The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 258
"squeak----"

With a heart-wrenching creaking sound, the tall and heavy Jinan City Gate slowly opened in front of Chen Wang.

The waiting time was not long. After a brief moment of confusion, the guard of Jinan East City immediately ordered the city gate to be opened.

No one suspected that it was an attempt to deceive the city, and no one doubted the identity of the army outside the city.

The cavalry army swept all the way outside the city, and the blood of those Donglu who were killed outside the city flowed like rivers.

Moreover, the city was about to be destroyed, so why bother putting on a show to deceive them?
The city gate opened, and the personal guard who was following Chen Wang and was responsible for holding the trumpet blew the horn hanging on his waist.

When Hu Zhili and Chen Gong, who were chasing, heard the sound of the horn, they reined in their horses and stopped, then led their cavalry to quickly move and began to shrink towards the city.

"Enter the city."

The city gate opened, Chen Wang waved his horse's spur, kicked the horse's belly, and urged the horses under him to take the lead towards Jinan City.

A group of personal guards and cavalry followed closely behind him, and behind him were a group of Hanzhong town cavalry who rushed into formation behind him.

The sound of horse hooves was loud, echoing back and forth in the city gate corridor, like thunder.

The Qing cavalry came rushing in from the north and south to help, but it was difficult to save the fire near by water far away.

The gates of Jinan City have been opened, and by the time they arrive, everything will be over.

After entering from the city gate, you do not directly enter the city. In the Ming Dynasty, all larger cities were called Wengcheng.

The urn city is usually built behind the city gate, and the two sides of the urn city are connected with the city wall.

Wengcheng gates are usually not on the same straight line as the protected city gates to prevent attacks from battering rams and other weapons.

The urn city is generally integrated with the city wall and is generally in a semicircular, square or rectangular shape.

After the enemy breaks through the gate of the outer wall, they must first enter the barbican city.

There are defense facilities such as archery towers, gate gates, and battlements on the urn city.

The attacking soldiers will be surrounded by the defenders on all sides and will have difficulty launching an offensive. They can only continue to attack from the outer city walls.

Some cities also have iron gates hidden on the gate arches. If the attacking soldiers and horses enter the urn without warning, the defenders can fall into the urn and catch the enemy in a trap.

Without the back-up support, the final fate of the siege soldiers who entered the barbican city was death.

At the time of the Jing Dynasty, Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, was almost killed by Tie Xuan, who was participating in politics in Shandong at the time, using an iron gate that had been placed on the door arch in advance.

The corridor to the city gate was not long, and Chen Wang quickly led his men through the corridor and entered the urn in the east city of Jinan.

The city gate of Jinan East City was not breached by the Qing army. The Qing army did not have heavy artillery and did not build battering rams and other equipment. They kept attacking the city wall. Therefore, the inner barbican of Jinan East City was still intact.

After passing through the corridor, Chen Wang happened to see a general wearing fish scale armor, a bright helmet on his head, and his body covered in blood riding a war horse, galloping towards him from a short distance with a group of servants.

As the horse approached, the general on the horse rolled down his saddle and knelt down on one knee, clasping his fists and lowering his head.

"Laizhou guard Ji Yan, come and see the commander-in-chief."

Chen Wang raised his eyes and looked at Ji Yan. During the Battle of Jinan in history, Governor Yan Jizu had been ordered to lead his troops to move to Dezhou. There were only [-] rural soldiers and [-] reinforcements from Laizhou left in the city.

These people later died in Jinan City...

The Ji Yan in front of him was covered in blood. The blood in many places was dark red and had obviously condensed for a long time.

Ji Yan's armor had knife marks and arrow sores in many places, which were obviously traces left in bloody battles.

"I will now take over the defense of Jinan City."

Chen Wang raised the riding whip in his hand and said in a condensed voice.

"Who is the commander of the four walls of Jinan, and who is in charge of the city's defense?"

"Reporting to the commander-in-chief, the person in charge of the east wall is Lu Can, the official of Jinan Prefecture, who is responsible for leading the army to assist in the defense."

"The person in charge of the southern city wall is the magistrate of Jinan Prefecture, Gou Haoshi."

"The person in charge of the northern city wall is the Shandong branch patrol Jinan Road to participate in the political affairs of Zhou Zhixun."

"The chief envoy Zhang Bingwen is in charge of city defense affairs, and the west wall is also under his jurisdiction."

Ji Yan lowered his head and thought for a moment before replying.

"The Donglu outside the East City will not be a threat for the time being. I will give you a quarter of an hour to regroup the troops under your command."

Chen Wang gently pulled the horse's reins, crossed the horse's head, and said in a solemn voice.

"Also, quickly spread the news of the arrival of reinforcements to the four cities."

"As ordered."

Ji Yan bowed his head in obeisance and received the military order with great energy.

Following urgent matters, Ji Yan would naturally not say anything else irrelevant at this time.

What procedures and regulations are not things that should be mentioned at this time.

