MLMD -Chapter 440 The City Falls

There was no denying that hot air balloons were useful—especially in this era, when anything that could take to the skies was almost invincible. Yet, hot air balloons had plenty of flaws, many of which even the 21st century hadn’t resolved—issues like safety and high cost.

Even so, Yue Yang had gritted his teeth and acquired over ten hot air balloon units from the modern era for his artillery battalions, primarily to serve as observation and command platforms. Occasionally, they could double as bombers or airborne artillery. On their second sortie, the balloons carried a batch of firebombs Yue Yang had made himself. Making these firebombs wasn’t complicated—white sugar, gasoline, cloth, and some basic chemical materials were all that was needed. For this operation to finally take Shenyang, Yue Yang had procured gasoline and raw materials from the modern era and made a batch of simple firebombs, now ready to be dropped on the Qing troops below by the ten or so balloons.

The baskets under the balloons were about fifteen square meters in area. Normally, they could carry more than ten gunners to suppress ground targets, but today, apart from the operators, only two people were inside. The rest of the space was piled high with dark, oval-shaped ceramic containers—the firebombs Yue Yang had specially made.

Once the balloons rose to about three hundred meters, they stopped ascending. At this altitude, neither Qing crossbows nor firearms posed a threat. After a few minutes of careful maneuvering by the operators, the balloons drifted over the Dàdōngjìnmén and Déshèngmén gates.

The Qing troops on the walls immediately tensed at the sight of the balloons. These things were wicked—constantly hovering above and firing down, while those on the ground could only watch helplessly. Yesterday’s heavy casualties among the Qing forces were largely thanks to these balloons.

“Those bastards!” Du Du on the wall ground his teeth as he glared at the balloons almost directly overhead. Only now did he feel what it meant to be powerless. Even with extraordinary skill, there was nothing he could do against these cold weapons from the sky.

“Prince, the floating spheres are back. You’d better take cover—the things are dangerous,” advised Goshha, who had witnessed the balloons’ deadly efficiency.

“They’re coming right at us! Prince, let’s get to cover!” another Goshha shouted, dragging Du Du toward a nearby ruin.

“What’s the panic about? I don’t believe they have three heads and six arms. What can they do to me?” Du Du snapped, trying to shake off the fear, when he suddenly saw the massive containers above dropping black objects to the ground.

“What are those things?” Du Du exclaimed.

The objects hit the ground at high speed with a dull cracking sound. With each crack, black oily liquid splattered across the walls, accompanied by a sharp, pungent smell.

“What the hell is this?”

Du Du froze. Although he couldn’t tell exactly what the liquid was, his battlefield instincts screamed danger, sending chills down his spine.

“Crack… clatter… bang…”

The noises of explosions rang out across the walls as the black oily liquid splattered everywhere. At first, some curious Qing soldiers touched the substance and found nothing unusual, laughing mockingly.

“Haha… you timid Ming dogs, all you can do is throw things from the sky? Is that all you’re good for?”

Overconfident from the enemy’s sudden fear, many Qing soldiers mocked the balloons, some even pretending to urinate at them.

“No… something’s wrong here!” Du Du’s unease grew as he watched the soldiers’ reckless behavior. Suddenly, he issued a baffling order:

“Quick… leave some here, but everyone else get off the walls!”

“What…?” The soldiers were stunned. The Ming forces were preparing to assault, and now they were told to leave the walls?

Du Du’s command had been impulsive, but it came too late. At that moment, dozens of lit torches were dropped from the sky. Some fell outside the walls, some inside, but many landed on the black oil covering the ground.

“Boom…”

Like a single spark hitting a cauldron of oil, a tremendous blaze erupted along the walls. Time seemed to freeze. The Ming soldiers, now back from a distance of three hundred paces, watched as roaring flames engulfed the walls.

“Ahh…”

A Qing soldier, engulfed by the orange flames, leaped from the wall, his body writhing wildly midair before crashing to the ground.

