The 15,000 cavalry led by Chang Yuchun set out from Zhigu at the third watch on the 24th day of the 7th month of the leap month, and completed all the "closed" deployments only a day and a half later, that is, at noon on the 26th.

Until the evening of the twenty-fifth day before the Zhengdi, he received the news that there was an unknown cavalry passing through the north of the capital, although this cavalry did not go straight to the capital, but the Yuan court was not stupid, judging by the news, this can obviously only be the Ming army that came from nowhere, and the target is most likely to be a few passes in the north of the capital.

did not smash the Yellow Dragon, but rushed to the pass, what is the Ming army going to do?

With a strong sense of uneasiness, Emperor Zhizheng not only ordered the city gate to be closed as soon as possible, and all the troops were on guard, but also asked all the departments of the walled city near Dadu to immediately assemble in Beijing.

Emaciated camels are bigger than horses.

Even though the internal fighting was serious in these years, just around most of the capital, the total number of Yuan court troops was close to 200,000. Among them, there were 80,000 elite soldiers in the capital, and the prime minister also gathered 30,000 people to confront the Ming army in Cangzhou, and the rest of the troops were distributed in the surrounding city and military walled.

Not even to mention anything else, it's just that the 80,000 elite soldiers in the capital, if they can work together, they can defend this city as impregnable.

The problem is that Emperor Zhizheng also knows that the armies inside and outside most of the capital have their own masters and factions, and those who can be firmly loyal to the royal family at a critical moment may not even have more than 20,000 people.

Therefore, after the edict was issued, Emperor Zhizheng's second thought was to escape.

After being drunk and dreaming for so many years, Emperor Zhizheng, who had been addicted to pleasure for a long time, really didn't have the courage to confront the Ming army, let alone any other ambitions.

Thinking of this, the Yuan Emperor, who had been in power for 35 years and had experienced too many things, suddenly understood that the Ming army did not want him to escape, so there would be the cavalry that bypassed most of the capital and headed north.

Perhaps, thinking wrong?

So he summoned Fan Chang, a straight scholar of the Southern Dynasty Hanlin who was still in Dadu, and denounced the Ming army's surprise attack with anger on the surface, but it was a temptation in and out of his words.

Is there really no chance of peace?

Facing the temptation of Emperor Zhizheng's superficial questioning, and feeling the various eyes of the ministers of the Yuan Court around him, Fan Chang was not weak at all, and he also beat a rake, and confidently said that the current situation was caused by Emperor Zhizheng's hesitation, and the Yuan Court should be fully responsible, after all, if Emperor Zhizheng had agreed to a series of requests from His Majesty the Emperor, he would not have come to the current situation.

Emperor Zhizheng is not a fool, he feels that he has been tricked, and at some moments he even wants to pull Fan Chang out and cut him down.

Didn't do that.

It's just that Fan Chang was taken down and strictly guarded.

Later, he discussed countermeasures with the crown prince Aiyu Zhili Dala, who had been separated from him for many years, and the courtiers.

Now, what to do?

Abandon this capital city and flee decisively?

The question is, where to run?

Northward......

Think about the cavalry of the Southern Dynasty in the news, at the moment, it is difficult to say whether the passes in the north have fallen, and even, even if the passes are not lost, the cavalry troops blocking the roads in the north must be the most elite family of the Southern Dynasties.

East......

Emperor Zhizheng also left a way back for himself, went to sea, and fled to Tamna.

The Yuan court made several expeditions to Japan that year, and for various reasons, although it failed to conquer the overseas island country, it took the Tamna kingdom in the south of Goryeo by the way, incorporated it into the territory of the Yuan court, and established the Tamna Governor's Office.

For this reason, Emperor Zhizheng also sent people to Tamluo to build a palace for himself last year.

In today's era, escaping to the sea, in the consciousness of most people, although the turmoil is treacherous, it is also a fairly safe way out. What's more, when you arrive at Tamna, as long as Emperor Zhizheng wants to, you can land in Goryeo nearby, and then run to Liaoyang.

