"Li Shiwei, the artillery is all in your hands. If there is a mistake in the dispatch, I will blame you! Li Weiqun, you are familiar with Donglu's offensive. Half of the patrols on the four walls will be handed over to you! Cao Benrong, immediately ask the Department of Military Affairs to follow up.
There can be no mistakes in handling military affairs, including the payment of artillery shells, the transportation of arrows and gunpowder!"
The Qing army's 9,000 infantry and cavalry rushed forward quickly. The remaining soldiers and horses in Boye County, with Li Shiwei's heavy artillery unit as the core, and the laggard infantry, could only barely cobble together a defending army of about 3,000 people.
The lack of military strength forced Gu Junen to take a deviant approach and come up with a clever strategy to burn the city. But the clever strategy was just a clever strategy after all, and could not play a fundamental role in reversing the overall situation. After the main force of the Qing army arrived, the offensive was still fierce and fierce.
Rushing into the city wall, it is almost impossible to resist.
The Manchurian infantry all wore double layers of armor. They were blocked by the artillery fire of the intruders and approached with shield vehicles. Although they suffered a lot of casualties along the way, due to the heavy snow in the winter, the trenches under the city were all buried in snow, and the Qing army jumped over.
, then rushed to the foot of the city wall and began to climb the ladder and attack fiercely.
The residents in the city were all panic-stricken. They had only been under the rule of the intruders for a short time. Some of the officials and gentry who had not been severely suppressed and attacked also had strange thoughts at this time.
Not to mention such double-minded hostile elements, just the general residents running around in Boye City in panic. Countless men, women, old and young carrying their wives and children, carrying their belongings, and insisting on escaping through the south gate, also caused trouble to the defenders.
Big confusion.
Rumors spread in the city, and some interested people took the opportunity to spread rumors that the government troops were coming to regain Boye County. Gu Junen was forced to go on a killing spree and executed more than 20 officials and gentry who created the rumors on the spot, and their heads were hung in the government offices and offices in the city.
At Cross Street, the scene was calmed down.
Immediately after there were several booms outside the city, the outflanking troops of the Qing army only carried smaller red cannons, but several shells still flew into the city. I saw bursts of blood rain flying across the city, layers of mist, and shells.
Falling into the houses, dust and smoke were flying, and Gu Junen hurriedly dispatched Cao Benrong and others to join the army to organize the evacuation of refugees.
Gu Junen was a scholar. Although he was good at military affairs, he had never been in charge of an army as a leader. He often made boastful remarks about military affairs, and today he was finally tested by the Qing army to test his true qualities.
The original yamen in Boye County has now been used by Gu Junen as the headquarters of the Department of Joining the Army. A large number of joining the army, writing and writing officials, and other officials gathered here. Everyone looked anxious.
Coming and going, busy dealing with military affairs, a large number of staff officers, also wearing armor like the marching Sima Gu Junen, would go up to the city wall at any time to participate in hand-to-hand combat.
It should be said objectively that Gu Junen has very big shortcomings in his conduct and personal temperament; however, in terms of his ability to handle specific military affairs, he does have a genius and is completely unlike an ordinary person who has never participated in military affairs.
He was a student member, and seemed to be more experienced in affairs than many governors and cabinet ministers in the Ming Dynasty.
Li Shiwei was a very outstanding artillery general. The heavy artillery he organized was the most powerful weapon for the defenders. The fierce firepower destroyed the Eight Banners soldiers who tried to approach the city wall time and time again.
However, the garrison's strength was limited, and it was inevitable that some Qing troops would successfully climb the ladder and climb the wall. At this time, it all depended on the straggler infantry under Gu Junen's control. Although they lost their organizational structure, they became integrated again under Gu Junen's command.
An army guarded the crenellations of the city wall and shot down the enemies with blunderbuss, sabers and spears.
Without a central figure like Gu Junen, who plans and coordinates everything, the situation in Boyecheng might be much worse than it is now.
In terms of facts, Gu Junen’s role cannot be underestimated!
Li Weiqun was also running on the city wall. His injuries were only cursorily treated, and he still experienced severe pain in his abdomen from time to time. But Li Weiqun fought against the Donglu the most, and even led a small group of cavalry to break out of the Donglu siege.
His presence alone boosted the morale of the garrison at the top of the city.
Li Weiqun was seriously injured, but he still patrolled back and forth, trying his best to make up for the gaps in the defense lines. The young soldier Zhou Chang standing next to him also shouted at the top of his lungs:
"The heavy snow coming from the east is attacking. As long as the city is entrenched and there is nothing to plunder, it will be impossible to attack the city for a long time. Don't be afraid!"
