"Wu Dayong, the captain of Yongdingmen, opened the city gate, and the soldiers of the Jianyu swarmed in and had already attacked the outer city." Zhang Ying walked to Zhang Wen's room and said it in a hurry.

"So fast?" Zhang Wen was stunned, stood in place, and said with some annoyance, "The outer city has fallen, and the officials and the people have been ruined, and I have an unshirkable responsibility...... If I hadn't thought about calculating Wei Zhongxian and reported Wu Dayong's treason earlier, there would have been no such thing! ”

Zhang Wen didn't expect that Jianyu had just taken the four outer cities of the Beijing Division, and he would immediately enter the Beijing Division! There was a big difference in time, and his original plan had not yet had time to be implemented, and his plan to ambush Jianyu had all failed.

Originally, this situation was colluded with the inside and outside, and it was necessary to communicate with each other to ventilate, and the Jianyu had just gone through a fierce battle, and it took time to repair and assemble and arrange the army, Zhang Wen did not expect that they would be able to rush into the city directly. How did Jianyu do it? Zhang couldn't figure it out, and he didn't have time to think about it.

At this time, Zhang Ying persuaded and said: "Xianggong doesn't have to blame himself too much, if we hadn't found out this information, we wouldn't know who opened the city gate now." ”

The population of Jingshi living in the outer city alone is hundreds of thousands, and there are also refugees pouring into the city from other places, which cannot be counted. As the flames of war spread to the city, the casualties became even more unpredictable. Zhang Wen realized that he had his responsibility for all this, and he could have prevented it from happening, but because of his greed for merit and more effective in fighting political opponents, countless lives were sacrificed. Even though Zhang Wen had a bad heart, when so many lives were about to be ruined because of this, he also fell into deep self-blame.

"I ...... I'm sorry for the elders of Master Jing! Zhang Wen's face was full of pain, and he muttered this sentence, he was born in Jingshi, and he felt guilty when he suffered a catastrophe here.

Seeing this, Zhang Ying persuaded with good words, and after a long time, Zhang Wen came to his senses, gradually calmed down his unfavorable emotions, took a deep breath, and said in a deep voice: "Jianyu has captured Yongding Gate, and the next step is to attack inside and outside to capture other city gates, and then rely on fortifications to block King Qin's reinforcements outside the city, and then try to capture the inner city!" ”

He paced back and forth, and said bitterly: "I haven't had time to see Qin Liangyu, let alone wait for the emperor's summons, I made a wrong move, and it's too late to report Wu Dayong's matter!" In case Jianyu succeeds in destroying the Ming Dynasty's Sheji, I ask if he is not a sinner through the ages! ”

At this moment, Zhang Ying said coldly: "Xianggong, I have a word...... If the imperial court is destroyed by Jian, our violent army will be a righteous act to regain the clothes and crown of the Han family, and it will be supported by the world; But if the society is safe and we dare to stand on our own, it will be a betrayal of the Ming Dynasty and will suffer from the counterattack of many forces. So the death of Ming is not necessarily a bad thing......"

Zhang Wen's mind was cold after hearing this, and he thought carefully for a while, and said: "If the Jianyu is broken and we gain a firm foothold, and we fail again, won't the whole world fall into the hands of the barbarians?" I'm sorry for my ancestors for doing this, it's too risky, no! ”

He walked around, and after a long time, he said: "Ask someone to bring my armor over, and let Xuanyue choose the guards, each with weapons, and follow me out of the city to find Qin Liangyu from Xuanwumen." ”

Zhang Ying hurriedly persuaded: "Jianyu has entered the outer city, go out at this time, it will be too dangerous in case you encounter enemy soldiers!" ”

"I can't care so much, I can't let the Han family's clothes be ruined in my hands!"

"Who knows?" Zhang Ying grabbed him, her face full of concern. What she means is: If you don't report this matter, no one else knows except her and Zhang Wen, and no one will put the responsibility on Zhang Wen's head.

Zhang Wen said in a deep voice: "We know for ourselves!" ”

In the past, he was sad that the internal strife had worn out the strength of the country, but he didn't expect that he would do such a thing at this time, because of the calculation of Wei Zhongxian, and as a result, the country's social affairs were put in the wind and rain.

