Inside the civil fort, there was a bleak scene after the war. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

In this battle, a total of more than 7,400 Tatar soldiers and horses were destroyed, and all their heads were cut off as military merits.

However, the only useful captures were incomplete siege equipment, sandbags and logs to fill the ravines, as well as broken bows, sabers, war armor and other weapons and equipment, in addition to more than 1,800 dead or mutilated horses in the explosion, which could provide a large amount of meat for the city.

However, several large explosions and hundreds of small explosions outside the city consumed a large amount of gunpowder reserves, and in this era when there was no explosives, gunpowder was the most powerful weapon, which could be used to make bullets for firearms, artillery shells, and mines and explosives packs.

But now, with the stock of gunpowder rapidly decreasing, Shen Xi was very worried that if the Tatars attacked again, the Tumu Fort would be lost.

But the Tatars did not attack the following day, and yesterday's battle was painful to the Tatars, and the defenders of the city were also lost more than a thousand people, which can be said to be a nerve-wracking.

It was a tragic battle, and after the battle, the soldiers were all mentally depressed, in addition to fatigue, and there was no hope for the future.

The Tatar soldiers and horses outside the city did not withdraw their troops, and they did not know how soon they would face another battle of life and death. The happiest thing for soldiers today is to have a bowl of steaming horse broth at two meals a day, which will have meat and delicious salt, so that they can feel the beauty of life.

The severe cold after the heavy snowfall, coupled with the continuous fierce fighting, there was no vitality in the civil fort, and the faces of every soldier were either blank about the future or deep thoughts about their families.

The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were accustomed to fighting defensive battles and staying in a comfortable city, just waiting for the enemy to withdraw, but this time the defense of the city was not so easy, the enemy was outnumbered and could come back at any time, and the entire city was already an isolated island, completely cut off from the outside world, and even the Tatars did not know whether the main force was transferred.

The soldiers, knowing that there was little hope of reinforcements coming, and fearing that an even more terrible battle would follow, took the present tranquility as the calm before the storm, and no one was willing to speak, and the whole city was plunged into a dead air.

Shen Xi used to inspect the military camp, and he could still see a little fresh vitality, but at this time, when he walked in the city, everywhere he saw was a depression, many soldiers were sitting against the city wall and pit walls, their bodies were motionless, and after observing for a long time, Shen Xi couldn't tell whether this was a living person or a dead person.

"My lord, the situation outside the city is unclear, there was another heavy snowfall last night, even the fortifications were covered, the corpses of the Tatars who lost their heads outside have no one to clean up, and they are very terrible, plus many blasting points have not packed up their fuses, and they are in a mess everywhere, please give me orders, do you want to pick them up?"

Hu Songyue has always regarded himself as Shen Xi's deputy, and all the big and small things in the city are sorted out by him and then reported to Shen Xi for knowledge.

Zhu Lie and Liu Xu stayed outside the city, on the one hand, urging the officers and soldiers on the position not to be lazy, and on the other hand, monitoring the movements of the enemy.

Shen Xi stood at the door of the command post, holding a military map in his rough hand, looked up at the fluttering snowflakes, and sighed softly:

"It's good that it snows, so we always have a secure source of water. Wait, the things that can be packed outside the city will be cleaned up first, and if you can't clean up, you will store them on the battlefield first, anyway, the weather is so cold, those corpses can't be damaged for a while, and it won't bring the plague. ”

"Remember to remove part of the artillery from the city, send it out of the city to erect in those artillery fortifications, walk from the trenches, don't be discovered by the Tatars, the positions outside the city should be repaired in time, we can't sit still, the time interval between the next round of Tatar offensive should not be too far!"

"Yes, sir."

Hu Songyue bowed to the leader's order and left.

After reading the military map, Shen Xi thought about it, and re-ascended to the top of the city, the Tatar camp in the distance was still as usual, this was the third day of the Tatar army's large-scale siege of the city, and it was October 18 in a blink of an eye.

