The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 47 Fall
A massive crowd of people rushed towards the walls of Jing'an Fort. The bondservants were clamoring behind the crowd and waving their swords to hack at the refugees who were left at the back.

The refugees, with sparse rain of arrows falling on their heads, ran towards the trenches in panic. They were thin (the strong ones had been incorporated into the bannermen) and their steps were staggering. Many of them fell down and were trampled into the mud by countless pairs of feet, never to stand up again.

The people who finally rushed to the trench threw the stones in their hands into the trench. Some people were shot by arrows from the top of the city wall as soon as they turned around. They rolled down the steep edge of the trench and just slid into the trench, splashing water and silently becoming part of the trench filling.

The army filling the trench went back and forth continuously, throwing stones and clods of earth into the trench continuously. Although the Ming army on the city wall kept shooting arrows, there were too many people, and the originally narrow trench was filled up by the refugees at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Ladders ready! Shield carts ready! Attack the pier!"

After the Battle of Sarhu, the Later Jin army did not need to climb the city walls, prepare ladders and shield carts, or fill trenches when attacking such garrisons. They only needed to circle around the fort, and the Ming army inside would be frightened and lower the drawbridge to surrender.

Fei Yingwu guessed that the Ming army on the opposite side probably knew what would happen to them after the fort was captured, so they resisted so desperately.

Even though the trenches have been filled, the Ming troops in the fort continue to resist stubbornly.

Fei Yingwu looked at the two large flags flying on the watchtower and vowed that once he captured the watchtower, he would execute all the Ming troops in the fort by slow slicing.

"Ready the wolf-fang bat! Get the ash bottle ready! Get the golden soup ready, the Tartar shield chariots are coming!"

The commanders of each camp shouted loudly on the battlement platform, saying that the archers on the battlement had suffered heavy casualties and were completely suppressed by the Later Jin archers on the opposite side.

The few musketeers in the fort were hiding behind the battlements. According to the battle plan, they would suddenly appear when the Zhenyi soldiers climbed the city walls and inflict heavy casualties on the Tatars on the ladders.

Behind the pier are two silent Portuguese cannons, which have been hidden here since the war began.

This was the only firepower of Jing'an Fort. The Ming army planned to use it to bombard the dense Jiannu army formation. The time was not yet ripe, so it had not been exposed.

Li Ketai and Jin Yinghe were walking on the platform of Jing'an Fort. They looked at the bannerman Aha who was rushing over the trench, and there was a look of uneasiness on their faces.

The pits dug behind the trench worked. The Baoyi who rushed to the front were stabbed to death by sharp bamboo sticks, and more people were stabbed by caltrops. They were poorly equipped, and many of them didn't even have shoes. The sharp caltrops pierced their insteps, and dark red blood soaked the land of Liaodong.

"The enemy is numerous, and the city defense equipment is limited. The garrison commander has also moved the artillery to Kaiyuan. I wonder how long they can hold out?"

Li Ketai looked at the surrendered Aha who were coming in like a tide below, feeling worried.

This deputy general of Tieling volunteered to come to Jing'an Fort to guard it. Together with Jin Yinghe, he led 3,000 troops and planned to block the Later Jin army south of Kaiyuan to buy time for the main force of the Ming army to strengthen the defense of Kaiyuan city.

For the first time, Jin Yinghe realized that he might die in the Ming Dynasty and never return to Seoul.

He knew that the Bordered Blue Banner came this time for revenge and was in high spirits. The Zhenyi armor had not yet been deployed, but these bannermen in front of him gave him a suffocating feeling of oppression.

"General Li, when I was in Shenyang, I heard the garrison commander speak of your great name. You've guarded Tieling for ten years, and the Mongols and the Jiannu dared not attack. Even the General praised your extraordinary bravery and loyalty, saying you're a rare talent. With your assistance this time, the enemy will surely be terrified!"

Li Ketai smiled slightly. The North Korean in front of him was obviously too optimistic.

