Chapter 54 The Loss of the Walls and the Kiln Gang Men Sent Troops

After Li Wei and Zhou Yuji broke up, he galloped east with the First Cavalry Army and his own mechanized army. At this time, the question of a mechanized army also came out. Whenever you encounter a river, you need to build a bridge, and these cars and power cars can cross it. Fortunately, today's cars are light cars, and they can be crossed by a bridge made of a few pieces of wood.

Maybe it's because the current car has been improved and much more reliable, and when the Mobei Mongols were attacked, the bad cars and power cars were broken. There are basically not too many bad cars and power cars this time. Only two cars and one power car broke down and couldn't be repaired. Li Wei was reluctant to leave these carts behind, and sent someone to drag them back with horses.

As soon as Li Wei and his men reached the north of Kill Hukou, they received a telegram from Chen Yufeng saying that after two days of continuous attacks, the Manchu Qing Dynasty had captured the Qiangziling and the Miyun general army had been killed in battle. Li Wei was happy to hear this news, he knew that after the Manchu Qing attacked, he would not leave immediately, and it was very likely that he would block them. Therefore, he informed the whole army of the news and encouraged the soldiers to speed up their eastward advance.

It is said that Emperor Chongzhen's estimate is also right, since the wall ridge was broken through by the Manchu Qing twice, the fortifications here have been further strengthened, not only adding a lot of artillery, but also configuring a large number of **. This is a very effective weapon for condescending defense. In the middle of a group of people huddled together, a ** fell and it was all solved.

However, the Manchu Qing attack this time was also different from the past, and they were more prepared. They brought 30,000 elites from the Manchu banners, 40,000 cavalry from the Eight Banners of the Mongols, and more than 60,000 from the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty. Dolgon looked at the mighty and majestic team that could not be seen at a glance, and his pride suddenly rose. They had long known from intelligence that the Qiangziling Pass had been fully strengthened. But Dorgon was more confident that he could take this place, and it wasn't something he wanted to do.

Now the cannons brought by the Manchus are very powerful, which is a sharp weapon for siege. These are thanks to the Eight Banners of the Han Army, and it is they who bring good cannon casting technology. Dolgon also felt very strange, when these Han troops fought against them in the past, they were greedy for life and afraid of death, and their military discipline was lax. But joining the Eight Banners of the Han Army is like changing. They are full of spirit, as if they have a greater hatred for the Han people than they have for the Han people. I heard that they were going to attack Daming, and their enthusiasm was also very high. I always want to show it in front of them. Dorgon thought to himself, "Yes! This time I'll give you a chance. ”

After the general army of Miyun got the news that the Manchu Qing Dynasty was coming to attack the wall Ziling again, he stomped his feet angrily and scolded in his heart: "These full thieves! Why the fuck are you staring at this place. There are so many places in the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty that are easier to attack than this, you really don't have a fucking long eye. ”

But scolding in his heart, he still rushed to the wall ridge in person to organize the attack against the Manchus. He knew that although the letter asking for help had been sent, it was unlikely that reinforcements could be sent, and those reinforcements who reluctantly came out to support would definitely find various reasons to delay on the road and not rush here. When they lose here, they will not use it, and they will not be responsible. Now the officials and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty are like this, and it is the same for me to support others. Therefore, he knew that if he wanted to defend the wall ridge and save his life, he had to stand on the wall ridge and fight with the brothers. Otherwise, the brethren in Wallziling would not have lasted long.

The first to attack the wall ridge was, of course, the Han officers and soldiers of the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty. These Han officers and soldiers were not regarded as human beings by the soldiers of the Manchu Eight Banners at all. Now they have to show their masters that we are not afraid of death when we fight. Therefore, they opened fire on their Han compatriots, and they were not merciful. The cannons erected at the foot of the mountain set the fire on the wall ridge into the sky, but the defenders on the wall ridge also knew that they could only survive if they worked hard, and they also fired shells at the artillery positions below the mountain.

Although there are not as many artillery pieces on the wall as there are guns under the mountain, they are condescending and have a geographical advantage. No matter how many cannons there are at the bottom of the mountain, they cannot be fully deployed due to the terrain restrictions. Therefore, the artillery battle between the two sides was evenly matched and extremely tragic. On the artillery positions of both sides, with the continuous flashes of fire, the body parts of the artillerymen continued to fly all over the sky.

