748 burned the city, the last night

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Soon, the sky gradually darkened, and it was dusk.

Because of the ineffective attack, the Qing soldiers could not retreat from the White Dragon Army, and the enraged Dorgon had already beheaded four or five Qing generals in a row.

One of them was a real Tartar general, which also made the Qing generals realize that Dolgon was really angry.

Therefore, the Qing generals on the front line prepared to launch two final rounds of onslaught before it was completely dark, hoping to make some breakthroughs before dark.

This can also give Dolgon some explanation, and these Qing generals don't want to follow the fate of the previous few colleagues who were killed by Dolgon.

"Kill!"

A group of Qing soldiers attacked again, but this time, the White Dragon Army had something new to entertain them.

Bang bang bang!

"Ahhh

The three tiger squatting cannons that were erected on the low wall by the soldiers of the White Dragon Army made three muffled sounds, and then shot out three large iron bullets and countless small lead bullets.

The oncoming Qing soldiers were tragic, and a terrible scream sounded, and more than a dozen Qing soldiers fell to the ground in an instant.

Although some Qing soldiers blocked those small lead bullets with the shields in their hands, the shields in their hands could not be stopped in the face of a large projectile the size of half a football.

The big projectile smashed a bloody path in the ranks of the Qing soldiers, and more than a dozen Qing soldiers were smashed, directly cutting through the crowd of the Qing soldiers.

Several soldiers on the side of the White Dragon Army who were in charge of firing the cannon were still trembling when they fired the cannon before.

In fact, the three tiger squatting cannons in front of me are old and unshapely, the wood is rotten, the cannon bodies are rusted to death, and there are iron hoops tied outside.

They are really worried that these three tiger squat cannons will explode directly after they open fire, and they who are responsible for firing the cannons at close range will probably suffer when the time comes.

It's just that at this time, the soldiers of the White Dragon Army have no better choice, so they can only give it a try.

Fortunately, after the first round of artillery firing, none of the three tiger squat guns exploded, which made the officers and men of the White Dragon Army breathe a sigh of relief, and also inspired the morale of the militia behind them.

"Fight!"

Peng Hao let out an angry roar, and then the Qing soldiers rushed together again, and the tragic hand-to-hand combat began again.

At dusk, the Qing soldiers launched two more rounds of attacks, but they were all repulsed by the White Dragon Army.

During the attack, the Qing soldiers encountered the bombardment of the tiger squat artillery, and a row of scattered bullets was fired, which could injure a piece of the Qing soldiers, thwarting the Qing army's offensive at the same time, but also hitting their morale.

The Qing soldiers never thought that there would be a tiger squat cannon on the side of the White Dragon Army that was useless.

In the previous attack of the Qing soldiers for more than a day, they had never seen the White Dragon Army use artillery, and Dolgon and other Qing generals concluded that the White Dragon Army did not have artillery in their hands.

After all, Dolgon had also learned that the White Dragon Army guarding Shouzhang City at this time was a cavalry, how could the cavalry bring artillery.

After three rounds of the three tiger squatting cannons, one of them finally exploded, and a white dragon sergeant and two militiamen were unfortunately encountered and slightly injured.

However, the last two tiger squat cannons have been holding firm, and after two more rounds of fire, they have not exploded, which makes the soldiers of the White Dragon Army very happy.

When it was completely dark, the Qing soldiers were still blocked in a few streets and alleys in the outer city, and they did not advance an inch.

Dolgon calculated that they had spent more than 20,000 infantry attacking in an afternoon, but they had advanced half a mile into the city, and their men and horses had suffered heavy losses.

Since Dolgon mainly let his Han army, Mongol army, and Koreans serve as the main attackers, these men and horses suffered the heaviest losses.

Zhang Kang, the commander of the white flag of the Han army, had already come to cry to Dolgon more than once, but Dolgon ignored it.

For Dolgon, even if all the white flags of the Han army under his command are gone, as long as he can kill Li Zixiao, it will be worth it.

In the eleventh night, the Qing soldiers actually suspended the attack.

It's not that Dorgon wants to stop attacking, it's actually his soldiers, who have been attacking for more than a day and a night, are already exhausted, and they need to eat, sleep, and rest.

The Qing soldiers no longer attacked, and the soldiers and militiamen of the White Dragon Army in the city also got a chance to breathe.

They didn't dare to retreat, so they fell asleep on the cold ground of the streets and alleys, and they were more tired than the Qing soldiers.

The Qing soldiers were more numerous than them, and they could attack in turn, and the Qing soldiers attacked for more than a day and a night, and they also fought for more than a day and a night, and they were already too tired at this time.

"It's time to eat, it's time to eat."

