"Kill!"

“Kill!”

There was the clanging of metal, the cries of killing, and flying blood and flesh as the attackers and defenders engaged in a brutal battle on the city wall.

"Ah--" A scream sounded above my head, and a black shadow fell beside me, landing heavily on the ground.

Feng Datie was helpless and didn't even look to the side. He continued to climb up with the steel knife in his hand.

Suddenly, the sky above him was empty. His comrades above had climbed onto the top of the city wall. Feng Datie quickly climbed up two more steps. Through the broken battlements, he could see several pairs of feet moving and swaying.

Feng Datie knew that the comrade who had first reached the city walls was named Zhang Zhuzi. He was incredibly strong and brave, but his entire family had been slaughtered by the Qing invaders, leaving only him, his mother, and his younger brother. Whenever he spoke of this tragedy, he gnashed his teeth and burst into tears.

After climbing two more steps, Feng Datie had already leaned most of his body out of the city wall. He saw his comrades roaring madly, slashing with swords, and fighting with the Jiannu.

A long spear passed by him. Zhang Zhuzi grabbed the spear shaft, pulled it hard into his arms, and slashed the Jiannu's neck with a knife.

Blood gushed out, splashing half of Zhang Zhuzi's face, but he didn't dodge or wipe it off. He opened his mouth wide and let out a strange and terrifying laugh. He turned around like a devil and chopped with his knife like a madman.

The steel knives collided, and a few sparks flashed. A Jiannu man faced Zhang Zhuzi head-on, and a long spear stabbed at him from the side.

Zhang Zhuzi barely dodged, but the sharp tip of the spear pierced his chest and abdomen diagonally, tearing his fat red coat and sending a few strands of cotton wool flying.

The Jiannu in front swung their swords fiercely, forcing Zhang Zhuzi to retreat two steps. The Jiannu holding a gun did not put it away, but swept it with all his strength, causing Zhang Zhuzi to stagger and fall off the city wall.

At the moment of falling, Zhang Zhuzi reached out and grabbed the spear, but the spear broke in two on the wall, nearly dragging the armed Jiannu down with him.

Feng Datie's eyes turned red, and he rushed forward with a roar. Taking advantage of the Jiannu's stagger, he chopped off the Jiannu's arm at the shoulder with one knife.

The Jiannu let out a long scream, stumbled back, and blood spurted out of his shoulder.

The Jiannu holding a knife rushed forward with a strange cry, raised the knife high, and was about to chop at Feng Datie.

A flash of cold light flashed like lightning, and the sharp tip of the spear pierced the Jiannu's right rib at an angle. A Ming army officer, holding onto the broken battlement with one hand, jumped up and climbed onto the top of the city wall.

Feng Datie slashed with his sword and killed the seriously injured Jiannu.

The Ming army officer had no time to greet Feng Datie. He drew his gun, roared, and stepped forward. His gun was waving like flying, sweeping away a small area on the city wall.

A Ming soldier then climbed up the city wall and fought side by side with Feng Datie, which made him feel at ease. There is nothing more encouraging than having comrades by your side.

Bang, bang, bang! Another Ming soldier climbed up the city wall. Without saying a word, he took out the matchlock in his mouth, lit it and fired, killing or injuring several Jiannu soldiers.

Then, he glanced around, and like a "Little Li Feichui", he threw the three-barreled gun at the enemy, picked up a blood-stained sword from the ground, and joined the battle.

One after another, the Ming army climbed up to the top of the city wall, some armed with swords and shields, some with long spears, and some with three-pronged weapons. There were Dongjiang Army, Dengzhen Army, and Jinzhen Army. The organization was in chaos, and people climbed up whichever ladder they could.

From small to large, the safe zone arched out on the city wall became wider and wider, creating conditions for more and more Ming troops to climb the city.

Looking from afar as more and more soldiers climbed up to the top of the city wall, and fewer and fewer were knocked down, Shen Yourong breathed a sigh of relief and ordered the drummer to continue beating to encourage the brave Ming army soldiers.

