Episode 53: Under one person, above ten thousand people
Eight People's Guard military vehicles were driving along the winding mountain road. Suddenly, the front one suddenly stopped, and the vehicles behind them stopped one after another.
A soldier wearing a steel helmet stood in the middle of the road in front, holding a gun in his right hand and holding a small flag high in his left hand.
Against the mountain on the left is an anti-tank fortification. Half of a concrete bunker is exposed on the rock. In the firing port, a 57mm anti-tank gun shines with a metallic cold light, and the muzzle is pointed at the truck at the front. On the right side, there is also a small building on the roadside near the cliff.
In the bunker, the machine guns inside were also aimed at the convoy.
The soldier ran over with a rifle. When he saw the co-pilot's stomachache, he saluted first and then asked:
"Sir, the front is the fortress area. Please show me your documents, passes, and troop deployment orders."
My stomach aches, I can’t tell you, there’s no pass or order to mobilize troops!
The person driving next to me was a commando veteran. He said quietly:
"Sir, shall we clear this jam?"
I shook my head with a stomachache. I looked at the continuous anti-tank bunkers and machine gun bunkers in front of me. I knew in my heart that even if I took this one, I would never be able to get through. These fortifications are all blocking enemy tanks. Even the tanks can't get through.
, these few trucks are not enough to fill the gap between teeth.
He rolled down the window, handed over his ID first, and then said:
"We received a call from the fortress and came over temporarily without a pass or troop deployment order. Can I make a call?"
The guard carefully checked his ID, looked at the photo for a long time, then handed it back to him and asked:
"Sir, who gave you the order?"
"Well," Stomachache rolled his eyes and said, "It's us who asked Your Excellency. He is in the fortress, and he ordered us to move into the fortress and change defenses with the guards inside. Just give him a call and you will know."
When the guard heard that he wanted the People's Guard and the Praetorian Guard to switch defenses, he felt a little suspicious. He took the opportunity to say:
"Sir, Mr. Xiang does not have an office in our fortress. It is difficult to find him. I will help you pick up Mr. Shi, the commander of our fortress."
With that said, he entered the bunker without looking back.
My stomach hurts and I scream in my heart. Once I get hit, it will definitely go there and the secret will most likely be exposed. It is also dangerous for adults to be in there.
The planning was too hasty at that time, and I never expected that the anti-tank bunkers on the roadside would come out for inspection. But it is no wonder that for no reason, so many military vehicles went straight to the fortress. In such extraordinary times, anyone who is responsible,
They will all come out to check.
Inside the bunker, the soldier was horrified as he listened to Shi Bicheng's voice on the phone:
"Listen, no one here ordered the People's Guard to come up! It's even more impossible to switch defenses with the Guards! Stop them! No matter what they say, they must not be allowed to come up! If they force their way in, fire!"
"Yes! Yes! Yes!"
He hung up the phone and immediately sounded the alarm. The soldiers in the bunker jumped up, grabbed their helmets and put them on. The artillerymen concentrated on guarding the anti-tank gun, and a few shells were brought up. In the machine gun bunker, the machine gunner
He also pulled the gun and prepared to shoot. A series of bunkers going up the mountain from there were also put on high alert.
His stomach hurt, his head buzzed, and sweat fell from his face. He watched helplessly as several soldiers ran out of the bunker ahead, carrying deer and firewood and placing them on the road. The loudspeaker in the bunker shouted loudly:
"I'm warning you, don't take a step forward, otherwise we will fire!"
With a stomachache, he stuck his head out of the car window and shouted back:
"Stay in the car, don't get out!"
He was afraid that a large number of soldiers jumping out of the vehicle would stimulate the defenders in the bunker and lead to machine gun fire.
With a stomachache, he jumped out of the car, strode to the anti-tank fort, squatted down, and shouted at the gun window under his feet:
"What are you doing! Want to rebel? Open the door!"
