nucmednet Chapter 551 Choice
Chapter 551 Choice
Su Hongtu and Ma Wei's doubts were soon answered.
An hour later, the Later Jin army made another move. As the conch shell sounded, the massive army once again pressed towards the fortress. However, this time, the ones at the forefront were not bondservants and Han soldiers, but a large group of civilians, men, women, and children, all with mournful faces, slowly advancing under the threat of the Tartars' swords and spears.
Although Su Hongtu had never experienced anything like this before, he immediately understood the Tartars' intentions, and his expression changed.
"The Tartars actually drove the local people to attack the city!"
Ma Wei shook his head helplessly: "The Tartars are as crude and vulgar as beasts. They often use such despicable tricks in border towns... It's just a pity for these people."
Su Hongtu watched as the Tartar army drew ever closer to the city wall behind the civilians, his heart filled with anxiety. He didn't know what to do and asked Liang Xiaoming, "General, what should we do?"
Liang Xiaoming looked ahead and could almost see the faces of the people at the front. Seeing their panicked, frightened, and helpless expressions, he felt very sad. He turned around and asked, "Hongtu, is there any way to repel the Tartars without harming the people?"
“Absolutely impossible.” Su Hongtu shook his head and said, “The Tartars and the common people are mixed together. Swords and spears have no eyes. Even a great immortal could not do that.”
Ma Wei gritted his teeth: "General, if we don't resist for fear of accidentally harming civilians, all of us thousands of men will die without a burial place. The Tartars are not kind men and women. We have killed so many of them. Once they break through the castle, they will definitely slaughter everyone without exception."
Liang Xiaoming remained silent, seemingly deep in thought.
Mawei continued, "Besides, even if we all die, these people won't survive. We'll kill the old and weak, and kidnap the able-bodied men and young women..."
Su Hongtu hesitated before speaking, "Should we point our guns at the people? Won't that affect the reputation of the General and the Commander-in-Chief?"
"Reputation is meaningless; what's more important than the lives of our soldiers?" Ma Wei said, his face red and his neck thick. "Are we really going to stick our necks out to be cut off by the Tartars just for a little bit of empty fame?"
Liang Xiaoming finally spoke, as if he had made a huge decision, and solemnly said, "Ma Wei is right. We cannot put thousands of soldiers of the Independent Regiment in danger because of moral constraints. That would be extremely foolish and irresponsible. Hongtu, give the order to fight. Fight however you should, don't worry too much. I will take the blame for any bad reputation."
Su Hongtu looked at the Tartars hiding among the common people below the city, their faces contorted with rage, and he breathed a sigh of relief, nodding and saying, "Your subordinate knows what to do."
He issued the order: "Order all companies and platoons on the city wall to fire warning shots into the air, then shout to the civilians to flee the battlefield to avoid being shot. Anyone entering within a hundred paces of the castle will be killed without exception!" Although the chances of escaping with swords and spears behind them were slim, and they might be killed by the Tartars, at least there was a sliver of hope for survival. If the Tartars pursued the civilians, it would inevitably throw their ranks into disarray, and they would likely not give chase. If they entered the crossfire range of the bastion, there would be no way to survive, and they would become shields for the Tartars, dying a meaningless death. Between two evils, choose the lesser; the intelligent civilians would surely make the choice.
The order was relayed down the ranks. After a while, a gunshot rang out, and the soldiers, terrified, instinctively ducked behind the civilians. However, no bullets flew over; upon closer inspection, the muzzles of the muskets of the defenders on the city wall were all pointing upwards.
The soldiers of the Independent Regiment began to shout.
"Fellow villagers, guns have no eyes. If you go any further, you'll be hit by lead bullets. You need to think this through."
"Uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters, run to both sides quickly! If the Tartars chase you, we'll fire our cannons at them!"
“Although we have been paid and enlisted as soldiers, we are all sons of Dengzhou and Laizhou. If you become cannon fodder for the Tartars, whether the Tartars take advantage of the situation or we are forced to harm you, it will be a case of those who are close to us hating us and those who are our enemies rejoicing. You should think this through!”
……
Shouts rose and fell, causing the trembling civilians who were advancing to hesitate. The soldiers behind sensed this change, raised their swords, and swiftly killed more than a dozen men. A Niru Zhangjing, who understood Chinese, shouted, "Do not harbor any illusions! Those who hesitate to advance will be killed without mercy!"
A young child began to cry in fear, and the mother quickly covered his mouth, afraid of angering the Tartars. But it was too late. A soldier wearing chainmail strode forward, swung a short axe, and with a "crack," severed the child's head. Blood splattered all over the ground. The mother, witnessing her son's horrific state, was heartbroken. She screamed, her vision went black, and she collapsed to the ground unconscious.
The people were in turmoil, and even children were being killed. The brutality of the Tartars deeply affected them.
The young and vigorous men exchanged glances and whispered among themselves, exchanging their opinions.
"So, if soldiers can kill Tartars, then we're men who can stand up and pee, why don't we turn around, grab a few knives, and fight the Tartars? It's better than dying a cowardly death."
"That's right, if the Tartars don't even spare children, why would they spare us?"
“I heard that if you get captured by the Tartars, you’ll either be beheaded or taken back to Liaodong to be enslaved, worse than pigs or dogs. I don’t want to live like that for the rest of my life.”
Several elderly men with white hair and beards heard this and glared at them, saying, "What do you know? Can you defeat the Tartars with your bare hands? You might as well listen to the Tartars and move forward. The soldiers ahead are all locals from Dengzhou and Laizhou; they might even know us. They won't shoot us."
A young man couldn't help but retort: "Since we're all from the same village, wouldn't it be a waste for us to go up there and make things difficult for them? They're heroes who are killing the Tartars, and we're just cowards, taking the Tartars' bullets for us? If they can't bring themselves to fire, and the Tartars get onto the city walls, they'll be the ones who die."
"You don't know anything. These soldiers are paid by the government. It's their job to fight and die. Why should we ordinary people listen to them? It's better for them to die than for us to die."
These elders were mostly clan chiefs or village heads, whose words carried considerable weight. Although captured, their authority remained, and their pronouncements forcibly suppressed the thoughts of the young men. The people continued to move slowly forward under the Tartars' surveillance.
Seeing that his shouts were ineffective, Su Hongtu became impatient. He said to Liang Xiaoming, "I underestimated the fighting spirit of the people of Shandong. It's one thing that no one resisted, but not a single person dared to run away!"
Liang Xiaoming was torn between two conflicting emotions. He bit his lip so hard that he didn't even notice it drawing blood. After a while, he managed to utter through gritted teeth, "Never mind, we'll attack once we're within range."