It turns out that when Qingshui Mingyue was imprisoned in the hands of the Ming army, they did not put any thought into defense because of lack of food and pay.
There are only a few cannons on the top of the city, and they are just for show. It is hard to say whether they can fire or not.
When the Ming army was on defense, they might have been able to perform regular maintenance in order to cope with inspections. But now Zhong Jinwei and the others found that these cannons showed signs of rust.
The most common defensive equipment, rolling logs and rocks, were only in small numbers at the top of the city, and they were piled up inside the city. The spare logs were used by the stationed Jianlu to chop firewood for warmth.
The stones were piled there untouched, but there were not many of them.
Besides, the armory was very empty. Rats were running around everywhere. There were only a few bundles of arrows piled up in a few corners. There were crossbows, but they broke as soon as you pulled them and they couldn't be used at all.
The only good thing is that there are a few barrels of gunpowder that can be used as needed.
Zhong Jinwei, Lu Xiangsheng and other leaders, after completing their inspection, all exchanged words in a barracks.
These eight hundred people were strong, powerful, and skilled in martial arts, but most of them had weapons such as sticks, guns, and knives, and not many of them carried bows and arrows with them.[
If you had known that you would be participating in a city defense battle this time, you would have brought more long-range weapons. In this situation, it looks like you will have to fight Jianlu in hand-to-hand combat.
But there are more than 7,000 Jianlu, all veterans who have experienced battles for a long time. The 800 people are strong, but most of them are rookies on the battlefield. If you rely on the city and use defensive weapons to defend, there will be no problem. At least these 800 people are strong.
, much stronger than the local soldiers in Changli.
But now, the defensive equipment originally expected is not available, and the situation is serious.
If they had known this, it would have been better for Jianlu to attach great importance to Qingshui Mingyue Pass and then fight vigorously to capture this pass. If they captured it in this way, the defense behind it would probably be much easier.
Several people were silent for a while, but no one spoke. Lu Xiangsheng still felt that he could no longer be silent. No matter what, time would not wait for them.
"Supervisor, I believe that although the defensive conditions are a bit crude, with this dangerous pass as a basis, we are still sure to be able to block Jianlu in front of the pass." There was no trace of disappointment or regret in Lu Xiangsheng's voice when he spoke, which seemed very serious.
calm.
"Yes, we need to move as soon as possible. We can make more preparations if we can. Jianlu will appear at the pass no matter when." Yan Yingyuan also agreed.
Zhong Jinwei looked at these two famous people in history and found that their psychological quality was indeed very strong, and they would do whatever they needed to do without panic.
"Okay, when we made the decision to stop Jianlu, we put life and death at risk! It's better to stop Jianlu here than to fight Jianlu in the wild." Zhong Jinwei took a long breath and said loudly.
Lu Xiangsheng and Yan Yingyuan both nodded slightly, while Yu Haijing and Lu Xiangsheng's servants standing on the side looked at their three core figures with bright eyes, and there was a sense of heroism in their hearts that they could only die.
Because before they came, as Zhong Jinwei said, they had already prepared to become a good man again after eighteen years.
Everyone put aside their frustration at the lack of existing defensive equipment and began to discuss defensive measures.
First of all, we must prepare defensive equipment as soon as possible, and we can do as much as we can. But the premise of this is to give early warning to Jianlu. We can't let Jianlu find out when he runs in front of us. It will be difficult to defend in a hurry.
Yu Haijing listened to their discussion and interjected: "Master Hou, you can follow the path in this pass to the top of the two nearby peaks. You can see far away. Jianlu must have some lighting if he is traveling in the dark night.
In this way, people on the top of the mountain can see Jianlu coming and know the general march of Jianlu."
"Okay, then we will send people up to watch, and if we encounter Jianlu, we will give an early warning to the city." Zhong Jinwei nodded repeatedly after hearing this. Of course it would be nice to have such a good place, but it is a pity that we did not bring binoculars, otherwise we would be able to detect the enemy's situation.
Much clearer.[
Yan Yingyuan thought for a moment about the two peaks Yu Haijing mentioned, frowned and said, "Those two peaks are very high. If Jianlu comes, how will we notify the city?"
Yu Haijing had never thought about this question. After hearing this, she was stunned and did not answer.
Lu Xiangsheng responded to Yan Yingyuan's question: "When sending messages at night, fire is used as a signal. If there are more enemies, just light more fires."