A team of young people in the city, carrying several large buckets of food, came to the front line to distribute food to the soldiers fighting on the front line.

"Uh-uh!"

As a result, those young people who came to deliver food couldn't help but vomit when they saw the piles of corpses piled up on the walls on both sides of the streets and alleys, and the streets and alleys that had been completely covered with blood.

And next to these corpses, there were soldiers and militiamen of the White Dragon Army, who were sleeping and snoring.

These soldiers had already been stained red with blood for a long time, and their armor was covered with knife marks, and if it weren't for the snoring sound they were sleeping, it would not be easy to tell whether he was a corpse or a living soldier.

"Oh, damn it, who stepped on Lao Tzu, blind!"

As a result, there were some soldiers who slept and did not snore, but they were unlucky and were trampled by the young men who were walking around.

"Fuck me up, get up, don't sleep, eat some food first, or the dog Tartar will kill you later, and you won't have anything to eat if you want to."

The tired White Dragon soldiers and militiamen fell asleep on the ground.

Li Zixiao had no choice but to let Peng Hao personally bring people over, kick up all the soldiers who were asleep, and let them eat some food to replenish their strength.

Then, one by one, with drooping eyelids, they walked up to the young men who were making food, and ended up with pots of food, squinting their eyes and pulling them into their mouths with their hands, eating while sleeping.

"The soldiers are too tired."

Li Zixiao didn't go back, still on the front line streets, looking at the soldiers who were sleeping and eating, and said distressedly.

"Beat more torches, let the soldiers sleep on the ground, and distribute all the cotton clothes looted by the Tartars in the city to the soldiers, so that the soldiers can't catch a cold."

Li Zixiao immediately ordered Peng Hao.

After dark, there are torches everywhere in Shouzhang Castle, illuminating the entire Shouzhang Castle.

On the one hand, it can be warmed, but more importantly, it gives the officers and soldiers of the White Dragon Army a clearer vision and beware of the night attack of the Qing army.

Just when the Qing soldiers outside the city were also eating and resting, some of the Qing soldiers and cavalry were not idle.

These cavalrymen with white flags have never been involved in the battle into the city.

These Tartar cavalry with white flags are all Dorgon's henchmen, and they are his old roots, and he will not be involved in a war of attrition in the city.

Of the more than 10,000 Tartar cavalry with white flags, only less than 3,000 were joined in the previous siege and are now fighting in the city.

Moreover, the three thousand Tartar soldiers, mainly as the overseers, appeared on the front line, responsible for supervising the battles of the Qing soldiers on the front line.

As for the other seven or eight thousand Tartar horsemen with white flags, they were ordered by Dorgon to watch over the tens of thousands of people who had been carried outside the city.

At the same time, guard the roads on all sides of Shouzhangcheng, and never give Li Zixiao a chance to lead the army to break through.

In addition, these Tartar soldiers with white flags also sent scouts to the direction of Shouzhang City on all sides to detect the traces of the White Dragon soldiers and horses who came to support.

"Tuso, before attacking, let Borzigit take people to the city and set it on fire, and this king will burn this city."

Dolgon rode on his horse, his eyes looked at the ruined Shouzhang County at this time, but the light of countless torches flashed, and said coldly.

"Oh, let's send Borzigit to set fire to it." Tuso replied.

"Pass the order, and after two hours, continue the attack."

Dorgon only gave his men two hours to recuperate, and then he was ready to fight hard, because according to his calculations, tonight was probably his last chance.

If it is dawn, he can't attack the city and capture Li Zixiao alive, and after dawn, most of the reinforcements of the White Dragon Army in the north will arrive.

"Fourteenth brother, Li Zixiao seems to be planning to defend the city, we have been attacking for so long, we can't attack it, we have to think of another way."

Duoduo had already rushed back from the northern city, and his men and horses with white flags were not going well in the northern city.

"Fifteenth brother, what can you do? Let's hear it. ”

Dorgon looked at Dorgon and said with a softened expression.

"I think we can make use of the people of the Ming Court you brought and drive them to the front to open the way for our soldiers.

I want to see what Li Zixiao in the city will do when the time comes? ”

Duoduo's eyes were cold, and he said such a vicious method.

After hearing this, Dolgon thought for a moment, then couldn't help but nod and agreed: "The fifteenth brother is right, this is also a good way, you can try it." ”

"In addition, the king will allocate you two thousand elites later, and you will take it to bypass the northern city and launch a surprise attack from the western city.

The west and south sides have never been the main direction of our attack, and their defensive strength on the west side should be very weak.

After two hours, you have to seize the opportunity to break through the White Snake Army's defenses in the west of the city in one go. ”

Dolgon is not dead-headed, he has been blocked in the two main attack directions of the East City and the North City for so long, and he is also ready to use the west as a breakthrough.

