Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

"Your Highness, our army has crossed the Yu River and captured Hongci Fort and Gudian. We only need to cross Leigong Mountain to reach Datong. We have won battle after battle, so why are you so unhappy?" Beile Shangshan asked Doni, who had a gloomy face and was silent.

"Continuous victories? Humph! Every time we capture a Wei army fortress, the soldiers have to sacrifice their lives. How can I be happy with such a series of victories? It seems that there will be another fierce battle in Leigong Mountain," Donnie said unhappily. Indeed, the commander of the Wei army, Bars, was a veteran. The fortifications he built were both solid and practical, forcing the Qing army to pay a large number of casualties in exchange for "victory". There were 2,000 casualties in Hongci Fort and 3,000 casualties in Gudian, while the casualties of the Wei army were only 2,000. Rather than saying that they captured these two fortresses, it would be better to say that the Wei army gave up voluntarily.

He guessed correctly. The Qing army paid another 3,000 casualties before they took Leigong Mountain. After counting the bodies of the guards on the mountain, there were only 700, which made Prince Xin gnashed his teeth in anger. Fortunately, Datong City was already in sight.

"Pass on my military order. Do not stop fighting for three days after taking Datong," Duoni issued the order coldly. During Jiang Ge's rebellion, the Eight Banners had massacred Datong. Why not do it now to boost morale?
Upon hearing this military order, and with the generals with ulterior motives deliberately boasting that there was a huge amount of wealth plundered by the guards hidden in the city, the morale of the Qing army suddenly boosted.

The first thing they encountered was the wide moat. Bars ordered his men to widen the original moat by five feet. If they wanted to fill it up, they would have to sacrifice their lives. Carts filled with soil rushed towards the Huli River, and the soldiers behind the carts struggled to unload the soil into the river. The dense shells fired from the city blew up the Qing soldiers and overturned their carts. The Wei army had 120 large and small artillery pieces deployed on the top of Datong City, including 40 heavy artillery pieces. In addition to cannons, there were also strong bows. The Tiger of Oirat carefully selected 3,000 archers who could pull strong bows to snipe at the Qing army filling the river. The arrows flew like locusts, taking away countless innocent souls.

"Don't be afraid, move forward, and those who dare to retreat will be killed!" Wang Ping, the general of the Qing army, personally swung his sword and chopped down a soldier who was scared by the cannon and ran back, and gave a fierce order. At first, he ordered people to capture more than 3,000 people from nearby villages to serve as able-bodied men to fill the river, but they were all shot dead in just three days, so he had to order his own men to fill the river.

It took the Qing army ten days to fill the moat. Wang Ping breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the last section of the moat become flat, waiting for the order to retreat. Only three thousand of his five thousand men remained, but fortunately they had finally completed the task of filling the moat.

"Woo~wu~wu~"

The retreat horn sounded in the camp. Wang Ping felt relieved and planned to lead his troops back to the camp.

"Da~da~da~"

The heavy city gate suddenly opened, followed by the thunderous sound of horse hooves. Bayar, the general of Samarkand of the Bars tribe, and Pota, the leader of the Great Juz Sergi tribe, led 3,000 elite cavalrymen to charge out of the city.

"Not good! Form a battle line~ Form a battle line quickly~" The battle-hardened General Wang knew that infantry could not outrun cavalry, so he planned to form a battle line to resist and wait for support from his own army. After all, he had an army of 100,000 behind him. As long as he could withstand the charge of the Guards cavalry, reinforcements would arrive soon.

However, the continuous bulldozing and filling of the river had exhausted the soldiers' physical strength, and the horn of retreat had just sounded in the camp. The soldiers were unwilling to fight in formation, but ran towards the Qing army formation behind them. This run left their backs to the guards cavalry, who roared and rode their horses to kill at will.

"Ah~Ah~Ah~" Bayar screamed and galloped on his horse. He held the long knife in his hand flat and cut off heads like cutting wheat.

