Dozens of prisoners were released back to such a trivial matter, but they could not alarm Yuan Chonghuan, the commander of the Jingnan Army. After all, as the leader of the 200,000 army, Yuan Chonghuan had to deal with too many tasks every day.

Starting two days ago, the Imperial Guards launched a full-scale counterattack from the inner city, and almost every inner city was fighting outside the gates.

In fact, the Imperial Guards did not dispatch many troops, and only hundreds of troops were sent outside each city gate, and the total number of troops was only 5,000.

However, due to the large number of barricades and forts, the traitor army was also very scattered, with one barricade guarding and one battalion of five or six hundred. Yuan Chonghuan treated the entire outer city as a battlefield and threw the imperial guards into the mud pool of the entire outer city.

, in order to delay time and wait for changes in various provinces. His strategy and guarding method also prevented the rebels from concentrating their strength and could not exert the strength advantage of the 200,000 army.

Therefore, in local battlefields, the number of imperial guards is basically the same as that of the thieves guarding the barracks, and even the number of imperial guards is even more. Moreover, the imperial guards are far more powerful than the thieves in terms of equipment and combat will, so every battle is in full force.

All can win. In just two days, from Sanshan Gate in the inner city to Kinmen, the Imperial Guards launched an attack from eight city gates, all of which captured seven or eight barricades of the rebels, turning the front from the inner city wall toward

It has been pushed for more than a mile.

Every time I win, I will capture many prisoners and take them back to the inner city, and carry out the ideological transformation of everyone's equality in the fields. After the transformation is completed, I will release them back.

So after two days of the war, the Imperial Guards' front was promoted for more than a mile, and the losses of the thieves' army were not great. So in the eyes of many thieves' senior executives, the situation of the war can still be maintained. After all, there are many barricades in the outer city, and

There are a large number of troops.

However, it was not until the third day that a battle occurred outside the stone city gate of the inner city, which shocked Yuan Chonghuan and the senior thieves.

As mentioned earlier, in order to prevent the Li Yanzhi Navy stationed in Longjiang Shipyard from launching an attack along the Qinhuai River, Yuan Chonghuan ordered three camps to be built in the areas outside the Shicheng Gate and Qingliang Gate, and a fort was built on the south bank of the Qinhuai River, trying to use camps.

They blocked Li Yanzhi's naval commander's attack along the Qinhuai River.

Yuan Chonghuan's arrangement has indeed played a role. Since the camp and the fortress were arranged, Li Yanzhi has repelled several attacks in succession in the past two months, successfully blocking Li Yanzhi north of Mochou Lake and guarding the occupied outside.

City territory.

However, Yuan Chonghuan didn't know that the reason why Li Yanzhi did not break through the defense line was not that he could not, but that he felt that it was not cost-effective. Because the entire defenders in the inner city of Nanjing had only more than 10,000 people, including Hong Chengchou, who was not recruited.

The four thousand imperial guards in his hand, and the more than six thousand Fujian imperial guards in his hand.

There are too few troops, and even if they can break through the defense line of the thieves, Li Yanzhi is not sure to drive the thieves out of the outer city. If the casualties are too large, it will probably affect the defense of the inner city. Therefore, Li Yanzhi only conducted the operation from the beginning to the end.

It was just a harassment, and I never thought of a full-scale attack.

Now, with Zhu Youjian leading ninety thousand troops into the inner city, the troops guarding the city were already very sufficient. Moreover, with the joining of Zhang Shize's eight thousand imperial guards, the elite army reached 20,000, and it was time to launch a counterattack.

.

So this time, Li Yanzhi no longer harasses, but attacks in full swing.

In order to destroy the anti-traitor's defense line in one fell swoop, Li Yanzhi even ordered five sea ships to carry thirty red cannons into the Qinhuai River and go straight to outside the Shicheng Gate.

Although the Qinhuai River is wide, it is too narrow and shallow compared to the three-masted sea ship. The three-layered sea ship with a tall deck as tall as a building cannot even turn around in the river. When you arrive at Shicheng along the Qinhuai River.

When outside the door, all the ships touched the bottom of the river and were stranded in the Qinhuai River and could no longer move.

However, the deep distance of the sea ship was enough, because at this time, the five sea ships were less than three miles away from the three camps and artillery of the rebels, and were within the range of the Red Cannon, and the Red Cannon was installed on the deck of the sea ship.

The uppermost sea ship deck is almost as high as the inner city wall, and it has the advantage of being condescending to the thief camp turrets.

"Boom boom boom" Thirty red cannons fired one after another, shooting huge projectiles at the pirates' fortress. Compared with the turbulent sea, the sea ships stranded in the Qinhuai River were almost motionless, and the shooting hit rate was almost motionless.

Increased several times.

After more than a dozen rounds of bombardment, the burglars' fort was bombed with holes. Most of the more than a hundred artillery pieces that Yuan Chonghuan had worked hard to mobilize were destroyed. The burglars' gunners on the turret were seriously injured and fled in panic.

