Because the sky is not bright yet, Luo Zhixue can't even see the situation at Jubaomen ahead. As for the Zhengyangmen and even Chaoyangmen areas further away, let alone this time, even in broad daylight, the distance is too far. Out of sight.
Jinling City is really too big and different from the cities that the Chu army attacked in the past.
The cities that the Chu army attacked in the past, even if they were well-defended, were still very small in area, which was enough for Luo Zhixue to have an overview of the overall situation from a relatively well-located headquarters.
But Jinling City is different. This place is too big, and when the Chu army attacked the city, they were scattered and the distance was very far.
The headquarters where Luo Zhixue is currently located is six or seven kilometers away from Chaoyang Gate in a straight line; it is also more than four thousand meters away from Zhengyang Gate.
From such a long distance, it is actually difficult for Luo Zhixue to directly observe the battle situation on the front line, and it is also difficult for the staff to conduct real-time temporary command.
The Sixth Division and the First Guards Division currently fighting in the Chaoyangmen and Zhengyangmen areas can only rely on the previously formulated combat plans to fight on their own.
However, judging from the reports from all parties, the situation is still relatively optimistic.
In particular, the Sixth Division had already sent out fireworks signals, indicating that the army had successfully entered the city and began to march towards Zhengyangmen according to the original plan.
Time passed bit by bit, and Luo Zhixue did not return to the tent of the headquarters. Instead, he stood outside and looked at Jinling City ahead.
And as the sky gradually turned white and the line of sight gradually improved, Luo Zhixue finally saw the battle situation in the area of Jubao Gate ahead.
In Luo Zhixue's sight, most of the gate tower of Jubao Gate had been destroyed, and from time to time, artillery shells fell on the gate tower and the nearby city wall.
However, Jubaomen was still controlled by the Ming army. This was because the first division outside the city did not launch an siege operation, but only conducted continuous artillery fire on the front line of Jubaomen.
Jubaomen was originally an important city gate. Not only was its gate tower tall, but the most important part of the city wall was high and thick. Even if the Chu army used a 14-pound cannon to bombard it, it would be difficult to attack this kind of city in a short time. The thick city wall caused no actual damage, let alone directly destroying the city wall.
After all, the city wall in front of us can be up to twenty or thirty meters thick at the bottom, more than ten meters high, and the top of the city wall is as thick as more than ten meters.
The city wall of Jinling City is the thickest wall that the Chu army has ever encountered.
Against such a thick city wall opposite, solid artillery is actually of little use and can only be used to attack the gate towers and battlements.
What can really play a greater role is the mortar, especially the 48-pound heavy mortar.
In front of the thick city wall of Jubao Gate, there is also a moat like other cities.
The moat in the south part of Jinling City outside the city wall is actually the Qinhuai River. Although the width of this section of the Qinhuai River is not as exaggerated as the one hundred or even two hundred meters wide in Xiangyang City, it is still very rare. A large moat.
It is not easy to fill up and cross the moat, and it is impossible to do it in a short time. If you want to quickly cross the moat, the only way is to take the Longgan Bridge.
But if you just kill them through the bridge, it will be very difficult for thousands of troops to break through the single-plank bridge. As long as the Ming army just set up a few artillery on the opposite side, they can kill the attackers.
This is why although the Chu army gathered a large number of troops outside the Jubao Gate, they actually never considered launching a strong attack here.
Because neither the moat nor the city wall is easy to break through. If you really want to get in from here, the casualties required will be huge.
The same principle applies to Tongjimen and Zhengyangmen.
So in the end, the Chu army chose to launch an attack at Chaoyang Gate on the west side. There was no wide moat to block it, and there were no bridges that had to be seized, and there were internal garrison and support.
Therefore, this allowed the Chu army to successfully enter the city from Chaoyang Gate.
Speaking of which, the Chu army twice attacked the strong cities with complete city defense systems, that is, Xiangyang City and now Jinling City. They did not use the traditional strong attack mode, but adopted a clever method of relying on internal support.
On the contrary, when they attacked Nanchang, Changsha, Jiujiang, Hukou and other cities before, they adopted a forced attack mode.
Today, on the front line of Jubaomen, the Chu army did not launch a large-scale infantry attack, but continued to carry out artillery bombardment unhurriedly.
They are waiting!
The Sixth Division waiting to enter the city has reached the front line of Jubaomen!
The Sixth Division they were waiting for at this time was also fighting with the Ming army's stubborn forces in Jinling City.
On the eve of dawn, the Sixth Division had quickly entered the city from Chaoyang Gate, first a commando team, then the 24th Infantry Regiment, and then the 23rd Infantry Regiment.
After the two regiments of the 12th Brigade entered the city, the troops of the 11th Brigade also entered the city one after another.
After entering the city, the Sixth Division was divided into two!
The 12th Brigade, which entered the city first, was responsible for launching an attack along the city wall in the southwest direction. They needed to clear out the remaining enemies on the wall along the way, then capture Zhengyang Gate and enter the city with the 1st Guards Brigade of the 1st Guards Division.
The 11th Infantry Brigade that followed into the city was also split up. The 21st Infantry Regiment fought north along the city wall, capturing and clearing out the defenders on the city wall along the way.
The 22nd Infantry Regiment was ordered to capture Nanjing Palace City and then continue to advance towards the city.
At this time, the Nanjing Palace City had actually been abandoned, and there were a bunch of dilapidated buildings inside. When the Chu thieves were under pressure, the Ming army also stationed troops in the Palace City area to use as a mobile force.
