Qianqing Palace. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

"Father, have you forgotten Wang Xian's army in Shandong?" Zhu Zhanji said a little shamelessly, he was very afraid of Shandong from the beginning, in order to guard against Shandong's army, set up three defense lines of Cangzhou, Langfang, and Daxing, and there were 50,000 troops stationed in Daxing alone, and he did not believe that the Shandong army could break through layer by layer.

However, to scare the emperor, it is only right to ask for more soldiers and horses. Zhu Zhanji said softly: "Why don't you withdraw part of the army in Juyongguan?" ”

"No way!" Zhu Gaochi refused again.

"Your Highness, on your way back to Beijing, the Marquis of Chengshan sent an urgent report, Liu Sheng has begun to attack Juyong Pass, although the attack is not fierce, it should be to cooperate with Wang Xian to contain my Juyong Pass army." Yang Shiqi explained for the emperor: "But we really can't send troops to leave, once there is a loophole in the strength of Juyong Pass, Liu Sheng is likely to change the feint attack into a real attack!" ”

"Hey!" Seeing that the proposal was rejected again, Zhu Zhanji couldn't help but be angry and irritable: "Father, give an order to the vassal kings to raise troops and serve the king!" Counting on those officials with foreign surnames, when will they be able to see soldiers?! ”

"Nonsense!" Zhu Gaochi didn't want to flatly refuse, in order to cut the domain, Emperor Jianwen even took his own throne, the first emperor who raised troops in the name of opposing the reduction of the domain, after ascending the throne, also changed his way to cut off the power of the vassal king, and finally reduced all their threats, how could he go against the grain and release these monsters out of the cage again?

In the end, Zhu Zhanji was so worn out that Zhu Gaochi agreed to allocate the 50,000 Liaodong soldiers who had arrived in Miyun to him for command.

Zhu Zhanji reluctantly agreed, and quit with the two scholars. He is like a gambler who has lost a red eye, he wants to squeeze out the last bit of his father's coffin, and then go to the casino with all his belongings!

It's just that his casino is a battlefield; His bet is on soldiers and horses; His win or loss is his own life!

Leaving the Qianqing Palace, the three of them felt like they were separated from each other, only to find that the middle list under the official robe was all soaked with cold sweat.

"Anyway, I finally managed to get a month." Yang Shiqi let out a long sigh, and his face was still faintly painful.

"Don't say anything," Zhu Zhanji said in a cold voice with a dark face: "Master Yang and I will fight Wang Xian, and the capital will be handed over to Shoufu!" ”

"You two must return triumphantly." Yang Shiqi smiled bitterly and said, "Otherwise, we will all have to explain in this scene." ”

"Absolutely not!" Zhu Zhanji said viciously: "Lone is the son of destiny!" Definitely not lose to anyone! ”

Before leaving the capital, Zhu Zhanji also did one thing, he ordered Hu Hao to escort all the families of Wang Xian's officers and soldiers in the capital to Tongzhou. Originally, he wanted to bring Yinling and Yu Qian with him, but he learned that the emperor had brought her into the palace yesterday, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had to give up.

Then Zhu Zhanji and Yang Rong went out of the city and hurried to Tongzhou to command the siege!

Tongzhou City, has been attacked by the official army for a day, seeing that there are more and more troops outside the city, the offensive is becoming more and more fierce, the official army even brought all kinds of siege equipment, a large number of pine torches and wood, obviously to pick up the night battle, regardless of black and white wheel siege!

The situation in the city is not optimistic, not only is the army far inferior to the enemy, but what is even worse is that the commander Wang Xian is not in the city. But the more than 15,000 soldiers had no fear, because it was Mo Wen who commanded them now.

Wang Xian is an all-rounder, and he is also regarded as outstanding in military attainments, but compared with the unborn military genius Mo Wen, he is still quite inferior. Mo Wen's talent is all in leading troops to fight, as soon as he came to Mongolia, he was willing to occupy the position of staff officer, and did his best to assist Wang Xian to show his might, and now it is finally time for him to show his talents.

To put it mildly, Wang Xian threw a mess on Mo Wen's head. At that time, Yang Rong's army outside the city was frantically attacking the city, and there were still more than 10,000 officers and soldiers in the city who had not yet disarmed, but Mo Wen was not afraid at all, and ordered half of the soldiers to guard the city, and he took half of the men and horses, and it only took half a day to completely clear the city. More than 20,000 prisoners were imprisoned in granaries that had been emptied by the officers and soldiers, and with only more than 1,000 guards, they returned to the city with the rest of the troops.

At this time, the prince's army had arrived in Tongzhou and joined the siege sequence. The pressure on the defenders increased suddenly, and the city was in chaos, and as soon as Mo Wen arrived, he immediately stabilized the situation. I saw that he redistributed the troops defending the city in an orderly manner, reasonably distributed the generals and horses at hand to the four city walls, and actually had 3,000 soldiers and horses left to maneuver to support everywhere at any time.

Although it is said that the victory or defeat of the war is the result of the joint efforts of all the soldiers, the role of a super general cannot be overestimated. The head of the city with Mo Wen sitting in the town, and the city head without Mo Wen sitting in the town, are completely different looks. He completely filled the gap in Wang Xian's absence, so that the soldiers had a backbone again, and they no longer had to worry about those who did not have them, they only needed to follow his instructions, complete the mobilization and combat in an orderly manner, and easily repelled the enemy troops besieging the city again and again.