The robbers' fort is located outside Sanshan Gate, three miles away from Shicheng Gate. Moreover, the robbers' army is full of ordinary artillery, and the distance of three miles exceeds their range. It is considered that you can't fight back if you just get beaten.

Faced with this situation, the rebel generals from the three camps also led their troops to attack, trying to destroy the five imperial guards' sea ships. They sent dozens of river ships to kill the five sea ships along the Qinhuai River.

Come, try to set fire to the sea ship.

Faced with this situation, Li Yanzhi was naturally prepared. He mobilized more than a dozen river ships in advance and stood side by side dozens of feet away from the sea ship. Then he sank into the Qinhuai River, completely blocking the river channel. The thief's river ship was basically

I can't rush to the sea boat, let alone set fire.

Faced with this situation, the traitor general in charge of command became anxious and led more than 15,000 people to fight over land. However, Li Yanzhi sent 5,000 troops to line up on the banks of the Qinhuai River to cover the sea ships in the river.

Just on the bank of the Qinhuai River, 15,000 rebels and 5,000 imperial guards fought a fierce battle. Because of the numerous buildings, the troops on both sides could not be distributed, so they could only line up along the streets on the bank of the river and then fight each other.

In this case, the troops on both sides who were fighting head-on were only hundreds of people, and the remaining troops could not be displaced at all, and they could not even see the battlefield, and they could only hear the sound of fighting.

The equipment, combat effectiveness and even fighting will of the Imperial Guards are far from comparable to the rebels who have just formed the army. When the two sides first started to contact each other, they shot with muskets and shot at close range, and more than 100 casualties occurred on both sides.

.However, for the Imperial Guards, the casualties were completely tolerated. Under Li Yanzhi's command, the soldiers of the Imperial Guards in the rear quickly made up and continued to shoot at the thieves. On the other hand, the morale of the thieves fell strongly.

Seeing the great casualties in front, the thieves behind him were hesitant and unwilling to step forward.

"Roar up, we have many people!" The thieves generals shouted, whipping their subordinates, and driving them forward.

"Bang bang bang"

"Bang bang bang"

Muskets were fired one after another, and soldiers on both sides died in battle at every moment.

Under the pressure of the generals, the thieves actually burst out with great combat power and did not collapse for a long time. The reason for this is that the thieves and generals all know that once the imperial guards break through the defense line and go to the stone city gate.

In the south, our side is very empty, and the Imperial Guards will directly enter the hinterland of the outer city, which will be very troublesome at that time.

"Punch the gun!" Seeing that he was in a tense battle, Li Yanzhi couldn't stand it anymore and was determined to fight hand-to-hand combat in close combat!

Under his order, the Imperial Guards all equipped the muskets with guns, then shouted and rushed towards the thieves on the opposite side.

"Bang bang bang" The thieves in the front row opened fire one after another, and from time to time, charging the Imperial Guard soldiers were shot and fell down, but the others continued to rush.

Seeing the Imperial Guard coming desperately, the thief musketeers in the front row were panicked. Most of the musketeers in their hands were produced in Foshan, Guangdong, and the quality was no worse than that of the Imperial Guard, but there was no gun stab. Once

When approached by the soldiers of the Imperial Guards, they would be unilateral massacre.

Seeing this situation, the thief general who was commanding the battle quickly mobilized the spearmen to step forward and replaced the front row of musketeers.

However, the riverside streets are already narrow, with thousands of soldiers on both sides, which are very crowded, and it is really difficult to change the formation in a short period of time.

The thief spearmen rushed forward to replace the musketeers, but it was impossible to put them in a neat queue.

"Boom boom boom" A series of explosions suddenly rang out in the thief formation, and countless thieves were overturned by the bombed people. There were more than a dozen grenades running in the front guards, and they grenades were placed at about ten steps apart from both sides.

Thrown into the thief formation.

The array was not ready, and it was blown up by a grenade, and at least dozens of casualties were killed and killed. The remaining thieves were confused, and many people were in a hurry and didn't know what to do.

While the rebels were still in shock, the soldiers of the Imperial Guard rushed into the rebels and sprinted towards the rebels with guns.

Almost in an instant, the thief in front collapsed. Faced with the offensive of the Imperial Guards, the thief in front fled in scattered places. However, the narrow streets in the depths were Qinhuai River on one side and the courtyard walls on the other side, and the front was a fierce and evil spirit.

The Imperial Guards were behind their own accomplices, and they dared not fight and had nowhere to retreat. In desperation, countless thieves could only jump into the Qinhuai River. The thieves were all from Jiangxi and lived in the water town of Jiangnan.

Most of them are familiar with water. The Qinhuai River will naturally not flood them. However, this is a cold winter. They are all wearing thick cotton coats. They jump into the river and are soaked in the water as heavy as iron blocks. The water-based coat cannot be exerted by 2.

