Fifteen miles north of Hengshan County

"Mu Yuangong is loyal to the country, his heart is commendable......" After reading the letter sent by Pang Yue, Zhu Dadian sighed, and while feeling gratified, he couldn't help but feel a sense of sadness in his heart. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 Info was relieved that he felt that he was not wrong, and Pang Yue really stepped forward at the critical moment and took the initiative to take on the most difficult part of the task. Such a courageous and responsible young man is the hope for the revival of the Ming Dynasty in the future. Sadly, Pang Yue took the initiative to lead the army to drag the main force of Duoduo in Hengshan County, which must be a fierce battle, and it is unknown whether this young man who is appreciated by himself can survive in a desperate situation.

But Zhu Dadian is not unaware of the current stakes, just like Pang Yue said in his heart, at present, Hengzhou's troops are thin, and one more soldiers and horses will escort him, and the safety of Emperor Longwu will be more guaranteed. Zhu Dadian still saw this very clearly, so although he had mixed feelings in his heart at the moment, he quickly made a decision.

"Immediately change the route, avoid Hengshan County, and choose another way to Hengzhou!" Zhu Dadian instructed Ma Jinzhong and Chen Youlong beside him.

"The last general obeys!"

"The last general obeys!" Ma Jinzhong and Chen Youlong promised. After learning the news that the main force of the Qing army had returned north and pressed towards Hengshan County, they naturally had nothing to say about the diversion. Although they admired Pang Yue's courage, they were always a little apprehensive at the thought of confronting the Qing army. And the fact that Hengzhou was threatened also made them feel a little less guilty when they left.

When Pang Yue's letter arrived, the army of Ma Jinzhong and Chen Youlong's troops was already ready. Therefore, after Zhu Dadian gave the order, he quickly took action. With the sound of hooves, a large number of scouts scattered around, and more than 15,000 troops left the original route, turned to the southeast, and embarked on another road to Hengzhou.

"Mu Yuan, I hope you can hold on!" After the team set off, Zhu Dadian glanced in the direction of Hengshan County and let out another heavy sigh.

……

Hengshan County

There was an unusual noise from the south, which was light at first, like summer raindrops crashing against the windows. Then it became denser and heavier, and finally it developed into a thunderous sound like a flat earth, covering wave after wave, and even the earth trembled.

At this moment, the four gates of the county seat have been closed, and half of the original large openings have been filled. The soldiers of Huguang Town at the head of the city clenched their weapons and waited for battle, even if no one reminded them, the continuous earth-shattering noise made them feel the tense atmosphere before the war without surprise.

The thunderous sound rolled closer and closer, and it didn't take long. The sea of Qing army flags of various colors and the black-pressed queue of men and horses appeared in the sight of the soldiers of Huguang Town, like a galloping torrent rushing towards Hengshan County. Slowly surround the city. After that, it gradually slowed down and finally stopped at a distance of about two miles outside the city.

At this time, in addition to the west gate close to the Xiangjiang River, the remaining three city gates are the same unsightly Qing army banners and battle formations, which appear to be quite impressive.

After inspecting the city, Pang Yue let out a sigh. It seems that this time Duoduo really wanted to put himself to death, blocking the way for his retreat north.

More than 30,000 Qing troops did not make Pang Yue feel panicked and frightened, if these 30,000 people were all green battalion soldiers, he even had the confidence to go out of the city to counterattack and teach these people who dared to come to besiege the city a good lesson. But here's the thing. These 30,000 people are all Eight Banner soldiers, and they are equipped with a large number of powerful Hongyi cannons. Pure barbarians are not terrible, but even if they are afraid that barbarians understand culture, barbarians who have mastered advanced military technology are undoubtedly difficult. Moreover. After continuous battles in the past few days, only about 16,000 of the more than 19,000 soldiers in the city were left, and their vitality has not yet fully recovered. In any case, it will be an uphill battle.

In addition, there is another situation that Pang Yue is worried about, at this time there are more than 20,000 Qing troops outside Changsha City, responsible for deterring the Ming army in the city and protecting the logistics supply line of the main force of the Qing army. First, this part of the Qing army divided some men and horses to go south, and the difference in strength between the enemy and us will be even greater, and Liu Chengyin and others may not dare to pursue south.

……

After setting aside a large number of cavalry to serve as a guard, the Qing army began to camp in place, and seemed to be ready for a long-term siege. On a slope two miles outside the south gate, several golden dragons gathered, and Duoduo, who was dressed in gilded armor, and a group of senior generals of the Eight Banners were looking in the direction of Hengshan County with a clairvoyant mirror.

"Minggou is quite fast!" Han Junzheng Blue Banner Melle Zhang Jing Tong Tai couldn't help but sneer, "Such a big gap, they actually made up half of it so quickly!" ”

Manchuria inlaid with white flags Gushan Ezhen Ilden snorted coldly and said disapprovingly: "What's the use of filling in the city wall?" This can only show that the dog is killing himself, locking himself in a turtle shell and not being able to move at all. As long as there are Hongyi cannons in King Gongshun's camp, it is not up to us to decide how to enter the city? What do you say, obedience to the king? ”

"What Lord Elden is saying is that in front of our army's heavy Hongyi artillery, these small cities are almost indistinguishable from window paper." Kong Youde smiled busily, and then looked at Duoduo again: "According to Xiao Wang, Prince Yu's plan to encircle and annihilate Pang Yuebu Minggou will soon be realized." ”

Duoduo silently looked at the county town of Hengshan in front of him, his face expressionless and unfazed, and an irrepressible excitement surged in his heart: after so many twists and turns, he finally surrounded Pang Yue and his army in this small city. The situation in front of Pang Yue was much more severe than when he was at the Wanshou Bridge in the north of Changsha City, there was no more terrain for them to use, their troops were thinner, their soldiers were more tired, and they did not have time to dig fortifications like they had at the beginning, and the only thing they could rely on was the low, window-paper city in front of the Hongyi cannon, nothing more!

