Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

302 City Head Battle

Wang Yan ordered Wuchang City to surrender within three days, but he would not wait quietly for three days, but would throw his army into attacking the city the next day.

If Tong Yanghe temporarily relaxes his vigilance because of the three-day talk, then he can just take the opportunity to rob the city, kill him by surprise, and beat the defenders in the city with a fierce offensive to let them know that he is bound to win against Jiang Xia , Don't make a wrong judgment, and even if Wuchang doesn't surrender to him after three days, he won't waste three days because of it.

In the early morning, Tong Yanghe summoned many green battalions to appease them. When he promised to raise the flag, the Ming army was divided into three parts and besieged the east, west and south walls of Wuchang.

The east and west sides were feint attacks, commanded by Hao Yaoqi and Ma Jinzhong respectively, Wang Yan gave them [-] soldiers each, and the south was commanded by Dai Zhifan, all of whom were elite Ming troops.

Amidst the sound of "Boom~Boom~", the battle for the city wall has been fought for more than half an hour. There are many corpses on the top of the city and the blood is flowing like a river.

The city wall was dyed red in patches, and wooden planks were built on the moat. Thousands of soldiers rushed through the moat and climbed up. Hundreds of siege ladders have been destroyed, but there are new ones constantly. The siege ladder was put into battle.

In the southern city of Wuchang, nearly 2 soldiers of the Zhongyong Army spread out under the city, densely spread out in one piece, artillery fire exploded under the city and at the top of the city, and countless soldiers carried ladders and pushed down the city.

The bird commanders and archers fought against the Qing soldiers on the city by the moat, while the sword and shield players and spearmen cooperated with them, stepping on the ladder that fell across the moat, crossed the moat and rushed to the bottom of the city.

At this time, nearly 1000 Zhongyong soldiers had been killed or injured, and more than [-] defenders at the top of the city had also been killed or injured.

At this time, a group of generals from the Green Battalion had already rushed from the Yamen of the Governor's Mansion to the city wall, and Tong Yanghe also came to Nancheng, where the attack was the worst.

The generals of the green battalion received Tong Yanghe's promise, and their minds became complicated. The green battalion soldiers were refreshed when they got the news that they were going to raise the flag. After all, who wouldn't want to be superior to others in the future?

Human nature is like this, although the green battalion soldiers can't understand the Eight Banners soldiers, but if they can become one of them, they would like to be one of them. Fa Jiangqing.

In the city, the spirit of the green battalion changed. Some of them were very eager to become a member of the Eight Banners, while some were vacillating between surrendering to the Ming army and becoming the Eight Banners. Only a very few insisted that Tong Yanghe would never be able to defend Wuchang.

At this time, with the supervision of the generals of the green battalion, the green battalion soldiers began to try their best to defend the city, and the results of Tong Yanghe's previous management of Wuchang appeared. The large amount of defense materials he prepared began to play an important role.

The Wuchang defenders began to use iron forks for defending the city. This kind of iron fork was three feet long and weighed more than a hundred catties. It was specially used to deal with siege ladders.

More than a dozen green battalion soldiers hugged an iron fork, which was holding a siege ladder, and a dozen of them pushed it out with all their strength. The siege ladder shook and creaked, and began to leave the city wall. Vertically, with the cry of the green battalion soldiers, the siege ladder finally tipped outwards, and dozens of loyal and brave soldiers on the ladder let out screams.

At the gate of the city, soldiers of the Ming army bravely cut off the ropes of the suspension bridge. The suspension bridge fell instantly and was erected across the moat. Nearly a hundred Ming soldiers saw the timing and braved the rain of arrows at the top of the city to push the huge siege hammer to the ground. Move to the door.

"Boom!" With a loud noise, the battering ram hit the city gate heavily. Hundreds of Eight Banners soldiers inside the city gate held the gate firmly, their bodies vibrating non-stop with the impact of the battering ram.

Dozens of ropes were tied to the battering ram, and [-] Ming soldiers stood on each side. They chanted and pulled the ropes, and suspended the battering ram in the air. On the gate, the Eight Banners soldiers on the back of the city gate were silent amidst the muffled sound, but desperately resisted the impact of the battering hammer with all their body.

Seeing this, the Qing soldiers at the top of the city kept firing arrows downwards, but most of them were blocked by the baffles on the battering ram, and they couldn't shoot the Ming army below.

Numerous Ming saber and shield fighters also rushed across the moat, raising their shields to protect the Ming army driving the siege hammer. They gradually pieced their shields together into a turtle shell, and bows, arrows, rolling stones, and wooden hammers could not hurt the Ming army. .

Tong Yanghe stood on the top of the city tower, his brows furrowed. The powerful fighting power of the Ming army shocked him greatly. He couldn't help secretly rejoicing that he promised to raise the flag, otherwise Wang Yan might be able to break the city in one day, he bowed his head Looking down the city, he saw that the Ming army attacked the city like this, and the city gate was breached in less than a quarter of an hour, so he quickly turned his head and said to a Niulu, "Abuzhen, lead people quickly, and smash the fire and oil tank down!"

"Cha!" Niu Lu slapped Qian'er, then turned around and waved, "Come with me!"

He led dozens of Eight Banners soldiers, and immediately ran to the edge of the city tower. After a while, dozens of oil tanks were smashed down on the top of the city, and then a salvo of rockets fired. Dozens of soldiers and sword-shield fighters caught fire one after another, screaming and jumping into the moat.

