Episode 51 Teacher Xiang, come to save me!

Zhu Yourong slowly sat on the sofa.

But her eyes were fixed on the phone on the coffee table, and she glanced at the two Praetorian Guards by the door. She hesitated for a long time, trying to divert their attention and make a phone call outside to ask the guards in the fortress to save her.

The two soldiers at the door stared straight at Zhu Yourong. Zhu Yourong thought about it for a long time, but he couldn't think of any good way. She couldn't help but be a little annoyed, she was the empress of the Ming Dynasty, and now she was in this step, not only was she under house arrest by her own Praetorian Guards, but she also had to sneak in if she wanted to make a phone call.

Zhu Yourong directly picked up the microphone and stared at the two Praetorian Guards at the same time to see how they reacted.

Fortunately, they just looked at themselves and did not stop it. It seems that they are so secretive that they put themselves under house arrest, and they are not even forbidden to make phone calls. That's easy to do.

The operator's respectful voice came from the earpiece:

"Your Majesty, what do you command?"

"Hmm," Zhu Yourong glanced at the two soldiers and said with some humility, "Give me the commander of the fortress." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, please wait a moment."

After a while, the voice of the commander of the fortress Shi Bicheng came out respectfully:

"Your Majesty, when you are a minister, you will listen to the hadith."

Zhu Yourong was excited for a while, glanced at the two soldiers again, covered the microphone and whispered:

"Shi Aiqing, you now bring a team of guards to my room to pick me up, I want to ...... Inspect the fortress. ”

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a while, and Shi Bicheng whispered:

"Your Majesty, the fortress is now guarded by your Praetorian Guards...... Lianchen also has a Praetorian Guard standing here...... So, the fortress is very safe, you ...... You don't have to make your rounds......"

Zhu Yourong was stunned, carefully tasting the meaning of his words, and a coolness rose from the bottom of his heart.

"Times...... Shi Aiqing, you mean ......"

"Your Majesty," Shi Bicheng sighed, "don't think about it...... The defense line of the Yangtze River has been broken, and the Qing captives have already invaded the city. You are the king of a country, and you can't fall into the hands of the Qing captives! …… If you don't retreat now, the entire Ming government and the general command can't retreat...... Now that the headquarters is also preparing for the retreat, you can leave everything to your subordinates......"

Zhu Yourong's mind went blank. She finally knew why she wasn't forbidden to call.

Originally, when he was in Nanjing, although the people in the fortress were panicked, at least they were stable and could continue to play a commanding role. Now as soon as the uncle and the nurse said that they were leaving, the hearts of the whole fortress suddenly dispersed.

Now everyone is thinking about retreating, and no one listens to them.

Zhu Yourong slowly hung up the phone, felt weak, and leaned on the sofa.

She only thought of the words "enter Nanjing and burn for ten days", and slowly, a huge fear grabbed her, and her eyes seemed to have become a bloody color.

Zhu Yourong sat up and called out like crazy. Chief of the General Staff of the High Command, Chief of the General Staff of the Army, and Commander of the Eastern Section of the Yangtze River Defense Line...... She searched for almost all the high-ranking generals in the fortress. The results were all cruel, either powerless, or very respectful, persuading her to obey Zheng Gongyin and Mrs. Li's arrangement.

Zhu Yourong threw the phone to the ground and went back to the inner room to cry.

She bit the quilt and felt a gnashing hatred in her heart. Zhu Yourong herself was also taken aback by this hatred, she had never hated anyone, especially her relatives. But at this moment, she felt that the hatred in her heart was so strong.

She never expected that the nurse and uncle would be so selfish, and in order to be able to leave, they would actually destroy the Great Wall like this. They are tantamount to throwing the people of Nanjing to the Qing captives.

Nanjing was lost, and the next step must be the collapse of the Yangtze River defense line, and the Qing Dynasty went straight to the south of the Yangtze River.

Zhu Yourong bit the corner of the quilt, and tears rolled down uncontrollably. They usually hurt themselves so much, but now they are doing this kind of thing.

She suddenly got up and rushed outside, the tearful look on her face startling the two Praetorian Guards. But Zhu Yourong ignored them, grabbed the phone directly, and said:

"Give me the first assistant minister."

After a long while, Shen Rongxuan's voice appeared. Shen Rongxuan's voice was a little surprised:

"Your Majesty, haven't you left yet?"

When Zhu Yourong heard this, his heart immediately cooled half. She was silent for a moment, and then smiled kindly:

"Elder Shen Ge, who did you hear that I am leaving? …… Could it be them...... Have they consulted with you? ”

When she thought that Shen Ge Lao might also be involved, her heart ached again, and she hoped that he would say no.

