Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 179 Battle of Tongguan
Gun exchange.

There is no better means of communication than this.

Zuo Liangyu was the army leader with more than 200,000 men under his command, but they were silenced by a barrage of artillery shells.

Sun Chuanting is now the last pillar of the Ming Dynasty. The moment he saw the mortar, he felt that the young man in his twenties in front of him was so familiar.

He knew very well that Tongguan could not stop Li Zicheng's army now, so Tongguan was now on the brink of life and death.

Since they didn't attack the city, it didn't matter whose troops they were from, as long as they could defend the city, he would believe them even if they said they were the young Emperor Taizu.

With this thought in mind, Sun Chuanting immediately opened the door and let little Zhu Di and the others in.

At this moment, inside Tongguan, young Zhu Di looked around. This pass was cast and expanded by old Zhu Di in the early Ming Dynasty in the fifth and ninth years of Hongwu respectively, under the order of Qianhu Liu Tong and Jinshi commander Ma Zeng.

The city wall is majestic and tall, facing the Yellow River in the north, and crossing Fenghuang and Qilin Mountains in the south. The east side of the east-west road faces the Yellow River and extends south to Qilin Mountain; the west side of the east-west road faces Henan and extends to Xiangshan Mountain. There are six gates in the city, each with two holes, connected by a urn in the middle, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and is as solid as a rock.

But when he entered, he saw that there were very few defenders in the city. Most of them were leaning tiredly against the city wall, or sitting or lying on top of the city wall. There were almost no people in Tongguan City. It was obvious that they had tried their best to resist the attack during the day.

Sun Chuanting had already come down from the city wall and walked up to him quickly. He bowed politely and said, "I don't know the name of this warrior. Who is his subordinate? Or did he form his own army to support the king?"

You have to know that he is the commander-in-chief, ranking above the governor-general and the governor-general, has the imperial sword, and is also the title of Minister of War. He is also the commander-in-chief of the military affairs of Jiangxi, Huguang, Guizhou, Jiangnan and Bei. His political and military status is already the highest level in the Ming Dynasty. Ordinary people are not qualified to see him on weekdays, let alone be so courteous to ordinary people. This is enough to show his current predicament and the strength shown by young Zhu Di to win his respect.

"I am Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan in the eighteenth year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty. I have come to the mortal world with His Majesty the Great Ancestor to save the Ming Dynasty from its end."

After entering the house, young Zhu Di dismounted from his horse, looked Sun Chuanting up and down, and said, "You must be Sun Chuanting. You should know that you will die tomorrow. If I had not come thousands of miles to help you from Changsha, Li Zicheng would have conquered Beijing in March next year, Zhu Youjian would have been hanged, and the Ming Dynasty would have been destroyed."

Opening lightning strike!
Sun Chuanting was dumbfounded.

I thought in my heart that even if you said it was His Majesty Taizu, I would believe it.

But I didn't really ask you to say it.

Although young Zhu Di only said that he was the King of Yan, he himself was already very impressive.

What's more, he even said that His Majesty would die in March next year and the Ming Dynasty would perish.

At that moment, Sun Chuanting almost turned hostile.

But thinking of the current situation in Tongguan City, he could only grit his teeth and laughed dryly: "Don't joke, brave man. If this word gets out, there will be disaster for the whole clan."

"hehe."

Little Zhu Di sneered and said, "Who is joking with you? The little Emperor Chongzhen in Beijing, dares to kill my entire clan? Who does he think he is? He is a king who lost his country because of his unfilial descendants. When I follow my father into Beijing, I will depose him."

"you!"

Sun Chuanting opened his eyes wide and tried to squeeze out a few words from between his teeth, but he couldn't say anything.

Little Zhu Di put his hands behind his back and walked towards Guannan with a swagger, saying as he walked: "I know you don't believe it, but you will believe it soon. Come with me to see the thief first, and I will let you talk to your father later."

In front of Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, Empress Ma, Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He, he was just an ordinary Zhu Laosi, who was bullied and suffered all kinds of grievances by all of them.

But outside, he was the arrogant and domineering His Royal Highness Di, the Prince of Yan of the Ming Dynasty! The future Emperor Chengzu!
Sun Chuanting opened his mouth slightly, and several soldiers around him looked at each other. Niu Huchen, the fierce general responsible for protecting Sun Chuanting, reached for his waist and looked at Sun Chuanting.

As long as Sun Chuanting gave him a look, he would immediately draw his sword and chop at Zhu Di.

However, Sun Chuanting hesitated for a few seconds, and finally shook his head and told Niu Huchen not to act rashly. He then followed Zhu Di's pace and lagged behind the other by one body position.

A person's aura can be seen.

The confidence that the other party displayed from beginning to end and the elegance from head to toe are definitely not something that an ordinary person can perform.

What's more, their military appearance is extraordinary.

Not only were they lined up neatly and had sharp eyes, but they were also holding long black poles of unknown weapons in their hands.

Before finding out the other party's background, Sun Chuanting decided to observe first.

