I'm in the Red Mansion

Liangcheng has been completely besieged by the Qing army.

At this time, Tu Hai did not know that Jizhou City had fallen.

After Jia Cong led his army into Jizhou City, the first thing he did was to block the four city gates and not let any suspicious person leave the city.

But the two previous disastrous defeats had already made Tu Hai extremely angry.

If he cannot wash away this shame, cannot capture a large number of Daxia cities, and cannot achieve greater results.

Then he will be nailed to the pillar of shame, and his position in the Zhenghuang Banner will be lost.

Tu Hai spent two days to build a large number of siege equipment.

Today he besieged three cities including Liangcheng.

He must capture these three cities in the shortest possible time!

In Liangzhou City, Niu Jizong sat in the central military tent, and pieces of news were passed in.

Instructions were issued one by one.

Niu Jizong was good at defending the city.

At this time, Liangcheng and other three cities had many soldiers and generals, and the city defense equipment was also sufficient.

Therefore, Niu Jizong was fully confident that he could defend Liangcheng and other three cities.

At this moment, Niu Jizong's personal soldiers came in and reported: "General, there are General Jia's personal soldiers outside who want to see you."

Hearing this, Niu Jizong's face changed and he said hurriedly: "Call the man in, I want to question him personally."

"Yes, General!"

In addition to defending the city, Niu Jizong was naturally most concerned about the whereabouts of Jia Cong and his 13,000 cavalrymen.

Jia Cong led these 13,000 people to capture Jizhou City.

If we can capture Jizhou City, it will be an unprecedented achievement, needless to say!
But if these 13,000 cavalrymen fail and suffer heavy casualties, then Niu Jizong will definitely be implicated.

Therefore, after hearing the news about Jia Cong, how could Niu Jizong not be excited?
Soon, Jia Cong's personal soldiers were invited in.

Niu Jizong hurriedly asked, "Where is General Jia's army now?"

Jia Cong's personal soldiers replied: "General, my general has captured Jizhou City."

"My general has sent ten of us as his personal soldiers to tell us to pass the message to him! And to report the message to the court!"

Hearing this, Niu Jizong stood up suddenly.

He asked in disbelief: "What did you say? Your general has already captured Jizhou City? Are you serious?"

Jia Cong's confidant hurriedly said, "General, I dare not lie. My general has already captured Jizhou City!"

Niu Jizong hurriedly asked, "How many casualties have you suffered? Can you defend Jizhou City?"

"General, we have suffered 400 to 500 casualties. My general will definitely be able to defend Jizhou City!"

"Good! Good! Good! This general was right about this man!"

"Your general has made an unprecedented contribution this time!"

"This time, I will ask for credit for him and ask the court to send reinforcements to defend Jizhou City!"

Recovering Jizhou is a great achievement!
This is extremely important for Daxia!

Jizhou is one of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

Since the fall of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, the imperial court has been thinking about recovering them all the time.

However, Daxia's national power was declining, and although it had great ambitions, it did not have enough strength to truly recover.

However, now, this little guy Jia Cong has actually recovered Jizhou, one of the Sixteen States of Yanyun.

The location of Jizhou is really important.

I won’t talk about the terrain.

The most important thing is that as long as Jizhou is defended, the connection between the Qing Dynasty and the other fifteen states of the Sixteen States of Yanyun will be cut off.

This was crucial for them to later recover the other fifteen states.

Thinking of this, Niu Jizong couldn't help but feel his blood boiling.

He ordered his men to take Jia Cong's confidants down to rest. Next, Niu Jizong wrote thirty good news reports and ordered thirty confidants to break out quietly under the cover of night and report them to the court as quickly as possible.

Although the Qing army had surrounded Liangcheng.

But their military strength is limited after all, and it is impossible to have no blind spots.

Taking advantage of the cover of night, a scout wants to break through their encirclement area, and the success rate is actually very high.

Besieged cities usually seek help in this way.

Niu Jizong sent thirty people to report the news, and they will definitely be able to deliver the message.

Because of this incident, Niu Jizong's thinking also changed.

Originally, Niu Jizong was prepared to defend himself with all his might, and the water he put in was impenetrable, so Tu Hai gave up.

At this time, Niu Jizong was ready to reveal his flaws first and try to delay Tu Hai's army here.

If he delays for one more day, Jia Cong will have one more day to prepare.

The imperial court could also send reinforcements one day earlier.

However, when Tu Hai led the army to capture the city, he did not do so blindly.

Although it is almost impossible to use an army of 200,000 to attack three cities with 150,000 defenders.

But what about using an army of 150,000 to besiege a city with only 50,000 defenders?
Are you very confident that you can overcome it?

The military forces of the three cities of Daxia were almost evenly divided.

The number of defenders in each city is around 50,000.

Tu Hai set his target of attack on Liangcheng.

