Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 193 Teacher! I’m going!

“Report~~~~!”

After a round of shouting, Chang Guanlin saw a horseman galloping over. The knight shouted without waiting for him to get close: "The Qing army is attacking the city ahead. The defenders seem to be defeated. I hope the commander can make a decision soon!"

Caught up.

It seems that I haven’t caught up completely.

But no matter what, the city is still in our hands, so there is still room for fight.

just
"Xu Wenjue!"

"The humble position is here!"

"There is a Jingting Mountain to the north of Xuancheng. You lead a thousand men to set up defenses on this mountain."

After the words fell, the third son of the Xu family was stunned at first, but then he understood the intention of his superiors.

According to common sense, since they were already near Xuancheng, they should have attacked the Qing army's rear before they could react. If they could succeed in one blow, not only would the siege of Xuancheng be lifted, but the Qing army outside the city would also suffer heavy casualties.

But now they only know that the Qing army is attacking the city, but they know nothing about the specific battle situation. In addition, the soldiers are about to be pushed to their limit after marching day and night, so the safest way is to leave a retreat route in advance.

It’s easy to find a way to retreat, but how do we implement the main strategy?
Seeing Xu Laosan leading his troops away, Chang Guanlin asked the knight who came to report the news, "Have you seen the Tartar army?"

"I was afraid of being discovered by the Tartars, so I only saw the scene on the city from a distance and came back to report."

Hearing this, Chang Guanlin didn't say much, but he couldn't help but feel more hesitant.

If Xuancheng had not been lost when he arrived, then there would be no need to say more and he could just enter the city directly; if Xuancheng had been lost when he arrived, then there would be no need to say more and he could just leave directly.

But the situation in Xuancheng is not clear now, and his military strength may be inferior to that of the Qing army.

Under such circumstances, how to take action will be a great test of the general's judgment of the situation.

"go!"

After all, Chang Guanlin had worked under Lu Xiangsheng before, so even though the situation was a little hard to figure out, it only took him a moment to make up his mind.

After all, the combat effectiveness of his troops could not match that of the Qing army, and coupled with the two points of insufficient manpower and long journey, he could only set his goal to assist the rebel army in the city to stabilize the situation.

So, after some consideration, he finally decided to bypass the South Gate where the battle was taking place and enter the city from the east side.

If you are unable to save the situation, you can leave the city from the north gate.

Even if Xuancheng was lost by then, he could still rely on Jingting Mountain for support and would not have to worry about being followed and hunted by the Qing army.

I have to say that Chang Guanlin's choice was wise.

At this time, the south gate of Xuancheng had been breached by the Qing army. No matter whether he went to attack the Qing army's main camp or to kill the Qing army attacking the city, what awaited him would only be a pincer attack.

Choosing to enter the city from the east gate may not necessarily achieve much results. The best case scenario is that he could only form a confrontation with the Qing army. However, his strength is inferior to that of the Qing army after all, so playing it safe is the best option.

After a cup of tea, his troops successfully reached the east gate. After some negotiations with the soldiers on the city wall, they finally entered the city smoothly.

Needless to say, many proofs and inquiries were made during the process. The most crucial thing was that after the defenders on the city confirmed that the newcomers were indeed the reinforcements sent by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, they immediately burst into thunderous cheers.

Do not underestimate these cheers. Xuancheng is not as big as Hangzhou, let alone Yingtian. All you need to know is that it is only this big. When the cheers start at the East Gate, they can be heard clearly at the South Gate in a moment.

"Military Supervisor! His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has sent troops!"

At this time, the South Gate of Xuancheng had been completely occupied by the Qing army, and Jin Sheng was leading the remaining soldiers to fight with the Tatars around the city gate.

If he had not anticipated this earlier and built a number of defensive fortifications relying on civilian houses, the rebel army might have been driven out of the city gate in just a short period of time.

In the soldiers' view, the military inspector had earlier told them about His Highness' reinforcements, and now that the reinforcements had arrived, they only had to do their best to resist the Tartars.

But who can understand Jin Sheng’s feelings?

Previously, what he said about the prince and reinforcements were, to put it bluntly, just hearsay, trying to boost the morale of the soldiers with big words. But now that such a group of people suddenly appeared, he didn't know how to react for a moment.

Seeing that Jin Sheng didn't say anything, the soldiers thought that their military supervisor was just too happy, and then they prepared to rush out of the offensive and launch a counterattack.

"Guard yourselves strictly! Do not fight recklessly!"

