A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 854 The Real Man

Chapter 773 The Real Man
Li Guozhen's feet trembled a little, Wang Chengen gritted his teeth and watched. At this time, Guangqumen and Chaoyangmen came to report, and there was also a large wave of thieves coming from the east, with red clothes and red armor, as if covering the sun.

Wang Chengen gritted his teeth, now not only Li Guo, Yuan Zongdi, Liu Zongmin in the middle, even the false thief king himself, the thief general Liu Xiyao who attacked the right wing, and others also arrived.

He looked at the Guanxiang to the east of Yongding Gate, the bandits were so powerful, he was particularly worried about whether the camp stationed at the Guanxiang would have the courage to stop the bandits' attack.He also worried about the camps stationed at Guangqumen, Chaoyangmen and other places where the gates were closed.

"In the ground is called Fang, near the city is called Xiang". At this time, the gate of the city is also called "Chengguan". The two or three miles near the city gate are only a few tens of meters short.

The capital city is the most benevolent place at the foot of the Son of Heaven. Naturally, each gate of each city has its own gates. Because the city wall is not in place, the concept of gates is vague in later generations, so it is often called XX Gate Outer Street, such as Chaoyangmen Outer Street, Deshengmen Outer Street, etc. At that time, it was called Chaowaiguanxiang, Dewaiguanxiang, etc.

Yongdingmen, as the thoroughfare for the capital to enter and exit the southern part of Gyeonggi, has more than three miles of Guanxiang, a large area of ​​houses and shops, but the Yongdingmen Guanxiang is quite distinctive, but it is oblique.It turns out that before the Yongding Gate was built, there was a large village called Huazhuangzi nearby. Because the government could not afford to relocate Huazhuangzi Village at that time, they bypassed Huazhuangzi and shifted the Guanxiang to the east by more than 200 meters, commonly known as Xieguanxiang. .

"The avenue of happiness is paved in the Guanxiang outside Chaoyangmen, the people outside Deshengmen are complaining, the people outside Xibianmen can only see from a distance but not up close, and a village outside Yongdingmen has no money to demolish." This is a common saying about Guanxiang in the capital.

At this time, the residents of Yongdingmen Xieguanxiang had already moved away and fled, and a Beijing camp was stationed inside. They set up layers of thorn antlers, artillery and chariots along the streets and alleys of Guanxiang, and along the roads of houses. The first line of defense can also echo with the defenders at the top of the city.

There is also Yandun to the west of Yongding Gate, where heavy troops are also stationed there.This tall beacon tower was built in the Yuan Dynasty, about half a mile away from the city gate, and is located on the west side of the official road.If the defense is good, it can also echo with the city tower at a distance, and together with the Guanxiang, form a three-dimensional defense line between the left and right.

It's just that although the guards swore that they would stick to it until every soldier was killed, Wang Chengen was full of uneasiness and had no confidence at all.

He listened to the side of Guangqu Gate, and there was a blast of cannon and gunfire. It seemed that the battalion stationed in the gate was engaged in a fierce exchange of fire with the bandits. Most of the bandits hadn't been killed, and at most a hundred or so rangers were just harassing them, so it was accepted. Not being able to stop made Wang Cheng'en even more worried.

At this time, most of the thieves were getting closer, and they were almost five miles away. Looking around, there was a dark crowd of people at the end of the line of sight, and the flags were undulating like the sea.

More and more bandits and cavalry broke away from the main force. They roared and galloped, roaring strangely, and outside the closed room, the four ends of the field were full of their shadows.In the villages and manors outside the city, the tea shop houses continued to emit thick smoke, and the flames lit up the sky.

Suddenly, the side of Yongdingmen's obliquely closed compartment was thunderous like ten thousand thunders, and the sound of guns and blunderbusses shook the sky, and then white mist rose from that side, thick smoke rose into the sky, and together with drizzle and snow, formed a hazy atmosphere.It was hazy, and the fire flashed from time to time in the mist, but the defenders had already exchanged fire with the bandits.

Wang Cheng'en gritted his teeth. During the strategic arrangement, he and the guard made it very clear that when most of the thieves officially attacked, they would go up and outside the city, and the left and right sides would attack together.Of course, it's just the harassment and attack of some rangers, and they can't stand it anymore if they shoot a few arrows at most.

