Although it was uncomfortable to watch his troops die, Li Yan did not dare to risk angering Li Zicheng by admonishing him again. Although Li Yan was a relatively straightforward person, it did not mean that he was a 250-year-old.
He will not do something that he knows cannot be done.
Looking at the missing cavalry and the infantry that had turned into small black dots, Li Yan closed his eyes in pain. He knew clearly that few of these people could come back, and it was more painful for him than this.
What's more, Li Zicheng has been dazzled by the victory in capturing Beijing. He has forgotten that Emperor Chongzhen is still resisting tenaciously on the walls of the inner city, and the sudden appearance of the enemy's army shows that his own army of 200,000 is very difficult.
I might be trapped and die in Beijing.
Li Yan pulled Song Xiance aside and whispered: "Brother Song, the cavalry of the Zhou Army has appeared, which means that the opponent's large army is about to arrive. The most important thing right now is to close the city gate to prevent
The enemy took the opportunity to attack, and it will be too late if we don’t close the city gate quickly!”
Song Xiance smiled bitterly and said: "Master Li, you have seen what happened. King Chuang has been completely angered right now. He believes that he has an army of 200,000 in his hands. If he will take the initiative to retreat from the city, it is useless for us to persuade him!"
"Stupid, so stupid!"
Li Yan's face turned red and he kept cursing in a voice that only he could hear. He didn't know whether he was cursing Li Zicheng's stupidity or Song Xiance's self-protective attitude.
At the foot of the city, after Li Shuangxi led two thousand cavalry and five thousand infantry to attack, the remaining tens of thousands of Dashun troops outside the city slowly calmed down under the command of some low-level officers. Originally, they wanted to go into the city to rest.
But at this time, Li Zicheng on the city wall had been dazzled by the recent victory and the anger just now, and issued an order to let the soldiers outside the city return to the camp and not allow them to enter the city. Around Li Zicheng, dozens of people
No one of the famous generals dared to step forward to dissuade him, for fear of suffering disaster in the fish pond.
Time passed little by little, and half an hour passed. The soldiers outside the city also returned to the camp. But Li Shuangxi and the thousands of soldiers he led had not returned yet. During this period, Li Guo, who was temporarily in charge of the city defense, asked if he wanted to close the city.
He opened the city gate, but was mercilessly scolded by Li Zicheng and sent back.
Li Zicheng's original words at that time were as follows: "Shuangxi is Gu's adopted son. His ability is trustworthy to Gu. How can thousands of thieves and cavalry in the area do anything to him? Li Guo, you should have confidence in him. Close at this time
Doesn’t the city gate make the world laugh at the cowardice of my Dashun army?”
When everyone was getting anxious, a black spot finally appeared in the distance. Slowly, these black spots were getting closer and closer. They were quickly approaching the city gate. Everyone on the city wall secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and someone laughed and said:
"Okay, General Shuangxi is back, and he will definitely return with a great victory!"
Slowly, the figures approaching gradually became clearer, and suddenly someone screamed.
"No, those people are not General Shuangxi, they are enemy troops!"
Soon, the faces of the people on the city wall began to change. They had already seen that the people at the front were not wearing the gray-brown armor of the Dashun Army, but the pure black armor worn by Pang Gang's Great Zhou Army.
.The Zhou army has appeared in front of us, so the fate of Li Shuangxi and the others who just pursued them is obvious.
More and more sergeants in black and black armor came from the south, with cavalry on both wings and infantry in the center. The dense and overwhelming sergeants soon filled the sight of everyone on the city wall.
"It's the Zhou army, it's Pang Gang's large group of troops coming!"
Looking at the overwhelming crowd of people and horses coming from a distance, Li Zicheng felt his hands and feet were cold. At this time, even though his mind was filled with anger, he understood that Li Shuangxi, who had just been ordered to attack, was finished.
"Bang bang bang... There were bursts of firecrackers outside the city. It came from the camp of the Dashun Army. The firecrackers became more and more intensive, and screams continued to reach the city wall where Li Zicheng and the others were.
