Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

“Boom boom boom!”

The Ming army’s artillery continued to bombard, and the Dali defenders had even become accustomed to the sound of artillery.

Due to the lack of heavy artillery, Bai Qi had no hope of knocking down the wall. Therefore, even iron bullets were rarely used, and nearby stones were chiseled and polished into stone bullets - first using iron bullets to bombard the defense facilities on the wall, and then using artillery on the mound to bombard the soldiers with stone bullets.

A few days later, the tower of Longwei Pass was riddled with holes and half collapsed due to the breakage of wooden pillars.

The eight-mile-long city wall collapsed in many places and could no longer effectively protect the defenders. Several enemy towers were also taken care of by artillery shells, and some war sheds were shaky and some war sheds had already collapsed.

The frequency of the Ming army's artillery bombardment became lower and lower. Only when they observed that there were enemies walking on the wall, or when the defenders tried to repair the defense facilities, would they concentrate their firepower and fire fiercely.

Normally, at most 20 to 30 shots were fired a day, and they used stone bullets to bombard the battlements that had not collapsed when they had nothing to do.

The Ming army camp on the south bank of Erhai Lake became more and more stable, with newly cut trees transported there every day. The Dali garrison commander understood that it was the frontier camp used by the Ming army to build siege equipment - but the garrison did not dare to attack outside the city, and even did not dare to take a boat to attack at night.

Within the waters two or three miles away from the camp, the Dali warships did not dare to approach at all, and there would be artillery to serve if they came a little closer.

In a blink of an eye, the Ming army had spent ten days outside Longwei Pass.

And Lin Chong had already led his troops to bypass Longshou Pass and was also cutting down trees to build siege equipment.

…

In Dali City, there was a panic.

Of course there were Ming spies here, two of whom even lived in Dong's mansion.

The Dong family was the hereditary Qingping official, that is, the honorary prime minister of Dali Kingdom, and also the religious leader. Without the order of the real prime minister, which soldier would dare to come to the Dong family to search for spies?

They spread rumors whenever they had the chance, saying that someone from the Zhang family had surrendered to the enemy, and someone from the Yang family had surrendered to the enemy. Even the Dong family was not spared, claiming that the Qingping official Dong Mingshou had already betrayed the country and had been a guide during the last mission to the Ming Dynasty.

For a time, nearly half of the important civil and military officials in Dali were rumored to be colluding with foreign enemies.

"Haven't they been caught yet?" Gao Yuchengsheng asked.

A general knelt on the ground: "Reporting to the Prime Minister, those spies must have many places to stay in the city, and even live in the residences of some officials. After the court posted the reward, many people came to report spies. Although most of them were caught by mistake, the two people yesterday must be real spies. When I led the troops to arrest them, I saw them running into the alley, and they disappeared in a blink of an eye. There are several official residences nearby, and I... I dare not search."

Gao Yuchengsheng held more than a dozen rumor leaflets in his hand, one of which even claimed that the deputy general of Longweiguan, Gao Zhushou, had surrendered to the enemy.

The news couldn't be more false.

But Gao Yuchengsheng was a little worried. What should he do if Gao Zhushou really surrendered to the enemy?

Gao Zhushou's territory was in Moutongfu, which was very close to the capital area of ​​Dali. If Lin Chong, who led the army to the north, could not break through Longshou Pass, he would most likely divide his troops to the north to attack Moutongfu.

Moutongfu was short of troops, and Gao Zhushou's relatives and property were all there.

Once the Ming army took over Moutongfu, would Gao Zhushou still be loyal to defend the pass? I'm afraid that there would be no need for the Ming army to persuade him to surrender. After Gao Zhushou got the news, he would take the initiative to contact the Ming army outside the city.

Now, a false rumor is likely to become true.

Moreover, two spies who posted leaflets mysteriously disappeared in the area where the powerful gathered. It is 100% certain that an important official in the court has surrendered to the enemy.

But who is the person who surrendered to the enemy?

It seems that anyone is possible. All the major surnames have a grudge against the Gao family, and even the hatred within the Gao family is deepening.

Gao Yuchengsheng felt more and more depressed the more he thought about it. He felt that all the civil and military officials in the court were traitors. Even Gao Guanyinlong, who helped him seize the position of prime minister and was currently responsible for guarding Longshou Pass, might surrender the pass to the Ming army at any time.

Gao Yuchengsheng had already regretted it. He shouldn't have jumped out to be the prime minister. Wouldn't it be better to directly offer land to the Ming Dynasty and become a vassal?

But now he was riding a tiger and couldn't even surrender easily.

