Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 325: Hundreds of Thousands of People in Yangzhou Are Saved

Upon hearing Zhu Liangzu's call, the generals of the 36th Army immediately rushed to the central military tent. Zhu Liangzu immediately handed the intelligence sent from Taizhou to the generals for circulation. After reading it, some were worried, while others expressed disdain like Zhu Liangzu.

"Let Liu Ziren recruit 10,000 soldiers in Dingxi Town? Where is this Dingxi Town?" After reading the intelligence, Liao Yongzhong immediately came to the map hanging in the big tent.

Others such as Feng Sheng, Zhao Zhongzhong, Hu Hai and others also came over. Zhao Zhongzhong was sharp-eyed and immediately pointed to the easternmost coastal area and found Dingxi Field among a string of dense small characters.

"Here. Judging from the location, it should be one of the more than 30 salt fields in Huaidong. It is called Dingxi Field, located between Dongtai Field (later Dongtai County, Jiangsu) and Caoyan Field."

Upon hearing this, Liao Yongzhong looked over, glanced at the scale on the map, and roughly measured it with his hand, and was immediately speechless.

"It's 160 miles from Dingxichang to Gaoyou, and more than 200 miles to Yangzhou. Even if he can recruit soldiers that day, let alone how strong his new soldiers are, even if there are no obstacles along the way, it will take him at least four or five days, or even six or seven days to march here. With that much time, we would have already captured Yangzhou. Their idea of ​​forcing us to withdraw is simply a joke."

"Hahahahahahaha." The generals in the tent suddenly burst into laughter.

Zheng Yong also said, "That's right. Li Qi is a top scholar, but he seems to be a scholar who knows nothing about military strategy. He marches and fights based on his own imagination. Even if Liu Ziren can really recruit 800 soldiers, they are just recruited. Not to mention that they don't have armor, they probably don't even have complete weapons. With such local militia, my battalion of armored cavalry can kill them all!"

Feng Sheng also agreed with their judgment and nodded in response, "Yes, of his 30,000 soldiers, 25,000 are newly recruited soldiers. Even if there are 5,000 armored soldiers among them, my regiment is more than enough to deal with them. The remaining 25,000 are just food for the dead.

"Besides, they have to recruit soldiers from Taizhou and Dingxi, and then gather them in Gaoyou. It will take too long. We think too highly of this number one scholar."

Liao Yongzhong also looked at Zhu Liangzu at this time and asked, "What do you think, General Manager?"

Zhu Liangzu said immediately, "Now I understand why the commander-in-chief stressed the importance of speed in battle. In fact, Li Qi's judgment is not wrong. We do not have many troops. If he can really gather 30,000 or 40,000 elite troops to approach Yangzhou, we really have to withdraw the siege.

"Li Qi's plan is actually very good, very safe, and even very conservative. But his mistake is that he underestimated our Shengwu Army's ability to attack the city, and overestimated Yangzhou's ability to defend the city. The most outrageous thing is that he didn't expect that the most important part of this plan, Li Huafu from Taizhou, would actually be one of ours. It wasn't even a few hours after he sent this message, but it reached us. It would be strange if his plan could still work.

"The only way to defeat martial arts is to be fast. As long as we attack the city quickly enough, Yangzhou will be gone before they can bring their troops over. There's nothing they can do to save it. If they continue to camp in the wild, they will only be besieged by us. If something happens in Taizhou by then, I wonder if Li Qi will dare to come over."

Everyone nodded, and Liao Yongzhong immediately asked, "Then let's attack the city as planned and ignore them?"

Zhu Liangzu also nodded, "Yes, attack the city as planned, and ignore them. Also, write a reply to the messenger from Taizhou, and tell Li Huafu to start the uprising as planned, and ignore Gaoyou.

"Order the entire army to move around after breakfast. Once the artillery batteries are built, we will attack the city at 9:00 p.m."

"Yes!" The generals in the tent responded immediately, and then went their separate ways to prepare.

After the generals left, Zhu Liangzu began to look at the map of Yangzhou City sent by the intelligence station, as well as some information about Yangzhou City collected by the intelligence station.

