The news of the arrival of the spying horse had already been received. On the city wall, a group of generals, led by the British Duke Zhang Mao, looked at the Tatar army rolling in like a torrent, with solemn expressions on their faces.
After all, today is different from the past. I think back then, during the years of Taizu and Chengzu, the Ming Dynasty had many elite soldiers and strong generals, but they only killed the Meng Yuan forces and fled to Mobei. At that time, the Meng Yuan forces were really beaten so that they did not dare to think of going south.
However, hundreds of years have passed, and the Ming army is no longer as elite as it was during the founding years. A few generations later, the millions of Ming guards have long been rotten to the core. Looking at the entire country, the number of combatable troops is almost negligible.
.
That is to say, there are still some soldiers who can fight in the border town.
Since the Tumubao Incident, the military strength of the Ming Dynasty has been in decline. If Chu Yi had not taken power to carry out drastic reforms in the capital, reorganized the army in the capital, and selected a group of elites, the Tatar army would have arrived at the city.
Zhongdu cannot gather enough troops to fight.
Perhaps most of the hundreds of thousands of troops in the capital have never seen blood, but they are still strong and strong after training for more than a year. I believe that as long as they do not collapse in one battle, they only need to go through a few battles, and each one of them will grow into a qualified soldier.
soldiers.
For example, Lu Dazhu, Cheng Xiangwu, Han Kun and others were also outstanding generals in the army. Although they had never fought against Tatars, these people did not have much fear of Tatars.
As the saying goes, newborn calves are not afraid of tigers. These people were promoted by Chu Yi from the army to their current status. Although I dare not say that they rose to the top in one step, it was an encounter that changed their lives.
If they hadn't met Chu Yihui, who knew people well, they would have been lucky to get a guerrilla general in their lifetime.
Even for Han Kun, the battalion commander is probably at the pinnacle of his official position. If he wants to take a step forward, he will not be able to do so in his lifetime without a great opportunity.
Looking at the approaching Tatar army below, the one who was most moved was the white-haired British Duke Zhang Mao, who was wearing armor.
Zhang Mao couldn't help but think of the previous generation of British Duke Zhang Fu, who went on an expedition with the Yingzong at the age of seventy or eighty, and was defeated in the first battle of Tumubao.
Therefore, Zhang Mao had a deep hatred for the Tatars in his heart, but there was also a dignified look in Zhang Mao's eyes.
Although he looked like he did not take the Tatar army into consideration in front of the emperor, Zhang Mao knew very well that the Tatar army should not be underestimated.
With a glance, Zhang Mao couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed the changes in the expressions of Han Kun, Lu Dazhu, Cheng Xiangwu and others.
There are hundreds of thousands of troops in the capital, and what he can really mobilize can be said to be very small. Chu Yi has already gathered the soldiers and horses in the capital in his hands through repeated tactics.
In addition to the orders of Chu Yi and the emperor Zhu Houzhao, even he would have difficulty mobilizing more than a thousand troops in the capital.
However, when Zhang Mao saw the reaction on the faces of Han Kun and others, he was relieved a lot. There are still hundreds of thousands of troops in the capital. As long as the generals are not in chaos, it will be difficult to defend the capital.
There is absolutely no problem.
It can be said that Zhang Mao has never seen any storms in his life. He took a deep breath and looked at Han Kun and other generals and said: "Everyone, the Tatar army is approaching the city. We have been greatly favored by the emperor. We must do our best to defend the capital to the death.
, Sir, are you willing to fight with me against this Tatar?"
"Fight, fight, fight, defend Nanjing City to the death!"
As if influenced by the generals, on the city wall, the soldiers defending the city cheered loudly one by one.
The soldiers in the city were stunned for a moment, and then they cheered. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses cheered together. It could be said that the sound was overwhelming, and almost the entire city of Beijing was echoing with the shouts of the soldiers.
In the Forbidden City, after receiving the news, Zhu Houzhao walked around the palace restlessly, looking outside the palace from time to time.
If it wasn't Gu Dayong, Cao Shaoqin and others tried hard to persuade him, plus Jiao Fang personally accompanied Zhu Houzhao with the cabinet ministers in the palace, maybe Zhu Houzhao might really leave the palace.
Zhu Houzhao walked around with an anxious look on his face and said: "I don't know if the Tatar army has arrived at the city at this moment, or if the British Duke and the others have already fought against the Tatars..."
Jiao Fang and other ministers persuaded Zhu Houzhao to wait patiently for the result.
Suddenly, a loud shout came, and even in the imperial city, everyone could hear it clearly.
Zhu Houzhao was stunned for a moment. Hearing the shouts of the soldiers in front, he was moved and said: "Okay, okay, I have such elite soldiers and strong generals, so what do the Tatars have to fear!"