However, the attackers also have an advantage in the lower part of the mountain, that is, they have more artillery, and they can constantly replenish the destroyed artillery. When the general army of Miyun on the wall ridge found out about this problem and sent people back to Miyun to transfer artillery here. The artillery attacking from the bottom of the hill gained a brief advantage in artillery fire.

Dolgon, who was supervising the battle at the foot of the mountain, quickly seized the fighter. Ordered to charge and attack the city immediately. The soldiers of the Eight Banners of the Han Army rushed up like a tide carrying a ladder. At this time, the defenders on the wall ridge were overjoyed. They took out boxes of **, lit them on fire, and threw them down. fell into the pile of people**, and it really lived up to expectations, and at the same time as the flowers bloomed one by one, the besieging soldiers were blown up one by one. Because they were afraid of hurting their attacking soldiers, the artillery under the mountain did not dare to open fire, but the artillery on the wall ridge did not care about this, and the shells continued to fall, killing the attacking soldiers one by one. Even Dolgon, who had been in battle for a long time, although he did not spare these dead Han soldiers, he couldn't bear it anymore. He ordered the attack to stop, knowing that there was no point in the soldiers dying like this. Thousands of soldiers were killed and wounded in this attack, and the corpses of the soldiers were already piled up below the ridge, and the low-lying areas below the mountain were stained with black blood.

At this time, the Miyun general soldiers on the wall ridge found another problem, that is, the ammunition consumption was too large, and it would not last much time to fight like this. In particular, half of the reserves were consumed in this battle. It's too easy to throw this thing down, you can drop it when you light it, but you have to lift it up to throw a stone. The general army of Miyun asked the soldiers to mainly throw stones, and when they found that someone was concentrated, they threw ** into the pile.

The consumption of artillery is also very large, especially the consumption of *** is too much. The Miyun General Army asked the artillerymen to fire solid bullets and *** in exchange. As we all know, the power of solid bullets will be greatly reduced, but there is no way to do it. I don't know if the letter sent out for help can be sent to the emperor.

Dolgon at the foot of the mountain summoned all the generals to study how to attack the city next, and some people proposed that now that the wall ridge has been strengthened, the defense force is indeed different from before, so it is better for us to change the place and use some people to contain it here. The rest of the centaurs bypassed here and chose a weak spot to break through.

Dolgon strongly disagreed, saying: "If we can't succeed in the first attack, it will greatly affect our morale, and grow the morale of the Ming army." In that case, all the Ming troops will fight with us to the end in the future. Therefore, we must make the Ming army understand that where we want to attack, we will definitely be able to capture it. ”

Everyone also felt that Dolgon's statement made sense, and they no longer considered the question of changing places.

"I saw the battle in the morning, and the artillery on the ridge of the wall was inferior to ours, but they were in a good position, and I suffered a little loss. However, our artillery can be replenished at any time, and they have a number of guns and ammunition at a checkpoint, and I estimate that they will soon be unable to help. ”

"Hmmm! Dodor was right, we only charged when we saw that their artillery was weak. In the afternoon, we duel them with artillery fire. Blasted them open with cannons. Dorgon agreed.

Sure enough, in the afternoon, the Manchu allied forces pressed the artillery of the wall ridge with artillery fire at the beginning, and the artillery on the wall ridge was not able to fight back. Constant Manchu artillery has blasted several gaps in the walls of the Wall-Ziling Pass. Seeing that the artillery on the ridge was no longer able to fight back, Dolgon wanted to make progress before dark, otherwise the defenders would recover overnight, and he didn't know what would happen tomorrow, so he ordered the Han Eight Banner infantry to carry the ladder to attack the city again. Seeing that there were a large number of enemies rushing up, the defenders who had just dodged the artillery fire rushed to their positions and shot their bows and crossbows at the enemy, and when the enemy rushed to the city with their shields, the defenders threw stones and ** at the enemy together. The helpless Han Banner soldiers once again threw down countless corpses and retreated.

