Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 310 Knowing it's a pit of fire, one still has no choice but to jump in.

After the morning's battle, the Qing army painstakingly cleared the city walls and cleaned up the battlefield.

Corpses were thrown into the moat, and the water began to turn red.

Even though they had just finished cleaning up the battlefield, several more cannon shots were suddenly fired from outside the city, causing the Qing army to flee in panic.

Under these circumstances, the morale of both sides changed to varying degrees.

The Qing army was afraid of the Ming army's artillery.

The Ming soldiers couldn't understand why, since Emperor Taizu had cannons, he would send them to their deaths.

However, compared to the Qing army, which was unable to overcome its fear, the Ming army was easier to deal with.

Zhu Yuanzhang certainly couldn't tell the soldiers of the Southern Ming that he wanted them to experience the flames of war and be tempered into the true elite of the founding of the nation.

Therefore, they simply told the Ming army below that they did not have enough cannonballs and that bullets could not hit the city walls, so they could only order the brave Ming soldiers to launch a fierce attack.

If Zhu's side suddenly launches a large number of artillery pieces later, it will be easy to cover up the lie; just say that new artillery shells and supplies have been sent from the rear.

Anyway, the lower-ranking soldiers wouldn't understand, they'd be completely confused, so all we need to do is give them a reasonable explanation.

In addition, soldiers who died in battle received compensation, soldiers who climbed the city walls received rewards, and even Zhu Yuanzhang arranged for people to retrieve the bodies of Ming soldiers from the lower reaches of the moat and properly register and bury them.

With these measures, some of the internal doubts within the Ming army were naturally resolved.

The situation was more difficult for the Qing army.

Although the Ming army's artillery offensive was negligible, the destructive power and psychological impact it caused were significant.

They witnessed the power of the Ming army's cannons on the city wall. Just a few shells shattered the city gate tower and left the city wall riddled with holes, filling them with fear and unease.

Moreover, the fact that the Ming army had repeatedly stormed the city walls and engaged in close combat with them indicated that the city was in grave danger, so it was only natural that they were afraid.

The atmosphere here spread throughout the Qing army.

By noon, the matter had naturally been reported to the Qing imperial palace.

Ebilun is still on the front lines.

During the midday ceasefire, Sony, representing Emperor Kangxi and Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, came to offer their condolences and climbed the city wall to observe the Ming army's camp from afar.

It was at this moment that Ebilun told Sony about the current situation.

After returning, Sony reported to Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang and the court officials what he had seen: the Qing army's morale was low, the Ming army's offensive was swift, and they even had artillery support.

Inside the Hall of Preserving Harmony, in the council chamber, many high-ranking officials, both Manchu and Han, were lined up below.

Unlike the late Chongzhen period when Li Zicheng's army reached Beijing and Chongzhen rang the bell to request court, but no one answered, the high-ranking officials of the Qing court were still relatively well-organized.

Not only did everyone arrive, but they were all deep in thought, discussing and considering the current predicament and countermeasures.

no way.

During the Chongzhen era, everyone knew that the dynasty was on the verge of collapse, and many officials in the city were already planning to switch allegiances. Naturally, the Ming imperial power no longer restrained them.

The situation was different for the Qing court.

Firstly, they still have the ability to resist and a relatively large troop strength on the periphery.

Secondly, Zhu Yuanzhang never wanted prisoners; all the Manchus had to die.

Those who joined the Manchus and slaughtered Han people, regardless of who they were, even if they were their descendants, would be killed.

This means that Lao Zhu actually had no intention of dealing with these opportunists.

The Qing court was able to maintain such control largely because they were of a different ethnicity, and Han Chinese such as Fan Wencheng and Hong Chengchou were already on Zhu Yuanzhang's kill list.

Otherwise, if Zhu Yuanzhang had let those surrenderers go, the city might be in turmoil right now, and those opportunists would have already changed their minds.

Even if the Qing court could unite these opportunists, explain the advantages and disadvantages, and bind them to its own side by arguing that Zhu Yuanzhang would definitely kill them, the current situation would still be extremely dire for the Manchu regime.

It could even be described as a critical moment of life and death!
The enemy reached the outskirts of the capital and repeatedly stormed the city walls. The city gates were in imminent danger, and the terrifying cannons added to the woes. All sorts of bad news made many high-ranking officials of the Qing Dynasty feel troubled.

After hearing Sony's report, the room erupted in discussion.

"A cannon that can explode? Could it be a detonating bomb?"

"The Thunderclap Iron Pot contains medicine. When lit with fire, it explodes with a thunderous sound that can be heard a hundred miles away. The area burned is more than half an acre in size, and the fire can penetrate even armor and iron. Judging from this, it does indeed seem somewhat similar to the Thunderclap Iron Pot."

"But their power is worlds apart. The Thunderclap Thunder sounds powerful, but it is actually very easy to avoid. The Ming Thunderclap Thunder is different; it is impossible to dodge and can even collapse city walls."

