This news hit everyone's hearts like a bolt from the blue.
Li Zicheng's expression immediately changed, and he shouted to Niu Jinxing: "What the hell is going on? Prime Minister Niu, haven't you been in charge of the defense outside the city? Why did Pang Gang suddenly come to Beijing, and we actually
Didn't you notice at all?"
"This this........."
Beads of sweat oozed from Niu Jinxing's head. Since he assumed the position of prime minister, he has been extremely greedy for power and has monopolized a large part of the power in the army. For example, external investigation is one of his responsibilities.
, today I actually let the enemy troops touch the city walls, and I realized that this was a very serious dereliction of duty. Even beheading would not be an exaggeration for such a serious dereliction of duty.
At this time, Li Yan stood up and said to Li Zicheng: "King Chuang, now is not the time to hold Prime Minister Niu accountable. The most important thing for us at the moment is to defend the capital. We must not let the Zhou army enter the city!"
Looking at Niu Jinxing who was speechless, Li Zicheng snorted coldly and ignored it. He turned to the generals behind him and said: "Master Li is right. Now Chuan Gu has ordered that the nine gates be closed immediately.
All the soldiers immediately go to the city wall to defend against the enemy. What we have to do is not to cause chaos!"
"yes!"
The cavalryman was about to take the order, but another knight rushed over and shouted loudly from a distance: "King Chuang, generals, it's bad, the Zhou army has already arrived outside the city gate and is attacking fiercely.
The suspension bridge outside the city gate and south gate has been lowered by him, and the enemy is storming the city gate. General Li Guo is struggling to resist, and he is about to be unable to stop them!"
"If you can't stop it, you have to take it, otherwise I will take his head off!"
After listening to the knight's words, the furious Li Zicheng made a rare outburst. He waved his riding whip and yelled at the generals: "What are you doing around Gu? Stop attacking the city immediately. You all lead your troops outside immediately."
Go, everyone go up the city wall. Be sure to defend the outer city!"
"yes!"
All the generals were at a loss by this sudden situation. It was not until they heard Li Zicheng's roar that they dispersed as if they were awakening from a dream.
After driving away the generals, Li Zicheng said to Niu Jinxing, Li Yan, Song Xiance and others: "You all follow Gu Dao to the south gate. Gu Dao wants to see if Pang Gang's troops have become stronger after not seeing him for two years."
Got it!"
"yes!"
When the soldiers of the Dashun Army retreated like a tide, all the defenders on the inner city wall, including Chongzhen, could not believe that all this was true.
Chongzhen, who had been moving the stones for a long time, leaned against the crenellation in exhaustion. At this time, he felt his heart was so happy that it seemed to jump out of his chest. He was panting like an old cow that had been plowing the land all day and asked the man who was already lying at the crenel.
Wang Chengen said: "Dad...Dad companion, have those...those bandits really retreated?"
Wang Chengen smiled, with big tears streaming down his face: "Your Majesty, Pang Pang is here, the bandits have retreated, we are saved!"
"Okay, okay!"
After listening to Wang Chengen's words, Chongzhen could no longer support his tired body and did not care about the emperor's face at all. He sat down on the ground and could no longer speak, with a silly smile on his face.
At this time, several figures ran out from the city gate tower. The figures were large and small, running desperately towards Chongzhen. The leaders were none other than Empress Zhou and others who almost drank the poisoned wine. They
Regardless of their appearance, they stumbled over. Soon, Queen Zhou and others threw themselves into Chongzhen's arms and cried: "Your Majesty, Pang Pang is here. We are saved. We are saved!"
Chongzhen weakly hugged his wife and children in his arms, took a long breath and murmured softly: "Yes, Pang Gang is here, we are saved, and we don't have to worry anymore. I will never be so tired again."
......."
After Li Zicheng captured Beijing, more than 100,000 soldiers entered the city. There were still nearly 40,000 Dashun troops stationed outside Beijing, stationed outside the south city. When Pang Gang's frontline troops arrived just now, the first
They were the first ones to fight against the Great Zhou Army, and they were the ones who blocked the Great Zhou Army from entering the city. However, although the current Dashun Army has undergone more than a year of training, their quality is much better than when they were rogue bandits.
