The guns roared, the sand and dust dispersed, and on the north corner of Juyan Fort, two people were panting heavily, Yang Jiyuan was a long and heavy cow panting, and Cao Zhan was a short and shallow dog panting.

This was the tenth day of the siege, and the Mongols began to have a discipline, although they had not yet evolved to dig parallel trenches near the city, but they also learned to use the breastwork and shield carts to cover the breakthrough, and the area of the death zone under the city was reduced from one mile to half a mile.

At the same time, the Mongols also began to use multi-layered firepower, no longer relying solely on the cannons of the Rakshasas, but using the guns and small cannons left by the Qing army in the Uriya Sutai armory. The cannons were four or five miles away, the small cannons were one or two miles away, and the guns and muskets were half a mile away.

"Obviously, there are Rakshasas instructing, and this battle is interesting......"

The battalion commander Yang Jiyuan gasped for breath because of excitement, which meant that the Mongols should not be bean dregs, and they would collapse if they couldn't even touch the city wall.

Cao Zhan gasped for breath out of fear, and he was in charge of the battle damage statistics. Before, less than ten people were killed and injured every day, which made him think that the war was just like this, and the tragic situation in the canteen was just a matter of God. But the casualties in the first two days suddenly soared in multiples, and the feeling began to deteriorate.

The total number of defenders divided by the daily casualties was equal to the time of holding out, and every time there was one more dead or wounded, he had to recalculate it in his mind, and he felt an invisible pressure, pressing the air around his body and even in his chest to death, and it was difficult to breathe without panting.

Cao Zhan thought that he was not a coward, but his physical reaction was difficult to control, and his fear of being despised by his colleagues was even more fearful, and he was really regarded as a coward. He kindly took over his work and asked him to accompany Yang Jiyuan to deliver military orders. The lieutenant who originally did this was unlucky, and half of his face was cut off by the flying cement block.

Yang Jiyuan slapped Cao Zhan's shoulder, and the latter was startled.

"Still not used to it? Boy, you're the kind of person whose brain spins fast, but this kind of person can't lose distractions. In the army of the former master and slave. I'm afraid that my boss has used it to cut off my head. ”

Yang Jiyuan's words were not shallow, Cao Zhan actually understood, he swallowed his saliva and asked: "Commander, is there any way to get used to it as soon as possible?" ”

The corners of Yang Jiyuan's mouth slanted: "Just think more about your cousin......"

Cao Zhan's cousin is Li Xiangyu, which is well known in the army. Li Xiangyu is not an ordinary person, she is still a little girl, so she dares to stop and knock and go to court with the lawyer. Now it is even more of a grass hall clerk, and the emperor is personally entouraged.

There were rumors in the Sixth Division of the Praetorian Guard that the emperor had personally explained to Gui Zhen that he would take good care of Cao Zhan. In the army, the salary is turned back to the rear, and the reason is that everyone understands.

Yang Jiyuan didn't know the authenticity of this matter, but Cao Zhan resolutely went down to the camp office instead of staying in the division office to mix qualifications, which also made him look at Cao Zhan differently. In the Sixth Division of the Praetorian Guard, whoever has the most "noble" background is the most despised.

"Command, it's not that people will be afraid when they always want to survive on the battlefield. So should we first think that we are dead? ”

Cao was puzzled, the command's pacification was too humane and inconsistent with the tradition of the Sixth Janissary Division.

"That's a coaxing of honest people, but it can't coax you scholars. Everyone is afraid of death, and no one is immune to it, so it depends on what to suppress. ”

The corner tower was still shaking, and smoke was flying. Yang Jiyuan hugged his arms and fell into memories.

"Back in Burma, when I fought against the British Tianzhu soldiers, I was only a wing commander, and I was at the front of the battle column. In the first row of guns, my people fell to 30%, and my legs were already weak, so I thought about whether to turn around and run or lie on the ground and pretend to be dead......"

"I'm still standing upright. Why? Because I suddenly felt very hot on my back, I didn't have to look back to know that the wing posts behind me and even the whole battalion were watching me to see if my wing was about to collapse. ”…,

I suddenly felt that I continued to stand, waving my saber. This looks pretty handsome. It's rare to have thousands of people staring at themselves and pinning their hopes on themselves in a lifetime, what a proud thing is this? Even if you die, it's worth ......."

Yang Jiyuan's words were very surprising to Cao Zhan, and he thought that this boss would use the principles of the Heavenly Punishment Society to encourage him.

"Superficial...... When I left the battlefield alive, I secretly scolded myself for being superficial, but if I had to do it again, I won't regret it. I haven't read any books, and I'm very sorry for my life, and it's always hard to grasp the glory of military law or something. The Heavenly Punishment Society talks about the duty of a soldier, and I feel that I can keep that duty by relying on this superficiality, so ah......"

