Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 184 The Curtain Comes to an End

Huang Cheng and Fulesheng engaged in a fierce fight at the city gate. The two were fighting fiercely, with sword lights and knife shadows intertwined, making a harsh metal collision sound. The longer the spear, the stronger it is. However, the spear was not as powerful as the sword after being close to it. After Huang Cheng chopped off the spear tip again, he forced forward. Huang Cheng seized an opportunity, he jumped up suddenly, and swung his knife at Fulesheng with all his might.

Fu Ersheng reacted quickly and stepped back to avoid the blow, but Huang Cheng's knife was too powerful and he could not completely avoid it. With a "click" sound, Fu Ersheng's right arm was chopped off, and blood splattered everywhere.

Fulsheng screamed in pain, he covered his wound, his face was pale and his body was shaky. The Eight Banners soldiers beside him hurriedly and nervously came forward, supporting Fulsheng out of the city gate and retreating to the rear. The Green Camp soldiers around him were in a panic, they did not expect that the invincible Eight Banners general had his arm chopped off by a single knife.

Fulsheng was sweating profusely, and the pain was like a drill. He covered his broken arm and shouted urgently: "Pull down the cannons on the top of the city and fire them for me." Fulsheng looked at the battlefield again. In this short period of time, no less than a hundred Eight Banners men fell. Then he asked Goshaha to strictly order Tian Xiong to block the city gate.

The Goshaha rushed to Tian Xiong in the back and saw that he was pretending to be dead. He remembered that the commander's arm was broken, so he kicked Tian Xiong twice in anger, forcing him to go into battle himself and lead his troops to block the city gate.

Tian Xiong's face turned pale and blue. Under the angry gaze of the flag soldiers, he gritted his teeth and said, "Go!" Then he led his personal guards to block the way.

The Eight Banners soldiers who retreated to the rear quickly took out their powerful bows, put arrows on the bowstrings, pulled the strings, aimed at the city gate, and then shot the arrows out with force.

Countless arrows were seen flying towards the city gate like dense raindrops. "Bastard, you shot the wrong person!" The Green Camp soldiers of Youtian Xiong's army shouted angrily from time to time.

Because the Qing soldiers and the Meng army were mixed together at the city gate, some arrows shot by the Eight Banners soldiers accidentally hit their own people. Some Green Camp soldiers looked around in panic, not knowing what to do.

At this time, the battle at the city gate became even more chaotic. The already intense and fierce battle became even more dangerous and unpredictable.

The Eight Banners soldiers didn't care about the deaths and injuries of the Green Camp soldiers and continued to shoot arrows. If any Green Camp soldiers were defeated, they would be killed on the spot. Some Green Camp soldiers turned around and swung their swords at the Banner soldiers in extreme anger, but that was just a dying struggle.

Outside the city gate, in addition to the original pontoon bridge, Qian Biao urgently built two simple pontoon bridges. Although people had gone up to provide support, the city gate was so small that a large number of soldiers were blocked outside, while arrows from the top of the city wall kept shooting down, and the defenders had even begun throwing stones.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Qian Biao was furious. The city gates were open, but he couldn't get in. Qian Biao was anxious outside, but Huang Cheng was also in danger inside. Huang Cheng was exhausted and had been hit by several arrows. Although the arrows did not penetrate deep into the flesh, blood was oozing out like a trickle.

Huang Cheng already had a bad premonition in his heart. He wanted to capture a big city with a large number of troops and a determined defender. It would be difficult to break it by just a sneak attack.

At this moment, the Qing soldiers not far away shouted, "The cannons are coming." Fulsheng looked closely and saw that four Tiger-Zun cannons were quickly lifted down and placed in front of him.

Fu Ersheng gritted his teeth and said, "Fire the cannon for me!"

A Goshha beside him asked in a low voice: "There are Tian Xiong and his guards ahead."

But under Fulsheng's murderous gaze, Gosha had to force the Green Camp gunners to fire. Four cannon shots were heard, and four projectiles went straight towards the city gate.

At such a close distance, there was no need to talk about the accuracy of the artillery. The Green Camp soldiers and the Meng army were crowded together, and the four shells were like a plow for tilling the field, plowing four bloody marks at the city gate, and countless people fell down in an instant.

Liu Kun was quick-witted and pulled Zhang Chengsheng in front of him, narrowly avoiding the cannonball. Huang Cheng in front was pale, it was too cruel. Seeing the Qing soldiers began to load the projectiles again, Huang Cheng gritted his teeth and shouted in pain: "Withdraw!"

All the Meng army soldiers at the city gate looked sad, and the Green Camp opposite were also filled with anger. Several of Tian Xiong's personal guards were seen crying and searching everywhere for Tian Xiong's body. Tian Xiong was caught off guard by the close-range bombardment of the artillery and was hit by a shell. He died instantly and his body was scattered into several pieces.

Qian Biao was startled when he heard a few cannon shots, and then saw a few projectiles flying out of the city gate. Then the Meng army that entered the city withdrew like a tide. Qian Biao felt mixed emotions. Did he regret it? No, he had arrived in time. To be more precise, it was a pity.

"What a pity! All our efforts have been in vain." Qian Biao was so angry that he kicked a small stone fiercely, but it was a pity that it only hurt his feet and had no other benefits. Qian Biao roared: "Retreat and return to the camp!"

But now that things have come to this, since they cannot break into the city, they have no choice but to retreat first. However, what surprised Qian Biao was that after the Meng army had withdrawn from the city, the Qing soldiers on the city wall did not take the opportunity to shoot arrows and chase after the Meng army.

The Green Camp soldiers on the city wall looked at the Eight Banners soldiers below the city with complicated expressions. They drove away the Meng army that raided the city gate, but these Qing troops did not cheer.

On the devastated battlefield, whether on the city wall or at the city gate, there was silence. Everyone had a ball of rage in their hearts. They first drove forward, then shot arrows, and finally fired cannons, completely disregarding themselves as human beings. On the night after the battle, only Tian Xiong's six personal guards and servants were crying and shouting, and their cries could be heard everywhere in the silent Jiangning City.

Fu Ersheng was about to faint from the pain, and when he heard the annoying voice again, he shouted angrily: "Crying on the battlefield is disturbing our army's morale, and he should be executed immediately."

Fifteen soldiers of the Eight Banners approached with swords in hand, but the six guards were no pushovers either. They stood with swords in hand. One of the guards said to the people beside him, "I don't understand the righteousness of the country. I only know that the general feeds me, gives me money, and treats me well, so I should work hard for him. If the general dies, we should avenge him!"

Everyone looked at each other, knowing that they would surely die today, and then they all shouted, "Kill!"

With the determination to die, the personal guards charged towards the twice-numbered Eight Banners soldiers. Surprisingly, in just a moment, eight of the fifteen Banners soldiers were chopped down by Tian Xiong's personal guards, while only two of Tian Xiong's personal guards were killed.

A guard laughed mockingly, "The Tartars are just like this, how can they boast that they are invincible? If so, wouldn't I be the enemy of ten thousand people?"

Seeing that more than a dozen Eight Banners soldiers were unable to do anything to a mere six Han soldiers, Fulsheng felt pained and angry. He rolled his eyes and fell down.

Goshaha beside him shouted hurriedly: "Hurry up and treat the general first," and then hurriedly carried Fulsheng to the clinic.

A circle of Eight Banners soldiers rushed forward, but they were outnumbered. The four remaining guards of Tian Xiong soon fell one by one. The last one shouted before he died: "I am Fang Qu, from Xuanhua, Zhili!"