October 1, 1650, Nanjing.

The construction of the Nanjing City Wall began in the 26th year of the Yuan Dynasty (1366) and was completed in the 26th year of Hongwu (1393) in the Ming Dynasty. It lasted 28 years and involved 1 ministry, 3 guards, 5 provinces, 37 prefectures, and 162

Prefectures and counties, a total of 280,000 migrant workers, about 350 million city bricks, finally completed the four-layer city wall pattern (palace city, imperial city, capital city, outer city).

The construction of the Nanjing city wall changed from the old square or rectangular system. Based on the construction of Kangcheng City in the Six Dynasties and Jinling City in the Southern Tang Dynasty, the city wall was built according to the direction of the mountains and water systems. It benefited from the mountains and rivers and controlled the rivers and lakes. In the south, the Qinhuai River

It is a natural moat, backed by Zhongshan Mountain in the east, backed by Houhu Lake in the north, and enclosed by the Stone City in the west, forming a three-dimensional military fortress with unique defensive characteristics.

Among them, the inner city wall is 35 kilometers long, and the outer city wall is more than 60 kilometers long. The Nanjing city wall is as tall and fortified as any in the world. It is one of the few large and fortified cities today. There are more than ten gates in the inner city, all of which are of considerable size.

There are several wooden city gates and thousand-jin gates. They are built according to the gates.

The urn city is divided into inner and outer urns, and the size and shape of the urn city are also different. Each city gate has two inner and outer gates, and the outer one is a "thousand catty gate" lowered from the top of the city, which has a solid defensive role;

The inner one is two doors made of wood and iron.

Facing this huge city, the more than 10,000 officers and soldiers of the Ming and Qi coalition forces who gathered at Guanyin Gate were at a loss. As Gu Sanmazi said, to capture this majestic city, which is rare in the world, one hundred thousand people would be needed.

Although it was learned from the captured Qing generals that after annihilating the Qing troops under Luck Dehun, the number of defenders in Nanjing was less than 7,000. However, more than 10,000 coalition troops faced this huge city.

It seems that the number of people is too small. Not to mention besieging all sides, even just attacking the Guanyin Gate section of the city wall in the north may not be enough for ten thousand people.

Due to the geographical barriers of mountains and rivers, it is impossible to achieve unified deployment and mutual coordination outside the city. However, the defenders in the city can rely on the transportation of the city wall to quickly support and respond to each other. Even though many tactical staff officers in Qi have studied many successful strategies

An example of siege, but after actually inspecting Nanjing’s city defense, my face was full of helplessness and discouragement.

Conquering this majestic city not only requires more soldiers and horses, but also requires a lot of time, both of which they lack.

"Is it possible to dig tunnels and plant explosives?" Li Fade asked with his eyes wide open.

"The Guanyin Gate where we are currently located (the northernmost gate of Nanjing Waiguo City, located between the Guanyin Valley in Yanziji, the gate no longer exists, and according to research, its location is approximately in front of the current Yanziji Middle School), located in Yanziji

Although there is no moat between the Jiguanyin Valley, the city walls on both sides are built along the mountains. The city gates are built between the mountain beams.

"If you want to dig tunnels and plant explosives, it will be like blowing up the valley." He Yunfeng frowned and said: "As for the other city gates, they are either introduced into the Qinhuai River or across the Hou Lake (

Today's Xuanwu Lake in Nanjing), or with the Purple Mountain at our back, we probably won't be able to break into Nanjing City in a short time."

"How did the Jiannu invade the city of Nanjing five years ago?"

"...Five years ago, the city of Nanjing surrendered on its own initiative." A Ming guerrilla reminded in a low voice.

"..." Li Fade was stunned when he heard this, and then cursed, "What the hell, such a strong city was allowed to be occupied by Jian Nu so easily!... We just watched helplessly outside the city.

?”

"We still have to try to fight." He Yunfeng said: "Let's bombard the city wall with artillery first. Maybe in the process of fighting, we will suddenly find an opportunity."

------------------

After Tan Chunli got off the city wall, he led a few soldiers to a house not far away.

"Old Tan, what's the situation outside the city?" Lu Yufu asked when he saw Tan Chunli entering the house.