A total of 150,000 troops were mobilized here.

The remaining 50,000 - actually more than 40,000 cavalry - were on guard against the other two cities and were ready to come to the rescue.

Soon, Tu Hai arrived at the battlefield and personally commanded his troops to attack the city.

Tu Hai was eager to capture Liangcheng. After a little trial, he deployed a large number of troops and launched a frenzied attack.

Under their fierce attack, Liangcheng was crumbling and seemed to be about to be broken at any time.

Tu Hai couldn't help but burst into laughter when he saw this.

"It is said that General Niu of Daxia is good at defending the city. In my opinion, he is just so-so!"

"It's hard to live up to the reputation. We will capture Liangcheng within three days!"

"At that time, this general will allow you to not put down your swords for three days!"

Upon hearing this, all the generals under Tu Hai became excited.

"It's not that General Niu of Great Xia is incompetent, it's just that the general is too powerful, so that General Niu of Great Xia can only defend himself and has no power to fight back!"

"Who said it wasn't? In front of the general, is he worthy of being called a good defender?"

"Haha, the general is so brave, I wonder if he can beat the shit out of that Daxia general!"

The generals and generals around Tu Hai praised him, and the air was filled with joy.

Little did they know that the situation was like this because Niu Jizong deliberately acted like this.

The purpose was to make Tu Hai feel that there was an opportunity and the city could be breached at any time, so that he would devote more energy to attacking the city.

And Niu Jizong could take the opportunity to consume the Qing Dynasty's military strength.

……

In Jizhou City, Jia Cong's personal soldiers spread the news.

The army hired civilian workers, who were not only provided with three meals a day, but also received a salary of twenty dafen a day.

After hearing the news, the people of the entire city were in an uproar.

They really didn't expect that the civilian laborers hired by the army would be paid such high salaries!
You know, in the past twenty years, the Qing Dynasty has forcibly conscripted civilians to perform labor every year.

Not only do you have to work for free, but you are not even provided with meals and have to bring your own food from home.

And if they don't do well, they will be beaten and scolded.

Every time there was forced labor, many people were either beaten to death or worked to death.

In fact, not to mention the Qing Dynasty, even the Xia Dynasty was almost the same.

It's just not as harsh as the Qing Dynasty, where so many people died at one time.

But now this General Jia is recruiting laborers, and not only provides them with three meals a day, but also pays them twenty cents a day?

You know, even if they work in Jizhou City, they can't find a job with such good pay!
Therefore, after hearing the news, the people of the entire Liangzhou city were in an uproar.

They were not afraid that the government would deceive them, as they believed that General Jia would never deceive them.

It only took Jia Cong one day yesterday to gain the trust of the people.

Soon, countless people signed up to participate.

Even some women, elderly people and teenagers came to join in the fun.

Of course, these people were naturally rejected.

Even so, almost all the young and strong people in the entire Jizhou city came to sign up.

After Jia Cong had arranged everything, he went back to have a good rest.

On the second day, Jia Cong's personal guards, along with these civilians and of course soldiers, began to deploy defenses outside the city wall and inside the moat.

And the construction site is not just outside the city.

Outside the city is just one of the means and not the main battlefield.

The main battlefield is naturally still on the city wall.

Jia Cong began to organize manpower and transport a large amount of supplies for defending the city to the city wall.

The city of Jizhou had been peaceful for a long time, so there were almost no supplies for defending the city on the city walls.

Now, it is necessary to transport as much supplies as possible to the city wall as quickly as possible.

Most of these tasks were done by civilians.

As for the more than 13,000 soldiers, Jia Cong let them take turns to rest.

The Manchus could surround and kill them at any time, so Jia Cong had to ensure that they had sufficient physical strength.

For those laborers, the work was very hard.

But General Jia did not deceive them and really provided them with three meals a day.

There is plenty of white steamed buns for every meal, and everyone can get a big bowl of steaming hot pot dishes, and there is a big, greasy piece of fat meat in the dishes.

This is a delicacy that they may not be able to eat even during the Chinese New Year!

This made many laborers feel that just for this piece of meat, it was worth their work!

They had never imagined that they could eat so deliciously for three meals a day!
When the work was over, each person received twenty big coins.

This made the civilians feel grateful and thankful.

With this money, the whole family can survive and even save some.

Now, they only hope that the general can defend the city and stay here forever.

They believed that as long as the general was there, they would have a good life.

……

Outside Liangcheng, Tu Hai was besieging the city and was bloodthirsty.

But Liangcheng was always on the verge of collapse, and they seemed to be about to break into the city, but they always fell short.

This made Tu Hai very angry.

After three days of hard work, they were unable to break into the city.

The Qing Dynasty lost another 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers and horses. Although the troops used in the siege were all auxiliary forces, not their Eight Banners Army.

But this loss really made Tu Hai feel distressed.

