The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 381: The First to Arrive (Thanks to book friend Zheng Jinshan for the reward)
Outside Yongding Gate, there was a roar of mountains and seas.

"The first one to reach the city will be promoted to Lieutenant General and rewarded with a thousand taels of silver! The one who captures and kills Liu Zhaosun alive will be promoted to General and rewarded with ten thousand taels of silver! Anyone who retreats will be killed!"

Liu Zongmin reined in his horse and stood in front of the moat at Yongding Gate, pointing his whip forward.

The cavalrymen of the old camp immediately waved the command flag and passed General Liu's reward order to the front.

The bandits crossing the river made a buzzing sound, like an endless swarm of locusts flapping their wings.

The two sides of the moat were filled with all kinds of battlefield noises: the whistling of rockets, the sound of artillery bombardment, the vibration of bowstrings, the blast of muskets, the shouting of people and the neighing of horses, and the sound of mines exploding when bandits stepped on them...
The shield carts were crowded on the river bank like dense beetles, all eager to cross the river. Whenever a pontoon bridge was built, the shield carts filled with sand and soil, as heavy as oxen, would roll over their own corpses and rush to the Yongdingmen city wall.

boom! boom!
The top of the Yongding Gate, five hundred steps away, was covered by white smoke. From below the city, one could not see the appearance of the defenders, and even the flag of the Qi army could not be seen clearly.

Only the shells would penetrate the white smoke, pour down, hit the pontoon, and smash the crude wooden boards on the river into pieces.

The heavy shield cart creaked uncomfortably and slowly sank to the bottom of the river.

The bandits ignored their companions who were still struggling in the water and smashed the wooden boards on the heads of those who fell into the water. The people who followed behind carried thousands of bamboo ladders and stepped on the wooden boards to pass quickly.

Suddenly, crackling sounds of musketry were heard on the north bank of the moat. The musketeers of the Second Guards Army came to reinforce and take over the friendly positions. The musketeers of the Twelfth Guards Army stationed on the river bank suffered heavy casualties, and the river bank positions were about to be lost.

The reinforcements were arranged in three rows, taking turns firing at the opposite bank. Smoke filled the air, forming a continuous barrage of bullets. The musketeers had a very poor range, but fortunately the bandits were numerous and densely packed, so each bullet could kill one or two enemies. Therefore, there was no need to aim, and they only had to repeat the action of reloading and shooting.

Thousands of bamboo ladders were erected on the other side of the river, and an equal number of wooden planks completely filled the river surface. No matter whether they were the Chang family, the Siyang, or the elite soldiers of the old camp, they all jumped onto the wooden planks one after another. Without waiting for the shield carts to arrive or even for the floating bridge to be built, they used their hands and feet to paddle the wooden planks to rush to the other side of the river.

The river section, which was about thirty steps wide and two miles long, was quickly filled with bandits. A narrow wooden board could even hold three or four people. After paddling a few steps forward, the board was overturned, and the bandits screamed and fell into the freezing cold river water covered with caltrops.

There were still waves of bandits on the south bank waiting to rush to the top of the city wall and gain the credit of being the first to reach the top. Among them were surrendered border troops, armed with long swords, long axes, wooden sticks and long clubs. Some elite soldiers were holding bows and shooting at the musketeers on the north bank.

No one cared about the stray bullets whizzing past their ears or their companions who were shot and fell to the ground beside them. Even the refugees with empty hands were infected by the powerful offensive. They raised their arms and shouted, urging and pushing the people in front of them, asking them not to delay their own fortune and to cross the river quickly.

Even the refugees who were busy tamping earth and building earthen walls in the distance rushed here. Everyone wanted to cross the river as quickly as possible and chop off Liu Zhaosun's head.

Those who started crossing the river could not retreat and found it difficult to reach the north bank. Many of them became living targets for the Kaiyuan soldiers. Some old cavalry soldiers carrying bows and arrows knelt on wooden boards, bent over and shot at the Kaiyuan soldiers.

