Because I had just received the defeat report from Dorgon, I did not rush to fight after learning that the Ming army in the capital came out of camp and lined up.
Instead, they sent sentries to investigate everywhere, especially the Tongzhou Camp.
It wasn't until he was sure that there was no ambush near the capital and Wu Sangui's cavalry had not been dispatched that they came over.
As a result, it was already afternoon when the army approached Dongcheng. The 60,000 troops outside the camp were already impatient to wait. Coupled with the hot weather, many people were sitting on the ground.
The opponent had no cavalry, so Duduo had no worries at all and just set up the red cannon.
"fire!"
Boom boom boom boom…
With the thundering sound of cannons, iron balls were thrown from more than three miles away, and many of them fell directly into the military formation.
Each iron ball can plow out a bloody gully in the dense crowd, causing screams and commotion in the military formation.
"Kill! Kill for me!"
When the two princes saw this, they knew they could not wait for the other side to attack, so they immediately drew their swords and roared.
"Come on!"
Immediately, the 60,000-strong army moved directly toward the 30,000-strong Han Eight Banners who were waiting in formation a mile away.
The commanders of these 30,000 Han Eight Banners were also Mao Wenlong's men at the beginning, but it is a good news that they later defected.
This man was proficient in firearms and was brave and good at fighting. He had five thousand men under his command equipped with fire blunderbuss. He was highly valued and trusted by Huang Taiji at first, even more so than Kong Youde and Geng Jingzhong.
At this moment, seeing the Ming army approaching, he immediately ordered the fire cannon soldiers in front to fire three rounds of fire cannons in three stages.
The charging Ming army was howling like ghosts and wolves, and a large area fell down. Many people showed fear on their faces, their steps slowed down, and they actually started to turn around and escape.
The momentum of the entire charge was also weakened by more than half.
"kill!"
Shang Kexi drew his sword and roared angrily, and except for the firearms soldiers, all the remaining Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty also rushed forward.
The 20,000 cavalry led by Duduo also did not participate in the battle. Apparently they were worried that the cavalry would fall into the quagmire of infantry, and also to prevent the Ming army from suddenly coming out of the city.
Zhu Cixiang, who was on the city tower, watched Jiannu being bombarded with artillery and fire, and his face was livid with anger.
Firearms were the trump card of the Ming army that they were once proud of, and they were the weapons that made the steppe Tatars suffer.
But now, the former barbarians are using it to attack the Ming army, and the Ming army does not have a single cannon or firecracker that can resist it. This is simply a great shame and humiliation.
However, who can be blamed for all this?
Who destroyed the Shenji Camp among the three major camps of the Ming Dynasty?
"Your Majesty, the two princes are going to be defeated."
Zhou Yuji, who was next to him, reminded him aloud.
Zhu Cihong didn't expect that he would be defeated the moment he lost his mind, so he quickly raised his head to look at the battlefield.
Sure enough, many people on the nobles' side began to turn around and flee into the camp. There were many nobles among them, and many were surrounded and struggling to support themselves.
"Ming Jin!"
"Lest those who are afraid of death escape in the end, and the loyal and brave men die in vain."
Zhu Cixi waved his hand expressionlessly.
Later, people will be asked to count which nobles are injured, which ones are stained with blood, who is commendable for being loyal and brave, and who is greedy for life and afraid of death, and it will be clear at a glance.
After all, there are so many distinguished people, and except for a few who have proven that he knows through history, for most of the others, he has no idea who is loyal and who is traitorous.
As the gong sounded, Xungui's mind immediately collapsed, his fighting spirit was completely lost, and some parts of the army fled, which soon evolved into the collapse of the entire army.
Even the British Duke fought his way out under the desperate efforts of his servants to break through and fled towards the camp.
"Kill!"
The two sides are completely entangled, and the Han Eight Banners will naturally not let go of this great opportunity to pursue victory.
Looking at the numerous corpses thrown away along the way and the noble servants and disciples being hunted down, Zhu Cixiang's emotions did not fluctuate at all.
When these people died, he didn't feel bad at all. Instead, he saved a ration. If he didn't want to be known as burning bridges, he would have laid off these rabble and replaced them with a bowl of rice bran a day.
