The battle in the capital has reached its final moments.
The sound of "Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom-" can be heard endlessly, and the solid iron balls are smashed hard against the outer wall of Beijing with Guangqumen as the core.
The bullets hit the city wall, causing flying stones and flying dust. However, the city walls in Beijing are all made of green bricks baked with egg whites and glutinous rice juice, filled with rammed earth, and are very strong.
The iron bullets hit the gate, making a muffled "dong-dong" sound. However, the city gate was made of thick wooden boards that were nailed repeatedly and covered with iron sheets. It was also extremely strong, so even after more than ten bullets, it did not cause much damage.
damage.
But Li Dingguo was paying close attention to the power of the "Shenwei Ding" cannon that had just been transported to the battlefield.
These ten "Shenwei Ding" size guns were all cast very heavy, weighing between 880 and 900 kilograms. However, they still used wooden gun carriages, but each gun was equipped with a sight with a cross cursor.
Gun scope.
Although the "Shenwei Ding" gun is a smoothbore gun, its accuracy within one thousand meters is quite high, and with the sight of the gun scope, it is much easier to use than a simple crosshair, and the city gates of Beijing are also
It is famous for its tallness and majesty. At this time, it has become the most conspicuous target. Therefore, seven or eight out of ten cannons fired by the "Shenwei Ding" can accurately hit the city gate. During the attack,
Most of the cannonballs at the central city gate were attributed to the "Shenwei Ding" type cannon.
More than fifty artillery pieces were divided into three batches, and they fired more than ten rounds at Guangqumen in turn. The hits only caused sand and stones to fly randomly on the city wall, and the dust was thick. The soldiers guarding the city only dared to hide under the battlements and did not dare to
The city gate was exposed, and the city gate also received fifty or sixty shellings. Although the city gate of Guangqumen was tall and thick, it was still made of wood. After receiving so many blows, it finally began to crack.
Although the other gunners could not see it, the sighting scope on the "Shenwei Ding" gun could see very clearly, so the gunners' confidence increased greatly. They also told each other that the city gate had cracked, and another one was added.
If you push hard, you can break it open.
After four or five rounds of shelling, the city gate was bombarded by more than 20 people. Finally, it could no longer withstand it. An iron bullet hit it through the door, and you could faintly hear some tragic sounds coming from the hole in the city gate.
The sound of shouting was probably due to the remnants of the shells hitting some soldiers of the Dashun Army behind the city gate. The gunners of the Huben Guards immediately let out a burst of cheers, and then continued to fire in high spirits.
The second, third... more and more shells penetrated the city gate one after another. The damage caused to the city gate was also increasing and increasing. In the end, the door bolt was broken.
It breaks and the city gate opens.
After the city gate was blasted open, only dozens of bodies lying on the ground were left in the city gate hole, but it was thought that there was no one there. From the beginning of the shelling to now, it only took about half a day.
hours of time.
Li Dingguo couldn't help but lamented that under normal circumstances, if he wanted to break into a strong city like Beijing, he would have to lose many troops. However, after the advent of the firearms age, although the city wall still has a considerable protective effect, if there is no
In the same confrontation with firearms, it is impossible for a solid city wall to withstand the attack of firearms.
The times are advancing rapidly, and the mode of war is also developing...
Li Dingguo immediately ordered the musketeers to go out and capture Guangqumen. After receiving the order, the musketeers of Huben Guards immediately shouted and rushed towards Guangqumen with their muskets with bayonets in hand.
At this time, the soldiers of the Dashun Army who were guarding the city had already been frightened by the earth-shattering roar of the artillery. They all gave in and completely gave up Guangqumen. The Tiger Guards rushed across the Jinshui Bridge on the moat. , pass through Guangqumen and enter the city.
After opening the Guangqumen. After entering the outer city of Beijing, Li Dingguo was not in a hurry to attack the inner city. Because the facts have become clear that the Huben Guards, who have the most advanced artillery in China in this era, can attack any city in Beijing effortlessly. The gate of the city. Moreover, the Hu Ben Guards had many other weapons that were not used. At the same time, Li Dingguo also thought that after he captured the city, the Dashun Army would definitely send troops to fight, so Li Dingguo first drove all the troops into the outside of Beijing. The city was set up to prepare for the battle against Dashun's army.
Sure enough, not long after Huben Guards entered the city, the soldiers who occupied the city tower reported to Li Dingguo that they had discovered an army and were heading towards Guangqumen to kill them.
