In front of the Ming army.
Huang Degong was discussing the siege with his generals.
He first asked the messenger: "Before our army surrounded Hetuala, the Jiannu had already withdrawn their forces. The other two armies should have no obstacles. Where are they now?"
"Your Excellency!" the messenger replied, "General Liu Wenxiu passed through Yagu Pass yesterday and is less than ten miles away from Hetuala."
"Where is Zeng Ying?" Huang Degong asked again.
"General Zeng Ying has already set up camp five miles south of Hetuala City, awaiting your orders."
"Order them to guard the mountain roads along the way to prevent the Jiannu from escaping from them."
"Yes." The herald turned and left.
"Everyone," Huang Degong looked at everyone, "Hetuala is right in front of us. Taking this place means that we have nominally pacified Liaodong."
"Your Excellency the Governor is right!" everyone responded.
"In that case, let's send troops to attack the city."
"Governor, I have something to say but I don't know if I should say it." Bakyong suddenly said.
"Speaking."
Bakyong clasped his hands together and asked, "Hetuala is within our grasp. What I want to ask is how to treat the people in the city after we enter it?"
Huang Degong stroked his beard and said nothing.
Fearing he might be misunderstood, Bakeyong hurriedly explained, "There are many Jurchens in the Guanning Army, and their families are likely in the city. If a massacre occurred, those people would inevitably be buried in the chaos."
Huang Degong nodded: "This is indeed a problem!"
Li Xianzhong shook his head and stood up: "Where are the family members? Those who can come to Hetuala are the so-called royal relatives of the Jiannu. The families of ordinary bannermen either got separated during the migration or fled to the mountains for refuge!"
Buck Yong didn't dare to reason with Li Xianzhong, and immediately lowered his head and took a half step back.
Li Xianzhong continued, "The Jiannu invaded the pass several times and plundered, and millions of civilians died as a result! Now we have finally come here to avenge them, and we must not show mercy. In addition, a Jiannu head is worth twenty taels of silver, so shouldn't we take the money?"
No one spoke, but many people's eyes began to sparkle.
I can’t say how many people there are in the city, but there are at least 10,000 people.
With an equal ratio of men to women, there are at least five thousand men in the city.
Each head costs twenty taels of silver, so five thousand people would cost one hundred thousand taels of silver.
These are just the heads of ordinary soldiers. The higher the rank of the opponent, the more valuable the head is.
in addition.
In addition to being exchanged for money, human heads can also be exchanged for military merit.
Many people are counting on the number of heads they kill to get promoted, so it is impossible not to massacre the city.
Huang Degong looked at Li Dingguo and asked, "How many people are there under Bolo's command?"
"More than six hundred people."
"Their families should all be in the city, right?"
"That's right." Li Dingguo nodded: "Before I came here, Bolo asked about the massacre."
Huang Degong supported his chin and tried to think of a comprehensive solution.
Seeing that no one had expressed an opinion, Prince Ding Zhu Cijiong stood up and said, "Everyone, I have a plan."
"Your Highness, please speak."
Zhu Cixiong said, "Let each of the Eight Banners surrendered soldiers prepare a Ming national flag in advance. After the city is broken, they should quickly enter the city to find their families as soon as possible, and then plant the national flag at the door. For any yard with a national flag, the government troops will only enter the yard to search, and will not kill or rob!"
Everyone immediately praised: "Good idea!"
"Your Highness is wise."
Li Xianzhong blinked and asked, "What if he was killed by mistake?"
"Haha!" Zhu Cijiong smiled but didn't say anything.
Everyone understood immediately.
It's manslaughter, so what else can we do?
Being able to take care of the families of surrendered soldiers is already a grace beyond the law.
Everyone discussed for a while and decided on a plan to attack the city.
Huang Degong's central army attacked from the south.
Li Dingguo attacked from the west.
Gao Yigong attacked from the south.
Li Guo and Li Laiheng attacked from the north.
Li Xianzhong and Liu Zhaoji led the cavalry to stay behind the infantry, and waited for the infantry to enter the city and open the city gate. Then they rushed in through the city gate.
Everything was ready and the Ming army began to attack the city.
Huang Degong was the first to go out.
He had the largest number of infantry and artillery, especially red cannon.
Amid the rumbling of drums, hundreds of artillery pieces were pushed to designated positions.
Under the bright sun.
Huang Degong was riding on a horse, holding an iron whip in his hand and looking into the distance.
On the distant city wall, Hauge was so frightened that he didn't dare to look up.
That’s hundreds of artillery pieces!
Being hit by a shell will either result in death or injury.
Hauge, the commander-in-chief, was terrified, and the rest of the defenders were even more scared to death.
Huang Degong withdrew his gaze and looked to his side.
The central army's flag fluttered in the wind behind him.
The soldiers under his command tensed their legs and held their weapons tightly with both hands.
He was afraid that after the military order was issued, he would fall behind and have his military merits snatched away by others.
Huang Degong slowly raised the iron whip in his right hand, all his emotions condensed together, and he shouted: "Fire!"
hula—
The command flag is waving.
The artillerymen lit the fuses almost simultaneously after receiving the order.
With a crackling sound, the artillery fuse burned shorter and shorter.
Before it completely burned out, the entire field seemed to suddenly stop.
boom!
Hundreds of artillery pieces fired simultaneously.
At that moment, the sky changed color.
The earth shook violently.
It was like an earthquake, and everyone shook along with the ground.
Amidst the loud bang, countless large and small bullets hit the city wall.
The thick city walls were hit by the shells, shaking and making a harsh sound.
Whoosh!
The command flag waved again.
"Kill!" The soldiers roared loudly and pushed the ladders towards the city wall.
The Jiannu soldiers on the city wall had no fighting spirit and their morale was low.
The Ming army soon found a breakthrough.
Seeing more and more Ming soldiers rushing up the city wall, Hauge waved his hand and ordered: "Quickly retreat to the inner city for defense."
Hetuala has two cities, inner and outer cities.
Hauge planned to retreat into the inner city and fight to the end.
When the Jiannu soldiers on the city wall walked down the steps and planned to move to the inner city, they encountered Ming cavalry.
The attacking infantry opened the city gate as soon as they captured the city wall.
The Ming cavalry outside the city immediately rode into the city and began to massacre.
The Ming army would not stop regardless of whether the Jiannu surrendered or not.
"Report!" A soldier came up to Hauge and said, "Your Majesty, the Ming cavalry has entered the city from the east and south gates and is heading here."
Hauge was shocked and jumped on his horse and fled westward with his remaining troops.
In order to shake off the Ming army, he kept taking detours and dividing his troops.
Run for a while.
Hauge discovered that he had not shaken off the main force of the Ming army.
He was very puzzled: "This is the first time the Ming army has entered the city, how come they are so familiar with the streets in the city?"
While he was wondering, he saw a flag-bearing soldier standing beside him.
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