Tao Min stood outside Beijing and silently watched the battlefield in front of him, the battle was extremely fierce for a while, and his Korean new army suffered many casualties, but Huang Taiji's Eight Banners had been holding still, and Tao Min's heart was more or less dissatisfied.

Tao Min received information from Xie Tian yesterday that Yang Sichang and Hong Chengchou did not return to Beijing to help, and the 300,000 Ming troops still went to Xi'an. Tao Min was mixed for this information. If the Ming army did not come back, the pressure on itself was not great, and no matter how hard they worked, it was not impossible to take down Beijing. However, 300,000 Ming troops attacked Xi'an, including more than 10,000 Yulin troops, it seems that Li Zicheng will not be able to hold out for long, but how long the Ming army can take Xi'an, Tao Min does not count in his heart.

Beijing is now fighting a stalemate again, and if it drags on like this, it will be in vain if it is not done well. Tao Min made up his mind in his heart, and he had to persuade Huang Taiji to use his 40,000 Eight Banners no matter what.

Tao Min didn't know what happened to Yaksa yet, and Huang Taiji secretly ordered Hao Ge to return to Shengjing with 10,000 Eight Banners, and Tao Min knew that something must have happened to Sheng Jing. But Tao Min could not guess that it was Bomu Bogol who rebelled against Huang Taiji, and he always thought that it might be the Ming army of Lushun that attacked Shengjing. Tao Min felt that with Zierharang stationed on the periphery of Lushun, and now that Haoge had returned, Shengjing must be worry-free. As long as Beijing is defeated, all problems will be solved.

The Combined Fleet, anchored at the Isthmus of Golden State, never had a chance to participate in the battle, and Zilharang never took the initiative to attack, but adopted a strategy that could not be held. The Combined Fleet had no army, and the range of artillery could not hit the camp of the Qing army, so Zeng Guangxian and Wang Zhaoxing were also in a hurry.

"Guangxian, it seems that it is useless for us to come to Lushun this time." Wang Zhaoxing complained in the captain's room of the Pearl, "Why don't we change places and go to Nanpu?" ”

"No." Zeng Guangxian shook his head, "Our task is to assist the Ming army in attacking Shengjing, at least we must hold Lushun, not Nanpu." ”

"But Zilharang won't come out at all, and the Ming army in Lushun won't be able to fight at all."

"Lao Wang, you have to understand." Zeng Guangxian explained, "It's because our combined fleet is in Lushun, so Zilharang doesn't dare to come out. If we're gone, it's hard to say if he'll come. ”

"That's it." Wang Zhaoxing was very helpless, "Everyone is fighting, let's watch the excitement." ”

Wang Hua found Zheng Jiang and Zhang Guodong again: "Two chairmen, I have something to report, maybe I have to go to the Northeast." ”

Wang Hua's words startled both of them: "Principal Wang, why are you suddenly going to the Northeast?" What the hell is going on. ”

Wang Hua took out Jiang Beiming's flying pigeon biography: "Liang Er sent a message to Beijing, he successfully completed the plan, Bomu Bogol and Chen Yuhan jointly attacked Huang Taiji. ”

"That's a good thing." Zheng Jiang didn't understand, "Isn't this exactly what we want, why do you have to go to the Northeast?" ”

"But Liang Er did one thing." Wang Hua explained, "He took Chen Yuhan to Bomu Bogol and promised to give Bomu Bogol 1,000 flintlock pistols and ten artillery pieces. I'm now worried that if I can't cash in, Chen Yuhan will be in danger. ”

Zhang Guodong thought for a while: "Lao Wang, is Chen Yuhan very important to us?" ”

"Chairman Zhang, Chen Yuhan is only a team of more than 100 people now, so it is not that important for us to come. It's just that he is a symbol and representative, if we break our promise, he is really in any danger, then this will be a blow to the forces of the entire Northeast against Huang Taiji, and no one will trust us anymore. ”

"This Liang Er, how can he promise blindly for no reason." Zheng Jiang felt that what Wang Hua said was very reasonable, and Chen Yuhan really couldn't give up, "Principal Wang, then what are your specific plans." ”

"Two chairmen." Wang Hua said, "Since the establishment of the northern station of the Ministry of Security, Ge Tao has been in charge, and He Jiong and I have never been there, so this time I want to take He Jiong to inspect the work of the Ministry of Security in the north." In addition, Xu Tianbin's conscription has also been completed, and we have nothing to do at home, I plan to requisition a 30 gunboat from the customs and bring a thousand flintlock guns to Lushun. Our combined fleet is now in Arthur, and there will be no danger. When I arrived in Lushun, I asked Liang Er to contact Chen Yuhan again, and said that the delivery location was changed to the Heilongjiang estuary, and handed over the guns to them, and it happened that I also saw this Chen Yuhan. After all this, I went to Beijing and came back from Beijing. ”

Wang Hua did not say another purpose, he went to the north this time hoping to find an opportunity to rescue Ji Tonghai.

