1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3909

Ding Baoguo chose Guangrun Gate, located in the southwest corner of Nanchang City, as the breakout point. Outside the gate is the Fuhe River, a tributary of the Gan River, which flows into the Gan River not far to the west. It is one of the important freight channels for merchants and logistics to enter and leave Nanchang City, and it is also part of the moat of Nanchang City.

Although waterways blocked his escape route, Ding Baoguo resolutely chose Guangrun Gate as his escape route, and he had good reason for it.

Long before the Haihan Army besieged Nanchang, the government had already cleared out all kinds of boats near the Fuhe River wharf outside Guangrun Gate to prevent them from being used by the Haihan Army to cross the river and attack the city. Many small boats were towed ashore nearby and left on the riverbank outside Guangrun Gate.

If Ding Baoguo can lead his troops out of Guangrun Gate, they can use these small boats to cross the Fu River and then escape south along the east bank of the Gan River.

Although Guangrun Gate had been occupied by the Haihan Army at this time, according to the information Ding Baoguo had, no large-scale battle had broken out there, and the city gate passages were still relatively intact. Furthermore, the main force of the Haihan Army was concentrated in the four larger city gates, and the number of troops stationed at Guangrun Gate was very limited.

Ding Baoguo set the time for the breakout at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM) in the middle of the night, hoping that the darkness would weaken the firepower of the Haihan Army.

To divert the enemy's attention, Ding Baoguo also arranged for several other teams to break out from different directions. Although these Ming soldiers participating in these breakout operations were very likely to become cannon fodder, Ding Baoguo was now focused on escaping and couldn't care less about that.

As expected, several breakout attempts after nightfall all ended in failure. After losing about two thousand soldiers, not a single unit was able to successfully break out of the city.

While disappointed, Ding Baoguo also believed that these breakout attempts should have drawn the Haihan Army's attention elsewhere, making the actual breakout easier to achieve later.

At 3:45 AM, Ding Baoguo ordered his troops to head towards Guangrun Gate, with men gagged, horses unbellied, and lights extinguished to minimize any noise.

There are still at least 10,000 Ming soldiers in the city, but they are a mixed bag. Ding Baoguo knows he can't take them all with him. What he needs now are soldiers with strong will, excellent military skills, and the ability to obey orders and launch a desperate charge.

Accompanying Ding Baoguo were his three thousand most elite men, including more than two hundred of his personal guards, more than two thousand musketeers, rattan shield soldiers, and cavalrymen from the imperial guards, and more than five hundred retainers of military officers of various ranks.

The group marched silently through the city, arriving at a point about a mile from Guangrun Gate before dawn.

The scouts who arrived here to investigate last night reported to Ding Baoguo that there were about 300 Haihan soldiers stationed near Guangrun Gate, but there was no definite information yet as they could not climb the city wall to investigate whether there were any other troops outside the city.

But for Ding Baoguo, the probability of success of a night raid by three thousand men on a defense line of three hundred men was already worth the risk.

Of course, there is another reason: he no longer has time to find another way out.

The Haihan army has already controlled the main passages in and out of the city. If this drags on until dawn, even more Haihan troops will flood into Nanchang City, at which point it will be impossible for them to escape.

As soon as the hour of Yin arrived, Ding Baoguo immediately issued the order to launch an attack.

A rocket was fired at the Guangrun Gate tower. Upon seeing the signal, the Ming soldiers lurking in the darkness immediately rose and surged towards the gate. Ding Baoguo stood on a rooftop, gazing at the Guangrun Gate a hundred paces away. If nothing unexpected happened, a fierce, bloody battle was about to unfold.

Many torches and lanterns were lit around Guangrun Gate, but it was quiet and there was no movement at all. It was as if the guards had all fallen asleep and had not seen the rocket that was shot at the city tower, nor heard the sound of thousands of people rushing towards the city gate.

A sudden, ominous thought arose in Ding Baoguo's mind: the escape route he believed in might not be so rosy after all. And this surprise attack might just be a moth drawn to a flame.

When the vanguard of the Ming army rushed to the city gate, they found it empty and there was no trace of the Haihan army.

Although the officer in charge had doubts, he didn't have time to think about it and quickly ordered the city gates to be opened so that the people and troops in the city could leave quickly.

But at this moment, the city gate creaked and opened by itself. It was pitch black outside the city gate, and the situation outside could not be seen clearly from inside the city. However, the figures of the hundreds of Ming soldiers who had lit torches and were preparing to leave the city to cross the river were clearly visible.

Before the Ming army could figure out what was happening, many flashing lights suddenly appeared in the darkness outside the city. These were the flashes of light from hundreds of gun barrels firing simultaneously.

Bullets pierced the darkness through the city gate, striking the Ming soldiers who had no time to react. Although most of them were wearing armor, at this distance, ordinary armor was no match for the direct fire of the Haihan rifles.

In just a moment, hundreds of people inside the city gate were shot and unable to get up. Their screams even drowned out the shouts of battle inside the city, making the Ming army, who were in a state of excitement, feel as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over their heads.

Clearly, the Haihan Army had not abandoned its defenses at Guangrun Gate. On the contrary, they had made targeted preparations for it even before the Ming army launched its surprise attack.

At this moment, countless gun barrels extended from the city walls and towers, pointing at the Ming army below, and then opened fire in unison.

Although the Ming army also had rattan shield soldiers, they could hardly withstand the dense firepower and could at most last a few more breaths than other types of soldiers.

Some Ming cavalry tried to charge out of the city gate despite the enemy's fire, but the dead and wounded lying scattered inside the gate slowed their advance. After more than ten riders fell to the ground, the wounded horses completely blocked the already narrow gate.

After realizing their predicament, many others instinctively turned back and fled to the darker areas of the city. As long as they remained out of the line of fire of the Haihan rifles, their chances of survival would greatly increase.

A very small number of suicide soldiers still tried to charge towards the city wall. If they could clear out the Haihan Army on the city wall and inside the city tower, they would still have a chance to control Guangrun Gate.

But reality was extremely cruel. The Ming soldiers who tried to storm the city walls were met with even denser barrages of fire, along with several grenades thrown down from the walls.

Ding Baoguo witnessed firsthand how his breakout plan collapsed in an instant. Seeing his elite troops, trained at great expense and time, being slaughtered, he felt utterly hopeless and lost all desire to issue further orders.

Ding Baoguo couldn't understand how his carefully planned breakout strategy could have been preemptively prepared by the Haihan people, turning Guangrun Gate into a death trap.