Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 527

On June 23, the 27rd year of Chongzhen, even in the western Liaoning area, the weather had become a little hotter.

The Xingshui outside Ningyuan City has also turned into a trickle after being frozen for several months.

The ice-covered sea area near Juehua Island in Ningyuanwei has also melted, revealing a large area of ​​green.

However, Juehua Island, which used to be an important military port of Ming Dynasty, is still barren even if it is unsealed by ice and snow, without the bustle of being a military port of Ming Dynasty in the past.

All of this naturally originated from the war that took place on Juehua Island in the first month of the sixth year of Tianqi.

At that time, Nurhachi led the Qing army to successfully attack Juehua Island, slaughtering more than [-] Ming officers and soldiers and more than [-] merchants on Juehua Island, and burned more than [-] grain and stones and more than [-] ships.

Moreover, according to the historical records at that time, the Ming soldiers and civilians on Juehua Island were all tortured to death.

Now when the Zheng Sen Department of the Guards Navy appeared here again, only crows could be seen on this deserted island.

The former corpses are nowhere to be found, and a few pieces of firecrackers half buried in the soil may be found sporadically under the ruins of the ruins.

"On the opposite side is Caozhuang Post, the first fortress of Ningyuan Zhongyou Institute. Zu Dashou deployed [-] cannons there. The latest cannons made by the Qing Dynasty have a very long range."

Zhang Huangyan, the governor of the Second Corps of the Second Army of the Guards, came to Juehua Island to take over the logistics from Zheng Chenggong, the commander of the forward battalion of the Guards Navy, and introduced the situation on the other side to Zheng Chenggong when he saw Zheng Chenggong looking at the land on the other side.

"Smite the barbarians, get rid of the traitors, I hope that after this battle, my Daming can fully avenge the past, so that the heroic souls on this island can rest in peace."

Zheng Chenggong couldn't help sighing, and soon after, people removed a large amount of logistics from the ship. Now that the command of the sea in the entire Liaodong Bay has been controlled by Daming, Zu Dashou and other Qing troops naturally have nothing to do with Daming's actions on Juowu Island. There is no way, and the Second Corps of the Second Guards Army directly turned this place into a supply base at the forefront of the war.

The Second Corps of the Second Army of the Ming Dynasty Guards continued to attack in the direction of Shanhaiguan after receiving sufficient logistical supplements.

The first point to conquer is Caozhuang Station on the other side of Xingshui in Ningyuan Acropolis.

On the afternoon of the 27th, the North Korean army had already crossed the river to Caozhuang Station, but just after crossing the river, the North Korean army was bombarded by the red cannons of the Qing army.

The huge iron bullet rushed into the camp of the North Korean army like a galloping beast, and immediately injured hundreds of North Korean soldiers, but the North Korean army rushed over fearlessly.

At this time, the artillery battalion of the Guards also began to judge the area where the Qing army's artillery was concentrated based on the sound of the Qing army's artillery firing and the movement direction of the shells.

Thirty newly refitted heavy-duty rifled howitzers began to show their power, and the shells that had been changed to light yellow burst like autumn chrysanthemums blooming in Caozhuang Station, and there was a shocking bombing sound.

The sprinting North Korean army couldn't help being stunned when they heard such a deafening voice, only to see that the Caozhuang post in front of them was already filled with dust and smoke.

The sound of wailing came from Caozhuang Station.

The Qing army guarded here under the strict order of Zu Dashou has been blown up to the very last.

The Zu Dashou Department spit out Wu Zhang's mouth full of dirt, got up, and couldn't help but marvel: "My God, this is the line of defense that my commander has carefully prepared for a long time. At the cost of sacrificing Ningyuan, he is here to block the Ming army in Yihe. Why? It just broke."

"Kill!"

The North Korean army, who was the vanguard of the Second Corps of the Second Guards Army, rushed over again at this time.

Seeing this, Wu Zhang also raised his sword in one fell swoop: "Kill!"

