In order to conquer Wuchang before the Qing reinforcements arrived, Zhu Hengjia led his army to travel day and night, and finally arrived at Wuchang Prefecture to govern Jiangxia County.
When they arrived at Wuchang City, they found out the news: Kong Youde ordered Luo Xiujin, the governor of Huguang, to build a mountain with real gold. Liu Zhiyuan led 10,000 troops to guard Hanyang on the other side of Wuchang. He led Shen Zhixiang, Ahanikan, Cao Dexian, Li Yangxing, and Du Hongchang.
, Jia Yixuan and others will guard Wuchang with more than 20,000 troops.
After inspecting the terrain, Zhu Hengjia looked at the city and sighed: "What a majestic city!"
The city rests on the river in the north, faces the Western Mountains in the west, and borders Yanglan Lake in the south. There is Phoenix Tower in the southeast corner, and Huanghu Mountain (now Snake Mountain) runs through the center of the city.
Not only are there many mountains and rivers, but the city wall is also tall and thick. The city is two feet eight feet high, the wall is six feet eight feet thick, the top is five feet four feet wide, and the circumference is more than twenty miles. There are nine city gates and two water gates.
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After observing the terrain, Zhu Hengjia understood: The key reason why Wuchang is difficult to defeat is that it has a water gate connected with the Yangtze River, which echoes the opposite Hanyang across the river. To conquer Wuchang, one must first capture the Western Mountains and set up forts all along the river to cut off its connection.
Just contact Hanyang.
Returning to the Ming army's tent, Zhu Hengjia asked the generals: "Who dares to attack Xishan?"
"I will go there eventually!"
Generals Feng Shuangli, Du Yonghe, and Chen Youlong asked for battle at the same time.
Zhu Hengjia nodded. He has won many battles and his military morale is ready!
"General Feng and General Du attacked the mountain, and General Chen responded."
"The last general takes command!"
"General Hao Shangjiu attacked Wusheng Gate in the north city of Wuchang; Generals Geng Jimao and Hui Zhiguan attacked Binyang Gate and Zhongxiao Gate in the east city; General Tian Peilin attacked Wangshan Gate, Baoan Gate and Zhonghe Gate in the south city."
"The last general takes command!"
"General Sun Guangwei led his cavalry to cruise in the north of the city to prevent Tatar reinforcements. The rest of the generals followed me to camp in the east city."
"The last general takes command!"
Zhu Hengjia saw that Wuchang faced the Yangtze River to the west and was easily harassed by enemies from Hanyang; there was Yanglan Lake to the south and the troops could not deploy; so he made Dongcheng and Beicheng the key directions for attacking the city.
The arduous and glorious task of attacking the city was naturally handed over to Geng Jimao, who was deeply trusted by Zhu Hengjia, and the chieftain soldiers of the Hui Zhiguan tribe and Tian Peilin.
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Wuchang was once the capital of Wu King Sun Quan; Xishan was once Sun Quan's summer palace. It is also the birthplace of the "Pure Land Sect" of Buddhism. The eminent monk Huiyuan of the Jin Dynasty once practiced Zen here and built Lingquan Temple.
Huiyuan knew how to choose a place and built Lingquan Temple on the site of the former residence of Sun Quan, King of Wu. The ability to transform King Wu's palace into a Buddhist resort shows the prosperity of the "Pure Land Sect" at that time.
Li Yangxing, the general of Kong's army, also chose the place very well. With a military order, Lingquan Temple became the Xishan headquarters of Kong's army.
The monks in the temple were driven to the side courtyard. They could only chant "Amitabha" and pray for the Buddha's blessing to prevent the war from destroying this thousand-year-old temple.
Feng Shuangli looked at the peaks and saw the beautiful scenery and steep terrain of the West Mountain. He couldn't help but admire: "It is indeed worthy of being called 'the east door of the Chu family and the pearl of the ancient capital'. The supervising country is so smart. By seizing this place, it cut off the connection between Wuchang and the outside world. Kong Youde It becomes a turtle in a urn."
"General Du, how about you attack Jiuqu Ridge at the southern foot of Xishan Mountain, and I attack Chair Mountain and Lingquan Temple?"
Feng Shuangli was the main general in the attack on the mountain, and Du Yonghe naturally followed his orders.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
The Ming army's artillery broke the tranquility of Xishan.
"Kill me!"
Du Yonghe pulled out his sword, his beard trembling, and his face looked ferocious.
Countless Ming army soldiers holding shields and wild goose feather knives rushed towards Jiuqu Ridge in groups of three or five.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Feng Shuangli's troops were more elite. They walked slowly at first, shouting "kill every three steps". When they reached the foot of the mountain, they accelerated towards the mountain.
"Quick, let the rocks roll and the logs roll!"
