Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 173: No Mercy

The Meng army poured into Zhenjiang City like a surging tide, and the Qing soldiers in the city began to surrender one after another. They dropped their weapons and squatted on the ground in embarrassment. The Qing soldiers were frightened by the killing of the heavily armored army and had completely lost their fighting spirit.

The streets of Zhenjiang City were littered with weapons and flags discarded by the Qing soldiers, and the city was in a mess. The soldiers of the Meng Army entered the city in high spirits, and their cheers and shouts resounded throughout the city. Now that Zhenjiang City had been breached, it also meant that they were one step closer to their target, Nandu.

Lin Shiqi led his troops into the city. His subordinates were searching everywhere for Ma Deyang and Wang Yuan, two Qing army generals. Some captives confirmed that Ma Deyang seemed to have fled to the west gate, while Wang Yuan seemed to have disappeared, and no one knew where he fled to.

Lin Shiqi felt a little regretful that he failed to capture the arrogant Ma Deyang alive, but Huang Cheng was already chasing him and he didn't know whether he could catch him. Lin Shiqi then focused his energy on various matters related to entering the city.

The west gate of Zhenjiang City.

Ma Deyang had just fled to the west gate like a frightened bird, but he jumped onto his horse nimbly and led his cavalry out of the west gate without hesitation.

However, the cavalry led by Huang Cheng had been prepared for a long time. Some of them were divided into dozens of light cavalry teams, and began to search and encircle the defeated and fleeing soldiers.

As soon as Ma Deyang and his party left the city, they were immediately spotted by Huang Cheng's scouts. Thus, a thrilling chase began again! Ma Deyang whipped his horse desperately, trying to distance himself from the Meng cavalry behind him, while Huang Cheng's scattered cavalry began to gradually gather together and chased Ma Deyang frantically.

Ma Deyang changed his route, trying to avoid pursuit, but the Meng cavalry was in hot pursuit. From time to time, some of Ma Deyang's thousand cavalrymen fell behind and were killed, or were shot down by archers behind. For a while, the sound of horse hooves and screams, and the war horses that had lost their masters let out bursts of shrill neighs, echoing in the four directions.

Seeing this, Ma Deyang broke out in a sweat and thought it would be better to escape by boat. Now he was caught up. After running for a while, Ma Deyang could not bear it anymore and ordered a team of people to stay behind to stop the enemy cavalry.

The subordinate who was ordered turned pale, but under Ma Deyang's angry glare, he had no choice but to turn his horse around and make a detour. At the shouting of his subordinates, about 200 riders followed him and covered his rear. Huang Cheng also sent out a team to contain the enemy riders who were blocking the road, while the rest continued to chase Ma Deyang.

The land south of the Yangtze River is full of greenery. The two cavalry teams are like two giant dragons, tumbling and chasing each other on the land, their iron hooves shaking the sky and the dust rolling.

Liu Kun was born in Mudu Town, Suzhou Prefecture. His family had been farming and studying for generations. However, there was a boy in Liu Kun's generation who didn't like studying. He rode horses to chase dogs and shot rabbits with bows every day. Whenever his father thought of him, he would sigh and be angry at his son for not fighting. Liu Kun was blamed by his father every day. During another quarrel, Liu Kun left home in anger. It happened that Huang Cheng was recruiting people who could ride horses, so Liu Kun joined them.

Huang Cheng saw that Liu Kun was skilled in archery and horse riding, and promoted him to the position of general flag after only a few days in the camp. At this time, Liu Kun had a firm look in his eyes and looked very heroic, and his warhorse was agile and powerful, as if it could communicate with its master's mind. Liu Kun gradually moved forward, while Ma Deyang, who had not yet taken off his armor, had an increasingly weak warhorse and a slower speed. Liu Kun was already getting closer to Ma Deyang.

During the chase, Liu Kun had already discovered Ma Deyang. He was wearing a dark green armor, which was so different from others. Liu Kun adjusted his breathing and aimed at Ma Deyang. The arrow in his hand cut through the air like lightning. Ma Deyang's horse let out a shrill neigh. The horse felt pain and shook its head hard, and Ma Deyang fell off the horse.

People say Ma Deyang is both lucky and unlucky. One thing he is lucky is that he was not trampled by the horse's hooves. Another thing he is unlucky is that among so many people, his horse was shot so accurately.

After Ma Deyang landed, his personal guards stopped their horses in panic and rushed over, while the rest of the Qing cavalry fled madly. Huang Cheng saw that the horses were extremely tired, so he stopped chasing them. The Meng army's horses were precious, and if the Qing soldiers were galloping like crazy, the horses would definitely be disabled. With an order, the Meng army cavalry dismounted one after another to let the horses rest slowly.

Ma Deyang looked at the cold eyes and tightly clenched weapons of the Meng army knights and couldn't help feeling fear and despair in his heart. He knew that he had no way to retreat and could only surrender helplessly. He slowly raised his hands and signaled several guards beside him to lay down their weapons.

Huang Cheng, who usually had a serious expression, smiled for the first time today. He patted Liu Kun on the shoulder and said, "Good boy, good shooting. I'll remember this achievement."

Liu Kun couldn't help but feel proud when he heard this, but he still said shyly: "Actually, I was aiming at a person, but I missed a little and hit the horse instead."

"Hahaha, it's even better if you shoot the horse and capture the enemy general alive," Huang Cheng laughed heartily.

Huang Cheng then put away his smile and led his men to escort Ma Deyang back to Zhenjiang City. When Huang Cheng escorted Ma Deyang to Meng Jun, Lin Shiqi received the news that Ma Deyang had been captured alive and hurried over.

When Lin Shiqi arrived, Ma Deyang was lying on the ground, shouting: "I am a sinner who does not know the destiny of heaven and wants to fight against the heavenly soldiers. I beg the governor to forgive me. I am willing to surrender and lead the governor's horse and hold the bow. I will be loyal to you without hesitation."

Seeing this, Lin Shiqi cursed: "You are Ma Deyang. You were so arrogant at the beginning, and you even dared to write a letter to mock me."

Ma Deyang replied solemnly: "General, I, Ma Deyang, swear to heaven that I never wrote a letter to mock you. If you don't believe me, I can swear to heaven that if I, Ma Deyang, tell even a single lie, I will be struck by lightning and die a miserable death."

Lin Shiqi was stunned. This solemn look did not seem fake. Then he asked, "Since it was not written by you, who wrote the letter?"

Ma Deyang felt a little guilty, and after a moment's thought, he said, "It should be the young general guarding the city who wrote it privately."

Lin Shiqi was so angry that he laughed. He drew out his knife, pointed it at Ma Deyang and said, "Do you think I'm a fool? I would believe this."

"This...this...this really wasn't written by me. It was written by my staff. I really can't read. This was definitely not written by me." Seeing this, Ma Deyang turned pale and stammered in response.

At this time, Meng Jun spoke up, and said in a deep voice: "If they surrender at the end of their rope, they will not be pardoned, and they will be dragged away and beheaded."

"Please spare my life, Grand Commander, please spare my life. I really want to surrender. I also want to drive out the Tartars. Please let me die on the battlefield. I beg you..."

Meng Jun looked at Ma Deyang who was being dragged away and ordered in a deep voice: "The whole army will rest for a day, prepare supplies, and march to Nandu!"

"Yes, Governor."