The few Ming troops guarding the gap in the city wall were protected by iron armor all over their bodies, and the Hanyang soldiers knew that the threat to them was very limited. But no matter how many layers of armor you wear, the impact of the giant tree is not something that the human body can withstand. Even if the armor is still not broken, the people inside will be shattered by the impact and their internal organs will burst.

Originally, the general soldier wanted to use several beams to collide together, so that the ironclad soldiers of the Ming army on the opposite side had nowhere to escape. These ironclad soldiers must be the jīng rui of the Ming army, and if a few are killed, the Qing army will be greatly encouraged and restore the frustrated morale; In turn, the confidence and fighting spirit of the Ming army on the city wall will also be severely damaged.

It's a pity that the Ming army in the city has already been killed in the back and has no time to make more preparations, so the Hanyang general army ordered to concentrate the twenty warriors in the pro-barracks and carry this roof beam to charge. The Hanyang General Army was counting on being able to open a passage and expand the range of engagement between the two armies. As long as the warriors of the Qing army can break into the enemy formation, they will have the opportunity to form a chaotic battle, and the pro-battalion brigade behind them will be able to rush over together. Once the Ming army on the city walls on both sides was killed, the road to the gap was opened, and it was not difficult to deal with just a few iron men.

When the Qing army was reorganized, the Ming army on the city wall was also paying attention to the actions of the opposite side. When they saw the Qing army demolishing the house, the Ming army thought that the Qing army wanted to build a simple siege ladder, and it was not until they saw the Qing army carrying a beam to stand behind the house in front of the gap, and guessed the other party's intentions.

"Get out of the way." Deng Ming immediately ordered the ironclad soldiers to retreat to the city wall and make way for the Qing army to get out of the city. As time passed, the situation of the battle became more and more clear, even if the Qing army took this gap, it was impossible to turn the tables, the enemy's intention was to break through the encirclement rather than counterattack, and it was even more impossible to destroy the Ming army that broke into the city. In this case, Deng Ming was unwilling to let the soldiers resist the enemy's giant trees, unwilling to let the guards resist with flesh and blood, and unwilling to let other Ming soldiers and auxiliaries do human walls to meet the beams of the house. From the city wall, it can be seen that there is already a Ming army outside the city that is rushing over. It seems that Yuan Zongdi has learned of the Qing army's attempt to break through the siege in the city, that is, to let some of the Qing troops fight out of the gap, and their chances of escaping are not great.

Li Xinghan, who was guarding in front of the gap, did not obey the order.

Because the width of the gap was limited and the battle line was very short, although the Qing army was large in number, it could not give full play to its manpower advantage. But if they let go of the gap and let a part of the Qing army rush outside the city, they could attack from inside and outside the city walls, and occupy the gap, using the slope of the gap to besiege the Ming army banner on all sides. Moreover, Li Xinghan was worried about the fighting spirit of other Ming allies, if they saw that the defense line was lost and the Qing soldiers were besieging them on all sides, it was difficult to say whether they would scatter and flee.

Li Xinghan stood the shield on the ground, stood firmly, supported the shield with both hands, and at the same time beckoned the person behind him to hold his waist, intending to resist the other party's dying fight with all his might. In Li Xinghan's imagination, as long as he withstood this roof beam and did not let the Qing soldiers crash into the formation, the Qing army would still not be able to give full play to its superiority.

Deng Ming shouted at Li Xinghan on the city wall, saying that the reinforcements outside the city would arrive immediately, and there was no need for a hard top, but Li Xinghan was unmoved. Since the reinforcements will arrive soon, the enemy will naturally not have time to collide with the formation for the second time, and he must resist it at this last moment.

Beside Li Xinghan, Wu Baoping and several guards also raised their shields and formed a shield formation with him. At their beckoning, a large number of Ming soldiers withstood several of their ironclad soldiers from behind, obviously not intending to take a step back.

"Sir, they don't put you in danger." Zhao Tianba said to Deng Ming.