The artillerymen inside saw that his face was almost close to the muzzle, and they became more and more nervous. They all looked at their squad leader. The squad leader of this fort also lay on the gun window and said to his stomachache:
"We received an order from the Commander not to allow you to go up the mountain!"
With a stomachache, he pinched his epaulettes and yelled:
"Asshole, have you seen the military rank? I am a lieutenant colonel, and you are a small sergeant. Are you going to let me lie down and talk to you like this? Open the door! I will call him myself!"
The squad leader hesitated, felt a stomachache and shouted again:
"What are you afraid of? I'm alone and I don't have a gun. Are you afraid that I will take down the bunker by myself?"
The door opened, and I went down to the bunker with a stomachache. "Pa", I raised my hand and slapped the squad leader in the face.
"Ah!" The squad leader took two steps back, covering his face and putting his hand on the holster of his gun.
"What are you doing? Take out a gun? Okay, take it out, take it out," Stomachache pointed at his collar badge, stepping forward step by step, "Do you know what this means? People's Guard! Security Team! What do the Security Team do, you guys?
Do you understand? Why is it that this time we are not a mobile team, but a security team? ...And you are asking the commander to draw a gun? When I saw you, the commander rebelled, and you all followed suit, right?"
The squad leader was shocked by his words, "Why are the security forces here this time?" and "Commander Shi is rebelling." The soldiers in the bunker also stared at him blankly and began to chew on these words.
the meaning of.
Having a stomachache, he held up his big-brimmed hat and said:
"We are here this time to investigate Shi Bicheng! You are still calling him to ask if he can let us go up? You have already alerted the snake!... Shi Bicheng is suspected of serious surrender to the enemy, and the No. 6 arsenal in Dinghuaimen exploded
Just be part of him! He wants to sell the Purple Mountain Fortress and His Majesty to the Qing captives. Are you going to follow him? Ah? You think Ming soldiers are not enough and you want to be a Tatar soldier?"
As he spoke, he grabbed the phone, handed it to the monitor, and shouted:
"Hurry up, before the fortress is sold, lift the alert quickly!"
The monitor's face became sweaty and he took a step back:
"I... the orders we received cannot be changed at will... Sir, we soldiers don't know that much. If we disobey the orders of our superiors, we cannot afford to suffer!"
His stomach ached urgently, and he knew that if he delayed for a second longer, he would be in greater danger. He kicked the shell box and asked loudly:
"Other than Shi Bicheng, who can order you?...Her Majesty the Queen? She is the supreme commander in chief, right?"
The monitor was startled and stammered:
"This...we have never done this before...this is too..."
My stomach hurts without saying anything, I picked up the phone and said:
"Pick me up to the fortress switchboard!...Please pick up His Majesty for me."
Everyone in the bunker looked at the lieutenant colonel with dumbfounded eyes.
...This is so awesome, a lieutenant colonel, he called Her Majesty the Queen directly when he asked for a beating... I used to say that the People's Guard was favored, but I didn't expect it to this extent!
The squad leader's face was as white as a sheet of paper, and his chest was beating violently. I wondered if he was bluffing or was he serious?... He has never spoken to Her Majesty the Queen in his whole life! What if Her Majesty the Queen really overturned the Commander-in-Chief's order and asked herself to release the People's Guard?
Go up the mountain, listen or not?
Although Your Majesty is the supreme commander-in-chief of the army, that is only in name. The only people who can directly command are the Guards and the People's Guard. The ordinary army has not yet been mobilized by Your Majesty! I am just a junior sergeant. Do you want to set a precedent here?
?
He had a stomachache and was extremely nervous. Although he was only two levels lower than Xiang Xiaoqiang, he didn't see Her Majesty every other day like Xiang Xiaoqiang. He had never spoken to Her Majesty the Queen.
Zhu Yourong's voice appeared on the other end of the phone, looking very nervous:
"Hello?"
Having a stomachache, he stabilized his breathing and said respectfully:
"Your Majesty, Commander of the Security Force of the People's Guard, Du Teng."
