Under dusk, Zhu Houzhao and his party slowly entered Chicheng where Longmen was stationed from the slope.
Although Chicheng is not big, with a circumference of only three miles, the defensive measures of the city are quite large. The stone wall is two feet and a half high, and there are six or seven watchtowers on the wall. There are only two east and west gates. The west gate of the city
It is the entrance to the Ming Dynasty, but the east gate of the city is directly connected to the east side of the Great Wall ramp through a corridor.
The winding Great Wall wall in the north-south direction is connected to the Chicheng Dragon Gate through this ramp. The garrison soldiers can go directly from the city to the Great Wall Pass, and complete the garrison of more than ten Great Wall passes thirty miles from north to south along the Great Wall. Once there is
When an enemy situation occurs, soldiers and horses stationed in the city can quickly reinforce the Great Wall. Various supplies can also be transported to the Great Wall without interference.
Although the small frontier garrison town is very small, its location and role are extremely important. It is not only a place where soldiers are stationed, but also a fortress where soldiers hoard supplies and guard the watchtowers and walls of the Great Wall.
In fact, almost every defense in the Ming Dynasty border town is centered on the hub fortress, which serves as the support point for the various military fortresses in the nearby area, transporting materials and troops to them, completing the deployment and support of troops, and supporting
A defensive system.
With the military town as the core, it supports various garrison fortresses, and the garrison fortress supports the village fortress military post station below, observation posts, beacon towers, etc. scattered across the border. The points meet to form a large three-dimensional defense system.
This is actually a defensive feature of Daming Border Town.
Although Akagi Sparrow is small and well-equipped, it is, after all, just a small fortress town on the border. The houses in the city are all low and shabby stone houses, and there are not many decent houses. In order to save space, it is impossible to build anything tall.
's house.
The soldiers and horses walked on the bumpy ground, and dark and unkempt heads poked out of the surrounding buildings, looking curiously at the group of well-dressed soldiers and horses. Some people were even shirtless, yawning and rubbing their hands.
He held his armpits while whispering to others in a low voice.
These people look like a group of beggars, but in fact they are all soldiers resting in the fortress. The soldiers here rotate once a month, come down from the watchtower at the Great Wall Pass, and live in the fortress to rest. Therefore, they appear to be unorganized.
It's extremely difficult. In addition, the conditions here are difficult. If it doesn't rain in summer, you have to go to the mountain stream below to get water, which is very hard. So you can't take a bath at all. So it is normal to be dirty.
Zhao Yongsheng led everyone to a slightly larger house built of wood and stone. This was his garrison office, and it was also the only decent-looking house in the fortress.
The accompanying guards and horses immediately set up security inside and outside the house and set up tents to set up camp. Zhang Yanling's men still set up checkpoints in several narrow streets outside. They worked hard until dark, and finally settled down.
In the lobby of the Yamen, Zhao Yongsheng also ordered someone to prepare a table of dinner to entertain this group of uninvited guests. The food was simple, with some game, and other items such as wild vegetables, fruits, and dry food.
Zhu Houzhao was a little tired and wanted to drink some wine to relieve his fatigue. Liu Jin brought his own wine, but Zhao Yongsheng and several hundred households refused to drink. The reason was that this was a border military camp, and according to military discipline, drinking was not allowed. They could not violate military discipline.
As a result, Zhu Houzhao was a little embarrassed to drink. The dinner was very dull. Zhao Yongsheng and others were not good at words, and they did not know how to tell some border anecdotes to liven up the atmosphere. Zhu Houzhao was very interested and was very interested in guarding the border and killing the enemy.
I was interested, so every time I asked a question, I got a very boring answer from Zhao Yongsheng.
"Zhao Yongsheng. Have the Tatars ever attacked this place?"
"Reporting to your Majesty, there are wars almost every month."
"Oh? It must be fun to fight the Tatars."
"Your Majesty, I can't say it's fun. Every time I deal with a Tatar attack, I and my brothers are extremely cautious and go all out. There is tension and worry, but there is no fun at all."
"How could it be? With the little ability of the Tatars, our Great Wall defense is so strong. Can they still break in? At most, they can just make a noise to show off."
"Your Majesty, you are wrong. The Tatars are not just showing off. Your Majesty does not know what the Tatars are capable of. Although the passes of our Great Wall are strong, the Tatars are also capable of breaking through. They will use various means to break through the city wall."
"How is it possible? They can actually break through? This is incredible. Can't our soldiers hold on? If they want to climb in, wouldn't we kill one stone by being condescending?"
"Your Majesty... things are not as simple as your Majesty thinks. The Tatars have accurate shooting skills and are good at camouflage. They will first lurk in the bushes outside the Great Wall and shoot my soldiers at the top of the city. If my soldiers guarding the city are slightly negligent, they will
They were shot to death by random arrows. In the past two months, we have lost nineteen soldiers. They were all killed by their sneak attacks."
"...Then we have no means to deal with them? Our soldiers can also fight back. How can we be afraid of them when we are condescending?"
"Your Majesty, they have a numerical advantage. The Tatars often gather hundreds of people to attack one of my defensive positions. But our Longmen Guards only have more than 1,200 soldiers, guarding the passes of the Great Wall thirty miles up and down. And they need to take turns to rest and recuperate.
Therefore, each watchtower and each section of the city wall can only be garrisoned by dozens of brothers."
"..."
"Besides, the Tatars are extremely cunning. They will deliberately show up to trick our brothers into showing up and shoot arrows, and then they will shoot the brothers who show up with a dense rain of arrows. They are very cunning and cunning. We are so tortured by them that we are overwhelmed.
Therefore, I ordered all the brothers not to show up to give them a chance. Unless they actually attack the city wall, they are not allowed to poke their heads out to fight back. The soldiers usually only stay in the enemy towers and beacon towers."
"..."
Zhu Houzhao lost his appetite and had no interest in continuing the conversation. In his imagination, fighting against the Tatars must have been overwhelming and devastating. The Tatars were trampled and killed under the iron hoofs of the Ming Dynasty frontier army, and they were urinating.
Crying for father and mother.
However, all these exciting imaginations were completely ruined by Zhao Yongsheng. It turned out that the border battle was so boring and frustrating.
Liu Jin and others were also speechless. Zhao Yongsheng was probably a fool. Why did he tell the emperor this? It really ruined the emperor's mood and ruined the scenery.