Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 297 Will the Qing Dynasty Surely Win?

The defending troops on the walls of Nanjing did not sleep all night.

The green flags fluttered above, looking majestic, but all the Qing soldiers below the parapet trembled and looked out of the city in fear.

The news that Ao Bai's 400,000-strong army had been completely wiped out, with almost no one escaping alive, had already spread.

It should be noted that Ao Bai led 400,000 elite Qing troops, along with Wu Sangui's more than 100,000 men.

In other words, the Ming army was facing more than 500,000 soldiers from the entire Qing Dynasty, which was almost two-thirds of the country's military strength. As a result, the Ming army did not just defeat them, but annihilated them.

This result is so significant that even ordinary people, let alone soldiers, can feel the difference and are naturally filled with fear.

The city of Nanjing is majestic and towering, bordered by the Yangtze River to the west, surrounded by the Qinhuai River to the south and east, and the Zhongshan Mountains to the north. Its terrain is strategically important, like a dragon coiled and a tiger crouching.

However, although the city was vast, such a large city could not be defended without hundreds of thousands of elite troops.

Otherwise, with a city wall circumference of over 30 kilometers, even if only one person stood every meter, it would require more than 30,000 people to stand, let alone concentrate forces for defense.

Therefore, the city needs a lot of people.

Unfortunately, the garrison in Nanjing is very small, numbering less than 30,000.

Once the enemy outside the city launches an attack on multiple sections of the city wall, it will be very difficult to defend it even without firearms.

The reason for this was that a large number of Qing troops fled.

Liu Liangzuo commanded approximately 60,000 troops in Anhui, Jiangsu, and other regions, with over 10,000 stationed in Nanjing alone. If all of them were gathered together, they might be able to hold the city.

Unfortunately, the Battle of Chongqing not only shattered the myth of the Qing Dynasty's invincibility, but also broke the backbone of the Qing army, rendering them unable to stand up straight.

The total number of Qing troops in Jiangnan was only over 200,000, which was less than half the number of Qing troops in Chongqing. Moreover, they were scattered throughout the four provinces of Jiangnan and could not band together, so they could not build up morale.

Although Liu Liangzuo had already sent people to various prefectures and counties in Anhui and Jiangsu to recall all the local Green Standard Army troops stationed there.

But the Green Standard Army soldiers stationed in various places along the way took off their clothes, threw down their guns and spears, and ran away. For a time, the number of Qing soldiers who fled was as numerous as carp crossing a river.

Even though Liu Liangzuo's men used a combination of coaxing and deception, they managed to bring back very few people.

By this time, Nanjing had only 26,000 to 27,000 people left. Faced with Zhu Yuanzhang's hundreds of thousands of troops, they all huddled behind the city walls, not daring to show their faces.

In fact, Liu Liangzuo himself wanted to vote.

If it weren't for the fact that word had already spread from the Ming army, all the Green Standard Army soldiers who participated in the massacre of Han civilians would have been unforgivable and would have undoubtedly died.

As for generals like Liu Liangzuo, it was lucky for them to die in battle; if they were captured, they would surely be subjected to a thousand cuts and slow slicing!

It's likely that Liu Liangzuo had already submitted a petition to surrender.

Now we can't surrender.

They withdrew their troops and fled.

They'll definitely chop his head off in Beijing.

It would be even more difficult for ordinary soldiers to hide after taking off their Green Standard Army uniforms.

Ordinary Green Standard Army soldiers were easier to deal with; with so many of them, they were smaller targets, making it difficult for the Southern Ming army to search for them.

However, he was a high-ranking official in the Qing court, holding the rank of first-class governor-general and the hereditary second-class noble title of Jingniqihafan, which was a very high status.

For such a person to disguise himself, escape Nanjing, and evade capture as an ordinary citizen would be an impossible task.

Moreover, the Ming army has already listed him as a person who must be killed, and the search and capture efforts will be very intense.

Therefore, Liu Liangzuo dared not gamble his life on whether he could escape capture. He would rather fight to the death and maybe defend Nanjing.

The morning after the Ming army arrived at the gates of Nanjing, as dawn broke, Liu Liangzuo's face was already quite grim.

Last night, he sent someone out of the city to the Ming army camp to deliver a message. The message was very simple: if his family could be spared, he would surrender and offer up all his property.

to be frank.

The Ming army's achievement of annihilating Ao Bai's 400,000-strong army was too exaggerated, frightening the Qing court, the Qing government officials throughout the country, and even more so the Green Standard Army generals.

Under this atmosphere of great terror, the remaining Qing troops were demoralized and had no ability to organize a major battle against the Ming army.

Therefore, Liu Liangzuo knew very well that he was no match for the Ming army.

Who would want to fight the terrifying Ming army if they could surrender and live?
But no matter how many envoys he sent before, none of them returned. He didn't know whether these envoys had escaped halfway or been killed by the Ming army.

All Liu Liangzuo knew was that it seemed they only wanted his life!
"They're not back yet?"