He softly reported what happened here, and the defenders all over the bunker were breathing together, not daring to take a breath.
Then, with a stomachache, he waved to the monitor and pointed at the microphone.
The squad leader slowly moved over with a red face, held the microphone with both hands, and said with a trembling voice:
"Hello……"
The kind voice on the other end of the phone said:
"May I have your name?"
The squad leader swallowed a mouthful of dry saliva and said softly:
"Your Majesty...Your Majesty, I...have a humble position...Zheng Sangui..."
"Haha, my surname is Zheng, so we are half of the family...can you hear my voice? How about it, don't doubt it?"
Zheng Sangui heard it clearly. He had heard His Majesty’s voice on the radio countless times. How could he hear it wrong? He stood up at attention and shouted:
"Humble...humble position, never dare to doubt it!"
"Sangui," Zhu Yourong's voice whispered, "I will tell you a secret... Now Shi Bicheng is in rebellion with the Imperial Guards and has put me under house arrest. They also want to open the fortress and let the Qing prisoners in... Sangui, you
You know, now my fate, the fate of the fortress headquarters, and the fate of the Ming Empire are in your hands."
Zheng Sangui's hands holding the microphone couldn't help trembling, his face twitched, two big tears flowed down, and he burst into tears with excitement:
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty... Sangui is guilty... Sangui knows what to do... Don't worry..."
"Well, with your words, I feel relieved," Zhu Yourong said softly, "Sangui, I'll leave it to you... come back to me later to receive a medal."
Zheng Sangui held the phone that had been hung up and looked around excitedly. All the brothers in the bunker looked at him with envy. Zheng Sangui wiped the tears from his face and shouted:
"What are you waiting for? Clear the alarm! Move the roadblocks! Let the officers of the People's Guard go rescue His Majesty!"
…
After the fortress commander Shi Bicheng received the call from the bunker on the winding mountain road, he was restless in the office, like an ant on a hot pot. He watched the junior officers coming in and out, carrying documents, and papers scattered on the ground, and he felt even more irritated.
Uneasy. Although the headquarters is still directing the resistance, they are already preparing to evacuate.
In his mind, he cursed Zheng Gongyin and Mrs. Li, the two maternal relatives. They were so courageous and ignorant that they made a palace incident look like a house arrest. It was enough to put His Majesty under house arrest and blackmail him. They didn't even ban His Majesty.
Make a phone call. Your Majesty is now making calls everywhere, making everyone in all departments aware of it. Well, forget it, anyway, the Guards have taken control of the fortress, and everyone wants to leave, so there is nothing wrong for the time being. But who knows who can help Your Majesty?
The People's Guard was mobilized. Fortunately, the order was issued just now to block it, so nothing happened.
He thought that if he had been involved from the beginning, this palace change would have been much more "professional". At least the phone in His Majesty's room would have been cut off from the beginning. But then again, if they had invited him to participate,
I wouldn't dare to do it no matter what.
Shi Bicheng wanted to remind Zheng Gongyin and Mrs. Li that they must cut off His Majesty's phone calls and not think that everything would be fine once the Imperial Guards took control of the fortress. But he did not dare. In this way, he would be considered involved. Forget it.
Withdrawing to the mainland, His Majesty will still be His Majesty, and he will still have the People's Guard in his hands. It is certain to settle accounts in the future. Those two foreign relatives are His Majesty's relatives, and nothing will happen. It would be foolish for outsiders to get involved. Now I have nothing to do.
Participation is considered "inaction" at most. If the law fails to rule the masses, it will not make any difference. To prevent the People's Guards from going up the mountain, they lied in the first place. In fact, there was no order to "change defenses"!
But Shi Bicheng thought about it, but he didn't expect that Xiang Xiaoqiang was already in the fortress, and had already conquered several levels, waiting to rush in.
…
Xiang Xiaoqiang was just like Shi Bicheng at this moment, running around in a hurry. He originally thought that reinforcements would arrive in 15 minutes, but after waiting for more than 20 minutes, he finally saw a large group of reinforcements pouring into the small hall.
