Southern Ming Rebel Army

Under the night sky, the city of Suzhou was filled with an atmosphere of mourning and glory. People were proud of having repelled the Qing army's attack, but they were also sad about the families of the hundreds of soldiers who had died in the city.

The defenders on the east side of Suzhou's city wall are reinforcing the city's defenses. The lights on the city wall are brightly on and the soldiers are looking outside the city vigilantly. The Qing army camp outside the city is silent and nothing seems to be unusual.

Meng Jun was lying on the bed thinking about how to break the impasse. Whether the King of Lu's army would come or how Han Xiong's rebel army was communicating, Meng Jun was not sure. So far, he could only rely on his existing strength. Meng Jun tossed and turned in bed and couldn't sleep, so he simply got up and sat at the table, looking at the city defense map of Suzhou. After thinking for a long time, Meng Jun stood in front of the window looking at the moonlight. When rebelling, one must be fearless and have the courage to burn his boats like Xiang Yu, and the courage to fight to the death. If you defend Suzhou to the death, the Qing army can keep sending troops to besiege, and there is no way out. Meng Jun whispered, "Break the pots and sink the boats, the 120 Qin passes will eventually belong to Chu, sleep on firewood and taste gall, and the 3,000 Yue soldiers can swallow Wu."

In the morning, Meng Jun arrived at the East City Wall. The Qing army had already begun to gather. After the unsuccessful siege yesterday, the auxiliary soldiers in the Qing army camp had rebuilt siege equipment, wider and more stable ladders, and battering rams. Dozens of ladders were placed on the top of the city wall outside the range of the artillery. Looking at the dense crowds of Qing troops,

Drums sounded loudly in the Qing army camp, and they launched another large-scale siege on Suzhou City. They rushed towards the city wall like a torrent, and arrows rained down from the wall. The smoke of artillery covered the top of Suzhou City. Rolling logs and thunder stones fell from the wall from time to time. The corpses of the Qing army under the city had piled up like a mountain, and the land soaked in blood had turned brown. The soldiers who climbed up to the top of the city were also killed by Lin Shiqi and a team of volunteer firefighters.

Although the Qing army suffered heavy losses, the rebels on the city wall were not having an easy time either. The militia had suffered heavy casualties and were rotated up battalion by battalion. While the Qing army was mainly attacking the east, soldiers from the other three sides were constantly being drawn over. In just a few hours, no less than two thousand people had been carried off the city wall, most of them with arrows in the face. The Qing army's archers were all veteran soldiers with excellent archery skills, and those who rushed to the top of the city wall were all brave and sturdy soldiers in the Qing army, and it often took several rebels to exchange with them.

Li Chengdong, who was standing under the city, waved his whip in anger and said to the messenger, "Pass the order, we will not stop fighting for three days after we capture Suzhou."

"The Marshal has ordered that we must capture Suzhou and not put down our weapons for three days," several messengers shouted back and forth on horseback.

For a time, the morale of the Qing army was high, and they all shouted "Capture Suzhou, rob money and women." Du Yonghe and Yan Keyi, dressed in iron armor, personally went into battle, leading hundreds of elite soldiers who were all wearing heavy armor. They were tall and strong as bulls, and rushed forward with great momentum.

Seeing this, Meng Jun took a deep breath and hurriedly pulled Meng Bian, "Go and bring the blunt weapon battalion here quickly."

Meng Bian hurriedly said, "The Blunt Weapon Battalion has less than 200 people, but they are all not far from the East City. I will go there right away." After saying that, he hurriedly ran down the tower.

The personal guards led by Du Yonghe came to the climbing point of the city wall under the rain of arrows from the city wall, and climbed the ladders howling. The people on the top of the city wall had already noticed the difference of this Qing army, and kept attacking with stones and arrows, but this Qing army was wearing heavy armor and holding wooden shields, and it was extremely difficult for arrows to hurt them. Only stones could pose a threat when they hit them with all their strength. Lin Shiqi saw that the Qing army was already climbing the city wall quickly, and shouted "Hit them with kerosene". Two volunteers took kerosene cans and smashed the ladders, and torches behind them were quickly thrown down.

