Hit Fucheng Gate is also known as Pingze Gate, and Chaoyang Gate east and west are far opposite, for the gateway to the west of Beijing, Jingxi Gate Tougou produces coal, the coal required in the city is transported from this gate, so it is also called the coal gate, the so-called nine gates of old Beijing go nine cars, and Fucheng Gate walks the coal car.

Fucheng gate defense is also composed of four parts: arrow tower, urn city, gate tower, city tower, outside the arrow tower is a moat that is more than 40 meters wide, and the river surface facing the arrow tower is a wide suspension bridge.

The vigorous and majestic arrow tower is three floors high, seven rooms are wide, more than ten zhang wide, five rooms deep, eight zhang deep, ten zhang high even the platform, three sides of the arrow tower are dense archery holes, downstairs but the door is not opened, the urn city is twenty-one zhang long from east to west, twenty-five zhang wide from north to south, its north side wall opens the coupon door, the gate building is built on the northeast corner of the urn city, the northeast corner of the urn city is about the emperor temple, the floor of the Fucheng gate is five wide, the width is ten zhang, the depth is three rooms, the depth is more than five zhang, even the platform is ten zhang high.

Early in the morning, Yinzhen led more than 28,000 people from the infantry battalion, the Xiaocai battalion, and the navy to the north side of Fuchengmen, looked at it with a telescope, and said, "Let's start." Long Keduo and Yande bowed together to receive the order, turned around and went to give orders.

Soon, six mountain howitzers brought by the navy set up two positions along the moat, and the rafts prepared by Roncodo were also carried up.

The soldiers defending Fuchengmen saw this posture, and couldn't help but tremble, the other side has light artillery, but the artillery on their city is just a decoration, there is no artillery suppression, how to fight this battle? Defend against the opponent's artillery?

Soon, six mountain howitzers began to be test-fired, and the monotonous and dull sound of the cannon immediately shattered the peace of the capital. The sound of the artillery is not loud, it is slightly dull, and the frequency of the shelling is slow and intermittent, but in the ears of the people in the Xicheng District of the capital, it is like thunder, and the war has begun! When the city was neutral, there was a panic, and the people near the west gate were all panicked and hurriedly moved.

In the arrow tower of Fucheng Gate, Feng Changgui, the commander of the Guardian Battalion, looked at the six twelve-pounder mountain howitzers lined up in front of the city with a pale face, this kind of light artillery, he had seen naval exercises in Tianjin, the firing range was about 600 steps, if the artillery on the city wall could fire, it could be completely suppressed, but now, he could only watch these six artillery pieces blatantly swing under his nose.

Looking at the flowering shells that exploded in the air, Feng Changgui sighed secretly, this battle can't be fought, he knows very well in his heart that these sporadic cannons are just gunners debugging and correcting the firing angles and fuses of the artillery, once the six artillery pieces fire a salvo with flowering shells, there will be no people standing on the city wall at all, and they can only watch them climb up the city wall, the city wall can't hold it, and the arrow tower, the gate tower, the urn city, and the city tower are like nothing.

Hearing that the soldiers of the Fengtai battalion were attacking the Fucheng Gate, the crown prince Yin was not worried, the Fucheng Gate and the Xizhi Gate were all key defense gates, and the strength of each city gate was 3,000 Although the artillery had no ammunition, the city was high and thick, easy to defend and difficult to attack, even if the old eight concentrated their forces, it was not easy to take down.

Yesterday night, Yin lobbied three influential clans, and he was in a good mood, so he asked nonchalantly, "What about Feng Changgui?" ”

"Back to the master, Feng Junmen rushed to Fucheng Gate early in the morning to supervise the battle." Suo Antai bowed and replied.

Yin nodded, and then said, "How many troops are there in the city?" ”

"It is reported that the infantry battalion, the cavalry battalion, and the navy are all there, nearly 30,000 people."

He really concentrated all his troops, Yin frowned, and said with a slight sigh: "Send a thousand from each of the other seven gates to support the Fucheng Gate." ”

"Hey, the minion is going to give orders." Suo Antai took the order.

It seems that the old fourteen can't hold his breath, and the corners of Yin's mouth show a hint of sarcasm, even with such a small number of troops, he wants to attack the city? It would be even more ideal if it could be done in one battle. ..., Zhu Tianbao's mansion is in Xicheng, hearing the faint sound of artillery, he couldn't help but be surprised, he only shrank his troops yesterday, and early this morning, the other party began to attack the city, what is the intention of the fourteenth master? Is it a bluff, or is it a rush to red-eyed? He didn't care about breakfast, so he hurried to the palace and entered Yuqing Palace, but was told that the prince was having breakfast, so he had to wait patiently.

After Yin finished breakfast, he heard that Zhu Tianbao was waiting outside, so he immediately summoned him in, and after his salute, he smiled and said, "Jiuru can have something important?" ”

"The slave is worried that the Fourteenth Master will attack the city today, and he is worried that his comers will not be good." Lord Tianbao said bluntly.