Everyone's faces became ugly. Song Xiance sighed, walked to Li Zicheng and whispered: "King Chuang. Now that things have happened, we can no longer take care of the people outside the city, so we should close the city gate first.
Well, otherwise if the enemy forces take advantage of the situation and rush into the city gate, everything will be over."
Li Zicheng's face looked very strange at this time, like anger, sadness, and shame. In the end, reason defeated the anger, and his hands clenched the city bricks in front of him until a severe pain came from his hands.
He said in a voice that seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth; "Li Guo!"
"Here!" Li Guo, who had been waiting aside for a long time, quickly stood up.
"Close the city gate immediately!"
"Yes!" After hearing Li Zicheng's words, Li Guo quickly ordered the surrounding soldiers to close the city gate and lower the thousand-jin gate. With the harsh sound of metal friction, the three gates of the south gate were finally closed, including Li Zicheng.
All the generals of Dashun Army included also understood that from the moment the city gate was closed, the fate of tens of thousands of soldiers and horses outside the city had been decided.
As the city gate closed, more and more people of the Zhou Army appeared outside the city. The barracks of the Dashun Army outside the city also became a mess. Some of the soldiers who lost their command wanted to run for their lives, and some
To resist, at the same time, soldiers continued to fall to the ground screaming after being hit by flying projectiles.
When the sun completely set, Li Zicheng's 40,000 horses outside the city, except for more than 10,000 who were killed, all fell to their knees on the ground and became prisoners of the Zhou army.
Night is gradually falling. In a forest three miles away from Xibianmen outside Beijing, a military camp of several thousand people is stationed here. In the middle of this military camp stands a huge tent. At this moment, the tent is lit with lights.
It was bright, reflecting the more than ten burly figures inside. Pang Gang was sitting in the middle of the big tent, with his eyes slightly closed, listening to the report of Hao Dayong, who was in charge of the vanguard.
"Your Majesty, in today's battle we wiped out all seven thousand bandits who dared to go out of the city to pursue us, and captured their leader. After interrogation, he was Li Zicheng's adopted son, former battalion deputy general Li Shuangxi! In addition, after our army arrived, we also
The 40,000 thieves outside the city were wiped out, and nearly 30,000 of them were captured. It was a brilliant victory. The general requested to launch an attack on Beijing immediately tomorrow, and asked the prince for permission."
At this time, Pang Gang was wearing a piece of pure black exquisite soft armor and sitting in a seat in the big tent. He was nearly thirty years old and had a short beard. After growing a beard, he looked more calm.
, although a pair of eyes are not very big, they are very bright when they are opened and closed, making people look intimidating.
Pang Gang glanced at Hao Dayong and said warmly: "Hao Youyi, I can understand your desire to fight. But we are new here and don't know much about the situation in the city. Although the bandits have captured Beijing City, the inner city is still in Chongzhen City.
We don’t know what’s in the emperor’s hands, we must figure these things out!”
Having said this, Pang Gangyou turned his attention to the general sitting at the end and asked: "You are the founder and responsible for Leng Yan in Guchen. Can you contact the insider in the city tonight?
"
Gu Chen stood up and clasped his fists and said: "Your Majesty, please rest assured. I will contact the city immediately tonight, and I will never delay your Majesty's important event!"
Pang Gang nodded and punched the table: "Well, that's good! Now everyone go down and have a rest. The artillery camp will prepare the artillery overnight. As soon as it is confirmed that the inner city is still in the hands of the Ming Emperor, we will
Immediately launch an attack on Beijing City and wipe out the bandits in the city in one fell swoop!"
All the generals in the big tent responded in unison: "I will obey the prince's order!"
While Pang Gang and others were sharpening their swords and discussing the strategy for tomorrow's siege, Chongzhen, who had narrowly escaped death today, led Queen Zhou and others back to the Forbidden City.
Chongzhen, who had been moving rocks all day today, was so tired that he could hardly move. After returning to Kunning Palace, he lay sprawled on the dragon chair. Empress Zhou and Concubine Yuan were so distressed that they shed tears.
Concubine Yuan cried with tears in her pretty eyes: "What do you mean? The majestic Emperor of Tomorrow actually defended the city in person, seeing how tired the Emperor is. What a sin!"
