In the early morning of June 14, the twelfth year of Chongzhen, in the sound of the loud swan trumpet, 50,000 Qing troops launched a fierce attack on Zhuozhou City. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Sure enough, as Lu Xiangsheng expected, these Qing troops, on the second day after the siege equipment arrived, could not wait to launch an attack on Zhuozhou City.

At this time, under Lu Xiangsheng's arrangement, he personally guarded the north gate facing the Qing army camp, Yang Tinglin, the squire of the military department, guarded the east gate, the second brother Lu Xiangjin and the third brother Lu Xiangguan guarded the west gate, the fourth brother Lu Xiangtong and the fifth brother Lu Xiangkun guarded the south gate, and the Ming troops on the city walls were all ready to fight.

Looking at the Qing army under the four city walls, carrying all kinds of siege equipment, the overwhelming black and overwhelming, all the Ming soldiers defending the city, their faces were full of despair.

"Brothers, do not be afraid! We wait for the Ming officials and soldiers, to receive the important task of the imperial court, kill the Tartars, and report to the country, just today! As long as you can repel the Qing army's attack, the court will definitely have a heavy reward! ”

Seeing that his soldiers were depressed for a while, Lu Xiangsheng waved his sword and shouted, trying his best to motivate the soldiers.

There was only silence in his answer.

In the heart of every soldier of the Ming Army, there is actually a scale. In such a serious situation where the enemy is outnumbered and the strength and weakness are too great, the chance of winning this Zhuozhou defense battle is too small.

Soon, the Qing army shouted and came forward, the city gate hit the hammer, the siege ladder, the wooden car and other siege equipment, the total number of forests was extremely large, so that the Ming army at the head of the city was more and more frightened.

The next battle was even more one-sided.

Although on the city wall, rolling wood and stones, gold juice ash bottles poured down like rain, and there were sporadic artillery shots, but for the Qing army hiding in the wooden car, the damage was not great, and all kinds of siege equipment still slowly approached the Zhuozhou city wall.

The Qing army, which was strong in combat and had high morale, quickly put the Ming army defending the city with low morale into an extremely dangerous predicament.

"Governor Lu, Yang Shilang said that the enemy soldiers are close to the east gate, and they are smashing the city gate with a battering ram, and the east gate may be difficult to hold!"

"Big brother, at the west gate, the ash bottle of gold juice is almost exhausted, and the enemy army has nearly twenty siege ladders approaching!"

"Lord Lu, outside the south gate, the Qing army took turns shooting at our city under the cover of the wooden car, arrows were like rain, dense and ferocious, and my soldiers defending the city suffered heavy casualties!"

Listening to the danger signals coming one after another, Lu Xiangsheng's face was as pale as paper, and his lips kept trembling.

He no longer had half of the reinforcements in his hands, so he could only keep repeating those consolation clichés to appease the soldiers who came to report with a frightened face, but the bitterness and resentment in his heart were incomprehensible.

The north gate, which Lu Xiangsheng personally guarded, was actually extremely dangerous.

The huge ram slammed the north gate with a loud bang. And the siege ladders that have struggled to come over have gradually reached the head of the city, and they can no longer be pushed away.

Looking at the rows of siege ladders, the Qing army climbed up like a group of dense ants, Lu Xiangsheng was full of desolation and helplessness in his heart.

Soon, the Qing army attacked the head of the city and quickly strangled with the Ming army defending the city.

The clanging of swords, the porphyry of broken bones, the popping of piercing into the human body, and the screams of soldiers dying sounded at the scene.

"Lord Lu, the enemy army is fierce, and our army is afraid that it will not be able to hold it!"

Stopped at the entrance of a siege ladder, Chen An, the captain of the family who was covered in blood, shouted at Lu Xiangsheng in despair.

Before Lu Xiangsheng could reply, he suddenly heard two loud bangs, and at the same time, it seemed that the entire city wall was trembling.

"Lord Lu, it's not good! The two gates of the north gate and the east gate were breached by the Qing captives! A soldier screamed nearby.

Lu Xiangsheng's face turned pale, and he was so shocked that he could barely speak.

