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

Chapter 51 Tomorrow at 11:00 AM, attack from all four gates!
On the morning of March 20th, the 17th year of Chongzhen.

I don’t know whether it was yesterday’s great victory that frightened Li Zicheng, or whether Fan Jingwen’s verbal battle had an effect.

The rebel army only pushed the camp forward five miles and laid out on the plain in front of Deshengmen and Anningmen.

There is no intention of advancing at all.

There wasn't even the usual snack before the war.

The refugees built siege equipment on the spot, the surrendered troops were bored, and the 60,000 old soldiers in the camp were recuperating.

The huge banners with the word "Shun" are like a forest blocking out the sun.

The 700,000-strong army is too large, and the 20,000 surrendered soldiers lost yesterday are not even a fraction of it.

The real elite soldiers of the old camp only lost 3,000 people.

Looking at the cannons that were constantly being erected in the rebel army's central camp, Wu Xiang's hands, which were holding onto the parapet of the city wall, were shaking.

There are too many!
Li Zicheng swept across Shaanxi and Shanxi, and traveled across northern Zhili, destroying countless cities and gaining the surrender of more than 200,000 people.

These surrendered soldiers from the fortified city brought no less than 500 artillery pieces to Li Zicheng.

Even if half of the inferior products were eliminated, there would still be two or three hundred cannons that could be fired.

It is twice as much as the capital!
As long as there is enough gunpowder, it only takes two days to blow up any city gate.

Fortunately, the rebel army did not attack the city, nor did they even besiege it. The 700,000-strong army only held a stalemate at the Desheng and Guangning gates.

This gave Wu Xiang a glimmer of hope; the empty city plan was successful after all.

Yesterday, Your Majesty boldly re-established the Ministry of War, reorganized the court, and gave military generals a say.

For a military leader like Wu Xiang, as long as he handles things properly, he can live a more comfortable life than a prince.

Otherwise, Wu Xiang was thinking of letting Wu Wei take 3,000 troops to take His Majesty and flee east to Tianjin, and then go south to the Yangtze River with the Guanning Army.

The more courageous Your Majesty is, the more reluctant Wu Xiang is to give up.

As long as they can hold out until the rebels retreat, and gain control of the military, political and maritime rights, the Wu family may really become the number one family in the world!

Thinking of this, even the fear of facing an army of 700,000 dissipated a little.

He waved his hand and called a servant from the Wu family.

"Hurry up and tell Erlang to report everything that happened during yesterday's court meeting. Tell him to speed up and avoid any accidents."

The servant took the order and left. Wu Xiang once again looked at the mighty camp of the rebel army, and returned to the city wall with his hands behind his back to continue arranging matters concerning the defense of the city.

He had thought that His Majesty would deceive him and turn against him.

But he quickly denied it.

Apart from the few troops in the capital, only the Guanning Army is still able to fight in the Ming Dynasty.

There are the Jiannu outside and the rebels inside.

Unless Zhu Youjian could conjure up an army of 100,000 out of thin air, he would have to rely on the Guanning Army.

You have to keep your promise!
But that’s all in the future. Let’s first find out Li Zicheng’s movements.

The food and fodder for hundreds of thousands of soldiers was extremely expensive, and more than 100,000 stones of grain and fodder were burned. It was impossible for Li Zicheng to just wait for negotiations.

There will definitely be some actions to put pressure on the court!
the other side.

Inside the Chuang army camp.

Just as Wu Xiang thought, Li Zicheng did not intend to wait in vain for Zhu Youjian to send someone to negotiate.

Although Fan Jingwen's words of appeasement yesterday made Li Zicheng itchy.

But who would complain about having too much silver? And if he didn't satisfy the ambitions of his brothers, it would be difficult for him to be the King of Dashun.

"Prime Minister, what do you think about fighting?" Li Zicheng asked hesitantly, looking at the topographic map of the capital.

Niu Jinxing stroked his beard and nodded, "Of course we have to fight, and we have to do it under the banner of obeying the people's will. We have to fight in a large battle formation and scare the old emperor!"

"But what if we anger the old emperor and he defends the city to the death?"

