Hearing Zheng Chenggong cough again, Wang Xinyu said: "Shibo, don't eat big fish and meat anymore, boil more porridge and drink, and eat more fruits." ”

Zheng Chenggong smiled: "This king is fine, where does he have the strength to fight if he doesn't eat meat?" ”

"Then drink more chaihu, it's a good medicine for wind and cold."

Zheng Chenggong laughed and said, "It's okay! This king is in good health! The Tartars in Jiangnan haven't been driven away yet, how can they get sick? This king not only wants to drive away the Tartars in the south of the Yangtze River, but also to watch my Ming Northern Expedition with his own eyes and drive the Tartars out of the customs! ”

Just as the two were talking, someone outside came to report: "Report to the prince!" Our army's siege mortar positions have been set! When can the prince attack the city? ”

Zheng Chenggong stood up: "Let's go, let's go out and have a look!" ”

Outside the camp, Zheng Chenggong observed the city wall of Hangzhou, pointed to the city wall and said: "There is an urn city at the city gate, if you shell it from the city gate, you need to destroy the multi-layer city wall, wasting time and ammunition." When we shelled, we aimed at a place near the city gate, opened a gap, and then let the soldiers go up. ”

Sixty-four pounder siege mortars were erected, aimed at the walls of Hangzhou, and began shelling. After several rounds of test firing of solid shells, flowering shells smashed on the city walls.

In the city of Hangzhou, Zhao Tingchen, Zhu Changzuo, Zu Zeqing, Zhuo Nei Lahadai and others listened to the constant sound of explosions. Every time an explosion sounded, the hearts of these Qing court civil officials and generals twitched. The power of the sixty-four-pounder flowering cannonball loaded with black fire medicine was not small, and every time the shell fell on the city, many Qing soldiers were blown to pieces. More than a dozen shells fell, cracks had already appeared in the city wall, and the female wall and battlements at the shelled position all collapsed.

"Boom" At this moment, Zhao Tingchen suddenly heard an earth-shattering explosion, which was extremely loud, and it sounded like there were hundreds of cannons in unison.

Dronela Hardy was shocked and fell to the floor. When he got up, he asked, "What's that sound?" Why is it so loud? ”

Zhao Tingchen and others walked to the city that was shelled and found it dumbfounded. A large part of the city wall has collapsed, and it is unknown how many Qing soldiers and people are buried under the rubble. At this moment, there was another whistling sound of mortar shells landing in the air, and a shell smashed down from the sky.

It was only when they saw this shell explode with their own eyes that Zhao Tingchen and the others really felt the terrifying power of this new type of shell! A cannonball smashed on the city wall, only to see a dazzling flash of fire, the air wave swept up a large area of city bricks and rammed earth, and all kinds of debris flew into the sky. The fireball swelled rapidly, and then turned into black and red flames. However, the expanding fireball only lasted for a few seconds, and the fireball on the ground turned into a cloud of pale blue smoke.

"This is a new type of shell! Even the color of the smoke is different! Zu Zeqing was very surprised.

The voice did not fall. Another cannonball fell, and a large section of the already ravaged wall collapsed completely, creating a slope that was very favorable for the attackers.

"The thieves are attacking! Quick, get ready to plug the gap! Zu Zeqing shouted.

The cannonball blasted open the city wall, which does not mean that the city wall has been breached like this, the defender can plug the gap that has been blasted open, as long as the attacker is blocked from entering, the defender can repair the city wall.

A large number of Qing soldiers and people poured into the gap, and the people carried stones, bricks, and sandbags. Start plugging the gaps. The Qing soldiers stood in the position of the gap to prevent the Ming army from rushing in. At this time, the ironclad sword soldiers of the Ming army had already begun to attack, and the first Ming troops rushed through the moat filled with sandbags. appeared in front of the gap, and was about to collide with the Qing soldiers blocking the road.

"Firearms shooting!" Zu Zeqing shouted.

The Qing army's bird guns, tiger squat cannons, and bows and arrows shot out dense arrow projectiles, and the charging Ming troops were shot one after another, although the shields and iron armor of the ironclad soldiers could block the bows and arrows and bird guns. But when it comes to a cannonball, no matter what kind of shield it is, it can't stop it.

"Boom" At this moment, two more shells fell on the crowd of Qing soldiers who blocked the gap.

Those are frantically igniting artillery. The Qing troops of the green battalion, which fired bird guns and arrows, flew into the air one after another, and even the tiger squat cannon was blown up, and the artillery fire of the Qing army suddenly weakened a lot.

The Zheng family sergeant rushed to the gap, lit the national surname bottle and threw it with his hand.

One after another, the smoking bottles of the national surname flew into the gap, and soon burst into flames, billowing white smoke, scattered ceramic fragments and iron beads flew horizontally, and the Qing army at the gap was full of casualties.

"Kill!" Liu Guoxuan brandished the Miao knife and led the ironclad sword soldiers into the gap.

