In the ninth year of Hongwu, Tongguan City was expanded 20 miles from south to west, including Qilin Mountain, Phoenix Mountain, Bijia Mountain, Taishan Mountain and Xiangshan Mountain. It also built an east gate and a west gate, with an upper and lower south gate in the south and an upper and lower south gate in the north.
There are tall towers built on the East and West Gates, the East and West Gates and the Great North Gate, also called gate towers.
After the Dashun Army took over Tongguan, they carried out a certain degree of repairs to the Guancheng that was dilapidated and in disrepair during the Qin Army period, but overall it was just a patchwork and not many major actions were taken.
By the time the Dashun Army was forced to evacuate Shaanxi due to the rebellion of Yang Chengzu and Ji Gui, Li Laiheng had already predicted that Tongguan would become the most important stronghold for the Dashun Army and the Qing Army on the western front, so he immediately stepped up the attack on Tongguan City at all costs.
Repairs and alterations.
Although Luo Dain is old, the former chief steward of Cao Ying still presided over the urgent task of repairing Tongguan in the same orderly manner today.
In the past few months, the Dashun Army laid bricks and stones on the northern earth city wall facing the Yellow River, and built the North and South Gate Towers. The mountains to the south are towering, and the Yellow River to the north is mighty. The middle passage was filled up tightly with the city, and the defenders
The army's guns and artillery also have more room to display.
Ma Jinzhong lived up to his reputation as the "long-distance running general" by Li Laiheng. Although he ran fast during the "turn-in", he now marched equally fast during the march, and was the first to arrive at Tongguan with his troops.
Ma Jinzhong saw that Guancheng was shrouded in beacon fire at dusk, and the blood-colored dim light shone in circles. Countless arrows and cannonballs hit the protruding towers of Guancheng, splattering a large number of flying rocks.
"General Zhao! Are the soldiers coming to attack?"
Zhao Yingyuan opened the door and welcomed the reinforcements into the city. He was also one of the few remaining veterans in Cao's camp. Now he was not only the commanding general of the rear army of Dashun's five-army field army, but he was also named Marquis of Xiao by Li Laiheng.
His status is more respected than when Zhao Yingyuan was in Cao Ying.
Nowadays, most of the remaining troops in Cao's camp have been incorporated into the rear army which was adapted from the rear camp of Emperor Guangzhong Li Guo. Gao Yigong is appointed as General Quan of the rear army. In addition to Luo Dai'en, Zhao Yingyuan, Ma Jinzhong guarding Tongguan, and Li Weiqun guarding Shaanzhou
In addition, Gao Yigong also led Ma Chongxi and Zhang Hong to guard Luoyang, ready to send reinforcements at any time.
Zhao Yingyuan did not feel much threat to the Qing army who was tentatively attacking Guancheng. However, considering that the main force of the Qing army had never appeared, Zhao Yingyuan still said sadly:
"The Qing army attacking the city was dominated by the Han army led by Wu Sangui. It didn't seem like they were ready to attack. But as far as I know, the Qing army still had nearly 300,000 troops. Why didn't they attack?
It is said that Tongguan did not storm Taiyuan, so where is the enemy and what do they want to do?
It’s really confusing to me!”
Ma Jinzhong breathed a sigh of relief: "Tongguan City is safe, this is good news. As for where the main force of the Qing army is, this is a matter for consideration by the Military Academy and the Military Government! I think if the enemy can't move, I will
Don't move, His Highness the King of Jin has his own strategy."
On the Guancheng wall to the west, some fierce battles took place. Some Qing troops approached the city wall and deployed guns and artillery. The intensive firepower swept violently onto the city wall.
If the Tongguan garrison hadn't successively received updated red Yi artillery equipment shipped from Huguang, they would have been almost unable to fight back at this time.
Luo Dain is already very old, and he has a gray beard. Li Laiheng had promised that Uncle Luo could retire to the second line and even go to Huguang to enjoy his old age.
But Luo Dain himself felt that most of the responsibility for the loss of Shaanxi lay with Cao Ying. Out of guilt, he insisted on staying in Tongguan to fight. He rushed to the city in the body of an old man and personally commanded the defenders to launch a counterattack.
, when the battle was fierce, Luo Dain even picked up a strong bow, crossbow and blunderbuss to fight back against the prisoners.
Li Weiqun's troops arrived slowly from behind. His troops were elite troops from the direct lineage of Chu Chuang. Compared with Luo Daien, Zhao Yingyuan's Cao Bings and Ma Jinzhong's Huguang New Army, their armaments and training were more complete.
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After Li Weiqun arrived at Guancheng, he also rushed to the city with his own army guards. When he saw Luo Dain, who was still fighting hard with gray beard and hair, he hurriedly wanted to persuade this "relative" of the Dashun Dynasty to go down to the city to rest, but he failed.
Luo Dain retorted:
"Am I old? Not yet! Watch carefully, kid."
