Volume 1 Chapter 71: Goldrake in the Fire

  Zhou Xuanzhang was awakened by the sound of gunfire, and he touched his forehead, where a large lump had formed, throbbing with pain but without bleeding. Jin Xiu's wrist didn't have much strength, if it were someone else, they would have definitely been beaten to a pulp.

  The gunshot did not come from Yanghua River, but from the northwest direction of the palace wall.

  Zhou Xuanzhang's heart skipped a beat, and he secretly thought it was bad.

  The place where the sound of gunfire rings out is "Return Garden"!

  It must be that Feng Guozhang and his men have clashed with the Imperial Guards - Min Zhiyi has finally found Li Guangyao's hiding place.

  The sound of gunfire was dense, and it could be heard that inside there were Type 88 rifles imitated by the Hanyang Arsenal of the Qing Dynasty from the German Commission rifle. This rifle had just been equipped in the troops of the Qing Dynasty, and it would become the main force rifle of the Chinese army - Hanyang-made! It should be the long-range weapon carried by Feng Guozhang and his men.

  Then there was the dull sound of the Mauser rifle, which was the equipment of the North Korean army.

  The two rifles had distinctly different sounds, and were very easy to tell apart.

  The Mauser rifles fired in dense but scattered shots, apparently the palace guard's attack was completely lawless. The gunfire from the Han Yang arsenal, on the other hand, was extremely rhythmic, unhurried and calm.

  However, the gunfire kept ringing in one place, which meant that Feng Guozhang and his men were surrounded in "Returning Garden" and could not break out.

  But anyway, the Imperial Guard temporarily had no way with Feng Guozhang.

  As long as they can hold on, it's fine! Because Zhou Xuan Zhang knew that the training level of the Korean army was extremely poor, and they were intimidated by the Japanese army's psychological warfare, they had no fighting spirit. As long as Feng Guo Zhang could withstand one round of attack, the Koreans would be in disarray, and Feng Guo Zhang would have the opportunity to break out.

  Suddenly, Zhou Xuanzhang's ears heard a dull thunder, coming from the direction of "Returning Garden".

  Zhou Xuanzhang's palms were sweating!

  That's the sound of the big cannon rolling on its wheels.

  The palace guard has deployed cannons!

  The equipment of the Korean army was very poor, but the guard responsible for guarding the palace was still equipped with the most advanced Krupp cannons in the world at that time. It is said that this was a gift from the Qing Dynasty, and it was given to the Korean palace by Yuan Shikai, the Qing minister resident in Korea.

  "Returning to the Garden" is just a small courtyard, how can it withstand the bombardment of Krupp's big guns.

  Zhou Xuanzhang was extremely desperate and shouted loudly towards the direction of the garden: "Brother Feng!"

  His voice was drowned out by the thunder of cannons.

  The gunfire had stopped, and the last echoes of the cannons still lingered in the sky above the capital.

  The direction of "Guiyuan" ignited a raging fire, the flames illuminated half of the sky, and outlined the dark outline of the palace.

  Zhou Xuan Zhang sprang up from the ground with a loud thud, but was stunned by the scene in front of him.

  Yanghua River execution ground, lights are shining brightly, just like daytime.

  Jin Shu stood under the three-legged gallows in the center of the execution ground, with a smile on her face. Next to her, on another three-legged gallows, hung a head with wide-open angry eyes.

  Jin Yu was subjected to lingchi, his entire skeletal system was crushed and he was thrown into the Han River, leaving only this head for display.

  The surroundings of the tripod were littered with corpses, all of whom were either the remains of people who had been beheaded by the palace guards for stealing gold and jade, or ordinary civilians who had come to pay their respects. The mutilated bodies emitted a pungent stench.

  The execution ground was surrounded by a sea of soldiers wearing military uniforms and straw hats, forming an impenetrable wall. Countless gun barrels from all directions were trained on Jin Shu.

  Jin Xiu had already washed the dirt off her face, and under the lamplight, her face radiated a dazzling glow, like a goddess descended to the mortal world.

  The soldiers were silent as cicadas in autumn.

  Hong Zhongyu stood on a high platform, waving his pistol and letting out a hoarse shout.

  He shouted in Korean, and although Korean is somewhat similar to Chinese, Zhou Xianzhang was able to understand him after learning some Korean from Jin Shu over the past period of time.

  "Fire! Kill her! She's a imperial decree offender!"

  But no soldier fired.

  Even many soldiers pointed their guns downwards.

  Soldiers are all from civilian backgrounds. Jin Yu is a great traitor in the eyes of the imperial court, but a hero in the eyes of civilians. The heroic views of the ruled and the rulers have always been different.

