Chapter 299: Powder

"Found it..."

"Found it..."

Xu Chengqing was bleeding from the corners of his mouth, ears, and nostrils, and was lifted out of the rubble like a chicken, and when he fell to the ground, he was in a state of coma.

"The amount of each colloidal explosive is 300 kilograms, and this time the explosion is twice as large as when Hangzhou was bombed."

Chen Cao slowly stepped onto the ruins of the Danyang City Gate under the protection of a group of guards, because the previous explosion still filled the air with lingering smoke and dust.

"This explosive is too dangerous, it is better to use it less in the future, I would rather increase the number of uses, but also try to eliminate the number of uses of this explosive."

The most powerful explosives at the moment are liquid nitrification explosives, but the nitrification and glycerin of liquids are extremely unstable, and many craftsmen have been killed at the beginning of their manufacture.

"Grandpa, Xu Chengqing was injured by the shock wave and was captured by our army."

The entire east gate of Danyang, the city wall is not as tall as Hangzhou, after suffering such a fierce explosives attack, the entire east gate city wall was destroyed, and the location of the embedded point became a pollutant in the atmosphere.

The defenders of the cave at the gate of the city were all buried, and naturally there was no way to live.

At this moment, the Dingwu army and the garrison army that rushed into the city were arresting and clearing the remnants of the defenders in various parts of Danyang City, after all, it was a place where 50,000 people were stationed, which was not a small number.

Chen Cao approached and looked at Xu Chengqing, who had a somewhat painful expression, and then said, "Who caught it?" ”

The soldier standing next to him immediately stood up and saluted: "Grandpa Guoguo, the small one is from the first division." ”

Chen Cao looked at this guy's epaulettes, and he was still a non-commissioned officer: "Well, squad leader?" ”

"Report to Grandpa Guo, yes..."

"You have a merit in capturing Xu Chengqing, and from now on, you will be the battalion commander."

"Grandpa Xie Guo..."

Zhao Xin ran quickly from the city, and after standing still, he gasped: "Grandpa, General Li Shouye walked from the north gate with cavalry and some foot soldiers. ”

Chen Cao thought for a while: "Don't chase it, they only have one destination in Nanjing, and if they go to Lijiaji, they will be sent to death, and the whole army will camp on the spot, and then talk about Danyang City first." ”

.

There has been no breakthrough in Li Jiaji's battle, of course, this no breakthrough is aimed at Xu Shiji, just after the battle in the morning, Zhang Gonghao's department, as the frontal vanguard, has been wiped out, and the general Zhang Gonghao has been shot several times and has just been carried back, and when Xu Shiji went to see it, he had already lost his breath because of excessive bleeding.

For a time, the morale of the entire Li Jiaji's Northern Army fell to the bottom.

"Counting General Zhang's headquarters, our army's casualties have now reached 10,000 people, my lord, if you don't want to break through, the last general is worried..."

In the face of guerrillas, how could Xu Shiji not know the implication, although there were 50,000 people, they were all lightly armed south, and the grain and grass they carried could only last for five days, and now the casualties of the whole army have reached 30%, and the wails of the wounded soldiers under this number will make the already low morale even heavier.

Wei Shouxin, a close confidant of Xu Shiji, had just returned from inspecting the armies: "The rebels have stopped shelling, Li Jiaji is surrounded on all sides, and it is a little difficult for us to break through from either side. ”

Once an army mutinies, escapes or surrenders, it will be a catastrophe for Xu Shiji, and he must strictly control this kind of thing: "You take the supervision team to inspect the battalions, but if you dare to have this kind of thought, you don't need to tell me, behead the public;

How many more artillery do we have? ”

"Three hundred rounds..."

At this time, a herald hurriedly ran into Li Jiaji, because Chen Cao had already arranged it before, and deliberately left a communication route for Li Jiaji and Danyang, so Xu Shiji and Xu Chengqing could communicate freely.

"My lord, woe to you..."

Xu Shiji frowned: "What's the matter, the rebels' reinforcements are coming?" ”

The herald shook his head again and again: "It's not reinforcements, it's a disaster in Danyang, just now a cronie of General Li Shouye, a staff member under the command of the General Soldier, came to report that the rebels broke through Danyang, the life and death of the General Soldier is unknown, the Danyang defenders were defeated on all fronts, and General Li returned north with less than 20,000 people, and has withdrawn to Nanjing first;

And send someone to inform the adults, so that the adults can make their own decisions. ”

Xu Shiji's whole person was paralyzed, his eyes were dilated a lot, Wei Shouxin immediately looked around at the surrounding people, and said sharply: "If anyone spreads this news, you will be beheaded." ”

Concealing the news to prevent spread is the top priority now, Xu Shiji stood up and ordered: "Pass the order, the army will break through from the north and return to Dantu at any cost." ”

At any cost, that is, even the dozens of artillery pieces that he carried could not be wanted, Wei Shouxin asked tentatively, Xu Shiji nodded: "First fire the artillery to the south to lure the attention of the rebels, and then the artillery hits and attacks the rebel positions in the north, and after all the shells are exhausted, give up the artillery and the whole army retreats." ”

.

"Danyang City has fallen, and now the east of Nanjing has been completely exposed to our army, and there is no way down this way, even Jurong in the southwest does not need to worry too much."