“Help me… help me!”

Another soldier on fire screamed, and his companions tried to put it out, but the flames spread to anyone touching the black oil. Even rolling on the ground only turned some into human torches.

The inferno intensified. The firebombs’ temperatures, reaching thousands of degrees, transformed Dàdōngjìnmén into an eighteen-layer hell. Thousands of Qing troops on the walls struggled in agony. Déshèngmén also suffered, though fewer firebombs fell there, allowing Ajige to escape under Goshha’s protection.

The unexpected inferno terrified everyone nearby, including Ming troops who had pulled back. The flames not only consumed the Qing soldiers but also struck fear into the attackers outside the walls.

“Good heavens… this is terrifying! A deadly blaze!” Hǔ Dàwēi, nearly fifty and a veteran soldier, watched the fire devour the wall, feeling his mouth dry and heart race. He had served for decades but had never seen such devastation—the flames seemed to rise from hell itself.

A deputy general whispered, “Sir, what should we do now?”

“Do… nothing. Just wait,” Hǔ Dàwēi replied, taking a deep breath to suppress his fear, staring silently at the blazing wall.

The flames consumed not only the Qing troops but also their morale. Almost all of Shenyang’s defenders now realized that the garrisons at Dàdōngjìnmén and Déshèngmén had been annihilated.

Outside the city, Dorgon watched the smoke-choked gates silently for a long time before vomiting a mouthful of blood and swaying unsteadily. His guards hurried to support him, panic in their voices: “Your Majesty! Take care of your health!”

“Afraid? I’m not dead yet!” Dorgon spat blood and straightened, scolding the guards impatiently. After a long pause, he sighed: “Dàdōngjìnmén and Déshèngmén must not fall. Issue orders immediately: let Prince Li Qinwang Daishan and Soni Daishan lead the Plain Red and Bordered White banners to reinforce the gates once the flames subside. If they fail, let them face me headfirst!”

“Zhi!”

The raging flames burned for nearly half an hour before subsiding. When Soni’s reinforcements stepped onto the still-smoldering walls, even the seasoned general could hardly bear to look. The walls were littered with countless charred bodies, blackened and deformed, clothes reduced to ash, armor twisted beyond recognition.

“Ugh… wah…”

“Uh… ugh…”

Many Qing soldiers, seeing this for the first time, vomited uncontrollably against the walls. Though they prided themselves on ruthlessness, witnessing their comrades reduced to such a state was psychologically shattering.

But the Ming gave them no respite. Reports came quickly: “Master, the Ming army is ascending!”

Soni’s face twitched as he barked, “What are you waiting for? Get up there and drive them out! If the Ming breach the city, no one will survive!”

The fierce siege resumed. Hot air balloons returned with gunners after dropping their bombs, resuming fire suppression over the walls. Although they lacked sufficient firebombs to burn the walls like roast pig again, they carried on with suppressive fire.

Under Hǔ Dàwēi’s command, squads of soldiers carried ladders to scale the walls while musketeers provided cover. The balloon gunners continued suppressive fire from above.

Under such relentless assault, Qing casualties at Dàdōngjìnmén and Déshèngmén soared. Within two hours, over half of Daishan’s five thousand troops were down.

A Plain Red banner officer knelt before Daishan, sobbing: “Master, we can’t hold this any longer. We’ll be wiped out! Please tell the Emperor to let us withdraw and save some of the Red Banner’s strength!”

Daishan, grief-stricken, closed his eyes. Losing Dàdōngjìnmén meant the Ming could swarm the city. He pulled the officer up and ordered: “Immediately report to the Emperor and gather all able-bodied men aged sixteen to forty to man the walls—Shenyang cannot withstand this without them!”

“Zhi!” The officer was about to stand when a cheer erupted nearby. Both he and Daishan froze. They understood the words: “The city has fallen… the city has fallen!”

“It’s Soni… Soni’s in trouble!” Daishan’s face went pale as he realized the gravity of the situation.