Just when Ma Cheng divided the defense area according to the diagram, all the generals under his command had already arrived, in addition to the four major generals, there were five deputy generals, twenty staff generals and other senior officers, even twenty-four commanders outside the city, and twelve commanders in the city also arrived, after all, everyone knew what kind of temper this military lord had, and if he was slightly dissatisfied, he would lose his head.

Zhu Tong, a Chinese officer, inspected that all the senior officers had arrived, and came to Ma Cheng and bowed down to report: "Lord Yujunmen, all the generals have arrived!" ”

Ma Cheng nodded, stood up and looked at the generals in the room, and then said: "You all know that the military situation in the southern capital is urgent, and now the northern captives have occupied Yangzhou, the Shi Pavilion Department has been martyred, and most of the four towns in the south of the Yangtze River have surrendered to the enemy, and the next step is ours!" ”

Today is the 26th, the news of Jiangbei has just reached Nanjing, although everyone knows that Yangzhou has been lost, but they did not expect that the four towns of Jiangbei have surrendered to the enemy. Now listening to Ma Cheng's solid news, he can't help but whisper.

Ma Cheng waved his hand and said, "Don't say it, since we are Ming soldiers, we must obey the orders of His Majesty the Emperor!" After Ma Cheng finished speaking, he picked up the holy decree from the back table, opened it and read: "Fengtian carrier, the emperor's edict said: I hereby order Admiral Ma Cheng to be in charge of all the defense of the southern capital, and the soldiers and horses of the inner city and the twelve guards of the inner city are all under Ma Cheng's control, Qin this!" ”

With this holy decree, Ma Cheng became the de facto supreme military governor of Nanjing, and the twelve guards of the inner city were still a little awkward before, but after hearing the holy decree, they all knelt down and said that they obeyed the decree.

Ma Cheng finished reading the holy decree, and then put it on the offering table, and then said: "Everyone knows what the holy decree means, His Majesty the Emperor has decided to live and die with the city, and we are deeply favored by the emperor, and we must fight to the death to repay the emperor's kindness!" ”

The generals in the room had different thoughts, but they didn't dare to show it now, and they quickly knelt down on their knees and shouted in unison: "Please rest assured, Lord Junmen, we will fight bravely to kill the enemy and serve the court!" ”

Ma Cheng also knew that these guys were insincere, but what else could they do now? They can only be restrained by severe punishment.

Ma Cheng picked up an arrow from the case and said: "Zhang Guozhu, you lead the front battalion of 5,000 men and horses to garrison Chaoyangmen, Zhengyangmen, and Tongjimen, and at the same time allocate six guards to you, remember that if you retreat, you can't kill them!" Kill those who lose their positions! Kill those who disrespect orders! ”

Ma Cheng's three killing words were violent, and Zhang Guozhu stepped forward and knelt down on one knee: "The last general will take the order!" ”

Ma Cheng picked up Zhang Guozhu and said: "General Zhang, this governor estimates that Zhengyangmen is the main battlefield here, and you have the most combat experience, so please leave it to you here!" ”

Zhang Guozhu nodded and said, "Please rest assured, as long as the last general still has a breath of air, he will not let the northern captives occupy Zhengyangmen!" ”

Ma Cheng nodded, and picked up the second arrow: "Ma Bao listens to the order, you lead the soldiers of the left battalion to garrison Jubaomen, Sanshan Gate, and Shicheng Gate, and also allocate you six guards!" ”

Ma Bao also stood up to take the general's order, and Luo Bingran was the same, his defense line was the longest, but the difficulty of defense was much lower than that of Zhang Guozhu and Ma Bao.

After Ma Cheng arranged the three general soldiers, he glanced at Ma Xi, and then said: "Ma Xi, this governor handed over the Jinchuan Gate, Shence Gate, and Taiping Gate to you for defense, and also allocated you six guards, can you guarantee the safety of these three gates?" ”

Ma Xi is now a qualified general, and when he heard Ma Cheng say this, he stood up and knelt on one knee and said: "Please rest assured, Lord Junmen, the last general is guaranteed to be at the city gate!" ”

"Okay, Ma Xi, you have to remember that although you are the younger brother of the Governor, the military law is ruthless, and if there is any mistake, the Governor will not be able to protect you!" After Ma Cheng finished speaking, he handed the arrow to Ma Xi.