Gao Yingxiang lay behind an old soldier with a shield, using the man to cover himself, and looked at the opposite bank through the edge of the shield. A servant was responsible for paddling forward, and the wooden board swayed towards the north bank in the dense rain of artillery and rockets.

At this time, looking at the positions on the north bank from the river, the artillery fire of the Kaiyuan soldiers became more and more intense. The endless white barrage connected the river bank and the city wall into one, making it difficult to distinguish. They were like a group of man-eating monsters, constantly spewing out orange-red flames to reap the lives of the bandits.

From behind the white barrage of bullets, lead bullets, rockets, and iron balls were shot out from time to time, hitting the river surface and pouring into the crowd of bandits who were rushing to cross the river.

"Gao Yingxiang, where is your wife?"

The old soldier holding the shield was from the same village as Gao Yingxiang and also had the surname Gao, so he was willing to take him across the river.

"I stepped on a landmine over there, one leg flew into the air, and the ball was lost."

Gao Yingxiang raised the broken long sword and pointed behind him. Just as he was about to ask his fellow villagers how to beat the government troops after crossing the river, a black shadow flew straight towards his head. The old soldier in the camp hurriedly pulled him back. Gao Yingxiang shrank his body, and the big arrow passed by his scalp and shot behind him, piercing the neck and chest of the man paddling in the water behind him.

The servant screamed, lying on the wooden board and kicking his legs wildly, looking at the two men pleadingly. Before Gao Yingxiang could react, Laoying kicked the servant and kicked the wounded man into the river.

"You row!"

Laoying glanced at the oars still dripping with blood under his feet, then looked up at Gao Yingxiang.

Gao Yingxiang held the oar nervously. At this time, there were only ten steps away from the shore. Countless wooden boards were approaching the shore. Groups of bandits jumped off the boards regardless of their lives and went ashore to fight in close combat with the Kaiyuan soldiers. The originally dense sound of musket fire was obviously much sparser.

"Brother Gao, I followed you and it was the right person. After we cross the river, we brothers will go up to the city together and kill..."

Before he could finish his words, there was a dull bang and another heavy arrow hit the cowhide shield.

"Donkey ball, you dog soldiers can shoot arrows! This is a three-layer cowhide shield, let's see if you can shoot through it! I will come ashore and chop you to death later!"

Before the old soldier could finish his words, there was a loud bang, and the ox-like body, along with the cowhide shield, flew out as if struck by a hammer. It landed in the river beside the plank. Brother Gao didn't die immediately, but he was entangled in the caltrops and couldn't move. He continued to push the plank north.

"Good brother, when you become an official, remember to burn paper for me..."

Brother Gao struggled a few times and slowly sank to the bottom of the water.

Gao Yingxiang opened his mouth wide, slumped down on the wooden board, and screamed. At this time, the shield floated up, and a hole the size of a bowl appeared in the middle.

He looked at Brother Gao who died with his eyes open and took a step back in fear, still screaming.

Suddenly another black shadow flew over, and Gao Yingxiang immediately recognized the shape of the black shadow. It was a flying axe spinning at high speed.

He quickly turned his head to the side, as if there was a raging fire in his chest. He didn't even notice the flying axe grazed his cheek and smashed the wooden board.

At this time he finally reached the north shore.

The white smoke around them fell, revealing the dog-like government soldiers in black clothes behind them. At this time, the musketeers had retreated and were replaced by spearmen.

Rows of spearmen were fighting with the bandits who had landed elsewhere, and there was only a pile of corpses opposite Gao Yingxiang.

I found that the armor they wore was completely different from the border troops I saw in Shanxi, and the spears in their hands were much longer than those of ordinary government troops.

The newly arrived bandits rushed to both sides and no one paid attention to this place.

Gao Yingxiang picked up his long sword and jumped off the wooden board. He found a wounded musketeer on the ground and without hesitation stabbed the tip of his sword into the heart of the Kaiyuan soldier.

