The rumbling sound of cannons rang outside Beijing, frightening the defenders on the city wall out of their wits.
At this time, the only defenders still at the head of the huge city of Beijing were the young and strong and some old and weak officers and soldiers recruited temporarily. The number was only seven or eight thousand, spread over dozens of miles of city walls. The number was pitifully small.
One person had to guard three crenels, and the few people there were only found for the sake of three large loaves of bread every day. Otherwise, not even one person would be able to climb the city wall.
Therefore, when the Hongyi cannon sounded, the young and strong soldiers who were defending the city for three sesame cakes immediately dropped their weapons and ran down the city wall. Even though a few officers yelled and cursed from behind, they did not look back. Seeing this
In this situation, the Dashun army outside the city took the opportunity to set up ladders and began to attack the city.
Seeing the cannonballs hitting the city wall one after another, as countless Dashun soldiers attacked the city, Li Zicheng was very pleased. He smiled and said to the generals: "Everyone, it seems that this artillery is indeed
It’s very useful. We will need to cast more artillery pieces in the future.”
When the generals heard this, they all turned their attention to Li Yan, who had just arrived with Song Xiance, because these artillery pieces were cast by craftsmen organized by Li Yan, costing no less than 100,000 silver taels and hundreds of craftsmen, and it took more than a year to build them.
More than 30 artillery pieces were cast. However, Li Yan had a calm expression and no hint of pride. He slowly shook his head and said: "The compliments from the generals make the students feel ashamed. Because there are no skilled craftsmen, these we have worked hard to cast."
The artillery is not only inferior to the artillery made by the pseudo-Ming and Manchu Qing Dynasties, but it is also incomparable with the artillery of Shandong. We still have a long way to go."
Liu Zongmin laughed and said: "That's not bad. It should be noted that when we were still rebels, although we captured a lot of Ming army artillery, they were all too heavy to carry, so we had to throw them away. These artillery were all brought to Shaanxi after Li
The young master searched for craftsmen to cast them one by one, otherwise where would we have the artillery to use?"
Liu Zongmin had a very good impression of Li Yan, and he started to praise him when he heard this. However, although Liu Zongmin praised Li Yan, none of the surrounding generals echoed his words, and the scene became a bit strange for a while.
Song Xiance, who was observing silently, saw Liu Zongmin praising Li Yan's achievements profusely, and knew that Liu Zongmin was supporting Li Yan. Recently, Li Zicheng had become somewhat dissatisfied with Li Yan, so much so that all the generals were interested.
Unintentionally avoiding him, Li Yan's subordinates in the Henan Battalion felt this most deeply.
As the name suggests, most of the soldiers in the Henan camp were from Henan. They admired Li Yan, who was also from Henan, and naturally supported him very much. Therefore, although Li Zicheng was a little dissatisfied with Li Yan, he did not dare to attack him immediately.
The Henan Battalion, which was formed by Li Yan personally, was ordered to be banned. However, the supplies allocated to the Henan Battalion each month began to slowly decrease. This also intensified the dissatisfaction of the Henan Battalion against King Chuang.
At this time, Liu Zongmin praised Li Yan, which meant that he wanted to support him. However, Liu Zongmin praised Li Yan. None of the surrounding generals spoke in agreement, and the scene became a little strange for a while.
In the end, Li Zicheng realized the weirdness of the scene and laughed. He said to everyone: "Yes, Jiexuan is right. It is Mr. Li's credit that we have these artillery pieces. You should remember that later
Everyone who enters the Forbidden City in the near future or tomorrow should toast Mr. Li a few more times."
After Li Zicheng said this, everyone praised Li Yan one after another. Seeing such a funny scene, Song Xiance frowned secretly, while Niu Jinxing flashed a hint of jealousy and murderous intent in his eyes.
, but Song Xiance has been traveling in the world for more than 20 years. What he learned is the ability to observe people's emotions. Although Niu Jinxing's murderous intention was well concealed, it still could not escape Song Xiance's eyes.
