Under today's bloody battle, even though the Yan army has a condescending advantage, the casualties are estimated to be at least 4,000 or more. For Zhu Di and Zhu Quan's combined forces, thousands of casualties will naturally not hurt their muscles and bones, and their morale will be greatly reduced. But today, the imperial army does not divide the troops, but storms one gate, and the cavalry is responded by Ping'an. The main force of the army under Li Jinglong guarded the built camp and did not fight, but Zhu Di and Zhu Quan were trapped at a loss and had nothing to do. The two of them knew that the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao and the Chinese courtiers of the dynasty did not hesitate to spare blood for the 500,000 army under Li Jinglong, the grain and grass were like mountains, and there were countless generals in the army, and the intention was to wipe out such chaotic subjects and thieves as him. The southern army is the governor of Qu Neng, and they all command Ping'an, which seems to be clumsy and no coincidence, and the tactics of pure fighting and consumption make the cavalry in Zhu Di's hands useless, although there are more than 100,000 defenders in the city, although it is safe to defend the city for a while, if you go out of the city to fight against the hundreds of thousands of recuperated troops under Li Jinglong, it will be self-defeating.

Zhu Quan couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart: The seemingly simple tactics are often the ones with the fewest flaws. Those who talk about the nobility of soldiers all day long often have never even seen tens of thousands of bare-handed rabble, not to mention the fact that we are now facing hundreds of thousands of trained non-commissioned soldiers, many of whom have been battle-hardened.

Dao Yan, who was wearing a black monk's robe, sat quietly on one side, his old and ugly face was quite strange under the candlelight, and said lightly: "It is already early winter, the cold is getting deeper and heavier, if it snows heavily, it will definitely be extremely beneficial to our army." ” ”“

Zhu Di and Zhu Quan looked at each other, and a sense of powerlessness surged in their hearts. As the so-called providence is unpredictable, the heavy snow may fall tomorrow, or it may not fall in ten days and a half months. Although the two of them were the commanders of the army, after a long time of fighting in the face of the huge and flawless style of the Southern Army, they deeply realized that when the two armies were fighting and fighting, the huge advantage in strength could not be easily resolved by some kind of resourcefulness.

In winter, the starry sky is very clear, and bright stars twinkle in the dark night sky, which is very rare.

In the camp of the Southern Army, Sheng Yong, the commander of the army, looked at the beautiful Milky Way in the sky and night sky, although he put down his preoccupation, he did not feel any pleasure at all. As a military general, although he can't say that he knows astronomy and geography, he still needs to know the common sense of judging whether there will be rain and snow tomorrow by looking at the sky, because the weather is humid when it rains, and the bowstring made of animal tendons of the bow and crossbow will be greatly damaged if it is wet, and the artillery cannot fire in the rain. Compared with the bitter cold north of Beiping, the heavy snow in midwinter is the most dangerous place for most of the imperial army in the south.

When Sheng Yong slowly walked into the camp, he couldn't help but think in his mind: As long as there is no snow in the sky for ten days, the morale of the Beiping defenders has suffered such casualties, and it is not an extravagant hope to break the city.

At dawn on the second day, the general of the conquest, Cao Guogong Li Jinglong passed the military order in the tent, yesterday to attack the city, the tired 50,000 troops today stick to the camp and do not come out, and transfer 50,000 recuperated foot soldiers to return to the capital Governor Qu Neng commanded the siege, and all commanded Ping'an and still commanded 50,000 cavalry to guard the flank.

In Beiping City, Zhang Yude, the general of the Yan Army, was ordered by Zhu Di to replace the tired soldiers and colonels who were tired from guarding the city yesterday to rest. The 20,000 troops who had not been engaged in battle yesterday were divided into two parts, 10,000 men immediately defended the city, and 10,000 horses ran under the city to wait in the empty houses and houses, in case they could reinforce the defenders at the head of the city at any time. The rest of the army, led by Jing Jun, Sima Chao, Qiu Fu and others, strictly guarded the rest of the city gates in Beiping to prevent the southern army from suddenly turning to attack.

Zhu Di, Zhu Quan knew that even if he led the army to the city, there would be no chance to take advantage of the 50,000 troops under the command of Ping'an, who were waiting for the battle, so he simply let the ranger scouts go out to monitor the enemy's movements, and more than 30,000 cavalry could not be stationed. Although the two were relatively speechless, their hearts were like heavy lead. Yesterday, when we watched the battle from afar, we could see that the enemy army used only a few fractions of the troops to attack the city, and the attack area under the city wall around Zhangye Gate was not wide. Within three or five days, the defenders of the city were safe with their strong walls, but the real bitter battle was a few days later, when the defenders suffered heavy casualties and demoralization, Li Jinglong suddenly increased his troops and expanded the decisive battle of the attack area.