The Qing army surrounded them, and sharp weapons such as knives and guns hit the ironclad sword soldiers, and the soldiers of the Zheng family army were unscathed. Liu Guoxuan, who took the lead, waved the Miao knife again and again, and cut down the six or seven Qing soldiers in front of him in a row. Just as he was slashing and killing a Qing soldier with a knife, he only heard a scream beside him. He turned his head and saw that it was a Zheng family sergeant who had been hit with a hammer by a soldier of the Eight Banners.

Although the protection of these ironclad sword soldiers of the Zheng family army is not as good as that of the iron army, the iron armor on their bodies is also very strong, and it is difficult for ordinary swords, guns, swords, halberds, bows and arrows to hurt these ironclad sword soldiers, they are only afraid of blunt weapon hits.

The soldier who was hit by the hammer immediately fell, and the iron armor and the ground made a "sonorous" collision sound.

"Die!" Liu Guoxuan turned around and slashed the Eight Banners soldier. I only heard a muffled snort, and the Eight Banners soldiers were cut in two with their cotton armor.

"Plug it up! Plug it up! Zu Zeqing shouted and urged the Qing soldiers to come up and plug the gap.

The number of Qing soldiers is too much, the front was cut down by the Ming army, and a large number of Qing soldiers with blunt weapons came up in the back, and the two sides fought viciously, the Ming army also had a lot of casualties, and many people were killed or seriously injured by blunt objects.

The ground at the gap was littered with the corpses of soldiers on both sides, and the ground had long since been stained blood red. The auxiliaries and Minzhuang, who were following the Qing army, pushed stones, bricks and sandbags up and buried the bodies. Soon, a wall with a large number of corpses buried inside was getting higher and higher, and it seemed that the gap was about to be closed.

The Ming army behind also pressed up, and used the national surname bottle to blast the people and auxiliaries blocking the road, which blew up the flesh and blood of the Qing army, and the wall that had just been built was also blown apart.

If the Qing army wanted to retreat, he was immediately cut off by the officer behind him.

"Kill!" In order to defend Hangzhou, the Qing army was already out of the way, and a large number of Qing soldiers rushed over and blocked the attacking Ming army.

"Hurry up! Get the pirates out! Zu Zeqing saw more and more Qing troops pouring into the gap, and seemed to see victory in sight. Just drive the Ming army out. can plug the gap that was smashed by the cannonballs, and Hangzhou City can still be defended.

At this moment, a Qing soldier pointed to the south with a cry: "My lord, the south!" Look at the south! ”

On the city wall of Hangzhou in the south, the green camp flag of the Qing army has fallen to the ground at some point, turning into trampled garbage, and a fiery red Daming flag is rising.

It turned out that Zheng Chenggong's method was to bombard the city wall and attack the city at the same time. The Ming army opened a gap with mortar artillery, focusing the attention of the Qing army in the city on this side of the gap, but Zheng Chenggong took the opportunity to let Cai Zheng take a group of elite soldiers. Taking advantage of the Qing army's inattention, he climbed to the top of the city.

After landing in the city, Cai Zheng led the Ming army to defeat the Qing soldiers at the head of the city with lightning speed, quickly occupied the city, tore off the flag of the Qing army, and replaced it with the flag of the Ming army.

"The city is broken!" The terrified screams rose one after another in the defenders' ranks, and the Qing soldiers who blocked the gap felt that their legs began to tremble, and they threw their weapons and turned around and ran. The officers of the Qing army, who were standing behind them and should have been suppressed immediately, were also stunned at this time, staring at the bright red flag, shaking like knives in their hands.

The trickle soon converged into a landslide and a fissure. In the face of the Zheng Jiajun pressed in the gap, these Qing soldiers no longer had any courage and reason to fight to the death, and they turned around and ran away.

Morale is often one thing or the other, and the Qing army collapses. It also stimulated the high morale of the Ming army.

The head of the city was captured, and the breach was breached.

"Unstoppable! Come on! Zu Zeqing was the first to flee for his life.

Hangzhou general Zhuo Nei Lahadai, Zhejiang governor Zhu Changzuo, and Zhejiang governor Zhao Tingchen all turned around and ran, leaving only the poor Hangzhou prefect. Poor prefect, he can't run for his life. The Qing court's crime of losing the land is not a joke, if the prefect runs away after the city is broken, then what awaits him is the fate of the nine clans of Xulian. So the prefect of Hangzhou returned to his house alone. After letting the officials set fire to the warehouse, they drew their swords and killed themselves, resulting in their own lives.

Zhuonelahadai led a group of Eight Banners soldiers to take advantage of the fire and loot everywhere in the city of Hangzhou. Now that the city has been broken, let's take one last bite and leave.

"Go in, grab it!" Dronela Hardy shouted as he stood in front of a jewelry store.

The wolf-like soldiers of the Eight Banners rushed into the jewelry store, washed all the valuable items inside, and finally lit torches and burned the jewelry store before leaving.