After saying that, Luo Dain grabbed the hard bow, nocked the bow and guided the arrow, and quickly fired a flying arrow. It fell into the hands of the Qing army's gunshots and spattered a little blood.
When Li Weiqun saw this, he immediately applauded: "The old general is far more skilled than me, and it will not be a problem to defend the city."
At this time, because dusk has arrived, the time has come to about evening, and the sun in the distance gradually sets into the mountains. The defenders all felt that the Qing army would probably not launch any more harassing attacks. Those who approached the city
The Qing soldiers who were bombarding also retreated several steps.
However, although Luo Dain or other generals of the Shun Army have quite a lot of military experience, most of their military experience comes from the mobile warfare during their career as rogue pirates. In fact, they cannot say that they have rich experience in fighting methods to defend the city and fortress.
The two Ming army surrendered generals Gao Ruli and Wang Liangzhi who were left behind by Luo Dain in Tongguan. Gao Ruli was also from the peasant army and did not have much experience in defending the city. However, Wang Liangzhi was from the Northwest Three Frontiers Army.
Seeing the formation and movements of Wu Sangui's Qing troops retreating, he said doubtfully:
"The Qing army seems to be setting up camp and preparing to attack the city for a long time?"
Zhao Yingyuan looked down upon Gao Ruli and Wang Liangzhi, two weaklings who had fallen to the wind. He even sent a group of soldiers to keep an eye on them at all times to prevent Gao Ruli and Wang Liangzhi from betraying Dashun again.
Zhao Yingyuan sneered at Wang Liangzhi's words with disdain: "Do you still want to attack Tongguan with thousands of soldiers? The Wu thieves are not as courageous as you."
But soon, Li Weiqun was keenly aware that something was wrong. He heard the sound of horse hooves in the air and felt the shaking of the earth. It was obvious that a larger army was advancing in the distance.
Li Weiqun looked at the gradually darkening land in Guanzhong, gritted his teeth and said: "Old General, Commander Zhao, it seems that the Donglu troops have really come up. But the scale is still unclear. Let me lead a team of light cavalry to spy at night.
Ichiban?"
The meaning of Li Weiqun's words was to lead troops to investigate the specific strength of the enemy. It was obvious that he was quite willing to take advantage of the enemy's unstable foothold to try a night attack and hijack the camp.
The nominal commander of the Tongguan garrison should be Zhao Yingyuan, the commanding general of the rear army, but his qualifications are far inferior to Luo Dayen, the veteran of the Cao camp, so the real say is still in the hands of Luo Dayen.
After the old general pondered for a moment, he asked: "How many troops and horses do you want to bring?"
Li Weiqun turned around and looked at the soldiers and horses he brought from Shaanzhou - most of these soldiers were from Suizhou, and most of the officers were from Suiying Academy and Suizhou, and walked out of Xiangyang Martial Arts Hall
Young people, refugees, people from refugee backgrounds, people from peasant farmers and civilians, and people from gentry and merchant backgrounds each account for one-third.
Looking at these young, confident, heroic and calm faces, Li Weiqun's chest was immediately filled with confidence. He patted his chest and said decisively:
"Qianqi explores the camp... If there is a chance of fighting, I will take advantage of the unsteady foothold of the captive soldiers to rob the camp for everyone to test the strength of the enemy and to see if Wu Sangui's front is strong."
Most of the soldiers under the city who came all the way from Suizhou and Xiangyang had experienced the three tough battles at Dangshan, Baigouhe and Shenzhou. Not to mention Wu Sangui's Guan Ning soldiers, even the so-called "real Manchu soldiers"
, and was not in the eyes of these young officers.
Although the soldiers had just rushed to Tongguan from Shaanzhou and Lingbao, they were still full of physical strength. After Li Weiqun's words, everyone raised their hands and weapons, shouting "Thousands of cavalry rob the camp", "Thousands of cavalry defeat the enemy"
"!
Gao Ruli betrayed the Dashun Army when Li Zicheng was defeated for the first time many years ago, accepted Hong Chengchou's recruitment, and became a general of the Ming Army.
Now Li Zicheng is dead, Hong Chengchou is also dead, but Gao Ruli is still alive... living in shame. He betrayed the Dashun Army for the second time. After Li Zicheng's death, he followed Yang Chengzu and Ji Gui to start a rebellion, and Li Laiheng's
Under the thunder and lightning, he surrendered again in embarrassment.
Gao Ruli's capriciousness turned him from an old rebel commander who followed Li Zicheng to besiege Chengdu many years ago, to a villain who was closely monitored by Zhao Yingyuan.
Now looking at the confident faces of these new generation soldiers of the Shun Army, Gao Ruli's heart was filled with shame.
He covered his face, lowered his head, and sighed in a low voice: "What have I done over the years? I'm really sorry for the old man, I'm sorry for King Lao Chuang and the late emperor... Oh! What have I missed?