Zhao Tianba beckoned a few archers and firecrackers to gather over, and gathered the shè hands on the other side of the gap to his side, and Zhao Tianba said to them: "When the tartars carry the beams up, let's all shè together, and only the people on the right are allowed to fight." ”

The Qing soldiers under the city walls were arranging their troops, and the Ming army was standing on a high place, and they could see clearly that there were ten enemy soldiers on each side. Zhao Tianba told the firecracker: "You deal with the first, you deal with the second ......" one after another, Zhao Tianba pointed to each enemy on the right side assigned an attacker, and he himself was the last in line, that is, the eighth enemy soldier. This enemy soldier was the farthest away and had the most cover in front of him, and Zhao Tianba kept this most difficult target to himself.

Although Li Xinghan was wearing a double-layer iron armor with a shield, twenty people carried the beam of the house and collided at full speed, and the shield and armor could not block it, and Li Xinghan was lucky not to die, but he was seriously injured and vomited blood. Zhao Tianba's plan was for all the musketeers and archers to attack the enemy on the side of the beam at the same time, and put down the enemy on the right, so that the enemy would lose his balance and naturally could not hit the target. However, the distance is too close, and Zhao Tianba is not sure that he will definitely be able to stop the enemy, maybe the other party will be crazy at the moment of life and death, and he will still be able to stumble into it.

Knowing that this was likely to be his last chance, Hanyang took this final blow very seriously. The soldiers who had torn down the beams had been recruited, and twenty other sword and shield soldiers stood at the edge of the line, raising their shields to protect their fellow men who were carrying the beams. When the beam of the house crashes into the enemy position, these cover soldiers will also be killed in the Ming army together.

When the Hanyang General Army was making final preparations and instructing the death squad how to act, many shouts suddenly came from the northeast direction of the Qing army.

"The prefect opened the east gate and ran! Run, brethren, the east gate is open! ”

After hearing the shout, the Qing soldiers couldn't help but turn their heads to look in that direction.

Many Wuchang soldiers who were in charge of covering behind the pro-military camp gave up their positions, ran east with the shouting, and when they passed near the pro-military barracks, they also shouted and beckoned people to break through to the east together.

The eyes of the guerrillas of the pro-military battalion, who were already desperate, also lit up after hearing the shouts, Huo Di turned around and looked east, where there was indeed a green flag erected in the Dongcheng Tower.

"Dashuai!" The guerrillas immediately asked the general army for battle. The pro-military battalion fought to the death, and there was still a great chance to escort the general soldiers to Dongcheng.

The Hanyang General Soldier also hopes that this news is true, and then the Qing soldiers will be desperate. Right in front of his eyes, more and more Wuchang soldiers turned east after hearing this shout, and some of them were led by officers, desperate people always wanted to grasp the last straw.

"It must be a fake." The Hanyang General Soldier quickly made a judgment. Knowing that the army's morale was in turmoil and could not be stopped, he didn't want to grasp this straw, because there was no chance at all: "The city gate blocked by a big stone can be opened in a moment!" ”

This must be a thief disturbing the morale of the army. There is a lake outside the east city, even if you can really open the city gate, you will not choose the east gate, why not come to the south gate? The chief soldier sighed. If An Lubing opens Dongcheng to break through, it is not how fast and how fast he can escape, where will there be time to run through half the city to inform Wuchangbing.

Affected by the chaotic atmosphere around them, many soldiers from the pro-military camp also moved. Unmoved, the Hanyang general immediately shouted and ordered the officers to immediately control the soldiers, and he decided to attack the gap.

"Dashuai!" After listening to what the general soldier said, the guerrillas in the pro-military camp also agreed that the gate of Dongcheng may not have been opened, but he felt that it was better than here: "Now the attention of the thieves is focused on the south of the city, and when we get to the east city, we will climb the city tower and we will definitely be able to send the commander out of the city." ”

The guerrillas felt that the shape was irretrievable, but as long as the pro-military battalion resolutely resisted, they could always rely on the castle tower to hold out for a period of time, so that the Hanyang general soldiers could escape from the city.