Chongzhen's arms were numb with fatigue at this time. He tried his best to force out a smile and said: "My beloved, this is wrong. I am the emperor of a country. Since Emperor Gaozu, our Zhu family has said that the emperor guards the country.
As the Son of Heaven, I should personally defend the city."
Prince Zhu Cixi said bitterly: "Father, I finally saw the faces of those civil and military officials today. If Pang Gang hadn't arrived in time today, our whole family would have committed suicide on the city wall, but what about them?
, each of them will just hide at home and act like a coward. Once we defeat the bandits, we must settle matters with them."
After listening to Zhu Cixiang's words, Chongzhen tried his best to open his eyes and smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, after the bandits are defeated, my father will abdicate. The life and death of our family is still in the hands of Pang Gang. How can we fight with them?"
Settle accounts."
Everyone couldn't help but feel dumb. Yes, although their lives were saved, their country was lost. Their future was still in their hands. How could they settle accounts with them?
At this time, Zhu Yudie, the youngest among the crowd, said in a sweet voice: "Father, please don't be sad. Have you forgotten? Didn't you say that you wanted to marry your sister to Pang Gang? As long as he marries his sister, that's it.
My brother-in-law, when the time comes, I will ask my brother-in-law to catch them all and spank them!"
As soon as Zhu Adie's childish words came out, everyone except Kunxing Princess Zhu Aolao laughed. Empress Zhou picked up Zhu Adie and said with a smile: "Okay, when your brother-in-law calls in, you tell him
He spanked those ministers."
"Ah, Queen Mother, what are you talking about?"
When Zhu Aao heard everyone making fun of her, her petite pink face turned into a big red cloth with shame, and she lowered her head and said nothing.
After everyone laughed, Chongzhen sighed softly, stretched out his hand to caress Zhu Yu's hair and said: "媺娖, in order to save the lives of the young and old of my Zhu family, I had no choice but to marry Pang Gang. I really wronged you. You must be feeling very sad.
Do you hate your father?"
Zhu Ayao hugged Chongzhen and cried loudly: "Father, my son and I are not wronged. As long as our father, the emperor, the queen, the queen, and the emperor's brothers and sisters are safe, I can bear no matter how great the grievance is!"
Seeing such a scene, the eunuchs and maids serving around everyone also shed tears.
After a long time, more than ten eunuchs and maids came over with more than ten food boxes and invited the emperor, queen and others to have a meal. Chongzhen summoned his energy and asked everyone to sit down. Although he was very tired, he was tired.
It was a day in Chongzhen and they were already hungry. Although the dinner was only a simple meal of four dishes, one soup and millet porridge, the whole family ate very well.
Just as everyone was devouring their food and enjoying themselves, Wang Chengen, who had just stayed at the top of the city to inspect the defenses, came in.
Wang Chengen bowed and said: "Your Majesty, your Majesty is safe. I have something to report to Your Majesty."
After seeing Wang Chengen, Chongzhen's expression changed slightly and he said: "It turns out that the big companion is here. Could it be that the thieves are going to attack the city overnight?"
"No!" Wang Chengen shook his head and said with a strange look on his face, "Your Majesty, all the ministers and nobles in the city have sent their servants to the city wall, saying they want to guard the Ming Dynasty.
There are even a few noble disciples who went up to the city wall in person. The number of these people is quite large. There are seven or eight thousand people. I don’t know what to do, so I came here to ask the emperor to make a decision!"
"snort!"
Chongzhen placed the bowl heavily on the table. At this time, he was so angry. Today, when I led the whole family to defend the city wall in person, where were you? Now that I see the reinforcements coming, you came to show your courtesy.
Do you really think that I am a fool and let you fool me?
Looking at Chongzhen with an angry face, Wang Chengen also sneered secretly in his heart. These royal relatives, princes and ministers were also shameless to a certain extent. If Pang Gang had not led his army outside the city today, I am afraid they would have been ready to welcome the bandits.
Get ready.
However, although Wang Chengen was full of anger, he still looked at Chongzhen respectfully with everyone, waiting for his decision.
