Chapter 72: Attacking the Fortress

  Emperor Taizong led several thousand imperial guards along the Great Wall to inspect the terrain of the border with the Ming dynasty, sometimes getting as close as a few miles from the Ming border towns.

  "This will be our next goal!" Huang Taiji said with great ambition.

  The Great Ming dynasty had painstakingly managed the Ningjin defense line, but it was getting harder and harder to raid into the pass from Liaodong. In the year of Ji Si, the Jurchen army ventured to detour through Mongolia and attacked Beijing, but Chahar Mongols always made him feel like a thorn in his back. From then on, he no longer had this worry, and the Great Ming's long northern border would be exposed under the iron hooves of the Jurchen warriors.

  Jirgalang beside him echoed: "From now on, the Great Ming is like a chopping board for us, and when the time is right, we can come and take a cut."

  Jirhalang was the nephew of Haicheng, but he was raised as a son by the old slave from childhood. He had good relationships with several brothers of Huang Taiji. His father, Shurhaci, died at the hands of Haicheng, and his brother Amin died at the hands of Huang Taiji, yet Jirhalang gained deep trust from Huang Taiji.

  The army marched for two days and arrived at Zhangba Grassland. Huang Taiji did not want to return to Liaodong yet, he wanted to test the Ming's Xuan-Da Town.

  The sound of horseshoes echoes outside Zhangjiakou, and the once prosperous market is now deserted.

  Dorgon's two white banners' troops surrounded the isolated Zhangjiakou fortress, making it impossible to get in or out. The defender Huang Yu looked far into the distance from the city wall and saw endless Jurchen cavalry on the grassland, his legs turned soft. The Jurchens were not Mongols, their ability to attack cities had been verified many times in Liaodong, and the walls of Zhangjiakou fortress could not stop them.

  Gong Chen stood at the edge of the female wall on the right, his right hand tightly grasping the hilt of his sword, his heart calm. Unlike most of his colleagues, since he became a border soldier, he had been prepared to die in battle.

  Powerful Jurchen cavalrymen circled around the Zhangjiakou fortress every day, the dazzling white armor reflecting the sunlight and piercing the eyes. Huang Huo strictly forbade his soldiers from launching a preemptive attack, still harboring the illusion that the Jurchens would not storm the city.

  Xuan Town City, inside the Provincial Governor's Office.

  The staff are comforting the bewildered Governor Shen Rong, "The Jurchen people will not attack the fort, Zhangjiakou Fort and Xuanfu are just a stone's throw away, thousands of miles from Liaodong, and even if they do take it down, they won't be able to garrison it. Moreover, they also need the market at Zhangjiakou." The secret of this gathering is not hidden from the officials.

  Shen Qian nodded repeatedly, trying to boost her own courage.

  Indeed, from whatever angle one analyzes it, there was no need for the Jurchen people to attack the Zhangjiakou fortress.

  Outside Zhangjiakou Fortress, the grassland on the dam is green and boundless.

  The weather is fine, with a few white clouds drifting under the azure sky. It's a good day for anything.

  Thousands of female archers dispersed in a slow and orderly manner, approaching the walls of Zhangjiakou Fortress. The soldiers on watch passed on the message to those inside the fortress, whereupon a mournful bugle call sounded out, as Huang Huai commanded the soldiers on the city wall to take their positions.

  When the first arrow hit the wall of the city gate and made a crisp sound, Huang Hu's fantasy was finally shattered.

  Robust Jurchen archers surrounded the Zhangjiakou fortress, with sharp arrows flying wildly on the city wall. Without Huang Huai's order, the archers on the fortress began to counterattack on their own, and from time to time, someone was shot by an arrow and let out a dull cry. The Jurchens' bows and arrows were accurate and far-reaching, and although the Ming army was high above the fortress, they did not have the advantage in the mutual shooting of bows and arrows between the two sides.

  The infantrymen inside the fort leaned against the city wall and sat down, waiting for their opponents who were about to climb up the city wall.

  Gong Chen's armor was neat and tidy, hiding behind the female wall, holding a three-eyed gun in his hand, with a heavy axe leaning on his side. The Jurchen attacking general's dead soldiers always wore heavy armor, ordinary knives, guns, bows and arrows could not cause fatal injuries, only firearms or axes, heavy hammers and other blunt objects could achieve the most effective attack.

  Zhangjiakou Fort Below

  Two teams of soldiers in white armor stood quietly on either side of the east and west gates of the castle, their leader, Dorgon, carefully observing the situation of the defending troops on the city wall. He was the younger brother of Huang Taiji and was born to the same mother as Dorgon and Ajige.

