Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 280 Seizing the City
In Tonghai City, the Ming army lined up at the foot of the city. Half an hour passed quickly, but there was still no response from the top of the city. As expected, the Ming army stopped trying to persuade them. Soon, the horn of the siege sounded from the Ming army.

Outside Tonghai City, dense crowds of Yi soldiers rushed to the city, and rocks fell from the top of the city like rain. The Tusi soldiers were killed and wounded in an instant.
But the drums in the rear continued to beat, and no one could retreat. The soldiers of the Tusi camp struggled to rush to the top of the city wall amidst the rain of falling rocks and arrows. The soldiers of the two sides fought frantically on the top of the city wall, and the tragic shouts of killing resounded inside and outside the city wall.

The Ming army attacked for half a day, with more than a thousand soldiers killed or wounded, but still failed to enter the city.

On the second day, the Ming army continued to attack the city. The main force of the Ming army remained in formation and did not move. The soldiers of the Tusi camp were driven forward to attack the city again.

After yesterday's brutal fighting, the Tusi soldiers in the Tusi camp had become timid. Yesterday, the Yi soldiers could barely climb the city wall despite the falling rocks and arrows, but today, the Yi soldiers would immediately flee when they saw the falling rocks.

Ma Bao's response to this was also very simple, that is, to kill. Hundreds of supervisors stood behind the soldiers of the chieftain who were attacking the city, and any soldier who turned around and fled was directly killed.
On the second day, the Tusi camp suffered more than a thousand casualties, and nearly two hundred of them died at the hands of the Yunnan Camp Supervisory Team.

On the third day, the Ming army continued as usual, sending the Tusi camp soldiers to attack the city.
Ma Bao and others summoned the chieftains of various tribes to come, in fact, to use them as cannon fodder. If the chieftains did not come, the Ming army's direct soldiers would die.

On this point, whether it was Yang Weizhi and the other three officers of Yunnan Province, or Ma Bao and Li Dingguo and the other three battalions, they all had the same stance.

As for the chieftains' dissatisfaction, Ma Bao didn't care too much. Among the chieftains who were recruited, each chieftain had at most 2,000 men under his command. The chieftains were scattered, so what could they do even if they were dissatisfied?
But at this point, even Mu Tianbo could no longer bear it and went to the camp to persuade
Ma Bao estimated the casualties of the rebels in the city, and finally gave in, agreeing that the Tusi camp would attack the city for another half day before retreating to rest.

The Tusi camp had endured the hardship for half a day and was about to retreat to rest. At this time, the Ming army in the rear camp, which had been standing still for several days, finally moved.

The Tengxiang Army, the Zhongzheng Camp, and the Zhongyi Camp each sent out 800 soldiers and headed towards the city.
The Tengxiang Army was all wearing red cloth armor, while the Zhongzheng Camp and Zhongyi Camp had a small amount of armor mixed with most of the Yi ethnic group's leather armor.

The three armies attacked from different sides. Li Laiheng led 800 Tengxiang soldiers to the north city.

Before they reached the city, the two hundred archers had already stopped, and then a hail of arrows shot towards the top of the city.
There was nothing strange about these archers. The arrows they shot were not very fast, and their accuracy was unknown.

But the terrifying thing is that since these archers arrived at the foot of the city, the rain of arrows fired at the top of the city has not stopped.
Round after round of arrows continued to rain down on the city, as if these archers were completely tireless.

The remaining 500 soldiers formed teams of 50 to rush to the city.
A dozen people in the front held shields to protect the front, while the soldiers in the back bent down and followed the shield bearers, and the soldiers behind them carried the ladders.
The infantry suffered few casualties under the protection of the archers, and they reached the foot of the city and set up the ladders. At this time, the rain of arrows from the archers finally stopped.

A group of Tengxiang soldiers climbed up the ladder. Li Achu, the chief general of the Yi army on the top of the city, had obviously noticed the unusual behavior of the Ming army below the city. As soon as the rain of arrows stopped, Li Achu immediately called his deputy general.
"Gather the troops and prioritize attacking and killing these armored Ming soldiers. Never let them climb to the top of the city walls."