Yangzhou is a city that rose up because of the canal. If we trace back to the earliest time when the city was built, it can probably be traced back to the Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn Periods. At that time, the eastern coastline was not so far east. Yangzhou and Zhenjiang were the estuaries of the Yangtze River. Taizhou, Rugao and Nantong were still in the sea at that time.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, this land belonged to the jurisdiction of the State of Wu. Several hundred years BC, King Fuchai of Wu first dug a canal from Yangzhou to Huai'an, connecting the Yangtze River and the Huai River to transport grain for the northern expedition against the State of Qi. The canal dug by Fuchai was the Han Canal. The canals of the Sui and Yuan dynasties were built on the basis of the Han Canal by opening up more water systems.

After the Sui Dynasty destroyed the Southern Chen Dynasty, it ordered the Southern Chen capital of Jiankang to be razed to the ground and turned into farmland. However, it was impossible for the people in the capital to disappear with the city, so Yangzhou transferred this part of the population and quickly replaced Nanjing to become the political, cultural, military, and economic center of the lower Yangtze River plain during the Sui and Tang dynasties.

At that time, the mouth of the Yangtze River was only a little bit east of Yangzhou. Yangzhou was close to both the river and the sea, and could be said to be connected to both the river and the sea. Japan, Goryeo and other Southeast Asian countries came to the Tang Dynasty to pay tribute, and most of them landed in Yangzhou, which made Yangzhou rapidly develop into an international metropolis. Its status at that time was comparable to Shanghai in later generations. The peak population of Yangzhou City in the Tang Dynasty was 300,000 to 400,000.

But no one expected that the peak of the Tang Dynasty would never come back. Of course, this peak refers to the urban area of ​​Yangzhou, not the population. The population of Yangzhou gradually increased with the change of dynasties, but the area of ​​the city became smaller and smaller.
Yangzhou in the Tang Dynasty was comparable to a military fortress. Yangzhou is located on the alluvial plain in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River Delta. The altitude is very low. The average altitude of Yangzhou is only five meters. There are no big mountains around it. However, there is a string of hills to the north of Yangzhou extending eastward from Zhenzhou, named Shugang. The altitude of this Shugang hill is only more than 20 meters.

During the Tang Dynasty, a military fortress-type inner city was built on the hilly plateau north of Yangzhou, the only commanding height nearby. A large rectangular city named Luocheng was built to the south of the inner city. Its overall style was a replica of the Tang Chang'an City.

Later, the Yangzhou City of the Tang Dynasty was destroyed by war. When the Song Dynasty rebuilt Yangzhou, the area of ​​the urban area was reduced. The Tangzi City, which was on the commanding heights in the north, was reduced by half, and a military fortress named Baoyou City was rebuilt. The Tangluo City in the south was also reduced by half and was called Song Dacheng.

However, after the repair was completed, it was discovered that the fortress in the north was too far away from the big city in the south, and they could not provide support to each other, so a sandwich city was built between Baoyou City and the big city of Song. Therefore, Yangzhou in the Song Dynasty was not actually one city, but three cities adjacent to each other.

The three cities are located at different heights, surrounded by complex water networks and able to support each other. If the current Yangzhou City still has this structure, it would be very difficult for Zhu Liangzu to capture Yangzhou.

But who could have imagined that after Kublai Khan conquered the Song Dynasty, he actually demolished the Baoyou City on the commanding heights to the north of Yangzhou, and also demolished the Jiacheng City in the middle that was surrounded by four rivers. Now at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, there is only the southernmost city built by the Song Dynasty left in Yangzhou City. Don’t you think this will make it easier to conquer?

If Kublai Khan were still alive, Zhu Liangzu would have to say thank you whenever he saw him.
In fact, in the original history, this big city built in the Song Dynasty was not saved later. During the chaotic times at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, there was a fellow villager of Zhu Yuanzhang in Huaixi named Zhang Mingjian. It was recorded in the Records of Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty that "(Zhang) Mingjian gathered people in Huaixi, using blue cloth as a sign, named the Green Army, and people called them a piece of tiles. His party member Zhang Jian was brave and good at using spears, so they were also called the Long Spear Army. His party members were violent and specialized in robbery."

According to historical records, after Zhang Mingjian's Green Turban Army occupied Yangzhou, they did not engage in production, expansion, or farming. Instead, this group of ghost soldiers stayed in Yangzhou city and ate people behind closed doors. Later, when Zhu Yuanzhang sent Miao Daheng to attack Yangzhou, Zhang Mingjian knew he was no match for the enemy, so he opened the city and surrendered.

