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

Chapter 81 Shanhaiguan Fall
That evening, Dorgon, who was far away in Shanhaiguan, received an urgent letter from Duoduo.

At the same time, several spies and scouts sent out during the day also returned to the camp.

After lighting the candle and placing several pieces of information on the table, Dorgon looked at Fan Wencheng with a smile.

"Mr. Fan, our scouts have confirmed that Jizhou's 9,000 defenders are already a hundred miles from Shanhaiguan and will arrive by noon tomorrow."

"Old Fifteen just passed Lantian and is heading towards Tianjin. Datong hasn't made any moves, but Xuanfu has begun to gather its garrisons, hoping to engage in a tug-of-war with us."

"Now that the Southern Dynasty has taken the bait, should we act now?"

Fan Wencheng was a little dazed when he saw the information in front of him. He had no feelings for the Ming Dynasty. He had studied hard and participated in the provincial examination with confidence, but failed simply because he did not pay the examiner 400 taels of reference fee.

The son of a Liao merchant in the city didn't even know what the Four Books were, but he was able to buy a place to go to the capital to take part in the imperial examination with five thousand taels.

Feeling that he was no less than others, Fan Wencheng was deeply aware of the ills of the Ming Dynasty. It was just when Nurhaci unified the Jurchens and gradually gained power in the three guards of Jianzhou. Fan Wencheng keenly perceived Nurhaci's ambition and talent. In order to better display his talent, he resolutely went to meet Nurhaci with his brother.

Sure enough, his talent was valued and passed down from Nurhaci to Huang Taiji to the current Dorgon.

His position gradually rose to the top among the Han people.

His lifelong ambition would be realized if he could just unify the Central Plains.

Now that the opportunity has arrived, Fan Wencheng can hardly believe it.

I can’t tell whether I’m excited or... maybe just excited.

After being in a trance for a long time, Fan Wencheng came back to his senses.

He looked at Dorgon with a determined look, "This is the opportunity the king has been waiting for. Don't hesitate, just follow the king's plan!"

Dorgon laughed heartily, "Great! With Mr. Fan's words, I feel more confident!"

"Come here, pass on my military orders!"

"The Bordered Blue Banner will launch a full-scale attack on Shanhaiguan. We must capture it tonight. Tell Jirgalang to make as much noise as possible and use all artillery and ladders!"

"The Bordered Blue Banner will take a detour south of Shanhaiguan tonight at midnight, and the Plain Blue Banner will follow at midnight tomorrow."

"Inform Daishan as quickly as possible that the Eight Banners of Mongolia and the various tribes south of the desert can attack the border. Whether Li Zicheng sends troops or not, Xuanfu must be captured within ten days!"

"Let Hauge's grain transport team get going, and all the carts must be delivered to Xifengkou!"

"Report to Duoduo, after passing Tianjin, march with great fanfare. No need to hide. Fly the flag and conquer Shandong!"

After issuing a series of military orders, Dorgon stood up and put on his armor. "Mr. Fan, let's go. It's time to set off. How can we not witness this earth-shattering event with Mr. Fan's own eyes?"

the other side.

The Bordered Blue Banner, which had been preparing for a day and a night, finally launched its full-scale attack.

The Bordered Blue Banner has four Gushans and 28,000 people.

Although the main force consisted of only two Gushan and fifty Niulu, the remaining auxiliary troops were much stronger than the average Ming army because they hunted all year round and the Jurchens often ate meat.

As the military order arrived, the torches of the blue banners formed a winding river of blood outside Shanhaiguan. Jirgalang wrapped the jade Buddhist beads around his wrist, and the sound of his footsteps caused ripples in the moat.

This time it is not the same as before, with three or four Niulu.

Instead, a total of forty Niulu, totaling twelve thousand men, attacked together.

The Jurchens were not good at taking down cities simply because their firearms and siege equipment were not up to par.

The actual way of fighting was completely different from what Zhu Youjian had imagined.

The Jurchen Eight Banners were more like dragoons, marching on horseback and fighting on foot.

The number of professional cavalry in a flag may not exceed 3,000.