Zhang Yong, dressed in a thick winter coat, followed Shen Xi to the city, looked around, and found that there were a large number of Tartar corpses not far ahead, all of them had no heads, and they looked very scary, so he immediately trembled and said: "Lord Shen, the Tartars outside the city have suffered such a defeat, they should all be withdrawn, right?" ”

Shen Xi was a little surprised and asked, "Gonggong Zhang, where did you see that the Tatars had withdrawn?" ”

Zhang Yong said without hesitation: "The day before yesterday and yesterday, our side fought a bloody battle with the Tatars continuously, and the Tatars lost a lot of soldiers and horses. Lord Shen didn't know the details of the Tatars, and with their young and strong population, how many such wars could they withstand? In addition, presumably now that the news of the loss of Xuanfu has reached the capital, the imperial court will definitely send a large army to encircle and suppress the northern captives, presumably there are fierce confrontations everywhere, maybe in a few days, reinforcements will arrive, in this case, what else can the Tatars do except withdraw their troops? ”

Shen Xi shook his head and smiled bitterly, and said: "Gonggong Zhang's idea is really optimistic, but according to the latest information, now the Tatars outside the city are still above 20,000, as for whether its main force will make a detour to attack Juyong Pass, I don't know for the time being, but with the current situation, from Xuanfu to Juyong Pass, the Ming Dynasty is basically unable to hold the city fortress." ”

"If my prediction is correct, the Tatars' next step will be to choose between attacking Tumu Fort and Juyong Pass. If we are unfortunately chosen by the Tatars, what are our chances of surviving another bitter battle? ”

Zhang Yong's face was full of fear at this time, he remembered the hustle and bustle of last night almost all night, the Tatars had almost rushed to the outside of the command post in the west of the city recently, and then there was a fight and screams and exclamations, he was almost scared at that time, and he still shuddered when he thought about it now. He looked again at the Tatar camp in the distance, then turned to Shen Xi and said in an almost pleading tone:

"Lord Shen, you brought us here, can't you leave us alone...... The Tatars are fierce, but they are not good at this kind of siege warfare, and if you can hold the fort under the Tatar attack, you will definitely be able to wait for reinforcements! In the next battle, if you win, I will definitely ask you for credit to the imperial court! ”

Shen Xi looked up at the snowflakes flying in the sky and smiled lightly: "If I can return to Beijing alive, where do I care about fame and fortune?" Even if I am asked to resign and not do it, I will admit it for the rest of my life. Gonggong Zhang should go back and think about how to boost the morale of the army, and tell me this here, it is in vain! ”

Zhang Yong's mouth opened, he didn't quite understand Shen Xi's current mentality, he had always felt that Shen Xi was a madman, he dared to think and try anything, but now he knew that Shen Xi was also like him, and regarded life as more important than anything.

Shen Xi turned his head vigilantly and looked at a carriage coming in the distance, the carriage was a little familiar, it seemed to be the vehicle that Awulu rode in when he entered the city to negotiate, he was a little puzzled, could it be that the Tatars still wanted to use the trick of peace talks?

It's a pity that the carriage stopped four or five miles away from the city, Shen Xi was condescending, and he could see it clearly, and a few people got down from the car, but because the distance was too far, it was not very real.

I picked up the binoculars and looked closely, but I saw that a woman seemed to get out of the carriage and was about to cross the "bridges" made of wooden planks, and made it difficult to make her way to the civil fort.

When the others walked to the trench area two miles away, Zhang Yong noticed it, turned his head and asked, "These Tartars, aren't they going to come to persuade Lord Shen to surrender?" ”

Shen Xi pondered and asked, "What does Gonggong Zhang think about the persuasion to surrender?" ”

Zhang Yong hesitated for a moment, looked at Shen Xi with eager eyes, and asked rhetorically, "What does Lord Shen think?" ”

Shen Xi smiled slightly, he understood that if Zhang Yong asked him in turn, it meant that Zhang Yong had plans to surrender, after all, for eunuchs who had nothing to do, life was the most important.

As for doing his best for the Daming Jiangshan Society, it was a matter for the ministers and generals, and there was basically no possibility of survival before, and now the Tatars are sending hope, Zhang Yong naturally wants to grasp it.

Shen Xi turned around and walked towards the horse path down the city tower, and sighed lightly: "Now it is not clear that the purpose of the Tatars entering the city, let's take one step at a time!" ”

Shen Xi didn't say that he accepted it, nor did he say that he didn't accept it, he just hung Zhang Yong's heart, making Zhang Yong feel that he might accept persuasion.

But the war has developed to this stage, and Shen Xi knows that the result of surrender is the most tragic, not only will his name remain on the pillar of shame in Chinese history, but his family will also die because of his surrender and have no place to be buried, so even if he fights to the last moment, he will not do such a thing.