When Mr. Miao entered the city, he saw that out of the hundreds of thousands of people in Yangzhou, only eighteen households were left after being killed by these ghost soldiers. There is a place in modern Yangzhou called "Eighteen Family Lane", which is where the rumor came from.
Of course, this statement is too outrageous and cannot stand up to scrutiny. Based on various historical materials, Zhang Mingjian's Qing army only occupied Yangzhou for one month at most, and then it was recaptured by Zhu Yuanzhang.

So how many people did Zhang Mingjian have under his command? At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, there were at least 300,000 people in Yangzhou City, and possibly more than 400,000 people. If each of these Qing soldiers ate one person a day, regardless of whether they could eat enough, could they really eat 300,000 or 400,000 people in a month?

It is believable that you said Zhang Mingjian carried out a massacre in Yangzhou City and killed all the people in Yangzhou, but it is too outrageous to say that he ate hundreds of thousands of people.

Given that Zhu Yuanzhang had a history of defaming his opponents in historical materials, such as writing Xu Shouhui's Song Dynasty as "Tian Wan", there is reason to suspect that Zhang Mingjian's cannibalism may not be true. It is possible that he massacred the city, but the claim of eating up a city is too outrageous.
But no matter what, the Yangzhou City in the original history was actually an empty city. Since it was an empty city, why keep such a big city? So in the early Ming Dynasty, the city was reduced by 3/4 based on the Yangzhou City of the Yuan Dynasty and was called the Ming Old City. It was not until the population of Yangzhou recovered in the middle of the Ming Dynasty that the Yangzhou City was expanded again and was called the Ming New City. But even after the expansion, the old and new cities of Yangzhou in the Ming Dynasty were less than half the size of the Yangzhou City in the Song Dynasty.

Then again, if we ask where Zhang Mingjian is in this time and space, then most likely, he is in the Shengwu Army.
Lu Jin started his rebellion earlier than Zhu Yuanzhang in the original history, and unified the Huaixi region very early. So if Zhang Mingjian had started a rebellion as in the original history, he would have probably been recruited into the Shengwu Army. Maybe he has not yet shown his face, or maybe he has already died in battle.

But in short, Zhu Liangzu at this time didn't know about those bad things in the original history. His mind was now full of thoughts about how to capture Yangzhou City.

The Yangzhou City at the end of the Yuan Dynasty was the Yangzhou Nan Da City of the Song Dynasty. It was a rectangular city that was long from north to south and narrow from east to west. It was surrounded by a moat and had four main city gates in the southeast, northwest, northeast and southwest. There were also two water gates on the north and south sides for ships to pass and transport grain into the city.

Among the four city gates, the north gate is the most difficult to attack, not because the city gate is so strong, but because the terrain there is too fragmented. There is not only a moat that separated the city from the Song Dynasty, but also a canal for transporting grain. To the north of the canal is the Hang Canal dug by King Fuchai during the Spring and Autumn Period. The terrain is fragmented by several rivers, making it difficult to deploy troops in the north of the city.

So Zhu Liangzu immediately decided to surround the city with three gates and leave one, and only attack the east, west and south sides, leaving the north gate unattacked, just like when Lu Jin attacked Jiankang and did not attack the chaotic moat at the west gate, because the land was really too bad.

Among the remaining three city gates in the east, west and south, the west gate not only has a barbican, but also a very wide moat outside the city, which is nearly 100 meters wide. Although the moat of the east gate is also wide, fortunately it has no barbican, so it is considered to be a relatively easy-to-attack city gate.

In fact, the easiest place to attack is the South Gate. The moat in this section of the southwest corner of Yangzhou City is the narrowest, only 20 to 30 meters. There is also a weak point, the water gate, next to the South Gate. The most important thing is that the terrain in the southwest corner is relatively open, which is convenient for the deployment of troops.

Although there is a barbican at the south gate of Yangzhou City, I don't have to attack the city gate. I can directly set up cannons to attack the city wall, attack from the southwest corner of the city wall, and then seize the south gate from the inside and let the troops enter the city.

