It took about a half time for the army of about 20,000 troops to completely retreat back to the city, and it took about a half to form a relatively tight position at any time to prevent the strong enemy outside the city from preparing to take advantage of the opportunity, after all, a lot of heavy artillery and vehicles returned to the city to use the city gate after all. The team first formed a complete military formation outside the city gate, retreated first and then retreated under the cover of the upper and lower levels, and finally gradually reduced the flanks and even all the baggage vehicles, and finally retreated the people into the urn city inside the Anding Gate as quickly as possible. The elite of Jianzhou, who were gathered at a distance of a mile, saw that there seemed to be no chance, so they temporarily gave up their plan to seize the door.

When the 20,000-strong team completely retreated into the city, a feeling of exhaustion that had not been felt before surged into the hearts of many officers and soldiers. Tian Xiuying, who was in charge of the command in Andingmen, and several other officers of the pro-guard army were not the first time to experience the battle formation, but when they saw the state of this returning army, they knew that many things might be a little bad.

The officers and soldiers on the head of the city who were in charge of answering also consciously did not ask about the battle situation such as going south this time, or counting the number of people, but when night fell, the defenders on the city continued to repel the tentative attack of the main force of the Jianzhou Army with firearms that had been prepared long ago, and after Xiao Xuan and many officers and soldiers around him also completed their rotations, Tian Xiuying asked tentatively at dawn: "I didn't encounter any major events on this expedition, right?" The concubine saw that it seemed that half of the men did not seem to have returned, and the same was true of the teaching brigade and even the teams of the Guards Battalion and the Brave Guard Battalion. Has the original plan changed? ”

After a whole night, Xiao Xuan had already had his own attitude at this time, and he didn't hide anything, and said bluntly: "This time I went south, and I encountered a vicious battle in Linqing, with more than 2,000 casualties and more than 1,000 pure losses. A lot of armor and dozens of heavy guns were also captured, and the subsequent operation went quite smoothly, as you should all know. It's just that when they were still a day's journey to the capital, the team encountered a blasting attack and a night attack by the main force of the Jianzhou Army that they had not expected before. After the blasting attack of hundreds of thousands of three pounds, the main force of the Jianzhou Army took the opportunity to launch a night attack. If it weren't for the fact that a few small soldiers in the fortifications were still loyal to their duties and reacted quickly to start a defensive blasting counterattack, maybe the entire army might have been lost outside. After this battle, the officers and men of the Teaching Brigade who returned barely enough to fight were less than 4,000 people, and even the number of backbones left behind was only 6,000, and there was not only the main force of the Jianzhou Army outside the city, but the Liaodong group was also very likely to take the opportunity to launch a siege on the capital. The immediate task now is really what we expected, let's hold the city firmly first, at least there is no need to hide this matter within the army... ”

On the question of whether to conceal the losses of the team, Xiao Xuan also thought very clearly: not to mention the possible impact of this kind of lie on his own authority in the army in the future, if the officers and soldiers in the city do not have a sense of crisis, the voice of advocating continuing to fight and breaking the enemy's heavy army groups may still exist.

What people didn't expect was that not long after the main force of Jianzhou that attacked and attacked the city at night had just withdrawn, and in the morning, the soldiers who were in charge of watching the enemy with telescopes on the corner tower found a vast cavalry and horse team coming from afar. The fast-moving horse team approached the city in less than half an hour or so, and it seemed that it could effectively form a relatively tight outer defense line in all four directions on the outskirts of the capital. At a greater distance, the convoy and infantry team also appeared one after another, and the scale seemed to be much larger than previously expected.

"It seems that the enemy is not only the main force of the Liaodong Army, but at least 200,000 people. It seems that a lot of siege equipment has been prepared, and it seems that those people should have been prepared. Zhou Yuji said somewhat worriedly. The arithmetic is not too bad, knowing the scope of the capital, and seeing that the enemy troops gradually gathering can form an endless battle line at a distance of two or three miles from the first half of the city, and it is impossible to do it without a force of about 200,000 or even more than 100,000 soldiers. Zhou Yuji estimated.

Although there is a very bad possibility, but because no one was sure before the battle, whether it was Huang Degong, Zhou Yuji, or Sun Yingyuan and others, they did not arbitrarily say that the army of 200,000 people would definitely not be the confluence of the Jianzhou Army and the Liaodong Army, although the banner armor was basically the banner and armor of the Ming Dynasty.

Xiao Xuan said at this time: "Prepare for the worst!" In addition, the artillery that had been deployed last night should also fire within a mile, at a distance of two or three hundred paces from the city wall, and if it is not aimed at a heavily protected opponent, it is better to save ammunition as much as possible. ”

The army that was gathering only stopped for a moment two miles as it assembled its whole group, and then quickly approached from all directions, pushing the shield wagons and erecting the artillery, and approaching from all directions a distance of about a mile from the head of the city.

The dots of white smoke gradually joined in a line, and with the use of those large and small general cannons, as well as makeshift pine cannons or rudimentary artillery, the first round of fire preparations for the siege of the enemy army continued to unfold one after another. The goal of the attack also seems to be clear, that is, the main gate of each city gate and the corner tower behind it.

Most of the Ming army's light artillery was only able to throw the closed projectile to a distance of about a mile or so when it was fired, so the projectile looked like a trebuchet with a clear trajectory. The officers and soldiers at the head of the city could avoid most of them during the day with a little attention. However, those fixed and not very protective city gate towers are often quickly devastated under the concentrated fire of hundreds of large and small artillery.

The heavy artillery that the Liaodong Army had prepared long ago also launched fire at this time, firing continuously along the direction of the Nine Gate City Gate, and soon it seemed that the city gate was gradually broken under the bombardment of the heavy artillery.

Seeing that the gate of the capital was not sealed with earth and stone as in the Battle of Ningyuan, Cao Wenzhao, Mao Wenlong and others, who originally did not have much expectations for the siege of the city, also felt a glimmer of hope for success. If the defending side of the city is not very familiar with the defense of the city, then this time the joint attack of the Shaanxi Army and the Liaodong Army may not need the expected price to make a breakthrough, in that case, it seems not impossible to retain the emperor in the name of the Qing monarch and establish himself as the king?