Sweep Yuan

Chapter 283 A Multitude of Armies Gather and Hangzhou Falls

The air was thick with the pungent smell of blood mixed with wound medicine. This was a temporary camp located in Wuxing Lane, Dongcheng District, Huzhou. Dozens of tents were neatly arranged, maintaining as much ventilation and cleanliness as possible.
The groans, suppressed coughs, and the footsteps of medics and nurses mingled together, creating a somber symphony unique to the aftermath of the great war.

Every major war inevitably results in casualties; this is an immutable law.

Therefore, any army of any size would be equipped with a small number of medical professionals in order to maintain morale.

Within the Yuan Dynasty's military system, there were positions such as "medical workers" and, more formally, "medical worker supervisors." During their conquests, various rebel armies often considered capturing medical workers as an equally important task as acquiring provisions and weapons.

However, in this era, medical resources are already extremely scarce.

Limited by the number of medical professionals and the shortage of wound medicines, as well as a complete lack of knowledge about the concepts of "disinfection" and "nursing", the main service recipients of the traditional military medical system were always high-ranking generals.

For lower-ranking soldiers, being wounded often meant being abandoned by fate. Usually, they would just be hastily bandaged with strips of cloth of unknown cleanliness, and then they would have to rely entirely on their own physical constitution to endure the pain.

If fate is unkind and a major battle ensues, with wounded soldiers piling up and medical personnel overwhelmed, the seriously wounded will be isolated and left to fend for themselves, so as not to let their cries of agony affect the morale of the army.

Even those who are lucky enough to be classified as having "minor injuries" are extremely likely to die from "wounds bursting open" or "poison entering the body" (which is actually infection after the injury), or suffer lifelong disability. Very few of them can truly recover and return to the team.

Shishan is not a god; he cannot conjure up skilled healers and precious medicines out of thin air.

What he could do was to refer to the later "tiered treatment" principle and emphasize "nursing care as the primary focus." He established relatively formal "medical and nursing battalions" in each garrison, and trained several literate and quick-handed soldiers in each team to serve as part-time "medical and nursing soldiers."

The mandatory use of linen bandages boiled in water, strict regulations requiring nursing staff to wash their hands with strong liquor before contacting patients, and the cleaning and simple suturing of wounds.

These regulations, which may seem cumbersome or even strange to outsiders, have significantly improved the rate of soldiers recovering from injuries and returning to their posts, and have also made the soldiers of the Red Flag Battalion more willing to risk their lives in battle.

He had lost a lot of blood during his visit to Liao Yong'an, who was still unconscious, but his breathing was relatively stable. His wounds had been carefully cleaned with strong liquor and stitched up with boiled mulberry bark thread, and were neatly bandaged.

Thanks to strict disinfection and protection measures, there are currently no signs of inflammation such as redness, swelling, or pus discharge.

Shi Shan bent down and carefully examined Liao Yong'an's face, then reached out to feel his forehead temperature, and whispered instructions to the accompanying medical battalion commander:

"Use the best medicine to save Commander Liao's life. If he wakes up, let me know immediately."

"Rest assured, Marshal, we will do our utmost," the steward replied, bowing.

Shi Shan nodded slightly, then stood up and slowly walked among the wounded soldiers. His gaze swept over each face, which was contorted with pain or pale from blood loss, but all were filled with resilience.

Most of these people were brave warriors and heroes who had fought desperately in the previous siege. Some might never be able to lift a sword again, and some might be left with lifelong disabilities. But as long as they survived, Shishan would give them a good life.

Whether it's establishing this advanced military medical system or personally visiting wounded soldiers at this moment, the core purpose is to "boost morale."

Shi Shan wanted all the soldiers to understand that their lives were valued by the Marshal, and that every sacrifice and dedication would not be forgotten. Only in this way could the army maintain its high morale for a long time and accomplish all kinds of arduous strategic tasks for him.

At the same time, in Hangzhou, more than a hundred miles away.

In stark contrast to the tense yet orderly atmosphere in the Red Flag Camp, this capital of the Jiangzhe Province had been completely engulfed by panic.

