There is a space for passenger planes in the late Ming Dynasty

The head of the east gate of Datong.

After Hong Chengchou ordered some simple cleaning, he temporarily set up his supervisor's headquarters in the city tower.

Although the gatehouse above was severely damaged by artillery fire, some rooms were still intact. Living here was more comfortable than living in a tent.

Moreover, being on top of the city tower has a wide view and is convenient for command. In case of trouble, evacuation is also extremely convenient.

Just as Hong Chengchou had settled down, Yang Guozhu came in.

"General Yang, what's wrong? Is the cleaning of the inner city not going well?" Hong Chengchou asked.

Yang Guozhu clasped his fists and said: "It's very unsatisfactory. The Zhenming Army has predicted that the city wall will fall, and everyone has withdrawn to the inner city.

They used sandbags and bricks to build defense lines at each street and alley. The streets were relatively narrow, making it difficult for the army to deploy, and the attack was not smooth. "

"Since the Zhenming Army is so tenacious? However, the city wall has been breached. The struggle inside will not be difficult to attack the city wall. Don't be impatient and slowly look for the weak links of the Zhenming Army." Hong Chengchou said.

However, he obviously underestimated the determination and firm will of the Zhenming Army to resist to the end. In addition, they had made careful preparations in the early stage. It was not at all easier to conquer the inner city than the outer city.

Datong government office.

This has become the command center of the inner city defense line. Cao Xiong, Li Boxen, and He Xiaolei are all in the meeting hall.

"Commander, my lords, this is how the East Gate was lost. The Korean brigade will definitely let the humble personnel lead the evacuation, but he himself died heroically.

Of the more than 200 wounded soldiers of the Zhenming Army who stayed at the east gate, none of them flinched. Their legs were injured and they could not walk. It was best to light the remaining gunpowder and die together with the enemy. "Han Yu's deputy general reported back with tears streaming down his face.

Cao Xiong clenched his fists so hard that his fingers turned white from the force.

There were also some tears in the corners of his eyes, and he said angrily: "We will definitely settle this blood debt with Hong Chengchou's Ming army!"

"Commander, it is easy to be passive if you blindly defend. At night, after the Ming army breaks the city, it is easy to be defensive. In addition, I have just entered the city and the foothold is not stable. Let me lead people to attack in a sneak attack and collect some interest first." He Xiaolei suggested, Since the siege of Datong began, he, as the last remaining force, has been hidden and did not participate in the battle, and he has long been depressed.

"Okay, let's launch a night attack in the morning while the enemy is sleeping, to let these people know that Datong City is not so easy to capture." Cao Xiong agreed.

At midnight, there was silence in Datong City.

The Ming army fought fiercely for a day and finally broke through the city. They were also very exhausted. Although he knew that the inner city was still in the hands of the Zhenming Army, he already thought that they were beyond the reach of a rabbit's tail.

Wait until dawn tomorrow and launch a fierce attack. I think we can take it soon.

This cannot be blamed on them for underestimating the enemy. In this era, basically no city can resist for a long time after the city wall is breached.

Moreover, after besieging Datong City for so long, hundreds of thousands of them were exhausted. The Ming Army did not believe that the Zhenming Army was made of iron and could withstand it.

So tonight, except for a small group of security personnel, all the Ming troops who entered the city slept soundly.

Although the generals of the Ming Army also reminded them to be careful to prevent night attacks by small groups of Zhenming Army. But when a person’s mind is relaxed, it becomes difficult to concentrate.

At a street intersection in the east area of ​​Datong City, a tunnel entrance was pushed open from a dilapidated house outside the barricade. He Xiaolei personally led the 200 fresh troops of the First Mobile Division out of the tunnel.

On the side of the barricade near the outer city, a group of seven or eight Ming troops were still on guard.

He Xiaolei commanded the team to lurk quietly, and when they were about ten meters away, he suddenly made a sudden move and killed the guard force with one move.

Then he opened the barricade and with a wave of his hand, more than two thousand officers and soldiers of the First Mobile Division filed out and quickly pounced on the Ming army stationed near the east gate.

"kill!"

"kill!"

"Who, who are you!"

……

There were shouts of killing, mixed with the shouts of the Ming army who were at a loss.

Once the ancient army was attacked at night, on the one hand, due to malnutrition, the soldiers generally suffered from night blindness and could not see at night; on the other hand, the ancient army had strict military discipline and was frequently beheaded, which put great pressure on the soldiers, so it was easy for camp roars to occur.

Suddenly the Zhenming Army broke in, and the Ming Army camp was in chaos.

The Zhenming officers and soldiers led by He Xiaolei all wore white towels on their left arms as a mark. The Ming army was in the dark and had difficulty distinguishing between ourselves and the enemy. They almost killed everyone they saw, and a camp roar inevitably occurred.

Wu Sangui was first awakened by the shouts of killing in the camp. He knew that no one could stop the chaos in the camp at this time. He immediately led his guards, opened the camp door, and took the lead in retreating towards the tower.

He judged that there would not be too many Zhenming troops coming to attack the camp. As long as more Ming troops were allowed to escape from the camp, they could still be gathered up the next day.

