However, as soon as Chongzhen's order was issued, the third cavalry battalion of the Shandong Army had descended on the outside of the city of Beijing like the wind, and the Beijing division was under martial law for a while.

There was an air of tension in the city. 4,000 cavalry blocked the gates of the Beijing Division, and although the number was very small, the soldiers of the Beijing camp in the city did not dare to go out of the city to fight.

However, the 3rd Cavalry Battalion did not dare to get too close to the city walls, because there were artillery at the head of the city.

Moreover, some of the artillery pieces are still made by Denglai, and they are all grenades, so if they are bombed, they will have to suffer heavy casualties.

Two days later, Zhao Yan arrived outside the city of Beijing with the artillery battalion.

Zhao Yan looked up at the high city wall under the city, the city wall of the Jingshi can be said to be the most majestic existence of the Ming Dynasty, when Nurhachi led the Houjin army to attack, the result was only to retreat in embarrassment.

"Set up a letter and proclamation, the villain in the court, bewitch the holy monarch, I Zhao Yan sent troops into Beijing today, it is to return the king's side to the Qingming, enter the city and say not to kill a person, not to plunder a fortune, you can rest assured, help the army to enter Beijing meritorious people, all will be rewarded." After Zhao Yan finished speaking, he said: "Shoot into the city together with the "Qingjun Side Notice". ”

"Yes."

The staff immediately took action, quickly copied hundreds of proclamations, and then sent dozens of cavalry to break under the city walls, risking the danger to shoot into the capital with a longbow.

However, it didn't seem to have worked very well, and more than a dozen people were injured in the process, and one person was killed on the spot.

"Lord, the city of Beijing is high, and it may not be a matter of time to conquer it, so it is better to order the Academy of Science and Technology to send a hot air balloon and use it to launch a psychological offensive." One of the staff officers said to Zhao Yan.

"Hmmm! Send a letter back immediately and ask the Academy of Science and Technology to send five hot air balloons. Zhao Yan nodded, the hot air balloon was successfully developed not long ago, this thing is originally simple, and it does not require any special technology.

In the absence of other aircraft, hot air balloons still have good military uses.

On the way, Zhao Yan had already determined the attack plan, and directly attacked the inner city from Chaoyangmen, then the imperial city, and then the Forbidden City.

Until the infantry battalion arrived, for the time being only artillery shelling and annihilation of reinforcements.

After resting outside Chaoyang Gate for the night, Zhao Yan launched an artillery bombardment on Chaoyang Gate in the early morning of the second day. The artillery battalion 220 125-mm howitzers launched a fierce bombardment of Chaoyangmen.

Under the bombardment of howitzers, the artillery at the head of the city and behind the city was destroyed one by one, and many of the artillery at the head of the city were Hongyi cannons, although they were very advanced in this era, but in the face of the artillery in Zhao Yan's hands, they were still too backward.

At the same time, there are also some 75mm howitzers mixed in, which Zhao Yan dedicated to Chongzhen, originally Zhao Yan was afraid that Li Zicheng's entry into Beijing would happen again, so he intended to strengthen the defense capability of the Beijing division. However, the maximum range of these 75mm howitzers is only 1200 meters, which is simply not comparable to the 125mm cannons with a range of 2000 meters.

The shelling lasted almost five minutes, and there was no one standing on the top of the city.

The military attache of the Beijing camp at the head of the city saw that Zhao Yan's soldiers and horses were all cavalry, and the power of the howitzers was fierce, but the damage to the city wall was not high, and there was no threat to the city at all, and there was no reason for them to eat shells at the head of the city, so they withdrew one by one.

"Siege artillery, advance."

"Siege Artillery ......"

In the midst of the shouting orders of the artillery battalion, the artillerymen pushed a hundred 125-mm siege guns and approached the city walls.

"Barrage fixed-point cover."

The howitzers continued to shell, and the shells kept falling on the city, suppressing the soldiers and horses of the Beijing camp who were trying to kill the remnants of the artillery, and finally, the 100 guns all advanced to the predetermined position.