So everyone agreed on the strategy of mainly attacking the southwest corner and the east gate, feigning an attack on the west gate, and not attacking the north gate.

One battalion of Zheng Yong's Second Cavalry Regiment is now monitoring Gaoyou, and the main force has three battalions that have been arranged to ambush outside the north city to encircle and suppress the defeated soldiers who may escape from the north gate.

Hu Hai's 36th Regiment was composed entirely of new recruits who were inadequately trained and had weak combat effectiveness. They had also never fought in street fighting in the city and were arranged to launch a feint attack at the west gate.

Liao Yongzhong's 18th Regiment, Zhao Zhongzhong's 10th Regiment, and Tu Hai's Independent nd Regiment, the three regiments attacked the East Gate, commanded by Liao Yongzhong himself.

Zhu Liangzu himself was stationed at the South Gate, leading his own Fifth Regiment, Feng Sheng's 14th Regiment, and Liu Minhua's Independent First Regiment, and the three regiments attacked the South Gate.

The artillery regiment of the Imperial Guard Division led by Yang Huan had the heavy artillery battalion stay outside the city to attack the city walls, two field artillery battalions were responsible for attacking the city gates, and 16 light howitzers were ready to follow the main attack force into the city and engage in street fighting while dragging cannons.

Gao Yao, the chief training officer of the 36th Army, was responsible for commanding the prisoners to fill the trenches and was stationed in the camp outside the city.

Among the officers of the 36th Army who participated in the siege of Yangzhou, Yang Huan was the only one who participated in the Battle of Crossing the Yangtze River and fought in the battle to capture Jiankang, and he also provided a lot of valuable experience in military discussions.

For example, when Lu Jin attacked Jiankang, he was required to plan the attack route in advance, including which troop would take which bridge and how many cannons to carry. The local intelligence station was also required to provide enough guides, so that every company of 36 people would have a guide leading the way. These valuable experiences in siege and street fighting were also brought to the th Army by Yang Huan.

Zhu Liangzu readily accepted the suggestion and arranged guides for each tribe.

Instructor Gao Yao also asked the local intelligence station to organize people to collect a lot of small boats from the canal to be used as equipment for building a pontoon bridge.

Just after breakfast in the morning, Liu Minhua, who was assigned to the South Gate attack sequence, saw the 15-year-old general Yang Huan riding a horse and running around outside the three city gates, instructing the prisoners to build artillery positions.

He had heard from Zhu Liangzu before that this young general actually only had a battalion of troops under his command, but was promoted to commander because of his military achievements.

During the two days since he came from Tianchang, he had only seen the yellow-armored soldiers under Yang Huan driving strange horse-drawn carriages. Each carriage was pulled by four to eight horses. It was obvious that the objects they were towing were extremely heavy, but because they were wrapped in red oilcloth, no one knew what was inside.

Now that the red cloth was removed, he finally saw what was inside. It was all black hollow iron pipes mounted on a double-wheel axle. The soldiers called them cannons, but they were actually a kind of large musket.

After seeing this, Liu Minhua immediately asked Feng Sheng, "Commander Feng, why do you have to attack the city from the corner of the city wall? Since we have this kind of big fire gun, wouldn't it be easier to attack the city gate directly?" Feng Sheng glanced at him and said, "I don't understand artillery, but I know that Yang Huan is the Marshal's direct disciple, and he also fought with us in Jiankang City. What he learned was all taught by the Marshal. Since the Marshal said it's okay, then we will do as Yang Huan said.

“Your independent regiment doesn’t have much armor, so even if the ants attack the city, you don’t have to go first. You have the time to take the officers and guides to familiarize yourself with the map and the roads in the city. When we start the siege, my 14th regiment will go first. I will open the city gate from the inside, and then I will bring the general’s th regiment and your independent regiment in. You just follow behind, and don’t fall behind.

"Fight hard once you enter the city, so that after the battle I might be able to give you some armor."

"Yes!"

Liu Minhua was very cautious and listened to whatever Feng Sheng said. He did not dare to offend the old men of the Shengwu Army. He also heard that Feng Sheng's brother was the head of the Military Order Department of the Marshal's Mansion and also a secretary of the Secretariat. In the past, he was equivalent to a military minister and had a powerful background. He could not afford to offend him.

