There was a loud "boom", and a little spark exploded into a ball of fire, shaking the eyes of the Qing soldiers in the darkness, and then the other sparks shone brightly, and then exploded.

There was a rapid whistle, and a row of muskets behind the earthen wall suddenly rang out, and more sparks swept through the air and smashed into the Qing soldiers. After the battle, a horn sounded, and the Qing soldiers roared in unison, rushing towards the mountain like a tide.

"Why rush?" Heto was very confused, it had been exposed, and the sneak attack failed, so why attack hard?

His eyes were so dazzled that he couldn't see clearly, so he rolled to the side so that the people behind him could pass through him, and with this roll, he was stabbed by several thistles that had not been ruled out.

The dense crowd rushed past Xingna's side, and torches and fire pots were thrown down on the mountain to illuminate the figure of the Qing soldiers, and the horn of the Ming army sounded on the top of the mountain, and they also began to gather reinforcements.

The muskets rang out one after another, the Qing soldiers in the queue screamed miserably, the explosives thrown down exploded one after another, the charging Qing soldiers blew up their flesh and blood, and the people behind continued to pour up, their formation was chaotic, and the flames of the explosion also dazzled them, and many people couldn't distinguish the direction.

"Don't rush!" Heto finally couldn't help it, and shouted loudly in Manchu, and by the light of those torches, he could finally see the figure of the Qing soldiers in front of him, and a ball of fire suddenly burst out under the man's body, throwing him into the air, and the Qing soldiers behind him fell down in a hurry.

It was another mine, the horn of the attack was still blowing, and a group of armor soldiers stepped on the corpses of their comrades to advance, and in a short time they lost more than a hundred people, but they could not stop these armor soldiers, because there was an equally vicious Bayala behind them, and all those who retreated would be killed, and after stepping on two more mines, the armor soldiers rushed to the bottom of the trench, and many of the first to go down were pierced by the iron thistles inside. They howled and slashed down the sharp stakes inside, and the arriving armoured soldiers began to find a way to climb.

The artillery on both sides began to bombard, and the ranks of the Qing soldiers continued to fall, but they could not find the dead corners of the fortifications that looked like a fortress. Rows of ladders were erected, and the soldiers braved the fire net to storm upward, and the fire and ash cans were constantly thrown on them. The trench was filled with smoke and dust, and the flames of the explosion were constantly flickering.

The Qing troops under the mountain began to contain the zuò battle, and the Hongyi artillery was also firing at the earthen wall of the Ming army, and the largest night battle was fought on a mountain more than thirty miles east of Gaizhou.

The sound of killing shook the sky, and the ladders were overturned, and then set up, the Qing soldiers desperately climbed up, and the armored soldiers behind began to cover with bows and arrows, throwing indiscriminately at the Ming army's defense line. The first group of armor soldiers climbed the earthen wall on the mountain. The bayonets of the Ming army stretched and retracted on them, and the Qing soldiers who were stabbed fell down screaming.

The follow-up armor soldiers came up in a steady stream, and there were more and more armor soldiers in the trench, and they were crowded inside, but the gap was not opened for a long time, and a sense of danger in Heto's heart became stronger and stronger, and there would definitely not be only sharp stakes in that trench. He wanted the horn of retreat to sound in order to get out of this increasingly dangerous place.

It's late. Countless bright spots pierced the night sky, flying from the front and sides to the Qing army on the hillside. A short roll after landing was followed by a series of explosions. One after the other, as if it would never end. The flames burst out, reflecting the stumbling figures of the Qing soldiers, countless gravel and scrap metal shot in the air, and the screams and exclamations were all muffled in the deafening explosion.

Heto was struck by the explosion and fell to the ground unable to get up. He only felt that the ground was trembling and shaking, his chest and abdomen were constantly being impacted, and the feeling of nausea and pain became more and more intense, and he tried to support half of his body with his arms, and blood flowed out of his mouth and nose.

The sound of gold finally sounded. The Qing soldiers escaped from the smoke and flames in twos and threes, and retreated down the mountain in panic. The explosions were much quieter, but the denser muskets still terrified them.

Heto walked with difficulty with a spear, and he felt powerless than he had ever felt before. The Ming army is getting stronger and stronger, and it seems that there are not so many artillery pieces last time, right?

In the camp of the Qing army, the big tent was brightly lit, and it was full of generals at all levels. Zhuo Butai's face turned pale, and he threw the horsewhip on the table with a snap. As Aobai's younger brother, he controls the largest group in the Qing army, and although he is in a high position, he also has heavy responsibilities.

Around Gaizhou, the Ming army and the Qing army have been fighting for more than three months, and in this not very wide area, nearly 200,000 troops are closely arranged. Of course, this is a phenomenon that is seen on the surface, but Zhuo Butai knows that if it is consumed like this, it will be the same result as letting the opponent put the noose around his neck and slowly tighten it.

Moreover, the Ming army is becoming stronger and stronger, not only with the strengthening of weapons and equipment, but also with a steady stream of recruits replenished by sea. Therefore, until now, the Ming army is still the original number, while the Qing army can only ensure that there is a shortage of ten and three at most, and the establishment is still there, but the men and horses of each banner and each cattle record are no longer complete.

It can be said that although the Ming army's steady fighting style is stupid, it is choking the life of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Manpower and resources were consumed in large quantities in the confrontation with the Ming army, and although they were still supported without defeat, weakness was inevitable.

