I want to be emperor

Chapter 450

In order to keep the Chu thieves out of Youzhou City, they even thought about directly defeating the Chu thieves' Northern Expedition by waiting for work at leisure, thereby reversing the fate of the country.

The emperors and ministers of the Ming court also paid their blood...

Even though no money or food was given, Chongzhen still mobilized a large number of frontier troops. More than 4 people were mobilized from the front line of Liaodong alone, more than 2 people were mobilized from the front line of Jizhen, and more than 2 people were mobilized from the front line of Xuanda. people.

In the end, an army of more than 8 people was formed!

It also includes tens of thousands of cavalry!

Among the more than 1 cavalry, there are more than 4000 elite Guanning cavalry.

However, these 8 people relied on Tianjin City for defensive operations, but the effect was not satisfactory.

Zu Dashou and Wu Xiang, who were sent by Hong Chengchou to go southward in a detour, trying to attack the Chu Army's logistics line, were attacked by the Chu Army's cavalry and the Tenth Division as soon as they reached the front line of Wen'an City.

In the absence of stubborn resistance, the Liaodong Army led by Zu Dashou collapsed on its own, leaving behind [-] infantry and artillery, and fled in embarrassment with [-] Guanning cavalry, and this escape went straight to Shanhaiguan .

As a result, Wu Xiang could only take [-] besieged infantry, artillery, and luggage, 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 seriously.

After the defeat of Zu Dashou's troops, Hong Chengchou personally sat in Tianjin to face the main force of the attacking Chu army.

In the previous six days, more than 5000 people were killed or injured due to the fierce shelling of the Chu army and frequent but small-scale assault operations.

Today, after the Chu army launched a fierce offensive against the East Fortress, Hong Chengchou sent cavalry to attack the Chu army's flank in an attempt to turn the tide of the battle. As a result, more than 5000 cavalry attacked, and the first wave of 500-meter cavalry was wiped out by the entire army, which led to subsequent attacks. The second batch and the third batch of Ming cavalry fled without a fight!
In the evening, the East Paotai was officially captured by the Chu army.

The tens of thousands of Ming troops who had been stationed at the East Fort were wiped out, and not a single person escaped.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that all the tens of thousands of Ming troops who were wiped out were killed or injured. In fact, less than 3000 people were actually killed or injured, and most of the remaining soldiers surrendered one after another.

The death and injury of 3000 people does not mean how determined the army is to resist. It is simply that the Chu army bombarded too violently before the Chu army's eighth division launched a general attack, and the Ming army in the East Fortress had already killed and injured more than 1000 people. .

In today's general offensive, the Ming army in the East Fortress actually suffered more than 1000 casualties.

The casualties... are not as many as the Ming army's cavalry attack.

When the Ming army attacked the cavalry, more than 1000 cavalrymen were killed or injured in the first batch of cavalry, and more than 100 cavalrymen were killed or injured by shelling in the early charge of the second batch of cavalry.

Later, Lieutenant General Zhu Xingfa led the cavalry troops and continued to pursue the second and third batches of cavalrymen of the Ming army, killing and wounding one or two hundred cavalrymen of the Ming army one after another.

The cavalry of the Ming army suffered more than 500 casualties in today's battle.

The rest fled without even a head, but these Ming army cavalry who lacked food and grass could not run very far under the continuous pursuit of Zhu Xingfa's cavalry.

Hunger can starve them to death...

Not every cavalry could be the same as the Guanning iron cavalry under Zu Dashou's command. Even if they were chased all the way by the Chu army, they could still plunder food and flee for their lives.

To make a digression, Zu Dashou has already led his troops to Changping and Shunyi, and successfully bypassed Youzhou City. He has already reached the Yutian area. It is estimated that he will be able to escape back to Shanhaiguan,

Chongzhen also sent imperial envoys to inquire about the crime, and ordered them to retreat and continue fighting against the Chu thieves, but Zu Dashou ignored Chongzhen's order at all.

It can be said that going out this time was a heavy loss. Zu Dashou lost more than half of the tens of thousands of troops directly under him, and he brought back only four thousand Guanning cavalry.

This is not counting the other [-] Liaodong troops who are still under Hong Chengchou's command, which are fighting against the Tianjin defense line and the Chu army.

Although the [-] Liaodong army is not considered as Zu Dashou's direct lineage, but can only be said to be the same faction, but as long as they are in Liaodong, there is basically no general who would dare not listen to Zu Dashou's words.