"We haven't conquered the world yet, but we ourselves are trying to make a fuss. Can the Dashun Army really conquer the world?" At this moment, Song Xiance couldn't help but feel a little worried about the future.
Suddenly, there was an overwhelming cheer from the top of the city. Song Xiance looked around and saw that it was the soldiers of the Dashun Army who had climbed to the top of the city and were driving away the defenders on the top of the city like sheep. Soon.
Quickly, the few defenders at the top of the city were either expelled or killed, while most of the remaining people knelt down and surrendered.
"The city is broken... the city is broken!"
Waves of cheers rang out inside and outside Beijing.
"well........"
Li Zicheng and the generals danced for joy. Unexpectedly, less than an hour had passed before the strong and majestic outer city was captured. Since the outer city was also captured, was it still far from capturing the inner city?
"Everyone!" At this time, Li Zicheng's rich voice rang out, "The outer city has been destroyed. Let everyone enter the city alone. As long as the inner city is captured again, the world will change its surname!" At this time, Li Zicheng was riding on the horse.
The golden armor on his black horse gleamed in the rising sun, and for a moment he was so powerful that everyone was stunned.
"Long live King Chuang!"
I don't know who was the first to shout the slogan, and then all the troops of more than 100,000 people chanted. The overwhelming crowd was worshiping one person, even Liu Zongmin and others were no exception. Li Zicheng was riding on a tall horse,
Like a god.
Looking at the soldiers all around who were bowing to him, Li Zicheng felt a strong momentum pouring into his heart. He waved his hand with great courage and shouted: "Soldiers, all enter the city!"
"King Chuang has an order, enter the city!"
"King Chuang has an order, enter the city!"
Li Zicheng's orders were spread to the ears of the generals layer by layer. Groups of people swarmed toward the nine city gates. Looking at the soldiers and soldiers rolling like a torrent, Li Zicheng laughed and said to the generals: "
Everyone, let’s enter the city too!”
After saying that, Li Zicheng clamped the horse's belly, and the riding whip in his hand danced a loud whip in the air, making a crisp sound, and ran towards the west gate first, followed by dozens of imperial soldiers behind him.
Pro-military soldiers.
When Niu Jinxing saw it, he quickly said to everyone: "Okay everyone, let's go into the city quickly!" After saying that, he followed up without waiting for everyone's answer. When everyone saw it, they had no choice but to gallop after him...
....
"Pumpy, pimpley..."
A series of rapid and low hoofbeats came from the north, and soon dozens of war horses appeared on this land. More than a dozen cavalrymen were riding on these war horses and galloped in this direction. They came to a mountain col.
The speed gradually slowed down, and their figures gradually became clearer.
This is a group of cavalry, all wearing gray-brown leather armor, with various weapons hanging on their waists, including knives, swords, axes and other weapons. Although the weapons are messy, from the outside, these weapons are well polished and well maintained.
Well, there was a dazzling cold light shining in the sun, and behind their backs, they all carried a long firecracker.
A cavalryman who looked about thirty years old raised his hand, and more than a dozen cavalrymen immediately stopped when they saw this. Just as the surrounding cavalrymen looked at the cavalryman in confusion, the leader of the cavalrymen stared closely at the cavalryman in front.
Behind the hillside, he said cautiously: "Brothers, cheer up. Many of our brothers have not returned home in the past few days. They may have been knocked down by others. Therefore, Mr. Li sent us out to investigate the reason. Everyone
Remember, we were all brought out by Mr. Li. Even if we risk our lives, we must complete Mr. Li’s errands and show those who look down upon us that no one from the Henan camp is a coward!"
The leader's appearance had just finished speaking. More than a dozen riders around him all said: "Don't worry, Liao Tou. Our Henan battalion's scouts are the best in the Dashun Army. Mr. Li even has the tap fire equipped just now."
We are all equipped with muskets. If we encounter enemies, we will take care of them immediately."
"I hope so." The leader, known as Liao Tou, shook his head solemnly, "I don't know why, when I get here, I always have an uneasy feeling, as if there are a pair of eyes staring at us.
