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 met the investigating Ming 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 wave a safety signal 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 dismounted and walked a few steps to Yu Dayou. He knelt down and clasped his fists and said: "Report to the general, the news from the city gate. The Tatars in the city are only attacking."

They entered the city gate once, were repulsed by Fran machine guns, 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 shows that the opponent's combat power is 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 this is Qiu Fu, Zhao Quan and the others built it for An Da Khan. It is said that they also built a palace in the city to prepare the place where An Da Khan will be crowned emperor in the future. Can it still be left?

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 and 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.

"Order 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 so that no traitor in the city gets 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 on the left and one on the right. They had to move forward 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 arrow towers, it is 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 reported to Yu Dayou at this time.

"Did everyone run away?"

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

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

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 White Lotus Sect bandit leader 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 who could not 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 was still in the city. It was possible that all the Qiu family members had escaped, but they might also have been 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, people who have left the city have 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 and attack.

You must know that 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 earlier. 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 Ada Khan. The Ming army will not let it go 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 are not able to survive anymore.

A 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 materials he had brought, distributed a large number of torches and rockets for igniting, and arranged the soldiers who stayed with 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 set them on fire. Since the defenders in the city want to defend 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 sparsely from the private houses. Yu Dayou's soldiers were all wearing two layers of armor. These arrows made on the grassland really couldn't penetrate their armor, but the first few people quickly changed their armor.

He became like a hedgehog, with arrows hanging all over his body.

Perhaps some of the arrows pierced the defense, but did not penetrate deeply into the flesh. For these men who have been fighting in the army all year round, such minor injuries are 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 a sea of ​​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, quickly igniting 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 hiding in the house a little confused, but they were too impatient to care. Many doors that had been closed before were opened, and Ban Shengbing escaped from the burned room.

, but what awaited them was the Ming Army cavalry rushing past them quickly, and were killed on the spot by the Ming Army 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's cavalry.

When the door is opened, after the Ban Sheng soldiers who rush out are killed, one or two torches will be thrown into the room from outside the door. The Ban Sheng soldiers behind see that there is no way to escape, so they have to climb over the courtyard wall.

Escape to the houses on the other three sides.
To be continued...