Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

In the Battle of Tianjin, the Wei army killed and wounded 4,000 Qing troops at the cost of 2,000 casualties, and captured 5,000, including 20 warships and 30 transport ships. Setel was so happy that he shouted that he had made a fortune. These prisoners were all Han soldiers from the Green Camp, and they were not loyal to the Qing court. The three generals simply divided these prisoners to make up for the losses. Setel had a deep background. He first selected 1,500 naval prisoners, so that the number of Tianjin Naval Camp was restored to 3,000, and the number of Niu Wancai and Chen Shikai's subordinates also increased to 6,000 each. It is not difficult to expand the army in troubled times. The victory news reached Beijing, and the Great Khan Lianhua was delighted and agreed with a stroke of his pen. In order to reward the meritorious officials, he also issued an edict to commend the generals, and conferred the first-class imperial decree on the wife of Yuan Dehui, the lieutenant general of the Tianjin Naval Camp who died in the naval battle, and Yin's son was made a centurion.

The Battle of Tianjin was a major battle in terms of scale, but it was not a crucial battle in the overall situation. The focus of the Qingwei War was Beijing. In order to capture the inner city of Beijing as soon as possible, Sultan allocated 4,000 of the 10,000 Green Camp soldiers captured by the Junggar Wanhu Chief Urgendalai in Tongzhou to Xuan Youcai, the general of Jizhou, and Zhang Wei, the general of Tongzhou, to increase the number of the two generals' subordinates to 15,000, and the remaining 6,000 were handed over to Zhou Youde, the newly surrendered governor of Shandong. He ordered the three generals to attack Zhengyang Gate in the south, Anding Gate in the north, and Chaoyang Gate in the east, and ordered Buhe Altu, the general of the Western Regions, to lead 5,000 troops to attack Fucheng Gate in the west.

He concentrated most of the artillery outside Zhengyang Gate, ordered Xuan Youcai, the most powerful general of Jizhou, to lead 8,000 troops to attack Zhengyang Gate, and stationed his central army on the street from Zhengyang Gate to Yongding Gate. After taking the outer city, placing the central army inside the outer city could avoid harassment from the Qing army's cavalry. In addition, Zhengyang Gate was the gate for the emperor to enter and exit, with a wide road and convenient transportation. After taking Zhengyang Gate, the army could be quickly transferred to the inner city.

"Pass on my decree, whoever enters the inner city first will be promoted three levels and rewarded with a thousand gold coins." In order to boost morale, the Great Khan issued an edict to promote promotion and wealth.

All the generals bravely climbed the city walls upon hearing the order. However, since the outer city was captured, feeling the pressure, Emperor Shunzhi ordered nine important officials, including Ming Andali, the Manchu Minister of War, Eshehei, the Grand Secretary of Baohe Hall, Yitu, the Manchu Minister of Personnel, Guo Ke, the Manchu Minister of Works, Wohe, the Manchu Minister of Rites, Ning Guli, the Left Censor-in-Chief, Tong Huinian, the Infantry Commander, Hu Shian, the Grand Secretary of Wuying Hall and the Han Minister of War, Wei Zhouzuo, the Grand Secretary of Baohe Hall and the Han Minister of Punishment, to supervise the battle at the nine gates of the inner city, namely Zhengyangmen, Chongwenmen, Chaoyangmen, Dongzhimen, Andingmen, Deshengmen, Xizhimen, Fuchengmen, and Xuanwumen. He also sent Prince Kang Jieshu, Prince Zhuang Boguoduo, Suo Ni, the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of State Affairs, and Ebilun, the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of State Affairs, to lead troops to inspect the four city walls. Seeing that the Qing Dynasty was facing a critical moment of life and death, the Manchu, Mongolian and Han nobles in the city felt a sense of common hatred for the enemy, especially the Eight Banners descendants. Although most of them were old or young, they were still willing to risk their lives to protect the Qing Dynasty.

The fierce siege lasted for nearly a month. Under the supervision of the Guards' Supervisory Team, the 21,000 surrendered troops in the main attack suffered 10,000 casualties, but still failed to break through the inner city.

"Your Majesty, Shandong Governor Zhou Youde, Jizhou General Xuan Youcai, Tongzhou General Zhang Wei and others request to see you," said Grand Secretary Liu Haogu to Great Khan Lianhua.