The Kaiyuan soldier opened his mouth wide, feeling the icy tip of the knife slowly breaking through his skin and muscles, approaching his heart bit by bit.

Suddenly, a dense barrage of heavy arrows came from behind, indiscriminately covering both sides in the battle. It was the elite troops of the old camp who had crossed the river. The spearmen and the bandits were laid low. The spearmen retreated slightly, and the musketeers came up to exchange fire with the bandit archers.

At the moment when the spearmen and musketeers were changing sides, Gao Yingxiang dodged the heavy arrows from the old camp and rolled into a sunken mud pit nearby. With the blast of musketeers above his head, he hurriedly touched the corpse with his hand, smeared the blood on his face, and lay down next to the dead musketeer.

Gao Yingxiang curled up and hid in a pit to avoid being discovered by the Kaiyuan soldiers.

A gentle breeze blew, and the white smoke that enveloped the front gradually dissipated. Behind the trench, a chest-high earthen wall could be seen. The top of the wall was covered with dense arrow feathers. It was estimated that tens of thousands of light arrows covered the area, and who knew how many corrupt government soldiers had been killed.

The scene of Brother Gao's tragic death appeared in front of him. Gao Yingxiang gritted his teeth and was about to rush towards the earth wall when he saw black sticks extending from the top of the wall. Gao Yingxiang was stunned for a moment and remembered that these were musket barrels.

“One, two…”

Judging from the number of gun barrels, there were only a few hundred musketeers behind the earth wall.

This is not surprising. The dog official army had just fought a war of their own (Zhang Chun Rebellion), and many people died. They were seriously injured and their manpower was definitely insufficient. Besides, the capital was so big that they could not transfer all of them to Yongding Gate, unless they did not want to guard other city gates.

"Donkeys, you have hundreds of men and you still haven't fled. What good has the dog emperor given you? You're fighting for his life like this!"

There was a sharp sound of cymbals and gongs behind him, and Gao Yingxiang knew that it was the order for the general attack on the old camp.

A dense rain of arrows rose from the south bank of the moat, indiscriminately covering the positions on the north bank. A large number of musketeers who had been shooting just now fell down immediately, and the bandits who were still fighting with the government troops were also swallowed up by their own rain of arrows.

"Attack the city immediately, anyone who retreats will die!"

The battalion commanders waved their command flags desperately in the back, forcing the bandits to attack the city with all their might. The bandits who rushed to the front had no way to retreat and could only rush madly towards the spear formation.

Before they could get close, they stepped on the mines buried next to the trench. The mines exploded and the unfortunate bandits were blown to pieces.

A severed hand fell from the sky and landed next to Gao Yingxiang, who shuddered.

The mines did not stop the bandits' attack. More and more people crossed the moat, jumped off the wooden boards, and climbed towards the trench using their hands and feet, as if there was a mountain of gold hidden behind the trench.

There is indeed a mountain of gold hidden there. As long as you cross the moat and rush over the low wall, you can climb the city wall and get ten thousand taels of silver.

The experience of several favorable battles taught Gao Yingxiang that if he rushed to the city, the government troops would lose their fighting spirit and surrender to the rebels.

This is the case in Pianguan County, in Taiyuan, and in Ningwu Pass.

This time, King Chuang sent 70,000 to 80,000 troops to General Liu. The army is approaching the border, and there are Chuang troops inside the city to support them, so breaking the city should not be a problem.

Gao Yingxiang thought for a while and decided not to take the risk and wait until the main force occupied the north bank.

He saw a narrow passage near the middle of the breastwork, which was wide enough for two people to pass side by side.

This passage was undoubtedly the only gap in the government army's position.

The new recruits of the 12th Guards Army rushed out quickly along the passage. They formed a small three-talent formation by the river and launched a fierce attack on the bandits who had just landed.

The bandits in the front were caught off guard. Before they could form a formation, they were pierced through by the spearmen in the front row of the government army. The bandits were driven back to the river, and those behind them were squeezed into the freezing cold river.

