Chapter 367 366 Arson

Chapter 367 366 Arson

"Go and report to General Yu. It seems that the Tatars cannot retake the city gate. They are now scattered in the houses in the city. They probably want to use the houses in the city to delay our army from encirclement and suppression."

The team officer guarding the city gate greeted the investigating Ming army cavalry and said loudly.

Coming out of Datong City together, the captain of this Ming army naturally recognized the person in front of him. Seeing that the city gate was indeed guarded by the Ming army, he asked someone to raise a safety flag and sent a soldier back to report the news.

"go ahead."

Seeing the Ming army's flag, Yu Dayou immediately waved his hand.

Although he was very strange at the moment, was there no one in the city anymore?

That's right. A cavalryman came from the opposite side and rushed straight in front of him. About ten steps away, the cavalryman turned over and dismounted and walked a few steps to Yu Dayou. He knelt down and clasped his fists and said: "Tell the general, the news from the city gate. The Tatars in the city are only attacking." Once they entered the city gate, they were repulsed by Fran cannons and then dispersed and hid in private houses."

"Um?"

Hearing this situation, Yu Dayou was slightly surprised at first, and then raised his eyebrows. He knew what the other party was planning.

Attacking the city gate only once and retreating decisively after failure showed that the opponent's combat power was not high.

Hiding in private houses will increase the difficulty of extermination, indicating that the other party intends to compete with him in the city and delay their time.

I have no intention of occupying this place, hehe

Yu Dayou thought to himself that he was very happy that the Tatars would make such a choice.

But they know that Qiu Fu and Zhao Quan built this place for Anda Khan. It is said that a palace was built in the city to prepare the place where Anda Khan would be crowned emperor in the future. Can they still keep it?

Since he can't stay, what he has to do after entering the city is simple, which is to burn the place with fire.

The Tatars, as well as the White Lotus believers, all hid in civilian houses, and if they were burned to death, their own losses would be reduced. Why not, it would save everyone trouble.

"Pass the order."

Yu Dayou suddenly shouted loudly, and a messenger behind him immediately rode over to receive the order.

"I ordered General Ma Lu and guerrilla Xu Qin to each bring a force into the city and advance along the city wall. Give me the control panel to raise the city wall. Don't let any of the traitors in the city get lost."

"Take the order."

After Yu Dayou issued the order, the messenger shouted loudly and then rode away.

Soon, the Ming troops outside the city entered the city one after another. After that, all but one thousand of the three thousand people stayed here. The other two thousand people, led by Ma Lu and Xu Qin, climbed up the city wall and advanced one to the left and the other to quickly The control panel raises the city walls.

The city wall of Bansheng City is actually an earth wall. The height of the earth wall is about one foot and the width is about six feet. Except for the two city gates covered with bricks, the rest are just earth walls. There are not even the crenellations of the city wall. As for the defensive facilities such as archery towers, there are more It's nothing.

The Ming army advanced rapidly along the city wall. Only a few Bansheng soldiers were seen along the way, and they were quickly eliminated. There was no barrier that could stop the Ming army from advancing.

Soon, Yu Dayou, who was waiting on the city tower, received the latest news. Ma Lu and Xu Qin met at the north gate and completed control of the entire Bansheng City wall.

"Before our army captured the North Gate, we saw some convoys leaving the city. According to the captured enemy soldiers, they were the family members of traitors such as Zhao Quan and Li Zixin."

The messenger who came back to report now reported the report in front of Yu Dayou.

"Did everyone run away?"

Yu Dayou frowned slightly when he heard this, and then asked.

"General Ma saw a convoy that wanted to leave the city quickly. He guessed that it might be an important person, so he accelerated the attack. However, some of them still ran away, but we also intercepted the convoy behind it."

At this time, Li Zixin, who was in the palace, had already received the news when the Ming army advanced along the city wall. He understood the Ming army's plan, which was to completely block the city wall so that people in the city could no longer get out, so first The plan was to send out manpower to resist the Ming army's attack. On the other hand, the plan was to arrange for people to evacuate the family members of the bandit leader of the White Lotus sect who were stranded in the city as soon as possible outside the city.

Although many people in Bansheng City go to Daqing Mountain Pass to escape the summer heat, they have to camp in the wild. The families of many leaders cannot bear to live in the wilderness, even in tents, so there are not a few who stay in Bansheng City. .

Well, after the Ming army invaded, Li Zixin arranged to gather these people together for easy protection. After knowing that the Ming army wanted to completely surround them, he quickly set up a car and planned to send the people out, but it was still too late after all. One step forward.

