After noon, a few Xiangyong were patrolling the city. Most of the soldiers from the two battalions of Dongchang were sleeping in the watch tower or gambling for money. Jia Waixiong, Lao Jiu, Song Luoshu and Qin Fugui were gambling in the north city. At this time,
King Heng came to the city with the palace chief and his servants.
Jia Waixiong and others hurried to greet him. They didn't dare to pretend that the vassal king's young eunuch could pretend to be sexy. However, when it was time to hire someone, Prince Heng didn't dare to put on airs. He asked the winner with a pleasant look and then looked out of the city, his face pale.
!
"Your Majesty, the Tatars have been logging in the west of the city all morning without any movement. That's all they can do to go around the city and curse a few times without it hurting or itching." Jia Waixiong knew that the old man was timid and soothed him.
"They are cutting down wood to build siege equipment. This is to prepare for the main attack from behind." Zhu Youyi clenched his fists and shook non-stop.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. When the soldiers come, they will block the water and cover up the earth. The Tatars can just build those guys. We have prepared enough stones for them on the city. They can hit them as many as they come. As for the main force of the Tatars, there is no need to be afraid. He will come."
Our reinforcements have also arrived, not to mention the young governor is waiting for them outside..."
Any words of comfort were feeble. Zhu Youyi walked around the city, his legs were weak and shaky, and he was helped out of the city by his servants. Jia Waixiong and others continued to gamble and had a great time.
Until I heard Song Luoyu's voice in the evening, Lao Jiu grinned angrily. No wonder he lost so miserably. Why do girls come here when gambling? It's so unlucky.
Just as he was about to make some teasing remarks, Song Luoyu shouted angrily: "You are a fool to gamble with money. Can't you see the Tatars when they come?"
This roar shocked everyone, and they quickly got up and looked outside the city. In the distance due north, densely packed Qing troops were rolling in like locusts.
The Qing generals led by Shang Kexi, Geng Zhongming and Nikan led more than ten thousand Qing troops to slowly approach, and the real army siege began.
The alarm signal sounded loudly in the city, and the people in the city could not hide their panic. Zhu Youxi, who was in Prince Heng's palace, and Qian Lianghan, the prefect, were making tea when they heard the sound, their faces turned pale and their whole bodies were trembling: "It's coming, it's finally coming."
Qian Lianghan also had a solemn look on his face when he saw Zhu Youyi was frightened into this state, so he comforted him and said: "The little governor has already prepared a countermeasure, so don't worry too much, Your Majesty."
Zhu Youyi smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Having said that, I can't help but feel panicked. After all, the Tatars are well prepared and have tens of thousands of people. But at this time, the young eunuch and Li Shiyuan are not in the city... Hey, no, I, the king.
I want to go to the city to see it."
Qian Lianghan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He thought to himself that if you come down from the top and go up again, why would your legs become weak with fear every time you go up? Of course, he still bites the bullet and goes up to the city with Zhu Youyi again.
The Qing army arrived in a blink of an eye and stopped on the north bank of Nanyang River in the north of the city. Kangkal's uncle and nephew hurried to Shang Kexi and waited to report the situation.
Then Shang Kexi ordered the Qing troops to dismount and reorganize. He and Geng Zhongming led more than a hundred Qing troops to look around the city from the west along the Nanyan River. They looked at the densely packed garrison on the city and the Xiangyong expressions were indifferent.
If this city is well prepared, it can be defeated in one fell swoop in half a day at most. When he reaches the south of the city, the Qing general Nikan will be a hundred times more confident.
The moat was almost non-existent due to drought and shallow water. The city wall was less than three feet long, and although there were many defenders, they were mostly local warriors. Even the cannons only had four or five. The vast plain outside the city had enough space to set foot and deploy a large force to attack the city.
In short, the defensive fortifications are extremely weak, or even non-existent!
The main force of the Qing army came to the city with only 20,000 troops, covering the entire north bank of the Nanyang River in the north of the city. The people in the city and the countryside were frightened and worried. After all, they had never seen such a big battle. With so many Qing troops, many people had already
Like Prince Heng Zhu Youyi, his face was pale and his legs were weak.
However, Jia Waixiong, Lao Jiu and their subordinates, who have fought hundreds of battles, looked at ease. These few people faced more than 100,000 rebels during the Taiyuan defense battle, more than 100,000 Qing troops in the battle at Ningyuan outside the Pass, and Baoding to resist the enemy.
Li Zicheng's thief army and the chaos are hundreds of thousands strong. At the moment, this is just a small scene.
However, as the chief defender of the city, Jia Waixiong actually knew that this would be the most difficult battle since he joined the army. Although he had experience in defending the city in Taiyuan, and at that time he faced more than 100,000 bandits. At present, the Qing army could not count as full.
Still less than 20,000.
However, Taiyuan has a high wall and a thick wall with less than 100,000 garrison troops, and the defensive fortifications are well prepared. In addition to freezing the moat to block the horses, they also dug several trenches outside the moat, so that the enemy's cavalry and various baggage cannot easily approach the city wall.
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In addition, the firepower on the city is also fierce enough.
