Naturally, Yang Zhen knew nothing about the intrigues and bad things that happened in Ningyuan City on March 12, the twelfth year of Chongzhen.

In fact, even if he knew everything, it wouldn't matter to him at all.

Because time can prove everything.

When the news that the Tatar troops outside Tashan, Xingshan, and Songshan cities had retreated reached Ningyuan, everything became clear.

Of course, Yang Zhen didn't have time to think about the turmoil his good news might cause in Songshan City.

Around 4:00 that morning, Yang Zhen sent out a small team of more than 20 people, headed by Zhang Degui, Zhang Chen, and Yang Zhan'ao, and bravely crossed the newly built pontoon bridge and boarded the bridge that had been destroyed by fire.

The reed swamp, which was almost burned into a black field, went ashore towards Songshan Castle.

Zhang Degui can represent both the temporary Ningyuan advance battalion and Yang Zhen himself. The most important thing is that he has the highest position among Yang Zhen's old troops and is worthy of Yang Zhen's complete trust.

This time when he went ashore, Yang Zhen also asked him to bring an official document signed by Fang Yizao, the governor of Liaodong, when the advance battalion left Ningyuan City.

At the same time, in order to make it easier for Zhang Degui to win the trust of the defenders in the city and to make it easier for the defenders in the city to recognize the flag, Yang Zhen asked Yang Zhan'ao to accompany him personally under the banner of "Temporary Ningyuan Advance Battalion".

Zhang Chen, on the other hand, took the musketeers from the left wing of the advance camp musketeers to help Zhang Degui and Yang Zhan'ao march forward.

The musketeers on the left wing of the musketeers went through two battles, and except for a few minor injuries, not a single one was lost.

Unlike the left wing of the musketeers, a total of four of the twenty musketeers on the right wing of the musketeers were killed and three wounded in the two battles.

Zhang Guogan himself was indeed proficient in firearms and his marksmanship was very accurate. In the two battles, he killed many Tatars with firearms.

But once on the battlefield, he just went his own way, focusing only on loading ammunition and firing to kill the enemy. He was far behind in ordering his men to act together.

Fortunately, the few right-wing musketeers who died in the battle were all shot to death in the trenches by the Tatar cavalry in the second battle, and none of the muskets they carried was lost.

This situation was reflected in front of Yang Zhen, which made Yang Zhen feel annoyed. At the same time, it also made Yang Zhen feel extremely lucky that he divided the Musketeers into the left and right wings when he was in Ningyuan City and arranged for Zhang Chen, whom he did not know at the time.

He became the adjutant of the leader of the musketeers.

After Zhang Degui and others set off that morning, Yang Zhen, Xu Changyong, Zu Keyong and other generals who came to see them off came to the pontoon built by the Navy Camp and acted as supervisors, supervising Yuan Jin and hundreds of boatmen and rowers in the Navy Camp.

Work.

The construction speed of the trestle bridge in the reed marsh opposite the pontoon bridge also accelerated a lot, and it was finally completed around noon that day.

Xu Changyong, who had been impatient for a long time, led his few remaining Mongolian cavalry troops through the pontoon bridge, passed the trestle, entered the ground that was burned into black ground, and then passed through the muddy area and galloped towards Songshan City.

Yang Zhen and Zu Keyong each led a team, with a total of 120 people and 120 horses. They followed Xu Changyong's Mongolian cavalry and passed the pontoon bridge and trestle with flags.

After landing on the shore, we also rushed towards Songshan Castle.

At the same time, all the Tatar battalions in the west of Songshan City have been evacuated, and Zhang Degui and his party have also contacted Songshan General and Deputy General Jin Guofeng and General Xia Chengde who assisted Jin Guofeng in defending the city, and successfully recovered from the scars.

Go to the south gate of Songshan City and enter Songshan City.

Songshan City is only ten miles away from the coast, but it took Zhang Degui and his party nearly two hours to enter.

There is of course a reason for this.

Songshan City was besieged since the first month of the twelfth year of Chongzhen's reign, and has been trapped for more than two months now.

In the ensuing battle to defend the city, the main general in the city, Jin Guofeng, the deputy commander-in-chief of Liaodong, in order to show his determination to stick to the city and live and die with the city, not long after the Tatars besieged the city, he simply ordered all the buildings to be blocked with earth, wood, masonry and stone.

city ​​gate.

Therefore, when Zhang Degui, Zhang Chen, and Yang Zhan'ao finally had the courage to go around to the south gate of Songshan City, they found that they could not enter the city at all.

The banner of the advance battalion held by Yang Zhan'ao and others fluttered in the wind in the morning sunlight, making it very conspicuous. As soon as the group bypassed the Tartar company camp in the south of the city and appeared outside the city, they were met by people who had been on high alert on the top of the city.

The defenders discovered it.

