The guard of Zhangjiakou Fort did not believe that the attackers were from the Tiger Flag.
Most of the Tiger Flags are Han people. They have to celebrate the New Year. Even if they want to attack Zhangjiakou Fort, they will not choose such a day. On the contrary, the Tatars on the grassland don't care about the Han people's New Year.
"Here they come, they are the rebel bandits, not the Tatars, they are the rebel bandits of Datong." Some sharp-eyed people among the soldiers guarding the city shouted loudly.
News of the Tiger Character Banner's rebellion in Datong had long spread throughout the Xuan Mansion.
The Zhangjiakou Fort guard's face became extremely ugly.
Just now he said that it was impossible for the people from the Tiger Flag to attack Zhangjiakou Fort, but he was slapped in the face in the blink of an eye.
"General, the rebels are not good-natured and are more difficult to deal with than the Tatars." The deputy general next to him said with a worried look.
At most, the Tatars only plundered. As long as the city gates were closed and the defenders climbed to the top of the city to defend the city, the Tatars rarely took the initiative to attack Zhangjiakou Fort. They usually bypassed Zhangjiakou Fort and looted within the Xuanfu territory.
When the Tatars return with their full load and return to the grassland, Zhangjiakou Fort can return to its former appearance. Not only will the defenders in the city not make any mistakes, but they will actually defend the city with merit.
In the past, Zhangjiakou Fort used this method of closing the city gates to defend the city in response to Tatar invasion.
But the Tiger-Character Banner is a traitor. They have captured the entire territory of Datong, and now they are sending troops to attack Zhangjiakou Fortress. Anyone with any sense knows that the invading rebels are not like the Tatars, who only want to declare war. The government grabbed a handful and left.
"Send the order, and all the beacon towers will be lit with smoke." The guard general asked his own soldiers to pass the order.
Zhangjiakou Fort has 58 enemy towers, 31 beacon towers, more than 1,000 defenders in the city, and 450 mules and horses. It has the only horse market in Xuanfu Town.
This has always been the key defense area of Xuanfu Town.
However, these are the former Zhangjiakou Town.
Now that the imperial court has shut down the horse market, the horse market in Zhangjiakou Town has long lost the prosperity it had during the Wanli Dynasty, and the number of garrison troops in the city is less than 800, a full one-third less.
The imperial court has been deducting the food and wages of the border troops. The defenders of Zhangjiakou Fort can only receive half or one-third of the wages. At most, they can guarantee that they will not die of hunger. It is difficult to eat enough.
Those pot-bellied mules and horses had no food and grass to feed, and the remaining mules and horses were no longer half of the previous number.
"Tell the gunners on the top of the city that once the rebels approach, I will hit you hard with my cannon." The guard of Zhangjiakou Fort pointed at the cavalry approaching Zhangjiakou Fort in the distance.
Zhangjiakou Fort was the first garrison of the Ming army in the face of the Tatar invasion. Several Franco machine guns from decades ago were placed on the top of the city.
Wolf smoke rose into the sky from Zhangjiakou Fort, and even if the surrounding wind was strong, it was enough to be seen by the military platform and fire road pier behind it.
The beacon tower here in Xuanfu was used to guard against the Mongols who invaded the border areas, but this time, it was used on the Tiger Flag.
The city was crowded with soldiers and generals guarding the city.
Zhangjiakou Fort, which had been in peace for many years, suddenly faced an invasion by a large army. Many soldiers and low-level officers were nervous, and their palms holding weapons were sweating.
The cavalry of the Tiger Banner uniformly wear black breastplates and iron helmets, and use cavalry muskets and sabers as their main weapons to kill enemies. Only some cavalry with good cavalry and shooting skills and the Mongolians who joined later use cavalry bows as weapons to kill enemies.
After the cavalry wearing black breastplates approached Zhangjiakou Fort, they immediately divided into two teams, one on the left and one on the right to outflank Zhangjiakou Fort.
