Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 388 Wu Sangui's surprise attack into Shaanxi

Huang Zongde, the commander of the city gate, suddenly heard a commotion coming from the gate. At first, Huang Zongde thought it was a dispute with the caravan over tax collection, but the shrill screams that followed made cold sweat break out on his forehead.

Huang Zongdi ordered his men to assemble the troops, and at the same time he led more than ten people down the city wall in a hurry.

In just a short while, more than a dozen guards at the gate had fallen in a pool of blood, and the thirty soldiers who attacked Wuguan had formed a dense formation to block the entrance.

Huang Zongde had few people around him, so he stopped the defenders beside him from rushing forward. After waiting for a while, Huang Zongde gathered more than a hundred defenders and rushed forward.

The leader of the sudden attack on the gate shouted, "Hold on, the general will be here soon!"

Huang Zongdi and the others also heard the sound of horse hooves approaching. His face changed drastically and he shouted in a shrill voice: "Charge forward and close the gate!!"

More than a hundred defenders rushed towards the attackers like a tide, trying to regain control of the gate. However, the thirty soldiers were obviously elite troops carefully selected by Sun Wenhuan. They leaned against the gate and resisted the fierce attack of the defenders.

The roar of fighting was heard once again in this city gate that had not been seen for thousands of years. Soldiers from both sides fell one after another. However, although the Green Camp defenders had a large number of people, their combat effectiveness was obviously not as good as these elite troops.

As the two sides were deadlocked, the sound of horse hooves in the distance became clearer, indicating that Sun Wenhuan's cavalry was rapidly approaching. Huang Zongdi's heart tightened, he knew that the situation was extremely critical, and if he could not solve the current predicament in a short time, Wuguan would be lost.

Huang Zongde kept commanding the reinforcements that arrived one after another, and threw them into the battle in front of them like a licking oil tactic.

The gate is so small that no matter how many people there are, the contact area is limited and they cannot rush in suddenly. For a while, people are crowded and the scene is in chaos. However, at this moment, Sun Wenhuan's reinforcements appeared outside the gate like the dawn.

On the top of the fort, the defenders shouted miserably: "The enemy cavalry is coming!!"

Sun Wenhuan rode on a warhorse, holding a spear. Seeing that the gate was still wide open, he was overjoyed and shouted urgently, "Charge in and seize Wuguan!"

The sound of horse hooves became louder and louder, and the defenders looked panic-stricken, with an air of uneasiness filling every soldier's heart.

Seeing that the cavalry was approaching, the soldiers blocking the city gate immediately made a gap. The cavalrymen rushed straight into the gate like a sharp blade, and like a sledgehammer, they instantly knocked the front-row defenders flying.

The situation took a turn for the worse. Some tried to rush forward to block the gap, while others were ready to turn around and flee, but in the end the situation was already hopeless.

Sun Wenhuan rode in, and his army poured into Wuguan like a tide, completely taking control of this strategic fortress leading into Shaanxi.

Huang Zongde witnessed all this and was filled with panic. He knew what the loss of Wuguan meant. It meant that he might be used as a chicken to scare the monkeys by Governor Meng.

After hesitating for a moment, Huang Zongdi, a burly man, suddenly pushed aside the guards in front of him, threw down his weapon, and shouted, "Surrender! Surrender!"

………………

The news that Sun Wenhuan had captured Wuguan soon spread back to Nanyang. Wu Sangui was overjoyed and excited. On the one hand, he ordered Sun Wenhuan to cut off the news, and on the other hand, he immediately reorganized his troops and first tried to raid Shangnan with the cavalry stationed in Nanyang, while the infantry followed behind.

However, the defenders of Shangnan were more alert and closed the city gates before the cavalry attacked the city. However, this only delayed the attack for some time. After the Wu army's infantry arrived, the defenders opened the city gates and surrendered after only half a day of siege.

After capturing Shangnan, Wu Sangui led 30,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry across Wuguan and surrounded Danfeng City.