Tumache simply told Xiang Xiaoqiang what happened. Xiang Xiaoqiang patted his shoulder with satisfaction and praised:
"You handled it well, as expected of Zi Teng!"
Then he looked at his watch and said:
"We can't delay any longer. Now we are losing ground every second. Let's take the fortress first and then defend Nanjing! Start!"
The two doors opened, revealing the central command hall.
Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at the noisy command hall with cold eyes. It was no longer the bustling command scene before, but was now in chaos. There were only a few senior generals mobilizing troops and generals in front of the big map, and everyone else was running around.
The documents were transported to be burned. Several large boxes were placed on the ground, and piles of documents were thrown in. When the boxes were full, two soldiers carried them away.
Xiang Xiaoqiang became angry: We were fighting bloody battles on the front line, and the headquarters was already preparing to run away. They no longer cared about the lives of the people in Nanjing.
Xiang Xiaoqiang held the blueprint of the fortress and pointed to the left and right. The People's Guard soldiers behind him immediately poured in. The troops were divided into three groups, each with a submachine gun. Each team held a map. The two teams advanced to the left and right passages, deep into the fortress, all the way in the middle.
Leave the control hall behind.
At this time, an officer discovered them and shouted:
"Hey, what do you do!"
On the side of the hall, a Guardsman opened fire without saying a word.
The People's Guard here immediately fell down and fired back with several submachine guns. The Imperial Guard fell to the ground covering his waist and eyes.
The hall suddenly became chaotic, and the little female officers screamed and fell to the ground.
The other dozen or so Guardsmen in the hall began to fight back at the large conference table, sand table, sofa tables and chairs. However, they were outnumbered. The People's Guards left three times as many people in the hall, and more than thirty submachine guns pressed them down.
They can't hold their heads up.
Because there were still many senior officers lying in the hall, neither side dared to use grenades. The gunfight continued like this. The sound of submachine guns echoed in the hall at the belly of the mountain, deafening.
The People’s Guard kept shouting:
"The commander of the Guards rebelled and took His Majesty hostage. The People's Guards were ordered to rescue him! Only the culprits will be punished, and the rest will be ignored! ...Brothers, put down your guns, and Your Majesty will forget the past!"
The soldiers of the Imperial Guard over there were all guessing that their commander followed two relatives to blackmail His Majesty, and the news spread. It was just that the Imperial Guards were strictly disciplined and acted according to orders. Now I saw the People's Guard shouting
When you say this, you all know that it is others who are following the orders, and you are the one who is perverting them. You feel guilty at first.
A praetorian guard leaned against the sand table and shouted:
"Let bygones be bygones, did your Majesty really say that?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang raised his head and shouted:
"Brother, I am Xiang Xiaoqiang, commander of the People's Guard!"
Over there the Praetorian Guard shouted:
"You guys have seen me before! We are fighting a war, so I can't salute you anymore!"
Shout to Xiaoqiang:
"Listen! You were acting under orders before, so what's the crime? I am now delivering a decree to you on behalf of His Majesty: put down your weapons immediately and obey the command of the People's Guard! ... Now you know that if you continue to resist, it will really be a rebellion!
Your Majesty is so generous! Put down your gun now and I guarantee you will be fine!"
Her Majesty the Queen has always been lenient to her Majesty, and this is recognized. The Praetorian Guards were persuaded, and one of them shouted:
"Don't shoot, we're coming out!"
A dozen guardsmen raised their hands and slowly stood up.
Xiang Xiaoqiang raised his head from where he was lying on the ground and waved forward. Dozens of people behind him immediately got up, rushed over to pick up their guns, and occupied the entire hall.
…
Li Gensheng and Stomachache each led a team and advanced to the officers' office area and living area respectively. The two groups encountered a firefight respectively, but unlike what was expected, the resistance of the Imperial Guards was very weak, similar to the situation in the hall.
