Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 288: Melee, Ups and Downs

Jia Lian did not have a clear understanding of the combat effectiveness of the Dragon Guards and the Imperial Horse Guards, but he had a certain understanding of the combat effectiveness of the officers and soldiers. The elite troops of the Fengtai Camp under the Beijing Camp had decent combat effectiveness, but they were all transferred to Shandong to encircle and suppress the remaining enemies under Yue Qi.

"Report, the night banquet at Prince Dongping's Palace is still going on, and no guest has left."

"Report, Xishan Jianrui Battalion has occupied Xizhimen and is fighting with the Imperial Horse Administration."

"Report, a group of people rushed to Xihua Gate and had a fierce battle with the Longjinwei guarding it."

"Report, General Yang has arrived at Dongzhimen safely, no enemy is currently in sight."

Zhang San managed to ensure the smooth flow of information, but Jia Lian felt the chaos of the situation! Out of caution, Jia Lian decided to play it safe. No matter what, Emperor Chenghui must not get into trouble. Once he got into trouble, all the previous efforts would be in vain.

"Pass the order, leave one battalion of soldiers to guard the headquarters, and the rest will follow me to help defend Xihua Gate."

Jia Lian made a quick decision and left Zhang San at the Shenjiying headquarters to continue to ensure smooth communications.

There are too many clues tonight, and it is obvious that the game played by Emperor Chenghui has become more complicated.

They could have defended the city gate, but they had to do this. Jia Lian couldn't understand Emperor Chenghui's micromanagement, which reminded him of the vitality, the competition of all things, and the advantage is mine.

Wouldn't it be good to fight a steady and invincible battle?
Jia Lian, who could only complain in his heart, led his troops out of the camp. He saw faint fire in the distance and heard the sound of fighting.

What’s funny is that Jia Lian didn’t hear any gunfire. Judging from the direction of the sound, it was in the direction of Xizhimen. The troops of the Imperial Stables and the troops of the Jianrui Battalion were fighting. Didn’t both sides use muskets and artillery?

Not far away, Jia Lian led his troops to Xihua Gate. Along the way were high walls and courtyards. The doors of every household were closed, but there were many heads sticking out of the wall to observe. The shouts and screams came from the direction of Xihua Gate, and Jia Lian couldn't help but secretly worried, hoping that nothing would happen.

Boom boom boom, continuous explosions were heard from the front, Jia Lian pricked up his ears and recognized it as the sound of black-gun-powder thunder bombs. This thing was made very large in order to pursue explosive power, weighing about seven or eight kilograms, and required professional strong men to throw it at close range. The Shenji Camp also had two teams of grenadiers before, and they were all left in the camp by Jia Lian. Professional grenadiers could throw thunder bombs up to 20 meters, and it was easy to accidentally hurt one's own people if they were not careful.

In the pavilion at the top of Jingshan Mountain, Wu Chen, who was dressed in black and masked, put down the telescope in his hand and said to the seven or eight guards around him: "It's too late to use the death squad now. Jia Lian has arrived with the Shenji Battalion. Even if these elite soldiers can break through the formation of Long Jinwei, they can't break through the palace wall guards. Tell the people below to retreat, leave the city to the east overnight, settle down in the manor, and wait until the storm is over."

Qiu Shi'an didn't know that Jia Lian had arrived. The two sides were originally evenly matched, but suddenly dozens of assassins from the other side rushed out, each holding a thunder bomb and wearing three layers of cotton armor, breaking into their formation and detonating them.

The continuous explosions directly created a huge gap in the dense formation of Long Jinwei.

Qiu Shian, who was left behind, was stunned. How could this happen? The old man had this trick up his sleeve.

Qiu Shian quickly ordered the most elite reserve troops to join the battle to plug the hole, but it was too late. The front formation completely collapsed and thousands of defeated soldiers fled backwards. Qiu Shian immediately changed the order, and the last hundred-man team immediately turned around and retreated to the palace to guard the palace gate.

"What's going on? There is no movement from the east gate?" The young Prince Zhongyi looked towards the east of the city with an unhappy expression.

At this moment, the battle at Xizhimen was also in a stalemate. Xia Shouzhong was not good at fighting, but he had more people. Moreover, they were fighting in the city. No matter how elite the Jianrui Battalion was, it would be difficult to break through the defense of the Imperial Horse Administration.

But at this moment, Xia Shouzhong's hands and feet were also cold. He thought it would be easy to beat the few with more people, but he never thought that the city environment also limited the number of advantages of the Imperial Horse Administration. The battle between the two sides entered a fierce battle from the beginning, from the streets to the roofs, there were fights everywhere. Xia Shouzhong had no experience in this area.

"Your Majesty, just rest assured and take me to the jumping team!"

The little prince Zhongyi still felt uneasy, and said to the commander of Jianrui Battalion: "I'll go to the east of the city to take a look!"

With that, he led hundreds of followers to the east of the city. Deep down, Prince Zhongyi still believed in the fighting power of the Dongping Iron Cavalry. When Prince Zhongyi arrived in the east of the city, he was stopped by the Dongping Iron Cavalry, and after reporting his name, he was brought before the King of Dongping.

