Changlin still opened the city to release the people, because there was a riot in the city, Zhou Lang's shouts spread in the city, and the people said that the governor wanted them to be buried with them.

Panic can be suppressed, but there are civilian officials who oppose the use of force against the people, and at this time the officialdom cannot be united, and this battle cannot be fought.

Moreover, the prices in the city are soaring, everyone is rushing to buy goods, and there is already a state of collapse, if it is allowed to spread, he must suppress the chaos on the one hand, and fight Zhou Lang on the other, which is even more disadvantageous.

Under the trade-off, Changlin opened the north and west cities on the third day, and let the people out of the city under the strict defense of the army. A large number of ordinary people helped the old and the young, but they could only go out of the city with the softness, because Changlin refused to go out of the city with a grain of grain, and the army was strictly investigating, and the ordinary people who did not have dry food were searched out, and were beaten to the ground by the soldiers, crying bitterly.

Changlin's choice made Zhou Lang breathe a sigh of relief, if the other party refused to let the people out of the city, Zhou Lang could only storm it, the life and death of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Guangzhou City could not be taken care of at this time, 400,000 Guangzhou people, and more than 10 million Cantonese people, and even 40,000 people from the world, the weight was insignificant.

However, Changlin's choice may make people remember him, after this battle, no matter whether he lives or dies, according to convention, someone will give him a cultivation temple.

Zhou Lang also decided to try his best to save Changlin's life, but the possibility was very small, and he expected Changlin to commit suicide in the end.

As soon as the time limit passed, the cannon roared.

The barrage chain could not stop the cannon, but the wooden stakes hidden in the water could not be cleaned up for a while, so Zhou Lang could only land on land opposite Huangpu and attack the city of Guangzhou by land.

Zhou Lang's troops are sufficient, and the total number of troops transferred to Guangzhou this time is as high as 80,000, which is more than the people who attacked Beijing. It took only 40,000 people to attack Beijing, and that was with the intention of fighting if they could, and leaving if they couldn't, but this time it was necessary to fight and to bring it down.

Although 80,000 people is a lot, it is insignificant compared to the sieges of hundreds of thousands of people in previous dynasties.

The vanguard was the First Army, and after they landed, they would attack along the way to clear a safe passage for the main forces behind.

Some fishing villages and towns along the road were taken without much resistance. In fact, there is no group training around Guangzhou, because if there is, they are all transferred to Guangzhou City.

On the map drawn by the British, the port of Huangpu is 9 miles from the city of Guangzhou, which is enough to reach in one day. Because it was a march, it took half a day to reach Xian Village, and arrived at Guangzhou City in the evening.

On the second day, the second army marched into the eastern suburbs of Guangzhou, and then marched northward, the third and fourth armies continued to the north, and Zhou Lang's combat purpose was to encircle the city of Guangzhou and annihilate the regular Qing army in the entire Guangdong at one time.

So not to rush to attack, but to choose to encircle first.

The troops after the Fifth Army began to camp in the eastern field and made offensive moves. And to the south, capture the wharves and merchant districts in the south of the city, and try to clean the river, and open the transportation waterway from Huangpu to Guangzhou.

The attack proceeded slowly and orderly, and Changlin collected his troops into the city, just like Zhou Lang encountered in Tongzhou, Zhou Lang already understood the reason, it was the last resort taken by the commander who was worried about the rout of the army outside the city.

Therefore, Zhou Lang's encirclement action helped Changlin instead, so that he no longer had to worry about his army breaking and fleeing.

The three-day battle was a roundabout, continuous detour, from the east of Guangzhou to the northwest, and then along the river from the south of the city to converge, around the city of Guangzhou. 30,000 men were responsible for the various strongholds along the way, and only 50,000 troops were actually used for the siege.

On the fourth day, the official attack really began, there were not many ways to attack Guangzhou, and the best way had been provided by the British, that is, to first take the north fort of the city, which was the commanding height of the whole city, and people with military common sense knew that they should occupy it.

Zhou Lang is no exception, the second army and the third army encircled the Zhenhailou fort, there is no reason why it can't be defeated, the soldiers on the defense are more tenacious than the last time, but to no avail, under the cover of artillery, not only can suppress the artillery in the city, but also crush the fortifications of their infantry, only half a day of fighting, the north fort will be occupied.

With this as the commanding height, it can cover the whole city, and it can be said that if you occupy this place, you will win half.

On the one hand, Zhou Lang patiently transferred the heavy artillery to Yuexiu Mountain, preparing to use the Manchu forts, and at the same time building new forts, the firepower was enough to cover the whole city, which took time.

Zhou Lang took advantage of this gap and decided to give the Qing army another chance and decided to talk to them again.

There was no way to talk to Changlin, and there was no way to talk to the magistrates in the city, so he could only talk directly to the soldiers whose lives were at stake, and promised them that as long as they did not resist, they would not be killed, and told them how to show that they would not resist, that is, throw away their weapons, hold their heads in their hands, and draw the shapes with pictures, which were printed as leaflets and distributed in the city.

The defenders of the city were also assured that they would be provided with food for the captives and that they would be released after the battle.

