Back to the end of Ming Dynasty to be a warlord

Chapter 378

Great!
This time defending the city, Yang Chao has always used the experience of the last battle in Haizhou, but what he doesn't know is that this time the leader is Duoduo, a high-ranking prince of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and Dorgon brother.

The leader of the army last time was only Turge, just a slave of Huang Taiji.

The difference in the identities of the two means that the power in their hands is incomparable. The [-] Banners led by Doduo are not the Mongols and the miscellaneous cards in Turge's hands. They are all the elite of the Eight Banners. Even the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty among them were all elites who followed Duduo and chased Li Zicheng all the way to Shaanxi. They were extremely brave, especially among the three thousand Bayara guards of Duduo, who killed at least ten people veterans.

Doduo not only has stronger troops than Turg, but also has more elite soldiers than Turg. Even the equipment is not at the same level as Turg. Needless to say, armor and the like, they have occupied Beijing, and their military production capacity has been greatly improved. Feiyue is stronger than Nanjing. The most important thing is that Duoduo has thirty red cannons in his hands.

It was for these cannons that Duoduo arrived in Yangzhou on the 23th and only started attacking on the [-]rd.

And this time the Qing army was able to attack the city, and the biggest reliance was the thirty red cannons.

Duoduo sent people to attack the gap with rice, attracting all the attention of the Ming army to the gap.

Not only did Yang Chao put most of the troops he could fight there, but the other guards on the city wall were also staring at that place, and the artillery kept bombarding the section of the moat that was buried after the gap collapsed.

But no one noticed. Hidden in the dark night, a group of gun carriages was slowly advancing. Finally, when everyone saw it, it was already too late. Risk, crossed the moat, entered the blind spot of the artillery, and then put the cannon in red almost against the gap in the city wall, and began to bombard.

The powerful shells immediately shattered the defense facilities of the Ming army at the gap, and at the same time stunned the defending Li Benshen. Duduo's guards rushed up immediately, and Li Benshen's army was defeated. The organization was almost dispersed by these completely out-of-control chaotic troops.

After repelling Li Benshen, the Qing army did not come up directly, but instead covered the red cannons entering the city and directly bombarded many male army formations.

The Tartars have rich experience in bombarding the army formation with cannons. They used this method in the first battle at the Hunhe River, breaking the infantry formation of the Qi family army, and making the last Qi family army disappear into history.

Many men were killed and wounded by red-clothed cannons, and then they were surrounded by the rushing Manchu army. Zhao Kang led his troops to rescue them, but he couldn't rescue them. tide.

Yang Chao didn't stop, and when he led his troops to the city on horseback, he found that the red-clothed cannons of the Tartars were still bombarding, but they were not bombarding many men's formations, but were bombarding in all directions, and the bombardment might not be enough. , but the effect is very good, because it can severely hit the defenders of the Ming army.

No wonder their shells blasted to the east of the city. It turned out that the cannonballs were fired inside the city instead of outside the city.

The gap was about [-] feet away, and many male troops were relying on a row of private houses to resist stubbornly, and their left, right, and front were full of Tartars.

But Wang Pu had already arrived and was attacking the Tartars, but the Tartars refused to give up the fat in their mouths, and sent troops to stop Zhao Kang. It is not possible to fight with a regular army formation, but a melee.

Yang Chao stopped ten feet away, first looked at the many men who were surrounded and Zhao Kang who was rescued, and then looked at the gap. The Tartars were rushing in, not only infantry, but also cavalry. Nearly ten thousand people rushed in.

"Failed!"

With a deep sigh in his heart, Yang Chao had no choice but to accept the result.

But many men must be rescued. These soldiers were surrounded by Tartars because they held their positions. If they escaped early like Li Benshen, they would be fine.

"Dismount and line up!"

Yang Chao gave the order, and a hundred soldiers immediately dismounted and lined up.

There are ruins ahead, not to mention Yang Chao, the cavalry of the Qing army dismounted and fought on foot.

But before Yang Chao could charge, the situation of the battle suddenly changed. Probably seeing Yang Chao's reinforcements coming, the Tartar army was a little flustered. Zhao Kang seized the opportunity and dragged them in. Many men over there attacked each other at the same time. Under this, the encirclement of the Tartars was broken, and many men rushed out completely.

"Array, cover!"

Seeing this situation, Yang Chao immediately changed his approach, leading his troops to make way for many men to pass, and then tensely prepared.

Seeing the fat in his mouth running away, the Tartars wanted to rush forward, but suddenly the officer ordered them to rectify and start defending.

The most important thing for them now is to hold a foothold, not to hunt down the enemy.

"Retreat."

Seeing that many men and Zhao Kang had already retreated to relatively intact streets and regrouped, Yang Chao gave the order to retreat.

Yang Chao was in a low mood, he did everything he had to do, but in the end he still let the Tartars enter the city.

