"Fire!" Outside the central capital, Jiang Cai, the commander of the first army of the two Huai armies, who was standing solemnly, personally gave the order. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Hundreds of artillery pieces and flying thunder cannons roared at the tall city wall in front of them at the same time, and all the high walls and walls that wanted to block the advance of the Ming army had to be turned into powder in this roaring cannon sound and blooming flames. As long as an order is given, these hundreds of rockets will rush towards the city gate together, even if they can't blow up the city gate, it will cause irreparable damage to the city gate. The Miyagi ladder cars were also constantly pushed forward in the shouts of the soldiers, and it was obvious that the Ming army did not intend to attack only the city gate.

In order to deal with this important northern town that the Chinese Han people lost for 300 years, the two Huai armies obviously put a lot of effort into it, and the scene of the bombardment of hundreds of artillery pieces alone was not common after the advent of artillery.

The Mongolian black battle flag on the head of the city shook desperately in the air waves set off by the explosives bags and shells, as if it was a pity that the fragile flag could only be connected to the city wall by a thin flagpole, which was still unwilling to break after the violent shaking and twisting, and even the flag floated away with the wind.

It's just that the Mongols on the city wall don't have time to care about this, and the continuous shelling of the Ming army has made no one on the city head survive, and even the entire city wall has been crumbling, and the hearts of the soldiers in the hidden soldier caves under the city wall and the ambush soldiers on the upper city trail are also trembling with the trembling of the city wall.

In fact, after Boyan led most of the Mongol troops in Youyan's army north, the defenders in the central capital were already vaguely aware of their fate. The Ming army surrounded Youyan in all directions, and even cut off the Gubei Pass, which had the meaning of eating the entire Mongolian army of Youyan in one bite, not to mention the Tianwu Army, the Lianghuai Army, the Zhenhai Navy and the rest of the main forces that were constantly coming from behind, which was enough to achieve this seemingly difficult goal.

The fall of Gubeikou into the hands of the Ming army already means that this goal is about to be achieved.

No matter how fearless the Mongols were, they still left these ragtag armies composed of Han and Jurchens in Zhongdu after all, after all, with these people going north, it was difficult to suppress the changes on the road, not to mention that no one could stay to stop the two Huai armies advancing all the way. simply let them defend the central capital, in order to buy a little time for the Mongol army that attacked Gubeikou in front.

The artillery was still roaring tirelessly, like thunder constantly bursting in the hearts of the soldiers, and their Mongol superiors had basically withdrawn, leaving behind some Han and Jurchen centurions and thousand-necks who had been promoted on the spot.

The two Huai armies besieged the city on all sides, constantly bombarded, and put on a posture of not breaking the city and not giving up, coupled with the rumbling cannons, even these centurions and thousand-suckers were the same as their faces were pale. For them, once the city is broken, the end will definitely be worse than that of ordinary soldiers.

"Bang!" A loud noise came from the city wall, breaking the monotonous sound of cannons and explosions at once, and the Mongolian soldiers under the city all subconsciously looked up, the original tall city gate tower seemed to be torn apart by a pair of invisible hands, and the carved beams and paintings were turned into ashes in the roaring cannons, and the broken pillars fell everywhere, and the tiles also fell to the ground along the city wall like rain.

The soldiers under the city wall turned pale at this moment, watched silently, and even forgot to dodge, allowing the tiles to fall one after another to the left. The entire city gate was forcibly cut off the upper tower, which looked a little nondescript, but the artillery of the Ming army did not have the slightest intention of stopping. It seems that the shells and explosives bags are the Ming soldiers who roared angrily, directly overthrowing this city wall.

Shi Tianze stretched out his hand and pressed the hilt of his sword, standing under the city wall and looking at the torn tower, the old man's lips trembled slightly, and finally he didn't say anything. He was the right prime minister of Mongolia and had been by Kublai Khan's side for many years, so he naturally knew what he should do at this time. Kublai Khan treated himself like a left arm and a right arm, and Boyan also treated Shi Tianze with the same courtesy as an elder, and it is obvious that the Mongols no longer regarded Shi Tianze as a Han Chinese.

It's just that in any case, the last one left was Shi Tianze, not Boyan. Maybe it's because Shi Tianze is still a Han in the hearts of the Mongols, not my race, and his heart must be different, even if Mongolia has great kindness to Shi Tianze, maybe Shi Tianze can't drag him back after changing his mind, or maybe Boyan just thinks that these Han and Jurchen people in the city are better able to convince the public by handing them over to Shi Tianze to command, after all, most of these troops were originally Shi Tianze's subordinates.

Since Mongolia has left Shi Tianze and this central capital city behind, it is natural that it will be left to Shi Tianze to decide whether to go or stay, just like Liu Quan, who was left in Tongchuan Mansion after Prince Zhenjin led the army to the north in a hurry. At that time, Liu Cheng chose to surrender in Kaecheng, and Daming did not abuse this opponent who caused great trouble to Daming, but only took him to a fixed residence in Nanjing City to restrict him from leaving the mansion. For Shi Tianze, Liu Quan's path is obviously a good choice.