Although there were some dissenting opinions on the decision to divide the troops made yesterday, Dodor still held his point. In his opinion, compared to the Puppet Ming Emperor. A military general like Pang Yue, who holds a large army and can repeatedly cause trouble for the Qing Dynasty's royal division, is the primary confidant of the Qing Dynasty. There are so many puppet Ming clans, if you catch an emperor, maybe another one will appear soon, and the generals in the puppet Ming army who can fight well are one less dead. What's more, it is enough to send more than 10,000 men and horses to deal with the puppet Ming emperor, with the meager strength of the puppet Ming army in Hengzhou City, even if the more than 10,000 partial divisions cannot capture the puppet emperor Zhu Yujian, they can still trap him firmly, and wait until they kill Pang Yue before going over to solve it.

It was in view of this idea that Dordor led his main force back north. Then things turned out as he wished. Although according to the sentry report, some Ming troops fled before the army surrounded Hengshan County, but he did not take it to heart, these are not important, the important thing is that Pang Yue was finally forced into this desperate situation, and it was difficult to fly.

Duoduo didn't know for the time being, after eliminating Pang Yue, who else in the puppet Ming court could stop the pace of the Qing Iron Cavalry by half a minute. He Tengjiao? Liu Chengyin? …… Think of this list of names. He almost burst out laughing.

"Since Pang Yue is so self-defeating, God can't help him!" A sneer twitched on Duoduo's otherwise expressionless face. Towards the left and right, "Our army will definitely make a big move to completely turn this small city into a burial place for Pang Yue!" As long as Pang Yue dies, the puppet Ming court will no longer have any available generals! Let's all go down and prepare, and the siege will officially begin in the afternoon! ”

"Huh!"

……

In the morning, the Qing army did not attack, but the soldiers of Huguang Town in the city were nervously busy, preparing for the upcoming battle. The auxiliaries demolished some of the uninhabited houses in the city and built barricades in the streets. and hurry up the earthen bags and baskets for the preparation of defensive shells; The military doctors and auxiliaries of the medical department prepared gauze and various medicinal materials to bandage wounds in the backyard of the county government, which was used as a temporary ambulance; Artillerymen and gunners are inspecting and debugging cannons and gunners; The men in the army are hurrying to light a fire and cook...... In short, the city is busy, but it seems to be in order. Everyone has their part to do and keep the war machine running.

……

Little by little, the tension in the air grew even thicker after noon, when the smoke in and out of the city had been completely extinguished.

Soon. As the continuous drumbeat outside the city sounded, the Qing troops from all three directions lined up from the camp, and the neat phalanx pressed towards the city gate, and the rumbling pace seemed imposing. Every direction. There are Qing artillery driving mules and horses, dragging heavy Hongyi cannons forward, where the gun wagons passed, leaving a deep wheel mark, thick barrels and black holes of the muzzles are even more people feel great psychological pressure.

Pang Yue, who was observing at the head of the South Gate City, couldn't help but frown, he knew that the kind of city wall under his feet would definitely not be able to withstand the continuous bombardment of Hongyi cannons with more than twelve pounder cannons, and the officers and soldiers staying in the city would only increase casualties in vain, and the only way was to build a large number of fortifications behind the city wall for layer by layer defense. However, the Qing army moved quickly, and the various fortifications in the city had not yet been fully constructed.

Just as Pang Yue was about to walk down the city, he saw the Qing army outside the city stop advancing, and a group of cavalry with white flags ran out of the army formation and rushed towards the city gate.

I'm here to persuade you to surrender again! Pang Yue also stopped for a moment and sneered in his heart. He already knows the process before the Qing army attacked the city, and he doesn't know what is new in this "persuasion word".

The cavalry with white flags ran to a place about a hundred steps away from the city wall and began to shout, sure enough, they came to persuade to surrender, the "persuasion word" did not have much innovation, but it was the original words that Duoduo sent to Pang Yue: Now that Your Excellency has fallen into a desperate situation, it is pointless to resist again, it is better to surrender to the Qing Dynasty as soon as possible, and not lose the high-ranking officials, the bright future, etc.

Without waiting for the cavalry to persuade him to finish speaking, Pang Yue grabbed the flintlock pistol in the hands of the soldier next to him, fired a shot into the sky, forced the voice of persuasion back, and then shouted outside the city: "Duoduo, you listen! When there were only a dozen people under Ling Zun's wild boar skin, he still dared to make waves, and Lao Tzu still had more than 10,000 troops under him, so what did he dare not fight? If you want to attack the city, hurry up, if you don't attack the city, get out, Lao Tzu has no time to accompany you nonsense! ”

Hearing Pang Yue's words, the Ming army at the head of the city suddenly burst into cheers.

When the cavalry who persuaded him to surrender brought back Pang Yue's words, Duoduo's face suddenly turned pale, and he spit out a few words viciously: "Pass the order and fire the cannon!" ”