Chapter 201 No retreat

On the evening of April 3, the 16th year of Chongzhen, the night sky in Qizhou was covered with clouds. It was so dark that I couldn't see my fingers.

When the fifth 12 faint drum beats came from the Bell and Drum Tower in the center of the city in the distance, Malan, who was in a courtyard in the northwest of the city, opened the courtyard door.

This small courtyard was picked up before. It was occupied by a small wealthy family who had narrowly escaped the massacre by the peasant army. Yesterday, Malan, pretending to be a red-eyed peasant army, successfully occupied it in the name of search.

It's the fifth watch now, three o'clock in the morning on April 4th.

As the courtyard door opened, dozens of soldiers wearing various civilian uniforms and peasant army sleeveless uniforms, dressed as ordinary peasant soldiers, quickly poured out of the small courtyard.

Each of them is strong and capable, and each of them has sharp eyes.

Although there is no armor, anyone with a discerning eye can still tell at a glance that these are a group of elite soldiers who have been on the battlefield and are well-trained.

Under the leadership of Malan, they walked quietly along both sides of the road towards Xiongwumen (North Gate).

When passing by a ruins, they stopped temporarily. Then dozens more people similar to them emerged from the dark ruins and joined in, bringing their total number to more than a hundred people.

Eggs cannot be put in one basket.

But there is no more.

Penetrating into city defenses where the enemy is no longer a stranger must be done in moderation.

Just as Malan was about to move on, the team leader Shouhouer who joined in later unexpectedly wanted to break the silence, and then his whisper made Malan's expression suddenly change.

Zhao Dongdong took the risk to tell Shouhouer about the changes that occurred at Xu Wenqi's place.

In order to avoid being noticed and discovered, this urgent message was not delivered to Malan late at night in a city under curfew, but was only relayed now.

Malan knew very well what this message meant, and he couldn't help blurting out a national curse.

What Malan was depressed about was not Zhao Dongdong's mission, but himself.

Xiongwumen was built on the top of Qilin Mountain, very close to where Xu Wenqi was imprisoned. This meant that the elite peasant army that was surrounding Xu Wenqi's prison and was on alert could quickly support Xiongwumen.

And I am afraid that all the city gates in Qizhou have also been strengthened.

This is by no means an ordinary trouble, and the conditions for a sneak attack are probably not met.

But after finishing the scolding, Malan did not hesitate for a moment, but firmly decided to move on.

He couldn't afford to waste time and had no other choice.

He is not alone in the raid, and they should have all started. No matter what happens, he can only succeed and not fail.

Perhaps because of a tacit understanding, Ma Yong, who was nervously watching the troops coming out from the back of the mountain on Daquan Mountain (today's Daquan Temple Mountain), started to shake his hands inexplicably.

Daquan Mountain is located in the northeast of Qizhou City. It is about 6 miles away from Qizhou City in a straight line. Its main peak is 212 meters high. It is the highest point in Qizhou. Its easternmost end is only about 2 miles away from Fuganguan in a straight line.

Far.

Fugan Pass is the only land route that can reach Qizhou City without taking the waterway or the Yangtze River.

Qizhou City faces the river on one side and is surrounded by large lakes on three sides. Apart from the Yangtze River, there is only a narrow man-made passage at the intersection of Yuanshi Lake (now Yanshi Lake) and Zhujia Lake (now Yuhu Lake) for people and horses to enter.

Under the city.

This place was known as the "White Horse Crossing" in ancient times. Later, a tile and saltpeter dam was built to form a bridge, and it became the most important and commonly used land route to and from Qizhou City.

In 1635, in order to prevent the invasion of the peasant army, Tang Shizhao, the magistrate of the state, built the Fugan Pass at the east end of the dam bridge on the basis of the passes already built along the river, and dug dams to connect the houses to the water of the two lakes in Yuan City. There is only a simple bridge left behind the pass.

As a result, Qizhou City has become a truly wrapped city.

The relatively lax defense of the peasant army in Qizhou is closely related to the special geographical characteristics of Qizhou. They do not believe that anyone can carry out a sneak attack on Qizhou, because this requires a sneak attack and the capture of a peripheral city gate at the same time. and a gate in the inner city, which is almost impossible.

And since they can't be attacked and seize the city, and there are no troops nearby to approach their army, what do they have to worry about with tens of thousands of people defending the city!

Ma Yong certainly knew what he was facing.

This is the most complexly organized battle he has ever participated in. It is also the battle most prone to accidents, and it is also a battle with no retreat.

There is no room for failure in every aspect.

To be cautious, his large army did not secretly make a detour from Dali Mountain to Daquan Mountain in the middle of the night. In order to prevent being discovered, they did not dare to get too close to the heavily guarded Fugan Pass.

The breakthrough points they chose were Fugan Pass and Xiongwumen.

A pass outside the city that can hide the approaching large forces as much as possible and the city gate closest to this pass.

Although everything is going well so far, it is still too early to say success, and this upcoming final moment is also the moment when accidents are most likely to happen.

They need more than just careful planning, they need good luck.

Now, Ma Yongyong doesn't know whether he is nervous or worried.

In addition to his trembling hands, he also found that his perception of the passage of time had also disappeared, and he suddenly began to fear that their actions here would have a large deviation in time.

Although all actions need to be as synchronized as possible, they must be slightly later here than elsewhere.

Just as he was about to check the time, Li Ping, who was not far from him and had been staring silently in the direction of Qizhou City, suddenly turned around and asked Ma Yong to tell him the time immediately.

