Everyone was startled at first, and then they all listened attentively. The noise of the surrounding soldiers gradually became quieter when they saw this, and something like... the sound of killing was looming in the distance!
"The Tatars are attacking the city!" Duan Wuhu roared, and the mountain col suddenly became quiet.
Although they were in a deep mountain col, the straight-line distance from Qingzhou City was actually less than six or seven miles, only separated by two hills. At this time, it was dark and quiet, and the loud sounds of fighting and killing in Qingzhou City could be heard several miles away.
You can't live peacefully for a while like this! Chang Yu quickly ordered the troops to gather to prepare for the battle, but Li Muchian frowned: "Are you ready so quickly? But why did you do it after dark?"
Chang Yu's heart moved, testing?
In the era of cold weapons, whether it was a field battle or a city siege, except for raids, almost no one would choose to conduct it after dark, because it was difficult to see in the dark and there were too many uncertainties. It was easy to be ambushed in the field, and it was even harder to see the people above during the siege. , but he was exposed at a glance.
Most of them choose to attack in the evening when the weather is cool or early in the morning when people are the sleepiest. However, it is very abnormal for the Qing army to choose to attack after dark. It is very likely that they are just showing their strength to put pressure on the Qingzhou City defenders.
Of course, this was just a guess. No one was sure what the truth was. Chang Yu did not dare to take it lightly, so he ordered Lu Xing to lead the army behind, while he, Kuang Ren and other personal guards went out of the mountain first.
As soon as Chang Yu and his party ran out of the mountain col, they met the scouts sent out earlier: "Inform the Factory Supervisor that the Tatars are attacking the city."
"How many troops and horses? Where will the main attack be?" Chang Yu asked quickly.
"There are at least 5,000 Tatars attacking the two cities in the southwest, but we don't know about the two cities in the northeast." The scouts were lurking near the mountain pass to observe. They could only roughly estimate the strength of the Qing army, and could not see the situation in the two northeastern cities.
Chang Yu hurried towards the mountain pass, and heard the roar of artillery in his ears. The secret passage was not good, and the artillery was used. It seemed like it was not a small scene.
Chang Yu was panting from the exhaustion of running all the way. When he was still a few hundred meters away from the mountain pass, he saw flames shooting into the sky under Qingzhou City in the distance, and the sound of killing and the shaking of the mountains.
Go up the mountain!
Chang Yu did not rush out of the mountain pass in a daze. Instead, he turned around and rushed towards the north hillside, gasping for air from exhaustion. His throat was on fire, but he had no time to drink water to moisten his throat.
After climbing halfway up the mountain, I no longer had the strength to look up, but I could already get a distant view of Qingzhou City. Under the night, the outside of the city was filled with flames and the sound of cannons and the roar of people. There were also lights inside the city, but the city was completely dark.
good! Chang Yu couldn't help but praise.
If attacking and defending during the day, the defense arrangements of troops above and below the city can be clearly seen by both sides. But at night, whoever lights the lamp will be the target, but the attacking side has to light the lamp. If the city is also brightly lit, it will really be a target for the Qing army. .
Jia Waixiong, who was born in the Jinwu Guard, was originally a rookie, but he followed the little eunuch from Taiyuan to conquer the north and south and was born so early. He was not the Amon of the past. He could not only attack but also defend!
Yesterday, the Qing army had announced that they would break through the city if they did not open the door and surrender before this evening. Surrender was naturally impossible, but Jia Waixiong also knew that the Qing army was not joking. A full-scale attack might not be possible, but it would definitely teach him a lesson.
So I got up early in the morning and began to prepare for the battle. First, I called the village warriors to go to the city to practice defense, and then mobilized the people in the city to do the logistics work.
In the past few days, the people in Qingzhou City have been coaxed, frightened and rewarded heavily by King Heng. It can be said that they are united and vow to protect their homeland to the death to prevent the Tatars from taking a step forward.
The morale of the soldiers and civilians was as high as a rainbow, and Jia Waixiong was also full of pride. He pointed at the Qing army camp in the north of the city and said: "Come on, my sword is already hungry and thirsty."
