More than a month ago, the rebels were still attacking the city, and 47 of the 48 forts in Hexi were captured by them, and only one Pingyu City became their Waterloo. In the blink of an eye, the attacking and defending sides were transposed, and it was the turn of the Ming army to start attacking the city, and the rebels moved to defending the city. Liu Dongyang, who was standing at the head of Ningxia City and watching the battle, looked at the Ming siege troops that came like ants, and he was really full of emotion.

"Mastermind, do you think we can hold it?" Liu Dongyang asked Bibai, who was standing beside him. A lower-level officer like him, when he came up with enthusiasm, he felt that Lao Tzu was the best in the world, but when he fought in this kind of large army, his eyes were blackened.

Bibai looked at the Ming army in all directions, listened to the earth-shaking shouts and killings, pretended to be calm, and said: "The general soldier should panic, the Ming army is just bluffing, if you want to capture our Ningxia City, it is wishful thinking." ”

"However, even if they attack us, we will not be able to return to heaven just by surrounding us, right?" Liu Dongyang was not confused, and directly raised a key question. As a rebel army without foreign aid, once it is surrounded, there is no hope of getting out of the predicament. In that case, what's the point of holding on to a city?

Bibai smiled and said: "Don't forget, the imperial court is no longer the imperial court of the past, and if this battle is fought for a long time, the imperial court will not be able to support it." As long as we stick to it for half a year, the imperial court will definitely consider recruiting peace. ”

"Zhao'an?" Liu Dongyang's heart moved.

In recent years, the supply of the border army has obviously not been as good as in previous years, and the determination to use troops against the Tatars has become weaker and weaker, all of which shows the decline of the central finance of the Ming Dynasty. As Bibai said, if Ningxia fights for half a year, the first person who can't hold it should be the Ming Court, not Ningxia City. At that time, the imperial court should be considering a peaceful solution, right?

If it is to be resolved peacefully. What conditions will the imperial court propose, and what conditions can it propose? For the sake of face, the imperial court will definitely not pardon all the rebel masterminds, but will adopt the practice of pulling in groups and beating them, which has already set a precedent in the previous mutinies in other places.

So, when the imperial court wants to make peace with the Ningxia rebels, will they demand that Bibai be killed, or will he Liu Dongyang? Will Bi Bai do something to himself?

The cooperation with Bibai, for Liu Dongyang, is to dance with wolves. Bibai has the Gray Heads and a few other teams loyal to him. Liu Dongyang's advantage was that he was Han, and most of Ningxiawei's army trusted him more and was somewhat wary of Bibai. Because the rebellion was still too short, Liu Dongyang had not yet been able to establish his own trust among the Ningxia guards, so he was powerless to resist Bibai. But at the same time, Bibai did not dare to abandon Liu Dongyang easily, otherwise it would provoke another mutiny of the Han army.

Such a balancing relationship became more and more delicate when the Ming army attacked the city on a large scale. Both sides know that cooperation is needed. in order to resist the attack of the Ming army. But both sides are also making preparations, in case Ningxia City can't hold it, they can take the lead and take the other party's head as a gift for their return to the Ming court.

"Mastermind. We must not consider the matter of recruitment. The Ming army can't support a long battle, as long as we hold the city, there will always be a chance to counterattack. Liu Dongyang said to Bibai.

Bibai nodded and said, "The general soldier is a little determined. It is a blessing for my Ningxia guards. Although the general soldier is assured, with the old man here, he will never let the Ming army succeed. ”

"There is a mastermind. Liu was relieved. Liu Dongyang also pretended to be sincere and united, and said to Bibai.

The two evil men had tested each other, and then they separated and went to different positions to direct the defensive battle. Bi Bai privately conspired with Bi Chengen, Bi Yun and others to keep an eye on Liu Dongyang. Liu Dongyang also discussed with Xu Chao, Liu Chuanbai, Zhang and others how to prevent worship and preserve strength, needless to say.

On the side of the army, after Ye Mengxiong issued the siege order, the various troops besieging Ningxiawei began to attack. The Ming army was no stranger to siege tactics, and there were also many specific equipment. In addition to equipment such as watchtowers, ladders, and siege vehicles, the application of artillery is also quite mature.

Unlike the artillery used by Su Hao, most of the artillery in the Ming army only fired shotguns or solid shells, and the number of flowering shells was very small, and due to the use of black powder as explosives, the power of flowering shells was far from comparable to Su's artillery. Su Hao suggested using artillery to break the city, but Li Rusong laughed at it because what the two sides said was not the same thing at all. The artillery in Li Rusong's mind is this kind of artillery that fires solid bullets, and the damage caused by solid bullets smashed on the city wall is very limited.

Although Su Hao's suggestion to break the city with artillery was denied, when Li Rusong commanded the Liaodong Army to attack the city, he still used artillery to the maximum, but its role was to bombard the defenders at the head of the city and cover the soldiers to enter the city.

