Chapter 208: Risking Life (IV)
On November 25, the fifth year of Yongzheng's reign, small snowflakes were floating in the sky. Under the dim sky, Huo Chong began the pre-war mobilization. The soldiers heard their commander Huo Chong shouting loudly: "We will live together if we win!"
"If we win, we will live together!" the soldiers shouted.
"If we lose the fight, we will die together!" Huo Chong continued to use slogans to simply and directly describe the current situation.
Even though it involves life and death, precisely because it involves life and death, this simple description is exactly what soldiers can understand best.
Most of these soldiers had followed Huo Chong for several years and were convinced that the person standing in front of them was Huo Chong himself. The commander and himself were also involved in this bold and unimaginable action.
The feeling of death made the soldiers believe that they would not lose this battle, and they all shouted together: "If we lose, we will die together!"
"Obey orders and follow instructions!" Huo Chong gave the final guidance on how to fight. At this time, if everyone only thinks about how to win, then they are doomed.
The soldiers fluently followed the words that had been shouted many times: "Obey orders and follow commands!"
After shouting the slogan twice more, Huo Chong gave the order, "Change clothes!"
The troops took off their outer clothes, revealing thick cotton-padded jackets and boots. With these equipment, they not only walked such a long distance in winter, but also survived the nights when they had to camp outdoors.
At this time, they took off their cotton coats, tied up the rabbit fur lining, put on rubber-soled leather boots, and put on the cotton armor seized from the Qing Dynasty in the cold. Everyone was refreshed by the cold armor.
"Put on the scarf!" Huo Chong continued to order, and at the same time began to put on the bright red scarf.
Everyone wore a red scarf, which made them look much more eye-catching in the dim sky.
After everything was ready, Huo Chong shouted, "The enemy is in the Old Summer Palace! Let's go!"
Led by a guide who was familiar with the road, the troops headed straight for their destination, the Old Summer Palace.
The deputy leader of the Tianli Sect and several of his men were dumbfounded. Judging from their initial reaction, they probably thought Huo Chong was playing tricks and waiting for the Tianli Sect to make the first move, so they could take advantage of the opportunity to see how the situation would develop.
However, Huo Chong had no such plan, and all his actions were for the purpose of fighting. The deputy leader of the Tianli Sect could also feel the strong murderous aura, and was completely shocked. When Huo Chong's troops walked a distance away, the deputy leader finally understood. He quickly ordered the people around him, "Hurry up and report to the chief leader, Master Huo has taken action!"
After everyone ran out, the deputy helmsman jogged all the way and caught up with Huo Chong, "Master Huo, what do we do next?"
"We are going to attack the Old Summer Palace. If you want to go, follow us. If you don't want to go, go back and find the chief."
"Master Huo! Why do you want to attack a garden? Wouldn't it be better to attack the palace?" the deputy helmsman asked.
"There are princes and ministers living in that garden. After the attack on Old Summer Palace, the Qing army would of course come to rescue," Huo Chong explained.
The deputy helmsman thought about it after hearing this, and probably still felt uneasy, so he said, "I'll go with Master Huo to take a look first."
Huo Chong ignored the deputy leader. The intelligence level of the Tianli Sect was just like that. Although they wanted to kill the emperor and seize the throne, they didn't even know that Yongzheng didn't live in the palace, but in the Old Summer Palace.
But Huo Chong did not underestimate the Tianli Sect. If we say they were stupid, then we can only see from the past that everyone was a big fool.
The stupid thing is never thinking about what to do specifically, but thinking that the result will be the same as you think.
In fact, the world has its own rules. As long as you follow the rules, you don’t have to worry about what the specific outcome will be.
Master Changxin has always praised Huo Chong as a man of Taoism, and Huo Chong also thinks that Master Changxin is a true Taoist. In fact, their views on the world are completely different. The reason why both sides give each other high praise is that Master Changxin and Huo Chong both believe that they only know a little bit of "Tao", and are far from knowing the world and knowing "Tao" itself.
If we view the world as a big stage, Master Changxin and Huo Chong are just passers-by on this stage, doing things according to the principles they believe in.
The cold wind gradually weakened, making the Han army heading straight for the Old Summer Palace feel a little better. When they were still a few hundred meters away from the royal garden, the Qing army guarding the garden had already noticed the team. The cotton armor of the Manchus was mainly worn by the Eight Banners. At this time, the Qing army guarding the garden had already rushed over and blocked the team.
The leader of the group shouted, "What are you waiting for..."
Bang, bang, bang. Gunshots rang out, and several people were immediately knocked to the ground and died in front of their eyes.