However, it is said that the Tatar Prince Balsbrot led nearly 100,000 troops straight to the capital. Along the way, some villages that had no time to retreat were naturally destroyed.
Fortunately, the imperial court took the lead in evacuating the villages near Gyeonggi, and finally they did not suffer the harm from the Tatars.
Balsborot looked at the huge city sitting on the vast land like a ferocious beast from a distance.
Balsborough was actually no stranger to Beijing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty. As the son of Dayan Khan, he had also visited the capital several times.
However, this was the only time that he personally led an army to face the prosperity of the capital. Compared with the bitter cold prairie, Balsborot naturally felt a bit unwilling to do so.
God is so kind to the Han people, but their Tatar tribe has to be exposed to the wind and sun on the vast grassland, and even has to withstand threats from nature. After a white disaster, a tribe may disappear in the vast vastness.
On the grassland.
In comparison, the prosperous Central Plains is simply a place loved by God.
More than a dozen generals from ten thousand households gathered around Balsbroat, wearing thick leather robes. Looking at the city sitting on the ground, it can be said that everyone opened their eyes wide and their faces were full of shock.
color.
On that prairie, a slightly larger tent is a huge wealth. As for cities, there are no cities at all. Even though we have seen many cities in the Central Plains along the way, they are as huge as the city of Beijing.
The city was the only one they saw.
The huge city is located on the ground, and just looking at it from a distance can't help but give rise to a sense of awe.
Taking a deep breath, Balsborot drove his horse forward. Almost a stone's throw away, a group of people stopped, and only heard Balsborot shouting to the top of the city wall: "The Han officials on the wall are listening.
, my prince’s army is here, you guys dare to fight!”
All the Tatar generals around Balsboro laughed loudly, looking extremely arrogant.
On the city wall, Han Kun glanced at the British Duke first, then stepped forward and shouted: "Tatars, listen, you dare to invade our capital and offend the power of the Ming Dynasty. If you know better, retreat quickly. Otherwise, don't blame me."
The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty are ruthless with their swords!"
It was nothing more than a verbal war. Taking advantage of this moment, Balsborough had already sent men and horses to collect and cut down trees in order to build siege equipment.
Although the Ming Dynasty had already cleared the surrounding area before the Tatars arrived, after all, the time was too short and it was impossible to clear out all the surrounding trees.
It won't take long for the Tatars to make a batch of ladders for siege. As for complex siege equipment, I'm afraid the Tatars don't have the ability to make them.
On the city wall, Lu Dazhu and Cheng Xiangwu ordered the gunners on the city wall to slightly adjust the artillery on the city wall and aim the artillery at the Tatar army below the city.
One by one, the black muzzles of the artillery were aimed at the Tatar army below.
Zhang Mao waved his hand slightly, and immediately a famous gunner filled the prepared shells into the barrel.
Looking at the unprepared Tatar army below, Zhang Mao and other Ming generals showed a bit of disdain in their eyes.
These Tatars were really arrogant and had no defense at all. Although they were indeed outside the range of arrows, they did not take the Ming's artillery to heart.
Of course, this is also related to the power of artillery. Artillery may seem scary, but in fact it is more about destroying morale and boosting one's own morale. Not many people will actually be killed by artillery.
The muzzles of several newly cast cannons were aimed at Balsbord and others. Almost all the Tatar generals gathered around Balsbort, in addition to hundreds of Balsbort's soldiers.
Guard.
Under such protection, even if the Ming Dynasty opened the city gate and rushed out a large army, it would never threaten the safety of Balsbort and the others.
On top of the city wall, a general stepped forward and said to the British Duke and others: "For your information, the artillery is ready and ready to fire at any time!"
Han Kun, who was scolding the Tatars below, couldn't help but his eyes lit up when he heard this and said: "Are the artillery ready? Then what are you waiting for? Give me a hard blast and kill this bastard prince and everything will be fine!"
Everyone couldn't help laughing when they heard this. It was probably not that easy to kill Balsboro. After all, if the artillery wanted to bombard certain people at a certain point, it really depended on luck.
Before walking to the city wall, Zhang Mao took a deep breath and looked at Balsbroat and others under the city wall. A cold light flashed in his eyes, and he shouted in a deep voice: "Fire!"
Immediately, the artillerymen lit the cannons one by one, and just saw the fuse burning, and in an instant, they heard a roar like thunder.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of roars sounded almost at the same time. Even the city walls shook in unison. Amidst the smoke filling the sky, the Tatar army below was frightened. The front part of the Tatar army was almost
The conditioned reflex was to look towards the city of Beijing.
After all, it is an army of nearly 100,000 people. When spread out, it is a very large area. From the forward to the rear guard, it is at least several miles away. As a rear guard, the most you can hear is a muffled sound. But for the forward, it is not
