Although some Shun troops took advantage of the chaos to escape, more of them besieged Beijing under the command of Li Zicheng.
One thousand people, two thousand people!
As more and more soldiers rushed forward, Li Zicheng became more and more anxious.
These soldiers were different from the civilians. He would not blink an eye even if 50,000 or 100,000 civilians died, because no matter how many died, as long as he captured a city of the Ming army, he could get reinforcements.
These soldiers were his elite troops, and one less death was one less.
The city wall next to Fuchengmen was finally blown down. If we don't seize the opportunity now, it might be repaired by the Ming army tomorrow.
Li Zicheng gritted his teeth and added another two thousand men, bringing the number of people attacking the city to over ten thousand!
The sound of war drums and artillery fire became more and more frequent, and Li Zicheng's eyes exuded a strong sense of brutality.
Today either Chongzhen will die or Li Zicheng will die!
Before he could solidify this idea in his mind, he heard a scout come to report: "Your Majesty, Desheng Gate has been opened, and a team of more than a thousand people rushed out, half cavalry and half infantry."
Deshengmen? A team of more than a thousand people?
After hearing the news, Li Zicheng's first reaction was that someone had surrendered, but he quickly denied this idea.
If the other side really wanted to surrender, they would directly open the city gate and let the Shun army enter the city instead of leading people to rush out of the city.
To be cautious, he still asked: "Is it the surrendered Ming army?"
"No, they were marching towards Xizhimen when the news came."
Li Zicheng understood the situation after thinking for a moment.
The defenders in the city must have been under great pressure to defend the city, so they had no choice but to send a team of more than a thousand people to harass the outside of the city.
Since the other side has sent out the cavalry, he cannot sit idle.
Thinking of this, he ordered: "Zongmin, send two thousand cavalrymen to show these Ming troops what elite troops are!"
......
"Your Majesty, the Brave Guards are your personal troops. They should stay in the city to protect the imperial city and your Majesty's safety. They cannot be sent out of the city to fight the bandits unless it is absolutely necessary!"
In the archway of Fuchengmen, seeing that Chongzhen was going to send the Yongwei Battalion out of the city to fight, the Governor of the Beijing Camp, Fan Jingwen, tried to persuade him earnestly.
Fan Jingwen had his concerns.
The current situation is that although the Ming army relied on the city walls to block the bandits' attack, it was only temporary.
The city wall next to Fuchengmen was blown up tonight, and the city wall next to Xizhimen may also be blown up tomorrow night.
The Yongwei Battalion is a fire-fighting team. If the Shun army rushes into the city again, they will have to rely on the Yongwei Battalion to deal with these people in a short period of time.
Chongzhen knew Fan Jingwen's concerns, but he had his own ideas.
The Ming army continued to defend the city, even after the city walls were blown down.
Although it seemed like a victory every day, blindly defending the city had a huge impact on morale.
The fact that the Shun army was able to blow down the city wall speaks volumes.
The morale of the defenders is slowly fading. It may be tonight or tomorrow, and this morale will disappear.
By then all his efforts will become a dream.
Therefore, he would rather lose the elite troops of the Yongwei Camp and send them out of the city to fight.
Soon, the Lieutenant General Pang Zijin of the Yongwei Camp had assembled his troops and was ready to go.
"Your Majesty, the Brave Guard Battalion has been assembled. According to your Majesty's orders, everyone going out to fight this time will wear double armor. There are 500 infantry and 500 cavalry, a total of 1,000 people. Your Majesty, please give the orders!"
Chongzhen looked at Pang Zijin and the thousand people behind him and felt a little reluctant.
But, this is war!
People die every moment, and it is more glorious to die on the way to charge than to die in a gentle dream.
"Exit Desheng Gate and enter Xibian Gate. I will personally beat the drum for you at Xibian Gate and await your triumphant return!"
"I have received your order!" Pang Zijin said without any hesitation.
A soldier's duty is to obey orders.
What's more, they are His Majesty's personal troops. Even if they are faced with mountains of swords and seas of fire, he will not retreat even a little.
He jumped on his horse, looked back at his thousand brothers, waved his hand and said, "Let's go!"
A thousand soldiers and horses quickly shuttled through the city and galloped towards Deshengmen.
Chongzhen climbed up to the top of the city wall at the West Gate and looked down again.
Under the moonlight, the mighty Shun army attacked the city wall again and again.
The defenders took advantage of the terrain and the moonlight in the sky to keep wave after wave of Shun troops forever beneath the city walls.
The Shun army could only leave traces of their presence on the city walls by taking advantage of the gaps between the Ming army's firearms fire.
But that soon changed.
Because one army came galloping from the north, then split into two and began charging back and forth on the battlefield.
Five hundred cavalrymen, wearing double armor and holding sabers and lances, quickly moved across the battlefield.
In front of the cavalry, the infantry without formation are lambs to be slaughtered!
The Ming Army cavalry has four major characteristics: soft bows, long arrows, fast horses, and light swords!
The first thing the cavalry did after joining the battle was not to rush into the battlefield, but to leave the battlefield. According to the position of the enemy infantry on the battlefield, they chose a suitable angle and rushed in at an early speed.
This is the only way to be a fast horse!
Pang Zijin had fought in Liaodong and was well aware of the principles involved.
After he left Deshengmen, he immediately separated the cavalry and infantry, and then led his men to make a detour and rush towards Xizhimen.
The defenders in the city had already received the news. In order not to hurt friendly forces by mistake, they pointed their guns and cannons at the Shun army under the city. For a time, the Shun army under the city suffered heavy casualties.
Pang Zijin led 500 cavalrymen and rushed into the battlefield after making a half circle.
The sword used by the Ming army in the late Ming Dynasty was called a waist sword. It was a long sword used with one hand, combining some characteristics of Japanese swords, with a slender shape and a slightly curved handle.
This waist knife was first used by the Qi Family Army and is also known as the Qi Family Knife. It is well made and light in shape, and has a reputation of being as bright as water and as light as paper.
Under the command of Pang Zijin, the cavalry in front chopped with swords. Relying on the speed of the horses, the swords in their hands easily cut through the cotton armor of the Shun army, causing damage.
Although some injuries are not fatal, the psychological damage they cause is much more serious than physical damage.
Before the wounded soldiers could recover, they were slit in the throat by the cavalrymen who rushed up from behind, or shot in the face with arrows and died.
By the time the infantrymen reacted, the cavalrymen had already rushed far away.
The five hundred cavalrymen were like a sickle reaping lives, waving left and right outside the city to reap lives.
The attackers were the elite troops of the Shun army. After a brief panic, they realized that their cavalry were few in number, so they formed a battle formation under the command of their respective generals.
In the blink of an eye, the infantrymen all over the mountains gathered into several square formations, each of them carefully responding with weapons in hand.
Seeing the Shun army forming a battle array, Pang Zijin did not arrange for the cavalry to charge, but took out bows and arrows and shouted: "Everyone, soft bows and long arrows, fly the kite!"
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