Now there is still the last arrow left, Ma Cheng looked at Lu Siye who was standing behind, he was just a general, of course he had to stand at the end.

"Lu Siye!"

Lu Siye originally thought that there was nothing wrong with him, but now he heard Ma Cheng tell him to quickly stand up and kneel down on one knee and say, "The last will be!" ”

"Lu Siye, this governor handed over the soldiers and horses and the twelve guards of the inner city to you, you selected strong men to maintain law and order in the city, and at the same time were responsible for transporting supplies and rescuing the wounded during the battle, can you do it?"

Lu Siye didn't expect Ma Cheng to hand over the most difficult task to himself, the commanders of the twelve guards in the inner city were all from the second rank, and the deputy general was at the same level, and he was just a general, I was afraid that the order would not move them!

Ma Cheng saw that Lu Siye was embarrassed, and knew what he was worried about, Ma Cheng then said to the commander of the twelve guards in the inner city: "Commander of the twelve guards, this governor was not familiar with you before, but you should have heard of the reputation of this governor, and now the lives of millions of people in the whole city of Nandu are in our hands, and this governor will definitely not allow the slightest mistake." Therefore, good words are said in the front, if you have any difficulties, raise them now, and the governor will replace them! ”

After Ma Cheng finished speaking, he looked at the twelve people, and the twelve commanders looked at each other, knowing that if they didn't agree, the throne of the commanders would be replaced, so the twelve people hesitated for a moment, and they all knelt down and said: "Please rest assured, Lord Junmen, the last general will listen to the command of General Lu!" "020 reading

Ma Cheng nodded, and said loudly: "In this case, everyone must fight to kill the enemy, and when they repel the Northern Captive, the Governor will personally ask for credit for you!" ”

As soon as Ma Cheng finished speaking, a commander stood up and said, "Lord Junmen, the last general has something to say!" ”

Ma Cheng glanced at this person, who was one of the twenty-four guards in the outer city, but Ma Cheng forgot what his name was. Zhu Tong, as a lieutenant officer, hurriedly leaned in Ma Cheng's ear and reminded: "My lord, this is Mei Chun, the commander of Xiaolingwei!" ”

It turned out to be Xiaolingwei, that is, the guy who looked at the grave for Zhu Yuanzhang. These guys were all selected brave and good fighters in the past, but now more than 200 years later, it is estimated that they have degenerated into a group of farmers.

"Commander Mei, what's the matter with you?"

This Mei Chun is the hereditary commander of Xiaolingwei, his ancestor is the founder of the Ming Dynasty, the Marquis of Runan, Mei Sizu, the first commander of Xiaolingwei is Mei Yongzhen, who is also the grandson of Mei Sizu, and the grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang.

Mei Yongzhen's father is called Mei Yin and married Princess Ningguo, the daughter of Zhu Yuanzhang. After the Jingyan Change, Zhu Di, the king of Yan, moved south from the north, and Mei Yin supported troops to resist Yan according to the Huai River. Later, the city of Nanjing was breached by Zhu Di, and Zhu Di asked his sister Princess Ningguo to recall the concubine Mei Yin in blood.

After the upright Mei Yin returned to Nanjing, he sarcastically mocked his ambitious brother-in-law Zhu Di in court. Although Mei Yin was not punished on the surface, he was squeezed off the Jinshui Bridge and drowned soon after when he was in the court.

After the incident, Zhu Di pretended to send someone to investigate the matter, and the perpetrator actually said that he was instructed by the emperor. Zhu Di didn't do anything, and simply beheaded the perpetrator with his palm. At this point, the princess of Ningguo quit, crying and crying to ask the imperial brother Zhu Di for the concubine, Zhu Di had to treat the Mei family well, and Mei Yin's son Mei Yongzhen was appointed as the commander of the filial piety guard.