After Li Dingguo heard this, he immediately ordered Shi Weide to the left and A Hu to the right to outflank the rebel army from both sides. The other armies stayed here and set up positions in front of Guangqu Gate to prepare for the attack. Dashun Army.
Then he climbed onto the tower and commanded the battle from a high position.
Li Dingguo also saw clearly from the telescope that the Dashun army had been divided into several groups of troops and marched towards Guangqumen from several streets. The flags of the troops marching along the inner street of Guangqumen were On it, there is a huge word "Liu" written on it. Obviously the commander of the Dashun Army should be Liu Zongmin.
It was Liu Zongmin who led the army. At this time, he was having fun in the inner city. He was surprised when he heard that the Huben Guards had broken through the capital.
Liu Zongmin knew that guarding Beijing was Li Zicheng's lowest bottom line for him. If Beijing was lost, Li Zicheng would not be able to spare him easily no matter how loyal he was.
Liu Zongmin immediately gathered his troops and attacked Guangqumen.
However, it took a lot of time to mobilize the troops, so after Liu Zongmin led his troops out of the inner city, he also received news that the outer city of Beijing had been breached by the enemy.
This time Liu Zongmin gathered about 15,000 horses and horses, and Liu Zongmin could be considered a man who had been on the battlefield for a long time. He divided the troops into five groups and divided them into five streets and rushed toward Guangqumen.
The group led by Liu Zongmin himself had the largest number of people, about five thousand, and they were walking on Guangqumen Nei Street, which led directly to Guangqumen. But when they were still hundreds of steps away from Guangqumen , suddenly heard the sound of gunfire. There was a "crack, crackle" sound, and the soldiers of the Dashun Army who were rushing at the front immediately fell down. Liu Zongmin couldn't help being surprised.
Liu Zongmin could only face the battle head-on. Liu Zongmin stood on his horse and watched. He estimated that the number of Tiger Guards was not large, about three or four thousand. Although the firearms were fierce, he was not completely without a dozen. Liu Zongmin also immediately ordered the entire army to launch an attack on the Guangqumen position. At the same time, he sent people to convey orders to other people, asking them to rush to the battlefield as soon as possible and work together to encircle and suppress the Tiger Guards. Even if they were killed Driven out of the city, it was also a success.
Although most of the troops guarding the Guangqumen position were composed of new troops, they were also equipped with a musket battalion. Together with other auxiliary forces, there were more than 2,200 muskets in total, including more than 1,200 rifles.
In addition, the defensive range is small, so the firepower is very intensive.
Moreover, Li Dingguo only left 1,500 men on the battlefield, and the others climbed up city walls, rooftops, high-rise buildings, etc. to form a three-dimensional defense line.
Because they were fighting in the city, the heavy artillery of the Tiger Guards could not be used, and they could not test the power of the newly arrived explosive shells. However, the Tiger Guards also had more than 40 small artillery pieces mixed in the position, attacking the enemy.
The Shun army launched a fierce attack.
For a while, the roar of guns and artillery was heard endlessly. It was also mixed with countless screams and wailing sounds. The block with a radius of dozens of feet with Guangqumen as the core was almost shrouded in thick smoke. Only the sound of fighting could be heard from all sides.
The soldiers of the Dashun Army who attacked in the streets and alleys were strewn with corpses and blood. They were still unable to rush to the Huben Guards' position.
Although the other four groups of the Dashun Army arrived at the battlefield one after another at this time, the chaos in the team became increasingly larger. Some people were still rushing forward, some were retreating, and some were hiding, colliding and crowding each other. Instead, they were hindering each other.
Without his own actions, he was unable to concentrate his efforts to put greater pressure on the Tiger Guard Formation.
In fact, the entire battle only lasted for more than half an hour, and the Dashun Army's losses had already exceeded 2,000 people.
At this time, the victory or defeat on the battlefield had begun to be announced. Although the Dashun Army paid a heavy price in their attack on Guangqumen, they still could not move the Hu Ben Guards' position.
Shi Weide and Ah Hubu of the Huben Guards had already detoured back to the flanks and rear of Dashun Army and entered an offensive position.
Li Dingguo saw it very clearly from the tower, so he immediately gave them the order to attack.
Ah Hu immediately divided his forces from the left and right and charged out from behind the Dashun Army. At this time, the Dashun Army's attention was all in front of the Guangqumen position, and they did not expect that there would be men and horses coming out from behind.
