books44 Chapter 206 Sweeper
Chapter 206 Sweeper
Inside the palace, the sounds of killing echoed in the air.
Babutai and Fulsheng were both dumbfounded. The enemy army entered the palace so quickly. What did this mean? Someone must have opened the city to rebel.
"Those who surrender will not be killed, those who surrender will not be killed, and those who put out the fire will be rewarded!" Qian Biao rushed in with a knife, shouting as he ran. He was now concentrating on putting out the fire in the palace.
Fu Ersheng shouted at the remaining Eight Banners soldiers: "Disperse and set fire on all sides!"
"Hurry, hurry and find some water!" Qian Biao was so anxious that bubbles appeared on the corners of his mouth. Looking at the hall in front of him that was half burned by fire, he shouted at his subordinates.
"General, look, there's a small pond over there," a guard shouted with bright eyes.
"Hurry up and find a bucket of water to put out the fire. Damn it, the Tartars have no heart at all." Looking at dozens of palaces being burned and black smoke billowing, Qian Biao stamped his feet in pain.
As more and more Zhou troops poured into the palace, except for some diehards and the Eight Banners, most of the others surrendered. The remaining Eight Banners troops hid in various places in the palace, looking for wood everywhere, trying to burn down the palace. Unfortunately, the time was too short. If these people were given one night, all the palaces in the city would surely be burned down.
The remaining Eight Banners soldiers scattered and opened fire. The Zhou army was large in numbers and would be dead if they were caught up. Lin Shiqi led his troops into the palace, scattered in all directions, and searched everywhere for any traces of the Eight Banners.
Yu Youtian rushed into the palace and couldn't help but exclaimed: "Wow, the emperor's house is really big, but it's too big. It must be very cold in the winter. How much firewood does it take to keep warm? It's too expensive!"
"Captain Qian, hurry up, give the military order, clear out the remaining troops as soon as possible, we still need to put out the fire later!" the guard beside him said excitedly.
"Go!" Yu Youtian shouted with high spirits.
The Zhou army soldiers shuttled through every palace, searching for the whereabouts of the Eight Banners soldiers. In front of the Wuying Palace, Yu Youtian saw a figure swaying in the palace and hurriedly said, "There must be Tartar soldiers inside, go ahead, be careful!"
Several soldiers held shields and blocked the door. One of the soldiers tried to push forward with his spear, but there was no movement. He turned around and shouted to his comrade beside him, "It can't be pushed!"
At the same time, roars were heard from the hall, full of despair. Yu Youtian, standing outside the door, could already smell the smoke coming from the crack in the door. He was extremely anxious and shouted at the top of his voice, "Break it open! The Tartars are setting fire again!"
Hearing Yu Youtian's shout, the three soldiers put their shoulders against the shields and stepped back a few steps. They took a deep breath, gathered all their strength, and then rushed forward. These three burly men burst out with amazing strength and broke open the palace door in one fell swoop.
Everyone rushed forward, and Yu Youtian walked into the hall under the escort of his personal guards, only to see a pile of documents piled up next to the pillars, which had been roasted black by the flames. Yu Youtian sneered, saying that setting a fire is a technical job, and if you want to start a fire like this, God knows how long it will take.
Yu Youtian looked at the Eight Banners soldiers who were forced into a corner. One of them was missing an arm and his face was pale, obviously he had lost too much blood. There were two guards beside him.
"Kill them." Seeing that they were soldiers of the Eight Banners, Yu Youtian didn't bother to persuade them to surrender.
There was a buzzing sound of bowstrings, and six or seven arrows flew out and headed towards the three people.
Fulsheng held the knife in his left hand. He was not used to it after losing his right hand. If it were not for the two people in front of him who fought desperately to protect him, Fulsheng would have been shot by the arrow. The two people in front of him were both hit by an arrow. Although the arrow did not penetrate deep into the flesh due to the protection of armor, it still hurt so much that sweat broke out on their foreheads.
Yu Youtian was not in a hurry. He just ordered the archers to shoot arrows. The shieldmen in the front row blocked the attack and did not rush forward. After only two rounds of arrows, one man was hit in the face and fell to the ground on the spot.
