The soldiers who were prying bricks and digging walls under the ladders were not much better off.
Yan Yingyuan built a slope around the city wall, with the wall side higher and the moat side lower.
Under normal circumstances, the Jiannu soldiers could rely on the friction of the soles of their shoes to pry bricks while standing on the slope.
However, heavy rain made the slope wet and slippery, and most people could not stand on it.
The kerosene that poured down the wall made the slope even more slippery.
“Hey…Hey hey hey!”
“Why is it so slippery?”
"It's too slippery, give me a hand!"
Dozens of Jiannu soldiers who had just climbed up the slope had kerosene on their hands and feet. Before they could stand firmly, they slid down the slope and fell into the moat, struggling.
However, many soldiers still managed to gain a foothold on the slope.
Tudor thought of this before attacking the city.
"The Tenth Prince is indeed wise and brave!" Oboi and Tulai, who were watching the battle from a distance, began to flatter Duoduo.
It turned out that Duoduo had the soldiers who were prying bricks tie wooden sticks to their feet, and then insert the sticks into the soil after rushing to the top of the slope. As long as they kept fixing the sticks, they could gain a foothold on the slope.
"This plan can only solve the urgent problem temporarily, but it is not a long-term solution!" Duoduo put his hands behind his back and sighed.
The defenders on the city wall were already blood-thirsty, with spearmen standing next to the ladders, stabbing the Jiannu soldiers one by one. The people nearby picked up stones and rolling logs and smashed them wherever they aimed.
The archer draws his bow and shoots freely.
The Jiannu soldiers under the city were also aroused to fight. The sound of their bowstrings continued to rang out, and Ming soldiers fell from the city walls from time to time.
Boom! The long-lost sound of artillery fire rang out again!
Casualties on both sides increased dramatically.
Yan Yingyuan grasped a section of the broken battlement of the city wall and glanced down, and found the problem.
The Jiannu deployed thousands of troops and used more than twenty ladders in this siege.
The siege soldiers were divided into four echelons.
The first echelon is responsible for climbing ladders, the second echelon is responsible for digging the city walls, the third echelon is responsible for support, and the fourth echelon is responsible for cover.
The problem lies in the second tier.
They seemed to have found the weakness of the city wall of Xuanfu Town, and concentrated most of their people near the city gate, where they pried off the bricks and dug the city wall.
It turns out that the city gate and the city wall were not flush, but there was a concave area inside.
It was this flat area that allowed the Jiannu soldiers to find a foothold.
They hid here and pried the bricks as quickly as possible.
As bricks were lifted out one by one, the faces of the Ming army defending the city became increasingly grim.
Next, it was the turn of the adobe inside.
With the help of rain, these originally hard bricks began to soften layer by layer, and were then shoveled away and thrown not far away.
"Brothers, come and help us, the Jiannu are hiding here!"
"Take this brick from me!" A civilian just leaned forward to throw a brick when he was shot in the face by an arrow from the Jiannu army below the city, killing him instantly.
"Let's fight!" The defenders on the city knew they had to fight to the death. They ignored the arrows flying from below, raised logs and stones in their hands, stretched out their upper bodies, aimed, and smashed down hard.
"ah!"
Screams came from both on and under the city wall.
The Ming soldiers on the wall who were hit by arrows ignored the pain and raised stones to throw down again. The Jiannu soldiers under the city were not to be outdone. Except for those who were hit in the head and upper body and could not move, the others ignored the injuries and continued to pry bricks and dig the wall.
I vow to dig open the city wall!
The strong wind wrapped in heavy rain poured down.
The wind was so strong that the tents on the city walls that were taking shelter from the rain could not withstand the strong wind at all. They were either blown over or their rain covers were torn by the wind.
The firearms and gunpowder stored inside were immediately wet by the rain.
The musketeers who were hiding in the tents and shooting put down their muskets and went forward to meet the enemy with various weapons.
Yan Yingyuan pulled the guerrilla general Ding Yi over and shouted, "Take your men and open the city to kill the enemy according to the plan!"
Guerrilla General Ding Yi was stunned at first, then he realized the seriousness of the matter.
He nodded heavily and waved his hand, leading more than a thousand Ming soldiers away from the city wall.
As soon as they left, the reserve troops behind them rushed up.
Generally, the city gates are not attacked during siege.
First of all, there is usually a city wall inside the city gate, and once you enter, you will be surrounded by enemies on all sides.
Secondly, even if there is no urn inside, you will encounter a gate-blocking knife cart when you open the city gate. The body of that thing is almost as wide as the city gate, with several layers of wooden frames in front of the cart, each layer fixed with a number of sharp knives, and the body of the cart has a long shaft; once the enemy breaks through the city gate, dozens or even hundreds of soldiers will push the knife cart to block the city gate.
Even if the gate-blocking chariots failed to stop the enemy, the defenders could still use fire attacks to resist the enemy.
The Jiannu soldiers certainly knew this principle. Their purpose of prying bricks and digging walls was not to rush into the city gate, but to hollow out the bricks under the city wall, and then climb up the city wall along the collapsed area after the front of the city collapsed.
There is only one gate in the east city wall of Xuanfu Town. If you want to leave the city, you need to pass through the city wall to reach the gate first, and then the defenders on the city will raise the gate before the gate can be opened.
Ding Yi led more than a thousand soldiers to the city wall quickly. After picking up the weapons that had been placed there in advance, the group came to the city gate.
"Form a formation!" Ding Yi roared.
Swish!
The one thousand Ming troops were immediately divided into three teams.
One team stood next to the pre-arranged artillery, one team stood behind the artillerymen with shields in their hands, and the last team stood at the end, holding armor-piercing spears.
"Pass the order, raise the gate!"
After the defenders above received the news, they immediately organized people to raise the gates.
While the gates were being raised, Ding Yi raised his voice and said, "Brothers, the court owed us wages before, so we can be worthy of the court by shooting three arrows on the battlefield and running away."
“Now things have changed!”
"The court has paid full salaries. Killing a Jiannu will reward you 20 taels of silver, and those who died in battle will receive 50 taels of silver as compensation. The court also helps us support our parents and take care of our wives and children. Most importantly, our names will be engraved in the Martyrs' Shrine for thousands of people to admire! This is a great honor!"
“Are we going to run again this time?”
"Don't run, fight the Jiannu to the death!" A Ming soldier waved the shield in his hand and shouted loudly.
"Yes, fight to the death!" Dozens of Ming soldiers reacted and immediately agreed.
"Fight to the death!" More than a thousand Ming soldiers shouted in unison.
"Okay!" Ding Yi reached out to wipe the rain off his forehead. He put the knife back into the scabbard, reached out to pick up an armor-piercing spear, and turned around to face the city gate.
The Eight Banners soldiers near the city gate had already heard the movement of the thousand-jin gate. They took out their weapons and stood guard on both sides of the city gate, waiting for the city gate to open so that they could rush in and kill the enemy.
Crunch...
On the city wall, the sound of the capstan was extremely harsh.
Suddenly.
The sound of the capstan disappeared and the city gate was pulled open from the inside.
"Charge! The opportunity to achieve great things has come!" Hundreds of Eight Banners soldiers near the city gate rushed in like a swarm of bees, holding shields in their left hands and swords in their right hands.
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