Zheng Jiang asked Zhang Guodong: "Chairman Zhang, I think President Wang's plan is very thorough, regardless of whether Chen Yuhan is indeed not suitable. In addition, we really gave Bomu Bogol guns, which will still help him to resist Huang Taiji. ”

Zhang Guodong didn't answer Zheng Jiang: "Lao Wang, in what name do we give Bomu Bogol guns, in our own name or in the name of the Ming Dynasty, or in the name of Ji Tonghai?" ”

"I haven't thought about this yet, I'll see how it goes."

Zhang Guodong stood up and held Wang Hua's hand: "I have no opinion, but you must pay attention to safety." ”

The battle in Xi'an lasted for two days, the two lines of defense outside Changle Gate were all breached, and all the rogues outside the city were driven back to the city, and the real general attack was about to begin.

In Xi'an, Li Zicheng, Liu Zongmin and others are also discussing countermeasures.

"King Chuang, the Yulin army is attacking fiercely, and they have a large number of artillery, so we have suffered great casualties." Liu Zongmin said anxiously.

Li Zicheng waved his hand and shook his head again: "Zong Min, Wave the flag, you also fought with the Yulin Army when you were in Yan'an, and you came back to say how many artillery pieces the Yulin Army had?" ”

"They probably have more than 100 guns, and they hit very far." Hao Shaoqi replied.

"Then how many cannons are there outside Yongding Gate now?" Li Zicheng asked again.

Liu Zongmin thought for a while: "There are about seventy or eighty gates, King Chuang, what do you mean。。。。。。 ”

Li Guo took over on the side: "King Chuang, do you mean that the Yulin Army has hidden some of the artillery?" What is their purpose? ”

Li Zicheng did not answer, but continued to ask: "How many guns do we have now, how many men and horses do we still have in the old battalion, and how many cavalry?" ”

Several people didn't know why Li Zicheng asked, but Li Guo still replied truthfully: "King Chuang, we have fought fiercely with the Yulin army in the past two days, and we have lost part of our guns, and now there are still 37 artillery pieces and about 4,000 flintlock guns. The old battalion had 30,000 men and horses and 10,000 cavalry. ”

Li Zicheng stopped talking, and kept clicking his fingers on the table. Everyone didn't know what Li Zicheng was thinking, and no one said anything.

"Zong Min." Li Zicheng said suddenly, "Tonight, I will send 15 artillery pieces to Zhang Xianzhong, telling him that Beijing is about to be attacked by Huang Taiji, and we will defend Xi'an." ”

Liu Zongmin was a little stupid: "King Chuang, give the Eight Kings artillery, I heard it right." ”

Li Zicheng ignored him: "Hao Shaoqi, removed the rest of the artillery at the head of the city overnight, and concentrated the guns. Li Guo, gathered the old camp and prepared to evacuate Xi'an at any time. ”

Hao Shaoqi also didn't know why like Liu Zongmin: "King Chuang, why do you want to evacuate Xi'an, the Ming army can't get in at all." Didn't you just say that Huang Taiji was about to break through Beijing, and the Ming army would definitely come back to help, what are we afraid of? ”

Li Guo understood what Li Zicheng meant: "Two generals, Xi'an can't hold it." Our two lines of defense outside the city were carefully arranged, but they were broken by the Yulin army in just two days, and their combat effectiveness was not trivial. It is true that Beijing is at stake, but looking at the offensive of the Ming army in the past two days, they will not return to the Beijing division without taking Xi'an. The two generals, please think, where will the remaining artillery of the Yulin Army be placed? The Eight Kings are now guarding Yongding Gate, and outside Yongding Gate are Qin Liangyu's 30,000 white pole soldiers, and the main direction of attack of the Ming army will definitely be Yongding Gate. King Chuang's meaning is to let Zhang Xianzhong drag the Ming army, and we and the old camp will withdraw from Xi'an first. Once the Ming army recovers Xi'an, it will definitely return to aid Beijing, and we will fight back when the time comes. Are the elites of the old battalion and guns in hand afraid that they won't be able to defeat Xi'an City? ”

Li Zicheng nodded appreciatively: "Come on, where do you think it's more appropriate for us to retreat?" ”

"King Chuang." Li Guo replied, "The Ming army is missing one of the three encirclements, just to let us evacuate Xi'an so that they can return to Beijing Qinwang." Then let's do what they want, to the west of Xi'an, the terrain around Fengxiang and Qinzhou is dangerous, and it can be attacked and defended. There are not many Ming troops there, so let's withdraw there, stabilize our foothold and then try to develop. ”

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "Just do what you want, as long as the Ming army attacks tomorrow, we will withdraw." But remember, don't let the word go. Zong Min, you still need to arrange the defense of Yongle Gate, put all those old, weak, sick and disabled on it, and let's only take the old camp people. ”

Early the next morning, heavy rain fell around Xi'an, and the majestic rain and muddy ground slowed down the attack of the entire Ming army a lot. But Zhao Qi did not have the slightest nervousness, more than 70 cannons of the second regiment of the artillery division have been placed in Yongdingmen, and Andreas's cavalry division and Zhou Lei's infantry division have also been transferred to Yongdingmen, which is defended by Zhang Xianzhong. Today is the time to test the combat effectiveness of Qin Liangyu's white pole soldiers, and he has become a side drummer.