Hangzhou, once the capital city built by the Southern Song Dynasty with all its national resources, is nestled against Phoenix Mountain and bordered by West Lake and the Qiantang River. With a circumference of thirty-six li, it had thirteen dry gates and five water gates, making it a super fortress that could be described as an impregnable fortress.

Its city defenses were so complete and its design so ingenious that it was a masterpiece in the era of cold weapons.

However, since the day this magnificent city wall was built, it has hardly ever played its due role in military defense.

In the thirteenth year of the reign of Emperor Shizu of Yuan (1276 AD), the three armies of the Mongol and Yuan dynasties converged at the city of Hangzhou. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Empress Dowager Xie Daoqing of the Southern Song Dynasty did not offer any resistance. Instead, she sent an envoy with the Imperial Seal of the State and a letter of surrender to the Yuan army camp to beg for surrender.

This fortified city fell without a fight.

After the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, Hangzhou, as the former capital, became a key target of the "Demolition Order." The Yuan army not only demolished all the city towers, battlements, crossbow platforms, and other defensive facilities, but also left them to weather the elements for more than seventy years without any repairs.

As a result, in recent years, some parts of the city wall have collapsed due to the collapse of the rammed earth core, making even theft prevention a problem.

During this period, some officials from the Jiangzhe province did see the potential dangers, but none of them dared to easily submit a memorial to the Yuan court requesting the repair of the former capital's city walls, as this would be tantamount to giving others an excuse to accuse them of "harboring ulterior motives."

Last year, after Xu Shouhui's generals Xiang Pulue and Peng Yingyu led the Red Turban Army to break through Yuling Pass from Huizhou Road, they captured four cities—Changhua, Yuqian, Lin'an, and Yuhang—within a few days, and then stormed into Hangzhou as if it were empty.

In fact, Hangzhou Road at that time was indeed "no man's land" - after learning the bad news of the fall of Yuling Pass, the high-ranking officials of Jiangzhe Province decisively abandoned this "giant city" with no natural defenses and fled in panic to the surrounding areas to "seek help from the troops".

Only Fan Zhijing, a high-ranking official, was left to symbolically defend the city, and he and his wife were eventually killed in battle.

Later, Bolanxi, the Inspector of the Jiangnan-Zhejiang Circuit, launched a counterattack from Shaoxing Road, while the Vice Minister of the Jiangzhe Province launched a counterattack from Huzhou Road. After defeating the outer forces of the Xiang-Peng allied forces, they entered Hangzhou, which also benefited from the lack of defenses in Hangzhou.

The Yuan army's counterattack into the city was not much more difficult than that of the Red Turban Army.

After driving Xu Song's troops out of Hangzhou, some officials suggested rebuilding the city's defenses.

However, Hangzhou had just been ravaged by war and was in dire need of reconstruction. Moreover, the commander-in-chief, Buyan Temur, was leading the main force of the Yuan army in a fierce battle against the Xu Song army on the front lines. Qing Tong, who was stationed in the rear, had to devote all his efforts to procuring and transporting food supplies to the front lines. Where would he find the spare capacity to rebuild the massive city with a circumference of more than thirty miles?

In the end, he merely symbolically ordered people to repair the most severely collapsed section of the wall core.

When Shi Shan led the Red Flag Battalion to capture Jiqing Road and his strategic intention to march south along the Grand Canal and head straight for Hangzhou became clear, Qing Tong once again faced a difficult and urgent choice: whether or not to rebuild the defenses of Hangzhou.

If the Hangzhou city walls could be quickly restored to their original state, he would naturally spare no expense in terms of money and supplies. However, the reality is that such a massive project, with both the Jinghu and northern Zhejiang battlefields urgently needing huge amounts of money, supplies, and able-bodied men, simply could not be completed hastily.

If we disregard the critical situation on both sides and forcibly invest the remaining manpower and resources into this "bottomless pit" that is destined to be unfinished in the short term, then it is very likely that the city wall will not be half completed before Shishan's army arrives at the city gates.

