Chapter 306: I am loyal to the country

"It would be a good thing if General Zhang could break through these two gates in one day, and if not, it would also increase the pressure on the defenders on the Taiping Gate;"

Chen Cao looked at King Fu: "The prince only needs to follow the ministers into the city..."

Zhu Changxun was overjoyed, and stroked his palms again and again: "It is really a blessing of my Ming Dynasty to have such loyal ministers and brave generals as the Duke of Liangguo." ”

In front of the Taiping Gate is the Xuanwu Lake, the northeast direction of the gate is Longguang Mountain, the northwest is the Zhoushan Mountain, the terrain is high, and the height of the city gate is second only to the Zhengyang Gate.

The person in charge of guarding the Taiping Gate is the Zuo Governor of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies in Nanjing, Feng Kelie, the Marquis of Song Ning, this person is also an old acquaintance of Chen Cao, but Feng Kelie is not the only one in charge of the Taipingmen, and there is also Wang Shuang, the deputy chief soldier.

This day on December 12, the second year of Chongzhen, is not destined to be a quiet day.

Feng Kelie had just received the news that the rebels had begun to attack Chaoyangmen and Zhengyangmen, and the troops of the two attacks were more than 100,000, all kinds of artillery and firearms were all beckoned, and the casualties of the defending officers and soldiers in one morning had reached 50,000.

This is a staggering number, and it can kill and wound 50,000 people in one morning, and how fierce the intensity of the fighting is.

"The rebels' casualties should be the same number..."

After listening to this, Feng Kelie said, looking at Wang Shuang, the deputy chief soldier next to him: "You need to guard it carefully these days, don't be careful to let the rebels touch the city, and the confusion of Yuejiangmen will appear again." ”

"Newspaper... Master Hou, the Marquis of Jinshan came over with supplies. ”

As the lords of the late dynasty, the Marquis of Jinshan can also be regarded as the nobles who stayed in Nanjing, but their identities are not like Feng Kelie, who have stayed in Nanjing since the Jingjing, although they are all marquises, but their official positions are different.

Feng Kelie can be in charge of the Taiping Gate as a marquis, while Pu Xiang, who has been sealed, can only be responsible for escorting the materials of each gate or dispatching other items.

"Song Ninghou, can the rebels move?"

Facing Pu Xiang's inquiry, Feng Kelie shook his head: "The previous military report that the rebels are attacking Zhengyangmen and Chaoyangmen, and Governor Qi has ordered the surplus troops on the Beicheng side to be dispersed and mobilized to Chaoyangmen and Zhengyangmen to defend, and the rebels are numerous, and they don't know what to do next." ”

Pu Xiang sighed: "I don't know when the reinforcements from the imperial court will arrive, Nanjing can't be lost..."

Feng Kelie and them are all people all the way, just like what Qi Boyu said, the loss of Nanjing, not only Xu Hongji, but also the people of them have no way to live, and now Xu Hongji has been captured alive, and Chen Cao was taken to King Fu's camp, and Wei Guogong was captured, which was a major blow to the morale of Nanjing City.

"Hou... Hou Ye... Master Hou..."

Wang Shuang's voice trembled a little, because he could clearly see the army advancing neatly in the distance with his naked eye.

Feng Kelie was talking with Pu Xiang under the city tower, and when he heard the shouts of his own soldiers, he hurriedly went up to the city tower, but he just didn't expect Pu Xiang to go up to the city tower with him.

As far as the eyes of the two could see, there were groups of soldiers with muskets on their backs, and they walked towards the Taiping Gate step by step with neat steps.

"Quick, pull up the drawbridge, beat the drums, and send a message to the city..."

After a series of arrangements, Feng Kelie actually trembled a little, they are nobles, they are usually arrogant and domineering, and when it is really time to go to the battlefield, they are all cowardly.

Pu Xiang saw all this in his eyes and couldn't stop sighing in his heart.

After a while, King Fu's banner was raised from the marching army, and the battle flags fluttering in the wind and the big banners belonging to King Fu appeared in the eyes of Feng Kelie and other defenders.

Wang Shuang has fought against the Japanese Kou, and like Wang De of the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses, he is from the Wei Duke's family, but he is also like Xu Chengqing, and has serious combat experience.

"Prepare the artillery, prepare the wood and rolling stones, let the people go to the city, and boil the gold juice and hot oil."

Wang Shuang's experience is cold weapon combat, and there is no way to compare it with the Dingwu army, which is full of firearms, and there are two rifle divisions behind him, how can he fight?

When the march reached a safe distance, the march of the whole army stopped, and a fast horse rode to a safe distance from the arrows of the Taiping Gate, and the knight held a loudspeaker and shouted: "His Royal Highness King Fu and the Duke of Liang Guo came to the Taiping Gate in person, and the defenders at the head of the city listened, King Fu has already said, as long as you wait for the surrender of the city, everyone in the ordinary soldiers will be rewarded with fifty taels of silver, and each officer at all levels will be promoted to three ranks, and the general soldiers and generals will be crowned with descendants..."

Since the outer city was breached, the morale of the defenders in the inner city of Nanjing has been much lower, and even the Nanjing garrison Wei Guogong has been captured alive, and the morale of the defenders of the entire Nanjing has fallen into a trough for a while.

The guards of each gate do not rely on their own personal soldiers or guards to be the main force, otherwise it is difficult to say that they are even forbidden by order, not to mention that the composition of the soldiers guarding Nanjing is complex, the combat effectiveness is low, and if the battle is really fought, once the battle situation is unfavorable, it is normal to be the first to escape.

