Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 153 Execute the traitor with cannons, and raise the flag again in the next life.
A dozen or so Jurchen cavalrymen calmly withdrew, while the hundreds of garrison soldiers at Da'ankou remained in shock. The garrison commander of Da'ankou was found in his private residence nearly half an hour later.

The garrison commander's hometown was not actually here. He just found a few beautiful village girls in a nearby village and went to enjoy himself during the New Year. He did not dare to go far.

After hearing his subordinates' conflicting accounts of the events, his first reaction was to run. He had earned his rank as a fifth-grade military officer through meritorious service. During the Battle of Sarhu, he served under Commander Li in the southern army, traversing Liaodong. Although he hadn't even seen the Jurchens, he had still managed to kill several deserters from his own troops.

It was precisely because the army collapsed without even a fight that the garrison commander harbored an inexplicable fear of the Jurchens, whom he had never met before. But he was a garrison commander; failing to defend the territory meant certain execution!

"General, we should light the beacon towers to warn of impending reinforcements!" the garrison commander's only clerk reminded him.

“I know, don’t shout, let me think about it some more,” the garrison commander said impatiently.

The beacon towers can't be lit haphazardly, nor can they be left unlit. Failure to report knowledge of enemy activity is a capital offense, as is falsely reporting enemy activity. Today's events are extremely strange; a scout from Han'erzhuang has crossed three passes to reach him.

However, he proved the existence of the Jurchens with his life; his own men witnessed the Jurchen cavalry and one was even shot dead. But who knows if his claim of tens of thousands of cavalry is true or false? What if it was just a small invading force?!
Logically, he should be sending troops out to investigate and verify the accuracy of the intelligence, but a glance at his men revealed their shifty eyes and obvious resistance. He could understand; after all, he was afraid too.

Finally, he decided to compromise and light the beacon towers based on what they had seen with their own eyes. A single plume of smoke indicated the discovery of small, sporadic enemy attacks.

Fortunately, his superior was nearby, at the neighboring Niuyu Pass, so he sent cavalry to the pass to report. He would report everything he knew verbatim, and he didn't care how the Niuyu Pass magistrate judged it; he was simply passing the buck upwards.

The garrison commander of Da'ankou was momentarily smug about his cleverness, but after a moment's thought, his joy vanished. What if the news was true? Putting aside the issue of assigning blame, if the Jurchens really had tens of thousands of troops, how could they possibly defend their small force? All he wanted to do now was run for his life.

The Jurchens must be crazy! Why come to this remote place instead of seizing so many important passes?! While he was still pondering this, the Jurchens weren't. Another half hour passed, and the Jurchens really arrived!
In the distance, the horizon revealed a vibrant array of colors, while the rumbling sound was too faint to be heard clearly, blending into the wind and going unnoticed. However, the soldiers lying prone on the city walls were all ashen-faced.

The friendly forces risked their lives to buy them nearly two hours of preparation time. However, there were only a few hundred of them. Even if they managed to urinate, what difference would it make?

There were two cannons on the city wall, the same ones that General Qi had acquired back then, and even the fuse holes had just been cleared with iron bars. They loaded the gunpowder and the projectiles, but no one dared to test fire them. In the end, they lit the cannons with long bamboo poles. The cannons coughed and pushed the scalding hot projectiles out of the muzzle, where they bounced twice on the gun emplacement.

They were doomed; that was the thought in everyone's mind. The idea of ​​escape surfaced, but no one dared to bring it up first. The greedy, lustful, and bloodthirsty garrison commander had every reason to flee, but he didn't; he wanted to atone for his cowardice and negligence.

Perhaps their only remaining value standing here was lighting the beacon fire. They upgraded a single beacon fire to the highest level of intelligence, and soon after, the garrison commander saw plumes of black smoke rising into the sky from both sides, several miles away. The garrison commander slumped onto the city wall, letting out a long sigh of relief, feeling that his life was complete.

The Jurchen cavalry did not charge, but instead spurred their horses forward at a slow pace, which only intensified the despair. The colorful cavalry, which had initially formed a line, stretched into a vast ribbon, seemingly endless in both directions.

"Old clerk, you're not a soldier, why aren't you leaving?!" the garrison officer asked with a puzzled look.

“My eldest son died at Sarhu, my second son died in Liaoyang, and my youngest son died in Guangning.” The old clerk was silent for a moment, then raised his head and said proudly, “I can use a gun!”

