Chapter 312: Bloody Battle in Xiangyang

Just as he was talking, Huguang Governor He Tengjiao was held hostage by two Daxi Army soldiers and headed to the top of the city.

Li Dingguo stopped the topic just now and turned to He Tengjiao and said, "Mr. He, the Ming Dynasty's official army has already arrived outside the city. Seeing that the war is approaching, I do not want anyone to cause trouble for the Daxi Army. Therefore, I hope you can do a good job of appeaseing the people and never force us to do something we didn't want to do, okay?"

He Tengjiao snorted and said, "Li Dingguo, the Ming Dynasty is in sight. The Daxi rebels, like the Dashun rebels, have no way to survive. I would like to advise you that if you change your course now, if you still have time to resist and fight against the court, you will definitely not have any good ending in the end."

More than a dozen Western generals behind Li Dingguo were furious when they heard this, and two of them even drew their swords to kill He Tengjiao.

Li Dingguo suddenly raised his hand and stopped the two generals of the Western Conference. He said calmly: "Mr. He is different, and it is your business to be a hawk in the court. But our Western Conference will never be a hawk in the court. We want to create a brand new Dawk in the world."

"A brand new Great Western Kingdom?" He Tengjiao said coldly, "Is a country full of killing and unable to even eat?"

"Aren't it all forced by the Ming court?" Li Dingguo said coldly, "If it weren't for the Ming court, how could our Daxi Kingdom be as poor as it is now?"

"Just!" He Tengjiao sneered, "It is natural for the court to suppress the rebels. How can we say that? But I don't want to argue with you today. I only know one fact. Since Sichuan Province became the hands of your Daxi Rebels, the people of the whole province have lived a miserable life of not being able to eat and be in danger. But look at Huguang Province under my rule. Huguang Province was just hit by the military disaster of Zuo Liangyu's rebels last year, but in less than a year, the people have lived a good life again. Can you ask you Daxi Rebels do it?"

Li Dingguo was silent, and He Tengjiao was talking about the facts.

After the Daxi Army entered Sichuan, it not only did not bring any benefits to the people of Sichuan, but instead brought them serious disasters. Zhang Xianzhong's Daxi Army's military discipline was much worse than that of Li Zicheng's Daxi Army. The Daxi Army only ate big families, but the Daxi Army even robbed ordinary people. Li Dingguo made a lot of remarks about this, but he could only restrain his subordinates.

As for the people of Huguang, Li Dingguo knew even more that the Western Army risked being surrounded and annihilated by the Ming army to attack Huguang. Isn’t it just to rob the food mentioned by the people of Huguang?

"Is there nothing to say?" He Tengjiao sighed, "Your Xi'an army can't even support the people, so why are you talking about creating a brand new Xi'an country? Do you want the people of the world to follow you to burn, kill, and rob. In the end, no one can kill, but when they rob, they will all starve to death?"

"Shut up!" Li Dingguo couldn't bear it anymore, and pulled his sword to put it on He Tengjiao's neck, and said sternly, "Say one more thing, I will kill you immediately."

"Kill." He Tengjiao glanced at the steel knife that was on his neck contemptuously and said calmly, "From the moment you were captured, I did not plan to live, but before I die, I would like to advise you that you will not have a good end to follow Zhang Xianzhong, a traitor. Now the road lover knows that it is too late to return. When you really have the end of your journey in the future, it will be too late..."

There was a cold murderous intent in Li Dingguo's eyes, and then he laughed loudly: "Mr. He, I almost fell for you. Haha, if I cut this sword, wouldn't it have made you loyal and wise? No, I will not kill you. You have to live well and look at it with your eyes. I want to tell you with facts that the Great Western Army is not what you imagined. The Great Western Army, which our soldiers of the Great Western blood fought for, is not as unbearable as you imagine. One day you will understand this truth. One day, you will be willing to join our Great Western!"

"Is that true?" He Tengjiao smiled and said, "Then you might as well live two more days and see how the Central Army of the Ming Dynasty wiped out your Daxi Army."

"Take it down." Li Dingguo waved his hand and ordered the two Daxi soldiers to say, "Take him along the street to appease the people."

"yes."

Two soldiers from Daxi agreed to take the order.

Li Dingguo turned to one of the Great Western generals behind him and asked in a narrow voice: "Have you sent out the people who reported to the Great General?"

"When I just entered the city last night, General Ms. had sent someone there." The general of the Western Western responded, "It should have arrived at the general's tent at this moment."