Zhang Wen put on his armor, took a long sword, and took Zhang Ying, Xuan Yue, as well as the guards at home, and the men of Xuan Yiwei, who were ready to go out of the city. At the city gate garrison, Zhang Wen claimed that there was an urgent military business to go out of the city to contact the officers and soldiers in the outer city, and the garrison general read Zhang Wen's imperial history seal letter, when Zhang Wen was in the Beijing division to sacrifice prisoners and fight well, the garrison officers also knew Zhang Wen's reputation, and were afraid of delaying the military plane, so they let him out.

I saw a large number of people and refugees gathered around the inner city gate, they knew that the outer city gate had fallen, and they were terrified to the extreme, while most of the residents were cowering at home, closing their doors, trembling and waiting for their fate.

Zhang Wen and the others rode straight to Nancheng, and there were no people on the streets along the way, which made their speed increase a lot. The sound of killing on the side of Yongdingmen shook the sky, and it should be that the reinforcements who rescued Yongdingmen were fighting a bloody battle with Jianyu and trying to recapture the city gate.

"Immediately send someone to Yongdingmen to find out the truth, and the others will follow me to Qin Liangyu's station!" Zhang Wen immediately gave an order, and then rushed to the Sichuan Ying Hutong non-stop, after Qin Liangyu led the army into Beijing, he was stationed in the Sichuan Ying Hutong outside the Xuanwu Gate. Before the group reached the place, they saw a mighty army and horses on the street.

The banner of this army is Qin Liangyu's department, and it seems that it is going out and is preparing to reinforce Yongdingmen. Zhang Wence immediately stepped forward and said loudly: "Zhang Wen, the deputy capital of the Imperial Palace, wants to see General Qin!" ”

At this time, the soldiers and horses stopped, and after a while, Qin Liangyu, who was dressed in a heroic uniform, rode his horse forward, and said on the horse: "Yongdingmen has fallen, and the entire outer city is in danger, I am about to lead the army to rescue, I don't know what Lord Zhang is doing?" ”

Zhang Wen kicked the horse's belly, walked in front of Qin Liangyu, and said: "Yongding Gate has fallen, and 100,000 Jianyu cavalry have poured into the city. ”

Qin Liangyu said: "Since I have been ordered by the emperor to enter the king of Jingqin, and now that the city gate has fallen, I should go all out to recapture it, and I don't care about success or failure." ”

Zhang Wen frowned and said, "General Qin can have an order from the military department?" ”

"No, the situation is critical and no orders have been received." Qin Liangyu was puzzled, "What does Master Zhang mean?" ”

Zhang Wenzheng said: "Since there is no order, according to the law of the Ming Dynasty, the civil officials control the generals, and the official is the imperial history of the Beijing official, now I order you to immediately give up going to Yongding Gate, go to Zuo'anmen instead, and accept the defense around the city gate, and do not let the enemy soldiers capture Zuo'anmen!" ”

At this moment, the guards sent by Zhang Wen to inquire about the news came back and ran to this side, the guards turned over and dismounted, hugged their fists and said: "Dongjia, as soon as the subordinates walked near the Yongding Gate, they saw that the thieves were everywhere, and the Ming troops from all sides who went to reinforce were scattered and retreated because they were defeated. ”

Zhang Wen waved his hand after hearing this, sat on the horse and listened to the shouting sound not far away for a while, then looked back at Qin Liangyu and said, "General Qin heard the situation reported by my guards just now?" You rush over now, and the odds are extremely low. ”

Qin Liangyu's horse was moving around very restlessly, she pulled the reins to stabilize the war horse, and said in a deep voice: "Lord Zhang is good at fighting and strategizing, when this time of danger, I am willing to listen to Lord Zhang's decision, please make it clear, what task should I be responsible for in the Liaodong Army?" ”

Zhang Wen said very quietly: "General Qin is brave and good at fighting, and the world knows that now your men and horses are the key military force to turn the tide, and they must be used on the blade...... It has become a fact that the Jianyu have captured the Yongding Gate, and now that they have stabilized the situation, they will divide the ways to seize the gates of the outer city from the inside and control the city defenses. Then he controlled the outer city, relied on fortifications to block the reinforcements outside the city, and calmly deployed siege equipment to try to capture the inner city. If the inner city is captured, the society does not exist, and the soldiers and generals in the world will become a plate of scattered sand!