Nowadays, there are many young and strong refugees in the outer city. If the same rations and equipment are given to those people, they will definitely be more willing to fight and kill than these nobles.
Then, he looked at the pale-faced civil servants aside calmly.
He thought to himself: These guys are also big consumers of food!
The nobles fled back to the camp in panic, and the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty also followed and killed them.
Fortunately, a large number of obstacles were set up outside the camp, and Tang Tong led his men to prepare for the response, so the pursuers were not allowed to follow them in.
"Quick! Get up and prepare to defend!"
"Don't pretend to be dead. If the Tatars come in, no one will survive."
The British Duke was covered in blood, and after a series of punches and kicks, thousands of people finally gathered to help Tang Tong.
Upon seeing this, Duke Dingguo, who was lying on the ground, also got up with the help of his servants and began to reorganize the army.
Shang Ke was pleased to see that the opponent's camp was well-defended, so he had to temporarily stop the attack. While reorganizing his team, he asked Duduo for artillery assistance.
Duduo did not expect that the opponent would be so vulnerable, so he immediately ordered the cannon to move forward until it was two hundred steps away from the opponent's camp.
"This is simply unreasonable!"
Seeing the opponent's unscrupulous artillery fire, Zhu Cixiang's face turned black at the top of the city.
"Your Majesty, why don't you bring some troops out from Dongbianmen to provide support?" Zhou Yuji tried to ask.
"No need, the field battle of 70,000 to 80,000 people has been a complete mess. If we can't hold even a large camp, then... you can watch here. I'm tired and will return to the palace first."
Zhu Cixiang walked away at the end, obviously too lazy to read.
If this group of nobles can't even hold the camp, then go and die. Living is just a waste of rations.
As for surrender, well, whoever dares to surrender will have his whole family killed.
The two princes may have felt embarrassed and did not ask for help from the city. Instead, they had already recovered and began to organize manpower for defense.
Although the battle just now was short, there were still 20,000 people who did not return. Most of them died while being hunted, including more than a dozen nobles with titles and a large number of legitimate children.
When Zhu Cihong returned to the palace, the sound of cannons outside the city rang again. As soon as he sat down, Queen Zhou and Zhang Yan came over with nervous expressions on their faces.
"Hong'er, how is the fighting outside the city?"
"Failed, it was a complete mess!" Zhu Cixi waved his hand.
The two women were shocked when they heard this, and then found that his expression was as usual, and he didn't seem to care much.
So Zhou Hou asked carefully: "Hong'er, then, are the casualties serious?"
"At least less than 10,000... By the way, Queen Mother, from now on the rations in the camp outside the city can be reduced by 20%."
"ah!"
When the two women heard that ten thousand people had died, they trembled and their faces suddenly turned pale.
Zhu Cixiang saw this and quickly comforted him: "Queen Mother, Auntie, it's okay. Just rest assured. Even if everyone outside the city dies, the impact will not be big."
When the two women saw that he was calm and composed, their faces looked better.
The three of them talked for a while before saying goodbye and leaving.
Outside the city, the fighting was in full swing.
The Tatars used artillery, muskets, and cavalry to race and shoot arrows, taking turns in the battle.
However, a large number of sandbags, horse-repelling stakes, and trenches were also placed outside the main camp outside the city. Although they were beaten into confusion and frightened, they still held on firmly.
It was not until dusk that Duduo gave the order to withdraw his troops.
The nerves that had been tense all day suddenly relaxed. All the nobles were spread out on the ground, and their intestines were green with regret. They should not have taken the initiative to ask for a fight yesterday.
"Your Majesty, the casualties in the camp outside the city have been calculated. A total of more than 15,000 people were killed and more than 5,000 were injured."
Zhou Yuji submitted a total of two lists, one of which was the list of casualties, and the other was the situation of more than seventy nobles and their sons when they returned to the camp.
Zhu Cixi just picked up one of them, looked at it, and said in a deep voice: "The British Duke is actually injured, so let him go back to the city to recuperate for a while, and let Dingguo Duke take charge of the overall situation of the camp."