However, according to the previous news, the cavalry of the Southern Dynasty came from the east, and it may have landed from Zhigu.

This road does not work as a result.

...... to the west

Out of Lugou Bridge, cross Fangshan, Flying Fox, Lingqiu into Daizhou, and go to Shanxi.

It's just that the past few years have been so troublesome, will Kuokuo still take him in?

Emperor Zhizheng hesitated for two days in anxiety, and when he woke up, he found that he had no more chance.

Direct selling direction.

After Chang Yuchun set off, the second batch of 20,000 cavalry troops led by He Wenhui also followed, and continued to disperse along the way, filling and strengthening the defense of each pass, and setting up blocking rangers.

Confirming that the first batch of 15,000 people had all taken their respective goals, He Wenhui divided his troops into 10,000 troops, went straight to Dadu, and on the afternoon of the 27th, arrived in the north of Dadu, ten miles away, and set up camp.

Southern Route.

It was only two hours earlier, on the morning of the twenty-seventh day, another 15,000 cavalry led by Tang He, the general of the expedition, arrived in Dadu, and the 15,000 elite cavalry were divided into three roads, camped in the east, west, and south directions of Dadu, and confronted the Yuan army that was waiting in the city.

A total of 25,000 people, even if they are all elites, it is a joke to want to surround the capital with a population of one million.

If Emperor Zhizheng made up his mind to flee decisively at this time, whether it was to the north or to the west, it would not be without a chance to escape.

However, after reporting that the number of Ming troops besieging the city was small, Emperor Zhizheng had illusions again, thinking that this was a means of forcing the beggar emperor of the Southern Dynasty.

After all, according to the previous news, the army of the Southern Dynasties is moving westward, and it seems that it is ...... It is also unlikely that there will be enough troops to take Dadu again. So, even if he received an urgent report from the prime minister who was still entangled in Cangzhou, he quickly sent someone to risk his death, and Emperor Zhizheng decided to stick to the capital.

At the same time, Emperor Zhizheng issued an edict again, sending a large number of letter cavalry to break through the siege, not only asking the troops around Dadu to speed up the king, but also thought of Shanxi's expansion of Timur, and then did not care about anything else, not only restored all the titles and titles of expansion of Timur, but also gave an extra promise, hoping that he would send troops to relieve the siege of Dadu.

Emperor Zhizheng was the first to wait for more Ming troops.

The next twenty-eight and twenty-ninth days, in just two days, the Yuan soldiers on the city wall of the capital, only to see the Ming army outside the city visibly increasing and increasing again, compared to just two days ago, at a glance, the dense camp, equivalent to the initial ten times the level of the army gathered into a ring, the capital was completely enclosed, and the water could not be drained.

On the 30th day of the seventh month of the leap month, the third group of 25,000 men and a large number of people led by Wu Zhen, the vice governor of the navy, arrived in the direction of Zhigu.

According to the established strategy, Wu Zhen's army should carry a large number of baggage sufficient to supply the army for a month into the capital from the waterway, with the arrival of Wu Zhen's department, Xu Da, the general of the conquest who had re-erected the banner in the south of the city, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This is also a key part.

If Wu Zhen's department could not arrive by boat smoothly, the 200,000 troops around most of the capital who generally carried not much food and salary could only rely on the land transportation of grain in the south.

The army sent most of the troops, and Li Wenzhong still stayed in Cangzhou to confront the Yesu Department.

Prime Minister Yuan also quickly watched batch after batch of troops bypass Cangzhou and avoid the Weihe waterway and go north, coupled with the news in the direction of Zhigu, he already understood what was happening, but knowing it was useless.

Li Wenzhong not only took Cangzhou City, but also held an army of 30,000 people, staring at it quickly.

As long as you dare to move quickly, this side will pounce immediately.

Moreover, he is also quick to the Yuan Room, in fact, he is not so loyal, the 30,000 army, most of them are his own descendants, he doesn't want to consume them for the sake of Emperor Zhizheng, so he keeps watching.

