On the north wall of Zhongxiang, as the assault battalion of the Baoxiang Army rushed to the top of the city and withstood the first wave of counterattacks by the elite heavy armor of the Ming Army, more Baoxiang Army soldiers climbed up to the top of the city through ladders.
Soon, the number of Baoxiang soldiers on the top of the city exceeded 500. Some of these Baoxiang soldiers who climbed up to the top of the city descended from the city wall and began to attack near the city wall, while others moved toward the city wall. Attacks were launched on both sides of the city wall.
Facing a large number of heavily armored Baoxiang soldiers, the ordinary guardsmen of the Ming army simply did not stand up to them, and did not even have the courage to resist.
Some soldiers with armor were also disorganized and unable to organize large-scale organized resistance in time, and were continuously encroached and forced to retreat.
Among them, the elite heavy armor composed of more than 200 soldiers, servants and low-level officers, who had high hopes, stabilized their position at first, and even killed some of the soldiers who climbed into the city to protect the countryside. However, they were soon attacked by the enemy. A volley attack from the first musketry post in the military assault camp.
Under the cover of a large number of heavily armored swordsmen, shieldmen and spearmen, the first musket sentry continued to attack the unit with muskets.
It didn't take long before this elite Ming army, which could be said to be the only one on the northern city wall capable of resisting the push of the Home Guard Army, had dozens of casualties.
With extremely heavy casualties, the remaining elite armored soldiers, no matter how brave they were and how tenacious they were in fighting, had to be defeated in the face of the assault battalion, which already had a strength advantage and had a group of musketeers in addition to heavy armor.
When Tang Hui saw that more than half of the more than two hundred elite heavy armors were killed and wounded, and the remaining more than a hundred people had to retreat, he closed his eyes.
This battle is over!
Even though he is just a civil servant and not very proficient in military affairs, he has led a large army to participate in the war to encircle and suppress the bandits, and he can still see some basic things.
At this point in this battle, Zhong Xiangcheng is already doomed.
Even though there are at least 10,000 troops in the city now, it is still over.
Because the rebels have already broken through the city, thousands of these rebels will pour into the city, and it is almost impossible for the officers and soldiers who were defeated from the city to organize a large-scale resistance.
Once the large-scale organized resistance is lost, even if some officers and soldiers still resist, it will only be sporadic resistance.
This is no longer able to turn the tide of the war.
Tang Hui closed his eyes, and several generals next to him also looked frightened. One of them hesitated for a while and then said: "Qian Xian, Zhong Xiang is very strong in protecting the thieves. I'm afraid Zhong Xiang won't be able to hold on, but..."
"But I still have more than 10,000 officers and soldiers, and there are strategic places such as Hanyang, Wuchang, and Jingzhou in the rear. We can resist continuously to delay the pace of the rebel army and wait for reinforcements from several surrounding provinces."
"We still have a chance!"
As soon as this person's words came out, other people also spoke one after another: "Yes, the battle against the thieves is not achieved overnight. Although we are disappointed today, we have figured out the tactics to protect the thieves. When we follow up, we will be stationed in Hanyang , it will be easier when traveling to Wuchang and other places.”
"Although the thieves are strong, they are not unable to resist. The strength of the thieves lies in the strength of guns. As long as we can build city defenses to resist the guns and cannons, we can expect to destroy the thieves!"
These people's words fell into Tang Hui's ears. After a long time, he opened his eyes and said, "If you lose, you will lose. Now the only way is to die to repay the emperor's favor."
After all, he was just pretending to grab the knife from the soldier next to him.
"My lord, no!"
"You can't do it!"
"More than that..."
As soon as Tang Hui made a move, several generals around him had already stepped forward to stop him, giving him no chance to grab a knife and kill himself...
After struggling for a while, Tang Hui glared at everyone: "Are you trying to ruin my innocence?"
"I, Tang Hui, repay the emperor's kindness and care for the people. Will this Qingming Festival be ruined like this?"
Immediately, a confidant general said: "Qian Xian's words are wrong. Although death can preserve one's reputation for a lifetime, how can a mere personal honor and disgrace be compared with the country and the country?"
"Now that the thieves are strong, Chubei and even Huguang are in danger. Today, I humbly ask Qian Xian to protect the safety of Huguang. The tens of millions of people in Huguang will temporarily abandon their personal honor and disgrace and continue to lead us to fight again!"
"Although we are sorry to be defeated today, we have gained something. We know the advantages and disadvantages of protecting the thieves, and we have the Yangtze River natural moat and the fortified city of Wuchang behind us. As long as we can lead our troops to break through, we can rely on Wuchang to defend, refuse to protect the thieves in the north of the Yangtze River, and choke off the enemy." Protect the thieves from Chubei."
Tang Hui listened without speaking for a long time. After about a while, he suddenly stretched out his hand to cover his chest and collapsed to the ground with a cry of 'Ah'...
The close confidant generals hurriedly stepped forward to support him. After taking a glance, he immediately turned around and said to everyone: "Qian Xian was worried about military affairs and has fainted."
"Quick, let's break out with the adults!"