At that time, Hangzhou, with no soldiers available, will remain an undefended city.

After careful consideration, Qingtong finally chose a seemingly compromise solution: instead of undertaking a large-scale reconstruction, he opted for a "two-pronged approach."

On the one hand, he concentrated most of the fresh troops that the Jiangzhe Province could mobilize in Pingjiang Road (Suzhou), which had relatively intact city defenses, intending to rely on this strong city to block the main force of the Red Flag Battalion along the Yangtze River.

On the other hand, some repairs and reinforcements to Hangzhou's city defenses were carried out in a short period of time, such as blocking some unimportant city gates and raising the low walls in a few areas.

Qingtong pinned his hopes on the "Pingjiang defense line" to play a role. If it could cooperate with Fang Guozhen's pirate force, which was familiar with naval warfare and moved like the wind, to garrison Liujiagang and repeatedly harass the rear supply lines of the Red Flag Battalion, it might delay or even halt Shishan's advance.

Unfortunately, people are not as good as God.

The crucial element of his "brilliant plan" was ruined by Fang Guozhen, who was utterly untrustworthy. This barbarian had repeatedly surrendered and rebelled, and there was no foundation of trust between him and the Yuan court to begin with. Furthermore, the Red Flag Battalion's attack on and killing of the Yuan court's envoy during this period further led to a breakdown in relations between Fang Guozhen and the Yuan court.

As a result, Fang Guozhen not only refused to send troops to help in the battle, but also took advantage of the chaos and sent troops to capture Linhai County, the seat of Taizhou Road. This made the already dire situation in eastern Zhejiang even worse and completely disrupted Qing Tong's defense plans.

As a result, the barbarian Haiya, stationed in Pingjiang, was unable to hold out alone, and Pingjiang Road eventually fell.

As a result, the Yuan army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang lost its last mobile field counterattack force. The troops in Huzhou and Jiaxing were left undefended, and their defenses crumbled at the first touch when faced with the overwhelming force of the Red Flag Battalion.

In desperation, Qing Tong could only resort to the delaying tactic of "appeasement" to lull Shi Shan into a false sense of security and buy him time.

But Shi Shan was even more cunning than Fang Guozhen, and he turned the tables on him, feigning acceptance of peace talks while secretly accelerating his advance. The Red Flag Battalion's advance during this period was nothing short of unstoppable:

On July 25, Chang Yuchun's troops captured Jiaxing County, the seat of Jiaxing Road.

On July 29, Shao Rong's troops captured Shanghai County, Songjiang Prefecture.

On July 30, Chang Yuchun's troops captured Haiyan Prefecture.

On the first day of the eighth lunar month, Shao Rong's troops captured Huating County, the seat of Songjiang Prefecture.

On the third day of the eighth lunar month, Chang Yuchun's troops captured Chongde Prefecture, completely opening the gateway to Hangzhou Road from the north.

On the seventh day of the eighth month, Xu Da's troops captured Wucheng and Gui'an counties, the administrative centers of Huzhou Road.

On August 11, Qiu Cheng's troops captured Haining Prefecture in Hangzhou Road and killed the Yuan general Liang Cheng in battle.

On the same day, Shi Shan personally led the main force of the central army to capture Deqing County, and the county magistrate Zhang Zhengmeng "died for the city" (in reality, he was killed by the fleeing soldiers).

South of Deqing County, the terrain is flat and leads directly to the city of Hangzhou. Although the Yuan army built several fortified villages along the way, they could only slightly slow down the advance of the Red Flag Battalion due to its overwhelming combat superiority.

What made the Yuan army in Hangzhou even more desperate was that after capturing Chongde Prefecture, Chang Yuchun divided his forces into two routes. While the detachment led by Qiu Cheng besieged Haining Prefecture, his main force advanced rapidly westward along the Grand Canal, sweeping away obstacles along the way with overwhelming force. His army would soon reach the walls of Hangzhou.

At that time, the Hangzhou defenders will face a pincer attack from the Red Flag Battalion's eastern and western armies.