"They want to see me, just to ask me to let them withdraw to rest and let other troops attack the city. Humph! The capital city is high and strong, how can my imperial guards be destroyed in such a brutal siege? If the elite troops of the David Kingdom are consumed, how can I rule the Central Plains in the future? No. Order them to continue attacking the city tomorrow!" Sultan snorted coldly.

Liu Haogu's face turned slightly red. Zhou Youde, Xuan Youcai, and Zhang Wei were all Han Chinese like him. Because their subordinates suffered heavy casualties, they privately asked him to plead with the Great Khan. Unexpectedly, the Great Khan refused before he could say anything. He knew that although the Kingdom of David had many soldiers and generals, the number of the most elite imperial guards was not large. Most of the troops sent to Beijing were imperial guards. The Great Khan was reluctant to use the elite troops to fight for consumption, and only wanted to sacrifice the surrendered troops to attack the city. In the eyes of this supreme, the lives of the surrendered troops did not count at all. As long as Beijing could be captured, it was worth it to die. After thinking for a while, he advised: "Your Majesty, since ancient times, the surrendered troops have been the most likely to rebel. Now they have suffered too many casualties and are asking for rest. You refuse to agree. What if it provokes a mutiny?"

Having spent his entire life in the military, the Lotus Khan naturally knew the habits of the surrendered soldiers. After thinking for a moment, he slowly said, "Master Liu knows that all of my elite soldiers are in the Imperial Guards. Although I have repeatedly expanded them, the number of Imperial Guards is only 200,000. The rest are local garrisons and tribal troops. They are my capital for dominating the world. If we lose too many of them in the capital, how can we rule the nine provinces in the future?"

Liu Haogu smiled slightly, "Your Majesty's words are reasonable, but the most difficult thing to grasp in the world is people's hearts. Now the surrendered troops are in turmoil due to heavy casualties. If you don't show sympathy, it will easily lead to a mutiny. Once a mutiny occurs, it means that you have lost more than 10,000 soldiers and the Qing court has gained more than 10,000 soldiers. Moreover, Beijing is the imperial capital. Even if the surrendered troops are wiped out, it may not be possible to attack it in a short time. I think the surrendered troops can be ordered to rest temporarily for ten days, and the artillery can be ordered to fire fiercely within these ten days to make sure to blow down the city walls. If a gap can be blasted out, it will be easy to order the surrendered troops to attack the city."

"Whether it is the newly surrendered troops or the imperial guards, they are all the troops of the court. I feel sorry for their heavy casualties. Alas! Let's do as Master Liu said." Sultan thought again and again, and finally gave in. He ordered Zhou Youde, Xuan Youcai, and Zhang Wei to enter the account, comforted them in every way, and allowed them to rest for ten days; he also ordered Nurwanhuchang, Guangling Botarhun, who was in charge of commanding the artillery camp, to concentrate 80 heavy artillery and 180 small artillery to bombard Zhengyang Gate day and night; he also ordered the troops of Gunbu Yileden, the third-class and Tohuite Marquis, to find an opportunity to break the city. Since he robbed the Kharchin tribe privately last time, this marquis has been targeted by the Great Khan. As long as it is a dangerous mission, he will be sent, under the pretext of loving his bravery, but in fact he has always been keeping that account in mind.

"Boom~Boom~Boom~"

"Boom~Boom~Boom~"

Under the urging of Tarhun, the soldiers of the artillery battalion showed amazing combat power and fired artillery at the city day and night. In fact, the self-defense army had been shelling Zhengyang Gate since it entered the outer city. After more intense concentrated shooting, the city wall of Zhengyang Gate finally couldn't stand it and was bombarded with gaps. Fortunately, the defender of the city was Ming Andali, a veteran Manchu general who had experienced the three dynasties of Taizu, Taizong, and Shunzhi, and the Manchu Minister of War. This old man had a lifetime of military experience and was extremely experienced in combat. He had ordered people to plant fences in the city and prepared knife carts and earth bags. When the city wall collapsed, they immediately blocked it with knife carts and filled it with earth bags. Even if the guards quickly broke into the gap, they were blocked by the fences in the city and were driven out of the city again under the shooting of the defenders.

On the eighth day of the fierce artillery battle, King Biligendalai of Zhao led his army back to Dadu, escorting the supplies and prisoners seized in Tongzhou.

"Xiao Wuzi, you're back just in time! Those 20,000 captives will be of great use to me!" Lianhua Khan patted Zhao Wang Biligendalai on the shoulder and laughed. (End of this chapter)