In the middle of the night, the general army marched.

Wang Pu and Zhen Youcai sat opposite each other, although they had just won two battles in a row during the day, but there was no joy between the eyebrows of the two, but there was a trace of worry, what worried them was the piece of paper in front of the two of them, which indicated the number of ammunition consumed today.

Zhen Youcai wrenched his fingers and calculated: "The two fierce battles consumed a total of 15,000 rounds of paper shell shells and 1,500 dragon king cannons, and the maximum number of Jiannu that can be killed and injured will not exceed 5,000 people. ”

Wang Pu said in a deep voice: "How many paper shell shells and dragon king cannons are in stock?" ”

Zhen Youcai said: "There are still about 100,000 rounds of paper shell ammunition in the inventory, and there are more than 15,000 Dragon King cannons, according to the proportion of today's consumption, these ammunition can hold on for a maximum of seven days, and at most 35,000 Jiannu will be killed!" Then, we can only fight hard with Jiannu. ”

Wang Pu frowned and said, "Isn't there a stockpile of gunpowder?" ”

Zhen Youcai said bitterly: "The charcoal is enough, and there are more than 10,000 catties of sulfur, but the nitrate is used up, and the thieves came too fast at that time, and the craftsmen sent out to buy the nitrate did not have time to return to the city, and then Jiannu came to kill again, and now I don't know what happened to those craftsmen." ”

Wang Pu thought for a moment and said, "If Jiannu can concentrate his forces to storm the gap that has been blown up, the lethality of the Dragon King Cannon should be greatly increased, and the lethality of the musket should also be better." ”

"If Jiannu is willing to concentrate his forces to attack a gap, then of course it is good." Zhen Youcai said, "I'm afraid that Jiannu will scatter his forces and attack from several directions at the same time, so that the number of days that these ammunition can support is only three days at most, and there will be fewer Jiannu who can kill and injure." ”

Wang Pu shook his head and said, "Jiannu shouldn't be able to divide the troops. ”

Wang Pu said this is well-founded, because for the people of this era, the biggest obstacle to the battle of the fortification is always the unattainable city wall, since Jiannu has blown up a gap in the city wall, then Jiannu will definitely try his best to break into the city from the gap, or find a way to widen the gap, but will not think about snatching the city wall from other directions.

In the subconscious meaning of people, it is obviously much easier to capture the gap than to capture the unattainable city wall, and the capture of the gap can at least fight with the defenders, but the capture of the city wall is not equal, because the defenders condescendingly occupy the geographical advantage, and the rolling wood and stones and gold juice pour down, making it difficult for the attackers to parry, and the casualties are heavy.

Although the Jiannu attack on the gap suffered a crushing defeat today, they could not help but think that if they chose to attack the unattainable city wall instead of attacking the gap, the price they would pay was estimated to be even heavier.

Compared to the two, it is easier to attack from the gap in the wall that has been blown up.

People have a fixed mind, and the tactics of an army also have a strong habit, maybe after a painful defeat, Jiannu will try to learn the tactics of the Ming army, try to change the original tactics, but it will never be now, if you want Jiannu to fade into an army that is good at thinking and learning overnight, it is obviously impossible.

"It seems that we can't be entangled with Jiannu anymore, and we have to fight quickly." Wang Pu said, "We have to find a way to provoke Jiannu and let Jiannu invest a large number of troops to launch a strong attack from the gap, so that our army can kill and wound Jiannu in a large number of times in a short period of time, as long as Jiannu's casualties exceed a certain level, they will lose the courage and determination to continue attacking Datong!" ”

Zhen Youcai's eyes rolled, and he said in a dark voice: "It is not difficult to provoke Jiannu. ”

Wang Pu said happily: "What are your plans?" ”

Zhen Youcai said: "The general can let people hang the corpses of Jiannu on the city wall, let people whip the corpses, skin them, or pour dung juice on the corpses, anyway, let the brothers change their methods to humiliate these corpses, Jiannu advocates warriors, and has great respect for the clansmen who died bravely on the battlefield, and they must not be able to stand it if we humiliate the corpses of Jiannu who died in battle." ”

Wang Pu frowned and said, "Dolgon doesn't seem to be a willful person, will he be fooled?" ”

Zhen Youcai sneered: "General, you don't know much about the military system of Jiannu, although Dolgon is now the regent, but he alone can't decide everything, don't forget that there are two regents in the Jiannu army, as long as we anger most of the Jiannu, Dolgon alone can't change the overall situation." ”

"Okay." Wang Pu nodded and said, "Then try it." ”

■■■

Shi Tingzhu and Li Yongfang withdrew their troops without permission, which aroused the anger of almost all the Jiannu nobles, including the regent Yue Tuo.

Afterwards, Dolgon was relieved, but the incident had left a shadow on the hearts of the two of them.

