Chapter 45 How dare he attack the city alone?
"General, we can't do it at eighty steps. Those who can shoot an arrow through a willow bar at a hundred steps are called sharpshooters. Those who can shoot the flagpole at eighty steps are all good archers and horsemen in the army. Why don't we push it forward twenty steps, and limit it to sixty steps. Anyway, the Tartar's bows can't reach us beyond fifty steps."

Cao Wenzhao gave new suggestions.

Li Hao thought about it and decided that since they were practicing archery, it would be fine if they were closer, so he led his troops to a distance of sixty steps from the city wall.

The Dashou bow was the standard weapon of the Ming border army. Not only was it in large numbers, but there were also many in reserve in the arsenals of various places. Before the expedition, the Ningqian Dao Office had equipped this fierce army with a dozen or so reserve bows. In addition, some people brought their own bows and arrows, so now everyone had a bow and arrow.

After making preparations, the twenty-four men aimed at the flagpole on the city wall and tried to grab the head of Bayala that General Li had promised them.

"I'll shoot two arrows too. If I hit the target, I'll chop off a few more heads."

Li Hao, who is both a referee and a contestant, also picked up the big bow. Shooting more times can always increase the chance of hitting the target, and the proficiency of the [bow] skill will gradually improve.

At the same time, on the east wall of Jinzhou City.

The more than 40 bannermen stationed on the garrison sat with their backs against the parapet. The few soldiers from outside the city could not attack the city at all. Niulu'ezhen had no intention of going out of the city for a battle. There were only three or five bannermen with better eyesight on the city who were closely watching the movements outside the city.

Tuobo, the leader of the Fourth Niulu of the First Jiala of the Plain Yellow Banner, pointed at the Ming army outside the city and asked his younger brother Alinbao: "Tell me, what is the intention of these idiots under the city?"

Alinbao is 23 years old this year and is a member of the Niulu class of soldiers who wear armored uniforms at home.

The armored bannermen at home are the 100th to 150th able-bodied men in the Niulu. The first 100 bannermen are called the field camp armored men, and are the main combat force of the Eight Banners. The armored men at home are the reserve force of the field camp armored men.

Generally speaking, during regular raids, one would stay at home and wear armor without having to follow the Khan into battle. However, in order to train his younger brother, Topo took him to the front line.

"Ahun, they are shooting arrows at the city wall. They must want to kill us."

After Alinbao leaned over to take a look, he sat back on the ground and honestly told his brother what he was thinking.

Topo was furious and slapped his brother's helmet hard with his hand. "How can there be such a fool as you? No matter how stupid the fools outside the city are, they know that they can't kill us by shooting like this. Think about it, what did I tell you? How many soldiers does a Ming army squad usually have when it marches? How many are there outside the city now?"

After his brother's reminder, A Linbao finally had an idea: "A Hun said that a small group of Ming troops usually has 100 to 200 people. Now there are only 24 or 25 outside the city, which means there are still more than 100 people who haven't appeared. I guess they might want to use some people to lure us out and set an ambush?"

Topo sneered and stroked his beard. He was quite satisfied with his brother's answer.

A Linbao didn't get beaten, so he knew that his brother thought he was right, so he continued to analyze according to this line of thought: "So they pretended to be stupid and shot randomly dozens of steps outside the city, wasting arrows. In this case, we should stay on the top of the city and ignore them. After all, this group of people is just here to lure us into a fight. If we don't move, they and the ambushing Ming soldiers will be unable to do anything."

"Hey, you are still my brother, five times smarter than me." Topo pointed outside the city and asked again, "Then tell me, where did this group of Ming soldiers come from? Who is the leader? What is the purpose of going north?"

The first Jiala of the Plain Yellow Banner was the most capable Jiala among the entire Eight Banners. Most of its men came from Chakunmu in Fushun and were of Jianzhou Jurchen descent.

Therefore, whenever there was a vacancy for the position of Niulu master in the Zhenghuang Banner and the original Niulu master had no adult sons or nephews, the old Khan would often find able-bodied men from the Ezhen family of the first Jiala to fill the vacancy.

Therefore, Topo hoped that his younger brother would become the second Niulu Ezhen in their family.

"I can't guess that. The Ming Dynasty was so huge. How can I guess it?"

Alinbao looked embarrassed and felt that his brother was forcing him.

Topo drew his sword, bent over and stood up, then struck his brother several times with the back of the sword.

"I told you not to listen, I told you not to be attentive. The fight for positions in the flag is as fierce as dogs fighting over meat, but you are so careless that you want me, a hunchback, to earn military merits for you, right?"

Alinbao didn't dare to fight back. He could only curl up at the foot of the wall with his hands on his head, begging for mercy.

After Topo calmed down and put away his sword, he ordered his brother to answer the three questions he had just asked.