"Fire!"

"Boom Boom Boom ......" shells continued to shoot out of the barrel, and the huge penetrating force directly blasted into the city wall, and then the shells exploded directly.

However, the walls of the capital are extremely strong.

The exterior walls are poured with glutinous rice juice, and the interior is made of selected green bricks, each of which is engraved with the name of the kiln factory.

Even on the siege artillery, it can't achieve the effect of destroying the withering and decaying.

Each shot could only leave a dent in the city wall, and when the shell exploded, it could not blow up the inside at all, but it was no different from a solid bullet.

"Stop shooting." The commander at the front immediately ordered a ceasefire, and then began to select concentrated points of shelling.

Soon, the bombardment point was chosen.

Hundreds of siege guns were in formation, bombarding that fixed point one by one.

I saw that one after another, the shells bombarded towards the set target, not every shell could be accurate, but at such a close distance, the clearance value was very small.

Under the constant bombardment of cannonballs, a depression finally appeared on the city wall, and the cannonballs bombarded the dents, and then exploded violently, finally increasing the damage to the wall.

The thick pouring layer was gradually blasted open, revealing the green bricks inside.

For a while, every shell entered the hole, and after the explosion, bricks flew everywhere, and at the same time, the howitzers began to move their attack positions and began to clear the artillery on both sides of the city.

The soldiers of the Beijing camp in the city were so frightened that they retreated under such heavy artillery fire.

Even Yang Sichang couldn't see anything at the top of the city, and the artillery that was too far away on both sides couldn't hit that dead end, let alone the howitzer group that Zhao Yan placed far away.

As for rushing out, don't even think about it, people still wish they rushed out! Yang Sichang was not arrogant enough to think that he could defeat the 8,000 Shandong cavalry outside the city.

Not to mention any morale and training issues, it can be seen from the equipment on those cavalry alone that it is an elite division, wearing a dark plate armor, and the protective ability is absolutely strong.

The only thing that made Yang Sichang feel at ease was that Zhao Yan only brought 8,000 cavalry with him to Qingjun's side, and only some gunners, that is, even if he blew up the city wall, it was unlikely that he would rush in.

As soon as reinforcements arrive...... Yang Sichang's heart was also bottomless at this time, because Zhao Yan was leading cavalry. Victory can be chased, defeat can be left. If you want to annihilate Zhao Yan under the capital, it seems unlikely.

Zhao Yan is already invincible, and Chongzhen is in the Forbidden City, once the Forbidden City is lost, then the imperial court will be defeated, and he will be finished.

For a while, Yang Sichang was in a cold sweat, and he shouted in his heart that he had made a mistake!

In a hurry, Yang Sichang hurriedly attacked and asked to see Chongzhen. Chongzhen heard the rumbling cannons in the Forbidden City, and anxiously walked back and forth in the imperial study. Hearing that the little eunuch said that Yang Sichang was imprisoned, he hurriedly passed Yang Sichang in, and when he saw Yang Sichang, he asked anxiously: "Yang Aiqing, how is the battle outside the city?" ”

"Your Majesty, Zhao Yan's thief's artillery is too fierce, the city's head artillery is completely invincible, and the city wall has been blown out of a big hole. However, this thief only brought 8,000 cavalry and a few thousand artillery, even if he blew up the city wall, it was unlikely that he would attack the city. However, Jingshi is already a dangerous place, Your Majesty should leave quickly, so as not to fall into the hands of thieves. Yang Sichang said urgently, the only way at present is to consume it, but the premise of consumption is that Chongzhen escapes from the capital.

"How can I leave the people of the capital behind." Chongzhen's face changed drastically, thinking of his escape, and if the history books came up in the future, then he would be stinking for 10,000 years, and scolded Yang Sichang with a gloomy face: "This matter is not mentioned." ”

"Your Majesty." Yang Sichang hurriedly knelt on the ground.