"In addition to still bombarding the city wall with artillery and digging trenches, we have not launched any personnel siege operations yet." Tan Chunli walked to the table, picked up a large bowl, and drank the wine in one gulp.

"Just bombarding the city wall is useless!" Lu Yufu said disdainfully: "The Nanjing city wall is three to four feet thick (one foot in the Ming Dynasty is about 2.83 meters). Even if it is bombarded for three to five days, it may not be able to collapse the city wall! Break it down.

As well as the outer city and the inner city, does the Ming... Ming army have the ability to attack it?"

"What if we help them?" Tan Chunli placed the wine bowl heavily on the table, and then looked at Lu Yufu with burning eyes.

"You...are you crazy?" Lu Yufu was so startled that he stood up, then walked quickly to the door, looked out, and then closed the door tightly again.

"Old Tan, I know you hate those Eight Banners masters in Manchuria, but you shouldn't have this idea." Lu Yufu sat next to Tan Chunli and lowered his voice and said, "It's been five years since this happened. It's time to let it go!"

"Put it down?" Tan Chunli stared with blood-red eyes and said miserably: "Those are my wife and children, as well as your sister and nephew, all of them died in the hands of these slaves! ... and my father who was not able to support him.

Mother, how can I let go?"

When Lu Yufu heard this, he remained silent.

"Look at our outfits again..." Tan Chunli pointed at Lu Yufu's bald head, then reached back and grabbed a rattail on the back of his head, hissing: "After we die, we probably won't be able to see our ancestors.

!”

Lu Yufu continued to remain silent.

"Have you forgotten what happened to the Lilac girl in Wanyulou two years ago?"

Lu Yufu closed his eyes. The girl Dingxiang in Wanyu Tower was the young lady he had fallen in love with two years ago. He originally planned to get some money to redeem her into his home and make her a concubine. Unexpectedly, she was captured by a man stationed in Nanjing City.

The left leader of the Eight Banners of Manchuria took a fancy to him and snatched him back.

In the mansion, he also told the local officials who came to ask for her life that this girl was a fugitive from the north and should be brought back by him. However, less than ten days later, a broken straw mat wrapped the girl Lilac and threw her outside the city.

Mass graves. This made Lu Yufu deeply hate the left leader of the Eight Banners of Manchuria.

"On weekdays, do those Manchu lords ever look up to you? As a general of the Hezhou camp, are you willing to be greeted by a humble Manchu soldier?"

"The Eight Banners men stationed in the city are arbitrarily enclosing land. I guess a lot of the farms you once hoarded have also been taken away, right?"

"A few years ago, we were the ones who took the lead in plundering Jiangxi and Hubei. In the end, not only were the achievements stolen by others, but most of the looted property had to be handed over to the Manchu uncles! General Lu, what do you think?

Have you ever been willing to do this?..."

"Have you said enough?" Lu Yufu kicked the table in front of him and stared at Tan Chunli fiercely, "Is it possible that in the Ming Dynasty, we Qiu Ba were better off than we are now?"

"It's not easy." Tan Chunli shook his head and said, "But, in the Ming Dynasty, at least we didn't have to be others' slaves! We were treated like dogs!"

"In the Ming Dynasty, we warriors were not slaves of the literati, but we were treated like dogs by the literati!"

"Brother Lu, are you planning to be a slave of the Eight Banners of Manchuria for the rest of your life?"

"Da Ming, it's hopeless." Lu Yufu shook his head, "Old Tan, I know you hate the Eight Banners of Manchuria and always want to stab them. But you shouldn't bury us together, let alone give birth to a child at this time.

Rebellious..., ah!..."

Before he finished speaking, Lu Yufu suddenly felt a pain in his lower abdomen. He subconsciously stepped back and looked down, only to see a knife stabbing into his abdomen.

"Brother Lu, I don't want to be a slave of the Manchus all my life." Tan Chunli held the handle of the knife and stabbed it forward hard. He also leaned over and stared at Lu Yufu with gloomy eyes, "Besides, my family of five members

I must take my life back! When the Ming Dynasty comes, I want all the Manchu Eight Banners in Nanjing to be buried with me!"