The sound of guns and guns over there was so violent that it seemed as if the sky and the earth were shaking, but after only a quarter of an hour, there was a loud cry, and countless rout soldiers rushed out from the gate. They shouted and rushed towards the archery tower. The cries formed a thrilling sound wave, which made the defenders on the city tremble.

Wang Chengen's face was ashen, for a quarter of an hour, just a quarter of an hour, dozens of hundreds, at most a thousand rangers harassed, and the defenders of Xieguanxiang were defeated.

Their military equipment is not unsophisticated. They have a large number of chariots, each of which weighs more than six hundred catties. They are the kind of heavy vehicles that need to be drawn by two mules and horses. Door.

These chariots are also made of hard wood such as paulownia wood. The chariots are equipped with detachable paddles, which are covered with iron sheets and leather. The protection is amazing, and ordinary bows and arrows are helpless.There are also patterns such as flying dragons and lion heads painted on the playing cards, which can scare the enemy horses.

These chariots are expensive to build, and the cost of each vehicle is at least ten taels of silver, let alone the artillery on it.Many defenders still use Lumi blunderbuss, which will not be used by the strong army in Xianbian Town.They are cold weapon players, and most of them use Kaiyuan bows, which are very difficult to manufacture.

The accumulation of all kinds of equipment is the people's fat and people's ointment, the excellent equipment that the common people bought in exchange for saving food and clothing, but at this time these people have discarded them like trash.

Seeing them rushing in empty-handed, howling and wimpy, Wang Chengen's brain exploded, and he sternly shouted: "Give me an order, don't open the door, anyone who dares to violate it will be punished with impunity!"

The little eunuch with trembling feet hurriedly passed his order to the gatekeeper, while Li Guozhen sighed silently, worried about the city defense.His eyes are red, and he has been unable to untie his robes for many days and nights, but there is nothing he can do about it. Maybe when the city falls, the only option is to die to repay the country.

Those rout soldiers ran to the bottom of the city, or cried and begged the city to open the gate, or cursed and threatened, or some of them turned around without saying a word, and went to surrender the bandits.

Wang Chengen saw that they were kneeling all over the field beside the field on the road, and they obviously wanted to surrender.

He sighed: "This generation is really in vain of the emperor's kindness."

He looked at the city wall, all the defenders looked terrified, and he didn't see Fu Yingchong, the commander-in-chief guarding the gate, and shouted sharply, "Where did Fu Yingchong go?"

All the eunuchs beside him were obedient, how could they know where Fu Yingchong had gone?In fact, when the capital was in a hurry, there were many generals and officers who avoided their homes with various excuses.

Li Guozhen has always regarded Fu Yingchong as his confidant. Seeing that Wang Chengen was angry at this time, he was afraid that he would be angry for a while, so he would kill Fu Yingchong, and quickly said: "Yes, where is Mr. Fu? Find him quickly... ...This Fu Daya is becoming more and more outrageous..."

At this moment, Fu Yingchong's shrill howl sounded on the city wall: "Brothers, don't panic, I, Fu Daya, am here, and I have brought a lot of silver coins as rewards, and those who really dare to kill thieves will be rewarded heavily." !"

Wang Chengen and the others looked in surprise, and saw Fu Yingchong standing on the city wall in high spirits, with the four armored soldiers still quietly following behind him.Then many family members of the guards went to the city. They struggled to carry boxes of things and piled them on the top of the city.

Then it piled higher and higher until finally the boxes seemed to pile up like a mountain.

Seeing the surprise of the defenders at the top of the city, some of the generals who were familiar with him were full of unbelievable expressions, Fu Yingchong smiled complacently, and he suddenly kicked a box.

"Wow..."

The box fell, and with a very pleasant sound, a lot of things inside poured out, all of them were white and round, and the white luster dazzled the eyes.These things are exquisitely crafted and have clear patterns, aren't they exactly the silver coins made in Xuanfu Town?
Seeing the wide eyes of everyone in the city, Fu Yingchong smiled complacently again. He shortly grabbed a handful of silver coins from the pile on the ground and let them fall, only to hear a very pleasant sound of jingling.

He kept one in his hand, stroked it lightly for a while, with an intoxicated expression on his face, then put the silver coin in his mouth and blew it, making a "buzzing" sound.