Along the way, young Zhu Di looked around the situation in the city and saw that although Tongguan had not yet been breached, a pessimistic mood had spread throughout the city.

Some of the soldiers were dejected, some were expressionless, and some looked numb. None of them maintained high morale.

Seeing this scene, little Zhu Di couldn't help but shook his head.

The Ming Dynasty was truly on the brink of national destruction.

These were the last elite troops of the Ming Dynasty. They were the Qin Army that had been trained by Sun Chuanting for more than a year, and their food and wages were raised by Chongzhen from all over the place. But even so, their spirit was destroyed.

The group soon arrived at the South Gate, where Gao Jie was directing the soldiers to carry some wood, lime and other things in preparation for tomorrow's defensive battle.

Now the Ming army not only lacks equipment to defend the city, but also has very few artillery pieces.

On the other hand, Li Zicheng's troops also have a large number of artillery, which will be a huge test for the Tongguan defenders with small numbers and low morale.

After climbing up the city wall, Xiao Zhu Di immediately said, "Release the drone."

"Buzz buzz buzz!"

The drone operator then released the drone.

Under Sun Chuanting's shocked eyes, the drone flew into the sky and scanned the ground to the south.

On the display screen, I saw the towering Qinling Mountains in the south. Five or six miles south of Tongguan was Li Zicheng's camp, with crisscrossing camps extending southward for more than ten miles.

Many soldiers of the Chuang army were cutting down trees in the mountains and forests on both sides, or drawing water from the Tong River, obviously planning to make a fire and cook in preparation for the siege tomorrow.

"This"

Sun Chuanting's eyes almost popped out.

If he had this thing before, Li Zicheng would have died long ago. How could he have fallen to this day?
Little Zhu Di said with a click of his tongue: "There are so many people."

Li Wenzhong pointed to the hills outside the city to the west and said, "Your Highness, maybe we can deploy mortars here to bomb Li Zicheng's camp."

Their mortars are new-age technology, much more powerful than those from World War II. They are 82MM guns made of modern new light steel, weigh only 46 kilograms, and have a maximum range of 4 kilometers.

However, due to the lack of logistical support, the troops relied solely on tricycles and horses. The entire army had 1000 men, but only statues in total, and only more than artillery shells, which was too few.

Little Zhu Di shook his head and said, "No, we don't have enough shells to carry out a saturation bombing. So we must kill them all in one battle. We should use up all the shells while their army is gathering. After we scatter the enemy, we can go out of the city and defeat them. That is the right way."

Li Wenzhong certainly knew this, but he couldn't say it. He had to hand over the command to little Zhu Di. He would only point it out if little Zhu Di was incompetent. Now when he heard little Zhu Di say the correct way to play, he immediately smiled and said, "Your Highness is right."

"Set up the radio station and tell Father about it."

Little Zhu Di said again.

The communications soldier behind him immediately put down the shortwave radio and started tuning to connect to Changsha.

"Hello, hello, can you hear me? This is the Yan Wangwei."

"I can hear you. This is the base camp."

"Your Highness has arrived at Tongguan, requesting to connect with His Majesty."

"it is good."

The communicator at the headquarters of Prince Ji's Mansion in Changsha immediately found someone to report to Zhu.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was planning to march south to attack Zhang Xianzhong.

After Lu Daqi surrendered, Changsha's military strength reached 300,000.

Although most of them were refugees, the only ones who could really fight were the elite troops of Zuo Liangyu and Lu Daqi, totaling about 30,000 people. But this number of people was enough.

Upon learning that young Zhu Di had arrived in Tongguan, old Zhu quickly came over to talk to him.

"Hey!"

"Father."

Little Zhu Di put on his headphones and said, "I have arrived at Tongguan."

"What's the enemy situation?"

"There are quite a lot of people. There must be at least 300,000 or 400,000 people using drones for observation."

"Well, be careful and just fight it off."

"I understand. Sun Chuanting is right beside us. Father, do you want to say a few words to him?"

"Let him take over."

"Yes."

Little Zhu Di handed the earphone to Sun Chuanting and said, "Father wants to talk to you."

From the time when young Zhu Di entered the city to now, in just less than half an hour, he has already given Sun Chuanting too much shock.

Mortars, drones, and now this device that seems to be able to communicate long distances all make Sun Chuanting feel a little at a loss, as if he was looking at a magical weapon.

At this moment, he even felt that the other person might actually be Emperor Chengzu himself who had descended to the earth.

“I am Sun Chuanting”

Sun Chuanting took the headphones and put them on his head like little Zhu Di.

A deep old man's voice came from the other side: "Sun Chuanting, I am Zhu Yuanzhang. I order you to assist the Prince of Yan in defending the city. After repelling Li Zicheng, come to Xiangyang to see me immediately. I will send Xu Da to the south to eliminate Zhang Xianzhong, and then go north to conquer Xiangyang. I will wait for you in Xiangyang."

".good."

Sun Chuanting was silent for a moment and only made one response.

He feels like he is dreaming now.

I don’t even know if this is just my fantasy before I die.

