Southern Ming Rebel Army

Huang Cheng led the troops into the city gate. At this time, there were only twelve brave warriors from the Scouting Department left at the city gate, and there were already many corpses at the city gate. As soon as Huang Cheng entered the city gate, he breathed a sigh of relief, but when he saw that the Qing army reinforcements had arrived, his heart began to tighten again.

When Huang Cheng entered the city gate, Tian Xiong did not say much. With a command, the two sides engaged in close combat. In an instant, the sound of metal collision and fighting resounded through the sky. The soldiers fought bravely, and blood splattered in the flash of swords and shadows. They either pierced the enemy's chest with a spear or blocked the enemy's attack with a shield. The two armies were deadlocked at the city gate.

In the rear, Qian Biao's Wuning Town was also speeding along, and in Jiangning City, the Qing army, awakened by the sound of fighting, was also rapidly gathering.

Inside the Governor's Palace.

Hong Chengchou, who had fallen asleep, was urgently awakened by his old servant. By the time Hong Chengchou received the urgent report, he was already scared out of his wits. He never thought that just a group of spies could attack and open the gate of Jiangning city.

Hong Chengchou's expressionless face showed anger, and he could no longer conceal his murderous intention towards Tian Xiong. The surrendered troops in Jiangnan were rotten to the core. They dared to make money in this situation. They were really courting their own life. Hong Chengchou had doubts about whether Tian Xiong could recapture the city gate, so he urgently ordered Fulesheng, the commander of the garrison Eight Banners, to dispatch 2,000 men from the Eight Banners to recapture the city gate.

Those Green Camp Qing soldiers were defeated by Huang Cheng's troops at the city gate. Although the Qing soldiers had more people, they could not surround the city gate because of its narrowness. Tian Xiong was so anxious that he was jumping up and down in the back. If he didn't retake the city gate to atone for his sins, he was afraid that he would lose his head. He was not like other surrendered generals. He had captured Emperor Hongguang with his own hands, and surrendering would mean death.

"Kill them! Anyone who dares to take a step back will be killed immediately," Tian Xiong roared fiercely at the guards beside him.

"Push forward and drive the enemy troops out of the city gate." The roars of the supervisory team continued to be heard. There were already several corpses lying in the gate. Even though Tian Xiong's supervisory team had already chopped off more than a dozen heads, they were still pushed forward by Huang Cheng's troops into the city gate with blood leaving their mark with every step.

Huang Cheng held a sword in his hand and rushed towards the enemy like a tiger. Every time he swung his sword, he brought a fierce momentum, making the enemy dare not approach easily. Zhang Chengsheng wielded a spear with great force and momentum, which made people tremble with fear. Liu Kun kept firing arrows from the rear, and his arrows never missed, providing strong support for his comrades in the front.

At the city gate, the sound of killing was deafening and blood flowed like a river. The three of them worked closely together like arrows, forming a fierce offensive that continuously compressed the Qing army's line.

However, just when the situation became clear, the Qing army on the top of the city wall had already gathered and began to shoot arrows towards the city to block the reinforcements of the Meng army.

The brutal fighting frightened the Green Camp soldiers. Tian Xiong's troops were originally composed of gathered defeated troops. If it were not for the supervision team behind them blocking their retreat, they would have already collapsed and fled. For a while, the crying and screaming of the Qing troops at the city gate were so loud that the people of the entire Jiangning inner city were awakened and blocked their doors one after another, fearing that the rebel army would rush in and kill indiscriminately.

After half an hour of fierce fighting, Qian Biao's Wuning Town troops hurriedly arrived at the battlefield. Qian Biao frowned when he saw the narrow floating bridge. The Qing army above was still shooting arrows at the city. Although Huang Cheng's troops under the city had shields for protection, soldiers were still shot from time to time and fell into the river.

Seeing this situation, Qian Biao had no time to think carefully. He could only order his soldiers to rush across the pontoon bridge to support the city gate, while at the same time ordering his soldiers to urgently cut down trees to build a simple pontoon bridge.

The Qing soldiers on the tower shouted at the inside of the city at the top of their lungs: "Enemy reinforcements have arrived!"

After hearing this, Tian Xiong yelled anxiously and ordered his subordinates to retake the city gate. His face was full of anxiety. He widened his eyes, staring at the city gate, praying secretly in his heart that the enemy army could not hold on and retreat from the city gate. However, the reality hit him mercilessly. Not only did the enemy army not retreat, but it had occupied the city gate, forming a fan shape, and continued to expand the battlefield towards the city.

Just when the new force of Meng's army arrived at Dinghuai Gate, the Eight Banners stationed in the city finally arrived. The extravagant life of having everything provided for them in Jiangning City for several years seemed to have worn away the fighting spirit of these Eight Banners soldiers, but at this time they still acted as if they were the best in the world.

As soon as he entered the battlefield, Fuersheng glanced at Tian Xiong, swung his whip, and whipped Tian Xiong fiercely. Tian Xiong screamed and said in horror: "Sir, why are you doing this?"

Fulesheng beat Tian Xiong hard while cursing, "I'll tell you to choose money over life." He beat him until he was sweating profusely and gasping for breath before he stopped.

Tian Xiong, a burly man, was already curled up in a ball, with snot and tears all over the floor. Fuersheng looked at Tian Xiong with disdain, and then shouted: "My Eight Banners are rampant all over the world, can't we take back a mere city gate? Push on and kill all these bandits."

At Fulsheng's command, the banner soldiers drove away the Qing troops blocking the way and swarmed towards Meng's army. Huang Cheng, who was already a little tired, looked at the Eight Banner soldiers opposite him and quickly cheered up and prepared for battle. Huang Cheng had dealt with the Eight Banners more than ten years ago. In previous contacts, the scout cavalry could occasionally fight back and forth with the Eight Banners, but once a major battle broke out, the government army would be defeated.

But as Huang Cheng fought with the banner soldiers again, he was surprised to find that these banner soldiers were no longer the same as before. Although their fighting skills had not faded, after a moment of fighting, Huang Cheng clearly felt that the Eight Banner soldiers in front of him were not as bloodthirsty and brave as before, and they did not have the determination to fight to the death.

Today, all the eight banners stationed in Jiangning have houses, beautiful wives and relatives. The cold blood they had forged in the bitter cold has been softened by the warm breeze in Jiangning.

They were all men who had fought on the battlefield, and everyone knew what they were doing once they made a move. Even Tian Xiong, who was curled up on the side, was surprised to find that these flag soldiers did not seem to be as brave as he had imagined.

Fulsheng's face turned red when he saw this, and he was furious and said, "Whoever delays in advancing will be killed." Then he rushed towards Huang Cheng with a spear in his hand.

The sounds of fighting echoed at the city gate. The city gate could no longer be closed due to the large number of corpses blocking it. In this narrow place, Huang Cheng and Fulesheng looked at each other, their eyes full of murderous intent.

The battle was about to break out, and the two men launched attacks at the same time. Fu Ersheng was the first to thrust out his spear, and Huang Cheng split the spear head. The knife and spear collided, making a crisp sound of collision. Huang Cheng split the spear head and then quickly approached.