Xu Xingxia came to the city and found that the atmosphere here was unusually heavy. Whether it was a soldier of the white-clothed army or a soldier who helped in the battle, almost everyone held their breath. He glanced outside and understood what was going on. It turned out that outside the Weizhen Fort, there were no tartars, only dense common people. There were men and women, old and young, slowly squirming in the direction of Weizhen Fort, like a colony of ants.

It seems that Mo Yuegen should have broken through a nearby castle, gathered all the military households there, and expelled them to the front line, so as to threaten Weizhen Fort, and by the way, force him Xu Xingxia to lay down his arms, give up resistance, and obediently tie his hands and capture. The closest to Weizhen Fort should be Pingyu City, and Zhenshuo Fort in the southwest. I don't know which one was breached? Or are both breached? Another blood debt!

Driving hostages to attack the city has always been used by nomads when attacking the city. On the one hand, it is to save food. Hostages also need to consume food. However, if a person dies, there is naturally no need to consume food. On the other hand, of course, it is for the filling of the trenches, if there are trenches at the base of the walls. Directly stuff the hostages into the trench, and the siege troops behind them can directly step on the white bones of the forest, which is simple and trouble-free.

Faced with such a situation, the defenders were indeed very difficult. Or, it is a desperate counterattack, a volley of guns, indiscriminate killing, and the hostages are killed along with the enemy. Either that, or just find an opportunity to open the door and let them in. If it is the former, the psychological pressure is naturally great. After all, if so many hostages die in their own hands, they will be condemned in conscience. If it's the latter, the risk is high for defense.

With your heels, you can imagine that among these refugees, there must be a lot of annihilation. If they entered the city, they would definitely set fire to it everywhere and wreak havoc, or even find an opportunity to open the gates of the city to welcome the Tartars from outside. Of course, there is another option, which is to raise your hands and surrender. It's just that, in this way, the purpose of the Tartar will be achieved.

Seeing the large number of hostages outside, Yuan Chonghuan's face suddenly changed. He is a literati, that is, he vaguely saw some shadows of war in books, where did he think that war would be so cruel. The descriptions in the text, no matter how cruel, are not as shocking as what they have seen with their own eyes. These damn Tartars, with unarmed civilians, rushed up as a striker. If the defenders fight back, they will definitely injure these hostages by mistake! However, if they were not injured by mistake, how could the defenders hold the castle?

The refugees outside, the old and the young, there were newborn children, young women holding their babies to breastfeed, and gray-haired old people who were about to lose their feet, and it was really difficult for the defenders not to hurt them. Yuan Chonghuan could almost imagine that after the defenders' guns and cannons rang out, the field outside would be full of hostage corpses, and there would be countless wounded, struggling painfully in a pool of blood. And all those in the city will be condemned by their conscience.

"What to do? Can't let them in! Yuan Chonghuan shouted immediately. It's one thing to think in his head, and it's another thing to judge it. He has not experienced war, but his brain is definitely not stupid. The first thing he thought of was, of course, his own safety. As for the people outside, let him die. If it doesn't endanger his own safety, Yuan Chonghuan doesn't mind pulling them along, but if it endangers himself, he has to think carefully.

It is also cruel to say, at this time, Yuan Chonghuan was most worried not about the safety of the hostages outside, but Xu Xingxia's decision. What he was most afraid of was that Xu Xingxia's heart was too soft, and he couldn't bear to see those hostages outside being slaughtered, so he ordered the fort gate to be opened and let them in. If that's the case, the consequences can be severe. If he had been the defender of Fort Willtown, he would have ordered the defenders to shoot and stop the hostages from advancing.

For all this, Yuan Chonghuan has ample reasons for righteousness. As the subjects of the Ming Empire, those hostages outside should take up arms, fight bravely with the Tartars, and die on the battlefield, instead of being cowardly slaughtered by the Tartars. As if in the current situation, they can only be considered accomplices of the Tartars and must be eliminated. Yes, they are accomplices of the Tartars, and they must be eliminated!

The surrounding military households were also anxiously waiting for Xu Xingxia's decision. Their mood is actually very contradictory. Looking at the refugees outside, falling into the hands of the Tartars, and being driven by the Tartars to come up as cannon fodder, if they don't help, they really can't get over in their hearts. However, they also understand that things are not so simple. The situation would be even more dangerous if the refugees were to be brought in. If you don't get it right, even Weizhen Fort will be destroyed.

