Tongzhou City was built in the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. The city wall was more than 11 meters high. The city circumference was nine miles long and the total area was about two square kilometers. During the Ming Dynasty, the new city was built to connect with the old city. Therefore, the total area of ​​Tongzhou City was expanded to three square kilometers, and the permanent population exceeded 20,000, which was the first city in Jingdong.

Tongzhou City has five gates, three old cities and two new cities. The city gate that the Tatars attacked is the west gate of the new city, called "Five Foot Zhantian". It roughly means that it is very close to the capital city, and you can see Tian (Zi) Yan in five feet. Businesses and travelers entering Beijing from Tongzhou will walk through this west gate.

Tonight, the people in the new city were suddenly woken up by the officers and soldiers. The Governor of Zhili Xu Jin had an order that all the people in the new city must retreat to the old city before midnight, otherwise the military law will deal with it.

When I was woken up in the middle of the night, I was unhappy with anyone. However, the military law was as good as a mountain, and the people did not dare to disobey. They could only clean up the fineness and softness unhappily, and the speed was slower. Some people even packed and took away the bottles and jars at home, so the speed was even slower. If this continues, there will definitely be no evacuation before Zhongshi.

Liao Fa, the commander-in-chief of Tongzhou Guard who was responsible for evacuating and appeaseing the people, was furious and wanted to use the strong, but was worried that it would cause fierce conflict between the military and civilians. The general said that there was a mistake but he was the only one who asked.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, a clever household under his command gave Liao an idea. After hearing this, the latter thought it was feasible, so he announced that as long as the whole family retreated to the old city before, he would give two stones of food according to the human hair.

At this time, one stone of grain could be sold for more than one tael of silver. When the common people heard that each person could receive two stones of grain, they were immediately like chicken blood. Every household carried the elderly and the young, rushing to the old city one after another. The large family had obviously made a lot of money.

Seeing this, Liao Fa finally breathed a sigh of relief. Now the most in Tongzhou city is food. It was the summer grain that was being removed from the capital, so the major warehouses in the city were filled with full capacity. If it were normal, Liao Fa naturally did not dare to take the initiative to send official grain to the people, but now according to Xu Jin's plan, the grain is also a waste, so it would be better to send part of it to the people.

Before midnight, nearly 10,000 people living in the new city and business travelers all retreated to the old city. Next, as soon as the gate connecting the new and old city was closed, the officers and soldiers began to "open warehouses and release grain". Nearly 500,000 stones of grain were pulled out and all fell in the streets and alleys, laying nearly half a meter high. Not to mention horses, it was difficult for people to walk on it.

"If you do evil, there is such a bad grain, it is not allowed by heaven, and it is not allowed by heaven!" He Qiusheng, the eunuch in Tongzhou City, who was in charge of transporting grain, tremblingly fell on the street, raised his hands and shouted at the sky and the earth, and suddenly stood up and pointed at Xu Jin and cursed: "Xu Jin, if you have such bad grain, you will be sent by heaven, and you will be sent by heaven!"

Xu Jin frowned and asked, "If the city is broken, will these food be cheaper than the Tartars?"

"But the city has not been broken yet!" He Qiusheng retorted sharply.

Xu Jintan said: "After the city is broken, Eunuch He may not have the chance to stand here and talk. Come and help Eunuch He return to the old city office to rest."

Two personal soldiers from Shenji Camp responded, and stepped forward to build eunuch He and headed for the old city. The latter danced like a shrew, kicking the food on the ground flying, screaming: "Xu Jin, our family will be in front of the emperor and you will be able to study one of you. You can wait, our family will be able to study one of you!"

"You can do whatever you want!" Xu Jin said indifferently, then led his personal soldiers to walk towards the Xicheng Gate along the soft wheat and grains all over the ground.

At this moment, the West City Gate was brightly lit, and the officers and soldiers were preparing in a hurry. When they saw Xu Jin coming, both officers and soldiers stood up and bowed.

A large pit was dug under the city gate, and a team of soldiers from the Shenji Camp were carefully burying the pit and laying it with blue bricks again.

"Old Guo, is there no problem?" Xu Jin asked Guo Jinyu, who was wiping the flintlock rifle. The latter laughed confidently and said, "Don't worry, the handsome man, and ensure that the task is completed."

"Okay, I will remember your first merit when things are done!" Xu Jin said.

Guo Jindiao saluted a military salute and shouted: "Master Xie, you have decided to win this merit mark!"

The soldiers of the Shenji Camp around him couldn't help but cast envious and jealous eyes, but there was no way. Who could let Lao Guo shoot accurately? He really had to pass through Yang with a hundred steps.

The defenders in the city were preparing in a hurry, and the Tartars outside the city were not idle either. Harich and Temuir were preparing to launch a fierce attack at dawn. They had no way out and had to take down Tongzhou City by tomorrow afternoon, otherwise they could only raise their heads to see Altan.

At about five o'clock in the morning, the moon was dark and the wind was high. Harich and Temuir ordered a siege. Amid the intense fighting drums, various siege equipment were pushed to the front of the formation. The first group of 1,500 Tartars shouted loudly and rushed towards the city wall fiercely.

The second batch of 1,500 Tartars, and the third batch of 1,500 Tartars were on standby, preparing to replace the previous group of companions and carry out uninterrupted attacks. In addition, there were three thousand elite Tartars waiting for the camp. As soon as the city gate was broken, they would jump into the city as soon as possible and massacre the defenders in the city.

The battle became fierce at the beginning. The Tartars used all the siege equipment, slamming the city gate without fear of death, or climbing up the city head, and the corpses fell like dumplings.

Xu Jin stood on the top of the city to supervise the battle himself. The personal soldiers raised shields to form a formation, protecting the space in front of him tightly. The arrows shot like raindrops, but were all blocked by the shield formation.

"The Tartars' attacks are more fierce than before, probably because they are anxious." Wang Lin'er stood beside Xu Jin and said.

Xie Sanqian laughed and said, "That's better, we don't even need to act."

Xu Jin shook his head and said, "The play should still be performed, otherwise the Tartars will be suspicious!" As he said that, he took out his pocket watch and opened it and looked at it, and continued, "Now at the moment, after the second wave of the Tartars attack, we will act as planned. Lao Wang, come and command!"

Wang Lin'er said solemnly: "I am honored to ask the general to go to the city first, and leave this place to my subordinates!"

Xu Jin was not pretentious. The general was not used to charge. He gave a few more instructions to the generals and then went down to the city under the escort of his personal soldiers and headed towards the old city. If nothing unexpected happened, the new city would soon turn into a purgatory.

After Xu Jin left, Wang Lin'er pulled out his waist knife, pointed out his finger outside the city, and shouted: "Fire the fire!"

Boom boom boom boom...

Six artillery cannons on the top of the city were at the same time. In the roaring sound of the earth, huge flames illuminated the darkness before dawn. The fiery red shells roared into the enemy formation and exploded Mars in the sky.

"Kill, rush!"
Chapter completed!