Although the Manchus took advantage of the terrain and suppressed the Ming army with their superb archery skills, they also knew that they were in a bad situation.
Because after climbing to the roof, they found that there were at least hundreds of Ming troops invading!
And there were only dozens of them.
Even though these Manchurian soldiers from Xi'an were veterans of many years of fighting, facing such a large number of incoming Ming troops, there was no possibility of turning defeat into victory when the surrendered troops had collapsed and their own camp was completely routed.
Although the leader Mardu was so anxious, he still tried his best to calm down. He commanded his Manchu soldiers to be scattered on various rooftops to look after each other. They used their bows and arrows to continuously shoot down the incoming Ming troops, and tried their best to prevent the Ming troops from attacking below. room.
The Manchurian soldiers were also very powerful, either in groups of two or three, constantly drawing and loosening their bows. They not only suppressed the swarming Ming army, but also killed and wounded twenty or thirty Ming soldiers. Even though the entire village was in mourning, they miraculously managed to save the four or five houses they occupied.
"Sir, what should we do now?"
Ta'atai climbed up from below and looked around at the situation. Being from a bachelor's degree, he was inevitably a little scared in his heart, so he asked urgently in Manchu.
"There are too many Han thieves. I'm afraid this place can't be defended. Should we stick out?"
Sun Dali, from the Riding School, pointed to a mud wall about one person high in the distance, indicating that they could climb over the wall and rush out.
Even though the number of the Ming army was more than ten times theirs, if they really broke through with all their strength, it would be impossible for the Ming army to stop them!
However, Mardu shook his head and rejected Sundali's suggestion to break out. They were not familiar with the surrounding terrain at all, and breaking out in the middle of the night was like running around blindly. Don't break out for a long time and see that they were still surrounded by the Ming army at dawn. They would kill the enemy in succession. I don't even have the strength to cope with it.
What's more, it's impossible for the Ming army to watch them break out. If they pursue them, they will definitely suffer a lot of casualties.
To resist stubbornly and to escape for one's life are two different concepts.
No matter how capable the Manchurian soldiers are at fighting, no matter how determined their will is, if they really want to run around aimlessly, they will gradually develop into a frightened bird, and they may collapse under the influence of vegetation and trees.
In this case, it is better to occupy the rooftop and confront the Ming army!
As long as he could see the terrain clearly at dawn, Mardu would still be confident that he could lead some of his people out even if no reinforcements arrived.
In terms of reinforcements, the only hope is the Huachanggou Green Camp closest to Ma Shi Bay.
Zima Shiwan is more than ten miles away from Huachanggou. Even if the green camp in Huachanggou heard the news and came to rescue now, it would be impossible to arrive before dawn.
Therefore, we can only hold on until dawn and then decide whether to break through based on the situation.
What made Mardu happy was that the Ming army was very afraid of their bows and arrows. Although there were many people, they were hiding like a group of shrunken turtles behind houses, under the eaves, and in dark corners full of debris that they could not see. .
This is undoubtedly what Mardu wants to see.
All he needs is time!
The Ming army did not dare to attack, which meant that he could delay it longer.
But there is no doubt that the Ming army cannot let them go like this.
Where the Manchurian bows and arrows could not reach, a large group of Ming troops gathered.
By the light of the burning fire in the stronghold, Mardu saw a group of Ming soldiers holding broadswords, surrounded by one person, who was looking at them.
Being far away, Mardu couldn't see the man's face clearly, but he was definitely the commander of the Ming army.
After that, they saw the Ming general pointing at them with his hand, and then said a few words to the subordinates beside him. Although the Ming army that surrounded them still did not act rashly, his intuition told Mardu that something might happen.
My heart suddenly became heavy.
After looking around carefully, a terrible thought suddenly popped up in my mind - Will the Ming army set fire to it?
Most of the buildings in the military stronghold were made of wood. If the Ming army really wanted to set fire to the house, what would happen to the people on the roof?
This possibility is great!
Mardu was frightened, and he immediately dismissed the idea of holding a confrontation until dawn. He suddenly prepared to give the order to abandon the roof and rush out first, when he heard the sound of broken earthen jars in his ears.
It doesn't come from one place, but it comes from all directions.
