Chapter 565: His Majesty Does Not Accept Secondhand Shoes

At this moment, it was hard not to have other thoughts.

Facing this situation now, the thoughts in Amin and the others' hearts were actually very simple — that was, how to survive?

Now that Hong Taiji was dead, it could be said that the Jurchen's momentum was spent. They had to find a way to survive, or else they would likely be buried here as well.

What to do was a question everyone in the city had to face.

Some people in the city would live, and some would not. As for exactly how to survive, that would depend on each person's choice.

Haoge was already preparing his men, ready to retreat and break out at any moment.

For Haoge, aside from this path, he had no choice. But for others, there was much more room to maneuver here.

Jirgalang sat in his chair with a grim face, while the people below all looked at him with expectant eyes. Among them were many who had been old subordinates of Surhaci.

Back when Nurhaci rebelled against the Great Ming, Surhaci and the men under his command had disagreed, and had even secretly colluded with the Great Ming.

But in recent years, Nurhaci's might had been strong, while the Great Ming had suffered defeat after defeat, leaving Surhaci and the others no room to act on their views.

This time was different. Surhaci's old subordinates wanted to protect themselves, but relying on their own strength alone naturally would not do — they could only pin their hopes on the man before them, that is, Jirgalang.

As long as Jirgalang was willing to take the lead, then everyone could survive.

Jirgalang knew very well in his heart why these subordinates had come to see him — it was nothing more than wanting him to open the city gates and surrender.

Back then, his father had connections with the Great Ming, and combined with his own position today, it would surely have a good effect. Even if the Great Ming wanted to kill him, these people could still survive.

But Jirgalang felt they had thought wrong. He was not the same as them. Back then, Hong Taiji had saved his life — if not for Hong Taiji pleading for him, he would have been killed together with his father.

In recent years, Nurhaci had treated him like his own son, and after Hong Taiji ascended the throne, he too had greatly valued him. Now that Hong Taiji was dead, if he were to stab his descendants in the back and then go defecting to the Great Ming — that was something he absolutely could not accept.

Moreover, Jirgalang understood very clearly in his heart that he could not survive. Even if he defected to the Great Ming, he still could not survive.

Jirgalang knew very well what kind of man that Emperor of the Great Ming was. All these years, that Emperor had remained extremely forceful.

Perhaps right after surrendering, he would not be killed, but later on, that could not be said for sure.

These people wanted to live, but they could not use his life to trade for it.

After sweeping his gaze over everyone, Jirgalang said, "Go back and make preparations."

No one had expected Jirgalang to say this.

Some people's eyes flashed with disappointment, some had a bit of anger, and even more did not bother to conceal the murderous glint in their eyes.

At this point, many people could no longer hold themselves back.

"What, my words don't carry weight anymore?" Jirgalang said with a grim face, glaring angrily at everyone.

In the end, his accumulated authority still held sway — no one refuted him or stood up to say anything. Everyone chose to silently withdraw.

But Jirgalang knew that these people not showing their teeth in front of him did not mean they would not stir up trouble behind his back.

Thinking of this, Jirgalang directly stood up.

This time, he was going to find Haoge and make things clear.

They could not wait any longer. Whether it was breaking out or smashing the enemy head-on, there was no way to wait any further — they had to act quickly.

If they waited any longer, who knew what might happen. Everyone had to leave quickly.

At the same time, outside the city of Hetu Ala.

The Great Ming army was preparing to assault the city.

After eating breakfast, Lu Xiangsheng brought Cao Wenzhao to the front line.

The Ming army had already begun forming up in battle array. Although they had not attacked the city yesterday, the necessary preparatory work had never been lacking — all sorts of cannons had already been loaded, and even the firing positions and targets had already been calibrated. Today they could open fire directly.

Cao Wenzhao looked at Lu Xiangsheng and said, "Are we really directly assaulting the city? Last night we received many letters — there are people inside the city contacting us. Are we just going to pretend that never happened?"

"How do you know this isn't their delaying tactic?" Lu Xiangsheng looked at Cao Wenzhao and said in a calm tone.

No one could prove whether this was a delaying tactic. But Cao Wenzhao knew that this was not the reason Lu Xiangsheng was doing what he was doing now.

Lu Xiangsheng had only one reason for doing this now — he simply did not want to accept any surrender at all, and just wanted to fight. This time, not only would they fight, but they would fight beautifully.

Cao Wenzhao said nothing more — in his heart, he thought the same way. What he had just said was nothing more than reminding Lu Xiangsheng that if he really did this, he had to think of a good justification. Otherwise, he might very well be impeached after returning, and that would not be good.

Clearly, Lu Xiangsheng had already thought of his justification, which was to tell everyone plainly: I suspect this is their delaying tactic, so we cannot wait; we can clearly take the city by force, so why should we wait?

