Zhu Youxiao had escaped, but the 50,000-strong army on the north bank was completely wiped out. When Wei Zhongxian was escaping, he suddenly remembered that he had to rely on the Yangtze River Navy to prevent the enemy from crossing the river, so he urgently ordered the navy to retreat and not carry the army across the river.
The terrain on the north bank of the Yangtze River and the Yangtze River is flat, which is suitable for cavalry to charge and kill. Unfortunately, the 50,000-strong army has become a piece of meat on someone else's chopping block.
The sailors on the warship and the people on the south bank were all stunned by this scene. For a long time, Liu Ziguang fought in the north and south, east and west, killing all the barbarians until they were bloody and surrendered. A legend gradually formed in people's hearts.
The inherent thinking is that the Ming army is invincible, and all barbarians are just chickens and dogs. But today's cruel reality on the north coast has shattered people's dreams. It turns out that the Ming army will be defeated and will be slaughtered like pigs and dogs.
Even if the 50,000-strong army is full of mediocre people, there are always some hot-blooded men in it. Facing the iron hoofs of the Mongols, they rose up to resist and fought to the death with their bayonets and the enemy's firecrackers and sabers. The firecrackers without bullets were far inferior to
Spears are easy to use, but the Ming army is not as organized and powerful as the Red Shirt Army. A small group of a dozen or twenty people is still fighting hard, but it can only delay its demise.
The Mongolian cavalry came and went like the wind. The riders did not need to control the reins at all. They could control the movements of the horses with their legs. They had a blunderbuss in one hand and a saber in the other. They used their speed advantage to slaughter the Ming army condescendingly.
The speed and sharpness of the sword can behead people. The cavalrymen formed small groups of five to six hundred people and clashed with each other. Corpses were everywhere wherever they went. Even the Ming soldiers who were stunned and raised their hands to surrender were also killed.
The knife cut him off, and the blood spurted out of Lao Gao's chest. The body did not fall to the ground. The situation was extremely miserable and terrifying.
Many Ming troops were driven into the water. The Mongols rushed to the river and shot them with muskets. The corpses were all over the river and the river was stained red with blood. The soldiers on the warships could no longer bear it and asked to go to the shore to rescue friendly troops. However,
Wei Zhongxian, who had already approached the south bank, issued a strict order with flags: no one was allowed to approach the north bank, and anyone who violated the rules would be beheaded.
There were some courageous men in the navy who resolutely approached the north bank despite being accused of disobeying orders. They used artillery fire to kill and injure the enemy troops while rescuing the fallen troops. However, the Mongols quickly organized a counterattack and bombarded the warships with captured cannons.
Upon seeing this, Wei Zhongxian issued an order: all naval forces were not allowed to fire cannons on the north bank, and all naval forces docked on the south bank. Anyone who violated the rules would be executed by his entire family.
As a last resort, the navy had no choice but to return to the south bank. Gunpowder smoke curled up on the north bank. The blood-red light of the setting sun shone on the ground. Countless crows were circling in the sky. The cries of the wounded could be heard across the river. The intense bloodshed. The fifty thousand capital
Most of the family members of the battalion officers and soldiers live around the capital. Many women and children came here today to see their husbands and fathers beating up the Tatars. However, they witnessed their relatives being brutally slaughtered. The trauma in their hearts was extremely profound. For a while, the sound of crying lingered in the city of Nanjing.
In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youxiao was sitting crookedly on the dragon chair, with a sickly drunken red on his face. He was really frightened today. When he was on the ship, a stray bullet drilled a hole in the ship's board three inches away from his head.
, he almost died, and the fifty thousand army was destroyed in an instant, which frightened him even more. After returning to the palace, he quickly summoned the ministers to discuss countermeasures.
"Your Majesty, please relax. The walls of Nanjing are high and thick, and all kinds of city defense weapons are complete. There are still 60,000 troops, plus the manpower of two factories and one guard Yingtianfu, we will definitely be able to defend it. The Tatars cannot cross the river without ships.