Because of the soft-heartedness of the moment, even the matter of burying oneself in the end has long been common in Ningxia Town. In such a situation, most castles will refuse to allow hostages to approach. There is no way, this is the most basic survival need, etiquette, morality, love or something, can only be put aside temporarily. Therefore, basically, the tendency of the vast majority of military households is that they are unwilling to let them in. No way, there have been too many bloody lessons before.

Xu Xingxia said calmly: "Liu Guangliang! ”

Liu Guangliang hurriedly said, "My lord, what are your orders?" ”

Xu Xingxia said indifferently: "Push out all the trebuchets!" ”

Liu Guangliang hurriedly agreed, greeted more than a dozen young and strong soldiers, and hurriedly went. After a while, Liu Guangliang and the others pushed out the trebuchets from the craftsman's workshop and lined them up behind the fort gate. Yun Qifeng took a dozen white-clothed soldiers and began to go to the top of the trebuchet to prepare explosives bags.

There are a total of five trebuchets, which were originally intended to be put into use at Zhenyuan Pass. It was one of the main passages for the Tartars to move south, and the Moon Gun and the trebuchet could form a strong defensive system. Bombardment with explosives packs at long distances and moon guns at close range can block the onslaught of the Tatar cavalry, even if the walls are not built for the time being.

Originally, these trebuchets could be regarded as Xu Xingxia's secret weapon, and he didn't want to appear in public so soon for the time being. However, the situation outside was complicated, and he had to change his decision. The Tatars thought that with this move, they could deal with Weizhen Fort, it was a dream! Lao Tzu wants you to walk around without eating, and steal chickens without eating rice!

If you want to talk about the manufacturing technology of trebuchets, there is really no difficulty, and the original return cannon of the Mongols is quite powerful. The return cannon is essentially a trebuchet. A fortress like Xiangyang City was conquered by the Hui Artillery. It is said that the most powerful return cannon can throw a stone weighing about 300 catties to a distance of 500 meters. The city tower of Xiangyang City was directly smashed by a boulder weighing hundreds of catties, and the guard general Lu Wenhuan was shocked and had to order surrender.

Of course, such trebuchets are already very large, and they need dozens or even hundreds of people to work together. Such trebuchets would be as tall as a three-story building if they were all erected. The general return cannon throws 30 pounds of stones, and the distance is about 300 meters. The number of people working is only less than ten, so it is flexible and lightweight.

The trebuchet made by craftsmen such as Liu Guangliang is the most common trebuchet of this kind. Because he didn't have too many technical requirements, and the material requirements for wood were not high, he led people to build five planes one after another. Due to the weight of the explosive package, which is only about fifteen catties, the distance of the projectile is naturally a little farther. In the actual test, the distance of 130 zhang (about 400 meters) was completely fine.

At this time, the refugees who had been expelled by the Tatar cavalry were already very close to Fort Weizhen. The refugees who walked in the front were less than 20 zhang away from the city wall. As the distance approached, more details were revealed in front of the defenders. Behind the hostages, the Tatar cavalry, who were responsible for the expulsion, also appeared. It is indeed under the command of Mo Yuegen.

According to preliminary estimates, the number of refugees is about 3,000, which is equivalent to the entire number of people in a Weizhen fort. Behind the refugees were hundreds of Tatar cavalry. They rode their horses to drive the refugees forward, about 300 meters from Fort Weizhen. Due to the considerable distance, the appearance of those Tatar cavalry was quite easy. At a distance of three hundred meters, they felt to themselves that there was definitely no danger.

Probably due to the considerable cooperation of the hostages, there was no act of resistance, and the Tatar cavalry was very easy to get together and say something to each other. From time to time, I can faintly hear them laughing arrogantly. Judging by their gestures, they are also unscrupulous. It is estimated that their topic must be about burning, killing and looting. This time, Mo Yuegen did not capture Ningxia City, and he would definitely find other castles to vent his anger. One can imagine what kind of crazy actions the Tartars will have after conquering a certain castle.

"Let's all die!" Xu Xingxia cursed silently in his heart. He measured the distance and waved his hand behind him. He held up ten fingers, representing a distance of about 100 zhang. This distance is where the trebuchet is most likely to control the landing point, and the accuracy is the best. As for the angle of shooting, it was directly in front of the fort gate.

"Ready!"

"Put!"

Yun Qifeng immediately shouted.

"Whew!"

The first explosive package was quickly ejected.

The explosive pack arced through the sky and landed far inside the ranks of the Tatar cavalry. After hitting the ground, it bounced a few times and kept rolling on the ground. It's just that, no matter how it rolls, the sparks of the fuse are constantly flickering.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, a loud bang was heard, and the explosive pack was successfully detonated.

(To be continued)