Sieges were inevitable in war. Cities were where people, transportation, and supplies converged. They were a crucial point in war. Although it was amazing to cross mountains and launch surprise attacks, the actual examples of battles were often carried out around cities. Unless it was absolutely necessary, military commanders would not easily bypass cities — unless the defenders were scum like the Ming Army who did not dare leave the city.
Ningyuan City was very small and could not accommodate many soldiers. Sang Quanlai led a platoon of militia to guard the trench outside Ningyuan City. Together with his brothers on the city wall, they built a three-dimensional defense system to maximize their firepower advantage.
Nurhachi's tens of thousands of troops marched from Jinzhou to Ningyuan City in a day. He was determined to remove this obstacle that prevented him from rescuing Mangurtai. With the Khan personally leading the charge, the morale of the Enlightened Ladies was indeed high. Nurhachi himself was able to keep his composure. He did not launch an attack as soon as he arrived. Instead, he first investigated the terrain of Ningyuan Empire. That night …
The people in Ningyuan City had mostly fled when the Kennu came last year. When Mangurtai came, the remaining people were captured and forced into labor. Therefore, when Sang Quanlai arrived with the troops, the city was already empty.
The troops began to repair the fortifications after they arrived. Sang Quanlai was squatting in the trench with a platoon of men. Above them was a simple wooden shed that could barely shelter them from the wind and rain. There was a brazier in the trench, the weak charcoal fire providing some warmth.
Rows of bonfires were lit twenty to thirty meters away from the trench. The bonfires were doused with coal tar. The smell of coal tar was pungent, but it could burn for a long time. It provided light and prevented enemies from approaching.
There were three squads in the platoon, taking turns to keep watch.
Sang Quanlai was a platoon leader at a young age. In order to let his brothers return home alive, he was extremely worried. It was already dark. He had to get up every hour to patrol and ensure that the people at the sentry posts were alert and watching for any movement in the dark.
"You son of a b * tch, aren't you afraid of death?" After patrolling for a while, Sang Quanlai cursed in a low voice. He had once led a group of migrant workers to build roads, so he knew very well that undisciplined people would do things that they could not even imagine. Someone at the sentry post actually felt that the temperature in the brazier was not high enough, so he secretly lit an open flame to warm his hands. "Aren't you afraid that the Tartars will shoot an arrow to take your life? Those Tatars shoot arrows from a long distance and accurately! "
The militia who was scolded did not dare to talk back. He could only laugh awkwardly and stamp his feet in the trench. When Sang Quan saw the man's sorry state, he had no choice but to help him put on the gloves he had been issued as an officer. "Stop shaking for me. The Tartars can smell the stench coming off your body from a hundred meters away."
There was a burst of laughter in the trench, and a few soldiers on sentry duty could not help but laugh. In just a few days, everyone in the platoon knew that their platoon leader was not bad. He was a scholar from Jinzhou University. She was literate, and as long as she gained more experience, she would be of great use.
The militia who was scolded took the gloves and thanked Sang Quan profusely. Sang Quanlai sighed in his heart. Their militia's equipment was not as good as the national army's. It was fine if the firearms were inferior, but even the clothes and hats were far inferior. The national army's soldiers were all issued cotton shoes and gloves, but the militia did not have gloves and other miscellaneous things.
These things were not eye-catching. After all, the Revolutionary Army did not expect the militia to become the national army's envoy. But in this extreme situation, the militia was pushed to the front line. The difference in equipment was huge. Just the freezing of their hands and feet could reduce the soldiers' combat effectiveness by half. Fortunately, they could eat their fill and wear warm clothes. Otherwise, it would be even worse.
Sang Quanlai clenched his fists and stretched his muscles. He felt that the weather tonight was especially cold. His exposed fingers were frozen to the point of pain. Just as he was about to return to his command post to warm up, he suddenly heard a shrill scream in the dark of the night. The scream came from the direction of the outside of the city.
The Tartars were here!
Sang Quanlai hurriedly ran to his post and kicked all the sleeping soldiers awake. Many people were shocked when they heard the scream. They trembled as they got up and looked out of the trench. Sang Quanlai shouted in a low voice, "Ignite the rope and load the gunpowder. Hurry up, all of you! You are here to fight, not to play. "
Although the match burned slowly, if it was lit continuously, it would burn one in one or two hours. Therefore, the match had to be lit during the battle. It was the same for the gunpowder. It had to be loaded before firing.
That was the weakness of the matchlock. Currently, the Jinzhou munitions factory could not meet the equipment needs of hundreds of thousands of militia. They could only make do with the cheaper matchlock guns.
Sang Quanlai returned to his command post and looked into the night with a pair of binoculars. But in reality, he could not see anything in the dark. Instead, screams could be heard from time to time.
Someone shouted, "It's the iron caltrops we threw outside that pierced the soles of the Tatars' feet."
Hehehe …
The soldiers in the platoon were amused.
The outermost part of the defensive line was a circle of caltrops scattered on the ground. No matter how they were placed, there would always be a sharp nail pointing up. The Kennu soldiers could learn from the 'revolutionary army' and be equipped with firearms and armor. But they could not protect the soles of their feet. In this day and age, it was good enough for most of the soldiers to have cloth shoes. But the caltrops could easily pierce through the soles of their shoes.
The Kennu soldiers were obviously planning to launch a sneak attack at night. They were careful not to be exposed. But when their feet were pierced, the pain came so suddenly that they could not help but cry out in pain. The caltrops were scattered without any pattern. It was impossible to clear them in the dark night. They could only use the soles of their feet to trample on them.