The expression on Chongzhen's face also changed from time to time. After a long time, a faint sneer appeared on his face, and he said: "My dear friend, since those ministers and nobles are so loyal to the country, let's not ignore their good intentions.
, have we always lacked the manpower to defend the city? Let them defend the city for us, and we can wait until Pang Gang enters the city to talk about anything else."
Chongzhen said this. But Zhu Cixi couldn't help but said: "Father, those ministers are just some villains who act according to the wind. If they are allowed to defend the city, I'm afraid they will open the door to meet the enemy!"
"Hehehe... Chongzhen laughed, "Your Majesty, if you said this before Pang Gang arrived, it might be very possible, but now that Pang Gang has arrived outside the city and surrounded the bandits, I guess it will be given to you.
Even if they have ten nerves, they wouldn’t dare to do this.”
The prince Zhu Cixiang was not stupid. He understood after a brief thought. Now these ministers saw that the defeat of the bandits was certain. Then they sent people to the city wall to help Chongzhen defend the city. How could they dare to defect to the bandits and seek death?
.
"Okay, sleep peacefully tonight, I want to see how those traitors are annihilated!"
There was a trace of unspeakable resentment in Chongzhen's words. Obviously, his resentment towards Li Zicheng and others who dared to dig up Lao Zhu's ancestral grave in Fengyang and almost forced his family to commit suicide was deeply rooted in his bones, but at this time
Neither Chongzhen in the inner city nor Li Zicheng outside the inner city noticed that a small homing pigeon crossed the tightly guarded, high and thick city wall and flew towards Pang Gang's camp... Seventh day of the Thirteenth Year of Chongzhen
3rd of the month
The sky was gradually getting brighter. Li Zicheng got up after not sleeping well last night and ate a few bites of breakfast before leading the generals up to the outer city wall.
"Dong...dong...dong... Just when Li Zicheng led the generals to the city wall, the heavy and shocking drums slowly sounded, and slowly, pieces of black
The "dark clouds" slowly gathered towards the city gate from a distance.
This was an army covered in black armor from head to toe. They slowly advanced towards the city wall with heavy and steady steps. Pieces of white tiger flags with black backgrounds gathered from all directions. The heavy atmosphere seemed to be suppressed.
People were breathless. From Li Zicheng's point of view, there was no other noise except the footsteps, commands and the whistling wind as tens of thousands of horses marched. This army has strict military discipline.
The order and prohibition were so severe that all the generals of the Dashun Army could not help but change their colors.
Li Yan looked at the seemingly overwhelming Zhou army officers in front of him, his face was so serious that it seemed as if there was a layer of frost on it. The faces of Li Zicheng and the surrounding generals were also very serious. No one made a sound, only Liu Zongmin, who was famous for his roughness and bravery, was murmuring.
He said: "Damn it, those Zhou army formations look really good. There is really no battalion that can compare with this."
Although Liu Zongmin's words were not loud, the surrounding generals could hear them, but no one agreed with his words. The people here were all old men who had led soldiers for many years. To be fair, if they were allowed to lead such a team
, they ask themselves that no one has that ability.
Looking at the army under the city, Li Zicheng felt both hatred and jealousy in his heart. It was the army in front of him that had driven him from Henan to Hubei and then from Hubei to Shaanxi two years ago. Now he has occupied Beijing and is about to
When he destroyed the Ming Dynasty, he faced off against himself. Sometimes Li Zicheng even doubted whether the guy named Pang Gang was his nemesis, otherwise why would he jump out and cause trouble with him every time he was about to succeed.
Slowly, the troops outside the city were still in formation. Since the south gate was the main direction of attack today, Pang Gang deployed 40,000 troops here today, densely surrounding the entire south gate.
After the formation was completed, artillery pieces were pushed out one by one. In less than a meal, an artillery battalion was set up five hundred steps away from the city wall, with one hundred and twenty-six black holes.
The muzzle of the cannon was pointed at the city wall. Looking at the black muzzle, everyone on the city wall suddenly changed their colors. After seeing this situation, they all knew that there must be a very difficult and fierce battle waiting for them today... To be completed
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