“I knew it must have been the Portuguese who sold them the firearms, or maybe the Western barbarians. The Western barbarians have always liked these strange and ingenious things, and their cannons are really powerful. They must have made these things.”

"These red-haired barbarians are truly hateful; they sell weapons whenever they have money. Our Great Qing also has money, so why don't they sell weapons to us?"

"Sigh, it's all because Zheng Chenggong monopolized maritime trade. The Portuguese and the foreign barbarians now only do business with him, and our ships can't even go to sea. It's really infuriating."

Many of the Manchu and Han officials revealed their anger.

In the end, I was only skeptical about Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance before, but now I completely believe that Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance may just be a deception by the Ming people to boost the morale of the people and the army.

After all, they had only seen the Ming army fire a few dozen cannon shots so far, and had not seen any strange actions by the so-called immortal Zhu Yuanzhang.

This further reinforces the idea that the Portuguese or Dutch sold equipment to the Ming army, and that the Ming army ultimately defeated their army with its advanced weaponry.

However, they also tried to go to sea to buy equipment from the Portuguese or Dutch.

But they can't cross the sea.

Dasu decimated the Qing army's resources in the Battle of Xiamen. Historically, it wasn't until Shi Lang was promoted to Admiral of the Fujian Navy in the first year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign that the Qing navy was truly trained.

At this time, although Shi Lang had surrendered to the Manchus, he was never given an important position. He was only the deputy commander of Tong'an, a low-ranking position with no say.

Now, when the Ming army attacked Fuzhou, he perished at sea along with Li Shuotai, Geng Jimao, Ma Degong, and others, becoming fish food.

Therefore, the Qing army completely lost its ability to enter the sea, and naturally had no way to purchase the "advanced weapons and equipment" they needed from the Portuguese or Dutch.

"The most urgent task at hand is to find a way to resist the Ming Fiends' offensive."

Seeing that everyone was still complaining and angry, Fan Wencheng said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, I believe that the only option now is to immediately send reinforcements from the north to rescue us."

A glint flashed in Hong Chengchou's cloudy eyes, and he said in a trembling voice, "That's the only way, but I'm afraid it's a trap deliberately set by the enemy."

"."

Fan Wencheng was silent for a moment, then could only say, "But you have to admit, there's nothing we can do about it."

"what are you guys saying?"

Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang frowned.

Sony and the others also looked at the two.

If we're talking about intrigue and scheming in the court right now, Fan Wencheng is undoubtedly the most capable.

Sony, on the other hand, excels at domestic affairs and serves as the Minister of State Affairs.

Hong Chengchou was the most skilled in military campaigns.

Unfortunately, Hong Chengchou is seriously ill and almost blind, so he is unable to go on the expedition. Otherwise, he would definitely have been sent to partner with Ebilun.

Hearing Fan Wencheng and Hong Chengchou speaking in unison, they guessed they were plotting some kind of conspiracy or tactic, so they waited for what they would say next. Fan Wencheng smiled bitterly and said, "If I'm not mistaken, in the battles of Chongqing, Jiangnan, and Cangzhou, we were defeated by this powerful firearm. The power of just a few dozen cannon shots is so formidable; if it were hundreds or thousands, it's no wonder that Prince An and his army were completely wiped out."

After he finished speaking, he paused and said, "Now that the Ming army has reached Beijing, and they have such powerful firearms, there are only two possibilities for why they did not capture the city immediately."

Everyone watched him quietly, and Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang did not ask any questions.

Fan Wencheng continued, "Firstly, the artillery shells were exhausted in the battles of Chongqing, Jiangnan, and Cangzhou. Those shells that could produce such power were certainly not solid iron balls like our Red Coat Cannons. They were expensive to make and certainly not easy to manufacture, so it is normal that they were exhausted."

"Secondly, it is possible that they did this on purpose, so that we would call for reinforcements. Once the reinforcements arrive, they would immediately fire a barrage of cannonballs, annihilating us like Prince An and his men."

He finally sighed, "What I fear most is the second one."

Grand Secretary Bahana couldn't help but say, "But what if the Ming traitors really run out of ammunition, and we don't call for help in time, and they replenish their ammunition from the Franks? What then?"

"That's what I'm worried about too."

Fan Wencheng said bitterly, "Now we are caught between a rock and a hard place. This is an open conspiracy that is forcing us to make a choice."

The reason why a strategy is considered "open" is that it doesn't matter even if you see through it.

The situation is that the Ming army has already breached the city walls in their first attack, and they are firing cannonballs at you from time to time, putting enormous psychological pressure on their soldiers below. What do you do?
The Qing army did not place all its forces in Beijing, but instead dispersed them to prevent being completely annihilated, while also ensuring access to external support, a retreat route, and allowing the cavalry to perform better.

This is the best tactical arrangement.

Cavalry could harass the Ming army from the outside, and depending on the tactics, they could make arrangements such as raiding the enemy, cutting off supply lines, and retreating to provide support.

But your city itself is already teetering on the brink of collapse, and it seems like it could be breached at any moment.