After a while, the chief training officer Gao Yao also came over and emphasized the military discipline to Liu Minhua again. After entering the city, they were not allowed to rob the civilians. The seized items had to be turned over to the public and distributed uniformly after the war. Liu Minhua immediately made repeated assurances.

At the same time, in Yangzhou city, Yangzhou Road Wanhu Huoerchi, Darughachi Tuohuchar, General Manager Xiliji, and Jiangbei Province Zuocheng Qie Zhedu and others were also discussing the war.

As the most senior provincial official in the city, Qie Zhedu was the first to ask, "How are the bandit troops outside the city?"

Huoerchi quickly reported, "The enemy army has brought a lot of small boats. It seems that they are preparing to build a floating bridge instead of filling the moat. In this way, they may start attacking the city soon."

Tuo Huchar also said, "The bandits are about a mile away from the south city. They have built several piers facing the city wall. It seems that they are going to set up cannons and prepare to attack the city. But if they want to attack the city, shouldn't they attack the city gate? I have never seen a way of attacking the city from the corner of the wall."

Qie Zhedu looked calm, thought for a moment and asked again, "Then where do you think the enemy troops will attack from?"

"It must be the South Gate and the East Gate. There is no barbican at the East Gate, and the moat outside the South Gate is relatively narrow. Although the bandits at the West Gate have the largest number of troops, about 20,000 to 30,000, only a few thousand are wearing armor. It doesn't look like they are planning to launch a major attack at the West Gate."

Xie Zhedu nodded, "Then we will deploy troops to mainly defend the South Gate and the East Gate. Huoerchi, you go to the South Gate to command the defense, and I will give you 800 archers. Tuohuchar, you go to the East Gate, and I will also give you 800 archers. Xiliji will lead the troops in the city and be ready to deploy troops to support all directions at any time. I will go to the West Gate to take charge and see if the enemy will attack from the West Gate.

"Based on my understanding of Gaoyou Prefect Li Qi and Lord Pingzhang, as long as you can hold out for a few days, Gaoyou will definitely send troops to rescue you. If you can hold out longer, in less than a month, the Prime Minister will lead troops south from Dadu. As long as we can defend Yangzhou City, you and I will have done a great deed. If we lose the city, you and I will all be in danger. Please defend the city with all your heart."

"Yes!" Several people immediately took the order and began to prepare themselves.

However, at this moment, when it was exactly 0:00 in the morning, the messenger sent by Li Huafu to report the news had just returned to Taizhou, and the sound of cannons was heard outside Yangzhou City.

Qie Zhedu and his men were startled when they heard the huge cannon sound that could be heard from miles away. "Oh no! The enemy has started to attack the city. They are not using cannons, but muskets. Go and defend your cities!"

Upon hearing this, Huoerchi and others immediately ran towards the city walls. When he arrived at the South City, he heard the sound of artillery fire becoming clearer and clearer, as well as the panicked screams of the defenders on the city. He immediately wanted to climb up the city wall to check the enemy situation, but was stopped by a centurion guarding the city.

"Master Wan Hu, you can't go up. The enemy's muskets are too powerful. They can hit the top of the city from a mile away. The bullets are filled with gunpowder and will explode when they fly to the top of the city. Many of our soldiers have been injured."

Upon hearing this, Huoerchi immediately looked up, and saw another cannonball flying over the top of the city wall, exploding with a loud bang, scaring the soldiers on the top of the city wall and causing them to flee in panic.

He immediately asked the centurion, "Have the enemy troops started climbing the city wall?"

"currently there is not."

Huoerchi said, "Send someone to a safer place to watch. As soon as the enemy starts to climb the city wall, immediately order the soldiers to climb the wall and defend the city."

"Yes!"

At this time, outside the south city, the four heavy howitzers in the southwest corner were firing in turn. First, they fired solid iron bullets to smash the battlements of the parapet on the top of the city wall, and then raised the muzzle slightly and fired several fragmentation shells at the top of the city wall. After the observer on the watchtower saw that the defenders had been blown away, he immediately gave a signal for the prisoners to start carrying small boats to build a pontoon bridge.

At the same time, the troops responsible for the main attack were also getting up and preparing.

