Chapter 871 Cut off the passage of the inner and outer cities
Yang Rusong rode on his horse and hurriedly saluted Xue Lian and others who came up to him, and then asked: "How is the situation in the city? How many bandits have entered the city?"
"The sky and the earth are filled with rebels! General, hurry up and protect us and run away...!"
"I heard that everyone in the palace has run out, and something is going wrong with the Emperor...!"
"Drive the thieves out quickly! Kill all the thieves quickly!..."
…
The group of nobles standing in the front row immediately started talking. The voices were extremely noisy, but there was no useful information at all. Yang Rusong felt a headache when he heard it. Fortunately, he saw the nobles standing there at a glance.
Li Lu, who was behind him, asked: "General Li! How is the situation?"
"The number of people who entered the city is unknown. However, the rebels may have already reached the imperial city." Li Lu replied.
"Then they rushed to the outer city?" Yang Rusong asked again.
"Even if there are, there are not many. However, Zhengyang Gate and Chongwen Gate are not closed, so they may rush in soon." Li Lu replied again.
"Okay! Commander Li! Eunuch Liu! You take your people to contain the outer city, and then find a way to cut off the passage between the inner and outer city. You must also control the situation in the outer city. Also, find a way to transport more food and grass.
Go to the outer city with gunpowder, bows and arrows, and prepare to hold on until the Lord arrives."
"good!"
"General Yang! General Liu! If you follow me into the inner city, you must ensure that the three gates of the south city are closed." Yang Rusong ordered.
"yes!"
Then Yang Rusong drew his saber, slapped his mount horizontally, and ordered: "Let's go! The Runing army will be victorious!"
"The Runing Army will be victorious!" The soldiers of the Runing Army all around also shouted in unison. Then they all rushed out following Yang Rusong.
…
Yang Rusong, who rushed into Beijing, found that the inner city and the imperial city were no longer safe, so he decided to defend the outer city with all his strength.
The outer city of Beijing is not an outer city wall built around the inner city, but a separate city built outside the Zhengyang Gate of the south city. This outer city is actually due to the overpopulation of Beijing.
As the city expanded, a large number of people built residential buildings outside the south city. Over time, a city outside the city was formed, so the imperial court simply built a "conjoined city" outside the south city. Therefore, it can be said that the outer city was actually also
It can be regarded as an independent city.
The outer city of Beijing has seven city gates. They are Yongding Gate, Zuo'an Gate, You'an Gate, Guangqu Gate, Guang'an Gate, Dongbian Gate, and Xibian Gate. In addition, there are Zhengyang Gate, Chongwen Gate, and Xuanwu Gate.
These three gates are the city gates that connect the inner and outer cities of Beijing.
So now the problem arises. To cut off the passage between the inner and outer city, we must first block the three gates of Zhengyang Gate, Chongwen Gate and Xuanwu Gate; secondly, we must cut off the passage between the inner and outer city walls; and finally we must cut off the entrance gate.
Go up the steps of the inner city wall of South City, otherwise Yang Rusong and the others would not be able to stop the Dashun Army from rushing into the outer city of the capital.
And this is also the biggest problem that Yang Rusong and the others are currently facing. In the history of wars at home and abroad, such a defensive battle in which the city is defended from "outside" and attacked "inside" is not only unique, but also extremely rare.
For example: Zhengyang Gate, Chongwen Gate, and Xuanwu Gate. The Runing Army in the outer city had no way to close the gates, but could only seal these three gates with sand and gravel. Because of the logic
It's very simple. The city gates are closed and locked inside the city. I have never heard of a city gate that can be opened from outside the city.
The same is true for the passages between the inner and outer city walls and the stairs of the inner city wall of the South City. Because the city is protected from the outside but not from the inside, in order to quickly mobilize the troops in the city, the passages on the city wall are very smooth. This
This brought many difficulties to Yang Rusong and others.
Fortunately, Yang Rusong is a native of the capital and knows the characteristics of the inner and outer cities of the capital very well, so he can grasp the key points of defending the outer city. Otherwise, if it were a general who didn't understand the capital, it would take a lot of time just to understand all this.
.Not to mention the key to giving orders to defend the outer city in a few words.
So Yang Rusong, Yang Chengzu and Liu Guqian would lead their troops into the inner city, drive away the Dashun soldiers near Zhengyang Gate, Chongwen Gate, and Xuanwu Gate, and firmly guard these three gates until they reached the outer city.
The people sealed the three gates with sand and stones.
As for Li Lu and Liu Yuanbin's troops, in addition to part of the upper outer city wall to resist the Dashun army's climb, the rest of the soldiers had to seal the city gates with sand and gravel. They also had to blow up the city wall connecting the inner and outer cities, and blow up the upper south city.
The stairs in the inner city wall prevented the Dashun army from taking advantage of these weaknesses to break through to the outer city.
Fortunately, because they were close to Wang Gong Factory, Li Lu and the others were able to collect most of the gunpowder in the capital. In addition, the number of people fleeing was huge. In order to prepare for use on the road, Li Lu and the others also transported a large amount of grain and grass to the outer city.
.So there is no shortage of gunpowder, food and grass in the outer city now, which is enough to sustain the past period of time.
At this time, there were not many Dashun troops rushing into the inner city of the capital, only more than 10,000 people. After all, Cao Huachun's dedication of the city was a temporary initiative. In the rush, Li Zicheng could not mobilize so many troops. But then
As the news of the city gate's fall spread throughout the Dashun Army camp, all Dashun Army troops also took action and rushed towards the fallen Xizhimen.
The various Dashun troops entering the city also aimed at the imperial city. After all, whoever captured or killed Emperor Chongzhen was the first to do so. Besides, there were so many gold, silver, jewelry and beautiful palace maids in the imperial city.
It's the first success, and you can get a hand in it. Who would give up such a good thing?
And Li Zicheng would not stop the actions of the vanguard troops. After all, the troops that could serve as the vanguard of the Dashun Army were all members of the old camp of Li Zicheng's direct lineage. It was not a big deal for them to make some money. What Li Zicheng was interested in was the dragon in the Forbidden City.
chair.
Therefore, the Dashun army that rushed into the city of Beijing was united and yet competitive. After all, everyone wanted to run faster, and the good things in the imperial city were available to those who were quick, but not those who were slow!
"beep--!"
The Runing Army that rushed into Zhengyangmen, Chongwenmen, and Xuanwumen, their front row of cavalry had just finished lining up, and before the follow-up troops arrived, they blew the bronze whistle, and the horsemen rushed forward.
.
In the dark night, the sound of the copper whistle is quite scary. And the wide streets of the capital also make the horses reach the highway all of a sudden.
Yang Rusong led the cavalry to the front. After a while, he encountered a group of Dashun troops who were out "hunting for wild food". All the soldiers of the Runing Army immediately moved forward with their sabers raised and sprinted towards this group of Dashun troops.
And go.
"Ah——!" Facing the sudden appearance of the army, which looked like the god of death, the Dashun Army immediately howled and tried to flee. But in the blink of an eye, the Runing Army's cavalry had already