His move to seize power had offended Gao Liangcheng to death. And Gao Liangcheng surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. How could he allow Gao Yuchengsheng to surrender to the Ming Dynasty and continue to survive?

Also, what if Gao Guanyinlong didn't surrender when he ordered to surrender? Would he suddenly lead his troops to kill him?

It was a complete mess, and Gao Yuchengsheng's brain was about to explode.

...

On the fourteenth day, the Ming army fired routinely.

The defenders were used to this, and only a few soldiers were left to lie behind the remaining battlements to observe.

The rest of the soldiers on duty all hid at the base of the wall inside the pass, and even the generals were nearby.

Even if the generals came to inspect, the soldiers were still staggering, all showing a state of resignation.

A few days ago, the generals would scold them loudly, kill chickens to scare monkeys, and catch a few to beat with sticks. Now they are too lazy to care about it, because beating with sticks is useless, but it will make the soldiers more angry.

"Alas, it's better to defend the mountain stronghold. If you defend it on the mountain, you won't be hit by artillery."

"The people on the mountain are all short-lived. I heard that if you want to capture Longwei Pass, you must first capture Dian Cang Mountain. We are only hit by artillery, and the defenders on the mountain may be stabbed at any time!"

"Do you think we can defend this place?"

"What do you think? The two prime ministers before, one was defeated by the Ming army, and the other simply surrendered to the Ming army. What is this prime minister now? Alas, I can live one more day, maybe I can escape quickly and save my life."

"You can't run away now, if you catch the deserter, you will be beheaded."

"I'm not stupid? I have already thought about it. If the mountains are captured by the Ming army, they will attack Guancheng next. Then there will be a chance to escape!"

"How to escape?"

"Think about it, if the mountain is captured, the enemy will attack from the mountain and outside the pass together. When they attack the city, they will shout 'Our army is defeated' and call for more people to flee together. As long as there are many soldiers fleeing, supervise the battle team Where can I take care of it?"

"..."

Under the walls inside the pass, groups of three or three were whispering to each other, and some were even exchanging escape experiences.

Farther away, on the west coast of Erhai Lake a few miles away, many Dali warships were docked on the shore. They were supposed to keep sending out warships to put pressure on the Ming army on the south coast, but after being sunk by artillery, the sailors were now starting to mess up.

The idea of ​​​​the naval officers is simpler. Anyway, they can escape by boat, and the chance of escape is very high.

Once the war goes badly, just take a boat and flee.

No one believed that the battle could still be won, especially after seeing the power of artillery.

Gao Yuchengguang patrolled everywhere, the anger in his chest getting stronger and stronger. He cursed at the mountain stronghold on the south side of Tiansheng Pass: "Why are there sentries leaving their posts without permission in broad daylight?"

The guard general of the cottage explained: "The general has asked. It's not that he left his post without permission. He just went to urinate nearby."

"Cut that sentry down!"

"yes."

"And your stronghold is extremely poorly guarded. Why don't you leave enough troops to guard the cliff behind? What will happen if the Ming army climbs up from the cliff?"

"It's enough to leave a team of soldiers to guard the cliff."

"Send fifty more people!"

"yes."

Gao Yuchengguang admonished him and left the village angrily.

He knew that the morale of the army had been weakened, especially the daily shelling. Although few soldiers were killed, the morale of the Dali army was declining day by day.

Not to mention ordinary soldiers, even many generals began to show off, just waiting to escape or surrender at a critical moment.

Except for the shelling during the day, nothing happened.

Just like that, at night, the tide of Erhai Lake gradually receded.

The Ming army suddenly began to attack the mountain!

There was a loud sound of artillery at the foot of the mountain, countless torches were lit, and the sound of drums, horns, and shouts of killing were loud.

Gao Yuchengguang personally ran back to the mountain stronghold to take charge and command the Dali soldiers on the mountain to defend.

Gao Zhushou stayed in Guancheng to prepare for the Ming army's night attack on the city, and transferred soldiers to the walls to set up defenses.

The soldiers on the wall had just lit the torches when a barrage of stone bullets hit them. They were so frightened that they put out all the braziers and torches.

There was a lively fighting on the mountain side, but in fact it was all a feint, only thunder but no rain.

The real offense is in the water.

The defenders thought that the Ming army's camp on the south bank of Erhai Lake was specially used to build siege equipment. Big mistake, the main thing is to build a raft!

Under the dim moonlight, rafts were pushed into the Erhai Lake.

Groups of Ming army officers and soldiers rowed rafts towards the embankment on the west bank of Erhai Lake.

Everyone's attention was on the Cangshan side, because the fight was so lively.

