Seeing that more than ten Qing troops under the city had fallen to the ground, and the rest were either cautiously sticking to the wall or going around behind the house to find cover, the morale of the Ming army was suddenly greatly boosted. After the Qing soldiers got closer to the gap, the Ming officers on the city wall organized the soldiers to roll the stones down from the wall. The Qing troops below had to lower their bodies further, half-squatting on the ground, holding their shields high above their heads, and rubbing forward in small steps, small steps.

One of the Ming soldiers leaned out, aimed a large stone at the shield under the wall, and threw it down with great vigour, causing a burst of cheers for his heroic deeds. Soon others followed his example and leaned out of the wall to throw stones, and several Ming soldiers cooperated to lift a long blue brick over the battlement, and let go of it together, so that it fell to the bottom of the wall in a row of shields that were slowly moving forward.

Unexpectedly, such a boulder fell from the sky, and the few Qing soldiers below who were holding shields in one hand were immediately crushed to the ground, and the two soldiers with broken arms rolled from the corner of the wall to the road, holding their arms and shouting loudly.

Under the order of the Qing army's guerrillas, the Qing army archers with Zhao Tianba and others began to attack the Ming army slingers who leaned out, but the position of the Qing army was very bad, they were located behind low houses, if they were hidden, it would be good if they were hidden, as long as they showed their heads, they would be immediately found on the opposite high wall, often these archers had just found the target, and when they came out to the attack position and began to bend the bow to aim, the Ming army shè who was waiting for work on the opposite side had already put the iron arrows over.

After three more archers were fell, the rest of the Qing archers shrunk their necks and hid behind cover. The three archers were wounded only by one Ming soldier, who was just lifting a large stone high above the top and about to throw it down the city, when he was hit in the right chest by an arrow flying from the side, and he screamed, and the stone in his hand flew out of the city wall, and the man fell backwards.

Two auxiliaries crouched down to support the wounded, ripped off the clothes on his chest to expose the wound, the arrow did not penetrate deep into the chest, one of the auxiliaries immediately broke the shaft of the arrow, then examined the wound, and shouted: "Bear with me, brother!" He grabbed the end that was still exposed, and pulled it out hard, pulling the arrow out.

"Get him out of town." Deng Ming had been watching the wounded man, and he asked the soldier to be sent out of the city for wound treatment. Upon hearing the order, the auxiliaries immediately carried the wounded off the walls. A fire had already risen outside, and it was prepared that the wound would be cauterized and bandaged.

The wounding of a soldier did not dampen the courage of the Ming army, and most of them found that the risk of leaning out and throwing stones was not great, and the archers on the opposite side had disappeared, and there were no more feathered arrows flying towards the city. Now Zhao Tianba and the others no longer continued to attack the enemy, but looked at the houses across the street vigilantly, trying to find the figure of the Qing archers. The shouts around him became louder and denser, and more stones were thrown down by the Ming army. The other side of the wall was also busy, pulling more stones up the city. Still, there were complaints that there were no stones to throw around, and this became more and more frequent as the Qing archers kept their heads open.

Hit by arrows and wounded, the Qing army has lost eleven archers, a dozen sword and shield soldiers, and a similar number of pikemen, and despite the cost of nearly forty men, the Qing army still has not been able to touch the edge of the gap. The blow to morale from the iron arrows of the other side was so great that the guerrillas found their archers hiding behind the walls and refusing to venture out to attack the Ming army, while the other soldiers were terrified by the wails of their fellow attackers, and no one wanted to take the lead.

If you don't work hard, you can only hide in the corner of the wall and be smashed, or hide in the middle of the house to watch, which is meaningless to capture the gap. One stone after another kept falling, and another Qing soldier really couldn't hold the shield, his hand shook, the shield was crooked, and his head was broken and bleeding by the blue bricks. The other Qing soldiers refused to stay in the corner of the wall and were smashed endlessly, and as soon as the whistle was called, these Qing soldiers collectively rushed through the street by the wall, and rushed into the construction area on the other side of the street.