He casually tossed the silver coin to a family member, and took a wooden spoon for scooping water from another family member. Fu Yingchong opened the wooden lids of each box, and the inside was full of white silver coins. Another gasp.

Fu Yingchong suddenly put a spoon into a box, scooped up a large spoonful of silver coins, and then sprinkled them towards the defenders. Hearing the sound of tinkling, white silver coins rolled all over the ground at the city wall.

Fu Yingchong scooped up spoonful after spoonful, opening another box when it was empty, and there was a constant sound of jingling and silver coins dancing in the rain.

Fu Yingchong kept throwing silver coins, and screamed, "I, Fu Daya, keep my word. Those who dare to kill thieves will be rewarded..."

The defenders on the city stood stunned at first, until the tinkling silver coins fell on their heads, and they woke up like a dream. They all went to grab the silver coins, and then put them in their arms. Howled: "Master Fu is mighty!"

"Follow Master Fu to kill the thief!"

There were cheers on the city wall of Yongdingmen, and Fu Yingchong continued howling: "Brothers have also contracted several big wine shops in Dongxing Building, Taifeng Building, Hongxing Building, and Anfu Building, and let them only serve good wine and meat. Brothers worry about hunger and cold..."

The city wall was seething, and Fu Yingchong howled: "Swear to kill the thief!"

All the sergeants looked excited, and they roared: "Kill all the thieves!"

Even those honorable disciples in the camp who couldn't look down on Fu Yingchong were convinced, and they shouted: "Master Fu is a real man! Brothers are convinced!"

Amid the cheers of the crowd, Fu Yingchong stood with his hands behind his back, and with four armored soldiers as a backdrop, his tall and thin figure seemed so burly to everyone.

In a blink of an eye, the morale of the defenders on the city wall of Yongdingmen was greatly boosted, and the decadence brought about by the previous defeat was wiped away. Li Guozhen was a little dumbfounded. He took a breath and murmured: "This Fu Daya, I really underestimated him..."

Wang Chengen didn't speak, but couldn't hide the relief in his eyes.

……

At noon, most of the thieves finally approached Sanli, they immediately attacked the city, and a large group of troops came with artillery.There were also many people logging. There were many trees outside the capital city, especially poplars. The thieves felled the trees, apparently to build ladders.

And because they seized a lot of chariots, Flang machine guns, etc. in the customs chamber, they even pulled the artillery and attacked the city against the artillery.

It turned out that those gunners of the Beijing camp also immediately became gunners of the bandit army and attacked the capital with their backhands.

There have always been houses and shops outside Yongdingmen City, spreading obliquely along the sloping official road. Only for military considerations, there are slightly fewer houses within half a mile, but it is not impossible.After all, the decree at this time is not taken seriously by both the government and the people.It is that some houses are openly built beside the moats, and some are still big brick houses.

More and more rogue artillery came, and they used the cover of the house to bombard the archery tower, the tower, and the city wall.At the same time, a large group of thieves and cavalry entered the customs room. They gathered together and plotted how to attack the city.

The artillery on the city also continued to bombard, above and below the city, the artillery fired alternately, and the sound shook the ground, and the smoke spread.

Not only Yongding Gate, but also Guangqu Gate and Chaoyang Gate were also fiercely fought.The people in the city listened to the fighting of various sects, and everyone was in panic, not knowing what to do.When scholars and bureaucrats meet each other, they only have to say no, or they say it is harmless, or they say they can do nothing, but they only propose to patrol the streets and close the doors, and the rest have no way to think about it.

The shrill shells whistled endlessly, with the screams of rockets interspersed, and the bang of firecrackers. Suddenly, a large general Francois fired a shell and hit the city wall heavily, causing bricks and stones to fly up. The walls of the city seemed to shake a bit.

Fu Yingchong was startled, his head flinched, a armored soldier said something in his ear, Fu Yingchong kept nodding, he shouted sharply: "Listen to Master Fu's order, all the artillery, all bombard the houses in the Guanxiang Alright, Master Fu has a lot of rewards!"

Wang Chengen and Li Guozhen have already inspected other places. They are the admirals who supervise the defense of the capital. Now Guangqumen, Chaoyangmen, and Dongzhimen have started fierce fighting. Even Andingmen and Deshengmen have reported that there are large groups of thieves outside the city. There is a tendency to gather and attack, so naturally they cannot all stay at Yongding Gate.