Hangzhou had just been ravaged by the combined forces of Xiang Pulue and Peng Yingyu last August. A full year had passed and the city had not yet recovered. Now, it was facing an attack from the Red Flag Battalion, which was larger in scale and stronger in combat. People in the city were already in a state of panic.

In recent days, shrewd wealthy merchants have been packing their valuables and fleeing with their families through various channels.

The officials in the city received news of the defeat at the front more quickly and were sooner divided and in chaos. As early as after learning that Chang Yuchun had captured Jiaxing and anticipating that Hangzhou would be besieged, they split into two factions that argued incessantly.

One faction was led by Bolanxi, the Inspector General of the Jiangnan and Zhejiang Circuit.

Bolanxi was a Mongol nobleman who had successfully recaptured Hangzhou last year with salt workers and local militia from Shaoxing Road, and was highly respected in the army. Based on the overall situation in Jiangnan, he believed that the Red Flag Battalion was at its peak and that Hangzhou, with its current dilapidated defenses and low morale, would inevitably fall.

He advocated following the example of last year, temporarily avoiding the enemy's sharp edge, and actively withdrawing the main force of the army that still had fighting power in the city, transferring them to Wuzhou, Chuzhou and other places in eastern Zhejiang where the terrain was defensible, in order to stabilize the defense line first.

When Marshal Buyan Temur led the main force of the expedition against Xu Song back to China, they joined forces to launch a counterattack, repeating the "victory pattern" of defeating Xu Song's army and recovering Hangzhou last year.

This school of thought seemed to have considerable strategic depth and a higher perspective. Coupled with Bolanxi's own prestige, it won the approval of most officials in the city, including the Chancellor Qingtong himself.

The other faction was led by Zuo Danashili, the former Left Vice Minister of the Jiangzhe Province who had only recently been "released".

Zuo Danashiri was a prisoner of war in Shishan Army for several months. Although he was eventually released, the stains of "lost territory" and "captured" on his body were not cleared, and the suspicions remained. Logically speaking, he had not yet been restored to his official position and had no right to participate in high-level military discussions.

But Qingtong, out of personal motives, still brought him up.

Based on his experience of dealing directly with Shishan, Zuo Danashili strongly opposed abandoning the city, emphasizing that Shishan was exceptionally cunning, adept at winning over and bewitching people, and that his troops were strictly disciplined, unlike the Xu-Song Red Turban Army, which was a bandit group last year.

Once the Red Flag Battalion occupies Hangzhou, the "ancient capital of the Ming Dynasty," it will be able to quickly stabilize the situation and integrate northern Zhejiang by using Shishan's methods of winning people's hearts and minds.

At that time, it will be extremely difficult for the Yuan army to fight back.

"This traitor's ambition is not small. If he takes Hangzhou, he will be like a tiger with wings. I'm afraid half of Jiangnan will no longer belong to the court!" Zuo Danashili's hoarse voice echoed in the council hall, carrying a tragic heroism of knowing it was impossible but doing it anyway.

His judgment might be closer to the truth, but he couldn't solve the core problem of "Hangzhou being unable to be defended," and only received weak support from a few local officials like Qi Guangzu, the Prefect of Qiantang, who dared not abandon the city because of their duty to defend their territory. Qingtong's heart was filled with contradictions and fear.

As the highest-ranking official of the Jiangzhe Province, if he were to abandon the provincial capital and flee in the face of a formidable enemy, the court would later investigate and find him guilty of the serious crime of losing the city and territory, which would be enough to cause him to lose his post.

Conversely, if they could retreat first, as Bolanxi planned, and then recapture Hangzhou after joining forces with Buyan Temur, then there would still be room for maneuver, and if handled properly, the merits and demerits might even offset each other.

If one knowingly defends a city that is doomed to perish, then one is simply waiting to die in the city, sacrificing oneself for a city destined to fall.

Qing Tong did not want to die, nor was he willing to give up his power.

He needed someone to stay behind and hold Hangzhou for him, or at least to put on a decent defensive battle, to delay the Red Flag Battalion's movements and buy him time to lead the main force to retreat and for the subsequent "counter-offensive plan".

