After dawn, there was a strong wind outside Lanzhou, and the yellow sand was rolling.The Huaxing army prepared for the siege overnight, and the city of Lanzhou was repaired on a large scale during the Qianlong period, and the east, south, and west sides of the city wall were covered with bricks inside and out, and the north side was built with huge stone strips to prevent the Yellow River from flooding.The water of the Yellow River is diverted as a moat, and the river is ten meters wide.The direction of the main attack was set at the south gate, where the terrain outside the city was steep.Mortars were set up on high ground to hit any target inside or outside the city walls.In the east, west, and north, a regiment was sent to each of the three gates to feint and fortify outside the city, and it was strictly forbidden for the Hui people in the city to escape.After a night of mobilization in the city of Lanzhou, hundreds of thousands of Hui people gathered in the city, and all of them distributed swords, sticks, swords, and sticks to defend on the city wall.The worst thing was the Han people, and all the surviving Han people in the city were also brought to the city wall.Ma Zhankui was worried about the artillery attack of the Huaxing army, so he forced the Han people to stand on both sides of the battlements of the city wall as meat shields, and the Hui people held foreign guns, bows and arrows to defend the battlements.Wailing suddenly spread all over the city wall, and Li Qingshan, the deputy commander in charge of the main attack at the south gate, quickly reported to the military newspaper."
Commander, it's too despicable to return to people" "See" Li Qingshan got off his horse and spit out anxiously.Before he finished speaking, Zhang Xian interrupted him after putting down the binoculars."
These dogs are back to people, once we launch an attack, the people will definitely be implicated."
Li Qingshan couldn't hold back his indignant scolding."
Order the troops to abandon the siege, dig ditches and set up fences outside the city, strictly defend to the death, and call the commanders of the three divisions over for a short meeting."
Zhang Xian gave a faint order, and kept thinking about the countermeasures in his heart."
Yes" Li Qingshan clenched his fists and took the order, and his face finally showed a hint of relaxation.Let him hurt the people of the Han people, this is impossible to do, maybe this is the first belief in his heart after joining the Huaxing Army, which has been deeply rooted.After a while, the imposing Huaxing Army immediately withdrew its troops.Both the Hui and the Han people breathed a sigh of relief on the city wall, but the Han people still had to stand on the battlements to prevent a sudden attack by the Huaxing army.Some Han people were too old, and after standing under the scorching sun for half an hour, they fell down from the city wall with a dizziness.The Han people behind him immediately let out a cry of fear, and under the persecution of the Hui army, they obediently replenished it.One of the soldiers of the Hui people bravely saw that the Huaxing army did not move, arrogantly showed his head at the battlement, and waved his saber with contempt for the Huaxing army.The Huaxing army on the position outside the city was furious to death, and a wing commander with good marksmanship directly raised his rifle and fired a shot at that person.I don't know if it's because the wing captain's marksmanship is good, or if the person's life is thin that time, from a distance of 400 meters, he actually shot the head.This frightened the Hui people on the city wall, and they immediately retreated backwards, not daring to show their heads out easily.The two deputy commanders and the three division commanders of the left army all gathered together, and each discussed the military situation with solemn faces.There is no suitable way for everyone to discuss and discuss, and this situation has never been encountered before.After Zhang Xian listened to all the opinions, a spark suddenly flashed in his mind."
Everyone, stop arguing, since we want to beat dogs, then we can't use the same way of treating people."
Zhang Xian waved his hand and motioned for everyone to be quiet."
The commander has a way" Li Qingshan asked excitedly, and all the generals had the same expression."
We have now besieged the Hui Legion in Lanzhou City, and since we can't take it, we will rely on outwitting.We'll have to find a way to force the Hui to surrender to us, and then we'll wipe out all the brutes. ”Zhang Xian spit out fiercely, his face cold.This method was also used by Li Hongzhang when he captured Qingpu City in Shanghai, and Gao Yongkuan and other eight kings of the Taiping Army were beheaded by him with this method."
The commander of the army is wise, but how to force the Hui people to surrender" Li Qingshan and the generals praised one after another, and pondered carefully."
Since ancient times, the method of besieging a city is nothing more than cutting off its supplies and letting it collapse without a fight.There must still be a lot of grain and grass in Lanzhou City, but we don't have much left.If it goes on like this, the people will not be chaotic, but our Huaxing army will be chaotic first. ”Wang Dingkun, the right deputy commander, frowned and reminded him, and the people in the room nodded one after another."
Deputy Commander Wang is right, but you have forgotten one thing.Most of the city's water sources today come from the Yellow River, and if we cut off their water supply, hundreds of thousands of people in the city will have a problem with their daily river water. ”Zhang Xian also nodded in agreement, but still looked elsewhere.Yesterday, he also asked Daddy Liu specifically for advice on the topography of Lanzhou City, and went to the water source outside the city to take a turn, but he didn't expect to use it here."
Agreed, now that we are in a dry season, the tributaries of the Yellow River flowing through Lanzhou are not large, and we can completely divert them first."
Li Qingshan agreed in advance, and everyone thought about it and felt that this method was feasible."