It is precisely because of this that the Qing court became more and more anxious, more and more urgent, and more and more hoped to end this confrontation, to be able to recuperate for the time being, and to take a breath for the time being.

Of course, as the current ruler of the Qing court, Ao Bai also knew the importance of the army to him. That's the guarantee of your own safety in the future, and it's different to fight hard. Therefore, the order he gave to Zhuo Butai was to fight a big battle and try to turn the tide of the war.

However, the Qing troops that attacked the main attack were mainly composed of white flags and inlaid white flags, and whether they won or lost, Aobai played a role in weakening the opposition. Because the owner of the two white flags was originally Sukh Saha, because of the dispute over land exchange, the two white flags complained about Aobai.

Now, this night assault failed and the losses were significant. In other words, Zhuo Butai's plan to break through a key point of the Ming army's defensive line and guide the Ming army to be passive on the whole line and have to retreat and shrink completely failed.

It was inevitable that he would become angry, but Zhuo Butai also knew that after such a setback, it would be difficult to organize a surprise attack of this scale in a short period of time. Because the Ming army was not shrunk into a group and was passively beaten, the two sides attacked and defended each other, and the strength of the Qing army was very embarrassing.

"Dashuai, the minions are incompetent! Please punish the commander. "Meljang Jingshuo Ha knelt on the ground, his troops lost more than half of them, and many of them did not even recover their bodies.

"You said they had that in the trench, that trap mine?" Zhuo Butai asked in a deep voice.

"Yes, all the sentry posts on the road have been quietly killed, and Heto, who is covered with a white flag, has already touched the trench thirty paces away, but he did not expect to step on a machine mine under his feet, and-" Shuo Ha bowed his head, still grieving the loss of so many of his men.

The other Qing generals frowned, the Ming army had such a new weapon, and it became almost impossible to touch the camp at night.

"This defeat is really because the enemy is too cunning, the punishment will be recorded for the time being, Shuoha, you get up!" Zhuo Butai suppressed the anger in his heart, and tried to say in a calm tone: "I don't say it, you should also know the difficulties of the current imperial court. If you can't repel the enemy army, the hundreds of thousands of troops will spend countless amounts of money and food every day, which is really difficult to support. The enemy is also calculating in this way, neither attacking with all his strength, nor retreating from defense, just consuming with us. Alas, what can I do about it? ”

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing how to answer. I can see the plan of the Ming army, but there is no way to crack it. What is customary to cut off the back road and cut off the grain road, because the Ming army has a strong sailor and all of them are useless. The Ming army is not only sharp in firearms, but also has a strong will to fight, and there are rules for attack and defense, and their own forces are actually at a disadvantage, and it is indeed difficult to win in battle.

"It's all Han people." Mei Ezhangjing Azigen suddenly scolded fiercely: "Then Wu Sangui used troops in Yunnan, how much money was spent on the imperial court, but in the end it was still the opposite. There are also those green flags, who take the money and food of the imperial court, and they also defect in a swarm. If you save all this money and food, why don't you have it now? ”

Zhuo Butai rolled his eyes, what about this negotiation method, what you said is not the same thing, why did you talk about it a few years ago.

In fact, Azigen has some point. After the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, the money and grain finances have been tight, and when Wu Sangui used troops in Yunnan Province, he increased taxes and taxes and made every effort to raise funds. In the end, the Manchu Qing Dynasty withdrew to Guanwai, but it was only a temporary profit, and the looting income was very limited, so it was difficult to support it for a long time.

"Taizu once said: No matter how many ways he comes, I will only go all the way." Zhang Jing Shi Xinzhu said in a deep voice: "Now the enemy is in Ningyuan, in Kuandian, and in Gaizhou, a total of three places are using troops, our army is weak, if we can gather troops to break through its way, the enemy will retreat." ”

"It sounds like that, but how do you do it?" Shuo Ha said in a low voice: "If you want to gather troops, you have to give up one or two places, Jinzhou?" I'm afraid not; Over here? Nor is it proper; As for Kuandian, there weren't many soldiers there, so even if they came, it wouldn't be helpful. ”

Shi Xinzhu glanced at Shuo Ha and argued forcefully: "Then transfer all Shengjing's troops, if the front line is defeated, will it be able to hold there?" If it doesn't work, then we are full of men and women going into battle, and if we can't defeat the enemy, we will all wipe our necks. ”

"Yes, the whole clan is mobilized to fight the enemy to the death." Azigen jumped up and said loudly: "If the puppet emperor doesn't negotiate peace, let's kill all the hundreds of thousands of Ming troops in Liaodong, and see that he is still rampant." ”

"Can you increase your troops, but can't the enemy?" Shuo Ha lowered his head slightly, and continued to say in a low voice: "We are men, women, and children are all in battle, but people can bring in hundreds of thousands of troops. Don't forget how many Han people there are, the number of people who fight, can we fight? ”

"Coward."

"Eggy who is afraid of death."

Zhuo Butai hurriedly slapped the table to cool down the suddenly enthusiastic atmosphere, and looking at the generals who were glaring at each other like fighting cocks, he shook his head helplessly and weakly, and impatiently drove everyone out. After pondering alone in the tent for a long time, Zhuo Butai picked up a pen and paper and began to write a letter to his brother to ask for ideas.

………… (To be continued......)