At this point, no matter how unacceptable it is, he must accept it.
Shang Kexi quickly wrote a letter to Dorgon, informing him that the Ming Kingdom had new firearms!
As Shang Kexi wrote this letter, his heart was practically bleeding.
This intelligence was bought with the lives of cavalrymen and warhorses; the price was simply too high.
After finishing this letter, Shang Kexi followed Dodo's method from years ago and began manufacturing heavy mobile siege towers. Such siege towers moved very slowly and were completely incapable of charging, but they were highly effective for defense.
The power of the Long-range Matchlock was truly immense, completely dazing Shang Kexi's army from top to bottom.
At present, they only knew a portion of the information regarding the Long-range Matchlock and did not know if it possessed other unknown functions; Shang Kexi could only change his strategy to defend while simultaneously searching for an opportunity to counterattack.
After he changed his strategy, Zhu Ci also changed his strategy.
He directly arranged for the ten most elite Jinyi Guard squads to accompany the artillery battalion to Huairen.
The artillery battalion did not bring many firearms this time; they only brought the Dongfeng Bronze Cannon to be used for the siege.
Dorgon seemed to have anticipated this long ago. Huairen had been arranged by him as tightly as an iron bucket; he even took this opportunity to plunder all the metal objects from the commoners, melting them all down to cast the city walls.
The Dongfeng Bronze Cannon was indeed very powerful, but facing a city wall that was practically armed to the teeth, it would be difficult to break through in a short amount of time.
For the Firearms Camp, it would become very dangerous if they could not quickly capture Huairen; if Shang Kexi received the news and turned around to send reinforcements to Huairen, the Firearms Camp would inevitably find themselves attacked from both front and rear.
This time, Dorgon, who had always been skilled at flanking maneuvers and surprise attacks, had no choice but to use the most stable tactics.
At the same time, he had a lingering doubt in his heart: why had the Emperor of Ming sent the Firearms Camp here?
A single Firearms Camp would not be able to take down the walls of Huairen City on its own; it would certainly need to be coordinated with other soldiers.
It was just that Dorgon held his monocular for a long time, yet he saw no sign of any soldiers scaling the walls.
Could they be lying in ambush somewhere?
Dorgon pondered for a long while before saying, "Intensify the patrols within the city; we must be extremely cautious."
Although he didn't know what strategy the Emperor of Ming was actually using, being cautious was never a mistake.
In the current situation, even Dorgon would be unable to predict the opponent's movements.
Since ancient times, one of the essential abilities of a famous general has been the capacity to predict enemy movements, thereby making strategic preparations in advance.
But how can Dorgon predict them now? Ever since the Emperor of Ming began his personal expedition, he has been bringing out new firearms at every turn, what is most infuriating is that these new firearms are not all revealed at once.
Every time Dorgon comes up with a countermeasure, the other side produces new firearms that render his response useless. Who could dare say that Southern Ming lacks new firearms now?
Moreover, given the current situation, the firearms of the Southern Ming are almost in an invincible state. For sieges, they have the Dongfeng Bronze Cannon; for long-range strikes, they have rockets such as the Hundred Tigers Galloping Rocket Carriage and the Swarm of Bees; for precision killing, they have the Long-range Matchlock; and for medium to long distances, they have the Rapid-fire Gun.
According to Shang Kexi's understanding, the Rapid-fire Gun not only has a range and power that covers medium to long distances, but its ammunition is also very special; it seems to use some kind of technology that requires no reloading, as the bullets are fired in continuous rows.
It could be said that as long as the Southern Ming has enough money to manufacture ammunition, the Rapid-fire Gun could fire without ever stopping.
Dorgon could not imagine how the opponent was able to achieve all this; currently, he was quite exhausted from constantly being on the run.
In the past, he didn't think there was anything wrong with reacting to an opponent's moves, but what if the opponent makes a move and his own side has no way to respond?
He had also once tried to use tactical strategies to counter the firepower of Southern Ming, but the problem was that he simply could not predict Zhu Ci's strategic tactics; this kid seemed to have no plan at all, making random moves every time, yet somehow they worked every single time.
Late into the night, Dorgon still found himself unable to sleep. He simply could not understand how such a favorable situation could have turned into this?
And at this very moment, Zhu Ci also could not sleep. He was waiting for news; success or failure would be decided tonight.
Of course, even if it failed, it wouldn't be a total defeat, but since he had sent out the most elite squad of the Jinyi Guard, he naturally did not want to hear bad news.
..
Similarly, Shang Kexi also could not sleep.
He was also worrying about how he would fight next.
Given the current situation of being passive and taking hits while defending, he might as well return to Huairen; what else could he achieve here besides exhausting his own forces?
The dark night was still filled with the roar of artillery. While Dorgon was coordinating the defense of the city gates, he suddenly heard a commotion.
Immediately after, the sound of gunfire erupted within the city.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Can't sleep already? Back then, Li Chuangwang didn't understand how he was driven out of Beijing either. A cat hugging a gun and taking aim. jpg
Next update at 12:00 PM
Chapter 249
What did you say?" Dorgon's face showed disbelief. "The Ming Army has broken through into the inner city?
How is this possible? How did they get in? Have the city gates fallen?
The answer was that these people had sneaked in through the two sides of the city walls that had no gates.
Dorgon took a deep breath and said calmly, "Arrange for them to be killed on the spot!"
Zhu Ci is incredibly bold, actually daring to arrange for men to sneak into the city for a surprise attack. Do they really think that once they enter the city, they will be able to coordinate with an internal force?
