There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 466 A Lonely City Cannot Be Defended

That night, under the orders of Liu Yong and Liu Fushuai, a thousand “death warriors” left the city in fear.

They hadn't gone far when they were spotted by Han army sentries.

"Woo~!"

As the bugle sounded to warn of the enemy, the Han army camp was immediately mobilized, and many Han soldiers on night patrol headed straight for the Qing army's night raiding force.

The dense array of torches approaching startled the Qing army's night raid commander.

They didn't even have torches, and the Han army camp was so far away, so how did they find them?
How they discovered it was no longer important, because the Han army was rapidly advancing towards them. The Qing army's night raid commander had already offended his superiors, which was why he was chosen to lead the night raid. If he didn't comply, it would be disobeying military orders, and he would definitely suffer a terrible death.

Now that the night raid has clearly failed, there's no point in continuing the game; the best course of action is to run away.

Before he could even give the order, most of his thousand "death warriors" had already spontaneously deserted.

The remaining Qing soldiers simply took his personal guards and fled back towards Kaifeng.

Seeing the enemy army fleeing in disarray, the Han army quickened their pace. They had originally planned to use rifled muskets to get close and fire, but there was no need to fire them anymore. They simply picked up their swords and chased after them, hacking away.

After a brief pursuit, the Qing army's night raiding force was utterly defeated. The morale of the thousand Qing soldiers was already low. As suicide squads, they were essentially expendable, and with the Han army pursuing them so relentlessly, the entire army was instantly routed. Even the Qing soldiers who were trying to escape back to Kaifeng were scattered.

Liu Yong stood on the city wall the entire time, watching the chaotic night battle outside the city.

Although the specific details of the battle were unclear, the dense clusters of torches in the Han army camp clearly indicated that the night raid had failed.

Liu Yong stayed up all night wrapped in his outer garment, waiting until dawn, but no deserters returned.

A thousand Qing soldiers were wiped out just like that. These soldiers were not particularly elite, but they were all regular troops.

The loss of one-third of the regular army overnight is not only a blow to combat strength, but also a more serious blow to morale.

the next day.

"Boom boom boom!"

The Han army's cannons continued to bombard the walls of Kaifeng.

This time, the Han army finally introduced siege cannons, which were transported from the Shandong battlefield and three cannons have already been delivered.

Previously, Wei Xinrong had been holding back, only using cannons for continuous bombardment. Now that the Qing army is desperate and forced to resort to risky tactics like night raids, their morale must have indeed plummeted.

Using siege cannons at this time will be twice as effective!
"It's a giant cannon, a giant cannon from the Han army!"

The Qing soldiers were making a great commotion; they were all from Henan and it was the first time they had ever seen a real siege cannon.

Liu Yong also stared at the three giant cannons at the Han army's artillery position. Although they were far away, the cannons were so large that even his old eyes could barely make out their size.

The fact that the Han army possessed large cannons was no secret among the Qing army.

Liu Yong naturally knew this, but knowing it was nothing compared to seeing it with his own eyes, which still shocked and horrified him.

"boom!"

The loading speed of the three siege cannons was significantly slower than that of the cannons, and even the number of gunners responsible for operating the cannons had increased several times over.

The three giant cannons fired simultaneously, and one of the cannonballs was very lucky to hit the parapet.

The bricks of the parapet exploded, and the Qing soldiers guarding the vicinity suffered heavy casualties instantly.

The Qing troops on the city wall finally couldn't hold on any longer. The bombardment of the city over the past half month had demoralized them.

Last night's failed night raid, in which all one thousand raiding soldiers were wiped out, further demoralized their troops.

These three massive siege cannons are now the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Liu Yong tried to suppress the attack, but he couldn't at all, because his personal guards were also trying to pull him away to escape. The Han army's giant cannons were terrifying; a single shot could blast a breach in the parapet, far beyond the power of the red-coated cannons.

Liu Yong initially struggled, trying to set an example and boost morale, but then the second round of cannon fire began.

"Boom boom boom!"

The three cannons fired simultaneously, but missed the parapet; instead, they struck directly beneath the city tower where Liu Yong was located.

The section of the city wall was violently shaken by the shells, as if an earthquake had occurred, and the surface layer of bricks was completely destroyed.

Now, Liu Yong dared not stay any longer and could only slink down the city wall under the protection of his personal guards.

A lackey is a lackey; such people have no integrity, and they can't possibly be fearless of death.

Especially someone like Liu Yong, who was willing to instigate literary inquisitions and persecute and suppress Han studies in order to climb the social ladder and curry favor with Emperor Qianlong.

This was just a dog, and a dog that knew how to treat people differently based on their status. Later generations whitewashed him into a "great honest official" who could sit at the same table as Ji Xiaolan.

Without Liu Yong in charge, there was no trace of Qing troops on the city walls, and even the city's defensive cannons were completely shut down.

The Han army's cannons continued to bombard the walls of Kaifeng.

Three giant cannons and more than thirty cannons fired simultaneously at the city wall of Kaifeng.

Although the giant cannons were only added today, the cannons in front had been bombarding the city walls for more than half a month, and the walls of Kaifeng were already in a state of disrepair; the section of the wall that directly withstood the cannon fire had its bricks torn off. The Han army wasn't idle either, using cannons.

The reinforcements from Xuzhou were all new recruits, so they were used as laborers by Wei Xinrong, the commander of the Han army in Kaifeng.

