I

"Ye He and Hui Fa suffered too many casualties yesterday and are unwilling to attack the city today." Wang Yaochen said.

Wang Tingchen turned to look at the rear camp and asked with a smile: "You think if the Tatar civilians are expelled from the city and consumed, what kind of punishment will we bear?"

Wang Yaochen was stunned: "Both you and I will be dismissed from our posts, and this battle will no longer be based on merit. I'm afraid it will take a year and a half before I can be reinstated and continue to lead the troops. If I'm unlucky, my title will also be downgraded."

"Then do it!"

Wang Tingchen rubbed his hands and said: "The Tatars' defense supplies have not been exhausted, and Ye He and Huifa can no longer sustain the casualties. To attack at this time is to let the soldiers die. We are all still young, and there will be many battles in the future. Fight, even if you lose your title, you can still be promoted back!"

"This... this is not good." Wang Yaochen is the chief missionary officer of the cavalry division after all.

Wang Tingchen said: "If you don't want to, forget it. If something happens, I will handle it alone. Just say that you tried hard to persuade me, but I forced myself to violate military regulations."

"It's not a question of who will carry it," Wang Yaochen said. "The Datong Army has strict disciplines and the military regulations are clearly written. You cannot force the people to fight, even the people of the enemy country."

Wang Tingchen sneered and said: "I was born as a general in the former dynasty. I have fought with the Tatars for several years. I have seen many disasters caused by the Tatars. Which Tatar has not stained the blood of the Han people on his hands? This is the territory of the Huifa Department. Now it is the Tatar people who are farming. Where did they come from? They were brought by Mandahai, and the land they cultivated was snatched from the hands of the Huifa people. Do you think they are civilians? They kill Han people and When you were a commoner in the Huifa tribe, why did you ever feel sorry for those people?"

Wang Yaochen was still hesitant, but he was moved by what he said.

Wang Tingchen added: "When the Datong Army first established a foothold in Liaodong, they killed Tatars whenever they saw them, regardless of civilians. What is the difference between killing Tatar civilians and fighting to expel Tatar civilians?"

Wang Yaochen said: "That's different. When we first established a foothold in Liaodong, we had to kill the Tatars on sight. This was consuming the population of the Tatars, otherwise our army would not be able to gain a foothold in Liaodong. Now the court has said that in order to disintegrate the Tatars Morale, Tatar civilians can’t be killed randomly.”

"Although the Tatar prisoners in the rear camp were all civilians, did they resist when our army came to kill them?" Wang Tingchen asked.

Wang Yaochen nodded: "I resisted."

Wang Tingchen added: "If the cavalry division hadn't come and gone like the wind and allowed these Tatar civilians to escape back to the city, would they have become enemies defending the city? The closer you get here, the fewer Tatar civilians are. Why is this? Because? The young men have been drafted to fight. If we arrive later, will these Tatar civilians further north also be drafted to fight?"

"Definitely." Wang Yaochen said.

"That's right, these are not civilians, they are Tatar soldiers! We are not driving civilians to fight, we are driving prisoners of war to fight," Wang Tingchen said with a smile, "Besides, we don't bring much food and grass for the army, so how can we have food?" To feed and drink these prisoners?”

Wang Tingchen is really not being unreasonable. Today's Eight Banners Army has degenerated into a combination of soldiers and peasants, and it is impossible to distinguish the difference between soldiers and civilians.

Let these Tatar civilians take up arms and they will be transformed into Tatar soldiers.

Wang Yaochen thought about it, and finally gritted his teeth and said: "I agree, but I will report it truthfully. We will receive the punishment together when the time comes."

"Good brother!" Wang Tingchen laughed happily.

These prisoners of war, or Tatar civilians, were captured from various villages in the north, and their food was robbed as supplies. The number of people was not large. The total number of men, women, old and children was less than 3,000, but adult men accounted for more than one-third.

According to Wang Tingchen's idea, all the old, weak, women and children were driven out to fight. But Wang Yaochen stopped him and only allowed him to drive away the adult men.

"Listen, you Tatars, you have so much blood on your hands." Wang Tingchen went to the prisoner of war camp in person. "Now I give you a chance to make atonement and follow our army to attack the city. Not only will your lives be spared after the war, I can also help you settle down and share your land!"

Weapons were quickly distributed, and each person held a wooden stick in his hand.