"Yes." Li Dingguo nodded and said, "Send someone to urgently call the general and ask the main army to come to Xiangyang for support. With the three thousand elite soldiers in the city, they can only last for two to three days at most. If the general's army cannot arrive in time, then Xiangyang City will be lost again, and we will inevitably end up with the destruction of the entire army."

The generals said in unison: "What the general said is very true."

"Okay." Li Dingguo waved his hand and said, "Everyone will go down and prepare for each other. Remember to closely observe the movements outside the east, west and south gates. Although the Ming army has only been found outside the north gate now, you must not relax your vigilance in the other three directions. If there is any movement, report it immediately."

"yes."

The generals agreed and went there.

Watching the generals leave, Li Dingguo looked up and breathed a long sigh. The expression on his face suddenly became solemn, and he whispered to himself: "Is the Central Army of the Ming Dynasty really as powerful as the legend? Can a long spear and a big sword really beat a musket and cannon? I, Li Dingguo, don't believe in evil..."

On the south bank of the Han River, Yangpei Beach.

The main force of Sun Kewang's Great Western Army was stationed here last night. After Li Dingguo led 3,000 elite troops to leave, Sun Kewang slowed down the marching speed and marched all the way to Xiangyang along the south bank of the Han River. When Li Dingguo's elite troops suddenly appeared outside Xiangyang City for nearly 300 miles, Sun Kewang's army had advanced less than a hundred miles, and was still two hundred miles away from Xiangyang.

It was dim and Sun Kewang woke up from his sleep, and the bone-eroding numbness came from his lower body.

That was the brothel singer brought from Sun Kewang from Chengdu. Not only was he beautiful in appearance, but he was also good at singing and dancing. He especially tasted a good flute. Every time, Sun Kewang wanted to die. Originally, Sun Kewang planned to give her to Zhang Xianzhong, but after enjoying her skills in savoring Xiao, he gave up this idea.

At this moment, the woman's head was lying between Sun Kewang's crotch, and was blowing the silence for Sun Kewang.

The light in the tent was a little dim, but Sun Kewang could still see the woman's tempting figure. Her delicate body squatting on the wool blanket was naked, and her slim waist was suddenly enlarged under her buttocks. The two round and plump buttocks were always Sun Kewang's favorite.

“Turn around.”

Sun Kewang patted the woman's snow buttocks, and the woman turned around obediently.

Sun Kewang reached out and gently stroked the woman's bare snow buttocks, and his eyes quickly became hot. Just as he was about to rise up, he was leaping on his horse and swinging his sword, the voice of the captain of his personal soldiers suddenly sounded outside the tent: "General, the second general condemns people urgently."

Sun Kewang groaned from his nostrils, frowned and said unhappy: "Let him wait outside first, I am busy now."

"yes."

The response of the captain of the personal soldiers was heard outside the tent, and then the footsteps gradually faded away. Sun Kewang took a breath and overturned the woman beside him on the soft wool blanket, and then jumped up. The woman's plump body was like a pile of soft cotton, bringing Sun Kewang an inexplicable comfort.

The people sent by Li Dingguo to report the news were waiting for half an hour. It was not until dawn that Sun Kewang came out of the tent with a tired look on his face, and asked, "Ha... I owe, has the second general succeeded?"

"Report to the General." The envoy responded respectfully, "The second general has succeeded."

"Hmm?" Sun Kewang was suddenly surprised. The tiredness and sleepiness on his face disappeared in an instant, and he said in a cold voice, "What, what did you say!?"

The envoy could not hide the excitement in his expression and said, "Report to the general, the second general has captured Xiangyang!"

"Hiss..." Sun Kewang took a breath of air, unable to believe his ears, and murmured, "Is this true?"

The messenger responded excitedly: "Of course it's true, and he captured the governor of Huguang He Tengjiao alive."

At this time, several senior generals of the Daxi Army had gathered with Sun Kewang. When he heard this, he couldn't help but be angry and praised Li Dingguo for his good fighting. Sun Kewang felt extremely harsh and his expression suddenly became unnatural. Li Dingguo succeeded in Xiangyang, which was a great good thing for the Daxi Army, but Sun Kewang may not be a good thing. If he was not done well, it would be a disaster.

"What are you holding up? What's the point of lifting up?" Sun Kewang suddenly became angry from his heart and frowned, "Look at your prospects, you'll be so happy that you can only capture a small Xiangyang City? If one day I really lead the main force of the Great Western Army to capture the entire province of Huguang, wouldn't you all go crazy?"

"That's it." A general from the West praised, "General, since the second general has captured Xiangyang, then we should hurry to Xiangyang to meet him? Speaking of which, the brothers have not had fun for a long time. Xiangyang is a big city. There must be many wealthy families in the city, and there are more women, hehehe..."