Yan Yingyuan had thought of this method a long time ago, but felt it was not good, so he didn't say it. Now that Lu Xiangsheng proposed it, he asked: "My subordinates know this method, but in this way, the movement on the top of the mountain will be very loud. No matter how far away Jianlu is, he can
Didn’t you also remind them when you saw it?”
Hearing this, Zhong Jinwei said: "Then don't light a fire, just hold a torch. The momentum will be much smaller."
After hearing this, several other people felt that considering the distance from the top of the mountain to the city, it should be no problem, so they all nodded in agreement.
One of Lu Xiangsheng's servants suddenly said: "It would be great if we could know how many people came from Jianlu."
Another servant listened to his companion's words and replied: "Aren't there just seven thousand prisoners? How many more people do you want to know?"
Lu Xiangsheng looked at the servant who spoke behind him and said: "When an army marches, it must be divided into forward and middle armies. Those who can swarm forward."
Yan Yingyuan also turned to look at the first servant and said, "You want to know the number of Jianlu's forwards. What do you want to do?"
The servant scratched his head and said sheepishly: "I, I just want to know how many, I have a good idea in my mind."
Lu Xiangsheng was a man of skill and courage, and he suddenly thought: "It would indeed be better if we could know the number of the vanguard of Jianlu, but there must be a simple method."
When Zhong Jinwei heard this, his mind suddenly changed and he said: "I have a way to use our number as the base number to make an estimate. If the Jianqi people come to 800 people, hold up a torch. If the Jianqi people come to 1,600 people, use the
The two of them hold a torch separately, and so on. We can know how many Jianlu have come by counting the number of torches under the city!"
"Okay, this method is very good, but if this happens, won't we have to send more people up the mountain? We already have few people, can we only have one person to do this?" Yan Yingyuan first agreed after hearing this.
Suggest the pitfalls of this approach.
Under normal circumstances, this flaw is so-called, just using a few extra men. But now, with 800 men fighting more than 7,000 captives, a few more men in the city is a valuable fighting force.
However, Yan Yingyuan's question did not trouble Zhong Jinwei. He asked: "Is there anyone with strong learning ability? I will teach him a few simple Arabic numerals and simple gestures."
Lu Xiangsheng's servants usually lead a group of people. When Zhong Jinwei asked, a few of them came.
When Zhong Jinwei heard this, he asked them to call them over quickly and teach them one to nine twice to see how many people could understand.
Then they did not wait foolishly, but continued to discuss other issues.
Zhong Jinwei heard about the defensive experience of Zuo Yingxuan, the magistrate of Changli County, and immediately proposed several methods such as installing wooden rafts on the city head and using a small amount of gunpowder to make a simple enemy of ten thousand people.
Lu Xiangsheng and Yan Yingyuan both thought it was good, so they ordered people to do it quickly.
In addition, they also asked people to demolish all the houses in the city, and they would get as many logs and stones as they could.
Time was passing slowly, and the night was getting darker and darker. Lu Xiangsheng's servants continued to take orders from the barracks, took a group of people with them, and started to work.
The eight hundred people Zhuang all knew that they were competing with Jianlu for time, so they all worked against time, and there was no need to supervise the work.
Among the servants who came here, there were a few who had good memories. Zhong Jinwei taught him a simple lesson twice, and two of them remembered it.
So Zhong Jinwei added another less than number and asked him to use it together. Then he hurriedly sent him to the mountain, while another person watched the movements on the top of the mountain.
Once the early warning mission was arranged, several people breathed a sigh of relief. Only a certain number of people only needed to be left to guard the city wall, while everyone else could go about their preparations.
Inside Qingshui Mingyue Pass, there were torches pinned everywhere, illuminating the place where people were doing things. Although no one was talking or making noise, the sounds of people doing things were loud enough.
Fortunately, this pass is blocked by mountains. You have to go around several mountain corners to directly see Qingshui Mingyue Pass.
Therefore, before Jianlu discovered the abnormal situation in the pass, he would be discovered by the sentry on the top of the mountain first.
Zhong Jinwei stood on the top of the city, accompanied by Yan Yingyuan. While watching what was going on in the city, he looked up from time to time and stared at the peak with sentries to see if there was a signal sent out. He prayed in his heart that Jianlu would come as late as possible!