This can still be understood as a psychological battle, but Zhou Lang just doesn't want to kill so many people, they are all raised by his parents, and it is not easy to raise such a big one.

The Battle of Guangzhou did not only take place on the battlefield of Guangzhou, in fact, it was a large-scale battle centered on Guangzhou.

The total number of troops dispatched by Zhou Lang was as high as 100,000, and in addition to the main force in Guangzhou, there were 20,000 in other regions.

As the head snake, Zhao Wen's troops that had just completed the reorganization were also put into battle, and he was given the number of the 15th Army.

However, he did not come to Guangzhou, but landed in Doumen, and then contacted the Hakka forces in the Wuyi area to attack various county seats. The other way is to attack Huizhou, Dongguan, Xin'an (Shenzhen), Xiangshan (Zhuhai, Zhongshan and Macau), apparently Zhou Lang intends to solve the entire Pearl River Delta region with Guangzhou as the leader at once.

The other two armies, although the strength is small, but the Qing army defense is empty, most of the green battalion soldiers went to Guangzhou City, leaving only a few people, so the news of conquering the county town kept coming.

On the fifth day after Zhou Lang besieged the city of Guangzhou, Zhao Wen sent a battle report saying that the Wuyi area had been completely taken. It is requested to attack Gaoming and Yaogao along the waterway, which are also inhabited by Hakka people, or to attack Foshan to join the main force of Guangzhou.

According to Zhao Wen, the number of troops under his command was almost not damaged, and many county towns either fled or had internal openings, and only one major battle took place in Xinhui. But the local Hakka armed forces have reached more than 20,000, most of which are Hakka group training at the request of Changlin, and the local natives also have group training, but the Tuan group has maintained neutrality.

Zhao Wen thought that he could use the Hakka regiment to practice and participate in the battle, so that he would have enough troops to continue the offensive.

Zhou Lang's purpose was also to strike at the Qing army as soon as possible, unite with the landlords to stabilize the localities, and take the whole of Guangdong.

The sooner the better, so Zhao Wen's action was approved, but he was not allowed to attack Gaoming, but let him take down Foshan along the waterway, and then follow the main stream of the Xijiang River, all the way to capture Sanshui, Gaoyao, Deqing and other riverside cities, and open up a waterway to Guangxi.

Because at this time, the battle of Guangzhou had already achieved certain results, and it was not able to take the entire city of Guangzhou, but the periphery was basically cleaned. The Fifth Army captured the south of the city, which was already within the range of infantry artillery fire from the city wall, and the artillery of the Qing army, including the forts, had been captured, so it can be said that it had taken control of the south of the city, and also crossed the river to seize Henan (the area of Haizhu District), and the Tanmin fishermen hired by Zhou Lang had already cleared the waterway from Huangpu, and the big boats could not move forward, but the small boats could already pass.

It was even possible to bypass the city of Guangzhou and provide logistical supplies to Zhao Wen, who was operating on the Xijiang River.

The war situation in Huizhou and other places was also very smooth, Huizhou City, Dongguan City, and even Xiangshan County were captured in one go, but there was a problem near Macao, and when attacking the Qianshanzhai Qing Army Water Camp near Macao, the Portuguese actually captured this place. Qianshanzhai is a military camp set up at the end of the border between the north of Macao in order to strengthen coastal defense and guard against the Portuguese in Macao during the Ming Dynasty. To put it bluntly, it is to restrain Macao, the Ming and Qing dynasties of the Portuguese in Macao are very peaceful, accept management, and help officers and soldiers fight from time to time, and even formed musketeers to help the Ming Dynasty resist the Qing army.

But this time they decided that the Qing Dynasty was finished, so they wanted to expand a little and remove this nail that restricted them. and contacted Zhou Lang's army, expressing their willingness to form an alliance with Zhou Lang, and they hoped that they could cede Macao to the Qianshanzhai area and cede it to them. The Portuguese were willing to pay taxes to the new government, as was the case with the old practice.

The Portuguese were not worried, but they had a glorious history, the first global empire in human history, and it was the Portuguese who started the Age of Discovery.

As pioneers, emaciated camels were bigger than horses, and the Portuguese heritage was extremely rich. For example, Brazil, a large country and still a colony of the Grape people, may not have been able to become independent if it were not for the influence of the Napoleonic Wars; In addition, the Portuguese have bases in four of the five continents: Timore, India, Goa, Africa, Asia, Africa, Europe and the United States.

It is really a waste to have such a rich and huge inheritance in the hands of such a small country, and Zhou Lang is very interested in it.

So he ordered his army to keep a distance from the Portuguese first, allowing them to occupy the former walled walls, but not allowing them to continue to expand. For this reason, Zhou Lang ordered the Ninth Army to temporarily suspend military operations and stationed it in Xiangshan County to prevent the Portuguese from making the next move.

Zhou Lang decided that he should talk to the Portuguese, but only after he had captured Canton, or even the whole of Guangdong. Otherwise, the capital in his hands is not thick enough to let the Portuguese take the bait.

At this time, after a month of fighting, the battle of Guangzhou was also coming to an end, the style of painting basically remained unchanged, and Guangzhou fell, accompanied by the suicide of a group of civilian officials.