Having said that, Qiu Yizhi knew in his heart that the number of soldiers that King Zheng Gui of Lingnan could mobilize was no more than 40,000, and no more than 50,000 at most. Although these people were in high spirits and had strong combat effectiveness, they had to be dispersed in three directions, and each city gate had no more than 20,000 soldiers at most.
In this situation, as long as they could identify a direction where the troops were slightly weaker, concentrate the elite troops under Qiu Yizi and Liu Qing, and launch a fierce attack, there was still a great hope of escaping from the enemy's encirclement.
But he was unwilling to do so. If he really escaped from Jinling City with only a few hundred or a thousand soldiers, it would be equivalent to fleeing in panic. This would not only be undignified, but also mean that the Jiangnan Road had finally fallen into the hands of the King of Lingnan. Although there were many difficulties and dangers, the most important mission that Emperor Zheng Rong sent Qiu Yizhi to Jiangnan would fail, which could not be explained in any way.
Thinking of this, Qiu Yizhi sighed, "We have failed the emperor's grace and lost this important town in the south of the Yangtze River. We have no face to live in this world. The only plan now is to fight with the King of Lingnan in the streets, consume his troops and military strength, and die in the city of Jinling. This will be considered as living up to the emperor's expectations and making some contribution to the emperor's future rebellion."
After listening to this, Liu Qing also let out a long sigh - Qiu Yizi, the son of the emperor who was treated as his own son, and who held a small seventh-rank civil servant title, still wanted to live and die with the city of Nanjing; he was just a retainer of the Prince of Youyan's Mansion, and was the chief military officer who had to bear all the responsibilities. Now that Nanjing had fallen, how could he just live on
Seeing that Liu Qing had nothing to say, Qiu Yizhi asked again, "Is there any strong fortress here that can be defended?"
Liu Qing shook his head and said, "I didn't think the King of Lingnan could actually attack the city. There aren't any strong fortifications. But there are many tall restaurants and inns in Jinling City. We can defend from the high ground and in every street and alley. Maybe we can hold out for a while."
Qiu Yizi didn't take this seriously - the city was now breached on three sides and facing water on one side, it had become a dead end, and their morale was blown to pieces by the constantly exploding gunpowder. If they were to disperse their troops, they wouldn't even have time to surrender to the enemy, so who would be willing to fight the enemy desperately
But there is no better way now, Qiu Yizi can only sigh again, pretending that he has not considered this point: "Well, now we can only break up the whole into parts and consume the main force of the King of Lingnan's elite troops piecemeal. Just deploy it like this."
Liu Qing did not rush to call on his deputy generals to deploy the battle, but asked Qiu Yizhi: "I wonder what His Highness Yi's plan is? If His Highness Yi is also trapped in this city, even if I die, I will not be able to explain to the emperor!"
Although Liu Qing's question sounded high-sounding, he secretly hid a little trick in his mind - he also knew that Qiu Yizi, the emperor's adopted son, was always resourceful and unexpected, and maybe he really had some way to escape - as long as he stayed close to him, there might be a way to escape.
But Qiu Yizi still looked discouraged and said, "You don't need to explain this matter. I have my own ideas. First, go to Mr. Lin's manor to pick up the little girl from my family, and then go to Yanziji Wharf to fight with the King of Lingnan. I think the scenery here is good. If the battle is not going well, you can immediately jump into the river and commit suicide, so as not to be captured alive by the King of Lingnan and suffer humiliation for no reason."
After saying this, Qiu Yizi, without waiting for Liu Qing to reply, called Zhao Chengxiao, supported the dizzy Lin Shuhan, and went to his manor under the protection of more than 200 elite soldiers under his command.
Inside the manor, Yuchi Jiming was protecting Wu Ruofei, Yang Qiaoer, Yang Yinger, Heer and others. They were all dressed neatly and sitting in the carriage, anxiously waiting for the men to come back.
They saw that Qiu Yizi, Lin Shuhan, Zhao Chengxiao and others had returned safely, but they were all covered in dust and looked exhausted. They had already guessed that there would be a tough battle ahead, but they couldn't guess whether they would win or lose the battle, and they didn't dare to ask.
Yuchi Jiming was still the braver one, and he stepped forward and asked, "Uncle, how is the battle going? Did you suffer a defeat? I say, if you bring me with you, you will definitely be able to win the battle..."
If an ordinary person had said such sarcastic words to Qiu Yizhi when he was defeated, Qiu Yizhi would have been angry. However, seeing Yuchi Jiming's innocent look, he could not get angry at all. He smiled bitterly and said, "Yes, I regret it too. But there is no regret medicine in the world. We have to go to Yanziji Wharf as soon as possible... The feng shui and terrain there are good... Maybe there will be some turning point..."
The female members of the family were all ignorant of military affairs, and they only knew that Qiu Yi had always won in battle, so they did not have much doubt and sat in two carriages to set off.
Lin Shuhan was quite careful. Seeing that the two carriages were very heavy, he guessed that they must be loaded with a lot of gold and silver. He suddenly sneered, "It's already this late. Why do you still want to keep these heartless things?"
Before he finished speaking, Wu Ruofei raised the curtain and retorted: "You think we are all women, don't you understand? These are all prepared for you to reward your soldiers. You really don't know how to be kind. We sisters even hurriedly steamed hundreds of buns to feed our brothers. Are we also heartless people?"
Wu Ruofei is Lin Shuhan's nemesis. Every word she said made sense, leaving Lin Shuhan speechless and unable to get angry.