Chongzhen let out a sigh and asked Yang Sichang, "How long will the reinforcements arrive?" ”

"Jiliao soldiers and horses can come one after another in two days, and Xuanda soldiers and horses should be able to arrive after seven or eight days." Yang Sichang predicted, "Then this thief can be surrounded under the city." ”

Although Yang Sichang felt that he had made a mistake, he would not slap himself in the mouth for the strategy he said, and still insisted on his previous words.

However, Chongzhen's resolute attitude of not escaping is extremely tricky. If Chongzhen escapes, he still has a chance to turn the tables.

But Chongzhen didn't escape, Yang Sichang felt that the chances of winning this game were not great, but in general, he could still fight, as long as reinforcements from all over the country arrived, it was still possible to knock Zhao Yan away.

Zhao Yan shelled outside the city for two days, and a hundred siege guns fired one after another, finally blasting a gap in the city wall of Chaoyang Gate.

Zhao Yan really did not charge after the city wall collapsed, as Yang Sichang expected, but the officials in the city were all worried one by one.

Within two days, officials continued to send letters out of the city to Zhao Yan. Among the six Shangshu, except for Yang Sichang, the other five people all sent letters to Zhao Yan.

At the same time, almost all the cabinet ministers sent letters, explaining to Zhao Yan that it was Yang Sichang's idea to negotiate peace with the Qing Dynasty and restrict the people of various provinces from entering Shandong.

They were all afraid that Zhao Yan would settle the account on their heads after entering the city, and they all expressed their support for Zhao Yan to continue the battle in Liaodong in the letter, and at the same time supported immigration to Shandong.

Zhao Yan can be regarded as having seen how hard the bones of these civil officials are, no wonder even the class enemy of the thieves attacked the capital, and they hugged the thieves on their thighs.

After hugging the thief's thigh, he ran to hug Manqing's thigh again.

Having said that, Chongzhen is just a puppet of the upper class, although he has the power of life and death, as long as he can protect the interests of these upper classes, it doesn't hurt to change his master.

On the morning of August 13, Zhao Yangang wanted to continue shelling the city wall to widen the gap, when the scouts came to report that Zhu Mei, the general soldier of Jiliao, came to the rescue with 8,000 soldiers and horses.

"Zhu Mei, the unknown." Zhao Yan really couldn't remember this person, so he sent the 3rd Cavalry Battalion out, and his order was simple, to defeat his troops.

The 3rd Cavalry Battalion dragged thirty 75-mm howitzers and went straight out.

The two sides met directly in Tongzhou, and Zhu Mei also sent 4,000 cavalry to meet them, and the 3rd Cavalry Battalion immediately charged, easily piercing Zhu Mei's cavalry.

However, in two or three rounds, the 4,000 Jiliao cavalry could no longer support it, and fled back to their own camp in a hurry.

Zhu Mei saw that the Shandong cavalry was strong, so she had to set up a formation on the spot to defend. The 3rd Cavalry Battalion immediately pulled the howitzers forward and bombarded Zhu Mei's Jiliao soldiers and horses.

Under the bombardment of howitzers, the Jiliao soldiers and horses defending in a dense formation suddenly became chaotic, and the 3rd Cavalry Battalion took the opportunity to charge, Zhu Mei was defeated, and its troops were defeated.

Eight thousand soldiers and horses were suddenly crushed under the pursuit of the Third Cavalry Battalion, and in the shouts of surrender and not killing, many officers and soldiers dropped their weapons and surrendered directly on their knees.

After nearly half of the pursuit, the third cavalry battalion returned triumphantly, and after counting, more than 4,000 Jiliao officers and soldiers were captured and nearly 2,000 were killed.

After Zhu Mei escaped in embarrassment, she hurriedly rushed back to Jixian County, and gave up the idea of rescuing Jingshi.

…… At the same time, Zu Dashou of Liaodong had also taken 20,000 soldiers and horses out of Shanhaiguan and entered the pass.

However, Zu Dashou didn't want to fight with Zhao Yan, and after leaving Shanhaiguan, he immediately sent scouts to investigate the Jingshi, but he stayed put.

