On December 12, the eleventh year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, at Shen Shi, the sky dimmed, a cold wind suddenly rose, and flakes of snowflakes fell gently.
In Julu, outside Jiazhuang, Shanxi Town Commander-in-Chief Hu Dawei was leading his soldiers in a bloody battle with the Qing army in the camp. Hu Zichen had been riding his horse to guard Hu Dawei, never leaving.
But at this time, hundreds of Qing troops rushed in from the gap and could not be driven back for a while, and nearly a hundred Qing troops rushed towards the north gate of the camp. Hu Dawei roared to his clan nephew Hu Zichen beside him: "Hu Son, go and intercept them, don't let them break down the north gate."
He himself was stabbed in the right leg by a Qing soldier. At this time, he was straddling a war horse and it was very inconvenient to control it. Hu Zichen was a little reluctant to give up, but Hu Dawei glared at him and had to lead dozens of people to rush forward to intercept him. .
Hu Dawei led hundreds of people to engage in a melee with the Qing soldiers in the camp. During the melee, the Qing soldiers knocked over braziers and fires from time to time. Thick smoke billowed out and fire started everywhere. The Qing soldiers rushed in continuously from behind.
He fought hard on horseback and killed many Qing soldiers one after another, but he was still unable to stop the Qing army's offensive. He gradually retreated to the center of the camp. Seeing more and more Qing soldiers rushing into the camp, he knew that he could no longer hold on. Encamped.
Suddenly, a cry of killing came from the south of the camp. He saw the lanky Lu Xiangsheng, wearing linen clothes and mourning clothes, leading the army to come to support. He couldn't help but get excited and shouted loudly: "My sons, the governor has come to save us, kill, kill the Tartars." Kill me back!"
He endured the pain in his leg, clamped his horse, and rushed towards the Qing soldiers. When the tiger spear stabbed him, two Qing soldiers were stabbed down by him one after another. Lu Xiangsheng also rode his horse to kill them.
There were more than five hundred elite cavalry behind him, all of whom were veterans of the Tianxiong Army. They had fought with him for many years and had already become elites in the army. Their joining temporarily reversed the situation, and the Qing troops retreated slightly.
Suddenly, a gap opened behind the Qing army. Hu Zichen rushed over with blood all over his body. There were hundreds of cavalry and infantry following him. When he came to Hu Dawei's side, he shouted: "Junmen, Zeng died in the guerrilla war." , the north gate was broken open by the Tatars!"
Lu Xiangsheng's heart sank after hearing this. This Shanxi town camp could no longer hold. He shouted loudly: "Hujunmen, follow me and fight out. I will return to Jiazhuang."
Hu Dawei rode his horse and roared: "Huzi, go to the south gate, join Yang Junmen, guard Jiazhuang, set fire to it, don't leave it to the Tatars..."
There were tears in his eyes. This time he led more than 3,000 troops and horses to defend the capital and fought all the way. Now there are only more than 1,000 cavalry left, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of sadness in his heart.
…………
Yang Guozhu also felt uncomfortable here. Although the artillery of the Qing troops here was not very violent, the trench filling was not ambiguous at all. Moreover, Abatai was indeed steady. He was not as angry and reckless as Hauge, nor was he at all timid. .
He arranged the troops and horses in a fixed manner, and could always replace them in time. Although there was no power of artillery to assist the battle, the speed of filling the trenches was not slower than Dorgon's side, and even slightly faster than Haug's north side. .
In particular, he took advantage of the opportunity of sending nearly two thousand elite cavalry to sneak attack the west side of Xuanda's camp. He personally stepped forward to supervise the formation, put on the army's elite horse-armored soldiers, built long ladders, and climbed the wall with ants.
In less than half an hour, he climbed onto the wall south of Xuanda camp three times, one of which was on the wall of Jiazhuang village guarded by Zhang Yan, and twice on the wall of Yang Guozhu's camp.
The Jiazhuang side relied on the heightening and reinforcement of the original village walls. Compared with Yang Guozhu's side, it was easier to defend and harder to attack, so Abatai chose Yang Guozhu's camp as his main offensive position.
