Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 171 Fight to the Death!

"Hey!"

Xiang Rensheng twisted his body, and the sharp blade that was originally chopped towards his neck from the side and back fell on his left shoulder armor.

At the same time, the iron rod in his right hand also hit the shoulder of the opposing general hard.

He also took the blow with his shoulder, and immediately turned around to counterattack the person who attacked him from behind, while the opposing general could only retreat with his arms dropped.

This is of course due to the advantages of double armor and weapons, but the powerful waist and abdominal strength is also a factor that cannot be ignored.

just
This battle was said to be an encounter between the two armies, but the imperial guards knew the movements of the other side half a minute earlier than the Qing army.

Of course, this amount of time is not enough to make any arrangements, and even in the dark it is only enough to convey the news of encountering the enemy.

But it was such a subtle difference that made this battle feel like an ambush.

So when the guards rushed out from the darkness, the Qing army could only try their best to save their lives like small animals attacked by predators, but never thought of counterattacking.

Under such circumstances, the guards easily cut the Qing army into two parts, causing great casualties in the process.

But in the final analysis, the predator Su Wei was too small to kill its prey with a relatively successful ambush.

After fighting for a while, the prey finally got over the initial panic under the control of the "brain", and realized that although the opponent had sharp claws, each attack could only take away a small piece of its flesh and blood.

It is easy to imagine what happened next. Although most of the Tartars' front troops suffered casualties and fled in the initial attack, the rear troops stabilized thanks to the ruthless enforcement of military law by Kong and Li.

At this point, although Kong Youde still could not see the entire battlefield clearly, based on his years of experience, he had already discovered that the invading Ming army was short of manpower.

"Your Majesty! We can't hold on any longer!"

"Why are you panicking? Wait a minute!"

Since crossing the river, Duoduo's troops can be roughly divided into three groups. One of them is the troops under Liu Liangzuo, whose characteristic is that their combat power is average, but they have a large number of people.

The second group is Gao Jie's former subordinates. Although these people who have lost their backbone still recognize that kid, they can't help but look for another backer. However, because of their strong fighting ability, various Qing nobles are willing to accept them. Li Chengdong is one example.

The worst off were the people in Liu Zeqing's town. They had neither a backbone nor combat power. Duoduo treated them only slightly better than civilians.

But fortune and misfortune go hand in hand. While their treatment is low, Duoduo will not send them to important battlefields.

The most direct consequence of this is that all the people sent to carry out the mission tonight are Li Benshen's subordinates.

So when he saw that his own soldiers were no match for the Ming army, his first reaction was to flee, and his second reaction was to send his entire army forward.

Of course he couldn't run away. Not to mention that his cousin was still in the hands of the Tartars, the future solution alone was enough to make him give up the idea.

Under such circumstances, all he could think of was to send his entire army forward and use his numerical advantage to end the battle before the Ming army suffered more casualties.

It’s just that the same thing will appear differently in the eyes of different people.

Li Benshen regarded his soldiers as the foundation of his life, so he naturally only saw the opponent's strong fighting power and his thoughts were limited to this small battlefield.

Kong Youde was different. His focus was always on the entire battle, and what he saw and thought was completely different from Li Benshen.

After fighting for a while, he had discovered that the strength of the Ming army was not matchable by these surrendered troops, and he also discovered that the number of this Ming army would not be too large.

So the question is, should we continue to waste time here?

If we ignore the losses, we can certainly destroy this Ming army here, but what should we do after destroying them?
To put it bluntly, don't we still have to attack the city?
If it were any other time, the worst that could happen would be that we would just have to grind it down slowly. It's just a broken city like this, and we would be able to take it down in a few months.

But where do they have so much time?

Duoduo had indeed ordered all the armies to come together and had made some arrangements in various aspects, but Kong Youde, who knew the inside story, understood that this was just an attempt to create a time difference.

Once it drags on for three or two days, the time difference will naturally lose its effect. By then, our own military strength will certainly increase, but the Ming army that just destroyed Nikan will be able to return to Hangzhou.

Thinking in this way, it would be better to abandon these soldiers who are entangled by the Ming army and lead the rest of the troops to attack the city with all their strength.