Dolgon was worried that Shi Tingzhu and Li Yongfang would have different aspirations, so he asked Fan Wencheng and Ning Wan to discuss a pacification strategy, and after listening to Dolgon's worries, Fan Wencheng said: "Master, it is possible that Shi Tingzhu and Li Yongfang will have the mentality of a cup bow and snake shadow because of this, but if they will have different aspirations because of this, it will not." ”

Ning Wan also nodded and agreed: "The slave also agrees with Xiandou (Fan Wencheng Biaozi), the master must not listen to slander and doubt the loyalty of Shi Tingzhu and Li Yongfang." ”

"Hmm." Dorgon nodded, "It seems that this king is overthinking. ”

Fan Wencheng said: "Master, there is something that the slave doesn't know whether to say or not?" ”

Dolgon said, "But it doesn't hurt to say it. ”

Fan Wencheng said: "Master, the slave thinks that the military system of the Great Qing Dynasty needs to make some improvements, for example, it is very unreasonable to make major decisions that need to be made jointly by the owners of the Eight Banners, as the saying goes, the military situation is like fire, the fighter plane is fleeting, and the victory or defeat is often in a thought, how can you let everyone sit down and discuss it before doing it?" ”

"yes." Ning Wan also nodded, "There is an old saying that a snake can't have a head, but if it has two heads, it will be a mess, in case the two heads disagree, who should I listen to?" ”

Dolgon was silent, of course he could hear what Fan Wencheng and Ning Wan me's words were, they wanted Dolgon to be the sole commander of the Eight Banners Army, instead of sharing this power with Yue Tuo.

In fact, Dolgon also wants to be self-serving, but unfortunately the time is not yet ripe, although Yue Tuo is the regent on an equal footing with him, but above the two there is a Zilharang, Zilharang is the chief regent! Before he can bring down Zilharang, Dolgon still needs to have a good relationship with Yueto, and he must not turn his face now.

"Well, this is something that the king will consider." "But don't mention it to anyone," Dorgon said. ”

"Wow."

"Wow."

Fan Wencheng and Ning Wan agreed in unison.

■■■

The next time.

As soon as the sky was bright, the Jiannu camp outside the east gate of Datong suddenly began to shake, and there were constantly Jiannu coming out of the tent and pointing at the Datong city wall in the distance, all of them were angry, and this tickling soon alarmed all the Jiannu nobles including Dolgon and Yue Tuo.

As soon as Dolgon walked out of the tent, he saw Yue Tuo coming quickly surrounded by the nobles of the Eight Banners, such as Sakhalian, Shuotuo, Tanggu, Abatai, Fei Yangwu, and Rashta, and saw that Yue Tuo and the others were all angry on their faces, Dolgon was secretly frightened, and thought that yesterday's speech for Shi Tingzhu and Li Yongfang had provoked public anger.

"Old Fourteen, it's too much." Before Yue Tuo could speak, Abatai, who was in a hurry, had already shouted, "Those damn Nanming barbarians are too much!" ”

Abatai was the seventh son of Nurhachi, who was a man of great military achievements but had a violent surname.

Hearing that it wasn't last night, Dolgon couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and asked, "Seventh brother, what's wrong with the Nanming barbarian?" ”

"See for yourself." Yue Tuo stretched out his hand and pointed to Datong City in the distance, and shouted, "These hateful Nanming barbarians are hanging the corpses of the warriors who died in battle to the city wall and wantonly humiliating them. ”

"Yes, these Nanming barbarians are really hateful."

"Lord Wang, you must give these bastards some awesome taste."

"The two regents, the minions are willing to lead the headquarters Jiala into the city, slaughter all these damn Nanming barbarians, and avenge the Eight Banners warriors who died in battle."

Yue Tuo's voice fell, and the rest of the Jiannu nobles had already shouted one after another.

Dolgon's heart was shocked, and he hurriedly looked back and saw that the city of Datong was very lively, because the distance was too far and although it was not quite tangential, it was undoubtedly that something was hanging from the city, and it was obvious that what Abatai and Yue Tuo said was true, and the defenders of Datong were really insulting the corpses of the soldiers of the Eight Banners who died in battle.

But Dolgon is Dolgon after all, he can't help but think, why should the Datong defenders do this?

At this time, Fan Wencheng and Ning Wan rushed to Dolgon, and Ning Wan and I said breathlessly: "Master, you can't send troops, this is Wang Pu's trick, he did this to provoke us!" ”

"Shut up!" Yue Tuo shouted, "Now it is not you Han Aha who are being humiliated, but our noble Eight Banner warriors, of course you will not be uncomfortable!" ”

Ning Wan said miserably: "Lord Wang, the slave is also for the sake of the Qing Dynasty." ”

"That's enough." Yue Tuo shouted, "This king doesn't want to listen to your rhetoric. ”

After that, Yue Tuo said to Dolgon: "Fourteenth uncle, we didn't come to you to ask for your consent, according to the regulations set by the ancestors, major affairs can be carried out as long as the majority of the flag owners agree, if you don't agree, the two white flags can not participate in today's attack, but our two red flags, as well as the two yellow flags and the positive blue flag, will never let go of the Nanming barbarians in the city." ”

"What are you talking about?" Dolgon said, "Since this king is the regent and how can he not know the system founded by the first emperor, don't say anything, all the banner lords Beyler immediately returned to their respective camps, and the eight banners of the Han army and the eight banners of the Mongols also immediately assembled outside the gap, and launched an attack after half an hour!" ”

Dolgon is not a fool, since a large-scale attack is already the trend of the times, if he raises objections at this time, it can only boost Yuetuo's prestige among the nobles of the Eight Banners, and can only weaken his own prestige in turn, of course, Dolgon will not do such a thing that harms himself and others.

