Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1117 Entering the City
"Lands and landslides!"

Seeing this scene, this word flashed through the minds of everyone, including Wang Jinwu. None of them expected that the effect of the explosion would be so strong, let alone the noise would be so loud.

When the smoke and dust that rose into the sky gradually settled, the nearly 20-meter-long city wall had disappeared, and this area had become a ruin. The defenders of Shengjing West City did not know whether they were frightened or stunned, but there was no other movement at all. Instead, the defenders in several other directions in the distance were alarmed, and the sound of shouting could be heard faintly.

Coming back to his senses, Wang Jinwu couldn't help but lick his sore lips, and immediately gave the order for the general attack in a hoarse voice.

As his orders were issued, the morale of the Ming army, which had been prepared for a long time, was boosted. Under the command of the generals from various divisions, they rushed towards the collapsed city wall. When they rushed to the city wall, the defenders still did not react at all and did not resist at all. The Ming army easily broke into the city.

Afterwards, Wang Jinwu realized that it was not that the defenders did not want to resist, but that they were unable to resist. Because Wang Jinwu used too much gunpowder, and the gunpowder of the Ming army was completely different from the previous gunpowder. After Zhu Shenzhu took control of the government, he paid special attention to military industry. Not only did he transfer Sun Yuanhua, who was proficient in firearms, to the Ministry of Industry, but he also let him preside over the military industry of the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, Zhu Shenzhu had already started to establish his military research institute and military workshop in Yangtou Valley. Now, on the basis of the previous foundation, the whole country of Ming Dynasty has invested in research and development, and the effect is different from the past.

In recent years, the Ming Dynasty has made good progress in the research and manufacture of various firearms, including but not limited to artillery, muskets and other equipment, and further improved the research and development and manufacturing of new muskets and artillery of the Ming Dynasty, especially in the manufacture of gunpowder, which has reached the peak of black powder.

Through many experiments and attempts at mixing ratios, the power of Ming Dynasty's black gunpowder can be said to be the strongest in this era, and now Ming Dynasty has begun to study stronger gunpowder formulas, including using chemical means to try to make new gunpowder (explosives).

Although the latter has not yet produced results, with Zhu Shenzhui's advice and the efforts of professionals, the possibility of success in the future is very high. It is nothing more than a matter of time. Therefore, when Wang Jinwu used gunpowder blasting to dig the ground and attack the city, he obviously underestimated the power of Ming gunpowder. In addition, in order to ensure that there is no risk, Wang Jinwu deliberately buried a large amount of gunpowder that exceeded the quantity. For this reason, the power and consequences caused by the explosion of gunpowder will have such an amazing effect.

During the explosion, the defenders who were killed or crushed by the collapsed city walls were relatively lucky, at least their death was only a moment and they did not suffer much pain. However, those defenders who were not far away, although the city walls under their feet did not collapse, were directly damaged by the strong shock wave. This kind of damage was irreversible and caused great harm to people.

For a moment, except for those who were shaken to death, the rest of the people had serious internal injuries, bleeding from the mouth and nose, and a blank mind. Some even fell to the ground, spitting blood and unable to utter a word. It was obvious that they would not survive. Even those who did not die were not much better off. They lost the possibility of even standing up, let alone taking up arms to resist.

The Ming army attacked Shengjing with almost no obstruction. When they broke through the city wall and rushed along both sides of the wall, their main force headed directly towards the center of the city, they encountered resistance from the defending troops.

However, due to the haste and the earth-shaking explosion and collapse of the city wall just now, the morale of the defenders fell to an extremely low level after the Ming army entered the city. Although some Eight Banners soldiers came to their senses and fought bravely and fearlessly, intending to drive the Ming army out of the city, their resistance did not have much effect. As more and more Ming troops entered the city, several city walls of Shengjing were taken down one after another. The defenders of the South Gate, which was closest to the western city wall, collapsed first, and this collapse quickly spread. As the Ming army in the southeast also launched attacks at the same time, Shengjing's defeat was irreversible.

When Dorgon led his men to rush to the west city, they ran into the Ming army that had already entered the city before they could reach the west city. Seeing this, Dorgon was terrified and quickly dispatched troops to stop them. However, at this time, the Eight Banners soldiers had no morale no matter how good they were at fighting. On the other hand, the morale of the Ming army was high and the shouts of killing were deafening.

Dorgon had fought for half his life and he knew at a glance that Shengjing could not be defended. If he continued to stay in the city, he would fall into the hands of the Ming army along with Shengjing.

Dorgon made a quick decision immediately. He sent a part of his troops to hold off the attack of the Ming army, while he himself, with his personal guards and some elite soldiers of the Eight Banners, did not even bother to return to his mansion. He abandoned his wives and concubines and ran towards the north city. When he arrived at the north city, he opened the city gate and rushed out of the city before the Ming army had time to fully surround Shengjing. He ran away without looking back.

Dorgon's escape was extremely decisive. In his opinion, the defeat was irreversible. It was better to keep a useful body for the future than to perish together. You should know that Bumbutai and the little emperor had been sent out by him a long time ago. According to the time, they should have arrived in Khorchin and hid. He led his people to escape the pursuit of the Ming army, and then found a way to detour and reunite with Bumbutai. As long as they were alive, there was still hope for the Qing Dynasty. Once they were gone, the Qing Dynasty would be gone.