For these fleeing Qing troops, the three archers of the Ming army did not attack. Although this kind of iron arrow is good, after all, the number is limited, and they only have a few pots of wolf tooth arrows in their hands, and now they have used up a small half.

When the Qing soldiers dispersed into residential areas, it became more difficult for the guerrillas to command them. For example, the archers' behavior of avoiding battle is difficult to stop. If the guerrillas actively urged the archers to attack the Ming army, he himself would probably become a target for the Ming army. The Green Battalion guerrilla retreated two steps, a little more distance from the wall that might shoot dangerous arrows, and then looked east. Now he only hoped that the attack on the city wall would be smoother, and that he would be able to expel the hated Ming archers on the city wall as much as possible.

It's a pity that the attack on the city wall didn't go well at all. When the Ming army blew up the city wall, it also eliminated the most combat-effective Qing soldiers near this section of the city wall, and the Qing soldiers who were not affected were all cautious people who hid far away. When they found that the Ming army had climbed the city wall, these timid people immediately ran to the south tower without looking back. These are all soldiers from Anlu Mansion, and there are also locals in Zhongxiang City. Some of them threw down their uniforms and weapons and fled home, leaving the rest with nowhere to flee and had to wait for fate on the castle tower.

After the Hanyang army led the troops to arrive, these Qing soldiers who were hiding far away were reorganized, and they were ordered to take up arms and advance on the city wall, launch an attack in the direction of the gap, and cooperate with the Qing army under the wall to drive the Ming army out of the city, and restore control of this section of the city wall—at that time, the general army had not yet decided to break through.

These Qing soldiers had no choice but to take up arms, once again lined up and set off from the city tower, shouting loudly to attack the Ming army.

Zhong Xiang's city wall is not very wide, and after removing the space occupied by the wall buttresses on both sides, it is enough for three or four people to walk side by side. The enemy opposite the Qing army was not Deng Ming's personal guards, but some soldiers and auxiliaries of Liu Tichun and He Zhen. Jīng Rui's soldiers all followed Liu Tichun and He Zhen to kill, and the few soldiers with poor combat effectiveness left near the gap were of similar status to the Zhongxiang county soldiers, and many of them were former Qing soldiers who surrendered to the Ming army in the last few battles. There are even more ordinary people who have newly joined the army, and today is the first time to go to the battlefield.

After the city wall was blown down just now, these Ming soldiers marched from the city wall to the south tower with their toes proud, intending to salute first and then persuade the defenders on the city tower to surrender. Among them, the Qing soldiers who had just surrendered to the Ming army were full of confidence in their persuasion to surrender, and they had been in the same desperate situation not long ago, and the panic and horror in their hearts at that time were still fresh in their memories. These Qing soldiers intend to use their own experiences to prove to the defenders of the castle tower that there is nothing to be afraid of surrendering.

Originally, when these Ming troops walked towards the city tower, they saw three lanterns rising on the flagpole of the Qing army, and one by one they were even more determined and consciously held the victory ticket. Although the officers guarding the castle tower may still have the intention of resisting, most of them are soldiers to eat, and the Green Battalion must have lost their fighting spirit - these former Green Battalion soldiers know the enemy's psychology very well.

When they saw from the high city wall a large group of Qing soldiers suddenly surging under the city tower, and the dense swords, guns, swords, and halberds were dazzling, these Ming troops hurriedly prepared to retreat. But they were on top of the wall, and there was only one way in front of them, either to retreat back to a distant gap, or to go down from the wall. In desperation, some people tried to find a rope to hang themselves out of the city. Not to mention that you can't find a rope for a while, if you really run away like this, then you won't want to stand up straight in the Ming army in the future.

When they saw a group of Qing soldiers leaving the city tower and driving along the city wall in the direction of the gap, the Ming army in the city was shaken again, after all, they were different from the comrades who threw stones at the gap, they had no battlements to cover with the Qing army, there was no condescending advantage, and they could not smash people at will without worrying about fighting back. Seeing the Qing soldiers getting closer and closer, the Ming army became even more nervous, and the first row of soldiers on the easternmost side looked around, feeling that it was time for the city to retreat.

