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Chapter 1552 Let's fight the Tartars!

On the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, at the hour of Si (9-11 AM), more than 10,000 Tatar soldiers had gathered outside the city of Jining.

Even so, from time to time, thirty to fifty, or even two to three hundred, Tatar soldiers would gather from all directions, creating a lively scene, like a market. The more people and horses gathered, the more chaotic it became.

Before noon, the Jurchens launched a major attack on the city.

Knowing that a large cavalry force was stationed outside the east gate of Jining, although the exact number of cavalrymen could not be ascertained, it was roughly estimated to be more than two thousand, so Abatai sent three thousand enemy cavalrymen to ambush in the northeast corner of Jining.

His intentions are quite clear...

The plan was to ignore the Ming cavalry outside the east city and focus solely on attacking the north and west cities of Jining, in order to lure the Ming cavalry outside the east city to their aid, and then intercept and kill them en route.

That was a truly ruthless tactic of "besieging the enemy's stronghold and attacking their reinforcements"!

If the Ming cavalry from the east city do not come to the rescue, then we should press on and take Jining Prefecture City in one fell swoop, and then join forces to kill the Ming cavalry outside the east city. However, if they come to the rescue of the north city, then the ambush in the northeast corner will come into play.

The Jurchens first drove away the captured able-bodied men and filled in the city moat. Although the cannons and crossbow bolts on the city walls were constantly firing, they did not harm their own warriors. Abatai looked at everything with a smile, feeling very satisfied.

He's got plenty of cannon fodder; what does it matter if a few thousand die?
Soon the moat was filled in by the slaves, and one after another, shield carts, long ladders, and eleven siege ladder carts appeared in the sight of the city guards.

Of course, whether they were pushing shield carts, carrying long ladders, or pushing siege ladder carts, they were all able-bodied men from various prefectures and counties who had been captured by the Tartars.

However, although their clothes were tattered, they wore a rat-tail ornament on their heads, making them look just like the bondservant soldiers of the Tartars from a distance, and it was difficult to tell that they were young men from the nearby prefectures and counties.

"Quickly, fire the cannons and hit the shield wagons!" Chang Guangjun, the garrison commander of Jining, shouted loudly.

But how many shots have the gunners in Jining actually fired on a regular basis?
They're already doing pretty well if they can even fire the cannon.

After all, in such a tense and intense atmosphere, the fact that these gunners could remain calm, steadily load the ammunition, and fire one bullet after another was already an excellent performance. Why ask for accuracy?

Countless captured slaves died or were injured. The shield carts were pushed to the base of the city wall, and one after another, long ladders were placed on the crenellations. The most difficult to deal with were the eleven siege ladder carts. Once they were placed on the crenellations, they would be hooked tightly and very difficult to overturn.

The Jurchens began to storm the city walls, shouting and yelling. The soldiers and civilians defending the city were clearly panicked, and even Chang Guangjun, the garrison commander of Jining, seemed somewhat at a loss.

Fortunately, the soldiers of the Yongyi Army were assisting in the defense of the northern part of Jining.

Yang Mingqi, a guerrilla commander stationed in the central camp under Cao Cao's Luo Rucai, led two thousand infantrymen to Jining Prefecture ahead of time. Luo Rucai left five hundred men to assist in guarding the camp outside the east city, while the remaining one thousand five hundred men followed him into the city to assist in the defense.

Seeing the Jurchens outside the north city wall looking menacing, Yang Mingqi led a thousand soldiers to defend the north city wall and sent another five hundred soldiers to the west city wall to assist in the defense.

Although this was his first encounter with the Jurchen invaders, Yang Mingqi was by no means unfamiliar with warfare, especially when it came to attacking cities, where he was far more experienced than defending them.

Just like the joke, "Let corrupt officials investigate corrupt officials, and you're guaranteed to find them all guilty," if you let the people who always attack cities be in charge of defending them, they certainly won't be too bad.

"Stop panicking, just chop him up!" Yang Mingqi roared, immediately silencing the men around him.

He then swung his knife and cut down several villagers who were trying to escape, shouting, "Damn it, which bastard dares to run away? He'll get a knife from me first!"

