Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 431: Pacification of Cangzhou

Gao Yi was very unhappy when he heard this. These bastards had scolded him for so many days and even cursed the king so badly. Now they wanted to persuade him to surrender. So he angrily scolded: "This Leng guy is not a good guy!"

Surrounded on all sides, Adari was already showing despair. Surrender! This word, which had never appeared in his mind before, came to his mind for the first time.

But the deputy general beside him shouted: "Leng Sengji, you traitor, evil thief!"

But after cursing, the deputy general looked at Adari in shock. He didn't say a word, but his face seemed to be moved. The deputy general said quickly: "How can any of the Eight Banners surrender to the enemy? If you surrender, how can you face your wife, children and elders at home!"

At this time, outside the city, Zhao Yongping said to Meng Jun hesitantly: "Your Majesty, the Cangzhou garrison killed our envoys and humiliated you. With such behavior, you want to surrender. I am afraid that it will damage the morale of the army. Your Majesty, is this inappropriate?"

Facing Zhao Yongping's concerns, Meng Jun still looked at Cangzhou City and smiled slightly, "Do you think I want an army of several thousand Eight Banner soldiers? No, I only need two or three hundred Eight Banner surrendered soldiers."

Zhao Yongping heard this and showed a thoughtful expression on his face. He then said, "Your Majesty, do you just want a title?"

"The Qing government has been cultivating the land outside the Great Wall for more than 20 years. If we don't let them see a glimmer of hope, I'm afraid there will be rivers of blood when we take over the land outside the Great Wall in the future!" Meng Jun said slowly.

Zhao Yongping was silent for a moment, and the doubts in his heart gradually dissipated. He looked at Meng Jun deeply and saw a foresight that was different from ordinary people in Meng Jun.

"Once the Eight Banners surrender, it will be a political defeat for the Qing Dynasty." Meng Jun paused, then smiled and said, "Besides, this can also show our magnanimity and benevolence. When the world is unified in the future, I can also move all the remaining Eight Banners to Annan, Myanmar, Japan, or Luzon. It will all be up to me at that time!"

Inside the city, Adali showed signs of struggle. Zhou's army had captured four gates, and the Qing army had no way to escape. Besides, except for the Eight Banners Army, the rest of the defenders had either surrendered or fled. There was no sound of fighting in other parts of the city.

Gao Yi also temporarily stopped the attack at this time. He was restoring the strength of the heavy armored army while waiting for the small cannons to come up from behind. The streets were wide for ordinary people on weekdays, but they were undoubtedly narrow for so many troops.

In this narrow space, the power of artillery can be magnified several times. With the dense crowd and close-range bombardment, Gao Yi feels excited just thinking about it.

Leng Sengji had been trying to persuade them to surrender, and many of the Eight Banners soldiers were already hesitant. The deputy general urged Adari, saying, "General, you killed the envoy of Zhou and insulted Meng Jun for days. How can such deep hatred be resolved so easily? General, don't hesitate, break out immediately!"

Adali suddenly remembered what he had done in the past few days. How could Meng Jun let him go? Thinking of this, he said fiercely: "There are no Eight Banners people who are afraid of death. Soldiers, follow me and fight!"

After saying this, Adari ordered his deputy general to lead a team of soldiers for protection, while he led most of the Eight Banners soldiers to break out towards the north gate. Although the south was closer to the city, there were heavily armored troops in the south, and the main force of the Zhou army was in the south. It was a pipe dream to want to escape.

Therefore, Adari could only break out to the north. Although the distance was longer, the defense in the north must be weaker. As the order was conveyed, Adari personally led the remaining large number of Eight Banners soldiers to the north, hoping to find a glimmer of hope in such a dangerous situation.

Leng Sengji was somewhat discouraged when he saw most of the Eight Banners soldiers moving with swords in hand. But at this moment, a small group of Eight Banners soldiers took advantage of the chaos in Adali's mobilization of the army, threw down their weapons, and rushed towards Leng Sengji.

This small group consisted of about 20 to 30 people. Although the number was small, it dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the remaining Eight Banners.

"Hurry, get out of the way, the cannons are coming!" More than a dozen small cannons were carried by soldiers and hurried to the front line. Amid a burst of rapid shouting, the artillerymen tried their best to place the cannons in front of the heavy armored army.

Gao Yi's voice was still clearly audible in this noisy battlefield. He shouted with some urgency, "Quick, quick, fire a cannon when you come, and then charge."

Just as he finished speaking, small cannons fired one after another. At a distance of several dozen steps, under the power of the shotgun shells, the Eight Banners soldiers in the rear guard fell like wheat.

A distance of dozens of steps is almost close-range shooting for shotguns. The characteristic of shotguns is that they release dense rain of bullets at close range, covering a wide area, and are especially suitable for dealing with short-range and dense enemy groups.

Cannon fire sounded one after another, countless iron sand poured down like a violent storm, and shotgun shells made bursts of shrill sounds. Even if some of the bullets were blocked by armor and caused fatal damage, it was not lucky for the Eight Banners soldiers.

The range of the shotgun was too large, and the hands, feet, faces, and other unprotected areas of the Eight Banners soldiers were swept by the shotgun. The pain was almost excruciating. Under such dense fire coverage, the Eight Banners soldiers on the rear guard fell down in large numbers like a mowed wheat field.

The scene was horrific. Gao Yi made two "Puh" sounds and then spat. Then Gao Yi took advantage of the chaos caused by the artillery and ordered the heavy armored army to launch another charge.

This time, they were like a sharp knife, directly piercing into the remnants of the Qing army, and almost no one could stop them along the way.

Adari looked back and saw the Zhou army surging in like a tide. The rear guard had collapsed and the deputy general who was in charge of the rear was nowhere to be found. At this moment, Adari realized that defeat was inevitable.

But Adari was still unwilling to sit there and wait for death. He left behind a group of Qing troops to cover their retreat, while he continued to lead his men to break out towards the north gate.

Unfortunately, when Adari was still two miles away from the north gate, Qian Biao appeared in front of him.

Seeing this, Qian Biao laughed and said, "This is really a gift from God!" After that, he proudly said to his deputy general Guo Hu, "Remember, go to Taoist Li's temple more often to burn incense in the future. Taoist Li has a relationship with God and has a say."

Guo Hu: "...Tongzhen, Taoist Priest Li, that's not called a temple, that's called a Taoist temple!"

Adari on the opposite side looked at the opponent with some despair, but he still gritted his teeth and ordered his subordinates to attack Qian Biao's defense line. However, all these efforts seemed so pale and powerless in the face of the absolute gap in strength.

The current Eight Banners soldiers cannot compare with the Zhou army in terms of morale, physical strength, numbers and everything else.

With Gao Yi's relentless pressure from behind and Qian Biao's blockade, the Qing army became increasingly powerless until it completely collapsed.

In the end, the remaining troops led by Adari either surrendered or died under the encirclement of Zhou's army. Gao Yi was covered in blood. He glanced at the battlefield and saw that there were nearly a hundred Eight Banners surrendered soldiers, and the leader Adari had also surrendered.

Adari knelt on the ground, not saying a word for a long time. He lowered his head to the ground. Even though blood had already stuck to his forehead, Adari seemed unconscious and indifferent.

At this time, Gao Yi looked at Adari off the field with a thoughtful look on his face, but soon, he became determined and said hatefully: "Kill them all, leave no one alive!"

Qian Biao was furious when he saw that Gao Yi was actually trying to kill the surrendered soldiers. He said, "Gao Yi is trying to steal the credit. Quick, quick, chop off the head of that Eight Banners general for me!"