Yang Jiyuan smiled at Cao Zhan and said: "Duty, merit, glory, shame, everyone has something heavier than life in their hearts, it depends on whether they can find it, and whether they can use it to suppress the fear of death." It doesn't matter if it's a superficial heart, there are even many people who are not afraid of death because they are afraid of death. ”

He put on a weird smile and said: "I heard that your cousin is unparalleled in debate, and even His Majesty can't stop it, I think it's okay, think about the painful days after marrying your cousin, and I don't think there is anything terrible about this battlefield." ”

Cao Zhan coughed, and secretly said that the image of himself and his cousin was so unbearable......

was stirred up by Yang Jiyuan so weirdly, Cao Zhan really felt that his breathing was much easier. At this time, a cannonball was smashing into the hole of the corner tower, and the smoke and dust mixed with cement debris sprayed in, knocking the two soldiers to the ground, and Cao Zhan didn't even calculate the formula again.

It is not shameful to confirm that the fear of death, but it is a shame that he can't suppress this fear and loses his duty, and Cao Zhan finally calmed down. But when he saw the corpses under the city through the gun, he had doubts. How did those people overcome their fear of death? Just silver or whips?

"Our horses are too tired to run, and the iron armor has long been rusty. Our scimitars were blunt, and the bowstrings were stained with blood, and we could no longer pull them apart. We only have strange muskets in our hands, and the cannonballs and guns flying in the sky are ten times faster than feathered arrows. It is no longer difficult for us to compete with the enemy one-on-one, and countless brothers have died in battle, and they have not even seen each other's faces. ”

"But that makes us afraid, are we cowardly? So that we don't dare to step on the corpses of our brothers anymore and continue to rush forward!? Who are we!? We are Khalkha Mongolians! A descendant of Genghis Khan! ”

"Five hundred years ago, we conquered the whole world! Every piece of land, every city, is flying with the banner of our Mongols! Gold and silver treasures, male and female slaves, we can grab whatever we want, whether it is the emperor of the Han people or the princes of the foreigners, they are all moaning under the iron hooves of our Mongols! ”

In front of the tent of the Khan. A middle-aged man was stepping on the saddle, shouting loudly, and hundreds of flag leaders and leaders gathered in front, his face was red, his fists were clenched, and he was emotional.

Baledar, the son of Zasaktu Khan, was a staunch pro-Rakshasa and the de facto commander of this great army. It was he who joined forces with Cherrekh to promote the joint of the three Khalkha ministries. gathered this army, and also got muskets and cannons from the rakshasas.

But the siege of more than ten days not only did not damage Juyan Fort at all, but also killed or wounded three or four thousand people. Most of them were the elite of the clan, and the three khans still strongly supported Baldal, but the banners of the various tribes began to waver.

This made Baldar angry, and Cherrekh's words frightened him: "If the Khalkha Mongols are so weak, Your Excellency Ivanov, the Tobolsk overseer[1] who ruled all of Siberia, will gladly drive the Cossacks south. The Tushetu Khan and the Chechen Khan are still in the east, and your Zasaktu Khan is closest to the Tangnu-Ulianghai, and then your father will be there. And you, can you still be this Khan King again? ”

He summoned the tribal leaders of the three tribes and mobilized them for battle with a tirade rarely seen by the Mongols. A few hundred years ago, the Mongols would have fought with all their might, and there was no need for mobilization at all. …,

"But now...... Now our Khalkha Mongols have not only lost the glory of their ancestors, but even have no way to live! ”

Baldal's tone changed to pathos. It's an emotion from his heart.

"The Qing Dynasty abandoned us, and the Han invaded our homeland to seize our pastures and take away our cattle and sheep. They are also going to slaughter all the men and women who are taller than the wheels, in revenge for what we did to them 500 years ago! ”

"Today, we are fighting here, and we are no longer fighting for the glory of our ancestors! We are fighting for our lives! If we fail, we lose more than glory. Not just the lives of warriors, but the whole of Khalkha Mongolia! If we fail, the Khalkha Mongols, whether they are the Zhakhuthu Khanate, the Tushetu Khan, or the Chechen Khan......"

Baldal glanced at the various chiefs in the field, noticing the presence of Tsereng and Dorunzab, and added: "Or the three-tone Noyan ......"

Listening to Baledar's sudden increase in tone. Chanting: "All shall perish!" Dressed in a cloak and dressed in a cloak, Cherrekh crooked the corners of his mouth.

"To live, a nation, a country, must have a broad territory, so that it will not be like now, because there is no way to live, and cry out of sorrow and powerlessness. It's a pity that behind you is Russia, so you Khalkha Mongols can only fight with the Han people to survive. ”

Cherrekh's emotional self-muttering was covered by a tidal shout, there was no need for Baldal to say more, everyone understood, and if he didn't win, there was no way to live.

