"Is what he said true?" Zhu Houzhao asked in shock.
Zhang Yanling frowned and pondered, not knowing how to answer. Although Zhang Yanling refused to believe it, this matter was absolutely possible tactically. If he said it was false, it would be against his will. If he told the truth, he was afraid of frightening the emperor.
"Your Majesty, my servants have long said that they cannot stay here. Now it is better. They are blocked in front and back, and reinforcements cannot come. This has become an isolated city. What should we do? If we had taken a step earlier, it would have been possible.
I have already escaped and ascended to heaven. It's really bad." Liu Jin sighed.
Zhang Yanling shouted in a deep voice: "Eunuch Liu, don't say such words again. What's the point of saying such words now?"
Liu Jin shouted: "Master Hou, isn't what we said right? If we had left yesterday evening, we would have been at least dozens of miles away by now. Although there is danger, it is better than sitting here and waiting for death. You said to hold on and wait for help,
The emperor decided to stay after listening to your words, you must be responsible."
Zhang Yanling shouted coldly: "Eunuch Liu, are you going to violate military orders? Anyone who shakes the morale of the army will be killed! It's you, Eunuch Liu. If you shake the morale of the army at this time, you will also be punished by military law. I hope you will be careful in your words and deeds."
"
Liu Jin was so angry that he wanted to retort, but when he saw Zhang Yin, Chen Shiyi and other futures glaring at Zhang Yanling with fierce looks in their eyes, he suddenly realized that it would be extremely unwise for him to contradict Zhang Yanling at this time.
.Maybe he was actually killed. It’s unknown.
"Master Marquis, don't use these words to scare our family. Of course our family is not shaking the morale of the army, but we are just concerned about the emperor's safety. What do you think we should do now?" Liu Jin softened his tone and spread his hands.
Zhang Yanling ignored him and said in a deep voice to Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty, regardless of whether what Batumengk said is true or not, what we should do now is to defend the city. Reinforcements will definitely come, but they will arrive early and arrive late.
That’s all.”
Zhu Houzhao frowned and said, "Will reinforcements come?"
Zhang Yanling said: "Of course they will come. If what Batu Meng said is true, the purpose of the Tatars attacking the Xuanfu Shang West Road is just to divert the tigers away from the mountains in order to attract heavy troops to the Shang West Road. Batu Meng and the others just
I want to use this trick to delay the time for the Xuanfu army to come to rescue. Because of this, I should be more determined to hold on to the Monolithic City. This is the only way to defeat the Tatars' trick."
Zhu Houzhao nodded slowly.
Zhang Yanling further eliminated Zhu Houzhao's doubts and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the reason why Batu Meng told us this news is self-evident. It is to demoralize our military and make us feel desperate. This is his plan.
.Exceptionally
You know, this just reveals that he is actually not sure of capturing the city. If he had absolute confidence, why would he need to say these words to us? He had already ordered the siege of the city. There is not so much talk between the enemy and us.
Please, Your Majesty, take a warning and don’t fall into his trap.”
Zhu Houzhao nodded and said: "That's right. I almost fell into his trap, but my uncle's analysis was unreasonable. In any case, we can only stick to this city and have no other ideas. From now on, whoever says anything else will
I will never take lightly any words that are detrimental to the defense of the city."
Liu Jin lowered his head and did not dare to express his anger, but he was secretly angry in his heart.
"Little Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, do you understand the current situation? Your Dragon Gate has been destroyed by my army, and another army is coming to besiege you from the north. The Dushi City you are in is already an isolated city. You go to heaven
There is no way, no way to enter the ground. I advise you to open the city gate quickly and get out.
Come and surrender, so as not to let the soldiers and people in Dushi City lose their lives in vain. I promise you that as long as you leave the city and surrender, I will treat you with courtesy and will never slight or humiliate you. Afterwards, the two countries will negotiate, as long as the negotiations are settled.
If the conditions are met, I will send you back without harming a hair on your head. What do you think?"
Under the city, Batu Meng saw that the Ming emperors and ministers seemed to be panicking at the top of the city. He knew that his words had caused panic among them. This was exactly his purpose. So he shouted triumphantly towards the top of the city.
Zhu Houzhao looked gloomy, reached out and took a crossbow from the guard, aimed at the city and shot it with a whoosh. The crossbow arrow hit the sand in front of Batu Mengke's horse, splashing a small piece of dust. Batu Meng Ke was smiling proudly, but he was startled by the crossbow arrow.
"Batu Munch, don't talk so much nonsense. If you want to attack the city, then attack the city. Why are you talking so much nonsense? Do you want me to surrender you? You first get off your horse and crawl on the ground to learn how to bark a few times. Listen. You, a remnant of the Meng Yuan Dynasty, was beaten by our Ming Dynasty like a lost dog and fled back to the north. How dare you yell at me now? You are a bitch. If you want to fight, then fight." Zhu Houzhao yelled and cursed loudly.
Batu Mengke was so angry that he wanted to vomit blood and cursed loudly: "You are a young boy who doesn't know the dangers in the world. He only uses his words to punish you. When I catch you, I will make you suffer so much that you will not be able to survive or die. Just wait." Stay!"
Batu Munch turned his horse's head and returned with his whip raised. He immediately ordered to prepare for an attack immediately.
The city below was busy, and the top of the city was naturally making preparations nervously.
The defense of the Monolithic City mainly relies on the huge spiked trenches dug outside the city, the tall and solid city walls, and the defensive personnel on the city walls. However, except for the archery crenels, there are no other defensive measures on the city wall. This may be because the Monolithic City The Tatars in this area rarely break through the passes of the Great Wall and come in to harass, so there are no heavy defensive equipment such as iron cannons and firearms.
