Zhu Cihong came to Xizhimen with the Yongwei battalion, and the second in command of the Beijing camp, the British Gongzhang Zhiji, who was guarding the city, hurriedly came after hearing about it, stopped them, and persuaded Zhu Cihong not to leave the city.

Huang Degong saluted Zhang Zhiji, and then said unhappily: "Old Guogong, you can go back and rest, and leave the war to our young people." ”

Zhang Zhiji pointed at Huang Degong and said angrily: "Huang Chuangzi, it's none of my business whether you die or not, if Your Highness makes the slightest mistake, how many lives do you have enough to compensate?" ”

Zhu Cihong saw that the two of them were ready to fight, waved his hand and said: "Okay, the battle must be fought, but this palace does not fight unprepared battles, I have sent someone to investigate the movements of the slave thief, I believe that there will be a reply if it is not needed, and then go out of the city to kill a happy one!" Now the infantry is on the city, and the cavalry is on standby. ”

Before that, Zhu Cihong had already issued an order not to close the night and strengthen reconnaissance around Gyeonggi so that the movements of the Qing army could be discovered as soon as possible. At the same time, he also ordered all departments in the Beijing camp to increase their vigilance and strengthen the personnel on duty at the nine gates to take turns all day and night.

Zhu Cihong, accompanied by the British Gongzhang Zhiji, the second-in-command of the Beijing camp, climbed the city tower, took out the binoculars, adjusted the focus, and looked out of the city.

I saw hundreds of people fleeing towards the city wall in the distance, and a group of Qing troops chasing them behind, some waving weapons, and some people on horseback bent bows and arrows to shoot at the fleeing people in front.

Among the people who were driven away, some people were constantly shot to the ground, and bursts of exclamations, cries, and screams were heard, mixed with many Qing soldiers' triumphant laughter and incomprehensible Manchu language.

The soldiers of the Yongwei battalion at the head of the city were also enraged by the atrocities of the Qing army, and they were all filled with righteous indignation, and they all rubbed their fists and wanted to fight.

Zhu Cihong had long been mentally prepared for the arrival of the Qing army, and since he took charge of the Yongwei Battalion, he had been preparing for war with the goal of resisting the invasion of the Qing army, and now it was time to test the results of his preparations.

Many of the soldiers in the Yongwei Battalion were elites from the Nine Sides, and fighting with Jiannu was commonplace before that, so they were not afraid.

Huang Degong said angrily: "Your Highness, order the artillery to kill these eight lambs!" ”

Sun Yingyuan immediately stopped: "No, if you hurt the people in front, it will be detrimental to Your Highness's reputation." ”

Huang Degong smashed his fist on the battlements: "Then what should I do, just watch these beasts torture and kill the people of Daming in front of us?" ”

Zhu Cihong was not angry in his heart, but before he got the enemy's intelligence, he would never rush to send troops, in case the Qing army had a large army nearby, and attacked and killed when the city gate was wide open, it would be a big day.

Even if he repels the enemy, it is estimated that he will not be able to wait for the next day to be impeached by Wen Tiren and his party, and the position of the crown prince may not be guaranteed. The safety of the capital is Emperor Chongzhen's bottom line, and he can't touch it.

When this group of Qing troops approached two hundred paces from the city wall, they stopped advancing, and at the same time followed closely behind the people in front of them, appearing very cautious. (In ancient times, one step was five feet, which is equivalent to about one meter three to one meter five now.) ）

There were about 300 Qing soldiers in this group, and the leader was dressed in bright helmets and bright armor, with two flying feathers inserted on his helmet, two back flags on his back, and a soldier on the left and right, each playing a flying tiger with a white-edged flag, which seemed to be the appearance of a Niu Lu Zhangjing.

Most of the rest were wearing iron armor, with a red tasseled iron helmet on their headbands, bronze mirrors on their chests, and sabers and spears in their hands. The horses under each of them carried a lot of things, which were the goods they plundered.