Moreover, based on past experience, the Dali soldiers subconsciously believed that the Ming army must attack the mountain stronghold first. When the mountain stronghold was actually attacked, this thinking was further strengthened. In addition, Guanqiang was also bombarded, and no one paid any attention to the situation in Erhai Lake.

In order to act more realistically, Bai Qi even ordered artillery to be fired at the Erhaihai military camp.

The distance was too far to hit the enemy ships, but the Erhai navy was so scared that it did not dare to come out.

Zhang Misheng is fifty-six years old and is a farmer in Fengyu County, Dali.

At this age, his hair is already gray.

His eldest son was killed fighting the barbarians a few years ago.

His second son was sent off to fight by Gao Zhenshou, and his life or death was uncertain.

Gao Yuochengsheng sent people to recruit troops again. He asked his youngest son to escape quickly, but he was captured to defend Longweiguan.

Because he was too old, he was not sent to guard the mountain stronghold, nor was he sent to guard Guancheng. Instead, he was arranged to guard the dam on the west bank of Erhai Lake.

In order to prevent the Ming army from sneaking a sneak attack by boat, temporary fortifications were also built here.

Hearing the sound of cannons in the distance, Zhang Misheng leaned on the embankment and sighed: "I'm afraid we can't defend the stronghold."

"It has nothing to do with us," said a gray-haired veteran next to him. "When the soldiers in Guancheng fled, we fled together here, and we escaped faster than them. Don't run to Dali then, head into Diancang Mountain. Stay here and come out after the battle is over."

Zhang Misheng muttered: "Escape into the mountains and starve to death?"

The veteran said: "Once Longwei Pass is broken, Dali City will be gone in the blink of an eye. We don't have to hide in the mountains for long. In total, I have fought for more than 20 years. I didn't expect that I would be taken to the battlefield at such a young age." ”

Not far away, there was a relatively young soldier standing on the fortifications, unbuttoning his belt and releasing water into the Erhai Lake.

The Dali soldier shook his head and was about to fasten his belt when he suddenly noticed shadows on the water in front of him.

He thought he was seeing things, so he quickly closed his eyes and opened them again.

After watching intently for more than ten seconds, the Dali soldier suddenly shouted: "Enemy attack, enemy attack!"

The roaring sound of cannons covered up the sound of paddling, and it was only then that the Ming army was discovered on a raft.

The Ming army, which had been approaching secretly, found that they had been exposed and immediately fired towards the shore.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

A series of gunfire rang out.

Zhang Misheng subconsciously turned around and looked up. A bullet passed by his ear, and even his cheeks felt hot.

"Run away quickly, the Ming army is coming to kill you!"

The veteran next to him had rich experience in escaping and knew that he should lead the team to collapse at this time, otherwise he would easily be caught and dealt with according to military law if he escaped first.

Zhang Misheng, who was in his fifties, was as agile as a young man at this moment.

He threw away the tattered spear in his hand, jumped down from the embankment, and shouted: "The Ming army is coming, run for your lives!"

One by one, the Dali soldiers followed this shouting, and then ran for their lives.

They were originally arranged to defend here, and they had no intention of fighting desperately from the beginning!

Chen Tang, the pseudo-Chu surrendered general who was responsible for leading the sneak attack, had been fighting in Dongting Lake for many years and was very proficient in water battles.

Chen Tang thought there would be a fierce battle tonight, but after firing at the shore, the enemy troops there actually fled directly, and even the generals and officers fled with the defeated soldiers.

"Rush to the shore, light torches to send signals to friendly forces!" Chen Tang was overjoyed.

In less than a moment, countless torches were lit on the west bank of Erhai Lake, and guns were fired into the air to create momentum.

Bai Qi immediately commanded a frontal attack on Guancheng.

Gao Zhushou, the deputy general of the Longwei Pass garrison, was somewhat confused and hurriedly sent people to the rear to check the situation. However, the guards who had been thinking about escaping for a long time found that the Ming army was coming towards them and that the enemy had made a surprise attack from behind, so they immediately shouted for their lives and began to flee in large numbers.

"Those who flee in battle will die!"

Gao Zhushou shouted at the top of his lungs, but no one listened to him except his personal soldiers.

Gao Yuchengguang, who was still guarding the mountain stronghold, was even more puzzled. The Ming army at the foot of the mountain made a big scene, but there was no substantial attack.

Suddenly, a soldier ran from the foot of the mountain in fear: "The pass is gone! The pass is gone!"

Gao Yuchengguang's eyes went dark when he heard this and he almost fell on the spot.