Chapter 51 The Bloody Battle of Jingyu Guards Coming to Guyuan City

Zhao Jinli understood that Ningde was already very reluctant to open the city gate with cannons and then rush into the city to massacre. So this time the command was completely handed over to him. Zhao Jinli knew that although there was no suspense in such a battle, after these battles, he still admired the will to fight shown by the generals of the Dashun Army when Li Zicheng abandoned them, so he definitely did not dare to despise the opponent too much. Because the rabbit is in a hurry and bites, not to mention facing a group of brave soldiers who have been on the battlefield for a long time, as long as they are not careful, they will suffer.

Therefore, Zhao Jinli gathered the generals who participated in the siege and laid out a detailed battle plan for them. It's noon, and they have to settle the battle before dark, otherwise the night won't be conducive to their firepower advantage.

Since the city was connected to the Great Wall on both sides, Zhao Jinli and his men could only attack the north gate of Jingyu City. In order not to destroy the city too much, Zhao Jinli pulled a few infantry cannons over first.

At this time, the defenders of the city also saw that the Yaogang people were about to attack the city, because they saw that the Yaogang people had already set up cannons under the city. The generals defending the city saw that they could not stand up and be beaten, so they ran away first. Although the accuracy of their artillery is really limited, it also frightened Zhao Jinli, and said in his heart, "Don't be careless, don't be careless, let them take the lead."

Zhao Jinli immediately ordered mortars to suppress the artillery of the Dashun army in the city. The kiln artillery who had been holding back their strength for a long time threw the shells onto the city wall, and although the mortar shells could not all fall on the car wall, the hit shells smashed them all at once. Most of their artillery only fired one shot, and they were clearing their chambers and preparing to fire a second shot, but they didn't expect the guns of the kiln gang people to counterattack so quickly and accurately. At this time, the infantry artillery "dong dong" several shots fired at the city gate, "boom" several explosions, the city gate was blown up and flew away. But when the smoke cleared, Zhao Jinli and the others saw that the city gate was blocked from the doorway.

Zhao Jin stomped his feet angrily and shouted: "Push the heavy artillery up." Mortars don't stop, and the city is not allowed to fire any more from below. Zhao Jinli thought to himself, finally General Ningde let me command a battle, why is it so awkward today. I don't want to cause damage to the city, but it doesn't seem to work. If you don't fight again, it's late, and it's delayed for another day.

When the mortar gunners heard that they were to block the walls, they were not welcome. The "knock knock" is endless. Zhao Jinli shouted to the artillerymen: "Don't you fucking look at it? No one in the city is still beating with their eyes closed. Is it easy for us to transport those shells for a thousand or two thousand miles? You heartless thing. ”

The artillerymen were also angry, and said in their hearts, it was you who said that you wanted to block the city wall, how to let you fight, and you who did not let you fight.

Fortunately, the 130 heavy cannon was pushed up, and everyone's spirit was focused on it. Zhao Jinli said to the commander of the heavy artillery division who came up: "You see, the city gate in front was blown open by us, and those dogs and things were piled up with soil behind the city gate. Use your cannon to clear out their gates, or they won't be able to finish their work today. ”

The commander of the heavy artillery division said: "This is not good, we will go in with one shot, and if we can't get it right, even the city gate building will collapse together." ”

"Let's collapse, will we still have to rely on the city wall to defend this place in the future?" Zhao Jinli said.

"In that case, shall we open another gate next to the gate? It's also hassle-free! The commander of the heavy artillery division said.

"That's right! Keep the city gate building, I think it is very good-looking. Zhao Jinli said.

"Then it's up to us!" The commander of the heavy artillery division said, "After we open the opening, your mortars will extend to fire at the infantry and then charge." ”

"You'll do what you said," Zhao Jinli said, "and we'll do the rest!" ”

"Haha!" The commander of the heavy artillery division smiled and said, "Okay! If you talk too much, you still don't appreciate it. ”

The commander of the heavy artillery division went back and ordered the adjustment of the gun port, aimed at a place more than 100 meters to the left of the city gate, turned around and glanced at Zhao Jinli and them, and saw that Zhao Jinli and their mortars had also adjusted their positions, and the infantry also moved in this direction. The commander of the heavy artillery division shouted: "Brothers! Now is the time to look at you, don't embarrass Lao Tzu. Let's see what kind of cannon is! "The heavy artillery division who has been holding back his strength has rarely had the opportunity to show his skills, and this time he has to show his face. However, the words of the commander of the heavy artillery division made those mortar soldiers very unconvinced, and said in their hearts that although we are small, we are also artillery, and in the mouth of the commander of the heavy artillery division, it seems that only theirs are considered artillery.