But the most terrifying thing is that almost everyone in the Eight Banners of the Jurchens can ride and shoot.

Therefore, the way of fighting in the wild was often to ride on horseback and circle around the Ming army's formation to fire cannonballs, and then dismount and fight on foot to expand the results of the battle when the Ming army suffered heavy losses and their morale was agitated.

In the era of cold weapons when firearms were not popular, this method of combat had an overwhelming advantage.

However, once they encountered modern infantry like the Qi Family Army, the situation was completely reversed.

However, in the entire Ming Dynasty, there were only 4,000 Qi family soldiers out of a million garrison soldiers.

It is even more unlikely that the defenders of Shanhaiguan have such combat capability.

They could only rely on the advantage of the city's height to barely stop it.

As the Blue Banner formation unfolded, the Ming army on the city wall immediately beat the cowhide drums.

Hundreds of crossbows were fired at the same time, and the sulfur-coated rockets pierced through the night, pinning the three simple ladder trucks to the scorched earth.

And the Blue Banner alone produced more than 200 such ladder trucks in one day!
The lieutenant general on the city wall saw it and was worried.

The biggest advantage of the Jurchens is their armor coverage rate.

Don't think that the Jurchens, who were outside the Great Wall, did not have the technology to mass-produce armor, so their armor-wearing rate was very low.

In fact, since the time of Nurhaci, the rate of Jurchens wearing armor has remained high.

Unlike the Ming army, the Ming army would store any good things in the warehouse first and deal with the supervision from above first.

Once left alone, these armors may rot before being distributed to the army.

However, the Jurchens relied on the Han people and iron casting workshops of the three Jianzhou guards, as well as purchases from within the Great Wall, to frantically equip the Eight Banners soldiers with armor.

After all, they are few in number, and every person who dies less means more combat power.

During the reigns of Nurhaci and Huang Taiji, there were white-armored soldiers wearing three layers of heavy armor.

Up to this period, the armor coverage rate of the main combat soldiers can reach over 70%, and even the elite armored soldiers can achieve 100% three-layer heavy armor.

Unless the Eight Banners of the Jurchens get within fifty steps, bows and arrows will be completely useless.

Most of the cannons on the city wall of Shanhaiguan were taken away by Wu Sangui as his family treasure.

At this time, there were only twenty cannons on the city wall.

Almost impossible to defend.

The lieutenant general thought for a long time, and just held the wooden plank tightly in his arms, thinking that he would delay it as long as possible.

Otherwise, how can we be worthy of what the emperor said in front of Deshengmen?

It wasn't just the lieutenant general who had a drastic change in his heart.

The 5,000 defenders of Shanhaiguan all had more or less the awareness of sacrificing themselves for the country.

Zhu Youjian still underestimated the power of political work.

Less than five days after a dozen envoys were transferred from the Zuolian Imperial Court, Zhu Youjian's remarks on being the boss, the Martyrs' Temple, his oath to the soldiers, and his angry throwing of the jade pendant had already caused a huge uproar among the defenders.

Otherwise they would have run away long ago.

As the siege army got closer, the lieutenant general's nervousness dissipated a lot.

He even had the mood to joke with Xuanwei Shi beside him, "How about we make a bet?"

Xuanweishi paused, holding the wooden stick with trembling hands, "What bet?"

"How about we bet on how many Jiannu soldiers this log can kill?"

"Okay, what's the bet?"

"Hmm... you bet on the paper money below. I bet it can kill three people. If it's less than three, I'll pay you four hundred coins. Is that too much... hehe..."

"You bastard! I lost all my salary to you, and now you are setting your eyes on the paper money, right?" Xuanweishi cursed with a smile.

"It's started again." The soldiers beside him also laughed. "With your eyesight, you can throw dice, but you can't do it with a wooden stick."

"Fuck you, you idiot! Not only am I better at gambling than you, I'm also better at using a wooden bow and arrow, a musket, or a sword. Which one is not better than yours?"

"Count me in, I bet no one can be killed by a headbutt."

"Me too!"

The lieutenant general turned around and looked at the envoy, "How about it? Do you want to bet?"

