Yuan Chonghuan's imprisonment dashed the Ming Dynasty's last hope of turning defeat into victory.
According to the original plan, when facing the invaders of the Later Jin Dynasty, Yuan Chonghuan took the lead in the battle and Sun Chengzong took charge.
After Sun Chengzong arrived in Tongzhou, he guarded this key point very well and was able to provide support to Yuan Chonghuan.
As a result, after Yuan Chonghuan was imprisoned, Sun Chengzong's early work results were completely wiped out.
Since the third day of December, Sun Chengzong has only been doing one thing.
That is to try every means to recall the escaped Zu Dashou.
First, they sent guerrillas from Shizhu Kingdom to appease him, but Zu Dashou refused to listen and went all the way to Shanhaiguan.
Sun Chengzong was helpless, so he sent Liu Ce and Du Si Jia Dengke to pursue him again at Bangjundian, where they tried hard to persuade Zu Dashou.
Later, Sun Chengzong added all of Zu Dashou's words to Chongzhen's memorial.
This memorial is almost like pointing a finger at Chongzhen’s nose and scolding him.
This was also the beginning of the feud between Sun Chengzong and Chongzhen.
Zu Dashou said that when he followed Yuan Chonghuan to the capital city, he was scolded by the people in the city, saying that the Liao soldiers were all spies.
Not only that, the city also deliberately threw bricks below, killing three soldiers on the spot.
What was even more outrageous was that the city actually sent out selected soldiers to hack to death six Liao soldiers again.
Zhangyimen also killed the Liao soldiers sent there as spies. The soldiers who died under Guangqumen were not even given coffins in the city.
Sun Chengzong stated angrily, He Kegang, Zhang Hongmo and I tried hard to console him, but Zu Dashou didn't listen. Why don't I go back to the city to deal with the crime, and the emperor can send someone again.
……………………
Zuo Mengeng also misjudged the situation of the battle.
On the seventh day of December, the offensive and defensive battle in Liangxiang reached its bloodiest moment.
Looking down from the sky, the army of the Later Jin Dynasty rushed towards the Liangxiang city wall from all directions like a tide. A small county town was like a boat teetering on the wind and waves.
If Zuo Mengeng were to see Geng Zhangguang at this time, he would definitely not dare to recognize him.
Because at this time, Geng Zhangguang had long lost the gentleness of the past. He was dressed in a messy robe and his original appearance was completely unrecognizable. His face was full of gray and gray, his hair was messy, and there was a large wound on his left cheek that was not even bleeding.
Geng Zhangguang has no idea now.
No energy left to think about it.
Facing the soldiers of Houjin who rushed towards the city wall, they waved their weapons mechanically, not knowing whether they had killed anyone or not.
In fact, he never hacked anyone to death.
After all, he is a weak scholar, but now he is fighting for his life, but he only has a little more courage.
Seeing the Hou Jin army jumping onto the city from different places, Geng Zhangguang couldn't help but feel a little desperate.
From the second day of junior high school to now, they have been guarding the house for five days.
God knows how they got here these five days.
From the time when he wet his pants when facing the war, to now when human blood bursts into his mouth and he can drink it as water, Geng Zhangguang's transformation is too amazing.
Not only him, but his father Geng Ruqi has long lost the calmness of a high-ranking official. He walks around the city wall with a scribe's sword in his hand, commanding battles with a hoarse voice.
Suddenly there was a commotion in front of him, and Geng Ruqi looked around hurriedly, his eyes tearing up.
It turned out that a few soldiers in golden armor jumped onto the city wall and charged fiercely, killing the officers and soldiers defending the city and repelling them step by step.
Geng Ruqi immediately led his men to meet them, and even he himself joined the battle.
But Geng Ruqi was a civil servant, holding a sword in his hand, so he just pretended to be cool. It was impossible to kill someone, and he couldn't kill him at all.
But one of the Tatars saw his official uniform and knew that he had an extraordinary status, so he rushed towards him with a roar.
The big stick in his hand knocked Geng Ruchi's sword away in one fell swoop, and knocked Geng Ruchi to the ground.
Geng Ruqi felt that all the bones in his body were about to be broken, and he couldn't even lift it up at all.
The Tatar smiled ferociously and raised the iron rod. One more blow and he could smash Geng Ruqi's head.
Geng Zhangguang saw this and didn't care about anything. He leaned over and picked up an iron spear and stabbed it with a scream.
The Tatar was unprepared and was pierced through the belly by Geng Zhangguang's iron spear. He retreated and hit the wall.
This guy was also fierce. He picked up the iron rod and rushed towards Geng Zhangguang to hit him.
Geng Zhangguang didn't think much and raised his left arm to block it. With a loud bang, his entire forearm was broken, and he flew out like a kite with its string broken.
Knowing that he was going to die, the Tatar became ferocious, pulled out the spear from his belly, and threw it at Geng Zhangguang.
