Under the dark night, Mulingguan City looks like a giant beast lurking in the darkness.
The 18-year-old Manchu boy Isha held the Shun Dao tightly in his hand, lowered his body, and followed Naman, the uncle from the same village. Isha means loose duck in Manchu, and Naman means goat.
The Manchus chose names quite randomly. They were often named after their ranking or physical characteristics, and some were named directly after animals or objects. For example, the famous founding minister Fei Yanggu, which in Manchu means "old pimple" (youngest son), and Wu.
Zhong'e means number one, that is, the eldest son, Fuleta means bad eyes, Xiangtu means slanted eyes, and Suksaha means long legs.
Even when someone was born, his grandfather happened to be seventy years old, so he was called Na Danzhu, which means seventy...
Ishar, who was only sixteen years old, was said to have tawny hair when he was born, which was very similar to a jay, a bird in the mountains of Liaodong, so his uneducated father named him jay.
This is not the first time that Isha has fought. He belongs to the Zhenglan Banner and originally lived in Liaoyang. After the previous leader of the Zhenglan Banner, Hauge, was deprived of his identity as the flag owner due to crimes, the Zhenglan Banner was handed over to Prince Duduo of Yu.
, so Isha became Duduo's slave. After the adjustment of banners and subordinates, he and Naman's Niu Lu were assigned to Bolo's command.
It became one of the four Niulu managed by Bolo.
As early as three years ago, Isha had passed the examination and became an official armored flag soldier. However, he had only been training in Liaodong for city defense and had not passed the test.
Compared with Uncle Naman, who had participated in three plunders of the Pass, he was still a young boy. However, Uncle Naman also entered the Pass with Bolo's father when the Qing army entered the Pass for the fifth time and fought in Shandong.
When he was climbing the city in Yanzhou, he fell and was injured, leaving him with a slight limp in his legs. He then returned to Liaodong.
But this year, the situation in the Central Plains suffered a setback, and many Manchu soldiers from Liaodong were also transferred. The young Isha and the slightly lame Naman were also transferred. He entered the customs as an infantryman, and was finally transferred to the small banner leader Bolo
Under his command, he followed him in his southern expedition.
From Liaodong to Beijing, and then to Xuzhou, there was no war. However, on the way to the customs, Isha did not experience the battles and plunders he had imagined. He did not steal any money, slaves, or even rice.
They didn't even have enough to eat. This was completely different from the customs experience that Uncle Man often boasted to them in the countryside.
However, as a young man from Manchuria who has been practicing riding and shooting since childhood, Song Ya has grown up to be very strong, no longer the thin and yellow-haired person he was when he was born. Although the conditions are difficult, he has always performed very well. He was recruited by the same Niu Lu.
Among the forty soldiers, not all were in armor. There were only five in vests, another ten in foot armor, and twenty-five remaining men and young men.
According to the Manchurian system, bannermen can participate in the selection of armor (the selection of Eight Banners Army soldiers) when they reach adulthood. Cavalry is called vests, and infantry is called infantry. The vests have higher benefits, so only regular bannermen, (free citizens among bannermen) are allowed.
Stand for election.
The person under the household (the slave of the official bannerman) and the person who opened the account (who was originally a slave and was allowed to break away from the status of a slave) can only choose Bujia.
The one who did not choose Ma Bujia in Niu Lu is Yu Ding, and the one who is under sixteen is Young Ding.
A standard number of cattle is three hundred men. Among them, there are the most elite red and white bagaras, as well as ordinary vests and foot soldiers. In addition to the formal armored men, there are also many remaining men, young men, and coated slaves.
After the Qing army entered the Pass, many of Niulu's armored men were transferred to Beijing for garrison, and many others were also transferred to various key locations for garrison. Many Niulu also moved to the Pass, or moved to places such as western Liaoning. They went through a lot of experiences.
Big migration changes.
There are not many soldiers left in Niululi at ordinary times, but in case of war, they have to be mobilized.
For the bannermen, their duties are to train, garrison, fight, or serve as officials. They are not allowed to engage in other tasks. They are paid in peacetime and given land. Even the bannermen who enter the customs are even allowed to compete in the land and receive investment.
Charge.
Everyone became a landlord. The original owners of the land, some hungry people in the war, or the people they robbed became their slaves, farming and working for them.
What they need is training in fighting and preparing their own armor and weapons.
Even when necessary, the remaining members of the family would be brought with them to join the army, and even the slaves would be brought with them to join the army.
The Qing army swept through the Central Plains when it entered the customs, and now it is retreating steadily. The military pressure is huge, and the Qing government has to step up the recruitment of bannermen to enlist in the army, and even transfer some coated slaves.
Just like Isha and others, they dispatched forty banner soldiers this time, including only fifteen horse and infantry soldiers, and the other twenty-five were Yu Ding and You Ding. In addition, each of them also brought a coat.
A hundred people.
It's actually a bit cold in the Daxian Mountains in summer.
But for Isha and the others who came from the bitter cold land of Liaodong, this was nothing at all. The cotton armor they wore was much better than the iron armor and could keep them warm.
However, the coated slave Addis behind him only had a broken armor and an iron helmet. His clothes were also thin and he was shivering a little from the cold. This Addis's real name was not this, but his father's name back then.
When they went into the pass with Uncle Naman to plunder, they snatched a Han from Yanzhou, Shandong. It is said that he was originally a eunuch of Prince Lu's palace. He was eggless and tall but not very strong.
After taking it home, I found out that I had no eggs, so I couldn't do any heavy work, and it was worthless to sell, so I finally kept it. I was often beaten, scolded, and disliked, but I was tall but very docile, and I didn't resist no matter how much I was beaten or scolded.
