Near the East Cross Street near the Tianjin Governor's Yamen and the General Soldier's Yamen, the fighting has reached its most brutal stage.
Chen Yongfu's people took advantage of the civil uprising in the southern city of Tianjin. They killed the new army by surprise from the beginning, seized the city gate, and drove in the large group of troops. I thought that the battle for Tianjin City was over, but what happened next was unexpected.
If it were an ordinary Ming army, it would be over when the city was broken and it would be too late to escape. Who would fight to the death? Moreover, now that Beijing has been lost and Dashun is the common master of the world, how much morale can these Ming troops in Tianjin still have?
So the Dashun army that invaded Tianjin Nancheng began to fight and grab things at the same time - they had no pay or food on weekdays, and most of them were adapted from the original Ming army, so of course their discipline was poor.
The last time Beijing was conquered, the soldiers were not allowed to plunder, and the soldiers had already complained. This time they conquered Tianjin, they had to take advantage of it no matter what.
Moreover, after learning the lesson from the incident in Beijing, Chen Yongfu's soldiers were afraid that there would be an order prohibiting robbery, so they couldn't wait for the battle to end and started looting.
Speaking of which, the people of Tianjin City are really pitiful. They were suppressed twice by Zhu Cixiang's army because of welcoming King Chuang, and now they are plundered by King Chuang's army... This is really welcoming King Chuang, looking forward to King Chuang, King Chuang is coming But even worse!
While Chen Yongfu's soldiers were busy looting, they gave Wu Xiang, Zhu Chunchen and other Ming generals the opportunity to regroup.
Of course, the reason why Tianjin Wei Nancheng's battle front can be reorganized is also related to the particularity of the new army that overcomes difficulties.
Although this army was newly established and its combat effectiveness was not very good, its morale and cohesion were as high as those of Li Zicheng's old battalion.
All the soldiers of the new army who overcame the difficulties carried Zhu Cixiang's "IOU" (not necessarily written by Zhu Cixiang, but they were all signed in his name, and they were also kept on file. If they were lost, they would acknowledge it)! Somewhere in the south of the Yangtze River, there are at least 50 acres of paddy fields waiting for them... As long as they can save Zhu Cihong and reach the south of the Yangtze River, everyone will be a landlord and a wealthy man!
In addition to Bai Tiao, Zhu Cixiang was not merciful when distributing rewards and salaries, and was able to ensure that the full amount was paid to the soldiers. Although the new army of overcoming difficulties was based on the Wu family's servants as its initial backbone, it is not known how much sand was mixed in now. The Wu family has long ceased to be a private soldier, so no one can dominate the army. Withholding military pay and shortfalling quotas are a no-brainer!
In addition, the food in the army is also very good. As a prince, Zhu Cihong had to go down to the grassroots to eat at least one meal a day with the soldiers.
Moreover, which flag team you go to is random, and even Wu Sanmei doesn't know it in advance. Anyone who dares to make up their mind about food is doing so with their heads stuck in their belts.
Precisely because daily treatment and future success are guaranteed, the cohesion of the new army to overcome difficulties is unusually strong.
Even if the city is destroyed, everyone still wants to follow suit!
And Wu Xiang was also one of the many officers and soldiers of the New Army who wanted to follow Zhu Cixiang to overcome difficulties.
He also wanted to "Zhu and Wu share the south of the Yangtze River"! Now even if Chongzhen is not saved, he still has to keep the more than four million taels of silver in the Fujun Grand Marshal's mansion, right? That is the lifeblood of the prince!
So the old man also became fierce and personally led a group of white-haired servants to the front line. First, he led the cavalry to charge into battle, charging back and forth on East Cross Street, and smashed into pieces the Dashun army that was busy looting and scattered in formation. They suffered heavy casualties and were almost beaten out by the old man.
Zhu Chunchen, who had just discovered that his martial arts skills were not weak, also became more energetic. He dragged the British Duke Zhang Shize and Xiangcheng Bo Li Guozhen, and gathered a group of nobles, distinguished ministers, and his trusted servants and generals to go to the front line. It's impossible to fight in hand-to-hand combat, but some of them can shoot arrows, and some can play with fire blunderbuss. Now they all show their special abilities, whether they shoot cold arrows or use cold blunderbuss, they are also very impressive.
However, Chen Yongfu was not an ordinary person. When he realized something was wrong, he immediately attacked with his servants and finally withstood Wu Xiang's charge.
