Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 458: Battle of Shanhaiguan (Part )

Meng Jun was a little angry, but he also knew that Spain dared to do this because they felt that the Central Plains was still in chaos and could not do anything to Manila, or that the cost of revenge on them was too high and they would choose to endure it like they did in the Wanli period.

Meng Jun knew that he was too busy to handle all the tasks at once. The main direction of the Zhou army's operations was still in the interior of the country, and it was indeed beyond their reach to reach Luzon. However, Meng Jun was not angry because he was incompetent.

Meng Jun said to all the ministers in a deep voice: "Spain treats me like nothing, so I have decided to ban trade with the barbarians in Manila. At the same time, I will join forces with Zheng Sen to send troops to attack Luzon!"

Yang En hesitated for a moment after hearing this, then stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, Luzon is far away from the Central Plains, and our army should pacify Sichuan and Shaanxi as soon as possible. If we send troops, it may affect the overall situation of unifying the world."

Meng Jun nodded and said, "That's why I want to contact the Zheng family. Zheng Sen and the Western Netherlands have been fighting on the sea for a long time. The joint forces are only a small part, but it sends a signal for Zheng Sen to attack Luzon with all his strength. I have no intention of threatening Fujian!"

Meng Jun paused for a moment, then continued, "Some time ago, Zheng Sen defeated the Western-Dutch coalition at sea. He is reorganizing his infantry and is ready to land in Manila at any time. This is what I am doing just to give the Zheng family a reassurance."

When the ministers heard what Meng Jun said, they could only bow and say, "Everything is up to the king's will. We have no objection."

At the same time that Meng Jun's attention was diverted to Spain, the Battle of Shanhaiguan had been fought for ten days.

These days, Ajige was extremely annoyed. In these days, the Zhou army outside the city attacked the city almost every day, and even took the opportunity to attack the city the night before. If Ajige had not guarded the city tightly, the wall might have been breached by the Zhou army.

Ajige had sent wave after wave of messengers to Shengjing to request reinforcements, but Jirgalang's reply was only to ask Ajige to hold Shanhaiguan, which made Ajige extremely angry.

In the past few days, the debate on whether to hold or withdraw has been going on for three consecutive days in Shengjing City. Jirgalang initially agreed to withdraw from the Liaoxi Corridor, but now hesitant. Finally, Bulbutai came out to ask Jirgalang. Bulbutai said: "The government and the people are undecided, but the King of England is still defending Shanhaiguan. If he advances, we will immediately send reinforcements. If he retreats, we will quickly issue a military order to order the King of England to withdraw from Shanhaiguan!"

………………

Ajige sat on the city wall, wearing a helmet and armor, his face tense and his eyes extremely tired. It was another day of bloody fighting. The strength of the Zhou army was almost ten times that of the defenders. They could attack in waves, but the defenders had no way to do anything. Many brave Eight Banners soldiers died on the wall due to exhaustion in such round-the-clock attacks.

At this time, the outer wall of Shanhaiguan had been damaged in many places due to the continuous artillery bombardment. There were holes and marks of being burned by fire everywhere.

Night falls in the Zhou army camp.

It was another day of failed siege. Although Zhao Yongping knew that Shanhaiguan was not easy to attack, it was the first time that Zhao Yongping had experienced such a difficult city.

During the military meeting at this time, Hao Yongzhong angrily slammed his helmet heavily on the table. His movement was a bit too big, and the arrow wound on his arm broke open.

Hao Yongzhong groaned in pain, then said in a muffled voice: "The wall is too high and too thick. The cannons have been hitting it for so many days, and it has only broken a little. We have been fighting for so many days, but we still can't take it down. If reinforcements come from outside the pass, I think we will have to ask the king for reinforcements."

Wang Fuchen, a subordinate of Jiang Xiang, said: "We have ten times more troops than the defenders inside the pass. If we still ask for reinforcements despite such a huge advantage, we will lose face!"

The generals were discussing the method of capturing the city. The tunnel had been dug for more than ten days, but they had not even dug half the way. At this rate, it would take at least a month to capture Shanhaiguan, and that was based on the assumption that gunpowder could blow down the city wall in one go.

At this time, Wang Fuchen suggested selecting elite soldiers to raid the city tonight. As long as a section of the city tower could be captured, Shanhaiguan would be likely to be breached.

However, Bai Yongfu believed that since they had just raided Guancheng the day before, it would be impossible to succeed if they attacked again today. After hearing what Wang Fuchen said, Jiang Xiang thought that since the attack on the city the day before had failed, everyone believed that it would be impossible to succeed if they attacked it again at night today. The Qing army must have thought so too. This was the art of war which meant to take the enemy by surprise and attack them when they are unprepared.

Seeing that most people were against it, Jiang Xiang snorted and said, "We can use my own troops to attack the city tonight!"

Hearing this, Zhao Yongping, who had been silent all this time, spoke up, "The soldiers are not the soldiers of one person, they are all the king's troops. General Jiang's words are very inappropriate, and there is suspicion that the soldiers are the generals'!"

Jiang Xiang's face changed, and after a while, he said, "This was unintentional, please forgive me, Marshal!"

Zhao Yongping smiled and said, "Of course I know that, but I am worried about you, General. I am afraid that some villains will take your unintentional words out of context and slander you."

Jiang Xiang remained silent. Seeing this, Zhao Yongping said, "Since General Jiang is so confident, we can give it a try. If we can break through the wall in one fell swoop, I will personally commend you for your contribution!"

………………

It was late at night. Ajige was in the attic on the wall of the Fort, holding a long knife in his hand. Ajige was snoring softly. Suddenly, there was a slight movement. Even such a slight movement made Ajige sit up. The sound of Ajige's movement was too loud and immediately reached the ears of Goshaha who was stationed outside the building.

Two Geshaha immediately pushed the door open and Ajige asked in a deep voice, "Who is patrolling the wall tonight?"

"Your Majesty, General Bai is patrolling the city walls tonight!"

"Go and see if there is any movement outside the wall!"

Ajige, who was awakened, was no longer sleepy. He walked out of the gate tower and came to the battlement beside the gate wall. He leaned his hands on the battlement and glanced at the opposite camp, trying to see what was going on there.

Ajige looked at it for a long time, and suddenly cursed: "Damn Jirgalang, it's been ten days and no reinforcements have come."

Ajige knew that the Zhou army was determined to capture Shanhaiguan. Since the siege began, the Zhou army's offensive had become increasingly fierce, with no intention of stopping. There were 10,000 Han soldiers and 4,880 soldiers in the city, with casualties of 600 to 700 people every day. Over the past ten days, more than half of the defenders in the city had been killed or wounded. Ajige had previously believed that they could hold out for a month, but now it seems that he had overestimated.

It was pitch black outside the city, but Ajige vaguely heard some movement below the city. Ajige suddenly shouted, and more than ten rockets were fired from the top of the city towards the distance.

At the moment when the rocket fell, a miserable groan was heard. In the silent night, it was particularly loud. Ajige shouted: "The thieves want to attack the city! Put on your armor and climb the city!!!"