Chapter 306 I am loyal to the country
"If General Zhang can break through these two gates in one day, it will be a good thing. If not, it will also increase the pressure on the defenders on the Taiping Gate side;"
Chen Cao looked at Prince Fu: "Your Majesty, all you have to do is follow me into the city..."
Zhu Changxun was overjoyed and clapped his hands repeatedly: "Having such loyal ministers and brave generals as Duke Liang is really a blessing to our Ming Dynasty."
In front of Taiping Gate is Xuanwu Lake, with Longguang Mountain to the northeast and Fuzhou Mountain to the northwest. The terrain is high, and the height of the city gate is second only to Zhengyang Gate.
The person responsible for garrisoning Taipingmen was the Left Governor of Nanjing's Fifth Army Governor's Mansion, Song Ninghou Feng Kelie. This man was also an old acquaintance of Chen Cao, but Taipingmen was not made by Feng Kelie alone, but also by the deputy commander-in-chief Wang Shuang.
This day, December 12, the second year of Chongzhen, was destined not to be a quiet day.
Feng Kelie had just received the news that the rebels had begun to attack Chaoyangmen and Zhengyangmen, and the number of troops in both attacks was more than 100,000. All kinds of artillery and firearms were mobilized, and a morning of defensive battles between the officers and soldiers Casualties have reached 50,000.
This is a horrifying number. Fifty thousand people could be killed or injured in one morning. The intensity of the battle is so fierce.
"The rebel casualties should also be this number..."
After hearing this, Feng Kelie said and looked at Wang Shuang, the deputy commander of the army next to him: "We need to guard it carefully these days. Don't let the rebels touch the city and the stupid thing like the Jiangmen parade happens again."
"Report...Master Hou, the Marquis of Jinshan is here with supplies."
As supplementary lords in the later period of the imperial dynasty, the Jinshan Marquis family can be regarded as nobles who stayed in Nanjing. However, their identities are not like those of Feng Kelie and others who have stayed in Nanjing since the Jingnan period. Although they are all marquises, they The official positions they hold are many and varied.
Feng Kelie could control Taipingmen as a marquis, while Pu Xiang, who was granted the title of replacement, could only be responsible for escorting supplies to each door or arranging other items.
"Song Ninghou, are there any moves by the rebels?"
Faced with Pu Xiang's inquiry, Feng Kelie shook his head: "The previous military reports that the rebels are attacking Zhengyangmen and Chaoyangmen. Governor Qi has ordered the redundant troops in Beicheng to be dispersed and mobilized to defend Chaoyangmen and Zhengyangmen. The rebels There are so many people and they don’t know what to do next.”
Pu Xiang sighed: "I don't know when the imperial reinforcements will arrive. Nanjing cannot be lost..."
Feng Kelie was on the same road as them. Just like what Qi Boyu said, when Nanjing was lost, not only Xu Hongji, but also them all lost their way of survival. And now Xu Hongji has been captured alive and was taken into custody by Chen Cao. In King Fu's camp, Wei Guogong was captured, which was a major blow to the morale of Nanjing City.
"Hou...Hou Ye...Hou Ye..."
Wang Shuang's voice was trembling, because he could clearly see the troops marching in order in the distance with his naked eyes.
Feng Kelie was talking with Pu Xiang under the tower when he heard the shouts of the soldiers and hurried up to the tower. He just didn't expect Pu Xiang to follow him up the tower.
Wherever they looked, they saw groups of soldiers carrying muskets. They walked in neat steps towards the Taiping Gate step by step.
"Quick, pull up the suspension bridge, beat the drum, and then report the news to the city..."
After a series of arrangements, Feng Kelie actually started to tremble a little. These nobles were used to being arrogant and domineering, but when it came time to go to the battlefield, they all became timid.
Pu Xiang saw all this and sighed in his heart.
Not long after, King Fu's flag was raised from the advancing army, and the war flags fluttering in the wind and the banner belonging to King Fu appeared in the eyes of Feng Kelie and other defenders.
Wang Shuang had fought against Japanese pirates. Like Wang De of the Wucheng Army and Horses Division, he was a general from the Duke of Wei's family, but like Xu Chengqing, he also had serious combat experience.
"The artillery is ready, the wood and rolling stones are ready, let the people go to the city, and the golden juice and hot oil are boiled."
Wang Shuang's experience was in cold weapon combat, which was incomparable with the Dingwu Army, which was all equipped with firearms. Besides, there were two rifle divisions behind him, so how could they fight?
When they reached a safe distance, the entire army stopped. A fast horse rode to a safe distance from Taiping Gate's arrows. The knight took a trumpet and shouted: "His Royal Highness King Fu and Duke Liang came to Taiping Gate in person. The defenders on the top of the city listened. , King Fu has already said that as long as you surrender in Kaicheng, every ordinary soldier will be rewarded fifty taels of silver, everyone in the official schools at all levels will be promoted to three levels, and all the generals and generals will be granted descendants..."
Since the outer city was captured, the morale of the defenders in Nanjing's inner city has dropped a lot. In addition, even the Nanjing garrison Wei Guogong was captured alive. Suddenly, the morale of the entire Nanjing defenders has fallen into a low ebb.
Each guard general must rely on his own personal servants or housekeepers as the main force, otherwise it would be difficult to even enforce orders and prohibitions. What's more, the soldiers guarding Nanjing are complex and have low combat effectiveness. If they really fight, once the battle situation is unfavorable, they will be the first to flee. These are all normal things.
"Come here, let all the servants take out their weapons and go to the city to help defend. The rebels must not attack the city."