But Shi Tianze knows very well that it is impossible for him to surrender, not only because his wife and children are still in Helin, but also because he has shed blood for Mongolia for so many years, and he has already subconsciously regarded himself as a Mongolian.

The right prime minister of Mongolia surrendered, and Shi Tianze knew how much trouble this would cause to Mongolia and Kublai Khan, so Shi Tianze did not intend to surrender even if he died in battle.

Thinking of this, the old man slowly clenched the hilt of his sword, he had not personally bathed in blood for many years, this sword had gradually become an ornament, and he had not tasted the taste of blood for a long time.

"Uncle, the Southern Barbarians have begun to attack the city!" Shi Tianze's nephew, Shi Shu, strode over and said. Shi Shu is the child of Shi Tianze's elder brother, and he has not made meritorious contributions since he was older, so Shi Tianze asked Kublai Khan to let him join the army with his grace, and then he has been following Shi Tianze's side to fight in the north and south, and he can be regarded as a strong general.

Shi Tianze squinted his eyes, and was about to give an order, when there was a sudden continuous roar behind him, and the old man suddenly looked back, I don't know when, the fire in the city rose to the sky, and columns of smoke swayed along both sides of the street into the sky!

And the foot soldiers who originally had a panicked look on their faces were completely panicked at this time, I don't know who shouted first, and then the foot soldiers under the original city wall, in the hidden soldier cave and on the upper city trail ran towards the city at the same time, and even Shi Tianze's guard team was already in chaos at this time, and the soldiers who were running in all directions kept rushing into the array of the personal soldier team, scattering these guards who were also panicked, and soon those scattered guards were gone. Apparently following the large army towards the city.

Shi Shu's face had changed greatly, and he just wanted to order his personal guards to stop these soldiers, but he saw Shi Tianze's raised hand, obviously telling him not to move. Slowly looking back at the captain of the personal guard who had been loyal to him for many years, Shi Tianze said in a deep voice: "Open the city gate and surrender." ”

"Xianggong!" The captain of the guard knelt on one knee anxiously and arched his hand, "Xianggong, let's open the north city gate, and my subordinates will escort Xianggong out of the city even if they fight for their lives!" ”

Shi Shu also suddenly drew his saber: "Uncle, even if we don't have the strength to defend the city, it is more than enough to kill it, the southern barbarians did not attack the city in the north of the city, which means that their army in the north of the city is not large, with these hundreds of guards, we are enough to kill a bloody road・・・・・・"

"Kaesong!" Shi Tianze interrupted Shi Shu without hesitation, and two rays of light appeared in his already old and cloudy eyes, looking at the closed city gate in front of him. As the fire broke out in the city, the soldiers were in disarray, and the Ming army outside had stopped shelling and began to attack the city. It's just that the soldiers of the Ming army didn't know that there were no defensive soldiers on the walls of this city, and even the Saimen knife cart at the gate of the city was unguarded.

"Kaesong!" Shi Tianze's gaze was like a knife, sweeping over the faces of Shi Shu and the captain of the guards, and the two rushed forward and opened the city gate with the guards.

The hundred tigers rushing arrows that were ready to be launched at any time outside finally did not wait for it to be majestic, and when they saw the city gate open, the Ming army cavalry that was about to rush under the city wall suddenly poured in like a tide, but they were still shocked by the chaos in the city.

Pillars of smoke rose, the entire Zhongdu City was dyed red by fire half of the sky, constantly shouted and scolded, obviously taking advantage of this excellent opportunity, the soldiers in the original city did not rush to flee for their lives, but rushed into the nearby houses to burn and loot, at this time the looted gold and silver were soft because of a period of chaos, basically not able to settle the accounts, so naturally no one will investigate, as long as you can survive in this chaos, it is a big windfall.

For the Mongolian soldiers whose military salaries have been getting lower and lower or even close to none, this windfall is of course unwanted, and of course, there is the audacity to rush directly into the houses and plunder, so as to vent their anguish in the army.

Shi Tianze slowly closed his eyes, and the saber on his waist that had been waiting to be unsheathed was also unsheathed by him and thrown to the ground casually. The surrounding guards actually had no fighting spirit to resist, and when they saw Shi Tianze like this, they all turned around and fled along the street, joining in this ugly and chaotic atrocity. For a while, only Shi Shu and the captain of the personal guard were left by Shi Tianze's side, and the two sighed and put down the saber in their hands at the same time.

At this time, there is no point in holding the knife again, and it may even arouse the vigilance of the Southern Barbarians and hurt their own father-in-law.

"The first one is to the left, the second is to the right, and all suspicious people are under control at once!" A general of the Ming army dressed as a brigade commander rushed into the city quickly, and without looking at the three Shi Tianze who were close at hand, he pointed directly forward, "The rest of the brothers, follow a certain search along the street, whether they are wearing clothes or armor or not, as long as they burn and kill the captors, they will not be spared!" ”

"No!" The cavalry of the Ming army roared at the same time and galloped wildly.