However, Dolgon and other Manchu generals who were watching the battle in the back, as well as the Menghan generals, all saw a phenomenon that made them happy, that is, when the infantry attacked, the artillery on the wall ridge did not open fire, and the defenders on the wall ridge dropped significantly less ** this time. Most of them relied on large stones and crossbows to attack the attacking army, indicating that the defenders did not have a lot of **. Moreover, the defenders on the wall ridge fought hard for a day, and it was obvious that they did not receive effective support. Just as the generals of the Han army said, the generals of the Ming army took care of themselves, and no one would support them. Because the merit obtained by sacrificing his life to support will be taken away by his boss, but if he loses, he will have to bear the responsibility.

In fact, the governor of Jiliao had already received a letter of help from the Miyun army, but he didn't want to send troops to support, because once he sent troops to support, he might not be able to defend the wall. When the Qing army attacks the Qiangziling, it will then attack Jizhou. It is better to keep Jizhou soldiers and horses to ensure Jizhou. Emperor Chongzhen got the news that the Qing army was attacking the wall, and it was already night. Emperor Chongzhen immediately consulted with the military department Shangshu and others, and mobilized soldiers and horses to support.

However, when the soldiers and horses from all over the country received the order from the imperial court to send aid immediately, before they set off as a team, the wall ridge had already been lost.

The Manchu Qing coalition army, which seized the weakness of the defenders of the wall, still shelled the wallhill on the first day of the next day. But they didn't expect that Miyun's artillery was transported to Qiangziling at night. After a night's arrangement, when the battle began at dawn, the artillery on the wall ridge inflicted great damage on the artillery under the mountain. But the opponents under the hill have already seen the weakness of the defenders, that is, the artillery of the defenders, and it is difficult to replenish the losses of them, and they want to drag down the defenders with strong strength. Sure enough, in the afternoon, the artillery fire of the defenders was once again clearly at a disadvantage. The gap in the wall ridge that was blown open could not be repaired quickly. In the afternoon, the Manchu Qing coalition forces at the foot of the mountain intensified their artillery fire, and soon the artillery on the wall ridge could no longer emit artillery sound. In this way, the artillery under the mountain can calmly bombard the city wall on the ridge.

When it was almost dark, the wall on the ridge had been bombarded by the Manchu Qing coalition army. Dolgon saw that the opportunity had come, and just when the defenders thought that they would finally hold out until dark and could recover for the night, Dolgon commanded the siege of the city overnight.

This time, not only the Han Banner Army attacked the city, but also more than 2,000 Blue Banner Manchu elites attacked with them, and Dolgon's order was that if he did not die, he would attack, and no one who rushed forward was allowed to retreat.

In the night, the attacking team at the bottom of the mountain carried countless torches and ladders, and the archers who followed behind continued to shoot arrows at the city, covering the siege team to set up ladders to the city. The general soldiers of Miyun knew that the time for a decisive battle had come, and they no longer cared about saving**. The ** who lit the fire was constantly thrown off the city, and the soldiers attacking under the city wall were blown up and flesh and blood flying, but the front fell and the back came up again, and then set up ladders. Soon, there was a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood under the city, but the ladder continued to be on the shelves of the corpses. After killing the red eye, Dolgon sent two thousand soldiers with red flags to continue the siege with the Han Banner army. Until midnight, the ** in the city was exhausted, the bows and crossbows were shot, and the stones were thrown. The defenders and the Manchu and Han troops who climbed up to the city fought together. General Miyun also showed the spirit of a soldier, and he has been fighting with the brothers, fighting with everyone, and finally died with the brothers.

There was not a single surrender on the ridge.

Before dawn, the Miyun general army sent out to deliver a letter to Miyun, and the soldiers sent the news of the loss of the wall ridge to Miyun. Miyun's Yaogang intelligence officer immediately sent the information to the Yaogang Command Center, and Chen Yufeng and the others got a telegram from the command center, and without delay, they immediately sent a telegram to Liu Yun, who was resting in the north of Datong, to inform him. Of course, Jiang Zhuang, who was on standby, also got this information.

Jiang Ping, like Liu Yun, almost jumped up with joy, he knew that he couldn't run away from the battle with the Manchus. Unlike Liu Yun, the team he led still needs to be strictly concealed and cannot be exposed.

