Chapter 361 Xi'an Meat Grinder 1
The troops were deployed, and several hot air balloon command ships also flew into the sky for ground reconnaissance.
Li Zicheng was not stupid, and seeing this situation, he did not intend to send any cavalry to harass them. He was just waiting for them to come to him.
First came rows of homemade rockets, arrayed in front of the battlement, with fifty at each city gate. Behind them were the steel cannons, manufactured under Wanshan's supervision, with 100 at each city gate.
After these rounds of fighting are over, hot air balloons will drop bombs. This time, the families of all the air force soldiers on the mission have been placed under house arrest by the Internal Security Force. They will not be released until the battle is over. If anyone shows any signs of behavior, they will be executed without mercy.
Marshal Zhou raised his command flag and began waving it. Fifty homemade rockets made from gas canisters ignited and flew towards Xi'an in a puff of white smoke.
With a resounding bang, half of the arrow tower collapsed. As earthen rockets flew towards the city wall, flames shot up into the sky. It was impossible to stand on the tower. Li Zicheng knew this would be the outcome. So, when he saw the enemy approaching, he had already ordered his soldiers to take shelter in the cat-ear holes he had dug under the city wall.
Unless a rocket explodes right next to you, basically nothing will happen.
However, some of the nearby rebel soldiers were shaken to death. Their appearance was horrific, with blood gushing from all seven orifices. After the first round of rockets ended, General Zhou directed the artillery to begin bombardment.
Boom boom boom, boom boom boom, boom boom boom, the bombardment started again. The rebels lowered their heads helplessly, and those who needed to hide in the blast holes hid back in the blast holes.
The people inside didn't dare to look up, for fear that if they took a wrong step they would be torn to pieces by the artillery fire.
After two rounds of bombardment, Li Zicheng's army had been deafened, with a buzzing sound in their ears. They could not hear what the people around them said, and the soldiers could only follow the leader in front of them.
However, Li Zicheng's previous training for this event was quite effective. Although the rebel army was severely shaken by the artillery fire, which made it difficult for them to move, they still knew what they should do.
They followed the captain one by one, and when the artillery fire completely stopped, the rebels followed the captain and began to pick up their weapons and climb the broken city wall.
The first thing they saw was that hundreds of thousands of soldiers outside the city started shouting and running towards the city walls.
They first used air bags to build a simple floating bridge, and then quickly rushed to the other side. At this time, the Chuang army began to fight back, with bows and arrows and muskets, constantly hitting the Kenan army.
Batches of soldiers were shot down and lay on the ground, but many soldiers continued to rush forward and curse loudly before they died.
Looking at such brave soldiers, Chuang Jun couldn't help but praise their bravery.
"How come these bastards have become so powerful after following Zhao Xiaofei!" the captain cursed. It was like this on all battlefields: as soon as you shot one, countless figures would rush forward.
They shouted, "Charge! Kill!"
Or he would shout, "Capture Li Zicheng alive, and I'll treat everyone to a drink."
"Capture Li Zicheng alive and spare the lives of three generations!"
They rushed towards them like mad dogs, knowing no fear or pain, with excitement on their faces, leaving no room for doubt.
The road ahead was practically made of the flesh and blood of the soldiers. The bodies of the soldiers in front piled up, and the people behind stepped on their bodies as they rushed to the city wall.
The soldiers of the rebel army resisted step by step and retreated little by little.
From morning to dusk, all four city gates of Xi'an were occupied.
Zhao Xiaofei originally wanted to simply burn Xi'an, a quick and easy solution. However, he was a bit worried. First, with no fewer than 800,000 civilians in the city, he couldn't bring himself to kill so many at once. Li Zicheng had recruited so many civilians to help him build fortifications and provide labor for his army. Second, if he really did kill them, he doubted the imperial court or the Jiangnan literati would tolerate him. Any action he took would then face significant resistance.
So they had to let more of these traitorous troops die. They gave the soldiers a pill when the bombardment began. When the bombardment ended, the effect of the pill would kick in. It was the perfect time for them to charge, and they showed no fear of death, charging and attacking fiercely.
After a day of fighting, all three city gates were occupied by the traitor troops recruited by Zhao Xiaofei.
The rebel army retreated to the inner city, and statistics showed that these former traitorous troops had suffered more than 50,000 casualties. In the past, these troops would have collapsed long ago, but now they were still excited.
At night, the old soldiers of the Kenan Army defended the city. The surrounding fires illuminated the area within a few dozen meters, but the city was completely dark. It was like a monster preparing to eat its prey.
At the north gate, a squadron of Kenan soldiers was on patrol. In the darkness, a single arrow was aimed at them. The archer took aim, exhaled, and released his hand. With a whoosh, the crossbow bolt pierced the air, piercing the neck of a Kenan soldier with a puff.
The soldier immediately clutched his neck, blood oozing from his fingers. He tried to scream but couldn't. His comrades immediately crouched down and fired back in the direction of the crossbow.
I don't know how many shots were fired, but I heard someone screaming and falling to the ground. A captain took out the flashlight issued by the commanding officer and shone it around, only to see the body of a Chuang army soldier lying there.
Seeing the captain about to approach, the deputy captain stopped him and said, "We are in the light, and the enemy is in the dark. And holding a flashlight makes you a sitting duck."
The deputy captain saw that the captain had listened to him, so he said again: "Wait until tomorrow!"
"Tomorrow? Tomorrow these rebels will charge first. What credit can we get? We still have to stand guard for them!" said the captain.
"That's the prince's kindness. He wants us honest people to live longer and let these filthy guys atone for their sins. Don't worry! There will definitely be wars in the future, and there will be plenty of opportunities to make meritorious deeds. The Tartars in Liaodong have not been completely eliminated, and the prince will not give up!" said the deputy captain.
In the morning, patrol teams began to count the losses. That night alone, more than 500 Kenan Army soldiers were killed in the surprise attack.
The corpses of the Chuang army and the Ming army had fallen higher than the mountain, and the Kenan army had a special body collection team to deal with the bodies.
Dealing with the bodies of the rebels was much simpler. They just piled the bodies together, doused them with kerosene, and when they were burned, they simply dug a pit and buried them.
As for the members of the Kenan Army, they had wooden tags around their necks. The body collection team removed the tags, cremated each person individually, and then placed the ashes in jars and sent them to the Martyrs' Shrine that was being built in the capital.
However, the traitorous troops that were incorporated did not receive such treatment. If they died, they were dead, and the method of handling their bodies was the same as that of the rebel army.
The whole city of Xi'an was filled with the smell of human flesh. Zhao Xiaofei was helped out of bed by Shen Yunying. The smell made him not want to eat breakfast.
Wu Sangui arrived at Zhao Xiaofei's tent early. Zhao Xiaofei came out and saw Wu Sangui kneeling on the ground. He asked, "I said, Pingxibo, what do you mean by this? Don't worry, I know you've fought hard, but today we don't need you to go out and fight!"
"Your Highness, please let my Guanning Army be the vanguard. We will definitely capture the thief Li Zicheng!" said Wu Sangui.
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