So they are left with two choices.

The first option is to retreat.

They abandoned everything and fled to the border with their cavalry.

However, they had already missed the best opportunity to retreat. If they retreated, their army would inevitably suffer a crushing defeat, and countless people would be killed in pursuit by the Ming army.

The second option is naturally to continue the fight.

This brings us back to the initial question: the Ming army had already scaled the city walls multiple times in just one morning of attacks. If the fighting continued for several more days, who knew if Beijing could be defended?
The best option would be to immediately call upon the cavalry stationed in the rear to harass the Ming army. Even if they could not defeat the Ming army, they could still relieve the pressure inside the city.

What's frightening is that the Ming army was besieging the point to ambush reinforcements, but in reality, they had plenty of artillery shells and were just waiting for the reinforcements to arrive.

How to do?
To gamble or not to gamble?

The high-ranking ministers present, including Sony, Bahana, Cheke, Marsai, Esekh, Jiang Hede, Cheng Kegong, Jin Zhijun, Hu Shian, Dang Chongya, Wei Zhouzuo, and Feng Quan, understood what the two men meant and fell silent.

After a while, Feng Quan said, "If we send fewer troops, we might be able to find out the true strength of the Ming army."

"Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit. Too few men won't be enough, but too many might be a trap for the Ming army. But what if we're just a few men short of defeating the Ming army? You never know. Wars are often decided by fate. A few missing men can determine the outcome of a major battle."

Hong Chengchou shook his head and said slowly in his aged voice, "Now is a critical moment for us, and the opportunity to fight will be fleeting. The Ming people now control the south. Even if they suffer setbacks, as long as they are not defeated, they can retreat to the south. With the taxes from Jiangnan and the ability to purchase weapons and equipment from the Portuguese or the Dutch at any time, they can make a comeback. We will not have a second chance like this."

This also reveals the shrewdness and cunning of Fan Wencheng and Hong Chengchou.

If it is determined that the Ming army has very few cannonballs left, then this is indeed an excellent opportunity to defeat the Ming army.

As long as the Ming army launches a surprise attack from the rear cavalry while attacking the city, everything will be fine.

Unfortunately, they were also unable to ascertain the true nature of the Ming army's artillery shell storage.

It would be perfect if we could find out.

But there is nothing we can do.

Although the Ming army fired several dozen shots, seemingly reducing the number of casualties, warfare is a complex affair, full of deception and deception.

What if they are faking it or just bluffing? How can you tell?
So right now, we have no choice but to gamble on this one and only opportunity.

Otherwise, if reinforcements are not sent for a long time, Beijing will inevitably fall after a prolonged siege, and then those reinforcements in the rear will be completely useless.

"Report!"

Just then, a guard rushed in, knelt on one knee, and said, "Urgent report from the front."

"Say it."

Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang hurriedly said.

"The Ming army launched another attack. They were fearless and repeatedly attacked Yongding Gate. The Junior Tutor requested reinforcements."

"."

After a moment of silence, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang said, "Pass on my order to move the reserve troops up."

"Yes."

The guard hurriedly went out to relay the order.

All the ministers looked at her.

The role of the reserve force is to play a crucial role at critical moments, to withstand the enemy's attack, or to become the last straw that breaks the enemy's back.

However, on the very first day of the battle, their reserves were called up twice, far exceeding their expectations.

Many Manchu and Han officials believed that no matter how swift the Ming army's offensive was, it would be more than enough to hold out for three to five months, or even a year and a half.

They still have so many troops in the north, and they can launch a surprise attack at any time, inflicting a major defeat on the Ming army.

Who knew that Beijing, despite its high walls and thick ramparts, couldn't hold out for long?

It all boils down to the same problem.

The city walls of Beijing are too long. They look high and have a moat, but even with hundreds of thousands of soldiers stationed there, they couldn't defend every inch of the city.

They were prepared everywhere but lacked resources everywhere. They seemed to be impregnable, but in reality, they were leaky on all sides. If they continued like this, they might not even have to wait for the Ming army's offensive to falter before they themselves would be unable to hold on.

Thinking of this, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang no longer hesitated and immediately said, "Send an order for Shang Shan to immediately lead the cavalry of all units south to provide reinforcements."

"Yes!"

Sony, as the Minister of State, immediately agreed.

He then made a swift decision, using the official document from the Council of State, stamped with the Emperor's seal of the young Kangxi, to complete the order. He immediately dispatched men to leave through the city gates where the Ming army had not yet launched an offensive, heading north.

A large city has both great disadvantages and great advantages.

Even with more than 200,000 Ming troops surrounding the city, they still couldn't block all sections of the city. They could simply find a city gate or water gate that no one was attacking and leave the city.

Upon receiving the order, Fan Wencheng said in a low voice, "I hope this isn't a Ming army ploy."

"Even knowing it's a pit of fire, you still have to jump in."

Hong Chengchou, who was standing nearby, also whispered something.

all.

We can only leave it to fate.

(End of this chapter)