Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1186 The Battle of the Three Kings ([-])

Xuzhou City, under the bombardment of artillery, has been dilapidated.

Especially the giant cannon of the Ming army, with one shot, a huge dent in the city wall could be punched out, and when two cannons hit the same place, the city wall immediately collapsed.

Fortunately, this cannon is very inconvenient to operate. Every time a cannon is fired, it takes two quarters of an hour just to push the cannon back to its original position. It takes even longer to clean the gun chamber and reload the gunpowder and shells.

It took at least an hour and a half for the Ming army's giant cannon to fire one shot, which gave the Qing army time to repair the city wall.

It's just that although the city wall can be repaired, the shock and psychological pressure caused by the giant cannon to the Qing army cannot be repaired.

If it weren't for the nearly [-] Qing troops assembled in Xuzhou City, the city might have been breached by the Ming army long ago.

The first onslaught of the Ming army was blocked by the Qing army, but the situation was quite dangerous, and the Ming army almost broke into the city.

The Qing army in the city suffered thousands of casualties in one day, and the people in the city were somewhat desperate.

In the past few days, although the Ming army has not attacked, the shelling continues. It will not be long before the next attack of the Ming army will come.

At night, Ma Guanghui stood on the city wall and saw the Ming army camp outside the city brightly lit, countless soldiers and craftsmen were rushing to make siege equipment overnight, and a series of ladders were erected, and his heart suddenly felt bitter.

"Governor, there's news from Beicheng that the army led by Wang Junmen has rushed over!"

Ma Guanghui was in a daze in the city, when a general of the Qing Dynasty hurried up the city wall from the stairs with one hand on his waist knife, and came behind him, panting to report.

Hearing the words, Ma Guanghui was stunned for a moment, his face was instantly overjoyed, and he quickly turned around and asked, "Where are people? How many people are here?"

Li Youlong on the side asked cautiously: "Have you seen Wang Zhongqing? The governor must beware of the Ming army defrauding the city!"

Ma Guanghui's heart tightened when he heard this, and he looked at the future who reported the letter, and the latter hurriedly clasped his fists and reported: "Don't worry, Governor, it is undoubtedly Zongbing Wang, and the humble official saw it with his own eyes."

Ma Guanghui asked Jinan for help, but he also knew that Jinan did not have many troops. All he wanted was to send some people from Jinan to let the Qing army in the city know that they had reinforcements. He did not expect that Wang Zhongqing would personally lead the troops come over.

Speaking of it, Ma Guanghui and Wang Zhongqing actually had some conflicts. Dorgon wanted to support Wang Zhongqing to contain him, but he didn't get along very well with Wang Zhongqing.

This time Wang Zhongqing came here in person, which really moved Ma Guanghui a little.If he gets through this difficulty, he will no longer withhold Wang Zhongqing's salary in the future.

"Okay, since it's Wang Zhongqing, send an order to let him enter the city immediately! If the Ming army finds out, it will be troublesome to send troops to intercept him. Also tell Wang Zhongqing that the governor is waiting in the festival hall!" Ma Guanghui immediately ordered.

The general cupped his fists and turned to leave. He also led the deployment and turned back to the city and back to Xingyuan.

Ma Guanghui returned to Xingyuan, and not long after, Wang Zhongqing arrived at the festival hall. He hurried over, and as soon as he stepped on the threshold, Wang Zhongqing greeted him and saluted, "Your Excellency, I am ordered to help you!"

Ma Guanghui grabbed his hand and said happily: "The strong wind knows the strength of the grass, and the loyalty is seen in the adversity. The loyalty can come, and the governor is very relieved!"

Wang Zhongqing said with a smile on his face: "How dare a humble official refuse to come at the order of the governor-general? Besides, Xuzhou is the gateway to Shandong, so there must be no mistakes. How can a humble official not think about it!"

Ma Guanghui couldn't help but patted the back of his hand, "You've worked hard. Once you came, you helped me stabilize the morale of the army. Don't worry, getting through this test will definitely benefit you."

"Thank you, Governor, for the humble job!" Wang Zhongqing hurriedly cupped his hands and said with a smile.

Ma Guanghui nodded, "Okay, you must be tired after coming here from Jinan, so let's go rest first."

Wang Zhongqing saluted immediately, bowed and retreated, and when he retreated to the door, he turned around, sneered, and left quickly.

When Wang Zhongqing left, Li Youlong stepped forward and asked melancholy: "Is the governor really planning to defend Xuzhou to the death? From the humble point of view, even if Wang Zhongqing led his troops to help, I'm afraid we are not the Ming army." opponent!"

More than a year ago, Ma Guanghui defeated a Northern Expedition of the Ming Army's [-] troops in Xuzhou. This made Ma Guanghui overestimate his own strength and underestimate Ming's strength when facing the Ming Army's Northern Expedition. strength of the army.

In addition, the Qing court judged that the main attack direction of the Ming army was Henan, so Ma Guanghui misjudged that he could still wait and see, while proposing extremely high surrender conditions, and at the same time wanted to wait for the situation in Heluo to be clear before making a judgment.

Dai Zhifan was eager to break through Xuzhou and outflank the Central Plains, so naturally he would not argue with him.

In this way, he failed to negotiate with Dai Zhifan, and the Ming army saw that his asking price was too high, and felt that he was not sincere, so they started an all-out attack.

As soon as the battle was fought, Ma Guanghui knew he was wrong, and understood that Dorgon had made a mistake in his judgment. It was not the partial division that attacked Xuzhou, but the main force of the Ming army.

