Chapter 1095 1090 [Founding in the East and Attacking in the West]
"Boom boom boom boom!"
The Ming army's artillery continued to bombard the Dali defenders, and the Dali defenders had even become accustomed to the sound of the artillery.
Due to the lack of heavy artillery, Bai Qi had no hope of demolishing the wall. Therefore, iron bullets were rarely used. He cut nearby stones and polished them into stone bullets. He first used iron bullets to bombard the defense facilities on the wall, and then used them to erect them on the wall.
The artillery on the mound bombarded the soldiers with stone bullets.
A few days later, the tower at Longweiguan was riddled with holes, and half of it collapsed due to broken wooden columns.
In Guancheng, which stretches eight miles long, many battlements collapsed and could no longer effectively protect the defenders. Several enemy towers were also heavily protected by artillery shells. Some war tents were crumbling and some had collapsed.
The frequency of the Ming army's artillery fire became less and less. They would only concentrate their firepower and fire hard when they observed enemies walking on the wall or when the defenders tried to repair defense facilities.
Normally, they would fire at most twenty or thirty cannons a day, just to blast the remaining battlements with stone bullets when they had nothing to do.
The Ming army camp on the south bank of Erhai Lake became more and more stable, and newly cut trees were transported there every day. The Dali defender finally understood that it was the frontier camp used by the Ming army to build siege equipment - but
The defenders just didn't dare to go out of the city to attack, and they didn't even dare to come by boat to attack at night.
Within the waters two or three miles away from the main camp here, Dali warships did not dare to approach at all. If they came a little closer, they would be greeted by artillery.
In the blink of an eye, the Ming army had already passed ten days outside Longwei Pass.
Lin Chong had already led his army around Longshou Pass and was also cutting down trees to build siege equipment.
…
In Dali City, there was a roar of wind and cranes.
Of course there are great details here, two of them even live in Dong's mansion.
Dong's hereditary Qingping official is the honorary prime minister of Dali, and he is also a religious leader. Without the real prime minister's order, which soldier would dare to come to the Dong family to search for spies?
Whenever they had the opportunity, they spread rumors, sometimes saying that someone from the Zhang family had defected to the enemy, and sometimes that someone from the Yang family had defected to the enemy. Even the Dong family did not let it go, claiming that Dong Mingshou, a Qingping official, had long since committed treason.
Become a leading party.
For a time, nearly half of the important civil and military officials in Dali were rumored to be in contact with foreign enemies.
"Didn't you catch him again?" Gao Yuecheng asked.
A general knelt on the ground: "Report to the Prime Minister, those spies must have many homes in the city, and even live in the residences of some officials. After the court posted a reward, many people came to report the spies, although most of them were wrong.
, but those two people yesterday must have been real spies. When I led my troops to arrest them, I saw them running into the alley, but they disappeared in the blink of an eye. There were several official residences nearby, and I... I will not...
Dare to search."
Gao Yuechengsheng held more than ten rumor leaflets in his hand, one of which even claimed that Gao Zhushou, the deputy general of Longwei Pass, had surrendered to the enemy.
The news couldn't be more false.
But Gao Yucheng was slightly worried. What would Gao Zhushou do if he really surrendered to the enemy?
Gao Zhushou's territory is in Moutongfu, which is very close to the Dali and Gyeonggi areas. If Lin Chong, who led his army northward, cannot break through Longshou Pass, he will most likely divide his troops and go north to attack Moutongfu.
The military force of Moutong Mansion was empty, and Gao Zhushou's relatives and property were all there.
Once the Ming army captures Moutong Mansion, will Gao Zhushou still loyally defend Guancheng? I'm afraid there is no need for the Ming army to persuade him to surrender. After Gao Zhushou gets the news, he will take the initiative to contact the Ming army outside the city.
Nowadays, a false rumor may very well turn out to be true.
Moreover, two detailed posters that posted leaflets mysteriously disappeared in areas where powerful people gathered, and it was 100% certain that important officials in the DPRK had surrendered to the enemy.
But who is the one who surrendered to the enemy?
It seems possible for anyone. All major surnames have enmity with the Gao family, and even the internal animosity within the Gao family is deepening.
The more Gao Yuechengsheng thought about it, the more depressed he became. He felt that all civil and military officials in the entire dynasty were collaborators and traitors. Even Gao Guanyinlong, who helped him seize the position of prime minister and was currently responsible for guarding Longshou Pass, might sacrifice Guancheng at any time. Surrender to the Ming army.
Gao Yuechengsheng already regretted it. He shouldn't have jumped out to become the prime minister. Wouldn't it be better to directly offer his land to the Ming Dynasty and become a minister?
