50,000 Ming troops gathered under the city of Yiwu, dug trenches, built barracks, built forts, and set up a siege posture.

According to the usual practice, Wang Xinyu first sent people to the city to shout, ordering the Qing army defending the city to open the city gate and surrender before midnight on the morning of April 4, otherwise it will be regarded as stubborn resistance to the end.

Seeing that there was no movement in the city, Wang Xinyu estimated that the Qing army would definitely resist stubbornly to the end, so he summoned officers at all levels to discuss the strategy of attacking the city.

After the joint discussion of all the senior generals, military divisions and logistics officers, Wang Xinyu finally gave up the method of using mortars to fire high-powered flowering cannonballs to bombard the city, because although this method was effective, it cost a lot of expensive new flowering cannonballs. That kind of high-power weapon still needs to be used when attacking fortified cities such as Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Guilin, Changsha, Wuchang, Xiangyang, and Jinling.

The Ming army decided to suppress the city by artillery fire, and the auxiliary soldiers pushed the carts close to the city wall, and excavated and blasted to break the city.

The Ming army, which had a large number of artillery, muskets and sharpshooters, had no problem suppressing the firepower of the city. There are many strong cities in the world that are waiting for the Ming army to slowly gnaw, and if you can save new flowering bombs, you can save it.

The auxiliaries and the people wielded iron picks and hoes, sweated like rain, built fortifications, and built forts.

One cannon after another was erected, and the muzzles of the black holes were aimed at the city wall.

Seeing that the Ming army had at least more than 300 cannons, Qingyi Wuzhixian's face was very ugly: "I didn't expect that against a small city like ours, the thieves actually used hundreds of cannons!" ”

Someone advised Zhixian to surrender: "My lord, if we can't hold it, let's surrender." ”

The magistrate refused on the spot: "I am an official of the imperial court, only the grace of swearing allegiance to the emperor and the imperial court, now my city is in danger, I should fight to the death, how can I surrender to the thief!" ”

Outside the city, in the camp of the Ming army, the auxiliary soldiers and people who had been busy all day returned to the camp. The men had already prepared a steaming meal, waiting for the auxiliaries and the men who had been tired all day to come back for dinner.

"It's time to eat!" The barracks resounded with the shouts of the chiefs and captains.

Auxiliary soldier Zhao Banggen dragged his tired body into his tent. After putting down the tools in his hand, he had to open the cupboard and take out his own dishes and chopsticks.

"How many times have I told you! Wash your hands before eating! You've forgotten again! Before he opened the cupboard, he was slapped on the hand by Chen Yongfu, the chief of the bureau.

Zhao Banggen was originally a Qing soldier in the Shaoxing Green Battalion, and after he was captured, he was incorporated into the auxiliary army by the Ming army. When attacking the cities of Shengxian and Xinchang, because there was no need to dig fortifications, these auxiliaries did not do anything, just to help the Ming army carry food and ammunition. When marching, assist Minzhuang to transport goods together.

After joining the Ming army, the chief required them to wash their hands before eating, and to drink boiled water. Zhao Banggen can sometimes do it before, and sometimes he forgets it. He had just been tired all day, and he only ate one steamed bun on the construction site at noon, and his stomach was already rumbling with hunger, and he was anxious to eat, but he forgot to wash his hands.

At the shout of the chief, several auxiliary soldiers walked out of the tent. There was a large water tank outside the door, and several people washed their hands with scoops of water.

Walking into the large tent that was used as a canteen, the auxiliaries lined up, waiting for the leader to cook for them.

"What's going on today?" Looking at the partner who came out after cooking in front of him, Zhao Banggen asked.

"Braised pork, dried tofu, potatoes and greens." The man replied.

Due to Wang Xinyu's strong recommendation, potatoes have begun to be planted on a large scale, and that thing tastes very good, especially potato stew, which is particularly popular.

Since Zhao Banggen joined the Ming army, he found that the food here is quite good, the general staple food is multigrain rice, multigrain cakes, sweet potato brown rice, sometimes there is white rice and white noodles to eat, and the daily dishes are also relatively rich, each meal has potatoes, tofu, vegetables and small fish and shrimp, and there is a thing called chili, which is particularly appetizing. Every three days, you can still eat meat.

The military salary was not deducted, and Zhao Banggen joined the Ming army for more than a month and received a military salary. When he got a silver tael or two, he was so excited that he didn't know how to describe it.

In the Green Camp Qing Army, it was said that there was a tael of silver every month, but it was good to have half a tael in the hand, and it was often in arrears, the food was poor, and the food was often deducted by the superior officers. That's all a secret that is not a secret, and the officers often reduce the food of the soldiers and fill their own pockets.

After joining the Ming army, there was no deduction of military salaries here, and the food was good, which made Zhao Banggen and others, who could work hard for a bite of food, decide to follow the Ming army with all their hearts.

