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The wind and snow were blowing, the sky and the earth were vast, and the enemy's horns outside the city were wailing like the roars of wild beasts, echoing in the wind and snow. The dull sound made people feel extremely depressed and their hearts were stuffy.
Qin Mu stood in the tower of the South Gate, holding a telescope and watching the Qing army's offensive deployment. However, the snowflakes flying diagonally made his vision very blurry. He could only see a dark mass. He could not tell which city gate would be the direction for the Qing army to take the initiative.
Qin Mu spoke in a relaxed manner to Han Gang and the others, but in fact, he just wanted to relieve the pressure on his soldiers. This was his usual method. The coach appeared confident and his soldiers would not panic.
Although he despised the enemy strategically, Qin Mu was actually very cautious tactically.
I remember Napoleon once said: Never think that your enemy is stupid.
The Qing army was not stupid, but also brave and good at fighting. Although Ning Wanwo and Fan Wencheng were in a hostile position, it was undeniable that they were definitely first-class counselors.
The history of the Qing dynasty was paved with corpses. Anyone who despised them would become a stepping stone for them to gain military merit.
This cold winter hunting month was quite unfavorable to the Qin army. The iron armor was cold and difficult to wear. Many soldiers got frostbite on their hands, their hands and feet were numb, and their reactions became slow.
On the other hand, the Qing army was used to living in a place with a bitter cold of minus 30 or 40 degrees Celsius and was afraid of the summer in the south. But the winter here did not have much impact on them.
Out of caution, Qin Mu handed over the command of the city defense battle to Han Gang, and asked Shi Qing to organize 40,000 civilians in the city to strengthen patrols and go to the city to participate in defense at any time if necessary. Niu Wanchuan's cavalry was ready to fight at any time.
As a result, the former Chuzhou defender Hong Niangzi was not happy. Amid the sound of horns outside the city, she dressed in armor and a red cloak, rode her horse to the South Gate, and rushed up the city gate tower like a ball of fire.
She was about to open her mouth to argue, but Qin Mu spoke first: "What are you doing here?"
Lady Hong was so angry that her eyebrows immediately stood up: "You are being unreasonable, I am the commander of Chuzhou."
"Aren't you trying to avoid me on purpose? How can I assign you tasks if you're avoiding me?"
"You!" Hong Niangzi was angry and aggrieved. Tears flickered in her eyes. But she raised her head stubbornly and said with a stern face, "I know you look down on me too. You think I am..."
"What do you think you are? I think you are my woman. Do you know that?" Qin Mu walked forward. He covered her hand and said in a gentle voice, "Ying'er, it's over. The enemy is about to attack. Don't make trouble anymore. Follow me. There is no need to worry about not having a fight. We will support any place that is in danger."
"This is different. Chuzhou originally belonged to me, but now you want me to stay by your side and obey you in everything. How can this be the same?"
Qin Mu understood that she wanted to prove that she was not a vase or a decoration.
"Okay, Ying'er, since you don't want to follow me, I will give you your freedom. However, the enemy is about to come up, and it is too late to change the generals now. You should follow me for the time being. After we repel the enemy's attack this time, I will hand over the South Gate to you. Is that okay?"
"Don't joke."
"Don't joke."
The enemy's main camp was set up in the south of the city, and the South Gate must be the direction of the enemy's main attack. Hongniang was satisfied with gaining command of the South Gate.
Qin Mu raised the telescope again and looked outside the city. In order to avoid being bombarded by the city walls, the Qing army's camp was ten miles away from the city. Snowflakes were floating in the sky, and the shadow of the Qing army's camp could not be seen in the telescope at all. All he could hear were the low horns that were getting louder and the sound of horses galloping back and forth.
Judging from the sound of horse hooves, the Qing army should be launching an attack from the east, south, west and north.
Han Gang was already making arrangements. According to Qin Mu's request, the Qing army should be given a chance to attack the city walls, making Chu look shaky.
This requires hiding one's strength well while ensuring that the city's defenses do not actually collapse.
This is a technical job, because being constantly suppressed by the enemy will inevitably damage morale, how to grasp this degree and appease the soldiers. It requires the commander to judge the situation, make timely adjustments, and be able to boost morale when necessary.
Hong Niangzi, who had nothing to do, stood beside Qin Mu and began to feel a little uncomfortable. She and Qin Mu were already husband and wife. Although Qin Mu had not yet canonized her, she was his woman after all. She had just spoken to him in that tone... ... ... ...
