Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 186: Breaking through Wuchang City

"You son of a bitch Wang Deren, you actually dared to plot against me." Wang Tizhong was so angry when he heard the shouts and screams coming from Wangshan Gate and the sound of cannons coming from the south. He then waved his hand and called the servants in the house to go out. The sound of swords being drawn could be heard one after another.

"Come on, everyone, follow me out and take a look."

Upon hearing the sound, Ma Zhenfeng hurriedly followed. He raised his sword and stood behind Wang Tizhong. The distance was close enough that he could take the opponent's life at any time, ensuring that he could launch a fatal attack on Wang Tizhong at the critical moment.

At the same time, his two Night Guards also reacted immediately. They followed Ma Zhenfeng closely to ensure that Wang Tizhong's servants could not attack Ma Zhenfeng directly, in order to intimidate the other party.

Wang Deren took the lead in launching a surprise attack, while Wang Tizhong had to wait for an opportunity. Ma Zhenfeng stayed by his side, looking at the current situation. Although he knew that this was understandable, he suddenly became very vigilant.

He glanced around quietly, roughly determining the positions of the dozens of Green Camp armored soldiers around Wang Tizhong, as well as the deployment of the Eight Banner armored soldiers. In addition to being wary of Wang Tizhong's defection, he also came here to command the other side to occupy the city wall.

After all, Wang Tizhong hated Wang Deren for plotting against him at this time in order to gain the first credit, but Ma Zhenfeng was not thinking about that. What he wanted was for Wang Tizhong to rebel immediately. The army outside the city had already started a night attack, and he had no time to hesitate.

Soon, Wang Tizhong led a group of servants to the parapet outside the city wall. The team's leader was still the head servant on duty tonight. Wang Tizhong just stood quietly aside, observing the situation outside the city.

Because Wang Deren took the lead, the Wangshan Gate Tower was already in chaos. The central army in front of the palace outside the city started a fierce attack. The shouts of killing shook the sky, and flames lit up the plain outside Wangshan Gate.

On the Baoan Gate Tower, because there was no signal of rebellion from the city wall, the second military bugle call was soon blown in the position. The soldiers of the Palace Army who had just charged slowed down their offensive and pretended to be a feint.

At this time, everyone was actually playing a game. Wang Deren was calculating the time. He wanted to be the first to achieve success, but he was also worried that the Eight Banners soldiers would notice him. He was terrified all the time. In the end, because of his tense mind, he launched a surprise attack in advance.

Now, he finally got what he wanted, but because the timing was not yet ripe, the Eight Banners soldiers on the city wall quickly reacted. Those Eight Banners soldiers were powerful and soon regained their footing.

Wang Tizhong looked towards the direction of Wangshan Gate, where the noise was the loudest. He saw deafening explosions and flashes of orange-red flames in the night. He knew that the Ming army positions and the city walls must be firing cannons at the same time.

Amidst the fierce artillery fire, deafening shouts of killing soon followed. The originally pitch-black sky in the southeast direction was now stained slightly yellow by the flames from the central army rushing out in front of the palace with torches and the gunfire.

Hundreds of Green Camp soldiers on duty on the top of the Baoan Gate turned their heads to look in the direction of the Wangshan Gate Tower. Most of them didn't know what was happening, and their faces showed surprised and complicated expressions.

At this time, Wang Tizhong and Ma Zhenfeng were still standing very close to each other, while the servants under Wang Tizhong were scattered to both sides, especially where the Eight Banners vests were, ready to act at any time.

The two men looked at the originally dark plain outside the city, which was now dotted with tiny sparks of fire. They felt uncertain for a moment. At this time, all the Eight Banners soldiers on the city wall also came to the city wall.

In other words, Wang Tizhong had missed the best opportunity and was unable to launch a surprise attack when most of the Eight Banners soldiers were asleep. This was Wang Deren's plan of "killing two birds with one stone".

The battlements on the Baoan Gate Tower were filled with Green Camp soldiers on duty and Eight Banners soldiers in charge of supervision. Soldiers continued to pour in from the rear. The fire pans fixed on the battlements swayed in the howling night wind, emitting a golden light that flickered.