But faced with the sudden attack, like most of the army, they were in chaos!
The 5,000 Da Zhou cavalry in the vanguard used mini rifles in their hands to continuously bombard the defenders staying in the camp from a distance. Some Da Zhou sergeants were constantly hit by bullets, with bloody flowers emerging from their chests and falling to the ground.
At noon today, after the capture of Beijing, everyone was excited. Where is Beijing? It is the capital of the Ming Dynasty. Since Zhu Di made Beijing the capital, Beijing has been a place where the rich and powerful people gather. There is just a random family inside.
They are all richer than the local rich people in Shaanxi. They finally followed King Chuang to capture the city of Beijing. It would be a shame for themselves not to take the opportunity to go in and make a big profit.
In the evening, in the military camps originally stationed at the two gates of the south gate, all the officers with some status or those soldiers with some connections secretly flowed into Beijing. The only ones left were those who had no connections or had just joined the Dashun Army.
For those who are less courageous, although there are still a lot of soldiers in the military camp, when everyone who can make the decision has left, the only thing they can do after being suddenly attacked is to swarm into the city.
As the vanguard, the five thousand cavalry were not in a hurry to attack the city. They took advantage of their speed to continuously drive the Dashun Army outside the city into the city of Beijing. Whenever an officer of the Dashun Army organized troops to attack them,
When they counterattack, they will use the mini rifles in their hands to cause heavy damage to them from a distance, and they specialize in attacking those enemy troops who dare to take the lead.
The dense flow of people blocked the three south gates, and the soldiers on the wall couldn't close them even if they wanted to. Crowding and trampling were inevitable.
"Quick, get on the city wall! Everyone get on the city wall!"
"You idiots, don't come in, hurry up and defend yourself from the enemy outside!"
"Asshole, do you think I'm a fool for letting me die outside?"
When Li Zicheng led the generals to the south city gate, he saw a dense crowd of sergeants crowding at the city gate. Everyone was in a mess. Li Guo was hurriedly directing the soldiers to go up the city wall, but due to the flow of people at the city gate
There were too many screams, curses and cries, which made people's ears buzz. It seemed that they could not close the city gate for a while.
Seeing this scene, Li Zicheng and everyone's expressions immediately changed. What is the biggest function of the city wall? Its function is to resist the enemy's attack, but if the city gate is not closed, then no matter how thick the city wall is, it will be useless.
Now tens of thousands of people are crowding behind and in front of the three city gates. You push me, but you can't get in for a while.
Li Yan became a little anxious when he saw it, and said to Li Zicheng: "King Chuang, we can't let the soldiers crowd at the door, otherwise the Zhou army will take advantage of the situation and rush in, and the city of Beijing will be lost! And we must move faster.
Otherwise, when it gets dark, things will be even more difficult to handle!"
Looking at the crowded crowd in front, Li Zicheng hesitated and said: "Now the soldiers are crowded at the door, and the city gate cannot be closed."
"We have to close it even if we can't. It should only be their forwards coming now. If we wait until their rear team arrives, we won't be able to close it even if we want to!" Li Yan's tone was more decisive than ever.
Hearing Li Yan's tone, Niu Jinxing on the side said with some dissatisfaction: "Master Li, what you said is wrong. Now the city gate is full of our soldiers. We can't close the door even if we want to. Is it possible that we have to close the door?"
Can’t we shoot all the soldiers to death?”
Since he became the prime minister, Niu Jinxing has gradually become more enthusiastic. Although Li Yan was once a good friend with him, as the status of both parties gradually changed, and he was jealous of Li Yan's talents, Niu Jinxing also looked at Li Yan for a day.
Niu Jinxing was unhappy with the situation, but because of the friendship in the past, he never said anything bad to Li Yan on weekdays, but today when he saw Li Yan speaking to King Chuang in such an unprecedented strong tone, Niu Jinxing couldn't help but speak out.
Retorted.
Li Yan glanced at Niu Jinxing in astonishment. Although Niu Jinxing had strong opinions on him in the past, he still secretly reported on him. It was not that he didn't know about it, but the two sides at least remained polite on the surface, and Niu Jinxing did not
He was willing to be said that he, the prime minister, had no measure, so he had never said such words to Li Yan, but the situation was urgent today. He didn't care anymore and directly rejected Li Yan's words.