"You take your personal soldiers here to supervise the battle, and I will lead the rest of the troops to attack the city."

Are you going to abandon the soldiers here?
"Your Highness, this is impossible. With less than 2,000 men remaining, how can we capture Hangzhou?"

"Snapped!"

As soon as Li Benshen finished speaking, Kong Youde whipped him.

"Useless! You really embarrassed Gao Jie!" Kong Youde cursed, and after retracting the whip, he said, "Hangzhou doesn't have many troops to begin with, and this Ming army is the last of its elite. As long as you can hold them here for a while, I will be able to capture Hangzhou, and by then, your contribution will not be missed."

After all, he was an experienced general. Although he whipped Li Benshen out of anger, his words softened immediately afterwards.

"Or do you want to be a short-selling admiral for the rest of your life, waiting for people like Li Chengdong to ride on your head?"

It hits the heart!

At the beginning, all matters of surrender were handled by Duoduo personally, and after the towns surrendered, Kong Youde never had any dealings with these people.

But this did not prevent him from guessing the discord between the surrendered generals.

To put it simply, after Gao Jie's death, Li Benshen became the admiral, while the other generals were still generals. Even though he had only been the admiral of the Ming army for a few months, he would certainly have conflicts with the other generals over power issues.

In addition, people like Li Chengdong followed various Ezhen and Beizi and achieved many military exploits. How could Li Benshen turn a blind eye to it?

"Your Majesty, please leave some more men behind. This Ming army is very powerful. I am afraid that we have too few soldiers to hold them back, which would ruin your plan."

In front of one's own interests, everything else is naturally nothing.

Although Kong Youde had expected Li Benshen's reaction, it also served as a reminder to him.

In this period alone, many surrendered soldiers in the battle group have died. If this piece of trash has not been able to delay the Ming army, who knows, they might really fall into a passive situation.

"I'll take 1,500 soldiers, and the rest is yours," Kong Youde said, ready to spur his horse to leave. But as he raised the whip in his hand, he seemed to think of something and said, "Be careful, don't let the Ming army escape."

As soon as he finished speaking, Kong Youde rode away, and a large group of soldiers followed closely behind him. Li Benshen looked at the two or three hundred soldiers, feeling extremely helpless.

He knew very well that these soldiers could only stop the occasional deserters, and would be helpless if a large-scale rout occurred. But he saw clearly that once the Ming army's weapons hit the soldiers, they would either lose their fighting power or simply fall to the ground. How could they last until Hangzhou was captured?

Thinking of this, Kong Youde’s words echoed in my mind.

Then he became ruthless and shouted to the soldiers behind him: "The Ming army is about to be exhausted. It is time for us to make achievements. As long as we win this battle, you will all be promoted to the rank of thousand households!"

It is said that money can move people’s hearts, but official titles and salaries are far better than money.

What's more, being a soldier is a matter of earning a living with your life at risk, and no soldier has ever thought about having a good ending. Now that the superior has offered such a price, how can the soldiers just hide behind and not give it a try?
Of course, the soldiers are not simply concerned about money and not their lives. After all, they have the advantage in numbers now, and they will have other ways when the situation becomes unfavorable.

No matter what the soldiers thought, they all followed Li Benshen into the battle.
If it were daytime, this force would definitely become the key to determine the outcome of the battle, but now all he could see was about thirty or four feet.

When this group of people rushed in, they still maintained a disorganized formation, but they disappeared without a trace like a drop of water in the sea in less than a second.

This was probably the effect that Zhu Cilang had imagined. Under such circumstances, the Qing army really had no good way to deal with them before the guards were exhausted.

If there is another group of people to help, there may be a chance to win with fewer people.

just
When Kong Youde led his troops away, he made a large arc. Although this choice would increase the distance slightly, it could avoid being caught up in the battle.

After three or four incense sticks, he successfully arrived near the city wall. Looking at the rays of light coming through the gap, he hesitated.

Normally, to attack such a narrow gap, the soldiers would have to be divided into several echelons, and the next echelon would be sent in after the previous echelon's offensive slowed down. This cycle would repeat over and over again, and sooner or later the defenders' defenses would be worn down.

