Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

"General Li's words make sense." Seeing that Shuozhou city was strong, Bai Rumei felt like picking on the weak and agreed with him.

"General, although Ningwu is a little far from Datong, it is the gateway to the north of Taiyuan and a famous pass in the world, just like Yanmen. If we can capture Ningwu, it will be a great achievement," Gushan Ezhen Jixiha also agreed to switch the attack to Ningwu.

The Battle of Huairen was too brutal, and Shangshan was actually not willing to fight another exhausting siege battle. Seeing that all the generals said that Ningwu Pass was easy to capture, he nodded in agreement.

There were originally 9,500 rebels in Ningwu Pass. After the arrival of 3,000 Mongolian and Han troops led by Ha Laqi and Zheng Guoyin, the number of troops increased to 12,500. Seeing the 1,000 Mongolian troops riding tall horses and full of murderous intent under Ha Laqi's command, leaders such as Yang Fanglin, Yang Fangqing, Li Zongsheng, and Hui Chongde could not help but feel relieved. When they heard that the person who came was the third son of His Royal Highness Sumur, the King of Liao, and the general of the Kingdom of David, they competed to greet him and none of them dared to disobey his orders.

Although Halaqi was only 20 years old, he had joined the army at a young age and fought in major battles. Once he arrived at Dingwu Pass, he arranged the defense in an orderly manner. At first, the generals only respected his noble status, but after seeing that he was skilled in military affairs and martial arts, they became more convinced and willing to accept his orders. Therefore, the Ningwu Pass defenders that the Qing army was about to face were actually not a group of scattered sand but a solid block.
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"Bai Fuyuan, Li Zongzhen, you two said that Ningwu Pass is easy to take. Today, I will see the bravery of your subordinates." Shang Shan smiled and looked at Shanxi Governor Bai Rumei and Taiyuan Town General Li Haoxian. His words were polite but contained threats: You two said that Ningwu Pass is easy to take. If we can take it, it will be a great achievement. But if we can't take it, hmph~
"Don't worry, my Lord. Those guarding Ningwu are all local bandits and we can capture the city within three days," Li Haoxian was very confident.

"I will do my utmost to be loyal to the Qing Dynasty." Bai Rumei was more cunning and just kept saying that he would do his best but did not guarantee that he could succeed.

The long Hui River slowly flows into the eastern part of Ningwu Pass, bringing beautiful scenery to this majestic pass and also providing a barrier to the eastern part of the pass. After discussing with Li Haoxian, Bai Rumei decided to attack only the south, north and west gates, leaving the east gate waterway for the guards to escape, which is called "surround three and kill one". Bai and Li led their troops to attack the west and north gates respectively, while Xu Changchun, deputy general of Puzhou, attacked the south gate.

The two sides first engaged in artillery battles and trench-filling battles. After the rumbling of artillery fire died down, Li Haoxian said to his trusted general, Song Jiaxuan, the lieutenant general of the Taiyuan City Defense Camp: "Song Canrong, you are a good fighter under my command. I boasted in front of the prince that I would capture the city within three days. Today it depends on you."

Song Jiaxuan was quite brave and good at using a big knife. He was called "Song Big Knife" in the army. Hearing this, he laughed and said, "Don't worry, General. The bandit leaders like Yang Lihui guarding the pass were all defeated by me. Our army chased them into the mountains and forests back then, but I didn't expect them to come here to die today."

"Dong~Dong~Dong~" Shangshan, the Duroberle who was in charge of the central army, ordered his men to beat the marching drums.

"Brothers, move forward~" Song Jiaxuan roared, holding a sign in his left hand and a knife in his right hand, and led 2,000 men to press towards the north gate. Li Haoxian led 5,000 green camp soldiers and horses to follow behind. Guarding the north gate were the two brothers, the guerrilla of the David Kingdom, Yang Fanglin, and the commander Yang Fangqing, and their 3,000 men.

"Shoot!" Yang Fanglin, the guerrilla commander of Jiaocheng, gave an order, and arrows rained down from the city. In addition to arrows, there were also battering stones, rolling logs, kerosene and other objects, which made the Qing army wail continuously.

"Hurry up! Just climb up the city wall," Song Jiaxuan ordered his men to speed up. Under his urging, shield carts and ladder carts rushed to the city wall one after another. The ladders were placed on the city wall, and behind the shield carts, Qing soldiers with rattan shields on their heads and swords and guns in their hands jumped out and climbed up the ladders.

