Ming Dynasty entry: I am Chongzhen, the greatest emperor of all time!

Chapter 41: Twenty thousand versus seven hundred thousand, the advantage is on my side!
On the morning of March 19, the 17th year of Chongzhen.

The time is scattered on the triangular yellow flag with a blue dragon playing in the distance.

This is the supreme military flag of the Ming Dynasty, representing the location of the Ming Emperor.

Dozens of large flags surrounded the dragon banner and lined up along the city wall.

All the generals and dukes whose names can be called out in the entire capital are here.

Under normal circumstances, any one of these flags can command tens of thousands of soldiers and horses!

Now it can only serve as a foil to the dragon banner.

The foot of the city wall was filled with waiting civil and military officials and nobles from the court.

From Ni Yuanlu, Wu Xiang, and Fan Jingwen to Song Ye, Wu Wei, and Wang Erhu, all gathered behind the city gate, looking at the empty streets with longing.

Tens of thousands of civilians crowded together, wearing mandarin duck battle jackets from either the Wanli or Jiaqing period, waiting for the emperor's order to swear an oath of blood with them.

The real elite troops in the capital were kept inside the city wall to prevent rebellion and sneak attacks.

Just on the slope five miles away from the moat, the 30,000-strong vanguard of Liu Zongmin's army had already deployed.

Nearly 700,000 troops twenty miles away were also heading towards the capital.

As long as you stand at the highest point of the Deshengmen Tower, you can see the endless black mass of the rebel army.

If the Jinyiwei's swords had not been hanging over the heads of the officials in the past two days, they would have long since fled back home out of fear.

Seeing the people becoming increasingly confused, Fan Jingwen took a step forward and asked in a low voice, "Is Your Majesty coming again? Why not organize the people to defend the city first?"

Ni Yuanlu shook his head, "His Majesty will definitely come, just wait a little longer..."

Before he finished speaking, there was a sudden rumbling sound on the official road not far away.

Wu Xiang's face suddenly became serious, and he stared straight ahead in disbelief.

Four rows of soldiers gradually appeared on the official road paved with bluestone.

Each soldier held a half-man-sized shield, with a broken armor bone on his waist, a ringmail helmet on his head, cotton armor inside, chain mail in the middle, and cloth armor outside. The armor skirt and iron boots rustled with the sound of running.

Only his eyes were exposed on his body. He rushed towards the officials like a human iron tower.

As the only battle-hardened general, Wu Xiang immediately realized the elite strength of this army.

Three layers of heavy armor plus a large shield, at least ninety pounds!

These soldiers were able to run so neatly without any signs of disorder.

They must be elite soldiers who are fed with meat every day and trained at least once every two days!

The Three Thousand Battalion and the Brave Guard Battalion were already enough to surprise him, but he didn't expect that His Majesty actually had an elite force hidden.

Unfortunately, among all the civil and military officials, only Wu Xiang saw the truth, and the others could only feel that the armor worn by these soldiers was thick.

What shocked them the most was the Imperial Guards who followed behind the Huben Guards.

On their huge bodies, each one of them was 1.85 meters tall, they wore gilded armor with a Suan Ni face and mountain patterns, a gilded helmet with phoenix wings on their heads, and cast iron tiger-head shoulder armor on their shoulders. The iron arms formed by the stacked armor plates were exceptionally smooth.

The red tassel on the top of the helmet swayed back and forth as he walked.

The straight-bladed sword is about seven feet and six inches long, and the blade alone is three feet long. The blade edge is also gilded and carved with a pattern of a swallowing mouth, and the handle is wrapped with gold-threaded cowhide.

A gilt-bronze painted horn bow hung from his waist, the bowstring of which was wrapped in rhinoceros horn. A three-foot-long golden sword with a scabbard inlaid with seven oriental pearls was worn on his left rib. A black iron meteor hammer hung from his right hip, the chain of which was six feet and six inches long. A double-sided gold-rimmed flag was inserted on his back, with the words "Guarding the Emperor" inscribed on it.

The appearance is very good.

Even Zhu Youjian was surprised when he received the reward.

It's a pity that it's just a showpiece. It may be okay against ordinary border troops, but it will be a piece of cake if it encounters elite troops.

However, this is too consistent with the aesthetic taste of Ming Dynasty civil servants!
The elite soldiers of various dynasties recorded in history books were no more than this!

They stared at the Imperial Guards who came to protect Zhu Youjian with wide eyes, and even forgot to salute.

It was Ni Yuanlu who took the lead and shouted, "I pay my respects to Your Majesty."