In my opinion, you should immediately arrange, defend the nearby Zuo'an Gate, and wait for King Qin's reinforcements to arrive. As long as there is a city gate in our hands, when the reinforcements arrive, we can enter the capital at any time from this gate to attack Jianyu. Jian Yu is tired of coping, and has been under the threat of King Qin's soldiers and horses for a long time, and he will definitely not be able to stand firm in the Jingshi, and he will not be able to peek into the inner city! Please General Qin think twice! ”

Qin Liangyu pondered for a moment, only to see her left hand holding the hilt of the knife tightly, and her concern was overflowing. She listened to Zhang Qian's analysis, and realized that her every move was now related to the safety of the society! Qin Liangyu pondered for a moment and said, "The adult plans for the long term, and I will listen to the adult's dispatch!" ”

Zhang Wen breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Then let's rush to take over the defense of Zuo'anmen immediately!" ”

After Qin Liangyu gave the order, the generals shouted and turned around and marched eastward. Zuo'anmen was still under the control of Jingying, and Qin Liangyu showed the seal of Guan Fang and went with Zhang Wen to meet the garrison generals.

Zuo'anmen is located at the south wall of the outer city, located in the east of the Yongding Gate of the south gate, and it is also an important pass. There are a total of seven gates in the outer city, the middle of the south is the Yongding Gate, the east is the Zuo'an Gate, and the west is the Right Gate; The east side is called Guangqu Gate; The west gate is called Quang Ninh Gate...... There are also two side doors on the north side, a total of seven. The outer city was built in the Jiajing period, because of the lack of financial resources, it was built into a "convex" shape, the outer city was in the south of the convex character, and the entire inner city could not be enclosed in, so the Beijing division had a nickname called "hat city" again.

Zuo'anmen is in the lower right corner of the embossed letter, and when Zhang Wen and Qin Liangyu led the army to Zuo'anmen, there was already another Beijing battalion of soldiers and horses stationed here to control the defense of the city gate. Zhang Wen and Qin Liangyu went to the general to discuss the matter of coordinated defense.

I saw that the Zuo'anmen city tower is a single-storey single-eaves rest mountain type, the ash tube and the top, there is an urn city, it is a semicircular urn city. Zhang Wen is a person from Beijing, and he is also familiar with the environment here, and knows that there is a moat outside the city. Under the defense of tall castle towers, it is obviously not easy to capture the castle towers from the outside, but the captives will attack from the city, and the fortifications will not play a big role.

The general's surname is He, he is a general, and he is on the arrow tower, Zhang Wen and Qin Liangyu went up to the arrow tower to meet him. I saw that General He was tall and strong, with a fat head and big ears, and you can know from the white fat on his face that this guy is very well raised, and I am afraid that he has never experienced a battle at all.

General He has learned the news of the fall of Yongdingmen, and is looking frightened with a sad face, he saw the Qin Liangyu army in the city from the city tower, as if grasping a life-saving straw, and said excitedly when he met: "Which part of you are from, is it the imperial court that sent us to reinforce us?" ”

Zhang asked: "This official is Zhang Wen, the imperial history of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, she is Qin Liangyu, the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan, because of the fall of Yongding Gate, we now have to take over the defense of Zuo'anmen and defend the city tower." ”

"That's great!" General He hurriedly stretched out his hand, "Please give the order to the last general, and the last general will take responsibility...... I'll leave the defense to you. ”

"There is no order, and the court has not had time to react." Zhang Wen said in a deep voice.

"No appointment!?" General He Shen's eyes widened, "Then how can I hand over the city defense to you?" The last general is the person who is in charge of the city defense in Zuo'anmen, if something happens, then the last general has to bear it? ”

Zhang Wen said coldly: "If the city gate falls, you don't have to bear it!" Now that Yongdingmen has fallen into the hands of Jianyu, and the enemy soldiers will come from the city wall to kill the generals, you can only pick up weapons and fight hard with Jianyu in the city. Could it be that you are ready to abandon the city and flee? ”

General He immediately wept and looked at the avenue on the city wall that could be driven, as if there was already a tide of enemy soldiers rushing over. He stammered, "This...... How is this good...... Where did the last general dare to run, the emperor's holy decree said that he would destroy the nine clans if he escaped from the battle, and the wife and children of the last general were all in Beijing, this ...... In the end, the only way to apologize for sins is death! ”

Zhang Wen scolded: "At the moment of the great enemy, you only care about thinking about your life and where to put the city defense!" We are here about the anti-seal letter, is there still a fake? ”

General He Shen rubbed his hands and paced back and forth, muttering: "Lord Zhang, the last general has seen you, of course he won't think it's fake, but you don't have an order, according to the military law, the last general can't hand over the city defense to you...... However, this enemy soldier is coming......"