Stronger than Wu Xiang and his son, they are all his soldiers!

From Zu Dashou's point of view, the [-] Liaodong soldiers who are still in Tianjin are probably doomed.

Damn, this wave of entry into the battle is a loss to grandma's house.

Such a Zu Dashou, how could it be possible for Chongzhen's words to turn around and fight the Chu thief foolishly?

This is not going to go to Youzhou City to grab one, which is already worthy of Chongzhen.

Zu Dashou ran away, the East Paotai fell, and the five thousand frontier cavalry lost a thousand or so, and the rest were chased like dogs by the Chu cavalry...

This battle in Tianjin is coming to an end...

Even Hong Chengchou couldn't help being extremely pessimistic now.

That night, he faced the direction of Youzhou city several times and sighed, and then he had some negotiations with the envoys from the Chu army.

This time, the envoys of the Chu army did not give Hong Chengchou any good conditions.

Last time, the treatment of the right servant was offered, but this time the Chu army only left one way for Hong Chengchou: unconditional surrender!
Of course, after surrendering, his life can definitely be saved, and the Chu army does not kill prisoners.

However, only one day has passed, and Hong Chengchou was naturally unconvinced when he watched the right servant become an unconditional surrender.

After a night of entanglement, the Chu army could not wait for Hong Chengchou's surrender reply, so naturally they continued to attack the Tianjin defense line!
And this time the attack has been directly aimed at Tianjin City itself.

After all, with the capture of the East Fort, the Chu army has no obstacles on the east side of Tianjin, and it is completely possible to let go of their hands and feet in this direction and directly attack Tianjin City.

Even the many warships of the navy couldn't bear it and ran up to bombard several fortresses of the Ming army.

Facing the onslaught of the Chu army, even the Tianjin garrison in its heyday could not stop it, let alone the Ming army whose morale is low and the firepower of long-barreled artillery has begun to be insufficient.

The defeat of the five thousand cavalry and the fall of the East Fort dealt a huge blow to the morale of the Ming army within the Tianjin defense line.

Many ordinary soldiers and even low-level generals couldn't help sneaking over to surrender to the Chu army. Last night, at least a thousand Ming soldiers sneaked over to surrender.

Not to mention these ordinary soldiers and low-level generals, even Hong Chengchou, the leader, has never given up negotiating with the Chu army...

It’s just that the surrender conditions between the two sides were not agreed before. Hong Chengchou’s asking price was too high in the early stage, and he wanted the Chu army to give him a letter from the Ministry of War. In order to prevent the Chu army from going back on their word, they wanted the Chu army to publicly announce...

Until yesterday, Hong Chengchou was willing to lower the conditions, but the Chu army had already seen the hypocrisy of the Ming army, and felt that such a steady and steady fight would still win, and the price of winning would not be too high. Some even optimistic people thought that , even if you are not afraid now, as long as you drag it on for a few days, the other side will have to collapse by itself.

At this time, facing Hong Chengchou's conditions, in Li Chengtong's words: "Do you still want to be an official? It would be good to save him a little life!"

So, the next day, the two sides could only continue fighting...

However, Hong Chengchou was not willing to surrender unconditionally, and wanted to rely on continued resistance in exchange for becoming an official of the Great Chu. If Shang Shu can't do it, he should give it to a servant... or else, he can give it to a governor or something...

It's a pity that many generals and ordinary soldiers of the Ming army didn't have as much thought as Hong Chengchou.

Ordinary soldiers and many middle and low-level officers wanted to save their lives. Even the high-ranking generals thought about leading their troops to surrender. Although the military power is gone in the future, at least they can be in vain positions. But it is not a problem to continue to maintain a decent life.

As far as the Chu army is concerned, the senior generals of the Ming army who lead the troops have always been given preferential treatment.

Take thousands of troops and go to the past. Depending on the situation of these troops, the Chu army can basically give you a lieutenant or even a colonel rank, and arrange a vacant position for you to support you...

As a result, the combat effectiveness of the next day after the fall of the East Fortress, even in broad daylight, many Ming troops surrendered in an organized manner.

After some people surrendered, in order to show their loyalty and in exchange for better treatment, they even expressed their willingness to take the initiative to lead troops to counterattack.

However, Chu Jun felt that they were in the way, maybe...

The fighting stopped and stopped, and after a few days passed, more than 1 Ming troops surrendered one after another.