The others finally reacted and saluted Zhu Youjian one after another.

The latter, clad in extremely exaggerated golden armor, held the reins and raised his hand slightly. "My dear ministers, please do not bow."

After everyone returned to normal, Zhu Youjian got straight to the point and asked Wu Xiang, "Governor Wu, where is the rebellion?"

Wu Xiang clasped his hands together and shouted, "Your Majesty, the vanguard of the rebels is five miles outside the city. The majority of them are only twenty miles away from the capital. They will arrive before noon!"

"Really? Then would you all be willing to accompany me to the top of the city wall to take a look?" Zhu Youjian nodded and asked the ministers with a smile.

Then, without caring whether anyone followed him or not, he dismounted and walked towards the top of the city wall.

The officials had no way to refuse and could only follow Zhu Youjian and go to the top of the city wall together.

Deshengmen is divided into three parts. The innermost part is the tower and main gate connected to the city wall.

Outside the gate is a semi-elliptical city with a diameter of about 500 meters.

In the center of the Wengcheng city wall, there is a three-story arrow tower that can accommodate up to 500 archers shooting arrows at the same time.

The place Zhu Youjian went to was the top floor of the arrow tower.

I have to say that the capital's defense capabilities are truly outrageous.

The city wall, with a circumference of nearly fifty miles, is built entirely of rammed earth. The thickness alone reaches twenty meters, and the fourteen-meter height is even more daunting.

The countless embrasures on the parapet are almost impossible to break through as long as there are sufficient defenders.

It is no wonder that Li Zicheng was afraid of the capital.

No wonder Wu Xiang said that he could only guard one gate. The length of the city wall near this gate alone was ten miles.

Without 5,000 defenders, it would be impossible to hold the city.

As soon as he climbed up the arrow tower, Zhu Youjian's attention was attracted by the military formation in the distance.

Although Liu Zongmin's army had only 30,000 men, they were broken up into seven or eight scattered phalanxes by this veteran general of the rebel army.

At the front row were twenty jujube wood shield walls that were eighteen feet high, and under each shield wall were fifty bare-chested men carrying it.

There were 5,000 surrendered soldiers on each side and behind the shield wall, forming a V-shaped formation.

Behind the formation were five thousand surrendered soldiers carrying siege ladders, and after that was Liu Zongmin's headquarters camp, with about six thousand infantry.

On both sides of the formation, there were two thousand cavalrymen each, waiting for an opportunity to move.

Although Zhu Youjian was not familiar with military affairs, he could see that this formation was specially prepared for siege.

The indigo-blue Dashun army flag fluttered in the wind.

A black line can be clearly seen on the horizon farther away.

With more than ten thousand people, it would be endless, and a full army of seven hundred thousand was approaching.

The flags cover the sun and stretch across the earth and sky!
Even Zhu Youjian, who was used to seeing grand scenes in movies and TV shows, felt uneasy, not to mention the officials around him who had already been panicking.

If it weren't for the tall figures of the Royal Guards providing a sense of security, some of them might have been scared to death.

His eyes moved back and forth between the main camp of the Chuang army and Liu Zongmin's troops.

Liu Zongmin has not attacked the city yet. Maybe he is waiting for Li Zicheng to come and attack together.

It would be disastrous if hundreds of thousands of people attacked at the same time. We must find a way to hurt Liu Zongmin first so that Li Zicheng would reconsider peace talks.

This is the only way to delay time.

Having made up his mind, Zhu Youjian no longer hesitated and spoke in a deep voice.

"This battle is 20,000 versus 700,000. My lords, there's no need to panic. You and I are united as king and minister. We have strong walls and over 10,000 elite soldiers. The advantage lies with us!"

"Li Guozhen, listen to my orders. The Shenji Battalion's artillery, large and small, are not allowed to fire without my permission. The Eight Oxen Crossbows are aimed at Liu Zongmin's central army flag and can fire at will!"

"Wu Wei, listen to my orders. Lead the three thousand troops to Anding Gate. Just like before, fire the cannons and attack when they stop. Cut the rebels' formation in half!"

"Wang Erhu, listen to my orders! The Tiger Guards will be temporarily incorporated into the Brave Guards Battalion. Lead 4,000 border troops and 10,000 civilians out of the city and form a battle line. The Tiger Guards and the Brave Guards will be divided equally, each leading half of the border troops and civilians. Advance from both sides. When the 3,000-man battalion breaks into the enemy formation, attack immediately and drive the separated vanguard troops back to the city walls. No retreat is allowed without orders!"

(End of this chapter)