As Zu Dashou and his men arrived at the north city wall, they saw people on the wall whose attire was vastly different from that of the Ming army.
Upon closer inspection, they noticed these individuals had black, thick sticks in their mouths, which they would occasionally take a puff from, exhaling large clouds of white mist.
Seeing this, Zu Dashou became enraged and stepped forward, pointing at Li Shimin's nose and yelling.
"This Commander Zu Dashou! What in the world do you think you are, to dare to ignore the imperial decree?
His Majesty long ago issued an order strictly prohibiting smoking and the cultivation of tobacco. Yet, you dare to smoke in broad daylight, in front of the army. Do you think my blade is not sharp enough?"
Fang Er was stunned upon hearing this.
"Good heavens, Chongzhen actually issued an anti-smoking decree?
This is something I haven't read about in books."
Li Shimin was equally taken aback. "What the hell, this guy dares to yell at me and point at my nose?"
Seeing his father being berated, Li Ke immediately grabbed his AK, its dark muzzle pointed directly at Zu Dashou.
"I don't care who you are. Now, immediately kneel and apologize!
Otherwise, you won't need to defend this city. I will kill you right now!"
After speaking, he slightly shifted the muzzle, aimed it at the sky outside the city, and pulled the trigger.
Bang, bang, bang, bang~~
The successive gunshots informed Zu Dashou what sort of weapon his AK was.
At this time, the Great Ming was still using matchlock firearms, with very few flintlock ones. Such a rapid-firing weapon left Zu Dashou utterly astonished.
"How dare you!"
A hundred-household officer defending the city, seeing Li Ke daring to use firearms, instinctively raised his matchlock, aiming it at Li Ke's head.
His soldiers followed suit, with hundreds of matchlocks all aimed at Fang Er and his group.
Fang Er chuckled at this, and said to Zu Dashou, "Commander Zu, you'd better tell your men to put down their guns!
These firecrackers of yours are really not enough to look at."
After speaking, he shouted to Wang Xuance, "Bring up the 'wild chicken neck'! Let our grandchildren from a thousand years later have their eyes opened!"
"Yes!"
Wang Xuance and Ge Luoyang responded. The two carried a 'wild chicken neck' from the crowd, and following Fang Er's instructions, set it up on the city wall, aiming its muzzle at the Jurchen army outside the city.
The siege had lasted for over a month, with the leading generals being Dorgon and Jiharkan.
During this time, the attackers and defenders were in a stalemate, and the commotion on the city wall also alerted them.
Before they could even figure out what was happening, they saw a fiery serpent shoot straight from the Jinzhou city wall into the Qing army's formation.
Ka ka ka ka ka ka~~~
The unique gunshot of the 'wild chicken neck' sounded on the city wall, and in an instant, it cleared a belt of ammunition, emptying all five hundred rounds.
Although the Qing army and Jinzhou City were separated by five hundred meters, they could still see the area swept by the fiery serpent, with countless Qing soldiers falling to the ground. In the next moment, the entire Qing camp was in disarray.
Dorgon looked at the casualties with great anger. He had a wounded soldier brought before him, drew his short saber from his waist, and directly plunged it into the gunshot wound on that soldier's body.
He stirred the saber in the wound, and the next moment, a deformed, golden bullet head was dug out from the soldier's body.
Looking at the bullet head, and then at the Jinzhou city wall, Dorgon let out a roar, "All troops retreat two li!
Send someone back to check on the whereabouts of the Red Cannons!
I will wash Jinzhou City with blood! Zu Dashou has broken his promise, and after the city is breached, I will flay him alive!"
The next moment, the Qing army struck camp and retreated, only setting up camp again three li away from Jinzhou City.
Zu Dashou watched, completely bewildered, and the surrounding Ming soldiers were equally dumbfounded.
The Qing army retreated so easily???
Their gazes instantly changed as they looked at Li Shimin and Fang Er and the others, their attitude shifting from the previous defiance.
"All of you, put your guns down!"
After reprimanding the soldiers who had their guns pointed at Li Shimin, he walked towards him with a smile.
"I am Zu Dashou, Left Commander of Jinzhou. May I know who you are?"
"I am~~"
Fang Er quickly interrupted Li Shimin, afraid he would again claim to be Emperor Taizong of Tang.
"General Zu, this gentleman before you is the Emperor of the Great Tang, whose reign is Zhenguan!"
He then pointed at Li Tai and his brother. "This is the Prince of Wei, Li Tai, and this is the Prince of Shu, Li Ke!
We have come from a thousand years ago to resolve the crisis facing the Great Ming!"
Zu Dashou almost choked on his words. Coming from a thousand years ago, why didn't they just fly to heaven?
Was this person calling him a thousand-year-old turtle?
Or perhaps, these people had escaped from a troupe of actors, lost in their theatrical delusions?
Zu Dashou did not dwell on this matter for too long. The 'wild chicken neck' and the AK47s carried by everyone behind them were what truly captured his attention.
With the enemy poised outside the city, quarreling with these people who wielded divine weapons would only benefit the foreign invaders. It would be better to plan for the long term.
Thus, he cupped his hands and smiled, "So you are venerable ancestors from a thousand years ago. This commander has failed to welcome you properly. I almost offended you just now, a grave mistake indeed!
The wind is strong on the city wall, why not rest in my tent, so that I may fulfill my duties as a host?"
Li Shimin looked at Fang Er, unsure what to do, and upon seeing him nod slightly, he waved his hand grandly, "Lead the way! I shall go to your grand tent to have a look~"
After descending the city wall, Zu Dashou led the way, heading straight for the Jinzhou Commander's Mansion.
Upon entering the main hall, Zu Dashou began ordering dishes and wine to be prepared.
Li Shimin frowned slightly as he looked at the dishes served.
With enemy armies pressing at the borders, drinking wine did not feel right.
"Anzhi, Liaodong is your territory, is it not? Why don't you handle this?"
Fang Er rose and smiled, "Hahahaha, since father feels that the food and wine are not to his liking, your son-in-law shall venture out of the city!"
"Ge Luoyang, your unit remains behind!
Xuance, bring the others with me to meet these Tatars outside the city!"
"Yes!"
The two saluted crisply. Ge Luoyang took nineteen special forces members to guard Li Shimin, while Wang Xuance led the other twenty-four men with Fang Er out of the Commander's Mansion and headed towards the city gate.
Upon reaching an open area within the city, Fang Er said to Wang Xuance and the others, "There are some things you saw nothing of."
Wang Xuance had not yet grasped the meaning of these words when he witnessed a scene that shocked him.
Bang bang bang bang bang~~
Nine tanks appeared out of nowhere, smashing the bricks and stones on the ground into powder.
He finally understood the meaning of the previous sentence.
His eyes darted, and he pointed at the tanks, laughing, "Eh? Lord, I was blind just now. Who threw these tanks?"
Not a single person chosen for the special forces was foolish. They all feigned laughter.
"Oh dear, I was blind for a while too~~"
"Me too, but now I can see again~~"
"Damn it, who covered my eyes just now!"
After letting them laugh and joke, Fang Er's face turned serious, "Alright, forget what just happened!
Three people per tank!
Let's go give the Tatars outside the city some gifts!"