GBP Chapter 445 The Unstoppable Allied Forces
Chapter 445 The Unstoppable Allied Forces
Gao Yingxiang smiled and said, "Don't praise me too soon. It's not too late to say compliments after we take Hezhou."
Zhang Xianzhong grinned: "You're too modest, Your Majesty. Now, how should we attack? Should we concentrate our attack on one gate like yesterday?"
Gao Yingxiang shook his head: "We can't act recklessly. The city gate is where the defensive forces are most concentrated. We can't get entangled with them here. We need to break through the city wall and enter the city before the fog dissipates. With the fog as cover, the defenders can't judge our main attack direction. They will definitely scatter their forces evenly in four directions like scattering beans, leaving their defenses weak. We'll choose a section of the city wall in two opposite directions, north and south, and concentrate our forces to attack two points, so that the defenders won't have time to reinforce."
As dawn broke and the eastern sky began to lighten, a thick fog enveloped the city. The refugee army poured out, surrounding Hezhou City from three directions once again, and a new siege was imminent. At the same time, fires broke out simultaneously throughout the city, and the screams of adults and the cries of children filled the air as chaos gradually spread throughout the entire city.
Zhu Dadian and Su Hongtu awoke one after the other. Upon learning of the fire in the city, Zhu Dadian, still dressed, summoned his personal attendant and ordered him to go to the prefectural government office to relay the message and have the office organize firefighting efforts within the city.
Su Hongtu immediately guessed that the fire was not started out of nowhere, but must have been arson. He immediately ordered men to be dispatched to the four city gates to ensure their safety. Since there were accomplices of the bandits inside the city, they had to be prevented from attacking the gate guards and opening the gates to let the bandit army in.
His judgment proved to be timely and accurate. The North Gate was attacked by a small group of bandits, but fortunately, they were too few to take control of the gate. By the time Su Hongtu's men arrived to provide support, the entire group had been wiped out.
Although the city gates remained under the control of the defenders, the situation was far from optimistic. Under the cover of dense fog, the bandits launched a full-scale attack at dawn. The north, south, and west gates were all under attack simultaneously. Due to the fog, the bandits' troop deployment was obscured, and Su Hongtu could not determine their main attack direction, so he could only distribute his forces evenly across various locations. The defenders were far outnumbered by the attackers, and this lack of focus and targeting was extremely dangerous; the enemy could easily concentrate their forces and break through at any moment. However, Su Hongtu, despite his skill, had no better solution than to cook without ingredients.
The city's defenses were already stretched thin, and the raging fire within the city required the efforts of government officials and civilian militia to extinguish. Otherwise, Hezhou would have been reduced to ruins before the bandits even breached the city walls. Lacking civilian assistance, the forces on the city walls were severely depleted. An hour later, bandits reached the top of the wall near the north gate. Using this as a point of attack, large numbers of bandits gathered at the foot of this section of the wall, recklessly climbing upwards, jeopardizing the defenses.
Upon hearing the urgent call for help at the North Gate, Su Hongtu immediately led his men to provide support. Just as he was leading his battalion in a desperate battle against the refugees who had scaled the city wall, more bad news arrived: the city wall near the South Gate had also been breached, and even more refugees surged onto the wall, resulting in the deaths of all the defenders there.
Su Hongtu felt a chill in his heart; this meant the south gate had fallen. Given the current situation, he no longer had the troops to block it. The bandits would undoubtedly enter the city through the south gate; the tide had turned.
He glanced at the endless stream of refugees climbing up ahead, sighed, and ordered, "Brothers, we can't hold this place anymore, let's retreat."
Zhu Dadian was anxiously awaiting news in the residence of a local gentry, a place the owner had voluntarily offered as a temporary headquarters for the governor. The entire city was shrouded in thick fog, and the deafening shouts of battle echoed everywhere, making him very uneasy. Because the situation was unclear, Su Hongtu advised him not to rashly go to the city wall to take command, but to wait for news in place.
Unlike his composure yesterday, the sudden fire and thick fog made Zhu Dadian feel uneasy. His years of military experience leading troops in battle told him that it was questionable whether the city could be held this time.
Just as he feared, the front gate was flung open with a bang, and Su Hongtu, his face covered in sweat, rushed in with his men, shouting, "Governor, come with me quickly! This city can't be defended anymore..."
Zhu Dadian was startled and asked, "How could we not hold it? Let's go, where are we going?"
Su Hongtu said anxiously, "There's no time to explain in detail. The north and south gates have fallen at the same time, and the west gate is also surrounded. We can only retreat through the east gate..."
Zhu Dadian said unwillingly, "As the governor of Fengyang, I have already lost Zhongdu and Luzhou. If I lose Hezhou as well, how can I face the Emperor? I don't believe I can't stop this rabble. I will go with you to the North Gate and South Gate to repel the bandits..."
Su Hongtu said helplessly, "Governor, the situation is hopeless, so stop deceiving yourself. Listen to the shouts of battle outside; the bandits have already entered the city. If we don't leave now, it will be too late."
Zhu Dadian was about to say something more when Su Hongtu gave a wink to those around him and then said, "Excuse me, Governor!"
Several soldiers rushed forward, lifted Zhu Dadian off the ground, and carried him out of the courtyard gate, heading straight for the east gate.
Although Zhu Dadian continued to say that he would live and die with Hezhou, he allowed the soldiers to carry him, remaining obediently still and showing no sign of struggle. The group walked through the streets and alleys and soon arrived at the East Gate.
At this moment, the east gate was still under the control of the defending troops. Although the soldiers responsible for the gate's defense hadn't fled yet, they were already terrified by the shouts of battle from within the city. Su Hongtu took the lead, running at the very front of the column, and shouted, "Open the city gate!"
Upon hearing this, the garrison hurriedly opened the city gates and let them out. As they passed through the gates, Su Hongtu hesitated for a moment, then whispered to the soldiers, "The city can't be defended anymore. If you want to run, then run!"
The soldiers, as if granted a pardon, abandoned their spears and swords and scattered like birds and beasts.
Even a few miles outside the East Gate, Su Hongtu and his men could still see the thick smoke from the burning fire in the city rising into the sky, and the shouts of battle could be heard from miles away. However, no pursuers came out of the East Gate. Perhaps the bandits were too busy looting to bother with Zhu Dadian, the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner and Governor of Fengyang.
On March 19th of the ninth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, the allied forces of Gao and Zhang, taking advantage of the dense fog and with an inside agent setting fire to the city, launched a coordinated attack and captured Hezhou City, looting countless treasures. Zhu Dadian, under the protection of his garrison, fled eastward, powerless to resist the tens of thousands of bandits. The allied forces pursued their victory, capturing Chuzhou in one fell swoop. By this time, most of the four prefectures and three counties under Zhu Dadian's jurisdiction had fallen into the clutches of the Gao-Liu allied forces. Encouraged by their victory, the allied forces followed Zhu Dadian's escape route, advancing from Anhui all the way to Yizheng in Jiangsu. Their advance had reached the Jiangnan region, causing panic among the officials and gentry, and shock throughout the court and the country.