"Then just do it for him!" Niu Jinxing said easily, as if this matter was easy.

"I know that Prince Chuang has no interest in the great treasure, so I have never pressed him. But Prince Chuang should not hesitate and weaken his spirit."

"The entire Dashun army and its people were forced together by the imperial court's excessive coercion. Prince Chuang was willing to lead them out of extinction, which is why he was able to march on the capital. If Prince Chuang stalls now and allows talk of peace talks to spread throughout the camp, the army will be demoralized within a few days!"

"Although the capital is a strong city, the defenders are only tens of thousands. With a fierce attack, it can be taken in three days. If the King of Chuang only needs to break through one gate, he can make the old emperor a king. If he breaks through three gates, tens of millions of taels of silver will be within his grasp."

"When the time comes, reward the three armies and let the old emperor confer titles on his ministers, then everything will be accomplished."

This time, Niu Jinxing explained the profound truth to Li Zicheng in detail.

At this time, you must put pressure on the emperor and don't be afraid of casualties. Everyone is here to survive. You lead everyone to survive, and if you die, you die. If you wait to die like before, those who can rebel against the court can also rebel against you.

The generals are also striving to be granted titles and appointed as prime ministers. You only think about yourself, so who will be on the same side with you?

After hearing this, Li Zicheng was also tempted. "Then just attack directly? Without finding a pretext?"

Niu Jinxing nodded, "Looking for an excuse won't do any good. We should just attack directly. If we attack the emperor, he won't be able to have anything he wants. He can even sit on the throne."

Li Zicheng clenched his fist and smashed the map, his eyes fierce. "Alright, beat the drums and gather the troops! Rest and recuperate today. Tomorrow we will prepare food at 3:00 AM and attack the city at 5:00 AM. The left and right armies will attack from all four gates simultaneously!"

Niu Jinxing's face was solemn, with a gleam in his eyes, "I obey your command!"

Twenty drums of the central army were beaten.

Whether it was the rebel army or the capital, everyone could hear it clearly.

Zhu Youjian, who was listening to Li Ruolian's report on the property handed over by officials in the Qianqing Palace, felt a tightness in his heart and was about to leave the palace for Deshengmen.

But he was stopped by Ni Yuanlu who happened to arrive.

"Your Majesty, please do not worry. Governor Wu just reported to the Ministry of War that the rebel army showed no signs of advancing. The drums being sounded now are definitely not for an attack on the city."

Zhu Youjian was relieved, but he still remained vigilant.

Li Zicheng was like a knife hanging over his head. He would not feel at ease until he melted the knife.

He sat back on the throne and let Li Ruolian leave first.

"Why did Lord Ni come so early? Has the military structure already been finalized?"

Hearing this, Ni Yuanlu's face turned bitter. "Your Majesty, the reconstruction of the Ministry of War is a very large undertaking. Even if it's urgent, it will take three to five days."

He now has to oversee the reform of the Ministry of War, supervise the Ministry of Works in repairing armor, negotiate with the Ministry of Rites, rebuild the new army, and distribute grain to households.

He was the only one left in the entire East Pavilion, and if Song Ye, the reserve elder, was added, he would be too busy to handle everything.

"What's the matter?" Zhu Youjian was even more confused. Ni Yuanlu was so busy that he would not come to the palace unless it was something important.

The latter took out a secret letter covered with sealing wax from his sleeve and handed it to Zhu Youjian with some excitement.

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince's Grand Tutor, the Earl of Jingnan, and Luzhou General Huang Degong have sent a message requesting permission to march north to support the King!"

Hearing this familiar name, Zhu Youjian was stunned for a moment.

Then he suddenly remembered that Huang Degong was the last great general of the late Ming Dynasty that he had been thinking about! He was also the last loyal general who could fight!

Zhu Youjian had a very deep impression of Huang Degong in his previous life.

He fought against the Later Jin and the Jurchens, drove Zhang Xianzhong to Bashu, and after the establishment of the Southern Ming Dynasty, he fought against the Chuang army and the Qing army in Jiangbei. He was a real general!
(End of this chapter)