Chapter 343: Datong City
The capital was quite close to Shanxi. When the army reached Shanxi, Datong City was right in front of them. Zhao Xiaofei sent a letter to Wu Sangui, giving him one day to surrender or face the consequences.
Jiang Xiang was now terminally ill, lying in Datong City, unattended. He was practically waiting to die, thanks to the diabolical scheme of Zhao Xiaofei and Zhao Xiaokun. They had given him a night-shining pearl coated with radium, and they'd tricked him into believing that wearing it daily would be good for his health.
Jiang Xiang believed that the Night Pearl was a treasure and would not harm the body, so she slept with it every day. She even took it out to lick it when she had nothing to do, which was hilarious.
Furthermore, the Zhao brothers had cut off his medication, and he was now showing clear signs of kidney failure. He looked emaciated, skin and bones. His brothers were the same, so Wu Sangui now had no one to discuss matters with. As for leaving the city to try and fight, Wu Sangui hadn't even considered it.
He knew how powerful the Kenan army was, so he didn't dare to leave the city to fight. The Kenan army easily completed the siege of Datong City, and Wu Sanfeng, Wu Sanfu, and Wu Xiang all went to the city to persuade them to surrender.
Wu Sanfeng also shot a letter from his father into the city asking for surrender. When Wu Sangui received the letter, he could not accept the conditions after reading it.
It demanded Wu Sangui's unconditional surrender, guaranteeing his personal safety and the subsequent anonymity. If he resisted, he would be skinned alive. Furthermore, his body would be wrapped in copper and made into a bronze statue kneeling in front of Xuanwu Gate.
How could Wu Sangui accept this? Not allowing him to lead the troops and hiding his identity would be better than killing him!
Seeing that Wu Sangui didn't move, Zhao Xiaofei said to his elder brother: "It seems that this guy won't cry until he sees the coffin!"
"I'll go and persuade them again. If that doesn't work, let's attack the city again!" said Zhao Xiaokun.
Zhao Xiaokun then rode forward, out of the range of the bows and arrows, and shouted through the loudspeaker, "I am Zhao Xiaokun, the Admiral of Jiangnan in the Ming Dynasty. Brother-in-law, could you please come out and talk?"
After a while, a man came out from the top of the city wall. He had a heroic appearance and a scar on his nose. It was Wu Sangui himself.
"Zhao Xiaokun! How is my sister doing?" Wu Sangui shouted.
"Very good! Don't worry, brother-in-law!" said Zhao Xiaokun.
"I want to see my sister, is that okay?" Wu Sangui shouted.
"Okay! You wait!" Zhao Xiaokun turned around and asked someone to invite Wu Sanmei.
Wu Sanmei rode up and shouted at her second brother, "Second brother, I'm your third sister! Surrender! Otherwise, it will be bad for you and your whole family. You can't beat my husband! Surrender!"
When Wu Sangui heard his sister calling Zhao Xiaokun "husband" and saying that she couldn't beat him, he immediately became angry. He said, "No! He won't let me lead the troops to fight. What's the difference between this and asking me to die? Since we are family, I still have a place to use my skills. Why do you want me to live in seclusion? I don't accept it! If your brother can break the rules of Taizu and be crowned a king of a different surname, then I, Wu Sangui, can do it too!"
"Brother-in-law! Listen to my advice. As long as you have the green mountains, you will never be short of firewood. If you want to lead troops in the future, we will talk about it later. Surrender!" Zhao Xiaokun shouted.
"No! You can't break in! The city of Datong was built by me like an iron barrel. You can't take it down without killing tens of thousands of people!" Wu Sangui shouted.
Zhao Xiaokun turned around and said to Zhao Xiaofei, "Brother! I leave it to you!"
When Wu Sanmei saw the Zhao brothers were about to fight, she cried out loudly, "Second brother! Second brother! No! No! Surrender!"
"Someone come! Pull the lady away!" Zhao Xiaokun shouted.
Zhao Xiaofei said to a messenger: "Rocket launchers, unscrupulous artillery ready!"
Several artillerymen set up the iron frame and placed the earthen rocket on it. A soldier started to ignite it, and the fuse hissed and emitted white smoke.
Elsewhere, two artillerymen lifted out the barrel of a gun, as thick as an oil drum, and began to fill it with gunpowder. One soldier placed the prepared explosive charge inside, while the other began to ignite it.
Flames erupted almost simultaneously from both sides. On one side, white smoke billowed from an oil barrel with a bang. An object flew toward the city wall at a speed visible to the naked eye. On the other side, a whoosh sounded as a clay rocket, its tail billowing with white smoke, flew toward the city wall.
Wu Sangui was no fool; he knew the weapons of the Kenan Army were formidable. He and his generals retreated while shouting, "Retreat!"
They were all running and shouting, and Wu Sangui didn't dare look back. He only heard a loud bang behind him, like the sound of thunder. The arrow tower behind him collapsed, and bricks and stones flew everywhere. Several bricks and stones hit his back, and he could still feel the heat behind him.
Immediately afterwards, there was another loud noise from behind, and he felt as if something hit him. His calf hurt, and he rolled down the ramp of the city wall.
Many of the people behind them were blasted to the ground by the steel balls from the unscrupulous cannons. Those who were close were instantly reduced to a pile of pulp, leaving only a few scraps of flesh on their skeletons. Those who were farther away were severely wounded and collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath and waiting to die. Some were blinded and rolled on the ground with their hands on their faces. The scene was like hell on earth.
Wu Sangui was caught by the soldiers below, and staggered to his feet. He looked up again, and the watchtower was gone. The ground was littered with corpses, many of them riddled with steel balls. The undead howled on the ground like wounded beasts.
"Prince! Prince! What should we do? What should we do? Should we fight or surrender?" Everyone's eyes turned to him.
Wu Sangui could see fear in their eyes. If he said he would fight to the death, some of them would definitely shoot him in the back with an arrow or a knife.
Wu Sangui's eyes showed helplessness. Knowing that he could not win, how could he continue to let people die?
He sighed and said, "Raise the white flag and surrender! If you tie me up and send me to the Kenan Army, I might still be able to save my life."
Several generals finally breathed a sigh of relief. Just then, a lieutenant colonel, holding a white flag, ran toward the city walls. The scene he witnessed along the way was one he would never forget. Mangled limbs and flesh were everywhere. He saw several soldiers' eyeballs shot out, but still attached to their sockets by blood vessels and eye muscles. Blood oozed from the dark sockets, and he began vomiting before he could even climb back up.
But he knew that no matter how disgusting it was, he had to crawl regardless and let the other party know that they agreed to surrender.
After two shots were fired, the smoke and dust cleared. Wu Sanmei sat on the ground and cried. Wu Sanfeng, Wu Sanfu, and Wu Xiang all shook their heads helplessly.
Just when Zhao Xiaofei was getting a little impatient and was about to order two more shots.
Zhou Shuai came to Zhao Xiaofei and said, "Your Highness! Look, they raised the white flag!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
