On April 28, the twelfth year of Chongzhen, after encircling Shengjing for 21 days, the Ming army outside the city finally launched an attack on Shengjing City.

Yue Yang did not practice egalitarianism and bombarded the eight gates of Shengjing together, but concentrated the artillery of the five artillery battalions together and bombarded the two gates of Dadong Entrance Gate and Desheng Gate.

More than 400 artillery pieces bombarded the two city gates for three consecutive days, consuming a total of more than 3,000 tons of lead bullets and gunpowder, and the consequence of the three days of shelling was that the ammunition that the Weihai Weishui Division spent half a month to send was almost exhausted, and it was only then that Yue Yang ordered a general attack on the Dadong Gate and the Desheng Gate.

"Hurry up...... Hurry up, you idiots...... If you can't plug the gap before the next artillery bombardment of the Ming army, you'll be dead! ”

After three days of shelling, the Desheng Gate, which belongs to the Yellow Flag Defense Zone, has long been unable to see the majesty and solidity of the past, in front of a pile of ruins, Duoduo is spitting and roaring, and next to him, a group of soldiers with yellow flags are waving weapons and punching and kicking a group of soldiers with Han military flags, which has become the norm these days.

Three days...... For three whole days, the Ming army never sent a single soldier, but with the incessant bombardment of 24-pound and 32-pound artillery, this impenetrable Xiongguan in the eyes of the Manchus was turned into a pile of broken bricks. And Duoduo's yellow flag also suffered heavy losses in the shelling at the beginning, and later Duoduo learned to be obedient, withdrew all the soldiers and horses with the yellow flag, and sent the Han army flag, including the Han army flag belonging to Zu Dashou.

After Zu Dashou returned to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Dolgon did not treat him badly, but named him the banner master of the Han Army's Zhenghuang Banner, with more than 4,000 soldiers and horses under his command, which can be regarded as a lot of strength. It is said that Zu Dashou should be satisfied with being able to get such an official position as a general, but Zu Dashou and the people who surrendered with him did not feel happy, because with the gradual increase in the strength of the Ming army in Liaodong, not only the Manchu people but even Zu Dashou also felt more and more pressure.

Since the surrender of the Manchus. Zu Dashou, Wu Sangui and others have always felt that not only can they not integrate into the life of the Manchus, but even the Manchus have always been wary of their own generals. Whether it is food or treatment, the Han Army Banner is worse than the Manchu Eight Banners, after all, it is the same for themselves, but when they find that even the treatment of the Eight Banners is better than their own, the feeling of imbalance in their hearts is even stronger, and after more than a year has passed, the homesickness of the generals of the Han Army Banner has become more and more intense, in this case, several banner owners of the Han Army Banner such as Zu Dashou, Shang Kexi, Wu Sangui, Geng Zhongming, Kong Youde and others have also unconsciously approached each other. There is also a vague alliance posture.

And since the siege of Shengjing City, these Yuan Ming generals have felt a sense of despair surging in their hearts. These people are clear. The Ming court may be able to allow the Manchus to survive after surrendering, but if they fall into the hands of the Ming army, I am afraid that even a happy death is a very luxurious thing, and the hatred of the Chinese people for traitors is much stronger than that of foreign enemies.

Just as Duoduo drove the soldiers of the Han army flag to hurry up and repair the city wall, a man full of horse armor sergeants pointed ahead and made a terrible and desperate voice: "Master, those Ming troops have begun to attack"

Looking in the direction the sergeant pointed, Duoduo saw rows of Ming troops walking in a neat line towards Desheng Gate, and the whole world seemed to hear only bursts of neat footsteps getting louder and louder between the banners and waving the flags.

His face turned pale. Duoduo pulled out the long knife at his waist and roared: "Everyone hurry up and work for me, Zu Dashou, you will immediately transfer all your men and horses to the city to participate in the defense of the city, and the stones and rolling logs are ready, right...... And the gold juice also quickly burned. Be sure to be fast! With so much tension, Duoduo's voice became harsh and inward-looking.