Amidst the sound of "bah", dozens of oil tanks were smashed by the Ming army around the roof occupied by the Manchus.
Some oil cans are made of kerosene, while others are directly made of vegetable oil!
Before the Manchus on the roof could react, the Ming army had already started setting fire.
The fire quickly spread like a long snake coiled in a circle, surrounding Mardu and other Manchus.
Now not only Mardu knew what the Ming army was going to do, but his Manchurian soldiers also started shouting, and their expressions changed drastically, and they were panicked.
But I couldn’t scream soon.
It was not that the fire had reached the house at their feet, but that a large amount of igniting hay stored in the Ming army's general's stronghold was piled upwind of the Manchurians. They were not used to fuel the fire, but they kept watering on the hay after it burned.
As a result, the haystack that could not be fully burned immediately started to rise into white smoke!
The wind blew the choking white smoke to the Manchu soldiers on the roof of the downwind vent. While the choking Manchu soldiers kept coughing, their tears could not stop flowing down.
The line of sight is even more severely obstructed!
While the Tatars on the roof were choked by smoke and unable to see, the blind man Wan Si, Cao Diwei, Xu Lin and others led dozens of soldiers and quietly moved forward with cards in hand.
"Baba!"
Dozens of playing cards were erected at the same time, and dozens of gunmen who followed behind immediately shot towards the roof.
No need to look at it, just a volley of fire.
The firecrackers suddenly fired, causing several Manchurian soldiers who were squatting on the roof to cover their mouths and noses to fall from the roof on the spot.
A vest soldier who was rubbing his eyes to see what the Ming army was doing was also hit in the thigh by a musket. He screamed and rolled down at the same time.
The tiles on the roof also fell with a "clatter", making a "thunderbolt" sound.
"put!"
Zhao Jinzhong took the opportunity to approach with dozens of archers, and at the same time fired the burning rockets in his hands towards the house occupied by the Manchus.
With the sound of "swish", the rockets hit wooden pillars or doors and windows.
Blind Wansi and the others kept throwing burning torches towards the house occupied by the Tatars.
After a while, those rooms started to catch fire.
The fire in the upper wind was also blown by the wind and kept approaching the house where the Manchurian was.
The fire is getting bigger and bigger.
From time to time, Manchu soldiers could not stand the smoke and fire and were forced to jump from the roof.
As soon as the people landed, several Ming soldiers who covered their mouths and noses with wet cloths rushed out of the smoke and killed them with random swords.
After discovering that the Ming army was hiding below, the remaining Manchu soldiers on the roof almost collapsed.
Going down is death, staying up is worse than death!
Mardu's eyes were choked by smoke and he couldn't open his eyes with every breath he took. He felt as if his lungs had been drained out. He regretted that he should not have listened to Sun Dali's advice and chose to stick to it. As a result, he now treated the Ming army as a suckling pig. bake.
"Fight with the traitors!"
The desperate roar of the cavalry soldier An Dong was heard in his ears, and then there was a "plop", and An Dong jumped down.
But no more sound came.
The fire in the house below was already burning more and more fiercely. Under the devastation of the fire, the roof became extremely warm.
With a "plop", two Manchurian soldiers who were lying on the roof trying to breathe were caught off guard and fell below, and were instantly swallowed up by the fire.
The roof is getting hotter and hotter, and it is becoming increasingly unsupportable.
The burning wood made an extremely clear sound, causing collapse holes to appear in the roof.
Several more Manchurian soldiers screamed and fell because their feet suddenly lost weight.
In the blink of an eye, half of the Manchu soldiers on several rooftops were reduced.
The remaining people knew they would die, but still no one shouted and begged the Ming army for mercy.
The Ming army came to persuade them to surrender.
There was a Ming army shouting: "The Ming Dynasty Jingzhou General Wang Zheng is telling you and other Manchurians that those who surrender will avoid death!"
It's in Chinese, and Manchurians can't understand it at all.
Someone understood it.
"I wish to surrender, I wish to surrender!"
Taatai's face turned red from holding back, not because he couldn't breathe, but because the tiles under his feet were about to burn the soles of his feet.
For fear that the Ming army would not believe it, he shouted anxiously: "I am not a Tatar, I am a Han, a Han!"