However, as soon as the 130 heavy artillery was fired, the mortars had no opinion on the words of the commander of the heavy artillery division. No wonder people are cows, 130 heavy artillery is cattle. Ten heavy cannons were fired together, it was simply earth-shattering, and the sound of "dong dong" firing the cannon shook the dust and was far away, and everyone felt trembling in their hearts.

However, the power of the cannonball is even more evident when it explodes on the city wall. Ten shells blew a hole in the rammed city wall, and the soldiers of the Dashun Army on the city wall flew into the sky without knowing what was going on. By the time the second batch of shells fell on the breached gap, the band in the wall was already three zhang wide. As soon as the second batch of 130 heavy artillery shells was blown up, Zhao Jinli commanded the artillery to shoot mortars into the gap, and the heavy machine guns began to fire chains at the city wall to suppress the Dashun army, while the infantry followed the shells into the gap.

These are all classic tactics learned by the officers of the kiln gang, and I don't know how many times they have been drilled in peacetime. It was very skillfully used in this actual battle.

At this time, Ning De came to Zhao Jinli, who was commanding the operation, sighed and said, "Alas! And I had to kill a lot of people. ”

"There's no way, we're already moving a little later than the other way." Zhao Jinli said, "How could you have thought that this road is a castle next to each other, and big and small battles have to be fought every day." ”

"Huh! These are all for the northern Tartars, and now they are against us. Ningde said with a smile.

At this time, the gunfire in the city rang out. Li Zicheng's consciousness of fighting to the death in the Dashun army has to be admired. In the face of automatic rifles, knowing that they were defeated, many soldiers still rushed forward with the muzzle. The soldiers of the kiln gang were warned before entering the city, and they should not be soft. In fact, at this time, I can't be soft.

Some of the infantry rushed into the city to fight, and some climbed the walls and killed them on both sides along the wall. Fortunately, there were not many defenders on the third inner Great Wall, and the soldiers on both sides of the Great Wall did not put up decent resistance, and some of them were killed, and the others ran away.

The city was full of blood, but the result was not suspenseful, and the battle was completely resolved before dark. More than 2,000 people of the Dashun army escaped from Nanmen'er under the leadership of the mighty general, more than 5,000 were killed and more than 2,000 were captured alive.

Zhao Jinli ordered the soldiers of Yaogang to transport the corpses out of the city as soon as possible, where the soldiers had already set up wooden stomps, and the transported corpses were directly put on the wooden stomping. The body was then cremated by pouring oil on fire and lighting a fire.

As soon as the morning dawned, Zhao Jinli organized the soldiers to clean up the blood stains in the city and rest for a day. A regiment was left to assist the officials and police of the kiln to take over the city. The brigade went straight to Lanzhou.

Although the section from Jingyuwei to Lanzhou has entered the three sides of the Great Wall, this area has been a battlefield since ancient times, and it is also a beacon castle. However, due to the loss of Jingyuwei, the defenders almost lost their determination to resist, and many officers and soldiers of Dashun stationed in Dashun fled to Lanzhou.

Lanzhou is located in the northwest throat area, and has changed hands many times in the hands of the Western Xia, Tibetan, Tatar and Han Chinese. The name of Lanzhou has been around since the Sui Dynasty. After Zhu Yuanzhang won the Central Plains, he divided a group of princes throughout the country, and named the fourteenth son as the king of Su, who was originally in Ganzhou (Zhangye, Gansu), and then moved to Lan County (Lanzhou), Lintao Prefecture.

In the fourth year of Chongzhen, King Su also passed on 11 kings. Zhu Zhihong, who is extraordinary, unfortunately became the last king of Su. In the fifteenth year of Chongzhen (1643), Li Zicheng's troops broke through Lanzhou, and the Dashun army entered the Su Palace, the emperors and grandchildren were cornered, the palace was in chaos, and the princesses and servants fled in all directions. The princesses Yan and Zhao who fled to the north city crashed into the poem tablet of King Su in the cloud tower and died. The last Su king, Zhu Zhihong, escaped from the water cave under the back of the guard Zhang Ding, and was captured by He Jin's subordinates in Jingyuan Tashi Fort, and was later sent to Xi'an. In the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng ordered the execution of the last king of Su. And Zhang Ding was released home because of the Savior's loyalty.

However, it is not He Jin who defeated Lanzhou who is guarding Lanzhou now, but a mighty general. Coupled with the mighty generals who escaped from Jingyuwei, they can also be regarded as star-studded. The generals who escaped from the three sides also gathered here. However, at this time, they were like lost dogs, far less heroic than when they broke through Lanzhou and killed and plundered the Su Palace. The generals were dejected and re-discussed whether to flee or defend.