The deputy general took the order and left. Soon, rocks fell from the top of the city and continued to hit the soldiers of the Tengxiang Army below the city.
On the flying ladder, the flag officer Wang Zhong was the first to climb up the city wall holding a sign.

But just when Wang Zhong climbed halfway, there was a dull thud from the ladder, followed by a strong force. Wang Zhong fell off the ladder, and several soldiers behind him also fell off the ladder.
At this time, stones were flying like rain from the top of the city, and shouts and screams of killing were heard everywhere.

Wang Zhong fell from midair, and the flagman behind him immediately raised his hand and rushed towards the city again.
Wang Zhong fell on the corpses. The huge impact made him feel a tightness in his chest, but he just paused for a moment, then turned over, picked up the shield beside him, roared, and climbed up the city again.

However, at this time, the Ming army climbing the north city had become the primary target of the Yi army. Even if the Yi soldiers on the city wall would rather let three or four Tusi soldiers climb the city wall, they would give priority to attacking the Tengxiang army teams climbing the city wall.

On the top of the city wall, rocks and arrows fell, and even hot oil and gold juice were poured on the Tengxiang soldiers below the city.
Wang Zhong continued to climb up the city wall, but was knocked down by falling rocks again and again.
The Tusi soldiers who were accompanying the siege watched Wang Zhong and his men charge up the city fearlessly and for a moment they were stunned.
Wang Zhong's eyes were red, and he supported himself on the ground with his right hand and stood up again. At this time, Wang Zhong's face was covered with blood, and his exposed right hand was bloody and scalded by the hot oil.

But Wang Zhong seemed to be unaware of it, and just stared at the top of the city wall.

"Go away"

Wang Zhong pushed away a stunned Tusi soldier beside the flying ladder, and then climbed up the city again.

Wang Zhong looked at the frightened Tengxiang soldiers beside the ladder and suddenly shouted:
"We are the imperial guards, armed to the teeth, guarding the Forbidden City."

"Your Highness has been kind to me and raised me. How can a mere bandit stop us? Today, I must break the city and kill the bandits for Your Highness. Follow me and charge!"

Wang Zhong roared and climbed up the city again with his shield raised.

The few Tengxiang soldiers below, who were originally frightened, roared and followed Wang Zhong again, rushing towards the city.
On the top of the city wall, Li Achu looked at the red-armored Ming soldiers below the city who seemed to be crazy and had a mortal grudge against the city. Finally, a trace of despair flashed in his eyes. Facing such fierce soldiers and generals, what else could he use to defend the city?
Under Tonghai City, Mu Tianbo, Long Zaitian and other chieftains looked at the Ming army attacking the city, and a chill rose in their hearts.

The Ming troops under the city were knocked down again and again, but they got up again and again and climbed the city again and again, as if they were immortal.

Mu Tianbo stared blankly for a long while before coming to his senses. He couldn't help but sigh softly.
"The imperial army is so elite, no wonder it was able to defeat 20,000 rebels in one fell swoop."

Hearing this, Long Zaitian also said softly

"No wonder Admiral Ma was reluctant to send the Yunnan Camp to fight. Such elite troops should be used to break through the enemy's defenses. It would be a waste if they were used to attack the city right from the start." The chieftains were still dissatisfied when they heard this, but they couldn't help but nod their heads slightly.
The armor and equipment of the Ming army were certainly better than those of the Tusi soldiers, but Tusi such as Mu Yi understood that the real horror of this Ming army was not the armor, but the soldiers under the armor.
The Tusi soldiers under their command had no armor, and would flee directly if they were driven off the city walls. But even if they were given armor, they would still flee directly if they were driven off the city walls.

Mu Yi and other chieftains looked at the nearly 10,000 Ming troops standing still not far away, with a trace of awe on their faces.