Well, since everyone agrees, the left division will be responsible for the decision to decide on the water source, and the middle division and the right division will continue to guard it strictly.It is best to force the Hui army in Lanzhou City to surrender before we run out of food and grass. ”Zhang Xian gave the order, and the commander of the third division immediately responded with his fists in response.After the meeting ended, Wang Dingkun, the right deputy army commander, stayed, and asked Zhang Xiandao with some incomprehension, "Commander, is it really worth it for us to work so hard, and there are only thousands of Han people on the city wall, shouldn't we fight a quick battle and continue the westward expedition, sometimes the interests of a few people are exchanged for the interests of the majority, and it is also worth it" "Dingkun, have you forgotten the military regulations of the Huaxing Army, what is the purpose of our westward expedition, that is, to let the Han people never be killed again."
If we don't save us when we see death, then what's the point of our westward expedition Don't say it's thousands, even if there is only one Han person, Huaxing Army will also be saved" Zhang Xian scolded a little angrily."
Commander, needless to say, my subordinates all understand."
Wang Dingkun hurriedly clenched his fists and said yes, his face flushed."
Okay, go down and prepare, I also know that you are for the good of the left army, but no matter what other armies look like, my Zhang Xian's team, then the people must be put first."
Zhang Xian breathed a sigh of relief, calmed down and waved his hand at Wang Dingkun.Wang Dingkun nodded, clenched his fists and said goodbye, and silently withdrew from the tent.Soon Ma Zhanao put it down, not far from the river into the city.A force of tens of thousands of soldiers and horses was wielding shovels vigorously, and there was not a burst of explosions.Before dark, the river into the city was completely cut and rushed straight into the surrounding wasteland."
Big brother, what can I do, the Han army seems to have cut off our water source, they want to trap us alive" The second brother Ma Zhankui took a closer look at the binoculars for a while, and shouted in surprise."
These Han soldiers are really vicious, and they actually use such a despicable method."
The third brother Ma Zhanyong scolded angrily, naturally knowing in his heart the importance of water sources to Lanzhou City.The well in the city is simply not enough for so many people to use together, and if you continue to do so, you will definitely be trapped alive inside."
Don't talk about it, it's about to get dark, continue to let the Han people take turns on the city wall as meat shields, and strictly prevent the Han army from attacking the city at night.If we wait a little longer, the Han army will not have much food and grass, and they will definitely negotiate with us. ”Ma Zhanao coldly commanded, constantly struggling to surrender in his heart, but he had no trust in this Han army.The two sides fought each other for three days, and there was no movement for three days.The food and grass of the Huaxing army is also about to run out, and the soldiers have begun to restrict food.The situation in the city of Lanzhou is even worse, the only dozen or so wells in the city are occupied by the Hui army, the people of the Hui people began to stir up constantly, and there were riots in some places, and the people fought desperately with the soldiers, just to drink a sip of water.At this time, it was their willpower that was compared, but the situation of the return army was obviously much worse.Just when Ma Zhanao was feeling hopeless, early in the morning of the fourth day, a letter was shot into the city tower with a bow and arrow.The above is written by Zhang Xian himself, asking for negotiations with Ma Zhanao to peacefully resolve the current predicament.Ma Zhanao was overjoyed, and finally waited for Huaxingjun's peace.Then you are in an active position and can ask for greater benefits.The second brother Ma Zhankui volunteered to serve as a negotiator, and took a few generals out of the city to make peace with the Huaxing army.After the soldiers of the Huaxing Army took him to the military tent, the commanders of each division had already sat in the tent, and they all stood up and applauded to welcome him.This is an atmosphere of peace talks deliberately created by Zhang Xian, and Ma Zhankui is really useful.After sitting down excitedly, he began to talk to Zhang Xian about the conditions."
Master Jun, I don't know which army you belong to the imperial court" Ma Zhankui looked at Huaxingjun's colorful clothes, he had never seen it before."
We are a subordinate of Rong Lu, the governor of Shanxi, and the governor has also made peace with your Hui leader, Ma Hualong, and the two sides will not invade each other.However, because Bai Yanhu's Hui army was killing in northern Shaanxi, our governor sent troops to exterminate Bai Yanhu in anger. ”Zhang Xian panicked, he knew the details of the Hui army clearly, but the Hui army didn't know anything about this army."
So that's the case, sure enough, it's all Bai Yanhu's dog that is to blame, my eldest brother gave him some supplies a few days ago, it turns out that he caused such a big thing.In this way, there is no grudge between the two of us" Ma Zhankui analyzed it before and after, and completely believed what Zhang Xian said, because there was no other reason besides that.The imperial court clearly agreed to make peace with the Hui people, and it was impossible to easily start a war.In his impression, it seemed that except for the imperial court, there was no team with such terrifying power."
That's true, that day, I also chased and suppressed Bai Yanhu and killed Red Eyes, mistakenly thinking that you were also Bai Yanhu's team, so I moved in vain.Now that it has been explained, the two of us should make peace as soon as possible.Your Excellency the Governor is really employing people, as long as you are willing to join our team, then it will be easy to get promoted and make a fortune. ”Zhang Xian talked calmly and threw a huge pie for the return army."
Then it's decided, my eldest brother has long admired the prestige of the Governor, and to be able to serve the Governor, our brother is also fortunate to have three lives."
Ma Zhankui happily agreed, and slapped on the negotiation table with excitement
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