"Archers prepare, shoot!"
"The gunslinger is ready, shoot!"
As military orders were issued one after another, the defenders on the mountain resisted desperately.
Although Xishan is the gateway to Wuchang, Kong Youde lacked troops and only gave Li Yangxing 7,000 troops, scattered on various peaks.
As soon as the battle started, the weaknesses of the soldiers were fully exposed, and everything was tight.
"General, my brothers can't stand it any longer, hurry up and light the beacon!"
Li Yangxing built three beacon towers on the top of the mountain. Kong Youde and Luo Xiujin made an appointment with him. As soon as the beacons were lit, the Qing troops from Wuchang and Hanyang would come out of the city to rescue them.
Li Yangxing originally wanted to hold on for a few days before lighting a beacon for help. Unexpectedly, he couldn't stand it after only one day.
He didn't care about his appearance and lit the beacon fire.
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"Your Majesty, the beacon tower in Xishan has been lit!"
Kong Youde was shocked. After only one day, Li Yangxing couldn't stand it anymore?
He called for Fucha Ahanikan, the Minister of War in Manchuria, and said, "Master Fucha, if Xishan is lost, our connection with Hanyang will be cut off. You will lead the cavalry to rescue Xishan from Hanyang Gate, and I will lead the infantry to rescue Xishan from Pinghu Gate." /p>
Ahanikan was born in the Fucha family, one of the eight major surnames in Manchuria. He is a veteran Manchurian general. He joined the army when he was young and participated in the Ningyuan Campaign.
Hearing this, he said with emotion: "Prince, don't worry, the general will fight to the death!"
At the foot of Xishan Mountain, Chen Youlong had just led Sun Hua and Zhang Dasheng to set up a formation, and smoke and dust billowed in front of them.
"General, the Tatar cavalry is coming!"
Chen Youlong glanced at him coldly and said, "Pass my general's orders. All troops must stick to their positions. Anyone who makes noise in the formation, disobeys orders, or retreats without permission shall be beheaded!"
After the flags and drums of the Chinese army passed the order, the three armies were silent.
"The gunslinger is ready, shoot!"
The gunmen of the Ming army shot down dozens of cavalry. The cavalry was very fast and rushed to only thirty steps away from the army's formation.
"Put the gun up!"
The former battalion deputy general Zhang Dasheng gave the order.
One after another, the long-barreled guns were raised diagonally.
"Da da da!"
A group of Qing soldiers rushed to the front of the formation, cut off their spear heads and charged into the formation.
"Ah!"
A Qing soldier rode too fast, hit the head of a gun, and was stabbed into a bloody gourd.
Ru Lin's spears were so dense that they blocked the cavalry's path.
Seeing that they could not break through the Ming army's formation, Ahanikan ordered the cavalry to dismount and shoot on foot. Chen Youlong also ordered the archers to shoot at each other.
The two sides were in a stalemate, and it was difficult to tell the winner.
Kong Youde led 3,000 infantrymen to open the Pinghu Gate and leave the city. Seeing that Ahanikan had restrained Chen Youlong, he led his troops to sneak to Jiuqu Ridge at the southern foot of Xishan Mountain.
Ming general Du Yonghe was urging his men to attack the ridge and knew nothing about the coming danger.
Kong Youde summoned Bai Yunlong, the commander of the royal guards, and said, "Guard Bai, the success or failure of the entire army depends on you."
Bai Yunlong roared: "Prince, don't worry, today there are no enemies but me, and I am invincible!"
With eight hundred bodyguards, he shot towards Du Yonghe's flag like a sharp arrow.
These eight hundred palace guards are all warriors selected by Kong Youde from a hundred from each army. They usually receive double pay and fight for their lives at critical moments.
Bai Yunlong led 800 bodyguards, beheading generals and beating flags along the way. Kong Youde led more than 2,000 elites to follow closely.
Du Yonghe was attacking the mountain when he suddenly saw a noise from the rear team and a group of men and horses came towards him.
"Huh?"
Du Yonghe's face darkened, and he quickly gathered his soldiers to resist.
"General, be careful!"
A private soldier rushed in front of Du Yonghe, and the bloody knife flashed across his body, cutting his body in half.
"Two dogs!"
Seeing the tragic death of his own soldier and fellow countryman, Du Yonghe's eyes turned red and he slashed at the enemy general with his sword.
"Bang!"
Knife to knife, Du Yong and the tiger's mouth trembled, and they were so strong.
Bai Yunlong is younger than Du Yonghe, and his martial arts skills are also better, and his sword is as fast as a sword.
The red steel knife hit Du Yonghe's neck, and his body fell slowly.
Under the bloody light, Bai Yunlong shouted ferociously: "Someone, Bai Yunlong, will kill the general here!"