In the Nu River Gorge, an avenue passes through the valley, with the roaring Nu River on one side and the towering mountains on the other. The narrowest part of the canyon was covered with boulders and logs, and on the west side of the hill was a newly completed wooden camp, which was clearly thrown down from a mountain hundreds of feet high.

The passage of the Wu army has been blocked, and it is impossible to pass through the canyon. Anyone who tries to cross the avenue will be hit by the rolling wood and rocks on the top of the mountain, and will suffer heavy losses.

Avoid the avenues and bypass other paths? But what about the baggage convoy carrying supplies for more than 100,000 Qing soldiers? And what about those Manchurian Eight Banner cavalry and Wu army cavalry? Throw away all the cavalry and baggage, and the infantry can be bypassed lightly, but without the baggage convoy, didn't the Qing army enter Burma to send them to death?

The Qing army could not pass, and the anxious Wu Sangui sent Xia Guoxiang and Hu Guozhu to bring 3,000 soldiers who were good at mountain warfare to return to the top of the mountain from the path, only to find that there was an earthen city on the top of the mountain! The two-foot-high wall just blocks the path from the way! There was also a trench in front of the earthen city that was one zhang two wide and four feet deep. The earthen city was densely packed with wooden fences, which were used as female walls and battlements.

The number of Ming troops stationed in Tucheng was small, and the real armed force was only more than 600 native soldiers and less than 100 Ming troops, and there were more than 2,000 local temporary recruits. This earthen city is a mountaintop earthen city designed by Guo Feng and Tang Chong, and more than 2,000 local people were urgently recruited by Li Weizuo and Mu Zhongxian to build the earthen city overnight.

Although Guo Feng and Tang Chong are just ordinary nights, they don't collect soldiers. However, these special combat team members have won the true biography of Wang Xinyu, and the earthen city built can be said to be reasonably designed, unless the Qing army carries the cannon up the mountain. Otherwise, don't even think about taking Tucheng! They also took into account the problem of water sources on the top of the mountain, and the Ming army picked up a lot of water from the bottom of the mountain and stored them in water tanks, which could make more than 3,000 people drink for eight to ten days, and every Ming soldier and Minzhuang prepared dry food that could be used for eight days.

Guo Feng and the others knew very well that it only took eight days for Li Dingguo or Bai Wenxuan to bring troops to reinforce them.

If the Ming army did not come to reinforce after eight days. Mu Zhongxian was not worried, because he left a path to retreat. But that was the last resort, once the Ming army abandoned Tucheng and retreated. Pursued and killed by the Wu army, who were good at mountain warfare, the Ming army would inevitably suffer heavy losses and even be wiped out.

Xia Guoxiang jumped like thunder and ordered the ants to attack the city.

"General Xia. The ant-attached siege will inevitably suffer heavy losses. It's better to return to the commander and let the auxiliaries come up and build siege tools. A toast soldier begged.

Xia Guoxiang snorted coldly: "It's just a dirt city, and it's not a strong city, so why be afraid!" ”

The Qing army went to the mountains and forests to cut wood and build simple ladders.

An hour later, the Qing army carried the simple ladder that had just been built and began to attack the city.

This is a real, offensive and defensive war that completely belongs to the era of cold weapons. The personal soldiers and native soldiers led by Mu Zhongxian, who was stationed at the head of the city, were all cold weapon soldiers, and Wu Sangui's Lu soldiers were also all cold weapon equipment.

"The Tartars are coming!" Someone shouted.

Mu Zhongxian took off the iron tire bow from his back. Zhang took his bow and shot an arrow at the first Qing soldier carrying the ladder.

"Whoosh" A wolf-toothed arrow shot head-on to the door of the Qing soldiers with a sound of breaking through the air. Only a scream was heard, blood splashed, and the Qing soldier fell backwards on his back, and the front end of the ladder fell to the ground.

"Put!" One of the Native Bannermen roared.

The archers in the earthen city stretched out their bows and arrows, and the arrows rained down when they landed.

The Qing army covered it with rattan cards, carrying simple ladders and simple flying bridges and went straight to Tucheng. After a round of random arrows, the Qing army did not lose many people. These valiant and warlike soldiers soon built a flying bridge over the trench and put a simple ladder up to the top of the city. In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen ladders were set up at the head of the city, and the hooks in front of the ladders hooked the wooden fence, so that the Ming army could not push the ladders away.

"Siege!" Xia Guoxiang yelled, he personally grabbed the drumsticks and beat the war drums to cheer up the soldiers.

The rumbling of war drums aroused the blood of these soldiers, making their blood boiling, and the secretion of adrenal hormones accelerated, and they climbed up to the city without fear of life and death.

The Qing soldiers under the city released a row of random arrows, and the flying feather arrows crossed the city and shot to the earthen city, only to hear a miserable scream behind the wooden fence, and many local soldiers and people fell down with arrows.

"Put!" Mu Zhongxian at the head of the city roared.

More than a dozen wolf fangs rolled down from the earthen city, only to hear a series of screams, and the Qing soldiers who were about to climb to the top of the city fell down from the improvised ladder. The wolf's tooth slapped down the ladder and rolled down, and immediately knocked the person into the trench when it hit the person, hit the middle of the ladder, and smashed the ladder in two.

More than a dozen elite soldiers were turned into corpses in the trench, the ladder was also broken in half, and the seven or eight soldiers standing under the city could not dodge, and were smashed to the point of screaming and screaming, and fell down injured one after another.

The Ming army at the head of the city pulled back the wolf's tooth with a rope, threw a few stones, and smashed the remaining unbroken ladder.

