Street fighting must not only rely on the Dongxi defense line, but also the city wall cannot be abandoned.

Hold on to the city wall and try to compress the breach, the longer the Ming army holds on the city wall, the more stable the Dongxi defense line will be.

The commander of Xicheng, the hereditary palm print commander of the avant-garde in Guangzhou, Shi Kunran came out of the ranks, "I guard the left shoulder of the breach." ”

Shou Xuan bowed his head slightly, "General Shi, please stick to the Xiaobeimen Tower, and at the worst point, you must also defend the Yuexiu Mountain Zhenhai Tower." ”

The northeastern city wall of Guangzhou withstood the main attack of the Tatars, and the defensive equipment was exhausted. The Tatars only had to move the siege cannon a short distance to create a new gap. Heavy troops could not be placed on the shoulders of the breach, and the defenders could rely on tall and sturdy towers.

The towers controlled the gates, and the breaches of the walls were inefficient, and if the Tatars could not control the gates, the firepower they could put in was always limited.

Yu Fengqi said angrily, "I guard the right shoulder." ”

The city wall on the left shoulder of the breakthrough was built along the mountain, and the forward attack had to climb Yuexiu Mountain along the city wall, and the defenders could rely on Zhenhai Tower, the strongest fortress in Guangzhou. It is clear that the right shoulder of the breakthrough will be the main direction of the attack of the enemy along the ramparts.

Guangzhou Hui took over the defense task, and Shou Xiang sighed secretly, "General Yu, try your best to hold the breakthrough, and at the worst of all, you must guard the Great East Gate Tower." ”

Yu Fengqi smiled sadly, "Great Commander, before I fall, the Tatars will never be able to threaten your flank. ”

The mobilization of the strong men to evacuate the residents of the old city was the responsibility of the civilian officials. Most of the residents of the old city are related to the government, and the advantage is that the degree of organization is higher than that of the common people. Retreating from the old city to the new city, there are four city gates, from west to east, which are Guide Gate, Great South Gate, Wenming Gate and Small South Gate. The city gate of Guangzhou was tall and wide, and after the civil officials estimated it, they told Shou Xu that the population of the old city could be evacuated in three days through the city gate.

"At least four days." Shou Ling's tone was very resolute, "Generals, for the sake of the more than 100,000 people in Guangzhou City, please do your best." ”

A sense of mission lingers in the hearts of local soldiers. Time is a luxury, and you can't give up a minute or a second. Yu Fengqi and Shi Kunran immediately left the yamen and returned to the headquarters to rectify the soldiers and horses.

The civil officials returned to the Yamen, and the prefects of Panyu County, Nanhai County, and Guangzhou went back overnight to launch the government service and the military household Yu Ding, which could not let Du Yonghe's soldiers do it, and it must have been a catastrophe for the Ming army from other places to scatter into the city of Guangzhou and forcibly relocate the people.

After the local officers and civilian officials left, they lit their pipes in an orderly manner and looked at the remaining officers of the Cheng Dong Department.

"Generals, your troops have held the city of Guangzhou for more than eight months with inferior forces, and you have fulfilled your responsibilities. Now we can discuss where you will go after the retreat. ”

No matter how many days the city of Guangzhou can be defended, Du Yonghe and others can always evacuate, they have soldiers and ships.

"My promise is still valid, and the territory of the Rajang River in Borneo is all yours, and the hereditary replacement."

Zhang Yue bit her lip, "What about the population?" We need the population to run the territory. ”

"You can get one-tenth of the evacuated population in Guangzhou, and you need to figure out how to get the rest of the population."

Du Yonghe seems to have a plan, which will sober up a little, "We need a big ship to go to Borneo, and we don't have many big ships. ”

"You can move slowly, I promise to temporarily resettle your population in Hainan and Houjiang. You always have enough boats, right? ”

Du Yonghe bit his lip, "Conditions? ”

"Give me the rest of your money. The next few days were bloody battles, and I needed money to motivate the soldiers. ”

Du Yonghe, Zhang Yue, Zhang Daoying and others quickly exchanged glances.