On the side of the moat, Liu Fangliang, the deputy general of the Zhongyong Army who commanded the attack on the city gate, saw this scene, and immediately became furious, and ordered: "Niao commanders, archers, suppress the city, and then go to 60 people to hit the gate!"

Thousands of Ming troops by the river, with three-stage blows and bows and arrows, shot at the head of the city, and shot all the soldiers of the Eight Banners to death immediately, and suppressed the Eight Banners at the head of the city.

Sixty soldiers rushed forward immediately. They first picked up a large piece of cowhide, spread it on the flames, then took the rope, and swung the battering hammer again to hit the city gate.

On the city wall, the battle between the Ming army and the green battalion soldiers has reached a fever pitch. Arrows rained down on the city, and rolling logs and stones fell like hailstones. The Ming soldiers held up their shields to resist, but they were still rolled and fell. The Ming army by the moat also shot arrows at the top of the city, and green battalion soldiers were constantly hit, screaming and falling from the top of the city.

Dai Zhifan, who was watching the battle not far away, felt a little anxious when he saw that the battle was approaching for an hour, the Ming army had suffered heavy losses, and there was still no sign of breaking the city.

The Zhongyong Army is Wang Yan's old base, and he values ​​the lives of every soldier very much. Dai Zhifan finally decided to fight in person when he saw the soldiers falling down from the top of the wall.

He raised his gun and yelled: "Siege the city with me!" Then he swung his spear and rushed towards the top of the city. Hundreds of guards behind him, seeing the general going into battle in person, their morale was high immediately, and they followed Dai Zhifan to fight for the first.

Dai Zhifan rushed up a ladder and ran halfway up in one breath. Seeing this, the green battalion at the top of the city immediately threw the rolling logs and stones at him.

Dai Zhifan was born in martial arts, and he followed Wang Yan from Yangzhou. His martial arts skills are only a little worse than Hu Weizong's. After Li Tai died in battle, his status was comparable to that of Wang Wei, and he was highly regarded by Wang Yan.

During the first battle in Yangzhou, Dai Zhifan lost his sight. He was famous for his bravery and skill in fighting in the army. He knew that morale could not be discouraged.

Dai Zhifan climbed bravely, and approached the top of the city in the blink of an eye. At this time, the green battalion soldiers swung seven or eight long spears at him at once. , Then he jumped up, and immediately climbed onto the city wall, he raised his gun and stabbed, and in a short while, five or six green campers were stabbed by him and fell to the ground.

A dozen or so steps away, a chief executive of the green battalion saw that Dai Zhifan was extremely brave, and he was about to open a gap in the city, he was furious in his heart, shouted loudly, and swung over to look.

Seeing this, Dai Zhifan smashed his shield at him, and Mr. Qian had no choice but to block it with a knife, but at this moment Dai Zhifan's spear had already pierced through Mr. Qian, and then he struggled to pick it out.

With a muffled cry, Mr. Qian was thrown from the top of the city and flew out of the city. Dai Zhifan killed a Mr. Qian with one move, and the surrounding Green Battalion soldiers immediately backed away in fright.

At this time, Wang Chang and Wang Guangtai were shocked when they saw this. At this time, they had already given up on whether to surrender. Dai Zhifan strikes.

Wang Guangen arranged for his soldiers to deploy rockets to support the Eight Banners soldiers at the city gate and continue to burn down the battering rams of the Ming army. At this time, a soldier rushed over and shouted in horror: "General, Mr. A brilliant general attacked the city, and his bravery was unstoppable, and neither the second general nor the third general was his opponent."

Wang Guangen's face changed drastically. If the Ming army occupied the city, not only would the Eight Banners have nothing to do, but even surrender would be impossible. He couldn't help roaring, turning around and ordering: "Mr. Liu Qian, you go to support Governor Tong, and the rest of the troops follow suit I come!"

Wang Guangen led two hundred soldiers towards the city wall, but more than a hundred Ming soldiers had rushed up and were fighting fiercely with hundreds of defenders at the top of the city. Wang Guangen suddenly saw Wang Guangtai and Wang Chang, who were fighting fiercely with a general of the Ming army.

This general of the Ming army was highly skilled in martial arts, and he killed the two brothers so that they retreated steadily, and were forced to retreat to the city wall, almost in danger.

Seeing this, Wang Guangen immediately panicked. He was too far away from the Ming general, and there was no time to support him. In desperation, Wang Guangen had no choice but to draw a bow and set an arrow, and shot at the Ming general.

Dai Zhifan was about to kill Wang Guangtai and Wang Chang, but he was unprepared, caught off guard, and hit Dai Zhifan's left arm with an arrow, he yelled, and took several steps back, clutching his arm.

The two Wang Guangtai brothers were rescued in danger. Seeing that Dai Zhifan was injured and retreated, they immediately found an opportunity and swung their knives to kill them. Wang Guangen and hundreds of his men also shouted and rushed into the battle group.

The Ming army had too few troops on the city, and they were killed and retreated steadily. They left the city and went down the city ladder. Several of his own soldiers forcibly dragged him off the wall.

Wang Guangtai wanted to pursue him, but was grabbed by Wang Guangen and shouted, "Do you know who that was just now?"

Wang Guangtai was taken aback when he heard the words, but Wang Guangen replied by himself: "That is Wang Yan's subordinate, the one-eyed general Dai Zhifan who swallowed his arrows and swallowed his eyes. If you hurt him, you will feel our way out~"

Wang Guangtai and Wang Chang heard the words, looked at the green camp corpses all over the city wall, and immediately reacted.

(End of this chapter)