The Ming army outside the city rested for a day and a night, and the Qing army in the city was also in danger. Pang Yue and Gao Yigong repeatedly inspected the surrounding terrain and the Qing army's defense situation, set the time of the attack in the early morning of the next day, and chose the direction www.biquge.info of breakthrough at the east gate.

According to the plan, Huguang Town was the main force in this first round of attack, and the loyal battalion was responsible for the perimeter guard and served as the rear army. The task was soon reached by all battalions and teams, and all the officers and men of the army were in full swing to prepare, arrange and install siege equipment, build towers, etc., and did not stop until nightfall.

The Qing army in the city was obviously very nervous, after all, they had all fought with Huguang Town, and they had tasted it badly. So from time to time they shot arrows and cannons outside the city, but the distance was too far to work at all. After nightfall, there was even a Qing army that wanted to take advantage of the cover of night to go out of the city to destroy the siege equipment of the Ming army, but it was quickly discovered, and after a short confrontation, few fled back to the city. Subsequently, the Ming army deliberately beat the war drums and fired artillery to create the illusion of attack, and after repeating it several times, it added to the tense atmosphere in the city.

Now the Ming army is attacking the city with more than twice the force, and the Qing army in the city is so noisy, and the shadow caused by Huguang Town in the hearts of the Qing army in Jingzhou can be imagined.

In the early hours of the next morning, before dawn, the offensive began. There was no cannonball, no noisy gongs and drums, and earth-shattering shouts, and the Huashan battalion, which had been prepared for a long time, took advantage of the last touch of night, under the cover of the rest of the battalions, and quickly advanced in the direction of the city wall.

In order to prevent attacks from the city, the officers and men of the Huashan battalion carried a large number of shields and a kind of protective gear called "half-cut boats". This type of armor is made of wood. The top is curved and covered with cowhide. There are wooden pillars on the four corners of the bottom for the soldiers to hold, which can cover more than a dozen people. It is shaped like a half-flipped wooden boat. Hence the name.

The first task of the Huashan battalion was to fill in the moat. You don't need to fill them all in, just fill in enough roads for the army to pass through. Previously, after a long period of construction, the Huashan battalion had already diverted the source of the moat, and most of the water in the river had been drained, and the rest was just knees, so it was not too difficult to fill it up, mainly to guard against the threat from the city. The later it is discovered. The less the loss, the lesser the loss.

Under the thin night, the Huashan battalion tiptoed, and the battalions that followed up were also holding their breath.

And the Qing army in the city has already become a frightened bird, and the vigilance is naturally not low. When the Huashan camp was still dozens of steps away from the moat, it was finally discovered.

"The thieves are coming! The thieves are coming! In an instant, the city seemed to explode, with torches and gongs and drums. From the city, it can be vaguely seen that a large number of Qing troops are hurrying to the battle position.

Now that it has been discovered, the Ming army naturally does not have to hide it anymore. The Huashan battalion hurriedly advanced, and then the artillery group of the fire battalion and the fire guns of each battalion aimed at the head of the city.

Over there. The first rain of arrows tested by the Qing army came like locusts flying in the sky, nailed to both sides of the moat.

When the Huashan battalion advanced to the bank of the moat, the second group arrived with a more violent rain of arrows dragging a dense whistle, and the shields and half-boats of the Huashan battalion immediately rang out. It's like a hailstorm that has never been seen in a century. Some of the soldiers of the Huashan battalion, who were not well covered, were hit by many arrows on the spot, and they fell into the dirt before they even had time to snort. Even some of the non-commissioned officers who were hiding under the half-ship were not spared and were shot in the legs and feet. or screaming or gritting their teeth.

Defending the east gate was Shang Kexi's headquarters, commanded by his general Ban Zhifu. And Shang Kexi himself has been living in the city tower these days, and quickly walked out after hearing the movement. Silently staring at the equally blazing outside of the city.

"Lord Wang!" Ban Zhifu turned his head and saw Shang Kexi, and was stopped by Shang Kexi raising his hand as soon as he screamed, which meant that Ban Zhifu could command with peace of mind and not have to worry about himself.