After having breakfast, the officers and soldiers led by Liu Yun got the news that the Manchu army had broken through the wall and entered the pass, and they rushed east one by one. They all knew their goal, which was to block the retreat of the Manchu army from the outside. They didn't know at all that the Manchu coalition forces were more than ten times larger than they were in this time. In fact, even if you know that they are not afraid.

When Emperor Chongzhen learned the news that the Manchu army had broken through the Qiangziling, it was already that night. The Manchu army had captured Miyun and slaughtered the city. At this time, Emperor Chongzhen still didn't want to ask the Yaogang people for help, he still wanted to mobilize his men and horses to surround the Manchu army. In the morning of the next day, the secretary of the military department knelt down and said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, it is too late to ask the Yaogang people to send troops now, otherwise it will be too late for them to attack Beijing." ”

Emperor Chongzhen said angrily: "Our army is not all dead yet, why don't you hurry up and transfer to surround these thieves?" Still wasting time here. ”

The secretary of the military department also had the courage to say: "Your Majesty, who can they send troops if we transfer them now?" Those who promised to send troops also delayed for various reasons. Let's invite the kiln gang people to come! ”

"Bold!" Emperor Chongzhen slapped the dragon case, "That person dares not to listen to the dispatch, and immediately behead the whole house!" ”

This is the first assistant minister also knelt down and said: "The emperor is angry! Wei Chen thought about it, and he didn't know who to transfer over to solve the current crisis immediately. Or ask the emperor to deign to ask the kiln gang people to send troops! ”

Emperor Chongzhen insisted that he should transfer troops himself to besiege the Manchu army. And gave a death order, if anyone excused himself not to send troops, or for various reasons, he would be beheaded. For two days, not many troops were transferred, but Jizhou (Jixian), Pinggu, Huairou, and Changping fell into the hands of the Manchu army.

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen knew that it would not work if he didn't ask for the kiln gang people, but the kiln gang people were far away and didn't know when they would be able to arrive. At this time, Emperor Chongzhen regretted it, so it was better to ask the Yaogang people to send troops earlier.

When Gonggong Li came to see Zhang Zhimu with a secret letter from Emperor Chongzhen's flying pigeon, Liu Yun and his team had already arrived north of Juyong Pass and were on standby on the grassland.

Li Zhi came over to translate Emperor Chongzhen's secret letter and said to Zhang Zhimu: "The emperor wants to invite us to send troops to encircle the Manchu army. Now the Manchu army of more than 100,000 people has crossed the wall ridge and occupied several prefectures and counties. The situation is critical! ”

Zhang Zhimu said to Gonggong Li: "We have known the news of the Manchu Qing Dynasty for a long time, and we have always wanted to send troops to help. But you also know that we just had an unpleasant quarrel with the emperor because of the Qin mission. You can't take the initiative to mention it. But if we organize troops now, when will we be able to get there? ”

"Oops! Zhang Dongjia, those are all trivial matters between you and the emperor, don't mention them now. It's even more late if you don't send troops now! "Grandpa Li was in a hurry.

"Can't you let me finish my sentence?" Zhang Zhimu said that he hated Gonggong Li for interrupting him, "We have actually prepared for a long time. The Manchu dispatch was well prepared, and this time they were acting with the Mongols to the north. A few days ago, we had almost wiped out more than 30,000 people and horses in Mobei in the valley of Gray Tengliang Mountain. In the west of Helan Pass in Helan Mountain, we also surrounded and annihilated 20,000 cavalry of the Mongols in Mobei, almost all of which were annihilated. Due to the need for confidentiality, we did not publish it. Without the emperor's consent, we could not send troops to the north of Zhili Zhongshu Province, so General Li Wei had already led people from the north of the Great Wall back to the north of Juyong Pass. They could enter the pass from Juyong Pass at any time and besiege the Manchu army. and Jiang Jian has already taken soldiers and horses and hid in the mountains east of Yangyuan County. Once the emperor agrees that we will send troops, they can attack the Manchu coalition army in two directions. ”

Hearing Zhang Zhimu say this, Gonggong Li almost jumped up and gave a salute and said, "Oops! Zhang Dongjia, you are the first loyal minister! We can't wait now, let's send troops now! ”

"It's okay to send troops. As you know, we are laborers traveling far away, running long distances. There is not much grain and grass with him, and he still needs the court to help nearby. Zhang Zhimu said, "In addition, we can't send troops in vain." ”

