20demayo Chapter 1123 The Siege Begins
Chapter 1123 The Siege Begins
Li Che calmed himself down and slowly began to explain his defense plan to his generals.
All the generals listened attentively, and no one dared to underestimate the emperor's decision anymore.
After Li Che finished explaining all the key points, he began to appoint his generals: "Yue Yun, Ying Bu!"
"Here!" Yue Yun and Ying Bu stepped forward simultaneously.
"The west city wall faces the main Tibetan camp directly, so it's under the most pressure and will be handed over to you."
Li Che pointed to the west side of the sketch: "Yue Yun will be in charge of the defense, and Ying Bu will be responsible for the support of the musketeers."
"As you command!" the two men replied sternly.
"Luo Yueniang, Yu Daliang!" Li Che called out the names of two more Shu generals.
"Your subordinates are here!" Luo Yueniang and Yu Daliang perked up and stepped forward with great enthusiasm.
"The eastern city wall is in your hands, the two of you." Li Che's gaze swept over the two generals. "The eastern side is adjacent to the foothills, and the terrain is somewhat complicated. If the Tibetans want to find an opening to launch a sneak attack, they are very likely to choose the eastern side. The two of you must be careful."
"Yes! I will certainly live up to Your Majesty's expectations!" Luo Yueniang's voice was clear and melodious, while Yu Daliang clasped his hands in a deep fist salute.
“Ma Zhong, Dorje Tsering.”
Ma Zhong immediately grinned and replied, "Here!"
At the same time, he subtly nudged Dorje Tsering beside him with his elbow.
Dorje Tsering was slightly taken aback, never expecting his name to be called.
It wasn't until Ma Zhong grabbed his sleeve and dragged him out of the line that he snapped out of his daze and hurriedly followed the others, clasping his hands in a fist and bowing.
Li Che looked at them, his tone still calm: "I'll leave the north city wall to you. Ma Zhong is resourceful, and Dorje Tsering is familiar with Tibetan tactics and habits. The two of you complement each other perfectly."
"The terrain outside the North Gate is relatively open, which is conducive to the enemy's concentration and may become the main direction of attack. All things should be done with stability in mind."
"Your subordinate obeys!" Ma Zhong replied loudly.
Dorje Tsering belatedly realized what was happening, but he also replied, "This humble general obeys!"
Li Che nodded silently. Dorje Tsering's abilities were secondary; he also had several hundred Tibetan guards under his command, which was a force to be reckoned with.
In the past few days, Li Che also had him persuade the prisoners to surrender, and more than a thousand Tibetan soldiers surrendered.
With a major battle imminent, these people are all valuable assets. Even if their strengths vary, they are still useful for filling gaps in the defense.
Using barbarians to control barbarians is an old trick of ours, and we can't abandon it. We still need to win over the Tibetans.
Li Che finally pointed to the south side of the sketch and slowly said, "As for the southern city wall... I will personally guard it."
The atmosphere in the tent froze. Was His Majesty going to personally guard a section of the city wall?
Even though the pressure from the south is the lightest, the significance is completely different when the emperor himself goes into battle.
But considering their own emperor's abilities, no one stood up to object.
Although it is dangerous to personally go into battle, if the city falls, then it is no longer a matter of whether it is dangerous or not.
With the plan finalized, Li Che's tone became urgent, and he began to analyze the situation step by step:
"In the coming days, all departments must seize the time to prioritize the repair of damaged crenellations and the reinforcement of city gates."
"Mobilize all manpower in the city to quickly produce a batch of defensive equipment—crossbows, logs, and stones; the more the better."
"All the houses in the city have been demolished, and the beams and pillars can be used as logs. In addition, we need to speed up the preparation of the 'golden juice' and make sure to have enough kerosene and boiling water."
All the generals nodded. These were all old, familiar tasks related to defending the city, but they were also extremely important.
Li Che turned his gaze to Qiu Bai, who was standing quietly to the side, and asked, "Qiu Bai, what is the stockpile of gunpowder in the army?"
Qiu Bai frowned slightly and stepped forward: "Your Majesty, the weapons we brought this time were not mainly firearms, and we consumed a lot of them during last night's raid on the camp and the ambush."
"The existing gunpowder may not be enough to sustain the use of firearms for city defense for an extended period of time, especially hand grenades and cannonballs, which are almost exhausted."
Upon hearing this, Li Che's expression remained unchanged. After a moment's thought, he spoke:
"I have inspected the city's warehouses. There is still some sulfur left, and charcoal is readily available. The only thing that is lacking is saltpeter."
"Pass down the order: organize people to collect saltpeter from latrines, livestock pens, and old wall bases throughout the city—anywhere saltpeter might be extracted."
"At the same time, we must gather all the craftsmen and work at full speed to produce gunpowder, as much as we can."
"Qiu Bai, you will personally oversee this matter."
"Yes, sir!" Qiu Bai solemnly accepted the order.
Li Che stood up, his black cloak draped over his shoulders.
He looked around at the generals in the tent again and said clearly, "Gentlemen, return to your positions and prepare for battle."
"Tell the soldiers that the Daqing Empire will live on forever."
"I am right here on the city wall, with you all."
Everyone clasped their hands in a fist salute once more, the sound of their armor rubbing together in perfect unison.
The roar burst out of the tent, startling the crows on the eaves:
"I am willing to die for Your Majesty!"
Li Che's lips curled up slightly as he corrected, "It means to live and die together."
The tent was silent for a moment.
Immediately, an even more powerful roar erupted, threatening to rip the tent roof off:
"Long live! Long live! Long live!"
. . . . . .
In the following days, the city of Chuima was like a bustling workshop, with every inch of space being squeezed out.