It's not that the soldiers are not brave in battle, or that they are not decisive in their actions, but the result is not satisfactory. This kind of blow is profound, and it will make people feel powerless and demoralized.

"My lord, let's fight back."

At this time, many men came forward to plead for orders, their expressions were decisive, and there were only more than 100 soldiers left under his command. He led 500 men to defend, but not only was he attacked head-on, but also lost the lives of most of them. It's already a little crazy.

But Yang Chao shook his head: "I can't fight it. The Tartars have a solid foothold, so it's not so easy to fight them out."

Many men immediately pleaded guilty: "The last general is incompetent, please punish me, my lord!"

Yang Chao sighed: "I don't blame you. People can't compete with cannons."

Then he sighed: "Everyone listen to the order, go to Dongcheng with me, and leave the city together. Zhao Kang sent Shangdengcheng to let the remaining soldiers meet Mrs. Xing in the east of the city. Take some soldiers to the Governor's Mansion and fetch Master Shi out. He can't die yet."

Yang Chao just brought 400 people to Mrs. Xing's place, and [-] people stayed on the south wall for defense. As for the Ten Thousand Gaojie Headquarters there, Yang Chao no longer cared about them.

However, Shi Kefa can't afford to lose. The fall of a supervisor will cause too much impact. The Ming army is already afraid of the Qing army. If even a senior member like Shi Kefa is killed in battle, the impact will be too bad. Although Shi Kefa has no talent, he is always better than other civil servants. At least he is not afraid of death, dares to go to the front line in person, and his honest character makes Yang Chao feel a little sorry.

Mrs. Xing was always nervous when she heard the cannon fire. She always felt that things were not as simple as Yang Chao said.

As a result, she soon saw Yang Chao, and she saw Yang Chao's disfigured face.

"Uncle Loyalty?"

Madam Xing's heart trembled suddenly, and her tone trembled a little.

Yang Chao smiled wryly: "Madam said, the city is broken! Madam leads people away first, I will follow immediately, I will escort Madam to Nanjing to settle down!"

At this moment, Mrs. Xing only had more than 100 of Gao Jie's most trusted subordinates, all of whom were fellow villagers who followed Gao Jie from Shaanxi, and they were loyal to Gao Jie's son.

As for the other soldiers, Mrs. Xing didn't even ask. I'm afraid this smart woman knows that she can't control those soldiers, and staying with them is unpredictable. At least for an officer like Li Benshen, keeping them is always a threat to her son. .

Madam Xing didn't say a word, she immediately ran to the back hall with Gao Yuanjue in her arms, and was the first to get into the hole, followed by her cronies.

Yang Chao asked many men to take the soldiers to go first, and he did not start to leave until he got the soldiers he had left in the city.

According to the guards, long before they left, the city walls were in complete disarray, and the situation where the Tartars fired from the city completely made the guards despair. They all refused to obey orders, some ran down the city, and some went into the city. Some jumped from houses, and some even jumped into the moat outside the city.

Yang Chao felt a little better when he heard it. At least it wasn't the chaos caused by his retreat, which proved that his decision was made in a timely manner, and at least he saved hundreds of his loyal soldiers.

Yang Chao knew very well that once his elite soldiers withdrew, the miscellaneous troops on the city wall would surrender. Even the soldiers of Gao Jie's headquarters would never resist. Once he left, Yangzhou would be over.

Yang Chao was not without a burden in his heart. He knew that after the city of Yangzhou was broken, the Qing army would massacre the city in order to punish the resistance. Nearly a million people in Yangzhou would be beheaded and killed, and at most [-] people could escape and ascend to heaven.

But if you lose, you lose. Even if you fight all your troops, you can't stop the well-organized Qing army.

All Yang Chao could do was to retain his vitality and counterattack in the future. Even if Wang Pu arrived at this time, Yang Chao would not be able to attack the city. After all, the fortified city defended by more than [-] Qing troops was not easily captured.

As for when to recover Yangzhou, as for the millions of people living in Yangzhou, Yang Chao no longer dared to think about it.

Yang Chao had also descended into the cave.

Although the entrance of the cave is narrow, it becomes wider and wider when it reaches the bottom. It looks like more than three feet down, and it is a large space, and there are some simple furniture inside, and more are jars. Water and wine, some with food.

It's a cellar!
Or a sanctuary!

Yang Chao understood, however, that this was not an escape route that Mrs. Xing sent someone to dig out, but that the owner of the house had already dug it up, but Mrs. Xing discovered it by accident.

Naturally, there is also a passage at the other end of the cellar. The passage is very strong and fixed with wood on all sides. It is much safer than the mines that were mined in this era.

Yang Chao then walked towards the exit. At first, he was very steady. He walked straight forward, walked about ten feet, and then went straight up. There were steps built with bricks and stones in the hard soil, but the hole also only allowed one person to pass through.

After climbing more than three feet, the entrance of the cave has been exposed.

When the soldiers outside saw Yang Chao, they immediately pulled him up. It was also a room outside!
(End of this chapter)