Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 292: Overcoming the difficulties
At midnight, the Red Army soldiers had been tired for a long time and had already fallen asleep.

Intelligence Bureau Director Feng Jiali and Deputy Commander of the Personal Guard Brigade Zhou Yiming had not yet rested and had been waiting outside the camp for a long time.

After an unknown amount of time, Feng Jiali dozed off due to sleepiness. Zhou Yiming was young after all, and he struggled to fall asleep because he had something on his mind.

"Beacon tower, there are torches in the distance."

Zhou Yiming was refreshed, and he stood up to take a look. He really saw a little fire. The fire was still very weak, but it could pierce the darkness of the night and bring people a lot of hope. He hurriedly woke up Feng Jiali and ordered his men, "Send a group of brothers to investigate first."

A squad of cavalrymen holding torches galloped away into the distance.

Soon, someone in the distance sent a signal with a torch, saying that the person coming was none other than his own brother.

Zhou Yiming was so excited that he could not hold back and rode his horse forward. Feng Jiali was so exhausted that he had no choice but to follow him.

"Old Feng!"

"Director! The mark!"

The person who came was Feng Zhen, a detective from the Intelligence Bureau. He led a team to lurk in Yanguan Pass and cut bamboo nearby to make bamboo ladders. To attack Yanguan Pass, you must have ladders. If you make them temporarily, it will take time. Feng Zhen made the ladders in advance, so the army can attack the city directly tomorrow.

"I'm so glad to see you! How many ladders did you bring?"

"We brought thirty of them! They are all of excellent quality!" Feng Zhen was very excited and said, "In addition to the bamboo ladders, there are also three cloud ladders!"

The ladder has wheels and can be pushed and driven, also known as the "ladder car", equipped with shields, winches, grappling hooks, folding ladders and other equipment. The Ming Dynasty was in an era of alternating cold and hot weapons. The ladder was heavy and could not resist firearms, so it was no longer favored by the army and was gradually eliminated.

"Great! With ladders, we will be more confident in attacking the city!"

Feng Zhen said: "Although the Tartars have occupied Yanguan and Lingchuan, the surrounding mountain strongholds are full of rebels. We arrived at Yanguan ten days ago, and soon the rebels responded and helped us make bamboo ladders. The nearby villages were repeatedly looted by the Tartars, and they also came to help enthusiastically."

"Hurry up and move the ladder forward so that we can use it to attack the city tomorrow morning."

At the hour of Mao, before daybreak, the Red Army ate some dry food and advanced towards Yanguan in the dark.

Compared with attacking strongholds, the Red Army is better at field battles. In this surprise attack on Yanguan, the Red Army did not carry heavy artillery, but only nine mountain-splitting cannons. The enemy army is good at using firearms, and its chief general is Cao Dexian, an old general of Dingnan. He is holding the pass by relying on the terrain and should not be underestimated.

However, the Red Army also attacked Kunlun Pass two years ago. Kunlun Pass is far more dangerous than Yanguan Pass, and the road to the pass is narrow, so even the troops and horses cannot move around. The Red Army attacked Kunlun Pass over a long distance and still captured it.

As the battle was imminent, Cen Danchu got up early, put on his armor, and went to supervise the battle in person.

"General, the brothers are ready and can launch the attack on time." Zhou Yiming was responsible for leading the suicide squad to launch the first wave of charge.

"Well, very good." Danchu responded.

Everyone was looking forward to it and excited. At dawn, the death squad members were all wearing armor, holding rattan shields, and laying bamboo ladders and door panels on the ground, ready to storm the city. The door panels were dismantled from the houses in Rongjiang Town, and there were more than 100 of them in total.

"Brothers, we have come here for 400 miles just to seize the fortress and cut off the Tartars' retreat. Now the fortress is empty, and the Tartars are closed in their camp and have lost their courage. Our army should strike hard, seize the fortress in one fell swoop, and then we can completely wipe out the Tartars in Dingnan."

"Please rest assured, General. The Death Squad will accomplish its mission."

The sky gradually brightened. Not far away, the outline of the city gradually became clear. If the Red Army attacked at this time, they would have a clear target and would not easily hurt their comrades.

"Attack!" Danchu gave the order, and the suicide squad immediately stood up and moved forward carrying the bamboo ladders.

The area in front of the city gate was fairly open, with a front width of about thirty steps. The first batch of death squads had two hundred people, divided into four groups, carrying eight bamboo ladders and more than forty door panels, and advancing at the same time.

The Qing army was very alert and soon blew the horn to sound the alarm. Soon, the guns and cannons on the top of the city wall fired at the same time, and the artillery fire was quite dense. Fortunately, the Qing army did not have many heavy matchlock guns, and they relied entirely on artillery to threaten the Red Army. The Red Army only had nine mountain-splitting cannons, which were deployed on both wings of the death squad and were unable to suppress the Qing army's artillery fire. There was no choice but to bite the bullet and rush forward. "Bow your heads! Bend your bodies! Disperse and advance!" Zhou Yiming shouted, and the formation of the death squad was slightly evacuated.