Huo Chong shouted: "Don't leave anyone alive in the Old Summer Palace, kill them all!"
By the time of the Second Opium War in 1860, the Old Summer Palace covered an area of 3.5 square kilometers and had a construction area of 200,000 square meters. In 1727, the Old Summer Palace was much smaller.
The construction of the Old Summer Palace was started in 1707 (the 46th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign). It was originally a gift from Emperor Kangxi to his fourth son Yinzhen. Kangxi inscribed the plaque "Old Summer Palace" for it, and "Yuanming" was the Buddhist name of Emperor Yongzheng.
After Yongzheng ascended the throne in 1722, he expanded the former Ci Garden and added the Zhengda Guangming Hall and Qinzheng Hall in the south of the garden as well as many duty rooms for the Cabinet, the Six Ministries, and the Grand Council, hoping to "avoid noise and hold court" here in the summer.
During the reign of Emperor Qianlong, in addition to the partial expansion and reconstruction of the Old Summer Palace, Changchun Garden was newly built in the immediate east, and Wanchun Garden was incorporated in the southeast, which formed the scale of the Old Summer Palace.
At that time, the area of the Old Summer Palace was far less than one square kilometer. Its longest point was no more than 600 meters and its width was no more than 300 meters.
Compared with Qianlong's farmhouse aesthetics, Yongzheng's aesthetics are undoubtedly what a normal high-ranking official should have. So the Old Summer Palace is just a simple garden. Flowers, plants, and ponds, that's all.
The so-called "street scene" was not even considered by Yongzheng.
If the Old Summer Palace was really as large as it was during the Qianlong era, Huo Chong probably wouldn't have had the courage to launch this decapitation operation. 3.5 square kilometers, hundreds of people rushing in, is like throwing a handful of salt into a pond, it will melt as soon as it enters. It is of very limited use.
But in a yard that is 600 meters long and 300 meters wide, more than 300 people can still be useful.
When the guards here saw a group of soldiers wearing cotton armor like the Eight Banners rushing towards them and killing people, they had no idea whose troops they were, let alone which battalion they belonged to.
While organizing the resistance, some people went in to inform Yongzheng, and some ran to the governor of the Nine Gates to report. For a time, shouts such as "someone is rebelling" and "Beijing camp is in rebellion" were heard everywhere.
At this time, Yongzheng had returned to the Old Summer Palace, and the main gate was completely closed. When he saw the group rushing through, he killed them and even closed the small gate, leaving only dozens of Qing troops outside to resist.
It was too easy for three hundred people to deal with dozens of people. With a burst of gunfire, dozens of people fell to the ground one after another.
The Han army knew that this was a matter of life and death, and there was no mercy. They rushed over and shot again, hoping to kill them all and leave no future trouble.
After controlling the South Gate, the troops immediately split into three groups according to the plan. The two teams charged towards the East and West Gates, trying to control the gates.
The blasting team had already brought the explosives over. Huo Chong brought out the most powerful advanced product, plasticized explosives.
Although the name sounds very modern, it is not that modern. This thing is to mix nitroglycerin with diatomaceous earth, which is rich in pores, so that the nitroglycerin enters the diatomaceous earth.
This type of explosive is extremely safe and will not cause any harm even if it is burned by fire.
But once it is detonated with a detonator...
The team had already witnessed the power of plastic explosives. The engineers here were fixing explosive packs on the gate that seemed so thick that it seemed indestructible. Everyone else had already hidden in a safe place.
Soon, the violent explosion made the ground tremble. Huo Chong felt his internal organs being impacted and felt nauseous.
Holding back such feelings, Huo Chong went straight to the gate. He saw that the heavy and solid red lacquer gate was not blown apart, which showed how good the wood was.
However, this kind of wooden door was not designed to cope with modern warfare, although they could last for a while in the era of cold weapons. But under the impact of several kilograms of high explosives, a large hole was blown in the red lacquer door, and the road leading to the Old Summer Palace was opened.
Squad leader Yang Mingde was also in the team. When the gate was blown open, he and his comrades rushed in from the middle. Passing through the doorway filled with the pungent smell of gunpowder and dust, they saw many Qing soldiers lying in the doorway. It seemed that these people had not figured out that hiding in the solid gate was completely useless.
Pulling out one of his four revolvers, Yang Mingde began to shoot the struggling guards who were knocked to the ground. The soldiers worked together and soon implemented the order of "No one should be spared in the Old Summer Palace, kill them all!"