The city walls are the lifeline of the city, and all resources must be devoted to them.
Except for necessary warehouses and artisan workshops, all the beams, pillars, and purlins of the houses in the city were requisitioned and demolished.
The large logs were simply processed and made into heavy mortars.
The thinner ones were made into spear shafts or arrow shafts, while the irregular ones were made into chevaux-de-frise or used as firewood.
Even the government office where Li Che lived was among those to be demolished, and the emperor, like all the soldiers, moved into the military tent.
No one complained; after all, it was a life-or-death situation, and life was more important than a house.
The captured Tibetans did have complaints, but no one cared.
The prisoners had no right to complain, and Li Che was merciful by not taking their lives.
If it weren't for the ample food supply in the city, Li Che would have planned to massacre all these prisoners, since they were considered a destabilizing factor.
The weather has been getting colder these past few days.
But this was not a bad thing; the frigid weather actually became an aid in the defense of the city.
The soldiers took turns drawing water from the wells inside the city and splashing buckets of it onto the outside of the city walls.
Water splashed on it quickly freezes into ice in the cold wind, layer upon layer.
Gradually, a thick, smooth layer of ice armor covered the mottled walls.
Under the sunlight, the ice armor reflected a cold, sharp light and was extremely slippery to the touch.
Once the Tibetan army chooses to scale the city walls, this layer of ice armor will become a nightmarish obstacle for them.
The artisans accompanying the army kept their forges burning day and night, the clanging sounds never ceasing.
The arrows were made one by one in a rush, so they were certainly not as good as usual, but as long as the arrowheads could pierce flesh, they could be used to kill unarmored Tibetan slave soldiers.
The gunpowder workshop was a crucial location, overseen by Qiu Bai himself.
Because the army lacked high-quality saltpeter, they had to rely on repeatedly boiling and purifying the scraped saltpeter soil.
The gunpowder produced was dull in color, coarse in texture, and far less powerful than the genuine product used by the Qing army.
But at this point, there was no time to worry about anything else. These inferior gunpowder were packed into thick cloth bags, mixed with scrap iron and stones, and made into crude explosive packages.
Anyway, it doesn't need to be used to blow up walls. Just throw it wherever there are a lot of people. Even if it doesn't kill anyone, it will scare a few to death.
The cavalry inside the city were not idle either. Every day, Yue Yun would lead dozens of elite cavalry out of the city to harass the enemy camp.
Taking advantage of the superior range of the Qing army's archers, they patrolled around the perimeter of the Tibetan camp.
Suddenly, a barrage of arrows would rain down, either killing patrols or scattering those gathering water.
The Tibetan army was exhausted from dealing with the situation and could not catch up. Their morale was constantly being eroded by the continuous harassment.
For seven whole days.
Dorje managed to quell the chaos in the Tibetan camp, and a batch of new siege weapons were roughly manufactured.
Two more days than Li Che had predicted, giving them a chance to catch their breath.
On the morning of the eighth day, horns sounded continuously from the direction of the Tibetan camp.
The city was alerted by the sounding of gongs, and Li Che, surrounded by his generals, ascended the south gate tower.
Looking around, the once empty snowfield below the city walls is now covered by a dense array of Tibetan troops.
Swords and spears were like a forest, banners blotted out the sun, and heavy siege engines and towering ladders moved slowly behind the army formation.
A chilling atmosphere swept over us, making it hard to breathe.
Yu Daliang, Dorje Tsering and others had all taken their positions as planned. At this moment, following Li Che were Yue Yun, Luo Yueniang, Ma Zhong and other core generals.
The generals gazed at the endless enemy army below the city, their expressions grave, and each gripped their weapons tightly.
Li Che, however, showed little sign of tension; in fact, a slight smile played at the corners of his lips.
Yue Yun, with her keen eyesight, noticed the Emperor's expression and couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Your Majesty, why are you laughing?"
Upon hearing this, Li Che's smile widened.
He raised his hand and pointed to the Tibetan infantry formation below the city, which was adjusting its ranks, and said with a hint of mockery, "I think Dorje lacks wisdom in his military strategy and is only brave and fierce."
"Look at this formation, so dense, layer upon layer, as if you're afraid our archers and crossbows won't be able to hit it, or our explosives won't be able to hit it accurately?"
"It seems that the fire a few days ago hasn't taught them a lesson. They don't know that gunpowder loves these clustered live targets."
The generals looked in the direction he was pointing and saw that the Tibetan vanguard had formed an extremely crowded formation to bolster their momentum, with almost no space between each person.
Recalling the overwhelming power of gunpowder explosions, they all burst into laughter.
Unbeknownst to them, Li Che's left hand, which was behind his back and concealed by the wide sleeves of his robe, was clenched into a fist, causing a sharp, stinging pain.
He was smiling, but his heart was as heavy as lead.
The city's gunpowder reserves were running low. The Tibetans did lack experience in dealing with firearms, but they had an absolute numerical advantage.
They can make mistakes, and they can suffer injuries and deaths.
However, Chuimacheng could not afford the cost of any breach of its walls.
Wang Sanchun's reinforcements are still nowhere to be found. The border region is vast, and snowstorms are blocking the way. No one can guarantee that the reinforcements will arrive in time.
Every day that follows will be a brutal grinder of flesh and blood, and countless familiar faces will fall forever beneath this icy city wall.
Just as his mind was racing,
Waaaaah—
In the Tibetan army, the mournful bugle call for attack suddenly rose higher.
Below the city, the dark, surging tide began to move forward.
Shields were raised, spears pointed forward like a forest, and the sounds of footsteps, battle cries, and the crunch of wheels rolling over the frozen ground... all merged into a heart-pounding, muffled roar that swept towards Chuima City.
The siege has begun.