Lu Yufu pushed Tan Chunli away, and then staggered towards the door. The spurting blood instantly soaked his clothes and armor, spreading scarlet all over the ground.

"Plop!" With a sound, Lu Yufu fell to the ground, his body twitching continuously, and his hands moved forward hard to grab something.

"Squeak", the door of the room opened, and several officers walked in. When they saw Lu Yufu, who was still alive on the ground, they were obviously hesitant in their steps.

"He doesn't want to." Tan Chunli held the knife and said calmly, "...how many brothers have been contacted outside?"

"Sir, there are more than 430 people willing to do this with us." A tall officer stepped over Lu Yufu who was lying on the ground, clasped his fists and said: "During the contact, there were 15 people who were hesitant. Just in case, we have already

Kill them secretly."

"Four hundred and thirty people?" Tan Chunli frowned, "There are still a few people, not enough to capture the inner and outer gates. If the people outside the city have any doubts and dare not attack the city, we will very likely

They were all chopped into pieces!"

"How about someone sneaking out at night to contact the Ming army outside?"

"It's too risky!" Tan Chunli said: "Each city gate is supervised by Eight Banners soldiers, and the garrison troops also belong to different battalions. It is easy to be discovered if you sneak out of the city. We must launch tonight, if there is any further delay

In time, the layout of the city will be more rigorous."

"With more than 400 of us, it is no problem to open the Guanyin Gate, but there are more than a dozen gates in the inner city, and the defense is even tighter than in the outer city. How can we allocate manpower to knock on the gates of the inner city?"

"He Boping who is stationed at the Taiping Gate in the inner city should be able to fight for it." Tan Chunli touched a few strands of short beard on his chin and said thoughtfully: "Although he behaves mostly deferentially on weekdays, the hatred for the Eight Banners of Manchuria in his heart may not be with me.

Wait."

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When night fell, Tule, the commander of the Eight Banners of Manchuria and the Blue Flag, had accompanied Hong Chengchou to inspect the defense of the northern city wall, and then returned to a house near Taiping Gate with a tired look. In the entire city of Nanjing, all buildings near the inner and outer city gates

All the residences and houses were requisitioned by the Qing army and turned into temporary military garrison.

Taiping Gate is a single-hole city gate with city walls on both sides built along the mountains. It surrounds Zhoushan in the west and Fugui Mountain in the east. The city gate is framed between the two mountains and is located at the junction of Hou Lake and Purple Mountain, according to the danger of mountains and lakes.

, is to guard the road leading to Purple Mountain

The nearest passage in the city. The wall east of the city gate was called "Dragon's Neck" during the Hongwu period, where the dragon veins of the Ming Dynasty were located. Therefore, it was the only section of the entire Nanjing inner city wall without a moat, and was a key defensive position for the Qing army.

For the sake of safety, Hong Chengchou stationed most of the Manchu Eight Banners and Han Eight Banners troops to garrison in the inner city. At the same time, he also mobilized nearly 3,000 more reliable Han troops from various towns. After breaking up the organization, they were distributed at several important city gates.

Serve as the vanguard (cannon fodder) of the Eight Banners troops.

"Where are Bu Congshan and other Han generals?" Tu Le asked after removing his armor and stomach.

"One of the guerrillas under Bu Congshan's command happened to have a son today. I heard that he was invited to have a drink." A guard replied.

"You bastard!" When Thule heard this, he became furious and stood up immediately, "The Puppet Ming army is pressing on the border, and there is always the threat of the city being destroyed and people killed. How dare they drink and play in this situation? Do they treat it as such?

Is military law child's play?"

With that said, Tule stood up and walked out of the house, followed by several bagaras who quickly followed behind.

In another house less than a few hundred meters away from Tule's house, a fierce firefight had just ended. Wucai Town guerrilla He Boping held a long knife and walked slowly with several soldiers.

Among the corpses scattered everywhere, one by one was checked to see if there were any survivors left.

The head of Bu Congshan, the commander-in-chief of Wucai Town, had been chopped off and was held in Tan Chunli's hand. His eyes were still wide open, as if unwilling to accept his fate.
To be continued...