Being caught off guard, the entire team immediately fell into chaos.
The Tiger Guards, who attacked from both wings, did not use long-range attacks. They first advanced on one side, and one after another stepped in, firing volleys of guns, knocking Dashun's army off their feet and causing them to fall to the ground and die.
At this time, Li Dingguo also ordered the soldiers guarding Guangqumen to launch a counterattack against the Dashun Army. The Dashun Army had a shadow on the Hu Ben Guards, and after the position directly ahead was violently blocked, the Dashun Army
The morale of the army was also greatly affected. At this time, they were attacked from the flank. As a result, everyone was frightened and had no intention of continuing to fight. Many soldiers began to flee in all directions. Under such a three-sided attack, the Dashun Army was quickly defeated.
The battle was completely defeated.
When Liu Zongmin saw that the situation was not right, he immediately began to flee for his life. At this time, he did not dare to flee to the inner city of Beijing, because Liu Zongmin did not know how many people the Tiger Guards had now, and he had no confidence in defending Beijing. Therefore,
It is better to run away quickly. Anyway, Liu Zongmin is familiar with this trick. Although he entered Beijing, Liu Zongmin still has the mentality of a gangster. He will fight if he can be beaten, and run away if he cannot be beaten. Anyway, this is how he has been here for more than ten years. See you
Li Zicheng also confessed that he was beaten away by the Tiger Guards. Can you blame me? Liu Zongmin was also familiar with the roads in Beijing, so he led hundreds of his trusted guards through the streets and alleys, and took detours to escape out of the city.
After the Dashun army was defeated, Li Dingguo was eager to seize the inner city of Beijing, so he did not pursue it hard. He left a musketry battalion to guard Guangqumen, and then commanded his troops to attack the inner city of Beijing. This time, it was not Chongwenmen who
Instead of launching an attack, he led his troops across the Temple of Heaven, arrived at the inner street of Yongding Gate, and headed straight for Zhengyang Gate, which leads directly to the palace.
At this time, almost all the Dashun troops left behind in Beijing were brought out by Liu Zongmin to fight against the Tiger Guards. There were less than 2,000 Dashun troops left behind in the inner city of Beijing. Although there were still more than 200 soldiers guarding Zhengyang Gate,
But the soldiers on the tower could see very clearly that Liu Zongmin was missing, and the Tiger Guards were attacking Zhengyang Gate. Who dared to resist here again?
"Whoop!" and they were all gone.
Therefore, Huben Guards easily opened the Zhengyang Gate and entered the inner city of Beijing.
After entering Zhengyang Gate, you are directly facing the famous Gate of later generations. Beyond the Gate, you are the Meridian Gate of the Imperial Palace. Therefore, Li Dingguo immediately ordered that the second and fourth regiments were immediately dispersed into teams. In addition to the artillery battalion,
Others split up to capture the remaining Dashun troops in the inner city of Beijing.
The imperial palace occupies most of the area in the inner city of Beijing, and is entered from the **. Passing through the Ancestral Temple and the altar of sacrifice, Li Dingguo led the army to the Meridian Gate of the imperial palace.
After the Dashun Army entered the city, most of the Ming Dynasty's palace was burned down, and the remaining half also suffered varying degrees of damage. Only the palace buildings near Wuying Hall were relatively well preserved. Later, Li Zicheng and Shunzhi separated.
All the enthronement ceremonies held in Beijing were completed at this time.
However, after Li Zicheng entered Beijing, he had always lived in the palace, so he kept things tidy. Basically, the previous eunuchs were still there, but most of the young and beautiful palace maids were snatched away by the generals of the Dashun Army at all levels, and the rest
Almost all of them are palace maids above middle age.
Along the way, Shi Weide was also amazed. Previously, he was watching the battle at Guangqumen. Shi Weide was shocked by the majesty of Beijing City, but after all, he was only standing on the edge of the outer city of Beijing and could not get a full view of the city.
But after entering the inner city, Shi Weide discovered that the scale of Beijing city was far beyond his imagination. When he arrived at the palace, although most of it was burned down, the remaining buildings and ruins were still intact.
It is not difficult to imagine how majestic and magnificent this palace was back then.
I saw a large group of eunuchs and maids coming out of the Xihe Gate on the left side of the Meridian Gate. They separated to the left and right, in a posture of respectfully welcoming Li Dingguo into the palace. The leader was an old eunuch in his fifties or sixties. He was holding a beautifully decorated
After seeing Li Dingguo, he knelt down respectfully and said: "Slave Wang Dehua, please see your lord. The jade seal is here. Dedicate it to your lord."