Song Jiaxuan saw a soldier's head smashed by a boulder thrown by the defenders. The man only had time to let out a scream before falling from the ladder. "Hmph~" he shouted, and like a monkey, he leaped a few times and climbed up the city.

Yang Fangqing, the brother of Jiaocheng Guerrilla General Yang Fanglin, took down his longbow and aimed at him. With a whoosh, the arrow flew straight at him. After all, Song Jiaxuan had been on the battlefield for a long time, so he felt the danger and leaned to the side on the ladder. The arrow shot through his right arm.

"Ugh~" He had to cover his right arm and retreat from the ladder truck. With Song Jiaxuan's retreat, the offensive outside the north gate was also frustrated.

The attack on the South Gate by Xu Changchun, deputy general of Puzhou, was not successful. The South Gate garrison commander Hui Chongde, a fierce bandit who had been active in Jinzhong for many years, saw the aggressive Qing troops coming and fought with bare arms and axe. With his bravery, he drove the Qing troops who had attacked the city wall back.

"Dong~Dong~Dong~" Shanxi Governor Bai Rumei personally beat the war drum. Seeing the governor personally beating the drum, Pingyang Camp Lieutenant General Liu Ding's eyes turned red, and he led his men to attack the top of the city without avoiding arrows and stones.

"I'll kill you!" Wei Jingle guerrilla Li Zongsheng swung his iron rod and rushed towards Liu Ding. He had just surrendered to Wei and wanted to make military achievements. The general of the Wei Kingdom, Haraqi, was watching not far away. Liu Ding's martial arts were not as good as Li Zongsheng's. He was not careful and his head was smashed by the iron rod, and he died.

"Hahaha~" Li Zongsheng laughed wildly with pride, but suddenly his face froze. A feather arrow flew over and pierced his throat. It was shot by Gao Guosheng, the lieutenant general of the Qingfu Biao Camp. Gao Guosheng had been guarding Bai Rumei. When Governor Bai saw that Liu Ding had already rushed to the top of the city wall, he ordered him to climb the city wall to expand the victory.

The flag with the Chinese character "Li" fell, and the defenders on the west gate were in chaos. Just as they were about to be breached, a general wearing a Mongolian battle robe and a Mongolian-style three-piece haircut came with a gun. It was Ha Laqi who saw that the west gate was in danger and ordered the Datong Lieutenant General Zheng Guoyin's troops to reinforce. Although Lieutenant General Zheng was a Han Chinese, he liked to wear Mongolian battle robes and keep a traditional Mongolian hairstyle. Seeing this, most of his subordinates followed suit. This 2,000-man Han army looked more like Mongolians than Mongolians. Because they surrendered to the Wei earlier, Zheng's troops were well-equipped and much more powerful than the rebels. Seeing this, Gao Guosheng felt a chill in his heart, thinking that he had encountered the elite of the Wei army. He fought hard, but because he had lost his courage, he was driven out of the city after a short battle.

The siege lasted for ten days. Not only did the Qing army fail to capture Ningwu Pass, but it also suffered heavy casualties under the wall.

"You said that Shuozhou is difficult to take, but Ningwu is easy to take. But now we are stationed under the strong city of Ningwu, unable to advance or retreat, what can we do?" In the Qing army camp, Doni Beile Shangshan asked Shanxi Governor Bai Rumei and Taiyuan Town General Li Haoxian coldly. His voice was not loud, but it was full of murderous intent. He couldn't help but be angry. In the past ten days, the Shanxi Green Camp that attacked the city had suffered 3,000 casualties, but there was still no hope of breaking the city.

Li Haoxian was so frightened that he dared not raise his head. His bold words that he would conquer the city in less than three days were gone. "My Lord, the defenders of Ningwu Pass were originally local bandits and vagrants. They were scattered and easy to fight, but they did not expect that the pseudo king would send Mongolian troops to reinforce them. The defenders were strengthened, which led to this setback," Bai Rumei replied calmly.

"Hmph, I thought that after the two armies joined forces, their prestige would be greatly enhanced and they would be unstoppable. But now, we can't even take down Shuozhou and Ningwu. How can I explain this to the prince?" Shang Shan sneered with a gloomy face.

"Please calm down, my Lord. The bandits that were rampant in Luliang Mountain have surrendered to the Wei State. They have been a major concern for the court for many years. Now that they have come to Ningwu Pass from the mountains, the number of troops in their old nest has decreased. Why not take the opportunity to send troops to Luliang Mountain to encircle and suppress the bandits' old nest and eliminate this great threat for the court?" Bai Rumei suggested calmly. (End of this chapter)