This Qing army's offensive is so fierce and ferocious, it is almost impossible to parry!

From the Qing army's attack to the present, a total of more than an hour has passed, and this Zhuozhou city is full of loopholes, and it is impossible to effectively resist the Qing army.

What's even more terrifying is that since the Qing army has already broken through the city gate, it is impossible for me to retreat from the city and hold on to the streets. can only let the Qing army attack up and down, and wipe out the Ming army that was attacked by the enemy on the wall.

Lu Xiangsheng suddenly laughed miserably, he brushed the ground and drew his sword, and shouted loudly: "Let's go, the only one who will die through the ages, let me Lu Jiandou, die here today for the country!" Brothers, follow me to fight to the death and be loyal! ”

After Lu Xiangsheng finished speaking, he drew his sword in his hand and slashed angrily at the Qing army that was pouring into the city.

Outside the north gate, Dolgon, the commander of the Qing army, slowly lowered the clairvoyant mirror, and a smug smile welled up on his face.

Hmph, the city of Zhuozhou is about to be destroyed, and these remnants of the Ming army defending the city are now all lambs to be slaughtered. The head of Lu Xiangsheng, the commander of the Ming army, would have been taken!

"General Chuanben ordered the whole army to speed up the siege of the city, and be sure to break through Zhuozhou as soon as possible. Zhuozhou City Ruoke, the whole army for two days, the wealth and goods in the city, let the soldiers take their own! ”

"Huh!"

Hearing this order from the commander, all the attacking Qing troops let out thunderous cheers, whether it was the full army, or the Mongolian soldiers, or the Han army, they all looked excited, and everyone's eyes showed a greedy and fierce expression like a beast.

The more fierce the Qing army's offensive, the more difficult the situation of the Ming army became.

"Get out of the way! You fools, Hugh is going to mistake Ben Beizi, but take the head of Lu Xiangsheng! ”

Accompanied by the army to attack the city, Beizi Nikan, who was covered in blood, roared towards the panicked and desperately resisted Ming army, and slashed and slashed at the past under the escort of a group of white swing tooth elite soldiers.

An ignorant Qing soldier was kicked away by his angry kick in front of Bei Zinikan, whose eyes were red.

Nikan looked carefully, the one who was tightly surrounded by a group of family members in the middle, wearing a red-tasseled phoenix-winged helmet, wearing gilded scale mountain pattern armor, phoenix eyes and broad forehead, with three locks of clear hair, and his temperament was more like the chief general of a civil official, if it wasn't Lu Xiangsheng, who else could it be? !

Fuck it! As long as you take the head of this Han dog general, your own name, I'm afraid it should be crowned as Baylor by Beizi.

Nikan made a plan in his heart, his eyes were even more greedy and ferocious, and the tiger knife in his hand slashed towards the Ming army faster and faster, and where the sword light passed, the wail sounded.

Looking at the Qing army in the upper and lower parts of the city, approaching him closer and closer, Lu Xiangsheng's heart was full of despair.

It seems that this Zhuozhou City is really the burial place of Lu.

Eat the king's lu, share the king's worries, although Lu was plotted by the villain, but he can die here for the country's loyalty, and he can be regarded as a well-deserved death!

Lu Xiangsheng, who was already injured in many places on his body, his face was full of determination to die, like a wounded lion, shouting left and right, and on a Longquan sword, blood was dripping and shocking.

It's just that as time goes by, the Ming troops around Lu Xiangsheng keep screaming and falling, and the number of guards is getting smaller and smaller.

"Ming General, take your life!"

After another pro-soldier was slashed open by a white swing tooth Laqing soldier and staggered down, Bei Zi Nikan saw the opportunity, shouted in his mouth, and slashed with the tiger knife in his hand, and the sharp blade slashed through Lu Xiangsheng's copper belly, penetrating into the abdomen, and when the tip of the knife cut out, a stream of blood splattered out.

Lu Xiangsheng screamed miserably and almost fell off the city wall.

"Lord Governor!"

Seeing that the main master Lu Xiangsheng was injured, a group of Ming soldiers who were fighting desperately, everyone was sad, shouted in panic, and came to Lu Xiangsheng's escort.