The strength of the Shandong army, Zu Dashou felt the strongest.

He fought against Jianguo in Liaodong for a long time, and even Jianguo was not so easy to deal with, and as time went by, Jianguo became bigger and stronger.

But it took less than a few months for the Shandong army to encircle Huang Taiji to death in North Korea, and annihilated nearly 100,000 Eight Banner Army, Zhao Yan has such a strong strength, it is definitely not something he can provoke.

The scouts excluded by Zu Dashou returned after a few days, and Zhao Yan could not completely block the passage into the city due to the limitation of troops.

In many cases, people can also skip the city gates.

"This time, Zhao Yan Qingjun's side, only 8,000 cavalry and 3,000 artillery were dispatched, and there was really no one in sight, do you think that our Guanning Iron Cavalry can't fight?" Wu Sangui estimated, and said happily to Zu Dashou: "Uncle, let's join the army!" It's a big credit to win. ”

"Confused." Zu Dashou scolded, "He Zhao Yan is strong and strong, can he only have these soldiers and horses in his hands?" If we don't die by fighting snakes, once we retaliate, then our death will not be far away, this kid even Huang Yanjing dares to rebel, and he doesn't dare to move a general soldier of ours? ”

Wu Sangui was shocked and said, "It's my nephew who is reckless." ”

"Now it's not a question of whether to save or not, but how to prevaricate the court and make sure that both are not offended." Zu Dashou said, "This time the situation is unpredictable, then Zhao Yan is afraid that he will coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes' strategy, and we will still watch from the wall and do not offend both." ”

"The court is weak, and my uncle has soldiers and horses in hand, so I don't want to save it, and I don't dare to do anything to my uncle." Wu Sangui said proudly.

"Hey, you kid can see it, but the emperor is dizzy now, and even Zhao Yan dares to provoke it." Zu Dashou grinned.

…… When Lu Xiangsheng was bombarding the capital by Zhao Yan, he received a letter from Zhao Yan, which was so shocking that Lu Xiangsheng seemed to be mentally prepared.

Although he had been prepared, in the midst of the incident, Lu Xiangsheng was still anxious and didn't know how to choose for a while.

After reading Zhao Yan's letters to him several times, he negotiated peace with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, forbade the people to immigrate to Shandong, and banned the "Daming Yuebao" and the Jimin Inn. These decrees were all opposed by Lu Xiangsheng.

As early as when the imperial court issued an order, Lu Xiangsheng had expected such a situation, but he originally only thought that Zhao Yan would violently disobey orders at most.

I didn't expect Zhao Yan to make such a big fuss, and as soon as he came up, he played the banner of Qingjun's side.

"That is, send troops." Lu Xiangsheng immediately made a decisive decision, he still decided to send troops to protect Chongzhen's safety, more precisely, to urge Zhao Yan to withdraw from the Beijing division after achieving his goal.

He not only supported Zhao Yan, but also was loyal to Chongzhen.

Zhao Yan promised him in the letter that he would not coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes, Lu Xiangsheng still chose to trust, but this time about the throne of power, he was still afraid that Zhao Yan would be carried away.

…… On 13 August, the messenger reported that Wang Zheng had led the second battalion of the Liaodong Army to land at Dagukou, and the officers and troops at Dagukou were in a wait-and-see situation and did not stop them.

At this time, Zu Dashou was also stationed in Huairou, and he was only a few dozen miles away from Zhao Yan.

In the face of the advance of 20,000 Guanning troops, although Zhao Yan was sure of complete victory, he had to increase his guards, and when he heard the news of the arrival of the infantry battalion, he was completely relieved.

"Lord, a letter from Zu Dashou." Mao Yuanyi handed an opened letter to Zhao Yan, and Zhao Yan took the letter and read it.

Zu Dashou wrote a letter saying that he was also opposed to peace with the Manchus, and said that the official army in western Liaoning was fighting on the front line and had a deep enmity with Jianyu, expressing great indignation, and indicating that he supported Zhao Yan's Qing monarch side and wanted to bring the villain who bewitched the saint to justice.