At this time, the number of bandits on the north bank had exceeded 500. These people were cannon fodder among the bandits. They had inferior weapons and no armor. Their only role was to attract the firepower of the Kaiyuan army. Facing the sharp attack of the Kaiyuan soldiers, they had almost no ability to resist and were quickly wiped out by the Mandarin Duck Formation.

The third wave to land were the elite troops of the Chuang army, primarily cavalrymen from the old camp and retainers from the Shanxi frontier army. All were fierce men, clad in layers of armor and armed with sharp blades. As soon as they leaped ashore, they charged head-on at the spear array, carving a bloody path through them with their sheer prowess.

The distance between the two sides was shortened to twenty steps, and the Kaiyuan army transformed the five-man small Sancai formation into a thirteen-man large Yuanyang formation, with the long-card players in the front.

A dense rain of arrows poured down, hitting the long shield with a clanging sound. The flintlock behind the long shield banged, shooting angry lead bullets at the enemy opposite.

After a round of long-range attacks from both sides, dozens of people fell on each side. The bandits brandished long axes and long swords, rushed into the mandarin duck formation, and hacked and killed indiscriminately against the long-card holders.

"Fight to the death and never retreat!"

"Fight to the death and never retreat!"

The captains of the 12th Guards Army were at the forefront, shouting at the soldiers at the top of their lungs. The new recruits fought desperately and killed the bandits who broke into the Mandarin Duck Formation one by one. After three rounds of fighting, only the last trench was left outside the city. More than half of the 500 new recruits were killed or wounded, and they were forced to retreat to the earth wall and continue to defend with the help of the earth wall.

More and more bandits crossed the moat, and their number quickly approached 10,000.

"Alright, the old camp is coming, let's kill these damn government soldiers!"

Gao Yingxiang shouted and jumped out of the pit. He rushed straight towards the mandarin duck formation closest to him.

The spearman in the Mandarin Duck formation had just been killed by a heavy arrow. Without the spearman's protection, the remaining soldiers, who only defended without attacking, were killed. It was only a matter of time. Gao Yingxiang vented all his pent-up anger on the swordsman and shieldman before him. He was tall and strong, and his long sword swung wildly, each slash forced the swordsman back repeatedly.

Gao Yingxiang was an old bandit among the bandits. He followed the King of Rebellion from Yan'an County all the way to Shanxi. He had the ferocity of an old Qin man. After being slashed several times, the short sword and shield soldier on the opposite side finally felt sore in his arms and could not support himself. His long shield loosened slightly, revealing a flaw, and Gao Yingxiang stabbed him straight in, killing him in the lower abdomen with one blow.

"Kill you, you dog officer! Kill!"

Gao Yingxiang roared like a wild beast and repeatedly stabbed the sword and shield soldier's abdomen with his long sword. It was not until a spear soldier came towards him that Gao Yingxiang kicked the corpse away and swung his sword to block the spear head.

The spearmen fired fiercely and each shot was deadly. Gao Yingxiang tried his best to block and retreated repeatedly. When he was about to reveal his flaw, the sound of a bugle suddenly came from behind the opposite breastwork.

All the Kaiyuan soldiers began to retreat. The spearman on the opposite side glared at Gao Yingxiang fiercely, pointed his gun at the bandits, and retreated quickly.

Gao Yingxiang and other spearmen withdrew and looked back, only to see that a large number of rebel troops had crossed the river from the pontoon bridge and swept across the entire position like a tide. It was estimated that there were at least 20,000 to 30,000 of them.

The organized resistance of the government troops had been shattered. Thousands of musketeers, sword and shield soldiers, and auxiliary soldiers on the north bank hurriedly retreated towards the city wall. The last two hundred or so spearmen were responsible for the rear guard. They formed a thin three-layer line, barely blocking the tens of thousands of bandits who were pouring in like a tide, and fought to the death.

(End of this chapter)