Reporting to the Regent, people have already been sent there, but.. they cannot be stopped at all.
Dorgon had a bad premonition in his heart, he asked, "What do you mean, 'cannot be stopped'?"
The Meile E Zhen who came to report had a bitter expression on his face: "They are holding Birdlock Guns that have never been seen before; they are very short, but their power is immense, their reload speed is also very fast."
He still had one more thing to say, which was that they were nearly invincible in close quarters.
After hearing this, Dorgon felt a wave of dizziness; his greatest fear had come to pass.
For a moment, Dorgon felt a sense of confusion; just where on earth did the Ming Kingdom get so many new firearms?
You've been hiding these new firearms all this time? You didn't use them before, only now are you bringing them out?
One must know that back when the Ming Kingdom was at the height of its power, the Central Government had already prepared for the worst-case scenario: if they were truly unable to win, they would retreat through the pass to defend Shengjing.
Later, Dorgon studied the situation repeatedly and decided that the battle could be won, though it would require many lives, so he decided to take the gamble.
If he had known earlier that the Ming Kingdom possessed so many new firearms, he might not have chosen to personally lead the troops on an expedition.
Now that things have come to this, there is no use thinking about it anymore. Dorgon took a deep breath and said, "Deploy troops there immediately. They are few in number; we will crush them even with our limited numbers!"
A squad of twenty men, even ten squads would only amount to two hundred people. Placed within the entirety of Huairen City, they were like drops of water merging into the ocean; even if they held divine weapons, they might not necessarily be able to influence the battle.
Dorgon steadied his mind, feeling that the situation was not yet completely lost; at the very least, Huairan should be able to be held.
However, the news he received was not that those Ming Army soldiers who had infiltrated had been captured alive or killed, but rather that they had disappeared.
After entering, these people did not stay together; instead, they immediately dispersed, splitting into small groups of two or three to infiltrate residential areas or other locations.
These people were not wearing military uniforms or leather armor, but instead chose clothing just like ordinary people, which made it convenient for them to blend in among the commoners.
Although it was already late at night, because they were in the midst of war, the common people throughout the city were waiting for the outcome in trepidation, not daring to fall asleep.
If they had only slipped in, it would have been one thing, but with so many Qing soldiers, they would surely find them.
The problem was that the common people in the city were actually protecting them.
The Qing Army sent men to search and question them, but everyone was clueless, each one looking bewildered and saying, "We don't understand Manchu."
After hearing the report, Dorgon said with a ferocious expression, "Kill them! Kill all the Han people who cannot provide information about the Ming Army assassins. Whoever can provide their whereabouts will be allowed to keep his life!"
Since they were unwilling to expose the Ming Army squad, it showed that the people of Huairen City had not truly submitted, such people would ultimately remain a hidden danger.
There are too many Han people; if even one of them stood up, they would receive a hundred responses for every call. It would be difficult for the Qing Dynasty to compete with the Han people in terms of numbers.
Previously, the Ming Kingdom had only a single breath left and seemed on the verge of total destruction. However, once that breath was caught, not only did they reclaim half of their territory, but they also once again threatened Beijing.
Dorgon must now focus all his efforts on dealing with the Ming Army; setting aside other places, at the very least, there must be no traitors in Huairen.
So even though the situation was urgent at this moment, he still decided to massacre the city first.
As for the idea that reporting the news could save one's life, that was essentially a useless notion.
Even if one were to send word, it wouldn't save a life; one would have to provide accurate information, but as for whether the information is accurate, wouldn't the Qing Army have the final say?
Screams rang out one after another within the already noisy city.
Dorgon looked at the sand table before him expressionlessly; in truth, looking at this thing was already of little use at this time.
After ordering the sand table to be removed, he walked out of the room and looked toward the city gate.
At this moment, bright flames flared from the direction of the city gates, the sound of cannon fire was deafening.
The entire Huairen City was filled with the smell of gunpowder and blood.
Reporting to the Regent, Helaniu has fallen in battle, the fighting at the West Gate is intense.
Dorgon was somewhat surprised: "Killed in action?"
Yes, they were killed by someone within the city.
It was the Ming Army infiltration squad!
Dorgon's expression was grim as he continued to deploy his forces. It was only the loss of a single Niu Lu E Zhen, so it wasn't an unbearable loss, but more than half an hour had passed and those people had still not been all captured, which truly irritated him.
After finishing reading, he was about to turn and head back to his room when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a strange dark shadow on the wall out of the corner of his eye.
Dorgon reacted extremely quickly, reaching out to grab the guard beside him to use as a shield.
With a gunshot, the guard screamed in agony as a spray of blood erupted from his body.
Dorgon continued to use the guard's body as cover, turning and running into the room.
As a result, upon entering the room, he saw that the window, which had previously been closed, was now open.
He acted decisively and retreated, but it was still too late. A gunshot rang out, because of the close proximity, the bullet passed directly through the lifeless guard in front of him and struck him.
The massive force even caused him to stumble back several steps.
The guard behind him cried out in alarm, "Regent!"
At the same time, a bright red signal flare rose into the sky.
Even though the signal flare had a short duration and the sound was not loud enough, it remained very bright under the cover of night.
As the signal flare vanished, many voices erupted within the city: "The Tartar Regent is dead! The Tartar Regent is dead!"
Dorgon clutched his shoulder, his vision blurring and sweat pouring from his forehead. Enduring the excruciating pain, he managed to say in broken gasps, "Go.. go catch them."