After receiving Mei Dongyi's order, 2000 Lu Yong all climbed the Nine Gates Tower, and the flanked mountains on both sides of the Great Wall.

Put your spears, birds, and rifles on the battlements of the wall, and aim them at the frozen lake outside the wall, and at the hillsides on either side.

And the four 500-pound Kangxi bronze red-clothed cannons were also filled with projectiles, and a large number of gunpowder bags and lead bullets were piled up on one side.

Then, everyone held their breath and waited in fear for the arrival of the Japanese soldiers.

At 6:15 a.m., the Qing army, standing on the high ground of the left mountain of the Great Wall at the Nine Gates, first discovered the traces of the Japanese army marching intermittently on the river between the mountains in the distance.

"Report ——, found a Japanese soldier ahead!"

With the roar of Zuo Mingchao, the official of the Qing military camp in Zuoshan, the pre-war atmosphere at the Nine Gates suddenly became intense.

South Wing City.

At this time, in the South Wing City, which was more than fifty miles south of the Nine Gates, Liu Kun summoned the generals of the Qi Army to discuss the rescue matters.

After listening to Yi Shunding's statement of the military situation, all the generals changed color miserably.

"Governor, these nine gates must not be lost; Even if you really can't hold it, the Shimen Village behind it must not be lost! Otherwise, our army of 30,000 or 40,000 in Shanhaiguan will be attacked by the enemy on the back of the abdomen, and there is a risk of annihilation of the whole army! ”

Wu Fengzhu stood up suddenly: "Governor, the military situation is urgent, don't delay!" ”

Before the generals arrived, Liu Kunyi and Yi Shunding thought of a strategy, and directly ordered: "General Wu Bing, General Chen Bing, you lead your troops to the Nine Gates to reinforce immediately, the six battalions of cavalry go first, and the three battalions of infantry of General Wu follow; I have ordered Wang Liansan to send two more battalions of infantry from the Great Wall to the Nine Gates. The two generals have always been brave, and this time they will be able to stop the Japanese from destroying the city. ”

"Obey the Constitution!"

Wu Fengzhu, Chen Fenglou, the two veterans stood up proudly, hugged their fists and received the order, and strode out of the lobby with a heroic face.

"The two generals are really the veterans of our national pillar of the Qing Dynasty!"

Liu Kun praised loudly and watched the second general walk out of the hall, then looked at the generals in the hall with panicked faces, and said in a deep voice:

"The Japanese are treacherous, and while they are using the trick of peace talks, they are stepping up their military force, which is despised by the people! The old man has telegraphed this matter to the Tongzhou Military Affairs Office, and I think that the foreigners will know that the foreigners have slapped the foreigners in the face, and the foreigners should not sit idly by this time. ”

Hearing Liu Kunyi say this, the atmosphere in the lobby suddenly relaxed, and it seemed that they all had a backbone.

Then, Liu Kunyi's voice suddenly became cold, and he said gloomily, "However, this battle should be fought now——, it must be fought, and it should be prevented; Lost Shanhaiguan, you and I are waiting to feed our heads to the guillotine! Zhijing, this Yongping Mansion (Qinhuangdao) is the back of the Shanhaiguan army, and there is the Hunan army. ”

"Haha, you just have to rest assured; With our Hunan army here, even if the Japanese really break through Shimen Village and dare to come to Yongping to provoke, they will definitely not be able to eat and walk around, and kill him cleanly! ”

Wu Dacheng stood up majestically, with a confident face.

"Good!"

Liu Kunyi slapped the table with his happy big hand: "The old man will definitely play the original words of Zhijing to the emperor, so that the emperor will know the loyalty of the Hunan army!" ”

Nine gates of the water city.

At 7:30 a.m., nearly 2,800 Japanese troops appeared on the river outside the Great Wall at the Nine Gates.

"Brothers, hold the gun in your hand, kill the Japanese, everyone will have a heavy reward after the war,—— there is no silver in the imperial court, I, Mei Dongyi, will smash the pot and sell iron to the brothers; Without artillery, they can't attack it! ”

Mei Dongyi, who was standing in the city tower, saw that only the Japanese infantry came, and his mind suddenly became much more stable.

On the 6th of January, the Japanese First Heavy Artillery Wing shelled the three cities outside the Guanwai, and afterwards he also entered the Shanhaiguan City and the three cities and carefully inspected them.