Dolgon has always known this, but he has never sent troops to strengthen the offensive from the west and south, just to paralyze Li Zixiao, so that Li Zixiao will continue to transfer troops from the west and south to the east and north of the city.

Dorgon believed that the White Dragons in the city had a limited number of troops.

The battle was fought at this time, and during the day, the losses of the White Dragon Army were not small, and at this time, there should not be many people guarding the west and south of the city.

"For my brother to understand, leave it to me." Duoduo said excitedly.

Two hours passed in a flash, and then the Qing troops attacked overnight, preparing to attack again.

"Dog Tartar, he actually set fire to the city."

Before the Qing army attacked, the Qing soldiers, according to Dolgon's orders, had already set fire to Shouzhang Castle.

The wooden structure of the ancient Chinese house is too much, once it burns, it will become a fire, and the Qing soldiers also transported a lot of wood from outside the city, which contributed to the fire.

The thick fires were spread in all directions, east, west, north and south, and the smoke was so thick that people couldn't open their eyes.

Fortunately, in the past few days, the area around Shouzhang has been blowing in the north, which has made it bitter that the White Dragon Army and militia led by Sun Xianfeng in the south have been choked by the thick smoke.

At the same time, if the Qing soldiers want to attack from this side, they also have to smoke it, but fortunately, this is not the main direction of attack of the Qing soldiers, and the impact is not great.

Dangdang!

"All up, the Tartars have attacked."

The observers of the White Dragon Army, who had been guarding the rooftops in several places, immediately rang the gong and shouted loudly when they saw a large group of Qing soldiers reappearing.

At this time, the white dragon soldiers and militiamen who had fallen asleep before had been awakened by the fire and smoke that had ignited around them.

While cursing the Tartars for their lack of virtue and viciousness, the soldiers also had to drag their tired bodies and find a way to extinguish the fire, so as not to let the fire burn to them.

Compared with the White Dragon Army and militia guarding the streets, the fire set by the Tartars had the greatest impact on the White Dragon soldiers and militia in the courtyards and militia on both wings.

As soon as this fire burned, basically these places didn't have to fight, in fact, it was equivalent to the Qing soldiers using fire, blocking more of their offensive routes.

However, once the fire spread to the city, it would be much more beneficial to the Qing army.

At that time, the fire will not only bring more trouble to the White Dragon Army, but if you don't get it right, you may burn a lot of people to death, but it will also allow the Qing soldiers to get more offensive routes.

At that time, the White Dragon Army's defense line in the city will probably be like a wooden board gnawed by insects, which will be wormholes and full of loopholes.

Hearing the sound of the gong, hundreds of white dragon soldiers and militiamen on several streets immediately assembled.

Their task was to hold the streets and prevent the main forces of the Qing army from passing, and as for the fire on both sides, and the defense problems in other directions, they did not need to deal with it until they received new orders.

"Kill!"

A moment later, the shouts of killing, the clashing of swords and shields, and the screams sounded again in several streets, and this kind of killing was repeated here for a whole day, boring and cruel.

The battle here is a test of the soldiers on both sides, that is, courage and blood, and the fight is attrition.

It depends on which soldier on both sides can't hold on to collapse first, or which side of the soldier is killed by the other side first, this is a meat grinder.

"Put out the fire."

And in more places in the city, at this time, many white dragon soldiers, militiamen, and young men who rushed to the city were trying to find ways to extinguish the fire.

However, this time the fire grew bigger and bigger, and gradually spread to the whole city, and there were only a few wells in the city, which were to be provided for more than 100,000 people to drink.

It is already very precious, and it is a drop in the bucket to extinguish fires at this time.

Fortunately, Dolgon could not besiege Shouzhangcheng for a long time, otherwise Li Zixiao would not be able to hold out in the city for even a week, and he would be defeated because of the water cut.

"Stone, take someone to give the order, don't put out the fire, let it burn.

You have the young men and the young men take down all the houses near the city, so that the fire does not spread to the city, and the people are gathered there.

This fire burns, and the attack of the Qing soldiers will also burn the impact.

Let the soldiers be careful, avoid the house where the fire is burning, and don't let the fire burn.

In the second half of the night, the fire will inevitably weaken, that is, the fire on the outskirts of the city is estimated to have been extinguished, and then the Qing soldiers will inevitably pounce, that is the real test.

Take advantage of this time to let the soldiers rest more. ”

Li Zixiao saw the rapidly spreading fire around him and knew that the fire could not be extinguished.

Just let it burn, and take the opportunity to let the White Dragon soldiers rest more and prepare for the bitter battle in the second half of the night.

(End of chapter)