The screams increased and Sang Quanlai's breathing became heavier. The militia under him had been laughing and joking, but when they heard the screams approaching, they could imagine that the soldiers of Slave Jian were clenching their teeth and enduring the pain. Even if there were hidden weapons hidden under their feet, they would still charge forward without a care in the world.
"Guns, get ready!"
Orders rang out from the defensive line. Sang Quanlai was also relaying the orders. There were two rows of muskets in the trench and another two rows on the city wall. Both sides fired alternately. This should be able to ensure a certain degree of firepower.
The bonfire twenty to thirty meters away swayed continuously. Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves rang out in the dark night. Sang Quanlai's heart tightened. The Tatars had stealthily brought their horses up. When they were tens of meters away, they mounted the horses and charged forward. This was to reduce the defenders' reaction time.
Several fire arrows were fired from the city. After they rose into the air, they quickly turned around and landed. Then, they exploded into hundreds of balls of fire. These were arson bombs. After they exploded, they spread over a large area and could be used to provide illumination for a short period of time.
Before the balls of fire could land, Sang Quanlai saw a large group of Kennu cavalry galloping at high speed about sixty to seventy meters away. These elite Tatars were taking a great risk in galloping in the dark. Some horses could not see the purposely dug pits in the ground. If their hooves missed, they would immediately fall and their legs would break on the spot. The cavalrymen would definitely fall half to death.
But these elite Tatars were still charging forward crazily. They were completely unafraid of danger. Seeing that they would reach Sang Quanlai in a few breaths, the cannons on the city wall opened fire. Each canister shot out hundreds of steel balls. In one breath, they could flatten several Tatars.
Inside the trench, Sang Quanlai shouted loudly, "Aim and fire!"
The militia in the trench were densely packed. They raised their muskets and pulled the triggers. After two rapid volleys of gunfire, Kennu cavalry fell one after another in front of them. But the Kennu elites that charged out from the darkness were endless. In a short period of time, the number of enemies even exceeded the firepower of the muskets. A large number of cavalrymen charged to the trench behind the bonfire before being forced to stop.
People shouted, horses neighed, guns and cannons fired. The battlefield was tense and noisy. Some Kennu cavalrymen could not stop and directly charged into the trench. Naturally, they fell half to death. Some Kennu dismounted and jumped over the trench. They raised their swords and spears and charged forward. This kind of assault was not suitable to use firearms. It was more convenient to equip cold weapons. But these people soon faced the landmines that the 'revolutionary army' had planted in advance.
With a tug of the rope, a five kilogram bag of explosives could blow up hundreds and thousands of gravel on the ground. The area within a radius of more than ten meters would be immediately cleared. No matter how fierce and brave the Jurchen warriors were, no matter how much they risked their lives, they would still be blown to ashes.
The moment the explosion sounded, a turbulent wave of air rushed over the militia's heads. Hiding in the trench, they all shrank their necks in fright. Their ears were hurting from the huge change in air pressure and their heads were buzzing.
As a preferential treatment for officers, Sang Quanlai held a short-barreled flintlock in his hand and was loading it. The moment he pulled the rope of the landmine, he heard the sound of debris falling continuously above his head. It was the wooden shed that was built above the trench to help them resist the disturbance of the battlefield. But there were still some things that bounced down from the wooden shed. He focused his eyes and saw that it was a broken thigh.
The thigh was still steaming and one side was charred black.
Sang Quanlai glanced at it and smelled the fragrance of meat. He frowned in disgust and pushed the thigh further out of the trench. He looked at the Tatars that were rushing over in the distance and saw that they had already retreated due to heavy casualties.
"Clean up the battlefield, report the casualties, check your weapons, and prepare for the next battle." Sang Quanlai patrolled his trench to make sure that the soldiers under him still had fighting strength.
Some of them were so excited that their muscles were trembling, some of them were so scared that their legs were weak. There were also those who didn't do anything as if they were sleepwalking. They could only be slapped and taught a good lesson.
The engineers came up from the back to cover the landmines. These fellows had to crawl out of the trench and run on the battlefield with their backs bent. In some places, the bonfires were extinguished by the explosion of the landmines and they had to take risks to reignite them. Occasionally, a few arrows would be shot out in the darkness. Those were the Tatars who were unwilling to accept defeat and were looking for an opportunity to retaliate. Some unlucky people were shot, so Sang Quanlai had to send people to drag the wounded back.
The first battle in the dark went quite well. Sang Quanlai's subordinates were all fine. Instead, they were all full of energy. The sentinel who had been stomping his feet because of the cold felt his whole body warm up and his face was full of smiles.
"Don't smile like an idiot." Sang Quanlai scolded. "If your hands aren't cold, then return my gloves. I'm cold now."
The militia roared with laughter and their tense mood eased. Sang Quanlai paced around the troops before returning to his command post with a peace of mind. He thought to himself, "If the Tatars charge blindly like this, then perhaps most of the platoon will be able to return."
But just as this thought arose, there was another clamor in the darkness outside the city. From the sound, the Tatars who had just retreated had come up again. Sang Quanlai was slightly surprised. "They're back so soon? Are these Tatars really not afraid of death? "
Just a few hundred meters away from the frontline, Nurhachi was wrapped in a leather jacket. He coldly shouted, "Charge a few more times. Don't pity the lives of the soldiers below. Now is the time for them to show their loyalty to Jin. There's still some use in dying now. It's better than dying after being defeated. "
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