Hearing Li Youlong's words, Ma Guanghui walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, stopped and said in a deep voice, "The governor knows it well, but if we want to have a good condition, we have to defend Xuzhou first. Only if Dai Zhifan thinks that Xuzhou is not easy to fight , you and I voted in order to get better treatment and be reused by the Ming Dynasty."

Wang Zhongqing brought only [-] people, which would not have much effect on the defense of Xuzhou as a whole. It could only temporarily stabilize people's hearts, but in the long run, it still could not change the disadvantages of the Qing army in Xuzhou.

Hearing what Ma Guanghui said, Li Youlong was relieved, but he suddenly asked again: "If Xuzhou is defended and Dai Zhifan offers better conditions, what will Wang Zhongqing do?"

This is indeed a problem. The situation in Xuzhou is so tense, and the siege battle is so tragic. Wang Zhongqing led a large army to support him, which shows that he is still very loyal to the Qing Dynasty.

Ma Guanghui was silent for a while, and after a while, he said cruelly: "The Governor will give him a chance to be rich with us, but if he wants to be as "loyal and honest" as his name, then I can't blame the Governor for being ruthless!"

At the end of March, after Wang Zhongqing entered the city, Man Dazhuang led the army to the north of Jinan and got in touch with Dai Zhifan.

Dai Zhifan was overjoyed when he learned that someone should enter the city. According to the agreement between Man Dazhuang and Wang Zhongqing, he decided to attack again two days later to capture Xuzhou City.

On the 28th, on a sunny day, the defenders reported that the Ming army was preparing equipment, and it seemed possible to attack the city.

Wang Zhongqing took the initiative to ask for orders to guard the east city. Ma Guanghui knew that this battle was very important. If he could defend Xuzhou again, the Ming army might have to negotiate terms with him again.

He didn't want to spend too much force in defending the city, so he readily agreed to Wang Zhongqing's request and praised his actions.

In the morning, the peasants on the city wall were very busy, rushing to repair the city wall under the drive of the Qing army, and making final preparations for defending the city.

Although the Ming army was fierce in battle, Ma Guanghui was more confident in blocking the Ming army's attack again.After all, there are still nearly 5 Qing troops in the city, and the morale of the troops has stabilized. It can be said that it is not easy for the Ming army to break the city if they want to attack twice.

After a morning of preparations, the Ming army outside the city began shelling at [-]:[-] am. Nearly a hundred artillery pieces continuously bombarded the city, causing bricks and stones to splash on the city.

Tens of thousands of soldiers stand behind the artillery array, ready to go!Today, Xuzhou City will be broken!

The shelling lasted for an hour. The drums of the Chinese army were beaten, and Li Yuanyin, standing in front of the battle, raised his saber and shouted sharply: "Attack!"

Tens of thousands of soldiers surged like a tide, and they were all overwhelmed by the blackness!

In the east of Xuzhou City, the Qing army guarding the city gate heard the charging horn, but the soldiers were completely unprepared. They fired their bows and arrows, and instead of aiming at the Ming army who was rushing, they aimed their arrows at the city.

At the city gate, the defenders directly removed the bricks and stones, pushed open the city gate, and let the Ming army enter the city.

The siege troops of the Ming army charged bravely with weapons and shields on their backs, but they didn't even have an arrow all the way. When they rushed to the front of the city, even the city gate opened by itself.

"Let's go! Follow me to kill Ma Guanghui and make another contribution!" Seeing the Ming army entering the city, Wang Zhongqing ran down the city with a knife in hand!

However, Ma Guanghui was commanding in the Jietang, and when he heard the roar of killing in the south city and the west city, the battle was fierce, but there was no sound coming from the east city, so he couldn't help feeling a bad premonition in his heart.

At this moment, a general scrambled into the festival hall and shouted hoarsely: "Governor! Something is wrong! Wang Zhongqing turned against the water, and Dongcheng didn't resist, so he let the Ming army enter the city..."

After Ma Guanghui heard this, there was a bang in his head, and his face was full of disbelief. He was the one who surrendered. Why did Wang Zhongqing suddenly turn against him?He has only been in Xuzhou for two days, how could he be on the line with the Ming army?

At this moment, there was a buzzing in the direction of the east city, and there was a shout, which could be discerned vaguely, "Ming army enters the city, abandon their weapons and don't kill them!"

"Governor! What should I do! What should I do!" The generals in the hall suddenly panicked.

Ma Guanghui's face was livid, he really hated Wang Zhongqing to death, suddenly, he drew his sword in his hand, and roared, "What are you doing in a daze! Why don't you follow me to drive the Ming army out of the city!"

After finishing speaking, he rushed out of the festival hall, and just before he went out, he bumped into a group of people head-on, both of them were stunned, who is it not Wang Zhongqing?

When the enemy met, he was extremely jealous. Ma Guanghui's face was ferocious, and he pointed at Wang Zhongqing's nose with a knife and cursed: "Wang Zhongqing, you traitor, I will kill you!"

Ma Guanghui didn't expect that Wang Zhongqing would beat him one step ahead, and let him fall short. The Buddha would be angry if he encountered this, let alone him.

Wang Zhongqing sneered, "Who is Wang Zhongqing? This town is called Wang Zhongming now!"

"Shameless! Straight mother thief!" Ma Guanghui was trembling with anger, he had nothing to say, and the anger in his heart turned into a roar, "Shoot an arrow and shoot him to death!"

A group of archers immediately bent their bows, Wang Zhongqing's expression changed with fright, and he hurriedly dodged, but the archers had already let go of the bowstring, and he was in no hurry to dodge, an arrow hit the root of his thigh, making him howl immediately.

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(End of this chapter)