Early the next morning, the Haihan army released two Ming army prisoners and asked them to go outside Zhenjiang City with a letter of persuasion to surrender. At this time, there was no passage in and out of the city in the east, so the hanging basket was quickly lowered on top of the city and pulled them up.
Now that the Zhenjiang city defense has not been truly broken, Yan Chujie does not expect that the defenders in the city will give up resistance just because of a surrender letter. However, when the two armies are facing each other, they still have to go through the process. If they work together, they can save money. Quite a few things.
Yan Chujie only gave his opponent an hour to think about it, but the defenders quickly responded to the Haihan Army outside the city.
Two pieces of cloth, one red and one blue, hung down from the top of the city. Then someone set them on fire. Soon the two pieces of cloth turned into ashes under the rising sun.
Burning the two-color cloth symbolizing Haihan in this way fully demonstrated the attitude of the defenders - not only did they not intend to accept the persuasion to surrender, but they also wanted to use this to anger the Haihan army outside the city.
After Yan Chujie witnessed this scene through the telescope, his expression did not change significantly, and he gave the order to attack the city in a calm tone. Now that the other party has made a choice, there is no point in talking about it. The only way to see the truth is on the battlefield.
The Haihan Army immediately organized a wave of feint attacks on Chaoyang Gate and sent a battalion of infantry to approach the ruins of the Wengcheng outside Chaoyang Gate under the cover of artillery fire. It seemed that they planned to attack the city by force.
The Ming army did not know the opponent's plan. Seeing that Chaoyang Gate had become the focus of the attack, they naturally mobilized the city's defenders to concentrate near Chaoyang Gate. Little did they know that this was the true purpose of the Haihan Army.
Seeing that the defenders had already begun to guard the city, the Haihan army outside the city fired a burst of random shots at the city, but did not launch an attack on the city, but began to slowly retreat.
The defenders on the top of the city didn't know why, but they thought they had repelled the Haihan army's offensive, and they immediately cheered.
However, the Haihan army outside the city stopped after retreating a mile away, as if waiting for something.
While the defenders were still worried about whether there would be another round of bombardment, the Haihan Army had already detonated the batch of explosives buried under the city gate last night.
The violent explosion caused by hundreds of kilograms of explosives instantly overturned the city gate and the ruins of the city tower above it. At the same time, hundreds of defenders gathered near the city gate were also sent to the sky.
Even at the Haihan position two miles away to the east of the city, the ground was shaking slightly at this moment, showing the huge power of the explosion.
The various debris and debris that were blown up into the sky covered a one-mile radius when they fell, and half of Zhenjiang City was enveloped in the smoke and dust created by the explosion.
Many people had no idea what was happening, but some people were already shouting "the city is broken" in panic, which triggered even more people to panic.
Many people flocked to the west and south of the city. There were moats outside the city in these two directions, and the Haihan army did not use them as the direction of attack. As long as the defenders lowered the drawbridge at the city gate, they would have a chance to escape.
But at this moment, the two armies were fighting, how could the suspension bridge be lowered casually, not to mention that the civil and military officials in the city did not issue an order to abandon the city at all.
After the Ming army guarding the city gate shot down dozens of people who tried to rush out of the city with bows and arrows, the fleeing people began to turn into headless flies, running back and forth in the city, looking for every passage out of the city.
The chaos and congestion caused by these people in the city greatly affected the mobilization and redeployment of the defenders. Groups of Ming troops were blocked in narrow sections of the city by crowds eager to flee, and were unable to rush to the East Gate for reinforcements.
When the first team of Ming troops arrived at the scene of the incident, they were shocked to find that there was only a mountain of rubble in front of them, and the entire Chaoyang Gate was gone. What's even more terrifying than this is that the leading troops of the Haihan Army have appeared on the top of the pile of rubble and are launching an attack into the city!
The two sides immediately started a fierce battle at this gap in the city defense, but the well-prepared Haihan Army quickly gained the upper hand, but the defenders' follow-up reinforcements were delayed in arriving on the battlefield due to the chaos in the city.
So "the city is broken" that was heard everywhere in the city soon turned into "Haihan has entered the city". A large number of people, including some Ming troops, began to rush toward the only few exits from the city in a panic.
Of course, there were a very small number of people who were prepared in advance and did not rush to escape at this time. Instead, they hung red and blue flags in front of their homes. It is said that this is one of the most effective ways to deal with the Haihan Army.
About one or two thousand Ming troops, together with some civil and military officials in the city, were blocked by the Haihan army that invaded the city in the Beigu Mountain area in the northeast corner of the city.
This area is the highest-lying area in the city, and is also home to various local government offices.
The buildings here are relatively sturdy, including the ordnance warehouses, which are enough for the defenders to organize the last line of defense in the city.
But the disadvantage is also very obvious, that is, it is a little far away from the city gate where one can escape, and the transportation arteries in the city have fallen into the control of the Haihan Army. At this time, it is already too late to escape.
The defenders responsible for the two southwest city gates finally chose the latter between being captured and escaping.
However, as a large number of people poured out of the city from these two city gates, many people were squeezed into the moat when passing the suspension bridge. Although the moat was only part of an artificial canal and the water was slow-moving and not too deep, some people still drowned in the river.
At this time, the Haihan Army also successfully occupied Dingbo Gate in the north of the city. After two days of soy sauce, the group of people who launched the offensive from the river were finally able to land and enter the city.
The Haihan Army was not in a hurry to pursue the fleeing Ming troops and people. There were large mountainous areas in the south and west of Zhenjiang. Even if they chased them out, there would be no big results. At most, they could capture a few fleeing officials, and these people It is of little value to this military operation.
The chaos in the city basically ended at noon. The Haihan Army controlled most of the area in the city, with only a small number of Ming troops besieged in Beigu Mountain still holding on.
The Haihan Army was not in a hurry to launch a strong attack, but they gradually transported some small-caliber artillery into the city and deployed them around the area, placing all possible escape routes under the muzzle of the artillery.
After some calls to persuade them to surrender, the Ming Dynasty finally responded, but they did not intend to surrender, but requested negotiations.
The conditions proposed by these trapped people were that they could give up resistance, but Haihan military supplies ensured that they could leave Zhenjiang intact.
As one of the conditions in exchange, they will hand over various documents and materials in the government office to the Haihan Army, otherwise they will burn them all as their own burial objects.
To Yan Chujie, the lives of these people are not important, but the household registration and property information in the local government office are of great value to Haihan who is about to take over the place. Naturally, he must try his best to preserve it if possible.