Chapter 403 The Ending Battle of Huai'an IV
When Xu Guang, a guerrilla from the left-wing battalion, rushed outside the camp with a large group of troops, he happened to meet Li Gangtai who was carrying Hana's head. At this moment, Li Gangtai and his men, together with their muskets, were able to quell the attack of three hundred Manchurian cavalry, even though This also allowed dozens of riders to break out from the other side of the camp.
"Xu Guang," Li Gangtai shouted: "Hana is dead, and now I am going to open the west city gate and let the army into the city. How do you choose?"
Xu Guang looked around, and then looked at the guards and Mr. Qian beside him. His left hand holding the scabbard seemed to be trying to move.
Li Gangtai scolded sternly: "Xu Guang, we are all the former Liaodong Ming army, and we were also the officers and soldiers who fought against the Tatars. It's just that the Wanli court was stupid at that time, the superior officials bribed, and the subordinate generals followed suit. We had no choice but to surrender to the Tatars." Son, now that the Ming army is approaching, Daishan’s plan of using himself as bait has failed. When the city is destroyed, you and I will fall into a place of eternal disaster. How about the treatment of brother Yang Lian and Maha?"
Yang Lianmaha was originally a senior general at the level of a general. After surrendering in Gaoyou with 50,000 soldiers and horses with the Han army flag, he was actually used by Emperor Ming Chen Cao. They were all in the siege battles in the past few days. I could clearly see the two brothers Yang Lian who were commanding the formation.
Gao Shun arrived after fighting back. Seeing Xu Guang still hesitating in front of him, he shouted sharply: "Xu Guang, fight or surrender..."
Only then did Xu Guang get out of his hesitation, and when he looked at the Hana head still bleeding in Li Gangtai's hand, he was shocked when he thought of Li Gangtai's identity. Could it be that even the consort Li Yongfang had turned against him?
"General Li, I wanted to ask my previous subordinate, does the prince-in-law know about this?"
Li Gangtai sneered, and then said: "My father is the commander-in-chief of the Han Army Banner..."
Let Xu Guang guess in one sentence, but this sentence is enough. Li Gangtai also deceived Xu Guang anyway. Hearing this, Xu Guang let out a sigh of relief: "The last general is willing to cooperate with General Li."
"Okay..." Li Gangtai smiled cheerfully: "Gao Shun, persuade the city gate guard to surrender, kill the Tatars, open the city gate, Xu Youqi, follow me..."
"yes..."
Wang Xiaojie was confused for a moment after receiving the order from Jinyiwei. He really didn't expect that the Li family would surrender, and he changed his mind halfway.
Yuan Shizhong turned to look at Wang Xiaojie: "Old Wang, this..."
"I know what you want to say," Wang Xiaojie looked into the distance: "This is all speculation by Huang Chunyao and his Majesty. Whatever it is, just obey the orders. If the city really opens on our side later, be on guard. It’s just that I still don’t believe that the Tatars dare to charge indiscriminately and kill this son of a bitch.”
"Military seat...Military seat..."
As soon as Wang Xiaojie finished speaking, the messenger ran into the tent in panic: "Report to the military seat, the gate of the defense area suddenly opened, and there are more than a dozen enemy troops running towards us."
Wang Xiaojie and Yuan Shizhong looked at each other, and then walked out together.
In front of the formation, Wang Xiaojie saw with his own eyes more than a dozen horsemen stopped in the middle of the road, and only two horsemen came slowly. Wang Xiaojie stopped the guard's movement: "There are only two people, what are you afraid of? Hurry and bring them over to see if it is Li Gangtai." Gonna surrender.”
As the two riders approached, Wang Xiaojie clearly saw that one of them was young and the other was middle-aged. They were Li Gangtai and Xu Guang.
"The criminal general Li Gangtai from Liaodong came to surrender with his guerrilla Xu Guang. I wonder which general was in front of him?"