Sun Yingyuan pointed at this group of Qing soldiers at the head of the city and said: "The silver armor behind that Niu Lu Zhangjing should be the white armor soldiers, the soldiers wearing the needle and leather hat are soldiers, and the others are guards, although the number of this slave thief is not much, but all of them are elite, and they should not be underestimated." ”

Zhu Cihong knew that Jiannu's Eight Banners system divided soldiers into three levels: horsemen, soldiers and guards, and it had nothing to do with whether they rode horses or not, but the requirements were extremely strict, and those below the guards were auxiliaries.

The treatment of soldiers at each level is very different, and they can be promoted after an assessment every three years. The horsemen can be regarded as the elite of the Qing army, and there are better ones among the horsemen, known as the white swing tooth soldiers, also known as the white armor soldiers.

The Eight Banners Army set 300 people as a cow record, five cattle records for a Jiala, five Jiala for a solid mountain (solid mountain is the flag), the Manchus according to the Eight Banners system subordinated to each banner, peacetime production, wartime conscription.

A Niu Lu has only a dozen white-armored soldiers at most, and only three or four white-armored soldiers at the few, so the white-armored soldiers can be said to be the elite of the elite in the Eight Banners Army. In the battle between the Ming army and the Qing army, often dozens of white-armored soldiers could completely defeat hundreds of Ming troops.

At the foot of the city, one of the white-armored soldiers stepped forward on his horse, holding the horse's neck with both hands, turned to the other side of the horse, and one turned over and stepped on the horse's back, showing off his equestrian skills.

At the same time, he raised the long-pole tiger spear in his hand at the city, let out a smug laugh, and said a few words loudly, and his demeanor looked very sassy.

The superb equestrian skills of the Qing army are enough to show that over the years, the Qing army has repeatedly invaded the borders of the Ming Dynasty and is invincible, which is not fortunate.

A young soldier of the Beijing camp on the city wall was enraged by the white armor soldier of the dog day, and couldn't help but shoot an arrow at the white armor soldier, but the arrow shot only flew about eighty steps and stuck in the ground.

When the white-armored soldier saw this, he immediately patted his horse and laughed, and behind him, hundreds of Qing soldiers also burst into laughter, pointing at the city and saying something to each other in Manchu, obviously mocking the Ming army.

"Shame!" The British bluff struck the soldier who had fired the arrow with his horsewhip and cursed angrily.

When Zhu Cihong saw it, instead of being angry, he nodded, and then said to the British public: "Let the archers shoot arrows below." ”

Zhang Zhiji immediately said: "Your Highness, the distance is too far, you can't shoot at all, and it will hit the momentum of our army in vain." ”

Zhu Cihong frowned and said, "What nonsense, carry out the order!" ”

"Yes!" Zhang Zhiji immediately arranged for the archers to shoot, and at the same time slandered in his heart, this Donggong is a child, he doesn't understand anything and is blind to command.

A group of archers in the Beijing camp shot indiscriminately, and a rain of arrows fell on the city. However, the clusters of arrows were only inserted on the ground a few dozen meters away from the Qing soldiers, which immediately caused bursts of laughter and scolding from the Qing soldiers under the city.

Seeing that the Ming army in the city did not dare to fight, the Qing army became more and more bold, chasing the people outside the city and rushing forward.

The people were chased by the Qing army, especially after seeing the arrows released at the head of the city, not only did they not stop, but changed their direction and rushed forward even harder, wanting to rush to the city gate.

The Qing army was not in a hurry to chase, and chased after it slowly, shooting arrows with bows and arrows from time to time at the fleeing people.

However, when the Qing army stopped advancing before reaching the "arrow forest", which was outside the range of the Ming archers, they were still very cautious.

Hundreds of Qing soldiers on war horses whistled at the Ming troops defending the city, laughing at Manchu and constantly provoking.