Fortunately, their group came on foot from outside the south gate, and their number was not large, so the defenders at the top of the city gave them a chance to get close and talk.

Lu Pinqi, a guerrilla who was ordered to lead the army to guard the south gate of Songshan City, put down a hanging basket and first brought the official documents brought by Zhang Degui to the top of the city. At a glance, he knew that they were the vanguard of reinforcements sent by the imperial court from Ningyuan, so he quickly sent people to carry them out.

The official document was sent to the commander-in-chief Jin Guofeng.

At this time, Jin Guofeng and Xia Chengde, the main city-defending generals, were outside the west gate of Songshan City, nervously observing the movements of the Tatar camp outside the city.

In the past few days, the explosions coming from the mouth of Xiaoling River, especially the violent explosions coming from the east coast of Songshan City on the morning of March 10th, had long given them the confidence to know that the imperial court had not given up on them.

Reinforcements were sent anyway.

And during the day yesterday, although the Tatars outside the city were still bombarding the Songshan city wall with Hongyi cannons, Jin Guofeng had clearly felt that the Tatars had lost their determination to attack the city.

Because today's Tatars are different from those in the past. They just use red cannons to continuously bombard Songshan City, instead of first bombarding with heavy artillery and then finishing the infantry charge like in the past.

From the two-month-long Songshan city defense battle, Jin Guofeng had figured out the Tatars' tactics in siege warfare, which was to first bombard with artillery, and then charge with infantry.

Therefore, in the past two months, no matter how many Tatars gathered outside the city, Jin Guofeng and his soldiers had always felt confident.

As soon as the Tatar Hongyi artillery bombarded the city, Jin Guofeng and other generals took their troops and hid under the city. As soon as the Tatar bombardment stopped, they immediately led their troops to defend the city and counterattack the Tatar infantry climbing up.

If Jin Guofeng had not figured out the Tatar siege tactics and found a way to restrain them, no matter how dangerous the terrain of Songshan City was and how strong the city was, he would not have been able to defend the day when reinforcements arrived.

Of course, this situation is directly related to the fact that the Tatar army does not have enough red artillery, and it cannot perform "infantry and artillery coordination" operations.

In this era, not to mention the newly civilized Manchu Tatars, even the Ming army could not achieve infantry and artillery coordination at all.

Moreover, until two hundred years later in Europe, and until the early nineteenth century, the problem of infantry and artillery coordination was still a moderate problem.

Yesterday, the Tatar army only bombarded the city with artillery, but never sent an infantry to seize the city. While Jin Guofeng and the others were puzzled, they also began to guess what the Tatar's intentions were.

They thought that the Tatars had transferred all the infantry to attack the reinforcements sent by the imperial court, so they did not pay too much attention to the abnormal situation outside the city. Instead, they became worried about the reinforcements that came to relieve the siege.

.

However, from yesterday morning until the Tatar bombardment completely stopped at night, they did not hear any explosions in Songshan City from the east coast of the city.

This situation made Jin Guofeng and Xia Chengde begin to doubt their own judgment, so early in the morning they came to the head of Ximen City, where the Tatars had gathered heavily in recent days, to observe the Tatars' movements.

What surprised them was that, a few miles outside the west gate of Songshan City, the company camp where the Tatars once set up was still there, but there was no movement at all.

However, Jin Guofeng, who was always cautious, did not dare to take it lightly. He was afraid of falling into the Tatars' plan, so he did not dare to send troops to inspect, so he stayed on the top of the west gate to wait and observe.

He waited until 3:00 p.m. when Lu Pinqi, the guerrilla guarding the south gate of Songshan, sent someone to deliver the official document brought by Zhang Degui to him and told him the news brought by Zhang Degui. Only then did he suddenly realize - Dare to love the Tatars

Just withdraw!

Subsequently, reinforcements arrived, and news of the Tatar withdrawal quickly spread. Songshan City was soon filled with gongs and drums, and the atmosphere was full of joy.

Songshan City was besieged for more than two months. The soldiers and civilians suffered heavy casualties. Food, grass and firewood were about to be exhausted. The people who survived the battle to defend the city finally made it to this moment. They rushed to tell each other and celebrated heartily.

Around noon, with the joint efforts of the city guards and the people in the city, the south gate of Songshan City, which was blocked by huge rocks and earthworks, was finally opened with a creaking sound.

Jin Guofeng personally led dozens of servants and soldiers out of the city to meet with Zhang Degui, and then left Xia Chengde behind while Lu Pinqi continued to defend the city. He himself went east with Zhang Degui and others to meet Yang Zhen, the leader of Ningyuan's advance camp.

As soon as they arrived at the Nantaizi area in the southeast corner outside Songshan City, they saw Xu Changyong's Mongolian cavalry galloping towards them.
Chapter completed!