I want to be emperor

Chapter 351 Sweeping and loyal ministers

Because the sky is not yet bright, Luo Zhixue can't even see the situation of Jubao Gate in front of him now. As for the Zhengyang Gate and even Chaoyang Gate in the farther distance, let alone this time, even in broad daylight it is too far away. invisible.

Jinling City is really too big, and it is different from the cities attacked by the Chu army in the past.

The cities attacked by the Chu army in the past, even though the city defenses were thick, were very small, enough for Luo Zhixue to have an overview of the overall situation from a relatively well-positioned headquarters.

But Jinling City is different. This place is too big, and when the Chu army attacked the city, it was scattered and the distance was very far.

The headquarters where Luo Zhixue is currently located is 7000-4000 meters away from Chaoyangmen in a straight line; it is also more than [-] meters away from Zhengyangmen.

With such a long distance, it was already difficult for Luo Zhixue to directly observe the battle situation on the front line, and it was also difficult for the staff to conduct real-time temporary command.

The Sixth Division and the First Guard Division, which are now fighting in Chaoyangmen and Zhengyangmen, can only rely on the previously formulated combat plan to fight on their own.

However, judging from the situation reported by all parties, the situation is quite optimistic.

In particular, the Sixth Division had already set off a firework signal, indicating that the army had successfully entered the city, and began to march into Zhengyangmen as originally planned.

Time passed bit by bit, Luo Zhixue did not return to the tent of the headquarters, but stood outside looking at Jinling City in front of him.

And as the sky gradually turned white and his sight gradually improved, Luo Zhixue finally saw the battle situation in the Jubaomen area ahead.

In Luo Zhixue's sight, most of the gate tower of Jubao Gate had been destroyed, and shells fell on the gate tower and the nearby city wall from time to time.

But Jubaomen is still under the control of the Ming army. This is because the first division outside the city did not launch a siege operation, but only continued to shoot at the front line of Jubaomen.

Jubaomen was originally an important city gate. Not to mention its tall gate tower, the most important part of the city wall is tall and thick. Even if the Chu army used fourteen catties of cannon to bombard it, it would be difficult to deal with this kind of attack in a short time. What practical damage did the thick city wall cause, let alone destroy the city wall directly.

After all, the bottom of the city wall in front of you can be as thick as 30 meters, the height can reach more than ten meters, and the thickness of the top of the city wall can reach more than ten meters.

The city wall of Jinling City is the thickest city wall the Chu army has ever encountered.

With such a thick city wall on the opposite side, the solid artillery is actually not very useful, and can only be used to attack the gate tower and battlements.

What can really play a greater role is the mortar, especially the 48-jin heavy mortar.

In front of the thick city wall of Jubao Gate, there is a moat like other cities.

The moat in the southern part of Jinling City outside the city wall is actually the Qinhuai River. Although the width of the Qinhuai River in this section is not as exaggerated as the one hundred or even more than 200 meters wide in Xiangyang City, it is still very rare. The moat is gone.

It is not easy to fill up and pass through, 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 Changgan Bridge.

But if you just kill through the bridge, it is very difficult for thousands of troops to break through the single-plank bridge. The Ming army only needs to set up a few artillery pieces on the opposite side, and they can beat the attacker to death.

This is why the Chu army never actually considered launching a strong attack here even though they gathered heavy troops at Jubao Gate.

Because neither the moat nor the city wall is so easy to break through. If you really want to get in from here, the casualties you need to pay will be huge.

The same principle also applies to Tongji Gate and Zhengyang Gate.

So in the end, the Chu army chose to attack at Chaoyang Gate on the west side. There is no wide moat to block this place, and there is no bridge that must be seized, and there are internal garrison and support.

Therefore, this allowed the Chu army to successfully enter the city from Chaoyang Gate.

Speaking of which, the two times when the Chu army attacked Jiancheng with a complete city defense system, that is, Xiangyang City and the current Jinling City, they did not adopt the traditional strong attack mode, but adopted a tricky method of relying on internal support.

On the contrary, when they attacked Nanchang, Changsha, Jiujiang, Hukou and other cities before, they adopted the mode of forced attack.

On the front line of Jubaomen today, the Chu army did not launch a large-scale infantry attack, but continued to shell at a leisurely pace.

They are waiting!

The Sixth Division waiting to enter the city has reached the front line of Jubao Gate!
And the Sixth Division they were waiting for at this time was also fighting against the Ming army's recalcitrant forces in Jinling City.

On the eve of dawn, the Sixth Division entered the city quickly from Chaoyangmen. First, it was an assault team, then the No. 20 Fourth Infantry Regiment, and then the No. 20 Third Infantry Regiment.

After the two regiments of the No.12 Brigade entered the city, the troops of the No.11 Brigade also entered the city one after another.

After entering the city, the part of the Sixth Division was divided into two!
The No.12 Brigade, which entered the city first, was responsible for launching an attack along the city wall to the southwest. They needed to clear out the remaining enemies on the city wall along the way, then captured Zhengyang Gate, and entered the city with the First Guards Brigade of the First Guards Division.

The No.11 Infantry Brigade, which entered the city later, was also split up. The No.20 Infantry Regiment marched northward along the city wall, capturing and clearing out the defenders on the city wall along the way.

