Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 111 The Fall of Datong
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the nine border towns constituted the northern border defense line of the empire that stretched thousands of miles.

Among them, Datong Town starts from Zhenkoutai in the east and ends at Yajiao Mountain in the west, with a total length of six to seven hundred miles.There are tens of thousands of Ming troops stationed in Datong Town, distributed among the forts built in Datong Town and along the Great Wall, guarding this line of defense for the empire at dusk.

However, the people of Datong Town were panicked on this day.The sky above the Fort Baihu on the West Road is full of smoke, conveying a bad atmosphere.

The commander-in-chief of Datong Town, the prefect, the officers and soldiers stationed in Datong Town, and the border residents of Datong Town nervously looked at the beacon fire in the distant sky.

Qu Jiazhen, the commander-in-chief of Datong Town, paced back and forth in the mansion of the commander-in-chief, anxiously waiting for the news ahead.Qu Jiazhen's generals, guerrillas, and thousands of households also sat in the mansion very nervously.Some officers seemed to be sipping tea calmly, but their slightly trembling fingers betrayed the panic in their hearts.

Da Da, the sound of hurried footsteps came from outside the door, and everyone's eyes turned to the door—a young officer with bloodstains on his body rushed in scrambling.

"What's the situation in Baohu? Which side is attacking Baobao? How is the deputy general who went to reinforce him?" Qu Jiazhen asked earnestly as he grabbed the visitor.

"The subordinates are the defenders of Fort Baihu. Our Fort Baihu was suddenly attacked by the Mongols. Now the Mongols have broken through the defense line of Fort Baihu! The brothers couldn't hold it, so they had to retreat. It happened that the deputy chief soldier came to help , now the deputy chief soldier is fighting with the Mongols, let the young one come back and report to the chief soldier, and instruct the chief soldier to strengthen the defense of Datong Town, Datong Town is the target of the Mongols this time!" The young officer's face was ashes. .

"Bastard, you have five hundred officers and soldiers stationed in Baohu Castle. The terrain is dangerous and there is a danger of invincibility. How can you let the Mongols break through and cash back easily?! Incompetent!" Qu Jiazhen was furious, and tied up the young man with a snap The officer slaps.

The young officer knelt on the ground obediently: "What the Chief Soldier said is that we are incompetent... But if it is just the Mongols, they would not have the guts to attack us suddenly. The subordinates saw Hou Jin's righteousness in the Mongol army. The yellow flag and the blue flag."

Golden man?All Datong officers were horrified.When did all the golden men come to Datong? ,

"The north of our Datong Town is Lin Danhan's territory. How could there be Jinren and Eight Banners haunting them. Could it be that Lin Danhan took refuge in the Jinren?" Qu Jiazhen said to himself.

Hearing Qu Jiazhen's thoughts, the officers under his command couldn't help but raise their hearts in their throats.

"Yes, our spies on the prairie once sent a piece of information that there was a conflict between tribes on the Liaohetao prairie. At first I didn't care, but now it is very likely that Houjin has united with other tribes. The conflict between the Mongolian tribe and Lin Dan Khan. Since the Jin people appear here, it is very likely that Lin Dan Khan has been defeated." The magistrate of Datong appeared in Qu Jiazhen's mansion.

"The Jin people bypassed the Ningyuan defense line and rushed to our Datong Town from a long distance... This is to grab food! Quick, the whole city is on alert to prevent the Jin soldiers from attacking our Datong Town!"

"You go and transport the two old general cannons in the arsenal to the city wall, maybe they will come in handy."

"You lead two thousand elite soldiers to escort the deputy commander back to the city."

"You guys went to the capital to find reinforcements."

Qu Jiazhen hastily assigned defensive tasks.The strategic position of Datong Town is very important. If Baihu Fort has fallen, Datong Town must be defended. As for the other towns near Datong Town, they can only ask for their own blessings.As long as Datong Town is still controlled by the Ming army, even if the Jin people enter the pass, they will not dare to go deep.

It didn't take long for the deputy general who had supported the defeated Hubao to retreat, and hurried back to the city with the soldiers who had left the city, losing [-] to [-] percent of the soldiers and horses, and returned without success.

Following behind the retreating Ming army, this is the chasing Mongolian cavalry.These Mongolian cavalrymen are as cowardly as grandsons against the Jianzhou Eight Banners, but they are superior to the Ming army, faster than the Jianzhou Eight Banners.

"Close the city gate!" Qu Jiazhen came to the city wall to personally direct this defensive battle, which may be very difficult.

Datong Town was an important frontier town that the Ming Dynasty had operated for a long time. Although the defense was relaxed at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the tall and thick city walls and urns built in the early Ming Dynasty still became their biggest defense.

"Your Majesty Dajin, let the most heroic eagle on the grassland hunt the chicks curled up in their nests, and break the city of Datong without leaving any chickens or dogs behind." After defeating Lin Dan Khan, their confidence has already swelled.

"Datong City has high walls and thick walls, do you think your cavalry can fly in with wings?" Huang Taiji rolled his eyes.

Even the Jin people, who are better at attacking the city, would never attack such an important town if they had nothing to do. If there was a real fight, the main force would definitely die, and the food, grass and silver they robbed would not be able to make up for the loss!
The three Mongolian masters looked at each other in blank dismay.Their Mongolian cavalry can still be invincible on the grasslands, but they are really helpless when they encounter the tall and large cities of the Han people.

"Mang'er Gutai, lead your troops to plunder all the villages in Datong Town, and transfer all the people, food, grass, and livestock that you can take away to the outside of the customs." Huang Taiji ordered, "During this period, do not kill lightly, Fan Wencheng will supervise you .”

"Can't you kill them even if you encounter a fortress of resistance?" Mang Ergutai asked.

"What I said is not to kill lightly, I didn't say that you must not kill, if you resist." Huang Taiji said.

"Yes, I will definitely bring all the Han people and their food back to Shengjing." Mang Ergutai said.

"Your Majesty the King of Heaven, our Mongolian cavalry are also willing to plunder villages for His Majesty." Seeing that such a good thing fell to Mang Ergutai, the three Mongolian heroes couldn't help but said anxiously.

"Your Mongolian flags will follow me to monitor the officers and soldiers of Datong. If possible, we will capture Datong Town." Huang Taiji didn't want to let the Mongolian cavalry go looting.

With the quality of the current Mongolian cavalry, most of them will kill and set fire at that time, so his plan to relocate the population will come to nothing.

Huang Taiji was waiting for the artillery to be transported.There are more than a dozen types of artillery in Houjin, some of which were acquired and improved by the Ming army, and some were imitated by the Liao army.These cannons were drawn by Mongolian horses in Houjin.One cannon is used for eight war horses, and if these eight war horses are tired, eight more horses will be exchanged.Anyway, after regaining the Mongolian tribes, Houjin did not lack horses.The ammunition needed for the artillery was also transported by horses.In fact, the dozen or so cannons that Huang Taiji and Tai Bao had finally produced, although their ammunition stocks are currently very limited.But if used well, it can often work wonders.

Standing on the wall, Qu Jiazhen, the commander-in-chief of Datong, saw the Houjin army pouring out from the outside of the pass, and scattered like a few long dragons to harvest villages. He could only pray for the good luck of the people.

(End of this chapter)