nucmednet Chapter 664 Dark clouds threaten to destroy the city
Chapter 664 Dark clouds threaten to destroy the city
Liu Ye was overjoyed upon hearing this: "With your two helpers, I feel much more at ease."
Hu Dawei was an impatient man, and he acted immediately. He set off, saying, "Since we're going into the city, I need to hurry back to camp and reorganize the troops."
Liu Ye suddenly remembered the Minister of War who had swallowed rhubarb in search of a quick death, and casually asked, "How is Zhang Fengyi now?"
"That coward?" Hu Dawei replied with disdain, "I consulted a doctor who said he ate too much rhubarb, and even a god couldn't save him. He'll only live for the next two or three days. The same goes for Liang Tingdong, the former Minister of War. Both of them will die together."
Hearing that he was a dying man, Liu Ye didn't bother with him anymore. Since he wanted to die, he would let him fend for himself.
As soon as dawn broke, tens of thousands of troops marched towards the capital outside Yongding Gate. From the time Liu Ye left the city to the time he assembled his troops and launched a counterattack, less than an hour had passed.
During this relatively short period, several small-scale attacks were launched from within the city in an attempt to regain control of Yongding Gate. However, these spontaneous and sporadic attacks posed little threat to the special forces. When firearms units with a generational advantage occupied advantageous terrain for defense, the melee weapon units, lacking numerical superiority, were simply easy targets.
When Liu Ye returned to Yongding Gate, he said disdainfully, "These civil officials are good at underhanded tactics, but when it comes to direct confrontation, they're nothing but a pile of shit! For so long, they haven't mobilized troops to strengthen the defenses of the city gates. Are their brains filled with mush?"
Hu Dawei sneered beside him, "Brother, you don't know this. These civil officials are all about strategizing and winning battles from afar. They wish they could command hundreds of thousands or even millions of troops. Naturally, they don't care about trivial matters like guarding city gates."
Yang Guozhu asked, "General Liu, now that we're all in, we'll follow your lead on what to do next."
"Then I'll take the liberty of assigning you two tasks!" Liu Ye said. "There will be Beijing garrison troops inside the city, but they're no match for us. We'll split into three groups, pass through the inner city and the imperial city, and meet up at the Forbidden City. Along the way, we'll disarm the Beijing garrison and then launch a surprise attack on the emperor. What do you say?"
Hu Dawei nodded and said, "I'll listen to you. Qionghai Army will take the route from Zhengyangmen to Chengtianmen, I'll go straight to Dong'anmen from Chongwenmen, and Yang Guozhu, you can go to Xi'anmen from Heyimen. We'll meet up at the foot of the Forbidden City from the south, east, and west."
“Then let’s do it this way!” Yang Guozhu said. “However, there’s something I must remind you both of. We’re here to offer advice, not to fight. Even if the army can’t completely refrain from committing any offenses, it must at least restrain its men from looting along the way and from harming anyone. Once we reach the Forbidden City, we must discuss everything with the Emperor properly and absolutely not be disrespectful. If you can’t do that, I’ll immediately lead my men out of the city and stay out of this mess…”
"No problem," Liu Ye readily agreed. "I know what I'm doing. I won't be so short-sighted. I would never plunder the people." As for the second request, it was somewhat wishful thinking. Bringing a large army into the capital—wasn't that insubordination? However, Liu Ye didn't point it out. He let Yang Guozhu comfort himself. Yang Guozhu had come to defend the emperor, but he had dragged him into the rebellion. He should be more understanding of Yang Guozhu's self-deception.
Hu Dawei patted his chest and assured him, "I'm not that short-sighted; I would never do something so dishonest!"
After the three military leaders reached an agreement, tens of thousands of fierce soldiers entered the city through Yongding Gate and rushed towards the Forbidden City in three directions. Because the army was so large, it took nearly an hour just to pass through Yongding Gate.
The armies of Shanxi and Xuanfu garrisons on the eastern and western routes, clad in bright armor and wielding countless swords and spears, were incredibly imposing. The tax officials and soldiers at Chongwen Gate, upon seeing the overwhelming force, didn't even have the courage to shout to stop them, and fled. The same happened at Heyi Gate on the other side. The Qionghai army on the central route, though lacking eye-catching armor and with their drab Qionghai-style rifles less striking than gleaming swords, maintained an air of impenetrable discipline and silent march, which only intensified the oppressive atmosphere among the people of the capital.
When the army arrived, dark clouds loomed over the city, plunging the entire capital into panic. Shops that had just opened immediately boarded up their doors and closed again, and ordinary people who had gone out to work all turned back to their homes and stayed indoors. From the county government to the Shuntian Prefecture government, all levels of government offices recalled the yamen runners, constables, and clerks on the streets to avoid angering the soldiers.
Everyone peered through the crack in the door at the massive army that was passing by like a tide outside. Everyone was thinking to themselves: Is this the start of a rebellion by the army outside the city? Could it be that the Ming Dynasty, which has lasted for hundreds of years, is about to be overthrown today?
Well-off families were terrified, kneeling in their homes and praying to Buddha, hoping not to suffer the ravages of the rebel army. Throughout history, it is always the common people who suffer first in times of war, and wealthy families are always the first to be targeted.
The three armies entered the inner city through Zhengyangmen, Chongwenmen, and Heyimen respectively without bloodshed, only to encounter resistance from the Beijing garrison. The Beijing garrison, already grieving the destruction of their camps, discovered something even worse and had no choice but to grit their teeth and meet the main force head-on.
On the eastern route, Shanxi Town encountered the Central Army, Left Wing, and Right Wing of the Five Armies Camp, as well as the Loyalty Camp and Righteousness Camp. On the western route, Xuanfu Town encountered the Battle Battalion, Chariot Battalion, and Garrison Battalion of the Divine Pivot Camp. Without exchanging words, the two sides started fighting fiercely, with huge shouts of battle and the sound of swords clashing echoing over the city.
Meanwhile, the Qionghai Army in the middle faced off against the Shenji Battalion, and the two sides met in an open square. Liu Ye knew that the Shenji Battalion was the vanguard that ambushed him last night, and the Shenji Battalion also knew that the person opposite them was the target they had bombarded but failed to kill last night. "Enemies meeting" naturally ignited their hatred, and they immediately went into battle.
As the core force of the Beijing Garrison, the Shenji Battalion maintained a good level of performance even in the context of the garrison's increasing decline. Without the constraints of civil officials, Fu Ankang, the deputy commander of the main force, also demonstrated the qualities of a qualified firearms unit commander, which was in stark contrast to his indecisive performance last night.
Under his command, thousands of arquebusiers came to the front and lined up in three rows, beginning the tedious process of loading ammunition, while the troops in the rear were ready to fill in at any time—the reason why not all the troops were sent up was because the troops could not be deployed in this area.
The Qionghai Army marched in formation according to their unit numbers, with the First Regiment at the very front. Liu Ye ordered the messenger: "Order Regiment Commander Shi Ying to resolve the battle as quickly as possible, avoiding any protracted fighting. I need to reach the Forbidden City before noon!"
After receiving the order to finish the battle quickly, Quartz observed the distance between the two sides, the enemy's troop deployment, and the complex firing procedure of the musket, and made a bold decision.
"Pass on my order: The First Battalion advances fifty paces and opens fire when the enemy is thirty paces away!"