One of his captains immediately brandished his sword and shouted, "Whether you cower or charge, you'll still get a cut. Let's fight the Tartars to the death!"

"Fight! Kill! Kill! Kill the Tartars!"

Under Yang Mingqi's intimidation and the encouragement of his subordinates, the soldiers and civilians on the city wall regained their confidence and roared as they continued to fight.

By this time, the cannons were useless. Only a few archers continued to fire arrows, but against the Tartar soldiers, almost all of whom were armored, the damage they could inflict was very limited.

In an instant, rolling logs, stones, fire pots, and other defensive weapons were brought out and relentlessly smashed down on the city walls, with frequent "booms".

Long ladders were constantly being pushed aside and flipped over to the outside of the city. Three siege ladder carts were also set on fire by fire pots, and one was destroyed by a bomb. The Jurchens also suffered heavy casualties, and cries of pain were heard everywhere.

"Liang Zhen, go to the left. We can't let the Tartars gain a foothold!" Yang Mingqi shouted.

A burly man dressed as a battalion commander immediately roared, "Don't worry, General, Liang Zhen is off!" and took off running, calling to several Cao camp soldiers beside him, rushing towards the left-hand crenellation.

Approaching them was a tall bandit, a full head taller than Liang Zhen. Judging from his fat and robust physique, he must have been wearing two layers of armor.

Liang Zhen slashed twice with his long sword, but could not harm the enemy in the slightest. He was also fierce, and suddenly he sprang up and rammed straight into the enemy, causing the Tartar soldier to stumble.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, a soldier suddenly pounced forward, grabbed the Tatar soldier's left leg, and tried to pull him to the ground.

But that Tartar soldier was formidable. He slammed his spiked club into the ground to steady himself, then swung it again, smashing it down on the soldier's head...

Even with a helmet on, it couldn't withstand the powerful blows of the spiked club. The helmet was instantly deformed and flew away, its contents unknown. Blood and brain matter splattered everywhere, creating a truly gruesome scene.

Liang Zhen's eyes were bloodshot and he lunged forward, spreading his arms to tightly hug the Tatar soldier's waist. He then tripped the Tatar soldier, causing him to fall to the ground.

Immediately, three or four more soldiers rushed forward and pinned the Tartar soldier down, preventing him from getting up to kill his comrade.

"Never mind me, go...kill the Tartars!"

Liang Zhen roared, ordering his soldiers to block the crenellations and prevent the Tartar soldiers from gaining a foothold on the city wall.

…………

The fighting lasted from 9 AM to 3 PM, with the Jurchens launching a relentless attack. Many of them were struck by wood and stones, wounded by arrows, or burned by flames.

As darkness fell, the enemy troops, though they had climbed the walls of Jining Prefecture several times, were unable to gain a foothold and were driven off the walls several times. In the end, they had no choice but to retreat.

In this battle, the Jurchens suffered approximately five to six hundred casualties, while the number of civilians captured was even greater; the defending soldiers and civilians also suffered more than two hundred deaths and more than three hundred and fifty injuries.

Luo Rucai's elite cavalry, stationed outside the east city, never sent out reinforcements to the north city defenses. Instead, they dispatched numerous small scouts to spy on the enemy camp from a distance.

If Jurchen scouts came to drive them away, they would not fight them, but would urge their horses to stay far away.

It was Luo Rucai's mysterious actions that made Abatai unable to figure out his true intentions for a while, and he never dared to launch a full-scale attack on Jining Prefecture.

…………

On the sixth day, the enemy besieged the city but did not attack, nor did they intend to retreat; instead, they intensified their efforts to manufacture siege weapons.

At noon, a group of more than 2,000 Jurchen cavalry who had previously captured Yuncheng arrived at the city of Jining and joined forces with Abatai.

At dusk, the Jurchen cavalry that had captured Caozhou, led by Shuo Tuo, arrived at the city of Jining.

The arrival of these two groups of bandits added fresh troops to Abatai's forces and gave him more confidence to continue his attack on Jining Prefecture.