Let’s take the opportunity to summon all the armies from the south of the Yangtze River to defend the capital, Huguang, Shandong, Henan, and Hebei to rescue King Qin. What can the Tatars do to me?” This is what Hou Xun, the head of the cabinet, is saying. Mr. Hou, a veteran of the two dynasties, has also experienced this.
After several wars, this proposal is quite satisfactory and is indeed a good strategy for resisting the enemy.
But Wei Zhongxian was frightened, and he immediately raised objections: "Master Hou has never seen the power of the Tatars on the north bank today. They have cannons and blunderbuss, and their force is not inferior to our army. Tens of thousands of horses can actually do it without anyone noticing."
They arrived at Nanjing City. God knows they will not cross the river overnight. By then the capital will be in danger, your Majesty will be in danger, and the Ming Dynasty will be in danger. Our family suggests moving the capital to Shanghai immediately and abandoning the capital."
Although Hou Xun was promoted by Wei Zhongxian, he couldn't help but feel that this proposal was unbelievable and extremely stupid. He couldn't help but retorted: "What Eunuch Wei said is true, but giving up the capital easily will bring panic to the people.
Nanjing has a tiger sitting on a dragon's plate, a tall city, and abundant food and grass..."
"That's enough!" He was rudely interrupted by Zhu Youxiao before he finished speaking.
"The 50,000-strong army will be defeated. Even if it's 50,000 pigs, it will take two days to catch them. I'm so disappointed! I can't trust them! Hurry up and send Yuan Chengzhi to King Qin. Before Yuan Chengzhi arrives, I won't
I will stay in the capital and won’t be moved to the capital. I will patrol the south of the Yangtze River first."
It was said that he was patrolling the south of the Yangtze River, but in fact it was almost the same as moving the capital. In the face of a powerful enemy, the emperor did not share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers and civilians, but went to the south of the Yangtze River to take refuge. It can be imagined how big a blow this would have on the morale of the army. Hou Xun still has some conscience.
, immediately knelt down and remonstrated: "Your Majesty, you must not do this. Your military morale will collapse as soon as you leave, and you will not be able to resist the Tatars."
Zhu Youxiao said angrily: "Didn't you just say that the city of Nanjing is tall and well-defended? Why did it turn into paper as soon as I left? That's nonsense. I have made up my mind and will leave tomorrow. Xiao Weizi, you go tonight
They are guarding the city wall for me, I don't trust them."
That night, the Forbidden City was busy. The eunuchs, maids and guards were busy preparing items for travel. Not to mention the emperor's chariot, there were also a large number of tools, drawings, raw materials and semi-finished products. Zhu Youxiao could not forget these wherever he went.
Toys, but except for the necessary accompanying attendants, no other people will take them with them on this trip, let alone the queen in the cold palace. In fact, the queen has no idea what happened, and still stays in the cold palace to miss her violent death.
's brother.
On the city wall, Wei Zhongxian looked gloomily at the bonfires on the other side. The Mongols were celebrating their victory. Bursts of singing and the melodious melody of the morin fiddle came from the Ming army. All the soldiers of the Ming army were angry. No wonder the Tatars were happy. This battle lured the snake out of its hole and put an end to the difficulties.
The offensive battle turned into a battle of encirclement and annihilation, 50,000 combatants were wiped out, and a large number of weapons and armor were seized, which greatly damaged the morale of the Ming army. Thinking about it, it was extremely lucky.
Which tribe of Mongolians were on the other side? How did they cross thousands of miles of rivers and mountains to reach the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty? Wei Zhongxian was puzzled. He was just sincerely frightened. Half of the hundreds of thousands of troops in the Beijing camp were lost on the first day of battle.
, the Gyeonggi troops are the most powerful armed force in the entire Jiangnan. If the soldiers from the garrison stations in Suzhou, Hangzhou and Shanghai are allowed to fight in the future, I am afraid it will be even worse.