After hearing this, the others immediately spoke up one by one: "Yes, leave quickly, leave now. Since Qian Xian has fainted and cannot handle matters, we boldly ordered the retreat. There is nothing we can do if Lord Qian Xian blames us in the future." ”
As the man spoke, he turned around and walked back. The more he walked, the faster he walked...
At first it was just walking, but soon it turned into a quick walk, and a few seconds later it turned into a trot. After just a few trots, I immediately started running as fast as I could...
The thieves are almost here to kill them, and if they run too slowly, it will be too late.
The others followed one after another, and of course they did not forget to send Tang Hui, who had fainted, to the north.
Tang Hui, who was being carried away, seemed to wake up. He opened his right eye a little and looked at it, but after only one glance, he closed it again.
When Tang Hui and other generals began to break out of the encirclement with their henchmen and ran towards the South City Gate, other Ming troops followed and ran towards the South City Gate.
But at this time, the Ming army on the left side of the northern city wall, where the fighting was the fiercest, did not receive an order to retreat.
To be precise, no one actually issued a formal retreat order. After Tang Hui fainted, the generals began to retreat with their armies.
On the left side of the north city wall, Commander-in-Chief Lin Nianyao looked at the security guards who were pressing forward again, and couldn't help but secretly thought something bad.
These security thieves are really difficult to fight. Every one of the security thieves who entered the city, even the musketeers, were wearing armor.
Moreover, the leading group of heavily armored thieves were even more powerful. Even Lin Nianyao organized several soldiers to resist, but they were unable to resist.
First, the city head was lost, and then the area around the north city gate was lost. Now he has led his troops to retreat to a barracks behind the city wall.
During this process, the troops under his command suffered countless casualties. Less than 500 soldiers followed him back, and more than 100 of them were elite heavy armor temporarily under his command.
However, before the rebels officially attacked the city yesterday, there were at least 6,000 troops on the left side of the northern city wall.
However, after several artillery attacks by the rebels, at least several hundred people were killed and injured. And today, after the rebels attacked the city, the casualties under his command were even more numerous.
Now that the war has started, he knows that Zhong Xiang is finished, and he himself is almost finished.
All the six thousand generals under his command were defeated, including four thousand troops directly under his command.
Without these 4,000 troops under his direct command, he became a mere commander. Even if he did not die in battle, his future would not be much better. Being dismissed from office was a frivolous matter. If not, he might be blamed and his family and family exterminated.
However, now the security guards don't seem to have any intention of rushing up to attack the barracks, but are stopping far outside. Lin Nianyao naturally doesn't know that these security guards are waiting for two hundred kilograms of short robes or even six hundred pounds from behind. Come over here.
The Baoxiang Army has conquered many cities and has a good understanding of how to clear out the remnant enemies huddled in the buildings within the city.
It's unreliable to just rush over stupidly, and if you win, it will cause a lot of casualties.
What is the method of protecting the hometown army?
Just pull up the artillery and get close to shell...
This ordinary building, even a house with brick and wood structure, cannot withstand artillery.
These field artillery pieces of the Baoxiang Army can't do anything against city walls, but they can be used to bombard ordinary buildings with great accuracy.
The soldiers of the Baoxiang Army waited for the light artillery to come up, which also allowed Lin Nianyao to take a breath, but it was only when he waited that he realized something was wrong.
All nearby friendly forces seem to be retreating one after another. Are they about to retreat?
Lin Nianyao immediately sent a confidant to retreat from the rear to inquire about the situation. It took a while for the confidant general to return.
"General, this is bad!"
Lin Nianyao said: "What's wrong? Are you going to retreat?"
The confidant general said: "Lord Qian Xian fainted. Other generals have led troops to the south gate one after another, saying they want to break out and return to Wuchang."
"Fainted?" Lin Nianyao almost cursed after hearing this.
At this critical moment, Tang Hui actually fainted? Are you kidding me...Sooner or later, if you want to call it a coincidence, Lin Nianyao will be able to twist off his own head on the spot and sprinkle it with his own urine.
Also, no one gave the most important retreat order? But each one does his own thing?
Lin Nianyao didn't have time to think carefully about why Tang Hui fainted at this critical moment, and immediately said: "Instruct us to go down and we will break out immediately."
However, Lin Nianyao was still too late. He had just ordered a breakout, but before he started taking action, there was a burst of artillery fire outside. At the same time, a dark solid body flew into the barracks where Nian Linyao and the others were occupied. Cannonballs.
Immediately after several more gunshots were fired, the thin courtyard wall and gate outside collapsed directly, and then intensive gunfire rang out.
All of a sudden, bullets, shrapnel, iron beads, gravel, and broken wood flew everywhere, killing and injuring nearby Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers.
Through the tattered courtyard wall, Lin Nianyao could see that the heavy armored army of hundreds of thieves outside had rushed over!
Ruined……
Lin Nianyao's breakout came to nothing before it even started, and he himself became a prisoner of war a few minutes later...
After becoming a prisoner of war, Lin Nianyao seemed very depressed and did not resist. He allowed his guards to tie him up.
And when a person who looked like the leader of the security guards came to ask him about the situation of the Ming army, especially the movements of Tang Hui and other senior civil and military officials of the Ming army, Lin Nianyao showed a mocking smile: "Tang Hui, I heard that he fainted. After I got there, I was carried away!"
