Chapter 132 Female General Li Sihong
Ruan Dacheng persuaded these generals, who were also afraid that the Zhao brothers and the imperial court would not let them go. After all, Zhu Guobi's case was treason. This matter would definitely not end well. So they obeyed Ruan Dacheng's orders and surrounded Nanjing.
However, everyone knew Nanjing was difficult to capture, so Ruan Dacheng was simply besieging it without attacking. He had less than 100,000 men, and he knew exactly how strong they were. He was waiting to join forces with Zuo Liangyu and attack Nanjing together. Ruan Dacheng even shouted the slogan, "Purge the court of corrupt officials!"
Just as Ruan Dacheng and his men were preparing to negotiate with the people in Nanjing, he saw no one on the city wall who wanted to negotiate with him. He wondered, where were those civil officials and nobles? Where had they gone? He didn't know that they had all been driven out of the city by Zhao Xiaokun and were being watched.
Just as he was wondering, he saw another green light rising from the top of the city wall. He knew something was wrong! Zhao Xiaokun might be ambushed, but he remained calm. He summoned his generals and prepared them for battle, while he led his troops to the Zhao family estate. He planned to capture Zhao Xiaokun and Zhao Xiaofei's concubines and sons to threaten them.
Ruan Dacheng's army marched eastward for a day before arriving at the gates of the Zhao Family Manor in Jurong. The gates were wide open, unguarded. Ruan Dacheng sent men inside to investigate, but no one returned after a long time. The Zhao Family Manor resembled a small city, surrounded by fields and nestled in the center, a tall fort. Zhao Xiaofei, a fan of medieval European castles, had them built in the English style, with numerous round towers. These could house cannons, catapults, and numerous archers.
Just as Zhou Shuai fired the signal flare, a hidden messenger rushed to the Zhao Manor. Upon receiving the report, Li Sihong immediately ordered everyone to gather and prepare for defense. The Zhao Manor was filled with traps, all dug by Fang Xinyu's men. For example, pits filled with bamboo sticks would instantly pierce a person if they fell in. There were also puddles filled with water, and anyone who fell in would be immediately covered by the lid. There was no way to swim out, and no way to breathe. So, death would come quickly!
The soldiers Ruan Dacheng sent fell into this pit and met their end before they could even utter a sound. Seeing no one return to report the situation, Ruan Dacheng sent another group in. This time, there was a response, the screams of more than a dozen people resounding through the sky. Two soldiers returned, one with half his face missing, revealing a pile of bones. The other had both his hands chopped off and ran out howling.
Seeing this scene, Ruan Dacheng was furious. He thought, what place? Even if it's a dangerous place, I have to go there. So he ordered, "Charge in! Capture Zhao Xiaofei's concubine and Liu Rushi and they'll reward you with a thousand taels of silver! Charge!"
At the command, the soldiers began to pour in. They soon reached the castle grounds, only to be met by a torrential downpour of arrows. Hundreds of soldiers were instantly wiped out. Ruan Dacheng might have had no problem writing a script, but when it came to fighting, he had little experience. Adding these inexperienced soldiers to the mix made the situation even worse.
After the arrows were fired, the muskets began to fire again. More casualties were reported. At this point, Ruan Dacheng calmed down a bit. He called a general and began to retreat, regrouping the troops to attack the city.
First came waves of rain of arrows, then soldiers attacked the city. Unfortunately, they were all beaten back. The soldiers on the city had only bows and grenades, and Ruan Dacheng's army could not climb the city wall at all.
"Sir! No! We can't take it down without artillery!" said the general.
"Withdraw the troops! Go and get the artillery!" said Ruan Dacheng.
Standing at the highest point of the castle, Li Sihong held her son in one hand and waved a banner with the other. Soldiers hiding in the bushes, behind rocks, and in the trees began to fire back. They detonated mines, blocking the path of Ruan Dacheng's army's retreat.
Boom boom boom! Ruan Dacheng's army was thrown into chaos by the explosion, with broken limbs everywhere. However, Ruan Dacheng was very lucky. Except for his face being blackened, he escaped from the minefield intact.
Ruan Dacheng shouted, "Retreat! Retreat!" He only wanted to leave this hellish place, but he didn't realize that his retreat turned into a rout. The soldiers ran everywhere.
Li Sihong took a look at the situation through his telescope and immediately waved his command flag. The soldiers in ambush shouted and rushed towards the rebels.
"Kill!" a soldier shouted. He held up a large banner with the word "Li" written on it in large letters. Other soldiers, rifles drawn, charged at Ruan Dacheng indifferently. A bloody hand-to-hand fight ensued between the cavalry and infantry, forcing Ruan Dacheng to continue running the way he had come.
"Don't let that bastard get away! Charge!" Li Sihong had already come down from the city wall. A wet nurse took the child, and she mounted her horse. Kou Baimen and Liu Rushi also jumped on their horses and followed.
At that moment, the engines rumbled as one hundred modified tracked farm vehicles rolled out. Three people were aboard the trucks: two firing rifles, one supplying ammunition. A driver, seated in a small cab with only a small opening, stepped on the accelerator and charged forward. The soldiers in the trucks began firing, and Nguyen Da Thanh's men were like prey being pursued by a pack of wolves.
Ruan Dacheng's soldiers collapsed, and one soldier shouted: "Monster! Monster is coming! Run!" Bang! As soon as he finished speaking, he was hit by a musket on a chariot and fell in a pool of blood. He was crushed into a meat pie by the chariot that followed.
One hundred chariots shuttled back and forth among Nguyen Da Thanh's army, shooting and killing the generals. Without a leader, they were in complete chaos. The soldiers ran around like headless flies. Then Li Sihong led the militia to divide and surround them. The soldiers shouted: "Surrender and you will be spared! Surrender and you will be spared!"
Upon hearing the shouts, the collapsed soldiers dropped their weapons and knelt in surrender. Ruan Dacheng and several of his guards managed to escape through a bloody path, and Li Sihong didn't order the militia to pursue them. Turning to Xiao Si beside him, he said, "Clean up the battlefield! Send someone to guard the prisoners! Everyone else, except the chariots, follow me to the outskirts of Nanjing!"
"Yes! Madam!" Xiao Si said.
"Sister! Can we do it? It's no problem to defend the manor, but I'm not sure about fighting on the battlefield!" Kou Baimen said.
"Sister! The militia trained by the Duke is several times more powerful than the official soldiers. Do you have such a lack of confidence?" Liu Rushi said. She and Zhao Xiaokun were living a comfortable life together. No longer had to force herself to smile just to make a living. Everything was up to her, and she could even play a song for herself whenever she felt like it. Especially since she moved into the Zhao Family Manor, it was like heaven to her. She discovered that her man was a legendary figure, having come to the capital to rescue Prince Ding and the Empress Dowager for the Ming Dynasty. He was now the Governor of Nanjing.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