."
After Liao Tou's words came out, the expressions of the surrounding cavalry began to become solemn. Perhaps to ordinary people, it was just a joke, and only those sentimental women would believe it. But for those of them who often lick blood from the edge of their swords,
As far as Tanshao is concerned, no matter how absurd these intuitions are, it is best to believe in them, because maybe this inexplicable intuition will save your life at some point.
Therefore, as soon as this Liao Tou's words came out, the surrounding cavalry consciously spread out to the surroundings, leaving at least ten steps in front, back, left, and right.
In this way, they slowly moved towards the mountain col. When they turned the corner of the mountain col, the face of the leading scout suddenly turned pale. His whole body was stiff for a while.
Huicai pointed his hand forward, and his arms were shaking because of his owner's panic.
"Wang Tianzhu, what did you see?" The leader surnamed Liao, who was following him five or six steps away, asked in a deep voice, and then he turned his eyes. Just like that, he almost frightened them.
The sight of making a sound appeared before his eyes.
At the bend of the mountain col, there was a large open space, and a large military camp was stationed there. The overwhelming military camp filled their sight, black flags were flying around the military camp, and countless soldiers wearing black helmets and black armor were in the military camp.
They kept patrolling around, and a murderous aura came from the military camp. What shocked them was that the military camp seemed to have no end, and it was everywhere in the mountains and plains.
"That...that's the Great Zhou Army!"
The leader surnamed Liao recognized it as the flag of the Zhou Army at a glance. Even though he boasted of being well-informed and courageous, he was almost frightened out of his wits. After the shock, he turned around and shouted in a low voice: "
Don’t say anything now, go back and report to Mr. Li immediately, the Zhou army is right beside us, please Mr. Li, please report to King Chuang immediately to take precautions, quickly... everyone return!"
After saying that, he immediately turned the horse's head to prepare to return. It must be said that the quality of these scouts was still very high. As soon as he saw the situation in front, he immediately made a decision without saying anything, showing that a scout
Their excellent qualities, if we look at it according to normal conditions, they would disappear outside this mountain col in less than a cup of tea.
But at this time, dozens of cavalry wearing black light armor appeared around for unknown reasons. Their figures slowly appeared about two hundred steps behind these Dashun army scouts. Looking from a distance, they
Fireguns were already raised in their hands, and the black iron pipes were pointed at them.
"No, that's the gunfire of the Zhou army!" Seeing this scene, the leader surnamed Liao, who had heard about the gunfire of the Zhou army, suddenly rang out, "Brothers, all rush over.
, the only way to survive is to rush over!"
That's what he said and what he did. While he was speaking, he also lifted the reins of the horse, and he immediately lay on the horse's back. The whip in his hand hit the horse's butt hard, causing the horse to suffer pain.
The commander hissed, spread his hooves and galloped forward. Behind him were more than a dozen Dashun army scouts and dozens of horses.
"Attention everyone, aim!"
In front of those scouting posts, dozens of Dazhou Army soldiers were sitting on their horses at night, holding their Minnie rifles firmly in their hands.
In the simple aiming circle, they all aimed carefully, because they knew that with the speed at which the Dashun Army's sentinels were speeding, they only had one chance to fire. Then they could only fight hand-to-hand.
A member of the Dashun Army, Ye Bushou, saw from the circle of the mini rifle that the scouts of the Dashun Army were getting closer and closer to him. The scout at the front was obviously an experienced person.
, his whole body was pressed tightly against the horse's back, and the exposed area of his whole body was very small.
"put!"
"Bang bang bang..."
As a sound like fried beans rang out, more than a dozen horses suddenly lowered their front hooves. Unable to hold back the force of their forward movement, their huge bodies rolled several times on the ground, stopping their forward momentum. If
If there was someone on that horse, it was obvious that that person would not survive.
Although dozens of Yebu fired their volleys and formed a barrage, the opponent's cavalry was too fast. In addition, they were experienced and had already lowered their bodies before this, and they were one man with three cavalry, so they were hit.
