Huang Desheng was very surprised when he saw the envoy from Nanjing. This came too suddenly, the capital of the remnants of the Ming Dynasty was actually going to be sacrificed to him by the civil and military of the Manchu Dynasty. But when he went south, Li Yan's order was just to take Yangzhou and eliminate Liu Zeqing. Now that Liu Zeqing is fleeing without a fight, he can be regarded as having completed the task, and this reception of Nanjing really makes him hesitate.

If you can really take Nanjing, this is a great achievement, and when Li Yan ascends the throne at the beginning of the year, maybe he can earn a knighthood for himself. However, although their team is strong, it is all combat power in exchange for logistics supplies. If he crossed the river rashly, there might be serious problems with supplies, unlike Chen Yongfu, who could supply through the Yangtze River shipping, if there was an accident and he was isolated on the south bank of the Yangtze River, it would be a major mistake.

He hesitated for a while, then called Guo Chengdong over and asked solemnly: "Chengdong, send you a dangerous mission, do you dare to go?" ”

The young man's blood was stimulated at once, and they fought dozens of times, even the Qing cavalry, which everyone feared like a tiger back then, could be defeated, what else was there to be afraid of? He puffed out his chest and replied loudly: "Please command, general!" ”

Huang Desheng nodded with satisfaction, rubbed the short beard on his chin, and ordered: "You take a team of infantry, immediately cross the river with war horses, enter Nanjing in the shortest possible time, and guard Nanjing." ”

"Huh? Guarding Nanjing? Even if Guo Chengdong was brave, he was frightened. That's Nanjing, there is only a team of people, more than 30 people, how can it be guarded?

Huang Desheng explained with a smile: "Zhu Yousong ran away, and now the civil and military forces of Nanjing City want to give us the city." However, Li Zicheng may go faster, and we have no plan to cross the river, so logistics and supply are a little difficult. Therefore, I will send you over first to help the defenders of Nanking defend, and I will ask the Generalissimo for instructions as soon as possible. After all, Nanjing is the capital, there is no doubt about the solidity, and with Chen Yongfu's containment, Li Zicheng can't attack the city with all his might. With your help and guidance, the military and civilians of Nanjing should be able to hold out for a while. ”

Although Guo Chengdong believed in Huang Desheng's judgment, he still felt that there were too few people to give him. He demanded: "General, there are too few people in a team, why don't you want a team of 100 people." Even if you don't give cannons, you must give a few tiger squat cannons. ”

"I don't have that many horses for you." Huang Desheng refused: "You have to rush over as fast as possible, otherwise there will be no way to enter the city." Even if you are given a tiger squat cannon, it will only be a dozen flowering shells per machine, and there will be no place to replenish them when they run out. There should be a lot of gunpowder in the city of Nanjing, so you go and find a way to get some bombs yourself. How, dare to go? If it doesn't work, I'll change someone else. ”

This cowardly Guo Chengdong can't be recognized, otherwise he will have no future in the army in the future. He gritted his teeth and agreed: "I am willing to go!" ”

"Good!" Huang Desheng patted Guo Chengdong's shoulder hard and said with appreciation: "I will personally report the whole plan to the generalissimo." If any of you are injured or injured, you will be compensated according to the highest standard, plus additional compensation for your estate. I promise! ”

"General Xie." Guo Chengdong thanked in a deep voice.

After that, he chose Wang Sixi's team, because there were more veterans in this team. Among them, there are several subordinates of Yuan Shizhong, who have difficulty reading and writing, and have always been the chief and deputy captain, but the combat experience is extremely rich.

Everyone was ready, immediately crossed the river by boat, and hurried to Nanjing. Although the people who came to contact were not satisfied with sending only a few dozen people, they did not dare to complain. After all, Li Yan's military strength is strong, and he has occupied the entire north in just two years, maybe just these dozens of people can have an unexpected effect.