As soon as he rushed out of the doorway, he heard gunshots. It turned out that the imperial guards on the city wall were hiding above and shooting down.
The platoon leaders commanded the squad leaders to fight back immediately, and in a short time, the enemies on the city wall were killed in pieces. When Huo Chong and the artillerymen entered the Old Summer Palace together, the soldiers running on the city wall all had eye-catching red scarves around their necks.
Yuanmingyuan is not simply a large open space surrounded by walls with buildings built on it. As a geographical name, the entire garden is divided into separate courtyards by many walls.
Just as they were about to charge in, several officials were dragged out. Their official hats had fallen off, revealing their rat tails. With their faces full of fear, they looked a bit like actors on the stage.
"What do you want to bring him in for?" Huo Chong was puzzled.
"Sir, they said they know where Yongzheng is and they have something to tell you."
"Oh?" Huo Chong looked at the paintings on the chests of these people.
To be precise, it is not called a painting, but a "patch". In the Ming and Qing dynasties, officials decorated the front and back of their court robes with a square pattern, called a patch, which was used to distinguish the size of their official rank (official rank distinction).
There are three production methods: brocade, embroidery and tapestry. In the early days, official badges were larger and more sophisticated. Civilian officials used a pair of birds flying together, while military officials used a single animal, standing or squatting. In the Qing Dynasty, civil officials used a single standing bird, while military officials still used a single animal, with slight differences between different ranks.
Looking at the cranes, pheasants and lions on the chests of these people, Huo Chong, who had studied them a little, smiled and said, "They are still officials of the first or second rank. Tsk tsk, do you know where Yongzheng is?"
Seeing Huo Chong like this, the officials were all shocked. They probably didn't expect someone to be so calm and mock them and Yongzheng.
Huo Chong had no time to play the interrogation trick, so he asked the official on the far left: "Where is Yongzheng?"
The man wanted to speak, but couldn't. Huo Chong raised his revolver and shot him in the shiny forehead. A black hole immediately appeared on the skull.
Without looking any further, Huo Chong turned around and asked the new "leftmost" official, "Where is Yongzheng?"
This man opened his mouth much wider than the senior official who had just been beaten, but he was still tongue-tied and blushing, unable to utter a word.
Bang! Huo Chong continued to carry out the order he had issued, "In the Old Summer Palace, leave no one alive, kill them all!"
The massacre was indeed a tragic thing, but Huo Chong did not issue such an order against any particular individual. God knows who was in the Old Summer Palace.
There must be people who were wrongly killed in this garden, but there are always ghosts who died wrongfully in every temple.
At least, none of these senior officials in front of him have any chance of survival.
Raising his revolver towards the third official on the "leftmost side", Huo Chong asked, "Where is Yongzheng!"
The man finally shouted: "The emperor is in the palace, not here."
Hearing that the man's voice was hoarse due to excitement, Huo Chong was sure that under the threat of death, this man's excitement was completely genuine.
"Excuse me, sir, what is your name?" Huo Chong asked with a smile.
"I...I am Zhang Tingyu."
"Oh! I've heard of it!" Huo Chong looked at the guy in front of him with a beautiful beard. If it weren't for this rat tail, the old guy would have been quite handsome.
"Excuse me, are you... Huo Chong?" Zhang Tingyu asked tentatively.
"Oh! Lord Zhang is really smart, and he deserves to be a figure who can leave his name in history." Huo Chong praised. He was already wearing the Qing Dynasty's cotton armor attire at this time, and the red scarf itself had no special meaning in this era. Zhang Tingyu was really powerful to be able to make such a judgment.
"I just heard your men mention it," Zhang Tingyu replied.
"Haha." Huo Chong couldn't help laughing dryly. It turned out that he had thought too much. Holding back the embarrassment, Huo Chong asked, "Mr. Zhang, you said Yongzheng is in the palace, right?"
"Yes! Yes! The emperor is in the palace!" Zhang Tingyu hurriedly confirmed.
"Thank you!" Huo Chong replied. He pulled the trigger and shot Zhang Tingyu dead.
The man next to him exclaimed, "Hengchen!"
Huo Chong asked the man, "Where is Yongzheng?"
The man puffed up his cheeks, and just as he opened his mouth to spit at Huo Chong, Huo Chong shot him dead.
Not only was Huo Chong being killed, but the entire Old Summer Palace was filled with gunfire, and there were occasional sounds of artillery fire and explosions.
Officials, guards, personal soldiers, palace maids, eunuchs. All were ruthlessly killed. Every time they killed someone who looked like the person described in the album before departure and was not Yongzheng, the soldiers became more anxious.