"Zhuang Palace."

Putting down the headphones, Sun Chuanting had a look of struggle and confusion on his face, not knowing how to address the other party.

Little Zhu Di continued to watch the drone video and said, "Just call me Gu Lao Si, but I won't blame you if you call me Lao Si now, but if you call me Gu Lao Si again after you go to Xiangyang to see your father, it will be a capital crime, understand?"

"it is good."

Sun Chuanting responded, and he now felt that he was almost believing it.

At least in today's world, there should be no one who can carry so many magical things and call himself Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu so confidently.

"Old Four, I want to ask what is going on?"

Sun Chuanting asked hesitantly.

"It's very simple. His Majesty Taizu became an immortal and can travel through time. Do you think we've only come to the Chongzhen Dynasty? We've been to many worlds and many places. I've even seen myself when I was old during the Yongle period."

Little Zhu Di said cheerfully, "Have you seen these things? They are all magical weapons. They can communicate regardless of the distance in space and can fly in the sky. There is also a magical weapon that is larger than this drone and can take us to the sky, but that thing is too big and it consumes too much mana to bring it here. What the Ming Dynasty needs now is food and weapons that can defeat the enemy, so it is not brought here for the time being. If there is a chance in the future, I can take you to experience it. You are the last loyal person in the Ming Dynasty. As long as you follow my orders, I will not make things difficult for you."

"That's it, that's it."

Sun Chuanting muttered a few words to himself. He really believed it now.

If you don’t learn mathematics, physics and chemistry, life will be full of magic.

In the eyes of the people of the Ming Dynasty, these mortars, drones and shortwave radios were more than just magic; they were simply magical powers.

So even though Sun Chuanting felt that what was happening before his eyes was absurd and ridiculous, it still made him waver.

It would be great if Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu could come down to earth.

Now it is the end of the world where people are eating each other.

Sun Chuanting had had enough.

Young Zhu Di entered Tongguan and immediately began looking for a powerful sniper point on the pass.

He did not look down on Li Zicheng.

Not to mention the problem of the other side having more people and more power, the fact that they have red cannons is also a problem.

The maximum range of their mortars is four kilometers, and the effective range with high precision is actually still around one kilometer.

In comparison, the range of the Red Cannon is much shorter, about one mile.

Because Huang Taiji besieged Jinzhou in the Battle of Songjin, the moat he set up was only one mile away from Jinzhou, which means that the red cannons in Jinzhou city did not pose much threat to targets one mile away.

Li Zicheng's artillery was confiscated by the Ming army. They did not have skilled gunners or the ability to manufacture artillery, so the damage to them was limited.

However, one mile refers to the effective range. In fact, if the angle is adjusted, the red cannon can reach a maximum range of about 3-4 kilometers.

There are threats, but not many.

However, every soldier under Zhu Di was very valuable. They were all elite soldiers who could operate modern weapons and had been trained many times. Even if one of them was killed, it would be a loss.

So for safety reasons, they must also place mortars at high points and try to carry out precise strikes to gain a first-mover advantage.

The next morning.

Before daybreak, Li Zicheng's army south of Tongguan in the distance was already beating drums and gongs, creating a lively atmosphere.

After several years of development, Li Zicheng had more than 400,000 followers when he left Shangluo Mountain with only a few thousand people in the 13th year of Chongzhen. In just over three years, he had grown into a group of over 400,000 people.

The turning point was actually the severe drought in Henan in the 13th year of Chongzhen. After the natural disaster, countless people starved to death. There were almost no green plants in the vast wilderness. All the edible and inedible things were eaten up.

Li Zicheng entered Henan, attacked the county town and opened the warehouses to release grain.

At one time, "hungry people from near and far came with hoes in their hands. The response was like a stream of water, day and night without stopping. One call brought millions of people, and the momentum spread like wildfire and could not be extinguished."

With a large number of peasant troops, Li Zicheng rushed non-stop to capture Luoyang and obtained countless gold, silver, jewelry, supplies and food from Prince Fu's palace, which further expanded the strength of his team.

Afterwards, he annexed the forces of Luo Rucai, He Yilong and others, killed the rebel general Yuan Shizhong, went south to capture Xiangyang, occupied Nanyang and large tracts of land in Henan, and became extremely powerful.

While Sun Chuanting was still training his troops in Guanzhong, Li Zicheng took advantage of this time to reform the military system. He established five battalions, namely Zhongji, Zuofu, Youyi, Qianfeng and Houjin, trained the soldiers, and the army became increasingly elite.

Although he was defeated by Sun Chuanting in Ruzhou later, Li Zicheng had the best time, place and people on his side. A heavy rain helped Li Zicheng defeat the government army, and from then on Li Zicheng's victory was inevitable.

If the Qing army had not entered the pass, Dashun might have been the last dynasty in history.

All we can say is that there are no ifs in history.

But at least for now, Li Zicheng was full of pride. In the early morning, he gave an order and prepared to launch a general attack on Tongguan, the last line of defense of the Ming Dynasty!

(End of this chapter)