Zodanashiri, eager to prove his loyalty and having suffered the "humiliation of being captured" by Ishiyama, was undoubtedly the best candidate.

This person is of high status, knowledgeable in military affairs, and has a strong motivation to fight Shishan to the death.

By leaving Zuo Danashiri to defend the city, the situation could be stabilized to prevent the defense from collapsing at the first sign of trouble, and the retreat of these "mainstream" factions would not appear to be a pure desertion.

This debate about the fate of Hangzhou was doomed from the very beginning.

After setting the tone, Qing Tong, under the pretext of "presiding over the overall suppression of bandits," began to send important provincial officials in batches to surrounding areas such as Shaoxing, Wuzhou, and Chuzhou.

Initially, the commotion was relatively small. Officials left the city in twos and threes, each taking only one or two thousand soldiers with them, claiming it was to "strengthen local defenses" or "raise funds," and it did not immediately cause widespread panic among the soldiers and civilians in the city.

When the devastating news arrived that Chongde Prefecture had fallen to Chang Yuchun's forces, leaving the northern gateway to Hangzhou wide open, Qing Tong himself could no longer remain calm. Under the pretext of "personally overseeing the campaign to annihilate Fang Guozhen," he led an army of 30,000, including a large number of elite troops, straight towards Wuzhou.

Only then did the ordinary people and lower-ranking soldiers of Hangzhou realize just how critical the situation had become! Even the Grand Councilor had fled with the main force! Panic swept through the city like a plague.

The escape of wealthy merchants and powerful families shifted from clandestine to overt and blatant. Prices in the city skyrocketed, with rice and firewood becoming incredibly expensive. Some ruffians and scoundrels also began taking advantage of the chaos to loot, and the city's security deteriorated rapidly, leading to widespread riots.

At the foot of Hangzhou city, Chang Yuchun led his troops.

Chang Yuchun stood atop a small hill, his thick eyebrows framed by a pair of sharp eyes that swept across the city of Hangzhou like a hawk.

He saw several hideous heads held aloft on bamboo poles on the city wall—the heads of Yuan soldiers who had looted during the chaos, which Zuo Danashili had severely punished to maintain military discipline, were displayed as a warning to others.

This move did temporarily suppress the chaos within the city, but it also reflected that the order within the garrison was already precarious.

He rode slowly forward, carefully observing the defenses of this legendary ancient capital.

Admittedly, Hangzhou's city wall is much larger than that of ordinary prefectures, nestled against mountains and beside water, with a grand layout. However, upon closer inspection, many flaws can be found: in many sections of the city wall, it is clear that it was hastily repaired in recent years, with the colors and materials of the old and new walls being inconsistent;

The original sheep and horse walls, moat, and other structures were mostly silted up or damaged; some city gates appeared to have been temporarily sealed with bricks and stones, but the workmanship was crude.

Although the city is large, its defenses are weak and the morale of the defenders is obviously low. This city can be captured!

But Chang Yuchun did not let his guard down because of this.

After all, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. Hangzhou is such a huge city that even if it is not fully functional and the defending army is weak, as long as the general is determined to resist, tens of thousands of troops can be sent in. If anyone wants to launch a strong attack, they will have to pay a considerable price.

"Pass down the order! Each town shall set up camp in its designated area, reinforce with antlers, and dig trenches to prevent enemy raids. The supply battalion shall immediately begin felling timber to build siege equipment, and the artillery battalion shall find suitable hills to construct artillery positions!"

Two days later, Shi Shan personally led the main force of the Moon-Holding Guard and the Sun-Supporting Right Guard, with banners waving and a grand procession, to the city of Hangzhou.

At this point, the core combat troops of the four guards of the Red Flag Battalion, namely Chang Yuchun's troops (Qingri Left Guard and Weiwu Guard) and Shishan's troops (Pengyue Guard and Qingri Right Guard), which were used to besiege Hangzhou, were all in place (a part of the Yangtze River Navy stayed in Huzhou, while the majority traveled by water to bypass the city of Hangzhou).