Chen An, the captain of the family, roared and rushed over to the side, cutting off the head of the Qing soldier who attacked Lu Xiangsheng with a knife, and the ugly head rolled down the city wall.

The main general, Lu Xiangsheng's face was as pale as paper, and he was tightly held by two personal soldiers. It's just that Rao is like this, and in the mouth of the seriously injured coach, he is still shouting to kill the enemy, which makes the Ming army who are desperately fighting both excited and sad.

And Dolgon, who saw all this clearly through the clairvoyant mirror, had a smile on his face that was as bright as the sun at this time.

If Lu Xiangsheng, the chief general of the Ming army, dies, this Zhuozhou, I am afraid that it can be captured in a snap of a finger.

Then, next, after two days of wanton looting in the city of Zhuozhou, he can go to Shandong without worries.

Dolgon, who was full of ambition, was already thinking about how much capture he would have in the future. At this time, he suddenly heard the faint sound of horses' hooves in his ears.

He subconsciously turned his head to look in the direction where the voice came from, but was shocked to find that at the eastern horizon, at the end of the turquoise plain, a faint black line suddenly gushed out.

Dolgon's face changed dramatically, and he casually raised the clairvoyant mirror and looked carefully.

He saw through the clairvoyant mirror that the faint black line was rapidly becoming thicker and thicker, and as if by magic, it finally became a large number of rushing cavalry ranks.

The horses' hooves rumbled, the earth trembled slightly, and Dolgon was surprised to see that there were at least 5,000 cavalrymen, rushing in the direction of his own formation, speeding up with all their might!

And in these galloping cavalry formations, several bright red flags are flying high, hunting and flying, and the big black "Tang" character on it is extremely eye-catching and dazzling in the sun.

Oh my God, it turned out to be Li Xiao's Tang Army who came to help!

"This, what's going on, isn't Li Xiao in Shandong? Why, how could you suddenly come to the aid of this Zhuozhou City?! ”

Dorgon lowered his clairvoyant mirror, his expression shocked to the point of disbelief.

That's right! The troops who came were indeed Li Xiao's Tang Army.

It was Li Xiao, the Duke of Tang Guo, who personally led the cavalry of the Tang Army and rushed to aid Zhuozhou City!

It turned out that after Li Xiao returned to Dengzhou on the same day, he received a flying pigeon message from Liu Wenxiu, deputy commander of the Dingbei battalion.

Liu Wenxiu informed in the letter that the Dingbei Battalion had now been sent to reinforce troops and horses, and they were transferred to the area of Lutai in Shuntianfu (now Ninghe District, Tianjin City) to garrison the sea to prevent the Qing army from going down the coast.

Lu Xiangsheng's troops continued to be stationed in Zhuozhou, but the two troops and horses of Shanxi General Hu Dawei and Yang Guozhu, deputy general of Xuanfu Town, had been transferred to other places by Yang Sichang. That Lu Xiangsheng has few generals, and there are no reinforcements outside Zhuozhou City, so it may be difficult to defend it for a long time.

Almost instantly, Li Xiao thought of Lu Xiangsheng's real situation and tragic fate in the history of the late Ming Dynasty.

He absolutely did not want such a tragic history to repeat itself again.

Although Lu Xiangsheng once met with his own sword soldiers and was forced to surrender to himself, Li Xiao was still full of respect for this tragic hero in the late Ming Dynasty.

After all, in the chaotic and cruel era of the late Ming Dynasty, there were countless Ming Dynasty officials and generals who surrendered to the Qing captives and liukou. However, a Ming official like Lu Xiangsheng, who is selfless, honest, and sacrificed his life for the country and dedicated himself to serving the country, is as scarce as a rare one.

Such a person, who can be called the backbone of the country and the nation, if he just died in the grass and died on the battlefield just like history, it is regrettable.

Now Lu Xiangsheng, although he will not die in the wilderness in the battle of Jiazhuang as in history, but the lone army is guarding the city of Zhuozhou, once the Qing army goes south from Tongzhou, this Zhuozhou will become a nail that they must remove.