Shen Rongxuan sighed and said:

"Your Majesty, you don't need to blame your nurse and uncle. Of course, they have a certain amount of selfishness, but this matter is ...... They were very decisive. ”

Zhu Yourong felt dizzy when he heard this.

Shen Rongxuan continued:

"Yes, last time Qing Lu crossed the river in Zimu Continent, I advised you to stay. First, it was that Zimuzhou was still far away from Nanjing, and there was still room to repel it. Second, I'm not advising you to stay still, I'm advising you to move into the Purple Mountain Fortress. Why? Just in case the situation gets worse, you can leave. Now the Qing Lu has broken through directly at Dinghuai Gate and has already attacked the urban area. So Your Majesty, I must say, the time has come to leave. ”

Zhu Yourong listened indifferently to the words of the first minister, and a sense of powerless despair spread throughout his body. Her tears fell, and suddenly her head was hot, and she opened her mouth and said:

"Elder Shen Ge, can you arrange it, I want to talk to Emperor Qing on the phone."

Shen Rongxuan was taken aback:

"Your Majesty, what did you say?!"

"I want to ask him to ......," Zhu Yourong cried dizzily, "I want to ask him to spare the people of Nanjing, I ...... I gave him Nanjing......"

Shen Rongxuan said categorically:

"Your Majesty, you are the son of the Great Tomorrow, the highest symbol of my Ming Empire, this kind of whimsical thing is simply impossible! …… Well, Your Majesty, the minister can be regarded as young and ignorant, and say it casually. This sentence is only known to His Majesty and the ministers. ”

Zhu Yourong sniffled, raised his eyes to look at the two Praetorian Guards at the door, and said with a mocking smile with tears in his eyes:

"Don't bother Shen Ge...... Two other people already know about it......"

As he spoke, he hung up the phone.

She stared blankly at the opposite wall and muttered:

"Why do you say it's just me...... Do you care about the life and death of the people of Nanjing? Why doesn't anyone else care? …… Am I stupid? ”

The two Praetorian Guards looked at Zhu Yourong, not daring to look directly at her eyes full of tears, as if their souls had been tortured, they all avoided their gaze and lowered their heads in shame.

They all understood what was going on at this moment, and why His Majesty was reluctant to go. Especially the sentence "I want to ask him to spare the people of Nanjing, I will give him Nanjing", when Zhu Yourong cried and said it, these two soldiers were really moved.

One soldier stared at the other for a long time, and the other lowered his eyes and pretended to be a wooden man. So he licked his lips and plucked up the courage to say to Zhu Yourong:

"Your Majesty, we ...... We're doing what we're told, and there's nothing we can do ......"

He looked at Zhu Yourong, rolled in his throat for a long time, and blurted out:

"Your Majesty, if you really want to stay, there is a way to do it, but I don't know if it's feasible......"

Zhu Yourong raised his eyes and looked at him.

This soldier says:

"The Praetorian Guards don't listen to you anymore, but the People's Guards still listen to you, right? I heard that they were fighting to the death in the city, and they put their guns at the fleeing troops, forcing them to fight to the death as well. Small thinks, such an army...... I'm sure I'll be able to listen to you. ”

Zhu Yourong's eyes lit up slightly, and then dimmed:

"The commander of the People's Guard is outside the fortress, and I can't get in touch."

The soldier looked at his companion, but he kept his eyes down and pretended to be a wooden man, so he gritted his teeth and said:

"Your Majesty, if you have a confidant or something, you can let her go out to deliver the letter,...... We don't stand in the way. ”

The other soldier also looked at Zhu Yourong, nodded, and agreed.

Zhu Yourong couldn't believe it, surprise flashed in his eyes, and he hesitated:

"This ...... Will it work? ”

The two Praetorian Guards looked at each other:

"It should ...... Can it work? ”

……

On Xinjiekou Square, Xiang Xiaoqiang has built a temporary headquarters here. In fact, it is centered on an armored command vehicle, surrounded by two armored personnel carriers, three military trucks, and a tank.

Xinjiekou Square is usually full of traffic, but now it seems empty, there are no trams, no cars, no rickshaws, only some pedestrians running in terror. There were some broken cement blocks scattered on the ground, and thick smoke drifted from the sky.

The Jiangbei Fall Monument still stands there, and the bronze mother holding the broken Ming Dynasty territory in her arms seems to be crying even more sadly at the moment.

At present, most of the buildings in Xinjiekou are still in good condition. This place is the center of Nanjing, and it is still far away from the river, and most of the shells cannot hit here, and only some heavy shells fall sporadically nearby, setting off earth-shaking explosions.

On several cars, the flag of the People's Guard was flying high, black and yellow, which was extremely eye-catching. On the armored command vehicle, the commander's command flag was raised high.