Li Rusong came with the idea of making meritorious contributions in Ningxia, and he naturally spared no effort to command the Liaodong Army to attack the city. Under the cover of artillery and bows and arrows, the Liaodong Army divided into dozens of roads, carried the ladder straight to the city of Ningxia, and began to ascend the city without saying anything. The Ningxia army at the head of the city had already been threatened by Bibai and Liu Dongyang, saying that once the city was broken, the Ming army would kill all the rebels, so they also fought their best to defend and prevent the Ming army from landing in the city.

The siege battle went straight to the heat from the start.

Li Rusong's arrogance is not without reason, the Liaodong army under his command is really brave, no matter whether the boulders or boiling oil are thrown down the city, as long as they do not take their lives, they will persistently attack the city along the ladder. There were hand-to-hand battles at all the entrances to the city, and people kept falling from the city, a few feet high, and the sergeants who fell were basically hopeless to survive, but even so, the officers and soldiers behind were still charging upwards with perseverance as if they had not seen anything.

The Liaodong Army fought fiercely, and the Ningxia Army was also a trapped beast. As a border city, Ningxia City has always been prepared to prevent Tatar sieges. The officers and soldiers of Ningxia Wei were no strangers to the battle of defending the city, and prepared a large number of equipment to defend the city. Bibai knew the truth of a blow, and in the face of the first wave of the Ming army's offensive, he ordered to defend at any cost. The most elite Cangtou army under his command was also sent to the head of the city, and these ruffians and hooligans were naked one by one, wielding ghost head knives in their hands, and fought with the Ming army for the head of the city, giving the Ming army the greatest damage.

"The siege battle was so tragic." Su Hao, Xu Guangzu, Chen Dao and others stood on a small hillside in the distance, holding binoculars to watch the siege of the city, and couldn't help but sigh. This is not watching a movie, the city is full of living people, watching them fall down bloodily one by one, Su Hao felt very uncomfortable.

"That's how it is to fight, it depends on which side has more stamina." Xu Guangzu replied that as a veteran of the battlefield, he was already very familiar with such a scene, and he would not be as compassionate as Su Hao.

Su Hao asked, "Uncle Xu, in your opinion, can the Liaodong Army take the city head?" ”

Xu Guangzu said: "How can it be so fast, this is the first round of siege." ”

Su Hao was surprised: "Why, do you have to have many rounds to attack?" ”

Chen Daoyi interjected: "It depends on the comparison of the strength of the two sides, if the strong bully the weak, there are also things that will take down the city in one round." But looking at the current battle situation, Bibai's troops are not a weak enemy, and the Liaodong Army and them are also in between. Now that the Bibai Army has the geographical advantage, the Liaodong Army will not attack eight rounds of ten rounds, but I am afraid that it will be difficult to make achievements. ”

"But ......" Su Hao didn't know what to say, this round of attacks was already so tragic, if there were eight rounds of ten rounds, wouldn't it be full of corpses?

Xu Guangzu explained: "This siege is the consumption of both sides. In the first round of attack, the rebels had the equipment to defend the city, and the troops were sufficient, and the Liaodong army attacked for a while, and there was no stamina, so it naturally withdrew, and a new team continued to attack. When the rebels ran out of defensive equipment, and the soldiers were dead and wounded, and they were unable to defend it, the attacking side was able to break the city. ”

"How long will that take?" Su Hao asked again.

"Even if ten days and half a month are fast, it is not unheard of in a year and a half." Xu Guangzu said.

Su Hao said: "Since this is the case, why not wait for our explosives to be transported from the capital to attack again." I believe that as long as one round can blow up the city wall, the other side has no benefit from the city wall, and in the face of tens of thousands of troops, there is no reason to be invincible. ”

Chen Dao said: "Li Rusong doesn't want to wait, if it's really like you said, he blew up the city with explosives, how can the credit be calculated?" He worked hard to come from Liaodong, but not just to play a supporting role for you. ”

"Governor Ye has already told me this." Su Hao said depressedly, "Chen Langzhong, you are a member of the Ministry of War, do you also think that Li Rusong is right to do this?" With so many soldiers' lives, is it not as important as his merits? ”

Chen Dao was speechless, he knew that for those generals who led the army, the lives of soldiers were indeed not as important as their own merits. There are many people who want to be soldiers and eat food, but the credit they can earn is limited. Li Rusong ran to Ningxia with all his strength, of course he didn't want to go back empty-handed, compared to the great achievement of breaking the city, what did these soldiers who died in the siege of the city count?

Xu Guangzu stared at the battlefield for a long time, and said: "Change it, don't be entangled, according to Lao'er, Li Rusong is afraid that he will not dare to attack like this again." Bibai's strength is far stronger than he estimated, and if he continues to attack like this, Li Rusong is afraid that he will not get the credit, and his pants will be lost. ”

"Really?" Su Hao's eyes lit up, and he turned his head to Chen Dao and said, "Chen Langzhong, can you go and beat the side drum, don't let Li Rusong fight for his life like this again." ”