Chapter 246: Battle of Xi'an 2
Wanshan told Zhao Xiaofei about the medicine, and he said, "Distribute it immediately tonight! Have all the officers watch the soldiers take it!"
"I understand! Niu Wancai and Li Hao's heads have also been chopped off! I have sent someone to send them to Nanjing!" Wanshan said.
"The ones we chased away from Wudang Mountain?" Zhao Xiaofei said, recalling the past.
"Yes! It was Lu Yingbiao who ran away! The other two committed suicide!" Zhou Shuai said.
"Suicide? Why?" Zhao Xiaofei asked.
"They are just desperate! Where have they ever seen air-ground coordinated tactics?" Zhou Shuai said.
"These two guys are quite self-aware! After we're done, we'll sew their heads back on so they can have a complete body!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
"The army will rest for a day tomorrow and march towards Xi'an the day after tomorrow!" Wanshan said.
"Okay! How is the situation in Hanzhong? How are the white-pole soldiers led by Fang Xinyu?" Zhao Xiaofei asked.
"It's smoother than ours. At least they saw hot air balloons along the way, while the people in Hanzhong have never seen one. Many of the rebel soldiers were stunned and knelt on the ground and kowtowed! Fang Xinyu is now worried about what to do with the prisoners," said Zhou Shuai.
"You can pick out some elite troops from General Fang and keep them, and send the rest off with some food!" Li Sihong finally interrupted.
"Okay! You write a letter and tell Fang Xinyu to properly deal with the prisoners and come over as soon as possible! We have to deal with Li Zicheng and the Jianlu together, and we can't spend too much time on this." Zhao Xiaofei said.
Li Sihong immediately turned around and wrote a letter according to Zhao Xiaofei's instructions. While Li Sihong was writing the letter, Zhao Xiaofei gave Wanshan a look and made a beheading gesture. Wanshan then understood what he meant.
Wanshan understood what Zhao Xiaofei meant. He meant to leave the women and children behind and kill the remaining rebels. They couldn't afford to waste money supporting these peasants who kept surrendering! They would not let anyone go if they were wrongly killed!
Li Sihong finished writing the letter and gave it to Zhao Xiaofei, who used his seal to send the letter out.
At this time, Fang Xinyu had imprisoned tens of thousands of captured rebels in East and West Weng Cities. He had no food to appease the rebels. Furthermore, he had received a secret order with a single word: kill. Children were hope, so they must be kept. Women were resources, to be distributed to meritorious soldiers.
In Dongxiweng City, the surrendered soldiers were receiving steamed buns. Fang Xinyu intended for these soldiers to have a full stomach when they set out on their journey, so they wouldn't die hungry. Each soldier was also given a small bowl of watery millet porridge, which they devoured with almost ravenous gusto.
The White Rod Army soldiers distributing grain cursed, "What bad luck! I have to be colleagues with you in the future. I think being a soldier is so fucking boring. You guys are so happy burning, killing, and looting, and in the end you can still continue to serve as government troops. I don't know what the prince would think. If it were me, these people should all be killed!"
The other soldiers of the rebel army felt relieved after hearing this, as it showed that the prince and the court really wanted them to continue serving in the army.
At this time, Fang Xinyu had already given instructions. At four o'clock in the evening, the soldiers who were originally guarding the surrendered soldiers were ordered to quietly go down the city wall, while the soldiers brought by Fang Xinyu quietly went up the city wall. They took out the grenades, incendiary bombs, bows and arrows, and muskets that they had prepared.
Just as everyone was ready, Fang Xinyu pulled out his flare gun and fired a shot into the air. The pitch-black night sky was suddenly illuminated by a red flare. Some of the soldiers who were still awake felt a sense of foreboding. It was as if a cold gaze was waving at them. As the red flare began to fall, Fang Xinyu didn't even need to look down. With just one shot, he heard someone clutching their stomach and screaming in the darkness.
Suddenly, the silent night sky began to seethe. It was like dropping a firecracker into a hornet's nest, but these surrendered soldiers were no match for the hornets. They were at the mercy of the enemy!
The muskets fired randomly at first, and then they started throwing grenades towards the city. This was more lethal, and many of the grenades were delayed for a few seconds in the hands of the Kenan Army before being thrown, so the explosion in the air had even greater lethality.
Then came the incendiary bombs. Once they were dropped, the scene below finally became clear. But the soldiers carrying out the mission only took a single glimpse and closed their eyes, never to look again. It was as if they were witnessing a hell on earth: corpses piled high and low, blood dripping down. Some bodies' faces had been blasted beyond recognition, revealing their bones.
Some of the survivors lay struggling in the pool of blood, their blood reaching their ankles, and some of the survivors slapped the bloody water.
The next day, Fang Xinyu acted as if nothing had happened and went to pay his respects to Ma Wanchun first.
Ma Wanchun said gravely, "Those are human beings! Armed, they can pacify the world!"
"We can't keep these people! We have no food and no time. We have to rush to the Battle of Xi'an as soon as possible! We can't wait until the battle between Jianlu and Li Zicheng is over before we go. Otherwise, many enemy troops will run away!" Fang Xinyu said.
"Just wait for the impeachment from the court!" Ma Wanchun looked disappointed.
At this time, under the city of Xi'an, military camps and tents were densely packed everywhere. Stretching for dozens of miles, there was no sense of oppression from a large army, but rather a sense of eerie terror.
Occasionally, a few crows would circle in the sky above some camps, making the scene even more terrifying.
Li Zicheng, Song Xiance and the others were all worried. This time, the two sides had reached a stalemate. No one could do anything to the other. Li Zicheng and his men naturally couldn't leave, and the Jianlu and Wu Sangui couldn't get in either.
The city walls themselves were raised and thickened by fifteen meters, and the east, west, south, and north sides were reinforced with fortifications, with four additional watchtowers built. Iron cannons, tiger squat cannons, and Portuguese cannons were used to launch a crossfire against the city walls. After more than ten days of continuous attack, Wu Sangui lost over thirty thousand men, having only managed to capture the outer perimeters of Xi'an.
Facing the fierce firepower and high and thick walls of the tortoise shell, Wu Sangui felt so helpless for the first time!
If they failed to capture Xi'an, they would probably fall out with the Jianlu. At this time, the bad news suddenly came: Ajige had died. No matter how he was treated, he could not be saved. In the end, he had a high fever that would not go away. In a few days, he lost three times the weight and was completely unrecognizable.
Duoduo said to the clerk beside him, "Write a letter to my second brother and tell him that my eldest brother died in battle! He risked his life on the front lines for the Qing Dynasty! He was shot by the enemy's poisonous arrow and finally died. Please take care of his family and provide them with generous compensation!"
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