On May 10, the 19th year of Chongzhen, the imperial court officially issued an edict, knowing the whole city, declaring the Duke of Qi to be a rebel, and at the same time, with Huaiyuan Marquis Chang Yanling as the general of the rebellion, the governor of Jiangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian 50,000 guest troops, and the rebels fought to the death.

On the same day, Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi, learned of the Nanjing court's rejection of his conditions, and also ordered the whole army to move forward and approach the city of Nanjing. On the Yangtze River, there are continuous ships and sails covering the sky and the sun. Under Chen Yue's order, Lu Tai, the commander-in-chief of the naval division, led a hundred warships to attack the Caojiang naval division in the Yangtze River outside the fence gate, and Chang Yanling commanded the naval division to meet the battle.

When the distance between the two sides was more than three miles, Lu Tai gave the order to open fire, and hundreds of naval guns took turns firing, and the shells rained down on the Caojiang water division. There were countless huge splashes in the river, the imperial warships shook in the waves caused by the cannonballs, from time to time the warships were hit by the cannonballs, and the cannonballs weighing dozens of catties carried great energy far beyond the river boats could resist.

And as the river approached, the artillery hit rate became higher and higher, and when the distance between the two sides was less than a mile, the Caojiang water division had already sunk forty or fifty warships by artillery, and countless soldiers fell into the river crying for help. And seeing the other party's tower-like giant ship crushing down the river, all the soldiers of the Jiangjiang Water Division were terrified. Looking at the huge body of the opponent's battleship, you only need to lightly bump into yourself and break your bones.

The huge gap in strength cannot be recovered by courage, and at this time, Chang Yanling also knew that if he continued to fight, the whole army would be annihilated, so he ordered him to retreat.

Looking at the flag waving at the head of the city, the officers and soldiers of the Caojiang Water Division on the river turned around and fled downstream as if they had been amnestied.

Looking at the fleeing imperial warship, Lu Tai shook his head slightly and ordered to stop the pursuit.

"Why didn't the general chase after him?" Sima Nan, the commander of the Galen battleship, asked hurriedly.

"This is not the sea, the river is narrow, it is easy to pursue downstream, and it is difficult to return against the current. Although the huge hull of our warship was crushing the imperial navy, it was precisely because the hull was too large that it was idle in this river, and it was far less flexible than their small boat, and if it was entangled by them when returning home, it would be very troublesome. Lu Tai explained.

At the head of the city, seeing that the rebel sailors were not chasing at all, Chang Yanling sighed. The rebels were so vigilant that the strategy he had devised to defeat the counterattack was completely frustrated. The rebel sailors had the upper reaches, and the strength of the ships and guns was not comparable to their own, and it was impossible to defeat them by relying on the sailors.

"Master Hou, they're going to get off the boat and go ashore!" The subordinate pointed to the river bank in the distance and shouted.

Chang Yanling hurriedly raised the clairing mirror and looked over, and saw several rebel warships approaching the riverside dock outside the city, and hundreds of soldiers were disembarking and going ashore. At the same time, the guns of several huge warships on the river were aimed at the head of the city, and the smoke flashed and then the rumbling cannon sound came to the ears, and dozens of shells flew slowly from the river, smashed into the city wall and fell to the city.

Chang Yanling and his subordinates felt that the distance between the city walls was shaking, and they were almost unstable. Looking up, more than a dozen cannonballs fell on the city wall, and the bricks and stones flew straight into the air, and the defenders screamed again and again.

The rebel infantry was still disembarking one after another, and then advancing towards the city, apparently encamping a few miles from the city wall, while the warships on the river roared tirelessly, smashing cannonballs on the city wall at a distance of four or five miles, and falling on the city's head.

Without waiting for Chang Yanling's order, the artillery in the city returned fire, but only the red-coated cannons could hit such a long distance, and all the red-coated cannons in Nanjing City added up to more than twenty, and they were also distributed on the four city walls. In the artillery confrontation with the rebels, the defenders were completely at a disadvantage.

Chang Yanling knew that if this shelling method was followed, it would not take a few days for the city wall to collapse by artillery, and then the city would be broken.

"Pass the order, let the three generals Wang Zhiren, Fang Guoan, and Zheng Zhibao prepare and prepare to go out of the city to meet the rebels."

Chang Yanling gave an order in a deep voice, at this time, only by taking the initiative to attack and destroying the infantry of the rebels while their foothold under the city was not stable, there would be a glimmer of life. Little did they know that once the rebel infantry set up camp outside the city and then inflicted non-stop artillery bombardment, it would inevitably cause panic among the people in the city and demoralize the army, and anything could happen at that time.

"Master Hou, Yuanfu is here!" A personal guard said suddenly, Chang Yanling looked up, and saw Shi Kefa, who was wearing a big red official robe, walking up to the city under the escort of a group of soldiers.

"Motosuke, why did you go to the city? The city is under fire, and it is very dangerous. Chang Yanling hurriedly greeted him and asked anxiously.

Shi Kefa smiled slightly, "Listening to the sound of artillery outside the city, I can't sit still in the cabinet, I am the first assistant and the superintendent, why not go to the city to boost morale?" ”

"Alas!" Chang Yanling sighed, and couldn't persuade anymore. Although he is a general of rebellion, he is equivalent to a front-line commander, and the military power of the whole city is still in the hands of Shi Kefa, the overseer.

"What are you going to do next?" Holding on to the battlements of the outer city wall, looking at the situation outside the city, Shi Kefa asked.

"The rebels are now disembarking with the intention of setting up camp outside the city. I am ready to order Zheng Zhibao to lead the Zheng family army out of Jiangdong Gate, and Wang Zhiren's Zhejiang army to go out from the fence gate, and flank the rebels on both sides, and strive to wipe out all the rebels who have come ashore. And part of Fang Guoan's Jiangdong Army was responsible for defending the city wall, and part was ready to support at any time. ”

Chang Yanling told Shi Kefa about his battle plan.

The scale of Nanjing City is too large, divided into four city walls, Guocheng, Beijing, Imperial City, and Palace City, although there are as many as 100,000 defenders, it is still slightly insufficient to guard such a long city wall. Among the 100,000 troops, Zhu Guobi's Beijing battalion was responsible for guarding the inner city, and the outer Guocheng was guarded by guest troops from Jiangdong, Zhejiang, and Fujian. The rebels came from the Yangtze River in the northwest, and most of the guest troops were transferred to the northwest side of Waiguo.

After listening to Chang Yanling's plan, Shi Kefa pondered for a while, and suddenly asked: "If the Fujian army and the Zhejiang army are defeated by the rebels, can the Jiangdong army with Fang Guoan hold this outer Guo City?" ”

"This ......" Chang Yanling was just about to explain, but Shi Kefa said categorically, "Order Fang Guoan to attack together and launch an attack on the rebels with all his might!" ”

Chang Yanling was shocked, "If you lose the battle, I'm afraid that Wai Guo will definitely be lost!" ”

"The circumference of this outer Guocheng city is one hundred and eighty miles, and the rebels have such powerful artillery, if the guest army can't defeat the rebel infantry, this outer Guocheng can't hold it at all, so there is no need to defend it at all, and it is only right to concentrate all your strength to defeat the rebels in one fell swoop! I will mobilize the gentry to organize the people to guard several city gates to defend the retreat of the attacking army. ”