"Shoot the arrows!" Xia Guoxiang roared.

The Qing army shot random arrows to suppress the Ming army defending the city. At the same time, the second group of Qing soldiers who were besieging the city carried ladders and launched a fierce attack on the city under the cover of archers.

At the head of the city, the Ming army also used archers to suppress the archers of the Qing army. Because the Ming army at the head of the city was protected by wooden fences and sandbags, and they were condescending to shoot arrows, they had the advantage. As a result, in the confrontation, the Ming army suffered little losses, but Xia Guoxiang lost more than 30 elite archers.

The Qing soldiers used a large number of square wooden plaques to stand on the ground to provide protection for the archers.

The Ming army at the head of the city shot down rows of random arrows, shooting the wooden cards of the Qing army like hedgehogs. Many of the arrows shot by the Qing army on the earth city were also inserted in the earth city and inserted in the wooden fence.

"Attack!" Xia Guoxiang yelled.

Under the cover of archers, groups of Qing soldiers rushed to the trench with simple ladders and simple flying bridges, erected the flying bridges on the trenches, and put the simple ladders at the head of the city, and once again launched a siege battle.

The wolf's teeth and falling rocks fell one after another, smashing the Qing army screaming and suffering heavy casualties, but they couldn't even climb the city.

Xia Guoxiang launched the third siege battle and returned again. The three attacks failed to work, and Xia Guoxiang lost more than 200 elite soldiers, which made the corners of his mouth twitch in distress.

These soldiers can walk on flat ground in the mountainous areas with complex terrain, and everyone is an elite soldier with high martial arts, so they are lost in vain under an inconspicuous earthen city, and they die worthlessly, in exchange for the casualties of dozens of Ming soldiers and dozens of people.

The personal soldiers sent by Wu Sangui went to the mountain and asked Xia Guoxiang about the battle situation.

"Go back and report to the marshal, the thieves built an earthen city on the mountain, and our army attacked the city three times and suffered heavy losses." Xia Guoxiang said.

Soon after, Wu Sangui and Ai Xing Ah came to the mountain in person.

"Qiyu Dashuai (Wangye), Qiyu Pingxi General!" Xia Guoxiang and a group of Qing soldiers knelt on the ground one after another.

Wu Sangui looked at the earth city hundreds of steps away, and said with an angry face: "You are too incompetent, right?" Can't even take such an earthen city? Are you embarrassed to claim to be both civil and military? In vain, the king reuses and pampers you! ”

"The thief is very cunning, and considering that it will take a lot of time to build siege weapons, the commander wants to enter Burma as soon as possible. If you build a large siege weapon, I'm afraid it will take two or three days, and another day to attack the city, which will take three or four days! Xia Guoxiang replied tremblingly.

Wu Sangui was about to order the creation of a large-scale siege weapon, but he heard Ai Xing Ah sneer: "Wu Dashuai has so many pseudo-Ming troops and generals in his hands, how long will it take to wait if it doesn't come in handy at this time?" ”

"Yes," said one of the Eight Banners generals on the side, "now is the time to see the loyalty of those barbarians!" ”

Wu Sangui secretly scolded in his heart: These people surrendered to me, not to you! What do they say, they are also the king's people! And the guy just now scolded the old man for being a barbarian! It's infuriating! But although he cursed secretly in his heart, he still said on his mouth: "Okay! Now is the time for those who surrender to show their loyalty! The king will let them come up! ”

After that, Wu Sangui asked his own soldiers to pass the order, and let Li Rubi, Gao Qilong, Liu Zhifu and other former Southern Ming generals take their green battalion soldiers up the mountain.

"Enlightened handsome! The last general will lead the troops and horses of the headquarters to arrive! Li Rubi, Gao Qilong and Liu Zhifu knelt on the ground and saluted.

Wu Sangui pointed to the earth city in front of him: "This thief earth city is guarding the top of the road where our army is marching, and with this earth city stuck, our cavalry and baggage vehicles can't pass!" Now you go and attack the city! Be sure to defeat the enemy! ”

Gao Qilong and the others were very distressed, and thought to themselves: Is this using our people as cannon fodder? But he could only reply: "The last general will definitely attack with all his might!" Conquer the thief earth city! ”

The Qing army began to launch a large-scale attack, the war drums rumbled, and a large number of green battalion soldiers carried simple ladders and simple flying bridges, and under the cover of archers and bird guns, they launched a frantic attack on Tucheng.

Arrows are like locusts, lead bullets are like rain, the head of the city and the wooden fence of the earth city are shot into hedgehogs, dense lead bullets continue to drill into the gaps in the wooden fence, many Ming soldiers and people are shot by arrows, screaming and falling.

The Ming army at the head of the city also counterattacked with bows and arrows, and the arrows rained down, shooting down many Qing archers and bird guns.

The Green Battalion carried the flying bridge and erected it on the trench, and then rushed across the trench and set up a ladder.

The wolf's teeth slapped and the stones kept falling, so that the green battalion soldiers who were climbing the ladder screamed and fell into the trench. Lime bottles flew out of the city, and the lime bottles filled with water burst under the action of thermal expansion and cold contraction, like earth bombs, and the Qing soldiers screamed miserably. Many of the Qing soldiers were sprayed into the eyes by the splash of lime, and they fell to the ground and rolled on the ground screaming.

The fire oil fell on the city, and then torches were thrown out, and suddenly a huge fire burst into the sky on the ladder and in the trench, and the Qing soldiers who were on fire let out heart-rending screams and struggled and rolled in the fire.

"Attack! Assault me! The thieves' rolling wood and stones and fire oil will always run out! Ai Xing yelled. (To be continued.) )