The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 121 Cao Wenzhao Arrives

At this time, a number of civil and military officials had already gathered near the East Gate.

They were all craning their necks to look outside the city, whispering among themselves, clearly planning to make a quick getaway.

Seeing Xu Dingchen charging angrily with his sword, the group was startled and immediately fell silent, daring not to make any further moves.

Xu Dingchen was too lazy to waste words with them and directly commanded the guards:
"Go! Block the door! Nobody's getting out!"

At a command, a group of guards quickly and efficiently blocked the city gate with sandbags and timber.

This completely extinguished any thought of escape for everyone.

Seeing their only way out blocked, the civil and military officials gathered at the city gate frowned and looked extremely grim.

Finally, Zhang Daojun, the county magistrate of Jingyue County, mustered his courage and stepped forward, bowing to Xu Dingchen and advising him:
"Prefect Xu, if you intend to hold out to the death, can you at least spare our lives?"

"At least release the people in the city, right?"

He pointed outside the city and pleaded:

"Those bandits have already declared that if they resist to the bitter end, they will massacre the entire city!"

"Can you bear to watch the entire city's inhabitants be slaughtered because of your stubbornness?"

"Prefect Xu, why don't we surrender? At least we can save the lives of the people in the city!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Dingchen's eyes widened in anger, and he grabbed Zhang Daojun by the collar:
"Zhang Daojun, as an official of the imperial court, with a formidable enemy at hand, instead of thinking about how to defend against it, you speak out to incite people and persuade me to surrender?"

"court death!"

Without waiting for anyone to react, he plunged his sword into Zhang Daojun's chest!

"Uh"

Zhang Daojun clutched his chest, staring at Xu Dingchen in disbelief. He slowly collapsed to the ground, twitched a few times, and then fell completely silent.

Everyone was stunned by this sudden scene.

No one expected that Xu Dingchen would kill a government official in public!

Xu Dingchen, holding his blood-dripping sword, pointed it at the crowd at the east gate:

"Humph!"

"The city gates are now sealed shut; no one can escape!"

"Anyone who dares to speak of surrender again, opens the city gates without authorization, or deserts in the face of battle will be executed without mercy!"

He roared with all his might, his face filled with madness and determination.

For a moment, the civil and military officials near the East Gate felt a chill run down their spines and dared not look at Xu Dingchen again.

In this way, Xu Dingchen temporarily suppressed the surrender faction in the city through bloody means.

However, while he could suppress the people's emotions for a time, he could not change their hearts.

The more insane Xu Dingchen acted, the less his soldiers wanted to die with him.

Looking at the densely packed bandit soldiers outside the city and the dozens of cannons lined up, the government troops had no desire to resist at all.

Even a major town like Kelan County was breached, let alone a rammed earth city like Jingle.

As darkness was about to fall, Gao Yingxiang outside the city gradually lost his patience.

Thousands of elite troops began to assemble, carrying ladders, nocking bows, and drawing swords, awaiting only the order to attack the city.

War is imminent!
On the city wall, the atmosphere was extremely oppressive, and the shadow of death loomed over everyone's hearts.

Just then, Lin Yong, the city's garrison commander, finally couldn't sit still any longer; he didn't want to die.

I don't want to be buried with Xu Dingchen, that crazy old stubborn man!
Taking advantage of the darkness, he quietly left his defensive zone and found several other officers and platoon leaders who were also unwilling to fight to the death.

Lin Yong gathered them together and lowered his voice:

"Brothers, we can't wait any longer! It's getting dark, and the enemy soldiers are about to attack the city!"

"That stubborn fellow surnamed Xu is determined to drag us down with him. We have to save ourselves!"

A squad leader asked in a trembling voice:
"General Linlin, what do you mean?"

A fierce glint flashed in Lin Yong's eyes, and he gritted his teeth, saying:
"Let's go all the way!" "Rather than wait until the city falls and be hacked to death by those bandits, let's strike first!"

"Take down that Xu fellow, surrender the city! You might even get rich!"

After listening to the discussion and weighing the options for a long time, everyone finally reached a consensus.

So they went back to gather their trusted confidants and prepared to capture Xu Dingchen and surrender the city.

Night was approaching, and a light drizzle began to fall.

Xu Dingchen was unaware that someone was already watching him.

Seeing that the enemy troops were about to attack the city, Xu Dingchen had no choice but to go to the front line in person, constantly patrolling the city walls and encouraging the officers, soldiers and civilians defending the city.

When he inspected the area near the West Gate, a relatively secluded section of the city wall,
Suddenly, more than a dozen figures wielding sharp blades sprang out from the dimly lit corner and surrounded him.

Leading the group was Lin Yong, the city's garrison commander.

Xu Dingchen was both shocked and furious, and shouted angrily:
"Lin Yong! What are you all doing?! Are you trying to rebel?!"

Lin Yong's face was resolute, and his voice was icy:

"Lord Xu, I'm so sorry!"

"Your Excellency is loyal and courageous, a true minister of the court, and we admire you greatly!"

"We lowly servants just want to survive!"

"excuse me!"

After saying that, he suddenly waved his hand.

The guards behind him then rushed forward with strange cries!

"Protect your lord!"

Xu Dingchen's personal guards roared and drew their swords in an attempt to resist.

However, they were outnumbered and the incident happened suddenly, making them no match for Lin Yong and his group.

In just a few rounds, he was hacked to the ground and died on the spot!
Xu Dingchen also drew his sword and tried to fight the rebel soldiers, but he was just a civil official after all, and how could he be a match for these rebel soldiers?
Soon, several rebel soldiers rushed forward and grabbed Xu Dingchen, then tied him up tightly with hemp rope!
This deputy inspector, who was determined to live and die with Jing Le, ultimately did not die at the hands of the rebel soldiers, but was captured by his own subordinates.

With Xu Dingchen captured, the last vestige of resistance in Jingle City was completely shattered.

Lin Yong and his men couldn't wait to open the city gates and surrender the city to Gao Yingxiang outside the city.

Gao Yingxiang was preparing to attack the city when he unexpectedly found himself in a situation where he easily captured Jingyue County without bloodshed.

When Wang Jiayin, Jiang Han, and the others who arrived later learned of the result, they were quite surprised, which saved them a lot of effort.

Gao Yingxiang kept his word, but instead ordered all the officials, big and small, in the city to be placed under house arrest, preventing them from leaving the city without permission.

Lin Yong and others, who had rendered meritorious service in surrendering the city, led their troops to directly surrender to Gao Yingxiang.

Gao Yingxiang waved his hand and rewarded Lin Yong with five hundred taels of silver, and also made him a squad leader in the army.

After capturing Jingle without bloodshed, the morale of the rebel army soared.

Wang Jiayin and Jiang Han prepared to press on and immediately march south towards the prosperous Fenhe Plain.

However, God is not good.

The light drizzle suddenly intensified and became a downpour.

Seeing that the rain wasn't going to stop anytime soon, the group could only rest briefly in the city and make plans after the rain stopped.

The exhausted soldiers were able to have a hearty meal and take the opportunity to rest well for the night.

However, this brief period of calm was shattered the following morning by two successive military reports.

Wang Ziyong, who remained in Kelan, sent a message:

You Shilu's army, numbering over 15,000, was at the city gates and requested reinforcements.

Meanwhile, Jiang Han also received a message from Deng Yang:

Cao Wenzhao has arrived from Ningwu Pass!
(End of this chapter)