"Come on, let all the family members take out their weapons and go to the city to help defend it, and the rebels must not attack the city."

Pu Xiang suddenly shouted: "The people of the Marquis of Jinshan Mansion listen well, cut down the head of a rebel army, and Benhou will reward five taels of silver." ”

Ignoring Feng Kelie, he snatched the musket from a firearm soldier with a shotgun next to him, and pulled the trigger towards the knight outside the city.

Smoke rose, and a buckshot struck the knight not far away, and then he took the knight and rode away.

Feng Kelie's face was a little red, even Pu Xiang, a nobleman who made up for the seal, had the intention of coexisting with Nanjing, and his performance just now was really unsatisfactory, so he gave his hand: "Marquis of Jinshan, a certain family admires... It's just that the rebels haven't fought with our army yet, and it's not time to let your family go to the city now. ”

Pu Xiang shook his hand: "Brother Feng is polite, now it is a time when the country is in danger, and everyone is responsible for guarding Nanjing, not to mention that we are the nobles who stayed behind, although I Pu Xiang has never practiced martial arts, but all the people in the house are heroes who have retreated from the border army, and it is more than enough to help the young and strong defend the city." ”

Feng Kelie wanted to refuse, but Pu Xiang interrupted him again: "Hey, Brother Feng, Brother Feng must not have forgotten Governor Qi's words, Nanjing City can't be lost..."

At this point, Feng Kelie also nodded, and ordered the soldiers and horses on the horse road to let Pu Xiang's family go to the city, this time Pu Xiang escorted the supplies, and brought three hundred family members, as well as more than five hundred young men who were responsible for escorting.

There are 20,000 defenders in Taipingmen, as long as they hold on for an hour, the soldiers and horses in the inner city can come to reinforce at any time.

"Artillery preparation..."

Chen Cao gave all the Shenwu cannons to Zhu Changxun, and he came to Taipingmen with thirty field guns, each equipped with two shells.

Although it is not much, its power is not comparable to that of the Shenwu Cannon.

As soon as Pu Xiang's family entered the city, bursts of cannon fire reached their ears, followed by a violent explosion, and the entire Taiping Gate was submerged in huge smoke and dust in an instant.

Zhu Changxun put down the clairvoyant mirror and was overjoyed: "Aiqing has this artillery, why didn't he use it early?" ”

Chen Cao arched his hand: "The prince doesn't know, this cannon has just been transported from the sea, and there are only sixty shells, so it can only shoot one salvo." ”

Zhu Changxun looked at the retreating field artillery with regret, and then shook his head: "But now launch an offensive?" ”

Chen Cao shook his head: "Please be patient, there will be news in the city soon." ”

Seeing that Chen Cao was so determined, Zhu Changxun was even more convinced that Chen Cao had planted a hidden stake at the Taiping Gate to open the city gate.

Looking into the distance, at this moment, the Taiping Gate is centered on the city gate tower, which is already a piece of dust, and the gold juice hot oil affected by the explosion of the cannonballs has killed and injured hundreds of people who are guarding the city, including the surrounding soldiers, and the city gate tower has been blown to pieces, and all 60 shells have hit the periphery of the city gate tower, and the casualties have been as high as 1,000 people.

After the dust cleared, a steel knife had quietly rested on Feng Kelie's neck, and when Feng Kelie shook his head to see the situation in front of him clearly, he found that Wang Shuang's head had been lifted in Pu Xiang's hand.

"It's... Jin Shan Hou... Pu Xiang, you want to rebel? ”

Feng Kelie roared loudly, and the head of Pu Xiang's family team used force, and the blade of the knife went into Feng Kelie's neck by an inch, and the blood flowed down with the blade.

Pu Xiang looked at Feng Kelie with a righteous face: "Nanjing's left-behind lords are more than one nest, Nanjing City can't be saved, the same is the bloodline of Emperor Taizu, and I believe that King Fu is no worse than Emperor Shenzong." ”

"Wishful thinking... Take them down..."

Feng Kelie also shouted regardless of it, the changes in the city naturally reached the ears of the soldiers under the city gate, and the five hundred people brought by Pu Xiang here suddenly became in trouble, one by one they pulled out long knives from the cart, and slashed at the defenders beside them, and the defenders were caught off guard, and for a while they were beaten by these five hundred people without the power to fight back.

Although the head of the city was bombed, there were still thousands of surviving defenders, plus hundreds of Feng Kelie's personal soldiers, Pu Xiang survived the explosion of less than 200 people, although Feng Kelie was taken, but in the face of the siege of thousands of people, the battle situation on the city suddenly took a sharp turn.

'Chirp...'

A scream broke through the sky, and red fireworks exploded in the sky.

Chen Cao smiled and arched his hand towards Zhu Changxun: "Lord Wang, you can enter the Taiping Gate after a while; Shi Xiu, the first division took the lead and quickly took the city gate. ”

After Song Che surrendered, he began to advance rapidly with the men of the first division, and they wanted to knock down the Taiping Gate in time when Puxiang was wiped out at the head of the city.

The battle at the head of the city was fierce, Pu Xiang and his subordinates had been forced to the corner tower with Feng Kelie, at this moment they were only less than 100 people left, although there were 500 people under the city head at the moment to stick to the horse road, but the defenders who kept coming in also realized the intention of these people, and began to shoot at them with firearms.

The crackling sound kept going, and there were more and more family members and defenders who fell to the ground, Feng Keli laughed: "Puxiang dog thief, a certain family is dead, and you can't get any benefit, and you still want to collude with Chen Cao's rebel thief, hahaha..."