As for his wives, concubines, and family, Dorgon didn't care at all. Anyway, Dorgon himself had no son, only a daughter. Daughters were nothing to Dorgon. Just like his wives and concubines, if they were gone, they would be gone. A man should have no worries about not having a wife. Besides, his true love was Bumbutai! As long as he could find Bumbutai and be with her, what did these wives and concubines matter to him?

With Dorgon's escape, the whole Shengjing was in chaos. The defenders lost their main general, and as the city was about to fall, they had no commander.

Although Duoduo, Yuetuo, Yechen, Shi Tingzhu, Bahana, Sony, including Aobai, were still in the city, they could only fight on their own when they could not find Dorgon. They retreated step by step under the powerful offensive of the Ming army and were eventually defeated. The Battle of Shengjing started with the explosion in the middle of the night and lasted until noon of the next day. With most of the defenders in the city either annihilated or surrendered, Shengjing City was completely captured by the Ming army. Next, the Ming army continued to sweep the city, looking for resistance and Eight Banners nobles hidden in the city, but this was just icing on the cake for the entire battle.

When the battle was over and the results were counted, it was found that the Ming army not only captured the capital of the Qing Dynasty in the Battle of Shengjing, but also almost wiped out the main force of the opponent's Eight Banners.

From the beginning of the war in the Liaoxi Corridor to the final capture of Shengjing, the Ming army paid a total of more than 24,000 casualties and annihilated nearly 100,000 main forces of the Eight Banners in one fell swoop. Especially in the battle of Shengjing, the Ming army suffered more than 10,000 casualties, but the number of main forces of the Eight Banners killed, wounded or captured was as high as nearly 60,000, not including the Eight Banners nobles and banner slaves in Shengjing. Since this war, the threat of the Jiannu, which had occupied Liaodong for 30 years and puzzled the five emperors of the Ming Dynasty, can be said to have been completely resolved.

In the final battle, more than 30 princes, dukes, beile, eunuchs, and generals of the Eight Banners were killed or injured, and most of the others did not escape. They were almost all captured by Wang Jinwu's Ming army. Unfortunately, the whereabouts of the enemy's false emperor and empress dowager Bumbutai, including the regent Dorgon, were unknown. After interrogating the captives, it was learned that Dorgon had sent Bumbutai and Fulin away long before the battle in Shengjing. As for where they went, no one knew, only that they went to the north.

As for Dorgon, he disappeared when the city was broken. According to the captured garrison in the north city, Dorgon led thousands of troops and fled hastily from the north without looking back. It was precisely because of his escape before the battle that the garrison in Shengjing completely lost its command, which allowed the Ming army to end the battle of Shengjing at a relatively small cost and thus won a great victory.

Although the enemy's empress dowager, emperor and Dorgon himself were not captured, the main force of the Eight Banners was completely destroyed in this battle. Even if Dorgon and his men were still alive, the enemy's troops would not be able to make any waves. However, Wang Jinwu did not ignore this. He asked Wu Sangui and others to lead the cavalry to pursue Dorgon. They must find Dorgon no matter if he was dead or alive, even if it was just his head.

This is especially true for Bumbutai and the little emperor. The roots of the problem must be eradicated. The Ming Dynasty will not be at peace until they are caught.

The entry ceremony was held at noon on the next day. At this time, the interior of Shengjing City had been completely pacified, and those rebels hiding in the dark were found one by one by the searching Ming army. They were either killed or surrendered as prisoners. The entire Shengjing was completely under the control of the Ming army.

The army commander Wang Jinwu, his deputy commanders Sun Chuanting and Li Xin were riding on horses, Wang Jinwu in the middle, Sun Chuanting and Li Xin on the left and right respectively. The three of them looked at the city gate not far away and couldn't help but smile at each other.

Behind them were generals such as Zu Dashou, Zuo Liangyu, Cao Wenzhao, and Gao Jie. Cao Bianjiao's troops were the first to attack Shengjing and were responsible for clearing out and occupying the remaining resistance forces in Shengjing, so he was waiting in the city at this moment and was not among them.

As for Wu Sangui, he led the Guanning Cavalry to pursue Dorgon. Generals such as Huang Degong and He Renlong led their troops to surrender and clear out the remaining Eight Banners garrisons in the hinterland of Liaodong. Zheng Hongkui, as the naval general, and Li You were responsible for maritime transportation to ensure that the Ming army's supplies were not here. The rest of the people were basically all there.

After waiting for a while, the auspicious time has arrived!
Wang Jinwu was full of pride. Today was the most glorious moment of his life. He smiled and nodded slightly to Sun Chuanting and Li Xin on both sides, and the other party gave the same response.

"Let's go! Follow me into the city!"

"Okay! Enter the city!"

"Enter the city!"

Everyone responded in succession and burst into laughter. Wang Jinwu took the lead, followed by Sun Chuanting and Li Xin. Behind them came the generals from various departments. Everyone rode their horses into the city in a show of force. The moment their horses entered the city gate, the Ming army guarding on the side suddenly shouted "Long live the Ming Dynasty". The shouts resounded throughout the place, making people's hearts surge and unable to calm down for a long time.

(End of this chapter)