Suddenly, he saw an enemy general whose armor was obviously different from that of ordinary soldiers. He was obviously an important enemy general. Without saying anything, he rode his horse to chase him. The enemy was obviously a little panicked or had poor riding skills, and was soon caught up. In the blink of an eye, Bayar swung his long sword and cut off the enemy's head. Wang Ping was dead, and more than a thousand of his fleeing subordinates were killed.

"Retreat~" Bayar made a gesture to the flag-and-drum officer beside him, who immediately raised the retreat flag, and the well-trained cavalry guards galloped back into the city.

"Damn it! Chase him for me!" Donnie put down the telescope in his hand, furious.

Qinggushan Ezhenluoto was ordered to lead 10,000 cavalrymen to chase after the guards, but the guards moved too fast and he was greeted by the opened city gates and the defenders who were ready for battle.

"Swoosh~Swoosh~Swoosh~" Arrows rained down like rain, knocking down dozens of Qing soldiers who were chasing closely, forcing Roto to retreat.

"Haorui~Haorui~Haorui~" Deafening cheers rang out from the top of the city wall.

"Your Highness, our army's morale is low today. Why not attack the city tomorrow?" Beile Shangshan suggested.

"Well, let the soldiers have a good rest tonight. We must guard against the enemy sneaking into the camp, and double the number of soldiers on duty and patrol," Donny ordered majestically.

"Yes~" The generals accepted the order.
-
"General, I have followed your instructions and recruited all the young and strong men in the city to help defend the city, a total of 10,000 people. I have also arranged yamen runners to patrol the streets and alleys in the city to prevent spies," Li Shiying, the governor of Shanxi, reported to Bars respectfully. Datong is one of the nine important border towns. During the Ming Dynasty, there were more than 100,000 garrisons and more than 50,000 war horses, known as "Datong's soldiers and horses are the best in the world." However, after the massacre of the Qing army during the Jiang Ge Rebellion, most of the residents in the city moved from nearby. After more than ten years of recuperation, there are only 70,000 people. Ten thousand young and strong people is the limit of the city.

"Well, are the people still at peace?" Barth asked, stroking his beard.

"Don't worry, Marshal. I have sent people to inform the people that the Qing army has issued an order to massacre the city. If the city falls, the whole city will be in danger. The Qing army massacred Datong more than ten years ago and has a very bad reputation. The people are afraid that their family members' lives will be in danger after the city falls, so they have enthusiastically supported our army. Not only the young and strong people went to the city to help defend it, but women and children also helped our army steam dry food and carry equipment. It can be said that we are united in purpose," Li Shiying laughed.

"Li Fuyuan has done a great job. You have made an indelible contribution to the defense of Datong," Bars praised him.

"This is my duty as an official, I dare not talk about my merits," Li Shiying was humble.

After seeing off Governor Li, Bars carefully calculated the strength in his hands. After the battle outside Datong a few days ago, only 47,000 of his 50,000 men were left, of which 7,000 were guarding Yunchuanwei and Huairen. There were only 40,000 defenders in the city, plus the 10,000 young and strong men who assisted in the defense. Although the military strength was far inferior to that of the Qing army, fortunately there was a strong city to rely on.

"Uh~" The old general suddenly yawned loudly, and fell asleep wrapped in his battle robe. If he doesn't keep his spirits up, how can he face the war tomorrow? -
The first rays of sunlight in the morning shone on the walls of Datong. Below the walls were nearly 100,000 well-equipped tigers and wolves. After the brutal battle outside Datong, Prince Xin Doni's 110,000 troops had lost more than 10,000, and there were still nearly 100,000 troops lined up under the city, densely packed and murderous.

"Fire!" Donny waved his arms fiercely and gave the order. The Qing army's fifty Shenwei Dajiangjun cannons and ninety Portuguese cannons began to roar.

"Fire!" On the top of the city wall, Bars also gave the order to shoot.

"Boom~Boom~Boom~"

"Boom~Boom~Boom~"

The infantry and cavalry of both sides hid in safe places. This was a contest between artillerymen. The Qing army had slightly more artillery, but the guards had the advantage of being on high ground, so it was hard to tell who would win. From time to time, shells fell on the city, creating craters. It was hard to destroy the solid city of Datong! (End of this chapter)