"Kill!" The soldiers of the Imperial Guards roared and rushed towards the forward. The thieves were beaten to collapse directly. The ones who fled in front and the thieves behind naturally followed. Ten thousand thieves in an instant.

collapse.

The traitor generals roared angrily, trying to stop their subordinates from escaping, but their defeat was as if they were overwhelmed and could no longer be saved. They had no choice but to join the ranks of escape.

Li Yanzhi refused to give up the defeated thieves and led his troops to follow the thieves and launch fierce attacks, driving the thieves and defeated thieves into three camps. There were still thousands of thieves in the three camps, each of which was full of thousands of thieves.

The number of rebel soldiers in a camp was not smaller than that of Li Yanzhi's subordinates, but no one was willing to resist in this situation and they all left the camp.

After successfully capturing three camps, Li Yanzhi did not give up and led his army to the Jiangdong Gate of the outer city. As for the three treason camps and forts, the inner city defenders left the city to take them away.

There are 10,000 traitor guards in Jiangdong Gate, but most of them are in the camps under the city. There are a few troops guarding the city walls. It is cold and the enemy is in the city. There is no need to leave too many people in the city.

.

The news of the defeat outside the Shicheng Gate had already been heard with the defeated soldiers. When the Imperial Guards came to Jiangdong Gate, the rebel general ordered the camp to be defended to death. In order to prevent the middle of the battalion from collapsing, the defeated soldiers were even ordered to be prohibited from entering.

Faced with the Jiangdong Gate's rebels, Li Yanzhi did not forcibly attack, but ordered the transfer of five Red Barbarian cannons from the rear and then bombarded the thief army camp.

The sea ship in the Qinhuai River is about five miles away from Jiangdong Gate, which has exceeded the range of the Red Cannon. The Red Cannon is too heavy, and it is very troublesome to unload it from the ship. It took only two hours before the five Red Cannons were transported over.

, and then bombard the thief camp.

The thief's camp wall is naturally far from comparable to the city wall. As long as it is hit by the red cannon shells, it will collapse with one blow. In just half an hour, after firing five rounds, the thief's camp wall has been hit and collapsed.

A large section dozens of feet long.

Li Yanzhi immediately ordered an attack on the rebels in the camp. Five thousand soldiers of the Imperial Guard rushed into the camp and fought fiercely with the rebels. A quarter of an hour later, the rebels were defeated and the Imperial Guards successfully occupied their camp.

The camp under the city was captured, and more than a thousand rebels on duty on the city wall were scared. Seeing the Imperial Guard coming along the steps of the city, they did not dare to resist and fled to the distance along the city wall. The Imperial Guard relaxed.

Occupying Jiangdong Gate.

Jiangdong Gate is an important city gate in the outer city of Nanjing. It has a urn city and an arrow tower on the wall. If the thief defends it to the death, even if there are only one thousand people, it will not be easy for the imperial guards to attack. I don’t know how many casualties will be paid.

.However, seeing that the camp under the city was broken and more than 10,000 accomplices were killed and fled in panic, the rebels in the city were scared and dared not resist.

The news that three camps were lost, Jiangdong Gate was lost, and more than 40,000 troops were defeated quickly reached Yuan Chonghuan's ears, shocking him.

In order to prevent the Navy of Li Yanzhi's troops from Longjiang Shipyard, Yuan Chonghuan stationed heavy troops between Jiangdong Gate and Sanshan Gate. Relying on camps and forts, and using the terrain of the Mochou Lake in Qinhuai River, he built a solid line of defense, but in less than a day, it took him less than a day to build a solid defense line.

The entire defense line was penetrated by Li Yanzhi's troops, and more than 40,000 subordinates collapsed. After Li Yanzhi's troops captured Jiangdong Gate, they would continue to attack the outer city at any time. When Jiangdong Gate went south, their troops were very empty, although there was one

However, the barracks and forts are all defenses facing the inner city, while the Imperial Guards can attack from the rear.

"The outer city area south of the Qinhuai River may not be able to be defended anymore. I will send orders to the guards of the large and small elephant training gates, the large and small De'an Gate, Fengtai Gate, and Jiagang Gate, all retreated and retreated across the Qinhuai River, at the upper gate.

Build a line of defense along the Qinhuai River and block the enemy's army south of the Qinhuai River!" After careful consideration, Yuan Chonghuan made a decision.

In order to prevent the situation from collapsing, we had to retreat and give the area south of the Qinhuai River to the Imperial Guards. Although a small half of the outer city area was lost, it was not a bad thing for our own troops to shrink.

I hope to exchange space for time, keep the remaining areas, and persevere until the arrival of reinforcements in Huguang. Huguang has rebelled and surrendered to Jiangxi, and Zhejiang, Fujian and other provinces may be soon. As long as we persist for another two months, the areas controlled by the Imperial Guard will inevitably appear.

With food shortage, Zhejiang soldiers attacked behind it again, the Imperial Guards would inevitably collapse. That was the time for their own side to launch a large-scale counterattack! Yuan Chonghuan thought secretly.
Chapter completed!