Qiu Yizi knew that time was running out, so he hurried over to smooth things over: "Oh, there are steamed buns? I've smelled the fragrance a long time ago." In fact, his nose had long lost its sense of smell due to the sulfur smell of the northern gunpowder explosion. "Just give it to everyone first. We've been fighting for a whole day and a half, and we're already hungry. Eating while walking won't delay the time."
As he spoke, Qiu Yizi mounted his horse, took the two steamed buns handed to him by Yang Ying'er, shook it, chewed the mixture of delicious gravy and fishy smoke in his mouth carefully, and then swallowed it. In a trance, his eyeballs were actually a little moist - perhaps, this was the last meal he could have in this world.
Everyone around him, from Lin Shuhan and Zhao Chengxiao to every militiaman, was given two steamed buns, which they swallowed down with dust, sweat and blood.
Qiu Yizi was very familiar with the roads in Jinling City. The road from Lin Shuhan's manor to Yanziji Wharf had not yet been affected by the war, so the movement along the way was quite smooth. In just a cup of tea, everyone had arrived at the Yanziji Wharf on horseback.
Qiu Yizi had fought with martial artists brought by Tianzun Sect Leader Wen Honghui here before, and had some experience with the terrain here. He also saw a few warships patrolling in the Yangtze River outside the pier, so he did not dare to get too close to the pier, and chose a restaurant on the street to command the battle.
But he felt that if he stayed on the top of the building, he would be easily surrounded by the enemy and fall into a desperate situation, so he moved downstairs and personally commanded his "Dangshiying", elite soldiers, crossbowmen and other soldiers to choose a favorable terrain, waiting for the arrival of the King of Lingnan, and then fight the last battle. They could not bear to kill the horses they rode, but hid them in a warehouse facing the river. As for whether they could be used in the future, it all depended on fate.
However, after waiting for a while, the King of Lingnan Zheng Gui did not come, but the Jiedushi Liu Qing came.
He was seen running hurriedly along the main road in the city, followed by five or six hundred personal guards. His clothes and armor were in tatters and he looked very embarrassed.
Qiu Yi's elite soldiers had entered the most tense state of war. Although they saw that the soldiers running towards them were all wearing official military uniforms, and that the leader Liu Qing was not a stranger, they still had to be on guard against spies sent by the King of Lingnan, and stopped Liu Qing and others outside without hesitation.
Liu Qing was anxious. He saw Qiu Yizhi talking to Lin Shuhan in a tavern not far away, so he shouted at the top of his voice: "Your Highness Yi! It's me! It's me! Liu Qing!"
When Qiu Yizi heard the shouting, he saw from afar that it was Liu Qing coming. He had no mood to joke with him, so he immediately stood up and asked the soldiers to let him in.
Liu Qing quickly ran to Qiu Yizhi and whispered, "Your Highness Yi, the Lingnan Army is really powerful. Our army couldn't hold out after fighting in the streets for less than an hour. Now the King of Lingnan is personally leading his army to attack the governor's office, and Governor Qian is leading the soldiers of the government office to resist. I'm afraid they won't be able to hold out for much longer..."
Such battle report did not surprise Qiu Yizi.
The Lingnan Army was good at mountain warfare, but was unfamiliar with street fighting. However, both were close-range fights in a narrow space, and with Lingnan King Zheng Gui in command, the Lingnan Army must have adapted to street fighting very quickly.
The morale of the imperial defenders had almost reached the point of collapse. Facing the attack of the Lingnan Army, which was at its peak, they realized from the very start of the battle that they were no match for the enemy. Some surrendered, some retreated. However, in just over an hour, most of Jinling City had fallen, leaving only the northwest corner, which was also in danger.
The situation was like this, Qiu Yizi didn't want to blame Liu Qing, and said coldly: "There is nothing we can do about it. Now there is no hope of success, and the only way to serve the country is to die for it. I think Yanziji has a great feng shui and scenery, and it is a good place to bury loyal bones. Why don't we fight to the death with the King of Lingnan here?"
Although Liu Qing was a bit mediocre as a military commander, he was loyal to Zheng Rong. Seeing that he was in a desperate situation, his blood was completely aroused. He patted his chest and said, "It is an honor for me to die in battle with His Highness Tongyi. I have followed the emperor in many battles and killed countless people. I have achieved this position. This life is enough. I just hope to kill a few more rebels. When I die, I can brag about it in front of the King of Hell..."
Qiu Yizhi listened to him talking nonstop, and it was obvious that he was a little nervous at this moment when he had to face life and death, but his determination to sacrifice his life was extremely firm, so he encouraged him with a few words: "It's not the end of the road yet, maybe there will be a turnaround."
Qiu Yizhi didn't even believe what he said, and without waiting for Liu Qing to answer, he continued, "Let's talk business. I have already made all the arrangements here, but unfortunately our army is too small and the defense line is still a little weak. You can divide the troops under your command into archers, heavy infantry, and personal infantry, and add them to my troops, so that we don't have to mobilize and deploy again. You can go to Zhao Chengxiao to handle this matter."
The hundreds of people brought by Liu Qing were able to follow the Jiedushi Liu Qing closely and escape from the fierce attacks of the Lingnan Army. It turned out that they were more capable than other Jiedushi troops. Although it was just a very simple deployment, it was completed very neatly.
After a cup of tea, Liu Qing, the leader of the army, sat down next to Qiu Yizhi and Lin Shuhan, panting and saying, "Your Highness Yi, the troops have been arranged, and we are just waiting for the King of Lingnan to come and fight..."