serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 444 Fighting Jinling 4
Although there is heavy snow falling, the sky is getting brighter.The rebel camp opposite can gradually be seen clearly. Through the snowflakes, the rebels who are repairing the fortifications and the rebel generals who are directing the repairs can be seen clearly.

On the inner city wall, a group of shirtless men were sweating profusely pushing a huge cannon to the crenel.

Looking around, there were nine artillery pieces like this placed on the city wall. There were a group of shirtless men beside each artillery piece. The heat from their bodies and heads actually melted the snowflakes floating above their heads.

Zhang Cheng put down his clairvoyance and raised his hand.

Behind him, the herald holding the red flag waved the flag.

The nine giant cannons lined up on the city wall roared one after another, and the solid iron bullets roared towards the rebel fortifications. Except for two of them, they were deflected, and the others hit the building under construction steadily. In the rebel fortifications, iron bullets hit the ground hard, and the whole earth trembled. Bloody ditches were plowed among the people who were rushing to repair the fortifications, and screams and wailings broke out for a while!

Zhang Cheng raised his clairvoyance and quickly scanned the rebel fortifications. The effect was not very good and the rebel fortifications were not destroyed.

The gunner quickly reloaded the cannon and then ignited the cannon. Nine blasts were fired in a row, making the ground tremble.
Li Chengyang moved the Chinese army's headquarters to Gaoqiao Gate and left the main cavalry outside the city. He still left himself a way out.

Li Chengyang, who was awakened by the sound of artillery, was not angry. On the contrary, he was in a good mood. In the first confrontation, he strategically defeated Jia Hu, but the price was a bit high, losing nearly [-] elite soldiers.

There are more than a dozen chefs in the camp who are responsible for Li Chengyang's meals. There are cooks on duty twelve hours a day, and they can prepare both formal meals and casual snacks.

Breakfast was brought in just as Li Chengyang walked out of the back tent. In a blink of an eye, exquisite hot and cold dishes of eight meat and eight vegetarian dishes were placed on the table. Three overlapping drawers of small steamers were steaming. From the first drawer, you could see that it was Jiangnan famous food. Eating crab roe soup dumplings, you can actually eat such exquisite traditional snacks on the battlefield in this weather, which shows that Li Chengyang will enjoy it.

In front of Li Chengyang were a pair of ivory chopsticks, a yellow-glazed bowl from an official kiln in the Ming Dynasty, and a celadon-glazed plate from an official kiln in the Ming Dynasty.

At this moment, the officer on duty walked in: "Commander, the old Nan'an County King wants to see you."

Li Chengyang: "What's the matter?"

Officer on duty: "He said it was military affairs."

Li Chengyang: "Then ask him to come in."

After a while, the old Nan'an County Prince walked in: "See you, Marshal."

Li Chengyang waved his hand: "If you want anything, let's talk while eating." After saying that, he picked up the chopsticks.

The old Nan'an County Prince first glanced at the yellow-glazed bowl in front of him, and then said: "The matter is urgent, so let's talk about it first."

Li Chengyang frowned, put down his chopsticks, and asked coldly: "What's the matter? Tell me."

Old Nan'an County King: "I heard that the commander has withdrawn all the main cavalry. If Jia Hu comes out from the inner city at this time, and our fortifications have not been repaired, we will not be able to stop the cavalry's charge!"

Another earth-shattering sound of artillery came in.

Li Chengyang smiled: "This is not the sound of cannons, but Jia Hu's unwilling and incompetent anger."

The old Nan'an County Prince looked at him: "Be careful and you can do nothing wrong. Although Jia Hu did not go out of the city to attack in the early morning, as long as he found out that there were no cavalry in our city, he would definitely seize this opportunity. I would like to ask the commander to reconsider. The cavalry will be mobilized into the city and at least [-] cavalry will be left in the city."

Li Chengyang was stunned for a moment and didn't want to tangle with him anymore, and then said: "I understand, you can go down first."

The old Nan'an County Prince was stunned and then asked: "Last night you said you were going to burn the boat. Why did you change your mind overnight? You still left yourself a way out."

Li Chengyang's face turned red.

Old Nan'an County Prince: "If you have other ideas, tell me now, let's get together and part ways!"

As soon as these words came out, Li Chengyang stared at the old Nan'an County Prince.