On August [-]th, another important fortress in Tianjin City, that is, the West Fort on the west side of Tianjin City, tens of thousands of remaining defenders announced their surrender during the period!
No way, the Chu army's offensive was too violent, especially after the Chu army took down the East Fort, they were able to further concentrate their forces, especially the artillery, and launched a fierce attack on Tianjin City and the West Fort.

And because Tianjin is still relatively strong and has a large garrison force, in order to avoid too many casualties in the early stage, the Chu army changed the main attack direction to the West Fort.

After more than 1 defenders on the West Fort supported for more than a day, they couldn't hold on after more than a thousand people were killed and injured. Lead troops to surrender directly.

At this time, these generals have successively obtained military ranks ranging from captain of the Chu army to lieutenant colonel, and they will be assigned vacancies in the future. In the future, they will not dare to say that they are rich, but they will definitely live a small life.

If you work hard and have a correct mentality, you can make some achievements even in false positions, and then gain real recognition. At that time, you can also obtain real positions and even lead soldiers like Chen Yongfu and He Renlong. In the next few years, it is also possible to become a veritable senior general in the Chu army.

For example, He Renlong is now the commander of the No.16 Division of the Great Chu Empire Army. In the previous series of battles in the Central Plains, he led the No.16 Division to fight very well. He is currently stationed at Tongguan and the Lushi line, and Sun Chuanting's new army. Qin Jun confronted.

And Chen Yongfu, who is currently leading the No. 19 Division of the Army, is currently fighting in the Guizhou area, and he is also highly valued by the top leaders of the Chu Army.

Even Zheng Zhilong, who later surrendered, is doing quite well in the Great Chu Empire Navy now. Although he held a false position in the early stage, but later because of his positive attitude and hard work, and this person is really capable. He has been appointed as the commander of the Fifth Cruise Fleet under the Beiyang Fleet. Before the Chu army landed on Changshan Eight Islands, he commanded part of the naval fleet.

The generals of the Ming army who control the actual military power, as long as they lead the troops, the Chu army will generally not treat them too harshly.

And this is also one of the reasons why the Ming army often surrendered on a large scale in previous wars.

Ever since, within a few days, the West Fort was finished... Hong Chengchou was left with a lone city of Tianjin and more than 2 remnants of soldiers in the city...

At this time, Hong Chengchou couldn't help but sighed when he looked at the ashen Chu thief outside, and thought to himself:
Surrender unconditionally, surrender unconditionally, it's better than dying...

And take the initiative to surrender in the past, no matter what the other party does, even if it is just for the sake of face, it is impossible to really throw yourself aside. Shi Kefa, Xie Xuelong, and Song Zushun are all just governors. obtained an official position.

I voted for it myself, even if I can't be a minister, even if I don't even have a servant, but the other party can't really give me an official position, right?

After all, he is a governor.

It doesn't matter if the position is lower in the early stage, just get up slowly when you turn back. With your own means, it is not easy to become a minister in the Great Chu Empire in the future.

Thinking of this, Hong Chengchou turned around, ready to ask his subordinates to call the envoys of the Chu army over to discuss the matter of unconditional surrender...

Anyway, I still have more than 2 troops left. Although I surrendered unconditionally, I should save myself some dignity!

It's just that as soon as he turned around, he saw a group of armored soldiers rushing towards him, and they were bending their bows and shooting arrows while running.

Open your eyes and look carefully, the leading general is still a confidant general whom you trust very much.

Hong Chengchou panicked suddenly: "You...what do you want to do?"

It's a pity that no one answered him, all he was waiting for was a wave of arrows...

With several arrows stuck in his chest, Hong Chengchou slumped on the ground against the corner of the wall. At this time, he was out of breath, and blood was still oozing from the corner of his mouth.

He wanted to speak to his former confidant who came forward with the knife, but he could only see his lips move slightly, but he couldn't say anything.

Hong Chengchou was hit by at least a dozen arrows, seven or eight of which hit his upper torso. At this time, he couldn't even breathe, let alone speak.

He tried hard to struggle, but he couldn't move his body at all.

He tried to speak, but all he could hear was a vague whimper.

Unable to move or speak, he could only watch helplessly as his former confidant came forward with a knife in his hand. Then, he saw the general of the Ming army chop off Hong Chengchou's head with a single knife.

After the head fell to the ground, the middle-aged general picked up the head with one hand and held it high, loudly said to the left and right: "The certificate of honor has been obtained, we open the city gate to welcome Wang Shi into the city!"

No one knew that what Hong Chengchou wanted to say before he died was: "I want to surrender too..."

(End of this chapter)