Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

Xiongyue City is 1393 miles in circumference. It has two gates in the north and south. The north gate is named Suide and the south gate is named Yingxun. There is also an urn outside the city gate. This city is actually a military fortress built in the th year of Hongwu (). Because the Ming Dynasty set up a post station here, it is also called Xiongyue Post. Because it is located at the crossroads of north-south transportation, although it is only a post station and a military fortress, the scale of the city is much larger than the "post station" or "fort" of the same level, and only slightly smaller than the "guard". Although Wang Guotai, the general of Liaonan, was greedy for money, lustful and without integrity, he had combat experience. He ordered Xu Wen, the guerrilla of the right camp, to lead soldiers and horses to station in Xiongyue City north of Fuzhou, which was equivalent to building a barrier south of Gaizhou. Even if the Qing army took over and landed in Jinzhou or Fuzhou, they had to pass Xiongyue City first.

Xu Wen is a man with a very elegant appearance. It is said that he once had the title of a scholar. In the troubled times, he felt that being a scholar was useless, so he gave up his pen and joined the army of Wang Guotai. Because there were many people who wielded swords and guns under Wang Zongzhen, but few who wielded literature, he was considered a rare talent and was given important positions. Even though he was not very experienced, he still achieved the position of guerrilla general. Wang Zongzhen, who had not read much, respected scholars very much. He liked to ask for his opinions when encountering things. His suggestions were also practical and useful. Therefore, he won the heart of the commander-in-chief and was regarded as his confidant and think tank. A scholar dies for his confidant, Xu Wen was very grateful and loyal to the commander-in-chief. Because of this, Wang Guotai handed over the military stronghold Xiongyue City to him for garrison. He was also a careful person. As soon as he arrived in Xiongyue City, he commanded his subordinates to change the important sections of the city from earth to stone wall foundation and blue bricks, which greatly increased the solidity of the city wall; at the same time, a beacon tower was built in the city, which could report to Gaizhou at any time.

On this day, it was snowing heavily, and the soldiers on the Yingxun Gate wall were shivering and chatting behind the arrow stacks. Zhao Sanxi led a hundred infantrymen and drove more than ten carriages, approaching the wall in a swaggering manner.

"Stop! What are you doing?" The guards shouted sternly when they saw someone coming.

"I am Zhao Sanxi, the captain of Yangguanbao under the command of Gu Si, the garrison commander of Fuzhou. I am ordered by my garrison commander to go to Gaizhou to collect winter clothes and money and food. The weather is cold, so please be kind and let us enter the city to rest," Zhao Sanxi shouted.

"Do you have any seal or documents?" asked the captain on duty.

"Yes, yes." Zhao Sanxi took out the document in a naive manner, tied it to an arrow and shot it towards the top of the city wall.

The captain checked for a while and found the seal to be correct. He smiled at him and said, "It's not that my brother is trying to make things difficult for you. It's actually Guerrilla Xu who has ordered that the door cannot be opened without his permission. Wait, I will report to the Guerrilla right away."

"It's freezing cold, as a token of my appreciation, I'd like to buy a glass of liquor for the brothers. Please hurry up, brother," Zhao Sanxi said with a smile, throwing a purse.

The garrison officer opened it and saw a string of copper coins inside. His expression immediately looked better and he said with a smile: "Don't worry, brother. I will go and report it right away."

The woods outside Yingxun Gate were now covered in silver. Nine thousand elite soldiers under the command of Dong Xueli, the Qing Huguang governor, were lying in ambush here.

"Admiral, will the guards fall into the trap?" Left Commander Yu Dahai asked Dong Xueli. This man was originally a general of the Ming Dynasty. He was always loyal to the Ming Dynasty and fought against the Dashi Army many times in Sichuan. He was named Duke of Zheng by Emperor Yongli. Later, he was forced by Liu Wenxiu, a famous general of the Dashi Army, to withdraw from Sichuan to Huguang. The Qing Dynasty repeatedly invited him to surrender but refused. After finding out that he was a filial son, they used his mother as a hostage and finally forced him to surrender. After surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, he made many military achievements and was promoted to Left Commander to guard Xiangyang. This time, Dong Xueli was ordered to aid Liao. Knowing that this man was a brave general, he issued a transfer order to transfer him to his side to accompany the expedition.

"Kunshan (Yu Dahai's pen name), don't worry. Even if Zhao Sanxi fails to trick the city gates open, our army outnumbers the enemy, so we can just attack by force," Dong Xueli laughed.

"The admiral is right. If the guards don't fall into the trap, I'm willing to lead my troops first," Yu Dahai volunteered to fight.

"Okay, if the Wei army fails to fall into your trap, you attack Yingxun Gate, and I will cover the rear. We must capture this city," Dong Xueli said confidently.
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"The Fuzhou Camp sent people to Gaizhou to get winter clothes in order to enter the city? Captain Liu, have you carefully checked the documents?" Xu Wen asked after listening to the report.

"I have checked it carefully and there is no problem," General Liu handed over the document respectfully.