As dawn breaks, the first rays of sunlight rise from the east, illuminating the earth.

Clinging to his last glimmer of hope, Liu Liangzuo asked his deputy, Pan Yanji.

Pan Yanji shook his head and said, "He hasn't come back."

"."

Liu Liangzuo remained silent for a long time before saying, "Let's call them to the city tower for a meeting."

"Yes."

Pan Yanji agreed.

After a short while, Liu Liangzuo's subordinates Bai Yongfu, Ma Huabao, Qin Dapeng, Zhang Yingxiang, Huang Ming and others entered.

In fact, he had more than just this many subordinates.

However, after surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, the Qing government used political means to remove him from the army for many years.

His subordinates were basically incorporated into the pro-independence camp and were gradually broken up.

Some went on expeditions with the Manchu generals, some served as generals in local areas, and some have now become cannon fodder in Chongqing.

These few men are among the few generals who remain in the Jiangnan region as local commanders. When he summons troops from various places to defend Nanjing, they are the ones who can bring a small number of men to help.

Otherwise, it's uncertain whether there were even 20,000 people in Nanjing.

At this moment, everyone gathered together.

Liu Liangzuo looked around the council hall on the city wall and then said, “Gentlemen, as you all know, surrender is no longer an option. The Ming rebels have vowed to kill us. Surrender is not permitted, and fleeing will inevitably lead to defeat. If the south is defeated, the court will also be defeated. If the Ming dynasty is truly restored, even if the person who comes is not Zhu Yuanzhang, given the nature of the Ming dynasty, I am afraid that our entire clan will not be spared. So you should understand our current situation.”

"good."

Pan Yanji shouted, "Escape? Where can we escape to? If we restore the Ming Dynasty, we will be wanted throughout the country. We can't even go to sea. The sea is full of Zheng Chenggong's ships. Besides, who among you doesn't have a wife, children, and elderly parents? It's easy for one of us to escape, but what about our wives and children?"

"Yes, even if he abandons his wife and children and tries to escape alone, he will probably find it difficult to get away."

"Sigh, how did things suddenly come to this?"

"The only option now is probably to fight those Ming traitors."

Everyone sighed in dismay.

Everyone has the thought of running away.

However, after these people surrendered to the Manchu Qing dynasty, they all rose through the ranks and amassed great wealth through massacres and plunder.

Although he couldn't have as many as Shang Kexi, with hundreds of wives and concubines and nearly seventy children.

But each of them also had many wives and concubines, and numerous children.

If you include servants and guards, it could easily be a large enterprise with hundreds of people.

They might be able to run away, but what about their assets and family members?
Moreover, in this chaotic era of war, fleeing alone, even with a considerable amount of silver, would likely be fraught with danger.

They had no army under their command; a few bandits or highwaymen could easily take their lives.

Therefore, everyone here knows this.

The lower-ranking soldiers could escape, but they couldn't.

Ordinary soldiers are not important figures and are unlikely to be wanted, making them much safer than generals.

But these generals, when faced with the inability to surrender, would face a near-certain death if they chose to flee.

So they all looked worried and their eyes were filled with despair.

"Gentlemen, I have submitted official documents to the court many times, requesting reinforcements. The court has replied, saying that reinforcements will arrive soon and that we should hold out for a few more days."

Liu Liangzuo spoke fabricated lies without blinking, seemingly calm and composed, saying, "Nanjing has high walls and thick siege, abundant grain and fodder, and the Qinhuai River serves as a moat. No matter how powerful the Ming rebels are, they cannot cross this natural barrier. As long as we hold out for a while, the imperial reinforcements will arrive and we will be saved."

"Alright, I'll listen to the Commander." "Please rest assured, Commander, we know what's important, and our soldiers will fight to the death!"

"Let those bastards come up, kill them one by one!"

When everyone heard Liu Liangzuo's fabricated story about reinforcements, they didn't know if the reinforcements could defeat the Ming forces that had annihilated Ao Bai's 400,000-strong army. But no matter what, people needed some comfort.

As a result, they all seemed to have given up and started shouting loudly, making promises one after another, which boosted morale somewhat.

However, just as Liu Liangzuo nodded in satisfaction, believing that the army's morale was high enough...

A messenger rushed in, alarmed, and reported, "Your Excellency, the Ming army is advancing towards Jubao Gate!"

"go!"

Liu Liangzuo hurriedly came out of the city tower and led his generals toward Jubao Gate.

Their location was actually in the area between Qingliangmen and Shichengmen.

Because the Ming army had been stationed on the west side of the second city gate last night.

But right now they are heading towards the south gate.

The reason is easy to guess.

Qingliangmen and Shichengmen were the western gates of Nanjing. At that time, the area outside the city was not land, but rather had many rivers and lakes.

Mochou Lake and Nanhu Lake in later generations were both part of the Yangtze River system in ancient times. During the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, there were dozens of lakes and rivers of varying sizes around them.

At that time, the northern part of Jianye District, which is the area around Mochou Lake in Nanjing in later years, including Hanzhongmen Street and Shuiximen Street, was not land, but sandbars and islands, making it impossible to launch a large-scale siege.

