Chapter 415: Battle of Xintai (I)

On the seventh day of October in the sixteenth year of Zhengde of the Ming Dynasty, on a sunny day, when the morning sun erupted from under the horizon, the Ming army launched a fierce attack on Xintai City from the south gate and the east gate at the same time.

In the agitated sound of golden drums, the Ming army's stone throwers, artillery, and bed crossbows were in full swing, but seeing boulders, cannonballs, and iron spears roaring all over the sky, the thieves on the head of Xintai City were bombed on the spot, and the screams and cries rang out one after another, and there were many casualties.

Boom Boom Boom ......

The iron arrows inspired by the bed crossbow slashed through a distance of nearly 100 meters with a terrifying scream, piercing deep into the green bricks of the city wall like slicing tofu, stirring up sparks in all directions. The rows of iron arrows inserted in the city wall will eventually become the ladder for the Ming army to climb up.

"Kill, rush!"

The Ming army shouted and rushed to the city wall, climbed to the top of the city one after another, and the siege ladders and arrow towers were also pushed to the bottom of the city, and the tragic bloody battle kicked off......

The thieves at the head of the city shouted and threw the rolling wood and stones down, or poured the hot oil and dung water, and the Ming soldiers who climbed the city continued to scream and fall, killing and injuring countless people.

War is brutal, either kill the enemy to achieve victory, or be killed by the enemy and become a bone by the uncertain riverside. Siege warfare is particularly brutal, and the attacking side has to pay several times as many human lives to fill it, of course, this is in the case of ignoring the difference in equipment between the two sides.

A tragic battle lasted from dawn to noon, although the offensive of the Ming army was very fierce, but the defense of the thieves was also very tenacious, so the Ming army failed to capture the city, so they could only retreat to bury the pot to cook and rest.

In the afternoon, the war drums beat again, and the Ming army generals who held back their strength personally approached to supervise the battle, and the Ming army immediately launched a more ferocious attack, attacking the wall several times, but unfortunately the follow-up support could not keep up, and they were all repelled by Zhao Quanqiu Fu and other White Lotus masters, and finally could only return in vain.

At dusk, the remnant sun was like blood, and the Ming army carried the dead and wounded companions back like a tide, and the thieves at the head of the city were relieved to see this, but no one cheered, because they couldn't cheer.

At this moment, the head of the city has been smashed by the throwing stones of the Ming army, and several sections of the female wall have even been smashed down. The wounded soldiers who are missing arms and legs are crying out for heaven and earth, which is like purgatory on earth.

It is said that most of these thieves who participated in the rebellion were homeless, and they joined just to share the money and food, and after receiving the money and food, they were naturally enthusiastic, but a tragic battle completely knocked them back to their original shape, and their morale was extremely low at the moment.

Zhao's clothes were still stained with blood, and he patrolled the city with a calm face, and Qiu Fu and the others behind him also looked solemn, completely devoid of the ease and luck before the war.

When Meng Lun described how fierce the Ming army's firepower was in attacking the city, Qiu Fu also made mockery, but at this time, he didn't even dare to let out a fart. As the saying goes, the present is true, and now everyone knows that although the Ming army was repulsed today, it has attacked the city several times, and if it comes to attack again tomorrow, everyone is estimated to be unable to hold it.

Zhao Quan led a group of backbones to inspect from the east to the south of the city, and his eyes fell on the Xuanhuang Regiment Dragon Flag flying high above the Ming army camp, his eyes flashed, and he turned back to Qiu Fu and the others and whispered a few words.

Soon, the north gate and west gate of Xintai City quietly opened, and several fast horses galloped towards Tai'an and Laiwu respectively.

Zhao Quan was still hesitant to implement that bold idea, after all, it was too risky, but today's battle made him realize the gap between the righteous army and the Ming army, and if he continued to defend the city, he would only end up hating, so he decided to take a risk. If it succeeds by luck, the righteous army will not only be able to break the encirclement of the Ming army, but also eliminate Xu Jin's department in one fell swoop, and its prestige will be greatly boosted from then on.