"Xizhimen has been breached, and fighting has also begun at Xihuamen. Why is Prince Mu hesitating?" Prince Zhongyi asked rudely. Everyone around Prince Mu glared at him, but Prince Dongping was not angry at all. He pointed in the direction of Dongzhimen and said, "Please look, Prince. There are many houses in front of us, and the streets are narrow. It is not conducive for our cavalry to charge. Look carefully, the commanders of the nine gates have been replaced, and the gatekeepers are all musketeers from the Shenji Camp. If it goes as expected, there are cannons waiting on the central avenue. Even if our troops can break through the city gate, the other side has enough defensive depth. Once they enter the densely populated area, the musketeers from the Shenji Camp can give full play to their range advantage, and then the Dongping cavalry will be the target."

The explanation was patient and clear, but the young Prince Zhongyi still wasn't satisfied: "You can't just watch like this, can you?"

"Don't worry, Prince. I will order a group of troops to bypass the south gate and attack the Shenji Camp from the side. It will not be difficult to defeat the enemy in front of us."

The young prince rolled his eyes and said, "I hope so. The battle at Xizhimen is going smoothly, and the continuous explosions at Xihuamen indicate that we have made good progress. We can accomplish something big tonight!"

Prince Mu was not so easily fooled. He seized the loophole in the words and asked, "Didn't we agree in advance that the Imperial Stables would act in unison? How come the Jianrui Battalion was blocked at Xizhimen? We didn't hear any gunfire. It could only be the Imperial Stables, not the Five Cities Army, right? That would be a big mistake."

“The Imperial Stables are no match for the Jianrui Battalion, don't worry, Your Highness.” Knowing that he couldn't deceive Prince Mu, the young Prince Zhongyi could only tell the truth. There was indeed a problem at the Imperial Stables, and the spikes that were originally arranged were of no use at all.

Prince Mu was shocked when he heard this. The plan was a series of links. As long as the Imperial Stables were in chaos, the east and west would attack the Forbidden City from both sides. Even if the combination of the Divine Machine Battalion and the Dragon Guards was very powerful, Prince Dongping would be confident. Now that the Imperial Stables had problems first, no matter how smooth the remaining battles near Xihua Gate were, it would be useless without follow-up.

Jia Lian's troops were heading towards Xihua Gate when they heard a burst of gunfire in front of them. The troops stopped immediately. After a short and intensive burst of gunfire, the troops in the front quickly came back to report that they had been blocked by more than a hundred rebels and had been defeated.

Jia Lian, who didn't dare to ride a horse, walked forward quickly to take a look. The vanguard troops were moving the bodies blocking the road to the side of the road.

"Why move? Hurry over there." Jia Lian was anxious because he was really worried that Xihua Gate could not be defended and someone would break into the palace.

The rumbling sound of the explosion earlier gave Jia Lian a bad feeling. How should I put it? I have never seen Long Jinwei play with explosions.

The palace wall was tall enough, Qiu Shian ordered the gates to be closed, and the defeated soldiers were blocked outside in time. The people on the top of the city shouted to the defeated soldiers to escape elsewhere and find their own way out. The defeated Long Jinwei fled in all directions like a headless fly. Qiu Shian on the city wall felt a burst of heat, and he was scared to death without even looking!
Qiu Shian, who had always been calm and confident, was now like a frightened quail, with a pale face, stiff limbs, and slight trembling.

"Hold on, everyone who holds the palace gate will be rewarded, and reinforcements will arrive soon." After vaguely hearing the sound of gunfire, Qiu Shian shouted in a sharp voice, and his lost strength returned. The gunfire that could be heard at this moment could only be the arrival of the Shenji Battalion. As for why the Shenji Battalion did not go to Dongzhimen, but appeared here, he no longer had time to think about it.

"Sir, the artillery team can't keep up!" The messenger came to report. Jia Lian didn't have time to think about it: "If they can't keep up, let them catch up slowly. Leave one battalion to cooperate with the artillery to guard the rear, and the rest of the battalions will form battle formations, rotate in echelons, and attack in waves!" This was a tactic that Jia Lian summed up based on the characteristics of the city. A battalion of 500 people formed two rows of lines, and after taking turns shooting, they changed into a column, walked to the sides to get out of the way, faced the street to reload, and wait for the next wave of attack.

In other words, the streets in this area are wide enough, otherwise this tactic cannot be carried out in two rows.

The battle outside Xizhimen changed when the Jianrui Battalion sent out two teams of heavy armored jumping teams.

The so-called jumping and dancing men are all daredevil warriors, wearing heavy armor, holding long-handled axes, advancing slowly like a forest, and all of them become dead souls under the axes.

"Quick, let the grenadiers go!" Xia Shouzhong saw clearly and knew that this type of heavy infantry was most afraid of the grenadiers.

But how could the commander of the Jianrui Battalion not know the shortcomings of his troops? The musketeers had already climbed onto the roof in advance and quickly occupied the commanding heights. The fire on the roof went from sporadic to lead bullets raining down.

