On the Yanmen Pass.
A Qianhu stood on the city wall, looking at the rebels who had advanced to the city gate, his face pale and bloodless.
"General, the wind is too strong after closing the door, why not go down below for shelter." The soldier on the side advised in a low voice.
Qianhu turned around, looked at the soldiers beside him and asked, "Has the message for help been sent out?"
"It has been sent out. Zhenwuwei's reinforcements will arrive tomorrow at the latest." The soldier replied cautiously.
As soon as the rebels appeared outside Yanmen Pass, the guard at the gate immediately sent out the news of the rebel attack and asked Taiyuan Prefecture for help.
"That's good, that's good." Qianhu on the wall seemed relieved.
There were less than 500 defenders at Yanmen Pass. This was because Datong fell into the hands of the rebels, who were worried that the rebels would raid Yanmen Pass and enter Taiyuan Prefecture. Before Datong was occupied by the rebels, there were only less than 200 defenders at Yanmen Pass.
Of course, there must be more than this defender in name, but there has been no fighting at Yanmen Pass for many years, and the defenders on the pass have long become lax.
"General, it's better to get down quickly, the rebel artillery is coming up." The soldiers persuaded Qianhu to get down from the wall.
Although Qianhu was scared, he still glared at his own soldiers and said: "As the guard of Yanmen, how can I abandon my generals and run away alone? Send the order to guard Yanmen Pass. I will kill him tonight." Reward them by killing chickens and sheep.”
The soldiers on the side had no choice but to run to convey the orders of their general to the other defenders.
The defenders, who had little to eat a few times a year, heard the news that chickens and sheep would be slaughtered in the evening, and their morale improved. Some of the more powerful soldiers looked at the rebel soldiers and horses outside the city and even looked like hungry wolves. The same green light.
boom! boom! boom!
The sound of artillery was heard from the rebel formation at the foot of Yanmen Pass, and cannonballs flew toward the pass.
Qianhu on the wall heard the sound of the cannon and hurriedly leaned down to hide. At the same time, they shouted loudly: "Fire back with artillery, fire back with artillery."
There are several cannons placed on the top of Yanmenguan City. Most of them are general cannons left over from the Jiajing period. Among them, the oldest bowl-mouth cannon can be traced back to the Yongli period.
The sound of cannons under the gate kept ringing.
After three consecutive rounds of artillery fire, the Qianhu household shouted to the soldiers manning the cannon on the wall: "Fire the artillery! Why has there been no movement for so long? Do you want to eat meat at night?"
He knew the soldiers stationed at Yanmen Gate very well.
At this time, none of the officials and Xu Jinyin said that eating meat was good. Although Yanmen Pass could get pay every year, it was still not as good as the frontier troops in the important town of Jiubian. The pay and silver received by the soldiers could not even feed a person. Not to mention there is a big family to feed.
Usually, it is difficult to even have a full stomach, let alone eating greasy food, so as long as you promise to get a meal of meat, it will be more effective than anything else in boosting morale.
"It can't be fired, the gunpowder has been directed." A soldier operating the cannon said with a grimace.
After hearing this, Qianhu's face was livid with anger and he yelled: "You are a bunch of trash. The gunpowder just issued by the imperial court has made you wet. I want you to do something."
"It's not the young men who caused the tide. The gunpowder became damp when it was delivered. I really don't blame the young men." The cannon manipulator defended himself with a look of grievance.
Qianhu scolded: "You are making excuses here. Even if the gunpowder is sent to you, if you don't dry it, I don't believe that it will not be used after drying."
The scolded soldier's head drooped.
Usually the gunners who operate the guns have no chance to actually operate the cannons on the wall. The gunpowder they delivered was just piled in the corner to gather dust without being taken care of at all. It won't be discovered for a year or two.
"What the hell are you doing standing there? Why don't you hide and wait to be shot?" Qianhu cursed angrily when he saw all the soldiers operating the cannon stupidly standing in front of the cannon.
The artillery soldiers on the wall came to their senses and looked for places to hide.
The sound of cannon outside Yanmen Pass continued for a while, and then the sound suddenly stopped.
Qianhu, who was hiding behind the wall bunker, waited for a while and found that there was indeed no more gunfire. Then he cautiously stuck his head out and looked outside.
I took a look and saw that the rebels were retreating with their artillery.
"The rebels are the rebels. Their artillery fire is not accurate at all. They fired so many cannons and the cannons were all fucking placed on the wall. They are also a bunch of trash." Qianhu stood up from his hiding place and patted himself a few times. of dust.
The sound of the cannons just sounded bluffing, but none of these cannons fell on the pass, and they all hit the thick pass wall.
The defenders on the wall came out one after another and stood on the wall again. Seeing the unscrupulous ridicule of the retreating rebels, their morale improved a lot.
"Send the order and let the gang leader soldiers kill chickens and sheep. Today I want to reward the brothers who are guarding the city." Qianhu asked his soldiers to prepare.
The soldiers on the wall heard and cheered loudly.
Qianhu was happy to give the order, but now he looked like he was in pain.
However, he had no intention of going back on his word. There were rebels outside the city who wanted to hold Yanmen Pass. Before reinforcements arrived, he had to rely on the soldiers on the wall to hold Yanmen Pass.
It was dark, but Yanmen Pass was brightly lit.
Seven or eight soldiers sat around a big table, eating meat from the basin, and their mouths were full of oil.
There were four or five large tables like this. In addition, there were some soldiers who gathered a few people in a circle and grabbed the meat sticks with bones and gnawed them directly.
Wang Yuncheng interrupted the quarrel between the two people.
Yu Huai and Lin Wenye looked away and stared at each other angrily.
"Shizheng, there really isn't much time left for us. If the Personal Infantry Division captures Ningwuguan, we haven't captured Yanmen Pass yet. I'm afraid we won't be able to hold our heads up in front of the Personal Infantry Division in the future." Lin Wenye looked at Wang Yuncheng and said.
Wang Yuncheng pursed his lips hard and said, "If you wait a little longer, there will definitely be a way."
Seeing this, Lin Wenye had no choice but to return to the table beside him with the teapot and sit down.
The sand table was in front of him, and Yanmen Pass was more than ten miles away. Wang Yuncheng stared at Yanmen Pass on the sand table with his brows furrowed, thinking about ways to break the pass.
"Report!"
As the sound came, a soldier ran in from outside the tent.
The eyes of several people in the tent were attracted by the soldiers coming in.
I saw the soldiers appear at the entrance to the tent and said, "Please tell me, Master Zheng. The Foreign Intelligence Agency has sent someone here to see you, Master Zheng."
"Why did the people from the Foreign Intelligence Service suddenly come over? Could it be that something happened?" Lin Wenye looked at Wang Yuncheng with a puzzled look.
Wang Yuncheng told the soldiers who came in to report: "Bring the people here."
The soldier raised his right arm in salute, turned around and exited the tent.
Wang Yuncheng said to Lin Wenye: "If the Foreign Intelligence Bureau sends people here at this time, there must be something important. Maybe we will fall on them if we break the barrier this time."