The Sixth Division divided into three groups and quickly launched an attack in various parts of the city. Although they encountered some stubborn resistance from the Ming army along the way, the sudden incident and the chaotic situation meant that the Ming army in the city could not even figure out the situation. Therefore, Most of the Ming armies can only fight independently.
And the most serious thing is that after the news spread that the Chu thieves had entered the city, the morale of the stubborn Ming army in the city was extremely low.
Part of the Ming army saw that the opportunity was not good and ran away directly.
Others tried to resist.
Some even saw that the situation was not good and were forced or took the initiative to surrender.
When the sky just turned white, the 12th Brigade of the Chu Army had already reached Zhengyang Gate. With the cooperation of the 1st Guards Brigade, the more than a thousand Ming troops in this area were unable to resist. After killing and wounding more than a hundred people, they made a quick choice. surrendered.
Immediately afterwards, the 12th Brigade and the 1st Guards Brigade cooperated with each other and continued to attack Tongji Gate in the west along the city wall.
However, when they arrived at the Tongjimen area, they also encountered resistance from more than a thousand new standard troops of the headquarters led by Zhang Guowei in a hurry, as well as the original more than 2,000 Ming troops in the Tongjimen area.
The two sides were fighting on the city wall and on the streets under the city wall.
The sound of gunfire and the rumble of small artillery continued.
But in this kind of close-range melee in a small and complex terrain, the protagonists are not these guns, but the traditional infantrymen wearing heavy armor.
Especially the commandos of the Chu army, the armored soldiers of the Ming army, and the elite servants.
The fight between them is what truly determines the outcome of both parties!
The Chu army's assault force quickly took control of the situation with its absolute advantage in strength and better equipment. Next came the musketeers. The two-hundred-jin short cannon and the two-and-a-half-kilogram field cannon came on stage and dealt with it. Endgame.
After a melee, the Ming army in front of them suffered heavy casualties, and the rest of the army fled on a large scale.
In the melee, Yingtian Governor Zhang Guowei still led his soldiers to carry out the final resistance even when the situation was over.
On the way, some of his subordinates persuaded Zhang Guowei to surrender, saying, "We will be happy to sacrifice ourselves calmly and generously, but my father is eighty years old at home..."
Zhang Guowei drew his sword and killed him on the spot.
When the sky turned completely white, Tongji Gate had been completely captured by the Chu army, and the Third Infantry Regiment of the First Division of the Chu army outside the city quickly entered the city.
When the Chu soldiers arrived at the house where Zhang Guowei was hiding and resisting, they learned that it was Zhang Guowei, the governor of Yingtian, who was resisting. The Ming army guards inside the courtyard were bombarded with muskets, killing and injuring several people.
Immediately, two and a half kilograms of field artillery was used to close in and bombard. After destroying the courtyard wall, more than a hundred Chu army soldiers entered and wiped out the remaining enemies in the courtyard.
During the melee, Zhang Guowei was shot multiple times and died.
After the fighting in the Tongjimen area was completely resolved, the 12th Infantry Brigade, the 1st Guards Brigade, and the 3rd Infantry Regiment merged.
After the three parties converged, the main force continued to fight towards Jubaomen in the west, while part of the 12th Infantry Brigade moved towards the city to support and cooperate with the actions of the 22nd Infantry Regiment.
At about seven o'clock in the morning, the main force of the Chu army after entering the city rushed to the Jubaomen area. At this time, there were not many defenders left in the Jubaomen area.
There were originally more than 1,000 defenders here, and more than 2,000 mobile reinforcements nearby. However, some of them had been urgently mobilized to reinforce the Tongjimen front line and were lost.
Seeing that the situation was not good, the remaining troops had already fled early.
Only the last few hundred people remained, but they stayed not to resist, but to surrender.
As soon as the Chu army arrived, they surrendered directly.
You may not survive by running away, but you can survive by surrendering.
The Chu army has a very good reputation for treating prisoners of war well. If they surrender, not to mention other things, but their lives will definitely be saved. If ordinary soldiers and mid-level and low-level officers are willing to continue to join the army and meet the conditions, they will be incorporated into the garrison. He continued to eat military rations.
Whether others are unwilling to continue serving as soldiers or are unqualified, their lives will not be in danger, but will be organized into various settlement camps, construction camps, etc.
Either they can cultivate and support themselves, or they can help the Chu army with some auxiliary tasks.
Not only will you not lose your life, but you will also be able to make a living.
Therefore, many ordinary soldiers and middle- and low-level officers of the Ming Army actually did not mind surrendering.
After all, working for the Zhu family dynasty is selling one's life, and working for the Luo family dynasty is also selling one's life. There is not much difference between the two.
On the other hand, relatively few senior generals and civil servants are willing to surrender. Those who are willing will usually surrender in advance, while those who are unwilling will often resist until death, commit suicide, or run away.
Only a small number of people who were unable to escape after defeat and did not dare to commit suicide would eventually surrender and become prisoners of war.
With the surrender of the Ming army at Jubao Gate, it meant that the three major gates in the south of Jinling City, plus the Chaoyang Gate on the west side, had completely fallen into the hands of the Chu army.
And part of the troops of the Sixth Division are still launching a fierce attack into the city!
When the news of the fall of Jubaomen also reached the ears of Fan Jingwen, Minister of the Ministry of War of Nanjing and Governor of Nanjing, he was not angry or angry, he just sighed deeply!
Then he left a suicide note, "As a minister, I cannot kill the thieves and avenge my shame. I will die with lingering regrets." Then he threw himself into a deep well in the courtyard and died!
