In the early hours of the morning, in the dead of night, the moon hid in dark clouds, and there was only a glimmer of light on the ground.

200 gunners quietly lay under the city of Guangzhou.

The ruins of the burned streets provided cover for the soldiers, who waited silently among the ruins.

The nearby Guangzhou city wall is 11 meters high, and the thick black shadow is like a giant beast that chooses people to devour.

Zheng Yunzhong, the commander of the hunter company, touched the knight's medal hanging on his neckline, and there was a trace of anxiety in his eyes. Not far ahead, 60 sappers and 30 grenadiers of the combat engineer company were divided into three groups and made holes under the walls.

The sound finally alarmed the tired defenders, and the muzzle flames of the birds on the walls soon lit up.

200 soldiers immediately returned fire at the head of the city, covering the sappers who were working, and on such a night, the smoothbore guns of both armies had a poor hit rate.

City defense guns were the main threat to the infantry, and the muzzle flame was so visible in the darkness that rifled gunners fired in small volleys at enemy gun emplacements to interfere with enemy targeting.

The sappers should be thankful for the artillery that destroyed the walls on both sides of the blasting site during the daylight bombardment, which prevented the enemy from forming crossfire on the breaches, and the bird guns and city defense guns had a hard time hitting the sappers close to the base of the walls.

The Tatars threw a lot of debris from the city wall, including bombs, cannonballs, gauntrants filled with charge, vats containing asphalt, and rolling logs and stones, and then threw torches that ignited the asphalt, and a fire burned under the base of the wall, and Zheng Yun's center tightened.

The working sappers had to leave their positions, run to the base of the city wall to the place covered by enemy fire, and finally retreat to the other side of the moat under the cover of infantry.

The artillery then took over the battlefield, and the slow fire of mortars and siege artillery continued until dawn.

Tunnels like this have been going on for three nights, and under the cover of artillery and infantry, sappers have intermittently dug several tunnels.

The blasting took place the following night, and the gunpowder bag under the Dadong Gate exploded, giving a large gift bag to the city of Guangzhou.

Most of these gunpowder came from the captured inferior products of Tatar, and perhaps for this reason, the results of the explosion did not fully meet the expectations of the combat sappers.

The old buildings leading to Canton prevented the sappers, and only half of the city was blown down, and the other half was only shaken as if it had been broken in two by bayonets.

More than 100 Tatar soldiers guarding the city, four cannons, and all the supplies to defend the breach, were scattered everywhere.

The assault began, and the bridge engineers quickly built two pontoon bridges over the moat, and the two battalions divided into several columns to open up the space and run forward.

The 24-pounder cannon continued to fire at the Urn City, finally destroying that section of the wall completely.

The infantry climbed the city wall along the ruins, occupied an extremely important stronghold on the city wall of Guangzhou, and the passage into the city was opened.

The Tatars, however, held on to the shoulders of the breach, and built an internal defensive wall behind the collapsed wall, which, though hastily built, was an insurmountable obstacle for soldiers with only rifles.

The siege was suspended for the day, and the army was forced to build artillery forts in the occupied areas and wait for artillery movements to be in place to bombard the inner defensive wall.

Storming the city wall was always a troublesome matter, and the original plane Yingyi technically hanged the Tatars, but in the face of more than 1,000 Eight Banners guarded by Zhenjiang City, it still paid more than 170 casualties.

At this time, Guangzhou City is even more difficult to manage.

The resistance of the Tatars was fierce, and since the siege of Canton began, the army has suffered more than 300 casualties in the battle, far more than all previous battles, and the results of the battle are only the breakthrough that has just opened.

Even if the temporary fortifications of the Tatars were breached, street fighting seemed inevitable, and the casualty toll would further increase, casting a shadow over the Federation's commanders.

In order to reduce the casualties of the soldiers, the orderly deliberated again and agreed to continue contact with certain people.

Guangzhou New Town, the shelled old city, the new city is intact for the time being, compared with the old city that is bombed every day, the new city can be called ice and fire.

King Pingnan's subordinate Melle Ezhen Banjisheng was guarding the small south gate tower.

Wearing round-brimmed warm hats and cotton armor, 10 guards firmly protected the master's room.

There are only two people in the room, Shen Shangda and Ban Jisheng, the night in Guangzhou is not cold in winter, but there is still a brazier in the house, without it, just enjoy.

The deadline was approaching, and the class sat at the table, sighing and worrying.

Despair is spreading in every corner of Guangzhou, eroding the morale of the army like poison.

Shen Shangda brought a jar of good wine and drank it with Ban Jisheng, at this moment, alcohol is the best thing.

"Shen Gong, the Daoyi ship is strong, and the city wall has been broken in just a few days. Although there are nearly 10,000 soldiers in the city who can fight, their morale has fallen to the bottom, and it is really difficult. ”

"When will reinforcements arrive?"

