Fifty-Eighth Blood (1)

  "Have they all left?"

  After being stunned for a long time, Chongzhen finally murmured: "No wonder yesterday I saw that everyone's face had an unusual color, and I thought it was because of worrying about national affairs. My heart is really worried, so I didn't ask about this matter. It turns out that they all deceived me and left... Haha, leaving is good, yes, leaving is really good. I will die for the country in the capital, the crown prince will ascend to the throne in Nanjing, our great Ming dynasty still has a chance, at worst, we can still divide the country along the river."

  At this time, Chongzhen's mind was clearer than ever. He sighed and said: "It's a pity that the crown prince is still young. The scholars in the south are even more difficult to deal with. With me around, I can at least keep some people with ulterior motives under control. Now that I'm going to die for the country in the capital, all I can give him is an empty name... and some people will even scold him for abandoning his father... Alas, that's all. I regret it!"

  "Your Majesty, it's too late to say these things now... I was waiting for Your Majesty until tonight, and when you repeatedly said you wanted to deploy troops and defend the city to the death, I had no choice but to leave... Please don't blame me..."

  "Alas, it's no wonder, in a different place, I also have no way to do better than him!"

  As he heard this, Wang Cheng'en burst into tears, but his ears were still listening to the movements outside. The Forbidden City was not far from Zhengyang Gate, and at this time, when he listened carefully, there were indeed shouts of killing sounds coming from near Zhengyang Gate.

  After all, it was an important city gate in the inner city. In addition to Zhang Jinyan and other ministers, there were many officials guarding it, including some eunuchs who were loyal to Chongzhen.

  These cries of killing sound, it is probably the voice issued by the eunuchs resisting when they were suppressed.

  At this time, Chongzhen had calmed down. No matter what, he was most afraid that the imperial lineage would be cut off and could not continue. Now, hearing that the crown prince had escaped and his family was heading south, no matter how lacking in familial affection he was as an emperor, he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief in his heart.

  Looking at Wang Chengen's changing complexion, Chongzhen only smiled and said: "You this slave, deceived me well! Without your help, even if the master is capable, he cannot deceive me into bringing so many people away."

  Wang Cheng'en knelt down and said: "Your humble servant was indeed presumptuous, please forgive me, Your Majesty."

  "You are the one who wants to die with me, what's wrong with you?" Chongzhen shook his head and smiled bitterly, then called for someone to bring a golden cup filled with Yu Lu Chun wine, which he gulped down in big mouthfuls. In no time at all, the entire cup was empty.

  "Alas," he said, shaking his head as he drank, "my eldest son, it seems, will be much stronger than I... much stronger indeed..."

  ……

  ……

  The city wall of Beijing has been built and expanded for more than 200 years, in terms of its width and length, as well as the construction and management of various defensive measures. Except for Nanjing, which has the geographical advantages of the Yangtze River and mountains, it is unmatched throughout China.

  This scale of city walls, sheep and horse walls, moat, enemy tower, arrow tower, horse face, pot city, all are available. In addition to the high, thick and solid city pool, there are also a large number of shooting fire guns and bow and arrow holes and shooting holes. Of course, more importantly, there are also many red-clothed cannons!

  After the Zhengyi Gate was opened and surrendered, the Xuanwu and Xibian Gates were also wide open. Luo Hu's thousands of cavalrymen swarmed in, and the outer city was filled with the sound of drums beating alarms everywhere.

  The sound wave has already passed through Zhengyangmen and is spreading towards Chongwenmen in the east.

  The one guarding the Chongwen Gate was the Imperial Son-in-law and General Shao Bao Heng Yonggu, and not far from him was the Dongbian Gate guarded by Marquis Xingle of Liu Wenbing.

  As soon as the news of the fall of the outer city came, the situation on the city wall also became unstable. Chongzhen had placed many eunuchs in charge of each city gate because he didn't trust the civil and military officials; apart from a handful of reliable imperial relatives, it was only these eunuchs who were left.

  Wang Dehua and others had long agreed to surrender, and the city gates such as Yanmen Gate were opened on the orders of the eunuchs.

  The news came, and several eunuchs guarding the town exchanged glances with each other, all of whom were tacitly understood. Here at Chongwen Gate, it was also necessary to follow the usual procedure.

  There is only one annoying royal relative who interferes with major events that are truly important.

  Just when things were going wrong, they retreated far away, but saw a fire dragon winding its way through the empty space between the inner and outer cities. Under the bright light, there were spears and halberds like forests. As they got closer, they saw countless fur hats and helmets, seemingly countless armored cavalrymen pouring in from the west corner of the city to Chongwen Gate!

  "Bandits! The bandits are coming!"

  A military officer turned pale with fright and pointed at the troops below, shouting loudly.

  "What's all the commotion!" The several eunuchs guarding the town were also pale-faced, but they gritted their teeth and said: "Shut up!"

  "Don't spout nonsense, what are you, a bandit?!"

  There was a commotion outside, and Kuang Yonggu immediately put on his armor and went out. More than a dozen strong men from the Kuang mansion, also wearing armor, followed closely behind him. On the city wall, Kuang Yonggu's eldest son also put on his armor and rushed over, with more than 100 of the newly recruited Dingyong troops following closely behind.

  "Fire the cannon! Why haven't you fired the cannon yet, seeing the bandits breaking in?"

  Rong Yonggu hastened on one side, while loudly issuing orders. Before his eyes, not far away, were several three-thousand-jin heavy red-clothed cannons, which had been cast with the help of Westerners in Chongzhen's early years to guard the city. These few cannons were enough to be worth tens of thousands of strong soldiers.

