Chapter 9: Blood War (Part 2)

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  At this time, Yuan Chonghuan on the Ningyuan city wall appeared calm and collected on the surface, but was actually worried and anxious. The Later Jin's iron-clad carts were attacking the foundation of the city, and the stones used to defend against them were insufficient, like scratching an itch through a boot. In the morning battle, many large stones had already been used up, and in the hasty defense against the iron-clad carts, almost half of the rolling stones had been used up. If the citizens' contributions from their own homes were added, it was feared that they would not last until nightfall. If a way to deal with the iron-clad carts could not be thought of, Ningyuan city would fall into enemy hands by tomorrow noon.

  But a bigger problem is that the people's hearts in the city have begun to float, and the instability of the people's hearts has led to the instability of the military's heart. Therefore, Yuan Chonghuan looked at Nurhaci, the Khan of Heaven, who was commanding the attack on the city, and slightly frowned, but immediately calmed down again.

  "General, more and more iron-clad vehicles are gathering at the foot of the city, our stones are not enough, what should we do now?" Ma Gui ran over with a big sweat on his face. Just now he was directing the use of giant rocks to smash the iron-clad vehicles. Relying on his innate divine strength, he threw down more than a dozen heavy boulders that weighed as much as a thousand catties, smashing the Jin army soldiers at the foot of the city into wailing and howling ghosts.

  Zhao Rushi rushed up to the city tower and reported urgently, "General, something's wrong! Some traitors are stirring up the people in the city, saying that you're trying to establish your own merits for personal gain, and that you don't care about their lives or deaths. They're clamoring for an explanation from you. I've already taken several of the ringleaders into custody."

  Yuan Chonghuan was furious when he heard this, pointing at Zhao Rate's nose and scolding: "You're causing trouble! You're not only harming me, Yuan Chonghuan, but also Ningyuan City. The one who benefits is Nurhaci outside the city!" He was worried about how to rally the citizens to defend the city. What he said sounded good, but in reality, it meant arresting and imprisoning them. Wouldn't this make the citizens believe the rumors even more? Without the support of the citizens, even the strongest city walls couldn't be defended.

  Zhao was scolded by Yuan Chonghuan, and immediately came to his senses. He quickly knelt down and begged for forgiveness, saying: "This general has made a mistake, please punish me, Commander-in-Chief!"

  "It's all done, killing you won't make a difference." Although Yuan Chonghuan was annoyed in his heart, at this time he was using people, and dealing with Zhao Ratejiao had no benefit to himself. He just didn't think it through, but the consequences of his actions at this critical moment were much greater. He then asked: "Have you manipulated those people?"

  Zhao felt a weight lift off his shoulders. The mistake he had just made was enough to get him beheaded ten times over. But hearing Yuan Chonghuan's tone, he knew that for the time being, his head was safe. He hastily said: "I have arrested those suspicious individuals and come to report to you, General. I also issued an order that without your or my permission, no one is allowed to use corporal punishment on them!"

  "That's great!" Yuan Chonghuan dropped one side of the anxious and flustered Man Gui, and hastily followed Zhao Zhi to rush away.

  Yuan Chonghuan had just calmed down the civilians and regained their support, deciding to defend Ningyuan City with all his might. However, when he rushed to the city wall, he found that it was on the verge of collapse.

  At the time when the army was at a loss, Tong Pan Jin Qi had an idea. He scattered fire medicine on the reed mats and bed sheets and threw them down from the city wall. Then, the soldiers on the city wall would shoot fire arrows and throw sulfur to ignite the fire medicine. The mats and sheets would catch fire immediately. Sulfur is flammable, and the iron-clad carts were made of wooden frames covered with a layer of iron skin. Wood is flammable, and there were many such carts under the city wall. Once they caught fire, the dry weather in the north would inevitably lead to a massive fire that would burn the enemy to death. Therefore, it was named "Wan Ren Di" (Enemy of Ten Thousand People).

  Just as they were thinking of a way to break the enemy, they suddenly heard a loud crashing sound. The city wall was breached by the Later Jin army at this moment, with a collapse of one zhang in length. Yuan Chonghuan rushed over and lifted up a stone slab, shouting loudly: "Quickly, pass on the commander's order, block the gap!"