"Zhisheng, do you see the letter of this ancestor Dashou, is it reliable or not?" Zhao Yan smiled and asked Mao Yuanyi.

"Zu Dashou was surrounded by Jianyu in six years, but he was able to flee back by fraud, which shows that he is very sleek, that is, he does not rebel against Ming, and he may have an agreement with Jianyu. This time, Jianyu was beaten by the lord and his vitality was greatly injured, and he was still breathing, and this person would not disobey the lord. Mao Yuanyi speculated.

Hong Chengchou, although he was surrendered in history, but Zhao Yan was not too disgusted with him, Zu Dashou surrendered twice, both of which were carried out when the ammunition was exhausted and the food was exhausted, and there was a tragic situation of cannibalism in the city.

In his career, he also made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty.

This historical figure is more complicated, that is, he is loyal to the Ming court, and he is also a warlord who cannot decide to die for his country.

However, his nephew Wu Sangui is a great Han annihilation who has no position, and he has simply stood at the peak of the national losses caused by the Han annihilation, and his personal power has also stood at the pinnacle of the Han annihilation forest.

Although there is no great disgust, when Zhao Yan is in control of the world, he will never use Zu Dashou, let alone his nephew Wu Sangui, it is best to find an excuse to do it, so as not to make him feel disgusted if he stays.

"Still, be on guard lest the boat capsize in the gutter." Zhao Yan said, even if Zu Dashou sent a letter, it couldn't make Zhao Yan completely believe it.

On the same day, Zhao Yan instead strengthened the scout reconnaissance of Huairou, and his scouts monitored around Zu Dashou's camp day and night.

Zu Dashou behaved very obediently, ignoring Zhao Yan's scouts, as if he hadn't seen anything.

…… Wang Zheng's second battalion of the Liaodong Army boarded the ship on 7 August, but they did not take a clipper boat, so the speed of the voyage was relatively slow, and it took six days and six nights from Pusan to Dagukou before they arrived.

After arriving at Dagukou, before he had time to rest, Wang Zheng ordered to march to the capital. Two days later, the second battalion of the Liaodong Army, which was traveling with inferior horses, arrived outside Chaoyang Gate and joined Zhao Yan.

After the second battalion of the Liaodong Army arrived, Zhao Yan immediately gathered the officers of the whole army for a pre-war lecture.

Hundreds of officers stood tall in front of Zhao Yan, Zhao Yan was wearing silver armor and a sword at his waist, and walked in front of them, and the officers saluted one after another, with a strong respect in their eyes.

Zhao Yan looked around with a resolute face and shouted, "Take a break." ”

The officers immediately took a breath, and all of them looked at Zhao Yan, who asked in a loud voice, "Who are you loyal to?" ”

"Loyal to the general." All the officers said in a loud voice.

Zhao Yan suddenly jumped and scolded: "It's all fucking fart, as a soldier, you should be loyal to the nation, and the interests of the nation are greater than everything, including me." ”

"We launched this campaign, not for my personal interests, even if we enter the capital and capture the emperor, I, Zhao Yan, will never be the emperor, let alone coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes." Zhao Yan raised his voice and shouted: "We started this war for the interests of the nation. ”

"Regardless of the bloodshed of the soldiers on the front line, the imperial court actually negotiated peace with the sworn enemies of the Han nation when it had an advantage on the whole front, how can we sit back and watch Jianlu breathe?"

"I can't." The officers replied loudly.

"The imperial court forbade the people to immigrate to Shandong, so that the people could continue to endure hunger and cold under the rotten rule, and could not live like the people of Shandong, how can we tolerate it?"

"I can't."

"Remember, the interests of the nation are above all else." Zhao Yan shouted loudly, his voice echoing in the officers' minds for a long time.

They have never understood so strongly what the interests of the nation are above all else at this moment, and this is an iron precept, even the generals they respect will not go beyond the throne of imperial power.

(To be continued)