The No.20 Second Infantry Regiment, after being ordered to capture Nanjing Miyagi, continued to advance towards the urban area.

At this time, the palace city of Nanjing was actually already deserted, and there were a bunch of dilapidated buildings inside. When the Chu thieves pressed the border, the Ming army also stationed troops around the palace city as a mobile force.

The soldiers of the Sixth Division divided into three groups and quickly launched an attack towards 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 prevented the Ming army in the city from even being able to figure out the situation. Most of the Ming armies could only fight on their own.

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.

Some of the Ming army saw that the situation was not good, so they ran away.

Still others try to resist.

Seeing that the situation was not good, some were forced or voluntarily surrendered.

When the sky was just turning white, the No.12 Brigade of the Chu Army had already reached Zhengyangmen. With the cooperation of the First Guards Brigade, the thousands of Ming troops in this area could not resist at all. After more than a hundred casualties, they simply chose surrendered.

Immediately afterwards, the No.12 Brigade and the [-]st 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 the resistance of more than a thousand new standard troops from the headquarters led by Zhang Guowei and the original two thousand Ming troops in the Tongjimen area.

The two sides were fighting on the city wall and on the streets under the city wall.

Gunshots, the rumble of small artillery pieces continued.

But in the close-range melee in this narrow terrain with complex terrain, the protagonists are not these guns, but traditional infantry in heavy armor.

Especially the commandos in the Chu army, the armored soldiers in the Ming army, and the elite family members.

The fight between them is what really determines the outcome of both sides!

As for the assault troops of the Chu army, relying on their absolute superiority in strength and better equipment, they quickly took control of the situation. Next came the musketeers. endgame.

After a melee, the Ming army in front of them suffered heavy casualties, and the rest of the army fled in large scale when the situation was not good.

During the scuffle, Yingtian Governor Zhang Guowei still led his own soldiers in the last stubborn resistance even when the general situation was over.

On the way, some subordinates persuaded Zhang Guowei to surrender, saying, "Be calm and generous, and sacrifice your life generously. I will be willing to wait for you, but my father is old in his eighties..."

Zhang Guowei drew his sword and beheaded him on the spot.

When the sky was 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 soldiers of the Chu army arrived at the house where Zhang Guowei was hiding and recalcitrant, they learned that the recalcitrant in the house was Zhang Guowei, the governor of Yingtian, and tried to surrender many times, but to no avail. There were several casualties from the musket bombardment of Ming army guards in the courtyard.

Immediately, two and a half catties of field guns were used to approach the shelling. After destroying the courtyard wall, more than a hundred soldiers of the Chu army rushed in and wiped out the remaining enemies in the courtyard.

During the scuffle, Zhang Guowei was shot multiple times and died.

After the battle in the Tongjimen area was completely resolved, the No.12 Infantry Brigade merged with the First Guards Brigade and the Third Infantry Regiment.

After the three sides converged, the main force continued to fight towards Jubaomen in the west, and part of the No.12 Infantry Brigade's troops went to the urban area to support and cooperate with the No.20 Second Infantry Regiment.

At around [-]:[-] in the morning, the main force of the Chu army after entering the city reached the Jubaomen area, but there were not many defenders in the Jubaomen area at this time.

There were more than a thousand defenders here, and there were more than two thousand mobile reinforcements nearby, but some of them had been urgently called in to reinforce the front line of Tongjimen and were damaged.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the remaining part of the troops had already fled early.

Only the last few hundred remained, but they stayed not to resist, but to surrender.

As soon as the Chu army arrived, they surrendered directly.

Escaping may not necessarily save one's life, but surrendering does.

The Chu army has a good reputation for treating prisoners of war. If they surrender, let alone other things, their lives will definitely be saved. If ordinary soldiers and low-level officers are willing to continue to join the army and meet the conditions, they will be incorporated into the garrison. Continue to eat military rations.

Whether other people are unwilling to continue to serve as soldiers, or they are unqualified, their lives will not be in danger, but they will be organized into various reclamation camps, construction camps, etc.

Either it is self-sufficient, or it helps the Chu army to do some auxiliary affairs.

Not only will you not lose your life, but you can also make a living.

Therefore, many ordinary soldiers and low-level officers of the Ming army did not mind surrendering.

After all, to work for the Zhu family dynasty is to work hard, and to work for the Luo family dynasty is also to work hard. There is not much difference between the two.

On the contrary, relatively few senior generals and civil servants are willing to surrender. Those who intend to surrender will generally surrender anyway in advance, and those who are unwilling will often resist to death or commit suicide, or run away.

Only a small number of people who could not 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 city gates in the south of Jinling City, and the Chaoyang Gate on the west side had completely fallen into the hands of the Chu army.

And part of the Sixth Division's troops are still launching a fierce attack on the city!

When the news of the fall of Jubaomen also reached the ears of the Shangshu of the Ministry of War in Nanjing and Fan Jingwen, the governor of Nanjing, he was neither angry nor angry, but just sighed deeply!
Immediately left a suicide note "As a minister, you can't exterminate the thieves and avenge your shame, and you will have more regrets after death" and then threw yourself into the deep well in the courtyard and died!

(End of this chapter)