It was nearly noon.
The camp of the Tiger Flag army outside Datong City was busy.
Cannons were rolled out of the camp one after another and moved towards the North City wall and the direction of Wengcheng.
"No, the bandits are coming to attack the city again." Among the defenders on the city wall, some sharp-eyed people noticed the movement outside the city and hurriedly ran to deliver a message to their superiors.
Soon, there was a series of panic on the city.
The cannons of the Tiger Flag appeared in the eyes of the defenders on the city wall. The defenders knew in their hearts that the bandits outside the city were coming to attack the city.
As the main guard of Datong City, Lieutenant General Li came to the crenellation and stared closely at the outside of the city.
At this moment, his face looked very ugly.
"General, the bandits have too many cannons. How about transporting some cannons from other walls to defend the city?" said the bearded general standing nearby.
Lieutenant General Li frowned and said with dissatisfaction: "You can't defend without artillery?"
"There is no way to suppress the bandits' artillery. Our soldiers can only passively take the artillery fire on the city and cannot even fight back. The important thing is that only a small part of the defenders on the city are soldiers and horses of the Fubiao Battalion, and most of them are soldiers and horses of the Fubiao Battalion. They are the civilians who were forced to the top of the city. Once the war goes against the odds and the soldiers and horses in the army are better, those civilians are likely to make a mess on their own." The bearded boss did not directly answer whether he could hold the northern city wall. He was just a Complaints vigorously.
Seeing this, Lieutenant General Li softened his tone and reassured: "There are not many cannons in the city. Yesterday, almost all the cannons on the north wall were destroyed by bandits. Where can I go to get cannons for you at this time? Hold on." , and I brought you a lot of soldiers and horses, and now you have many more defenders here than in other places."
"Aren't there cannons on the other three city walls? We can first support some cannons from other city walls to the north city wall." The bearded commander said.
Seeing that the other party was chasing after the cannon so ignorantly, Lieutenant General Li's face sank and he said: "The cannons on other city walls have been transported to you. What if the bandits attack the city from their side? Is it possible to transport the cannon again? How much time will it take to go back? Once the bandits take this opportunity to break into the city, will you bear the responsibility or will I bear it?"
"I don't dare, general." The bearded general saw that Vice General Li had a bad look on his face and hurriedly lowered his head to admit his mistake.
Lieutenant General Li knew that he had to rely on the other party to guard the north city wall, so he didn't want to blame him too much. He said in a gentle tone: "Although there are no cannons, most of the defenders in the city have been stationed at the north city wall. Even I am here personally. If you are in charge here, what do you have to worry about? Your task is to guard the northern city wall and prevent the bandits from breaking into the city from you."
"The last general will swear to defend the city to the death." The bearded commander expressed his determination to defend the city in front of Lieutenant General Li.
Lieutenant General Li nodded with satisfaction, and then said: "The cannons of the bandits are nothing to be afraid of. There are turrets, watchtowers, and huts on the city wall. Even the back of the crenellations can be used to avoid artillery fire. As long as the top and bottom unite as one, the bandits can defeat the enemy." No matter how many cannons there are, they can't break through Datong City."
"Yes, that's what the general said." The bearded general said in agreement.
Only he himself knows what he thinks.
"Since the rebels have pushed all the cannons over, it means there will definitely be a big battle today. I leave it to you to defend the city. You must guard the north wall for me." Vice General Li reached out and patted the beard of the general. shoulders.
After saying that, he led his soldiers and walked towards the city.
The bearded general who stayed on top of the city looked at Vice General Li's retreating back, spat hard on the ground, and twisted it hard with his right foot.
Lieutenant General Li, who had already walked down the city wall, knew nothing about it.
"Boss, why did the general leave? Didn't he just say that he would guard the city wall with us?" A soldier from the Fubiao Battalion nearby came to the side of the bearded general.
When Vice General Li was talking to the bearded General Manager, he was standing nearby, so he heard the conversation clearly.
The bearded commander heard what his subordinates said and cursed: "You bastard, just believe the general when he says he should stay on the north wall. The cannons of the bandits are flying over, but it doesn't matter who is the general or the civilian."
"Ah! The general won't defend the city with everyone." The soldier who spoke said with a disappointed look on his face.
The bearded boss was too lazy to talk nonsense, so he waved his hand impatiently and said, "Go ahead and do what you have to do. The gangsters will start firing in a while. Be smart and don't just stand still and wait to be shot."
Looking at the artillery positions set up by the rebels outside the city, he frowned.
"Get more firewood. If you don't have enough, go to the city and remove the door panels. Be sure to heat up the gold juice in the pot." The bearded general said to the civilians guarding the gold juice pot on the top of the city.
There are no cannons, and even the archers are limited, so if you want to defend the northern city wall, you can only rely on rolling wood, thunder stones, and golden juice to defend the city.
It's not that he doesn't know anything about civilians. He knows in his heart that the next northern city wall will be difficult to defend.
Outside the city, after hundreds of cannons of the Tiger Flag were sent into position, there was no movement.
Only the gunners were busy around, carrying baskets of cannon and bags of artillery. Next to each cannon were wooden barrels filled with clean water.
"Proprietor, Deputy Director Zhao has brought heavy artillery." Zhang Hong quickly ran into Liu Heng's tent to deliver the news.
Liu Heng looked happy when he heard the news and said, "Come on, follow me to greet Mr. Zhao."
The arrival of heavy artillery will be more beneficial to the subsequent siege.
Liu Heng strode out of the tent, leading Zhang Hong, Zhao Wu and others towards the outside of the camp.
As soon as they arrived in front of the camp, they saw artillery carts pulled by mules and horses, and the cannons behind the artillery carts were obviously larger than the four-pounder and six-pounder cannons.
Each artillery carriage was transported by four mules and horses, accompanied by gunners who pushed the artillery carriage.
Several fast horses broke away from the artillery team and rushed to the gate of the camp first.
"Fortunately, my subordinates have fulfilled their orders and brought twenty nine-pound cannons and ten twelve-pound cannons." Zhao Yutu jumped off the horse and saluted Liu Heng.
"My subordinates also think so. Once we capture Wengcheng, we will immediately attack the north city wall and north gate, and strive to capture the city gate and enter the city as soon as possible." Chen Xunping said.
Liu Heng said: "This is our first official attack on the important town of Datong. We must not make any mistakes. Otherwise, the previously captured Yanghe Road, North Hebei Road, and Zuowei Road will all return to the hands of the government, and our tiger-character flag will be destroyed." It’s also a fatal blow.”
"Don't worry, proprietor, we will definitely win Datong City in this battle." Chen Xunping nodded vigorously.
He knows the importance of Datong City.
Only by capturing the city of Datong can the Tiger-Character Banner capture Datong. Otherwise, no matter how many places and side piers the Tiger-Character Banner occupies now, it will not be able to gain a firm foothold. On the contrary, the soldiers below will lose their battle due to the failure of the siege. Fighting spirit may even cause the Tiger Flag to have to return to the grassland.
