For several days after that, the Houjin army kept sending soldiers of the Han army banner to attack the city. But the troops invested each time were not large, and the formation was extremely sparse, and not even a single cart was used.

The Ming army bombarded the Hongyi artillery several times, first, the accuracy was not good, and second, because of the scarcity of ammunition, they were reluctant to use it again, and only waited for the enemy to attack closer, and then opened fire with the Franc machine gun.

The range of the Franc cannon was exactly near the moat. In order to fill the moat, the Later Jin army must have delayed its speed as soon as it arrived at this place, and it became an excellent target for the Franco's machine gun. Over the course of a few days, more than 2,000 traitors were killed near the moat.

However, Nurhachi did not consider the casualties of the Han army banner at all, and still strictly urged these soldiers to rush to the battlefield. But there was a hint of hesitation, and he was immediately beheaded for public display. Therefore, after paying a heavy price, the moat was finally basically filled by the Houjin army.

Crossing the moat, Nurhachi still didn't seem to be in a hurry, and just kept sending Han military flags to harass him every day, and what was a yellow flag, a yellow flag, a white flag, and a white flag, appeared in turn like a marquee, until late at night.

Every time they rushed to the edge of the city, the Jin army would shoot arrows at the head of the city, and after shooting the arrows, they turned around and walked. Although it was a great loss to shoot from the bottom up, the Houjin army won because there were many people, and it still caused some casualties to the Ming army defending the city.

Especially Sun Yuanhua, who had just come to Ningyuan, was accidentally hit by an arrow in his right chest. The arrow was deep into the bone, and although it was lucky enough not to hurt the internal organs, the wound was very difficult to deal with. The medical conditions of the Ming army were almost equal to zero, and they were simply bandaged. As a result, the next day, Sun Yuanhua's wound began to inflame, and the person also developed a high fever.

Zhu Youzhen was so distressed that in this era, a talent like Sun Yuanhua, who is proficient in artillery skills, is equivalent to the role of an expert in the Republic of China engaged in "two bombs and one satellite", and one person can top tens of thousands of troops! The hope of holding Ning Yuan depends to a large extent on whether the power of the artillery can be exerted. If Sun Yuanhua has three longs and two shorts, then Ning Yuan will have no drama!

It's a pity that there are no anti-inflammatory drugs in this era, so Zhu Youzhen had to ignore Sun Yuanhua's hard work and strictly order him to go down to the city to rest. As for whether he can carry the inflammation by himself, it can only depend on the will of God.

The cavalry of the Ming army also tried to countercharge outward. But as long as they rushed out, Houjin's infantry army immediately retreated with all their might, and would never confront the Ming army head-on. And the elite cavalry of the Jurchens has been dormant in the camp, like beasts hidden in the dark. As a result, although the Houjin army could not capture Ningyuan for a while, the Ming army was also exhausted and was unable to break through the encirclement of the Houjin.

But what really worries Zhu Youzhen and others is the issue of military rations. After the reinforcements led by Man Gui and Zhao entered the city, the Houjin army really surrounded Ning Yuan on all sides again, and it was impossible for the grain from outside to be transported in. Moreover, Juehua Island was burned, and Shanhaiguan was hundreds of miles away, even if it could transport grain, where would it come from?

There was not much food in the city, but when reinforcements arrived, there were 10,000 more mouths. In order to prepare for a long-term hold, Yuan Chonghuan ordered the army's rations to be halved, and non-combatants to one meal a day, and led by example, eating only one bowl of rice soup a day that was so thin that he could look in the mirror. After a few days, I lost weight several times, my eye sockets were deep, and my legs were swollen.

But when food was so scarce, the night before yesterday, a fire broke out in the grain depot that had been guarded by special personnel. Although the fire was extinguished, the amount of food that could not support a few days was finally completely reimbursed.

This fire started very strangely, Yuan Chonghuan was heartbroken, and was about to severely deal with the relevant responsible personnel, but his subordinates went back and forth, and more than ten soldiers guarding the treasury were all killed!

Zhu Youzhen smiled bitterly: "Lord Yuan, I don't think this fire is like a natural disaster, nor does it look like negligence, but it seems that someone deliberately set it on fire." Otherwise, why kill the Ku soldiers? ”

Yuan Chonghuan twisted his eyebrows and thought for a while, and suddenly realized: "I said that in the past few days, why are the Tartars not in such a hurry to attack the city as before, it turns out that they know that there is a shortage of food in the city and want to starve us to death!" There will be traitors in the city who will send news to the Tartars, and most of this fire was set by them! Come on, search the whole city for this officer! ”

This investigation doesn't matter, and sure enough, dozens of Houjin's secret agents have been found. These people are all Han Chinese, and they secretly engage in espionage activities in Ningyuan under the cover of being civilians. The Ming army copied bows, arrows, sabers, and other items from their homes, all of which were made by the Jurchens, so there was no doubt about their identity.

Yuan Chonghuan regretted it greatly, if he had thought of the problem of spies earlier, the grain depot would not have been burned down by a fire.

Zhu Youzhen also gritted his teeth and said: "If you want to starve us to death, it's not so easy!" Send these traitors on the road first! ”

So, in front of the military and civilians of the whole city, these dozens of Houjin spies were beheaded together. After the execution, the people rushed up, and you scrambled to tear the corpses. On the one hand, they hate these traitors very much; On the other hand, I was so hungry that I couldn't stand it, so I had to boil and eat these corpses to feed my stomach!