The soldiers of the central army in front of the palace who were charging from the southeast burst into continuous shouts of killing, mixed with bursts of gunfire, which constantly hit the eardrums of the guards at Baoan Gate. Thousands of Green Camp soldiers who were originally resting in the city wall also woke up at this time and rushed to the city wall to prepare for battle.

At this time, Wang Tizhong and Ma Zhenfeng became more and more agitated as they watched the noise outside the security gate gradually subside.

If this attempt fails, Wang Tizhong will not have the chance to raise the flag again, and after dawn, the risk of exposure for both of them will greatly increase.

Tunqi is only unable to spare the time now because the incident happened suddenly, but the troops of the Eight Banner Army are still mobilized in an orderly manner. If he is given another day or two, the defense of Wuchang will definitely be completely changed.

Wang Tizhong stood quietly on the city wall, his brows slightly furrowed, his eyes flickering. At this critical moment, he seemed unable to make up his mind.

The Eight Banners soldiers on the tower, having heard the commotion, also rushed to the top of the city walls. They also appeared somewhat confused. At the same time, because of the commotion outside the city, their attention was diverted from the direction of Wangshan Gate to the Ming army's feint attack below the city.

“BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!!!”

A burst of loud artillery fire came again from the Ming army position in the south, followed by deafening shouts of killing. The central army in front of the palace outside the city quickly completed adjustments and launched a strong attack.

Wang Tizhong and Ma Zhenfeng were shocked when they saw this, but soon they showed joy on their faces.

“BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!!!”

There were more violent explosions in the north and east of the city. The Green Camp soldiers on the city wall gathered more and more, and there were more than a thousand of them, which forced the Eight Banners soldiers to scatter everywhere.

"General Wang, the people at Wangshan Gate have already taken action. This opportunity is rare and you must seize it!" Ma Zhenfeng finally let go of his worries when he saw the army taking action. He turned his head and looked at Wang Tizhong.

"Don't worry, Brother Ma, I know what I'm doing." After Wang Tizhong said this, he immediately winked at the head of his servants. The latter immediately understood and took the servants straight to the head of the Eight Banners armored soldiers who was guarding the city wall.

Wang Tizhong was just waiting for an opportunity. He wanted to lure out all the Eight Banners soldiers on the city wall and then launch a surprise attack. If necessary, he could also encourage his subordinates on the city wall to directly eliminate these more than a hundred Eight Banners soldiers and minimize the losses of his servants.

Soon, under the supervision of the Eight Banners soldiers, the Green Camp soldiers on the city wall began to counterattack the Ming army attacking the city, continuously shooting arrows and lead bullets.

However, the offensive of the central army in front of the palace was not very swift. At this time, they were still throwing torches for lighting, and the musketeers were firing indiscriminately to consume the firepower of the Qing army so as to reduce casualties in the subsequent process of building trench bridges and charging.

At the same time, an Eight Banners officer, leading a dozen Eight Banners armored soldiers, was walking arrogantly towards the head servant in front of Wang Tizhong.

Those Eight Banners armored soldiers kept pushing, kicking and beating the Green Camp soldiers who were blocking their way, and the Green Camp soldiers who were originally crowded together dodged and avoided them, and directly opened a path in the aisle of the city wall.

"The damn Tartars came to our doorstep!" Wang Tizhong and Ma Zhenfeng smiled at each other at the same time.

Then, Wang Tizhong immediately lowered his head and followed under the protection of his servants. The head servant under Wang Tizhong also followed the empty path crowded with soldiers to meet him, his face looking very anxious.

Ma Zhenfeng's eyes also changed rapidly at this time. He knew that the Eight Banners soldiers were coming up, and then he followed Wang Tizhong and walked towards the dozen or so Eight Banners soldiers who were shouting and driving away the Green Camp soldiers gathered on the city wall. At the same time, he winked at his two Night Guards.

"Master, something happened at Wangshan Gate. What should we do now?" The head of the servants under Wang Tizhong came in front of the group of Eight Banners soldiers and said humbly.

