Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 513: Jinzhou City Falls

(After thinking about it, I decided to change the title!)

In the era of cold weapons, it was rare for the attacking and defending sides to engage in street fighting in the city, but if a street fighting broke out, it proved that the defenders were extremely determined and the war between the two sides would be extremely brutal.

However, in this era of alternating cold and hot, street fighting was not like in World War II, where people fought for one building after another in the city. Both the Qian army and the Qing army fought in the streets.

The other generals watching the battle in the back could not see clearly what was happening behind the slope, but they all looked relaxed. Everyone knew that there was no suspense in the capture of Jinzhou City. The only difference was whether it would take one day or two days.

At the bottom of the slope, more than twenty small cannons were pulled to the front row by the soldiers. The officers of Yingyang Town asked the soldiers to pay attention and form a shield formation, and not rush into the crowd. The soldiers of Qian Army prepared to bombard with cannons first and then charge.

The Qing army was horrified when they saw the black muzzle of the cannon in front of them. Wakda's forehead was covered with cold sweat, but time was running out and he could not hesitate. He gritted his teeth and shouted loudly: "Kill them. If we get involved in the melee, the Qian army's cannons will be useless!"

However, the Qian army had formed a shield formation, and the Qing army could not break into the Qian army's formation for a while. Within a moment, the more than 20 small cannons had been loaded, and the muzzles protruded from the shield formation. The black muzzles were almost hitting the noses of the Qing army.

"Get out of the way!!!!" The Qing soldiers in the front were so scared that they shouted miserably because they saw that the torch had been placed on the cannon.

However, the battlefield was not wide, and the Qing troops in the front row could not hide even if they wanted to. All they could hear was a series of artillery fire of "bang... bang... bang". There were more than 20 cannons, and the first shot of each one was loaded with buckshot.

On the street, the shotgun shells formed a fan, blood splattered, and screams were heard. At such a close distance, no matter what kind of armor it was, it could not withstand such close artillery fire.

With just one round of artillery fire, several rows of Qing soldiers on the opposite side fell to the ground one after another. In such an environment, even the luckiest people could not remain unscathed under the flying shotgun shells.

Wakda's hands and feet were a little cold. Even the commander was shocked by the scene, not to mention the ordinary soldiers.

The Qing troops who were still at the rear and had not yet advanced were all in a panic, and fear quickly spread among the troops.

After the Qian army fired another round of artillery, no Qing army dared to rush forward under the threat of artillery fire. The morale of the Qian army was boosted, and they rushed forward shouting. Their shouts shook the city of Jinzhou, and the momentum was extremely terrifying.

Wakda roared: "The Qing Dynasty has no way to retreat, hold on!"

As soon as the military order was issued, the defenders rushed forward with red eyes, shouting and holding weapons.

Hao Yongzhong had to admit that the fighting spirit of the defenders in Jinzhou was indeed very high, and they refused to surrender even at this point.

The infantry of both sides fought in the street, and the archers of both sides pointed their arrows obliquely and shot at the opponent's rear wing. After an hour, both sides fought desperately in the street, and the street was already a river of blood and corpses were everywhere.

The defenders were being pressed back and back by the Qian army, and as time went on, the Qing army gradually scattered throughout the city, and the number of people surrendering gradually increased.

Seeing that the situation was irresistible, Wakda fled out of Jinzhou City to the north with more than 2,000 Eight Banners soldiers under his command.

He held out in Jinzhou for half a month, but the city wall collapsed and the number of defenders was only one-tenth of Qian's army. He could not hold it, and no one could blame him.

Although Wakda ran away, there were still remnants of the Qing army everywhere in Jinzhou City. Some of them were determined and unwilling to surrender, and were still fighting with the Qian army.

It was not until dusk that Jinzhou City gradually returned to calm. The afterglow of the setting sun shone on this ancient city. There were corpses everywhere, above and below the city, inside and outside the city.

Especially on the slopes in the city, the corpses of both sides were piled up layer by layer, and many of them were pierced with broken knives, broken guns, and arrows. Shields, flags, swords and guns were scattered all over the ground, and the blood dyed the earth dark brown as time passed.

The remaining troops in Jinzhou City who were unwilling to surrender had all been beheaded, and many Qing troops who had no hope of escape began to surrender to the Qian army.

In this battle, of the 7,000 Qing defenders, 2,000 escaped, more than 3,600 were killed, and nearly 1,000 surrendered.

Zhao Yongping entered Jinzhou City at dusk. Several clerks advised him, "Although Jinzhou has been conquered, the enemy still exists and there are hidden dangers. There may be remnants of the enemy hiding. The commander-in-chief is the head of the three armies and shoulders a heavy responsibility. He must be careful."

Zhao Yongping waved his hand nonchalantly and replied, "I have been in the army for many years, I am not a scholar with no strength left. Besides, my armor is very sharp and I have many guards. What is there to be afraid of?"

The leader shook his head like a rattle, speaking earnestly: "I've heard before that a wise man doesn't enter a dangerous situation, and the beacon fire is still burning. For the sake of the overall situation, I hope the commander will think carefully and stay in the camp outside the city for the time being!"

Seeing that Zhao Yongping was somewhat unconvinced, the clerk continued, "General, haven't you heard about the incident with Liu Liangzuo? Liu Liangzuo was wearing armor and surrounded by a large army, but he was shot to death by Minister Gu and General Chen with poisoned arrows. I hope you will not enter the city so easily with your armor and many guards!"

Zhao Yongping felt helpless when he heard this, but he still accepted his subordinates' advice. He then ordered Jiang Xiang to lead his troops into the city to assist Hao Yongzhong in clearing out the fish that had escaped the net.

Just as Wakda rushed out of the city and crossed the Dalingh River at noon on the second day, the Qing army thought they had nothing to worry about, but they ran head-on into Huang Cheng and the coalition forces of 16 different armies.

When Wakda escaped from Jinzhou City, he never thought that the Qian army would appear behind him. When he saw the cavalry scouts, he thought they were Qing cavalry for a moment. It was not until more and more cavalry arrived and saw the huge Qian flag that Wakda realized they were enemies, not friends.

Wakda looked at the overwhelming cavalry with a look of despair on his face, but he did not retreat. Instead, he drew his long sword and prepared to fight the enemy to the last moment.

But what Wakda did not expect was that some of the Qing soldiers behind him threw down their weapons.

A Goshkha in Wakda pointed a knife at the soldier who had dropped his weapon and yelled at him to pick it up. Seeing that he did nothing, the Goshkha walked up to him, put the knife to his neck and forced him to pick up his weapon.

Under the threat of the blade, the Qing soldier picked up his weapon, but just as Goshaha put away his sword, he heard a series of sounds of weapons falling to the ground.

As the saying goes, even ants try to survive. When in Jinzhou City, these Qing troops fought desperately, but after escaping the city, they relaxed and thought they were safe. However, they never expected that they would encounter an enemy that was even more difficult to fight against. After great ups and downs, this Qing army had completely lost its fighting spirit!