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Chapter 888 Aesthetic Consistency

The massacre took place in and around Ruoqiang City in the dark. The low earthen walls could not stop the charge of the Eight Banners Army, and the military camps scattered on the east side of the town could not withstand the army's muskets.

The southern army did not stop for a moment after arriving at Mangya Fort. One team of 80 men would set out as soon as they were supplied, without any scruples in horsepower. They moved down the mountain path at a speed of 8 miles a day like a tiger, and arrived at the ancient city of Yixun east of Ruoqiang in just days.

Hong Tao arranged two thousand households to cut off the road leading to the west of the ancient city at night and then implement the siege, while he led the army to continue westward and attack Ruoqiang. As long as this place is successfully taken, the surprise attack plan will basically be half won.

The news of the capture of Ruoqiang could not be spread to the west in time, because this place is the edge of the desert, and the horizon is flat. The shortest distance is only possible by walking along the road, and there is no possibility of taking a shortcut by taking a detour.

Starting from Ruoqiang, every hundred miles to the west there is a large oasis, where tens of thousands of people live. Food, water, and horses are readily available, so there is no need to worry about supplies.

But what Hong Tao did not expect was that the defenders of Ruoqiang would be so vulnerable that they still tried to negotiate after being surrounded by the Eight Banners Army instead of concentrating their forces to break out in time.

In this case, don't be polite. Let the army light up the gas lamps to plug the leaks on the periphery. Anyone who escapes from the Eight Banners Army's stranglehold will be intercepted, but no surrender will be accepted, and they will all be stabbed to death with bayonets. There will be no worries about food and drink, but ammunition must still be used sparingly.

"Hey, flathead, go tell Huang Taiji to only kill the soldiers with weapons and armor, and don't implicate the civilians. First drive them together and keep them under guard, and let the rear guard take over.

The rest of you should take a rest as soon as possible. There are still more than three hours until dawn... No, the dawn here is early, it may be less than two hours. Get some sleep if you can, because we still have to travel tomorrow!"

This time, Hong Tao did not let the army continue on their journey, but chose to take a short break in Ruoqiang City. Unfortunately, he still neglected one thing, the jet lag! Fortunately, he reacted in time, and the result of the mistake was only that the soldiers lost an hour of sleep.

"Riyuehan... Look, she is the most beautiful woman here, a trophy!" After a while, Huang Taiji came running over on a horse holding a Tieguduo, shouting as he ran. When he reached the periphery of the imperial carriage, he threw a big thing from his horse, looking very excited.

"Forget it, don't search me if I'm wearing armor... Tsk tsk tsk, you have good taste!"

Seeing the blood spots all over his body, Hong Tao waved his hand, signaling Wang Chengen not to search him. Then he walked to the periphery and looked at the things thrown on the ground, and was amazed.

The ground was sandy, and the woman was not injured, but just a little dusty. But like a gem, even if it is embedded in the stone, it still can't cover up its brilliance. Two words, drifting, four words, exotic beauty!

I won't describe the details, but I have to add the word "more" to what Xinjiang beauties look like in later generations. Maybe because there aren't enough mixed-blood generations, there are obvious Persian features in their appearance.

"The spoils of war, Sun and Moon Khan pick them first!"

Seeing the emperor praising the woman on the ground, Huang Taiji laughed. He lifted the woman up and put his bloody hand on her chin, forcing her to raise her head so that the emperor could see her more clearly. "...Did you capture her from a local family?!" Hong Tao didn't just stare at the woman's face, but scanned her body twice, then his face sank, and he was obviously unhappy.

In addition to chatting and satisfying Huang Taiji's curiosity, he also repeated the combat discipline of the Ming army more than once. One of the rules is that you cannot plunder at will, and you are not allowed to kill non-combatants at will unless there is an order to leave no grass or someone resists.

The Eight Banners Army, including the Inner Mongolian Cavalry, had the habit of collecting spoils of war, which Hong Tao did not completely prohibit. However, they could only take spoils from combatants, and were not allowed to rob civilians at will. The Eight Banners Army and the Inner Mongolian Cavalry also received military pay when they followed the Ming Army into battle, so there was no excuse for not being able to make ends meet.

"They are not civilians, they are military camps, the generals' military camps! Family members, they are the enemy generals' family members, and there are dozens of them, they are not considered civilians!" Upon hearing this, Huang Taiji became a little anxious. He knew the consequences of violating military discipline, and he hurriedly defended himself. As a result, the more anxious he became, the more he stuttered in Chinese.

"#@#%……&" At this time, the woman who was grabbed by Huang Taiji on the back suddenly spoke. Although I couldn't understand what she said, I could clearly feel that she was repeating a sentence.

"...Riyuehan, she said she was captured by the enemy general and taken to the barracks! I don't know, even if she was wrong, she should be given a lighter punishment!"

Huang Taiji was even more anxious now. He must have understood what the woman was saying, and then he started talking to her in a similar tone. After a few words, like a deflated ball, he knelt on one leg and admitted his mistake, but he did not forget to complain.

"Do you know the language here?" This little surprise made Hong Tao suspicious, and he winked at the flat-headed brother while asking the question. The latter understood and quietly took a half step forward, ready to use his door-like body to block anything flying towards the emperor.

"It's Mongolian... I can understand part of it. She said she learned it from her neighbors. There are Mongolian herdsmen settled here." Huang Taiji certainly didn't notice the little trick of the honey badger. He was very busy. He continued to communicate with the woman while answering the emperor's questions.

"Go and bring here all the family members of the enemy soldiers you captured... Wang Chengen, find someone who can speak Mongolian to ask about her background." Unfortunately, Hong Tao would not trust anyone easily. He first sent Huang Taiji away, and then began to interrogate the woman alone.

There were no people in the Ming army who knew the language of the Yarkand Khanate, but there were several people in the Cuju team and the Gekko who knew Mongolian. If the woman really knew Mongolian, then the matter would be cleared up quickly.

Facts proved that Hong Tao was over-suspicious again. Huang Taiji did not lie. This beautiful woman was indeed captured from the military tent. But she was not a trophy, because she was a prisoner captured by the Khanate army. Her real identity was the granddaughter of a local emir in Ruoqiang.

But they had no idea why they were captured. The Khanate general who ordered their capture was lying among a pile of corpses, gradually losing body temperature. Moreover, half of his head had been smashed to pieces. It was Huang Taiji who did it himself.

At that time, the two of them happened to meet at the gate of the courtyard. Although Huang Taiji had never seen what the Yarkand army looked like, he guessed from the helmet and chain mail that the other party was an officer. So why hesitated? He urged his horse to rush over and knocked him down in one round.

When the emperor later asked him why he didn't capture them alive, he answered confidently: It's hard to capture them alive, and it will hurt more soldiers. Sun and Moon Khan had ordered to reduce casualties, and it's easiest to kill them with one bone!
(End of this chapter)