PS: Thank you to Book Friends Cao Gen Dang Cai and Book Friends Life Trainee for the reward.
Niu Er and others buried the bodies outside Xinping Fort and were taken back to Xinping Fort by the soldiers of the Tiger Flag.
"Move to the side, move to the side, don't block the road." The tiger-character flag soldiers guarding Niu Er and others drove Niu Er and the other prisoners to the roadside.
As a prisoner, he naturally showed no resistance and walked to the roadside obediently.
"So many cannons!" A prisoner next to Niu Er exclaimed.
On the road ahead, horse-drawn artillery carts came from a distance and passed in front of the prisoners.
Niu Er's eyes have been fixed on these artillery carriages.
He is a gunner in the border weapons battalion and is very familiar with cannons.
A gun carriage has a cannon, and the gun carriage is pulled by two horses. There are more than thirty artillery carriages passing in front of him, that is, more than thirty cannons.
As a soldier in a firearms battalion, their firearms battalion does not have so many cannons combined.
Before, he only thought that the Tiger-Character Banner only had a dozen cannons to defend the city, but now he realized that the Tiger-Character Banner's Xinpingbao City had far more cannons than he knew.
"Niu Er, what do you think they want to do with so many cannons out of the city?" A prisoner who knew Niu Er asked in a low voice.
These prisoners had just been brought into the city, and their location was not far from the city gate, just in time for them to see the tiger-character flags transporting cannons outside the city.
Niu Er glanced at his companion who was speaking, swallowed, and said, "Don't ask me, I'm not a roundworm in other people's stomachs. How can I know what others are going to do."
"Let me tell you, the people of the Tiger Flag are leaving Xinping Fort with so many cannons at this time, and they must be preparing to go to the grassland." The prisoner on the side said proudly.
Niu Er looked at the artillery carriage passing in front of him and didn't say anything to him.
However, he was unwilling to speak, and the other party had no intention of letting him go, so he heard this person say: "Don't believe it yet. What I say makes sense. The tiger-character flag is being placed so that the city cannot be defended. At this time, move the cannon After leaving the city, they must have known that they could not hold Xinping Fort and were preparing to retreat."
His words aroused the curiosity of other prisoners around him, and they all asked about it.
"Shut up and continue on your way." One of the soldiers guarding the prisoners scolded them and then ordered them to continue on their way.
At this time, all the artillery carriages had already left the city gate of Xinpingbao.
The prisoners continued on their way, led by the tiger-character flag soldiers.
However, before these prisoners had gone far, they were driven to the roadside again.
Groups of well-equipped soldiers were lining up to leave the city.
"How many soldiers and horses are these! Why are there so many!" It was the prisoner next to Niu Er who spoke.
Standing on the roadside, I saw a steady stream of soldiers with the Tiger Flag passing in front of these prisoners until they were far away and exited the city gate of Xinpingbao.
The street where this happened was already crowded with soldiers of the tiger-character flag. They were all densely packed with soldiers of the tiger-character flag.
"Look, I was right! The people in the Tiger Flag know that they can't hold Xinping Fort and are ready to retreat." The prisoner bumped Niu Er with his elbow.
Niu Er glanced at the other party and said, "Maybe they went out of the city to fight."
In his heart, he felt that there was no reason for Tiger Flag to escape back to the grassland.
The Tiger-Character Banner only fought one battle with the official army in Xinpingbao. Although he did not know the casualties of the Tiger-Character Banner in Xinpingbao City, he was sure that there were absolutely no serious casualties among the frontier troops attacking the city.
Moreover, with so many cannons, soldiers and horses stationed in the city by the Tiger-Character Banner, it would be difficult for the officers and soldiers to capture Xinping Fort from the Tiger-Character Banner in a short period of time.
And as a soldier of the firearms battalion, he knew that the firearms battalion no longer had cannons that could be used to attack the city. The original twelve general cannons were all lost in this siege.
"It's just your ignorant mind that thinks like this." The prisoner next to him said, "It's so easy to defend the city. Have you ever seen anyone who neglected to defend the city and asked for trouble to go out to fight? They are Tatars on the steppe!"
Niu Ermianlu hesitated.
I feel that what the other party said is not unreasonable. It is indeed much easier to defend a city than to attack it.
"No wonder our frontier army cannot defeat the soldiers and horses of the Tiger Flag. Look at their armor, and then look at us. If you don't know, you would think that they are the soldiers and horses of the imperial court. We, the frontier soldiers, are rioters. "The prisoner next to Niu Er made a tut-tsk sound.
Niu Er nodded in agreement and said: "It's indeed extraordinary. Even their spirits are different. They are all strong and must have eaten well."
If there are only one or two strong Tiger-Character Flag soldiers, it can be said that some people are naturally strong. However, almost everyone who passed by the Tiger-Character Flag soldiers looked at Kongwu. Obviously, the Tiger-Character Flag never He scolded the soldiers and horses below.
"I've heard it said before that the soldiers of the Tiger Flag get one or two cents of salary every month. They eat three meals a day in the camp, which makes them full and full of meat." Halazidu, the prisoner who spoke It's about to flow out.
Niu Er said: "Since you know so well, why don't you go to the Tiger Flag to be a soldier." Niu Er glanced at him.
I heard the other party say: "I am not a good frontier soldier. I go to Tiger Flag to become a bandit. Who knows when my head will be chopped off. No matter how much money I make, if my head is gone, I will lose nothing."
"You haven't become someone's prisoner now." Niu Erhui retorted.
When the prisoner next to him heard this, he chirped a few times and said, "Who can say otherwise? If I had known that I would become a prisoner of the Tiger Flag today, I would have been better off defecting to the Tiger Flag early, and I would not have become sallow and skinny from hunger."
Among the border troops, the most unpopular ones were the soldiers of the firearms battalion.
Of course, gunners like Niu Er are better off. Those battalion soldiers who use fire guns have a lower status in the battalion than even pikemen.
After a long while, all the soldiers and horses of the Tiger Flag finally left the city.
Niu Er and the other prisoners were on the road again.
This time they never encountered anything that needed to be avoided, and they arrived at a courtyard in Xinpingbao City without stopping.
The people and merchants in Xinpingbao City have left their homes, and there are many more vacant houses in the city.
Part of it was temporarily used as a military camp by the Tiger Character Banner, where soldiers and heavy troops were accommodated. The yard where Niu Er and others were taken was also a residence left by the people who had deserted the army.
"You are staying here temporarily, and you are not allowed to leave this courtyard without permission." A Tiger Flag soldier who brought Niu's second-class prisoner over said expressionlessly.
There are five rooms in a row in the courtyard.
A squeeze is enough to accommodate fifty or sixty people, and there are only a few dozen captives like Niu Er and others, which is enough.
Niu Er followed the other prisoners into the yard.
The fact that the people of Tiger Character Banner were able to arrange accommodation for these prisoners showed that they had no plans to kill them for the time being, which made these prisoners secretly relieved.
