The third day of March.
Qinghe Fort is 260 miles east of Liaoyang.
Qinghe Fort was first built in the fourth year of Chenghua by Han Bin, the then deputy general of Liaoyang.
If you look down from a high altitude, Qinghe Fort is square in shape.
The city has four gates, the circumference of the city wall is 166 zhang, the city wall is 2 zhang high and 1 zhang wide.
It is built with a mixture of blue bricks and stone strips.
There is a parapet inside and enemy towers at the four corners.
(There are two types of parapet walls. The one on the outside of the city wall is called a parapet wall, also known as a battlement. The wall on the inside of the city wall is called a parapet wall, which is generally lower than the battlement and serves as a barrier like the guardrails in modern buildings.)
At this time, Qinghe Fort was still in the hands of the Jiannu.
If you want to pass through here, you must first capture the city.
Looking at Qinghe Fort not far away, Li Dingguo fell into deep thought.
He was thinking...how to capture Qinghe Fort with the least casualties.
Bombard with artillery?
no.
Qinghe Fort was originally built with brick and stone walls. In the cold winter, the walls were frozen harder than iron and could not be blown down at all.
The same problem will arise when digging tunnels and prying bricks out of city walls to attack the city.
"Sir," Liu Wenxiu came over and said, "The walls of Qinghe Fort are made of bricks and stones. It's winter now, and artillery can't knock down the walls. It seems that we can only attack by force."
"A strong attack would probably result in considerable casualties," Li Dingguo said worriedly.
Liu Wenxiu sighed: "There will indeed be casualties, but this is the only way due to the situation."
Li Dingguo shook his head: "So we have to think of a way to minimize casualties."
Li Dingguo thought for a while but had no idea, so he ordered people to set up cannons outside the city and prepare for a tentative bombardment.
As the rumbling of artillery sounded, the soldiers' emotions were also aroused.
During the interval between the bombardments, the messenger came to Li Dingguo and said, "General, the fog is too thick. Even with a clairvoyance, we cannot see the situation in the city clearly."
There are mountains on both the north and south sides of Qinghe Fort, and the distance between the city and the mountains is less than a hundred feet.
Li Dingguo asked people to go to the mountain to observe the situation in the city during the intervals between the bombardments, but the fog had not dissipated by noon.
Li Dingguo thought for a moment and asked Dou Mingwang beside him, "We have been experiencing heavy fog for two consecutive days, right?"
"Yes." Dou Mingwang replied.
"So, there is a high probability that there will still be fog tomorrow?"
"This... this is not necessarily true. The right time can only be encountered by chance!" Dou Mingwang said, shaking his head.
Liu Wenxiu asked nearby: "Sir, do you want to take advantage of the fog to attack the city?"
"Haha!" Li Dingguo laughed and said, "We must attack the city and kill the people!"
Although everyone didn't understand what was going on, they all laughed along with Li Dingguo.
The last quarter of the day.
The fog became much thinner and the vision gradually became clearer.
The Ming army on the mountain took the opportunity to take in the situation in the city.
"Report!" The messenger came to Li Dingguo again: "There are about 2,000 Jiannu in the city, and more than a thousand civilians."
"Are you sure?" Li Dingguo asked.
"Sure!" The scout replied, "I can see it clearly."
"If that's true, things will be easy." Li Dingguo smiled happily.
The shelling continued until evening.
The good news is that most of the battlements on the west and south walls were blown off by artillery shells, but the bad news is that the main body of the wall was not damaged.
The next morning, there was heavy fog.
Li Dingguo waved his hand and ordered: "Send out the troops!"
Under his command, the Ming army was divided into three routes.
The cavalry was led by Gao Wengui. They held wooden horses with bound hooves in their mouths and bypassed Qinghe Fort along the mountain south of it, setting up an ambush ten miles east of the city.
The infantry was led by Liu Wenxiu.
He deployed his troops in the north, west and south of the city, using the tactic of surrounding three sides and leaving one side open.
Li Dingguo personally led the remaining troops to raid the rear.
Gao Wengui took the lead.
at the same time.
Shuosai, who was flying the red flag in the city, was considering whether to retreat.
The fog is too thick.
Without vision, the defenders cannot take advantage of the city walls.
Before the Ming army climbed up the city wall, they could only hear the noises coming from below the city but could not see any trace of Ming soldiers.
"Sir, there is movement outside the city." The soldier came to Shuose and reported.
"It looks like the Ming army is going to attack the city," Shuo Sai said, then he got on his horse, "Leave 500 men to guard the city, and the rest will follow me out of the city to fight in the field."
The confidants nearby were stunned when they heard this. They reminded him in a trembling voice: "Sir, the person opposite is Li Dingguo."
"What happened to Li Dingguo?" Although Shuo Sai was a little afraid in his heart, he deliberately put on a look of contempt on his face: "Li Dingguo is also a human being, he also needs to eat and sleep."
The confidant next to him reminded again: "Li Dingguo has 20,000 soldiers and we only have 2,000. Why don't we... why don't we retreat temporarily and avoid his attack?"
Shuo Sai frowned.
It’s not that he doesn’t want to retreat, but that he doesn’t want to take responsibility.
He knew Li Dingguo was coming several days ago.
His original intention was to rely on the strong walls of Qinghe Fort to confront Li Dingguo for a few days.
But after yesterday's bombardment, he felt that this idea was unreliable.
So scary.
The sound of the shells flying through the air was chilling.
He originally wanted to leave that night, but considering that he would be held accountable if he retreated without a fight, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and hold on until the next day.
Now Li Dingguo's troops are at the gates of the city, and the foggy weather is not conducive to defending the city.
The idea of retreat began to play with his mind.
"That makes sense!" Shuo Sai began to take advantage of the situation. "The Ming army is coming aggressively, so our army should temporarily avoid the front line. Pass the order down, and immediately leave the city and retreat to Yagu Pass."
"Your Excellency is wise."
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