But what is there in Qingzhou City?
The Nanyang River, which served as a moat for the city, had dried up and turned into a shallow shoal. The Qing army could easily cross the river and reach the city directly.
Furthermore, when Chang Yu arrived, the Qing army's vanguard followed him as soon as his front legs reached the rear. He had no time to dig trenches and build fortifications. Whether it was Nanyang, Hebei or the city, there was a vast plain, and the Qing army's troops and horse supplies were not hindered by any obstacles.
In addition to the peripheral fortifications, the defensive force on the city is also relatively weak. The city is not high and the wall is not thick enough. The real military strength plus Li Shiyuan's 800 and Qin Fugui's 200 horse thieves are still less than 2,000. The rest are all rookie rural warriors.
Just imagine how tragic the scene would be if the Qing army launched a full-scale attack!
King Heng went up to the city from the west gate and happened to see Shang Kexi and a group of more than a hundred riders riding south along the Nanyang River. He didn't know who raised his finger to Qian Lianghan: "Be arrogant, you see how arrogant it is, just
Walking around in such a big way..."
The guard next to him rolled his eyes inwardly. He probably didn't see how the Tatars came to the city to shoot arrows and curse at their mothers.
Zhu Youyi was cursing like this and walked along the city wall with Qian Lianghan looking north. When he saw the dense formation of the Qing army, he couldn't help but let out a cry. He was unsteady and almost fell down. The servant next to him quickly supported him.
"How come there are so many Tatars?" Zhu Youyi exclaimed with a look of shock. The year before last, he had watched the Qing army attack from a distance on the city. He was so frightened that his legs were weak, but there were only a few thousand troops. At this time
How can we not be surprised by this battle involving nearly 20,000 people!
Why did this damn old man come up again? He was obviously scared to death and yet he came to scare him. Jia Waixiong, Lao Jiu and others couldn't help but feel upset when they saw Zhu Youdi, but they had to step forward to greet him.
"The main force of the Tatars is here. Do you know where the factory governor's troops are at this time?" Zhu Youji barely maintained his princely demeanor and asked Jia Waixiong.
"It must be not far away, maybe it has reached Linzi City," Jia Waixiong said after a moment of thought.
"Linzi, Linzi is still fifty miles away from here. It's so far away that the Tatars' siege whips can't reach it!" Zhu Youji started to tremble again. Jia Wai was so brave that he wanted to kick him away. It's still fifty miles away! It's so much!
Close means close, ten miles away, is that possible? The Qing army couldn't have let the Ming army get so close to him, and the Ming army couldn't have followed him so close.
"Your Majesty, you can't trust the factory governor." Although Jia Waixiong was angry, he really didn't dare to kick the old man away. However, Zhu Youyi clearly felt the anger of the burly man in front of him and quickly waved his hand: "Your factory governor, the young hero is like a god with his weapons.
The king can certainly be trusted!"
"That means we can't trust our brothers. Fifty miles is only half an hour for the cavalry. Is it possible that our brothers can't even defend for half an hour?" Lao Jiu snorted beside him!
Zhu Youyi saw that the two door gods were angry. He was relying on them to defend the city at this time. He must not offend him. He quickly said: "The two generals are the most skilled and brave generals under the factory governor. How can you
You can't hold it for half an hour! I can trust you, I can trust you!"
The situation at hand was urgent. Jia Waixiong was too lazy to talk nonsense with Zhu Youyi and felt that he was in the way of the city, so he said: "Your Majesty, the Tatar soldiers are besieging the city at this time. The city is already in danger. Go down to the city quickly. Don't worry.
Our brothers are here to ensure the safety of Qingzhou."
Zhu Youyi knew that he was being annoyed, and that the city was indeed dangerous and that if he was not careful, he would be killed by the enemy, so he nodded: "General Lao is in the city."
"It concerns the lives of the people in the city and ours. If the city is destroyed, no one will survive. Brothers, we will do our best. Prince, don't worry, we are here in the city!" Jia Waixiong was so heroic that Zhu Youyi was very moved and pulled him to the city.
The side asked in a low voice: "General Jia, we are all grasshoppers on a rope now. As you said, if the city is destroyed, no one can survive. Please tell me how to be sure if the Tatars attack the city."
Can you keep it?"
Jia Waixiong turned his head and looked at the Qing army camp outside the city, then scanned the city and said calmly to Zhu Youji: "If the people in the city work together to treat death as if they are home, there is a 100% chance that they can defend it!"
Zhu Youyi's expression changed, and he gritted his teeth: "As long as the city can be defended, when the Tatars retreat, I am willing to distribute my family property to the people who participated in the war and defended the city!"
Jia Waixiong hummed: "There must be brave men under heavy rewards. This can indeed boost morale, but it is not enough to make the people defend the city together as if they were dead."
"Then... what should we do?" Zhu Youyi asked.
"Your Majesty just needs to tell them that if the city is destroyed, no one will be able to survive without the chickens and dogs left."
Ah! Zhu Youyi was stunned for a long time before exhaling: "You are right, people will desperately look for a way to survive when there is no way to survive. This is called burning the boat and risking death to survive."