Suddenly, there was a burst of rapid footsteps, and then a sentry ran in and knelt down to Li Chengyang: "Commander, the enemy used artillery to destroy the fortifications built by our army."

The face of the old Nan'an County Prince changed: "No, Jia Hu is going to attack the camp!" Before he could finish his words, the thundering sound of artillery came from outside the tent.
After confirming that Li Chengyang would move the cavalry out of the city, Jia Hu decisively changed his plan. He first used artillery to destroy the fortifications built by the rebels, remove obstacles on the cavalry charge, and paralyze Li Chengyang at the same time.

At three o'clock on the [-]th day of the twelfth lunar month, Jia Hu ordered his people to open the Zhengyang Gate and sent thousands of troops directly to the Qiqiao Urg rebel barracks. Seeing this, the surrounding rebels rushed to support the Qiqiao Urn.

At this time, Wang Dalei and Wang Yaozu led the main cavalry to attack from Chaoyang Gate. They first broke through the camp of the Liaodong Army Gun Soldiers and set it on fire. Then they successively broke through the two camps of the Southern Xinjiang Army Gun Soldiers and Sword and Shield Soldiers.

The rebel camp was immediately in chaos, and signals for help were everywhere.

Jia Hu took advantage of this opportunity and ordered the Yongwei camp in the city and the main force of the border army to attack across the board.More than [-] elite troops rushed out from Zhengyang Gate, Chaoyang Gate and other gates and launched a fierce attack on the camps of the Liaodong Army and the Southern Xinjiang Army.

With the support of artillery, the government troops wiped out more than 20 rebel camps from Chaoyang Gate to Zhengyang Gate. The entire rebel front collapsed and they were defeated directly near Gaoqiao Gate.

Jia Hu stopped when he saw the opportunity, and ordered the retreat to the inner city without waiting for the rebel artillery fire near Gaoqiao Gate.

Dead bodies lay scattered all over the battlefield, and the air was filled with an unpleasant smell of blood. Broken flags and broken weapons were everywhere, and some were still stuck on the corpses of the rebels.
In the large tent of the Chinese army, breakfast is still on the table.

Li Chengyang walked in with a livid face, overturned the dining table, and all the food on the table fell to the ground.

The generals of the Liaodong Army who came in immediately were startled and looked at each other, worried that this man was going to kill someone again.

At this time, Li Chengyang walked to the imperial court and sat down. A cold light flashed in his eyes: "How many men and horses were lost?"

There was silence in the big tent.

Li Chengyang's two cold eyes slowly swept over everyone's faces.

Everyone looked awe-inspiring.

At this moment, the old Nan'an County Prince came in and said directly: "We haven't fully counted yet. I have lost at least 2 horses here, of which less than [-] are old soldiers."

Li Chengyang's heart skipped a beat. The Southern Xinjiang Army had suffered losses of 2 men. Wouldn't the Liaodong Army, which was the main target of the Yongwei Battalion, suffer even greater losses?
At this moment, he regretted his behavior last night.

Thinking of this, Li Chengyang hit the imperial case with his palm, shaking the inkstone.

Everyone lowered their heads.

Li Chengyang's confidant and lieutenant hurriedly walked in. When he saw the old Nan'an County Prince, he was stunned for a moment and hesitantly raised the official document in his hand: "Commander."

Li Chengyang said with a sullen face: "Just tell me."

The deputy general: "Yes." He stepped forward, looked at the official document and said: "The casualty reports of each battalion have come in. Our army has lost more than [-] people, including more than [-] old soldiers from Liaodong. In addition, We also gathered more than [-] wounded soldiers. Some of them may have fled to the common people."

Li Chengyang suppressed his anger: "What else?"

Lieutenant General: "We have lost a lot of food and grass."

Li Chengyang's eyes flashed coldly: "Then go and grab it! Now that we have lost our troops, we can boost the morale of the army!" He then said to the deputy general: "Move all the cavalry outside the city into the city!"

The deputy general said, "Yes." He turned around and strode out.

Li Chengyang stood up: "Go and grab all the food! Tell the people of Jinling that the suffering they suffered is all because of Jia Hu!"

There was silence.

Li Chengyang's face sank: "You want to disobey?"

Everyone looked at each other and replied in confusion: "Yes." They walked out with different moods.
(End of this chapter)