Although the Ming army squads were constantly being shot down, the red-armored Ming soldiers on the flying ladders were like a burning line of fire, constantly burning towards the top of the city.
Although Li Achu in the north of the city tried his best to resist the attack of Tengxiang's army, the Yi army on the east and west walls could no longer hold on. As Feng Shuangli and the Ming army of the Helan camp climbed up the walls, the two cities fell.
On the north side of the city, Li Laiheng drew out his long knife. Li Achu froze for a moment, and then fell into a pool of blood.

With the lord of the city being killed, the Yi soldiers in Tonghai City completely collapsed, and the passage for the Ming army to the south to Lin'an City was opened.
The Ming army broke through Tonghai and allowed the Tusi camp to plunder for half a day. The Yunnan camp of the Ming army directly occupied the Tonghai government treasury, and the Tusi camp only got the spoils looted from the city.
In this attack on Tonghai, the Tusi Camp suffered more than 2,500 casualties. It can be said that most of the casualties were borne by the Tusi Camp.
But after seeing the fighting power of the Ming army in Yunnan, none of the chieftains dared to say anything more about the captured items.
The Ming army rested in Tonghai City for five days, then left the wounded soldiers behind and continued to march south.
Starting from Tonghai City, the troops could march directly to Lin'an City, but the Ming army did not march directly to Lin'an. Instead, they marched west through Li'e and south, besieging Shiping Prefecture.

The Ming army arrived at Shiping City, but Ma Bao did not force the Tusi camp to attack the city. Instead, he surrounded Shiping Prefecture on all sides.
There are two cities on each side of Lin'an City. The west is Shiping Prefecture, and the east is Ami Prefecture, where Sha Dingzhou's wife Wan lived.

These two cities are only a hundred miles away from Lin'an, like the two arms of Lin'an, protecting Lin'an firmly in the center.
If the Ming army surrounded Tonghai, Sha Dingzhou would still hesitate whether to send out a large army to rescue, but when the Ming army surrounded Shiping, Sha Dingzhou would definitely send people to rescue.

Once the Ming army broke through Shiping, the Ming army's food supply route to the west would be completely opened, and they could march to besiege Lin'an City without any worries.
Shipingzhou, two camps of the Ming army lined up outside the city, surrounding Shipingzhou tightly

The Ming army surrounded the city walls on all sides, and then dozens of cavalrymen holding a dragon-shaped flag and escorting a general to the city.
When Long Zaitian arrived at the city, he ordered his cavalry to raise the general's flag and shouted:

"Listen, people of Shiping Prefecture. I am Long Zaitian, the governor of Shiping Prefecture. The Sha bandits started a rebellion and wreaked havoc in Yunnan Province. Now the imperial army has entered Yunnan to quell the rebellion. The Sha bandits were defeated in Kunming, and tens of thousands of rebels were wiped out. They fled back to Lin'an in a panic."

"The day of the Sand Bandits' demise is nigh. The people of the city and our Long clan should quickly expel the rebels from the city and assist the imperial court in entering the city to quell the rebellion."

After Long Zaitian finished speaking, he looked at the rebel commander on the top of the city wall and said

"Listen, rebels in the city. I am Long Zaitian, the deputy general of Yunnan Province. The rebels in the three cities of Tonghai were ignorant of the wind and resisted recklessly. Now they have been wiped out by the court. Shiping Prefecture is my hereditary territory. I don't want to see the city being attacked by war."

"I have asked the court for mercy. You rebels can escape to the south of the city. As long as you do not join the rebels, I will forgive you for what happened."

"If you dare to resist, after the city is captured, all the soldiers and generals will be killed. If you hurt one of my people in the city, I will also kill all the rebels in the city."