The only thing that Zhang Yanling could look past was the dozen or so bed crossbows. But who would have thought that these things had been placed in the corner of the warehouse by General Zhang Xiong to eat dust. Last night, Zhang Yanling asked Zhang Xiong for a long time, this guy was so talented I remembered that there was still a bed crossbow in the warehouse. After moving it out, the bow strings were chewed by moths and the structure was also somewhat damaged.
As a last resort, Zhang Yanling had no choice but to tear down the east wall to repair the west wall. A dozen bed crossbows were put together to form six bed crossbows. At this time, they were all carried on the north wall as heavy defensive weapons.
In addition, Zhang Yanling temporarily installed some defensive facilities on the city wall as a means of defense based on Zhang Yin's suggestion. I don't know if it will work.
At 6 o'clock, the sound of horns resounded through the mountains, and the attack of Tatar soldiers and horses began. The Tatars had not cut down the trees to build some catapults, but used logs cut into two feet long to make dozens of huge catapults side by side. raft.
As the horn blew, the wooden rafts were stretched across the front of the team, forming a tight wall of logs, protecting the thousands of archers in several rows behind and slowly approaching within 80 steps of the city gate. Randomly, With an order, thousands of Tatar archers began to suppress the city with bows and arrows.
The dense arrows were fired towards the city head with a sharp sound of piercing the air. After only two rounds of powerful arrows, the pillars, doors and windows of the North City Gate were filled with arrows. They were like popping beans. A general dense sound rang in the ears, and more than a dozen defenders were shot, letting out shrill screams.
Zhu Houzhao, Liu Jin and others were in the tower. They had never seen such a posture before. The opponent's arrows were coming like locusts. They did not dare to raise their heads and huddled under the crenellations of the tower, their faces pale with shock.
"Eunuch Liu, quickly protect the emperor as he goes to and from the city. Find a safe place to stay. Protect the emperor's safety." Zhang Yanling shouted.
Liu Jin quickly agreed and asked Zhu Houzhao to come down to the city. At first, Zhu Houzhao was enthusiastic about the idea of participating in the battle himself. But at this moment, the battle had frightened him so much that he could not speak.
"I...I'm not afraid, I...won't go down. I want to defend the city." Zhu Houzhao stammered.
Liu Jin waved his hand and shouted loudly to the guards: "Leave without protecting the emperor."
The guards hurriedly used the gap between Tatar bows and arrows to form a protective wall with large shields, and half pulled and half lifted Zhu Houzhao down the city wall. Liu Jin and others also breathed a sigh of relief, and if they stayed up there, not only would the emperor's safety be difficult to guarantee, but they themselves
I am afraid that several people will not be able to survive.
Round after round, the Tatar bows and arrows covered the city tower and the area fifty or sixty steps to the left and right. At the same time, the overwhelming Tatar infantry in the rear, holding rattan and wooden shields, were ready to launch an attack.
.Several ram cars have also been pushed forward.
There are various indications that the opponent's target is the North City Gate and the nearby city wall. This is also a correct choice. Concentrating the troops to attack the vicinity of the city gate is the correct approach when the troops have the upper hand. The best way to open the city gate is to hit it.
If the city gate cannot be knocked open, you can focus on occupying the walls on both sides of the city and occupy the city tower. Using the city tower as a stronghold can establish a foothold, and subsequent personnel can establish a passage into the city. This is the fastest way to invade the city.
The Tatars have never eaten pork and have seen pigs running away. They have been competing with the Ming army for so many years. Although their siege methods are insufficient and their siege equipment is inferior, they are not ignorant.
The defenders on the city began attacking with bows and arrows from the beginning. However, under the protection of the huge wooden rafts, they could not cause much damage to the Tatar archers. Instead, the defensive soldiers were attracted by the opponent and concentrated on both sides of the city tower.
As a result, there were not many bunkers for shelter. The dense rain of arrows from the Tatars was fierce, and thirty or forty people were quickly killed or injured.
"Where's the bed crossbow? Shoot the raft for me." Zhang Yin ordered loudly.
Fuzi Crossbow began to bombard the wooden rafts, hoping to smash the wooden rafts. However, because the crossbow arrows of Fuzi Crossbow were improvised hardwood crossbows, they did not have the ability to smash the wooden rafts. The thick crossbow arrows shot diagonally upward.
Instead, they were bounced off the raft of logs, spinning in the air without any harm.
"Mother, what a piece of shit." Zhang Yin cursed angrily.
"Six volleys fired at one place. Shoot at the tied ropes." Zhang Yanling shouted in a deep voice.
Zhang Yin woke up from a dream and gave orders loudly. The crossbow buzzed continuously, and six crossbow arrows almost hit the wooden raft in the middle. The target positions were all at the ropes tied at the top. Two of them bounced away, but the remaining four crossbow arrows continued to fire.
The shot hit the tied rope, and the huge impact broke the rope.
As soon as the rope was broken, a log above that was used as a horizontal axis to fix the shape of the raft immediately fell down. Although there were still two log beams fixed in the middle and below, the entire raft frame had become loose.
"Cum again!" Zhang Yin shouted loudly.
Six more crossbow arrows were shot out, and the rope in the middle of the beam also broke. The crudely made wooden rafts tied horizontally and vertically by the ropes immediately fell apart. After the wooden rafts were scattered, the archers hiding behind and holding the wooden rafts fell apart.
The platoon's soldiers were completely exposed.
Without waiting for Zhang Yin's order, arrows rained down from the top of the city, instantly clearing the unprotected area of Tatar soldiers.