Yongzheng was also anxious. When the gunshots were heard, Yongzheng initially thought someone had set off firecrackers for no reason. It was only when he heard the loud noise that he realized something was wrong.
The guards immediately went to investigate and soon came back to say that a group of rebellious Eight Banners had rushed in from outside and were killing anyone they saw.
When Yongzheng heard about the rebellion of the Eight Banners, he could not figure out what was going on for a while, so he ordered troops to be mobilized to suppress it.
The guards suggested escorting Yongzheng out first. Yongzheng thought it made sense, so he rushed straight to the north gate, away from the gunshots. As soon as he arrived at the north gate, he heard an earth-shattering explosion, which made Yongzheng's legs go weak.
A moment later, many Eight Banners soldiers wearing cotton armor rushed in from the broken palace gate. The guards exchanged fire with the rebellious Eight Banners soldiers. In the rising smoke, the Eight Banners soldiers immediately gained a comprehensive advantage and beat the guards to pieces.
The surviving guards could only escort Yongzheng back. When the rebellious Eight Banners Army saw this group of people, they immediately chased after them.
Now Yongzheng finally escaped into a courtyard that seemed to be safe for the time being, but Yongzheng found that there was no place to hide. During the pursuit, Yongzheng's men were in a panic and led Yongzheng into a tightly closed, flat and elegant courtyard.
Here, Yongzheng and his servants showed an upright and upright attitude. There was no place to hide except under the bed and in the cabinet.
Yongzheng looked at the guards and eunuchs who were frantically looking for a hiding place, and could only hope that the Beijing troops outside would be able to come and rescue him.
However, a thought came to mind. The Eight Banners had already rebelled, so how many people in the Beijing camp were their accomplices?
The Beijing Camp did not rebel as Yongzheng had expected. In fact, contrary to what Yongzheng had expected, the Beijing Camp had received a message saying that there seemed to be thieves active in the area around the Old Summer Palace.
The Beijing troops were not police officers, so how could they go out as soon as they heard the news? Besides, it was winter, and no one wanted to go out.
It was not until the sound of gunfire and artillery fire in the Old Summer Palace that the camps of the Eight Banners of the Beijing Camp began to react. The first were the patrolling troops, who immediately rushed to the Old Summer Palace after seeing that something was happening.
I crossed the street and just walked to a place. Suddenly, there was a flash of fire on the ground, and the uneven ground suddenly exploded violently. Not only on the ground, but also on the roadside, something that looked like a broken barrel also exploded violently.
The iron fragments stormed towards the government troops, and even with cotton armor, it was useless. Even if the sharp iron fragments did not kill them immediately, they immediately made the Qing army lose their fighting power.
Those who were directly hit by the explosion suffered broken bones or even instant death.
However, there was not only this group of Eight Banners from the Beijing Camp who came. Another group passed through an area of rich people's houses. Suddenly, several strange cars were pushed out of a small passage. The cannons on them immediately opened fire fiercely at the Eight Banners Army trapped in the street by the thick walls.
A three-pound shell was fired at a very close distance, and more than a dozen people on the line plowed over.
The Han gunners fired fiercely at the Qing troops that entered the ambush circle at a rate of two shells per minute, while the Han infantry in the alleys on the streets fired at close range with rifles and revolvers.
When the rear of the Eight Banners Army was also blocked, the solid walls of the mansion became the coffin lid of the Qing army. No matter how the Qing army tried to break through, they could only be rejected by the wall.
In less than ten minutes, more than two hundred Eight Banners soldiers were completely wiped out.
According to the usual patrol rules in the capital, no Eight Banners Army would be able to arrive within a short period of time, at least within an hour.
This Han army, which did not participate in the attack on the Old Summer Palace, reorganized itself a little, then left the battlefield and headed straight for their target, where the official documents of the six ministries were stored.
As soon as the Han army left, a group of people in different clothes arrived here. They were members of the Tianli Sect, who heard the commotion and came to support their own people.
Seeing the corpses and equipment of the Qing army scattered all over the ground, the group was overjoyed and picked up the weapons of the Eight Banners. Some even took off their military caps and put them on their heads.
The group shouted and continued to charge towards the palace.
Li Sihai, the chief of the Tianli Sect in Hebei, has already issued an order to capture the palace and kill the emperor. From then on, the chief of the Tianli Sect will be the emperor, and other members of the Tianli Sect can become high officials according to the previous agreement.
Huge wealth is waiting ahead, and now we have unexpectedly obtained weapons and equipment. What are you waiting for?
Come on!