And after knowing who was forced to retreat and failed to leave the city, Li Zixin felt even more thunderous.

His mother was still in the city, and she was accompanied by a younger brother. The other younger brother lost contact. He didn't know whether he rushed out of the city or something, but Li Zixin always had a bad feeling.

In addition, one of Zhao Quan's brothers is still in the city, but the Qiu Fu family may have run out, but they may also be intercepted and killed by the Ming army at the city gate.

The news was also confusing at the moment, and even he couldn't get accurate information.

At the very least, those who have left the city have now lost contact with the city and cannot confirm the news.

It can only be said that they were too careless. After staying in Bansheng City for so many years, they never thought that the Ming army would dare to cross the border to attack.

You know, Bansheng City is more than 300 miles away from the nearest military town of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming army has always shown a defensive posture, with no intention of attacking it at all.

Well, they were careless, and now Bansheng City was surrounded by the Ming army without any preparation.

Now Li Zixin has received a report from the little leader who came back from the front. The Ming army's incoming force is about 3,000.

There are about two thousand people on the city wall now, and there are about a thousand Ming troops at the south gate. Their goal should be here.

Li Zixin has already made a judgment that the Ming army definitely wants to capture the palace. In any case, this is the place they built for An Dahan. The Ming army cannot let go of the place where he will ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor in the future.

Moreover, the palace is located in the center of Bansheng City. At this moment, the senior officials in the city will definitely gather here to direct the resistance of the city's defenders.

Li Zixin also understood the principle of shooting men first and horses first, and catching thieves first.

For a White Lotus sect bandit leader like him, the court would never let him off easily, not even the implicated family.

Although there are still more than 2,000 men under his command, the Ming army's offensive has not wiped out too many of his men. Li Zixin is also confident that he can hold out for two days. When the Qingshankou army returns to support, the Ming army will have no choice but to retreat. However, He still made the worst plan, which was to lead hundreds of his cronies and family members to break out.

He was very aware of the fighting strength of his men. The reason why he stayed was because most of the city's defenders were his men. Qiu Fu's men followed An Dahan to conquer Xuanfu, and Zhao Quan's soldiers followed the common people. Outside Qingshan Pass.

Nowadays, the people in Bansheng City are becoming more and more difficult to manage. Most of the Han people who fled here before came because the Mongols would not collect taxes from them. Every year, the Mongols exchanged cattle and sheep for the grain they grew.

It was not until the arrival of the White Lotus cultists and the establishment of a cooperative relationship with Ada Khan that they obtained the management rights here.

Naturally, they also had to learn from the officials in the customs and start collecting taxes from the people under their rule.

At first, the people were naturally unhappy, but in the end they chose to surrender in the face of their powerful force.

It's just that over the years, they have trained more and more soldiers, and their demand for resources has also increased. Now the taxes collected have also increased sharply, making many people feel that they can no longer survive, and those who run back can't. Few more.

Therefore, when people later went out to Qingshankou to escape the summer heat, they would choose to send troops to guard along the way to prevent anyone from escaping midway.

Now, he was going to dispatch a large army outside Qingshan Pass. Apart from letting Zhao Quan go, Li Zixin was really not sure that he could quickly gather the troops to support Bansheng City.

"Array."

Knowing that the walls and gates of Bansheng City had been completely controlled by the Ming army, and that Ma Lu and Liu Qin were deploying defenses on the walls and gates to prevent the defeated troops in the city from breaking out, Yu Dayou knew that it was time to end.

He sent people to bring up the heavy fire oil and other items he had brought, distributed a large number of torches and rockets for igniting, and arranged the soldiers who remained around him in a conical formation to prepare to rush in along the avenue to attack the target. It is very clear that it is the palace located in the center of the city.

As for the low houses along the way, just use torches and rockets to light them. Since the defenders in the city want to hold on to those houses, let them die together.

After the instructions were given, the Ming army's preparations were quickly completed, and Yu Dayou immediately issued the order to attack.

That palace cannot be burned for the time being, not because he cherishes the fruits of countless craftsmen's hard work, but because the leader of the White Lotus Sect and the leader of the city should be present in the palace.

Catch them, take away the valuable belongings in the palace, and then set fire to turn the place into ruins and leave it to Anda Khan.

The formation of the Ming army was quickly completed. As Yu Dayou issued the order to attack, the knights in front began to slowly urge their horses and gradually began to accelerate.

