Li Yanzhi quickly returned to the camp of the Navy, and then ordered the dispatch of 50 flat-bottomed river boats, with the soldiers of the former Caojiang Naval Division as the crew responsible for rowing, carrying 3,000 Janissaries and musketeers, led by Zhang Huangyan, from the Yangtze River estuary to the Qinhuai River, to attack the outer city.

Zhang Huangyan led the fleet to the outside of the Sanshan Gate, and then suddenly abandoned the ship and went ashore with three thousand firecrackers in the direction of the east gate of the outer city river.

A group of thieves stationed nearby rushed to stop them when they heard the news, but they were killed by a burst of fire from the Praetorian Guards, and then collapsed. Zhang Huangyan led the team to advance quickly, and soon arrived at the Jiangdong Gate, and then launched a fierce attack on the Jiangdong Gate.

Jiangdong Gate is an important gate of the outer city of Nanjing, after Yuan Chonghuan invaded the inner city, he sent troops to attack the gates of the outer city, and still left 5,000 troops at the Jiangdong Gate to defend it. Of the five thousand, only one thousand went up to the city to defend, and the rest were stationed in the barracks inside the city gates.

Hearing that the Praetorian Guards were actually killed from inside the city, 4,000 thieves poured out of the camp and set up a formation inside the Jiangdong Gate, echoing with more than 1,000 people in the city, in a vain attempt to block the attack of the Praetorian Guard.

The outer city is much more empty than the inner city, and there is a large area of farmland inside the Jiangdong Gate, which is suitable for deployment and battle.

The firecrackers lined up in four rows, the sword and shield soldiers guarded on both sides, and the three thousand Praetorian Guards slowly approached the anti-thief array.

"Boom" artillery sounded, but it was the thief army at the head of Jiangdong Gate who opened fire on the Praetorian Guard, perhaps by luck, the shell happened to fall in the column of the Praetorian Guard, killing a soldier on the spot and injuring several people.

However, the soldiers in front died, but the rear quickly filled their positions, and the three thousand Praetorian Guards did not waver, quickly approaching the anti-thief queue.

"Bang", looking at the approaching Praetorian Guards, there was an anti-thief firecracker who shuddered and pulled on the trigger.

"Bang bang bang bang......" The other anti-thief firefighters also opened fire. At this moment, the distance between the two sides was seventy or eighty paces, far exceeding the effective range of the firecracker.

"Bastard, who told you to fire? If you dare not listen to the order, you will be killed! The anti-thief general in charge of the command roared angrily, angry and toothache, firing from such a distance, Mao didn't shoot a single one, is there a fart?

By the way, the anti-thieves are also equipped with firecrackers, and there are quite a few of them, many of them are made in Guangdong, and the quality is quite good. And the original Jiangxi army, as well as the defenders of the outer city of Nanjing who had just been annexed, also had a large number of firecrackers.

But the same firecracker, but also scored people to use, without strict drill and strict battlefield discipline, it is difficult to give full play to the power of firecracker.

After the shot, the anti-thief musketeers scrambled to reload the gunpowder projectiles, and in order to maintain a tight formation, the Praetorian Guards were not too fast enough for them to reload again. However, it may be okay during training in peacetime, but on the battlefield, in front of the rapidly approaching enemy army, many anti-thief firecrackers trembled and spilled gunpowder on the ground, and they were unable to complete the reloading action.

The Praetorian Guard was still approaching, and the distance between the two sides had reached fifty paces, then forty, then thirty paces......

"Fire!" This time, it was the anti-thieves who held the lead and gave the order to shoot sharply.

"Bang bang ......" The anti-thief firecrackers opened fire one after another, and hundreds of projectiles were fired at the Praetorian Guard array.

With the sound of firecrackers, dozens of Praetorian Guard soldiers were shot and fell, and the distance of thirty paces had reached the range of the firearms, and the projectiles were already able to penetrate the cloth armor worn by the Janissaries soldiers.

Those in front were shot, those in the back quickly filled their positions, and the Praetorian Guards continued to advance silently. Zhang Huangyan also walked forward with the army, and did not give the order to return fire, because he knew that although the distance of thirty steps was already lethal, the shooting accuracy was not high.

More than 1,000 anti-thief firecrackers had already shot empty of the firearms in their hands and were hurriedly loading, but the generals in charge of the command knew that they had not had enough time to load ammunition.

"Attack with all your troops!" The anti-thief general pulled out his steel knife and pointed to the front to give a direct order. Following his order, the four thousand thieves moved, each brandishing their weapons and killing them.

However, the Praetorian Guards attacking from the opposite side stopped, and the soldiers in the front row raised their guns one after another.

"Fire, four shots!" Zhang Huangyan coldly gave an order.

"Bang bang bang bang......" A volley of guns fired, and the anti-thief soldiers who had just rushed out were shot down.

"Kill!" The anti-thief general shouted loudly, urging his troops to continue the attack, because he knew that as long as the two sides quickly approached each other, no matter how many firearms the Janissaries had, they would not be able to play a role, and there would be no chance to fire, which was no different from burning sticks.

"Bang Bang ......" The first row of firecrackers quickly retreated, revealing the second row of firecrackers, and the second row of firecrackers opened fire immediately.

"Bang ......"

"Bang ......"

The third and fourth rows of firecrackers fired one after another, and then there was no more, and the anti-thief array had collapsed.

In less than a minute, four rows of firecrackers opened fire one after another, and with a distance of 20 paces and a dense formation, more than 1,000 anti-thieves were shot and killed on the spot.

In an ordinary army, if the casualties exceed 10%, the morale will plummet, and if the casualties exceed 20%, it will collapse directly, as is the case with the anti-thieves in front of them. Four thousand anti-thieves were shot and killed more than a thousand in a short period of time, and the other anti-thieves were terrified, where did they dare to continue to attack?

"Rush, keep attacking, they have already shot the fire gun, kill us and we will win!" The anti-thief general was still shouting loudly, but no one listened to him anymore, and the anti-thief soldiers turned around and ran in panic, some rushed to the city gate, some fled to both sides against the city wall, and the 4,000-strong army completely collapsed.

The army under the city collapsed, and the thieves on the city wall were also in a panic. However, Zhang Huangyan did not give the order to attack the city gate, but led the team to turn and rush the rout all the way to the southwest gates.

The Great Elephant Gate, the anti-thieves guarding the gate had just left the camp when they heard the news, and they were ready to reinforce Jiangdong Gate, and the rout of Jiangdong Gate had been driven over, and the guards of the Great Elephant Gate were defeated on the spot and joined the rout team.

Zhang Huangyan also had no intention of attacking the Great Taming Elephant Gate, but set fire to the anti-thief camp inside the city gate and continued to attack.

The small elephant gate, there are only more than 1,000 thieves guarding the city, and they don't dare to resist when they hear the news, so they all abandon the barracks and go to the city wall, trying in vain to defend the city gate. Zhang Huangyan naturally did not attack the city wall, and commanded the army to continue to attack south.

Over the big De'an Gate, the small De'an Gate, the Fengtai Gate, the Jiagang Gate, all the way to the upper gate, there is a river in front of it, it is the Qinhuai River that bypasses the small half of Nanjing City, and flows into Nanjing City from the upper gate.

Going upriver along the Qinhuai River, he didn't go two miles before he saw his own fleet waiting ahead. After nearly an hour of killing, even the Praetorian Guards, who had undergone strict training on weekdays, also felt extremely tired, so they all boarded the ship.

Fifty river boats turned around and returned along the Qinhuai River, leaving only a mess behind them.