If they escape, they will have to cross the Yellow River and destroy the pontoon bridge to prevent the Yaogang people from pursuing, but in this case, they will die in the northwest, and it will be difficult to return to the east of the Yellow River, but even then the Yaogang people will chase through the Hexi District in the future; According to the mighty general who escaped from Jingluwei, the Yaogang people did not attack the city gate at all when they attacked Jingluwei this time, and directly used their cannons to blast the city wall open, and before they could react, the large and small cannonballs fell like raindrops. Before the smoke cleared, the kiln men rushed into the city with guns that could fire continuously. The soldiers couldn't stop the attack of the Yaogang people with their bodies, and the blood killed in the Jingyuwei was like a river. Introduced here, this mighty general who fled from Jingyuwei to this place and followed Li Zicheng through countless bloody battles couldn't help but have tears in his eyes, and said that he was sorry for the brothers in Jingyuwei.

The generals present bowed their heads one by one and remained silent, and their mood was extremely low. How did they know that the kiln people had already arranged for them to work carefully and had already started digging graves for them.

Lanzhou pontoon bridge was built in the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1398 AD), called Zhenyuan Bridge. When formulating the attack plan, Zhang Zhimu reminded Chen Yufeng and Ouyang He to keep the pontoon bridge in Lanzhou as much as possible. Because Zhang Zhimu's plan is to open up the Silk Road as soon as possible after occupying Shaanxi, this pontoon bridge is still very useful. Moreover, with this pontoon bridge, it is also convenient to solve the Hexi Corridor immediately. Of course, it is not a big problem to build a pontoon bridge with the current strength of the kiln gang people, but it will take time. According to the current transportation capacity, it is a big matter to transport the materials for the construction of the pontoon bridge to Lanzhou. Therefore, Li Zhi arranged for Meng Si'er to arrange personnel in Lanzhou in advance. These Li Zicheng and his generals would never have imagined.

Meng Si'er and the others left Ningxia Mansion and followed the west bank of the Yellow River to the west bank of the Hasi Rope Bridge, leaving a few people behind to cooperate with Ningde and them to occupy the rope bridge after seizing the Hasi Castle. At the west end of the Hasiso Bridge, there are not many soldiers guarding it, it is a watchtower, and troops from the east bank come to stand guard in turn. They never imagined that a few people who were familiar with them would kill them if they set up a stall to sell things here.

As soon as the guns of Ningde and their attack on Hath Castle rang out, several of Meng Si'er's people lost their smirks and took out their pistols and pointed them at a few soldiers on the west bank. There are two who are used to bullying them, and they are not used to being pointed at guns by them, and they want to scare them with shaking spirits. Meng Si'er didn't have the heart to tease them, so he shot the two of them to death without politeness.

The rest of the few people understand that these people are here for a few days to accompany the smiling faces to them, and they are waiting for today. So no one will joke with their lives. When Ningde arrived, they sent a platoon of men across the bridge to take over the watchtower. Meng Si'er and their people went to Lanzhou quickly.

Meng Si'er and the people who came to Lanzhou in advance were also a routine, buying a shop and opening a store in Lanzhou. They come here to operate with integrity and have established good relationships with both customers and merchants. Of course, officials who need to be checked up and down can't miss it. When the Yaogang people began to attack, those officials and officers of the Great Shun Dynasty quietly came over and told them that there was going to be a war, so hurry up and prepare to prepare, and leave when it is time to go. How did they know that these people were the attacking kiln men?

When Meng Si'er and the others arrived in Lanzhou, they were not very nervous here, because although the people here knew that Li Zicheng had run away and the Yaogang people were going to call, they were still far away from here after all.

After Meng Si'er and the others arrived, they found that the military deployment situation here had not changed much. The people were quickly dispersed.

As Ningde and they laid down Ningxia Zhongwei and Jingyuwei, the situation here became increasingly tense. A large number of routs fled into Lanzhou, and the law and order situation on the streets became worse and worse. The patrol sent by the mighty general had to kill a few troublesome Dashun army routs on the streets every day.

Soon there were more than 40,000 people gathered in the small Lanzhou, and more than half of them were the original hungry people. Now they have fled here, there is no food, and they can't go out and rob it. However, Lanzhou's food is also limited, and it cannot manage so many troops. In short, it was a mess, and the situation was reported to General Guoyi in Guyuan. General Guo Yi also did not return any information.

