Late Qing Dynasty Executioner

Chapter 186: Fall of Chengdu
The nearly ten-meter-high city wall was undoubtedly a huge challenge for the attackers, especially without cannons.

In fact, cannons would not be of much use. After all, a ten-meter-high city wall, even if it is not ten meters thick at the bottom, is at least seven or eight meters thick. It is basically impossible for cannons of that era to blow down a seven or eight-meter-thick city wall.

Xing Honghai's method was to use the human wave tactic. He first built a bamboo platform higher than the city wall, and then used his 600 musketeers as cover from the high ground. He then built a bamboo frame attached to the city wall and let the soldiers attack the city.

The bamboo frames can prevent counterattacks from cold weapons on the city walls, but as for the muskets and cannons on the city walls, there is nothing that can be done. One can only charge forward despite the casualties. Anyway, the firing speed of muskets and cannons is not fast, so the casualties should not be heavy.

As long as we can get to the top of the city wall, our military advantage can be brought into play, and then taking Chengdu should not be a problem.

As usual, Xing Honghai also sent people to the city to persuade them to surrender, but unfortunately he was met with counter-threats from the other side, and the families of the Green Camp soldiers were taken to the top of the city.

This made the Green Camp soldiers under the city furious, but everyone understood that the situation had come to a point where it was a matter of life and death. Even if they surrendered, they and their families would not have a good fate.

Xing Honghai's family was also among them, and were taken to the most conspicuous city gate tower.

"Xing Honghai, when you betrayed the court, did you ever think about your wife, children and mother at home?"

Xing Honghai gritted his teeth, dismounted, kowtowed three times to the city gate tower, and shouted at the top of his lungs: "I am an unfilial son. I have let you two down in this life. In the next life, I will repay you by working like a cow or a horse. I will avenge you."

The officials on the city wall paid no attention to Xing Honghai's threat and immediately ordered the execution of Xing Honghai's family as a warning to others. After all, even if the city was breached, they would not necessarily die. Wouldn't they be able to escape if they couldn't win the battle?
Xing Honghai brandished his sword and shouted, "Kill! Break through Chengdu and kill the corrupt officials!"

The war finally started!
Despite the cover of the musketeers on the platform, the casualties of the young and strong attackers continued to increase. Within just a cup of tea, the attackers suffered thousands of casualties.

However, in general, just as Xing Honghai had expected, the number of musketeers on the city wall was not enough to defend the three sides of Chengdu City's wall, which was a total of seven or eight kilometers long.

Even with the addition of cannons and archers, it was useless. After the bamboo frame was placed against the city wall, someone quickly climbed up along the ladder, put up a bamboo raft, and then jumped over the bamboo frame to engage in sword-fighting with the young and strong soldiers guarding the city wall.

As more and more people climbed up the bamboo frames, Xing Honghai sent out the Green Camp Army to attack the city. With the addition of the Green Camp Army, the city wall was soon lost.

After all, the Green Camp Army is a regular army after all, and they wear bulletproof vests. Whether it is attack power, defense power, or fighting will, they are not comparable to ordinary young and strong people.

In just half an hour, first the southern city wall was in danger, and then as the defenders' morale was unstable, the northern city wall was in danger. In less than an hour, the attack and defense of the three walls changed sides.

After entering into close combat, the weaknesses of the young and strong defenders who had never experienced the baptism of battlefield were fully exposed. They were cowardly and afraid of fighting and could not fight a protracted war. When casualties occurred, the remaining people wanted to escape.

Xing Honghai stared with bloodshot eyes, constantly assessing the situation on the battlefield, and then ordered the entire army to attack, but he also shouted the slogan: Those who surrender will not be killed.

After all, the ones who have a grudge are officials and wealthy families, and ordinary people are just cattle and horses. In the future, they will have to work to produce various materials. There is no need to create too much killing. Moreover, Chen Gu will definitely be unhappy if too many young and strong people are injured or killed.

After ordering the entire army to attack, Xing Honghai called back his own troops, and at the same time gathered two hundred people from Jiang Zhenghai's spear battalion to wait by his side, and then sent scouts to the east city wall to investigate the situation.

The siege usually adopts the strategy of surrounding three sides and leaving one side open, which is to give the defenders a chance to escape and give up the determination to fight to the death, so that the attackers will have a better chance. Of course, ordinary people have no chance to escape, only the top leaders have the opportunity to escape, because only they know the changes in the battlefield situation, even if they escape, they can be one step ahead of others.

Xing Honghai was waiting for the moment when the officials in the city fled.

Xing Honghai did not have to wait long. In just a cup of tea, the scout reported that the east gate was opened and people in the city were fleeing on a large scale.

"Hahaha, run, can they escape?" After Xing Honghai laughed wildly, he squeezed his legs on the horse's belly, and the horse rushed out immediately, followed closely by the soldiers behind.

By the time Xing Honghai bypassed the South Gate and arrived at the East Gate, more than a thousand people had already run out of the city.

"Kill!" Xing Honghai fired a random shot, put away his rifle, took off the long sword hanging on his horse's back, and rushed towards the crowd.

At this moment, Xing Honghai didn't care about the elderly, the weak, women or children at all. Anyone who escaped from the city was his target of attack. After a while, they were all killed and covered in blood.

After charging back and forth twice, Xing Honghai left half of his soldiers to continue killing those who escaped from the city, and he took the other half of his soldiers to continue chasing towards the east. Because some of the people who escaped from the city were also on horseback, this matter was about to be out of Xing Honghai's sight, but Xing Honghai was not in a hurry at all.

The reason why the East Gate was left unattacked was not only because the army would meet at the West Gate, but also because the East Gate was Longquanyi, and behind Longquanyi was Jianyang County.

In Jianyang County, the departure point, Xing Honghai left behind two thousand people, and even in Longquanyi, Xing Honghai also arranged one thousand people. These people could not escape.

Among the first people to escape were only a hundred or so riders, the others were probably family members and guards, some walked and some rode in carriages, and those people have already stayed behind.

Among the more than one hundred riders who escaped, there was the official who had just ordered the killing of Xing Honghai's family. Xing Honghai had to bring that person back for revenge, otherwise he would find it difficult to swallow the resentment stuck in his throat.

Xing Honghai gritted his teeth and chased madly without caring about the horsepower. Finally, after a quarter of an hour, he saw the hundred riders who had been stopped.

"Kill!" Xing Honghai roared and rushed forward with his men.

The hundreds of riders who were already fleeing in panic became even more panicked after hearing Xing Honghai's roar, but they also made up their minds to try their best to break out, and finally broke through after suffering half of their casualties.

Xing Honghai, who had caught up with them, was no longer panicking. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the forty or fifty riders who had broken through the encirclement. He sneered and ordered, "Change horses, rest for a while, and then chase again!"

Anyway, there are still people defending in the direction of Jianyang, and these people can't escape, so it would be better to play with them for a while.

After resting for a while, Xing Honghai mounted his horse again to pursue. Before leaving, he thought for a moment and said to Jiang Zhenghai, "You go back to Chengdu first and restrain the army from invading ordinary people. Let them feel resentful and vent it on those wealthy families.

Allow them to plunder those mansions as they please for a day after they break into them."

(End of this chapter)