Thinking of this, Wei Zhongxian became worried again. If the emperor hid in Suzhou and Hangzhou, and the Mongols broke through the capital and chased them all the way, there would be no troops to resist. It seems that moving the capital is not an option. The strongest army in the Ming Dynasty today should be
Yuan Chengzhi's troops, well, it might be a good idea to move the capital to Beijing.
While I was thinking wildly, my subordinates came to report: "Duke, the man in the navy who did not listen to orders and fired without permission is here and is waiting for the Du Gong to deal with."
Wei Zhongxian took a look and saw dozens of men in navy uniforms kneeling under the city wall. When he saw these people, he became very angry. It was because these people did not respect the orders that they were defeated. He immediately said categorically Waved his hand: "Cut them all."
The generals hurriedly begged for mercy, and Wei Zhongxian thought that now was the time to employ people, so he agreed to the favor. Everyone hurriedly thanked the governor for his kindness, and some people proposed to attack the camp under the cover of night, but Wei Zhongxian flatly refused and gave no orders. It is absolutely not allowed to use a single soldier or fire a bullet or arrow towards the other side. Violators will not be tolerated! From then on, the last bit of bloody spirit left in the Ming army was consumed by Wei Zhongxian.
The officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, who had waited until dawn in fear and had not slept all night, were just about to take a nap when they were suddenly awakened by the horn from the other side. Looking from a distance, they saw countless cavalrymen in black helmets arrayed in an orderly manner with great momentum. The entire north bank was shrouded in a murderous atmosphere. Emperor Tianqi's golden dragon flag was lowered from the flagpole, and was tied to the tail of a Mongolian knight and galloped in front of the army. It was dragged into filth and riddled with holes, and then A huge black flag rose slowly, with a green-faced and fanged wolf head on it!
Wei Zhongxian's hand holding the telescope trembled, it turned out to be Xixia people! How did they get past Yuan Chonghuan's defense line after thousands of miles away? Could it be that Yuan Chonghuan's army of hundreds of thousands had been completely wiped out at this time? This was too terrifying, but then he thought again I think the Mongolians in Junggar are much better than the Mongolians in northern Chahar. Galdan’s march eastward is nothing more than clearing grass in the valley. It would be troublesome if Liu Ziguang’s sworn brother Zhamuhe arrives. If they want money, that guy It's fatal.
Now that he knew he was from Xixia, Wei Zhongxian had some concerns in his mind, and hurried down to the city to discuss with the emperor, suggesting that the extermination should be changed to Fu, and he casually took out millions of taels of silver and hundreds of thousands of bolts of silk and satin cloth, and let them take the money. Get out of here and wait until the capital is safe before mobilizing troops from all provinces to pursue and intercept him.
Zhu Youxiao was very unhappy after hearing this. He was an eternal wise king, how could he do such a thing? Wei Zhongxian quickly cited the examples of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty and other ancestors, saying that we are capable of bending and stretching. Anyway, the Ming Dynasty had a lot of money. A few million taels is not a drop in the bucket, as long as they agree to withdraw their troops, anyway, the money will flow into the Ming Dynasty in exchange for bricks, tea, silk and other consumer goods.
Zhu Youxiao was finally persuaded and agreed to make peace with the Mongols, but the matter was too depressing and he didn't want to get involved, so he left the matter to Wei Zhongxian.
Wei Zhongxian immediately came up with the two best candidates for the envoy, one was the cabinet chief Kui Hou Xun, and the other was the minister of rites Wai Lang Mao Pizhang. Hou Xun had high qualifications, Mao Pizhang was good at eloquence, and the two had a teacher-student relationship. Best combination.
Hou Xun had no choice but to brave the stalemate and had no choice but to cross the river. When the common people and soldiers saw the two of them crossing the river with the emperor's talisman and the white flag to discuss peace, they all cried and sighed. Our great country, the Ming Dynasty, has ended up in such a situation. Tens of thousands of soldiers were killed. The barbarian cavalry fought to sign an alliance under the city. What a humiliation this was.
Looking at the lonely boat with the white flag on the river, every Nanjing citizen with a conscience is missing someone in his heart. If this person is still around, the Ming Dynasty will never be humiliated like this!