  As the Ming army on the city wall who dared to fight back was almost gone, Duoduo's right hand swung down with force, and his personal soldier waved a flag signal, indicating that the infantry should attack the city.

  The eastern city gate, two teams of 700 men each were moving swiftly towards the city wall with over a dozen tall cloud ladders. Dorgon's face was relaxed, as for such a Ming army fortress, the Jurchen had already breached countless times. Every time the great army entered the pass, from small county towns to large prefectural cities, all fell into the hands of Jurchen warriors.

  Archers closely followed the infantry, providing long-range support to the brave warriors climbing the wall. These were divine marksmen, shooting arrows at the backs of the besieging soldiers, which easily harmed their own people once they deviated.

  Ladders were erected and grasped the top of the wall, heavy armored infantry lined up to climb up.

  On the city wall, the Ming army showed their faces at the battlements and fought back with all their might.

  The arrows shot into the bodies of the climbing Jurchen infantry, penetrating their armor but not passing through, only forming fatal injuries when shooting at the face.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  Soldiers using firearms ignited the three-eyed gun, aiming downwards along the direction of the cloud ladder. The huge sound shook the eardrums, and the Jurchen people in the front row were the first to bear the brunt. This time, even the thick armor couldn't save him, and amidst the mournful cries, the sturdy body of the Jurchen man fell from the top of the city wall, almost knocking his companions behind him flying.

  The arrows of the female Tartar archers shot towards the Ming soldiers who were exposing their upper bodies on the city tower, like venomous snakes. Many people had just released the gun arrows in their hands and were hit by them. The soldiers climbing up the cloud ladder moved very quickly, some places had already climbed to the top of the city wall, and Huang Hai, who should have been commanding, was at a loss.

  Gong Chen's hundred-man team was stationed at the northeast corner. The Ming soldiers did not have as good armor as the Jurchen people, and the casualties caused by the archers under the city wall were too great. He ordered his subordinates to retreat slightly and wait for the Jurchens to climb up the wall before attacking. Faced with the heavily armored warriors who were about to climb over the city wall, he ordered the abandonment of bows and arrows, and a uniform three-eyed gun was aimed at the cloud ladder mouth.

  The cloud ladder head exposed the attacking soldier's head, the defending soldier retreated several steps, and the long gun pierced through fiercely. The spearhead stabbed into the Jurchen woman's body, several soldiers came to help, and together they pushed the Jurchen woman who had just exposed her upper body down under the city wall.

  On the city wall, explosions rang out one after another, and Chou Chen felt that his ears were almost deafened. Gunpowder smoke filled the air. Against heavily armored warriors, the best weapon was undoubtedly firearms.

  "Kill!"

  The long spearman, Chong Chen, stood firmly against the wall, and the three-eyed revolver continuously fired. All the Jurchen people who were hit had their faces like flowers, with blood and flesh blurred. The accuracy of the three-eyed revolver was very poor, but at such a close distance, it could almost reach 100% accuracy, only the loading speed was too slow.

  The northwest corner of Zhangjiakou Fortress was breached first.

  The Jurchen suicide troops jumped onto the city wall, and the morale of the Ming army plummeted. The tall and powerful Jurchen suicide troops were unstoppable, they were all recruited by Huang Taiji from the deep mountains, they had been dealing with wild beasts in the mountains since childhood, and years of war had made them even more ferocious and bloodthirsty. Two brave Ming soldiers rushed up to their deaths, but couldn't even get close, and were cut down by that man.

  The northwest corner of the city wall, which had been breached, became a stronghold, and the Jurchen troops kept climbing up, while the Ming army retreated continuously, and the battle on the wall was lost. The isolated Zhangjiakou Fortress outside the pass would be captured by the Jurchens whenever they wanted to take action, it was only a matter of time before it fell.

  "General, we can't hold on!" Huang Zu's personal soldiers shouted loudly.

  "There will be no more reinforcements!" The battalion commander guarding the northwest city hastily retreated back.

  The Jurchen troops spread out on the city walls, while the Ming army was squeezed into a tight group.

  "Come down!" someone shouted.

  "It's about time!" someone chimed in.

  "Surrender! Surrender!" The cries grew louder, the soldiers in the front row dropped their weapons and knelt down on the ground. For many of the Jurchen people who had just climbed over the wall, the battle was only just beginning, and the unexhausted warriors, disregarding those already kneeling on the ground, continued to slash and kill with their swords.

  At the sound of surrender, Bow Chen's subordinates looked at each other in dismay, and their hands naturally loosened.

  Gong Chen's face was gloomy, and he shouted loudly: "Fire the cannons, don't stop."