The Mei family has been inherited to Mei Chun here for seven commanders, and because of Mei Yin's loyalty and filial piety, successive Ming Dynasty emperors have great trust in the Mei family. And the Mei family also regards guarding Xiaoling as their duty, so today Xiaolingwei received a military order from Ma Cheng to let them all withdraw to the city, and Mei Chun, who was a diehard loyalist of Zhu Yuanzhang, was of course unwilling.

Mei Chun stood up and arched his hand and said: "Lord Junmen, our Xiaolingwei is responsible for guarding the mausoleum of Emperor Gao, we are willing to die for Emperor Gao, please let all Xiaolingwei be loyal to Emperor Gao!" ”

Ma Cheng heard Mei Chun say this, and knew that this guy was crazy, they only had 5,600 people at most, and it was a dead end to face hundreds of thousands of Qing troops. But whether they die or not has nothing to do with Ma Cheng's half a dime, but today is the day when Ma Cheng divides his troops and deploys generals, and you Mei Chun jumps out and slaps his face, which is really too bad for Ma Cheng's face.

But Ma Cheng can't get angry yet, after all, everyone has said that he wants to die for Emperor Taizu, wouldn't he be disrespectful to Taizu if he is not allowed? Ma Cheng thought for a while and Wen Yan said, "Commander Mei, how many sergeants do you still have in Xiaolingwei?" ”

"Lord Hui, there are still three hundred and eighty-eight people left!"

After hearing this, Ma Cheng asked, "Commander Mei, do you think your more than 300 people can deal with hundreds of thousands of northern captives?" ”

Mei Chun said arrogantly: "Killing one is enough, killing two earns one!" ”

Hearing this guy say this, Ma Cheng is really speechless, what else can you say to a madman? Ma Cheng wasn't ready to say anything, turned around and took down the holy decree, and then asked in a loud voice: "Mei Chun, this governor has the holy decree of the Son of Heaven, do you want to resist the decree?" ”

Ma Cheng had already taken out the holy decree to press him, and according to the logic of ordinary people, he just borrowed the donkey from the slope and bowed down to receive the order. Knowing that this Mei Chun was dead, he quickly knelt down when he saw the holy decree, but said in his mouth: "Lord Junmen, Mei Yin, the ancestor of the last general, died for Emperor Jianwen, and the last general is also ready to learn from the ancestors, if the Lord Junmen does not allow it, then the last general will enter the palace to ask to see His Majesty the Emperor!" ”

Ma Cheng saw that this guy was going to find the emperor, this is not good, Ma Cheng's holy decree was originally unclear, it was made by Ma Shiying misinterpreting the emperor's meaning, and now Mei Chun is going to see the emperor, so won't this holy decree be exposed?

Thinking of this, Ma Cheng didn't know what to do, this Mei Chun's words were all reasonable, and there was no way for Ma Cheng to take him.

At this time, Zhang Guozhu, who was the first person in the general army, stood up and said: "My lord, since Commander Mei is so loyal, why not satisfy him?" The third peak of the Purple Mountain outside the Taiping Gate is less than three miles away from the south, standing on it can have a bird's-eye view of the whole southern capital, this is an important location, it is better to hand it over to the commander of Mei to defend, the third peak is not far from Xiaoling, just can take care of both ends! ”

Ma Cheng knew that this was Zhang Guozhu and the mud, anyway, if you want to send it to death, then go, more than 300 people staying outside is estimated to be not enough for the Qing army to stuff their teeth.

Ma Cheng asked Mei Chun, "Commander Mei, do you think this is satisfactory?" ”

Mei Chun thought about it, the third peak is the highest main peak of the Purple Mountain, since he can take care of Xiaoling and Nandu here, isn't this the best of both worlds? Thinking of this, Mei Chun said: "The last general will obey the orders of the military generals!" ”

In this way, the six guards under the command of Ma Xi became the five guards, but Ma Cheng didn't take it to heart, originally the Taipingmen side was not the main battlefield, so there were fewer people!