Just as he was about to nail Geng Zhangguang to the ground with a spear, a helmet suddenly flew next to him and knocked the spear away.
A general with disheveled hair and a wretched appearance stepped out and killed the Tatar completely with two clicks of his sword.
Geng Zhangguang struggled to get up with cold sweat all over his body.
"Thank you... Thank you Mr. Zhang for saving my life."
The person who rescued him was Zhang Honggong, the commander-in-chief of Shanxi Province.
This general, who was originally accused along with Geng Ruqi because of the mutiny of his soldiers, now became the main force defending the city.
Zhang Honggong also tried his best.
There was a big gash on his left leg, which was made by an unknown weapon. There were seven or eight arrows stuck in the mountain armor, and there was no time to pull it out.
He pulled Geng Zhangguang up and cursed.
"I said I wanted to run away, but you and your son dragged me here. Damn it, if I die, my wife and children will all become lonely ghosts."
If he had been cursed like this in the past, Geng Zhangguang would have been furious. But now he was in the mood to laugh.
"If Mr. Zhang dies, I will take care of your wife!"
Zhang Honggong had also watched "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and immediately laughed and cursed.
"The worst people in the world are you scholars."
The two of them went to help Geng Ruxi up.
"Father, are you okay?"
Geng Ruqi was just a little dizzy from being hit, but he was actually not injured. Looking at Geng Zhangguang's twisted arms, I was both relieved and distressed.
"My son, go and treat the injury quickly."
Before he could finish his words, waves of roars filled the air. Then the ground on the city wall shook, bricks and stones flew, and half of the city gate and building were destroyed.
Geng Ruqi and the other three were knocked away. Unknown how many rocks were hit on their bodies, and every bone seemed to be broken.
Geng Zhangguang stood up unsteadily. He had already lost feeling in his ears, and his eyes were red and full of blood.
He looked back and found that Geng Ruxi was only bleeding from his leg, while Zhang Honggong was unscathed, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
When I looked outside the city, I noticed that the Tatar cannons were spitting out flames.
At this time, the top of the city had been bombarded with artillery. There were ruins and broken walls everywhere, and the number of soldiers who defended the city was unknown.
The severe physical pain not only did not frighten Geng Zhangguang, but instead aroused his ferocity.
He moved his body to the cannon next to him, loaded the gun with one hand, and then lit the match.
The shock of the general's cannon firing made Geng Zhangguang fall down, but the effect was very good.
Black artillery shells pierced the sky and smashed directly into the artillery array of the Hou Jin Army. The artillery shells crushed them wantonly, and upon collision, the entire artillery array was destroyed and could no longer threaten the city wall.
Geng Zhangguang completely lost his strength, collapsed on the ground and looked into the distance. Seeing that the cannons of the Hou Jin Army were completely useless, he couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.
At this moment, the powerful sound of trumpets urged the Hou Jin troops to retreat, and the siege came to an abrupt end.
Geng Zhangguang looked in shock, only to find that in the Houjin military camp very far away, troops had already moved out and gone far away.
He suddenly understood something, jumped up suddenly, and shouted loudly.
"The Tatars are retreating! The Tatars are retreating!"
The people who were still alive on the top of the city gathered around the wall stacks. When they saw that Hou Jin's army had begun to tear down tents and fences, and that they were really about to retreat, they couldn't help but cheer, and the cry of death filled the whole city.
Behind the city wall and extending all the way to the roadside, there were all the dead wrapped in straw mats.
After five days of fierce fighting to defend the city, a total of 11,000 people in Liangxiang were killed.
From top to bottom, everyone who did not run away went to the top of the city. Regardless of gender, regardless of age, everyone fought against the Tatars, and finally the Tatars retreated.
"Geng Zhongcheng, Mr. Zhang, Mr. Geng, please pay your respects to the elders of Liangxiang."
Liangxiang County Magistrate Dang Huanchun led those who were still alive and sincerely expressed his gratitude to these guest soldiers who sacrificed their lives.
Without these soldiers and horses from Shanxi, they wouldn't be able to hold on for even a day.
Geng Ruqi was extremely tired, and even more sad after the transition between life and death.
"There is no need to thank me for waiting. If you want to thank me, just thank Zuo Mengeng."
When this matter was mentioned, Dang Huanchun was really furious.
"We have been waiting here for five days, but the imperial court has not sent even a single reinforcement. How can we just sit back and watch the Tatars wreak havoc?"
In the past, Geng Ruqi would have condemned it. But now, he has looked away.
"It doesn't matter. We are defending the city just to survive. Once we defend the city and don't lose ground and fall into the city, we don't have to worry about being accused. I don't intend to interfere with the right and wrong in the future."
"Geng Zhongcheng, you..."
Geng Ruqi dragged his scarred body and looked at the Hou Jin army that was about to submerge into the horizon, with a desolate expression.
"After this incident, I plan to retire and return home."