Upon hearing this, the garrison officer remained silent. Suddenly, as if he were dying, he sat up abruptly and jumped to his feet, hurriedly saying to those around him, "Quickly inform the surrounding villagers to flee!"

"Brothers, hold on for half an hour, half an hour, and let the people escape!!!" the garrison officer roared.

The bewildered soldiers gradually came to their senses, and a glimmer of light appeared in their dull pupils. "General, I remember the court sent three barrels of new gunpowder last month. Our cannons should still be usable," a junior officer with a white cloth wrapped around his arm, still seeping blood, said loudly.

"Good! Go and bring it over immediately!" the garrison commander shouted. "Men, burn all the grain! Don't let the Jurchens get away with it! Bring those sweet potato skewers, they can be set on fire, let's let those Jurchen dogs have a taste!!!"

The once lifeless Da'ankou seemed to come alive all at once. The soldiers' faces showed little tension; instead, they occasionally smiled and even had the energy to joke around.

"General, those yellowish-brown ones are the Plain Yellow Banner soldiers, those white ones that look like mourning clothes are the Plain White Banner soldiers, those pure red and pure blue ones are the Plain Red and Plain Blue Banner soldiers; those yellow ones with red borders are the Bordered Yellow Banner soldiers, those white ones with red borders are the Bordered White Banner soldiers, those red ones with white borders are the Bordered Red Banner soldiers, and those blue ones with red borders are the Bordered Blue Banner soldiers."

"Those rabble are Han traitors, lackeys, and northern barbarians. These scum will be the first to attack the city," the old clerk explained with interest. Then, he shook his head regretfully and said, "I was hoping to kill a few real slaves, but it seems I won't have the chance now."

The garrison officer nodded repeatedly, thinking to himself that the Jurchens' armor was really ugly; they had to paint perfectly good armor in such an glaring color.

"Is that the leader Huang Taiji, the slave chieftain?!" the garrison officer asked.

The old clerk rolled his eyes and said, "How would someone like me know what a slave chieftain looks like? But Huang Taiji should be several decades old, right? This doesn't seem like it. Besides, have you ever seen a commander-in-chief charging ahead?!"

"Yes, I've seen it. The Li family's commanders all like to be at the forefront, except for that one." The garrison commander scratched his face and said.

Huang Taiji was indeed in the vanguard. He looked at the less than two-zhang-long pass in front of him and felt very comfortable. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his unfilial son, Hauge, whose appearance was quite unsightly, and even found him much more adorable. The guide from the Kharachin tribe had indeed not lied to him!

Although the city walls were low and the garrison was small, according to intelligence from scouts, the garrison was poorly trained and not very strong. However, he still wanted to try to persuade them to surrender. It would be best if he could take the city walls without bloodshed.

The Jurchen army stopped two hundred paces outside the city wall. The entire army was spread out, and as far as the eye could see, there were men and horses. This must be what it felt like to have dark clouds pressing down on the city and threatening to crush it. Although their side was a colorful black, the gunner on the cannon platform, who had never fired a cannon in his life, asked the garrison commander whether he should fire. The garrison commander estimated the distance and told him to wait.

A Han Chinese man with a long braid emerged from the enemy ranks. He rode slowly to the city walls, his back soaked with sweat. It was said that the Ming army was now arrogant and would execute envoys with cannon fire. He was chosen to persuade the enemy to surrender, which was definitely not of his own volition!
In front of him was the dark muzzle of a cannon, and behind him was a large arrow pointed at his back. Why is it so hard to be a traitor? If there is an afterlife, he will definitely not be a traitor!

He stammered out his purpose, but there was no response from the city wall. No response was a good response, indicating that the commander was hesitant. His heart gradually calmed down, and he felt that he was safe this time. He wouldn't die, and he might even receive a reward from the Khan and be accepted into the banner. A slight smile appeared on his face.

Boom! ! !

The second general's cannon roared, and the shells arrived late but surely. The traitor, carrying his noble wish of joining the Manchu banner, went to be reincarnated. It's unknown whether he will truly keep his promise and not be a traitor in his next life.

"Attack the city!" Huang Taiji stared at the messenger, severed in two, his expression incredibly complex. This was the second time this had happened—the third time was the limit!

On the city wall, the garrison commander's lips trembled with rage. He hadn't given the order to fire the cannons at all! Turning his head, he saw the junior officer with the injured arm grinning foolishly on the cannon platform. This was outrageous! This time, they were truly doomed. Even if they knelt and surrendered, the Jurchens would surely exterminate them!

(End of this chapter)