Now it is difficult to get off the tiger, and even dare not surrender easily.
His act of taking advantage of the opportunity to seize power had already offended Gao Liangcheng to death. And Gao Liangcheng had defected to the Ming Dynasty. How could he be allowed to live in the Ming Dynasty even though Gao Yuechengsheng had also defected to the Ming Dynasty?
Also, what if Gao Guanyinlong doesn’t surrender when he orders the surrender? Will he suddenly lead troops to kill him?
It was such a complete mess that Gao Yucheng's brain almost exploded.
…
On the fourteenth day, the Ming army routinely fired artillery.
The defenders had long been accustomed to this, leaving only a few soldiers lying behind the remaining battlements to observe.
The rest of the soldiers on duty were all hiding at the base of the wall inside the pass, and even the generals were nearby.
Even if a general came to inspect, the soldiers still staggered around, showing a state of resignation.
A few days ago, the general would sternly reprimand and kill a few of the chickens to scare the monkeys. Now he is too lazy to take care of it anymore, because it is useless and will only make the soldiers more angry.
"Well, it's better to guard the mountain stronghold. You won't get bombarded if you stay on the mountain."
"The people on the mountain are all short-lived ghosts. I heard someone said that if you want to capture Longwei Pass, you must first capture Dian Cang Mountain. We are just being bombarded, and the defenders on the mountain may be shot at any time!"
"Do you think this place can be defended?"
"What do you think? Of the two previous prime ministers, one was severely defeated by the Ming army, and the other simply surrendered to the Ming army. What does this prime minister mean now? Well, if he can live longer, he might be able to escape quickly. Leave a dog alive."
"We can't run away now. If we catch a deserter, we will behead him."
"I'm not stupid? I have already thought about it. If the mountains are captured by the Ming army, they will attack Guancheng next. Then there will be a chance to escape!"
"How to escape?"
"Think about it, if the mountain is captured, the enemy will attack from the mountain and outside the pass together. When they attack the city, they will shout "Our army is defeated" and call for more people to flee together. As long as there are many soldiers fleeing, supervise the battle team Where can I take care of it?"
"..."
Under the walls inside the pass, groups of three or three were whispering to each other, and some were even exchanging escape experiences.
Farther away, on the west coast of Erhai Lake a few miles away, many Dali warships were docked on the shore. They should have continuously sent warships out to cruise to bring pressure to the Ming army on the south coast, but after several ships were sunk by artillery, the sailors now They also started to mess up.
The idea of the naval officers was simpler. Anyway, they could escape by boat, and their chances of escape were very high.
Once the war goes badly, just take a boat and flee.
No one believed that the battle could still be won, especially after seeing the power of artillery.
Gao Yuchengguang patrolled everywhere, the anger in his chest getting stronger and stronger. He cursed at the mountain stronghold on the south side of Tiansheng Pass: "How come there are sentries leaving their posts without permission in broad daylight?"
The guard general of the cottage explained: "The general has asked, and it's not that he left his post without permission. He just went to urinate nearby."
"Cut that sentry down!"
"yes."
"And your stronghold is extremely poorly guarded. Why don't you leave enough troops to guard the cliff behind? What will happen if the Ming army climbs up from the cliff?"
"It's enough to leave a team of soldiers to guard the cliff."
"Send fifty more people!"
"yes."
Gao Yuchengguang admonished him and left the village angrily.
He knew that the morale of the army had been weakened, especially the daily shelling. Although few soldiers were killed, the morale of the Dali army was declining day by day.
Not to mention ordinary soldiers, even many generals began to be in disarray, just waiting to escape or surrender at a critical moment.
Except for the shelling during the day, nothing happened.
Just like that, at night, the tide of Erhai Lake gradually receded.
The Ming army suddenly began to attack the mountain!
There was a loud sound of cannons at the foot of the mountain, countless torches were lit, the sound of drums, horns, and shouts of killing were loud.
Gao Yuchengguang personally ran back to the mountain stronghold to take charge and command the Dali soldiers on the mountain to defend.
Gao Zhushou stayed in Guancheng to prepare for the Ming army's night attack on the city, and transferred soldiers to the walls to set up defenses.
The soldiers on the wall had just lit the torches when a barrage of stone bullets hit them. They were so frightened that they put out all the braziers and torches.
There was a lively fighting on the mountain side, but in fact it was all a feint, with only thunder but no rain.
The real offense is in the water.
The defenders thought that the Ming army's camp on the south bank of Erhai Lake was specially used to build siege equipment. They were totally wrong. They mainly built rafts!
Under the dim moonlight, rafts were pushed into the Erhai Lake one after another.
Groups of soldiers of the Ming Army rowed rafts towards the embankment on the west bank of Erhai Lake.