"Guo Hu's bastard has surrendered in Xinning, and there are 15,000 troops on the front line, and it will be difficult to move forward if it is withdrawn to Xinhui by the Ming army."

"Xu Chenggong still has a lot of horse teams in his hands, why can't he withdraw?"

Ban Ji took a big sip of wine, "Li Laiheng's horse team has become stronger and stronger in recent years, and Xu Chenggong is not his opponent at all." ”

"What about Li Qifeng and Shen Yongxing in Zhaoqing?"

"It is impossible for Shen Fan to save us with all his might, and the soldiers in Li Qifeng's hands are not used at all."

"What about the imperial court? The excerpt from our emergency should have arrived in Beijing. ”

"Duke Shen, even if the imperial court immediately dispatches the forbidden brigade to the south, it will take at least 1 month to rush to Guangzhou, do you think we can still hold on for 1 month?"

Shen Shangda smiled, "Nearly 10,000 soldiers who have lost their fighting spirit are scattered on the city wall of Guangzhou, and there are a few people who can concentrate on the gap." Virtuous nephew, don't say 1 month, in my opinion, I'm afraid it's difficult to keep it for 10 days. ”

Ban Jisheng has been fighting with his father since he was a child, and he has a lot of combat experience, so he did not refute Shen Shangda's remarks, the current war situation, and said that he could still hold Guangzhou was self-deception.

"No matter how many days he can stay, do his best, and know the destiny of heaven, it's a big deal to die with this Guangzhou city."

Shen Shangda's eyes were blazing, "Virtuous nephew, if there is still a way, can you take it?" ”

"What way?"

"Kaesong."

Ban Jisheng was shocked, Shen Shangda had close contacts with Daoyi, and everyone in the city knew about it. If it weren't for the Shen family donating all their family property to help the army this time, I'm afraid his Shen family's life would be in danger.

"Shen Gong still has a way?"

"Of course."

"What are the conditions for Daoyi?"

"The soldiers under the tent are pardoned, keep the property, and go to Nanyang to be a rich man."

"Is Shimai credible?"

"Daoyi's credibility depends on who it is compared with, to tell you the truth, I still have some industries in Nanyang, Daoyi has not moved a bit, and it is much stronger than the Manchurians."

"But the court treats my father and son well......"

"Have you forgotten that after the Great East Ditch battle, your father was almost killed by the slave chief?" Shen Shangda sneered, "Besides, is your little credit comparable to Sun Kewang?" As soon as Yunnan was pacified, the imperial court began to suppress Sun Kewang, unloading the mill and killing the donkey, and his righteous king had a few days to live. You know very well that not only Sun Kewang, but also many of the people who served the imperial court before are no longer there, and the generals who have made military achievements will kill them when they say they will kill them, and they have all forgotten their original promises. ”

"This domain is different, this domain has the merit of coming from the sea."

"Virtuous nephew, the great ruler of Daoyi once said to me, there is only so much wealth in the world, we take more, and the Manchurians take less. The Manchurians are the capital of the country, will the court treat them badly? Once the war stopped, the swords and guns entered Kuma and put Nanshan, the army had no use value, and the Manchurians cleaned up the green camp first, followed by us, and then the Han army flag, who made us not a nation? ”

"Gong Shen, if I open the city, what will the old prince do?"

"What if I told you that the contact with Daoyi was the secret message of the old prince?"

"Huh?"

"Kong Youde also wanted to surrender in Guilin, but unfortunately his actions were slow, and a daughter escaped from the door, and the old prince didn't want to repeat the mistakes of the past."

Ban Ji Shengdu was about to drop his jaw in shock, "The old prince is in the top five on the list of traitors, and Daoyi agreed to pardon him?" ”

Shen Shangda shook his head, "Daoyi does not agree to pardon the old prince. ”

"How's that going to work!"

"But Daoyi said that for the sake of the Shang family's martyrdom in Dongjiang, the Shang family can be preserved."

The expression on Shen Shangda's face was very sad, but the tone of his voice was not sad.

"The old prince agreed?"

"Yes."

"Why is that...... That's all there is to it. ”

Shen Shangda raised his glass, "The Shang family has four sons and nephews in Beijing, if the old prince is publicly lowered, I am afraid that the proton in Beijing will be tortured by Ling Chi." ”

"What about Geng Fan? Geng Jimao was also supervising the battle in Dongcheng. ”

"When is it, take care of yourself first."

Ban Jisheng was silent for a while, "There are still Geng Fan and Jiangxi Green Camp in the city, if you want to open the door, I have to arrange it in advance." ”

"Shimayi only gives 3 days, you have to hurry."

——————

Shang Kexi may not be as loyal as the Qing Dynasty records. See Yoshio Hosoya, "After the Promulgation of the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories—The Letter of Geng Jingzhong and the Monk"