The first troops to climb the south gate were Feng Sheng's 14th Regiment. The battalion officer Fei Ju, wearing heavy armor, led a battalion to climb first. The soldiers were checking the fuse under the leadership of the officers. The first battalion of soldiers to climb the city had two grenades on their waists. Feng Sheng personally led a battalion as the second echelon.

Zhu Liangzu was also waiting outside the South Gate with five regiments and eight light howitzers. As long as the city gate was opened from the inside, he would rush into the city with his cannons.

The first group responsible for climbing the east gate was led by Zhao Zhongzhong's Tenth Regiment, with Wang Bi, the double-sword warrior, holding a saber as the vanguard. Liao Yongzhong led the main force and Tu Hai's Independent Second Regiment followed behind.

The artillery fired slowly and steadily, under the guidance of observers in several watchtowers. Whenever someone in the city showed his head on the city wall, they would fire a shot. If no one came up, they would wait to save ammunition.

Half an hour later, when the pontoon bridge was built, the density of firepower outside the city suddenly increased to a level. Dozens of cannons from the three artillery battalions began to fire rapidly at their respective targets, forcing all the defenders in the city to hide in the stairs behind the city and dare not show their heads.

Taking advantage of the opportunity when the defenders were suppressed by artillery shells, Fei Ju at the South Gate and Wang Bi at the East Gate, led their soldiers carrying ladders and rushed towards the city. After everyone gathered at the foot of the city, dozens of ladders were placed on the top of the city walls on the southeast sides at the same time. Just at this time, the sound of artillery outside the city stopped. Fei Ju was the first to rush to the top of the city wall, holding a shield in his left hand and a strange weapon with an iron bone flower at one end and a short spear at the other in his right hand.

Dozens of long ladders were used, with more than 30 people climbing up at a time. As soon as they climbed to the top of the city wall, they saw a group of Yuan soldiers showing their heads at the stairs behind the city wall. The next moment, a bloody hand-to-hand fight broke out on the top of the city wall, accompanied by the sound of grenades exploding from time to time from the vanguard camp. The Yuan soldiers who had just climbed to the top of the city wall were quickly driven back to the stairs inside the city.

Feng Sheng also led a battalion of the second echelon to climb to the top of the city wall, and a six-foot-long red flag of the Shengwu Army suddenly fluttered high on the top of the Yangzhou city wall!
Liu Minhua and Tu Hai, who had just joined the city two days ago, were stunned. With artillery suppression and elite soldiers carrying grenades first climbing the city wall, they actually managed to gain a foothold on the top of the city wall in one wave. When did it become so easy to be the first to climb the city wall in a siege? !
"Don't be stunned, all troops are ready to enter the city!"

Seeing that the main force of the Shengwu Army climbed onto the top of the city wall in just one wave and the red regimental flag was flying high on the top of the city wall, Gao Yao, the instructor sitting in the camp outside the city, was suddenly excited. This middle-aged scholar in his thirties, who was clad in iron armor and cursed everyone, immediately stood up and walked to the war drum, snatched the drummer's drumstick, and beat the drum himself to cheer for the whole army!

"My men, follow me and chop off the Tartar's dog's head!"

As Feng Sheng led the main force of the 14th Regiment to open the south gate from inside the city, Zhu Liangzu simply ignored the troops of his own th Regiment and rushed into the city alone on horseback with a gun in hand.

This killer, who is said to be ranked first in martial arts strength in the Shengwu Army, has not fought a decent battle in more than a year since he was subdued by Lu Jin. Zhu Liangzu has been frustrated for a long time, and this time he finally got the opportunity to attack without restraint.

This guy rushed into the city first, holding a new iron spear in his hand, and seeing a Yuan army officer rushing towards him on the road, he rode forward without saying a word, and stabbed the Yuan general to death with a single spear. Then he kept going, relying on the horse's power to kill a group of people, and then looked at the group of Yuan army soldiers lying on the ground in a mess, and shouted proudly.

"I am Zhu Liangzu of Lu'an, who dares to fight me?"

This roar immediately frightened the defeated soldiers and they ran away. The Yuan army that had just arrived saw that only Zhu Liangzu was here, and their eyes lit up. The leading Yuan army general immediately raised his gun and shouted, "Kill that red-turbaned thief general, there will be a huge reward, kill him!"