Therefore, although the Ming army set up camp in the area of ​​the Nanjing Olympic Center, south of the later Jianye District, they did not attack the west gate of Nanjing, but instead headed east towards the south gate.

Liu Liangzuo and his men knew that the Ming army was attacking from that direction, so they deployed their main force around Jubaomen. Their main purpose at Shichengmen was to observe the Ming army.

They immediately moved to Jubao Gate.

They saw the Ming army marching in the distance, and after about half an hour, the vanguard had already arrived outside Jubao Gate.

Jubao Gate is the later Zhonghua Gate of Nanjing. The area across the Qinhuai River was not a desolate place. Instead, it was filled with numerous houses, pavilions, towers, and even many official residences and military camps.

When the Ming army arrived, the people outside the city had already scattered and fled, leaving behind only large areas of buildings and empty houses.

The vanguard troops marched through the streets and alleys, but did not go directly to Jubao Gate to prepare to cross the Qinhuai River and attack the city. Instead, the army stopped around Yuhuatai and looked in the direction of Jubao Gate from a distance.

Yuhuatai is very close to Zhonghua Gate, only one kilometer away as the crow flies. Liu Liangzuo, who was on the city wall, could even clearly see the vast army of the Ming Dynasty.

What are they doing over there?

"Whatever they do, our red-coated cannons can hit them."

"They're impossible to hit; how can we attack them if they're hiding behind the mountains?"

The soldiers were discussing it amongst themselves.

A distance of one kilometer is naturally within the firing range of the red-coated cannon.

However, the Ming army was behind Yuhuatai. Although Yuhuatai is not high, only about 100 meters above sea level, it blocked the Qing army's view and also blocked artillery fire.

Unless you are exceptionally good at math and find the perfect parabolic angle of elevation through numerous shooting experiments, you simply cannot hit it.

"No matter what, let's give it a try first."

someone shouted.

"Okay, let's try it."

Liu Liangzuo nodded.

He immediately ordered the city's artillery to open fire.

"Bang bang bang!"

After the artillery fire, the red-coated cannons were indeed blocked by the forests of Yuhuatai and could not reach the Ming army in the rear.

Meanwhile, seven or eight kilometers away on General Mountain, Lao Zhu and Zhu Yunfeng were observing the movements of the Qing army in the city through drones.

They saw a group of people dressed in armor, like generals, gathered at Jubao Gate, looking out from the city wall.

They had met these people yesterday, but they didn't recognize Liu Liangzuo yet.

But it doesn’t matter.

Seeing this, Old Zhu took out his walkie-talkie and asked, "Are the mortars deployed yet?"

"Your Majesty, everything has been arranged."

A sound came from over there.

"Hmm, do you see the city gate tower?"

"I saw it."

"Avoid the city walls and don't blow up those generals. Capture them alive for me later. No matter who Liu Liangzuo is, catch him first."

"Yes."

"If there are no problems, fire in five minutes."

"Yes!"

"Beep beep beep beep."

Old Zhu hung up the walkie-talkie and said to Zhu Yunfeng beside him, "To be honest, this is the Nanjing city wall that I personally built. I really don't want to blow it up."

Zhu Yunfeng pursed his lips and said, "It was you who gave the order, not you who did the work. These precious city wall relics belong to the working people; they are the ones who are most honored."

"You bastard."

Old Zhu slapped him on the head and said irritably, "Without my order, could this huge city have been built? It all belongs to me!"

After saying that, he said angrily, "What a pity, those damned Manchu barbarians actually made me blow up the city wall I built myself. It's utterly despicable."

He raised his head, his deep, somewhat angry gaze fixed on the distance.

Those Manchu barbarians deserve to die!

now.

On the Nanjing city wall, seeing that the red-coated cannons had no effect, Liu Liangzuo comforted everyone, saying, "It's alright, they will attack the city eventually. We'll show them what's what when they do."

"Hmph, I bet they haven't prepared any boats. They won't even be able to cross this moat. Once they get to the city walls, I'll make sure they don't leave alive!"

"Excellent, absolutely."

"Alright, everyone, you should return to your respective sections of the city wall to prevent the Ming traitors from launching a surprise attack."

Liu Liangzuo shouted, "Gentlemen, the Great Qing will surely prevail!"

"The Qing Dynasty will surely prevail!"

"The Qing Dynasty will surely prevail!"

"The Qing Dynasty will surely prevail!"

The generals were energized and raised their hands, shouting.

Moreover, their emotions stirred up the surrounding Qing soldiers, who actually joined in the shouting, and for a moment, their morale soared.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!~~"

Just then, countless sounds of air being torn apart whistled through the air.

Everyone saw that behind the distant Yuhuatai Mountains, countless dark objects suddenly pierced the void and attacked them.

Immediately afterwards, every Qing soldier opened their eyes wide and watched as those things landed on the city wall.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!"

In an instant.

Explosions rang out one after another.

(End of this chapter)