"Is the way of life of the three Khalkha tribes the same thing as the way of life of a small tribe like our Sanyin Noyan? Is the way of life of the king of Khan the same as the life of people like me? ”

Outside the crowd, the leader of the Sanyin Noyan Sect, Celeng, sneered, and a lama beside him smiled gently.

The Mongols, full of sorrow, finally broke out their traditional fighting enthusiasm under the unfamiliar way of fighting. In the next ten days, the Mongols finally compressed the siege line to less than seventy or eighty zhang of the city wall at a heavy price of about 2,000 corpses.

At this distance, they were already able to use the cover of short firepower to start filling in the moats, and even launched a surprise attack with ladders. Despite the cannons, grenades, and marksman's cold guns, it wasn't too hard to deal with such an attack. But Cao Zhan, who took over the casualty statistics again, had to once again pull up the abacus that was pressed in his heart.

In the past month, 146 people have been killed in the fort, 203 seriously wounded, and the lightly wounded are no longer counted. At the current rate of 30 casualties per day, it will be held for another month at most.

When inspecting the city defenses, Cao Zhan was also worried about the numerous cracks in the city wall, which seemed to be about to collapse in the next moment. After all, it was a military fort built in a hurry, and the planned outer defense line was not built, so the Mongols came over, and there were also Rakshasa people to guide them. I hope that the reinforcements can anticipate the enemy's leniency, rather than their own leniency, and send reinforcements as soon as possible.

On 10 November, the Mongol artillery fire suddenly concentrated on the southeastern city wall, and Cao Zhan was stunned.

"Summing up this month's fighting, I found that the Chinese were the most powerful in blocking on this side, and the artillery on the towers suppressed the artillery fire the fastest on this side, and I believe that they had defensive deficiencies on this side."

Cherrekh, who had participated in the Battle of Finland in the Great Northern Campaign, finally discovered the weakness of Cylenburg, and Baldal, who had already been red-eyed, personally took command and drove the musketeers to charge continuously. And Cherrekh finally got the approval of the king of Khan, and directly commanded the artillery to carry out long-range bombardment.

"Damn Rakshasas, when you catch them, you must cut off their balls and drink!"

Yang Jiyuan cursed with a dark face, and personally went up to the southeast corner tower to direct the fire counterattack. ..., "By the way, you didn't write a suicide note and leave a token?" ”

Dai went to the sick and followed Yang Jiyuan, and suddenly asked Cao Zhan this sentence before leaving.

Cao Zhan patted his head, he really forgot, although he didn't take it very seriously, but it was better to do it than not to do it, he hurriedly stuffed one of his manuscripts to Dai to get sick, it was some things he made in his spare time, some hidden words, only his cousin should understand.

waited for the figure of Dai Qu's illness to disappear in the corner tower, and Cao Zhan understood, damn, he was deceived, why didn't this guy leave him the suicide note?

Stretching out his hand towards the corner tower, the middle finger just came out, the sky shook for a while, and the upper half of the corner tower collapsed.

"Substitute for the sick...... Commander Yang ......"

Cao Zhan's eyes were straight, his hands were frozen in the air, and he didn't believe that his boss and colleagues were dying in front of his eyes.

Dongwan Fort, the internal and external flags are displayed, the camp tent is like the sea, Gui Zhen hurriedly found Peng Shihan: "The sentry cavalry reported that a corner tower in Juyan Fort collapsed the day before yesterday, and in two hours, the command flag, the deputy command flag, and the wing long flag fell one after another, and then the aile's flag was raised!" ”

Peng Shihan nodded, he had received a military report: "The officers are so seriously injured that it can only be said that God has no eyes...... With the help of the Rakshasa people in command, plus artillery, it is not surprising that it hits this one. ”

Gui Zhen, who was rarely anxious in front of his subordinates, was so anxious that he wanted to jump to his feet at the moment: "Yang Ji is far away, I'm not worried, any wing commander is here, I have the bottom in my heart, but the fucking one commander, one deputy commander, and all four wing commanders are gone!" The defenders of Fort Güyan are now little more than a small horseman! All are under control, should we send out cavalry first to relieve the pressure on Juyan Fort? ”

Peng Shihan shook his head: "It will take time for the king to die, the back road is not blocked, and now it is just to startle the snake." ”

Gui Zhen gritted his teeth: "What should I do if Juyan Fort is going to be lost?" ”

Peng Shihan asked rhetorically: "Has the wall of Juyanbao collapsed?" Is the artillery fire suppressed? Are the Mongols already attacking the city? ”

Gui Zhen shook his head, the sentry could even see the flags in the city clearly, if there was really any such situation as Peng Shihan said, it would have been reported a long time ago.

Peng Shihan shrugged: "Then what are you worried about?" ”

Gui Zhen paused for a moment and sighed helplessly.