Xu Wen took a look and found that there was indeed nothing wrong. He said calmly, "Let's go to the city and take a look." When he arrived at the city, he couldn't help but wonder, if Gaizhou notified to take winter clothes, why didn't Xiongyue City get the news? Thinking of this, he ordered calmly, "The city gate cannot be opened. Let Fuzhou Camp put the cart by the city gate and lower the hanging basket. Let them put their weapons in the basket and give it to us for safekeeping, and then pull them up one by one." "Yes," Liu Bazong responded, and shouted loudly to the people below the city: "Listen, brothers of Fuzhou Camp, Xu Youji has ordered to put the cart by the city gate. The hanging basket will be lowered from the city later. You should put your weapons in the basket and give it to us for safekeeping, and then we will pull you up one by one."

Zhao Sanxi was stunned when he heard this. He knew that it was impossible to trick the city gate open, so he took out the horn and blew it. Hearing the signal, Dong Xueli knew that the plan had failed and ordered an attack on the city. The left commander Yu Dahai led 2,000 troops, pushing ladders and battering rams, and rushed towards the city wall under the cover of shield carts.

"Hateful!" Xu Wen took down his bow, aimed at Zhao Sanxi who was running backwards, and shot an arrow. Born as a scholar, he shot arrows very accurately, and with just one arrow, he shot through the back of Zhao Bazong who was wearing a uniform.

Shortly after Yu Dahai attacked Yingxun Gate, Dong Xueli's sons Dong Yongfan and Dong Yongai also led an army of 3,000 to attack Suide Gate.

"Light the fire", Xu Wen calmly commanded his men to defend the city and ordered the beacon on the beacon tower to be lit. Under his command, his men used cannonballs to blow up shield carts, used kerosene to burn ladders and battering rams, poured gold juice on soldiers climbing the city walls, and used cloth curtains to block bullets and arrows... They managed to defend the small Xiongyue City as solid as a rock.

Once the beacon fire in Xiongyue City was lit, beacons were lit in Shenjingdun, Yulinpu and other places, and the news spread all the way to Gaizhou. In the headquarters of Gaizhou City, Wang Guotai was hugging his beloved concubine and making love, but his interest was ruined by the shouting and knocking of the personal soldiers, "General, there is urgent military information~ urgent military information~"

"Damn it!" Wang Guotai cursed and hurriedly put on his pants, and ordered all the generals to discuss the matter. Deputy General Zhang Peng, the guerrilla Chen Dayu of the Central Army Camp, and the garrison commander of Gaizhou Bai Yunming and others rushed to the scene after receiving the alarm.

"General, I am willing to lead the army to rescue Fuzhou." Chen Dayu was on good terms with Xu Wen and was willing to lead the army. Seeing him take the lead, Zhang Peng and Bai Yunming also expressed their willingness to go.

"Right now we only know that Xiongyue City was attacked, but we don't know how many enemies came or where they came from. Don't be anxious, hold on to the city first, and then send out troops after we have found out the truth," Wang Guotai calmed himself down and said, "Each of you will lead your troops to garrison in the city, and the number of soldiers on duty at night will be increased threefold. Notify Prefect Luo and Prefect Liu to immediately conscript all men aged 14 to 50 in the city to help defend the city. Those who refuse to go will be charged with treason. Then send someone to report to Haizhou and other places."

"General, what about Guerrilla Xu?" Zhang Peng asked.

"If the enemy has few soldiers, they will not be able to break through Xiongyue City in a short time; if the enemy has many soldiers, there are only more than 3,000 defenders in Gaizhou now, and reinforcements are useless. Let's talk about it after we find out the enemy situation clearly," Wang Guotai sighed. In fact, the purpose of sending Xu Yue to garrison Xiongyue City was just to alert Gaizhou in time. With the beacon fire in Xiongyue City, Xu Wen's troops had completed their mission, and they could only leave it to fate.

As the military intelligence came in, the situation became clear. The Qing army crossed the sea from Dengzhou to attack, and the number of enemy troops besieging Xiongyue City was nearly 10,000. There were also traces of enemies in Jinzhou. The intuition of a warrior told Wang Guotai that Fuzhou and Jinzhou were probably in danger, and Xiongyue City was not optimistic either.

Sure enough, news soon came that Fuzhou, Jinzhou, Jinzhou Zhongzuo and Xiongyue City had fallen one after another.

The defenders of Xiongyue City fought bravely and held out for eleven days. The Qing army had to use the heavy artillery unloaded from the warships and bombarded day and night before they blasted out several gaps and broke into the city. Before his death, Xu Wen, the guerrilla commander of the right camp, shouted "Kill the bandits", but he never waited for the reinforcements from Gaizhou. Hearing that the enemy was powerful, Wang Guotai did not dare to go out of the city to rescue. He just urged the more than 3,000 defenders and 3,000 young men in the city to strengthen the city defense. After hearing the news of Xu Wen's death, the general shed tears of shame, but soon he could not cry anymore because the Qing army arrived. After Lai Tuku captured Jinzhou, he ordered the Navy Camp and Fuzhou City Defense Camp to stay in Jinzhou, Jinzhou Zhongzuo and Fuzhou, and led his troops to Xiongyue City to meet Dong Xueli. Nearly 13,000 soldiers surrounded Gaizhou City. Fortunately, the defenders were prepared, and the two sides fought fiercely under the city. (End of this chapter)