"Kill as many Jiannu as possible, that's good. If we can defend, then defend. If we can't, forget it!"

Jin Yinghe looked up at the Liaozhen deputy general in surprise. If Jing'an Fort was lost, Kaiyuan would have to face the Jiannu head-on.

As the Baoyi Aha began to push the shield cart to attack the tower, teams of young men from Liaozhen also climbed up the city wall.

They set up large pots on the pier, filled with sewage and feces, and burned firewood under the pots. Soon, pots of golden juice were boiling.

Jin Yinghe walked across the pier with his nose covered. The completeness of the Celestial Empire's city defense strategy opened his eyes today.

At this time, the Ming army archers on the arrow tower had suffered heavy casualties, and the baoyi soldiers, who had lost their suppression, quickly advanced to the bottom of the city wall.

The bannermen, full of fighting spirit, armed with heavy swords and long spears, followed the battering chariots and the dividing chariots, dodging the stones thrown down from the piers and firing back with bows and arrows.

Dozens of ladders were placed on the city wall, and the brave men among the Baoyi climbed up the pier with their one-handed swords in their teeth.

The guards below the ladder shouted loudly and struck their shields with their swords, making neat and powerful sounds.

Fei Yingwu looked at the Baoyi Aha who was about to attack the city wall, with a smug look on his face. He turned to a Bayala and said:
"I've said it before, the Bordered Blue Banner is enough to deal with Liu Zhaosun. The Khan insisted on having the other four banners come to intervene. Tell the warriors to stop shooting arrows and wait for the bannermen to reach the top of the city wall, then rush in and capture Liu Zhaosun alive!"

If we can catch Liu Zhaosun this time, we will skin him alive.

"Heshuo Beile, look!"

Bayala was about to open his mouth to agree when he suddenly heard a shrill howl coming from the front.

Suddenly, a golden substance fell from the Ming army's watchtower, reflecting dazzling light in the sunlight.

The Baoyi Aha who was climbing the city wall was splashed and immediately let out a scream that was not like a human voice. Many of them did not carry shields. At this moment, their bodies were smoking and they rolled down the ladder.

The musketeers hidden behind the battlements raised their muskets and fired at the chaotic armored troops. With the crackling sound of gunfire, the pier was soon covered by smoke.

The Later Jin soldiers on the opposite side fired some inaccurate arrows, many of which hit the Baoyi Aha. "Tell the master, don't shoot! Our people are still on the ladder!"

Cao Zhongqing was extremely lucky. He did not participate in the first wave of siege. Instead, he stood under the ladder and cheered. When the Ming army poured gold juice down, he dodged in time. When the Ming army's muskets sounded, he had already run behind the trench.

Of course, the masters would not give up the great opportunity to kill the Ming army's musketeers just for the lives of a few bannermen.

In response to Cao Zhongqing, there was an even more intense rain of arrows.

When the smoke cleared, the surviving bondservants had no time to rejoice as barrels of tung oil poured down from the fort. The bondservants below had nowhere to hide and their heads and bodies were covered in tung oil.

Fei Yingwu and Na Bayala looked at each other, and the two Jurchens' faces turned pale. When the Khan attacked Qinghe, he had never seen the Ming army resist so tenaciously.

Torches were thrown down from the battlements, and the city immediately turned into a sea of fire. The bondservants ran around like mice entering a fire. Many of them were wrapped in flames, and the rat tails on the back of their heads were spitting out flames, which looked quite terrifying.

Some of the panicked bannermen Aha turned around and rushed towards the Zhenyi armored soldiers who were supervising the battle behind the trench, but were immediately killed by their masters with heavy swords and spears.

Fei Yingwu gritted his teeth. In the previous fire attack, at least more than a hundred bannermen were killed or wounded. Even the siege ladders and shield carts were burned by the Ming army. All the trees that could be cut down in the surrounding area were cut down by the Ming army. It was unknown how long it would take for them to organize such an attack again.