A few arrows began to be shot out from the private houses sparsely. Yu Dayou's soldiers were all wearing two layers of armor. The arrows made on the grassland really couldn't penetrate their armor. However, the first few people's bodies quickly changed. It became like a hedgehog, with arrows hanging all over its body.

Perhaps some of the arrows pierced the defense, but did not penetrate deeply into the flesh. For these men who had been fighting in the army all year round, such minor injuries were as commonplace and not worth mentioning at all.

No one slowed down to deal with the arrows and wounds on their bodies. The soldiers kept their formation and continued to rush forward, while the Ming army behind them held torches to light the houses along the way. From time to time, rockets were shot out and hit the roofs of the huts. Almost instantly the roof was in flames.

The densely packed houses where the arrows were fired were the targets of these rockets. Several rockets were nailed to the door panels and windows, which quickly ignited the wood. Some rockets landed on the roof and quickly ignited the beams and other wood.

The Ming army's actions that did not follow the routine made the White Lotus cultists who were hiding in the house a little confused, but they were too anxious to care. Many doors that had been closed before were opened, and Ban Shengbing escaped from the room that was set on fire. , but what was waiting for them was the Ming army cavalry rushing past them quickly, and was killed by the Ming army on the spot during the intersection.

The people in the border towns can more or less ride horses, but those who are good at riding are selected to be cavalry in the army, and these people have followed Qiu Fu to Xuanfu, and those who remain are all employed as infantrymen. Soldier training.

They ran out of the house in scattered pieces, and faced the fate of the Ming army cavalry, they naturally had no choice but to wait and die.

As for the open door, after Ban Shengbing who rushed out was killed, one or two torches would be thrown into the room from outside the door. Ban Shengbing behind saw that there was no way to escape, so he had to climb over the courtyard wall. Escape to the houses on the other three sides.

It's just that the Ming army continued to set fires everywhere, and from time to time fired rockets into residential buildings, igniting larger houses inside.

Those battlefields that were the best for guerrilla warfare, such as narrow alleys, etc., the Ming army did not go into at all. When they saw there were houses inside, they just shot them with a few rockets.

As large areas of houses were set alight by the Ming army, the area where the remaining Ban Sheng soldiers could move became smaller and smaller, but they were no longer surrounded by the Ming army, but by the fire.

As usual, the victorious party would have wiped out the resistance forces in the city, looted property from house to house, and then burned the houses down. But this time the Ming army's operation really caught Li Zixin and other White Lotus Sect leaders off guard.

But by this time, even if Li Zixin learned the news, it was too late to gather the scattered soldiers.

Now the Ming army has rushed outside the palace wall and is seizing the palace wall to rush in. Although they have not set fire yet, Li Zixin knows that the palace cannot be defended.

Soon, a section of the palace wall was captured by the Ming army. Dozens of Ming soldiers who climbed over the wall immediately opened a palace door, and a large number of Ming soldiers filed in. There was very little resistance along the way.

Yu Dayou had already arrived at the palace with his team. When he heard the news, he quickly realized what was going on.

"Speed ​​up and rush in. The bandit leader must be trying to escape through the north gate."

Yu Dayou began to loudly urge his soldiers to attack, and there was no time to count the belongings in the palace.

The Ming army's attack was very fast, passing through the palace, and even many palaces had no time to enter and clean up. They quickly passed through the so-called imperial palace and rushed towards the north city gate.

At this time, there was a massacre under the north gate city wall. Bansheng soldiers composed of hundreds of White Lotus cultists rushed towards the Ming army's defense line regardless of life and death. After quickly consuming the Ming army's firearms, the remaining hundreds of cavalry in Bansheng city Under the leadership of Li Zixin, they began to charge again.

These are all the soldiers Li Zixin left by her side. They are well-equipped and fearless of death. They have deadly gangsters on their hands, and their combat power is not weak.

They made full use of the familiar terrain and attacked suddenly when they were very close to the city gate, catching the defender Xu Qin off guard.

After paying a heavy price, they finally broke through the blockade of hundreds of Ming troops. Even though guerrilla Xu Qin urgently summoned soldiers from the surrounding city walls to come over for support, it was still a step too late.

The cavalry team led by Li Zixin finally rushed out, although there were only about twenty people left after leaving the city.

But the thing that worried him the most happened.

Although the Ming army broke through the city gate, as the Ming army on both sides of the city walls continued to come to support, the passage was soon sealed again, but the family members behind them failed to break out and were all blocked in the city.