Everyone's attention was on the Cangshan side, because the fight was so lively.
Moreover, based on past experience, the Dali soldiers subconsciously believed that the Ming army must attack the mountain stronghold first. When the mountain stronghold was actually attacked, this thinking was further consolidated. In addition, Guanqiang was also shelled, and no one paid attention to the situation in Erhai anymore. .
In order to make the acting more realistic, Bai Qi even ordered artillery to be fired at the Erhai Lake military camp.
The distance was too far to hit the enemy ships, but the Erhai navy was so scared that it did not dare to come out.
Zhang Misheng is fifty-six years old and is a farmer in Fengyu County, Dali.
At this age, his hair is already gray.
His eldest son was killed fighting the barbarians a few years ago.
His second son was sent off to fight by Gao Zhenshou, and his life or death was uncertain.
Gao Yuochengsheng sent people to recruit troops again. He asked his youngest son to escape quickly, but he was captured to defend Longwei Pass.
Because he was too old, he was not sent to guard the mountain stronghold, nor was he sent to guard the city. Instead, he was assigned to guard the dam on the west bank of Erhai Lake.
In order to prevent the Ming army from sneak attack by boat, temporary fortifications were also built here.
Hearing the sound of cannons in the distance, Zhang Misheng leaned on the embankment and sighed: "I'm afraid we can't defend the stronghold."
"It has nothing to do with us," said a gray-haired veteran next to him. "When the soldiers in Guancheng fled, we here fled together, and we escaped faster than them. Don't run to Dali then, head into Diancang Mountain. Stay here and come out after the battle is over."
Zhang Misheng muttered: "Escape into the mountains and starve to death?"
The veteran said: "Once Longwei Pass is broken, Dali City will be gone in the blink of an eye. We don't have to hide in the mountains for long. In total, I have fought for more than 20 years. I didn't expect to be captured and sent to the battlefield at such a young age." .”
Not far away, there was a relatively young soldier standing on the fortifications, taking off his belt and pouring water into the Erhai Lake.
The Dali soldier shook his head and was about to fasten his belt when he suddenly noticed shadows on the water in front of him.
He thought he was seeing things, so he quickly closed his eyes and opened them again.
After watching intently for more than ten seconds, the Dali soldier suddenly shouted: "Enemy attack, enemy attack!"
The roaring sound of cannons covered up the sound of paddling, and it was only then that we discovered that the Ming army was coming on a raft.
The Ming army, which had been approaching secretly, found that they had been exposed and immediately fired towards the shore.
"Bang bang bang bang!"
A series of gunshots rang out.
Zhang Misheng subconsciously turned around and looked up. A bullet passed by his ear, and even his cheeks felt hot.
"Run away quickly, the Ming army is coming to kill you!"
The veteran next to him had rich experience in escaping and knew that he should lead the team to collapse at this time, otherwise he would easily be caught and dealt with by military law if he escaped first.
Zhang Yasheng, who is in his fifties, now moves as nimble as a young man.
He threw away the tattered spear in his hand, jumped down from the embankment fortification, and shouted together: "The Ming army is coming, run for your life!"
One after another, the Dali soldiers shouted like this and then ran for their lives.
They were originally arranged to defend here, but they had no plan to fight desperately from the beginning!
Chen Xin, the Puppet Chu surrender general who was responsible for leading the sneak attack, had been fighting in Dongting Lake all year round and was extremely proficient in water warfare.
Chen Xin thought there would be a fierce battle tonight, but after firing cannons toward the shore, all the enemy troops there fled. Even the generals and officers fled with the broken troops.
"Rush ashore and light the torch to send a signal to the friendly forces!" Chen Xin was overjoyed.
In less than a moment, countless torches were lit up on the west bank of Erhai Lake, and guns were fired into the air to create momentum.
Bai Qi immediately commanded a frontal attack on Guancheng.
Gao Zhushou, the deputy general of the Longwei Pass garrison, was a little confused and hurriedly sent people to the rear to check the situation. However, the garrison who had been thinking about escaping for a long time found that the Ming army was coming towards him, and there were enemies behind him who succeeded in a surprise attack. He immediately shouted for his life. They began to flee in pieces.
"Those who run away from battle will die!"
Gao Zhushou shouted at the top of his lungs, but no one listened to him except the soldiers.
Gao Yuchengguang, who was still guarding the mountain stronghold, was even more puzzled. The Ming army at the foot of the mountain made a huge battle, but there was no real attack yet.
Suddenly, soldiers came running from the mountain in panic: "Guancheng is gone! Guancheng is gone!"
Gao Yuchengguang's vision went dark when he heard this, and he almost fell down on the spot.