At this time, Qin Liangyu interjected: "The general is still hesitating, if the fighter plane is delayed, when the time comes, the upper side will investigate, this Zuo'an Gate can be defended, because you lost the city gate because you delayed the time, see how you explain?" ”

After hearing this, General He gritted his teeth and said, "That's done!" The last general will hand over the city defense to you now, but the last general's headquarters will also have to stay and live with the city gate. ”

Zhang asked: "General He has this determination, and in the future, this official will definitely go to the court to praise you." ”

After General He gave the order, Qin Liangyu immediately transferred troops to occupy various key positions. Now the defense of this city tower is really special, the defense of the city tower is mainly facing the outside of the city, but now the enemy soldiers may rush directly on the city wall, or they may directly kill from the stone ladder inside the city wall, so this originally impregnable city tower is a cup, basically has no defense ability.

Qin Liangyu quickly ordered to find stones, wood, vehicles, etc., and set up three obstacles on the city wall, and at the same time set up barricades on the streets below the city to defend layer by layer. This kind of defensive function is completely inferior to the high-walled fortifications of the Jingshi, but because the enemy soldiers are in the city, such an arrangement is better than nothing.

The artillery on the city was also reversed, facing the city and the city walls, the musketeers were the main combat force, and with the cooperation of the barricades, the muskets had a long range, which was undoubtedly the most effective force. Such terrain, of course, was not suitable for cavalry operations.

In such a battle, it could not be cowered on the city tower, and the 20,000 soldiers and horses could not fit together, so they could only be arranged under the city and on the city wall, and the arrow tower above the city gate became the core of the entire defense circle.

Qin Liangyu is a veteran of the battlefield for a long time, and when she arranged the defense, Zhang Wen did not interfere, and only stayed in the arrow tower to supervise the battle.

Zhang Ying walked to Zhang Wen's side and whispered in his ear: "The defense here can be handed over to Qin Liangyu, the prime minister only needs to tell Qin Liangyu to defend Zuo'anmen, we can't afford to stay here and take risks." ”

Zhang Wen hesitated, it is true that his life is in danger of staying here, in case of defeat, he will have to pay for it and finish playing together, and it is too late to leave now, because there is nothing for him to do, and it is not responsible to stay.

Zhang Wenxin felt guilty about the fall of Yongdingmen, but he completely ignored the condemnation of his conscience, feeling that his life was very important and he couldn't be a hero, so he looked at Zhang Ying and nodded, and was about to get up and leave. Unexpectedly, at this time, Qin Liangyu walked into the arrow tower, and saw that Zhang Wen was still standing in the arrow tower, so he hugged his fists and said: "Jianyu will come over soon, please leave this place." ”

Originally, there was no need for Qin Liangyu to make such a move, Zhang Wen was also ready to slip away, but as soon as she appeared like this, Zhang Wen was a little embarrassed. You can't say: It's dangerous here, I'll leave it to you, send you to death, and I'll take the black pot......

Zhang Wen said embarrassedly: "Since this official has let General Qin guard here, he will naturally bear it with you." ”

Qin Liangyu shook his head and said: "There's no need, I'm not as good as an adult in terms of strategy, but I still have a little experience in marching and arranging." You don't have to stay here and take risks, you should return to the court and try to get out of the siege for us as soon as possible! ”

Since everything was said about this, Zhang Wen said casually: "In this case, I don't need my mother-in-law and mother-in-law, so I will leave." I remembered that there was another very important thing to do, I had to ask the emperor to release Liu Ling from the edict and lead the soldiers and horses to serve the country. ”

Qin Liangyu looked overjoyed when he heard this, "Lord Zhang can really rescue Liu Ling, and we have a good chance of winning." ”

Liu Ling's brave Zhang Wen has also seen it with his own eyes, and of course Qin Liangyu also knows that he is indeed a rare peerless general, but he is a little worse in strategy. At the beginning, he was defeated several times in Liaodong, lost the city and lost his land, once a general under his command was bribed to open the city gate, Liu Ling fell into a heavy siege, Rao is so, still rushed out unstoppable; Another time he went to the rescue of friendly troops, only to be ambushed...... Fierce generals are not guaranteed to win battles.

Sure enough, Qin Liangyu said again: "With Liu Ling here, it is more effective than 20,000 more soldiers and horses, but he is a little sloppy, and it will be much better to have me by the side to remind him." ”

Zhang Wen arched his hand and said, "I will definitely spare no effort to get Liu Ling out of the edict." ”