In order to keep the Chu thieves out of Youzhou City, they even thought of directly defeating the Chu thieves' Northern Expedition and reversing the fate of the country by waiting for work.
The kings and ministers of the Ming Dynasty also spent a lot of money...
Although he was not given a cent of money or food, Chongzhen still mobilized a large number of frontier troops. More than 40,000 people were mobilized on the Liaodong front line alone, more than 20,000 people were mobilized on the Jizhen front line, and more than 20,000 were mobilized on the Xuanda front line. people.
In the end, an army of more than 80,000 people was formed!
This also includes tens of thousands of cavalry!
Among the more than 10,000 cavalry, there are more than 4,000 elite Guan Ning cavalry.
However, these more than 80,000 people relied on Tianjin City to carry out defensive operations, but the results were unsatisfactory.
Zu Dashou and Wu Xiang, who were sent by Hong Chengchou to detour south and try to attack the Chu army's logistics line, led ten thousand people. As soon as they reached the front line of Wen'an City, they were sniped by the Chu army's cavalry troops and the 10th Division.
Without putting up a stubborn resistance, the Liaodong Army led by Zu Dashou collapsed on its own, abandoned 6,000 infantry and artillery, and fled in embarrassment with 4,000 Guanning cavalry, and this escape went straight to Shanhaiguan. .
As a result, Wu Xiang could only take 6,000 besieged infantry, artillery and baggage and other troops, and finally surrendered to the Chu army.
In this battle, Zu Dashou's troops were not even able to cause actual casualties to the Chu army, because the two sides had never fought in a serious manner.
After Zu Dashou's troops were defeated, Hong Chengchou personally took command of Tianjin to fight against the main force of the incoming Chu army.
In the previous six days, more than 5,000 people had been killed or injured due to the Chu army's fierce shelling and frequent but small-scale assault operations.
Today, after the Chu army launched a fierce offensive on the East Fort, Hong Chengchou sent cavalry to attack the Chu army's flanks in an attempt to reverse the battle. As a result, more than 5,000 cavalry attacked, and the first wave of 1,500 meters of cavalry was completely destroyed, and As a result, the second and third batches of Ming cavalry fled without a fight!
By evening, the East Fort was officially captured by the Chu army.
The tens of thousands of Ming troops originally stationed at the East Fort were wiped out, and not a single person escaped.
Of course, the tens of thousands of Ming troops that were completely destroyed did not mean that all of them were killed or wounded. In fact, the actual number of casualties was less than 3,000, and most of the remaining soldiers surrendered one after another.
The fact that 3,000 people were killed and wounded does not mean that the army's determination to resist was high. It was simply that the Chu army's shelling was too violent. Before the 8th Division of the Chu army launched the general attack, the Ming army in the East Fort had already suffered more than 1,000 casualties. People.
In today's general offensive, the Ming army in the East Fort actually only suffered more than a thousand casualties.
The casualties... were not as many as the Ming army's cavalry attack.
The Ming army attacked the cavalry, and the first batch of cavalry alone suffered more than a thousand casualties. The second batch of cavalry also suffered more than a hundred casualties from shelling during the early charge.
Subsequently, Army Lieutenant General Zhu Xingfa led the cavalry troops and continued to pursue the second and third batches of Ming army cavalry, killing one or two hundred Ming army cavalry one after another.
The Ming cavalry suffered more than 1,500 casualties in today's battle.
The rest fled without knowing how to do it. However, these Ming army cavalry, which lacked food and grass supplies, could not run very far under the continuous pursuit of Zhu Xingfa's cavalry.
They could starve to death...
Not every cavalry can be like the Guan Ning cavalry under Zu Dashou. Even if they are chased all the way by the Chu army, they can still plunder food and grass and escape with their lives.
As an aside, Zu Dashou has led his troops to Changping and Shunyi, successfully bypassing Youzhou City. Now they have reached the Yutian area. It is estimated that they will be able to escape back to Shanhaiguan and Shanhaiguan in a few days.
Chongzhen also sent an imperial envoy to investigate the crime and ordered them to go back and continue fighting against the Chu thieves, but Zu Dashou ignored Chongzhen's order at all.
This time out of the border, it can be said that the losses were heavy. Most of the tens of thousands of troops directly under Zu Dashou were lost, and only four thousand Guanning cavalry were brought back by him.
This does not include the other 30,000 Liaodong troops still under Hong Chengchou, who are fighting the Chu army on the Tianjin defense line.