Ban Zhifu nodded and gave orders in full swing. To deal with the Ming army that came to attack, the Qing army certainly did not only have bows and arrows. The artillery at the head of the city was quickly filled with gunpowder and iron bullets, and many strong Qing soldiers were neatly shouting trumpets to wind the bed crossbows, and one by one the fire guns and guns also stretched out from the shooting holes on the female wall and pointed to the city.

But the fire battalion under the city reacted faster, and before the Qing army could start firing, the first shells fell on the city. The solid iron bullet smashed out pieces of flying flesh and blood, and the grapeball containing countless small iron beads was even more lethal and terrifying, which can be described as tragic, and almost no one within a dozen steps could be spared, either dead or injured.

In addition to the artillery, the firecrackling soldiers of Huguang Town also crackled towards the city, and the rocket carts of Yimen sent out a rain of arrows that were more ferocious and rapid than the Qing army, and rushed towards the battlements of the city wall. The dense lead bullets and arrows hit the Qing soldiers behind the female wall and were about to shoot and howled wolf.

However, the shooting of the Qing army was not completely suppressed, and from time to time artillery shells and spears fired from bed crossbows flew towards the moat.

"Bang!" A half-section of the boat was smashed to pieces, and several Huashan battalion soldiers who were working under it were all killed, and blood and brains seeped into the moist soil beneath them. "Tom!" Over there, another shield was pierced by the spear that came from it, and one of the soldiers with the shield was pierced by the spear and nailed to the ground, his hands clutching helplessly forward, his mouth spitting out bright red blood clots, and spontaneously emitting a "ho, ho".

Scenes like this go on and on, all over the place. Although the Huashan Battalion is not a war barracks, as long as it is on the battlefield, it must bear the same risks as the war barracks. Although Chen He, the battalion officer of the Huashan Battalion, who was directing the construction, was as calm as ever on the surface, he was secretly dripping blood in his heart. It can be said that these soldiers were all trained by him himself, and many of them are still backbones, and if possible, he doesn't want anyone to have an accident. But at the moment, he can only suppress the heartache and focus on completing the task, just like what Pang Yue often said to him: without sacrifice, there is no victory.

"Boom!" The artillery of the Agni Battalion opened fire one after another, and a grapeshell landed only a dozen paces away from Shang Kexi, and exploded with a bang. Bright blood flowers bloomed around the landing point in an instant, and the brains of the Qing soldiers who were hit in the head burst and were killed on the spot. Covering the eyeballs that have rolled out of the eye sockets or the neck that is leaking air, he rolls and struggles on the ground. Let out a scream that is not at all human.

Shang Kexi was lucky, and a few quick-eyed soldiers rushed him into the city tower. So it's not a big deal. After Shang Kexi got up, patted the dust on his body and was about to continue to go out, the soldiers just wanted to dissuade him, but he yelled: "Get out!" I had to huddle around him tightly for protection.

After walking a few steps out of the city tower, Shang Kexi was hugged by a wounded soldier who was screaming and rolling around. The wounded soldier was one of those who had been blinded, his face had been smashed with iron, and his two bloody eyes were hanging on his blood-stained face, like a demon from the hell of Shura. The intense pain and the fear of sudden blindness caused the wounded soldier to almost lose his mind, and he clung to whatever he touched. It seems that that was his lifeline.

Shang Kexi's pro-soldiers around him shouted angrily and pulled out their knives. Shang Kexi raised his hand to stop the movement of his own soldiers, and let the wounded soldiers hold their legs and wail and scream, observing the situation outside the city as if nothing happened.

The battle of Jingzhou can be regarded as the first time that Shang Kexi defended the city under the attack of the Ming army, although the time was not long, he had already felt great pressure, combined with the personal experience in Wanshou Bridge and Hengshan, he felt more and more that he was fighting with Huguang Town and being the enemy of Pang Yue. It's not a wise choice. Unlike other Ming armies, Huguang Town can be said to be a rock-solid code, and the ground is shaken when attacking, not only using brute force, but also making good use of ingenuity. Take, for example, their current offense. The war auxiliaries perform their duties and cooperate skillfully, and they seem to be quite disciplined in moving forward. In all fairness, Shang Kexi thought that it would be difficult for his descendants to do so.

But even so. Shang Kexi didn't have much choice, since he descended to Huang Taiji in Liaodong that year. There was no way back. At this moment, he secretly decided in his heart. After this battle, no matter what, you have to take a way to transfer out of Huguang. This place, whoever the loves to come, let Wu Sangui, Kong Youde, these bastards come, anyway, the master said that he won't stay here.