As he spoke, the Yuan army general raised his gun and rushed towards Zhu Liangzu. Zhu Liangzu just smiled contemptuously, shouted "Come on!", and rushed forward with his horse's head turned.

The speed was so fast that before the Yuan general could react, he heard the whistling sound of a stick being swung towards him, and subconsciously raised his gun to block it. The next moment, there was a clang sound of metal clashing, and the Yuan general suddenly felt his hands go numb and his knuckles cracked. Zhu Liangzu was incredibly strong, and with one blow he actually knocked the Yuan general's weapon out of his hand. After the blow, before the Yuan general could react again, the iron spear in Zhu Liangzu's hand had already passed through the general's chest!

The soldiers behind the Yuan general saw that their general was killed by the spear of the red-turbaned bandit without even blocking a single blow. The Yuan soldiers who had been screaming just now were so frightened that they stopped in their tracks.

"Who else?!"

Seeing that the Yuan army on the opposite side did not dare to move forward, Zhu Liangzu dared to go forward. He did not care whether the large army behind him caught up or not, and he charged towards a group of Yuan army in front of him alone. He rode his horse back and forth, but it seemed that it was not enough, so he gave up his horse and fought on foot. He danced with an iron spear in his hand with great force, stabbing dozens of people to death in succession, and then chased hundreds of Yuan soldiers alone. He was simply an indefatigable human killing machine, scaring a group of Yuan soldiers in front of him to cry for their parents, wishing their parents had given them two more legs, and fled frantically into the city.

Liu Minhua, Lu Xianzong, Yao Qichen and others who were following behind were all stunned. It was the first time they saw their steward fighting so "excitedly". Well, they seemed to be able to feel Zhu Liangzu's unbridled excitement.

Seeing their commander so brave, the soldiers' morale was boosted immediately. Under the leadership of the officers, they rushed towards various places in the city according to the predetermined combat route.

At the same time, Wang Bi at the East Gate also led the Vanguard Camp to open the East Gate and successfully led the large army into the city. Although Wang Bi was also very brave, he was obviously not as crazy as Zhu Liangzu. Zhu Liangzu abandoned his troops, but Wang Bi could not.

Therefore, the fighting at the East Gate was more "formal", as if it was just a normal training. The soldiers formed a street fighting formation of large and small three-element formations, and advanced layer by layer according to the predetermined route. When they encountered places with many enemies, they did not fight desperately, but directly called for the artillery to come and bombard them. When they encountered some narrow alleys where the cannons could not be used, they threw grenades into the enemy group, and still made the enemy flee in all directions. Moreover, the overall advancement speed was not slow.

Under the fierce attack of nearly 30,000 troops from six regiments at the two southeastern gates, the Yuan army defenders in Yangzhou City soon could not hold on. Tuhuchar, who was guarding the east gate, was killed by Li Ruizhong, that is, Li Pusheng, whose name was changed by Lu Jin. Huoerchi, the guard of the south gate, was also killed by Zhu Liangzu himself.

Wang Bi rushed into the city center first and blasted Xiliji, the governor of Yangzhou, who was in charge there, into pieces with a single shot.

The Left Prime Minister of Jiangbei Province, Xie Zhedu, who was stationed at the West Gate, saw that the situation was not right and immediately led his troops to open the West Gate, trying to break out of the city from the West Gate. However, he was surrounded by the 36th Regiment led by Hu Hai and nearly captured soldiers. Under the personal surrender of the chief instructor Gao Yao, the defeated Yuan army soldiers who escaped from the West Gate personally tied up Xie Zhedu and came to surrender.

Some defeated soldiers, led by captains and generals, wanted to escape from the north gate. However, there were several rivers blocking the way outside the north gate. In addition, Zheng Yong was "hunting" with three cavalry battalions outside. They could not escape no matter what and finally had to surrender.

Yangzhou is a large city with a population of hundreds of thousands. The main attacking force of six regiments fought from more than ten o'clock in the morning until almost four o'clock in the afternoon before the battle was finally over, ending with the complete annihilation of the Yangzhou defenders.

On October 36, the th year of Zhizheng, the main force of the th Army captured Yangzhou City in just one day.

At the same time, Gaoyou prefect Li Qi was actively recruiting soldiers to help relieve Yangzhou.
(End of this chapter)