The sound of rain seemed to have become much louder in the dark night. At this time, many people fell asleep and snoring everywhere. Everyone was exhausted these days. They had also done this kind of work that could walk a hundred miles a day during training, but in fact, after a few days, everyone was facing the embarrassment of overdrawing. This one-hour rest must be given no matter what. Even Sun Yao considered giving two hours of rest when he ordered. Later, he thought about this deep fatigue, and even ten hours could not recover. There were already many troops under Xinping Castle. Once the Fort Gate was conquered, he would not be able to die!

This is not the time to be polite to the soldiers, and the rest of one hour is not to feel sorry for the miners, but to complete the remaining dozens of miles, and to form an attack formation before dawn, it will take some effort to do so.

Sun Yao was afraid that the miners would be too exhausted by then, so he gave them a chance to rest.

Many people didn't have a rest, but rushed to the car and followed the brigade's convoy.

There are not many vehicles, nor many mules and horses, but at least it is a supply convoy, with some ammunition and a temporary military medical team following the brigade and doing support work at any time.

There are no special baggage and engineers, but fortunately there is no time to need these two troops along the way.

Now the logistics convoy is a group of civilians and even many people from nearby farms to make torches.

The cut wooden sticks are wrapped with ignition, enough to burn for several hours, and then soak them in oil, so that they will not go out even in the rain.

Unless it is raining, there is no problem with the torch burning in the light rain at the moment.

There are plenty of manpower, and a large number of torches are constantly being carried to the places where each unit is located, so naturally there will be people to accept them.

Sun Yao stood not far away with his hands behind his back, everyone was working hard, and even some official school students working as staff were working fanatically.

This is an army that maintains high morale without encouragement. In addition to insufficient tactical training, it has sufficient physical fitness, high morale and excellent weapons.

If Sun Yao was a general of the Ming army, he would be very happy to be so happy to lead him with such a 20,000 troops.

For Sun Yao himself, he had nothing to do with it. Zhang Han brought him the main force in the rescue of Xinpingbao. This is the most trust and reliance. It is unlikely that this matter will be operated by generals who cannot trust. Sun Yao is already moved enough by this point alone.

Everyone was busy, and even in less than an hour, many people got up. The soldiers began to gait their leggings again. They did not dare to sleep for an hour because they were afraid that they would delay their preparations.

The students of the school were wearing oil clothes and quietly waited in front of their subordinates. Once the time on the pocket watch reached the specified time, they would whistle and wake up all their subordinates. When others were resting, these students of the school walked around to patrol and helped with some chores. They rarely rested, and many even gave up their war horses and stayed in the mule and horse team, and they also carried their backpacks and marched with the soldiers.

Their subordinates are not professional soldiers, they are not adapted to many commanders and do not understand military terms. They are only very physically strong and have relatively tough personalities. The average age of miners is around thirty. Some of them are in their forties, and some are in their thirty years old are the mainstream, and many are in their twenties. The youngest among the official school students and miners are about the same age. Fortunately, they already have the experience of leading teams and marches, and there are not much difficulty for commanders.

Finally, the time came. Everyone woke up from their sleep with the sharp copper whistle. Many people felt like they had a nap. They felt dizzy and uncomfortable. Due to the cold rain, many people woke up quickly after waking up. The sequelae was that someone kept sneezing.

Many officers asked them to gait their legs quickly. At the same time, they helped their subordinates cover oily clothes and large-brimmed hats to avoid being attacked by the rain.

Fortunately, this is already close to Xinpingbao. If you encounter such bad weather as soon as you set off, you may have delayed your trip for more than one day no matter how brave you are.

Sun Yao wiped the rain on his face. The weather was getting colder and colder. After August, the summer was completely gone. Now even the feeling of autumn is very weak. Winter will come soon, especially in places like Datong. It may snowfall within half a month. The temperature suddenly drops and snow is covered in the ground. Thinking that a fast march like this is now, it is like a foolish dream.

The miners did not delay time. After half an hour of rest, they actually felt more tired. Many people had a headache, but no one complained, and no one delayed it. Everyone was as anxious as sparks. In less than a quarter of an hour, there were rustling sounds everywhere. After a short pause, the entire army of more than 20,000 people turned forward like a long snake.

There were torches everywhere, and thousands of torches were made in a short time. Everyone took turns to beat them. The ground was shining brightly. If you look far away, it really looked like a fire dragon flying and hovering in the rain.

There was a faint barking of dogs. Someone might be watching this temporarily formed army in the dark. Everyone was walking constantly, with firm eyes, quick and calm steps. Only everyone was hiding anxiety and a little worried in the depths of their eyes. Although it was one and a half days earlier than the Jordan period, no one could guarantee that Xinpingbao was still safe at this time.