In addition to the local strongmen and armed forces in northern Zhejiang that were incorporated along the way, as well as some surrendered troops, the total strength exceeded 60,000 men.

The camps stretched for over ten miles, filled with shouts of men and neighing of horses, pillars of smoke rising from cooking fires, and the deafening sounds of drills. Countless red flags fluttered in the autumn wind, their crimson waves instilling an overwhelming sense of visual and psychological pressure on the soldiers guarding the city walls.

Chang Yuchun rushed to the central command tent immediately to report the military situation to Shishan.

"Marshal, I have repeatedly investigated and found that Qing Tong has escaped. The city is now defended by Zuo Danashili. After Qing Tong's withdrawal and the continuous escapes, the city's garrison is estimated to be less than 20,000 men."

In the past two days, we have constructed a large number of siege weapons and launched five probing attacks. The defending troops have shown little will to resist and poor combat effectiveness, their crossbows are scarce, and their response is disorganized.

"Ah."

Shishan actually hoped that Qingtong and the main force of the Yuan army in Jiangzhe could remain in Hangzhou and finish the job in one battle. The Jinghu campaign was nearing its end, and Buyan Temur was about to return with his troops. If they could annihilate the Yuan army's main force in Jiangzhe here, the pressure of dealing with Buyan Temur would be much less.

However, he knew that the situation on the battlefield could change in an instant, and the enemy would never obediently cooperate with his plan.

A general's ability to adapt to changing circumstances and respond accordingly is the norm.

"Did you try to persuade the defending troops to surrender?"

Zuo Danashiri was a "pawn" that Shishan himself released. He was stubborn and arrogant, and given the humiliation of being captured and the fact that his family's interests were deeply tied to the Yuan court, it was virtually impossible for him to surrender.

Ishiyama was well aware of this. His offer of surrender was not aimed at Zodanashiri himself, but at the demoralized garrison.

The Red Flag Battalion now possesses the grandeur of a founding father. In siege warfare, it must demonstrate both swift and decisive action and the "royal army's bearing," prioritizing psychological warfare. A large-scale, high-profile surrender campaign is itself a powerful tool for breaking the enemy's will.

As a general, Chang Yuchun could not directly persuade them to surrender, so he replied:

"We weren't prepared to attack the city before, and I was afraid that persuading them to surrender wouldn't be effective and would only boost the morale of the defenders, so I didn't try. Now that the marshal has personally led the army here, it's the perfect time."

Chang Yuchun, who was increasingly displaying the demeanor of a commander, nodded and said:
"The central army has come from afar today, and the soldiers are quite tired. Let them rest well, eat well, and sleep soundly. Continue to speed up the construction of siege equipment, and we will proceed with the persuasion and siege tomorrow."

Shi Shan knew that Hangzhou was a huge city. Even if he broke through the outer wall, if the defending troops retreated into the city streets and alleys to put up a stubborn resistance, it would still take a long time and effort to fight a street battle, and increase unnecessary casualties.

The Moon Guard and the Sun Guard had been marching for many days and needed to allow their soldiers to recover their strength so that they could be in the best condition for battle.

The deployment at Shishan was fully launched the following day.

He ordered Da Dao Ao, the Right Guard Commander of Qingri, to lead 3,000 elite troops westward to capture Yuhang County, west of Hangzhou.
He then ordered Deng Youlong, the commander of the Weiwu Guard, to lead another detachment of 3,000 men south to capture Fuyang County.

This move was intended to completely cut off the Hangzhou defenders' possible external reinforcements and supply lines from the west and south.

As for Xiaoshan County, which is across the Qiantang River to the east, it will have to wait for the Yangtze River naval fleet, which is sailing around Suzhou Bay into the mouth of the Qiantang River, before it can effectively cross the river and blockade it.

After completing his peripheral strategic deployment, Ishiyama began his psychological warfare.

He specially selected two hundred surrendered soldiers from Hangzhou and had them line up outside the range of arrows from below the city walls to shout to the city walls.

