On the first day of December in the sixth year of Chongzhen, the cold wind blew and was biting!
"Boom...boom!"
In the early morning, with the deafening sound of war drums, Sanbeile-Manggurtai led the Zhenglan Banner troops out in full force and pressed towards the east of Baichengzi.
At the same time, the three troops of Ordos, Tumote, and Yongxiebu pressed towards the west of Baichengzi.
As for the north and south sides, there were no soldiers at all.
There is naturally a reason for the formation of troops like this: if they are besieged from all sides, the defenders in the city will have no way to escape and will have no choice but to resist desperately, and the difficulty of siege will be greatly increased!
If you attack from two sides, the defenders in the city will have a way to escape, so they will not resist desperately, and the difficulty of attacking the city will be reduced.
This is the must-have for the besieging army among the eight rules for using troops!
Of course, if the Tianwei Army really abandoned the city and fled, they would not be able to escape at all.
Because Mang Gurtai had already secretly ambushed his troops and horses at a slightly distant position on the north and south sides. If the Tianwei Army escaped, they would be trapped and dead!
…………
About four hundred feet away from the city wall, the Jurchen army and the Mongolian army stopped at the same time, and then launched various siege equipment from the formation: building carts, crash carts, catapults, Lu Gong carts, folding bridges, ladders... everything. And there are a lot of them.
It turns out that the Jurchen Army has always been good at field battles but not good at attacking fortresses. Facing the solid cities of the Ming Dynasty, it is generally difficult to conquer them. Even if they can be forcibly captured, they will have to pay huge casualties.
For example, the last Khan, Nurhaci, was seriously injured by the Ming army's Hongyi cannon when he attacked Ningyuan City. Then the fire poison attacked his heart and died.
After Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne, in order to solve this problem, he selected a large number of craftsmen from the captured Ming Dynasty soldiers and civilians to build various siege equipment, and had the Eight Banners soldiers practice diligently, thus greatly improving their ability to attack fortresses. .
In addition, Huang Taiji also wanted to make firearms and form an elite firearms unit to further improve the Eight Banners soldiers' ability to attack difficult situations. Unfortunately, there were too few craftsmen who could cast firearms and soldiers who were proficient in using firearms, so this plan was delayed. failed to materialize.
"Da da da!"
After setting up the battle array and rolling out various siege equipment, Mang Gurtai did not immediately order an attack. Instead, he called a burly Goshiha and whispered a few words to him.
Gesheha nodded frequently, then urged his horse to rush to the edge of the moat. In very proficient Chinese, he shouted to the soldiers of the Tianwei Army on the city wall: "Listen carefully, my Lord Beile has a good life. I am willing to give you one last chance. As long as you lay down your weapons, open the door and surrender, you will not only avoid death, but you will also be rewarded heavily!
If they don't surrender, after the army breaks through the city, no one, male, female, old or young, will be left alive. All the chickens, ducks, geese and dogs will be killed. Even the rat holes will be poured with boiling water three times, leaving no one breathing!
I’ll repeat it again: Please prick up your ears and listen carefully, my Baylor..."
"Bang, bang...plop!"
Goshiha's attitude was arrogant, and just when he was about to shout a second time, more than a dozen matchlock guns on the city wall opened fire at the same time, instantly beating people and horses into a sieve, and the dead bodies fell to the ground, dyeing a large area of land red!
People are still in the city, and they would rather die than surrender. This is the answer of the soldiers of the Mighty Army of Heaven!
"Damn it, beat the drums and attack... Pass the order from Ben Baile. The warriors under the banner who are the first to ascend the city will be rewarded with a hundred taels of gold, a hundred horses, and a thousand fat sheep!"
"Boom...boom...boom!"
"Come on...the one who reaches the city first will be rewarded heavily!"
Seeing that Goshiha, who was trying to persuade him to surrender, was shot to death by a random shot, Mang Gurtai suddenly became furious. Then he drew out his saber, swiped it down hard, and gave the order to attack.
After the order was given, hundreds of cowhide war drums beat at the same time, making people excited and excited!
At the same time, the soldiers of Zhenglan Banner pushed various siege equipment and roared towards Baichengzi.
"Boom...boom!"
On the city wall, the soldiers of the Tianwei Army immediately fired back. The first to fire were a dozen invincible general cannons.
This kind of artillery is made of bronze. It is one foot and two feet long and weighs 1,850 kilograms. It can shoot eight kilograms of explosive shells 350 feet away, with a killing radius of about five feet. One shot It’s just a big piece, it’s definitely a city-defending artifact!
Immediately afterwards, the Shenwei General Cannon, Shenji General Cannon, large lever gun, and matchlock gun all opened fire.