In fact, not only Duoduo, but the entire defenders of Desheng Gate and Dadong Gate have entered a state of panic, in fact, it is not so unbearable to satisfy the sergeant's Su zhì. But after three days of endless shelling, no matter how strong the soldier was, he would become vulnerable, and at this time all of them had only one thought in their hearts, such a strong city wall was destroyed by the Ming army's artillery. Can these flesh and blood bodies withstand the attack of the Ming army?

"Beep beep ......"

A sharp whistle echoed across the battlefield, and the first batch of five thousand musketeers divided into two teams and advanced towards the Desheng Gate and the Dadong Gate respectively, and they lined up in a neat line to the city gate, which had been bombed to the point where it could barely be seen, and stopped at a distance of three hundred and fifty paces from the city gate.

Then these musketeers lined up around the city wall under the command of the officers, and then with a shout, a group of soldiers with long swords and shields poured out, some of them carried ladders, some of them pushed tall siege engines, shield vehicles and other siege equipment rushed towards the city wall, and the shouts of the soldiers in unison shook the air.

Looking at the Ming army rushing towards him, Duoduo pulled over Zu Dashou and gritted his teeth and said: "General Zu, now is the time of life and death for my Qing Dynasty, you and we are also grasshoppers on the same rope, you can't run away and you can't jump on me, you know what to do very well, don't want this king to teach you!" ”

Although it has only been more than a year since he took refuge in the Manchu Dynasty, Zu Dashou, who was originally in good spirit, has aged very fast in this year, and now his hair is completely gray, looking at Duoduo's fierce gaze, Zu Dashou smiled miserably: "Don't worry, the prince will know what to do!" ”

After speaking, Zu Dashou waved his hand behind him, and soon more than 2,000 soldiers came from behind, holding all kinds of weapons and hiding behind the hidden places they could find, quietly waiting for the moment of formal contact between the two sides.

Looking at the approaching Ming army and the big Ming flags, Zu Dashou had mixed feelings in his heart, just more than a year ago, he was still a chief military officer of the Ming Dynasty, bearing the responsibility of resisting the Manchurian Tartars, but after more than a year passed, he actually wanted to meet with the original robe Ze soldiers, and the most ridiculous thing in the world was nothing more than this.

Although there was a sound of killing outside, Zu Dashou's thoughts had already flown to the clouds, and I don't know how long it took, a voice sounded beside him: "The archers are all out...... Give me arrows! ”

"Hurry up and release the arrows!" From time to time, the shouts of the officers rang out.

As the officers screamed, one of the archers began to poke out of their hiding place and shoot arrows forward, one arrow after another flying forward.

With the sound of the bowstring pulling, the scattered arrows began to fall in front of the Ming army's charge. Beginning to have Ming troops fall to the ground with arrows.

Seeing such a situation, the firecracker officer, who had been prepared for a long time, shouted loudly, "Firecracker, come forward to cover and shoot!" ”

"Bang bang...... Bang bang bang ......"

The sound of firecrackers began to ring, and many of the archers who had leaned out of the walls to shoot their arrows fell to the ground screaming after being hit by the rapid burst of lead bullets.

For the musketeers, no one's marksmanship is born, only a large amount of ammunition can be practiced to achieve superb marksmanship, each of these musketeers consumes a lot of ammunition, although it cannot be said that everyone is a sharpshooter, but with the Minnie rifled rifle in the hand to hit the target three hundred steps away is still not a big problem, under the continuous attack of the musketeers, most of the archers who dare to poke their heads out and release arrows have become their guns.

With a continuous and rhythmic burst of gunfire, they rang out continuously. One archer after another was killed by buckshot, and the remaining hundreds of archers were finally frightened, and no matter how much the officers around them scolded, they refused to lean out and shoot arrows. Seeing this situation, Duoduo, who was supervising the battle behind, was furious, and he strode to Zu Dashou's side and shouted angrily: "General Zu, the Ming army is about to rush up, why don't you continue to shoot arrows, if you don't know how to command this king, don't mind executing a military law for you!" ”

Zu Dashou glanced back at Duoduo, held back his anger, pointed to the corpses lying around, and said, "Prince Deyu, you have also seen it, it's not that I can't wait hard." But the Ming army's firearms are too powerful, and there are now less than 300 of the 1,000 archers under my command, so they can only die in vain if they force arrows. ”

