Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Zhang Shikang frowned when he heard this, and immediately walked to the rear of the position and took out a monocular telescope.

Everywhere you look, you can see groups of civilians being driven away by soldiers on the western city wall, whose battlements had been destroyed by artillery fire.

They had their hands tied and cried as they were beaten by the soldiers guarding the city. Most of them were white-haired elderly people.

They were ordered by the soldiers defending the city to stand on the city wall facing Zhang Shikang's position.

The soldiers behind were also busy, apparently transferring artillery from other city walls and re-arranging artillery positions on the west wall.

This is a conspiracy.

A vicious conspiracy.

Aren’t you willing to be a servant of others?

Come on, as long as you fire at civilians, the court will definitely impeach you and you will lose the support of the people.

"Brother, what should we do?" Xu Wenyuan asked with difficulty.

After more than a year of military career, Xu Wenyuan has changed a lot. He has become darker and stronger.

There was a firm expression on the young face, but he felt a little reluctant and even painful when facing the civilians on the city wall.

Zhang Shikang looked at the civilians on the city wall, gritted his teeth and remained silent, his expression full of pain and anger.

Everything he is doing now is just to restore peace to the world and let the people have enough food to eat and live a good life.

But now Liu Liangzuo insisted on using ordinary people to torture him.

Be careful when using force to kill a rat, be careful when using force to kill a rat!

Zhang Shikang understood that there had been cases of driving out civilians during wars in every dynasty, but he didn't know what the generals' mood was when they encountered such a situation.

Zhang Shikang only knew that he was extremely angry. No matter whether it was the Southern Army or the Northern Army, no matter what the reason was, this war had nothing to do with civilians.

If you can fight, then fight. If I lose, I will admit defeat.

But you took civilians as a bet, you crossed the line.

The veins on Sun Weifan's forehead appeared from time to time. All the generals were indignant, but they all kept silent.

They were all waiting for Zhang Shikang's decision. At this moment, a single change in thought could result in many people losing their lives.

Either civilians, or them.

After three full breaths of time, Zhang Shikang almost gnashed his teeth and said:

"Keep firing and stop them from rearranging their artillery!"

Zhang Shikang spoke every word clearly, and everyone could see the pain on his face when he gave the order.

This is undoubtedly a difficult decision.

"After the city is captured, I want you to annihilate all the garrison soldiers. No one should be left alive. No surrender will be accepted."

Zhang Shikang's voice was not loud, but everyone could hear the determination contained in his words.

He was not a pedantic person. Liu Liangzuo treated him as those pedantic literati, believing that those who had read the books of sages would choose to sacrifice their lives for righteousness.

But Zhang Shikang knew clearly that his conservatism at this moment would cost the lives of his generals in the Beijing camp and the entire war.

With the precedent of Liu Liangzuo, if he is cautious, enemy troops in other places will follow suit.

War should never be desired.

War means death, either from the enemy, from our own people, or... from civilians.

"I obey your order!" Xu Wenyuan gritted his teeth and bowed to accept the order.

Sun Weifan suddenly did something extraordinary. He reached out and gently patted Zhang Shikang on the shoulder, silently comforting Zhang Shikang.

"That's right, you don't have to blame yourself."

There was no expression on his bearded face, but his fists were clenched.

"After the city is breached, I will personally charge in and capture Liu Liangzuo and bring him to you."

Half a quarter of an hour later, the artillery position began to erupt with anger again.

The people on the top of the city wall wailed and fell down the wall. The guards behind them dodged in a hurry, leaving behind only the half-installed artillery.

The thirty thousand soldiers from the Beijing camp also saw that scene, and invisible indignation surged in their hearts.

Everyone understood that if it wasn't the civilians who died, it would be them.

The Marshal has made his choice and can put all the blame on himself.

The sentiment is indignant.

After Liu Liangzuo discovered that Zhang Shikang would not stop the shelling, he finally gave up his plan to continue driving out the civilians.

He ordered the militiamen in the city to carry stones to continue reinforcing the city gates, but those militiamen seemed no longer willing to do so.

Most of those who were pushed to the top of the city walls to die were their familiar neighbors, and some were even their relatives.

Feelings of dissatisfaction and indignation also spread among the people in the city.

Everyone understood that the soldiers guarding the city were not protecting them, but protecting the defenders themselves.

They would even sacrifice their lives to save their own.

However, no one stood up to resist because there were too many defenders in the city.

Bombardment, continuous bombardment.

After another whole day, the west gate of Suzhou City was completely unrecognizable, and a hole more than ten feet in size was blasted out in the gate.

The city wall above the city gate has collapsed, and the rammed earth layer on both sides of the city gate has been consumed by several feet.

Everyone understood that this city gate would not hold out for much longer.

In Suzhou city, Liu Liangzuo was almost crazy, and he killed all the prefectural officials for disobeying his orders.

As the city gate continued to be weakened, an atmosphere of tension and anxiety continued to spread among the defenders.

They also understood what would await them once the city gates were breached.

And at the moment, it seems that the city gate is bound to be breached.

At noon, a general could not bear the pressure and mutinied in the military camp. Liu Liangzuo destroyed the rebellious general with lightning speed and killed all those who betrayed him.

In order to ease the situation, Liu Liangzuo relaxed controls and allowed his subordinates to vent their anxiety.

He knew in his heart that the decisive battle would take place tomorrow, and he had to do everything he could to stabilize the morale of the troops.

To this end, he once again chose to sacrifice the people in the city.

Both his subordinates and the garrison soldiers began to do whatever they wanted in the city.

The first to suffer were the women in Suzhou city. In order to vent their fear and anxiety, the defending soldiers began to rape women. If they encountered resistance, they would be killed.

Women from wealthy families were not spared either, and the entire city of Suzhou became a hell within half a day.

In the middle of the night, the city gate was bombarded to the point where only a shell remained, crumbling and looking like it would be completely destroyed at any moment.

At dawn on August 17, 30,000 soldiers from the Beijing camp finished lining up. They had rested for a whole night and were now full of energy and sharp-eyed.

Everyone was staring at the city gate, waiting, waiting for the city gate to collapse completely, waiting to make the defenders in the city pay the price.

When the sun just showed a hint of crimson in the west, after two days and two nights of non-stop bombardment, the city gate was finally completely destroyed, and light began to emerge from the city through the gate.

Zhang Shikang put down the monocular telescope, turned around and looked around at his soldiers.

"You guys, do you remember what I said?"

"Leave no one behind!"

"No surrender accepted!"

"No one will be left alive, no surrender will be accepted!"

At first, only the generals in the front repeated the slogan, but later the whole army unified the slogan.

After getting Zhang Shikang's approval, Sun Weifan drew his sword and raised it above his head.

"Follow me and charge in! Charge forward!"

……