"I'll give you one day to wait, you guys take care of yourself"

The Long family was the hereditary chieftain of Shiping Prefecture. Long Zaitian had inherited the position during the Tianqi reign. During the Chongzhen reign, he was ordered to enter Huguang and encircle and suppress Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others. Even in Yunnan Province, Long Zaitian was a well-known veteran.
After Yang Weizhi raised the flag to support the Ming Dynasty, the three states of Li, E, Ningzhou, and Shiping also took the lead in rising up to support the Ming Dynasty.
These three states are all within the borders of Lin'an Prefecture, and Shiping Prefecture is less than a hundred miles away from Lin'an Prefecture. This is why Sha Dingzhou hurried back to quell the rebellion.
After Sha Dingzhou led his troops back to Lin'an, he first attacked Shiping. However, under the defense of Long Zaitian, Sha Dingzhou, with tens of thousands of troops, was unable to break through Shiping. In the end, he had to withdraw his troops and attack Li'en Ningzhou first.

After Sha Dingzhou conquered Li'eningzhou, Shiping became an isolated city in Lin'an Prefecture. Seeing that he was alone and unable to support the city, Long Zaitian had no choice but to abandon Shiping and go to Xixi with Xu Mingchen and others to seek refuge with Mu Tianbo.

The court recalled Mu Tianbo this time, and Long Zaitian and others also followed Mu Tianbo back to Kunming.

Long Zaitian has been in charge of Shiping for decades, and the Long family is a powerful family in the city. Their prestige in the city is almost unmatched.
While Long Zaitian was shouting, the Ming army cavalrymen also walked around the city and kept shouting to the people in the city.

The young men who were forcibly conscripted on the city walls began to stir when they saw the dragon-shaped flag outside the city.

The Ming cavalrymen shouted around the city wall for several rounds. After the defenders and civilians of the four cities had heard the content of the shouting, Long Zaitian returned to the battle formation under the protection of the cavalrymen.

Soon after Long Zaitian left, the Ming army in the south of the city dispersed and moved to the east city.
The rebels in the city began to waver when they saw that the road south of the city was actually empty.

After the Ming army shouted, they ignored the response of the rebels in the city and began to set up camp outside the city. Only the few flags with dragon characters still stood under the four city walls.

The night passed in a flash, and at dawn the next day, a burst of shouting and killing suddenly rang out from the north gate of Shiping, and then flames broke out in the city.
When the city was in chaos, the South Gate of Shiping suddenly opened. The defenders of Shiping City rushed out of the South Gate with hundreds of Yi soldiers and fled to the south on their horses.
Not long after the Yi army in the city ran out of the city, hundreds of cavalry suddenly rushed out from both sides of the official road and rushed straight towards the fleeing Yi army.

The commander of the Yi army guarding the city looked at the old general opposite him wearing black iron armor and with gray hair, with a look of shock and anger on his face.

"Long Zaitian, you go back on your word"

"Traitors and traitors are to be killed by everyone. Follow me and kill all these traitors."

These barbarian troops were already utterly discouraged when they set out to flee, and were ambushed by the Ming army. They only held out for a short while before being completely defeated.

In the darkness, a flash of cold light passed by, and the head of the Yi army commander flew up.
Long Zaitian sat upright on his horse, put away the long sword in his hand, and looked at the Yi soldiers around him who were constantly being shouted at and strangled by the Yi soldiers, with a cold expression on his face.
Long Zaitian voluntarily gave up Shiping, and although his family fled with him, they were all saved.
But after Sha Dingzhou captured Shiping, he was angry at Long Zaitian's resistance, so he sent people to clear Shiping and killed many of Long Zaitian's relatives and friends in the city.
At this time, Long Zaitian and Sha Dingzhou also had a deep blood feud. The chieftains in central Yunnan would not let go of their grudges with a smile. Blood for blood was their way of doing things. How could Long Zaitian really let the rebels in the city escape at this time?
Besides, Long Zaitian did not lie. He just agreed to make way for them, but he did not say that he would not send people to hunt them down after they left the city.
Long Zaitian led his men to wipe out the fleeing defenders, and the Ming army, with the help of Long's tribe in the city, successfully entered the city. After capturing Shiping, there was no more obstacle in front of the Ming army.
Shiping Prefecture was under the jurisdiction of Long Zaitian. After the Ming army captured Shiping Prefecture, they did not plunder it. They rested in Shiping Prefecture for three days before breaking camp and marching straight to Lin'an.
(End of this chapter)