He couldn't figure it out, but he was on the battlefield right now, so how could Jin Sheng be distracted for too long?

Just when the morale of the army was boosted and the soldiers were about to counterattack, they heard his shout.

Calm down!
No matter where the newcomers come from, we must secure this line of defense!

With this in mind, Jin Sheng stopped worrying about it and immediately turned his attention back to the battle line.

His line of defense was basically made up of chevaux de frise, with some rock spikes placed in between, but it was still far from being impregnable.

Even if they could use their high morale to repel the Qing army's attack, they would not be able to hold out for much longer.

"Why haven't you come yet?"

He naturally knew that the so-called reinforcements were just lies, but with the battle situation being what it was, he couldn't help but hope that the cheers were really due to the arrival of reinforcements.

As time passed, the Qing army gradually found loopholes in the crude defense line.

At this moment, the sounds of armor colliding caused by the rapid march finally reached the ears of everyone present.

"fill a vacancy!"

With a loud shout, teams of soldiers in full armor crossed the golden sound and headed straight for the defense line.

The troops led by Chang Guanlin were the garrison troops that Ma Shiying had tricked from Yingtian to Hangzhou, and they had quite a few men in their group.

However, a mutiny broke out on the way south, and after another round of screening, when Chang Guanlin decided to lead his troops to support, he only selected the elite among them.

In this way, these five thousand troops can be regarded as selected from more than one hundred thousand.

"Oh!"

The fighting methods of these soldiers are completely different from those of the guards. After the melee soldiers have cleared the gap, they will ignite the fuse and cause great damage to the enemy.

Only then will he decide whether to draw his sword for close combat or reload the gunpowder depending on the situation.

"Excuse me, is this the Censor Jin Sheng?" Just at this moment, Jin Sheng heard a voice of news, but he was still immersed in the surprise brought by this scene. He only responded after the voice asked again.

This is not because Jin Sheng has never seen the world, nor is it that he is showing off in front of the generals.

However, this group of Ming troops armed with muskets were completely different from what he knew, which naturally surprised Jin Sheng, who had served in the army before.

Although firearms have been around for a long time, they can only fire one or two rounds when facing a battle. After that, everyone has to hold weapons and fight the enemy in hand-to-hand combat.

If this kind of tactics were used during the heyday of the Ming Dynasty, it would have been invincible. Even during the Wanli period, it was used to win several major battles.

But now the Ming Dynasty is no longer what it was before. With various unfavorable factors superimposed, the soldiers have become forced to fire their guns first when facing the enemy, and then collapse at the first blow when engaging in close combat.

The government troops in front of him not only all carried guns, but even more rare was that they dared to engage in hand-to-hand combat after firing their weapons. It was understandable that Jin Sheng was stunned by the shock.

But then again, he was the one who led the rebel army to retake several cities behind enemy lines. Even if he was distracted for a moment, he finally reacted after Chang Guanlin called him a few times.

"I dare not, I dare not. I am no longer an official. I only pretended to be an official to gather the people. I will take the blame after this battle."

"I am Chang Guanlin, the commander of the Yingtian Shuangqiao Guards, but I don't know what Jin Yushi's plan is?"

According to common sense, Chang Guanlin's official position is higher than Jin Sheng's. Even though the Ming Dynasty has the rule of controlling the military with the civil, he is a close minister of His Highness and does not need to hear Jin Sheng's opinion.

But no matter what, he had just arrived here, and Jin Sheng had been setting up the city for so many days and was much more familiar with the situation than he was.

Under such circumstances, Chang Guanlin's question was both a respect for the contributions of the rebels who had held out for many days and an objective attitude.

It’s just that everyone is in a different position, and the issues they focus on are somewhat different.

What Chang Guanlin meant to ask was what arrangements he had made for the subsequent battle, but to Jin Sheng these words sounded like something else.

"The crime I committed this time is not light. I am afraid I will not have the opportunity to make plans for myself in the future."

After the words fell, Chang Guanlin was also stunned, but after all, he had been in the court for half his life, so how could he not understand the reason why the other party answered the irrelevant question.

"Hey, what are you talking about, Imperial Censor Jin? Your Highness has the final say in the court now. The old habits have been swept away, but you still allow others to make up stories like this?"

Jin Sheng probably didn't believe such words.

He knew very well that whether it was Chongzhen in the past or Hongguang later, they did not want the court to be in chaos and would find some excuse to pin serious charges on others.

But the factional struggle has reached such a point. Looking around, the entire court is filled with cliques. What can the emperor do even if he doesn't want this to happen?
Is it really possible to dismiss all officials?