On the fourth day, Qu Neng, the governor of the southern army, asked for orders to increase the troops. Li Jinglong Yunzhi dispatched 80,000 troops to assemble, led by Wu Jie, Marquis of Anlu, Qu Neng, and Sheng Yong, the commander of Du Commander, and others, and launched the most fierce round of onslaught since the beginning of the war.

Under the deafening roar of cannons, the towers and solid, slightly higher than the city walls, the siege towers made of rough wood slowly moved forward under the concerted efforts of the southern soldiers, like a behemoth to the defenders guarding the city. In the face of this behemoth, the defenders' condescending advantage no longer exists, as long as the hook at the end of the gangplank firmly grasps the head of the city, dozens of soldiers with shields hiding in the building car will rush up, striving to open up a position at the head of the city, so that more brothers can take advantage of the situation to attack by the ladder.

Seeing that the artillery fire of the defenders at the head of the city was obviously sparse compared to the previous two days, the corners of Du Du Qu Neng's mouth couldn't help but put a cruel smile on the corner of his mouth. The reason why it was not used in the first two days was because although this thing was tall and sturdy, not afraid of arrows, it moved slowly and abnormally, and it was easy to be restrained by artillery fire.

Zhang Yu, the general of the Yan army stationed at the head of the city, saw that the enemy army was dispatching the building car, and he hurriedly ordered the artillery under his command to turn the gun port and aim at the building car to bombard.

In the deafening roar of artillery, three building cars hit the artillery fire one after another. The flesh and blood of the southern sergeants who were tightly crowded on it flew sideways, and the building car fell apart.

The two surviving building carts took advantage of the gap between the defenders of the city to clear the gun chambers and reload, and pushed down to a distance of more than ten feet from the city head under the vigorous push of countless sergeants. The southern sergeant crouched high on the roof of the car used his shield to block the arrows that were constantly being fired in front of him.

By the time the artillery at the head of the city was ready, the building car had already arrived at a place no more than a foot away from the head of the city and entered the dead end of the artillery firing.

The southern sergeant on the top of the building car glared viciously at the enemy not far away, waiting for the moment when he climbed to the top of the city and fought for the lives of these unknown enemies.

At this moment, more than a dozen clay pots of different sizes, filled with fire oil, and clay pots flew from the city one after another. It fell into the pile of people on the building car, smashed and shattered, making a group of Southern soldiers drenched and greasy. This was followed by several blazing torches.

The southern sergeant who was on fire let out a terrible scream, and in a panic, he jumped off the building car several feet high one after another, breaking his tendons and breaking his bones. In a matter of moments, the huge building car was engulfed in smoke and flames.

The head of Beiping City, shrouded in night, fell into a deathly silence. Zhu Di, Zhu Quan walked slowly at the head of the city, the smell of blood came to his face, the torch illuminated within reach, the battlements built of blue bricks were all incomplete, and it was obvious that it was caused by the artillery bombardment of the Southern Army. During the day, there was a fierce battle between the offensive and defensive sides, and both of them suffered heavy casualties and were exhausted. It is foreseeable that as long as a few more hours pass, after dawn, the Southern Army will dispatch tens of thousands of non-commissioned officers and colonels who have not participated in the battle to flood in. A few days later, it was the head of the city that could withstand the artillery bombardment, and the Yan army, which was far inferior to the enemy in the city, was not dragged down by the huge casualties. In the face of such a wheel war-like onslaught of the Southern Army, the two of them had nothing to do but support it.

After two days of bloody fighting, at the beginning of the morning on the third day, the north wind howled and swept through the endless military camp outside Beiping City, and the sky was covered with clouds. In the tent of the commander of the southern army in Zhengjiaba Village, the general of the conquest wearing armor, Li Jinglong, the Duke of Cao Guo, frowned and paced back and forth, suddenly stopped, turned his head to look at the generals on both sides of the solemn position, and asked in a deep voice: "The sky is dark today, and there seems to be a sign of heavy snowfall, do our troops want to temporarily stop attacking the city?" ”

When the commander Sheng Yong heard the words of the commander, he couldn't help but be anxious, and hurriedly stepped out of the ranks, and said loudly: "It is the snow that is about to fall, and the army should attack it bravely. He knew very well that in a bitter cold place like Beiping, heavy snow would inevitably hit the morale of the imperial army, which was mostly southerners. The longer the time goes on, the colder the weather will only become, which will be more detrimental to your side. insisted on fighting like this, but in his heart he couldn't help but lament: The imperial army is more than three times more than the Yan rebellion, if it is next year when the winter goes to spring and the weather warms up. Even if Zhu Di and Zhu Quan are accustomed to fighting, why do we have today's worries?