However, these Qing soldiers who were approaching the Ming army were also nervous in their hearts, and the few Qing soldiers who were walking in the front stopped their pace when they were still more than ten meters away from the Ming army, and shouted vigorously at the Ming army on the opposite side, making a fierce shout. Although the Qing soldiers stopped and turned sideways to get out of the way, their companions behind them had no intention of crossing the vanguard to attack the Ming army, but all stopped in tacit understanding, and shouted loudly at the Ming army, hoping to show their military might and scare the enemy into retreating.

The vanguard of the Ming army opposite them didn't want to retreat, but they were crowded with people behind them and had no way to retreat. After hearing the fierce shouts of the soldiers on the front line of the Qing army, the soldiers on the eastern front of the Ming army, who were extremely uneasy, were a little relieved and regained some confidence and morale, because they really understood the psychology of the soldiers of the Green Battalion too thoroughly.

Not to be outdone, the Ming soldiers shouted back, and at the same time leveled their spears and shook them demonstratively at the approaching enemy soldiers.

The forwards of the two armies tested each other, and the confidence in their hearts became more and more sufficient. While the Qing army was pressing, the Ming army also bravely took a step forward. The distance between them slowly shortened, and when the soldiers on either side were about four meters apart, they invariably stood still again.

"Hmm!"

"Hmm!"

"Humph!"

"Humph!"

Both sides widened their eyes one by one, blew the beards at the corners of their mouths high, and made a threatening sound of "hum haha". At such close proximity, the soldiers of the two armies were already able to make combat contact. The soldiers on both sides held the end of the shaft of their spear, leaned their guns forward, and struck each other's barrels in the air, making a crackling sound.

After a few slaps to each other, neither of the two armies could frighten the enemy on the opposite side, and the vanguard of either side was not an iron superman, and after holding each other for a while, the foreheads of the soldiers in the front row were sweating profusely. The soldiers in the second row behind them had been watching the battle for a long time, and they all knew the battle situation one by one, and after seeing the soldiers at the head of the platoon sweating, they bravely stepped forward to exchange positions with the leader of the platoon, and engaged the enemy soldiers with their guns. The soldiers in the back stayed where they were, never going forward to cause chaos, and ensuring that the distance between the two armies in the front row was maintained at about the length of two guns.

Soon the substitute soldiers also felt a little tired, and the soldiers in the back row exchanged places with their comrades in front of them, and some particularly brave soldiers also cut in line and rushed to the front of the platoon to show their skills.

The newly replaced Qing soldier had a face full of flesh, and after standing up, he first blew his beard and stared at him like the previous people, and then began to grin and grind his back molars, grinning his teeth and squeaking, which was very terrifying.

The Ming soldiers on the opposite side gritted their teeth not to be outdone, but they had to admit that this Qing army had a set of unique skills, and the sound made by the three Ming soldiers who gritted their teeth together was not as loud as the one opposite.

"Is he a rat?" Several Ming soldiers scolded in their hearts, the person opposite was too poor and vicious.

"Let me come." A Ming officer in the back row pushed away the people in front of him, strode to the front, stared coldly at the few Qing soldiers side by side opposite, and suddenly drew his knife out of its sheath without warning......

Xichenglou had stopped resisting at this time, the guards of the general Zuo and his own soldiers were killed, and the remaining Anlu soldiers surrendered and begged for mercy. However, He Zhen didn't have time to climb the tower to take a look.

As soon as the matter of Xichenglou was over, He Zhen hurriedly commanded the main force to attack to the east. Liu Tichun chased the prefect of Anlu Prefecture to the east, and the Qing soldiers who were sandwiched between the two Ming armies had yet to be eliminated. At this time, Chengxi Avenue was completely controlled by the Ming army, and more than 100 Qing soldiers who had been cut in sections had surrendered, and about 100 people fled to the houses on both sides of the road.

The Qing soldiers who refused to lay down their arms must be eliminated, and the sooner the better. At the same time, it is necessary to guard against arson and dying resistance, and if this happens, it must be extinguished immediately, so as not to cause a catastrophe.