The most prosperous business district in Hangzhou has become a hell on earth at this time. There were blazing fires everywhere, and the Eight Banners and the Green Battalion took advantage of the chaos in the city to loot everywhere. The kilns that they used to frequent, as well as the "high-end entertainment venues" that were not frequented by ordinary soldiers, became the targets of the Qing soldiers' looting. Even if it was the top card that made Zhuo Nelahadi extremely red, he didn't have the heart to do it at this time, he just snatched all the belongings of these women and ran away, and if he met the person who didn't open his eyes and refused to cooperate, he stepped forward with a knife.

"Master, we have to hurry up, or it'll be too late!" One of the Eight Banners said to Dronei Lahadai.

Dronela Hardy sneered: "What are we afraid of! In a moment we can ride away! The thieves have no cavalry, and they can't catch up with us when we ride out of the city! ”

The Eight Banners ransacked Hangzhou's most prosperous business district, and then the Eight Banners escaped from Genshan Gate on horseback.

Besides, Zhao Tingchen took people and withdrew from the Wulin Gate Water Gate.

Wulin Gate Water Gate, the Qing troops stationed at the head of the city have already scattered and fled for their lives, and the floodgates of the Water Gate are wide open. When the boat of the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty passed by the river, a large number of green battalion Qing troops on both sides of the river cried and shouted to get on the boat.

"Let's get on board!"

"Please, take us away!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's okay!"

Zhao Tingchen roared: "Don't pay attention to these people! Let's go! ”

When the green battalion soldiers saw that the "officials and old men" had left themselves, some of them were angry and opened their bows and arrows, so they shot arrows at the ships of the Han Eight Banner Sailors who were fleeing.

"Dare to shoot us with arrows? Kill them! Zhao Tingchen said angrily.

The Qing army sailors on the small boat shot rows of random arrows, and the feather arrows pierced into the crowd, and immediately blood splashed, and the crying green battalion soldiers on both sides of the river let out a miserable scream, either falling into the river or falling in a pool of blood.

The ships of the Qing army rushed out of the water gate and entered the canal. The Han Eight Bannermen on the boat shook their oars desperately and rowed to the north. At this moment, suddenly in the woods behind the river embankments on both sides, rows of Ming archers appeared. Only a shout of "release" was heard, and countless feathered arrows rained down into the boat.

The Qing army's sailors also had only light armor on their bodies, and they were shot with bows and arrows, and they suffered heavy losses immediately.

"Shoot back!" Zhao Tingchen shouted.

The Ming army on the shore fired bursts of rockets, and the small boat in which the Qing soldiers were riding began to catch fire. The Qing army's sailors hurriedly launched a counterattack, but some people took out their bows and arrows, only to find that the bowstrings were soaked, and some people were on fire and were forced to jump into the water to escape.

The Ming army's random arrows rained down like bird gun projectiles, and most of the Qing army's sailors were killed, but Zhao Tingchen jumped into the water and fled.

At this time, the fastest Admiral Zu Zeqing had already disappeared, and the Governor Zhao Tingchen also ran away, but Zhuo Nei Lahadi could not escape. As soon as his Eight Banners Army escaped from Genshan Gate, they were ambushed by the Ming army.

The Ming army ambushed in the woods on both sides of the avenue pulled up the tripping horse, and Zhuonelahadi moved quickly and pulled up the war horse in time, but more than a dozen Eight Banner soldiers who were parallel to him were tripped by the tripping horse. At the same time, a volley of arrows was fired in the woods, and all of the five hundred and more than 500 Manchurian Eight Banners were shot into hedgehogs.

Annihilated the Eight Banners of the Qing Army, the cavalry of the Zheng Jiajun pursued the fleeing Qing infantry. Zhu Changzuo, who was running slowly, was caught by the Ming army together with a group of small soldiers. At this time, Zhu Changzuo was wearing the uniform of a small soldier and blended in with the crowd of captives, wanting to get through the customs in a foolish way.

In the camp of the Ming army, Yang Zu and others presented the heads of Zhuonei Lahadi and the Eight Banners.

"There are so many big fish in Hangzhou, just catch one?" Zheng Chenggong frowned slightly. Zheng Chenggong felt very dissatisfied with such a result.

"Back to the prince, we have captured more than 10,000 green battalion soldiers, as well as more than 8,000 people and more than 7,000 auxiliary soldiers." Liu Guoxuan arched his hand.

Zheng Chenggong said: "These captives were all sent to Dongfan Island to be coolies!" We need manpower to open up the army over there! ”

I heard that I was going to be sent to an overseas wild place as a coolie, and Zhu Changzuo had also heard that if I was captured by the Zheng family's army, I would be sent overseas to work as a coolie, and I didn't know that I would be able to come back in the Year of the Monkey, so I mustered up the courage to stand up: "I am the governor of Zhejiang you are looking for, you can't send me to an overseas wild land." ”

"Finally stood up for myself!" Zheng Chenggong sneered.

"A soldier can be killed, but not humiliated! The old man has been defeated, if you want to kill or chop you as you like! Zhu Changzuo raised his head and said. (To be continued.) )