The point is that the speed is not pessimistic.

The prime minister of the Yuan Dynasty also realized that this time in the Southern Dynasty, he was gambling, gambling a big one, and wanted to directly break the foundation of the Yuan Dynasty.

However, this thing is so easy there?

It has always been easier to defend the city and difficult to attack the city, not to mention, the Ming army is so desperate, it is equivalent to forcing the Yuan Room into a corner, and there is no way out, so it can only fight hard.

In a desperate situation, only the 80,000 defenders of Dadu, as well as the foundation laid by Emperor Zhizheng's habitual grain storage, it is no problem to hold on for two or three months.

In comparison, he didn't think that the Ming army's heavy supplies could supply the army so easily.

What's more, the Ming army seemed to be smashing Huanglong this time, but it also left a big flaw, and did not sweep away the Yuan court garrisons around Dadu, which is simply a taboo for soldiers. Therefore, even if it survived until the autumn harvest and did not take the premise, the Ming army did not necessarily collect grain on the spot.

As long as most of them can hold on for three months, no, even, as long as they can have two months, the situation may be reversed. When the time comes, he quickly feels that the Ming army will take the initiative to retreat without even doing it here.

South of the capital, the camp of the Chinese army.

After arranging his own deployment, Wu Zhen hurried to participate in the military meeting.

In the big tent, in addition to Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, who didn't want to miss the battle, had arranged the defense of Juyong Pass, and had already rushed over.

The problems faced by their own family are very clear to all the generals in the account.

This battle must be resolved quickly.

Lao Zhu also gave a deadline, one month, if the capital could not be taken in a month, the army would take the initiative to let go of the encirclement and slowly retreat south.

It's a big gamble, if it really doesn't work, Lao Zhu is willing to admit that he loses once, no matter what, he can't let hundreds of thousands of elites of Daming miss something.

After all, after a long time, not only the Yuan court departments around Dadu may unite, but also Liaodong, Mobei, and even northwest and Guanzhong, reinforcements may arrive.

In this regard, it is true that there are disputes within the Yuan Court, but the Ming Dynasty must also be their common enemy, if most of them are lost in a short period of time, it is nothing, and after a long time, even for their own interests, the various military towns of the Yuan Court will also make the choice they should have.

However, what everyone didn't expect was that the subsequent turn of events would be so abrupt and absurd.

After some discussion, Xu Da decided to rest for the night, and by the way, symbolically surrender, Lao Zhu's habit, even for the Yuan Emperor, the process still has to be walked. Wait until tomorrow, the first day of August, when the army will begin the siege in earnest.

The details were also discussed repeatedly.

This time, the army brought a group of Yuan court soldiers from Shandong and Henan as usual, if it was in the past, these people would be consumed first, and it was also to frustrate the spirit of the defenders.

This time, Xu Da didn't plan to do it.

The soldiers still have to go first, but the elite soldiers will also attack together.

The first step was to fill in part of the moat around the capital, then to dig tunnels to the root of the wall, and then to fill it with gunpowder and blow up the wall.

Blowing up the city wall is the key confidence of the Ming army's raid on the capital.

Killer.

Therefore, not only did we repeatedly consider the test in advance, but also recently came up with a batch of white sugar gunpowder with a larger example.

The army plans to fill in the trenches and dig holes from four directions, no matter which side is the first to successfully blow up the city wall, it means that the attack is mostly done, and the traditional trebuchet can also remedy the gap in the wall by constantly bombarding it, and a section of the city wall is directly blown open, which is equivalent to opening a new gate in an instant, and it is very difficult for the defenders to block the gap.

The second day is not only the first day of August, but also the autumnal equinox.

The wind rose during the fourth watch, the north wind, and the last trace of heat left at the end of summer was swept away, the sky was bright, the wind was stronger, but the inside and outside of the city were already the smoke that had just been dispersed in the air.

The calm before the war.