The brigade commander glanced at Shi Tianze with interest, but then rushed forward.

Such a character is not something that you can deal with, so it's better to leave it to the army commander and the general in the back to give them a headache.

Jiang Cai rushed straight to Shi Tianze's side, grabbed the reins of the horse, and the war horse man stood up, letting out a long breath, obviously coming from a long distance and even tired. After the First Army broke through the last line of defense of the Mongol Tatars at the Lugou Bridge, it rushed straight to the capital almost non-stop, and in fact it was holding its last breath, but it did not expect the Mongols to collapse before themselves.

"You are Shi Tianze?!" Jiang Cai said coldly.

"It's the general of the two Huai army kings?" Shi Tianze waved his sleeves and reached out to stroke his beard.

Jiang Cai took a sip on the ground and said with a smile: "The matter of surrender does not require General Wang to go out in person, and this commander of the First Army is enough." Jiang Cai, the commander of the First Army of the Ming Dynasty and the Huai Army, was honored to meet Shi Xianggong. ”

"You!" Shi Shu took a step forward with wide eyes, but the surrounding Ming cavalry also followed forward, and the horse lance in his hand was aimed at Shi Shu, so that he did not dare to act rashly.

Shi Tianze looked Jiang Cai up and down, his eyes were a little complicated: "I'm afraid that General Wang and Supervisor Chen of your army will go directly to Gubeikou, I'm afraid that the army outside the city won't even have an army, otherwise they wouldn't have used all kinds of means, and they would have bombarded with firearms at any cost." ”

Jiang Cai put away his smile, jumped off the horse, and arched his hand at Shi Tianze: "The old man has good eyesight, admire and admire, since the old man knows, why bother to open the city and surrender directly." ”

After being silent for a moment, Shi Tianze said in a deep voice: "The people of the city have nothing to do with this war, they have been officials for many years, and they have to be white, and everywhere they go, they are quite popular, and they can be regarded as the heart of fame and fortune in this life." I just asked myself if I hadn't done many things that were beneficial to the people, but today I might as well fulfill my wish. However, he still didn't expect that he couldn't control his subordinates in the end, which made the city chaotic. ”

Jiang Cai looked at the white-haired old man, and said lightly: "It is an honor for the people of the capital to meet Shi Xianggong, Shi Xianggong can rest assured, I will wait for the day of the success of the Northern Expedition, and I will naturally be prepared for the aftermath of this city, and I will not hurt the people in the city, and I will do my best to arrest the rebels." ”

Before the words fell, Jiang Cai directly turned over and got on the horse, and glanced at Shi Tianze, who was a little stunned: "Although Shi Xianggong is a Han Chinese, he is the right prime minister of the Mongolian Tartars, and the official title alone is already above a certain one, so a certain did not give away your power, and wronged Shi Xianggong waited in the army first." ”

Immediately, Jiang Cai turned his head and ordered: "Come on, take Shi Xianggong out of the city!" ”

Shi Tianze suddenly frowned: "Doesn't your army plan to enter the city?" ”

Jiang Cai was stunned for a moment, and said with a smile: "This battle is far from over, how can you say that you have entered the city?" This central capital city is just the beginning of the victory of my Northern Expedition of the Ming Dynasty! ”

Before the words fell, Jiang Cai had already beaten his horse and rushed towards the city, and the Ming army cavalry beside him also followed closely. Shi Tianze subconsciously looked up, and didn't know when, there was already a Ming red dragon flag fluttering in the wind on the head of the city, symbolizing that this important northern town was trampled under the feet of the Ming Dynasty.

Jiang Cai actually didn't run far, because several gray-clothed people were blocking the middle of the road, each of them holding short blades, standing solemnly, and among the gray-clothed people, there was also an old man who was a little rickety, and his appearance was not good-looking, this old man was just standing there on crutches, if it weren't for these gray-clothed guards around him, I'm afraid no one would see that he was different from ordinary old people.

When the Ming soldiers passing by around saw those gray-clothed guards, their faces showed respect, and then they all moved out of the way from both sides and did not disturb. These gray-clothed guards are all standard brocade guards, the brocade guards are called "brocade clothes", in fact, they have always worn gray clothes as the standard, gray can make them look no different from ordinary people, and even many people have patches on their clothes, which are not recognized by the crowd at all. I am afraid that this is also the reason why Jinyiwei has been able to develop rapidly in various Mongolian state capitals for many years, and has not been strangled by the Mongols.

This old man is not good-looking, but if you add the circle of brocade guards around him, then no one dares to despise it. In particular, the wind blew the hem of his clothes, revealing the token hanging from his belt, which shimmered with golden light in the sun, and invisibly indicated the identity of the old man.

Seeing the old man, Jiang Cai didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly dismounted to meet him: "Daming won the first battle of Zhongdu, and the old gentleman contributed a lot. ”