Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 88

Chapter 88 The Siege Continued
Lu Zhen suddenly woke up from his sleep. When he looked up, he discovered that it was just dawn, but there was already some commotion in the Mongolian camp a few miles away.

This night, he didn’t sleep for more than an hour, and he always woke up suddenly, afraid that the enemy would attack Guang Ling again when he was asleep. Fortunately, at least this night passed peacefully. However, when he looked into the distance, he saw nothing but silence. There was not the slightest sign of reinforcements arriving.

Could it be that the person Liu Yi sent to ask for help had also encountered an accident halfway? Otherwise, why hasn’t any reinforcements rushed over after almost a day? One had to know that there were several prefectures and counties near Guang Ling, all of which had military forces. In half a day’s time, the garrison there could arrive. This was also one of the reasons why the garrison here only had five hundred troops.

But now, after a day of fighting, the reinforcements didn’t even see a shadow. This caused Lu Zhen to mutter in his heart, and his worries became even heavier. He opened his mouth to say something, only to find that his throat was dry and painful, and he was somewhat speechless.

It was yesterday that he shouted and commanded the army to defend the city. Then, in order to boost the morale of the army, he sang the song “Sailor” over and over again, causing his throat to suffer a considerable injury. Just as Lu Zhen was about to find some water to drink and moisten his throat, Lin Lie handed over a water bag and said, “My lord.”

Lu Zhen wasn’t polite either. He took it and gulped down a mouthful. Only then did his throat feel a little better. He asked hoarsely, “The Tartars outside the city are about to attack me again, aren’t they?”

Lin Lie nodded, his expression a little uneasy. “Yesterday, this lowly man saw that they had sent people to the north. Afterwards, they dragged back some newly cut trees. I’m afraid that they would be able to produce simple siege equipment overnight. Therefore, today’s battle must be very dangerous.”

Although the trees around Guang Ling had been cut down as a border city, they had not encountered any decent attacks over the years, causing people to be somewhat lazy. Therefore, the forest that was a little far away from the city was left unattended to. The sudden arrival of the Meng people yesterday meant that the Ming army had no time to remove these hidden dangers. Now, they posed an even greater threat to the city.

Lu Zhen’s eyebrows instantly knitted tightly, “Yesterday, they just threw us with ropes and we were already overstretched. Once we used other equipment, I’m afraid …” As he said that, he shivered coldly.

Lin Lie was silent for a while, but he obviously couldn’t think of any good way. In fact, although his martial arts skills were not ordinary, he was very unfamiliar with commanding and employing troops. Therefore, even though he had made a small reputation in the army before, he could only be the captain of a charge formation. It was not all because of the darkness in the army.

At this time, Dai Zhang and Wang Bing had also arrived in front of Lu Zhen. Their expressions were as grim as before, “My lord, half of the arrows in the city have been used, and the wooden stones are almost unable to hold on.” After a pause, he said, “Did you order the demolition of the houses in the city as a supplement?”

Lu Zhen was stunned for a moment before he finally understood. As the weapons in the city gradually dried up, those residential houses became natural objects that could be used. This was something that was inevitable in any era and in any city. After pondering for a while, Lu Zhen nodded, “Let’s start with the houses in the north of the city. Remember to explain to the people first. As long as we beat back Dazi, our government will definitely build a new house for them. I think the people will understand our difficulties.”

“Yes!” The two generals agreed and hurriedly called out to the hundreds of people who were waiting to defend the city. They turned into the demolition brigade.

As a result, on the morning of the second day of the battle, riots broke out in Guang Ling City again, causing a series of rumbles. The houses where the people lived for most of their lives were pulled down one by one. Even though they wept when they saw their familiar homes collapse amidst the rumbling and flying dust, none of them complained at all. It was because they knew that this was a helpless move to preserve this city. Once the city was destroyed, not only their own homes, but also the lives of their own families would be lost.

One pillar after another, the beams of the houses were sawn off and moved onto the city walls one by one, and a few large pieces of stones (unlike later generations, the houses of the ancients were mostly made of wood and few stones, much less cement, and houses that could use stones were considered large families) were also lifted onto the city walls with great effort.

Lu Zhen’s expression became even more solemn as he watched the things that the people relied on for survival being carried up. These were all the people’s trust in the army and themselves. He definitely could not let them down. No matter what, he had to defend this small city.

Gritting his teeth, Lu Zhen looked at the Mongol camp outside the city that was gradually gathering and about to launch another attack on the city. “Everyone, today’s battle will only be more bitter than yesterday’s. But I believe that with the courage and courage of my Great Ming soldiers, no matter how great the dangers are, we can overcome them. Great Ming will win! Great Spirit will win!” Lu Zhen shouted to the surrounding soldiers.