Boom boom boom!
Boom boom boom!
Another burst of gunfire sounded.

Caozhuang Station was once again covered by artillery fired by the guards until the entire Caozhuang Station had become a field of rubble.

Almost all the Qing troops at Caozhuangyi were killed, while a small number of Qing troops were all executed by the North Korean army and guard cavalry.

In less than an hour, the Second Corps of the Second Guards Army directly occupied Caozhuang Post.

At this time, Dashou, the ancestor of Zhongyou in Ningyuan, also heard the sound of cannons from Caozhuang Station, and laughed a little smugly: "It seems that there is a fight in the direction of Caozhuang Station, let these Ming troops taste the power of Western cannons. It is because of this that he has guarded Daming's territory for many years, and now that Zhu Youjian dares to send troops to this old man's territory to cause trouble, this old man will let them come and go."

As he said that, Zu Dashou told his second son Zu Zepu: "You can bring two thousand fine cavalry to support Caozhuang Station now, and when the Ming army dares to be bombarded and the morale of the army is unstable, suddenly rush out and disrupt its formation! "

"My son takes orders!"

Zu Zepu cupped his hands and left with a smile on his lips, leading the cavalry to Caozhuang Station to kill.

However, when Zu Zepu came to Caozhuang Station with two thousand Ding Jingqi, he was dumbfounded: "What's the matter, why did Caozhuang Station become a ruin, and where are our people?"

"Kill!"

At that time, there was a lot of killing.

The North Korean army rushed over from all directions, holding a Chongzhen [-]-style flintlock gun with a bayonet, and killed Zu Zepu's two thousand Ding Jingqi.

The infantrymen of the Guards also followed behind and fired their guns.

"Not good! Hurry up!"

Zu Zepu didn't expect such a situation at Caozhuang Station at all at this time, nor did he expect that there would be so many Ming troops here suddenly.

Zu Zepu and his family Ding Jingqi were in a hurry to flee.

But at this time, how could the guards allow him to escape easily, tens of thousands of muskets shot at these cavalry, and in a short while, thousands of Zu Zepu's cavalry fell under their horses.

"what!"

Zu Zepu only felt a sharp pain in his back, fear suddenly grew in his heart, and he fell to the ground.

The cavalry of the Korean Army and the Guards pursued the rest of the Qing army and left, while the infantry of the Guards came to capture Zu Zepu.

A basin of cold water woke up Zu Zepu. When Zu Zepu saw two Ming court officials and a group of Ming army officers and soldiers sitting in front of him, he immediately understood everything. Knowing that he had been captured alive by the Ming army, Zu Zepu knelt down:
"Master, master, this slave Zu Zepu pays his respects to the masters. The masters are Zu Zepu's reborn parents. The masters will let the slaves do what the slaves do. The slaves are willing to help the masters capture the traitor Zu Dashou alive. Let's give the slaves a chance!"

Jiao Lian and Zhang Huangyan were dumbfounded, they didn't expect Zu Zepu to come out suddenly.

"You raise your head first, don't rush to speak, I ask you a question and you answer it," Zhang Huangyan said at this time.

But Zu Zepu laughed meanly: "Yes, master, hehe!"

"Don't do this, what kind of master and servant, don't do this with us!" Jiao Lian suddenly slapped the table, and Zu Zepu trembled in fright: "Yes, yes, I am guilty."

"You just said that the slave Zu Zepu, you are the second son of Zu Dashou, the successor?"

Zhang Huangyan asked.

"Yes, the young one is Zu Zepu. If the grown-ups are willing, the young one is willing to take the crime and make meritorious service to persuade my father to surrender to Daming!"

Zu Zepu said.

"Then there's no need to ask any more questions. Someone, pull him down, and execute him Ling Chi! Cut him to two thousand knives!"

Zhang Huangyan was responsible for the execution of war criminals by the Second Corps of the Second Guards Army, and now he saw Zu Zepu admitting that he said so directly.

(End of this chapter)