"Pass the order, retreat!" Duoduo did not hesitate at all.
The herald was slightly startled, and then spread the message as quickly as possible: "Sound the horns to call back the troops! Sound the horns to call back the troops!"
"Huh?" Haoge thought he had misheard. He looked at Duoduo in surprise. "Why did the Tenth Prince Uncle retreat? Even if the siege encountered obstacles, we should not withdraw the troops hastily and affect morale. What's more, our army shot and killed many enemies under the city and did not show any signs of decline."
"If we withdraw now, these hard-earned equipment will be handed over to the Ming army!"
Duoduo, the master of military tactics, did not want to explain to Hauge that Hauge's growth was of no benefit to him.
But apart from the struggle for the throne, the Eight Banners did not have many internal conflicts.
Considering that sooner or later they would go south to enter the Central Plains and establish their rule there, and would be short of soldiers and generals at that time, it would not be a bad thing for the Eight Banners if Hauge grew up.
After figuring out these things, Duoduo asked, "Hauge, do you know why I attacked Nancheng?"
Haoge frowned and thought for a moment: "The South City has an open terrain?"
"No!" Duoduo pointed his right index finger at the sun in the sky. "It is now late May (in the lunar calendar). Although it is not hot in Xuanfu, our army is wearing multiple layers of armor. It is very easy to get heatstroke after a long battle."
"So it's best to fight with your back to the sun!"
"Besides, today's battle is just a test. Although we suffered heavy casualties, we have already tested Yan Yingyuan's strategy for defending the city. Tomorrow will be the real siege battle!"
"Attacking a city is not something that can be accomplished overnight, especially attacking a fortified city. Whoever has more hidden tricks will have a greater chance of winning!"
"This...thank you Uncle Tenth Prince for your teachings!" Haoge widened his eyes and felt a little admiration for Duoduo, the battlefield master.
When the Eight Banners soldiers received the news of the retreat, they did not turn around and run away in a swarm, but covered each other and retreated in batches.
The first to turn around and flee were the siege troops, who were now being bombarded by the Ming army's rolling logs and stones under the city wall.
After hearing the news, these Eight Banners soldiers supported the wounded in a panic, used all their strength to carry their seriously injured or even dead comrades, quickly crossed the pontoon bridge, and retreated to the base camp.
In history, the Eight Banners had two rules before and in the early days of entering the Pass.
The first rule is that if a bannerman dies on the battlefield, his baoyi who come back alive will also be killed. Because the baoyi are the slaves of the bannermen, if the master dies, he must die too. This means that when the bannermen charge forward in battle, their baoyi will rush to the front without hesitation.
This is also the reason why the Eight Banners soldiers look so brave.
The second rule was that if a bannerman comrade died in battle, whoever could bring back his body would get half of that bannerman’s property.
As the siege troops retreated, the Eight Banners soldiers who were responsible for providing cover on the other side of the moat shot arrows as they retreated.
When there were no more Eight Banner soldiers under the city wall, the Han Eight Banner artillery in the distance fired at the city wall to suppress the Ming army. The shells hit the city wall, making a rumbling sound, and the Ming army was unable to raise their heads.
In the blink of an eye, the Eight Banners soldiers ran seventy or eighty steps away.
Except for the cannons and Rumi guns on the city walls, other weapons were powerless.
Looking at the Eight Banners soldiers gradually moving away, Yan Yingyuan put down the longbow in his hand and sighed.
It is said that the Eight Banners soldiers are difficult to deal with. After seeing them today, I find that they are indeed not simple.
During this defense of the city, there were only two stages that actually caused casualties to the Jiannu.
The first stage is when the enemy charges, and the second stage is when the enemy attacks the city using ladders.
There were not many casualties at other times.
"Each unit should count the losses and report the enemy kills." Yan Yingyuan gave the order while sitting on the edge of the city wall.
Soon, the casualties were summarized.
Near the steps of the city wall, there is an accountant who is responsible for counting casualties. Every time a person is carried down, they will record it.
There were also soldiers near the battlements of the city wall who were responsible for recording the killing of enemies. Although the data was not very accurate, it was pretty close.
"In this battle, our army suffered 117 casualties, 193 serious injuries, and 206 minor injuries."
"What are the enemy's casualties?" Yan Yingyuan had a bad feeling.
He had been fighting on the city wall, so he had a better understanding of the situation on the scene. If he remembered correctly, the casualties of the Eight Banners soldiers were not much more than theirs.
It even does not even reach the ratio of one to ten when defending Li Zicheng.
As expected, Yan Yingyuan felt a little headache after the battle report was sent to him.
"Reporting to Lord Yan, the number of Jian Nu who were slightly injured in this battle is too large to count, and the number of those seriously injured or dead is about 700 to 800. Among them, 500 seriously injured and dead bodies were taken back by them, leaving only more than 200 bodies at the scene."
"In other words, our army suffered one casualty, while the other side only suffered two or three casualties?"
"Yes! But most of the casualties were civilians. They had no armor, and the Jiannu were good at archery, so there were a lot of casualties."
Yan Yingyuan waved his hand to let the messenger leave, and sat behind the battlements of the city wall with his eyes closed in thought.
Every Jiannu soldier wore armor. Bows and crossbows could cause damage to a single layer of armor, but they were powerless against double armor. They could only rely on muskets and various firearms.
This is not a solution...
"Why is Lord Yan so worried?" Ding Yi walked over.
Yan Yingyuan did not answer his question, but asked: "What time is it now?"
Ding Yi looked up at the sun for a while and said, "It should be the beginning of noon."
Yan Yingyuan's eyes rolled and he had an idea.
He first ordered: "Come here, distribute the pension according to the casualties, and all of it must be distributed before nightfall."
Yan Yingyuan stood up and said loudly, "Everyone, although the Jiannu only left more than 200 corpses in this battle, their casualties were witnessed by everyone."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