Among the troops stationed at Dengzhen, a significant number were Liao people, and the most skilled of the Jinzhen troops were the 800 Mao soldiers who had withdrawn from Liaodong. To secure the first victory, the officers of the three divisions strictly supervised the battle, fearing that their troops would be underestimated.

In a memorial in the first year of the Tianqi reign, Xiong Tingbi evaluated the troops mobilized from various places to Liaodong, among which the most powerful were the Sichuan soldiers, local soldiers and Mao soldiers.

Needless to say, the Sichuan Army had already proved their bravery in the bloody battle of Hunhe River; the local soldiers were the chieftain's private soldiers, Qin Liangyu's white-pole soldiers, and Guangxi's wolf soldiers, all of which were local soldiers.

The Mao soldiers, also known as the Mao Hulu soldiers, were somewhat special because they were local armed forces without military status, hired by the Ming government to maintain its rule.

To put it bluntly, Mao soldiers are mercenaries, which are somewhat similar to local soldiers.

Because most of Mao's soldiers were distributed in the mountainous areas of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Hubei provinces, they were mainly hunters and mountain people, and there were also many miners and ordinary farmers. They developed a tough character in the harsh environment and were extremely brave in fighting as an army.

The History of Ming Dynasty records: "The people of Song County, Henan Province are called Mao Hulu, who are skilled in short weapons and mountaineering." "The long spearmen of Shandong Province, Mao Hulu of Henan Province, were not ordinary civilians, but they were skilled in long spears and mountaineering."

From these records, we can see that the Mao soldiers were good at fighting in jungles and mountains. They used weapons such as spears, bows and arrows, and short weapons, and wore light armor or no armor in order to pursue flexibility in mountain warfare.

During the Jiajing reign, Mao's troops were transferred to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to fight against Japanese pirates. However, they were not accustomed to the muddy fields, numerous rivers and lakes in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, and were not used to water battles, so their performance was poor.

When the Liaodong War broke out in the late Ming Dynasty, Mao's troops were also drafted to fight in Liaodong. Under the city of Liaoyang, they fought against the Eight Banners together with the Sichuan troops and were almost completely wiped out.

Only the 800 Mao soldiers led by the military inspector Hu Jiadong did not participate in the battle. They withdrew from Liaodong and stationed in Tianjin.

Because the Mao soldiers were lightly armored or had no armor, they were unable to resist the bows and arrows of the Jiannu, and their own characteristics were difficult to display in plain battles.

Xiong Tingbi keenly saw this point and pointed out that Mao's soldiers could only "penetrate mountains and forests, and were not suitable for fighting on plains."

The battlefield where Mao's soldiers could really show their prowess was in the southwest. In the campaign to quell Bozhou and the She'an Rebellion, the terrain of Sichuan and Guizhou provided Mao's soldiers with a place to show their prowess. "The Mao gourds moved like flying, leaping up and down streams, and their fortitude was truly enough to break through strong forces."

Therefore, Zhu Youxiao's mobilization of 3,000 soldiers to help Zhu Xieyuan quell the rebellion was considered a wise move in identifying soldiers and making good use of them.

As for the current attack on Jinzhou, although it is not Mao’s strength, it is not his weakness in plain warfare.

They formed small teams of seven people, united and cooperated with each other, used crossbows and spears, and did not lose out in close combat.

Of course, Jinzhou's walls were low and the city was small, with few defenders. The Ming army had an absolute advantage in manpower, and with the support of artillery, it was no surprise that they could capture the city; it was just a matter of time.

As more and more Ming troops climbed onto the city walls, the area they occupied became larger and larger. Although the Jiannu fought desperately, they were already powerless and could not save themselves from the fate of being annihilated and the city being destroyed.

A Ming army rushed into the city gate, dug and dug, cleared the obstacles, and opened the way into the city.

Like an unstoppable stream of water, teams of Ming troops rushed into the city shouting, announcing their victory in the siege of Jinzhou.