In addition, as long as Xu Jin is eliminated, the rebel army will be able to move south and easily occupy the entire Yanzhou Mansion, and the strength of the rebel army will definitely grow like a snowball. Moreover, to the south of Yanzhou Mansion is the wealthy Nanzhili, take Nanzhili and occupy Jinling, it is equivalent to half of the country, how fast!

Zhao Quan was making his wishful thinking at the head of the city, but Xu Jin was inspecting the military camp at this time, comforting the wounded soldiers.

At this moment, hundreds of iron pots have been erected outside the wounded barracks, and the gauze is gurgling with blood in the iron pot, and sufficient sterilization and disinfection can effectively prevent bacterial infection of wounds and reduce the mortality rate of wounded soldiers.

Inside the tent, several military doctors are nervously stitching up the wounds of wounded soldiers. It is said that when King Ning rebelled, Xu Jin used the method of stitching wounds in the army to treat seriously injured soldiers, and later Wang Shouren felt that this method worked, so he went to the imperial court and suggested that this method be promoted in the army, after more than two years, the wound stitching method has been popularized in the Ming army, which really saved the lives of many soldiers.

Before the advent of the suture method, a large number of soldiers died in every battle due to blood loss due to the wide wound, and some wounded soldiers even if they were lucky enough to stop the bleeding, but the healing was too slow, and finally because of the wound infection, after being tortured, they died in pain.

"See Chincha-sama!"

When the military doctors saw Xu Jin, they all immediately stopped and saluted respectfully, others may not know, but these military doctors all know that the wound stitching method was invented by the young Lord Qincha in front of him, and the merit is immeasurable!

Xu Jin nodded and said, "You don't have to worry about me, please continue to heal the injured brothers." ”

After Xu Jin finished condolences to the wounded soldiers, he returned to the tent, where the generals were already waiting. Xu Jin didn't talk nonsense, and directly asked about the statistical results of the casualties, and then asked the generals to summarize the gains and losses and discuss how to fight tomorrow's battle.

Today's casualties of the Ming army are a bit large, more than 300 people were killed, and the light and serious wounded added up to more than 1,000 people, however, the besieging side suffered a loss, and it was normal for the casualties to be larger, so Xu Jin did not blame the generals, but praised the generals for their bravery, and also announced that they would give heavy rewards to the officers and soldiers who rushed to the city today, and the real money was issued on the spot.

Xu Jin's attitude undoubtedly greatly encouraged the officers and soldiers of the whole army, and one by one they vowed to take Xintai City in one fell swoop tomorrow and capture and kill the White Lotus Demon Zhao Quan and his gang.

……

Today, the battle on the side of Xintai City is in full swing, and the other Ming troops are not idle.

In the west, after receiving Xu Jin's order, the Linqing Guard and Tai'an Guard, who had just exterminated the Horse Mountain, immediately sent troops to Tai'an City and stationed them outside the west gate of Tai'an City to contain the Wangtang Department in the city.

In the north, the Qingzhou guard stationed in Qingshi Pass also sent troops to Laiwu, and set up camp in the north of Laiwu City to contain the five thousand thieves in the city.

To the south, Xuzhou Wei, who received Xu Jin's order, was rushing to Surabaya County.

The only exception was Jinan Wei, who did not continue south after receiving Xu Jin's order, but stayed in Liubu Town, seventy miles north of Tai'an City.

It is said that Jinan City is the provincial capital of Shandong Province, and it is the administrative center of a province, and the political envoys, the criminal judges, and the commanders are all in Jinan City, and the station of the eunuch Luo Xiang is in the eastern suburbs of Jinan City.

Jinan Wei didn't know for some reason, maybe it was because of the safety of Jinan City, and he did not follow Xu Jin's order to come to Tai'an City, but walked to Liubu Town, which was seventy miles away from Tai'an City, and stopped, because it was only sixty-seven miles from Liubu Town to Jinan City, and once there was a disturbance, it could be immediately slowed back.