Fulsheng roared and rushed forward like a trapped beast, but he couldn't break the shield formation at all. The spearman behind him thrust forward with all his strength. Another Eight Banners soldier was hit several times and collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, his vitality gradually draining away. Fulsheng was hit in the waist and bleeding. Yu Youtian waved his hand and ordered, "Go!"
Four or five men held Fulsheng back with spears, and a man behind him chopped down Fulsheng's knife with a knife. Fulsheng, who was now unarmed, could only watch as the spears and knives kept hitting him. Fulsheng fell to the ground with his eyes wide open, and died with his eyes open.
As time went by, the number of the Eight Banners became smaller and smaller, and their resistance gradually weakened. The Zhou army desperately hunted down every survivor, and the ground of the palace was stained red with blood.
Finally, the remaining Eight Banners were completely wiped out, the sounds of fighting in the palace stopped, the soldiers panted tiredly, their faces were filled with the joy of victory, however, the fire was still not extinguished.
Outside the palace gate, Meng Jun looked at the palace city filled with black smoke. Today, completely recovering Jiangning would be announcing his rise to the whole country.
Meng Jun's heart was filled with emotion. Now he was no longer a mantis trying to stop a chariot in the eyes of the world, but a hero who could turn the tide. More than two hundred years ago, Zhu Yuanzhang used this city as his foundation and gradually became the overlord of the world. Two hundred years later, the Taiping Army occupied Nanjing and the world changed drastically. Whoever occupied this city would have the reputation of competing for the world.
At this time, Yu An reported to Meng Jun softly, "Your Majesty, the palace has been completely pacified. The remaining Eight Banners troops have been wiped out, and no one survived. Hong Chengchou burned himself to death. Fu Ersheng, the Qing Dynasty's assistant commander in Jiangning, was hacked to death by Yu Youtian, a subordinate of Lin Shiqi. Babutai, the Duke of Fuguo, died in the chaos. Ma Degong was beheaded by his subordinate Xu Maocai and surrendered with his head presented."
Hong Chengchou self-immolated? This surprised Meng Jun, but he felt it was natural. Looking at Hong Chengchou's life, he was the pillar of the Ming Dynasty in the first half of his life, but he surrendered to Huang Taiji in the end. Hong Chengchou committed suicide. Meng Jun knew what he was thinking. If he surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, it could be said that the Ming court was corrupt and powerless to change the situation. But if he surrendered to Meng again, he would inevitably be labeled as a traitor and surrendered to the Han Dynasty. With Hong Chengchou's high self-esteem, it was impossible for him to do such a thing.
Meng Jun was silent for a moment before he said, "Put out the fire." Then he turned and left.
In the Jiangning Palace, the fire was not extinguished until the next morning. The three main halls, Fengtian Hall, Cuigai Hall and Jinshen Hall were all burned down. One-tenth to twelve tenths of the harem were burned. The Shangshan Bureau and the West Palace near the Shangshan Bureau were all burned down.
Qian Biao, who participated in the firefighting, had a dirty face and sat on the ground exhausted, breathing heavily. He smiled happily and said, "Fortunately, only a dozen houses were burned."
At this time, Wang Fugui came over, sat down next to Qian Biao, and sneered, "Old Qian, these three halls are where the emperor holds court. The pillars and wood are all very valuable. Why don't you save these three halls first?"
"What do you mean I didn't put out the fire first? When I came in, more than half of the hall was already burned. The fire was so big that it was impossible to put out the fire." Qian Biao replied angrily.
Seeing Wang Fugui's leisurely appearance, Qian Biao scolded again: "You are as pale as a woman, and you still have the nerve to criticize me."
Wang Fugui said nonchalantly, "Humph, I can only carry a few buckets of water by myself. Besides, all my attention is on the remnants of the Tartars. Only by clearing out the Tartars can I put out the fire with peace of mind. If I don't put it out completely, I will put out one fire here and set another there. If I don't do this, the palace will be burned down."