This is not because Jin Sheng is pessimistic. If Zhu Cilang were put in the position of his cheap father, he might be powerless to save the situation.

But God placed him in Yingtian, where there was a power vacuum. This gave him the opportunity to gain a foothold with a group of peddlers and then take advantage of the near collapse of the imperial court to gather troops and become the strongest force in Jiangnan.

Of course, Jin Sheng didn't know about these things. Even if he knew, he probably wouldn't understand the reasons.

Even if one really saw the current "imperial court", one would probably only think that the ministers are loyal to the emperor and patriotic, and that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has amazing strategies, which is why the current situation exists.

"May I ask General Chang if you are sure that the Tartars dare to leave the city?"

With a faint smile, Jin Sheng did not dwell on "afterwards". He glanced at the current battle situation and asked Chang Guanlin a question.

At this time, the entire battle line had been stabilized due to the arrival of reinforcements. Even if the Qing army occasionally broke in, they would die with the cooperation of a few soldiers.

He knew that this was a bit of a stretch, but he couldn't help but hope that the government troops could help him retake the city gate.

"I'm afraid it's a bit difficult."

After scanning the battle line, Chang Guanlin had a general understanding of the combat power of both sides.

Don’t think that the defense line was stabilized as soon as they arrived, and even after that, almost no Qing army could break through again. But he knew that this was just the advantage of the defense line. If he lost this support, he didn’t know what the situation would be like.

not to mention.
"Look," Chang Guanlin pointed at the city wall and said, "Those people are the white-armored soldiers of the Tartars. Their fighting power is extraordinary. Now they have fortifications to rely on, so they can still fight. If..."

Chang Guanlin did not finish his words, but Jin Sheng understood what he was not saying.

Reminded by these words, he recalled again and naturally realized what was so special about those Tatars who occupied the city walls and no longer participated in the battle.

After realizing this, Jin Sheng would not force Chang Guanlin to go out to fight. But when he was about to say something else, he heard unclear shouting from the Qing army, and then the soldiers who were attacking the defense line retreated all at once.

"It's broken! On the city wall"

"Nothing. I have already sent people to the city wall to assist in the defense when I came."

With the arrival of reinforcements, it was reasonable for the enemy to retreat. However, before the defenders could be happy for long, they saw more than a dozen people being pushed to the edge of the city wall by the Qing army.

Then a Qing army officer shouted loudly on the city wall: "General Tena, watch out! These people are your comrades. If you want to save them, just lay down your weapons and surrender. The city has been breached, so there is no need to put up any more futile resistance!"

This sound attracted everyone's attention.

Jin Sheng not only saw many familiar faces among these people, but also discovered his student Jiang Tianyi.

"Hanying!"

With a cry of pain, Jin Sheng burst into tears.

Previously, Jiang Tianyi stayed behind to cover the retreat, buying precious time for Jin Sheng to go down the city and set up defenses. At that time, everyone thought he had been killed. Although he was heartbroken, he kept it to himself because of the current battle situation.

But now the situation has stabilized, and he appeared in front of Jin Sheng in this way. Who can control the grief in his heart?
"The Tartars have always been untrustworthy. Don't fall into their trap."

Seeing Jin Sheng's reaction, Chang Guanlin naturally knew the position of those people in the city in his heart, so he couldn't help but feel a little worried.
"Teacher! Don't fall for the Tartar tricks!"

Just as Jin Sheng was in unbearable grief and Chang Guanlin was feeling uneasy, Jiang Tianyi, who was tied up, took advantage of the time when the Qing soldiers were paying attention to the response in the city and shouted loudly.

The soldier who was in charge of guarding him, after realizing what was happening, immediately hit him in the abdomen with the handle of his knife, causing Jiang Tianyi to hunch over and take him a long time to recover.

"You, the student, are thinking about the teacher, but I don't know if the teacher feels sorry for the student!"

The Tartar general walked towards Jiang Tianyi while speaking. When he got close to him, he pulled out a short blade from his waist and started wielding it on him.

"Hanying!"

In this situation, Jin Sheng knew what the Tartars were going to do, and how to save his student's life, but how could he...
When the Tartar general saw this, he immediately raised his short blade and prepared to stab Jiang Tianyi, but the weak scholar took this opportunity to rush forward and jump down from the city wall.

"Teacher! I'm going!"

After the Yang, every time I catch a cold, it's particularly severe, as if something has damaged my foundation.

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(End of this chapter)