One night passed, and the next day on the fourth watch, the leader of the gang opened the fire and cooked. 5. Have breakfast on time. After breakfast, the Ming army waited to attack. Zhao Banggen and a group of auxiliaries went to assist the craftsmen in crafting various siege weapons. Because Yiwu is different from the two cities of Shengxian and Xinchang that were attacked before, it is estimated that the Yiwu Qing army will defend to the end and must build enough siege weapons.

In fact, all day yesterday, craftsmen were busy crafting siege weapons. Today's auxiliaries came to help, and it was just a finishing touch. By mid-morning, the time specified in the Ming army's ultimatum had arrived, and all siege weapons had been built.

"The Tartars won't surrender, siege!" Wang Xinyu gave an order.

The cannons rumbled, one cannon after another spat out tongues of fire, large and small solid cannonballs smashed on the city wall, the female wall of the battlement collapsed one after another, and the city bricks on the city wall fell one by one. Under the intensive bombardment of the Ming army, the Qing soldiers hiding behind the female wall were constantly smashed by the cracked city bricks and blue stones, screaming and splashing blood again and again.

Several of his own soldiers boarded the nest cart above the city wall to observe, guiding the target of the curved mortar cannon.

The flowering cannonballs fired by the "Bang Bang" mortar cannon rose up, pulled out arcs, accurately smashed to the head of the city, and landed on the side of the Qing army's tiger squat cannons, trebuchets and bed crossbows and other weapons to defend the city. Loaded with black [gunpowder] flowering shells exploded, and the Qing army's defending weapons were blown to pieces in the explosion.

There were not many tiger squatting cannons in Yiwu County, and the Qing court and county organized a large number of people to build trebuchets and bed crossbows to defend the city. Seeing that the weapon he had worked so hard to build to defend the city was blown into a pile of broken wood, the magistrate of the Qing court screamed angrily, vomited blood, and fainted on the spot.

Cannons and howitzers loaded with solid shells bombarded the tower, and after a few shells, the arrow tower above the city gate collapsed in the smoke and dust, and dozens of Qing archers hiding in the tower were also buried under the rubble.

Under the intensive fire bombardment of the Ming army, the Qing army at the head of the city was completely suppressed.

The war drums rumbled, and the Ming army auxiliaries pushed the shield cart and advanced towards the moat. The shield carts were followed by hordes of musketeers and archers as they approached the city.

There were no threats such as tiger cannons, trebuchets and bed crossbows on the city, and the Ming army's long-range infantry could calmly cover their auxiliaries to fill in the moat.

"Hurry up!" Chen Yongfu, the commander of the auxiliary soldiers, shouted.

Zhao Banggen pushed the shield cart and approached the moat. The shield cart stopped, and it was time to carry sandbags to fill the river. Zhao Banggen was a little scared, just afraid that he would pick up the sandbag and leave the shield car, and he would be killed by the random arrows and projectiles at the head of the city. But the military order was like a mountain, and there were Ming soldiers holding steel knives standing behind the shield cart, which made him have to bite the bullet, pick up the sandbag and run forward.

At the head of the city, several arrows were fired, and several auxiliaries were shot. However, the paper armor worn by the auxiliaries effectively weakened the effect of the bow and arrow, and the auxiliary soldiers who were hit by the arrow were only slightly injured.

At the foot of the city wall, the archers and musketeers of the Ming army shot desperately, killing the Qing soldiers who shot arrows and fired bird guns one by one.

However, the Qing army was protected by the women's wall, and from time to time there were archers and bird gunners who attacked and retracted after shooting an arrow or a projectile.

Zhao Banggen was not shot, he picked up a sandbag and threw it into the moat, immediately ran back to the back of the shield cart, picked up another sandbag, rushed out a few steps, and threw the sandbag into the moat. He went back and forth seven times in one go, leaving seven sandbags, but there was no loss on his body, and he returned to the back of the shield cart unharmed.

"Not bad! Drop seven punching bags on one trip! Chen Shuigen patted Zhao Banggen's shoulder and praised.

The sandbags on the shield cart had been unloaded, and Zhao Banggen and the others pulled the shield cart back. Back in front of their camp, the auxiliaries loaded a mouthful of sandbags onto the shield cart, and then pushed the shield cart again in the direction of the city wall.

The casualties of the Ming army can be said to be minimal, and more than 1,000 sandbags have fallen from fifty shield carts. It only takes four or five more rounds to fill a large section of the moat.

Seeing that the Ming army auxiliaries were busy, the river surface of the moat was getting narrower and narrower, and the Qing army at the head of the city was powerless, and there was no way to stop the Ming army's actions. If a brave Qing soldier shoots out, he generally has no chance to retract his head alive.

By noon, two sections of the moat had already been filled. The Ming army filled in two passages twelve zhang wide. Then, there were auxiliaries pushing the carts towards the city. The top of the cart was covered with felt soaked in water, and there was a lot of wet mud. The rockets fired by the Qing soldiers were stuck on the cart and went out in one fell swoop.