"No," Hanyang refused without hesitation, he knew that even if he went out of the city with some henchmen, he would have to leave the main force of the pro-military battalion to resist, and in order to buy more time for the guerrillas of the pro-military battalion, he would have to stay and command the operation: "We must go together and desperately rush out of this gap." ”

The chief soldier guessed correctly, the guerrilla of the pro-barracks did intend to fight for more escape opportunities for the benefactor after the break, he sat up from the pro-soldier of the general soldier, and the tide rose with the rise of the benefactor, and it was precisely because of this loyalty that he could sit in the position of commanding the pro-barracks.

The "handsome ......" guerrilla attacks must be persuaded again.

"I said I'm going to go together." The general soldier was angry, and most of the officers in the pro-barracks were old men who had followed him for many years, and he couldn't bear to leave these people to escape alone: "You are all dead, what is the point of me living?" You're gone, and I can't avenge you, don't mention it again! ”

As soon as the guerrilla's eyes were hot, tears almost spurted out, and he nodded vigorously, then turned to desperately gather the soldiers, ready to storm the gap again.

After pacifying the soldiers, the soldiers of the pro-barracks lined up again, in the center were the death squads carrying the beams of the house, the soldiers on both sides held shields to cover them, and hundreds of soldiers from the pro-barracks followed closely behind the team, ready to charge together. These were the last troops that the Hanyang General Army could still grasp. He no longer planned to try to clear the Ming army on the city wall on both sides of the gap, once he broke through the blockage of the Ming army's ironclad soldiers, the general soldier asked his soldiers to squeeze out of the city as much as possible from this gap, and they could go out as much as they could.

"After leaving the city, don't care about others, rush south with all your might, and if you are separated, you will go back to Wuchang to see you." The general soldier asked the soldiers to follow the visible officer closely, regardless of whether it was his original boss or not: "The thieves outside the city must not have much armor, and we will definitely be able to rush over in a group." ”

After boosting morale, he glanced at the ironclad soldiers of the Ming army who had erected their shields in front of the gap, and the general army of Hanyang was about to give the order to attack.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

Suddenly there was a gong sound in the east, followed by an earth-shattering war drum, and I don't know when many red-faced flags appeared.

The sudden appearance of the Ming army's red flag and deafening war drums surprised the Qing army, including the Hanyang general soldiers, who did not expect the Ming army to be killed so quickly. The Hanyang General Army hurriedly adjusted its formation and prepared to deal with it. He didn't know how many Ming troops he had killed, if it was He Zhen's main force, everything would naturally be over, but if it was only the vanguard of a few hundred people, then he might still have a chance.

The Hanyang commander estimated that the enemy would soon pounce, and when he saw the enemy's strength, he would leave enough men to resist for a while, and the rest would continue to try to break through. But after waiting for more than ten seconds, the Ming army still didn't kill, and the war drums were beating louder and louder.

"It's broken." The chief soldier suddenly woke up, this should be a suspicious tactic. The opponent's war drums beat so quickly, but there was no momentum of the onslaught, it was obviously just to interfere with himself, so that the Qing army could not hit the jīng god assault gap.

After the Hanyang general army reacted, he planned to attack the gap with the whole army, but unfortunately at this time, even his pro-army camp was shaken. The drums behind him were so urgent and loud that although the general soldiers kept shouting and asking the soldiers to concentrate their efforts on the front, many soldiers involuntarily looked back, always feeling that a large number of Ming troops would shout and kill at any time.

"The thief has retreated!" Zhou Peigong suddenly shouted, dancing with excitement. He saw that the ironclad soldiers who had been waiting for them near the gap suddenly put away their shields and retreated from their positions.

Contrary to the ecstatic Zhou Peigong, the Hanyang General Soldier sank in his heart when he heard this. Hurriedly looked at the gap, but no, the ironclad soldiers of the Ming army there were quickly exiting the gap, and disappeared without a trace in a blink of an eye.

The disappearance of these ironclad soldiers at this time only means that there is no need for them to continue to plug the gap.

Just as the general soldiers of Hanyang were worried, a large number of Ming army armor soldiers crossed the broken wall and came out of the gap. Just now, because of the small number of people, the Ming army has always insisted on guarding the gap in the city wall, shortening the battle line as much as possible, and at the same time taking advantage of the advantages on the city walls on both sides to intercept the Qing army, but now the Ming army has no scruples to cross the city wall and enter the open space in the city.