Hongniang glanced at him secretly. Qin Mu was standing in front of the parapet, wearing a black armor and his body was as hard as iron. The vast snow and wind outside the parapet made his silhouette look even harder.
In fact, Hong Niang knew clearly in her heart that Qin Mu had always been giving in to her and had never gotten angry when she contradicted him. If it were someone else, she would probably never be allowed to act so willfully.
She walked to the wall, took Qin Mu's clouded leopard cloak, put it on him, then stood beside him with her head lowered, saying nothing.
"Ying'er, don't think too much. The war is about to begin."
"Hmm." Hongniang responded, and after thinking for a while, she added, "The Tartars have sent troops to attack every city gate. Judging from this, we should test the defense strength of each city gate this time. In my opinion, we should not show weakness at every city gate. This will make it easier for the Tartars to realize that we are deliberately hiding our strength, and it will not be conducive to maintaining our army's morale. Therefore, among the six city gates, there should always be one or two city gates that we hit hard to make it difficult for the Tartars to cross the line. Only by doing this, we can make the Tartars believe that we really tried our best."
"Good, good, real and fake..." Qin Mu immediately shouted to Li Shi outside the city gate, "Li Shi, immediately pass on my order to have the South Gate and the East Gate fight hard. Don't hide your strength anymore, go quickly."
“Yes!”
This time, Duoduo did not distinguish between the main and the secondary, and deployed a thousand troops at each of the six city gates, commanded by Gong Adai, Tong Tulai, Zuo Menggeng, Li Yongfang, Sun Degong, and Zu Dale respectively.
In the fierce wind and snow, the Qing army was like a pack of wolves in the snow, rushing forward with roars. The dull sound of horses' hooves, footsteps, and horns was heart-wrenching. In the howling cold wind, it seemed as if ghosts were condensing and gods were howling.
The Qin army stood in the snow, the wind was as cold as a knife, the snowflakes were blowing in their faces, and they held their cold swords and guns tightly, looking out of the city with bated breath. Officers at all levels began to shout, asking the soldiers to enter the battlements, and the muskets were loaded with ammunition and pointed at the stone bridge over the moat.
The archers behind had their arrows on their bows, waiting for the order to fly.
The war was about to break out. In the vast snow and wind, suddenly a piece of golden armor was seen reflecting a cold light. Led by a yellow flag, it rushed towards the South Gate like a tide.
Boom! Boom! Boom! The war drums on the city walls rumbled, shaking the earth and making people's scalps numb.
The Qing army ran wildly with ladders and iron shields raised. The two Portuguese cannons at the south gate roared first amid the sound of war drums. Two tongues of fire spurted out, and two barrages of bullets broke through the wind and snow and shot away.
"Hurry up! If you want to live, hurry up! Charge!" Niulu Zhangjing Ma Le kept shouting. The bullets ejected from the cannons hit their iron shields with a sharp whistle. Bang! Some iron shields were broken into several pieces.
The soldiers under the shields were hit by the bullets with their heads split open, blood and flesh flying everywhere. Some of the soldiers under the shields were hit directly in the chest, with fist-sized blood holes, cracked bones, and blood gushing out like a fountain.
"Hurry, get on the bridge!" Ma Le's eyes were bloodshot, and he roared like a wild beast, leading the way to rush onto the bridge over the moat. The Qing army's originally loose formation suddenly tightened up as if it had encountered a torrent in the canyon, and rushed onto the stone bridge.
While running madly, the Qing soldiers kept drawing their bows, and cold arrows flew into the air, forming a large rain of arrows, covering the top of the city. They shot arrows very quickly, one wave after another, like dark clouds flying by.
If the Qin soldiers on the city wall were not careful, the arrows would hit them, and the sharp arrowheads would pierce the bones, and the city wall would be dyed red with blood.
The fierce fighting overshadowed the wind and snow and caused the air to heat up rapidly.
On the battlements, matchlock rifles unleashed their full fury. The Qing army was crowded on the two-meter-wide bridge deck, with no escape. The violent bullets whistled in, piercing the Qing army's armor and breaking their limbs. Their screams merged into one;
Qing soldiers kept falling into the moat on the side of the bridge like dumplings, splashing water like a tumbling dragon. The surface of the river was soon dyed red, and floating corpses blocked the river.
Male suffered at least two hundred casualties before he rushed to the city wall, and a series of ladders with barbed wire were quickly set up on the city wall.
"Go!" Ma Le roared continuously.
The Tartars pounced on the ladders like wolves and tigers, and flew up...
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.(To be continued..)
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