After noon, there were many figures in the distance in the north of the city. Jiawai Xiong knew that the Qing army was coming for reinforcements. He frowned and said to Lao Jiu: "Take care, today may be the last time we two brothers brag together."
"Boss Jia is optimistic. Didn't you scold Song Luoyu in the morning and you would die? Why are you cowarded now?" Lao Jiu chuckled and turned to look at Song Luoyu: "Sorry, female general."
Song Luoyu rarely quarreled with him. She looked at Zhengbei and smiled without saying a word. She just reached out and grabbed Song Luoshu's arm next to her.
"Who are you? Don't let me be pretentious." Jia Waixiong laughed and looked into the distance due north, "The Tatars are going to give us a heavy blow tonight."
There were more than 10,000 Qing troops outside the city, and suddenly thousands more came. The siege of nearly 20,000 troops made everyone in the city feel like they were weighed down by a big stone and couldn't breathe.
Since the Tatar rear army has moved, the people of the Little Governor must also be here. Jia Waixiong murmured in his heart. He subconsciously looked towards the northwest and suddenly frowned with joy: "Hey, look, the Little Governor is here." He raised his hand and pointed, and there were faint soldiers and horses coming slowly from the northwest direction of Linzi.
Everyone was overjoyed, but their expressions immediately turned gloomy. It was roughly estimated that the number of soldiers and horses in the west could only be two to three thousand, not to mention that they could not reach the city. Even if they fought over, they would not be able to cause any trouble. More importantly, there was also a Qing army in the north. Slowly heading south along the east bank of the Beiyang River, the purpose is very clear to intercept the incoming Ming army.
Although the reinforcements were few, they were better than nothing. Jia Waixiong cheered everyone up: "The little governor is strategizing and will not let us die in vain. Before he left, he said not to care about the external situation and just defend the city."
"Yes, it doesn't matter how many Tatars come, we just defend the city," Lao Jiu shouted.
In the evening, thousands of reinforcements from the Qing army slowly approached. At this time, Jia Waixiong and others saw clearly that they were not regular troops, but ragged Ming people captured by the Qing army, commonly known as cannon fodder!
At this time, the real regular army was confronting the Ming army reinforcements across the river on the Beiyang River, ten miles northeast of Qingzhou City. The two sides were equally matched, and it was not clear who was stronger from Taiyuan, but everyone in the city knew that. , with equal strength, it would be extremely difficult for the Ming army to cross the river and rush over!
Perhaps the mission of the support troops was not to cross the river at all, but to contain the Qing army. Jia Waixiong secretly thought that although he was not the kind of person who was good at planning, he had followed the little eunuch for too long and he had seen pigs. When walking, I still have a bit of a sense of sight.
At dusk, a group of Qing troops crossed the Nanyang River and shouted outside the north gate of the city: "The time has come, will you surrender?"
As soon as he finished speaking, arrows flew like rain from the top of the city, shooting down several Qing soldiers, and the rest fled in panic.
The frontline commander of the Qing army, Shang Kexi, was not good at dealing with others. Seeing that the defenders were very stubborn, he stopped talking nonsense and ordered his troops to cross the river and besiege the city.
Nikan led 3,000 troops to the south city, Geng Zhongming led 2,000 to the east city, Wakda, Kangkal's uncle and nephew led 3,000 to the west city, and Shang Kexi led 5,000 to guard the north city. He wanted four gates. Qi Gong plans to bring a big scene to Qingzhou City as soon as they come up.
In addition to thousands of soldiers and horses, each gate was assigned more than a thousand cannon fodder to drag the baggage to the city. They only waited for an order for the four gates to attack together.
Faced with the Qing army's fierce siege, Jia Waixiong and others on the city were also indifferent to life and death and would do anything if they refused. Lao Jiu went to the south gate, Song Luoyu went to the east gate, Song Luoshu guarded the west gate, and Jia Waixiong immediately stood up with a sword. The army on the north city looked at the gratified army slowly across the river and advancing towards the city.