At this moment, Tu Hai couldn't help but become suspicious and felt that this was most likely a trick of Niu Jizon.

But what benefits will Niu Jizong get from doing this?
During these three days, although they suffered heavy losses, Niu Jizong's side also suffered considerable casualties.

There were at least one or two thousand casualties.

Just when Tu Hai was puzzled, a soldier suddenly ran in and shouted, "General, it's bad, it's bad! Jizhou City has been lost!"

Upon hearing this news, Tu Hai suddenly stood up and asked sternly, "What did you say? Say it again to me?"

"General, Jizhou City has been lost! Three days ago, Daxia secretly sent out 30,000 soldiers and horses to attack Jizhou City at night. Now, Jizhou City has been captured by Daxia!"

boom!
This news, like a thunderclap, resounded in Tu Hai's ears.

For a moment, Tu Hai felt dizzy, his vision went dark, and he almost fell to the ground.

Jizhou City was actually captured by Daxia!
Daxia, how dare they?

At this time, Tu Hai finally understood why Niu Jizong did this.

It turns out that the purpose is to delay them and consume them to the maximum extent!

The fall of Jizhou was truly too serious a matter.

If he fails to recapture Jizhou City in time, then he, Tu Hai, will not only be nailed to the pillar of shame.

Not only will his life be in danger, but even his family will be implicated by him.

Because Jizhou is equally important to the Qing Dynasty!

Jizhou must not fall into the hands of Daxia.

Otherwise, the remaining fifteen of the Sixteen States of Yanyun could be taken back by Daxia at any time!
Now, Tu Hai was completely panicked!
Tu Hai quickly gave orders and prepared to withdraw overnight!
In recent times, they have suffered several defeats in succession, and this siege also cost them four to five thousand casualties.

Since the war began, the Qing side has lost as many as 15,000 to 16,000 soldiers.

Even so, they still have as many as 180,000 soldiers and horses.

With 180,000 people attacking a city defended by only 30,000 people, it would take only a few days to recapture Jizhou City.

In fact, there were only more than 10,000 soldiers in Jizhou City.

Tu Hai was just deceived by the information he received.

The false information Tu Hai received was because the person who delivered the message misjudged the number of Xia’s troops.

Because they found it hard to believe that the Xia army easily captured the Jizhou city with 5,000 defenders with only 10,000 men.

However, this misjudgment has no effect on Jia Cong.

After receiving the order to retreat overnight, the soldiers under Tu Hai did not dare to delay and the entire army was ready to go.

At this time, inside Liangcheng, Niu Jizong was keeping a close eye on the every move of the Qing army.

Seeing that their entire army began to dismantle their tents, we knew that Tu Hai must have learned the news of the fall of Jizhou City, and they had already prepared to evacuate overnight.

And how could Niu Jizong let them withdraw so easily?
Next, Niu Jizong led 40,000 troops and attacked from the east gate of the city.

At the same time, Niu Jizong also lit a smoke signal, sending a signal to the other two cities to attack.

In this era without mobile phones, telephones, and telegraphs, long-distance communication is usually carried out using smoke signals.

Different colors of smoke signals represent different meanings.

The other two cities, after seeing the smoke signal, did not dare to delay either. They gathered 40,000 soldiers and marched out to attack, leaving only 10,000 troops in the city.

This time, the Qing Dynasty was caught off guard.

Especially the Qing army in the other two cities.

They didn't have many troops to begin with, and in order to evacuate as quickly as possible, they lost their guard.

They were caught off guard by the sudden attack by Xia's army and suffered heavy losses for a while.

Even the Qing army in Liangcheng was caught off guard by Niu Jizong for a moment.

It even made Tu Hai angry.

In a rage, Tu Hai led his army to surround them, ready to devour these tens of thousands of Da Xia troops first, and then retreat at any time.

Unexpectedly, Niu Jizong took advantage and ran away without any desire to fight.

And he did not return to the city, but retreated directly outward.

As it was getting dark, Tu Hai did not dare to lead the cavalry in pursuit and had to withdraw unwillingly.

However, Niu Jizong then launched a harassment tactic.

Taking advantage of the cover of night, they attacked the Qing army everywhere.

Once the Qing Dynasty gathered its army to pursue him, Niu Jizong led his troops to flee.

It was dark at that time, and Tu Hai could do nothing about it.

The constant harassment made Tu Hai's idea of ​​evacuating overnight come to nothing, and Tu Hai was so angry that his teeth itched.

After finally making it to dawn, Tu Hai was determined to first defeat the tens of thousands of troops led by Niu Jizong, and then go back to retake Jizhou City.

However, it was not until this time that Tu Hai discovered that the Xia army had assembled a total of 120,000 troops outside the city.

And they relied on Liangcheng behind them to set up their battle formation, preparing for a decisive battle with the Qing army.