Just when Chen Wang was giving orders to Ji Yan, Hu Zhili and Chen Gong, one on the left and one on the right, passed through the corridor and entered the urn city one after another.

"Get on the horse road and walk from the city wall. According to the original plan, Zhili, you will lead the troops and horses to the south city, and Chen Gong, you will lead the troops and horses to the north city."

Chen Wang turned his head and gave military orders to Hu Zhili and Chen Gong.

According to the original historical process, the Qing army began to attack Jinan City on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month and captured Jinan City on the second day of the first lunar month.

Because of his intervention, there were more than a thousand soldiers and horses in Jinan City this time, but in the end it was still a drop in the bucket.

The news received from all parties is that Jinan City is crumbling and the defense line is about to be broken.

In order to avoid failure, Chen Wang did not dare to stay longer after splitting his forces with Sun Chuanting.

After the Battle of Luokou broke out, he led his troops and horses and marched straight to the eastern suburbs of Jinan City.

This time leading the army, Chen Wang led a total of three thousand cavalry.

Among the three thousand cavalry, only more than one thousand were from his own cavalry, and the remaining two thousand were temporarily drawn from various ministries.

These two thousand or so cavalry are basically the elite of each army. They were selected by Chen Wang from the Shandong Army in Dezhou, the Guan Ning Cavalry under Zu Kuan, and the soldiers from various battalions in Shaanxi. Among them are many generals at all levels. Servants and soldiers.

Now it seems that they arrived in time. Jinan City's defenses have not been completely collapsed, and the Qing army has not yet invaded the city.

Because the butterfly effect he caused actually worked to some extent.

The battle in Luokou Town weakened the combat effectiveness of the Qing army attacking the city. The extra thousand soldiers allowed Jinan City to hold on to its direction for a little longer.

Hu Zhili and Chen Gong responded neatly and neatly with fists clasped. They led their soldiers to the left and right along the side gates on both sides of the urn city.

Chen Wang raised his head and looked forward. The gate in the center of the urn city was right in front of him.

Through this city gate, you directly enter the east-west main road of Jinan City.

The roads in Jinan City are paved with bluestone, which is very convenient for horse racing and the movement of troops.

Hu Zhili and Chen Gong rushed to the aid of the north and south cities. Chen Wang was naturally responsible for the task of aiding the west city.

Xicheng was the most brutal battlefield in the Jinan Defense War. The west side was the main attack direction of the Qing army. The Qing army invested the most troops and spent a lot of energy.

The fastest and most timely way to rush to the aid of the northern and southern cities is to walk up the city wall on the horse road.

Jinan City is a large city with wide walls, so horse racing and driving are not a problem.

The soldiers are very fast, and the walls on three sides of Jinan City are crumbling. An additional quarter of an hour of delay will increase the danger.

After the military order was issued, Chen Wang no longer delayed, waved his whip, and galloped towards the west city of Jinan on his horse, followed closely by a group of cavalry.

In the urn city, the sound of horse hooves suddenly resounded, reaching into the sky!The red tide pouring into Dongcheng split into three and turned into three raging fire dragons, winding and soaring towards the south, north and west of Jinan.

The fiery red flags fluttered in the wind and snow, the wind and snow were like knives, and the sound of horse hooves was like thunder.

The churning fire dragon danced on the city wall of Jinan City, and the raging red tide rolled over the city wall with the sound of waves filling the sky.

……

Jinan Xicheng, Qing army formation.

Tan Tai stared at Tang Ma, who was kneeling on the ground in front of him like chaff. His eyes flashed fiercely, and his heart was filled with murderous intent.

Jinan City has been besieged for nine days. During these nine days, they attacked the city day and night, and all their efforts were to break through Jinan City as soon as possible.

After nine days and nights of fierce fighting, the morale of the defenders in Jinan City has hit rock bottom, and their minds and bodies have reached their limits.

Jinan City's defense line was crumbling, and only the final kick was missing.

But in just the blink of an eye, in just a quarter of an hour, everything was rewritten.

Tan Tai looked up at the towers of Jinan East City.

From all sides of the city tower, shouts of killing filled the sky.

Red flags are gradually filling the city walls of Jinan West City.

The thunderous sound of firecrackers once again echoed above the city walls of Jinan West City.

Tan Tai held the knife on his waist with his hand, his eyes cold.

He already knew everything that happened in Dongcheng.

Although Hauge and Du Du immediately sent troops to aid Dongcheng, they were still a step too late.

By the time the reinforcements arrived, the gates of Jinan East City had been closed again, and the Ming cavalry that appeared from the east like falling from the sky had already entered Jinan City.

The situation on the battlefield has changed. The Ming cavalry that entered the city quickly rushed to support the cities after entering the city.

The first troops who had finally managed to gain a foothold on the city wall were now driven off the city wall.

News of attack setbacks also came from the north and the south.

There were about three thousand Ming cavalry who entered the city from the east of Jinan City. Three thousand cavalry were nothing to face them on the plains.