"Nothing serious will happen at Wangshan Gate. As long as you take care of yourself and guard the security gate, you will be a great achievement. Now go and organize your troops immediately."

The leading Eight Banners officer gave a stern order:
"Also, send someone to call Wang Tizhong here immediately. If he's not on the city wall at this time, he's simply derelict in his duty!"

Although the leading Eight Banners officer spoke sternly, he was actually quite relaxed. He didn't think the Ming army could break into the city tonight. After all, the Ming army was not a god-like army. As long as they were fully prepared, a night attack would be impossible to succeed.

However, when he looked at the Green Camp soldiers in front of him, especially the servants of Wang Tizhong who surrounded them, he always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what was going on.

"Yes." The head servant under Wang Tizhong smiled and still looked like a servant, and immediately agreed.

At this time, Wang Tizhong had already gently turned his body and sneaked up with light steps. His right hand was placed on the hilt of the knife without anyone noticing. The servants he had deployed around him earlier all focused their eyes on him. They had surrounded the dozen or so Eight Banners soldiers and were ready for a surprise attack.

The roar of gunfire intensified on the plains below the city walls. Flickering orange-red flames illuminated the previously pitch-black moat, making it flicker. Arrows and lead bullets occasionally pierced the parapets, eliciting occasional screams. Just as the Eight Banners officer raised his hand to push aside Wang Tizhong's chief retainer and was about to take a step forward, Wang Tizhong suddenly drew his sword and slashed at the officer's neck.

At the same time, the dozens of servants who had been closely watching him also attacked almost simultaneously, and screams immediately rang out from the city wall. The dozen or so Eight Banner soldiers surrounded by the Green Camp soldiers were attacked by Wang Tizhong's servants. In the blink of an eye, eight of them fell, and the remaining few were powerless to fight back.

Wang Tizhong didn't stop, his face was soon splattered with blood, and the smell of blood rushed into his mouth and nose. Ma Zhenfeng had also joined the battlefield at this time, swinging his sword to kill the last of the Eight Banners soldiers.

Not only the dozen or so Eight Banners soldiers, but also the servants that Wang Tizhong had scattered around the tower also launched a surprise attack on the surrounding Eight Banners soldiers. The other Green Camp soldiers standing on the wall didn't understand what was going on for a while, and they saw their general's servants fighting with the Tartars, and they were at a loss for what to do.

The situation developed so rapidly that they had no time to think. More than thirty Eight Banners soldiers had already fallen to the ground. Only a few of them reacted and dodged quickly, but before they could put up a few resistances, they were killed by the servants who swarmed over them.

When these Eight Banners soldiers saw what happened at Wangshan Gate and that the Ming army had taken a long time to attack the city, they basically relaxed their vigilance. The development of the matter was much simpler than Wang Tizhong had expected.

However, things were not so simple on Wang Deren's side. Although he took the lead in launching a surprise attack, the Eight Banners soldiers reacted extremely quickly before they let down their guard, and he has not yet completely eliminated the Eight Banners soldiers on the city wall.

However, after such a long battle between the Ming and Qing armies, many Green Camp soldiers began to question the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners Army. Although they did not know the situation for a while, many soldiers stepped forward to help.

This not only happened at Wangshan Gate, but also at Baoan Gate. The Eight Banners soldiers were attacked by the Green Camp soldiers and were soon overwhelmed.

Ma Zhenfeng stepped directly over the head of the Eight Banners officer and walked towards Wang Tizhong. The matter was done, and he finally let go of his worries and laughed:

"General Wang, as long as His Majesty's army enters Wuchang through the Baoan Gate, you will be the first hero of this battle. I congratulate General Wang in advance!"

After hearing this, Wang Tizhong was also filled with high spirits. Looking at the killing and chaos on the city wall, a smile appeared on his face again. He immediately shouted and ordered his soldiers to continue attacking and expand the results of the battle.