The content was nothing more than slogans like "The Red Flag Battalion only punishes the ringleaders, and does not question those who are coerced," "Those who open the gates and surrender the city will be rewarded," and "Resist to the end, and we will all perish." But when shouted out in the local dialect, it had a particularly penetrating and infectious power.

Seeing this, Zuo Danashili on the city wall was both shocked and furious. He knew that the defending troops were demoralized and most vulnerable to such psychological warfare, so he dared not let them listen closely and immediately ordered his men at the top of their lungs:

"Beat the drums! Beat the drums now! Suppress the traitors' blasphemous words!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The dull, rapid beat of war drums rose from the city walls, attempting to drown out the calls for surrender from below. But this futile attempt only exposed the weakness and fear within the defenders. Many soldiers still strained their ears to pick up the familiar accents that had been distorted by the drumbeats.

Standing atop the high observation platform, Shi Shan smiled slightly. Zuo Danashili's reaction was exactly what he had anticipated. The necessary preparations had been completed, and the objective of demoralizing the enemy had been partially achieved; it was time to deliver the final blow to Hangzhou.

Without further hesitation, he slowly raised his right hand, then suddenly waved it forward, giving the order to the standard-bearer beside him:

"Beat the drums! Attack the city!"

The thirty-two large cowhide drums set up by the Red Flag Battalion's central command rang out simultaneously! The sound was like thunder, shaking the heavens and the earth, instantly drowning out the weak drumbeats from the city wall!

"Kill!"

With deafening shouts, the Red Flag Battalion soldiers, who had been gathering momentum for a long time, launched a massive all-out attack on the dilapidated city walls of Hangzhou, like a flood bursting its banks, carrying countless ladders and pushing tall shield carts!

Hangzhou originally had eighteen city gates, but Qing Tong, considering limited financial and human resources, only focused on rebuilding ten, intending to concentrate his forces for defense. However, under the overwhelming attack of the Red Flag Battalion's superior forces, these minor repairs were utterly ineffective.

The demoralized defenders, facing the ferocious and tactically skilled Red Flag Battalion attacking force, were overwhelmed and unable to defend effectively. Arrows fell sparsely, and the logs and stones rolled seemed disorganized.

The fierce siege lasted only a day and a half. Despite Zodanashiri personally overseeing the battle and killing several cowardly officers, he was unable to reverse the tide of the war.

The following afternoon, Zhao Pusheng, who was "studying" in the Pengyue Guard, braved a hail of arrows and stones to be the first to climb a section of the city wall with relatively weak defenses. He wielded his twin swords like wheels, cutting down more than ten defenders in succession and holding the breach firmly.

The elite Red Flag Battalion troops surged onto the city wall through this breach like a tidal wave.

"The city is broken!"

"The Red Flag Battalion has entered the city!"

Panic cries spread like a plague among the defenders. The already crumbling defenses collapsed instantly. The defenders began to rout in organized groups, abandoning their weapons and fleeing in all directions.

Upon receiving the news, Zodanashiri was furious. He led his most loyal personal guards into the city, attempting to construct temporary fortifications in the streets and houses for a final stand in urban warfare.

Shishan was prepared for this. As the main force of the Red Flag Battalion poured into the city and quickly took control of key transportation routes and high points, six light field artillery pieces were brought up.

Faced with Zuo Danashili and his remnants stubbornly resisting from the barricades, Deng Dagang, the commander of the Shenji Battalion, calmly issued his orders.

"Load shotguns!"

"Aim—Fire!"

boom! boom! boom!
Several deafening cannon shots rang out, accompanied by billowing smoke. Countless lead pellets and iron slag rained down on the Yuan army's fortified barricades. The wooden and stone barricades were instantly riddled with holes, and the people behind them fell in droves.

As the smoke and dust dissipated, it was revealed that Zuo Danashili's conspicuous official robe was soaked in blood. He and his most stubborn personal guards lay dead amidst the rubble and corpses.

Hangzhou, this major city in southeastern China, has changed hands again after a brief year-long respite. This time, it welcomes a new owner who may completely alter its fate.

(End of this chapter)