Wang Dehua was a roly-poly person. He was the last eunuch of the Ming Dynasty's Chief of Ceremonies. After Li Zicheng came to Beijing, he was the first to surrender, and was still appointed by Li Zicheng as the eunuch of the palm.
Li Dingguo also walked up to Wang Dehua and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, please rise, but I don't dare to do it."
After Wang Dehua came to power, Li Dingguo said: "The jade seal is still a national weapon. How dare I take advantage of the royal family's salary? Please don't mention it again. However, Princess Kunxing has followed me to Beijing. Please wait a moment."
The prince still gave the jade seal to her for safekeeping, and I have heard that Nanjing officials are already appointing a new monarch, and will present it to the new monarch after he succeeds to the throne."
Since he is a palm eunuch, Wang Dehua is naturally a human spirit. After listening to Li Dingguo's words, he knew that he would not stay in Beijing for a long time.
However, Li Dingguo still has the final say in Beijing now, so he still maintained a deferential attitude and said: "Your Excellency, you can learn from your loyalty. We admire you very much!"
Li Dingguo said calmly: "My father-in-law has given me the reward, but I don't know where the money that Li Ni looted in Beijing is kept. Does my father-in-law know?"
Wang Dehua was enlightened. It turned out that Li Dingguo was interested in Li Zicheng's money, but this was normal. Wang Dehua immediately said: "Our family knows about it, so we will put it in the treasury of the Ministry of Revenue. We will take the general there right now."
Li Dingguo nodded. This eunuch was really on the road and seemed to be of great use, so he said, "Thank you, sir." Then he ordered all the ministries to camp and rest outside the palace, and quickly captured Li Zicheng throughout the city.
The Liubu Yamen is just outside the **. I passed by it when I came here. It arrived in a moment, but when the soldiers of the Hubenwei opened the door of the Hubu Yamen, they found that there were many soldiers of the Dashun Army inside. The Hubenwei soldiers
Momentarily unprepared, the two soldiers who first rushed into the household were stabbed to death by several spears. When the other soldiers saw it, they also hurriedly left the household.
Li Dingguo couldn't help but be startled. He didn't expect that there would be Dashun troops here, but he reacted immediately and immediately ordered to prepare for battle.
More than 600 muskets fired at Hubu, killing more than a dozen soldiers of the Dashun Army.
Seeing that the situation was not going well, the other soldiers of the Dashun Army had to retreat into the Hubu Yamen. The soldiers of the Huben Guards took advantage of the opportunity to follow up and also entered the courtyard of the Hubu Army. The Dashun Army could only retreat to the inner chamber.
.
Wang Dehua also didn't expect that there would be Dashun troops in Hubu, so he was frightened. He was afraid that Li Dingguo would blame him, but he just saw with his own eyes the power of the Tiger Guards, who defeated the Ming army.
Dashun's army was already vulnerable in front of the Huben Guards, and they were secretly frightened, with thoughts swirling in their minds.
However, Li Dingguo did not trouble Wang Dehua, and followed the soldiers of the Huben Guards into the Hubu Yamen. After entering, there was a large courtyard. Although the space inside was not small, it became very crowded after more than a thousand soldiers were squeezed in.
It was so narrow that the soldiers of the Dashun Army who stayed in the household department had no choice but to retreat to the main hall where the director of the household department was located.
At least seventy or eighty corpses were lying on the ground outside the courtyard.
Li Dingguo looked around and saw that there were probably more than a hundred soldiers of the Dashun Army in the house, but everyone basically had an expression of despair on their faces. This is easy to understand. Although the Dashun Army said it was
However, they were surrounded by Merchant Legions, with hundreds of black guns pointed at them, and there was basically no way out. However, surrounded by Dashun Army soldiers, there were two people, a man and a woman.
The man is about thirty years old, dressed as a scribe, and looks quite handsome and elegant. The woman is about twenty-five years old, looks like a young woman, has a very beautiful face, is dressed in a red outfit, looks quite heroic, and is holding a long sword, standing there.
Around men.
Li Dingguo's heart moved, and he immediately ordered the soldiers not to take action for the time being, and then raised his voice: "Is the man inside Li Yan?"
Sure enough, the young man was startled for a moment and said, "Yes, I am Li Yan. Who are you?"
"I am Li Dingguo under the command of King Wulie!"