Chapter 219: The Fall of the Manchus
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"It's coming, this day is finally here!" The Empress Dowager Cixi sat on the chair in a gloomy manner, completely losing her opinion.
"Boom!" At this time, a huge explosion suddenly sounded, and then, a continuous explosion resounded throughout the entire Jingshi. It is clear that the attack of the Western Sichuan Army has already begun, and now artillery is being mobilized to storm the walls of the Beijing Division.
"Go and sue Fengshan, no matter what, you have to defend it, and you must not let the western Sichuan army attack it!" Prince Gong Yixin Empress Dowager Cixi had lost his opinion, and hurriedly ordered, and at this time, he couldn't care about overstepping or the like.
"Yes, Your Highness!" The guards immediately rushed out of the Jinluan Hall and went to the direction of Guang'anmen to give orders.
"Lafayette, the Western Sichuan Army has begun to attack, I'm afraid we have to plan early!" Prince Gong Yixin said. Although there were still 100,000 new troops in the city, these were the remnants of the defeated soldiers who were defeated by the Japanese last year, and no one can say how much of a role they could play. However, the only thing that is certain is that these people will definitely not be able to withstand the attack of the Western Sichuan Army.
"What else can I do?" The Empress Dowager Cixi is no longer as ruthless as before, and she looks like an old woman in her last years.
"Back to Lafayette, even if the Qing Dynasty is going to die, we have to protect the interests of the Manchurians! We can abdicate and give the country to the west of Sichuan, but they have to protect the interests of our Manchurians. Otherwise, once the city is broken, we will definitely be slaughtered by the bandits in western Sichuan! Prince Gong Yixin had no choice but to bite the bullet and say. The Manchu ship's broken ship is obviously about to fall silent, but they, the people who sit on the boat, don't want to die yet, they have to find a way back for themselves!
"Yes, Galeries Lafayette. We have peace talks with Sichuanxi, we don't want this throne anymore, but we must let Sichuanxi kill us at will! Prince Su Shanqi also hurriedly said.
"Lafayette, the minion also agrees with the views of the two princes. The Qing Dynasty has come to this point, it is not anyone's fault, it can only be said that the sky is going to die in the Qing Dynasty. But. We have to fight for the interests of the Manchurians as much as possible! can't be wiped out, and millions of people will suffer! Prince Li Shiduo also said. At this time, all loyalty to the country is fake, and one's own interests are put first.
"Alas! Do it, mourn the family! Empress Dowager Cixi sighed. It's like I'm getting a lot older. She got up from her chair. With Li Lianying's support, he returned to the harem.
"A few princes, what should I do, please come up with a charter! We're now in charge of a few princes! "As soon as the Empress Dowager Cixi left, the remaining Manchu ministers. Immediately gathered around.
"The most important thing now is to send people to negotiate with the western Sichuan side to get them to stop the attack. Otherwise, once the city is broken, it will be too late! Prince Su Shanqi said.
"Don't have a charter? So how do we talk to the western Sichuan side? Will they not be able to make a bid? Prince Gong Yixin said with some dissatisfaction.
"Prince Gong! Are we still qualified to negotiate conditions with the western Sichuan side? As long as the western Sichuan side can promise to save our lives. Then you can agree with every qiē! Prince Li said. What he feared most was that Sichuan West was eyeing the wealth of their Manchu magnates. You can not be an official, and you can lose your title, but if you lose even your family property, it will be completely over.
The rest of the people also put forward their own opinions. The entire Jinluan Hall turned into a vegetable market in an instant.
At this time, the Western Sichuan Army outside Guang'an Gate was preparing for artillery fire before the attack. More than a hundred cannons. The western wall of the capital division was bombarded indiscriminately. The head of the city has long been shrouded in gunsmoke, and the soldiers of the Manchu New Army, one by one, are holding their heads under the city wall, trembling. The walls of Guang'anmen have once again been blocked by boulders. In order to resist the western Sichuan army entering the city.
"The walls of Jingshi are too thick, and it is difficult to break through." Behind the position of the Western Sichuan Army, a middle-aged general in his forties said that he was Wei Xiang, the commander of the 12th Division.
"Of course. Otherwise, the young marshal would have broken through the Beijing division four years ago, and we would have unified the whole country by that time. Where is the need to wait until this time! Another middle-aged man said that he was Su Hongguang, the commander of the 22nd Division. He was originally the commander of the Eighth Brigade of the Western Sichuan Army, but after winning the Sino-British border conflict, he was promoted from brigadier general to major general division commander in one fell swoop with the help of the east wind of troop expansion. And there was no longer a need to garrison the plateau, but instead participated in the great war against the Manchus.
"It's also fortunate that this is the case, otherwise, where would we get this great achievement?" Du Qizheng, the commander of the 23rd Division, also said. He was also the commander of the original 9th Brigade, and was promoted to the commander of the 23rd Division after the expansion of the unit.
