightened, so he comforted him and said, "The little governor has already prepared a countermeasure. Don't worry too much, Your Majesty."
Zhu Youyi smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Having said that, I can't help but feel panicked. After all, the Tatars are well prepared this time and there are tens of thousands of people. But at this time, the young eunuch and Li Shiyuan are not in the city... Hey, no, I, the king I want to go to the city to see it.”
Qian Lianghan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He thought to himself that when you come down from the top, you have to go up again. Why bother with your legs weak from fear every time you go up? Of course, he still bites the bullet and goes up to the city with Zhu Youyi again.
The Qing army arrived in a blink of an eye and stopped on the north bank of Nanyang River in the north of the city. Kangkal's uncle and nephew hurried to Shang Kexi and waited to report the situation.
Then Shang Kexi ordered the Qing troops to dismount and reorganize. He and Geng Zhongming led more than a hundred Qing troops to look around the city from the west along the Nanyan River. They looked at the densely packed garrison on the city and the Xiangyong expressions were indifferent.
If this city is fully prepared, it can be defeated in one fell swoop in half a day at most. When he reaches the south of the city, the Qing general Nikan is a hundred times more confident.
The moat is shallow due to drought. The city wall is less than three feet long, and although there are many defenders, most of them are local warriors. Even the artillery only has four or five guns.
In short, the defensive fortifications are extremely weak, or even non-existent!
The main force of the Qing army came to the city with only 20,000 troops, covering the entire north bank of the Nanyang River in the north of the city. The villagers in the city were so troubled that they were frightened. After all, they had never seen such a big battle. With so many Qing troops, many people had already Like King Heng Zhu Youyi, his face was pale and his legs were weak.
However, Jia Waixiong, Lao Jiu and their subordinates, who have fought hundreds of battles, looked at ease. There were only a few of them. During the Taiyuan defense war, they faced more than 100,000 rebels. In the battle at Ningyuan outside the Pass, there were more than 100,000 Qing troops. When Baoding resisted the enemy, Li Zicheng's army of thieves and chaos included hundreds of thousands of people, but it was just a small scene at the moment.
However, as the chief defender of the city, Jia Waixiong actually knew that this would be the most difficult battle since he joined the army. Although he had experience in defending the city in Taiyuan, and at that time he faced more than 100,000 thieves. At present, the Qing army cannot be fully defeated. Still less than 20,000.
However, Taiyuan has a high wall with a thick wall and less than 100,000 garrison troops, and the defensive fortifications are well prepared. In addition to freezing the moat to block the horses, they also dug several trenches outside the moat, so that the enemy's cavalry and various baggage cannot easily approach the city wall. .
In addition, the firepower on the city is also fierce enough.
But what is there in Qingzhou City?
The Nanyang River, which serves as a moat, has dried up and turned into a shallow beach. The Qing army could easily cross the river and reach the city directly.
Furthermore, when Chang Yu came, the Qing army's vanguard followed him as soon as his front feet reached the rear, leaving him no time to dig trenches and build fortifications. Whether it is Nanyang, Hebei or the city, there is a vast plain, and the Qing army's troops, horses and baggage are not hindered by any obstacles.
In addition to the peripheral fortifications, the defensive force on the city is also relatively weak. The city is not high and the wall is not thick enough. The real military strength plus Li Shiyuan's 800 and Qin Fugui's 200 horse thieves are still less than 2,000. The rest are all rookie rural warriors. Just imagine how tragic the scene would be if the Qing army launched a full-scale attack!
King Heng went up to the city from the west gate and happened to see Shang Kexi and a group of more than a hundred riders riding south along the Nanyang River. He didn't know who raised his finger to Qian Lianghan: "Be arrogant. Look at how arrogant you are. Walking around in such a big way..."
The guard next to him rolled his eyes inwardly. He probably didn't see the way the Tatars came to the city to shoot arrows and curse at their mothers.