As a result, the officers and troops attacked until dark, and they did not get half a penny, so they had to leave thousands of corpses behind, and Mingjin returned to the camp in a gray manner. But everyone knows that today's siege is just a prologue. After all, the army of the crown prince and Yang Rong needed to be coordinated and unified, so many siege equipment needed to be adjusted and prepared, and when they were prepared overnight, the most tragic battle would really begin.

Mo Wen was not idle, he readjusted the deployment of the army in view of the characteristics of Tongzhou City's high walls and perfect facilities, established a three-dimensional defense system, and exerted the strongest attack power with the least number of troops. He also ordered people to open the warehouse of the military department in the east of Tongzhou City, and transported the gunpowder canisters, thunder stones, bed crossbows, and artillery piled up in the warehouse to the head of the city, raising the defense system that was already very powerful with firepower to a terrifying level.

As soon as the mist cleared the next morning, the prince and Yang Rong commanded the siege army, pushing hundreds of chariots, hook ladders, building carts, and ballistas, and sending more than 80,000 cavalry to attack the southern city wall.

I saw the heavy chariots crushing the frost all over the ground, and 80,000 swords and spears were like forests, and the cold light was dazzling, overwhelming the sky. If it is an ordinary defender, just looking at the momentum that devours heaven and earth, they will be frightened and flee directly from the city.

However, Mo Wen had already judged that the official army would give up the siege on all sides and attack only one side of the southern city, so he concentrated his troops on the southern city wall in advance, and pushed dozens of cannons made by the Military Bureau and the Ordnance Bureau to the head of the city.

The officers and soldiers were still a mile away, Mo Wen ordered the cannons to be fired, and the soldiers lit the cannon fuse with torches, and in the roar of the earth-shattering cannons, countless cannonballs roared and smashed into the dense officers and soldiers!

Although the cannonballs made by the imperial court are solid, they are condescendingly fired, and the power is doubled. Every time a shell falls into the ranks of the officers and soldiers, it will kill dozens of enemy soldiers. Hit those huge siege engines and smash them to smithereens!

Dozens of shells were bombarded, and the officers and soldiers could no longer maintain a well-organized ranks. Seeing this, Zhu Zhanji immediately ordered the formation to disperse and approach the city wall at full speed, so as not to give the defenders a chance to use their firearms. At the same time, the officers and soldiers also returned fire with artillery, and the cannon roared, and the two armies actually fired at each other!

It's just that the Tongzhou city wall is too high, and it is difficult for the cannonballs of the official army to hit the defenders on the city, and they can only leave a shallow white mark on the solid city wall!

However, there were too many officers and soldiers, and there was the personal command of His Royal Highness the Prince, and the army braved the artillery fire of the city, but still approached the city wall, and began to shoot at the city head with bows and crossbows and muskets. For a time, 10,000 arrows shot at the city, the arrows of the city battlements were like rain notes, and the hanging cards were like hedgehog thorns!

At the same time, the officers and soldiers began to erect ladders and prepare to climb the city wall, but they were shocked to find that a thick layer of ice appeared on the Tongzhou city wall, which was still good yesterday. It was caused by the soldiers who kept pouring water on the city wall last night, and Beijing in the month of Layue turned into ice, and a thick layer of ice formed overnight, no wonder the cannonballs would leave a white mark on the city wall!

Don't look at the inconspicuous layer of ice, but it caused great trouble to the besieging troops, their ladder was on the top, it was impossible to grasp it at all, and the defenders on the top pushed it with their spears, and the ladder slid and fell, breaking the muscles and bones of the officers and soldiers above.

Fortunately, the prince was well prepared, the ladder was useless, and the large siege equipment was not afraid of this layer of thin ice.

It's a pity that the defenders have been prepared for a long time, and in addition to the regular programs such as bows, crossbows, muskets, and boiling oil and wood, countless medicine jars and thunder stones have been dropped from the city...... This is a grenade-like weapon made by the Ordnance Bureau for the officers and soldiers. Because there was an explosion in Beijing, it was moved to Tongzhou for storage, but it was cheaper.

Countless watermelon-sized stone cans, iron cans, and porcelain cans were thrown down and exploded on the siege equipment. The middle was directly blown up in the air, and what was even more terrifying was that the jar was filled with iron nails and stones, and the debris of the jar in the explosion was splashed everywhere, and pieces of officers and soldiers fell screaming. In just a few cups of tea, those officers and soldiers who were densely attached to the building car were swept away!

The defenders threw down the oil canisters and torches, and the siege equipment, which had temporarily lost the protection of the soldiers, immediately ignited a raging fire, and the officers and soldiers tried to go forward to put out the fire, but they were splashed with fire oil, and they were burned into burning people, screaming and scurrying around, so frightened that their comrades retreated one after another, and no one dared to approach the burning equipment.

Zhu Zhanji didn't care about the death or injury of the soldiers at all, and still ordered the follow-up troops to regroup and continue to attack the city by all means. Helplessly, under Mo Wen's move, he tried again and again in vain, and fought until late at night, still unable to attack the city, Zhu Zhanji was persuaded by Yang Rong to drop nearly 10,000 corpses, and unwilling Mingjin withdrew his troops.

A crescent moon hung high in the sky, covering the blood-stained city with an icy glow. (To be continued.) )