"There are only 100,000 taels left in the domain......"

"Yes, I'll leave it all to me." Shou Xuan didn't bargain, 100,000 taels was about enough, and he didn't bother to care how much silver Du Yonghe had left. "Also, the rest of your cannons and 7 ships will be deployed by me."

Zhang Yue said: "This is a natural ......"

"Mr. Wu."

"Yes, the Great Ruler."

"Work hard for your sailor, and work with my people to ensure the smooth flow of rivers and seas from the Pearl River to Xiangshan."

Wu Wenwen smiled, "Obey the king's orders." ”

The Ming army in Guangzhou controlled many ships, and only a small part of them could transport the entire army. Zhou Yu, Zhou Zhen, and Li Changrong once again fell to the Tatars, who were poorly equipped and could neither go ashore to capture a well-defended village fort nor defeat the Guangzhou naval division, but only found several opportunities to burn some of the Guangzhou ships moored at the dock.

There was a threat of pirates, and the route of retreat was not all smooth sailing, and the Guangzhou Navy Division still had the task of escorting the ship.

Some of Du Yonghe's sailors came from Huang Fei and Wu Zhikui's Dengliao and Wu Song sailors who surrendered in Deshenggang, and some of them came from the surrendered Zheng Fan's men, who had hundreds of elite officers and soldiers serving under Du Yonghe, and the other part was recruited locally in Guangzhou.

Shang Kexi was born in the Dongjiang Naval Division, and was proficient in naval warfare, and it was the powerful Guangzhou Naval Division that continuously thwarted the water battles provoked by Shang Kexi, and the Guangzhou City was able to hold out for more than eight months. From the perspective of personnel structure, although Li Chengdong and Du Yonghe are both from Shaanxi, their sailors have strong combat effectiveness and are trustworthy. Compared with defending the city, the sailor is more of a hard physical work, and his life is not in great danger. Counting, Wu Wenwen's task is the lightest.

"Du Junmen, in order to stabilize morale, you can't withdraw for the time being, and you have to stick to the yamen."

Du Yonghe shook his head, he was a military man who started with his head hanging on his trouser belt, and he didn't care about it.

"With the big system in front, Du will naturally not flee first."

Shou Xiang is actually powerless to control Du Yonghe's behavior, and he can't stop him if he wants to escape. It's just a scene, and I don't expect much to be orderly.

"General Zhang Yue."

"Yes."

"Please pick some elites, the East Creek defense line needs more trying. Tell your people that I will give you enough silver. ”

Zhang Yue: "I'll do it right away." ”

Shou Xuan nodded, "General Zhang Daoying, please rearrange the defense of the new city." ”

"Okay."

The defenders of Guangzhou suffered heavy losses, but not to the extent of losing their combat effectiveness. Historically, the loss of Guangzhou was more due to the collapse of the city wall, the collapse of the soldiers' psychological defense line, and soon entered the common race of the Ming army. The orderly reinforcements injected a shot in the arm for the defenders, and after the reorganization, the defenders, who were mainly locals, still had a certain combat effectiveness.

Regardless of sincerity or falsehood, if they did not want to surrender to the Tatars, the future of these subordinates who originally belonged to Chengdong in Guangzhou would all depend on the order, at least on the surface, the order took over the command and did not cause criticism.

Leave the governor's yamen in order.

"Lin Shoujie." Shou Xuan shouted to the captain of the guard, "You take 100 people to control the small south gate." ”

"What about you, lordship?"

"I'm with Dongshuiying."

"Please stay with me in the small south gate tower and hand over the front line to Battalion Commander Andrei."

"I'm not here, and it's impossible for the Dongxi defense line to hold for 4 days."

"Guarding the lord's side at all times is the mission of the festival."

Shou Xuan sighed secretly, and the Japanese were dead. "The small south gate is the only retreat for our army, and I can only hand it over to the most trusted people. Shoujie, I will hand over the back road to you, before we evacuate, the small south gate must not be lost. ”

Lin Shoujie's face turned red, "Unless the whole army of the guards is broken, the small south gate will definitely be in our hands." ”

Orderly smiled and urged his mount forward.

