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

Soon, black smoke began to rise from the Jinzhou city wall.

Zhang Shikang knew very well that it was caused by the burning of the cannon fuse.

"Fuck, retreat! Retreat!"

Having said that, Zhang Shikang rode his horse back.

Gledon~Gledon~

The 5,000 guards were fine. They had strict military discipline and were all elite soldiers. They followed Zhang Shikang and marched in an orderly manner.

It turned out that Liu Zhaoji's 6,000 infantrymen were also very powerful. As soon as Zhang Shikang gave the order, they immediately followed Zhang Shikang's steps and retreated in an orderly manner.

On the contrary, the more than 4,000 garrison soldiers might have become addicted to cursing.

After all, they had been bullied by Zu Dashou for more than ten years, and no one had ever stood up for them. Now that they finally got a chance, they had to vent their anger.

"Damn it, do you want to die?" Zhang Shikang yelled at the group of garrison soldiers while retreating.

The group of guards then ran back in panic. There was no discipline in the team, with some running fast and some running slowly.

"A bunch of idiots!" Zu Dashou frowned as he looked at the garrison soldiers under the city.

Wu Sangui keenly caught Zu Dashou's micro-expressions, and his face showed even more confusion.

He also saw the black smoke rising from the cannon fuses on the Jinzhou city walls, but after all, he had ten years of military career and was very familiar with firearms.

Isn't the fuse of this cannon too long? There has been no sound for such a long time.

Just as I was wondering, I heard a loud bang, and more than a dozen cannons on the top of the city roared one after another.

More than a dozen artillery shells suddenly fell on the open space outside the city. More than a dozen garrison soldiers were pierced by the shells because they ran too slowly, and blood and intestines were everywhere.

Something is wrong. The landing point of the shell is too close.

If he were in charge, he would certainly order the artillery to fire as far as possible to the rear of Zhang Shikang's team, so that even if Zhang Shikang retreated, the shells could still fall in the center of Zhang Shikang's team.

Unless... my uncle never intended to kill anyone!

After a round of shelling, Zhang Shikang had already led his large troops out of the artillery's range.

Zu Dashou looked at the troops outside the city for a long time before ordering his subordinates to be on high alert and to immediately open fire if they found Zhang Shikang's troops approaching the city.

He himself took Zu Zeyuan and Wu Sangui and temporarily left the city wall.

A quarter of an hour later, Zu Dashou summoned most of the Zu family's confidants to discuss matters in the general's mansion in Jinzhou City.

Since most of his troops were infantry, in order to avoid Zhang Shikang's pursuit, Zu Dashou traveled almost day and night.

He slept only two hours a day and finally arrived at Jinzhou City last night. The soldiers following him were also extremely tired. Zu Dashou was old after all, so he fell asleep after giving a few simple instructions.

So much so that until now, most of his confidants only know that Zhang Shikang wants to kill them.

"As you all have just seen, this Grand Marshal of the imperial court is simply an unreasonable scoundrel!

Even if we try to fawn on him, he will never believe us. In his eyes, we are just a group of defeated generals who have surrendered before and cannot be trusted.

Zhang Shikang's series of killings inside the Great Wall last year had already incurred the wrath of heaven and man. This man is so bloodthirsty that he will certainly not let us go.

The reason I came here today was after I suffered a terrible loss at the hands of that man. After much reflection, I finally made up my mind.

I have called you here to listen to your opinions." Zu Dashou sat down on the chair with difficulty.

He had just been beaten with forty military sticks by Zhang Shikang, and had been traveling for several days in a row, so his body could hardly bear it.

"How dare you bully me? Since Big Brother has made his decision, Big Brother's intention is ours. No matter what happens, I will listen to Big Brother!"

Zu Dashou's brother Zu Dabi was the first to speak.

"Uncle, my second uncle is right. My ancestors have never wronged the imperial court. It is the imperial court that has wronged us. If Zhang Shikang insists on doing what he wants and doesn't give us any chance to live, my ancestors are not easy to bully!

Uncle, tell me, what should we do?

"My nephew thinks that Zhang Shikang only has more than 10,000 men, but we have more than 30,000 elite Liao soldiers in Jinzhou City. Why don't I go out of the city and capture Zhang Shikang and let uncle decide his fate?" Zu Zeyuan asked.

But Zu Dashou just waved his hand and did not agree, but looked at the other people present.

The Zu family was extremely united, and they all expressed that they would follow Zu Dashou no matter what.

After a while, Wu Sangui was the only one present who had not expressed his opinion. Zu Dashou glanced at him and said:

“Xian Yue, your father is still in prison in the capital, and logically speaking, I shouldn’t involve you as well.

But don't forget that you not only have the blood of the Wu family in your body, but also the blood of my ancestors.

If you stay in Ningyuan, based on my understanding of Zhang Shikang, this treacherous man will definitely not let you go."

Wu Sangui bowed respectfully to Zu Dashou and said:

"Uncle, you don't need to explain. I understand everything."

After saying this, Wu Sangui seemed to feel that it was inappropriate to say this, so he added:

"My nephew's current achievements are all due to my uncle's promotion. My uncle is being targeted by that traitor. I, Wu Sangui, am not an ungrateful person. Even if it means going through mountains of swords and seas of fire, my nephew will follow my uncle till death!"

"Yuexian, good job!" Zu Zeyuan patted Wu Sangui on the shoulder.

Zu Dashou looked at Wu Sangui deeply, and his intuition told him that there was something wrong with this boy's eyes.

Among his many relatives and generals, this nephew was the most intelligent, decisive and never procrastinated. Therefore, even though Wu Sangui was not yet thirty years old, he was recommended by him to be the general.

But Zu Dashou could no longer care about so many things at this time. Seeing that all the generals had expressed their positions, he continued:

"Since you all still believe in me, I won't hide anything.

The imperial court cannot accommodate us. Although Jinzhou City is strong, we cannot hold out for long without external help.

To be honest with you, I wrote a letter to Huang Taiji of the Qing Dynasty a few days ago.

For now, we just need to wait for the Eight Banners Army of the Great Qing to arrive. Since we have made great contributions in surrendering the city, His Majesty the Great Qing will certainly treat us favorably."

The people present were not fools. As early as when Zu Dashou told them that the court wanted to kill the Liao general, everyone had actually guessed where they were going.

Apart from surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, they had no other way out.

“Therefore, during the days when the Qing Empire’s Heavenly Soldiers have arrived, our most important task is to comfort our soldiers and let them understand the current situation.

Tell them, it’s not me who’s doing this, it’s the imperial court that won’t let us live!”

"Don't worry, big brother. Although the soldiers under us have many complaints about the Jianlu... and the Qing Dynasty, they still understand the overall situation. If they are asked to choose between dying here or following you, they will definitely choose the latter." Zu Dabi said.

After Zu Dashou finished his lecture, he still felt uneasy. Before everyone was about to leave, he stopped them again.

“I have treated you well over the years, and this is a matter of life and death for our family.

Therefore, no matter what situation you are in, you must obey my military orders and never act on your own.

Do you all remember it?"

Everyone said they remembered it.

"Repeat it for me!" Zu Dashou was unusually serious.

A group of generals didn't understand what was going on, but they all shouted in unison:

"No matter what situation we are in, we will obey the orders of our master and will never act on our own!"

……