The defense of Yongding Gate has also been handed over to Fu Yingchong, who is fully responsible.

According to the previous strategy, the fourteen four-wheeled millstone cannons on the arrow tower bombarded the large army formations gathered by the thieves three or four miles away, and the rest of the red barbarian cannons also bombarded them from a distance. The siege soldiers and horses, and the rest of the Franc machine guns, are to deal with the rogues at close range.

However, the oblique closing room of Yongding Gate fell within a quarter of an hour, and a large army of bandits entered the closing room from three or four miles away, and then came along the official road. They used the cover of the house to pull in a large number of artillery, and kept pointing at this side Bombarded, apparently plans needed to be changed.

Under Fu Yingchong's order, the fourteen four-wheeled cannons on the watchtower began to creak and spin again. The cannon bodies were constantly rotating and the angles were constantly adjusted, aiming at all parts of the Guanxiang.

The same is true of the artillery all over the city wall.

"fire!"

Fu Yingchong suddenly shouted hoarsely.

It seemed that the world was quiet for a while, and then the fourteen heavy red cannons at the arrow window, the dozen ordinary red cannons on the crenels of the city wall, and hundreds of all kinds of Flang machine guns fired at the same time.

Like thunder and thunder, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, and the cannons on the walls of Yongdingmen were loud, and the thick gunpowder smoke instantly flooded the top of the city on this side.

Heavy rain-like cannonballs blasted at the houses in the Guanxiang, and then saw the smoke billowing there, the houses collapsing with explosions, and the screams of the thieves were interspersed in between. Collapsed houses flooded.

"Hit, hit hard!"

Fu Yingchong laughed, and he danced his fist excitedly.

The sound of cannons was fierce and deafening, and the deafening bangs continued. After the cannons were fired, the Hongyi gunners immediately cleaned the barrels with wet woolen sticks, filled in new propellant bags, and poured priming powder into the fire door. , the Franco gunner kept reloading the sub-guns.

Under their operation, the shells poured over there like a storm, rumbling houses collapsed, and thick smoke covered the place.

At this time, there were indeed a large number of Shunjun soldiers gathered in the Guanxiang. Most of them were dressed in yellow, but they were Li Guo's rear battalion. When they entered in groups, not only the wide official road was crowded with people, but also the streets and alleys on both sides were full of people. People, they wait for their attack to come.

There are also a large number of people preparing chariots and long ladders, and from time to time some people are struggling to push the artillery past, because the sky is drizzling, the roads are a bit muddy, and the official roads are not well maintained, and their implementation is very difficult. People are covered in mud.

There are also many officers and soldiers occupying the house. They discussed softly or argued fiercely, discussing how to attack Yongdingmen.

Anyway, this area is about a hundred steps wide and three or four miles long, and the Guanxiang is full of people.

A sudden and shrill howling sound came at the head, and some people hadn't woken up yet, the rain of shells had already rained down.

Because there are a lot of people gathered on the official road, this is also the place where the artillery on the city is the focus of the attack. The solid shells rampage on the official road, and after falling into the crowd, they create a terrifying scene. You can see stumps flying around, broken arms dancing, and a squall of flesh and blood. Lift.It's like entering a slaughterhouse...

The cannonball made a huge and shrill scream, and a cannon weighing more than ten kilograms shot towards it. It exploded a huge cloud of mud and smoke on the ground, and then rushed towards the crowd in front of it. It dealt with it with steel. The irresistible characteristics of a flesh and blood body can penetrate tens of meters unstoppably.

Occasionally, the shell pierced through the bodies of at least [-] people, dancing with broken limbs, armor, and weapon fragments, bloody and rainy.In the last moment, he unceremoniously took a Shunjun's thigh flying, exposing his pale leg bones, and then blood gushed out like a fountain.

"what!"

The Shunjun rolled on the ground and howled at the top of his lungs.

Together with him screaming with all his might, there were also a large number of wounded who fell to the ground in front of him, all missing arms and legs, and the pain was unspeakable.

Those who died on the spot would save trouble and save endless pain in the future.

Solid cannonballs kept whistling, they jumped, and they easily passed through the bleeding space among the crowd, leaving behind broken arms and stumps everywhere, flowing blood, and a strong pungent smell of blood.