There were not many Ming soldiers pouring in, it seemed that there were only dozens or hundreds, and the position they occupied was not large, only a short section of the street, standing in three rows with their backs against the city wall. But this move dispelled the last bit of fighting spirit of the Qing army on the opposite side, and they were suspicious, not knowing how many Ming troops were still behind the city wall. I only know that the other party is no longer worried about the loss of the gap, but has begun to move, entering the city from here to flank his own army.

The Ming army, who only heard the sound of drums and saw no people, also appeared, and it seemed that there were forty or fifty people in this Ming army. They no longer beat drums, nor did they go to the Ming army formations next to the city wall, but swaggered to the side, forming a semi-encircled formation against the Qing army.

The soldier who had been carrying the beam let go one after another, letting it fall heavily to the ground. The members of these death squads drew their blades and formed a circle with the rest of their fellow pro-barracks, surrounding the general army in the center of the circle, ready to use the surrounding houses for a final resistance.

What appeared from the side were dozens of Ming troops led by Mu Tan. He was ordered to find Liu Tichun just now, but the latter pursued the Anlu prefect and had already gone to the city center. There was a shortage of soldiers in the city, and there were soldiers from the Ming and Qing armies fighting everywhere, and Mu Tan finally asked all the way and found He Zhen all the way. After hearing that Deng Ming was in danger, He Zhen immediately turned around and killed back to the gap, and at the same time sent dozens of Mu Tan's subordinates to let them take the lead in rushing back to the gap.

When Mu Tan rushed back, the pro-army battalion of the Hanyang General Army had already arrived at the gap and launched an attack, and Mu Tan had only a few dozen people around him, unable to break through the Qing army's defensive line, so he had to hide in the nearby city and wait for the opportunity.

While hiding in the nearby city, Mu Tan caught a few An Lu soldiers who were also hiding here. These people begged the Ming army for mercy, and Mu Tan had an idea, so he asked them to go out and shout at the Wuchang soldiers, spreading rumors that the Anlu prefect had moved away the stones blocking the eastern city and successfully escaped from the city. These Qing soldiers are all locals of Zhongxiang, even if the Hanyang general army successfully breaks through the siege, they will not flee with them, whether the Wuchang soldiers can escape is meaningless to them, but it is more important to make meritorious contributions to the Ming army, and strive to save the life of the Ming army and the safety of the family. After receiving Mu Tan's order, these An Lu soldiers ran out and walked back and forth behind the Wuchang soldiers, shouting loudly at the same time.

The morale of the Wuchang Green Battalion was already on the verge of collapse, and they desperately resisted He Zhen because they had nowhere to escape, so they could only hope that the pro-soldier battalion would open a bloody road and give them the opportunity to escape from Zhong Xiang with them; After learning that there was a way out of Dongcheng, the Wuchang soldiers retreated to the east.

Although the plan was successful, it seemed that the Qing army in front of the gap had not yet given up the idea of attacking, and Mu Tan immediately beckoned the Ming army to bluff on the flank of the Hanyang general army, and their behavior of beating gongs and drums greatly disturbed the morale of the Qing army. The Qing army launched a decisive charge towards the gap, relying on just one breath, Mu Tan constantly created chaos behind them, distracted and distracted, and vented most of the breath that the Qing army had gathered, and could no longer accumulate confidence and courage.

Pouring into the city from the gap were more than a hundred soldiers sent by Yuan Zongdi. When he received Deng Ming's urgent news, Yuan Zongdi only had a reserve of more than 100 soldiers around him, and he sent them all in one go. These soldiers marched into the city in a big way, putting on a fearless appearance, in order to delay a little longer, and now the large army outside Yuan Zongdi City is being mobilized.

Deng Ming, who was standing on the city wall, could see that Mu Tan was just bluffing, but after the other Wuchang soldiers who were covering behind the pro-soldier camp broke up and fled, He Zhen's troops were rushing over unhindered and would soon arrive. As long as He Zhen arrives, the other party will completely lose the opportunity to break through.

After the soldiers of the pro-soldier battalion formed a circle around the general army, He Zhen's troops finally arrived near the gap. Seeing that there were Ming troops pouring out of the streets and alleys in all directions, the Hanyang general knew that he had no hope of escaping.