"You dare to quibble!" Duoduo interrupted Zu Dashou's words involuntarily, pointed at his nose and shouted: "I have long heard that your Guan Ning army is cowardly and incompetent, and this king didn't think so. Now it seems that this evaluation is really not wronged. It's just that there are only a few hundred dead and wounded, isn't there more than 300 left, continue to let them release arrows, if anyone dares to be afraid of battle, don't blame this king for being polite! ”

Zu Dashou is also the master who has brought soldiers for many years. How could he be so scolded by Duoduo, seeing that Duoduo's fingers were almost touching his nose, he couldn't help but say coldly: "Since Prince Deyu said that our Guanning army is cowardly and incompetent. In my opinion, let's take a break first, and let us see how the brave and warlike Manchurian warriors fought a bloody battle with the Ming army. ”

"Damn Ming dog...... You dare to go into battle and disobey the orders of this king, I really think that this king will not dare to kill you! Immediately, Dord's eyes burst into flames, his teeth cracked, and his right hand gripped the sword at his waist.

Seeing that Duoduo was about to turn his face, Zu Dashou was not to be outdone, glared at him and said: "Prince Deyu, this official is ordered by the emperor to assist you in defending the city, not to send you to death, if you have the ability, you will rush to the Ming army outside the city, what kind of ability is it to kill your own people." ”

When he and Wu Sangui and others fled to Liaodong, the total number of people and horses brought by both sides was only more than 8,000 people, and now there are only about 4,000 people who belong to him, these people are all his elite descendants for many years, and they are also elite cavalry. It is not an exaggeration to say that these soldiers and horses are his lifeblood, and at the same time, he also understands that the words he can still say here in the Manchu Qing Dynasty are all supported by these soldiers and horses under his command, if he loses these soldiers and horses, I am afraid that those Manchus will not even be interested in looking at him, how can he be willing to consume these soldiers and horses.

"You're looking for death!" The hot-tempered Duoduo pulled out the war knife at his waist and slashed at Zu Dashou.

"Oh ......" only heard a crisp sound, and Zu Dashou, who had been prepared for a long time, also pulled out the long knife on his waist and blocked it with a backhand, and the two weapons made a crisp sound after they collided. Seeing that their own commanders actually fought, all the soldiers on both sides also poured up, and the men and horses on both sides began to look at each other, and an infighting was about to break out.

"What are you doing?"

A loud shout suddenly rang out from the side, and both sides looked back to see that it was Dolgon, dressed in bright yellow armor, who had actually come to the city wall. I saw Dolgon striding up to the two of them and shouting angrily: "At the moment of the great enemy, not only do you not think about retreating from the enemy together, but you are going to start internal strife, are you all pigs?" ”

Seeing Dolgon's arrival, everyone was taken aback, and Duoduo pointed to Zu Dashou and said, "Your Majesty...... I have long said that these Ming dogs are unreliable, and at this time the Ming army has begun to attack the city, but they are still greedy for life and afraid of death. I'm just ......"

"Shut up!" Dolgon reprimanded angrily: "I have seen what happened just now, General Zu has indeed tried his best, but as the lord of the city, you don't know how to encourage the soldiers to boost morale, but you still want to kill the soldiers indiscriminately to vent your anger, what do you want to do?" Do you think we're dying fast enough? ”

Dolgon reprimanded Duo with a slap in his face, and then turned his head to Zu Dashou and said apologetically: "General Zu, I have seen the matter of suitable talents, this matter is what Duo Duo did wrong, I apologize to you for him." Now that the disaster is at hand, the Ming army is attacking the city very urgently. To put it mildly, if Shengjing is breached, we will all die and have no place to be buried, General Zu, I know that General Zu's men and horses have suffered great losses, so now please ask the general to stay and rest, and ask the general to watch the battle in the back, and see if I am leading the Yellow Banner warriors to fight to the death with the Ming army here! ”

"The Emperor's ......"

Zu Dashou was immediately dumbfounded when he heard this, Dolgon wanted to defend the city himself, but he, the general, went down to rest, if he really did this, it is estimated that he would be cut into eighteen knots by those Manchurians before he reached the city.