Zhu Youyi cursed like this and walked north along the city wall with Qian Lianghan. When he saw the dense formation of the Qing army, he couldn't help but let out a cry. He couldn't stand and almost fell down. The servant next to him quickly supported him.
"How come there are so many Tatars?" Zhu Youyi exclaimed with a look of shock. The year before last, he had watched the Qing army attack from a distance on the city. He was so frightened that his legs weakened. However, there were only a few thousand troops at that time. How can we not be surprised by this battle involving nearly 20,000 people!
Why did this damn old man come up again? He was so scared to death that he came here to scare him. Jia Waixiong, Lao Jiu and others couldn't help but feel upset when they saw Zhu Youdi, but they had to step forward to greet him.
"The main force of the Tatars is here. Do you know where the factory governor's troops are at this time?" Zhu Youji barely maintained his princely demeanor and asked Jia Waixiong.
"It must be not far away, maybe it has reached Linzi City," Jia Waixiong said after a moment of thought.
"Linzi, Linzi is still fifty miles away from here. It's so far away that the Tatar siege whip can't reach it!" Zhu Youji started to tremble again. Jia Wai was so brave that he wanted to kick him away. It's still fifty miles away! How close is it called close? Ten miles, is that possible? It was impossible for the Qing army to let the Ming army get so close to him, and it was impossible for the Ming army to follow him so close.
"Your Majesty, you can't trust the Factory Governor." Although Jia Waixiong was angry, he really didn't dare to kick the old man away. However, Zhu Youyi clearly felt the anger of the burly man in front of him, and quickly waved his hand: "Your Majesty, the Factory Governor, the young hero is like a god with his soldiers. You can trust the king!"
"That means we can't trust our brothers. Fifty miles is only half an hour for the cavalry. Is it possible that our brothers can't even defend for half an hour?" Lao Jiu snorted beside him!
Zhu Youyi saw that the two door gods were angry. He was relying on them to defend the city at this time, but he must not offend him. He quickly said: "The two generals are the most skilled and brave generals under the factory governor. How can you You can't hold it for half an hour! I can trust you, I can trust you!"
The situation at hand was urgent. Jia Waixiong was too lazy to talk nonsense with Zhu Youdi and felt that he was in the way of the city, so he said: "Your Majesty, the Tatar soldiers are surrounding the city at this time. The city is already in danger. Go down to the city quickly. Don't worry. Our brothers are here to ensure the safety of Qingzhou."
Zhu Youdi knew that he was being annoyed, and he also knew that the city was indeed dangerous and he would be killed if he was not careful, so he nodded: "General Lao is in the city."
"It is related to the lives of the people in the city and ours. If the city is destroyed, no one will survive. Brothers will do their best. Prince, don't worry, people are in the city!" Jia Waixiong was so heroic that Zhu Youyi was very moved and pulled him to the city. The side asked in a low voice: "General Jia, we are all grasshoppers on a rope now. As you said, if the city is destroyed, no one can survive. Please tell me how to be sure if the Tatars attack the city." Can you keep it?"
Jia Waixiong turned his head to look at the Qing army camp outside the city, then scanned the city, and said calmly to Zhu Youji: "If the people in the city work together to treat death as if they are home, there is a 100% chance that they can defend it!"
Zhu Youyi's expression changed, and he gritted his teeth: "As long as the city can be defended, when the Tatars retreat, I am willing to distribute my family property to the people who participated in the war and defended the city!"
Jia Waixiong hummed: "There must be brave men under a heavy reward. This can indeed boost morale, but it is not enough to make the people defend the city together as if they were dead."
"Then... what should we do?" Zhu Youyi asked.
"Your Majesty just needs to tell them that if the city is destroyed, no one will be able to survive without leaving the chickens and dogs behind."
ah! Zhu Youyi was stunned for a long time before exhaling: "You are right, people will desperately look for a way to survive when there is no way to survive. This is called burning the boat and risking death to survive."