After being shouted at for a few words, they all put down their guns and surrendered.
In the officer's office area, the commander of the Imperial Guard, Qiao Zhongchu, was sitting in his office. Hearing the gunshots getting closer and closer in the corridor and the constant shouting, he knew that the situation was over.
He originally had no intention of causing rebellion, but he was told by Zheng Gongyin to "learn with reason and move with emotion" and did not want to see His Majesty fall into the hands of the Qing Dynasty. So he became hot-headed and followed them.
According to common sense, after this palace change, Zhu Yourong's imperial power was basically controlled by Zheng Gongyin and Mrs. Li, so even if His Majesty was dissatisfied with him, he could not do anything to him. What's more, Zheng Gongyin also promised to withdraw to the rear and take care of him.
Move to a higher position.
But now I never expected that the People's Guard would descend from the sky and appear in the well-defended fortress. In this way, the power would instantly return to His Majesty's hands, and I would really become a traitor and traitor.
Qiao Zhongchu's pale face was covered with sweat. He tremblingly pulled out his gun, put it on the table, and took out a piece of white paper with his last words written on it.
But his hands were shaking so much that he couldn't write a word. He tore the paper into pieces, grabbed the gun and stuck it in his mouth.
My index finger couldn't pull it off, and beads of sweat rolled down from the ground, soaking into my eyes. It was so spicy that it hurt.
Qiao Zhongchu yelled, slapped the gun on the table, opened the door and rushed into the corridor, shouting:
"Stop resisting! I order to stop resisting!...I, Qiao, am responsible for everything I do. I apologize to Your Majesty!"
…
Zhu Yourong was in the room, listening to the gunshots getting closer and closer, and the shouts to Xiaoqiang could also be heard clearly.
"Did you hear that? Did you hear that?," she said happily to the two guards at the door, "Xiang Qing is here! Xiang Qing is really here to save me!"
The two guards looked at each other anxiously, and one of them whispered apologetically:
"Your Majesty...we are guilty...don't hold grudges against us..."
"how come!"
Zhu Yourong waved his hands magnanimously, took a piece of cake on the coffee table and ate it. Now he was very happy and felt hungry.
"Bang!" The door opened, and Zheng Gongyin and Mrs. Li barged in. Zhu Yourong turned around and looked at them in surprise.
One of them had an earth-colored face, the other was full of tears, and they both knelt on the ground:
"Rongrong..."
"Rongrong, uncle apologizes to you!...My uncle is doing this for your own good! You can't bear grudges against your uncle..."
Seeing them like this, Zhu Yourong felt as if she had knocked over the five-flavor bottle, feeling extremely uncomfortable. She sighed, walked slowly back to her bedroom, and closed the door, not wanting to listen to their cries and begging anymore.
When the two of them saw Zhu Yourong closing the door, they were frightened. They rushed towards the door and knocked hard while crying loudly:
"Rongrong! Open the door! I am uncle!"
"Rongrong, I'm the wet nurse! My dear child, open the door quickly, we are all doing this for your own good!"
After a while, Zhu Yourong opened the door and came out. They all knelt at her feet, with runny noses and tears.
Zhu Yourong wanted to keep his cold face till the end, but finally couldn't help it anymore and shed tears. He knelt down to help them, but they were all lying on the ground and no one wanted to get up. Zhu Yourong simply sat on the ground and hugged them.
cried:
"Uncle, wet nurse... What are you doing? It's so embarrassing... Don't worry, it's nothing... Things are business, but we will always be a family... You will always be my uncle, wet nurse..."
Zheng Gongyin and Mrs. Li seemed to have saved their lives at this time, hugging Zhu Yourong and crying loudly:
"Rongrong..."
"Good boy..."
…
After a while, the gunfire outside stopped. Xiaoqiang's voice came from the door:
"Commander of the People's Guard Xiang Xiaoqiang, please see your Majesty! Is your Majesty okay?"