Danfeng was a small city with only a few hundred defenders. Vanguard Sun Wenhuan easily broke the city, and then the cavalry went to Shangxian first. At this time, the news of the fall of Shangnan, Wugu and Danfeng had not yet arrived. The commander of Shangxian had no idea that Wu Sangui had raided Shaanxi. Caught off guard, the city gate was broken into by the cavalry. Shangxian was in chaos for a while, and the commander only gathered more than 200 defenders to try to retake the city gate.

Unfortunately, it was a pipe dream for the panicked army to recapture the city gate. The defending general was killed in the battle and Shang County was captured by Sun Wenhuan.

Until Shang County was captured, the news was first transmitted back to Lantian, and then the military report was urgently sent to Xi'an. Wu Sangui dispatched 40,000 cavalry and infantry. When the news reached the city of Xi'an, it had become that Wu Sangui sent 200,000 troops, who were unstoppable and were about to surround Xi'an.

At this time in the city of Xi'an, there were the Governor-General of the Three Borders Meng Qiaofang, the Governor of Shaanxi Ma Zhixian, the Provincial Governor of Shaanxi Fang Baishi, as well as the Censor, the Military Preparations Commissioner and other officials. They were shocked by the news, and no one had expected that Wuguan could be captured so quietly.

Meng Qiaofang urgently summoned the Eight Banners generals stationed in Xi'an, including An Tai, Ma Zhixian, Fang Baishi and others to discuss how to defend against Wu Sangui.

Everyone agreed that it was impossible for Wu Sangui to have an army of 200,000, but he probably had 80,000 or 90,000 soldiers. At that time in the city of Xi'an, there were only more than 7,000 Green Camp soldiers and more than 1,500 Manchu Eight Banners soldiers.

The Qing court attached great importance to Xi'an. After taking Xi'an, it decided to station 5,000 Eight Banner soldiers there. However, over the years, the army was deployed everywhere, and there were repeated attacks with Meng Jun. The Eight Banner soldiers suffered more and more casualties, and the troops had not been replenished.

In order to accommodate the Eight Banners, the Qing government demolished the Ming Qinwang Palace last year and built an Eight Banners garrison city in the northeast corner of Xi'an city. The outer perimeter was surrounded by high walls, and the families of the garrisoned Eight Banners lived in the city.

In response to Meng Qiaofang's question, An Tai said bluntly: "It is difficult to resist the Wu bandits with only the soldiers in Xi'an."

Shaanxi Governor Ma Zhixian suggested that while asking the court for help, the Green Camp troops who were still suppressing the rebellion in Ganzhou and Yan'an should be recalled, and even Hanzhong and even all the Qing troops still in northern Sichuan could be recalled to defend Xi'an with all their strength.

At first glance, this statement makes some sense, but after a brief thought, Meng Qiaofang realized that it was unrealistic. Wu Sangui had already broken through Wuguan and captured Danfeng and Shangxian. Wu Sangui's army was already rushing all the way to Lantian, and might arrive at Lantian tomorrow.

It is too late to transfer troops from Hanzhong now, let alone northern Sichuan. On the one hand, it takes time to transfer troops from Yan'an and Ganzhou. On the other hand, the two places have reached a critical moment to quell the rebellion. Once the troops are withdrawn, all efforts will be in vain. As for asking the court for help, that is pure nonsense. The court is now unable to take care of itself, so how can it have the time to send help?

After discussing for a long time, An Tai felt more and more that Xi'an could not be defended. There were as many as six or seven thousand Eight Banners soldiers in the city, including their families. If the city was captured, the consequences would be disastrous.

If the more than 8,000 people in the city were all Eight Banners soldiers, An Tai would still have some confidence in defending the city. But now, An Tai has no confidence at all for those Green Camp soldiers.

Therefore, after the meeting, An Tai ordered all family members in the city to pack their luggage overnight, and strictly ordered that each person could only carry one package, and no pots, pans, or utensils were allowed to be brought.