Chapter 121: The Battle for the New City

Beneath the new city walls, large numbers of Qing troops set up scaling ladders, clutching shields and broadswords as they crowded together, climbing toward the top of the walls.

The soldiers of the two battalions on the city walls could even clearly see the fierce gleam in the Tartars' eyes and their savage expressions.

The scaling ladders used in the assault were not the long ladders seen in television dramas, but rather enormous wooden carts. The ladders atop them were divided into two sections, and when extended, they leaned against the city wall like a ramp. They also had hooks that could latch onto the wall, making them quite stable.

The musketeers of the New Camp once again formed a line atop the city wall, continuously dealing devastating blows to the Qing troops below. Amidst the volleys of gunfire, large numbers of Qing soldiers on the scaling ladders swayed and tumbled down.

Seeing that the Ming army's firepower was fierce, a large number of archers emerged from the Qing ranks, shooting arrows up at the city wall in retaliation. Although shooting upward was far more difficult than shooting downward, the Tartars' exceptional archery skills made up for these shortcomings.

Within forty paces, the Qing archers shot with extreme accuracy. As long as a Yongwei Camp soldier exposed even the slightest gap, he could become a target for the Qing archers.

To avoid being struck by the Qing arrows from below and increasing their casualties, the Yongwei Camp's musketeers had no choice but to retreat to the rear of the city wall and request support from other troop types.

Just as the Qing archers were diligently shooting arrows at the city wall, a tremendous roar suddenly erupted from the battlements. As thick smoke billowed up, countless arrows came howling down like rain upon the archers below, striking them head-on.

The Qing archers stood in several dense ranks, and such a formation allowed the Divine Mechanism Camp's fire arrows to unleash their maximum lethality. The Tartars fell in great swaths, like leeks being cut down.

Seeing the remarkable effectiveness of the fire arrows, the Divine Mechanism Camp brought out large quantities more and frantically loosed them at the Qing archers below the walls.

After several rounds of arrow volleys swept through them, the Qing archers were suddenly reduced by more than half, and the survivors scattered and retreated behind the formation.

Under the cover of the scaling-ladder carts, the area below the walls was already packed with a massive number of Qing assault troops, all waiting to climb onto the ladders.

The soldiers of the New Camp on the city walls continuously picked up stones and hurled them down. There were so many Tartars below that no aiming was needed—every throw hit its mark. Boulders weighing dozens of jin fell from a height of ten meters, and even Qing soldiers holding shields were smashed until they vomited blood and broke bones.

Other soldiers carried heavy logs and rolling stones and set them onto the scaling ladders, using gravity and inertia to send them rolling down the ladders and crush the Qing soldiers. From below the ladders came wave after wave of blood-curdling screams.

Hearing the miserable cries of the Tartars below, the Ming soldiers on the walls hurled their rolling stones with even greater vigor, as if it were all just a game!

For a time, the area around the scaling-ladder carts beneath the walls was strewn with Tartar corpses and wounded soldiers. However, because the Qing forces were so numerous, the soldiers behind them quickly filled the empty spaces again.

The Yongwei Camp's musketeers would load their powder and shot, fire a round at those below, then retreat to the rear edge of the wall to reload, avoiding being singled out by the Qing archers.

Some Tartars who had just climbed onto the city wall were shot dead at close range by the musketeers. Under the combined assault of the Yongwei Camp and the New Camp soldiers, Qing troops kept tumbling off the scaling ladders.

Although the vast majority of Qing soldiers on the scaling ladders had now nearly reached the crenellated battlements, under the tight defense of the Yongwei Camp's musketeers, the Qing troops were never able to break through the line and fight their way onto the city walls.

Gradually, the heavy logs and rolling stones atop the walls were nearly exhausted, and the Qing soldiers, as if injected with stimulant, charged upward with reckless abandon once more.

When the Tartars drew closer and closer to the top of the walls, what happened next made them lose their appetite for three days!

"It's golden juice!" A Tartar shrieked as if his soul had left his body, and he leaped straight off the scaling ladder.