"Yes, General." Another general in the West also said, "Although the second general succeeded in the surprise attack on Xiangyang, he only had three thousand elite soldiers under his command. If the imperial court mobilized a large army to counterattack Xiangyang, it would be impossible for the three thousand troops to last long. We have to hurry to Xiangyang and meet the second general."

Sun Kewang originally planned to speed up the marching and rush to Xiangyang to meet with Li Dingguo, but after hearing what the general in the Western world said, he immediately gave up this idea. An evil thought suddenly arose in his heart: Li Dingguo only has three thousand troops under him, and the court will mobilize a large army to counterattack...

"Not right!" Sun Kewang raised his hand suddenly and said decisively, "Don't forget that Xiangyang is a strong city. His father led a 100,000 army to attack for several months but failed to capture it. However, his second brother captured Xiangyang with only three thousand elite soldiers. Don't you think this is very suspicious? Who can be sure that this is not a trap?"

The generals looked at each other and did not dare to speak for a moment.

Sun Kewang became even more excited and continued, "If this is an official army trap, we broke in one end, have you ever thought about the consequences? We will go without going back. The 80,000 Daxi Army will become the fish on the chopping board of the Ming Dynasty's official army, and will become dogs and sheep at the slaughter of others. I will also become the sinners of Daxi Country!"

The generals dared not refute it, and a few smart people had guessed Sun Kewang's thoughts.

"Send the order." Sun Kewang ordered loudly, "The army temporarily stationed in Yangpitan, and will not move forward today. In addition, we should send more probes to increase the investigation of the north and south sides of the Han River. Once a large group of officials are found to be ambushed, we will immediately repay!"

Xiangyang, North Gate.

After a brief preparation, Li Chengdong's 10th Musket Battalion took the lead in launching the attack.

Li Chengdong adopted the tactics of Tang Sheng's attack on Beijing, that is, to suppress the defenders at the city with muskets, and then use the Dragon King cannon to bomb the defenders at the city with a large number of killing and injuring the enemy troops in the city. After the enemy troops in the city lose their ability to resist, they then use the clustered Dragon King cannon to open the city gate and carry out the final battle to seize the city.

Amid the loud trumpets, more than 5,000 officers and soldiers from the 10th Musket Battalion were dispatched, setting up shooting queues in the wilderness, and slowly pressing towards the north gate of Xiangyang with neat steps. Although the 10th Musket Battalion was established for less than a year, after being tempered by the battle of Jining, it has completely become an iron-blooded army, and it has a solemn atmosphere when it is marching.

Li Dingguo stood solemnly at the head of Xiangyang City with a basin, and an inexplicable solemn expression appeared in his eyes.

It is obvious that the military qualities demonstrated by the Central Army of the Ming Dynasty were even better than Li Dingguo imagined. Li Dingguo never thought that an army could be trained like this!

Unified standard military uniforms, unified weapons, and unified long tubes and thick-soled horse boots are nothing special. If the Western Army had enough money, it would be possible, but the Western Army should be trained to be neatly and orderly like the Central Army, which Li Dingguo said he could not do it.

There is also the solemn and murderous aura that the Central Army showed during the march, which was not available to the Daxi Army. Compared with the Ming Central Army outside the city, Li Dingguo felt that the Daxi Army under his command was more like a mob.

In fact, the Daxi Army was not as unbearable as Li Dingguo thought. Although the Daxi Army, especially the 3,000 elite soldiers under Li Dingguo, were not as strict as the Central Army, they also had murderous aura. However, they could only be called bandit aura, which was incomparable to the solemn aura revealed by the Central Army of the Ming Dynasty.

There is an essential difference between the Central Army and the Daxi Army. This difference is that the soldiers of the Central Army have life ideals. Whether they are to be generals or to make their families live a good life, at least they know what they are fighting for and what they are fighting for? But the soldiers of the Daxi Army have no life ideals, and they don’t know why they fight for?

In a flash, the Central Army had entered the shooting distance.

Li Chengdong, who was marching at the front of the queue, let out his trombone and pulled out his waist knife and raised it high. The slowly moving queue behind him immediately stopped. With another order, the thousand musketeers in the first row raised the muskets in their hands, and a row of black muzzles had already aimed at the head of Xiangyang City.

At the top of Xiangyang City, Li Dingguo knew that the Central Army was going to open fire, so he hurriedly hid behind the douji, and shouted loudly: "Squat down quickly, squat behind the douji, no one is allowed to appear, hurry..."