He Xiaolei slashed everywhere in the Ming camp and found the Ming army's gunpowder warehouse. He immediately ordered all night attack officers and soldiers to evacuate, leaving two personal guards to light the fuse and run for their lives. "Boom!"

There was a loud bang, and the tens of thousands of kilograms of gunpowder that the Ming army had finally moved into the city were blown away.

The huge explosion shock wave shocked all the surrounding Ming troops and caused bleeding from their orifices.

It wasn't until dawn that the chaos in Mingying Camp gradually ended.

Hong Chengchou and Wu Sangui took a look back and took a breath of cold air.

A huge explosion crater appeared in the Ming army camp. Dead and injured Ming soldiers were everywhere in the camp, and many wounded soldiers were still lying on the ground wailing.

A preliminary inventory showed that the Ming army suffered more than 10,000 casualties last night, and all the gunpowder prepared to bombard the inner city defense lines was lost.

The more than 40,000-strong army led by Wu Sangui suffered more than 10,000 casualties when attacking the outer city. This time, more than 10,000 casualties were lost in the attack on the camp. The overall loss was more than half. The morale of the entire army was low and it was considered useless.

When Hong Chengchou heard the news, he almost fainted with anger.

"Commander Wu, how did you arrange the defense of the camp to cause such heavy casualties to our army!" Hong Chengchou asked in a rare stern tone.

"This, this is indeed the last general's lax defense. Please punish me, Master Tai." Wu Sangui had nothing to shirk and could only plead guilty.

"You, you made a big mistake this time, and not being punished is not enough to explain it to the entire army. I charge you to be demoted from the rank of commander-in-chief to deputy general, and be fined for half a year. You will be responsible for the crimes you lead, and you will still be responsible for the troops you lead, and strive to make atonement for your crimes." Hong Chengchou thought about it for a while, then raised his head and struck lightly, letting Wu Sangui go.

The main reason is that he has no one available, only Wu Sangui, Yang Guozhu and Cao Bianjiao. Cao Bianjiao was obviously dissatisfied with the alliance with the Tatars against the Ming Dynasty. Yang Guozhu mainly defended Xuancheng. Wu Sangui was more useful, and he could not be killed with a stick.

This night attack postponed the Ming army's planned operation to clear the inner city for two days the next day.

They had to settle the wounded soldiers in the night attack. Wu Sangui's men and horses lost all morale in a short period of time and were no longer usable. They had to re-mobilize Yang Guozhu's men from outside the city to attack the inner city.

Two days later, the street fighting in Datong City officially started.

The tenacity of the Zhenming Army far exceeded Hong Chengchou's expectations. The two sides fought fiercely at every street corner and even every house.

Another time, a house was occupied by the Ming army during the day. At night, the Zhenming army appeared from nowhere and took it back, or killed the occupying troops.

The people of Datong who participated in street fighting were also very tenacious. Facing the Ming army who entered the house, they used weapons if they had weapons. If they didn't have weapons, they used rocks, hit them with hoes, and even pounced on them and bit them. In short, every Ming army was frightened.

Later, I didn't even dare to enter people's rooms. I had to tear down the walls before I dared to enter.

Over the next few days, the Ming army suffered more than 10,000 casualties, but progress was very slow.

Only a quarter of the inner city controlled by the Zhenming Army was occupied, and the further in, the more intense the resistance they encountered.

This frustrated Hong Chengchou, who continued to suffer setbacks in his attacks. For the first time, he felt that the Ming army might not even be able to capture Datong City.

Two days later, the grain officer brought him even more fatal news: the Ming army was short of food.

"What, there are only three days of military rations left, and the military rations from Beizhili have not been shipped?" Hong Chengchou felt that he was going crazy. As the active attacking party, they were going to run out of food.

"The military rations that were supposed to be shipped the day before yesterday haven't arrived today. There must be something wrong." the grain officer replied.

"In Datong City, no food has been collected?" Hong Chengchou asked next.

Yang Guozhu came out and replied: "The Zhenming Army adopted the strategy of strengthening the walls and clearing the wilderness. They did not find any food in the abandoned city area."

Hong Chengchou suddenly felt something bad. They had been attacking the city for more than half a month, but they had not heard any news of reinforcements from the Zhenming Army. This was too abnormal.

Now that the food and grass have not been transported according to the flag, it is definitely not delayed. It must be the reinforcements of the Zhenming Army that have arrived and they have cut off the Ming Army's food route.

When he thought of this, Hong Chengchou broke out in cold sweat. He immediately said: "General Wu, you immediately lead the troops to Xuan Mansion to check our retreat."

"Sir, am I in danger?" Wu Sangui asked.

"It's hard to say. Our army's food and grass did not arrive in time. I suspect that reinforcements from the Zhenming Army have arrived." Hong Chengchou analyzed.

"It is indeed possible, then should we attack the inner city of Datong?" Yang Guozhu asked.

"If we don't fight, even if we win, our losses will be too great. We should ensure our own safety first. We will withdraw our troops immediately early tomorrow morning." Hong Chengchou ordered.

"Yes!" Wu Sangui, Yang Guozhu and others took the order.

(End of this chapter)