Gonggong Li was a little stunned when he heard this, and said in his heart: "It is appropriate to receive grain and grass, but what does it mean not to send troops in vain." Gonggong Li asked: "Grain and grass are not a problem, what conditions do you have?" Zhang Dongjia, you also know that the emperor's money is not abundant. ”

"No, no, I mean, the loot we have captured will be ours. Especially the captives. Zhang Zhimu said, "I also know that most of the captives captured by the Ming army were beheaded. But what the captives are going to give us is a great deal of silver. We built several new mines and needed a large number of prisoners of war. ”

"Hey! I thought something was going on. Gonggong Li said: "You don't need to ask the emperor about these things, I can answer you for the emperor." It's totally possible, but you have to be quick! ”

"I'll write a secret letter to the emperor immediately, and you can bring it back to the emperor." Zhang Zhimu said: "We have made full preparations for this dispatch of troops, and we must seize the opportunity to send troops, and we must not blindly rush around. Otherwise the suddenness is lost, which is not conducive to the quick resolution of them. ”

At this time, Father-in-law Li's panting was much more even. He knew that as long as the Yaogang people sent troops, Beijing would be safe. In particular, the kiln gang people have made full preparations for this matter, and there is absolutely no problem.

Zhang Zhimu wrote a letter to Emperor Chongzhen and handed it to Li Zhi. Li Zhi went to the side to translate it into a secret letter, copied two letters and handed them to Gonggong Li. Because of the importance of the matter, Gonggong Li was afraid that a carrier pigeon would not be delivered to Beijing and delay the matter. asked Li Zhi to write two copies.

With the letter, Gonggong Li did not dare to delay, and when he rushed back, he released the carrier pigeon and sent Zhang Zhimu's letter back to Beijing. At the same time, Gonggong Li wrote a letter to Emperor Chongzhen about the battle situation of annihilating the Mongols mentioned by Zhang Zhimu.

Chen Yufeng received a notice from Zhang Zhimu and knew that the emperor had finally come to ask for help, so he hurriedly sent a telegram to Jiang Zhuo, asking them to set off in the direction of Beijing immediately and receive instructions at any time. Because the movements of the Manchu army were also changing. Inform Li Wei that they continue to be covert and standby, because their opportunity to attack is very important and needs to be seen.

The only pity is that Li Jing and they can't catch up with the war zone. They were picked up by Fan Chengkun and their boat from Xiangjiang to Hanyang, did not stop, and rushed to Hanzhong by boat. Then ride a horse from the expanded Chencang Ancient Road to Chencang, and take a boat to Tongguan. I think it is too slow to take a boat into the Fen River and return to Yaogang. They rode alone and in pairs, running back to Yaogang by land along the Fen River. After listening to Zhang Zhimu's briefing, they only stayed for a day, then took their equipment and makeup from Jingcheng Pass to cross the Taihang Mountain and enter Zhongshu Province.

When the Yaogang people received the order to send troops, Li Jing and they were still on the road.

Jiang inlay received the order, that happy. The brothers held back here for a long time. For fear of exposing their targets, everyone hid in this small recess and could not go out. Because Jiang Jian was very familiar with the situation here, he chose such a place to hide. Now it's finally time to do it freely.

With sufficient equipment and provisions, Jiang Ji rushed out of the valley and set off in the east direction with the wolf-like cavalry of the Fourth Army and the cavalry of the Datong Frontier Army. I wanted to go to Huailai first, but on the way I got news that the Manchu army had marched south after plundering north of Beijing. Therefore, Jiang Ji led the men and horses to turn around and move towards the southeast.

Two days later, when Jiang Jian rushed to Yixian with his men and horses, he got the exact news that the Manchu allied army had swept Langfang, Gu'an, Zhuozhou and other places as if they had entered no man's land. Almost no one dared to stop the states and counties encountered along the way, and both officials and civilians fled when they heard the news.

The officers and troops dispatched by the imperial court were also far away from the Manchu Qing coalition army, and then falsely reported the battle situation. At this time, the Manchu Qing coalition army was already arrogant. They don't know that a noose is already not far from them.

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Mt. Fuji erupted, Japan was earthquaked. --Progress of "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".