Niu Er and other prisoners were taken to an open space.
The soldier who brought them pointed at the tools on the ground and said, "Use these tools to dig a deep hole here. If anyone dares to be lazy, don't blame me for being rude."
He had a vicious look on his face.
Niu Er and the other prisoners all looked very ugly, and no one took the initiative to get the tools on the ground.
"What are you doing standing there? Hurry up!" the soldier scolded, while holding up the gun in his hand.
The tiger-character flag soldiers guarding the prisoners all around also picked up firecrackers and showed their bayonets.
When Niu Er saw this, he shrank back and hid in the most inconspicuous place among the prisoners.
Some of the more daring prisoners stuttered and asked: "Gentlemen, you don't want us to finish digging the hole and then bury us in this hole, do you?"
Although they did not dare to resist, they did not want to be buried alive.
"No matter what you think, I asked you to dig holes here to bury those corpses. Otherwise, if these corpses are exposed to the outside, sooner or later, they will cause a plague, and everyone will die by then." The leading soldier explained with a cold face.
When these prisoners heard that the hole was not for burying them, they immediately rushed over to pick up the tools on the ground and began to dig around.
There were these prisoners digging holes, and the soldiers of the Tiger Flag looked on.
While keeping an eye on these prisoners, not giving them a chance to escape, at the same time keeping an eye on these prisoners not to let them be lazy.
"Dig bigger and deeper. There are hundreds of corpses. The pit is too shallow to fit." The leading soldier said to the prisoners who were working hard to dig the pit in front of them.
There were too many corpses left behind after the army retreated. It was too troublesome to burn them by fire. It was easiest to dig pits and bury them.
The leading soldier looked at the prisoners in front of him and said: "You can work with confidence, our Tiger Flag will not kill people casually. Now you are prisoners. As long as you don't deliberately cause trouble, your lives can still be guaranteed." "
There has never been any killing or surrendering in Tiger Character Banner.
Instead, the captives were taken to build roads and mines. The captives were free manpower for the Tiger Flag.
When the prisoners who were working heard the assurance from the Tiger Flag soldiers who were guarding them, they put aside their worries one by one and worked harder.
Although they were not sure whether what the people in the Tiger Flag said was true or false, in their hearts, they were still more willing to believe that it was all true.
On the top of Xinping Fort, Pan Yizhan stared at the wall for a while, and then Zhang Hong sent someone to call him to the general's mansion.
At this time, in the General's Mansion, several military battalions were gathered in the signing room where Zhang Hong worked.
Zhang Hong picked up the teapot and took a sip of water, and then said: "I have called you all here to allocate combat tasks. Next, I decided not to garrison Xinpingbao City and wait for the army to attack the city, but to take the initiative to fight out. .”
As he spoke, he banged his clenched fist on the table.
Several soldiers standing in front of him sat upright after hearing this, waiting for the next order.
Zhang Hong continued: "Pan Yingzheng, how do you feel about defending the city this time?"
"If you want to talk about experience, I do have a little experience." Pan Yi stood up from his seat and said, "Through today's battle, I found that the Ming army was better at attacking cities than the Mongols, and it was also more sophisticated. Unlike the Mongols, To attack a city is to rush in like a swarm of swarms, completely unorganized."
Zhang Hong nodded and said: "That's right. This is the first day of the siege, and Pan Yi's camp has suffered more than 70 casualties. We have never faced such a large attack on the grassland before against the Mongols." Loss of life.”
Pan Yi lowered his head after hearing this.
Although most of the more than seventy people were injured, and only a dozen people were actually dead, this also shows that he suffered too much in this battle.
After all, when fighting in the field, facing two to three thousand officers and soldiers, they may not be able to suffer so many casualties. On the contrary, it is the more advantageous defensive battle that loses so many troops.
"Of course, Pan Yingzheng cannot be entirely blamed, I am also responsible for this." Zhang Hong said, "I did not expect that given the situation of Xinping Fort, it would be difficult to fully utilize our firepower. After all, Xinping Fort and us There is still a difference between the forts built on the grassland, it’s my fault that I didn’t notice it in advance.”
At this time, Pan Yi said: "I don't blame you, Master Zheng. It's the fault of my subordinates. When I came to Xinping Fort, my subordinates' battalion was stationed at Xinping Fort, but they never noticed this situation, which led to the battle." At that time, many gunmen were unable to appear on the battlefield immediately."
"You and I both have responsibilities. Since we have discovered a problem, we must solve it." Zhang Hong said to Pan Yi.
Pan Yi nodded and said: "My subordinates have asked Cheng Ping to lead people to drill some perforations on the wall of Xinping Fort. In this way, the fire gunners behind the perforations will be difficult to be threatened by the archers of the army. , even the opponent’s cannons can hardly harm our gunmen.”
"It's a good idea to come up with this method, which shows that you are attentive." Zhang Hong said, "However, it is a waste to have nearly 20,000 troops in the city guarding the city all the time. I decided that in addition to Pan Yi's camp, which will continue to defend the city, the other two The individual combat barracks take the initiative to attack, while the baggage battalion serves as a reserve team to provide support at any time."
Pan Yi said: "Shizheng, why don't we let the heavy supply battalion stay at Xinping Fort, and my subordinates will lead a combat battalion to attack the official camp?"
He took the initiative to fight.
"I don't agree." Chen Yunhui, the commander of the supply camp, said, "Our supply camp is not bad at all. Why should we be allowed to defend the city? Our supply camp can also be used as the main battle barracks to fight against the imperial troops from the front."
Pan Yi turned around, looked at Chen Yunhui and said: "No one said that your supply camp is not good, but compared with the war camp, there is still a gap between your supply camp. For such an important thing as attacking the army camp, it is better for us to do it. good."
"That's right. With our war camp here, it's not your turn to take action yet." Another war barracks present was saying.
Although the remaining soldier Yingying did not speak, he nodded in agreement with Pan Yi's words.
"Stop arguing." Zhang Hong picked up the teapot on the table and placed it heavily on the table.
Niu Er, who was walking among the prisoners, said in a low voice: "They probably won't kill us. Now that the Tiger Character Banner is rebelling, they will definitely need manpower. Although we don't have much ability, we are much better than those people who are digging in the fields for food."
"Yes, yes, yes, that's right." Some of the prisoners nodded in agreement.
Although they didn't know whether what Niu Er said was true or not, they were willing to think on the bright side. No one wanted to die if they could live.
When the soldiers escorting the prisoners heard the private words of the prisoners, their faces sank and they said, "Shut your mouths and leave quickly. Don't delay behind."
As he spoke, he hit the prisoner who spoke the most with the end of the firegun in his hand.