"Protect your lordship!" The guerrilla shouted hoarsely, and he picked up a spear and stood tall in front of the general soldier, his neck bruised.

"I heard that the real identity of this Deng Ming is a former dynasty clan, this is just his pseudonym?" The general soldier of Hanyang asked the people around him.

Although the common people near Wuchang did not know about the rumors of Deng Ming's background, the civil and military officials had heard of them.

A few staff members with dead faces nodded, and the chief soldier asked again: "Which king of the previous dynasty is he?" ”

No one, including Zhou Peigong, could answer this question from the Hanyang General Army.

After seeing the defensive formation of the Qing army, the Ming army did not come forward to attack, but slowly surrounded the Qing army to surround them, and after the two armies confronted each other for a while, Yuan Zongdi had another group of reinforcements arrived, and more Ming troops appeared on the city wall, and they also brought some archers, and they were on guard against the Qing army on the city wall.

"Killing one is enough, killing two earns one."

The soldiers of the pro-barracks had fallen into despair, and only their guerrillas were still shouting.

The chief soldier of Hanyang looked back behind him, and the chief military division, who was not yet thirty years old, was already weak in his hands and feet, his face was pale, and he was about to fall to the ground. The chief soldier smiled bitterly and pulled out the sword at his waist.

"Exactly!" Zhou Peigong, who was already soft-boned, jumped up again when he saw this, and shouted: "The handsome man takes the lead, his morale is greatly boosted, and he will be able to fight a bloody way." ”

"Reader." The general soldier of Hanyang did not have any angry expression this time, but just glanced at Zhou Junshi one last time, then turned around, suddenly brushed aside the generals and soldiers in front of him, walked to the front row of the team alone, and shouted at the city wall:

"It's Deng Ming on the other side, can you dare to come out and see it?"

After hearing this shout, Deng Ming held the red flag, walked to the wall unhurriedly, looked down at the Qing army, looked at each other for a moment with the Hanyang general soldiers, and said slowly: "I am Deng Ming." Are you willing to surrender? ”

"That's so young." The general soldier of Hanyang looked at the young face on the city wall, and from a distance it looked as if he was not even twenty years old.

"Your Highness," the general soldier shouted to Deng Ming, "The subordinates of the criminal general were originally ordinary people, and it was the criminal general who insisted on going his own way and wanted to defect to the Qing court......"

Hearing the words of the Hanyang General Soldier, Deng Ming nodded, he was always mistaken for a clan by different people, and now he was too lazy to explain, and this was not the time to explain. Deng Ming knew that the other party was worried about killing and surrendering, and many people in this era had similar concerns, so he immediately replied loudly: "As long as the general lays down his arms, I guarantee that those who surrender will not die." ”

"A word?" Hanyang's chief soldier waited for this sentence, and immediately asked in a loud voice, since the other party is a noble clan, and he promised before everyone saw it, then the chances of his subordinates surviving may be so greater.

"Never break your word." Deng Ming reassured.

The faces of the soldiers of the Ming and Qing armies who confronted each other were suddenly relieved, the Ming army knew that the battle was about to end, and the Qing soldiers were bound to die, and now although they don't know if Deng Ming will be trustworthy, they still have a glimmer of life in the end.

The chief soldier turned around and shouted to his soldiers: "Your Highness is merciful, you must not forget the grace of His Highness not to kill today." ”

Then the general soldier looked at the city again: "There is a wrong, there is a debtor, and the sinner who betrayed the emperor will bear it with all his might, and I hope that His Royal Highness will not break his word." The chief soldier shouted this sentence with all his might, and suddenly raised his sword and slashed at his neck, cutting his carotid artery. Blood suddenly spurted up more than half a person's height, and the general soldier's position remained for two seconds, and then the man threw himself forward and fell straight to the ground.

Seeing this, the guerrillas in the pro-barracks screamed, and also drew a dagger from their waists, and without saying a word, cut their throats, and fell to the ground with blood spurting.

Zhou Peigong, the master and staff of the general army, and the remaining officers and soldiers of the pro-army camp all threw down their weapons and surrendered to the Ming army.