The surviving bondservants were terrified by the hellish scene before them and fled back like mad. Most of them were shot dead by their masters before they could escape.

Cao Zhongqing passed by the blazing shield carts, looked at the Ming army on the pier with rage, and shouted:
"Master, shoot! Shoot these Ming dogs to death!"

A moment later, a rain of arrows covered the tower again. After three rounds of arrow rain, almost all the Ming army musketeers on the tower were shot dead. Some of them were pierced with more than a dozen arrow feathers and nailed to the battlements.

At the urging of the Second Prince Amin, the Portuguese cannon finally arrived.

Cao Zhongqing, followed by more than one hundred surviving bannermen, pushed twelve French machine guns and slowly advanced towards Jing'an Fort.

Baoyi kept moving the corpses in front of him to clear the obstacles for the artillery to move forward.

"I'll fire my cannon later and kill you southern barbarians!"

Looking forward from Cao Zhongqing's position, one could see the remaining Ming army gunners on the pier loading their muskets, and some Liao men wounded by arrows crawling on the ground, their screams faintly audible.

Cao Zhongqing didn't bother to wipe the sweat off his forehead, and said viciously to the Liao people on the city wall:

"You traitors, not only don't you help fight the southern barbarians, but you're also making enemies with the Jin Dynasty. I'll kill you with my own weapons!"

After Cao Zhongqing finished speaking, he turned around and shouted to the several cannon pushers around him:

"Hurry up and push, you lazy dogs! If you delay the master's important work, I will skin you alive!"

The bondservants looked up and glared at Cao Zhongqing. One of them, a burly man, simply took his hands off the artillery carriage, walked up to Cao Zhongqing, and looked him in the eye, with the fat on his face trembling slightly.

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

Cao Zhongqing suddenly drew his sword and was ready to kill the eunuch if he took another step forward.

At this time, a horseman of the Bordered Blue Banner came up from the rear. He was originally a Tangma and was going to pass on military information to his master. Seeing that the two bannermen were not working properly, he rode over and whipped Cao Zhongqing hard in the face:

"You dog slave, if you dare to be lazy again, I'll chop you up and feed you to the dogs!"

Cao Zhongqing was suddenly whipped by his master. He felt quite aggrieved, but he just held his face and put on a forced smile.

A French machine gun in front was already in position, crossing the trench and coming to a position less than 300 steps away from the pier.

A team of Later Jin artillerymen, composed of surrendered Ming army gunners, hurried over from the rear, gestured in front of the French cannon for a while, and finally the gunner lit the fuse.

With a loud bang, the tower seemed to be hit by a giant and began to shake with a amplitude visible to the naked eye. The surviving Ming soldiers on the tower's arrow tower fell like fallen leaves.

Then, several other Portuguese cannons also sounded one after another. The wooden arrow tower was hit by the shells and crackled, and wood chips flew everywhere. Those Ming soldiers who were not killed immediately were hit by the flying wood chips, and their bodies were like hedgehogs, struggling and twisting in pain on the ground.

Several stubborn Ming soldiers finally had a mental breakdown. They dropped their muskets and bows and arrows and jumped directly from the arrow tower. Their legs were broken and they wailed on the ground.

The front row of baoyi soldiers were like chickens with their blood pumped up. They lifted the ladders that were not yet burning on the ground and placed them directly on the arrow tower. They climbed up in two or three steps. They brandished heavy swords and long spears, moved among the bricks and rubble, and killed those Ming soldiers who were not completely dead one by one.

A team of Baoyi climbed down from the city wall and lowered the drawbridge from the inside.

Fei Yingwu looked at the blue-bordered banner raised on the platform, pointed his whip to the northwest, and ordered the 6,000 Zhenyi soldiers behind him:

"Enter the fort! Kill all the southern barbarians. The Khan has ordered that no one should be spared!"

(End of this chapter)