"Maybe they are from Qiantun. I guess it's Zhao Lujiao? They are heading north... to seize Jinzhou City."

All Alinbao's knowledge of the Ming Dynasty came from his elder brother. He only knew the names of seven or eight cities north of Shanhaiguan, and of the Ming generals he only knew a few of the generals and deputy generals.

After being beaten up by his brother, he thought that Ningyuan City was out of the question, so he reported the second largest garrison city outside the Great Wall.

Topo sat on the ground again. "Yes, it's Zhao Lujiao's servants. You just saw that most of these Ming soldiers are equipped with three-barreled guns and broadswords. I said before that Ming soldiers and servants use three-barreled guns on horseback and broadswords on foot. Those who can carry these two weapons at the same time must be proficient in both foot and horse combat. The one or two hundred elite soldiers must be led by the former garrison commander Zhao Lujiao. The reason why Zhao Lujiao went north is because he wanted to cut off the Khan's way home and fight him in Jinzhou City."

This Niulu Ezhen thought he had seen through the movements of the Ming army, and was therefore very proud of himself.

He lectured for a long time, then suddenly stopped talking, looked at his brother who was listening attentively, and asked: "What do you think we should do now?"

A Linbao was startled and quickly replied: "Of course, it is to defend Jinzhou City and protect the Khan's way home."

"What's the difference between you and that idiot outside the city? We should go to the Khan to report this important military information." Topo kicked his brother unhappily, "Why are you so dull? There are not many opportunities to show your face in front of the Khan."

At this moment, the flag bearer in charge of keeping watch shouted, "Master, that group of Ming soldiers sent a man to the city to die, and it seems that they want to rush in."

Topo was a little surprised, so he and his brother slowly stood up, leaned out of the parapet, and observed the situation.

This group of Ming soldiers were still randomly firing feather arrows at a distance of fifty or sixty steps, but one big man rode his horse and rushed to the gate of the city.

"He is attacking the city alone."

Alinbao exclaimed, his face full of disbelief.

Topo rolled his eyes in anger, "You didn't learn a thing from what I taught you. How dare he attack the city alone? It must be a clumsy trick to lure a Niulu like me into battle."

Pulling his brother down, he ordered, "Although you are a little stupid, Ah Hun, I have to help you a little. So, you take a dozen people and ride fast. Run for two hours today at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., and run for another day tomorrow. Make sure to find the Khan near Ningyuan City or Juehua Island and tell him that Zhao Lujiao is leading his army north to attack Jinzhou City."

A Linbao felt a little uneasy. "There are only about twenty Ming soldiers outside. We didn't see any other ambushes, and Zhao Lujiao was nowhere to be found. Isn't this a bad idea?"

Topo was in no mood to explain, so he just explained the details clearly: "When you meet the Khan, tell him that I, Ahhun, saw through Zhao Rujiao's trick of sending troops to provoke me and lure me out of the city for a fight. As for the number of Ming soldiers, tell him that there were about fifty provoking outside the city, and at least a hundred ambushing Ming soldiers. These were just their vanguards, and the main force must have been over a thousand."

After dragging his brother down the city, Topo gathered the bannermen and servants who had followed to deliver the message, and asked the bondservants to quickly prepare replacement horses and rations and beans. Then he whipped the group of people away with a few blows.

"Don't forget to praise me in front of the Khan for holding on to Jinzhou City and protecting the route home!"

Looking at his brother's proud back as he walked towards the old Khan, Topo added another sentence.

Alinbao, who was already riding his horse towards the South Gate, turned back to say that he remembered it, but he unexpectedly caught a glimpse of a strange scene.

The Ming soldier who came to the city to provoke actually appeared in the city wielding an axe!

The bannermen were busy in a panic, and Topo turned hurriedly to face his brother, as if he had just realized that the Ming soldiers had broken in.

Although Alinbao felt something was wrong, firstly, his brother had given the order, and secondly, there was a complete Niulu and sixty or seventy baoyi slaves in the city, which was more than enough to deal with a Ming soldier.

Thinking of this, he swung his whip even harder and led the bannermen and bondservants assigned to him by his brother, galloping towards the South Gate.

The younger brother ran at the right time, because his brother Topo soon found out that he seemed to have made a wrong judgment.

The Ming soldier who broke into the city seemed to be attacking the city alone.

"Teams one and two, assemble! Teams three and four will be on the north wing, and teams five and six will protect the south wing."

Although the newcomers were aggressive and killed five or six bannermen and baoyi in just a few dozen breaths, he was not panicked at all. As long as he formed a formation, he would shoot and kill as many Ming soldiers as possible.

"The Tartars of the two yellow flags are really good. I've been killing people so hard, but they can still organize themselves into a battle formation."

After warming up by killing a few Tartars, Li Hao suddenly discovered that there was a genius in the city!
Isn't this a call for him to rush forward and start the fight?

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(End of this chapter)