Pu Xiang suddenly shouted: "People of the Jinshan Marquis' Mansion, listen carefully. If you kill a rebel, I will reward you with five taels of silver."
As he spoke, he ignored Feng Kelie, grabbed the musket from the hand of a firearms soldier holding a shotgun next to him, and pulled the trigger towards the knight outside the city.
Green smoke rose, and a lead bullet hit the knight not far away. Then he took the knight and rode away.
Feng Kelie's face was a little red. Even a nobleman like Pu Xiang wanted to live and die with Nanjing. His performance just now was really unsatisfactory, so he handed over his hand: "Marquis of Jinshan, I admire you... but The rebels have not yet fought against our army, so it is not the right time to send your servants to the city."
Pu Xiang waved his hand: "Brother Feng, you're too polite. Now is the time when the country is in crisis. Everyone has the responsibility to guard Nanjing, not to mention those of us who stayed behind. Although I, Pu Xiang, have never practiced martial arts, all the servants in the mansion are frontier soldiers. The retired warriors who have fought many battles are more than enough to help the young men defend the city."
Feng Kelie still wanted to refuse, but Pu Xiang interrupted him again: "Hey, Brother Feng, Brother Feng must have not forgotten what Governor Qi said. The city of Nanjing cannot be lost..."
At this point, Feng Kelie nodded, and ordered the soldiers and horses on the horse road to let Pu Xiang's servants go to the city. This time Pu Xiang came to escort the supplies, and he brought a full 300 servants with him, and there were more than 500 people responsible for escorting them. young and strong.
There are 20,000 defenders at Taiping Gate. As long as they hold on for an hour, soldiers and horses from the inner city can come for reinforcements at any time. Therefore, Feng Kelie also made up his mind to guard Taiping Gate well and never let others laugh at him.
"Artillery preparation..."
Chen Cao gave all the Shenwu artillery pieces to Zhu Changxun, and he brought thirty field artillery pieces to Taipingmen, each with two shells.
Although there are not many, the power is not comparable to that of the Shenwu Cannon.
Puxiang's servants had just entered the city when bursts of gunfire reached their ears, followed by violent explosions. The entire Taiping Gate was instantly submerged in huge smoke and dust.
Zhu Changxun put down the telescope and said happily: "My dear, you have this artillery, why didn't you use it earlier?"
Chen Cao handed over his hand and said, "My lord, I don't know that this cannon has just been transported from the sea, and there are only sixty shells, so it can only fire one salvo."
Zhu Changxun looked at the retreating field artillery with regret, and then shook his head: "But launch an offensive now?"
Chen Cao shook his head: "Please wait patiently, Your Majesty, there will be news in the city soon."
Seeing Chen Cao's determination, Zhu Changxun was even more convinced that Chen Cao had planted hidden stakes at Taiping Gate to open the city gate.
Looking into the distance, the Taiping Gate at this moment, with the city gate tower as the center, is already covered in dust. The gold juice and hot oil spread by the shell explosion killed hundreds of civilians defending the city, including the surrounding soldiers. The city gate tower was even more It was blown to pieces, and all sixty shells hit the area around the city gate tower, causing as many as a thousand casualties.
After the dust cleared, a steel knife was quietly placed on Feng Kelie's neck. When Feng Kelie shook his head to see the situation clearly, he realized that Wang Shuang's head was already in Pu Xiang's hand.
"This...Marquis of Jinshan...Puxiang, do you want to rebel?"
Feng Kelie roared loudly, and Puxiang's servant leader used force. The blade penetrated Feng Kelie's neck by an inch, and blood flowed downwards with the blade.
Pu Xiang looked at Feng Kelie with an upright face: "The nobles left in Nanjing are more useless than the others. The city of Nanjing cannot be saved. We are both of the blood of Emperor Taizu. I believe that Prince Fu is no worse than Emperor Shenzong."
"Wishful thinking...take them down..."
Feng Kelie roared regardless, and the incident on the top of the city naturally reached the ears of the soldiers under the city gate. The 500 people brought by Pu Xiang suddenly attacked, and each one pulled out a long knife from the cart, He slashed at the defenders beside him. The defenders were caught off guard and were beaten by these five hundred people and were unable to fight back.
Although the city was bombed, there were still thousands of defenders who survived, plus hundreds of Feng Kelie's personal soldiers. Puxiang's servants survived the explosion, less than 200 people. Although Feng Kelie was captured, Faced with the siege of thousands of people, the battle situation on the city suddenly took a turn for the worse.
'Chirp...'
A scream broke through the sky, and red fireworks exploded in the daytime sky.
Chen Cao laughed and held his hands towards Zhu Changxun: "Your Majesty, please wait a moment before you can enter the Taiping Gate; Shi Xiu, the first division will respond first and quickly capture the city gate."
After Song Che handed over, he led the first division and began to advance rapidly. They wanted to knock down the Taiping Gate in the tight time when Puxiang was wiped out at the top of the city.
The battle at the top of the city was fierce. Pu Xiang and his servants had been forced to the corner tower while escorting Feng Kelie. At this moment, they had less than a hundred people left. Although there were 500 people at the top of the city who were guarding the horse road at the moment, the defenders kept coming in a steady stream. He also realized the intentions of these people and started shooting at them with firearms.
The crackling sound continued, and more and more servants and defenders fell to the ground. Feng Kelie laughed loudly: "Puxiang dog thief, even if a certain family dies, you will not get any benefit, and you still want to fight with Chen Fuck the rebels, hahaha..."