The two Imperial Guards at the door did not wait for Zhu Yourong to speak. They immediately opened the door and threw their guns on the ground. Xiang Xiaoqiang walked in respectfully. Behind him, Tumache and Li Gensheng also followed. They saw that there were two Imperial Guards.
, he said "ah" and was about to take out his gun.
"No!" Zhu Yourong shouted, "Both of them have merit and innocence!"
Xiang Xiaoqiang faced Zhu Yourong, bowed deeply and said softly:
"Your Majesty, I am late to save you. Please forgive me."
Zhu Yourong gently wiped away her tears, stood up, and looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang standing in front of her. Suddenly, a huge joy spread from the bottom of her heart throughout her body. Even she herself didn't know what was going on.
...No, this is definitely not the ecstasy after being saved. In this incident, my life was not in danger. ...Have you regained power? It's not like...You can continue to defend Nanjing, and the people will be spared.
Slaughtered? No, after seeing Xiang Xiaoqiang, what he thought of was clearly not the common people.
Xiang Xiaoqiang took a step forward, looked at Zhu Yourong for a long time, and grinned:
"Your Majesty, I came right after I received your letter. Are you... are you okay?"
Zhu Yourong's heart was beating very fast. She bit her lip, smiled, and nodded:
"I'm fine."
From the corner of his eye, Xiang Xiaoqiang glanced at Zheng Gongyin and Mrs. Li huddled together, and saw that they were looking at him with fear and hatred.
He was stunned for a moment, then remembered the scene he had just seen of Zhu Yourong hugging them and crying. He immediately went forward and knelt down, helped them up, and comforted them:
"Oh, the Marquis and Mrs. Li were frightened... As soon as the general heard that Qiao Zhongchu had rebelled and held His Majesty hostage, the Marquis and Mrs. Li were so anxious that they came quickly... The Marquis and Mrs. Li are both fine.
Bar?"
Zheng Gongyin and Mrs. Li were startled. They thought they would see Xiang Xiaoqiang's domineering face, but they didn't expect that this young man would be so generous.
Zheng Gongyin then thought about it, she and Xiang Xiaoqiang had no grudges, and it could be said that their relationship was not bad. But this time, Xiang Xiaoqiang seized the opportunity and stepped on his shoulders to make a big step forward. Now he is losing.
There is no need to think about the power in his hands in the future. Now that His Majesty does not care about it and Xiang Xiaoqiang is giving face like this, he should be content...
He smiled kindly on his face, a hint of gratitude flashed in his eyes, grabbed Xiang Xiaoqiang's hand and said with a smile:
"Oh, Xiao Xiang... Mr. Xiang, thank you for coming in time this time!... Oh, I need to take care of you more in the future!"
He patted the back of Xiang Xiaoqiang's hand and spoke with a pun. Mrs. Li was stunned for a moment, then she understood, and quickly said a lot of thanks to Xiang Xiaoqiang.
Looking at the faces of her uncle and nanny, Zhu Yourong felt a hint of disgust. But she was also very grateful to Xiang Xiaoqiang for preserving the dignity of her uncle and nanny, which could be regarded as preserving the dignity of the royal family.
…
"To be summoned."
Zhu Yourong said lightly.
Zhu Yourong's royal secretary, Miss Xia, quickly lined up paper and pen, waiting to record.
Xiang Xiaoqiang and Li Gensheng, both of whom had stomachaches, stood aside with their hands hanging down, wondering how to reward them. Zheng Gongyin and Mrs. Li sat on the sofa nearby, looking at Xiang Xiaoqiang with jealous eyes.
Zhu Yourong said slowly:
"Promote Xiang Xiaoqiang to the rank of lieutenant general, and temporarily expand the People's Guard to 100,000 people. All armed forces of the Ming Empire, unless they receive my contrary order, will be under the control of the People's Guard. The Imperial Guard will be merged into the People's Guard and directly under the command of Xiaoqiang
…”
After a few words, everyone in the room was shocked.