Wang Xiaojie was stunned for a moment, thinking that this was really the case, so he immediately stepped forward and gave a military salute: "I, Wang Xiaojie, commander of the Shenwu Army, are here to wait for General Li Gangtai by His Majesty's order. General Li, I don't know what is happening in the city now. Condition?"
Li Gangtai said: "General Gui's subordinate Gao Shun is clearing out the resisting enemies in the west city. When General Gui is leaving the city, Daishan's reinforcements are arriving. I would like to ask General Wang to send troops into the city quickly and don't waste time."
Wang Xiaojie looked at Xu Guang behind Li Gangtai, then turned around and shouted sternly: "Pass this military order, the 31st Division will prepare immediately and follow General Li into the city to stop the attack. The entire army will press forward in sequence and enter the city in order."
"yes..."
"Commander, please quickly send a message to your Majesty, saying that General Li has opened the door and surrendered. The Shenwu Army is about to enter the city. Please make your decision..."
"yes..."
.
"The treasonous son...the treasonous son..."
Li Yongfang almost lost his balance on his horse and fell, shouting the word "treason" all the time.
Li Shutai supported Li Yongfang at the side, and then said urgently: "Dad, look, the Ming army is about to enter the city."
Outside the open city gate, Liang Huanming's troops were galloping into the city. His 31st Division was also an all-rifle division. Before entering the city, Liang Huanming personally gave an order to his officers and soldiers. If they encountered an ambush when entering the city, they would use explosives to blow open the city gate. .
Therefore, there were more than a dozen engineers in the galloping infantry formation carrying explosives on their backs in case of accidents.
"That traitor..."
When Li Yongfang looked around, he saw Li Gangtai and Xu Guang leading hundreds of forward troops from the 31st Division into the city, helping Gao Shun kill the defenders who were still resisting.
Suddenly, there was a loud sound of gunfire...
"Dad..." Li Shutai shouted: "Make a choice quickly, Yue Tuo is coming..."
Zhang Gui suddenly rushed in front of Li Yongfang and slashed the back of Li Yongfang's head with his scabbard. Li Yongfang, who was already angry, fainted instantly after being hit by such a blow: "Second Young Master, hurry to the city gate."
Li Shutai couldn't wait that much anymore. Yue Tuo's soldiers and horses were behind him. If he saw his third brother opening the city gate and personally leading the Ming army into the city, it would be difficult to explain clearly that Nurhaci was resurrected. So now I can only coerce him.
Yue Tuo was already furious at this moment. On the way here, he met the Manchurian cavalry who had fled back in the city. He learned that General Li Gangtai had killed the Hana rebels. In addition to reporting the news to his Armadaishan as soon as possible, He personally led two thousand cavalry here. He just wanted to take back the city gate before Li Gangtai dedicated the city and let the Ming army enter the city.
The 31st Division that entered the city at this moment has cleared the battle on the city wall with the help of Gao Shun. The flag of the Shenwu Army has been planted on the top of the city. The 31st Division's troops are entering the city in order, and the follow-up troops are waiting a mile away.
After Liang Huanming entered the city, he received news that two groups of Tatar troops were fighting not far from the main camp. However, for the sake of the overall situation, he immediately ordered his troops to rush to support Li Gangtai's troops.
The 272 regiment, which entered the city early, was the first to arrive outside the battlefield. The regiment leader Zhao Tao stepped forward and shouted to the front with a loudspeaker: "Anyway, the Han army flag troops returning to Ming Dynasty should evacuate to both sides of the battlefield immediately..."
Under the unanimous shouts of the officers and soldiers, Li Gangtai, who was fighting with Yue Tuo's men, immediately ordered Gao Shun to retreat with his troops, because he knew clearly that the Ming army was going to use firearms.
Yue Tuo looked at Li Gangtai angrily, but Li Gangtai stared at Yue Tuo with a sneer. Before leaving, he said sarcastically: "Yue Tuo, what a sin you have done, hahahahaha..."
"Raise the gun..."
