After the Ming army dug up the snow, they dug trenches in the open space, but after digging a few meters deeper, it was difficult to dig any further, and below was a permafrost layer that would not melt for thousands of years, frozen as hard as a stone, and it was impossible to dig at all.

"That's it, even if we can't dig the tunnel, we can break through Beihai City!" Zheng said.

Xiao Gongchen proposed: "It's better to build a few more ladder cars, nest cars and rush cars, anyway, they are made of ice, the time to build siege weapons is short, they can be manufactured in large quantities, and they are not afraid of rockets." ”

Huang Zhao on the side proposed: "Let's build another batch of water hose trucks, when attacking the city, let the water crane follow behind the ladder truck, if the city head throws fire oil, use the water crane to spray water to extinguish the fire." ”

"Good!" Zheng Xun nodded.

In the mountains and forests near Lake Baikal, slaves of the Mongol tribes were slashed with axes under the watchful eye of the Mongol and Ming soldiers. One birch tree after another was cut down, and the cut wood was put in the snow and pushed straight down the mountain. Slaves at the foot of the mountain hauled the wood and sent it to the lake to begin processing.

The wood is split one by one and processed into various shapes depending on the purpose. Some wood is used to cut into planks, while others are cylinders. The wood was nailed up.

The walls of Beihai City are not very high, only two zhang high, and siege weapons such as ladder carts and nest carts do not need to be too high, which reduces a lot of workload. After about a month of work, Zheng Xi built 120 large ladder trucks, 240 watchtower cars, 60 siege vehicles and 300 shield vehicles. Zheng Xi did not build a simple ladder, he did not plan to adopt the conventional method of attacking the city with ants, because these 120 large ladder vehicles could send 2,400 elite soldiers to the city at one time, and if the ladder vehicles were not destroyed, they would also send people to the city continuously. And on the 240 watchtower cars, 1,200 rifled gunners can stand, which can suppress the fire of the city head from a distance.

"I didn't expect the Puppet Ming and the Mongols to create so many large-scale siege weapons! It's really crazy! Tuhai, who was standing in the fortress, looked at the Ming and Mongolian coalition forces outside the city and said.

Chernyaev said: "What are you afraid of? We've got a fortress! Even if their ladder cart pushes it up, the bastions on both sides can make them lose a lot! Even if they climb to the top of the city, they can't escape the fire of the fortress! ”

Indeed, the fortress is the biggest threat in siege warfare, when the slow ladder cart approaches, the musketeers in the fort on both sides can not only shoot a large number of auxiliary soldiers of the cart, but even the elite soldiers standing on the ladder cart will be fired by the fortress, and it is difficult to avoid the crossfire formed on both sides.

The third month of the lunar calendar is the spring that the Chinese call the spring of Yangchun March, the Gregorian calendar is already late April, the northern land of Guannai has long been in spring, Lingnan has even entered the summer, but in the Baikal area, it is still a cold winter, and the lake here will not melt until at least May.

"Lord Wang, it's time to start attacking the city, if you don't attack the city again, there is still a month to go, the weather will get warmer, and the siege weapons we have built with ice and snow will be useless." The Mongol leader Cheng Gon proposed.

"Almost! Siege the city early tomorrow morning! Zheng Xi nodded.

Huang Zhao said: "Full of carelessness, this city has no moat, no moat, and no obstacles under the city wall, which makes our siege work less troublesome." ”

The next day, before dawn, the Ming and Mongol coalition forces began a siege battle.

"Brethren, this is the last battle against the Tartars! After this battle, we will avenge the slaughter of the Tartars! You can live a good life with peace of mind! Wu Bin, who was standing on a sturdy watchtower car, shouted.

"That's right! It's the last battle! Brothers, fight well! The loader and bomber around him echoed.

But Wu Bin didn't know that after they completely eliminated the Manchu court, they had only completed the first step in their military career, and there were endless vicious battles waiting for them in the future. A few years later, Wu Bin, who had become a military commander, led the First Army of the Eastern Crusader Army, which consisted of the Eight Banners of Surrender to Manchuria, and broke through Istanbul and changed the city back to its original name, Constantinople, and he truly ended his war career.

This watchtower car is the most sturdy watchtower car, equipped with Zheng Zheng's big killer four-barreled bang gun, and the car also carries 2,000 rounds of ammunition, which can provide the most powerful fire support for the attacking Ming and Mongolian coalition forces.

The sound of "boom" siege artillery sounded, and rows of shells roared and smashed on the city head, exploding on the city wall, and the Qing army and the Russian army at the head of the city were unstable. The cannonballs kept falling, blasting up scattered sawdust, snowflakes flying in the sky, and ice cubes in all directions, and the whole city shook and trembled as if a violent earthquake had occurred.

After about half an hour of fire preparation, rumbling war drums and muffled trumpets sounded in the formation of the Ming-Mongolian coalition army, and groups of auxiliaries composed of slaves pushed various siege weapons and pressed up the city walls.

Two hundred and forty watchcars slowly moved forward until they were still a hundred paces away from the city wall. The Ming army's attacking formation did not receive artillery bombardment from the Russian army, because the Russian army's defensive artillery had been completely destroyed just now, and the defenders at the head of the city could only watch the siege weapons of the Ming and Mongolian coalition forces approaching the city wall.

The watchtower car stopped advancing, and the large ladder truck, shield car, and siege truck continued to advance.

"Quick! All on the top of the city! Stop the Ming Dog and the Mongolian Dog! He Tuo and other Qing generals shouted and urged those Qing soldiers who had just hid under the city walls to avoid artillery bombardment to enter the city to meet them.

"The Tartars have landed in the city! Get ready for free fire! Rapid-fire guns are fired later, and are used to suppress the fire of the fortress. Zheng Xi asked people to give an order to the watchtower car.

Stopped on the watchtower car a hundred steps away from the city wall, it suddenly spewed out tongues of fire, and white smoke rose from the car, and the Minnie rifle was condescending, constantly firing high-speed rotating bullets. Every time the bullet reached the head of the city, a mist of blood rose from the city wall.

"Minggou's firearms are too vicious! Their guns were fought so far and so fast that many of the brothers were killed before they had just climbed to the top of the city! A Qing army general cried.

"Steady!" Chernyaev shouted, "When they are within fifty yards, the forts on both sides will open fire!" ”

Although the firepower of the Ming army was fierce, it had little effect on the Russian musketeers hiding in the fortress. The dense rain of bullets hit the Qing army defending the city at the head of the city with heavy casualties, and the Russian troops in the fortress were safe and sound.

On the ladder cart, there were Mongolian warriors in armor, some with bows and arrows in their hands, others with scimitars. As the ladder truck approached, the Mongols on board crouched down and defended themselves with the help of planks covered with ice on both sides.