It is said that if the Eight Banners have less than 10,000 men, they are invincible.

But this is based on field battles and the super mobility of the Qing cavalry.

And like now, Xia Jun relied on the moat behind him to set up the iron bucket formation.

In fact, the mobility of cavalry is greatly reduced.

If a real fight breaks out, although they will definitely win, it will be a pyrrhic victory at best.

For Daxia, even if all these 120,000 soldiers were killed, it would be worth it as long as they could kill around 100,000 of their soldiers.

Because the troops they had left were probably not enough to recapture Jizhou City.

By the time they gathered their forces again, reinforcements from Daxia had arrived.

I’m afraid it will be even more difficult to recapture Jizhou City later.

Therefore, after some thought, Tu Hai actually resisted the urge to attack Xia's army.

Instead, he directly ordered the army to march out.

However, because he had 120,000 Xia troops behind him, Tu Hai did not dare to reveal any flaws.

He ordered tens of thousands of cavalry to cover the rear while the infantry retreated slowly.

And Niu Jizong did not dare to continue chasing.

Daxia's troops are basically infantry, and the number of cavalry is too small.

If they continued to chase, they would easily be kite-killed by the Qing cavalry.

Finally, after all the Qing troops withdrew.

Niu Jizong led another 50,000 soldiers and followed quietly.

We must provide support to him.

Otherwise, Jia Cong's 13,000 soldiers and horses would not be able to hold on.

……

Over in Jizhou City, a vigorous city defense campaign was in full swing.

Jia Cong believed in Niu Jizong, so he sent ten of his personal soldiers to tell Niu Jizong the news that he had captured Jizhou City as soon as possible.

He believed that Niu Jizong would be able to provide support in time.

However, he had to withstand the first wave of attacks from the Qing Dynasty and hold out until Niu Jizong arrived.

This time, the Qing Dynasty's counterattack had an army of more than 100,000. It was not easy to withstand their attack.

The first line of defense prepared by Jia Cong was actually in the moat.

The moat outside Jizhou City is very wide, more than a hundred meters long.

When the Qing army arrives, they will destroy the moat.

So if the Qing army wanted to cross the moat, they could only use boats.

They can't just fill the moat with dirt, can they?
The first line of defense set up by Jia Cong was on the other side of the moat.

After four whole days, the first line of defense was almost complete.

Although it is a bit simple due to time constraints.

But at least it's useful.

A day later, the Qing army arrived as expected.

There were over ten thousand people, boundless and numerous, while the Qing army had more than one hundred and eighty thousand.

These troops gathered outside Jizhou City, forming a dark mass with no end in sight.

This put tremendous pressure on the soldiers and civilians in the city.

At this time, all the suspension bridges on the Jizhou moat were destroyed.

In order to cross the moat, the Qing Dynasty had to send soldiers to cut down trees and make simple rafts to cross the river.

At this time, Jia Cong personally led 10,000 soldiers to snipe the Qing army preparing to cross the river outside the city.

The defenses they set up under the city wall included sandbags piled up to nearly a person's height.

These are to guard against attacks from the enemy with bows and arrows.

Catapults and stones of various sizes were also prepared.

The Qing Dynasty spent most of the day and made nearly a thousand rafts.

They started to board the raft and cross the river.

At this time, Daxia quickly pulled out the catapult, put stones on it, and started using the catapult to throw stones at the raft.

These catapults were completed under the command of Jia Cong and were extremely accurate.

In addition, in the past few days, Jia Cong also specially trained the soldiers in shooting.

This group of trained soldiers is not so accurate that they can hit whatever they point at, but their accuracy is quite amazing.

The raft in the water is almost like a sitting duck.

boom! boom! boom!
Pieces of stone drew graceful parabolas in the air and hit the rafts one by one.

These rafts suddenly capsized, and Qing soldiers fell into the water one after another. After struggling for a few times, they disappeared.

These Qing soldiers were carrying weapons, bows and arrows, and wearing armor.

The equipment alone probably weighs twenty to thirty kilograms.

What's more, almost all of these Qing troops are landlubbers and cannot swim.

Well, actually, the Xia army is almost all landlubbers in this regard, but they don’t need to know how to swim since they are on the shore.

Therefore, each of these soldiers who fell into the water died a miserable death.

It’s not like there weren’t rafts that made it through the first round of stone attacks.

However, even if you pass, there is still a second round, a third round, and bow and arrow shooting.

Under Jia Cong's training, the soldiers' archery skills improved by leaps and bounds.

Excellent accuracy.

Therefore, on the Qing side, of the first batch of more than a thousand rafts launched, not a single one was able to reach the other side of the moat, and instead thousands of soldiers lost their lives.

This loss made Tu Hai so angry that he almost vomited blood.

Now, the loss of his soldiers has reached nearly 20,000! (End of this chapter)