Swish, swish, swish...
Zhao Tao couldn't bear it anymore, pulled out his command knife and shouted: "Shoot..."
'Bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...'
'Bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...'
'Bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...'
After three rounds of volleys, the battlefield ahead was covered with corpses of Qing troops, but Yue Tuo had already led his men and horses to withdraw to the inner city before the second round of volleys.
Li Gangtai was not far away, and he saw that there was not much smoke after the Ming army's muskets were fired. If they were placed in the musket battalion under his command, let alone three rounds, even after a salvo, the smoke would fill the entire battlefield. .
Zhao Tao shouted: "Free fire..."
After Liang Huanming arranged the defense around the city wall, he asked his subordinates to light signal flares to notify Wang Xiaojie of the large forces entering the city, and then rushed outside the camp himself.
"General Li..." Liang Huanming saluted and said, "Our department has been ordered to take over the city defense. Please leave the city immediately to accept reorganization."
The Ming army's equipment was all firearms, and their military uniforms were no longer mandarin duck jackets. Moreover, they didn't even have a piece of iron armor on their bodies. Compared to their bulky armor, they couldn't outrun others even if they ran away.
"Okay, may I ask...General Liang, do you need our help in this city?"
Liang Huanming saluted again: "Thank you, General Li, for your kindness. Our department has been ordered to take over the defense of Xicheng. Whether we need your help will require instructions from the headquarters."
Li Gangtai nodded sarcastically, and then left together with Gao Shun and Xu Guang.
.
"really?"
"Back to your Majesty, it's absolutely true. I just received a military report from Wang Xiaojie. The 31st Division has taken over the West City and repelled the Tatar troops who wanted to take back the West City. Now Wang Xiaojie has ordered Shenwu to advance into the city. Please make a decision, Your Majesty. .”
Chen Cao laughed twice: "Okay, Li Gangtai is a smart guy, and he is much more decisive than Li Yongfang."
"Speaking of Li Yongfang, Your Majesty, Li Yongfang was knocked unconscious by Li Gangtai's followers. His son Li Shutai escaped from the city with Li Yongfang. He should be in the Shenwu Army camp outside the city now."
Chen Cao looked at the city wall in the distance and said firmly: "Tell Wang Xiaojie to let him attack freely in the city, and all actions of the Shenwu Army will be directed by him. I have only one request, and I must not let any Qing army escape;
In addition, send an order to Song Che to pay close attention to the movements of the Qing army in the south of the city. As long as they attack the people, the Dingwu army will immediately attack the city at any cost. If there is no movement of the Qing army, let them pay attention to the signal flares. It is not good to send messages on the battlefield, so let He decides for himself;
There is also an order sent to the Longwu Army and the 1st Group Army, asking them to act accordingly, and the headquarters will notify them by means of a signal flare. "
"Everyone, Huai'an City can be taken within two days, so keep your spirits up."
.
After Wang Xiaojie received the order, as soon as he entered the city, he used the original camp in Hana as a temporary headquarters, set up a command post, and ordered the 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 34th and 35th divisions, a total of five divisions, to attack the west city gate. As the center point, the circle spread out, and the five divisions began to clear out the Qing troops who wanted to resist in the city according to the temporary defense zone.
"Military seat..."
A messenger ran into the headquarters: "Reporting to the military seat, the 32nd Division encountered a large Tatar attack when moving to the center of the city. There are Tatar troops from both directions north and south of the city to reinforce the center."
"After all, there are 200,000 of them, scattered throughout the city..."
After Yuan Shizhong finished speaking, he looked at Wang Xiaojie: "Your Majesty did not give the order, so we are under great pressure."
"Although the whole army is not at full strength, there are no less than 100,000 people who have entered the city. It is still difficult for them to drive us out. Now it is Hedaishan who is draining morale." Wang Xiaojie commanded in a deep voice: "Send the order and all the ministries will resolutely resist. The defense must not be allowed to take a step back..."