"Come on, but you have no parents, no children, and no one to burn paper for you. What will you do if you refuse to pay in the underworld?" Xuanwei Shi wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with a chuckle.

"Didn't the emperor build a Ying Temple for us? When the time comes, the Crown Prince will lead the officials in the court to burn paper for us. Are you still worried that I won't have money when I get there? But you, the Censor, are not considered a member of our army. Don't refuse to pay when the time comes." The lieutenant general laughed extremely arrogantly.

Xuanweishi also laughed, "Otherwise you should learn to read. You don't even know the court system. You can enter the Martyrs' Shrine because the emperor has given you a favor. I am the Wenquxing incarnation. If I die in battle, I can enter the temple!"

The lieutenant general wanted to say something, but when he saw that the torches below the city were very close, he had to take back his words and yell at the people around him.

"Six hundred paces! Load the barrels with fragmentation shells and wait for my order!"

Just as the lieutenant general finished speaking, a shout came from below the city.

"Aqina!" A Jiala Zhangjing shouted the hunting term, and three thousand armored archers shot at the top of the city wall.

A rain of arrows flew over the nine-foot-high city wall and nailed the soldiers who were carrying kerosene to the blue bricks of the corridor.

The lieutenant general could only shout and lower his head to protect himself from the arrows. There was no other way. Among the 5,000 Ming soldiers, less than 300 were fully armored.

No matter how soft the Jurchen arrows were, they did not dare to withstand them with their bodies.

Twenty waves of arrows rained down, and three hundred defenders fell down, and their blood flowed through the drainage ditch to the outer city walls.

The Jiala Zhangjing shouted again and retreated with his exhausted soldiers. Then two more Jiala came forward and shot at them from the other side.

The infantrymen carrying the ladders were already within a hundred steps.

The defenders on the city walls had to stand up and fight the enemy.

The lieutenant general shouted anxiously, "Fire the cannons! Pour down the logs, rolling stones, gold juice, and kerosene!"

The defenders stepped on the slippery blood and poured kerosene.

The lieutenant general's chain mail was splashed with hot oil, but he didn't care about that. He snatched the soldier's torch and threw it at the nearest ladder.

In the blazing flames, five soldiers in blue-bordered armor turned into fireballs and fell down. The stench of burnt cowhide armor mixed with the smell of burnt human flesh filled the top of the city wall.

Twenty cannons also spewed out tongues of fire one after another. Before the smoke from the muzzles had dissipated, the shield cart seventy steps away had been blown into pieces.

Jirgalang twirled his Buddhist beads on the lookout car, and the blue-bordered flag fluttered in the wind.

He squinted his eyes at the flickering flames of the corner tower of Xiluo City. There should have been two red cannons guarding there, but now there was only the blood-stained gun bolt.

"Let the Han army from Wuzhenchaoha Camp push the heavy artillery up!"

"Tell Deltai that after the city is captured, the Bordered Blue Banner will not take any heads!"

The Wuzhen Chaoha Camp refers to heavy troops, that is, artillery. Because the Jurchens were not good at operating artillery, there was a camp of Han artillery in each flag.

There were not many artillery pieces in the Eight Banners. The artillery pieces of the Bordered Blue Banner and the two Yellow Banners totaled only seventy.

But this is enough to pose a huge threat to Shanhaiguan.

The iron-shielded cart advanced despite the defenders' artillery fire and successfully approached the city wall.

The soldiers hiding under the cart swung their chisels, sending sparks flying at the joints between the stone slabs.

The golden juice poured from the top of the city wall dripped onto the roof of the ox-hide cart, and the sizzling green smoke was mixed with the stench of rotting human bodies.

"Fire!" The lieutenant general waved the flag again, and twenty cannons hidden under his command fired at the same time. The lead bullets penetrated three layers of raw cowhide and splashed the brains of the soldiers who were digging the city wall onto the carvings on the shafts of the carriages.

After only half an hour, the battlefield was in ruins, with burning ladders and dead bodies everywhere.