"The distance between Nanjing and this is only one hundred and twenty miles, and judging from the march of our army's war horses, we can reach the city of Nanjing in one day and night at the earliest."

The strategists below said word by word, and Chen Cao slowly knocked on the case: "Don't worry, when King Fu's army has not arrived at the city of Nanjing, it is not yet time for us to go;

In addition, troops should be stationed in all parts of Zhenjiang to strictly guard the local law and order, so that the hooligans could not take advantage of the victims, and it would be difficult for the people to survive. ”

"Grandpa, rest assured, students at all levels are coming in an orderly manner, three days at most."

"In the latest battle report before, King Fu's army crossed the river and fought another battle with the northern army at Dasheng Pass, with heavy casualties on both sides, and King Fu's army did not take any advantage."

Zhao Xin walked into the Zhongjun tent and handed an official document to Chen Cao, Chen Cao sneered after watching it: "I didn't expect this Zhang Gaoping to have two brushes; ”

As he spoke, he handed the official document to the nearest Huang Chunyao and let them read it one by one: "This guy actually took 100,000 people to cross the river from the direction of Liuhe and raided the camp of the Longtan Naval Division, killed 10,000 people of the Northern Army in the first battle, and crossed the Yangtze River from the Yangtze River to Shangyuan Gate outside the city of Nanjing. ”

Huang Chunyao was the first to read it, and then said with a smile: "Nanjing must be frightened." ”

"Wei Guogong is not material for war."

Chen Cao's fingers tapped on the desk repeatedly: "I have been in Nanjing for a few years, and I have been in contact with it, and the experience I have summed up is that the Xu family has not had a person who can command the war since Tumubao, except for Xu Pengju of the Wuzong Dynasty;

is that this Duke of Wei is also a young man, and he has no own opinions in case of trouble, in short, all his tough performances can only be summed up in four words;

An ass in a lion's skin...

As for the other left-behind lords in Nanjing, after so many years, they have not seen a single talent, and it is not an exaggeration to summarize them. ”

Everyone present knew that with Huang Degong and Lou Xingye of the guard regiment and the soldiers of the regiment, tens of thousands of Beijing battalions led by Xuande Hou Jin Hezheng were defeated, and Jin Youzheng was captured alive.

"After our army is rested, we can set off to the city of Nanjing."

"Grandpa, Xu Chengqing woke up and clamored to see Grandpa."

When Chen Cao saw Xu Chengqing, this guy seemed to be ten years old for a while: "Xu Zongbing is only forty-six this year, why does he look like he is fifty or sixty years old?" ”

There was no hatred in Xu Chengqing's eyes, he thought that he would not be ashamed to lose in the hands of Chen Cao: "I didn't expect that Chen Fei guy to give birth to such a powerful character...

Liang Guogong, the general of the defeated army, is not ashamed of his position, he just wants to find out what powerful firearms Liang Guogong has made. ”

Xu Chengqing and Chen Cao's father, Chen Fei, was born in the Guogong Mansion at the same time, but Xu Chengqing was the son of the Wei Guogongfu, and his identity and status were much higher than those of the foreign surname general, and Chen Fei was extremely respectful to Xu Chengqing when he was still alive.

It's just that time is fleeting, creation makes people, and the son of the old subordinate is now a great figure in the Ming Dynasty.

"I told you that you don't understand, but it's true that you can play this prince a few times is also your ability, and this father will not do anything to you in the face of Wei Guogong and his father, and he will send someone to send you back tomorrow."

Xu Chengqing's body trembled, he thought that he would definitely die if he was captured, but he didn't expect Chen Cao to let himself live, before he could speak, Chen Cao smiled and said: "Chief soldier Xu don't worry, the news outside is that Danyang City is broken, and Chief soldier Xu Chengqing doesn't know whether he is alive or dead, you have a good rest tonight, and tomorrow morning, the guild will return your pro-soldier team to you, so that you can go back and explain it;

I heard that the eunuch of Nanjing Town is called Cao Huachun, who is Chongzhen's confidant, if not, you may be punished for losing hundreds of thousands of troops, and even Wei Guogong will not be able to protect you. ”

Xu Chengqing only reacted at this time, he was ordered to guard Changzhou Mansion, and suffered a defeat in Wujin County, losing tens of thousands of horses, Xu Hongji supplemented his troops, and gathered 100,000 people to guard Zhenjiang, and now even Zhenjiang has lost most of it, and the opponent has broken the city for half a day, and lost tens of thousands of people.

Chen Cao saw Xu Chengqing's concerns, so he smiled and said: "Don't worry, Mr. Xu, the Danyang defenders will return all the guards to you, so you will have an explanation when you go back." ”

"This..."

Xu Chengqing couldn't have imagined that Chen Cao would make this decision: "Liang Guogong Mo is not joking? ”

"Hey, hey..."

Chen Cao smiled and sat up straight: "It's not that I'm arrogant, it's that my father doesn't look down on your Jingying troops at all, even if you come another million, you can't hold Danyang;

Mr. Xu, go back, it's important to save your life. ”

"Liang Guogong, what do you have to do with this?"

Chen Cao turned around and walked out, without looking back: "Let's talk about it later..."