He believed this justification could convince the Emperor. On this point, Lu Xiangsheng understood in his heart that the Emperor would approve of him.

Seeing that Lu Xiangsheng had already thought of his justification, there was nothing more to say — time to get to work.

He directly turned and walked off to the side.

This assault on the city was extremely important, so Cao Wenzhao would lead the assault team.

"Begin." Lu Xiangsheng said slowly after taking a look through the telescope in his hand.

These words were spoken very softly, with no shouting or straining at all.

There was no longer any need to yell for command purposes. Soon, the signal flags began to wave, and the orders were sent out.

The Ming side opened fire directly.

"Shwoosh shwoosh shwoosh! Shwoosh shwoosh!"

"Boom boom boom boom!"

Cannons and rocket arrows were all launched at this moment, and they not only struck the city walls, but also extended directly into the city itself.

Clearly, this time Lu Xiangsheng had gone all out, wanting to cripple the enemy in one go.

As for how many casualties the enemy would suffer, that was not within his scope of consideration.

How valuable his own soldiers were — minimizing his own side's casualties was what mattered most.

Soon, explosions resounded throughout the entire city of Hetu Ala.

On the battlefield, smoke filled the air, flames shot into the sky, and even the earth trembled.

The bombardment continued for a full incense-stick's worth of time before the cannons finally stopped.

The city walls had already collapsed, many places were pitch black, and fires still burned.

All kinds of corpses lay sprawled across the city walls, most of them already mangled beyond recognition.

There seemed to be no living people left atop the city walls.

This kind of saturation attack directly stripped Hetu Ala of its ability to resist.

"Advance." Lu Xiangsheng lowered the telescope in his hand and said.

With his words, the order was sent out once again.

A formation charged straight toward the city of Hetu Ala, and leading them was none other than Cao Wenzhao.

This time he led the assault squad—these men were all equipped with short-barreled guns, and some even carried revolvers, which could unleash great power in street fighting.

Long guns and short guns provided alternating cover; the tactics were very clear.

Behind him followed the main force of the Ming army. These men would rapidly seize entire streets after the assault squad broke through and opened a gap in the city, then cut through and encircle, taking the entire city as quickly as possible.

This was a tactic that had been drilled countless times, and everyone was already very familiar with it.

As for the terrain of Hetu Ala, the Great Ming had long since mapped it out thoroughly. Although there had been no fighting in recent years, spies in this place had never been few.

The men of the Embroidered Uniform Guard had already scouted the area thoroughly—there were even Embroidered Uniform Guard operatives inside the city itself, who would directly guide the way from within.

For a moment, gunfire erupted on all sides within the city, and the cries of battle shook the heavens.

Lu Xiangsheng, however, did not advance. He simply stood there waiting quietly.

This war had in fact already ended the moment he arrived here.

The gunfire in the city lasted a full half-hour, after which only sporadic shots remained.

Cao Wenzhao also returned with his men, blood even smeared across his face—clearly the result of close combat.

It seemed this fellow simply couldn't stay put. Lu Xiangsheng didn't scold him, only watched him quietly, waiting for him to give an account of himself.

Cao Wenzhao looked at Lu Xiangsheng awkwardly and said: "I didn't go looking for trouble—I was ambushed. No choice."

Lu Xiangsheng shook his head directly and said: "Enough, these things don't matter. We'll deal with it after we return. Is the fighting in the city over? You didn't kill everyone, did you?"

"How could that be?" Cao Wenzhao shook his head directly and said.

"The war is over. Those who resisted have been killed; the rest are prisoners. I've strictly restrained our men—there's been no looting, smashing, or burning. The palace has also been sealed off, and the treasury hasn't been inventoried yet."

This whole procedure had an operations manual, and it had been drilled more than once. What needed to be restrained were the soldiers—not letting them go berserk with bloodlust, not letting them kill everyone they saw.

Additionally, the soldiers had to be watched—not too greedy, no burning, killing, or looting, not stuffing everything into their own pockets.

This matter was very important.

Rewards would certainly be given, but corruption was not allowed.

Lu Xiangsheng nodded and said: "Then so be it. I won't go see them. Pick out the important ones among the prisoners and send them all to Shanhai Pass, to be decided by Your Majesty. Those who are alive must not be allowed to die—understand?"

"Understood." Cao Wenzhao nodded, his expression solemn.

They were only responsible for fighting; they didn't handle the rest. Since Your Majesty was already at Shanhai Pass, then naturally Your Majesty would decide.

"Hong Taiji's Empress and the others are all there." Cao Wenzhao added a sentence as if possessed by some impulse.

Lu Xiangsheng shot him a fierce glare.

What do you mean by that? Are you trying to say they should be presented to Your Majesty?

Your Majesty doesn't take used goods.

Still, Lu Xiangsheng said: "Take good care of them. Don't let anything happen."