Chapter 340: Fierce Battle in Tongling City

Gao Yingxiang has never forgotten the reason why he came to Nanzhili, he came to grab supplies and expand his strength, not to find the living king of Hades desperately.

There is no point in guarding the cold water pass, and the gains and losses of sending troops to Laoshan outweigh the losses, so it will be difficult now. After a while, Gao Yingxiang smiled bitterly and shook his head, "It seems that we can only quickly withdraw the army of Gushan." When the army is withdrawn, we can transfer our troops out of Lengshui Pass and deal with the officers and soldiers in Tongling. ”

Hearing Gao Yingxiang say this, Niu Jinxing breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, he had long thought about withdrawing his troops, but he just didn't dare to say it. At the beginning, Chen Bing Gushan made the Gushan army a nail and locked the soldiers and horses of Nanzhili near Luzhou Mansion, which was Gao Yingxiang's proud work. Now that he is saying that he should evacuate Gushan quickly, doesn't it mean that Gao Yingxiang used a stupid trick at that time?

Fortunately, Gao Yingxiang said it himself, otherwise Niu Jinxing would really be thinking about how to open this mouth.

Gao Yingxiang and Niu Jinxing have made a decision here, and the next thing is much simpler. Of course, Gao Yingxiang is not stupid, he first asked people to pay attention to the situation of Zhou Dingshan's army in Lengshuiguan, and Zhou Dingshan did not order to attack Lengshuiguan for two consecutive days, Gao Yingxiang concluded that the goal of the officers and soldiers was not Lengshuiguan, so he ordered the army on the Gushan side to retreat south in turn.

In order to prevent Zhou Dingshan's army from intercepting Beishan, Wang Yan was also ordered to take the initiative to contain it. In this way, three days passed, and the 20,000-strong army of Gushan finally withdrew to the south of Lengshui Pass unharmed. The Gushan army withdrew, Gao Yingxiang no longer had any worries, waved his hand, and ordered Wang Yan to abandon the Lengshui Pass, and the army gathered in Lujiang City.

In this way, Gao Yingxiang can divide nearly 30,000 troops into the Tongling battlefield. Zhou Dingshan was naturally happy to occupy Lengshuiguan, but in contrast, the generals of Nanzhili in Tongling kept scolding their mothers. The soldiers and horses of Xuanfu entered the territory of Luzhou Mansion, and they also expected the border army of Xuanfu to contain some of the thieves, but they didn't expect this gang of northern Yankees to be so brainy, not only did they not contain the main force of the thieves, but they also drove the rogue to the vicinity of Tongling.

At the beginning of November of the third year of Chongzhen, the weather cooled down suddenly, and even the south was affected by the cold snap. Fortunately, Hai Lanzhu and Chang Minyue were prepared and prepared a lot of winter clothes in advance. But Gao Yingxiang was a little difficult, so he could only order the generals under his command to rob, which made Anqing Mansion complain. But even so, the peasant army around Tongling still lacked warm clothing.

On the fourth day of the first month of November, Tiemo and Wang Zuohang entered Chaoxian along Chaohu Lake, and at the same time, Geng Zhongming and Liu Guoneng increased their troops at Lengshui Pass, and they had the posture of capturing Lujiang City in one fell swoop. Lujiang City can be related to the safety of the Tongling army, once the Lujiang River is lost, the Xuanfu border army can go south along the Lujiang River, cut off the road of Tongling to the west and return to Anqing Mansion, so the peasant army naturally refused to give in easily, Gao Yingxiang and Niu Jinxing discussed, gathered 40,000 Ma Tun soldiers in the Beixia Pass southwest of the Lujiang River, and Lujiang City formed a corner. As long as the soldiers and horses of Xuanfu dare to send troops to Lujiang City, Gao Yingxiang will dare to pull the army out to fight a vicious battle.

It can be said that for the sake of Lujiang City, Gao Yingxiang has made sufficient preparations, and even made the idea of asking Wang Yan to withdraw to help. But when Gao Yingxiang made all the arrangements, the Xuanfu army stationed at Lengshui Pass went out. For several days in a row, in addition to normal training, the soldiers and horses of the Xuanfu Department were left to bake the fire and watch the scenery, and that posture had no intention of attacking Lujiang City at all.