Yin said casually: "There are only 30,000 troops outside the city, what is there to fear?" ”

"The prince must not be taken lightly, they seem to have a few small cannons." Zhu Tianbao said calmly: "The Fourteenth Master knows the soldiers, looking at what he does on weekdays, he is not a reckless person, this move must have a deep meaning, and the prince is still cautious at the moment." ”

A few small artillery, Yin is not worried, the city wall of the capital is not generally thick, small artillery, it is impossible to break the city wall and the city gate, however, after Zhu Tianbao said, he also attaches importance to it, the old fourteen years, give people the feeling that they are all planning and then acting, and rarely make mistakes, that is, they smashed the Tianjin army This siege of the city, but it was really negligent, and he groaned slightly, he said: "I will go to Fuchengmen to supervise the army." ”

As soon as the two of them came out of the hall door, the escort Suo Antai hurriedly walked in, bowed down and said, "Master, Fuchengmen is in an emergency, and the arrow tower is lost." ”

Lost Arrow Tower? Yin couldn't believe his ears, and he said in disbelief: "You say it again." ”

"Master, the Fuchengmen Arrow Tower has been lost." Suo Antai repeated again in trepidation.

How long has it been, and after a meal, the arrow tower has been lost? Yin Dengshi's face turned red and shouted, "What about the sergeant who reported the news? ”

Suo Antai waved his hand lightly, and the sergeant who reported the news was brought to him, Yin took a look, this sergeant was about thirty years old, his face was calm, there was a two-inch-long wound on his right cheek that was still bleeding, and the left arm of the gown was also red, and he was suddenly shocked in his heart, this sergeant must be the person next to Feng Changgui, and he was actually injured like this, and the battle was so fierce?

After he saw the salute, Yin Cai asked, "What's going on with Fuchengmen?" ”

"Back to the crown prince." The sergeant waved his hand and replied calmly: "Although the opponent has only six artillery, it is extremely accurate, the bullets are not missing, and the cannons are extremely fast, and they are all flowering shells, and there is no way to stand on the city wall.

This battle could not be fought at all, the range of our bows and arrows was generally only 50 to 70 paces, and the range of firearms was only 50 paces, but the range of the navy's muskets was extremely terrifying, and it was impossible to stand within a hundred paces, and the archery hole on the north side could not stand up for people, and the artillery shelling did not stop, and after only three rounds, the soldiers collapsed. ”

Yin's face turned pale, he didn't watch the Tianjin military exercise at all, he only heard that the navy's firearms were sharp, but he didn't expect it to be so strong, a musket with a range of 100 steps, how to fight this battle? No wonder the old fourteen had no fear, it turned out that he relied on firearms.

"Feng Junmen said that once the artillery is on the city wall, it will be impossible for Fuchengmen to defend it at all, so please make plans for the prince as soon as possible." The sergeant continued: "If there is no way to suppress the opponent's artillery, the Imperial City and the Forbidden City will be vulnerable. ”

"Guard! Even if it is filled with human life, it will take me half a day. Yin immediately reacted and ordered: "Immediately dispatch all the horses and horses to bring all the courtiers and clansmen in the inner city to the palace for me!" "...," chirp. Suo Antai bowed.

Zhu Tianbao looked a little dark, those princes and ministers, clan relatives, that one is not a human spirit, as soon as the cannon sounded, they naturally understood what was going on, and they were still willing to stay in the mansion obediently and be arrested? I'm afraid that he will hide long ago, not to mention, the prince doesn't have many soldiers and horses at hand now.

Seeing that Suo Antai turned around and wanted to leave, he hurriedly shouted, "Wait." As he spoke, he said to the prince: "But with a meal, the fourteenth master can capture the arrow tower, and then go down to the city tower, it is even easier, and in this moment, how many courtiers and clansmen can be detained?" On the contrary, once these many soldiers are dispersed by the chaotic army, it will be difficult to gather, and I hope the prince will think twice? ”

After saying this, Yin has calmed down, if he is not careful, he will lose all the plates, and regret that he should not follow the advice of the king. It's too late to say anything at this time, there are 10,000 soldiers and horses, where can I go? After a moment's hesitation, he said, "Order all the horses to assemble at Andingmen in the north." ”

Fuchengmen, the commander of the guard battalion Feng Changgui killed more than a dozen defeated soldiers, Fang held the position, and soon relied on the city tower to build a line of defense, Yande was worried that the navy casualties were too heavy, and did not order a strong attack, but ordered the artillery to use horses to carry the artillery on the arrow tower, the arrow tower has a horse road in the direction of the urn city, which is convenient for the cavalry to go up and down, but it is convenient for the artillery to be transported.

Eight Elder Brother Yin, Ninth Elder Brother Yin, Tenth Elder Brother Yin, Prince Yu Baotai and others waited by the river but looked dumbfounded, the navy is too strong, although there is no artillery defense on the city wall, but under ordinary circumstances, if you want to attack it hard, I don't know how many people will die? And I don't have a day or two, and I don't want to take it down.

"The weapon is a sharp weapon, the pawn is a fierce pawn, I really don't know how the old fourteen trained, this is the soldier who has been training for a year." Eighth Brother Yin sighed.

Nine Elder Brother Yin looked very carefully, and the starling who listened to it sighed, and then continued: "Did the starling notice, although they are not afraid of death, they rarely act alone, although they are fighting, but their actions are still uniform. ”

They did not know that the navy that took the lead had experienced close-range musket fire in Tianjin, and their psychological quality was quite good, and in the face of such an overwhelming firefight, there was no pressure at all. Clear