Not long after the cavalry surrounded Zhangjiakou Fort, an army of less than 20,000 people appeared outside the gate of Zhangjiakou Fort.
"Damn it, where did these rebel bandits get so many elite soldiers and generals? Aren't there tens of thousands in Datong? Why are there so many on the grassland?" The guard of Zhangjiakou Fort looked at the dark army outside the city. Adam's apple moved subconsciously.
The deputy general next to him said cautiously: "General, this battle is not going to be easy for us!"
Cannons were pushed under the city wall of Zhangjiakou Fort one after another, with the black muzzles facing the city wall of Zhangjiakou Fort.
There are only four general cannons in the entire Zhangjiakou Fort, but the rebels outside the city have fifty or sixty cannons.
"We have to fight even if it's not easy. Could it be that you still expect the rebels outside the city to give up attacking Zhangjiakou Fort." The guard of Zhangjiakou Fort replied angrily.
The rebel bandits outside the city have already spread out their formation and look like they are about to attack the city.
The deputy general on the side said with a grimace: "There are tens of thousands of rebels outside the city, but there are not even a thousand in the city. We are afraid it will be difficult to defend Zhangjiakou Fort."
"We have to defend even if we can't. You and I have no choice. Could it be that you still want to surrender to the bandits?" The guard of Zhangjiakou Fort looked coldly at the deputy general beside him.
The lieutenant general said: "I heard that the bandits in Datong have repulsed several lines of government troops, and they may not be able to fight with the imperial court in the future. You and I both know the situation of our Zhangjiakou Fort. If we can't hold it, the Xuanfu will not send reinforcements." we."
"Shut up, if you dare to deceive the soldiers again, be careful I will kill you." The guard of Zhangjiakou Fort scolded, with a faint murderous intent in his eyes.
Seeing this, the deputy general on the side had no choice but to keep his mouth shut.
boom! boom! boom!
The sound of cannon suddenly sounded from outside the city, and then the soldiers guarding the city wall felt their feet shake, and some wall bricks were smashed by the cannon fired from outside the city.
"General, leave quickly, the rebels are firing." The soldiers were protecting the general and were about to leave.
The guard of Zhangjiakou Fort broke away from his own soldiers and said coldly: "No one is allowed to escape. Anyone who dares to escape the city wall will be killed immediately."
After saying that, he waved his sword and cut off a soldier who was about to pass by him.
He didn't care whether the soldier wanted to take advantage of the chaos and escape down the city wall. At this time, he needed to kill people to establish his authority and stop other soldiers who wanted to escape from the city.
Sure enough, the soldiers on the top of the city were so frightened that they forgot to escape for a moment.
"Leave them all to me to defend the city. As for the cannons, let me fight the rebels outside the city." The guard, wearing armor, was cursing on the top of the city while looking for the gunners on the city.
The rebel bandits outside the city bombarded the city with cannons, but the army did not get too close to the city wall. In this way, the only thing that could pose a threat to the rebels outside the city were a few general cannons on the city wall.
Boom!
There was a dull explosion, and a general cannon on the top of the city exploded.
The general cannons used to defend the city on the city wall were old things from decades ago. They had not been used for a long time and were already rusty. The gunner who was operating the cannon was nervous and accidentally put too much gunpowder, which exploded the chamber.
"Useless trash." The guard of Zhangjiakou Fort only glanced at it and stopped paying attention.
"General, we can't stay here anymore. The cannons fired by the rebels outside the city are too fierce. It's better to go to the city to take shelter!"
There are soldiers and servants who want to persuade the guard to go to the city.
There was constant sound of artillery fire outside the city. From time to time, some of the defenders on the city wall died under the shelling. The brick walls above several crenellations were shattered.
The defenders on the city wall became less and less morale as they fought.
They were left to be bombarded, without even a powerful counterattack, and could only hide everywhere on the top of the city.