The Baoan Gate Tower immediately became restless. Several of his retainers were leading their troops to pursue the remaining Eight Banners soldiers, and at the same time organizing the Green Camp soldiers on the tower to support the Palace Army that was attacking the city.

Many Green Camp soldiers who had long held grudges quickly attacked the Eight Banners soldiers, and even slashed and stabbed the Tartar corpses until they were unrecognizable and covered in blood.

At this time, the shouting and gunfire sounds from the direction of Wangshan Gate seemed to gradually weaken, and the shouting and gunfire sounds were basically coming from the outside. The bright lights of musket fire on the top of the city were basically concentrated on the battlements, rather than the aisles on the city wall.

Ma Zhenfeng was at the Baoan Gate, not close to the Wangshan Gate, so it was difficult for him to see the specific situation there. However, through the changes in sound and light, he still speculated that Wang Deren's action might have encountered trouble, and might even have failed.

But on the battlefield, this wasn't unthinkable. Although Wang Deren had the upper hand, he wasn't guaranteed to have the last laugh. And although Wang Tizhong had reversed the situation, the Eight Banners soldiers on the two outer earthen walls were also difficult to deal with. Nothing was decided yet.

You know, if the central army in front of the palace outside the city wants to attack the city tower, they also need to conquer the two earth walls outside the city. They must attack forward and cooperate with the central army in front of the palace outside the city to attack from both sides.

Ma Zhenfeng frowned as he watched the battlefield outside the city light up. On the city wall where he stood, hundreds of Green Camp soldiers, under the command of Wang Tizhong, were redeploying. They had tied red strips around their arms to distinguish them from the other Green Camp soldiers who had not defected.

Soon, the sound of gunfire intensified from the north and east of the city, the orange-red flames illuminating the dark sky. But Ma Zhenfeng was not distracted by the noise. He looked south and then, along with Wang Tizhong, led his troops to continue the attack.

And things turned out just as he expected. Outside the earthen wall on the south side of Wuchang City, a burst of orange-red fire suddenly lit up, and the sound of musket fire like muffled thunder resounded across the plain. Nearly a thousand lead bullets whistled in the darkness and hit the outside of the earthen wall. Countless flying stones and soil fell on the river like raindrops, mixed with shrill screams.

After the fifteen trench bridges were built, the soldiers of the central army in front of the palace began to charge. Countless torches were lit on the south side of the moat. The entire trench position of the Ming army and the sheep and horse wall on the north side of the moat quickly became clearly visible.

After three rounds of musket fire, thousands of soldiers in front of the palace shouted and rushed across the moat of Wuchang City with ladders. Dense spots of light from torches moved quickly and rushed towards the earth wall to the north.

Chang Denggui commanded the central army in front of the palace to launch surprise attacks on multiple preset battlefields at the same time, but except for the two sections of the city wall facing the tower, the others were not the places he really wanted to break through, they were just feints.

Although the fortifications built by the Qing army outside the city of Wuchang could be called "indestructible", no matter how strong a city is, it still needs people to defend it. Now, facing the unrest in the city, the Green Camp troops began to collapse first. Many of the Eight Banners soldiers who were originally supervising the battle had to be used to maintain order and could not be deployed to the battlefield at all.

The Qing army on the earth wall immediately launched a counterattack, but there was another violent explosion at the edge of the Ming army's trench position. In the orange-red flames, puffs of white smoke rose up, which could be faintly seen in the dark night.

However, even so, the first batch of dozens of armored soldiers from the central army who set up ladders and rushed forward were still defeated by the Qing army in the earth wall. The firearms on the earth wall soon roared, and the sound of heavy objects falling and the screams of soldiers were heard. A soldier who rushed to the front was even stabbed by a spear from the Qing army and bled profusely.

The French cannons and the general cannons deployed by the Qing army on the earthen walls were not weak in close combat. Moreover, under the operation of skilled gunners, the French cannons and the general cannons had extremely fast firing rates and rapid firepower.

