"All hard work will only make me stronger, not dead."
Liu Zhaosun stood on the tower of Yongding Gate, looking at the "Jingnan Army" coming in like a tide, and silently said to himself in his heart.
Yongding Gate is located at the southern end of the capital and is the focus of the rebel attack. It will bear the main attack after the war breaks out. Liu Zhaosun judged that Zhang Chun should not surround the area for reinforcements because the field combat capabilities of this group of ragtag groups were really worrying. Of course, Liu Zhaosun would not send them stupidly. The defenders left the city to fight. Before reinforcements arrived, the Kaiyuan Army needed to preserve its strength as much as possible.
Three thousand soldiers were stationed on the Yongdingmen city wall, accounting for almost half of the troops defending the city. In addition, the Kaiyuan Army's 3,000 East Gate artillery pieces, together with the thousands of French cannons brought from the Shenji Battalion, filled the city head to the brim, ensuring that there was one behind each crenel, and the firepower density reached an outrageous level. Degree.
Of course, considering that the artillery produced by the Shenji Battalion exploded and misfired normally, the gun battalion chief repeatedly told the Shenji Battalion gunners who operated those Fran machines to fill less gunpowder.
The auxiliary soldiers and civilians laid tens of thousands of landmines around Jiumen in advance. Because the quantity was insufficient, half of them were produced in the Shenji Camp. Some landmines are destined not to explode, but life is always full of surprises. It is understandable whether the landmines will explode or not. .
Liu Zhaosun fully learned from Li Zicheng's experience and lessons in conquering the city of Beijing. Except for the artillery, the soldiers stationed at each gate of the capital were all Kaiyuan soldiers. He didn't even use the people from the Royal Horse Supervisor and the Wucheng Soldiers and Horses Division. He just asked these people to help with the transportation. Gunpowder, rolling wood and stones were used to prevent anyone from opening the door indiscriminately.
Ye Bushuai and the Coil Guards were all withdrawn, and even the cavalry who were fighting with the rebels outside the city were also withdrawn into the city. The Kaiyuan Army seemed to have completely given up on taking the initiative to attack, giving people the illusion of a trapped beast fighting.
Liu Zhaosun knew that in this kind of offensive and defensive battle, the defender needed to continuously expand the strategic depth as much as possible. To put it simply, the city must not be trapped by the enemy, otherwise defeat would only be a matter of time.
However, for the Kaiyuan Army, which has less than ten thousand people, the situation is slightly different. Their reinforcements are on the way, and more than one way. Any way can cause serious damage to the enemy. In this case, there is no need to leave the city. In a wave battle with the enemy, as long as they hold on to the city and wait for reinforcements to arrive, the rebels will be considered defeated. If you go to war easily, you might be like He Shixian, who was taken away by the internal and external cooperation.
For Liu Zhaosun, the outer position was a rational choice. In this way, the Kaiyuan Army could concentrate its main forces to guard those important city gates. Generally speaking, under the premise of sufficient troops and food, it is more difficult to defend a small city than to defend it. Big cities are much less difficult.
After building the positions before and after the moat, the Kaiyuan Army turned its defense focus to the inner city. The auxiliary soldiers and civilians began to build barricades on various streets, using sandbags and wood to form temporary trenches and fortresses, and prepared for street fighting with the rebels. If the city gate is captured by the rebels, the Kaiyuan Army can also organize resistance on the streets to avoid a total collapse.
If the street fighting fails, everyone will retreat to the Forbidden City and continue to fight the rebels relying on the palace gate. Of course, the Forbidden City is the Lord Protector's last line of defense.
The coir raincoat guards and the Zhenfu soldiers were divided into two groups. One group patrolled around the city to suppress the mobs that participated in the rebellion and arson. The other group acted as combat soldiers and climbed to the top of the city to fight side by side with the 14th Guards Army, directly participating in the defense of the city. war.
Officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Household Affairs directed porters to carry gold and silver, and recruited civilian laborers on the streets to help defend the city. If anyone signed up, they would be given half of the silver on the spot. Once a team of people was gathered, they would be escorted by the town guards and boarded. The city head helped the artillerymen transport ammunition and carry rolling logs and rocks.
"Xian son-in-law, how confident are you in this battle?"
Yang Hao looked at the lively crowd at the top of the city, squinting his eyes and stroking his beard. He was obviously quite satisfied with Liu Zhaosun.
"It should be 50%. As a general, you just do your best. As for the victory or defeat, it also depends on luck."
Yang Hao listened and nodded with a smile. He knew that if the Protector said it was 50%, then he was sure of winning, nine out of ten. "This battle was well fought."
The sky was getting dark, and it was still snowing above his head. Liu Zhaosun spread out his iron-armed hands and breathed into his palms. He was wearing the wool gloves that Zhang Yan had knitted for him before his death. His fingers felt cold, and the temperature was estimated to be minus ten degrees.
"Why did my father-in-law say this?"
Yang Hao smiled and patted his son-in-law on the shoulder, carefully knocked the snow off the Protector's shoulder, and said with a smile:
"Although this group of civil servants and military generals in Beizhili have taken refuge with us on the surface, they have always been in harmony with you. This time, taking advantage of the chaos in Shaanxi, they wanted to fish in troubled waters. The wise son-in-law killed them all. From now on, no one in Beizhili will dare to do so. Only by opposing us in Kaiyuan can Duke Protector truly control the capital and control Beizhi. From now on, he can justifiably send officials to control various places, and no one will oppose us. Otherwise, keeping these rebels will be a disaster after all."