Even though it was just a matchlock gun, it was in such a commanding position in this environment, so how could it be accurate?

After several consecutive rounds of shooting, the grenadiers collapsed directly. The elite Imperial Stables at the front could not withstand the impact of the heavy armored soldiers of the Jianrui Battalion. After their formation gradually loosened, an unstoppable rout occurred.

"You lost the fight, run!"

"The people jumping around in Jianrui Camp are all evil spirits. Run away quickly."

War is never about more people than others. It can only be said that Emperor Chenghui was too careless and failed to rectify the Imperial Horse Administration in time. Xia Shouzhong did seize the opportunity and strangled the leader, but the hidden dangers of the various departments of the Imperial Horse Administration were also buried.

Fear spread quickly like a plague. After the first person dropped his weapon and fled, the Imperial Horse Guard was completely defeated like an avalanche. Xia Shouzhong was protected by his confidants and retreated to the Imperial Horse Guard camp. At first, he was able to retreat in an orderly manner and tried hard to maintain the front line, but he was dragged back by the defeated soldiers and only stopped at the Imperial Horse Guard camp. At this time, let alone blocking the Jianrui Camp, it was difficult to protect himself.

"Your Majesty, I deserve to die!" Xia Shouzhong cried loudly like a funeral stuntman, and suddenly remembered something: "Quick, quick, send someone to find Jia Lian, and let the Shenjiying to protect Your Majesty."

Boom boom boom! The powerful crossbows covered the death squad and blasted the palace gate. The palace guards who were not equipped with long-range weapons could only throw out everything they could to delay time and wait for the arrival of the Shenji Battalion.

The Shenji Battalion did not disappoint Qiu Shi'an's hopes. They advanced slowly with bayonets like a forest, and after volleys of gunfire dispersed the three enemy forces that were blocking their way, they appeared 200 meters behind the enemy lines that were attacking the imperial palace.

Jia Lian was protected by his family soldiers, standing in the middle of the team, shouting loudly: "Shenjiying, bayonets! Make achievements, get promoted and make money!"

The morale of the Shenji Battalion instantly reached its peak, and they all drew their spears and charged forward!

"Forward!" Jia Lian raised the knife in his hand and swung it forward fiercely.

Kwak-kwak, the hard-soled shoes landed on the hard ground, making a dull and neat sound that echoed throughout the city.

The cold light of the bayonet instantly filled the air with murderous aura.

The rebels who were attacking the palace had given up and turned back to attack the Shenji Camp.

Bang, bang, bang, the sound was like dense firecrackers, and the air was filled with smoke. Row after row of soldiers emerged from the smoke, their formation intact, their bayonets pointed forward, shining coldly.

After just one encounter, a large number of rebels who attacked the palace fell down. Before they could react, the Shenjiying with bayonets in hand had already rushed forward in a pool of blood. "Pu, pu, pu," was the sound of bayonets entering the bodies.

The strong smell of blood was disgusting, but Jia Lian had already gotten used to it and was completely numb to it.

Jia Lian, with an expressionless face, followed in the middle of the team, and no one could stop him with his long sword.

The battle went on quickly without any suspense. In less than half an hour, few of the rebels who attacked the palace were left standing. Those who were not dead dropped their weapons, holding their heads and shaking in despair.

When Qiu Shian saw Jia Lian in the torch, he started to cry and nose run, and he did not even bother to wipe them off. He quickly ordered the door to be opened.

Jia Lian shouted outside the door: "Eunuch Qiu, don't open the door, just in case. I left a group of people to help guard, and I will go to Xizhimen to check the situation." Qiu Shian quickly asked: "Why is Dongzhimen so quiet?"

"Jia doesn't know, there is no news yet. But General Yang sent a letter before, and he took over Dongzhimen smoothly."

After a brief exchange of information, Jia Lian immediately turned around with a group of soldiers, fearing that the artillery team would fall behind.

After traveling for about 30 minutes, we heard the sound of gunfire coming from the front. "Bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang!"

It was supposed to be a quiet night, but with the sound of dense gunfire, like beans frying in a hot pot, the West City was boiling tonight. However, there was no movement in the East City, which made people feel surprised and uneasy at the same time.

The grapeshot fired by ten bronze field guns had the effect of sweeping away thousands of enemies.

By the time Jia Lian arrived, the streets were already covered with fallen bodies. There was no need for reinforcements. The remaining musketeers completed a round of shooting and then rushed forward with bayonets in hand.

Looking at the Jianrui Battalion on the opposite side, it was already in a state of disarray and could not hold its ground at all.

The Xishan Jianrui Battalion was undoubtedly the elite among the elite, but after 80% of the Tiaodang Battalion that was charging forward was killed by grapeshot, the overly bloody scene caused the entire battalion to waver. With continuous volley attacks, the casualties of the Jianrui Battalion had already exceeded half, and the morale instantly fell from the highest to the lowest, just like the repeated K-line chart of last month.

(End of this chapter)