But at such a distance, the artillery deployed by the Qing army was completely ineffective. The well-trained and disciplined soldiers of the Palace Front Army did not retreat under the obstruction of muskets and bows and arrows, and even charged forward without stopping. Amid the loud shouts of the officers, they quickly rushed forward again.
"Bang, bang, bang"

"Boom, boom, boom——"

From the artillery positions of the Ming army in the north and east of the city, there was another burst of fierce artillery fire, which greatly shook the confidence of the Qing army in holding on near the Baoan Gate and Wangshan Gate towers.

Although they did not suffer a real artillery attack, the battlements that had been continuously shooting out arrows and lead bullets and stabbing out sharp spear heads suddenly saw their offensive power sharply reduced, as if the Qing army defending the city had suffered a defeat.

Seeing this, the soldiers of the central army who were attacking the palace shouted in unison again to charge. The soldiers in the first row held up rattan shields and quickly climbed up the ladders to the top of the city wall. However, they were soon killed by the Qing soldiers above and fell down staggeringly.

The sound of military bugles continued, and the soldiers of the central army in front of the palace went forward one after another, trying to quickly break through the Qing army's earth wall defense line. The remaining Qing army soldiers on the top of the city were still resisting stubbornly, and their archers and warriors took turns attacking.

At this time, the musketeers could no longer continue their attack. Although there was light from the fire all around them, the pitch-black night made visibility extremely poor. The complicated steps of loading and reloading the muskets caused most of the muskets to make numerous mistakes, and the muskets became nothing more than fire sticks.

However, the archers were largely unaffected by this, with countless arrows whizzing out from the earthen walls and shooting towards the densely attacking Ming soldiers. At the same time, many Qing soldiers also threw down mines made in imitation of the Ming army, as well as various traditional defensive timbers, bricks and stones.

The soldiers of the central army in front of the palace who swarmed in were constantly hit by arrows shot from the earth wall on the narrow moat bridge. They fell into the moat with a "bang" and rushed to the other side of the river. Even the soldiers of the central army in front of the palace who had already entered the sheep and horse wall also drew their bows and arrows to fight back. Their offensive was even more fierce than that of the Qing army.

The Qing army's second earth wall and the city wall behind it were unable to provide support at this time. The former had been restrained by Wang Tizhong, and the latter had no organized troops at all. This left the Qing army's defense deployment in Wuchang City with only the front line.

But compared with the new round of charge by the Ming army, even the counterattack of the Qing army on the outermost earth wall had weakened a lot at this time.

Among the soldiers in the central army who were charging ahead, one of the armored soldiers soon climbed up the battlements of the earth wall along the ladder, but was immediately stabbed by three long spears that suddenly appeared, and then was kicked hard, falling into the trench with a scream.

Not only that, more than a dozen Qing soldiers emerged from the earth wall. They raised their spears and stabbed the soldiers of the central army in front of the palace on the ladders. They quickly killed more than a dozen people. The central army in front of the palace also quickly fought back and attacked the Qing soldiers who appeared.

The soldiers of the two armies began to stab each other with their spears. People were constantly stabbed by the sharp spear tips, and fell from a high place with wailing, falling into the trench under the earth wall, making miserable screams.

But the soldiers of the central army in front of the palace who were attacking continuously from the rear were unstoppable. They rushed up to fight back, and the dense long spears kept thrusting in and out. People on the earth walls kept falling down, and the corpses were all pricked like a hornet's nest.

Under the fierce attack of the central army in front of the palace, the Qing troops on the earthen wall retreated continuously. The surging heads of people quickly disappeared. The spearmen in front of the central army in front of the palace jumped onto the parapets one after another. The Qing soldiers fled in panic after their pursuit. One after another, they fell. The aisle of the earthen wall was soon filled with corpses, and the blood gathered into a stream.
Zhu Cilang withdrew his gaze from the direction of the Baoan Gate Tower in Wuchang City, turned his head to look at the sky in the east which was already turning pale, and smiled triumphantly. He launched the attack in the second half of the night in order to control the city wall before dawn.

In this way, after daybreak, he could immediately command the army to attack the city and support the rebel troops of Wang Tizhong and Wang Deren, without giving the Tunqi any chance to breathe.

(End of this chapter)