Even if you don't want to fight, you have to fight. There are swords and guns pointing behind you. The soldiers of Datong had no sympathy for this and wanted to kill all the prisoners because they had a bloody feud with each other.

On the city wall.

"What is that?" Dorji asked doubtfully.

Leng Saiyi observed it with a telescope for a moment, and then said angrily: "That's our tribe!"

The siege began soon, and the servant troops of Ye He and Hui Fa barely managed to get back into battle and charge. A small number of soldiers from Datong also set out in formation. These are all feint attack troops, and the main purpose is to let cannon fodder die, but the feint attack may turn into a real attack at any time.

"kill!"

Outside the two city walls, there were loud shouts of killing, mainly from Datong soldiers.

The young and strong Tatars held wooden sticks and carried simple wooden ladders, timidly moving forward. There were also a few who tried to turn around and escape, but were executed on the spot by the Datong army responsible for suppressing the formation.

"Remember, if you perform meritorious service and atone for your sins, you will be absolved if you conquer the city!"

More than a thousand Tatars, young and strong, rushed forward with their heads down.

Gao Li asked: "Beizi, do you want these tribesmen to climb up? They are forced to attack the city. They will definitely switch sides after climbing the city wall."

Leng Saiyi asked back: "How do you know that there are no Nanmanzi hidden inside? Even if there are no Nanmanzi hidden inside, what will happen if these people board the city in panic and disrupt the city's defense deployment, and the Nanmanzi take the opportunity to attack the city?"

Gao Li was speechless.

"Fire the arrow!" Leng Saiyi ordered.

The Eight Banners Army guarding the city could only shoot arrows at their tribesmen. A burst of rain fell, and the young Tatars running in front were so frightened that they turned around and ran away.

"Bang bang bang!"

The cavalry division was equipped with a small number of dragoons, and they immediately opened fire on the defeated troops. In fact, the angle was slightly upward. I didn't want to kill them, but just forced them to attack the city again.

With arrows in front and bullets behind them, these young and strong Tatars were forced to run back and forth like a group of headless flies.

It didn't matter whether it was left or right. Finally, someone carried the ladder and continued rushing. After capturing the city, they still have a chance to survive. If they continue like this, they will all die under the city wall sooner or later.

"Gold juice!"

"Rolling logs!"

The hot oil had been exhausted. At this moment, the golden juice and rolling wood were thrown down, once again beating the young and strong Tatars who were attacking the city to pieces.

On the other side, Wang Fuchen led his troops and was sandwiched among the soldiers of Ye He's tribe, and also started the first round of feint attack. Their weapons and equipment were obviously more sophisticated, so Lenseyi mobilized elites to focus on defending this section of the city wall, and the number of bows and arrows was obviously more.

In one morning, hundreds of people died, and the siege made no progress.

The afternoon continued, and it was still the same, with the battle situation not changing at all.

That night, cannons were heard outside the city and many torches were lit.

Leng Saiyi successfully defended the city for two days and felt much more confident. He sneered and said, "It's another trick to exhaust the troops. Do you think I haven't read "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms"? They took turns to guard the city. The soldiers on the city were always on guard, and the soldiers inside the city were so sleepy." !”

For two consecutive nights, the Datong Army was making trouble outside the city, which only prevented the defenders from resting.

Although Leng Saiyi ordered his soldiers to take turns guarding the city, where could anyone in the city sleep?

The houses in the city are still being demolished one after another, and the logs can be used as rolling wood, and door panels and the like are used to cook gold juice.

The fire dare not stop for a moment, because the feint attack may turn into a real attack at any time. The excrement water has been boiling in the pot, and the stench near the city wall is so bad that the Tatar defenders have temporarily lost their sense of smell.

"These pots of golden juice are almost dry. Get more quickly!"

"there is none left."

"If you don't have any more, just take someone to pee or poop, and then poop in the pot for me!"

Manure is agricultural fertilizer and is usually packed in buckets. Someone transports it to sell outside the city. There is not much inventory in the city. For two days in a row, the excrement water has been boiling. Even if it is not poured down, it will dry out after a long time.

"kill!"

The Tiger Crouching Cannon suddenly stopped firing, and the Datong Army shouted and charged. Everyone did not carry weapons in their hands, but held several torches. More than a thousand people feigned an attack, creating a formation of thousands of people attacking at night.