Although these 30,000 Liaodong troops are not considered direct descendants of Zu Dashou, they can only be said to be the same faction. However, as long as they are in Liaodong, there is basically no general who dares not to listen to Zu Dashou.
As strong as Wu Xiang and his son, they are all soldiers under his command!
According to Zu Dashou, the thirty thousand Liaodong soldiers still in Tianjin are probably doomed.
Damn it, my grandma’s family is at a loss for this wave of battles.
How could such Zu Dashou still support Chongzhen and then foolishly turn around and fight against the Chu thieves?
If you don't go to Youzhou City to grab one, it's already worthy of Chongzhen.
Zu Dashou ran away, the East Fort fell, and the five thousand frontier cavalry lost more than a thousand, and the rest were chased like dogs by the Chu cavalry...
This Battle of Tianjin is going to end...
Even Hong Chengchou couldn't help but feel extremely pessimistic now.
That night, he sighed several times facing the direction of Youzhou City, and then had some negotiations with the envoys from the Chu army.
This time, the Chu army envoy did not give Hong Chengchou any good conditions.
Last time, they offered the right minister's treatment, but this time the Chu army only left one way for Hong Chengchou: surrender unconditionally!
Of course, your life can be saved after surrendering, but the Chu army does not kill prisoners.
However, only one day had passed. Hong Chengchou watched the right minister surrender unconditionally, and he was naturally unconvinced.
After a night of entanglement, the Chu army could not wait for Hong Chengchou's surrender reply, so they naturally continued to attack Tianjin's defense line!
And this time the attack has been directed towards Tianjin City itself.
After all, after capturing the East Fort, the Chu army no longer had any obstacles on the east side of Tianjin, and they could freely attack Tianjin City in this direction.
Even many warships of the navy couldn't bear it and ran up directly to bombard several fortresses of the Ming army.
Facing the fierce attack of the Chu army, even the Tianjin defenders in their heyday could not stop it, let alone the Ming army, which now had low morale and began to lack long-barreled artillery firepower.
The defeat of the five thousand cavalry and the fall of the East Fort were a huge blow to the morale of the Ming army within the Tianjin defense line.
Many ordinary soldiers and even middle and low-level generals could not help but sneak over and surrender to the Chu army. Last night, at least a thousand Ming troops sneaked over and surrendered.
Not to mention these ordinary soldiers and low-level generals, even the leader Hong Chengchou never gave up negotiating with the Chu army...
It's just that the two sides had not agreed on the surrender conditions before. Hong Chengchou's price was too high in the early stage, and he wanted the Chu army to give him a minister of war. In addition, in order to prevent the Chu army from going back on his word, he wanted the Chu army to make a public announcement...
Until yesterday, Hong Chengchou was willing to lower the conditions, but the Chu army had seen the Ming army's weakness and reality, and felt that they would win if they fought so steadily, and the price of victory would not be high. Some even optimistic people thought that , even if you are not afraid now, if you delay this for a few days, the other side will collapse on its own.
At this time, faced with Hong Chengchou's conditions, in Li Chengtong's words: "Do you still want to be an official? It would be good to leave him a small life!"
So, the two sides could only continue fighting the next day...
However, Hong Chengchou was unwilling to surrender unconditionally. He wanted to continue resisting in exchange for becoming an official of Chu. If the chancellor couldn't do it, he could at least give him a minister... If not, he could give him a governor or something like that...
Unfortunately, many Ming army generals and ordinary soldiers did not think as much as Hong Chengchou.
Ordinary soldiers and many mid-level and low-level officers want to save their lives. Even senior generals are thinking about leading their troops to surrender. Although they will lose their military power in the future, they can still hold a false position. They dare not say that they can keep their glory and wealth in the future. But continuing to maintain a decent life is not a problem.
As for the Chu army, they have always given preferential treatment to the senior generals of the Ming army who led the troops.
Bring thousands of troops to go there. Depending on the situation of these troops, the Chu army can basically give you a lieutenant or even a colonel rank, and then arrange a vacant position for you to provide for your retirement...
As a result, the fighting strength the next day after the fall of the East Fort, even in broad daylight, was that many Ming troops surrendered in organized form.
After some people surrendered, in order to show their loyalty and in exchange for better treatment, they would even express their willingness to lead troops to counterattack.
However, the Chu army felt that they were in the way, maybe...
The fighting stopped, and after a few days, more than 10,000 Ming troops surrendered one after another.
By August 5, another important fortress in Tianjin City, the West Fort on the west side of Tianjin City, during this period, tens of thousands of remaining defenders announced their surrender!