Although Dorgon asked him to pretend to attack mainly, and the focus was to contain Yang Guozhu and Zhang Yan's troops and prevent reinforcements from elsewhere, Abatai had other plans in mind.
He and Huang Taiji were both the sons of the old slave chief Ye Boarpi, ranking seventh. He was older than Dorgon in terms of age, but his status in the Qing Dynasty was far lower than that of Dorgon, even his nephews such as Hauge and Yue Tuo. They all have a much higher status than him.
So he had been holding his breath secretly, thinking about performing well. Since the invasion of the Ming Dynasty, he had been cautious until Hauge suffered repeated setbacks at the hands of Lu Xiangsheng, Zhang Cheng and other Ming armies.
It made him feel that this opportunity had come. If he could take the lead in breaking through the Ming army Yang Guozhu's camp during the feint attack, then he would be able to stabilize Hauge's head, and his status in the court and in Huang Taiji's heart would also be improved in the future.
Therefore, the focus of his war supervision was on Yang Guozhu's side. Although he boarded Yang Guozhu's wall twice in succession, he was blocked and retreated, but he clearly felt that Yang Guozhu was somewhat out of strength.
Abatai was eager to make contributions. He ordered Gushan Ezhen Engetu to supervise the attack on the southern gate of Jiazhuang, which was defended by Zhang Yan. He set up a red flag in the Bagala camp, Niulu Zhangjing Tanbai led a small number of Bagala elites to assist in the battle. Here, a large number of Mongolians Soldiers and horses from various banners and ministries took the lead in the attack.
He continued to supervise the attack on the Xuanzang camp of Yang Guozhu's tribe. In order to capture the Xuanzhen camp in one fell swoop, he gathered all his elite troops to prepare for a continuous attack, and ordered the Baya La camp Jia La Zhang Jing Buyan Tu to lead the Baya La warriors with a red flag. Take the lead.
A large number of Qing army's vests and infantry of all banners have gathered here. They will follow the Bagala warriors and climb the wall to cooperate with their attack.
Abatai ordered Adai, the leader of the Eight Banners Mongolian Zhenghuang Banner, to personally lead a Mongolian cavalry, continue to detour to the west of the Haoshui River, and from that direction once again rush into the camps between Xuan Town and Shanxi Town to harass the Ming army.
…………
On the wall in the south of Jiazhuang, Zhang Cheng looked at the Qing troops coming up with a solemn expression. His elite cavalry had fought continuously since entering the defense, especially in Julu. They first attacked the Qing troops and then held on to the camp, which had reduced their numbers. Seriously, the number is now less than 700.
The infantry under Zhang Yan suffered serious damage during the two-day defense. Especially today, the fighting was more intense. Outside the village, they fought several times in close combat with Qing soldiers and killed off a wave of Qing soldiers who climbed the wall.
So far, there are only more than 700 people left to fight, including Lin Zhiyi's Chinese cavalry sentry with nearly 200 troops. Of the only more than 1,000 people left, one is still left on the village wall. Downstairs, guarding the south gate.
Zhang Cheng led more than 800 people to guard the village wall. After a whole day of fierce fighting, the rolling logs and stones prepared earlier were almost used up. Seeing the Qing soldiers charging closer and closer, Zhang Cheng shouted: "Brothers, please Don't be impatient, wait until the Tatars get close before firing, fight to the death and hold on to the village wall!"
His knife stick stood at the crenel beside him, and there was a three-eyed gun on the other side. He held a Kaiyuan bow in his hand and carried a quiver on his back. He turned to look at Zhang standing on the wall to the west of the south gate. rock.
In the wind and snow, Zhang Yan's body was leaning against the crenel, standing there with his spear in hand, as if he was struggling.
Seeing that the Qing army pushed the shield cart thirty steps outside the village wall, they stopped advancing. Teams of their shield soldiers held up large shields and rushed out with shouts. Behind them were long ladders carrying them. .