Gao Yingxiang really couldn't see through it, and jumped to his feet angrily, "What the hell is this living Hades going to do?" He Chen Bing Lengshuiguan, just to see the scenery? Tongling is fighting so hotly, this guy doesn't care. How do I think he intends to let us take Tongling City? ”

The corners of Niu Jinxing's mouth twitched, and his expression was a little painful. Rao is cunning and wise, he can't even see through this game, it's really a living Hell is always a moth, and he doesn't know what he can do. In the past two years, after many contacts, Niu Venus has become more and more annoying to the king of Hades. He can see that the living Hades are completely different from the other Ming generals, and he dares to do what others dare not do. He may not be able to do what others are willing to do, so every move of the Living Hades cannot be extrapolated by common sense. After pondering for a while, Niu Jinxing said with a little hesitation: "King Chuang, do you think it could be that the Living Yama King intends to let us go to Tongling City?" He Chen Bing Lengshui Pass is not for Lujiang City at all. ”

“？？？？” Gao Yingxiang stared, his first reaction was disbelief, he felt that Niu Jinxing was joking. The living king of Yama is the new governor of the three provinces of the imperial court, and he has the heavy responsibility of suppressing bandits, where did he have the courage to watch the righteous army gnaw down Tongling City, he is not afraid that the court will ask him for blame? But looking at Niu Jinxing's serious face, it didn't seem like a joke, and he couldn't help but say with a sad face: "This ..... Mr. Niu, are you sure you're not joking? ”

How could Niu Jinxing not know Gao Yingxiang's inner thoughts, in fact, he himself felt quite ridiculous, but he felt very reasonable, "King Chuang, it's not that his subordinates are thinking nonsense, you look back, since the Living Yama King came into contact with us, is there anything he doesn't dare to do?" colluded with Li Yangchun before, and cheated the political envoy of Henan, so dare to do this by another person? His subordinates observed that the living king of Hades was very bold, and he seemed to be not afraid of the court's blame. And the imperial court, it seems that there is nothing to do with him, King Chuang, don't you forget, the tens of thousands of troops under the command of the living king of Hades, which he raised himself, will he really listen to the orders of the court and do some thankless things? ”

"This ...... It seems that there is some truth" Gao Yingxiang rubbed his head, it was a headache, the living Hades were really incomprehensible. The generals of the court are not afraid of the court's criticism, no matter how you think about it, it feels very unreliable.

Compared with the quietness of Lujiang City, the treatment of Tongling City is not very good. After entering November, the temperature plummeted, and Li Zicheng and others also noticed the unfavorable climate change and wanted to lay down Tongling City as soon as possible before the arrival of midwinter. On the second day of November, Li Zicheng took Zheng Guosong as the vanguard and increased the siege force, and the pressure on the defenders of Tongling City increased sharply for a while. Now in charge of Tongling's military affairs is Nanjing General Wu Shixun, after the Liukou approached Tongling, Wu Shixun was urgently transferred.

After Wu Shixun came to Tongling, the first thing he did was to collect bricks, stones, plants and trees, build city walls, especially add many barbs to the city wall, which brought huge trouble to the peasant army. Although there were less than 40,000 defenders, Wu Shixun relied on flexible scheduling to make Li Zicheng unable to bargain at all.

However, the worst fears still happened. Li Zicheng gave up his tactics and used the tide of the rogue to attack again. Li Zicheng attacked the city on all sides and sent longbowmen to suppress it below. In this way, the problem of insufficient troops in Tongling was revealed, and under the urging of the leaders of the peasant armies of various departments, tens of thousands of peasant troops attacked Tongling City like crazy.

Wu Shixun stood at the head of the city, staring at the battlefield in front of him, his expression becoming more and more solemn. In the final analysis, Tongling is too small, and the foundation of the city's defense is too poor. Before, he tried his best to beat the peasant army besieging the city, hoping to beat the peasant army and make Li Zicheng relent. However, this Li Zicheng is very powerful, and he actually saw through this move, not only was he not fooled, but he also did the opposite.

Since the longer it drags on, the more unfavorable it will be to yourself, so it is better to take advantage of the morale of the army and take a big gamble. This is Li Zicheng's thoughts, but Li Zicheng did this, but he hit the nail on the head of Wu Shixun.

The 40,000 defenders are obviously sufficient in strength, but in fact, the soldiers are uneven, and the combat effectiveness is very problematic. Once a full-scale war starts, under the sudden increase in pressure, I am afraid that something will go wrong. Sure enough, an hour after the peasant army attacked the city, the soldiers and horses of the Beijing camp stationed in Xicheng were poked out of a hole.

A thousand presidents named Mo Tai in Xicheng were so frightened that he fled to the city when he saw the peasant army climbing up like ants. This Mo Tai is the son of Mo Qinghe, the squire of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites, and his status is very noble, he originally entered the military camp with gold, and he wanted to join the military department to seek a job, but he didn't expect to encounter the peasant army attacking the city. In desperation, he came to Tongling, which was okay before, but now the peasant army's crazy attack, the weakness in Motai's bones was immediately revealed.

It is said that this kind of Qianzong who escaped from the battle should be caught and killed on the spot. But the one who defended the West City was Wei Zitai, the general of the Beijing camp, who was afraid of Mo Qinghe's revenge, so he hesitated and let Mo Tai escape. Mo Tai ran away, and the morale of more than 2,000 people under his command was immediately lost. The leaders all ran away, and the soldiers below were even more reluctant to sell their lives, although there was still bullet pressure from above, but under the negative face of the enemy, a section of Xicheng was quickly touched by the peasant army.