There were about four or five hundred soldiers from the west on the top of the city. When they heard Li Dingguo's shouts, most of them were short and shrank behind the dove, but there were still dozens of soldiers from the West who were self-reliant in their ability to disagree with this. After all, the peasant army was a peasant army, and these guys did not take Li Dingguo's military order seriously.

"Boom boom boom..."

A dense gunfire sounded, and a row of bullets roared to the top of the city. The balustrades on the city were immediately beaten to pieces, and the smoke and dust rolled over. The dozens of Daxi soldiers who did not hide behind the balustrade immediately fell down. The remaining Daxi soldiers who were lucky enough not to be hit did not dare to be forced to do so, so they hurriedly hid behind the balustrade.

Taking advantage of the gap between the Central Army's shooting, Li Dingguo looked out, and saw that the first row of Central Army had already squatted down on the spot and refilled ammunition. However, the second row of muskets had already raised the muskets in his hand and shouted again: "Do not hide, no one is allowed to emerge without the order of my commander..."

"Boom boom boom..."

Another row of dense bullets roared. This time, the soldiers of Daxi learned their lessons and no one was shot and injured.

But at this moment, Li Dingguo suddenly found a row of Central Army soldiers rushing out from behind the shooting queue and swarming towards the city in a messy scattered formation. The sprinting speed of the Central Army was very fast. Just when Li Dingguo was stunned, he had already rushed through dozens of steps, and was less than a hundred steps away from the city wall.

What made Li Dingguo even more confused was that the Central Army was not holding muskets, but black things. Li Dingguo was stunned for a moment and then shouted: "Dragon King Cannon! Damn it is the Dragon King Cannon. Send arrows to stop them. You must never let them get close to the city gate!"

Li Dingguo did not know that the Central Army was going to use the Dragon King cannon to blow up the defenders on the city. He thought that the Central Army was going to blow up the city gate. Li Dingguo was afraid that the city gate would be blown up and the Central Army would flock in, so he quickly ordered archers to shoot arrows to stop the Central Army from approaching, and even if he would suffer some casualties.

At the command of Li Dingguo, more than 200 archers stood up from behind the balustrade, put their bows and arrows on the city and shot arrows. With the harsh sound of breaking through the air, hundreds of sharp arrows intertwined into a dense rain of arrows, and piled up towards the Central Army soldiers who were sprinting forward at the city.

Although the Western Army is mostly a mob, there are also many real elites who have lived for the rest of their lives. The three thousand elite soldiers under Li Dingguo are elite soldiers selected from one in a hundred. They almost all came out of the dead. Not only do they have good psychological qualities, but they also have extraordinary killing skills. This round of shooting showed that their lethality was coming. More than ten Central Army soldiers who were sprinting forward with Dragon King cannons fell down!

The total number of archers in the Western Army was only more than 200, but after one round of shooting, more than ten people were shot dead and injured. It is undoubtedly quite amazing that cold weapons such as bows and arrows have such a killing rate outside a hundred steps. This also proves from some point of view the quality of the three thousand elite soldiers under Li Dingguo. The elite soldiers crawling out of the dead are indeed not covered!

Li Chengdong in the distance saw it clearly, and the corners of his mouth twitched twice!

There were casualties so quickly, and many people were killed and killed, which was rare in the history of the Central Army. You should know that under Wang Pu's command, the casualties of the Central Army from beginning to end in the entire Jining Battle were only a few! That was the casualties that the Central Army chose to fight against the Jiannu Iron Cavalry head-on in order to show its military power.

But now, under the command of Li Chengdong, the Central Army had already suffered more than a dozen casualties before they could approach the city wall!

It was almost time to say that when the Daxi Army archers on the top of the city fired the first arrow, the third musketeers of the Central Army also opened fire, and the scorching lead bullets roared. Because the distance was too far, the Central Army's hit rate was not satisfactory, but seventy or eighty Daxi Army archers were still shot and fell into a pool of blood.

Like Li Chengdong, Li Dingguo's heart was also twitching. One round of shooting caused the Western Army to lose thirty or forty archers. The price was too heavy, so heavy that Li Dingguo could hardly bear it!

However, Li Dingguo knew that this was not the time to feel distressed. Li Dingguo knew very well what would happen after letting the Ming army holding the Dragon King cannon approach the city gate? Once the city gate was blown up, with less than 3,000 elite soldiers in the city, they could not resist the Ming Central Army that was swarming up in no matter what!

"Substitution!" Li Dingguo's face turned pale and he roared angrily, "Continue to shoot arrows, never let those damn guys approach the city gate, never..."
To be continued...