Whether it is a high-explosive bomb that can burst the barrel of a copper cannon, or a grenade bomb that I heard can explode overhead, Mei Dongyi is secretly frightened.

This time, if the Japanese soldiers brought cannons and pointed at the nine gates like the three cities outside the gate, in his opinion, this city would not be able to defend it at all.

Luckily -

"Fire!"

"Boom-"

With the roar of Zhou Zuyou, the battalion officer of the artillery team, the four cannons on both sides of the city tower exploded, spit out long flames, and shot out the four projectiles fiercely.

"Boom, boom—"

Four buckshot bullets cut through the air in a long arc, smashed into the ice on the surface of the lake, and suddenly exploded, smashing the thick ice into cracks.

Several pieces of shrapnel were fired into the ranks of the Japanese troops six or seven hundred meters away, and the two Japanese soldiers who were shot screamed miserably and rolled over on the surface of the river.

"Good!"

"Well done!"

"The artillery brothers continue to bombard them!"

"Blow up these grandsons!"

Suddenly, there was cheers on the Great Wall at the Nine Gates, and even Mei Dongyi smiled and nodded again and again.

This is off to a good start, and I want to get it!

The morale of the army is greatly boosted, and the morale of the army can be expected!

"Guys, what are you doing!"

Zhou Zuyou, who was overjoyed, yelled and urged his artillery to continue the shelling.

"Great!"

"Look, my lord, it's fast and steady!"

The artillerymen on the four guns shouted in response, while using wet mops to clean up the unfinished fireworks in the barrels, and then filled the gunpowder bags and filled them with lead bullets.

"Fire!"

Zhou Zuyou, the battalion officer of the artillery team, roared and waved his raised right hand down fiercely.

"Boom-"

The Great Wall at the Nine Gates shook slightly, and four hot lead bullets, with long flames, erupted from the muzzle of the cannon.

"Whoa, whoa—"

The projectile, with huge kinetic energy, again smashed into the Japanese marching troops.

"Dodge, lie down, lie down!"

Seeing the four tongues of fire spewing out from the wall of the Nine Gates, and listening to the sharp howls that were getting closer and closer, a Japanese squad leader couldn't resist the fear in his heart, and screamed and fell on the ice.

Hearing the squad leader's order, the group of Japanese soldiers hesitated, wanting to lie down on the river to avoid bombs.

"Yaga! Cowards, damn it, damn it! ”

As the vanguard of the 12th Wing and 3rd Brigade, the captain Okami Masami Shaosa, when he saw the ugliness of his subordinates behind, he was immediately angry, ran over, jumped off the horse, pulled out the war knife at his waist, and slashed at the Japanese second lieutenant.

"Boom!"

A loud explosion exploded on the left flank, and Masami Okami happened to cut off the second lieutenant who was lying on the ground with a knife.

"Stay in formation and keep going!"

Masami Okami brandished her sword and shouted orders.

"Boom-"

Under the artillery bombardment of the Qing army, the Japanese troops marched to 400 meters east of the city of Jiumen, and then stopped their advance, and the soldiers expanded towards the mountains on both sides of the lake to establish a forward cordon.

The Japanese troops on the edge of the lake began to smash ice to get water and cook on fire.

The Japanese troops on both sides of the mountains cut down the strips of wood and made ladders to climb the city.

"How daring!"

Seeing this scene, Mei Dongyi was so angry that his beard straightened, and he yelled and ordered: "Shoot and shoot, kill them!" ”

"Hit!"

"Bang, bang, bang—"

Hearing the order, the Great Wall warriors opened fire one after another, and the two-mile city wall suddenly rose with puffs of gunsmoke.

"Kill these brutes!"

With the water city at the nine gates and the mountains on both sides of the Great Wall, the commanders of the Qing army shouted again and again, and the Qing soldiers with guns and rifles opened fire one after another, shooting towards the Japanese army at a distance of three or four hundred meters.

The huge projectiles of the guns, the bullets of the Daqing imitation Mauser rifles, their effective firing range are more than 500 meters, and under the sound of nearly 1,000 guns and the bombardment of artillery, from time to time there are unlucky Japanese soldiers who are shot and fall down.

"Good!"

"Well done!"

Whenever a Japanese soldier was shot and fell 400 meters away, the Qing troops on the Great Wall were all cheering.