When Shang Kexi was supervising the battle at the head of the city, Pang Yue was not idle, he had already climbed a built tower, watching the situation at the head of the city, and it was Chen Ying who was standing beside him.

The towers were higher than the city walls, and although it was dark, the torches of both armies were lit, and it was enough to see the general situation of the battle from above.

This is also the first time Chen Ying has watched the actual battle of Huguang Town with his own eyes, he has watched it for a long time, he doesn't talk much, and his expression is usual, but the excitement in his heart is indescribable. For a general, the most important thing is strategy, but most of the time it can only be limited to strategy. As for the extent to which the generals' strategy can be implemented, the key lies in the quality of the soldiers at the bottom of the army. Now that he witnessed it with his own eyes, Chen Ying was completely relieved.

"Sir, do you think you can hurt Shang Kexi this time? Only when it hurts Shang Kexi, can it be easy to talk about things in the future. Pang Yue asked.

Chen Ying said: "That's natural, you don't have to worry about it." However, within two days today and tomorrow, Sun Dingliao's reinforcements will arrive in Jingzhou, and whether the more than 4,000 officers and men of our army in the north of the city can block the first round of attacks by 20,000 enemy troops is another important point. ”

This is also one of the things that Pang Yue is worried about. Although the camp was elite and set up camp on the spot, there were only more than 3,000 people after all, plus more than 1,000 firecrackers and artillerymen attached to it, the number was obviously at a disadvantage. How to perform the play to the fullest with the least loss is the key.

The shooting between the city and the city continued fiercely, and the construction of the Huashan camp was also in full swing. By dawn, the Huashan battalion, which had paid a lot of money, finally filled in more than a dozen spacious avenues from the moat outside the east gate. In the meantime, Shang Kexi also thought about sending troops out of the city to destroy, but because the Ming army was well guarded, he had to give up.

The Huashan battalion packed up the equipment and the bodies of the fallen soldiers, and quickly retreated.

After a short time, there was another strange movement from under the city. Through the scattered morning mist, the Qing army at the head of the city saw a dozen big guys rumbling towards the city wall.

"Pang Yue's dog thief is really determined to get Jingzhou, and even this thing has been turned out!" After Shang Kexi saw the faces of those big guys clearly, he said secretly in his heart.

The reason why Shang Kexi says "turning" rather than "making" is because this kind of big guy is not a novelty, it has a name that feels both familiar and somewhat unfamiliar: ladder truck. It is said to be familiar because it has played an important role in the siege warfare of all dynasties, and it is still active in storytelling and romance today. It is said that it is unfamiliar, but it is because it rarely appears in actual combat. At that time, the Manchurian Tartars did not start by attacking the fortified city, and later entered the customs in the only few large-scale siege battles. It mainly relies on the red-coated cannon, and it is impossible to build this kind of time-consuming, labor-intensive and inconvenient ladder truck. As for the Ming army, there is no need to use it. Because the last siege of the Ming army is not known how many years ago. And Pang Yue's decision to use this retro weapon was also a helpless move. Who made Huguang Town not build a more powerful artillery?

Slightly higher than the city walls, the ladder cart can accommodate up to a dozen people at the top, and there are several pairs of huge wooden wheels at the bottom to move. Soldiers can shoot at the top of the city, and they can jump directly to the head of the city through the wooden planks after the ladder cart has reached the city wall and fight the enemy hand-to-hand. Of course, the disadvantages are also obvious, afraid of fire, and inconvenient lateral movement, if it is targeted by the artillery at the head of the city, it is basically a dead end.

Of course, the Qing army at the head of the city would not let the ladder carts approach easily, and bows and arrows, firearms, artillery, and bed crossbows fired at the city one after another. The soldiers of the Gangfeng Battalion and the Broken Army Battalion, who followed behind the ladder truck, fell to the ground one after another. But the Agni battalion, which was covering on the flank, also quickly began to counterattack, and the more dense artillery shells and lead hit the Qing soldiers so that they could barely raise their heads.

Although the arrows and lead bullets shot by the Qing army at the head of the city flew over their heads, the officers and soldiers of Huguang Town were still moving forward firmly. When their companions were injured and fell down, or died on the spot, the people next to them moved them aside for the time being, leaving them to the medical team that came up behind them, and then continued until they themselves were hit by an arrow and fell.