  It was just a moment of hesitation, and four or five Jurchen women had already rushed to the top of the city wall. They stretched out their hands to grab the long guns that were hesitatingly thrust at them, and with one pull, the soldiers holding the guns fell to the ground. The Jurchen women were also afraid of being shot by firearms again, so they quickly rushed forward to pursue the Ming army in close combat. The Jurchen women on the flank also discovered that there was still resistance here, and a dozen or so people rushed over with big strides, attacking from two sides, and the hundred-man team led by Bowei was thrown into chaos.

  "General, the defender has surrendered!" The personal soldier shouted loudly in Bowen's ear, and under the loud noise of the three-eyed gun, Bowen's ears buzzed.

  Following the direction of the imperial guard's pointing, Bowen saw a white flag fluttering on the city tower guarded by Huang Huai.

  The shouting and killing sounds on the city wall gradually subsided, and the dense gunfire also became sparse.

  "Surrender?"

  Gong Chen revealed a sneer, picked up the giant axe beside him and chopped towards the nearby Jurchen soldier. The axe blade cut through several layers of armor and lodged in the shoulder. Amidst the Jurchen man's cries of pain, Gong Chen pulled out the axe with one hand, swung it in an arc in mid-air, then gripped the handle tightly with both hands and chopped at the man's neck. This time, the axe did not stop, directly severing the man's cervical vertebrae, leaving his head hanging from his body by only half of his neck.

  Due to overexertion, the massive inertia belt caused his body to stumble, and he stood unsteadily in front of another female Zhen Ren. In the chaos, he saw an ugly face approaching him, with a broad knife raised high, leaving him no room to dodge.

  Gong Chen let out a breath, dropped the heavy axe, and took advantage of the momentum to pounce on the ground, grabbing the man's legs and exerting force to try and flip him over. The Jurchen woman had extremely strong waist and abdomen muscles, her upper body stumbled, her hands waving wildly in the air, yet she didn't fall. If he let his guard down for a moment, his back would be exposed to the blade, Gong Chen arched his waist, using all his might to twist the right leg in front of him, the tall Jurchen woman retreated several steps, just as she was about to crash, her buttocks bumped into the crenellations on the city wall.

  The Jurchen woman dropped the broadsword in her hand, grabbed Bowei's shoulder and tried to pull him away. Behind them was a deep city wall several zhang high. Bowei raised his head and saw through the crenel of the female wall that the distant green grassland was full of vitality under the sunlight.

  "What great weather!"

  He exerted himself to lift the Jurchen woman, and the massive body of the Jurchen woman flipped over the city wall. Her two hands were tightly grasping Ao Chen's shoulders, unmoving. The two people fell from the top of the city wall like a huge boulder, smashing onto the grass below. A burst of screams erupted from the top of the city wall.

  The heavy armor had become the biggest burden for both of them at this moment, with a weight of over 500-600 pounds crashing down. In the instant it hit the ground, Bowu felt dizzy and his internal organs seemed to have been rearranged, only feeling a sweetness in his throat before swallowing it quickly. Looking again at the Jurchen woman pinned under him, a mouthful of fresh blood spurted out from her mouth without making any sound.

  Hong Chen relaxed his own hands and tried hard to move his body, but he couldn't budge at all.

  The battle on the city wall gradually subsided.

  The galloping warrior shouted loudly: "The Khan's order, sheathe your swords and surrender!"

  Duoduo did not understand what use these Han people were, but Tiancong Khan's orders no one dared to disobey.

  The castle gate opened with a heavy creak, and Huang Huo led the surrendered soldiers of over 300 to be escorted out by the Jurchen people. Ao Chen felt a pair of large hands grab his ankles, pulling him like a dead dog to the center of a grassy area, followed by his former colleagues.

  Gong Chen lay there, only his fingers could slightly tremble, the sunlight coming straight at him made his eyes narrow into a slit, and he could vaguely see some mocking gazes from his colleagues.

  The Zhangjiakou fortress fell after one battle, and the Jurchen iron cavalry arrived with a loud noise, stationed outside the Great Wall in Xuanfu.

  "What to do?" Shen Ke was anxious like an ant on a hot pot.

  "Whatever it takes, this battle must not be fought if possible!" The voice of the eunuch Wang Kun was sharp and piercing.

  "The Jurchen army is over ten thousand strong; no single town in the province can resist them." General Dong Jishu of the Xuanfu garrison concurred.

  "How can we make them retreat?" Shen Qian's eyebrows were tightly furrowed.

  "The Dong Yu invasion of the border is not just for plundering wealth, someone might be able to help us!" Wang Kun's mouth slightly curled up.

  The merchants of Zhangjiakou transported so many weapons from here, and it's easy to guess where these weapons were sold.