The first line of defense was one hundred steps in front of the city wall. It was the first obstacle for the Red Army to attack the city. It had a set of chevaux de frise and a trench. Zhou Yiming bravely led a group of death warriors to the chevaux de frise, and he was immediately delighted.

The Qing army's chevaux de frise was set up very carelessly, without being nailed into the ground, and fell down as soon as it was pushed. The trench was ten steps behind the chevaux de frise, less than five feet deep and less than ten feet wide.

Yanguan is located in a mountainous area with many rocks, and the defense is more focused on the north than the south. I guess the Qing army had just arrived and had not had time to complete the fortifications.

Half of the death squad fired to suppress the Qing army, while the other half built a bridge across the trench. They pushed the barricades into the trench, placed two bamboo ladders on the trench, and lifted the door panels to the bamboo bridge to form a simple bridge across the trench.

The battle went smoothly and the first line of defense was breached. The Red Army was greatly encouraged, and Danchu immediately waved his hand and released the second batch of death squads, also 200 people, carrying bamboo ladders and door panels.

The second line of defense was forty steps away from the city wall and consisted of a chevaux-de-frise, a stake barricade, and a trench.

The Qing army's artillery fire became more intense, and the Red Army's casualties continued to increase. Zhou Yiming wore two layers of armor and was hit by several lead bullets. He only felt the burning pain in his chest and shoulders, but he had no time to check his injuries.

At such a close distance, the Qing army's artillery shells were quite accurate, destroying several bamboo ladders in succession.

By the end of the Ming Dynasty, military technology had become quite advanced, and trenches, stakes, chevaux de frise and other defensive fortifications were no longer able to stop the enemy. In many cases, the defenders set up trenches, stakes and chevaux de frise only to delay the enemy so that they could better exert their firepower and kill more enemies.

"Send out the ladders!" Danchu ordered calmly. The purpose of sending out the ladders was not to attack the city, but to attract enemy firepower and cover Zhou Yiming's continued breakthrough of the Qing army's defense line.

The huge and clumsy ladder slowly moved forward under the push of the soldiers, and indeed attracted the attention of the Qing army.

Cao Dexian, with gray hair and beard, was shocked to hear that the Red Army was attacking the city. He was also supported by soldiers and went to the top of the city wall to command the Qing army to defend the city. The artillery concentrated its fire on the Red Army's ladders, and the intensive artillery fire riddled the ladders with holes until they were paralyzed and collapsed.

The Qing army cheered, but they did not expect that the Red Army's suicide squad had quietly broken through the second line of defense and built three bridges across the second trench.

"The third batch of suicide squads, attack!"

As usual, the death squads would wear two layers of armor before charging. The third batch of death squads had a total of 600 people, and they no longer had enough armor. Many people only wore one layer of armor, and folded their quilts on their chests and tied them tightly with ropes to protect them from the Qing army's lead bullets.

Six hundred suicide squad members carried ten ladders and attacked the city wall from a front of thirty steps in a very dense formation.

The Qing army stood on the top of the city wall, watching the Red Army rushing in like a tide, and was horrified. What was even more frightening was that the Red Army still had 2,500 people behind the pass, and their war horses were all over the mountains and plains, stretching as far as the eye could see. It was unknown how many troops the Red Army had.

The Qing army was in a panic, using all kinds of defensive equipment, such as pestles, rolling stones, golden juice, bird guns, and flails, desperately trying to stop the Red Army. Cao Dexian also knew that the battle was urgent, so he put on armor and held a sword, urging his soldiers to fight to the death.

The Red Army wanted to compete for the credit of climbing the bamboo ladder, and kept climbing up and falling down. Three or four people climbed up the city wall, but were killed by the Qing army.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" The Red Army stopped attacking and ten bamboo ladders were withdrawn one after another, stretching out on the flat ground under the city wall. Hundreds of Red Army soldiers were cramped in front of the city wall and the trench, unable to advance or retreat.

The Qing army blocked the Red Army's attack and took the opportunity to counterattack with bows and arrows and muskets.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The Red Army beat the drums again and launched an attack.

In the middle of each ladder stood a thin and capable death squad member, and the rest of the people worked together to lift the bamboo ladder and put it towards the city gate. At the same time, the death squad member in the middle climbed up in the air. When the front end of the ladder reached the top of the city wall, the death squad member also climbed up to the top of the city wall and jumped onto the top of the city wall.

Ten members of the death squad climbed up the city wall and immediately engaged in a fight with the Qing army. The Qing army was scattered and in a panic. The remaining members of the death squad took the opportunity to climb up the bamboo ladder and fight the enemy.

At 9:00 pm, the Red Army occupied the southern side of the city wall, and the Qing army was doomed. Cao Dexian was unable to escape and was killed on the spot by the Red Army. The rest of the Qing army abandoned the city wall and fled to Xing'an.

(End of this chapter)