For these Qing soldiers who were guarding the houses in groups of several people, although the Ming army was outnumbered, there was no good way, and they could not set fire to drive them out of the house, so they had to block them one by one, and then attack the main gate, wall, and roof at the same time.

In the face of the careful purging of the Ming army, which was several times or even more than ten times their number, these Qing soldiers failed to cause any losses to the Ming army, but greatly delayed the pace of He Zhen's advance.

"Why are these dog tartars so tenacious today?" He Zhen commanded and eliminated the Qing soldiers in more than a dozen houses, a total of forty or fifty people, and suddenly felt that something was wrong, if he saw the absolute superiority of the Ming army entering the city, the Qing army would soon lose its fighting spirit; And although these Qing soldiers could not see the whole picture of the city, they must have realized that the Ming army had an overwhelming advantage. He Zhen felt a little confused, and felt as if she had sensed something. These Qing soldiers refused to surrender but held on to the house, do they still expect the prefect and the county order to bring a few hundred people to turn the tables, and Zhong Xiang's Qing army still has a chance to turn defeat into victory?

Hao Shaoqi in the north of the city had similar questions at this time. When he fought with the hundreds of Qing troops just now, he felt a little abnormal, the combat effectiveness of the other party seemed to be much stronger than the county soldiers in his impression, and more than 500 Qing soldiers were not crushed at once in the face of the Ming army under the unified command of 3,000. Now half of the Chengbei Avenue is still under the control of the Qing army, and the 300 Qing soldiers are fighting and retreating, preventing the Ming army from quickly approaching the yamen in the center of the city. The Qing army, which was cut off, was also much more tenacious in resistance than Hao Shaoqi expected. A large group of Qing troops rushed into a large mansion and made concerted efforts to defend inside, although the Qing army was only more than 40 people, but the hundreds of people surrounded by Hao Shaoqi outside were never able to rush in.

Although more than 100 Qing soldiers were eliminated, Hao Shaoqi also paid the price of more than 20 casualties. Although street fighting is not conducive to the deployment of troops, and it is quite conducive to the defense of small forces, this figure is still enough to show that the opponent is well-trained and the morale of the army is quite good.

"Report, a prisoner confessed that there were 3,000 Wuchang soldiers in the city!" A personal guard ran to report to Hao Shaoqi.

"Three thousand Wuchang soldiers?" Hao Shaoqi was taken aback, but this news explained why the combat effectiveness of the troops on the opposite side was much higher than that of ordinary county soldiers.

"There are also more than 1,500 armored soldiers urgently transferred from various counties, plus Zhong Xiang's original 1,000 armored soldiers, there are more than 5,600 armored soldiers in the city."

"Whew-" Hao Shaoqi let out a long breath. If this number is correct, then he fought well today. He knew that the Ming army in the west of the city had also been killed - Liu Tichun and Hao Shaoqi's subordinates had already made contact in the northwest city, and he saw that the green banner of the Qing army in the west city tower had disappeared, presumably it had been occupied by the Ming army.

"Take the North City Tower first." Hao Shaoqi was no longer in a hurry to urge the army forward.

More than 6,000 soldiers entered the city, and there were 5,500 soldiers in the city to defend, and in less than half an hour, they captured a small half of the city, which was enough to make the Ming army proud. Hao Shaoqi felt that the top priority was to quickly obtain a commanding height, so that he could observe the entire military situation in the city.

Hao Shaoqi slowed down the attack on the south, and seized the time to attack the Beicheng Tower behind him, as well as the Wuchang soldiers who were hiding in the corner of the mansion and resisting stubbornly. Since they knew that the enemy had more than 5,000 armor, it was easy to understand that the defenders in these places refused to surrender, they did not know the scale of the Ming army's attack, and most of them were still expecting the Qing army's counterattack to relieve them.

"Don't be in a hurry, take your time." Hao Shaoqi felt that the Ming army was making progress too fast, and the commanding heights were almost all in the hands of the Qing army so far, which was very unfavorable for the Ming army to control the overall situation. The drum tower in the northwest of the city was also in the hands of the Qing army at this time, and Hao Shaoqi sent an additional force there.

He decided to fight steadily and not give the Qing army a chance to turn over.