Come to think of it. He knelt on the ground with a puff and cried: "Your Majesty, the crime of the criminal deserves death, how can you go into battle and risk if you are a body of ten thousand gold, and you stand back and watch the battle." Wait for the guilty ministers to fight to the death with the Ming army! ”

Zu Dashou knew that with Dolgon's arrival, he had been forced into a corner, and today he would either fight off the Ming army and live, or die on this wall. There is no third way.

A look of despair flashed in his eyes, and he shouted to the Kwantung soldiers around him, "Brothers, you have seen it too. If the Ming army invades the city, we all have to die, and if we want to live, we have to play with the Ming army, and now everyone will kill the enemy with me! ”

After speaking, Zu Dashou ran to the city wall, leaned over, picked up a stone and threw it outside the city. Seeing that Zu Dashou personally took the lead, the Guan Ning army under his command also picked up the stones and threw them outside the city wall.

Seeing that the Guan Ning army started to fight again, Dolgon secretly let out a long sigh, he turned to look at Duoduo beside him and shouted with anger: "Do you know what a stupid thing you have done, if you really fight with Zu Dashou on the city wall, can Desheng Gate still be able to defend it?" If Deshengmen loses our Shengjing City, it will be over, do you want me to remind you of this? ”

At this time, Duoduo also realized the recklessness of his behavior just now, and a cold sweat appeared on his forehead in an instant, if Shengjing City was lost because of himself, he would be a sinner for the ages.

"Brother Fourteen, I was wrong!" At this time, Dorgon was completely devoid of his ruthlessness, and he stood in front of Dorgon with his head bowed like a docile little sheep.

"Hmph...... Do it yourself. Dolgon snorted coldly and wanted to say something, when a panting Goshha knelt in front of Dolgon and said in a panic: "Your Majesty, Prince Su sent someone to report that the Ming army was in a hurry to attack Dadong, but Wu Sangui and those people were trying to preserve their strength and not make any efforts, so that Prince Su had to send the men and horses of the Zhengbai Banner to the city wall to defend the city in person, and Prince Su now asks the emperor to send the men and horses of the Eight Banners of Meng to help defend the city." ”

"What...... And here's the thing. ”

Dolgon's brows furrowed into a Sichuan character, he still knows a lot about these generals, if Zu Dashou is still a person with a sense of honor, then Wu Sangui is purely a slippery head who takes the preservation of strength as the primary prerequisite. In fact, the Manchu people's plan is very simple, that is, first use the Han Army Banner and the people of the Eight Banners to consume with the Ming army, and then they consume almost the men and horses of the Eight Banners, so that they can save the strength of the Manchu people to the greatest extent, after all, after several successive defeats over the years, the elite of the Manchu people can be said to have been killed and injured more than half, and the rest of these people are all treasures, it can be said that one less one is dead, if it is not a last resort, Dolgon is reluctant to consume these only remaining Manchu elites on the city wall, What's more, in Dolgon's heart, he still has to rely on these Manchurians to do a big thing, how can he be consumed like this in vain.

Thinking of this, Dolgon's face sank and said in a deep voice: "Come on, spread my will, Haoge quickly sent men and horses to supervise the formation, if Wu Sangui's department is passive and sluggish, he will not be killed!" ”

"Whoa......

Goshha quickly took the order and left.

Looking at the leaving, the corners of Goshhadodor's mouth squirmed, and he wanted to say something, but stopped. It's just that his expression can't hide from Dolgon, and Dolgon doesn't want to explain more, he said to Dorgon: "I, I'm afraid that Haoge alone can't suppress that Wu Sangui's slippery head, and I really have to go there myself to shock him." You have to defend Desheng Gate well, understand? ”

"The emperor can rest assured, as long as the younger brother is in Deshengmen, if the Ming army wants to capture Deshengmen, unless they come over with the corpse of their younger brother, the younger brother will never let the Ming army cross Deshengmen by half a step if he still has a breath!"

Dorgon didn't speak, just patted Dorgon on the shoulder and left...... (To be continued......)