In fact, with such a close distance, the command headquarters could have been in the Xiaoling Wei camp, but Xiang Xiaoqiang deliberately placed it in the center of Xinjiekou, just to let people see that the People's Guard did not leave, and was still commanding the operation here. On the other hand, it is only a few kilometers away from the location of the Qing army in the city. In this way, not only in order but also in action, the soldiers of the People's Guard understood that they could not take a step back.

Now is the best time to repel the Qing army in the city. Although the exact number of Qing troops who have entered the city is unknown, it is estimated that there are about 4,000-6,000 people according to the exchanges of fire from all directions. The People's Guard now has one regiment supervising the battle on the defensive line outside the city, and there are three regiments in the city, with more than 7,000 people, which has an advantage in terms of troops. Moreover, the Qing army now only has light weapons, a small number of mortars and small-caliber mountain artillery, and its firepower is very weak, while the People's Guard has a mechanized infantry regiment with tanks and armored vehicles.

Xiang Xiaoqiang is now full of confidence. As long as the opening in the defensive line does not widen, he has full confidence to beat the Qing army back in the first round. Then establish a solid defensive line on the western side of the city to block the advance of the Qing army.

The People's Guard originally had 75 tanks, but 10 were destroyed in the southern suburbs. Of the original 45 armored personnel carriers, 5 were destroyed and 10 were sent out to supervise the battle.

Now there are a total of 65 tanks and 30 armored vehicles that can be used for street fighting.

Xiang Xiaoqiang listened to the rumbling cannon in the distance, slapped his pencil on the map, and nodded. He was happy with the figure. You must know that the Qing army does not have one of these things, so they can only take people.

Li Gensheng next to him saw that he was so optimistic, and was a little worried:

"My lord, our armor is very strong, but my subordinates are worried that we won't be able to use it in the ruins of the city. …… You also said that tanks are not suitable for urban combat. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled:

"It's just not suitable! If it is a suitable terrain now, such as a prairie, then I want to destroy the Qing army instead of blocking it! ”

He leaned back in his chair and smiled:

"When the infantry is facing a tank, no matter what the environment, it is at a huge disadvantage. It can be said that the disadvantages of the environment such as cities and forests are relatively small. Hmph, if it's the Great Plains, then there's no chance at all, it's called death. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang stood up, pointed to the map, and said:

"The best situation now is to try to block the Qing army west of the first line of Siweitou-Ninghai Road, and north of Wutai Mountain-Qingliang Mountain. We have seized the commanding heights of Wutai Mountain, condescendingly and suppressing the Qing army in the north. Alas, in fact, the Qingliang Mountain on the west side is better, but it is too close to the city wall, and the back and abdomen are under attack. ”

Wutai Mountain and Qingliang Mountain are two small hills in Nanjing. It is the place where Nanjing Wutaishan Stadium was later born.

"If this line can't be blocked, the bottom line of our retreat is," Xiang Xiaoqiang said, pointing his finger down, "Wutai Mountain-north of Qingliang Mountain, west of Yanping North Road, relying on Xuanwu Lake." If it really came to this point, a quarter of the city of Nanjing would have fallen. This is our bottom line, and we can't retreat any further. Between these two lines, we have to fight to the death against the Qing captives, and we have to fight for every alley, every building, and even every house. ”

He slammed his fist on the table:

"Wutai Mountain resolutely can't be thrown away from me! …… This commanding height is too important, once the Qing army occupies it, even if it sets up a mountain cannon or a mortar, it can bombard every corner of Nanjing! We can't stay in town! ”

The officers were nervous. Although he is exaggerating, the truth is also really serious. In fact, the real commanding heights of Nanjing are the Purple Mountain on the east side outside the city. Mount Wutai is just a small mound. However, after all, the Purple Mountain Fort was too far away from the combat area, and it was difficult to carry out surgical precision suppression of street fighting.

Xiang Xiaoqiang continued:

"We need to be flexible with every weapon we have. …… In this area of operations we have chosen, there are 15 anti-aircraft guns, of which 6 are 75-mm anti-aircraft guns and 9 are small-caliber anti-aircraft guns. Now our People's Guard Corps has restrained those antiaircraft artillery units and asked them to change them to instantaneous fuses and turn anti-aircraft fire into flat fire. Don't underestimate those 75 mm guns, although the caliber is not large, but because it is an anti-aircraft gun, it has a fast rate of fire, high muzzle velocity, and accuracy, which is a sharp weapon for us to meet the Qing captives. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang doesn't know how the performance of these 75 guns produced by Daming is. But he was eager for them to compete and recreate the glory of the 88 guns of World War II in the street battles of Nanjing.

There are too many firsts in this battle. It was probably the first time that armored units participated in street fighting, and probably also the first anti-aircraft artillery to fight in flat fire.

By the way, there is also the first large-scale real combat of a universal machine gun. Woodpecker - MG34, the world's first truly universal machine gun.