After listening to Niu Jinxing's words, Li Yan glanced at him in shock, and then retorted: "What does Prime Minister Niu mean by this? Li is also doing this for the sake of our Dashun Army. If thieves from outside the city are allowed to rush in, our hard work
But it was all destroyed in one day.”
Niu Jinxing sneered at Li Yan's worries, "What are you afraid of? If Pang Gang comes in and we happen to catch turtles in the jar, I don't believe our 200,000-strong army can't deal with them!"
"you!"
Li Yan glared at the other party angrily. This Niu Jinxing didn't understand military affairs at all, but he was an expert. If the enemy troops were allowed to rush in so casually, why would a city wall be needed?
Looking at Li Yan who was silent in anger, Niu Jinxing sneered in his heart, bowed and said to Li Zicheng: "King Chuang, those thieves are coming in a hurry. The ones outside the city at this moment are definitely just in front of them, and the number of them can't be counted at most.
Qian, if we are not weak, let’s send a large army out of the city to annihilate this vanguard in one fell swoop. This will also dispel their arrogance and make them dare not act rashly. Wouldn’t it be good?”
"Going out of the city to fight?"
Li Zicheng murmured a few words, with a trace of hesitation on his face, and turned to ask the generals around him: "What do you think?"
Before anyone could answer, Li Zicheng's adopted son Li Shuangxi stood up and clasped his fists and said: "King Chuang, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and give the order. I am willing to lead 2,000 cavalry and 5,000 infantry to wipe out the bandits outside the city!"
"
Li Zicheng thought for a while, and finally nodded slowly. Although according to common sense, it would be an idiot's behavior not to rely on the city wall to resist the enemy, but things are not absolute. At the moment, he has 200,000 troops, occupying a superior force.
Moreover, the capital of the Ming Dynasty had just been captured. If thousands of cavalry were so frightened that the nine gates were closed tightly, it would be embarrassing to say the least!
Thinking of this, Li Zicheng finally nodded and gave an order that would make him regret it for the rest of his life: "Okay, Shuangxi, I will allow you to lead a thousand cavalry and three thousand infantry to attack, and you must annihilate the rebel army outside in one fell swoop.
.”
At this time, Li Zicheng had been dazzled by today's victory. In his opinion, the Ming Dynasty's regime had been destroyed by himself, and he had become the new True Dragon Emperor. The Zhou army outside was naturally a rebel.
That's why he confidently called the army outside as a bandit army.
"Yes, obey!"
Li Shuangxi immediately went to mobilize troops and horses in order to preserve the safety.
Li Yan was shocked and tried to persuade him: "You can't attack the king. The plan for now is to close the city gate as soon as possible and use the city to inflict as much damage on the enemy as possible. That's the right thing to do!"
Faced with Li Yan's admonition, Li Zicheng became angry: "That's enough, Mr. Li. The last time I decided to march to Beijing, you tried your best to stop me, saying you wanted to occupy Henan and Hubei first and then make plans slowly, but now I'm here anyway.
The city of Beijing has also been captured, and the facts prove that Gu is right! Now that Gu wants to have a decisive battle with the bandits outside the city, you still have to stop him. What are your intentions?"
Seeing Li Zicheng losing his temper and Li Yan being scolded so much, everyone was silent, no one dared to speak out. Even Song Xiance and Liu Zongmin, who sympathized with Li Yan, consciously kept their mouths shut.
Seeing that there was nothing he could do, Li Yan sighed secretly and bowed: "Since King Chuang has made up his mind, the students can't say any more. In this case, let's go to the top of the city to watch the battle together!"
"Humph!" Li Zicheng said no more, waved his sleeves, and walked toward the city wall.
"Okay, let's go up to the city wall together!"
Everyone followed Li Zicheng towards the city wall, but they all seemed to be widening the distance between them and Li Yan.
When they came to the city wall, Li Shuangxi had already assembled his team. He used long bows and swords to drive away the defeated soldiers at the city gate.
"Hurry up, everyone get out of the way. Anyone who intercepts the formation will be killed without mercy!"