Governor Qu Neng said categorically: "Dare to ask the commander to transfer another 50,000 troops, and the last general will lead the night battle tonight, and he will definitely be able to take Zhangyemen." After a few days of bloody fighting, he already felt that the morale and combat strength of the defenders at the head of the city were not as good as when they were in the first battle, so he dared to speak such a wild speech.

Li Jinglong saw that Qu Neng and Sheng Yong insisted on attacking and not retreating, so he immediately passed down a military order, ordering Anlu Marquis Wu Jie, and commanding Sheng Yong and others to lead 100,000 troops to attack the city in turn, and after nightfall, Qu Neng led 50,000 troops to continue the night battle, and be sure to conquer Beiping before the snowfall.

In the cavalry camp of the Yan Army outside the city at the other end of Beiping, Dao Yan, who was wearing a black monk's robe, looked at Zhu Di, the king of Yan, and Zhu Quan, the king of Ning, who were sitting upright not far away and couldn't sleep at night, their eyes were bloodshot, and said in a deep voice: "The poor monk looks at the sky today, and the morning is tonight, and at the latest tomorrow, there will be heavy snowfall." Today's battle is a matter of survival. ”

Zhu Di, Zhu Quan has lived in the north for a long time, seeing the clouds under the howling wind this morning, he naturally saw the signs of imminent snowfall, and he couldn't help but hear Dao Yan say so solemnly that today's fierce battle is particularly dangerous, and he couldn't help but be stunned.

At this moment, with the sound of horses' hooves, a Yan army scout turned over and fell off his horse outside the tent, and hurried into the tent to attack Zhu Di's southern army today, and the army was more majestic than the previous two days.

Zhu Di, whose face was uncertain, turned his head to look at Zhu Quan, and said in a deep voice: "More than 30,000 cavalry are temporarily under the command of Brother Quan, and Brother Fool came to the city today to supervise the battle." ”

Seeing Zhu Di's ruined demeanor, Dao Yan smiled slightly on his face, and said slowly: "As long as the snow falls, the poor monk has a plan to keep Beiping City impregnable." ”

"What's the solution?" Zhu Di looked at Dao Yan with flickering eyes and said.

Dao Yan said with a smile: "Your Highness can order the soldiers to fetch water from the well in the city, and wait for the heavy snow to fall and the weather is cold, and splash it on the city wall." ”

Zhu Di has lived in Beiping for a long time, and he couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard the words, and stroked his palm and said kindly: "This plan is wonderful." "Don't hesitate at the moment, immediately ordered a thousand households of the Yan army, led two thousand soldiers, and tried to get water from various wells in Beiping City, store it in clay pots, altars and jars, and leave it to splash on the city wall after the heavy snow falls.

Above the head of Zhangye Gate, arrows poured down like a torrential rain in the sky, and in the deafening cannon sound, from time to time, there were Yan soldiers hiding behind the city wall to blast the cannon stones with flesh and blood.

Wearing armor and covered in blood, Zhu Di, the king of Yan, held a three-foot long sword, and led his henchmen to patrol the city, walking forward step by step. The place under his feet was full of blood stains that were wet and dry, dry and wet.

At dusk, Wu Jie, the Marquis of Anlu, saw that the army under his command was still unable to conquer Zhangye Gate despite heavy casualties, so he had no choice but to lead a group of exhausted troops back to the barracks. By the time Qu Neng led 50,000 recuperated Southern Army soldiers and generals to launch an offensive, the sky was already dark, and tens of thousands of torches were dotted with stars, dense as stars, and magnificent.

The goose-feather-like snow finally fell from the sky, and Zhu Quan stopped in the cavalry camp, seeing that the first snow of this winter was so big, he couldn't help but be very happy. It's just because he knows very well that most of the soldiers and generals of the imperial court are southerners, and most of them are northerners compared to Yan Jun and his command, and he can't endure such a cold weather in the north. With heavy snow and cold weather, the situation will only become more favorable to you. In the distant direction of Zhangye Gate in the night, there was still a faint sound of artillery fire, which showed that Li Jinglong, the commander of the Southern Army, was also desperate to attack the city overnight in this situation, which made the joy in his heart swept away. The snow is falling, and it is very heavy, but if the southern army attacks the city tonight, the Yan army is afraid that it will be defeated. At present, although he has mastered the Yanshan escort cavalry, the cavalry brought by Daning totals more than 30,000 people, but the cavalry is not conducive to night battles, and he does not dare to use it lightly unless he has to do it, so he can only continue to send the Chinese army Sima into the city and go to Zhangyemen Zhu Di to investigate the military situation.

Zhangye Gate in Beiping, the city head and the city are dotted, and under the light of torches, the two armies are still fighting fiercely. With a blurred line of sight, the archers on both sides simply fired their bows and arrows at the flickering torches, pushing down the rolling logs.