Isha's father said that this was because he had no eggs, so he had no blood. This time Isha entered the customs and asked to bring a coat, so he specifically chose Addis because Isha's father had climbed the city wall in Yanzhou.
Although Pao was not dead at the time, he returned to his hometown in Liaodong with half his life. He was still relying on ginseng medicine and could do nothing but lie down all day long.
In those years, although the family had robbed some money earlier and waited to return, the prices outside the customs were extremely expensive at that time, and there were frequent cold disasters, etc., resulting in a shortage of food. The money robbed was used to buy food and medicine. After a few years, it was almost exhausted.
, in the end my father died and the family was destitute.
Even the minions were sold out, and only one set of armor, guns, etc. was left for Ishar. This time, Ishar had no other minions to bring, and he couldn't provide armor for Addis. He still had the same full set.
One of his broken cotton armors was lent to him.
Edith looked into the distance, feeling very nervous.
Naman was quite calm. He leaned behind a stone and took out a piece of dried meat from his body. He tore off a bit and gave it to the neighbor young man. "Don't worry, although Muling Pass is dangerous, our Eight Banners are also very good at attacking and seizing cities."
Yes, even if the Ming army captures Guancheng first, it will not be difficult to capture it."
Gu Su
Although Naman was lame, he was an experienced veteran. This time he even went to war as a military commander. He was already enjoying life at home and raising his grandchildren. However, due to the imperial conscription order, he had to be recruited.
Forced to go to war.
He did not hesitate to give more support to this neighbor's young man. When he fought side by side with Ishar's father, he was also a brother and sister. It was sad to think of the battle in Yanzhou when their brothers were seriously injured and limped to death in the end.
"Eat something first to replenish your strength. There will be a fierce battle soon. When the fight starts, follow me closely. Don't be afraid. The more you fear death, the easier it is to die."
"If you have peed, let it go immediately. We won't have time to fight."
Isha took the dried meat, but tore off another strip and handed it to Addis behind him. Although this eggless wrapper was incompetent, in the past few years in their family, even if he was beaten and scolded every day, he had always worked hard without complaint.
Ha even thought he was quite nice, as kind as Addis, the dog his father bought for him when he was a child.
That dog had been with him for ten years, and was later bitten to death while hunting. So when his father brought back the Han captive, he named him Addis. After spending several years together, he felt that he was just like his former dog.
That dog is so kind.
"Thank you, Master," Addis took it and thanked him quickly. After staying outside the customs for four or five years, he can now speak Manchu, and he speaks it quite well.
"Follow me in a minute. You only need half of the armor. Be careful of the thieves' arrows and blunderbuss. After this battle is over and the armor is captured, I will get you a set first."
"Thank you, Master."
After taking a brief rest in front of Muling Pass, this raiding camp consisting of 500 people began to continue towards Guancheng under the leadership of Han guides. They became more cautious and sneaked in the dark.
Isha followed Uncle Manman nervously but carefully.
Naman is very easy and skillful, even if his legs are slightly lame, it won't affect him at all.
Finally, we successfully reached the foot of the Guan City. There were lights on the Guan City and the figures of the Ming Army guarding the Guan City.
The flag soldiers who were waiting for the flag quickly assembled the ladders they carried with them. These ladders were scattered in sections and were carried separately. When they arrived at the pass, they began to tie them up with ropes to assemble them. It was simple but portable.
A dozen ladders were quickly assembled, and both ends of the ladders were wrapped with thick cowhide cloth. There was no sound when they were moved up to Guancheng.
On the high Daxian Mountains, the mountain wind howled, providing them with a lot of cover.
The mission of this five-hundred-person assault battalion was to sneak up to Guancheng, enter the city, open the city gate, send a signal, and lead Bolo's army into the Pass.
This tactic was commonly used by the Qing army and was often effective, so after Bolo heard that the Ming army had taken the lead in seizing Muling Pass, he immediately used this tactic.
The person responsible for commanding these five hundred people was a Fende Bashiku named Elheda, which means ginseng in Manchu. The Qing army set up a Fende Bashiku under each Niuluzuo leader to lead the troops in battle.
There are also four to six Bashiku in each Niulu, which are also called Xiaoqi Xiao and Lingdui in Chinese.
They are all chosen among vests.
That's quite a reminder.
Olheda was as tall as a ginseng stick and had a reputation for bravery. He had a good ladder, so he held a sword in his mouth and was the first to climb up the ladder.
Namanze was the first to go up the ladder next to him.
Isha followed closely behind.
In the tradition of the Eight Banners, officers take the lead.
Everyone was careful not to make any noise, holding steel knives in their mouths and carefully climbing the ladder. The people below were holding bows and strings, aiming at the city, ready to take cover at any time. There were still people below holding the ladder and waiting in line.
Everything is going smooth.
Isha even looked down at Addis and saw that he was following closely. He was relieved. According to the situation, they would be able to board the city in no time and seize the gate.
Although he is not the vanguard, he can follow Uncle Man and be the second person on this ladder. He can also discuss his merits when the time comes. It would be better if he kills one or two more after going to the city.
He thought silently in his heart, I must restore the glory of our family and prosper our family. After I have made meritorious service, been promoted and received rewards, I will be able to buy a dowry for my sister, armor and war horses for my brothers, and even more.
Buy a few strong slaves so that your mother doesn't have to take her younger brothers and sisters to work in the fields.
After thinking about it like this, I have reached the top.
More than ten people, including Bashku'ol, Da and Naman, jumped up to Guancheng almost at the same time.
Isha felt blood rushing to his forehead, and he followed closely and jumped to the top of the city.