Cao Benrong hurriedly sent several cartloads of arrows, gunpowder, wood, rolling stones and other materials to the top of the city. He spoke in panic and said to Li Weiqun and others in horror:
"The Manchurians claim that if we don't surrender, they will trap the defenders and massacre all the residents after the city is broken. What should we do? What should we do?"
Cao Benrong is one of the backbone members of the army that Gu Junen admires. Many people in the army department are like Cao Benrong. After passing the military examination, they directly entered the army department to take charge of important military aircraft without having any personal experience in the military.
They have never experienced the real fire of war and the iron-blooded test of front-line fighting. At this time, facing the violent offensive of the Donglu, they naturally show their timidity. Compared with Li Weiqun, an officer who has been promoted step by step through hard work, his aura is much inferior.
Li Weiqun looked at Cao Benrong's panic and shook his head helplessly. He thought that after the war, the Yi Ding would make suggestions to the superiors. Such important positions as the Military Department cannot be filled with such untrained figures!
But now that the war is in danger, there is no time to talk about this. Zhou Chang immediately retorted without waiting for Li Weiqun to speak:
"The cavalry are so rampant! They have already killed and injured so many people under the city. If we surrender now, will these barbarians, who are inferior to pigs and dogs, let us go? It's not the same massacre! The barbarians fear power but not morality.
, the only way now is to hold on. Maybe there will be heavy snow again in a while, and then there will be nothing to plunder in the Donglu wilderness, so we will have to retreat."
With a bang, a shell from the Qing army hit the crenellation of the city wall where Li Weiqun and others were standing, raising a lot of smoke and dust. Li Weiqun stepped aside, coughed twice and added:
"Heavy snow will block the road, and the Qing army will suffer heavy casualties by then. It will be impossible to retreat north along the way. I can say with certainty that the Qing army going south this time will definitely not be able to return north!"
The heroic words of Li Weiqun and Zhou Chang finally inspired Cao Benrong's fighting spirit and dispelled the doubts in the hearts of the surrounding defenders. Under the threat of the Qing army massacre, everyone did not feel fear at all. Instead, in order to save their lives, they fought more and more bravely.
, and fought together with the Eight Banners soldiers who were equally motivated to fight.
In the small town of Boye County, the four-walled city wall is neither long nor thick. In front of every crenellation, the Eight Banners soldiers and the soldiers of the Invading Army were fighting for their lives.
The Eight Banners soldiers broke through the artillery blockade and climbed onto the crenel at a heavy cost. They knew they had no way to retreat, so they had no choice but to move forward with great force and ferocity. The attack was so fierce that it was truly a powerful enemy that the intruders had never seen before.
Most of the soldiers who defended the city were the stragglers left behind by Li Laiheng when he forced his march north. They were a relatively weak group of people in their original establishment, but now they were organized by Gu Junen.
, bursting out with quite outstanding fighting power.
However, the Eight Banners soldiers, who were more aggressive than retreating, were ultimately inferior!
In the first siege of the city, Ah Shan was reckless and reckless, causing hundreds of casualties to the real Manchurian soldiers. Even if the battle was won, Ah Shan's crime was extremely serious after returning to Shengjing.
So at this time, he had completely ignored him, and rushed like crazy, climbing the ladder and climbing the wall himself. Four intruders came to block the conversation, but only one of them slashed Ah Shan, who was then killed by Ah Shan.
One person was hacked to death and two others were injured.
He occupied a crenellation on the city wall as a bridgehead for the Qing army to attack the city. Then countless Eight Banners soldiers took advantage of this bridgehead and quickly swarmed up the city wall.
Seeing that the situation on the city wall changed drastically, and the balance of victory on the battlefield turned sharply towards the Qing army, Li Shiwei, not caring about accidental injuries, immediately turned the muzzle of his guns, aimed at the crenellations of the city wall, and fired continuously and violently.
The Eight Banners soldiers of the Qing army were indeed the most elite suicide troops. They blocked Ah Shan with their bodies and withstood the fierce gunfire. But then, the heavy artillery shells fell at the crenel, killing the large group of Eight Banners immediately.
The soldiers flew away and fell to the bottom of the city wall.
Ashan saw the most elite Manchu warriors falling off the wall to death. How heavy was the grief in his heart, and how burning was the anger in his chest!
The number of Manchus is not large, and most of them can be related to each other. For a mid-level commander on the battlefield like Ah Shan, he almost recognizes the face of every soldier under his command, and knows their origins and parents.
Relationships, knowing their military exploits, their temperaments and the achievements they want to achieve.
But all this is meaningless in the face of the invading army's cannon and artillery firepower!