Their lethality is too terrifying. When the shells pass by, there are heart-piercing screams, broken human bodies, and flying broken weapons and armor.

In addition, if the shells enter the house, if there are people next to the house, it will also cause a huge disaster.

On the side of a courtyard.

boom!
Another artillery shell weighing more than ten kilograms flew over. It roared and hit the courtyard wall, directly piercing through the brick wall, and the wall collapsed with a loud noise.

At this time, a group of Shunjun soldiers were docked here. They only had time to open their eyes wide and screamed in despair, but they were buried under the bricks and mud on the spot, leaving one foot exposed and twitching from time to time.

This cannonball has powerful kinetic energy. When it penetrated the courtyard wall, it brought up many masonry fragments and flew, knocking down many nearby people. They sprayed blood and rolled around, and the wall collapsed and thickened. In the dust, this area is empty.

A shell hit the roof, the beams shook, the tiles slammed, and then fell to the ground with a clatter. Some soldiers gathered inside screamed and fled, all bleeding.

A Shunjun artillery was sandwiched between two houses and was bombarding the watchtower. Suddenly a shell flew in, and the mud wall collapsed. The gunner over there was crying, and before he had time to escape, he was buried under the collapsed house. ...

"Okay, good play!"

Fu Yingchong on the city wall looked at him kindly, he screamed and yelled: "Beat, beat hard, beat that customs room into ruins, and bury all the thieves inside."

He laughed loudly and shouted: "Brothers have worked hard, Master Fu will reward you a lot!"

Just as the cannon was cooling down, he called the gunners over, scooping out spoonfuls of silver balls, so that they could only catch them with their pockets, seeing the white silver balls fall into their bosoms, so heavy and heavy, these are rare in the capital. They are all hard currency, with extremely strong spending power. The gunners were all flushed with excitement, and they shouted: "Thank you, Lord Fu."

"Follow Master Fu to fight against thieves..."

"I Fu Laozi said that as long as you are willing to fight the thieves, you will definitely be rewarded!"

Fu Yingchong was in high spirits, he laughed loudly, then scooped up silver coins with a spoon and threw them everywhere inside the city wall, shouting: "There are other brothers too, everyone has a share, hahahaha!"

The city wall was boiling, and the morale of the army was indescribably high. At this time, the smell of meat came, mixed with the smell of fine wine, and many men came to the city carrying wine and vegetables, wheezing.There are altars of fine wine, as well as a lot of meat, roasted whole lamb, roasted whole cow, roasted whole pig, one by one, the aroma is tangy.

But among the many restaurants under Fu Yingchong's contract, the shopkeeper of Hongxinglou came first, and had already prepared some wine and meat.

However, seeing this scene, the soldiers on the city wall were even more excited. The shopkeeper of the Hongxing Building ordered the waiters to put away the wine and meat, and then walked to Fu Yingchong with a smile, and said, "Master Fu, according to your order, I have given the soldiers some food." Here comes the reward, it's just the food and drink..."

Fu Yingchong squinted and said: "Don't ask me for money, I have plenty of money, you just have to buy good wine and good meat!"

He got up abruptly, walked to a silver box, opened the lid, picked up the silver box and threw it at the shopkeeper of Hongxinglou, shouting: "If it's not enough, just tell me!"

The white silver coins fell on his head, almost drowning the shopkeeper of Hongxinglou, his face flushed red, and he screamed: "Arrogance, arrogance, I am convinced by gold and money, Hongxinglou will definitely stop day and night, let the guards The soldiers eat and drink well!"

The shopkeeper of Hongxing Building, Jin Youqian, was also shocked: "I just saw such a heroic man today."

Fu Yingchong laughed loudly: "Hahahaha, happy, today I know the greatest pleasure in the world, and that is spending money!"

He roared: "Brothers, drink and eat meat, and the fight will continue later, Master Fu will still reward you heavily!"

Cheers erupted from the walls of the city, and finally merged into one voice: "Fu Shuai is mighty."

The army Zhang Shouyin also grabbed five silver coins and a large piece of beef. He stared blankly at Fu Yingchong, stroked the warm thick silver coins in his arms, and thought: "I was wrong that day, it's just If officers and generals can be like Fu Shuai, then what complaints will the soldiers have?"

(End of this chapter)