Li Xiao believed that as long as the Qing army attacked with all its might, this small city of Zhuozhou would only be decided with one blow. That Lu Xiangsheng will inevitably die in the battle of Zhuozhou.

He thought worriedly, perhaps, by the time he received the letter, the Qing army had begun to attack southward.

Therefore, Li Xiao immediately replied to Liu Wenxiu, telling him that he would immediately lead the soldiers and horses of Xingzhong Town, cross the sea to the land of Lutai to meet with the Dingbei camp, and then the whole army marched westward to Zhuozhou, and it was necessary to rescue Lu Xiangsheng from danger.

Subsequently, Li Xiao stayed in the soldiers and horses of the first battalion of Xingzhong Town, and under the command of Tian Wei, the mayor of Xingzhong Town, they were stationed in Dengzhou. He himself personally led the soldiers and horses of the second battalion of Xingzhong Town, and took Liu Guoneng, the deputy general of Xingzhong Town, as well as all the cavalry troops of Xingzhong Town, such as Xuanhu Heavy Cavalry, Flying Harrier, and Manchurian Cavalry Commander, as well as the Rampant General and the Fire Hammer Commander, with a total of nearly 20,000 soldiers and horses.

The sailors marched all the way, and after three days, they reached the place of Lutai, and then the two armies converged.

Li Xiao immediately made a plan, and he and Liu Wenxiu led all the cavalry of Xingzhong Town and Dingbei Battalion as the vanguard force, and rushed straight to Zhuozhou.

In addition, all the infantry teams were led by Liu Guoneng as the main reserve force and went to Zhuozhou in formation.

This batch of cavalry units formed by the combination of Xingzhong Town and Dingbei Battalion included 2,400 Xuanhu heavy cavalry, 2,400 Flying Harrier light cavalry, and 1,800 Manchurian cavalry, with a total of 6,600 cavalry, and the momentum was extremely vast and magnificent.

The cavalry of the Tang Army ran for a day and a night, and finally came to the boundary of Zhuozhou at dawn.

No sooner had all the cavalry eaten their dry rations than they heard a faint sound of a swan's trumpet outside the western horizon.

Li Xiao and Liu Wenxiu's faces suddenly changed greatly.

The Qing army, which entered the dog, had already arrived outside the city of Zhuozhou, and now, it was about to start attacking the city again.

It seems that Lu Xiangsheng and all the defenders of Zhuozhou are already in danger.

Li Xiao was extremely anxious, he didn't think much about it, and immediately gave the order, the whole army stopped resting, marched westward with all his might, and must rush to the city of Zhuozhou as soon as possible.

6,600 cavalry of the Tang Army, galloping on horseback in the endless Jizhong Plain, just like rolling thunder on the flat ground, the momentum shook the heavens and the earth, and it was extremely majestic and intimidating.

After seeing the location of the camp of the main general of the Qing army, Li Xiao immediately pointed forward with his whip and shouted loudly: "The whole army obeys the order, immediately follow the prince to attack the Qing army's main formation, and must break through the location of the main general of the Qing army in one fell swoop, regardless of any cost and loss, and will definitely rescue Governor Lu!" ”

"Order!"

And when they saw that on the distant horizon, there were a large number of fierce cavalry rushing towards them, and the two armies of the Ming and Qing dynasties who attacked and killed each other in the city of Zhuozhou were very stunned.

And when they all saw clearly the bright sun and moon flag flying high in the troops they came, and the more eye-catching "Tang" character military flag, the Ming army defending the city, which was on the verge of collapse in desperate battles, suddenly broke out into a thunderous cheer.

And those Qing soldiers were all full of consternation, with expressions of shock and disbelief. They couldn't imagine that the Qing Dynasty soldiers were almost invincible in the entire Shuntian Mansion, so where did such an elite and powerful large number of Ming cavalry suddenly come from?

"Lord Lu, our reinforcements are here! It's the Tang Army of Lord Li of Tang Guogong who is here!! ”

Chen An, the captain of the family, supported Lu Xiangsheng, who was dying with his eyes closed, but his face was full of excitement and surprise. He yelled loudly at Lu Xiangsheng's ear in an almost pitched voice.