Immediately afterwards, the fighting began on East Cross Street. After all, the terrain here is narrow and the cavalry cannot move widely. After the infantry on both sides formed a formation with long weapons, Wu Xiang also returned to the rear of the formation and began to take command.
Because Wu Xiang actually took over the command of the left division of the New Army in overcoming difficulties, Li Ruolian became the de facto deputy general, while deputy general Wang Zhou went down to command the Fire Gun Battalion.
The Zuo Division's Fire Gun Battalion had experienced the Battle of Tianjin Beicheng. Under Zhu Cixiang's personal supervision, they learned to fire volleys within a specified distance and also used fixed ammunition.
And their fire cannons are also pretty good. Most of them are turtle-dove-foot fire cannons from Guangdong, and a few are northern imitations of decent quality.
In the fierce battle on East Cross Street, these more than 300 firecrackers actually exerted great power. Under the cover of spearmen and sword and shield men, they fired round after round of volleys, beating Chen Yongfu to death. The elite soldiers under his command suffered heavy casualties. Several rounds of attacks were repulsed by fierce volleys of fire, leaving dead bodies on the ground.
After several attempts to defeat him, Chen Yongfu became more aggressive and ordered people to set fire near East Cross Street, hoping to burn out an open battlefield. Once the battlefield expanded, more than 300 firecrackers could no longer block it. !
Because of the heavy rain before, the fire didn't start quickly. However, the soldiers of Dashun Army couldn't stand it, snatching sundries to start the fire everywhere, and kept throwing them into the fire scene. The fire burned for a while and finally got big. In an instant, it connected into one piece and soared into the sky, even the sky was reflected in a large area of red.
…
"Master Chitose, Tianjin Nancheng is on fire!"
"It seems that there is still a fierce battle in the city! Raise the flag of command of the three armies! Take the big dragon leader as the vanguard and move forward at full speed... Let's go to the rescue together!"
"Here!"
Zhu Cixiang, who had taken off his iron armor and was only wearing close-fitting cotton armor, boarded the top of the Dalongtou cabin accompanied by Shen Tingyang, Cao Youyi, and Wu Sanmei.
There was a raging fire in Tianjin Nancheng, rising into the sky, and Zhu Cixiang saw it from a distance.
The fire was still burning fiercely, perhaps indicating that the resistance in the city was not over yet. Zhu Cixiang, who was equipped with two 12-pound red cannons and relied on as the leader, was also very confident at this time, and of course he was not willing to wait until death.
So he immediately ordered the fleet to attack, and with the Dalongtou he was riding as the vanguard, he rushed at full speed to the river where the northern and southern cities of Tianjin Wei were located.
…
"Mrs. Hong, the dragon flag of the Zhu Thief, and a flag of command of the three armies, are all hung on a large ship of the Zheng family..."
On a large tanker, on the mast erected high up, a thin man with bare feet was as nimble as a monkey. He climbed up along the mast and looked for a while with a telescope with one hand. , and then reported loudly to the red lady on the deck.
"Dragon flag plus three military flags? Could it be the crown prince of the Zhu Thief?" The Red Lady remembered that during the battle in Tianjin Weibeicheng these days, Zhu Cixiang used these two flags at the same time as the symbol of the Chinese army.
"Mrs. Hong, there are a lot of sand boats coming up the Wei River! It seems that the Zheng family's boat is back again! It is led by the big boat flying the dragon flag and the flag of the Three Armed Forces!"
"You're back again? And you're leading the ship of the Red Thief Prince?" Red Lady snorted, "This Red Thief Prince is really brave!"
"Mrs. Hong, is this possible fraud?" the general with Lady Hong beside reminded him in a low voice.
"So what if it's a scam?" The red lady raised her eyebrows, "I'm still afraid of the red thief's tricks?
Moreover, the Zhuhai fleet is now going upstream, and there is no help from the southeast wind. How can they fight against our cannons? We now have the advantage of going downstream. This little prince must have taken the risk after seeing the fire in Nancheng, Tianjin, knowing that his parents were in danger, and eager to save them. He is a filial son, but unfortunately he lacks some brains. "
The red lady swept her beautiful eyes from both sides and saw that all her brothers were eager to try, so she chuckled: "Brothers, do you still have the strength?"
"have!"
Everyone responded loudly.
The red lady giggled again: "Okay, let's go catch the little prince of the Zhu family!"