As soon as Guo Chengdong set off, Huang Desheng immediately sent a pigeon letter to Xuzhou to urge him to ask for more baggage, and sent a letter to Li Yan to report the situation. At the same time, we collected timber and began to prepare for the construction of a pontoon bridge. If Li Yan approved the crossing of the river, the pontoon bridge would be much more reliable than the ferry.

Guo Chengdong led people all the way to run wildly, and finally arrived outside Nanjing in the middle of the night. Although there is no shadow of Li Zicheng's troops in the east of the city, several city gates in the east cannot be opened. In the end, Guo Chengdong fired several shots at the head of the city with a handcuff, which alarmed the commander of the city defenders, and only then hoisted the messenger who went out of the city to contact him into the city. After waiting for more than half an hour, he lowered several large baskets from the head of the city, and hung them up on the city wall with men and horses. It turned out that several city gates had been sealed with stone bars, and they could not be opened even if they wanted to.

Zhao Zhilong and Qian Qianyi met Guo Chengdong in Wuying Palace. Qian Qianyi was so disappointed that he almost cried, and he said in a trembling voice: "Why are you here?" Li Chuang has hundreds of thousands of troops, even if you are a heavenly soldier and a general, you can't be so big, right? ”

Guo Chengdong said expressionlessly: "Nanjing is backed by the river, the city is high and the pool is deep, and there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians, even if Li Zicheng comes to attack with all his strength, it will take some time." What's more, he only has 100,000 horses, and there are our brigade chasing after him, Li Chuang can allocate at most fifty percent of the troops and horses to attack the city. So he can only attack one or two sides, and the pressure on defense will not be too great. Our Jiangbei reinforcements will be able to come over within a few days, and Li Chuang will naturally withdraw from the siege at that time. ”

"But with the defenders in the city alone, it is difficult to hold out for a few days." Zhao Zhilong also said with a sad face. originally thought that Li Yan's men and horses could come over to defend the city, but they only sent a few dozen people. What the hell is going on? It's better to surrender Li Zicheng directly, maybe Li Zicheng will be in a good mood and will be able to raise his noble hand to them.

Guo Chengdong frowned and asked, "How many defenders are there in the city?" ”

"More than twenty thousand."

"Immediately gather the people to defend it." Guo Chengdong also knew that 20,000 was a bit less, so he immediately suggested.

Zhao Zhilong replied: "The reward has been opened, and it is estimated that you will be able to recruit thirty or forty thousand tomorrow." But how long can these flat-headed people, plus the Beijing camp that is just a showcase, hold out? ”

Qian Qianyi also added the reward offered.

After Guo Chengdong heard this, his brows immediately relaxed. He smiled confidently: "It's not bad, as long as you prepare the money, Nanjing City will definitely be able to defend it!" Even if Li Chuang wanted to blow up the city, it would take several days. Also, prepare all the gunpowder, oil, boiling oil, and firewood in the city, and gather all the carpenters and blacksmiths together, and make some equipment for defending the city tomorrow. ”

"Can you really hold on?" Qian Qianyi asked incredulously. He regrets it very much now, and in a moment of excitement, he donated 10,000 taels of silver. If the money is also spent and Nanjing has not been held, Li Zicheng will attack it, and he and Liu Ru will definitely be unable to escape the doom.

Guo Chengdong confidently promised: "As long as you can prepare the money, the defense of the city will be guided by us, and you will definitely be able to hold on." Back then, Li Chuang attacked Kaifeng, and it was an army of 500,000, which was much larger than the current battle, and wasn't it also defeated by us. Don't feel sorry for the money, if you let Li Chuang into the city, you won't even be able to save your life. He is now hungry when we chase him, and when he comes to this prosperous place, why don't you reward his subordinates? Don't make a mistake and send it to someone else's knife edge. ”

Qian Qianyi and Zhao Zhilong were excited, knowing that this was a critical moment of life and death, and once again strengthened their determination to persevere.

...