There was no way, the Chu army's offensive was too fierce, especially after the Chu army captured the East Fort, they were able to further concentrate their forces, especially artillery, to launch a fierce attack on Tianjin City and the West Fort.
And because Tianjin is relatively strong and has a relatively large number of garrison troops, the Chu army changed its main attack direction to the west fort in order to avoid too many casualties in the early stage.
After holding on for more than a day, the more than 10,000 defenders on the West Fort could not hold on after more than a thousand casualties. Several generals leading the army killed the governor of Xuanfu and the eunuch supervising the army who were supervising the battle at the West Fort. Directly lead the troops to surrender.
At this time, these generals have successively obtained military ranks ranging from captain to lieutenant colonel in the Chu Army. They will also be assigned to vacant posts in the future. They dare not say that they will be rich and powerful in the rest of their lives, but they will definitely be able to get by in their small lives.
If you work hard and have a correct mentality, you can make some achievements even in a false position, and then gain real recognition. At that time, like Chen Yongfu, He Renlong and other demoted generals, you can obtain actual duties and even lead troops. , In the next few years, it is possible to become a veritable senior general in the Chu army.
For example, He Renlong is now the commander of the 16th Division of the Dachu Empire Army. In the previous series of battles in the Central Plains, he led the 16th Division to fight very well. He is currently stationed at Tongguan and Lushi, and is working with Sun Chuanting's new army. The Qin army faced off.
Chen Yongfu, currently leading the 19th Army Division, is currently fighting in Guizhou, and he is also highly regarded by the top brass of the Chu Army.
Even Zheng Zhilong, who later surrendered, is now doing well in the navy of the Da Chu Empire. Although he only held a false position in the early stage, but later because of his positive attitude and hard work, plus this person is indeed very capable, he is currently He has been appointed as the commander of the Fifth Cruiser Fleet under the Beiyang Fleet. Before the Chu army landed on the eight islands of Changshan, he commanded part of the naval fleet.
The generals of the Ming army who control the actual military power will generally not be treated too harshly by the Chu army as long as they lead the troops.
And this was one of the reasons why the Ming army often surrendered on a large scale in previous wars.
So, within a few days, the West Fort was finished... Hong Chengchou was left with Tianjin City alone and more than 20,000 remaining soldiers in the city...
At this time, Hong Chengchou looked at the gray Chu thieves outside and couldn't help but sigh, thinking to himself:
Surrender unconditionally, surrender unconditionally, it is better than losing your life...
Moreover, if you take the initiative to surrender, no matter what the opponent does, even if it is just for the sake of face, it is impossible for him to really throw him aside. Shi Kefa, Jie Xuelong, and Song Zushun are just governors. How much will they do after surrendering? Obtained an official position.
If you apply yourself, even if you can't become a minister, even if you don't even have a minister, it's impossible for the other party to really deny you a full official position, right?
After all, he is a governor.
It doesn't matter if your position is lower in the early stage, just get up slowly later. With your own methods, it will be easy to become a minister in the Chu Empire in the future.
Thinking of this, Hong Chengchou turned around and prepared to ask his men to call the Chu army envoy over to discuss unconditional surrender...
After all, I still have more than 20,000 troops left. Although I surrender unconditionally, I still have to leave some dignity for myself!
But as soon as he turned around, he saw a group of armored soldiers rushing towards him from behind, and they were flexing their bows and nocking arrows as they ran.
If you look carefully with your eyes wide open, you will see that the leading general is still a confidant general that he trusts very much.
Hong Chengchou suddenly panicked: "You... what do you want to do?"
It's a pity that no one answered him. All he waited for was a wave of arrows...
Hong Chengchou, who had several arrows stuck in his chest, leaned against the corner and collapsed on the ground. At this time, he was out of breath, and blood was still oozing from the corners of his mouth.
He wanted to speak to his former confidant who came forward with a knife, but he could only see his lips moving slightly, but no words came out.
Hong Chengchou was hit by at least a dozen arrows, seven or eight of which hit his upper torso. At this time, he could not even breathe, let alone speak.
He tried hard to struggle, but he couldn't move his body at all.
He opened his mouth to speak, but there was only an indistinct whimper.
Unable to move or speak, he could only watch helplessly as his former confidant came forward with a knife. Then, he saw the Ming army general chop off Hong Chengchou's head with a knife.
After the head fell to the ground, the middle-aged general picked up the head with one hand and held it high, loudly shouting to the left and right: "We have received the certificate of surrender, we will open the city gate to welcome the king's army into the city!"
No one knows what Hong Chengchou wanted to say before he died: "I must also surrender..."