But these three thousand cavalry were placed in Jinan City, which was a fatal blow to them.

Jinan is the capital of Shandong and the place where the Chief Secretary is located. The scale of the city is far larger than that of ordinary cities. It is no exaggeration to say that the city is strong and solid.

Originally, there were only two to three thousand weak soldiers and a few generals in the city of Jinan. The people in charge of the city defense were civilian officials with almost no battle experience, and they were able to defend Jinan for nine days and nights.

Now that three thousand Ming cavalry have entered the city, Jinan City is probably...

Tan Tai looked gloomy and no longer paid attention to the battle situation in Jinan City, but turned his head to the northwest.

The plan to attack Jinan has failed, and Tan Tai is very aware of the current situation.

The Ming army in the northwest is just a bait, just like the bait laid down by hunters in the mountains and forests to lure their prey.

Use the army as bait to lure their main force to attack and disperse their forces.

The real purpose is to make them take it lightly and focus most of their attention on the northwest, thus ignoring other directions.

And they did fall into the trap. Most of their minds were focused on the Ming army rushing to the northwest to aid Jinan. Another part of their minds was on Jinan City, but they relaxed their vigilance in other places.

They never thought about the possibility of enemy troops appearing in other directions. Most of the reconnaissance cavalry that should have been scattered outside the camp were deployed because of the tight battle to attack Jinan City.

Of the four sides of Jinan City, the east side was the weakest, and this weakness was also seized by the Ming army.

The generals of the Ming Dynasty have now achieved their goal - to send an elite army into Jinan City to assist in the defense.

"Mingjin, withdraw troops."

Tan Tai raised the riding whip he held in his right hand. He did not give any more orders to attack, but directly gave the order to Ming Jin to withdraw his troops.

The Ming army was so vigorous that they even did not hesitate to use the main force as bait to ensure the smooth implementation of the plan.

The Ming cavalry that entered the city were definitely selected elite soldiers, and the generals leading the troops were also among the best among the Ming generals.

"Convey the news to General Fengyi that a 3000-strong Ming Dynasty elite cavalry broke through the camp in the east of Jinan and entered the city of Jinan. Our attack on the city was thwarted..."

Tan Tai held the riding crop tightly, his joints even turned white from the exertion.

He didn't want to admit failure, but failure had become a fact and would not change due to his will.

Entering Jinan City first, the dream of plundering the assets of Prince De's Palace came to nothing.

After attacking Jinan for nine days and nights, he lost troops and generals but gained nothing, and even had to bear the blame.

What's even worse is that the city of Jinan was not captured in the first place, and the main responsibility should be Dorgon who led the army.

But just a few days ago, Dorgon led the Two White Banners to intercept the Ming Dynasty's reinforcements, and it was he who commanded the army to attack Jinan.

He was also the one who was not alert to the sudden arrival of Ming army reinforcements from the east.

He was also the one who failed to break through Jinan City in time and allowed the Ming army to enter Jinan City, resulting in a failure...

Even if he has many reasons and countless excuses, if he loses, he loses, and if he doesn't succeed, he doesn't succeed.

The result is the most important, not the process.

……

Dorgon stood on the observation deck, frowning.

In the field of vision, the cavalry on the left and right wings of the Ming army spread out, isolating the battlefield.

The army of the Ming Dynasty was retreating rapidly towards the Qing Dynasty's camp in Hebei like an ebbing tide. The artillery in the Ming army's formation, which had been silent for a long time, roared again.

The continuous cannonballs and the galloping cavalry hindered the pursuit of his troops.

The Ming army retreated without any warning, and everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Dorgon frowned, and the noise from behind interrupted his thoughts.

When Dorgon looked back, three plumes of smoke rising from the southeast direction of Jinan City froze his figure in place.

Looking at the three thick smoke and dust swaying in the north wind, Dorgon's heart also fell to the bottom.

He had not made an agreement with Tan Tai to send messages through beacon smoke. It was definitely not Tan Tai who used beacon smoke, it would only be the Ming army. Jinan would definitely change!
The wolf smoke flying above must be the signal raised by the Ming army.

The reason why the Ming army suddenly retreated to Luokou Town was because they saw the three lines of smoke rising from Jinan.

Dorgon's face was pale. Why didn't he understand until now that this was the Ming army's plan to attack the east and attack the west?
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao used a strategy to attack Zhang Xiu, but Jia Xu saw it through and failed.

But there was no figure like Jia Xu beside him, who could not see through the Ming army's plan.

"Sun Chuanting...Sun Chuanting!"

Dorgon's throat was slightly sweet, and he felt like something was stuck in his throat...

……

"Huainanzi Military Training":
“Therefore, the way to use military force is to show it with softness and meet it with strength, show it with weakness and take advantage of it with strength.”

"For it, use She and respond to it with Zhang; if you want to go to the west, show it to the east."

(End of this chapter)