But now is not an ordinary time. The defenders have already sent out a large number of elite troops. The only ones left in the city may be the old, weak, sick and disabled. In addition, the Ming army may be completely unprepared. If they really act in the usual way, it is possible that the other side will have time to react.

At that time, it might be possible to attack the city, but it is also possible that the battle in the city would end in a mess. If the Ming army outside the city came to support, they would be trapped.

If the situation came to that, even if Duoduo was willing to release the elite Eight Banners troops in the camp, it would be of no avail.

With this in mind, Kong Youde was no coward. He gave an order and led the entire army to sneak towards the light.

In fact, it doesn’t really make much difference whether such a large group of people dive or not.

When the distance is far, nothing can be seen clearly, and as long as there is no too much noise, there is basically no possibility of being discovered. But when the distance is close, the sentinels on the city wall are not blind, so how could they not notice the movements of more than a thousand people and horses?
"Enemy attack!"

A scream cut through the night sky like thunder. Even though the people in the city were still persuading Zhu Cilang to retreat to the rear, they were clearly aware of the current situation.

"Carry His Highness back!"

Jia Youqing shouted loudly, and then without even considering the outcome, he led his men to fill the gap. As soldiers approached, the four guards beside Zhu Cilang drew their swords and shouted, "Who dares?!"

The soldiers had come over bravely in the first place, so how could they dare to move an inch after seeing such a situation?
However, the noise outside the city was getting closer and closer, and it was obvious that the battle was only a few breaths away. Then a soldier knelt on the ground.

"Your Highness, I know you are different from other nobles, but if you are injured, won't our lives be in vain?"

After saying this, the soldier kowtowed several times on the ground, then stood up and filled the gap. The other soldiers followed suit, kowtowed several times, and left.

"Take care, Your Highness!"

"Take care, Your Highness!"

"Take care, Your Highness!"

But in just a moment, the area around Zhu Cilang became empty, and the gap in the city wall that was empty before Zhuxiang was filled up by the crowd.

What the soldier said was true. If Zhu Cilang died here, all previous sacrifices would be in vain and the situation would definitely return to its original track.

But he knew very well that if he retreated once, there would be a second time and a third time, until he retreated to the ends of the earth without any psychological burden and had no place to retreat.

In fact, according to the current situation, he only needs to maintain his current dazed look and someone will take the opportunity to carry him away.

By then, the whole world will think that it was the ministers who forcibly took His Royal Highness the Crown Prince away for the sake of the overall situation, and the blame of escape will never fall on him.

But what kind of person is he?
How could someone who is known for being strong-willed be such a shameless person?
If he really wanted to escape, he would have fled with the other ministers in Yingtian. Why would he have held on until now?
"Stab!"

A soldier under Li Yongmao's command moved closer to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince at the signal of his superior. However, who would have thought that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who was still a little dazed, suddenly swung the sword in his hand, and a long gash appeared on his arm.

"Has Father retired in Beijing?!"

Seeing Zhu Cilang's bloodshot eyes as if he was about to bite someone, Ma, Huang, and Li were frightened, but they still stammered, "No, no."

"Have I retired from Yingtian?!"

“Never!!!!”

Although there were only a few guards by his side, their voices were like a hammer hitting the hearts of everyone present.

"General Tena, listen to me carefully. Either you defeat the enemy in front of me today, or I will settle accounts with you in the underworld!"

"Understood! I will defeat the enemy in front of you for Your Highness!"

"I will definitely defeat the enemy in front of you for Your Highness!"

"I will definitely defeat the enemy in front of you for Your Highness!"

"I will definitely defeat the enemy in front of you for Your Highness!"

Although there were only a few hundred soldiers guarding the gap at this time, the momentum they unleashed was far greater than that of thousands of troops. Even the new recruits brought by Li Yongmao were excited by this scene.

"Li Yongmao!"

This was the first time that Zhu Cilang called a minister by name, but no one present seemed to notice and only focused on what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said next.

"Do you want to fight or retreat?!"

Faced with the Crown Prince's rudeness, Li Yongmao just bowed on the ground with no expression on his face.

"I am a minister of the Ming Dynasty. Since Your Highness wants to fight to the death, I can only die before Your Highness."

"Okay! Let's see today if the Tartars have the ability to take our lives!"

(End of this chapter)