"The Nanmanzi are attacking the city, come and defend it!"

The Tatar defenders were so frightened that they fired arrows randomly in the direction of the torches. The Eight Banners Army who were resting in the city were also called up one after another, and stopped resting to prepare to support the city wall at any time.

After all the fuss, the Datong Army in charge of the feint attack managed to retreat within the range of their bows and arrows.

This situation became the norm, almost every half an hour, and the Tatar defenders were exhausted.

If they were to go through the city wall, they would definitely not be afraid. But the city wall here is too short, and you will climb up if you are not careful, so you must be vigilant at all times.

Gradually, the defenders stopped firing arrows. They had to save arrows and at the same time save their own arm strength. Otherwise, after a few more rounds of feints, they would be too tired to draw the arrow away.

The Tatars took turns defending the city, and the Datong army took turns feinting attacks. Both sides could not sleep, and they continued like this until dawn.

"ha!"

A group of defenders yawned and left the city wall, allowing friendly troops to come over and change defenses.

The Tatars, who were on guard, were also yawning. They didn't sleep well in the city. They all took a nap against the city wall. As soon as their eyes closed, they were woken up in a daze.

Moreover, they didn't get much sleep the night before, as the Datong Army fired artillery fire at regular intervals.

After staying up for two nights, and still having two days to defend the city, I can't even bear this damn iron. There were already some Tatar defenders who were too sleepy to wake up despite the shouts of killing, so they leaned against the wall and fell asleep directly.

The golden juice is not cooked very much, mainly because there are not so many raw materials, and it will be boiled dry quickly if it is kept burning.

The sky started to turn white, and things could be seen at close range.

Wang Fuchen yawned and walked forward. He had slept all night. A thousand warriors were picked out and planned to attack the city at dawn. These people didn't care about anything last night and rested peacefully in the camp.

Wang Fuchen led five hundred warriors to attack from the northwest.

Lu Rui led five hundred warriors and attacked from the west.

These one thousand people are all cavalry, all wearing armor. They usually ride horses for close combat, but now they dismount and run to attack the city.

"kill!"

From a distance, friendly troops started shouting.

It was getting dark before dawn, and the visible distance was only a few meters away. The Datong Army did not have torches, so the defenders could not observe the situation, but they still quickly organized a defense.

It's just that the Tatars guarding the city didn't pay much attention to it. They were used to the Datong Army conducting feint attacks.

The archers were too lazy to nock their arrows and just stood behind the arrow stacks waiting.

The friendly troops were still shouting from behind, but the one thousand warriors who were actually attacking all trotted forward in silence, quickly approaching the city wall under the dim sky.

"Enemy attack, enemy attack!"

After running more than ten meters outside the city, the defenders vaguely noticed them, and then let out panic shouts.

The Tatar archers were busy setting arrows and drawing their bows. There was no gold juice at all, and only some rolling logs were left.

A thousand first climbers brought only a dozen ladders.

When they approached the city wall under a hail of arrows, more than twenty of them had been shot down. Several people use a wooden pole to push the person in front to accelerate the charge. The joint between the wooden pole and the waist is a U-shaped groove design.

"Rolling logs!"

Many rolling logs were carried and smashed down, and more than ten Datong soldiers were hit on the spot.

Arrows were still being fired, and Datong soldiers were shot to death one after another.

After Wang Fuchen approached the city wall, he used the push of the wooden pole to run up the city wall. The city wall is not straight, it has a certain slope, and there is a wooden pole pushing it behind, so it is easy to run up.

Who made the city wall here less than three meters?

"Your mother..."

When Wang Fuchen was about to climb the city wall, there happened to be a rolling log there. Although he was not hit squarely, the edge of the rolling log brushed against his arm, causing him to lose his balance and fall down.

Lu Rui, who was on another section of the city wall, also fell down, but was stabbed by a spear. Fortunately, he was protected by armor.

At that time, Lu Rui's subordinate, a battalion commander named Han Shouxin, successfully rushed to the city wall.

In an instant, three spears were aimed at Han Shouxin.

This man carried it with his armor, wielded his sword and chopped hard, using his life to buy time for the following friendly forces.

"kill!"

Further away from the city wall, there were loud shouts of killing, and countless Datong troops came into view of the defenders. This time, the entire army was really attacking the city.