More than 20,000 laborers filled in the river and cut down trees, completely clearing the forests near Kaifeng. Several sections of the moat in front of the city were also filled in.

Ancient warfare was like this; it was extremely destructive to the environment. Often, after a battle, the local forests would be destroyed.

There was nothing that could be done about it. Fortunately, there was no industrial pollution in ancient times, and the environment damaged by war could be quickly restored after the war.

The bombardment lasted from day to night, and as soon as it stopped, the laborers who filled the river withdrew.

Only when Liu Yong heard that there was no more cannon fire did he dare to climb the city wall to check.

You wouldn't believe it until you see it; the section of the city wall that was shelled was visibly badly damaged.

Fortunately, Kaifeng was built on the banks of the Yellow River. To protect against the Yellow River's breaches, the city walls were built high and thick, making them difficult to breach. However, the sight was still shocking.

Alejing'a was already somewhat at a loss: "General, Wang Xuezheng's night raid plan failed, resulting in the loss of a thousand elite soldiers. Now the Han army has launched a massive cannon attack on the city. What should we do now?"

These words clearly carried a hint of resentment, but Wang Linshu found it difficult to refute them.

The night raid plan had indeed failed, and failed miserably. The thousand "suicide squads" that had been painstakingly squeezed out were all wiped out, achieving nothing and further lowering morale. It even seemed to have angered the Han army, who then used their cannons to bombard the city.

If the fighting continues like this, it's hard to say whether Kaifeng can hold out until Yinghe's army from Shandong returns.

Upon hearing Alejing'a's complaints, Liu Yong surprisingly did not intervene this time. After a long silence, he said, "Pass down the order: if we win this battle, all participating soldiers, including recruited local militia, will receive double pay!"

If this military order had been placed before the night raid, it might have had some effect.

But now, it's nothing at all.

A generous reward will surely attract brave men, but there must be a real chance of winning.

In the current situation, let alone winning, it's hard to say whether we can even save our lives.

If you're alive to earn money but not alive to spend it, what's the point of having money?

On the third day.

The Han army dispatched cavalry to shoot numerous letters urging surrender into the city, while simultaneously using loudspeakers to repeatedly broadcast messages persuading surrender.

"Brothers in the garrison of Kaifeng, we are all Han Chinese. We Han Chinese do not fight against other Han Chinese!"

"Stop working for those Manchu dogs. Surrender now and we'll forgive all your past transgressions, get land and settle down to farm. Isn't that better than being a lackey of the Manchus?"

"Your reinforcements are gone, and the Qing army in Shandong has been completely wiped out!"

"The puppet Qing Jiangbei Governor-General Yinghe has died in battle, and all 50,000 Eight Banners Tartars under his command have been wiped out. Even the Solon Battalion has submitted to His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Han!"

"It's not too late to surrender now, it's not too late!"

The continuous shouts urging surrender, coupled with countless letters of appeal, bombarded the ears and eyes of the Kaifeng garrison.

Although Liu Yong, this loyal lackey, tried his best to retrieve the letters, the letters could be retrieved, but the voices could not be silenced. He could not stop the soldiers from listening to the surrender appeals from below.

Furthermore, even after he retrieved the letters, he couldn't help but read their contents.

Of course, he did not want to surrender. As a Han Chinese Eight Banners member and a staunch lackey of the Manchu Qing dynasty, he was looking at the details of the battles of Xuzhou and Jining in the letter of persuasion to surrender.

The battles of Xuzhou and Jining were similar to the battle reports sent back by Ying He, except that Ying He suffered a more crushing defeat in the Han army's letter urging surrender. The battle of Jining, however, was even more outrageous, so outrageous that it almost seemed unbelievable.

The more outrageous and fake it seemed, the more flustered Liu Yong became.

The Han army had no reason to lie; they already held an absolute advantage. Even if Yinghe rushed to Kaifeng's aid now, it would be difficult to resolve the predicament.

Liu Yong grew increasingly frightened, so he forced himself to remain calm and prioritized reassuring his officers: "Gentlemen, there is no need to worry. The Han army is deliberately bluffing. There are nearly 100,000 troops under Commander Ying and General Ying in Shandong. How could they be easily defeated by the Han army? Just yesterday, I received reliable information that Commander Ying and General Ying have already inflicted heavy losses on the Han army in Shandong and will be able to reinforce Kaifeng soon. If we can hold out for another day or two, the Han army outside the city can be wiped out in the blink of an eye!"

After these words were spoken, not only did the two civil officials, Alejing'a and Wang Linshu, not quite believe it, but even the military officers were skeptical.

We received a letter urging surrender today, but yesterday the governor received news of victory in Shandong?

What a liar!
Forget about whether the letter of persuasion to surrender was genuine or not, just the fact that Liu Yong told them to hold out for another day or two, how the hell were they supposed to hold out?

The city walls were being damaged more and more severely, and the power of the Han army's giant cannons far exceeded their expectations. Whether they could withstand the attack today was still unknown.

The Han army's artillery bombarded the area until evening, then, as usual, stopped to rest.

Finally, the fourth day arrived, and the bombardment of the city had lasted for nearly 20 days.

"boom!"

The Han army's giant cannons fired first, hitting the upper half of the city wall.

The Kaifeng city wall, which had already been bombarded by artillery fire, finally succumbed to the pressure and collapsed, but not completely; only the upper part collapsed.

The foundation of the city wall still stands stubbornly, but the collapsed wall has created a large, slightly steep slope.

(End of this chapter)