Pang Yue, who commanded in the back, was very touched in his heart, and the soldiers under his command were excellent. In the past, unless there was an absolute necessity, he would not have taken a strong attack with relatively large casualties. But when you think about it, this is also the only way for a strong army to grow and grow. Just imagine, an army that doesn't even dare to fight a tough battle is a strong army. What kind of tiger and wolf army is it? Huguang Town performed well in barracks battles, but it was still somewhat lacking in siege warfare. The only fortified city that was taken was Guangzhou, which was blown up by the use of gunpowder by the use of terrain. Perhaps, in the future, there will be more large-scale battles like this. Huguang Town will be able to truly grow and grow.

"Bang!" When the first ladder truck leaned against the city wall, the Qing soldiers at the head of the city felt unprecedented pressure. Because they had never seen the hideous faces of the Ming soldiers so closely.

"Shoot the arrows!" "Prepare the oil!" The voices of the Qing officers also began to tremble faintly.

"Kill!" The first to jump to the head of the city was a captain of the Gangfeng Battalion, with a strong physique. Agile and looks like a veteran. He nimbly jumped away from the iron thorns on the city, and as soon as his feet landed, the steel knife in his hand brought out a shower of blood from the neck of a Qing soldier. With his left hand in his hand, he slammed forward with the momentum, and knocked another Qing soldier who couldn't react to it to shatter his eyebrow bone and scream. But there were too many Qing soldiers at the head of the city, and before he could make the next move, he was stabbed in the heart by four or five spears stabbing from different directions.

Although the commander was killed, several soldiers behind him also took the opportunity to jump onto the city, and on the wooden ladder behind the ladder cart, there was a steady stream of soldiers of the steel front battalion climbing up from the ground.

At this time, the rolling wood and stones and boiling dung juice prepared by the Qing army at the head of the city were temporarily useless, because the Ming army jumped from the opposite side, not from below. If you want to throw stones and throw dung, you have to get them on your feet.

Under the order of the official, several Qing soldiers carried a wooden basin filled with fire oil and poured it on the ladder truck outside the battlement. But the Ming army was also prepared, and there were still three archers left at the top of the ladder car to cover, and when they saw that the Qing soldiers were going to pour fuel, they hurriedly released their arrows. Several Qing soldiers were killed or wounded, and the oil was sprinkled all over the ground. But these three Ming archers were also retaliated against, one was killed and one was wounded, and the remaining one was so suppressed that he could not hold his head up.

There were more and more ladder trucks leaning on the city wall, and the Qing army at the head of the city was shouting and shouting, and they were very busy. However, because there were too many Qing troops in the city, the few Ming troops who had jumped on the city were difficult to open the situation, and most of them died heroically. Several ladder trucks were also doused with fire oil by the Qing army, igniting a raging fire.

Looking at the battle situation at the head of the city, Pang Yue's expression was serious and he didn't say a word.

…………

When the war clouds in Hubei were thick, Changsha, which was located in the rear, was quiet and peaceful. In the Huguang Governor's Mansion, He Tengjiao was convening his subordinates, generals and staff to discuss the matter.

"Dingwu Marquis has been on the northern expedition for some days, according to the battle report that came back, the battle was quite smooth, Luo Xiujin, the puppet governor of Huguang appointed by the court, and Shang Kexi, the puppet Zhishun king, have been suppressed in Wuchang and Jingzhou and cannot move. This is the best situation since my Ming Dynasty and the Longwu Dynasty! There is such a situation, thanks to the wisdom of the saint, the soldiers dare to fight, God bless me Daming. He Tengjiao seemed to be full of excitement and was indescribable, and made a gesture in the direction of Hengzhou, and said: "Dingwu Hou is also the pillar of the country, but He Mou and everyone here are also people who eat the imperial court, how can the heart of loyalty to the monarch and the country be left behind?" This northern expedition is related to the national fortune of our Ming Dynasty, and we can no longer stand idly by. ”

Although Fu Shangrui, the governor of Biyuan, knew it in his heart, he still deliberately asked, "What does Lord Governor mean?" ”

He Tengjiao stroked his long beard, and said with a firm gaze: "Go north!" (To be continued.) )