The People's Guard has the right to bypass the War Department and place orders directly with the arms companies of the Ming Dynasty, to be paid for by the defense budget. Because there is only one boss at the head of the People's Guard, and that is Her Majesty the Empress. And Zhu Yourong is so ignorant and trusts Teacher Xiang so much in military affairs, the result can be imagined. Now it's Xiang Xiaoqiang's favorite weapon, what weapon he wants, just like ordering food, no one cares. …… At least that's already the case with light weapons.

At least, with Xiang Xiaoqiang's leading vision, the equipment of the People's Guard is absolutely guaranteed not to take a detour.

At present, the penetration rate of submachine guns in the People's Guard is already the highest among all armies. Of course, it was the Thomson submachine gun imported from the United States. This is the best use at the same time, but it is too heavy and too expensive. Fortunately, the number of the People's Guards is small, and the more expensive it is, the more expensive it is. Who called Daming doesn't have his own submachine gun yet.

In addition to submachine guns, the most important order Xiang Xiaoqiang made was 200 Woodpecker general-purpose machine guns. How good this thing is has been demonstrated in the train hijacking in the north. It is the usual problem of German goods: the process is complex and the cost is too high. But the biggest problem is not that it is expensive, mainly when ordering, there are only two physical objects in hand, and there are no drawings. At that time, it was ordered from the largest small arms dealer in the Ming Dynasty and one of the largest small arms dealers in the world: Lianfeng Arms Company.

Lian Feng is worthy of being a time-honored brand of the Ming Dynasty, using the common "reverse push" technique at that time, disassembling the real thing, and drawing the drawings according to the parts. This must be a little different from the original drawing of the Mauser company, but the finished product produced is still usable, and there is no problem.

Of course, these "copycats" of woodpeckers never said hello to the German government and the Mauser company, did not pay a penny, and were purely pirated. This mass use will certainly be exposed. But now that Daming is in a life and death crisis, he can't take care of it so much. This is to order directly from Xiaoqiang, if it goes through the War Department, those old men will think about it more.

Xiang Xiaoqiang estimated that Germany is now taking the initiative to stick to the Ming Dynasty, and in Hitler's style, this kind of "little thing" will only pretend not to see it. After this battle, if we can really cooperate with Germany extensively, we will definitely re-introduce the genuine MG34 production line. There are also many contemporaneous German good things, such as Messerschmitt fighters or something. …… Be sure to pry Zhu Yourong well.

……

"Report!"

"Come in!"

A People's Guard gendarme boarded the command car and saluted Xiaoqiang:

"Lord Commander, there is a girl outside, claiming to be Your Majesty's personal palace maid, saying that Your Majesty has a secret letter to your lord!"

Xiang Xiaoqiang was stunned, His Majesty's palace maid? How did you find this place? …… Your Majesty is staying well in the fortress, what do you want to send a personal palace maid to tell me?

He looked left and right, and the subordinates in the car were a little embarrassed, some coughing dryly, and some lowering their heads.

Xiang Xiaoqiang suddenly felt that his face was inexplicably panicked, and he was annoyed: Where do you guys want to go? …… That's the Empress!

He shouted:

"Bring it in!"

A young girl was brought into the command car.

"You're all here here!"

Xiang Xiaoqiang drank the subordinates who were about to move and wanted to avoid it, and looked at this "Your Majesty's palace maid".

The little girl is sixteen or seventeen years old, and she is also wearing a very tasteful little dress, with a shawl, gloves, and a long skirt, and her dress style is very similar to Zhu Yourong.

She was covered with mud in several places, her face was flushed, and she panted:

"Who's ...... To adults? ”

"I am."

The little girl rolled her eyes and swept around:

"I ...... Am I talking about it here? ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang said with a calm face:

"Say it right here! Here are the people Ben would have trusted. ”

The little palace maid took a breath and told the story of what happened in the fortress in one hundred and fifty ten.

The command car suddenly exploded, and the officers of these People's Guards were scolding, saying that the People's Guards were working hard to resist the Qing army here, and Zheng Gongyin and Mrs. Li were drawing salaries from the bottom of the kettle in the rear, and they also rebelled against the way and put His Majesty under house arrest, and these dead relatives really deserved to be killed.

The little palace maid took out a small folding knife again, lowered her head and fiddled with the belt of her skirt, and quickly pulled out a two-finger-wide note from it, held it to Xiang Xiaoqiang with both hands, her eyes were red, and she said with a crying voice:

"Lord Xiang, this is ...... This is a letter from Your Majesty to you...... Clothing belt...... Cloth and belt edict. ”

Everyone's "boom": clothes and ribbon edict!

Everyone stood up in solemnity. There was silence in the car.

Xiang Xiaoqiang solemnly took it and saw that it read:

"Teacher Xiang, come and save me!"