It took Li Shuangxi and his sergeants nearly two quarters of an hour to open a passage with their swords. Only then did they get outside the city. When they arrived outside the city, the ruthless facts taught Li Shuangxi a lesson.
At this time, the Zhou army outside the city had stopped three hundred steps outside the city and formed a rectangular battle formation. This battle formation was divided into three rows. The first row dismounted, the second row and the third row rode.
On horseback, they formed a cross formation and kept attacking the Dashun soldiers at the city gate with firecrackers. Countless Dashun soldiers fell to the ground like lambs waiting to be slaughtered. Whenever a row of guns rang out, there would be countless
Hundreds of our own soldiers fell in a pool of blood, but the soldiers of the Dashun Army outside the city did not have an officer to command them, and could only run around like headless flies.
Li Shuangxi's eyes were splitting when he saw such a tragic scene, and he shouted loudly: "Brothers, instead of being beaten to death by them here, it is better to fight to the death. Brothers, kill me!"
After saying that, Li Shuangxi brandished his long sword and charged forward with a group of cavalry. Behind him were the infantry who had just come out of the city gate. They were aroused by the tragic death of their companions outside the city. They followed the cavalry in a hive.
Rush forward.
Seeing the enemy troops coming out of the city gate, the Dashun Army guerrillas outside the city did not panic at all. Instead, they sneered: "You bandits, we didn't fight in, but you came out to die instead. This is an evil act of God."
You can forgive yourself for your own misdeeds! When people come, everyone mounts their horses and forms a ladder formation to cover the retreat one by one to consume the enemy's strength!"
As soon as the guerrilla general's order was given, all the cavalrymen in the first row got on their horses. After they got on their horses, they aimed at the cavalry charging towards them and pulled the triggers.
"Bang bang bang..."
In a burst of dull gunfire and white smoke, a large section of the front row of the Dashun Army cavalry that was charging forward immediately fell. Hundreds of cavalry were hit by lead bullets and were immediately trampled to death by their companions who came out from behind.
Meat paste.
After the first row of Zhou Army cavalry finished shooting, a group of docks immediately passed through the gap in the second row of cavalry and ran back hundreds of steps before stopping and starting to reload.
"Bang bang bang..."
Immediately afterwards, the cavalrymen in the second and third rows fired, and the gunfire sounded like a reminder. The cavalrymen who were charging forward fell to the ground in batches. The heavy casualties of the cavalrymen were left in the middle of the team.
Li Shuangxi lost his mind. At this moment, there was no one else in his eyes, but only those Zhou soldiers who were shooting. He slapped the horses and rushed forward desperately. There was only one thought in his mind, that is
Rush over and kill all those despicable people who can only hide in a distance and fire guns!
"Brothers, all rush forward. As long as we rush in front of them, we will win. Kill them!"
Li Shuangxi, who was holding his long sword high, was shouting wildly in the formation. Beside him were cavalrymen who were almost losing their minds. They followed Li Shuangxi, whose head was filled with anger, and rushed forward.
However, the soldiers of the Da Zhou Army on the opposite side were very cunning. They did not fight head-on with the cavalry of the Dashun Army. Instead, they each fired a round of volleys and then rode back.
Li Shuangxi didn't know it was a trick, so he led the remaining cavalry of less than a thousand to chase them. In the eyes of everyone watching the battle on the city wall, they slowly turned into small black spots, while behind them were thousands of running cavalry.
Infantry scattered in all directions.
Seeing this situation, Li Yan's face changed slightly and he said hastily: "No, King Chuang, there must be an ambush in the Zhou army ahead, General Shuangxi is in danger!"
After saying that, Li Yan was about to go to Li Zicheng for advice, but was stopped by Song Xiance, who was already prepared. Song Xiance grabbed Li Yan and whispered hastily: "Master Li, if you don't want to offend King Chuang again,
Just don’t go there and ask for trouble!”
Li Yan was startled, and then he lowered his head in melancholy. Yes, he had just warned Li Zicheng not to let anyone leave the city to pursue him, but Li Zicheng sent him anyway. If he tried again now, Li Zicheng would definitely think that he was laughing at him.
Can he enjoy his own good fruits under such circumstances? (To be continued...)
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