"Haha! Oh, yes! Winning the Jingshi is a great achievement, and we can't let the handsome down! The commander had an order that he must take the Beijing division within three days, and then reinforce Shanhaiguan to fight with the Japanese devils. In the past, we defeated the British devils on the plateau, and this time we defeated the Japanese devils, but our division is indispensable! Su Hongguang, commander of the 22nd Division, laughed.
The entire Beijing division trembled under the artillery fire of the Western Sichuan Army. However, the shelling of the Western Sichuan Army was always in the vicinity of Guang'anmen and did not extend inward. Among Wang Yuze's orders, there is also a way to protect the ancient buildings of the capital as much as possible. Of course, the walls are no longer protected. The city wall has strictly hindered the development of the city, and even if it is preserved now, it will be demolished after Chuanxi enters the capital division.
Half an hour later, the Western Sichuan Army began to charge. Because the city gates were blocked, they had to resort to the ancient engineering method of attacking the city with ladders. Behind them, a large number of heavy machine guns and mortars have been erected less than two hundred meters from the walls of the Rikyo division, and they will provide the most direct fire support to the besieging army.
"Get up quickly, the shelling of the bandits has stopped, and they are going to attack!" In the city of Jingshi, the officers of all levels of the Manchurian New Army began to shout, driving those soldiers up the city wall to resist the attack of the Western Sichuan Army like driving livestock.
On the city wall, ladders have been erected, and the soldiers of the Western Sichuan Army began to climb up the city wall frantically. At this time, the new army of the Manchu Qing also rushed to the city wall, preparing to block the attack of the western Sichuan army.
"Da Da Da!" The heavy machine guns in the rear rang out, and rows of children swept towards the city, knocking down a large part of the Manchurian army. Mortars also began to bombard, accurately sending shells to the city, and the soldiers of the Qing New Army who blew up turned on their backs. The morale that had finally been boosted was once again gone, and those who survived ran to the bottom of the city walls, ignoring the reprimands of the officers.
Soon, the first soldiers climbed the city wall, and with rifles and pistols in their hands, they launched an attack on the Qing army on the city wall. In order to increase the firepower of the attacking troops, the Western Sichuan Army specially equipped the troops of the first battalion with pistols. The standard pistol that the army in western Sichuan is equipped with is a 792 mm caliber pistol copied from the Mauser pistol, which has high lethality and a capacity of eight rounds, which makes it have a strong melee power. In particular, the soldiers of this first batch of a battalion were not only equipped with a magazine on their bodies, which made their attack power even stronger.
As more and more soldiers of the Western Sichuan Army stormed the city wall, and weapons such as heavy machine guns and mortars were also moved to the city wall, the Qing army finally collapsed, and Guang'anmen fell into the control of the Western Sichuan Army.
Subsequently, the western Sichuan army used internal blasting to empty all the boulders blocking the city gate and open the city gate. A large number of Western Sichuan troops attacked the Beijing Division. The First Cavalry Army of the Western Sichuan Army, which had been waiting for a long time, immediately rode into the city. The war horses were galloping, the sabers were bright, and the Qing army couldn't resist it at all. The defeat was like a mountain, and the 100,000 demoralized new troops either surrendered, or simply threw away their weapons, took off their uniforms and fled for their lives. With extremely small casualties, the Western Sichuan Army took the entire Beijing Division.
"Hurry up, surround the Forbidden City. The division commander has an order to block the entire Forbidden City, and no one is allowed to enter or leave without permission! "The soldiers of the Western Sichuan Army are running wildly in the Beijing Division. A regiment of troops, heading straight for the Forbidden City. They will be tasked with protecting the Forbidden City.
At the same time, a large number of troops went to the mansions of various Manchu nobles, put these nobles under house arrest first, and then screened after the war, and most of their property was confiscated. If the Manchu magnates with a good reputation can return a certain amount of property.
The many Manchu magnates who were arguing in the Jinluan Palace did not expect the Western Sichuan Army to attack the capital so quickly, which made them so shocked that they could no longer care about arguing and immediately fled from the Forbidden City. Some of the powerful people went home, and some went directly to Dongjiaomin Lane to ask for the protection of foreign embassies, but more people went to Prince Ding's mansion. Prince Puxu is the father-in-law of the marshal of western Sichuan, and the soldiers of western Sichuan will never attack Prince Ding's mansion! Where is the safest place in the entire Jingshi.
After a day of fighting, the western Sichuan army took control of the entire Beijing division. Most of the Manchu new army was captured, and a small number had fled, no longer posing a threat to the western Sichuan army.
The Manchu magnates, big and small, were basically under house arrest, and they would be temporarily put under control and waiting for the western Sichuan side to deal with it. At the same time, western Sichuan also sent troops to surround Dongjiaomin Lane to prevent more Manchu magnates from hiding in it.
In the Forbidden City, at the moment when the city was broken, the Empress Dowager Cixi committed suicide by drinking poisoned wine. Before this, she had already given Emperor Guangxu to death. It was from this moment that the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which had survived for 255 years, officially came to an end, and China would enter a new era.
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