Dense ammunition fell on the formation, causing people to flip over and their flesh and blood fly everywhere. The situation was extremely tragic!
"Charge...continue to charge. Those who advance will be heavily rewarded, and those who retreat will be killed without mercy!"
"Whizzing!"
Under the intensive artillery fire, the soldiers of Zhenglan Banner suffered many casualties, but none of them retreated. They continued to rush forward and soon rushed to the edge of the moat.
The one rushing in front was the cart, which was more than four feet high. There was an arrow house on it, filled with archers, who used strong bows and long arrows to quickly kill the soldiers of the Tianwei Army on the city wall.
Then there is the catapult, which can throw stones weighing more than twenty kilograms onto the city wall to hit the soldiers of the Tianwei Army defending the city.
Under the cover of building trucks and catapults, the remaining Zhenglan Banner soldiers had a clear division of labor: some carried sandbags, filled the moat, and opened the way for the heavy rams behind.
Some used folding bridges to cross the moat, then set up ladders, carrying shields on their backs and carrying knives in one hand, desperately climbing up to fight for control of the city wall.
There are also vulture shooters with accurate archery skills who are hidden among the charging crowd, specializing in shooting the generals of the Tianwei Army, making it difficult for people to guard against them!
"Continue to fire, bombard our central formation...Musketeers, concentrate their firepower, suppress the Japanese archers, and swordsmen, push down the Japanese ladder...The rest of the people, roll the logs , thunder stone, lime, and gold juice all come down and say hello!"
On the city wall, Xiang Xuanwu wore an iron helmet and chain armor, and carried a tiger-head sword, commanding the soldiers to resist bravely.
While he was commanding, a cold arrow shot over. Because he dodged in time, it missed the heart and hit the left shoulder. The arrow penetrated the chain armor and penetrated the flesh more than two inches deep. Blood immediately flowed out.
Xiang Xuanwu didn't care. He cut off the arrow shaft with his sword, tore off a piece of his shirt, simply bandaged the wound, and then continued to direct the battle as if nothing was wrong.
The general will have the heart to die, and the scholar will not be greedy for life!
Since the generals were so desperate, the soldiers were no longer afraid of death, and their morale was immediately boosted. Everyone fought desperately and suppressed the Jurchen soldiers who rushed up.
…………
When the Zhenglan Banner stormed the east side of Baichengzi, the three troops of Ordos, Tumote, and Yongxiebu also launched a fierce attack on the west wall, and also met with stubborn resistance.
To make a long story short, the Jurchen Army and the Mongolian Army launched three fierce attacks in succession, but were beaten back by the Tianwei Army. Both sides suffered heavy casualties.
On top of the city, under the city wall, and in the moat, there were the corpses of soldiers from both sides, and their blood stained the city wall and the river red.
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"
In the afternoon, with the sound of a low horn, the Jurchen soldiers and Mongolian soldiers retreated like a tide.
The order to retreat was given by Sanbeile Manggurtai. It was impossible not to retreat because the casualties were too high.
A rough calculation showed that after fighting for most of the day, more than three men and horses were killed or injured, which made Mang Gurtai very distressed.
You must know that the status of the Jurchen nobles is determined by the number of soldiers and horses they have. Whoever has more soldiers and horses has a higher status.
For example, Azig, Dorgon, and Duduo are not very old and have little military exploits, but their status is very high. They are second only to the Great Khan Huang Taiji and can keep pace with several major Baylors. The reason is that the three brothers have two White flag, sixty-five Niulu soldiers and horses.
Another example is Abatai, who has been fighting for many years and has achieved great results through hard work, but his status is far inferior to that of Dorgon and Duduo brothers, because he only has six soldiers and horses, which is less than one-tenth of others.
The Zhenglan Banner has twenty-one impressive troops, ranking in the middle among the Eight Banners. If there are too many casualties, it will definitely affect Mang Gurtai's status, and he may not even be able to keep Big Baylor's position.
Therefore, we can only retreat temporarily, return to the camp to repair, and prepare another
Thinking of ways to attack the city.
Is there any way?
Mang Gurtai couldn't figure it out, so he had to blame it on others.
"Ning me, get over here!"
"I'm here, Sanbeile. What do you want me to do?"
"You have only one day to come up with a way for Ben Beile to attack Baichengzi without losing too many soldiers and horses!"
"Ah, one day?"
"That's right, it only takes one day. If you figure it out, Ben Beile will reward you heavily. If you can't figure it out, Ben Beile will give you fifty lashes. Don't waste time. Go and think about it!"
"twitter!"