  "Fire not allowed without order from the master."

  "Cease fire!"

  As soon as Gong Yonggong's voice fell, several eunuchs with arrogant faces also issued orders in unison, but the content was exactly the opposite of what Gong Yonggong had just said.

  Don't fire!

  Dozens of artillerymen had been waiting at their posts, with Gong Yonggu ordering the cannons to be fired on one side, while the eunuchs were giving orders not to fire on the other. The artillerymen looked at each other in dismay, unsure whose order to follow.

  "Nonsense! I have been ordered by the Emperor to guard this gate, and everything is under my control." Gong Yonggu was furious, drew his sword from his waist and shouted: "If you don't fire the cannon, I'll behead all of you!"

  "The Prince Consort is indeed majestic!" A eunuch sneered: "I just don't know how the Prince, with so few men, can defeat our numerous troops."

  At this point, the distinction between the two sides on the city wall was clear-cut!

  Only a little over a hundred people listened to Gong's instructions and stood beside the Gong family father and son, while behind several eunuchs, there were three or four hundred people. The equipment and armor were undoubtedly provided by the Imperial Guards first, but unfortunately, most of these people were under the wings of the eunuchs, and at this time, they naturally looked up to the eunuchs as their leaders.

  "Despicable scoundrels!" Gong Yong's eyes turned red with rage, and he cursed while drawing his sword: "Listen to the eunuchs on Zhengyang Gate, who are also castrated men. They have more integrity than you lot."

  "Hmph, with integrity comes no life, who's so stupid?"

  "The emperor rewards us with only a few taels of silver per month, how can we compare with the noble son-in-law?"

  "Cut the nonsense and advise your husband to behave himself. Before long, our entire army will have entered the city and we'll all surrender together, which would be much better."

  "Heh heh, it was at that time that I could have become the son-in-law of a new dynasty."

  The eunuchs' idle chatter was like a poisonous needle piercing into Rong Yong's heart, but he restrained his son and trusted followers who were about to rush forward and fight to the death. He leaned over the city wall and looked down, seeing that the cavalry was getting closer and closer. With a bitter smile, he said to his subordinates: "The prince repeatedly ordered us to guard the city gate tightly and not to go out easily. But now the outer city has been lost, and the enemy is coming to the east city. At this time, being trapped on the city wall cannot even fire cannons, what's the use? I have already decided to go down and fight, how about you?"

  "I'd rather die for my country with General Yue Fei!"

  "May I be by your side like a groom!"

  Following him, of course, had already made a choice, what's the point of asking more?

  At this time, Gong Yong solidly sent only one messenger to the East Gate to inform Liu Wenbing that he had decided to fight out of the city and die for the country. As for how the Marquis of Xinle would choose, please do as you wish.

  Settling the matter, thinking that his family had also followed the crown prince to the south, Gong Yong's face only smiled, waiting for the attendants to lead the war horse, he climbed up and waved the precious sword in his hand: "Come, follow me out of the city to fight!"

  He, a son-in-law, was about to leave the city to die, but the gatekeepers did not come to stop him. They just stared blankly as Gong Yongguo ordered someone to open the city gate. With only over a hundred cavalrymen, they charged straight towards the enemy's direction.

  At Dongbian Gate, not far from Gong Yong's solidification, Xingle Hou Liu Wenbing also received the report and led dozens of riders out of the city to intercept.

  These two cavalry troops were also a sad army, and as soon as they came out, they suddenly defeated Li Shuangxi's unit, which was caught off guard. At dawn, the sky was still pitch black, and only with the help of torches and the faint light of the remaining moon, several cavalry troops suddenly collided head-on!

  Horses neigh and people shout, knives chop and axes hew!

  Under the moonlight and flames, all that can be seen are warhorses colliding with each other, swords and spears piercing through human bodies, and the dull thud of axes chopping into flesh, sending shockwaves to the heart!

  Cries of agony, cries for help, the sound of horseshoes trampling on human bodies and breaking bones...

  Fresh blood surged, but in just a few dozen breaths, this small battlefield presented a rare and brutal scene, the strong bloody smell almost made people feel that this was a massive killing field of tens of thousands of people!

  Although the charge of Gong Yonggu and Liu Wenbing was fierce, their troops were also carefully selected elite soldiers. However, Li Zicheng's imperial guard cavalry was also a first-rate iron cavalry. Less than 200 Ming dynasty soldiers had just entered the formation when dozens fell off, after breaking through the formation, although they killed dozens of rebel soldiers, but themselves only had less than 100 soldiers left.

  "Liu, you're here too?"

  Gong Yonggu's whole body was stained with blood, as the son-in-law, although his martial arts were strong, but until now, he had the opportunity to fight on the battlefield. Just now, after a fierce battle, Liu Wenbing's arm was cut by someone with a knife. Fortunately, the armor was thick and heavy, so it wasn't cut off. At this time, using clothes to tear into bandages, rough dressing, listening to Gong Yonggu's words, Liu Wenguan smiled and said: "You and I report to the country, it should be like this, only then can we show our true manhood."

  "Yes, having received the country's kindness, I should have died in battle long ago!"

  "Haha."

  The two men looked up at the sky and burst out laughing, both understanding each other's intentions. This powerful enemy was obviously heading in the direction of Chaoyang Gate, and must have had an insider in the camp, knowing the young master's route out of the capital. It was likely that after missing him at Chaoyang Gate, they would head towards Tianjin. In that case, it was clear that they would fight to the death, and every moment counted!

  At this moment, a man can only die, and he can only laugh loudly towards the sky to express the hot blood in his chest!