At first, there were only scattered voices, but soon the shouting grew louder and louder.
Many of them were shouting with cries and hatred in their voices; they did not know if Dorgon was truly dead, but at this moment, they hoped this demon-like Tartar Regent would hurry down to hell!
The noise grew louder and louder, the news reached the top of the city walls.
The Qing Army officers currently commanding the battle all experienced a moment of panic.
There were also a few who firmly believed this was a Han people conspiracy, intended solely to cause chaos within the army's morale.
However, no matter how firmly he believed the Regent was safe, the soldiers under his command were all panicking.
After all, this news had spread from within the city. Regardless of whether the Regent was alive or dead, it meant at least that the Ming Army had already entered the inner city; were they not facing enemies from both front and rear?
Several Niu Lu E Zhen in charge of guarding the city gates were helpless, could only resort to iron-fisted methods, decreeing that anyone who retreated would be executed without mercy.
By relying on this method, he barely managed to intimidate the soldiers under his command.
Zhu Ci was not sleeping at this time either. When he saw the signal flare, his brow relaxed slightly, only to knit together again immediately.
The defense of the Qing Army's city walls remained stubborn.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Is Dorgon a turtle? A cat with a turtle shell on its back. jpg
Next update at 6:00 PM~
Chapter 250
Zhu Ci did not know if Dorgon was truly dead, but since the signal flare could be fired, it meant that Dorgon was at least wounded.
Under these circumstances, the Qing Army remained orderly.
One could only say that a force capable of achieving great things does not truly rely solely on a few talents dropped from the heavens; the majority of its people must be above average to make it happen.
The current Qing Army is just like this, the Ming Army.. under Zhu Ci's tossing and turning, has barely achieved this effect.
Zhu Ci turned his head and asked, "Has the reception party been fully arranged?"
Reporting to His Majesty, everything has been properly arranged.
Zhu Ci suppressed his nervousness and said, "It remains to be seen whether they can return safely."
In truth, he knew very well that it was almost impossible for everyone who went in to return unscathed.
There would certainly be casualties, but until they were seen again, there remained an unrealistic sense of hope.
Your Majesty, the wind is strong outside. Please return to your tent.
Zhu Ci sighed with melancholy, "I am uneasy; they are far too bold."
Actually, the mission Zhu Ci gave to those squads was to disrupt the Qing Army's deployment within the city; it would have been even better if they could have also cooperated by opening the city gates.
As a result, no one expected these people to actually go and assassinate Dorgon!
It was simply audacious; Zhu Ci was worried that not a single one of them would make it back!
Before receiving any news, Zhu Ci could not sleep at all.
However, he waited and waited, until dawn broke, without receiving any news of the Jinyi Guard squad's return.
For a brief moment, Zhu Ci even wondered if the entire army had been wiped out.
Your Majesty, the city walls.. the city walls are in chaos.
"Hmm?" Just as Zhu Ci was worrying, a scout suddenly brought this news.
Zhu Ci immediately picked up his monocular telescope to take a look, indeed, he saw that chaos had broken out on the city walls.
The Tartars who were originally guarding the city were being beaten by a group of people who had appeared from out of nowhere.
As Zhu Ci watched, he realized that these people seemed to be the city's commoners.
Soon, the city gates were opened.
After receiving the news, the first thing Zhu Ci asked was, "How is the Night Stealth Squad?"
Reporting to His Majesty, ten members of the Night Stealth Squad were killed in action, twenty were seriously injured, twenty-two were lightly injured.
Zhu Ci sighed, "Have the military doctors treat them well; do not be stingy with the medicinal herbs."
Ten died, which wasn't actually a high casualty rate, but the thought of ten elite soldiers he had personally trained dying still caused Zhu Ci heartache.
He remembered the names and appearances of all these people.
After the city gates opened, battle reports arrived one after another.
Dorgon led his troops to flee toward Datong, while the people within the city were in a state of high agitation.
This time, Huairen City was essentially breached from within, primarily because the Night Stealth Squad did what Zhu Ci had always done—united the common people.
Ever since Huairen was occupied by the Qing Army, the people within the city had already been living in constant fear.
And this time, in his fury, Dorgon began an indiscriminate massacre, which further ignited the fires of hatred in the hearts of the people.
In this situation, the Night Stealth Squad stood up with their weapons. While they didn't receive a response from everyone, many others were willing to follow them to kill the Tartars.
It was not for Great Ming, but only to avenge their own kin.
One could not say that Dorgon had given the wrong orders; after all, the Qing Army had always acted this way.
It was true that quite a few Han people had been killed, they were terrified, driven into submission.
It was just that the situation was unfavorable this time; there were as many as seventy thousand civilians in Huairen City, so even if they did nothing but kill, it would still take a long time.