The chance was too small. After a volley of gunfire, only a few sentries were hit and their horses fell off their horses.
Seeing such a situation, the leader of Ye Bu Shui was not surprised, but shouted again: "Everyone draw their swords and charge!"
Following the leader's order, dozens of Ye Bu Sui drew their sabers one after another and rushed forward on their horses. After half a stick of incense, everything was settled. The scout named Liao from the Dashun Army
The leader lay quietly on the ground, with a saber stuck in his body, his pupils dilated, and he stared blankly at the sky...
There is a place called Lizi Town more than a hundred miles away from Beijing. This Lizi Town has lost its peace in the past. Originally, there were not many people left in Lizi Town after years of war, and it was usually as quiet as a ghost. But today it is
There was a roar of people, and the sound of war horses neighing one after another. From time to time, men and horses wearing black clothes and black armor holding fire guns walked in the town. They were the Zhou army that had arrived a few days ago.
In the largest house in the town, Pang Gang was sitting on a temporarily found table made of rough wood, concentrating on the latest battle report coming from the front. Under Pang Gang's next
Sitting there were Wang Zhi, Ben Shiqian, Cheng Kai and other generals.
"I didn't expect that the Ming Dynasty would be defeated so quickly, and that more than 100,000 troops in the capital would be turned into birds and beasts in one fell swoop. No wonder the world says that the Ming Dynasty's fate is over."
Pang Gang looked at the battle report and shook his head with a sigh. Although he didn't have any good impressions of this imperial court that had long since decayed, he had learned how Li Zicheng entered Beijing from history books, but after seeing it with his own eyes, he was displeased. It's a different mood, and I can't help but sigh.
Seeing that Pang Gang seemed to have some regrets about the fate of the Ming Dynasty, Da Zhuang couldn't help but said: "My lord, why do you feel sorry for the Ming Dynasty? You have forgotten what kind of life we lived in Lingshan Guard. At that time, we didn’t even have enough to eat wild vegetables, and the court at that time didn’t even give a damn and let us fend for ourselves. Why do you care so much about such a court?”
After hearing what Da Zhuang said, Bin Shiqian was a little embarrassed. When Pang Gang came to Lingshanwei, although he was only a hundred households, his living standard was much better than that of Pang Gang and Da Zhuang. Speaking of which, he and that damn ghost Like Qianhu He Zhengnan and Qianhu Zhao Daxian, they all belong to the exploiting class, and poor military households like Da Zhuang Panggang will naturally not be looked down upon by him. But five years later, the former poor people have transformed and have hope. After ascending to the top of the Ninth Five-Year Plan, Dazhuang used to look down on him. People like Wang Zhi who he originally looked down upon have now become Pang Gang's confidants. This incident made him feel very embarrassed. When Dazhuang said this, he I was also a little embarrassed to face Wang Zhidazhuang and the others.
After hearing Da Zhuang's complaints, Pang Gang just smiled and said nothing. He was not feeling pity for the Ming Dynasty, but was just feeling a little emotional. After all, it is not easy to witness the collapse of a dynasty that lasted for nearly three hundred years. thing.
Seeing that Pang Gang seemed to be a little uninterested, Ben Shiqian stood up and said: "Your Majesty, since the spies in the capital have sent news, can we set off? Otherwise, if we wait until those rogue bandits capture the inner city, Our calculations will all come to nothing."
In the past two days, Pang Gang's 100,000-strong army has been stationed in Lizi Town and dozens of miles around it and has been standing still. Not to mention the ordinary soldiers, even Ben Shiqian and other generals were a little impatient. .
Pang Gang couldn't help but laugh after hearing this: "Okay, I know that you are impatient with waiting, so now everyone obeys my orders!"
"Wow!"
All the generals stood up together.
"The whole army has set up camp and march towards Beijing City. We must reach Beijing City tonight!"
"I respectfully obey my lord and general!" (To be continued...)
{PiaoTian Literature www.PiaoTian.com thanks all book friends for their support, your support is our greatest motivation}