It turned out that Li Ping was nervous too.

After personally confirming the consistent time displayed by the two clepsydras with the dim light of the covered fire, Ma Yong reported the time to Li Ping in a low voice.

Du Sanjiang, who was observing the leaky pot with him, reported the time to Zhou Wen, Wu Dong and others.

A sound of relief immediately came from the temporary small command post on the mountainside.

It is Yinshijie now, and everything is in line with the planned time. The troops can be detoured from the back of the mountain and attack Fugan Pass as planned.

In order to ensure that the time of the attack on Xiongwu Gate was basically consistent, the troops attacking from Daquan Mountain used the same method as the Bell and Drum Tower timing in Qizhou City, a dripping kettle, and two more were used for insurance.

Before dark, the two clepsydras were brought to the hidden preset command post in Daquan Mountain by the task force that went out to investigate, so as to ensure that the time was roughly consistent with the time in Qizhou City.

Ensuring that the reference time is consistent is the key to ensuring the success of this battle.

However, although the two clepsydras on Daquan Mountain can continue to guide the attack of the large forces, they are unable to help the troops that have already set off in advance.

At this time, the commander of the fifth battalion, Lu Liang, who had been swimming across Yuanshi Lake for some time, was lying on the edge of the lake wringing his wet clothes while constantly looking forward and back.

About 200 soldiers lying around Lu Liang were also doing the same thing as him.

They are the most confused group of people.

Although it was already April and the weather was getting warmer quickly, the lake water was still cold at night, so they had to control their body temperature first.

Lu Liang and the 200 soldiers with the best water skills selected from the entire army set off from Daquan Mountain an hour in advance. Their mission was to secretly swim across Yuanshi Lake and then control the bridge and attack Fugan Pass from the rear.

Since they could not grasp the accurate time, they had to wait until a large force that could grasp the time began to attack or they heard the sound of fighting coming from the direction of Xiongwu Gate, which was a little far away, before they could start taking action.

Otherwise they will just have to stay hidden and freeze.

Due to his experience in fighting in Huangpi County, Lu Liang felt that it was unlikely that he would hear the news from Xiongwumen first.

Although Xiongwu Gate was built on Qilin Mountain, Qilin Mountain is only 55.8 meters high. Because it is close to Prince Jing’s Mansion and was a recreational area of ​​the former Prince’s Mansion, it has not been cleared of all the trees. It is lush with vegetation, so it is not very difficult to attack by surprise.

The distance was more than four miles, and Malan was an expert at it, so the movement he made should not reach him.

Therefore, Lu Liang decided to focus his main listening in the direction of Fuganguan.

But just as he was trembling and staring at Fugan Pass, which was still silent in the darkness, a rapid sound of bells suddenly came from the direction of Xiongwumen.

The sound of the bell was extremely clear in the silent night, and shocked everyone who heard it.

Lu Liang was immediately shocked.

This was the sound he least wanted to hear.

Xiongwu Gate is the key to the entire battle. Although Fugan Pass is also important, it is completely incomparable.

Fuqianguan can sneak in from the surrounding areas and attack from both front and rear, but Xiongwumen can only rely on the hundred or so people who have sneaked into the city.

The police on Xiongwu Gate were ringing continuously, which meant that the enemy had not only discovered Malan's sneak attack, but was also effectively controlling Xiongwu Gate. Then the entire peasant army in Qizhou City would soon support Xiongwu Gate.

Moreover, the sneak attack turned into a strong attack, and the height advantage of Qilin Mountain would instantly increase Xiongwumen's defense by several times. Malan's few men were simply not enough.

But the terrible thing is that this loud bell will also wake up the defenders of Fugan Pass.

And if the large force cannot attack in time, there will really be no hope of capturing Xiongwumen, and the entire battle will be a complete failure.

Without delaying for one more second, Lu Liang immediately stood up with his knife raised, and then shouted: "Emergency plan! Emergency plan! Emergency plan! Quick! Quick! Quick!"

After saying that, he took the lead and started running towards Fugan Pass.

While running, Lu Liang saw countless movements suddenly appearing in the darkness on the other side of the wide Yuanshi Lake. It was the large troops that had tiptoed and approached Fugan Pass and were giving up their cover.

…

At the same time, in the darkness about two miles away outside the city wall in the north of Huangmei County, groups of black figures were walking quickly towards the county seat carrying countless ladders.

Although many people were breathing very heavily, most of the branches they bit into their mouths were very uncomfortable due to drooling and numbness of their cheeks.

But everyone is still holding on desperately.

Each of them knew very well that the later they were discovered by the peasant army in the city, the higher their probability of success would be and the lower their casualties would be. They must persevere.

And they have no choice but to succeed.

"If you advance, never retreat, if you don't succeed, you will become a benevolent person! The first climber will be promoted to the third level and will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver." This was the simplest and easiest-to-understand military order given to them by Zhao Jin and Shi Ming.

And the cold military law of "Anyone who retreats will be killed immediately. The rear team will supervise the front team, and the rear team will kill the front team!" made each of them understand that they are both attackers and war supervisors, and then further understood the indispensability of military orders.

defy.

Zhao Jin and Shi Ming adopted the simplest and crudest offensive method.

There was no reserve team, no division of troops, and no various siege equipment or means. They just concentrated the entire army and planned to climb up the northern city wall directly.

They did not leave any escape route for themselves, nor did they intend to retreat. They only wanted to achieve it with one blow.
Chapter completed!