Surveying and Mapping Division Lang Nakatsuyo was called to the south of the city yesterday to provide various opinions to the general as a staff officer until late at night.

I returned to the north of the city early.

The garrison here is mainly from the direction of Zhigu, and Tu Xiao personally served as a guide for Chang Yuchun's forwards before, and also returned from Juyong Pass with Chang Yuchun.

When he came to the north of the city, Tu Xiao personally commanded the final arrangements.

About hot air balloons.

Although this was proposed by the little adult in Yinghai, who was far away in Mingzhou, it was Tu Xiao who led the realization.

Lao Zhu had seen the demonstration before and instructed the craftsman to make 30 at a time. In fact, the army brought a total of 46 balloons this time, with at least 10 hot air balloons in each direction and four directions, and it was planned not only to deter the Yuan army, but also to detect the enemy from a high altitude.

Chang Yuchun has always been very interested in hot air balloons and wants to go to the sky, but unfortunately his father-in-law won't let him.

After breakfast, not far from the siege, I still squeezed out the time and ran to check it out in a hurry.

This hot air balloon is also different from the original, in order to maximize the deterrent effect, it is no longer pure white, but painted with various hideous or terrifying grimaces, divine soldiers, giant beasts and other patterns.

At seven o'clock, in the Ming army barracks around the capital, a long and loud horn sounded at the same time.

This is a clarion call to go.

At the same time, the barracks in various places, gradually bulging large balls, under the traction of cables, slowly rose into the air.

The hot air balloon appeared for the first time in front of the army, not to mention the Yuan court defenders on the city wall of the capital, even the Ming army itself, which had been greeted in advance, watching the terrifying balls rise into the air, it was inevitable that there would be some restlessness.

Tu Xiao also personally got on the hot air balloon, and his one was specially arranged by Chang Yuchun near his flag.

Unlike other generals and soldiers who were weak when they saw this strange ball, General Chang felt very uplifted, and if they could go up together, it would be even more uplifting.

Unfortunately, no.

Just like this time, General Chang Da was also strictly forbidden by his own lord to personally attack the city, so he could only sit in command.

Command a bird!

Two quarters of an hour passed in a blink of an eye, and he didn't plan to attack the city in person, but he still rode a war horse, raised his lance and pointed in the direction of the city wall, and said loudly: "Sons, the merit is today, I captured the father and son of the Emperor Zhizheng, our lord has promised, no matter what status, the bounty is the marquis, and the hereditary replacement, but someone wants this credit?!" ”

"Yes!"

After a loud roar in unison, Chang Yuchun also roared: "Beat the drums, march!" ”

Winter –

Winter –

Winter –

The drums sounded.

The first group of soldiers either raised their shields or carried soil, and rushed towards the walls of the capital.

Almost at the same time, the other three directions of the capital city, as if in harmony, the drums also sounded.

Tu Xiao, who was at a height of 30 zhang, held a monocular and watched the first batch of Ming troops arrive by the moat, accompanied by shouts of killing, and joined the Yuan army.

After observing for a while, as soon as he wrote down the first military situation in the city, Tu Xiao felt that something seemed wrong on his right hand.

Turning his head, not far from the west, a hot air balloon, for some reason, floated towards the city wall of the capital.

Tu Xiao hurriedly raised the monoculars, only to see a young official of the Surveying and Mapping Department in the hot air balloon looking at him with a blank and frightened expression, obviously caught off guard.

Tu Xiao also quickly found out that it was a rope tied to a hot air balloon, and for some reason, it was broken.

In a blink of an eye, it is likely that it is due to today's strong wind.

After all, at the moment on this hot air balloon, Tu Xiao could also feel the tension of the traction cable.

It's just that......

Messed up!

Smashed!

How so?

Lamenting in his heart, Tu Xiao followed the hot air balloon all the way south, occasionally glanced down, and suddenly found that as the hot air balloon got closer and closer, the city wall of Dadu seemed to ...... What a multi-faceted soldier...... It's all ...... Escape......

Escape......

Well...... Escape?!

！