"Wow!"

Except for Yue Tuo, who was also the regent, the rest of the Eight Banners nobles suddenly agreed to the promise and took orders one after another.

When Yue Tuo and the others walked away, Ning Wan said worriedly: "Master, you can't send troops." ”

"It's too late to say that." Dolgon muttered, "As Mr. Wen Cheng said, the military system of our Great Qing Kingdom should be changed......

Fan Wencheng, who had not spoken, suddenly said: "Master, in fact, a large-scale attack is a good way to achieve a quick victory. ”

"Huh?" Ning Wan said hurriedly, "Xiandou you ......"

Fan Wencheng raised his hand to stop me and said, "Gongfu, you listen to me after I finish speaking." ”

Dolgon hurriedly said, "Mr. Wencheng, you speak quickly." ”

Fan Wencheng said: "Master, a large-scale attack may cause a lot of casualties, but if you want to break through Datong in a short time, this is the only way!" Master, Gongfu, don't forget that we are alone, we can't stay in the Ming Kingdom for too long, and our goal is not only Datong, but also Yanjing! ”

"That's right." Ning Wan nodded and said, "We really shouldn't stay in Datong for too long. ”

"Okay." Dolgon slammed the knot and said, "Desperately losing tens of thousands of people, I also vow to break through Datong!" ”

Dolgon had already thought about it, and when he would attack in a big way, he would let the Eight Banners of the Han Army and the Eight Banners of the Mongols take the lead, and the Eight Banners of Jiannu would stay in the last battle, so that even if there were many losses, the casualties would be Han and Mongols, and the strength of the Jurchens would not be weakened in any way.

■■■

Datong East Gate, Arrow Tower.

Zhen Youcai excitedly said to Wang Pu: "General, look, Jiannu is assembling!" ”

"Hmm."

Wang Pu nodded, and he didn't need Zhen Youcai to remind him that he had already seen it.

In the thin morning light, a team of neatly dressed and armored Jiannu is opening a large camp, assembling in the open space outside the gap in the city wall, according to the different colors of the armor, divided into yellow, red, blue, white four large arrays, each large array has the eight banners of Jiannu, the eight banners of Mongolia and the eight banners of the Han army, which is very easy to distinguish.

Although the color of the banners of the Eight Banners of the Han Army and the Eight Banners of Mongolia is the same, the texture of the armor on the body is far from the same.

"General." Zhen Youcai asked worriedly, "Jiannu is going to fight hard, can the monks hold on?" ”

"Don't worry." Wang Pu said indifferently, "Even if Jiannu is a heavenly soldier and a general, he will die as many as he comes!" ”

Although the firepower of the musket team is enough to block the gap less than ten zhang wide, there will always be many unexpected changes on the battlefield, and sometimes, a small negligence is enough to cause irreparable consequences.

The only thing Wang Pu can do now is to try to make the best preparations before the battle, and then show enough confidence in front of his subordinates, if even Wang Pu himself lacks confidence, then his army will not have any confidence, once the army guarding Datong loses confidence, then it will not be far from the loss of the city.

■■■

"Boom, boom, boom!"

Jiannu had not yet started the official attack, and the artillery battalion surnamed Tong Yang opened fire first.

Five flowering shells smashed outside the gap with a terrible scream, and then exploded violently, and in an instant, the broken wall at the gap was blown up all over the sky, and the billowing smoke and dust rose into the air again, although the five flowering shells were terrifying, but the damage to the defenders was almost zero, in fact, Dolgon asked Tong Yang's surname to shoot cannons not to kill and injure the defenders, but to boost the morale of the Jiannu army that was about to start attacking!

Dolgon's approach was a bit of a smack of covering with artillery fire and then charging the infantry, but unfortunately he only had five Hongyi cannons, and they were the most primitive front-loading guns, which took a long time to reload after a shot, and lacked firepower.

However, Dolgon's purpose was achieved.

As soon as the cannon stopped, the Jiannu army began to attack the gap, Shi Tingzhu rushed to the front with two thousand Han army eight banners, followed by three thousand Khalkha Mongolian cavalry, then three thousand Horqin Mongolian cavalry, and finally two thousand Jiannu eight banner soldiers.

This 10,000 troops is only the first echelon.

Dolgon gave the first echelon only one combat task, which was to tear down the walls on both sides of the gap, widen the gap that was only ten zhang wide to at least fifty zhang, and then the following five echelons of 60,000 troops would rush through the gap and rush into the city like a tide.

……

(To be continued)