  Mangui and other generals saw their commander rush forward like this, and they also followed suit.

  Nurhaci, who was commanding outside the city, found that a breach had been made in the walls of Ningyuan and immediately ordered his Iron Cavalry to charge forward. He himself followed close behind, causing Daishan and others to be startled into following him.

  Both commanders personally took to the battlefield, this was truly a chaotic battle. The people outside the battlefield, including Zhu Yinglong, were watching with bated breath. Everyone's back was covered in cold sweat, Xiong Hu's delicate face had turned pale, and she was clenching her fists tightly as she stared at the battlefield ahead, clearly tense to the extreme.

  Zhu Yinglong had an additional layer of worry compared to them, and at this time he felt that knowing history was a burden. Simply put, he was afraid that Yuan Chonghuan would lose. If Yuan Chonghuan lost, then the plan in his heart would be completely disrupted, and coming to Liaodong would also be in vain.

  "Dad, look quickly, someone on the city wall is suddenly throwing down a quilt!" Xiong Hu exclaimed in surprise.

  Zhu Yinglong also saw it and was very puzzled. He only knew the outcome of the war, but as for how they won, he had no idea. So he didn't understand why they suddenly started throwing quilts down from the city wall. Looking at Xiong Tingbi, he found that he too was perplexed, staring blankly at himself. They exchanged a glance, shook their heads and smiled wryly, then continued to look through the telescope at the city tower.

  Smoke and flames rose from the city of Ningyuan, where dust and debris flew everywhere. The Ming dynasty and the Later Jin had concentrated their most elite forces here, engaging in a brutal battle for control.

  Yuan Chonghuan's sword had already chopped off the blade, and there was not a single clean spot on his body. The helmet was also splashed with hot blood, and fresh blood flowed down. Fortunately, he had superb martial arts skills, but in just a few moments, he was surrounded by several ferocious Later Jin generals and suffered two minor injuries, one on the leg and one on the left shoulder. Man Gui and other generals saw their commander injured and roared with anger as they rushed over, killing one "Niu Lu E Zhen" with a single knife. Along with Zuo Fu, they arrived at Yuan Chonghuan's side and said: "Commander, you are the main general, let us take care of this place!"

  "Right, General, you're already injured. Ningyuan City can do without its generals, but it can't do without you. You should fall back and direct from a safe distance!"

  Yuan Chonghuan showed no gratitude, and with a single swing of his sword, he knocked down one of the Later Jin soldiers in front of him. He shouted at two men beside him, "Although Ningyuan is just a small city, its fate is tied to the survival of our great Ming dynasty. If Ningyuan falls, within a few years, our parents and brothers will all become slaves of the Tartars! If I were to retreat in fear today and prioritize my own safety, even if I managed to preserve my life, what joy would I have? What face would I have to show the emperor?" As he spoke, an enemy soldier fell each time he paused. After finishing his speech, he took advantage of a brief moment to tear off part of his battle robe to bandage the wound on his left arm before charging forward again to fight. Under his leadership, the defenders of Ningyuan gradually drove the Later Jin soldiers out of the city walls and began repairing them while continuing to defend. They finally managed to temporarily block the gap.

  Immediately afterwards, everyone saw a strange sight. Ningyuan City shot down fire arrows. The Later Jin army was short of supplies and basically everything was looted, so the Later Jin soldiers scrambled to grab the blankets thrown down from the city wall, causing chaos. Because there were fireworks hidden in the blankets, a spark could ignite them, and suddenly fires broke out continuously below Ningyuan City, burning into a piece, killing countless Later Jin troops.

  Nurhaci was also wounded, and seeing that Yuan Chonghuan could resist his attack with so few men under the iron armor army's powerful combat power, and even made his own army suffer heavy losses. This Yuan Chonghuan is indeed a person worthy of Fan Wencheng's admiration, and after one battle, he has some skills. The Southern Ming Dynasty is indeed a gathering place for talents. If there were such talented people under his command, it would be great!

  As the retreat horn of Houjin sounded, the brutal siege war on the first day came to an end. Zhu Yinglong and others hiding behind the mountain slope at the back of the Houjin army saw this scene, and were extremely amazed that Yuan Chonghuan could think of such a wonderful plan, and also breathed a sigh of relief for the battle on the first day.