Jirgalang watched all this silently. At this time, the deputy general came and said, "Twenty percent of the Jiala in Doha have been killed. I'm afraid Tanmutaigushanzhangjing can't suppress his anger."

"Oh, then let Tan Mutai take care of it. I'm a little tired. I want to rest in the city before the sun rises."

"Yes!" The deputy general knelt down and responded, then left again.

Soon, torches lit up on the north wing of Shanhaiguan, and the most elite armored soldiers of the Bordered Blue Banner were sent into battle. These were real three-layer heavy armored soldiers and should not have appeared in a siege war of attrition.

It can be seen how impatient Tan Mutai is.

Dozens of shamans rang copper bells behind the formation and watched the heavily armored soldiers leap into the battlefield.

The Ming army's bows and arrows hit their armor and were mercilessly bounced off.

"Fire rockets! Fire rockets!" The captain roared and pulled away the gunpowder barrel, but a stray arrow cut off half of his cheek.

The lieutenant general had already poured out all the golden juice in his hand, so he could only pick up the still burning firewood and smash it into the crossbeam of the ladder. The iron-clad wood twisted and exploded in the flames.

As soon as the three Jurchen soldiers jumped onto the battlements, they were covered with fishing nets by the defenders and pushed off the city wall.

The corpse hit the roof of the shield cart with a dull thud, and the head of a Niulu Ezhen of the Bordered Blue Banner was stuck in the gap of the arrow slit. The huge flag of the Ming army fluttering on the city wall was reflected in his single angry eye.

"There's no more gunpowder!" The gunner kicked away the hot musket, hugged the empty gunpowder barrel, and shouted to the lieutenant general.

He only had two fingers left on his right hand.

Before the lieutenant general could respond, three more ladders hooked onto the collapsed area, and elite soldiers wearing three layers of heavy armor, swords in their mouths, rushed up the gap using their hands and feet.

There were no elite troops like the Yongwei Battalion to take the lead, nor were there any imperial guards to hold the gap.

After the city wall of Shanhaiguan was breached again, it announced the fall of this most magnificent pass in the world.

The fighting continued until late at night.

The top of Shanhaiguan City had long been occupied by the Eight Banners Army.

No one saw the movement of the two yellow flags outside the city.

At this moment, the lieutenant general was kneeling on the inner city horse road, leaning on a broken sword, and his Qilin robe had turned into bloody cloth.

The Xuanweishi who had just wanted to bet with him on how many Jiannu he could kill was now only half of his body left on the top of the city wall, and under him was a Zhangjing of the Bordered Blue Banner with a broken spear stuck in his chest.

The well in the city wall was foaming with blood, wounded war horses were devouring corpses, and a soldier with his hand cut off bit the fuse with his teeth and ignited the last cannon.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

The lieutenant general fumbled with the blood-soaked "Edict to Suppress Bandits" in his arms. It was the only gift given to him by Xuanweishi. He vaguely heard the morning bell when he first received the imperial edict.

At the moment the cannon barrel exploded, he seemed to see the Sun and Moon flags fluttering above the Xuanwu Gate and hear Emperor Chongzhen shouting hoarsely amid the beacon fire, "Soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, follow me to kill the captives!"

Listening carefully, one could only hear the intermittent "Victory Song" coming from the city walls.

This is also the military song that Xuanwei Shi has taught in recent days, and it is the only one that all the soldiers in the army can remember.

The singing, mixed with the smell of blood, actually made the heavily armored infantrymen surrounding the Blue Banner pause.

When the first ray of sunlight pierced through the smoke, the original color of the Shanhaiguan city wall could no longer be seen.

Broken arrows were embedded in the iron sheets of the city gates, and the moat was filled with cowhide shields bordered with blue flags.

Jirgalang walked among the corpses, rubbing his jade Buddhist beads, while the Eight Banners soldiers were collecting arrows.

The body of the lieutenant general, who would rather die than surrender and stood upright with his spear, was buried outside the city by Jirgalang as a Jurchen warrior...

I don’t know whether the general will be able to fulfill his bet during the grand sacrifice next year, although no one knows whether he will win or lose.

(End of this chapter)