"Attention, keep an eye on the movements of the Tartar oil tank!" Wang Xinyu gave an order to the soldiers standing in the watchtower car.

Five watchcars moved forward, each with a personal soldier who specialized in directing the artillery fire, a man who used rifled guns, and three archers.

The watchtower car is three zhang high, higher than the height of the Yiwu city wall. Standing on the top of the watchtower car, you can be condescending and observe the movements of the city head clearly. The watchtower car was out of range for the Qing archers and bird gunners, but the rifled gunners and sharpshooters on the car could beat the Qing soldiers in the city.

There is no way for the Qing army, whether the Ming army on the watchtower car is a compound bow or a rifled gun, the range is more than the Qing army's bird guns and bows and arrows.

The watchtower car's own attack power is secondary, and the most important thing is to guide the artillery to the target. The soldiers standing on the car kept waving two small flags, and through the flags, they reported the position of the Qing army's weapons to the mortar position.

"Found the Tartar canister!" A soldier on a watchtower car waved a small flag and sent a flag signal.

At the head of the city, the Qing army Xiangyong and Minzhuang were holding the oil canister and were rushing in the direction of the chariot. The Qing army tried to smash the cart with a canister of fire and then set it on fire.

"Fire!" The mortar handle always roared.

Six 32-pounder mortars spewed puffs of white smoke, and flowering shells filled with black [gunpowder] rose into the air and exploded on the top of the city. The flames rose, and the exploding cannonballs shattered the canisters of oil, and the city was filled with oil. This was followed by another shell that landed in the middle of the oil and exploded, igniting the oil. Only a "whirl" was heard, and a raging flame rose from the city, and the Qing soldiers and villagers who were on fire cried and struggled in the sea of fire.

The oil that was originally intended to be used to burn the Ming army turned into a killer who burned the Qing army itself.

Under the cover of artillery fire, the wagons quickly pushed over the filled moat and approached the foot of the city walls. The auxiliaries, who had been reorganized from the captives, dug up the bricks, dug up the rammed earth inside, and dug holes in the walls.

The Qing soldiers at the head of the city braved the dense rain of arrows and projectiles of the Ming army and dropped lime bottles. Only the popping sound of ping-pong was heard, and the water-filled lime bottles burst one after another, and the lime splashed on the auxiliaries, and many of the auxiliaries were burned.

Under the city, the Ming army fired arrows and bullets, which caused the Qing soldiers who had just thrown lime bottles to fall one after another.

Although the Ming army's firepower was very fierce, some Qing soldiers risked their lives to drop oil cans and set fire to a cart.

The flaming auxiliaries fled from under the carts, crying and jumping into the moat.

The Ming army paid the price of more than a hundred casualties and auxiliaries to dig two holes at the foot of the city walls. Then two smaller carts came up and pushed the coffin filled with gunpowder to the city. The coffin was pushed into the dug hole by the auxiliaries, and after lighting the fuse, the coffin was immediately discarded and evacuated to safety.

The "boom" was accompanied by a violent explosion, and two sections of the city wall were blown open.

"Kill the Tartars!" The soldiers of the Ming army, who had been waiting for a long time, shouted, brandished steel knives, and rushed towards the gap that had been blown up.

The Qing army fought back desperately and sent people to plug the gap. At the gap that was blown up, the soldiers of both sides engaged in a fierce and bloody battle. After all, Yiwu's official green battalion Qing soldiers are few, and the people are strong and brave where are the opponents of the Ming army. Wang Xinyu didn't even need to use a two-pronged approach, as long as he desperately sent people to attack the gap, he didn't need to send people to the city from another direction, as long as he continued to attack the gap, he could break through the defense of the Qing army.

The Ming saber soldiers were in front, the musketeers were behind, and several rows of gunfire sounded, and the Qing soldiers who rushed to the gap to block the road fell one by one like peeled onions.

After the group of green battalion soldiers with the strongest combat effectiveness fell in the gap, the remaining people and village warriors can be described as vulnerable. The soldiers of the Ming army swung their swords into the crowd of Qing soldiers and villagers, like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, chopping melons and vegetables, and cutting down the Qing soldiers blocking the road one by one.

"The city is broken!" The Qing soldiers who couldn't resist turned around and ran.

The magistrate of the Qing court took people to burn down the warehouse, and then knelt on the ground, kowtowed to the north and bowed: "Your Majesty!" The thief is powerful, and Wechen has tried his best! Now that the city is broken, Weichen can only repay the court with death! ”

When Wang Xinyu walked into the county government with his own soldiers, he saw the Qing court magistrate hanging on the roof beam, and Wen Tianxiang's poem was written on the pillar of the county office: Who has not died in life since ancient times, leaving Dan to take care of the sweat.

"Phew! Guys who have forgotten their ancestors! Serve the Tartars, and leave such verses with a face! Luo Xiang spat at the corpse of the magistrate. (To be continued.) )