"Give the order to go down and continue shelling the city gates." Zhao Qi waved the order flag in his hand.

Outside the Yongding Gate, the Yulin army plus the white pole soldiers, as well as Lu Xiangsheng's 8,000 men and horses, made all preparations, and waited for an order to attack Xi'an. Zhou Lei temporarily assumed the command of the artillery, and the infantry division was handed over to Ye Zhan.

Zhou Lei wiped the rain from his face, turned around and saluted Lu Xiangsheng: "Lord Lu, the three armies are ready, please give an order." ”

Lu Xiangsheng's attitude towards the Yulin Army was a hundred satisfied, not only did they gallop to Yan'an to save themselves, but now they only have 8,000 people left, and they still respect themselves very much.

Lu Xiangsheng nodded to Zhou Lei: "Send the order, bombard the city gate, all departments are ready, as soon as the city gate is opened, a general attack will be launched immediately." ”

More than 70 6-pounder and 12-pounder guns fired solid bullets one after another and smashed around the city gate. After only three rounds of shelling, the heavy gate collapsed, but behind the gate, a stone wall made of huge stones appeared.

"That's true." Zhou Lei scolded, but this result had been expected a long time ago, "Order, the muzzle of the cannon will move five degrees to the left and bombard his city wall." ”

The city wall of Xi'an is more than ten meters thick, and the artillery of the Yulin army has to fight a few rounds to dissipate heat. The whole shelling lasted from morning to dusk, and the rogues in the city continued to repair the walls during the interval when the shelling stopped.

The night enveloped the entire city of Xi'an, the heavy rain stopped, and the shelling did not stop. Han Wantao gave an order to blast Xi'an tonight.

Zhao Qi rushed from Changle Gate to Yongding Gate: "How are you doing?" ”

"Almost, it'll be fine right away." Zhou Lei said, "It's been a day of bombing, and a few more rounds of bombardment should be able to open a gap, how is it on your side." ”

"It's about the same as you, halfway through." Zhao Qi turned his head and looked at the surroundings and saw that there was no one else, "Zhou Lei, there is something I don't think is right." I bombarded all day today, but Yonglemen didn't fight back at all, not like it was a few days ago. ”

Zhou Lei didn't think much about it: "Don't worry about anything wrong, let's respond to all changes with the same." If you blast through the city wall, you can enter Xi'an, and Li Zicheng can't hold it no matter how capable he is. ”

After Zhou Lei finished speaking, he turned his head and shouted: "Pass the order, all artillery, solid shells are aimed at the gap and fire five salvos, and they must blast it open." ”

Hundreds of solid shells were accompanied by the sound of cannons and smashed into the broken city wall, and finally, a gap of more than ten zhang was opened in the thick city wall.

Lu Xiangsheng, who had been waiting for a day, finally waited for this opportunity, and raised the big knife in his hand: "Three armies, kill the rogue!" ”

The 30,000 white-pole soldiers raised their white-pole spears and rushed towards the gap in the wall with a shout. But there was no reaction in the city, except for the scattered crossbow arrows shot down from the city, there was not even a single movement.

Zhou Lei's heart secretly screamed badly: "Lord Lu, Lord Lu, stop attacking, there is an ambush in the rogue." ”

But no one could hear Zhou Lei's shouts, 30,000 white pole soldiers had already rushed to the city wall, and hundreds of people rushed through the gap into the city.

At night, about 150 meters away from the gap in the city wall, and placed four 6-pounder cannons, Zhang Xianzhong was standing next to the cannons with torches in his hands.

Zhang Xianzhong looked at the swarming Ming army and smiled slightly, and the torch lit the fuse of the cannon: "Open the cannon." ”

Four 6-pounder cannons sprayed hundreds of shotguns, and the white-pole soldiers who rushed into the city wall all gathered together, and more than 100 people were knocked down in an instant. At the same time, 11 guns exposed black holes in the walls on both sides of the gap, and a row of scattered bullets knocked down hundreds of white-pole soldiers under the city.

"Open fire." With Zhang Xianzhong's order, the second round of scattered bombs came immediately.

"Mingjin collects troops, Mingjin collects troops." Zhou Lei didn't care about asking Lu Xiangsheng for instructions, and gave an order on his behalf.