Zhu Youzhen's heart was very heavy, and he asked Yuan Chonghuan and the others: "The military rations are exhausted, and if you don't think about it, there will be a tragedy of cannibalism in the city!" Now what? ”

Yuan Chonghuan also said with a bitter face: "For today's plan, I'm afraid the only way to kill the horse is to eat the stomach first, and then wait for reinforcements." ”

"No way!" Man Gui and Li Chongyao shouted at the same time. Their reasons are also very good, the war horse is the life of the cavalry, and without the horse, the cavalry loses its combat effectiveness!

Man Gui's suggestion was to break out immediately. But after repeated deliberations, everyone still felt that they could not take this step as a last resort. Because even if the breakthrough is successful, Ningyuan City will be completely destroyed, and Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan's Guanning defense line will be completely ruined.

Moreover, the Ming army was hungry for many days, and they walked straight and shaky. Under such circumstances, it is difficult to avoid the fate of the annihilation of the entire army.

Everyone discussed for a long time, but there was still no good plan, and finally they all fell into silence.

Li Chongyao was so depressed that he screamed: "The Tartars rely on more to win, and they bully us without military rations, what kind of heroes are they!" If Nurhachi had the guts, he would have come and fight with me one-on-one! ”

Qi Meifeng was also in a bad mood, but she was still amused by Li Chongyao: "Sister Chongyao, do you think the confrontation between the two armies is like a competition?" That's wrong! The only purpose of fighting a war is to win, as long as you can defeat the enemy, any vicious means can be used! It's too common to win more and less, and I would do the same if I were replaced! ”

Li Chongyao said to himself: "I just look down on them!" Every time they attacked the city, they shrank in the back, and only let those Han troops who surrendered come to die! ”

"Stop, stop!" Zhu Youzhen suddenly jumped up and stared at Li Chongyao, "What did you just say?" ”

Li Chongyao was a little embarrassed by his eyes, and turned his face away and said, "I just said that I look down on Tartars, what's wrong?" ”

"It's not this sentence, it's the previous sentence!" Zhu Youzhen roared urgently.

"What's wrong with the previous sentence?" Li Chongyao said inexplicably, "I just said that I want to fight alone with Nurhachi, but it's a pity to borrow his courage, he doesn't dare!" ”

Zhu Youzhen didn't answer her words, hurriedly paced back and forth twice, suddenly stopped suddenly, and shouted excitedly: "I have the idea of repelling the enemy soldiers!" ”

"What ideas do you have?" Li Chongyao said disapprerovingly.

Zhu You couldn't care about her ridicule, and said excitedly: "Shoot people first and shoot horses first, capture thieves and capture kings first, how can I forget this simple truth!" As long as Nurhachi is killed, the Tartars will inevitably be in chaos, and the siege of Ningyuan will be solved! ”

"I thought it was a good idea!" Li Chongyao sneered and said, "You can say it easily, the old slave is hiding in the camp a few miles away, and he can't even hit the Hongyi cannon." He's shrunk like a turtle again, how do you kill him? ”

Yuan Chonghuan and the others still had a glimmer of hope, and they all shook their heads after hearing Zhu Youzhen's words, thinking that this was just an unrealistic fantasy.

"You fools!" Zhu Youzhen was so anxious that he slapped his thigh, "If he doesn't come out, we can go over!" Isn't that closer? ”

"In the past? You don't want to die! Li Chongyao laughed angrily, "You prince is also confused, there are thousands of troops and horses in the Tartar camp, if you go over, you can't even enter the camp gate, and you will be shot into a hedgehog by others!" ”

"Sister Chongyao, don't be unreasonable to Your Highness!" Qi Meifeng was afraid that Li Chongyao's words would be too harsh and annoy Zhu Youzhen, so she hurriedly put on her sister's style and scolded Li Chongyao.

Li Chongyao stuck out her tongue and said with a mocking smile: "My sister is very protective of the prince!" ”

Qi Meifengqiao blushed and stopped talking. In fact, even she thought that Zhu Youzhen had taken the wrong medicine, but she was embarrassed to refute it.

"Listen to me!" Zhu Youzhen saw that everyone didn't understand his thoughts, so he shouted anxiously, "I didn't say that I rushed into the Houjin camp!" All we have to do is sneak a Franc cannon out of the city after late at night. Touched the side of the Houjin camp and fired a shot at the Chinese army tent inside. As long as this shot is accurate, won't Nurhachi immediately ascend to heaven? ”

Everyone was stunned and speechless. After a long time, Man Gui suddenly shouted: "Wonderful! ”

His voice was too sudden, which scared Zhu Youzhen to tremble. Man Gui shouted excitedly: "Your Highness, I think this method is feasible!" At the end of the next few days, I will carefully observe that the old slave's yellow dragon tent is not far from the big camp gate. The Franc cannon can shoot more than 100 steps, and as long as the cannon can be successfully transported to the firing range, it will be a great success! ”

Yuan Chonghuan frowned and said, "This method is too risky. Since it is sneaking out of the city, the number of people cannot be too large, and it must be controlled within a few people. These people not only have to hide their own hiding, but also have to carry cannons, they must also be able to fire cannons, and they must know how to calibrate cannons. This cannon must also be hit, and there is no chance of firing again. It's so difficult, who can handle it? ”

"Now Master Sun is injured. In addition to him, the only one who is the best at school artillery in Ningyuan City is this king! Zhu Youzhen said with a dry spirit.

"You? Forget it, my lord! Li Chongyao laughed and said, "You can't even push the cannon, what's the use of just aiming?" ”

Yuan Chonghuan also waved his hand again and again: "Your Highness is the body of a daughter, how can you wade into danger lightly?" This is a must-do! ”

Qi Meifeng smiled slightly: "The last general is willing to accompany His Highness out of the city and swear to defend His Highness to the death!" ”

Li Chongyao was also unwilling to shout: "If my sister goes, then I will go too!" ”