In fact, General Guo Yi of Guyuan could not take care of them. The army of Yaogang has already arrived in the city.

After Liu Chenghuang and Liu Yun broke up, they led their troops straight to the southwest, north of Pingliang, and went northwest in reverse, without caring about Pingliang, and went directly along the valley to Guyuan City one day later than Li Kui and them.

When he arrived in Guyuan, the quick-tempered Li Kui was not in a hurry, he knew that Guyuan was the last target of the first phase of the mission. He also knew that Guyuan was not easy to fight, otherwise Mr. Chen Yufeng and Mr. Ouyang would not have arranged a plan to attack Guyuan from both sides, especially since they did not bring heavy artillery. So they were waiting for Liu Chenghuang in front of Guyuan.

In fact, it is said that Xiaoguan is the north gate of the Hanzhong Plain, but it is better to say that Guyuan is the north gate of Hanzhong. During the Qin and Han dynasties, Xiaoguan was in the southeast canyon of Guyuan, and later moved to the Great Wall of Tongxin.

The reason why Xiao Guan is important is because of Guyuan. The northern nomads traveled along the river as they traveled south. Xiao Guan is stuck in the Qingshui River Valley. Along the Qingshui River, after passing the Xiao Pass, it is Guyuan.

In the Ming Dynasty, in order to defend against the southern invasion of the Yuan Dynasty, nine important towns were set up on the northern border, known as the "Nine Sides". Guyuan is one of the "nine sides". Guyuan is the location of the trilateral general military administration.

The scope of Guyuan's jurisdiction is south of Ningxia Prefecture (Yinchuan), east from Dingbianying (now Dingbian County, Shaanxi) to the southwest, through Ningxia Ningxia Houwei (Yanchi County) south, Tongxin County north, Haiyuan County north, Jingyuwei (Gansu Jingyuan County) north, and then along the east bank of the Yellow River to the south of Lanzhou, Tao River into the Yellow River near the end, 1,000 miles long. The whole line is divided into eastern, middle and western roads, the east road is Baimacheng, the middle road is under the horse gate (Tongxin County under the horse pass), and the west road Lanzhou is an important pass.

After more than 1,000 years of renovation and renovation, Guyuan Castle has formed a special fortress in the shape of a hollow zigzag. The outer city has been completely built with masonry. Most of the walls in the northwest are made of earth, which makes Guyuan Castle even more extraordinary.

Speaking of the inner city alone, the perimeter of the city is nine miles and three points, three feet and five feet high, with one thousand and forty-six battlements and twenty-eight forts. Outer city: thirteen miles and seven minutes around, three feet high and six feet high, 1,573 battlements; Thirty-one forts. There are three East City Gates, two famous ones, one Anbian Gate and one Baoning Gate. There are four roads in the south city gate, two roads for the famous, and the town is destroyed. There are two west city gates, and the sun is far away. One of the north city gates, Jingshuo.

After Li Zicheng occupied Shaanxi, he naturally did not dare to slack off, and he appointed a general Guo Yi with more than 100,000 soldiers under his jurisdiction to be responsible for the defense of this area.

At this time, General Guo Yi, who was guarding here, knew very well in his heart that the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses here were going to live and die with this Guyuan City. Many officers and soldiers of Dashun who fled to Guyuan said that the firearms of the Yaogang people were too powerful. Their cannons could knock down the walls with a single shot, and their muskets could fire continuously. It's not enough to fight hard. Therefore, General Guo Yi decided to take the Yaogang people into the city, and there might be a chance of winning in a melee with them in the city. It should be said that General Guo Yi's strategy was right. In this way, it can reduce the number of casualties killed by the artillery fire of the kiln gang people, and it is useless to fight together with the artillery fire. However, this does not change their absolute disadvantage, because melee rifles still have no suspense against spear broadswords. In fact, the Yaogang people were worried that their strong city walls, and they were two-story walls, and direct artillery could not shoot the inner city from the outside. What's more worrying is that there are too many people here, and the terrain is dangerous.

Li Kui, who first went to Guyuan City, was stunned when he came to Guyuan City several times. I couldn't help but say to the people below: "Be good! No wonder Mr. Chen and Mr. Ouyang asked us to wait for Liu Yun and them to attack Guyuan on both sides, this Guyuan is really dangerous, and hard fighting is not a way, but there is nowhere to start. ”

"Liu Chenghuang and they have heavy artillery, I think the only way to open the city wall is to use heavy artillery from their side." One of his subordinates said.

"We're here to watch others fight, and we're going into the city after the fight?" Li Kui snorted with his nose and said, "Hmph! If that's the case, I might as well just crash to death! ”

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