Moreover, the Qing Army has to defend the city, so they can only kill a small portion in a short amount of time.
Killing these people will not make the people of Huairen completely fearful; it will only ignite the fury in their hearts.
Unfortunately, Dorgon still managed to escape.
Although he was known to have sustained a gunshot wound, it did not seem to be very serious.
After all, at that time, there was someone in front of him who had taken most of the impact for him.
If only the gunshot wound infection could have taken him away.
Zhu Ci decisively ordered his men to pursue, because no matter what, he could not allow Dorgon to have too comfortable an environment for recovering from his wounds.
Only after the cleanup in Huairen was nearly complete and order had been restored did Zhu Ci enter the city.
When he entered the city, there were no civilians on both sides of the streets, a precaution taken to prevent any Tartars from slipping in to carry out assassinations.
When the army entered the city, the entire Huairen City was very quiet, with only the smell of sulfur and blood lingering in the air, signaling that this small city had just experienced a great battle.
As Zhu Ci rode his horse toward the county magistrate's office, he suddenly heard a childish, still somewhat hoarse cry: "Why are you guys only just arriving?"
He turned his head instinctively and found a child in ragged clothes, whose face was so blackened that it was impossible to see clearly.
This child was not large, it was impossible to tell their age or whether they were male or female.
He lay on the roof, wiping away tears while wailing loudly in a hoarse voice.
The sound of crying was not pleasant, yet it couldn't help but evoke a sense of compassion in one's heart.
The child's crying was like a button; in an instant, the entire city was filled with muffled sobs.
It was a sound that one tried to suppress but could not help but let slip, sounding exceptionally tragic.
The soldiers below were about to pass by when Zhu Ci raised his hand to stop them.
He glanced at the child, finally could only sigh and continue toward the county office.
That child might have been too young, or perhaps he was simply distraught after the great change, muttering repeatedly, "Why are you all so late? Why are you so late!"
Zhu Ci turned his head and found that many people around him already had reddened eyes.
He did not know what to say; the Ming Army and the Qing Army were fighting repeatedly around Datong, which was indeed a devastating blow to many common people.
After Zhu Ci arrived at the county magistrate's office, he immediately had someone conduct a census of the current situation in Huairen and arranged for logistics to be handled.
He had previously sent Nie Wu and Ding Qi to pursue the Qing Army, so supplies had to be properly arranged.
The census in Huairen City lasted for three days; of the city's original seventy thousand inhabitants, only thirty percent remained.
The Qing Army had already carried out a massacre when they first occupied this place. Because the overall resistance in Huairen was not particularly strong, they did not kill many people, but after Dorgon occupied Huairen, he carried out another massacre, last night, he arranged for people to continue the slaughter.
Seventy percent of the population was slaughtered. Among that seventy percent, the majority were young adults; many elderly people lost their sons and daughters, children lost their parents.
That child who was weeping on the rooftop earlier was the only one left in his family; his grandparents, maternal grandparents, his parents had all died in last night's massacre.
Zhu Ci had been in darkness even before he transmigrated, after arriving, he had been struggling to survive in a chaotic world; he had originally thought his heart had become as hard as iron.
However, looking at these figures now, his mind was filled with the echoes of that child crying and questioning: "Why did you only arrive now?"
Zhu Ci took a deep breath and said while settling the affairs in Huairen, "Pass down the order: pursue the Regent of Qing Kingdom at all costs, regardless of the danger to life."
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Dorgon is truly a scourge that persists for a thousand years. Cat clutching chest. jpg
Next update tomorrow morning at six o'clock
Chapter 251
Zhu Ci could not order a massacre of the Manchus; if he did, he would be no different from the Qing Army, even if, in his eyes, not a single Manchu was innocent.
But at this moment, the only thing he could do was to execute the ringleader.
No matter which way you look at it, killing Dorgon would be the best choice.
As long as he is dead, the Qing Dynasty will have no fierce generals capable of rivaling him. As for the other Regent, Jirgalang.. if he could have even held his own against Dorgon, he wouldn't have had to flee back to Beijing in such disgrace.
However, only Nie Wu and Ding Qi were not reliable enough. After thinking for a long while, Zhu Ci finally decided to send Jiang Quan out as well.
He instructed Jiang Quan, "There is no need to rush to catch up with them. You will act as backup from behind and act according to the situation when the time comes."
Jiang Quan cupped his hands in response. He mused that His Majesty might want to cultivate Nie Wu and Ding Qi; as it turned out, these two were actually quite good—not the kind of once-in-a-generation genius generals, but steady and reliable, never too flashy but never making mistakes.
Zhu Ci, however, wanted Dorgon to mistakenly believe that the pursuers consisted only of Nie Wu and Ding Qi, so that Jiang Quan could easily lead the Jinyi Guard to launch a surprise attack.