Liu Zhaosun nodded repeatedly after hearing this. What he had in mind was basically the same as Yang Hao's. He also wanted to finish his work in one battle and solve the northern problem at once. The rest would be to wipe out a few rebels every now and then.
Weng and son-in-law were talking as they walked. Not far from them, the auxiliary soldiers were instructing the civilians to set up an iron pot at the top of the city. The civilians carried a bucket of water up to the top of the city, boiled the cold water, and then poured it down from the top of the city. , fell down on the city wall, so that when the rebels attack the city tomorrow, they will feel like skating under their feet.
"Xian son-in-law, did you learn all these city-defending skills from Liu Dadao?"
"I taught myself."
~~~~~~
At three o'clock in the morning on November 20th, the second year of Tianqi, the rebels arrived at Yongding Gate and immediately launched a fierce attack.
Thousands of ragged civilians were driven from behind by the rebels, approaching Yongding Gate like a flock of sheep. Most of these civilians were plundered by the rebels from around the capital. Many of them were captured by their entire families, including men, women, and children. Come together.
"The rebels want to drive the people to fill the trenches."
Liu Zhaosun raised his telescope and looked for Zhang Chun's banner behind the crowd.
"People from Yongping Prefecture, Zhengding Prefecture, Shuntian Prefecture, and even Datong Prefecture are here. It's not a small move."
Under the banner of the generals, the servants of the generals and generals were driving the people forward through the newly dug trenches. The servants were wearing iron armor and carrying heavy swords on their waists. From time to time they waved their scabbards and shouted loudly. Scolding cannon fodder and moving forward.
"Look, the rebels' carriage!"
Ma Shiying pointed at the slowly advancing carriage behind the cannon fodder. The Protector looked through the telescope in the direction of Ma Shiying's finger, and saw a row of neatly arranged turtle shells advancing towards the moat.
The servants held riding whips and whipped them at the slow-moving people in front of them. Most of the people were old, weak, sick, and disabled. They had been looted by the rebels. Many of them had only a single piece of clothing left and were walking barefoot in the cold wilderness.
It has to be said that when it comes to bullying the weak, the weak are often more talented, and it is human nature to draw a knife to the weaker.
Those refugees who had joined the rebels since Yongping Prefecture, after experiencing various hardships, did not feel any sympathy for the refugees at the foot of the imperial city. On the contrary, their bestiality was fully aroused.
Now, it's time to show off their martial arts skills.
"Go quickly!!"
A strong refugee from Hejian Prefecture cursed, swung his horsewhip, and hit the old man's back hard. The horsewhip tore his unlined clothes and stirred up blood.
The old man groaned a few times and fell to the ground. The other party did not stop and continued to beat him desperately.
This scene was seen by Qiao Yiqi who was holding a telescope on the city wall. Qiao gritted his teeth and stared angrily.
"No artillery fire is allowed without my order."
In the ancient times of cold weapon warfare, it was not unusual for people to fill trenches with living people. During the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Xun guarded the city of Suiyang, and the rebels filled the trenches with ordinary people. In fact, in many ancient battles, the attackers often entered the city on corpses that were higher than the city wall.
"Lord Protector, the sacred fire and flying crows have been set up! The artilleryman asked if it can be fired!"
Just as Liu Zhaosun was about to give the order, the other side suddenly stopped, and the people's earth-shattering wails rang out in the wilderness.
Two servants gathered around a surrendered Kaiyuan civil affairs official and drove their horses forward to the moat.
"Liu Thief, listen!"
The civil affairs official raised his loudspeaker and shouted loudly.
"Liu Zhaosun kidnapped the emperor and lost all the people's hearts. Shaanxi is now defeated. All the soldiers brought by Deng Changxiong are dead. Don't work for Liu thief anymore. General Zhang and other generals are here to save the people of the capital. What do you think? If you want to survive, kill your generals quickly, open the city gate, and greet the army. General Zhang said that those who surrender now will be heavily rewarded. Each person will be given fifty taels of silver! Cut off an officer's head and receive three One hundred taels of silver! Divide the land and divide the women! Kill Liu Zhaosun and be directly promoted to the chief military officer!"
The speaker was a Hejian civil affairs official named Zhu Liang. Before Zhang Chun raised his troops, he and ten other Kaiyuan civil affairs officials were captured. The other ten refused to surrender and were executed.
After Zhu Liang surrendered, he informed Zhang Chun of all the shops installed by the Liaodong Trading Company in various places in Beizhili, causing more than fifty people to die in civil affairs.
Zhu Liang knew that Kaiyuan's weapons were powerful, so he stayed far away from the moat and did not dare to get too close.
When the soldiers at the top of the city heard Zhu Liang's shouting, anger flashed in their eyes. If it weren't for Kaiyuan's strict military discipline, they might have rushed down and tore the traitor alive.
Zhu Liang shouted twice, but no one responded at the top of the city. Most of the soldiers guarding Yongding Gate were refugees struggling for life and death half a year ago. Without Liu Zhaosun to provide them with food, clothing and shelter, most of them have long since become Dry bones.
"Dog traitor!"
"kill him!"
Liu Zhaosun smiled, pushed away Lin Yu who was blocking the way, went straight to the crenel, and shouted loudly.
"Go back and tell Zhang Chun to surrender immediately, and I can spare his life!"
After that, he shouted to the people filling the trenches who were slowly approaching the moat:
"The rebels are following you. Open the city gate now and they will come in! By then, not only you, but everyone will die!"
"If you don't want to die, just turn around and fight the rebels! If you die in battle, I will use their hearts and souls to pay tribute to your spirits in heaven!"