After midnight, the rain became lighter, and everyone accelerated their pace. When they arrived more than twenty miles south of Xinpingbao, they encountered a tributary of the Baiyang River.

This river also went south along the road left, and the main canal built in Lizhuang and the river water that drives the machines are all tributaries of the Baiyang River.

Sun Yao had already prepared, and this was the only obstacle. Fortunately, the army had not known how many times they had trained here, and was quite familiar with the terrain. He knew how many shallow waters there could be swim, and the deepest part was just at the waist.

Everyone raised the firearms and other military items that were to be waterproofed, and slowly crossed the river in the gentle river. Once this river passed, a little more than an hour before, Xinpingbao was in front of him.

At this time, a group of whistle-riding cavalry came back, and no one had just crossed the river and stopped in the crowd. Sun Yao had a military flag representing himself and the command center. The whistle-riding cavalry ran directly towards the military flag.

The students of the official school knew that the latest military information was sent here, so they looked around, hoping to get some hints, but no one paid attention to them and ran directly to the direction of the central army.

Not long after, the Central Army issued a military order, and began to control noise and lights. Only the guides continued to lead the team forward with a small number of torches. Everyone's torches were extinguished on the spot and then discarded them.

The miners threw away the torches in their hands, and the torches were flying in the air, reflecting the rain curtain like thin silk threads. People knew that there might be enemies not far ahead, and the battle was right in front of them. After throwing away the torches, many miners subconsciously touched the various weapons they carried.

Muskets, sword cards, spears, and weapons were wet by the rain, and the weather was cold. Many people felt that the weapons in their hands were as cold as ice when touched.

The torches were extinguished in sequence, and the world was dark, and only a few remaining torches emitted a faint luster. The officers and whistlemen led the miners to continue moving forward. Everyone was instructed to make no sounds. Only a large number of people could not avoid rustling when walking. However, under the cover of the sound of rain and wind, this sound was not as loud as imagined. At least, it could be heard within a little distance, and even further away, the sound of wind and rain could only be heard.

When it was dawn, the wind and rain gradually stopped. The soldiers saw a red color in the distance and knew that it would be a sunny day. So they put away their oil clothes with confidence and cleaned up the weapons in their hands. The most important thing was the musket. Sun Yao ordered the rest on the spot. Everyone put down their backpacks and kept them together in the team and squadron companies. Everyone was ready to go into battle lightly.

The miners received the latest news. Yesterday afternoon, the officers and soldiers attacked Xinpingbao with more than 10,000 troops and tried to fight against the Fort, but the siege on three sides was siege and hundreds of ladders were set up. The defenders of Xinpingbao were killed and injured very much. The artillery and muskets were constantly stopped. The soldiers guarding the fort were extremely brave. At the most dangerous time, dozens of officers and soldiers jumped onto the top of the fort wall at the same time. As a result, they were attacked by the official school student and the military intelligence department, and the officers and soldiers suffered heavy losses.

The city was approached by the city, and the resistance was very fierce. In fact, not many officers and soldiers died. First of all, there were insufficient personnel in the city, and there were not many firearms. The heavy artillery was only one four-pound cannon, which was terrifying and put a lot of psychological pressure on the officers and soldiers, but the real lethality was seriously insufficient and unsatisfactory.

The officers and soldiers were not determined to enter the city, and there were no sharp tools such as pounding wood, rolling stones, or boiling oil to defend the city. The main reason was that the matter was hasty and was not prepared in time.

The battle between the two sides was mainly about the defenders on the city to prevent climbing the city. There was also a four-pound cannon placed near Ying'en Gate and a large number of gunmen holding muskets.

What the officers and soldiers thought was to break open the city gate and rush in, so that the castle would change hands in the shortest time.

Hutchison must prevent this from happening. There are some small commandos holding hot and cold hands on the city wall, and they will rush to wherever there is danger. Although the guards, mainly Hutchison, have only experienced military training, have great courage, high morale, and are very determined to fight, which also puts considerable pressure on the officers and soldiers.

Near Ying'en Gate, muskets kept ringing repeatedly, giving officers and soldiers considerable injuries. When it was dark in the evening, at least two hundred corpses were left at the officers and soldiers at Ying'en Gate, which was the place with the most deaths in the fort city with a circumference of more than three miles.

After the weather turned cold, there were still many flies. Before dark, the officers and soldiers never received orders to drag their comrades back to their battle. The foundations of the castle walls and the city gates were full of corpses, damaged ladders and vehicles, corpses either tilted or lying down, falling weapons, flags, and these things mixed with the corpses. The battlefield was filled with a strong smell of blood, and the seriously injured and dying people were still moaning. Such a situation was simply hell on earth!
Chapter completed!