"Ah...ah...ah...ah...ah" a series of shrill screams came from under the city. Several Qing soldiers were soaked by kerosene and the flames quickly burned. Such a tragic scene made the surrounding Qing soldiers feel palpitating. Du Yonghe broke out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, he saw the opportunity and quickly jumped down from the ladder. Although his leg was broken, he was still alive, otherwise he would have been burned to death. Du Yonghe limped and was still commanding under the city with the support of his personal guards.

The fierce battle was still going on, and some heavily armored Qing troops had gradually rushed to a point where they could climb the city walls. The 200 Blunt Instrument Battalion led by Meng Bian had just arrived. Needless to say, the rebel soldiers holding various blunt instruments rushed up. In terms of individual soldier quality, the Blunt Instrument Battalion, which had only been established for a few days, was naturally no match for these elite heavily armored Qing troops. However, the number of people climbing the city walls was too small, the support was too slow, and the Blunt Instrument Battalion was besieged by dozens of times its number of people. It was a test of willpower. The dozen or so Qing troops who climbed onto the city walls formed a formation and slowly expanded the occupied circle.

Lin Shiqi and Meng Bian attacked the Qing army climbing the city wall from both sides. The walls were chopped with swords and axes, and blood flowed like a river. Lin Shiqi was covered in blood, and the blade of the sword was stained with blood. The hand holding the sword was a little slippery. At a narrow climbing point, the corpses were piled up as level as the battlements. Even the last Qing soldier who climbed up would rather jump off the ladder when seeing such a scene.

The Qing army used the tactic of adding fuel to the fire, constantly mobilizing fresh troops to join the battlefield. From early morning to afternoon, corpses piled up like mountains on and outside the city. The city of Suzhou looked shaky, but it still stood stubbornly. The flags of the rebels on the city walls were stained with blood, and although they were broken, they still fluttered in the wind.

The Qing army had been fighting hard for so long that it had far exceeded the Green Camp's ability to endure. Their desire to plunder Suzhou had also been completely worn out by the brutal killings on the battlefield. The smell of blood under the city drifted for ten miles without dissipating.

Seeing that the siege was already tiring and the soldiers were exhausted, Li Chengdong had to call off the troops. Li Chengdong's men suffered heavy losses but did not take any land from Suzhou. Seeing the corpses of Qing soldiers on the city wall being stripped of their armor and thrown out of the city like wild dogs, Li Chengdong was speechless and could not come back to his senses for a long time. Looking at the dejected look of the soldiers, Li Chengdong knew that he would not be able to capture Suzhou city with his existing strength. After this tragic siege, more than 3,000 Qing auxiliary troops and more than 1,000 elite soldiers were killed or wounded. Coupled with yesterday's battle, Li Chengdong's Qing army was no longer able to pose a threat to Suzhou.

Meng Jun watched the Qing army slowly retreating from the city, and gradually made up his mind, "Bi'an, send out scouts to descend from the city from the west, find Officer Han, and tell him to meet up in Suzhou tomorrow."

This was just a backup plan for Meng Jun. If Han Xiong hadn't come, he would have had to attack. The Qing army was short of manpower and morale was low. If he missed this opportunity, it would be difficult to find another chance. If he could kill Li Chengdong, it would boost the morale of the people and avenge Jiading.

"Shiqi, I have decided to go out of the city tomorrow for a decisive battle. I will flatten the Qing army camp in one battle. I will use the 2,000 people who have experienced the bloody battle as the backbone, and select 5,000 brave militiamen and 400 cavalrymen. The morale of the Qing army is low, the troops are insufficient, and the camp is full of wounded soldiers. Now is a good opportunity. If we delay any further, one is that the banner soldiers from Nanjing will come to help, and the other is that Li Chengdong will probably withdraw."

"Commander-in-chief, I think Li Chengdong will withdraw tonight," Lin Shiqi said while looking at the Qing army camp.