There was the sound of horses' hooves behind him, and Shou Xian turned his head to see that it was Li Jianjie.

"Great Commander, you didn't give me a task."

Shou Xuan shook his head, motioned for Li Jianjie to follow, and said as he walked.

Li Jianjie was the most courageous cavalry general in Guangzhou, and he basically led the counter-charges out of the city.

After Li Jianjie's horses were side by side, he said in order: "Jianjie, your righteous brother (Li Yuanyin) sent me a letter and asked me to bring you out." Guangzhou is next in Zhaoqing, and your brother needs you as a brave general. ”

"I know, but I'm not going to leave my brothers to run first."

"How many soldiers do you have?"

"There are 700 elite soldiers, including more than 100 cavalry."

"What do you think?"

"Covering the retreat requires my cavalry."

"Yes, I need cavalry."

"I have dozens of the bravest horsemen, and every time I fight, the Tartar head hangs all over the horse."

Shou Xu took a deep look at Li Jianjie, the faction formed by Li Yuanyin and his righteous brother has in-depth cooperation with Shou Order, and this relationship can even be traced back to the first year of Hongguang. Li Yuanyin's third brother, Li Yuantai, is currently in the Taiping Mansion in Guangxi, next door to Qinzhou, which is a backhand left on the mainland after discussing with Li Yuanyin. Li Jianjie knew this, and he took the initiative to ask to act with the order.

Guangzhou City sits in the north and faces south, and the Chengxuan Street from Yuexiu Mountain Wanghailou to the Great South Gate is the axis of the whole city. Chengxuan Street is 2 zhang 5 zhang wide, all paved with stones, and was a first-class hardened pavement in the 17th century.

The retreat began in the northeast corner of the city, where the main buildings were a few academies and the Canton Mint, and there were not many residents, who had actually wanted to run away for a long time, and it was the military bullets that prevented them from going out. The prefect of Guangzhou dispatched some local soldiers from the Yamen of the capital to assist in opening the three gates of the southern city and the corresponding north-south avenues. The small south gate and the ancillary roads were left as mobile roads for the army, and there were officials and local guards to maintain order, and the retreat was progressing smoothly for the time being.

The Ming army dismantled 8 cannons from the west city wall, the south city wall and the Pearl River fort overnight, and placed them behind the artillery base of the Dongxi defense line, facing the gap in the city wall in a fan shape.

The three battalions of the Ming Army in Qiongzhou were deployed separately, and the Dongshui Battalion of the Federal Army was controlled in order as a reserve. Li Jianjie's infantry was scattered, and he only controlled the cavalry. The general of the Ming army who was sent by Du Yonghe and Zhang Yue to cooperate with the order was called Fan Chengen, who was originally Li Chengdong's general and a cronie among his cronies. After Cheng Dong's death, his life was not easy, and Du Yonghe often laughed at him as a straw bag.

The defenses on the city walls were also adjusted as planned, with the defenders building fortifications with sandbags and bamboo baskets, and transferring a few red-coated cannons and franc machines to block the passage of the city walls. The trouble for the defenders of the eastern city wall is that they need to deal with enemy troops from outside the city and on both sides of the city wall, and the order can only be pinned on Yu Fengqi's determination.

The Tatars are still shelling. In between the shelling, Shang Kexi outside the city launched several light infantry attacks, all of which were repulsed by the defenders.

Without Hainan reinforcements, the Tatars would easily disperse the unmotivated defenders with light infantry, occupy the towers, and open the gates to welcome the army outside the city. But now that the Ming army is still holding on, the Tatars have to follow the rules, organize the people to fill in the trenches, organize siege assault teams, carry ladders to climb the city wall on a short battle line, and cover the main force to break through the gap in the city wall. This gave a day to defend the order, but it was not enough, the Dongxi defense line can only be said to be largely completed, the barricades need to be further strengthened, the artillery needs more ammunition, and more residents need to be evacuated from the city.