“Great Ming will win! Guang Ling will win!”

“Great Ming will win! Guang Ling will win!” …

I wonder if because of that song from last night, the soldiers and civilians in Chengtou respect Lu Zhen even more. Therefore, after hearing his words, everyone shouted in agreement, as if they were fighting against the enemy. It seemed that even the fear of Dazi had lessened a lot.

When Lu Zhen saw this, his heart calmed down, and his face revealed a determined expression as he looked out of the city, “Let’s teach the Tartars outside the city another profound lesson!” As he spoke, he suddenly opened his arms, as if he was welcoming the other party and provoking the thousands of Mongols.

Seeing him like this, the morale of the army was inspired once again. Drum noises rang out from the city wall, and then spread outwards, spreading straight to the Mongol camp.

Although Meng Ren could not hear what they were shouting because of the distance, they could still easily sense the atmosphere. Seeing that the Ming army was still as strong as a mountain under such circumstances, and even more imposing than yesterday, many Mongolian warriors felt their hearts tremble. Could it be that Guang Ling really couldn’t attack?

Yu Tai was so angry that his face twisted. He laughed sinisterly and ordered, “Horn, prepare to attack!”

The bugle horn sounded again. After three long times, the Mongol cavalry once again pressed down on Guang Ling.

This time, however, the situation was different from yesterday’s siege. The Meng people no longer rushed forward randomly like yesterday, but slowly advanced in a neat formation. Although their speed was much slower, the pressure they created increased exponentially.

What was especially shocking was the siege stairs carried by many people in front of the team. Although the ladder looked rather crude, without the usual shield of the ladder, and there were no nails that could be wedged into the city bricks, it was much more dangerous than yesterday’s rope.

The citizens of Chengtou might not feel anything when they saw this, but the soldiers who knew something about soldiers sucked in a breath of cold air and stared worriedly in front of them. The crossbows in their hands trembled slightly.

Lu Zhen understood this threat after being reminded by the people around him. He quickly thought, “Is there any way to destroy these ladders? Attack with fire? Yes, attack with fire!”

Making up his mind, Lu Zhen hurriedly asked Dai Zhang beside him while the enemy hadn’t reached the gate, “Why didn’t we roll oil or kerosene to break the enemy yesterday?”

Dai Zhang smiled bitterly, “Guang Ling City is poor. Normally, there are not many accumulated oils. Where can I find them now?”

Lu Zhen’s heart tightened. This was indeed a big problem. Just igniting the arrow with fire wouldn’t be of much use. Only by cooperating with those oils would it be able to play a certain role. After a pause, he called a sergeant, “Quickly go back to the city and look for the two lords of the county government. Tell them to quickly gather lamp oil, or even liquor and other combustibles in the city, and send them to the city as soon as possible.”

“Yes.” The soldier hurriedly agreed and hurriedly left the city.

Because of the sudden start of the battle and the fact that the original general, Liu Yi, was seriously injured and unconscious, Lu Zhen’s replacement was unable to take care of many details. He could only think of what to do and what to do. Until the battle was about to begin, the city was still constantly preparing all kinds of defensive equipment. It was both busy and ridiculous.

Of course, all of this was impossible to affect the Mongolian army at the gate. After arriving at Xu Lands outside the city, hundreds of cavalry suddenly lined up and charged forward. At the same time, they raised their hands high and shot arrows at the city wall.

Luckily, after yesterday’s observation, Lu Zhen also had a certain amount of foresight and ordered his men to erect shields again to block the city wall.

The enemy’s tentative offensive was blocked by a loud and clear sound.

However, Lu Zhen and the others didn’t feel any relaxed about this, because everyone knew that this was only the beginning, and the real test was still in the future.

Sure enough, accompanied by a sharp horn sound, the backward Meng people carrying the ladder began to run wildly and quickly approached the city wall.

Although the Ming army also tried to stop the arrows, the scattered arrows were unable to stop the enemy’s swift footsteps. Soon, they had already leaned against the city gates. Under the shouts of power, the ladders that were carried horizontally were quickly erected and leaned against the Guang Ling City wall filled with arrows one by one with a bang.

Immediately after, the Meng people in the rear also let out bursts of howls and charged forward with even more ferocious postures. As for the cavalry just now, they were still firing arrows at the city walls one by one, delaying the Ming army’s counterattack and creating opportunities for their own people to ascend the city.

Obviously, after suffering a loss yesterday, the Mongol people were much more organized in sieging the city. This naturally increased the pressure on the Ming army guarding the city by several folds.

What made Lu Zhen and the others even more shocked was that apart from this frontal attack, the Meng people once again used the same skill, sending out two side armies to attack the east and west of the city. The Ming army had no choice but to send out their troops again, so as to split up the strength to defend the north city!