  Moreover, standing under the muzzle was a beautiful and pure girl like Jindalai, only sixteen years old.

  Hong Zhongyu snatched a Mauser rifle from a soldier's hand, pulled the bolt, and aimed at Jin Xiu.

  However, his arm was pulled back and he couldn't move. On his forehead, a cold gun muzzle pressed against him, and a low voice sounded: "Order your subordinates to retreat and give Jin Xiu a way out!"

  "Brother Zhou!" Jin Shu exclaimed in surprise.

  "You! You're not mute!" Hong Zhongyu saw clearly that the person who had subdued him was none other than Jin Chengwu, the mute from the city gate.

  "Yes, I am not mute, I am the General of the Great Qing Empire, my name is Zhou Xuan Zhang!" Zhou Xuan Zhang said in Chinese: "You can speak Chinese, you should be able to understand."

  "What do you want to do?"

  "What I want to do has already been made clear, you'd better obey." Zhou Xianzhang said coldly.

  "What if I don't obey?" Hong Zhongyu calmed down.

  "I'll kill you!"

  "You killed me, you can't escape! Let me tell you, this is Pyongyang, North Korea, not your Beijing!"

  Hong Zhongyu's words had barely fallen when a multitude of ear-piercing whistling sounds swept across the sky.

  Suddenly, a thunderous explosion sounded in the capital city, with explosions rising and falling, and flames soaring into the sky. Amidst the raging fires on all sides, heart-wrenching wails accompanied them.

  That was a shell fired from the Japanese army's 7-centimeter field gun, exploding on the palace wall!

  Beijing city is ablaze with flames rising high into the sky, and scattered remains of the explosion are everywhere.

  Zhou Xuan Zhang shouted loudly in Korean: "The Japanese are attacking the city!"

  The soldiers at Yanghua Crossing were suddenly thrown into chaos, a shell landed on the edge of the crowd in the execution ground, seven or eight soldiers were blown to pieces, their limbs and bodies scattered all over the place.

  Zhou Xuan Zhang threw down Hong Zhong Yu, jumped off the high platform, rushed to the middle of the execution ground's three-legged frame, and grabbed Jin Hui: "Follow me!"

  Jin Shu remained motionless, crying out: "Daddy, Daddy......"

  Zhou Xuan Zhang hastily knelt down under Jin Yu Jun's head, knocking three times: "Please ask Mr. Jin in heaven to bless Shu Er!"

  Zhou Xuanzhang stood up, took off the person's head, removed his outer garment, wrapped the head in it, and tucked it into his waist. Then, grasping Jin Shu's hands, he bowed, slung Jin Shu over his back, and took off running.

  Innumerable shells fell into the capital, whether it was the palace or civilian houses, all were bombed, flames soared to the sky, everywhere were destroyed houses, mournful cries, wailing voices, those poor civilians, still in their dreams, were blown up to the sky.

  Another batch of shells also fell into Yanghua Jin, and the North Korean soldiers had no experience in defending against artillery, they just escaped for their lives, didn't know how to lie prone, let alone listen to the trajectory. Soon a large area was blown down, with heavy casualties.

  Zhou Xuanzhang carried Jin Shu on his back, running and carefully distinguishing the whistling sound of shells above his head, jumping from one shell hole to another, avoiding the falling shells, and rushing towards the dock by the river, where there was a boat.

  Zhou Xuanzhang planned to jump onto a small boat and drift downstream to escape from the capital.

  Most North Korean houses are made of wood, with thatched roofs. The cannon fire set the houses ablaze, and the flames spread rapidly. In an instant, the entire street was engulfed in a sea of fire. Amidst the flames, countless civilians and soldiers ran towards the riverbank, crying out in desperation as they tried to use the river water to extinguish the flames on their bodies.

  Suddenly, a row of gunfire rang out on the river surface, and the people running in front fell down in a large area.

  On the river surface illuminated by flames, several ironclad ships appeared at some point, and the machine guns on the bow of the ship spewed out tongues of fire towards the fleeing crowd, and wherever the tongues of fire reached, there was another piece of flesh flying everywhere.

  Zhou Xuanzhang jumped into a shell hole, pinning Jin Shu under him. He looked up and saw a group of soldiers in blue-black uniforms, wearing blue military caps, holding Murata rifles, emerging from the iron-clad ship. These soldiers were agile and nimble, advancing under the command of an officer who held a military sword and wore a lieutenant's rank badge. They rushed onto Yanghua Crossing, occupying advantageous positions, using hills, trees, walls and other obstacles as cover, quickly deploying into combat formation.

  The officer stood by a low wall, behind him a sun flag rose and fluttered in the firelight.

  The Japanese army has entered the city from the Han River!

  Zhou Xuan Zhang has no way out!