What was golden juice? It was not gold melted into liquid, but boiled excrement! Arsenic was even added to the filth—truly poison within shit!

This stuff was filthy and foul-smelling, which was only good for disgusting people, but the most terrifying thing was that if it splashed onto a person, the scalded wounds would fester and be difficult to treat, possessing the power to snatch away one's soul and life.

"Let the Tartars have a good taste of this!"

Even though the soldiers on the city wall wore face coverings, they could not help grimacing from the stench. Using long ladles, they scooped up boiling filth and drenched the Tartars climbing the ladders with it, pouring it right over their heads.

With every pour, a Tartar would tumble off the scaling ladder with a miserable scream, sometimes even dragging several more Tartars down with him.

As the golden juice continued to pour down, the area below the walls instantly became reeking beyond measure. In the sweltering heat, this stench was even more unbearable, making it hard to breathe. The Qing soldiers below were directly fumigated until they could not open their eyes, and many could no longer hold back their vomiting.

Many Tartars cursed inwardly—was this fighting a war, or eating shit? And scalding-hot shit at that!

Zhu Cilang simply could not endure this stench, so he quietly walked down from the city wall and went to the drum tower at the center of the city. That was the highest point in the new city, where he could see the general situation at each of the four city gates from afar. Most importantly, it was farther away from the foul odor.

Although the deteriorating conditions had made the assault more difficult, the Qing army still steeled itself and charged upward, wanting to take the new city as quickly as possible.

The Qing soldiers, dense as ants, clung to the scaling ladders and launched one fierce attack after another against the city walls, nearly covering them entirely—wave after wave, one falling as the next pressed forward, without end.

Not only the Han and Mongol troops, but even all the armored bannermen and auxiliary soldiers of the Manchu Eight Banners were thrown into the assault on the city.

Beneath the city walls, in the protective moat, the number of Qing corpses continued to grow, and wounded soldiers were produced in great numbers. Already, several dozen orderlies and booi bondservants, braving the hail of gunfire and arrows, were specially tasked with rescuing the wounded and carrying away the dead, constantly shuttling back and forth between the main camp and the battlefield.

The new city was only a dozen or so li from the capital. News that the Crown Prince was besieged in the new city by thirty thousand Jianzhou barbarian troops reached the capital within an hour. The Chongzhen Emperor and Empress Zhou were both greatly alarmed, filled with fear and worry.

The Chongzhen Emperor urgently ordered the Duke of Ying, Zhang Zhiji, to dispatch the Capital Camps to rescue him. All the generals of the Capital Camps dared not fight, and Zhang Zhiji had great difficulty cajoling a few generals who coveted merit into leading several thousand men out of the capital to the rescue.

But no sooner had they left the capital than they were intercepted on the road by Qing forces and routed with heavy losses. As the Qing army pressed close to the capital, no one in the Capital Camps dared to go out and fight again.

The Qing army had suffered heavy losses in the assault on the city, and Abatai, who was watching the battle, had not been idle either. He ordered his forces to concentrate at the south gate and the northwest direction, with the west gate facing north responsible for defending against and blocking reinforcements from the capital and Tongzhou, while the south gate was tasked with the main assault.

Liu Zeqing, the Regional Commander of Shandong, was cowardly by nature and always led his troops while harboring selfish motives and watching from the sidelines. When he heard that the Crown Prince was besieged by a large Tartar army at the new city, he laughed out loud on the spot and even leisurely drank a few extra cups of strong liquor.

Meng Ruhu, the Shanxi Regional Commander stationed at Tongzhou, wanted to send troops to the rescue, but in the end he did not. According to Zhu Cilang's requirements, no matter what happened, he only needed to hold Tongzhou—Tongzhou could not be lost.

Dong Yongwen, the Regional Commander of Baoding stationed at Langfang, truly did not dare to provide support, fearing that he would be annihilated by the Tartars on the road the moment he left the city.

Thanks to fellow readers: Jun Lin Si Ji, I Saw an Elf Dancing, Reader 2019062504906654.

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