It was Liu Zongmin's department who was responsible for attacking Xicheng, and Liu Zongmin, who was the leader of the 100-man team, saw that there was a gap, like a demon who smelled blood, and pounced directly. The big knife flew left and right, rushing to kill, and the surrounding officers and soldiers dared to break it. Under the leadership of Liu Zongmin, this gap was torn up more and more, and finally affected the entire Xicheng city defense.

Liu Zongmin did not stay in the city, but rushed into the city along the stone steps with people. This can take Wei Zitai's old life, a corner of Xicheng was affected by the peasant army, and there was a big chaos, which directly led to the inability of the guards to defend the city, and many soldiers and horses galloping to help Xicheng were also attracted to the past, which made the crumbling Xicheng City even worse.

In desperation, Wei Zitai finally sent a letter of help like Wu Shixun. The herald hurriedly went to find Wu Shixun, at this time Wu Shixun was supervising the battle in Beicheng, and when he heard about the matter in Xicheng, the whole popularity was scolded. Wu Shixun doesn't blame Mo Tai, Mo Tai is a second ancestor, it is natural to be unreliable, and it is evil to be reliable. Mo Tai is unreliable, then Wei Zitai will tie him up in the city, this person dares to escape, and he will be cut with a knife. At this juncture, how can you take into account the identity of the other party?

"Wei Zitai, misunderstand me" Wu Shixun scolded, quickly calmed himself down, even if Wei Zitai was wrong, he couldn't move him at this time. If there is a problem in the defense of Xicheng City, you have to find a way to make up for it, after thinking for a while, Wu Shixun was ruthless in his heart and ordered: "Go to Nancheng, tell Gu Changhe, let him rush to Xicheng within a quarter of an hour, there must be no mistake." ”

Wu Shixun actually took a great risk by doing this, transferring Gu Changhe to Xicheng, once the peasant army noticed it, it would definitely rush to Nancheng desperately. But at this time, there is no other way, there are reserves under him, but they are useless. The only one who can really fight, and who has the hope of repelling the thieves who entered the city, is the elite soldier under Gu Changhe.

The 3,000 soldiers of the Tuishan Battalion under the command of Gu Changhe were brought by the old man Xu Hongji all the year round, and the combat power was the first of the 16 battalions in Nanjing. In this kind of tough battle, the only one who can be counted on is Gu Changhe.

After Gu Changhe got the order, he didn't say anything, and quietly withdrew from the Nancheng battlefield with his soldiers and horses, in order to prevent the peasant army from discovering that something was wrong, he deliberately pounced on all the reserves behind him, and even launched a round of counterattack. After withdrawing from the city, Gu Changhe knew what had happened, and at this time he also somewhat understood why General Wu had withdrawn the Tuishan camp at this juncture.

"Hey, Wei Zitai, Wei Zitai, what do you say you eat, just maintain the relationship on weekdays, at this time, I still want not to offend people" After the war, Wei Zitai will definitely be unlucky, and no one dares to intercede for him. It's a little angry to think about this, Wei Zitai will be held accountable, but the culprit Mo Tai may not be fine. Those civil servants are very powerful, and their mouths are turned up and down, and the black can be said to be white.

Gu Changhe rushed to the aid of Xicheng, and met Liu Zongmin who led the troops to burn and kill on the way, and the two couldn't help but say, so they fought together. However, Gu Changhe was still very smart, he took some soldiers and horses to entangle Liu Zongmin, but let most of the soldiers and horses rush to the west city wall.

Gu Changhe did this, Liu Zongmin panicked. Liu Zongmin is observant, and he can see at a glance that this army is unusual, once this army plugs the gap, then he Liu will not be a turtle in the urn?

So, Liu Zongmin forced Gu Changhe to retreat with one move, and the knife was gone, so he turned around and ran in the direction of the city wall, "Brothers,...."

Gu Changhe held a spear and narrowed his eyes, "This person is smart!" ”

Although it was a pity, Gu Changhe was not in a hurry to pursue Liu Zongmin, but put his energy on the gap competition. With the addition of the strong combat force of the Tuishan battalion, the counterattack of the officers and soldiers went much smoother, and after an hour of fierce fighting, Liu Zongmin's department was finally repulsed, the gap was closed, and the alarm of the Xicheng city defense was temporarily lifted.

A day of fierce battles ended in prayer.

The sun was setting, there was no cheering in Tongling City, and many people were sitting in the pile of corpses, gasping numbly. Many people don't know how they survived, and for these soldiers in Beijing, this vicious battle is a grind, but also a blow.

How many more days will this fight continue? How many days can you hold on to yourself?

One day, Tongling City will be crumbling, so what about two days, three days?

And Wu Shixun knew very well in his heart that at this level, Tongling City would not be able to hold out for three days. Therefore, reinforcements are necessary, no matter how difficult it is, there must be reinforcements!