When Wuyou Cave was destroyed, the battle at Guifan Tower had just begun to heat up.
Compared with Wuyou Cave, which has a disadvantageous terrain, Guifan Tower is located deeper. The officers and soldiers forced their way in. Even though there was a hidden sentinel position provided, they were discovered in advance because they went too far.
Moreover, the number of people in Wuyou Cave is even more dispersed. Because Wuyou Cave has greater influence underground, a large number of branches have been formed, each with hundreds of people.
In addition to the five to six thousand people in the headquarters, the entire Wuyou Cave has more than ten thousand members, which is stronger than Gui Fanlou among underground forces.
The number of people in Guifanlou is relatively small, mainly because their territory is mostly on the ground. Therefore, when Bianliang launched a war against gangs and evil, their strength suffered the greatest loss, and at least thousands of people were captured.
But it was the damage to the power above that caused a large number of people to move underground, making the number of people in Guifanlou headquarters now one or two thousand more than that of Wuyoudong headquarters.
There are now seven of the twelve branch leaders of Guifan Tower left. Under the leadership of the left and right palm whips, the left and right palm knives and the left and right palm sticks, they barely unite to resist foreign enemies.
Although there were some internal disputes these days, fortunately, Guifan Tower had greater power on the ground and transferred a large amount of materials early on. Therefore, although there were many people and consumption was high, it was still able to hold on and no large-scale civil strife occurred.
When the government suddenly attacked, sharp whistles resounded throughout the cave. Many people in the cave woke up one after another, picked up knives one by one, and rushed outside the cave to scan the situation.
"The government is here to kill you."
"Don't be chaotic, don't be chaotic, gather immediately."
"Quick, blow the whistle."
I don't know how many people came out of the wooden houses and caves in the ghost market below the Ghost Fan Tower.
Various whistling sounds were heard.
Outside the second floor of Guifan Tower, the top floor of the cave, a middle-aged tall man with Ning Shuojun on his face came out and looked down with Guifan Tower's left palm whip.
This person is Gui Fan Lou's right palm whip, named Ma Zhiwu. He is a close confidant of the building owner. He was born in the Ning Shuo Army and has a certain sense of military service.
In addition to the Dianqiansi, the Guards' Majunsi, and the Guards' Infantry Division who guarded the capital, Bianliang also had the Forbidden Army stationed outside the capital to defend Tokyo.
The main ones include the 21st Battalion of Gongsheng Army, the 23rd Battalion of Xiaocai Army, the 5th Battalion of Xiaosheng Army, the 10th Battalion of Ningshuo Army, the 8th Battalion of Longmeng Army, the 2nd Battalion of Feimeng Army, the 4th Battalion of Xiaomeng Army, and the 4th Battalion of Xiaosheng Army. The heroic army consists of eighteen battalions of divine cavalry troops, four battalions of Qingshuo troops, five battalions of captured soldiers, and six battalions of infantry fighting troops.
Each battalion of these forbidden troops has 500 people, with a total strength of 55,000. The managers are commanders and there are no generals.
Di Qing was imprisoned by the government because of a conflict with the villagers earlier. His household registration was cancelled, and he was sent to the capital to serve in the army, thus becoming a pawn in the Gongsheng Army.
Later, because of his proficiency in horseback shooting and his outstanding performance, he was selected into Yuma Zhi as a cavalry officer. He later served as the captain of the casual duty team. Now he was promoted to the commander of Yu Ma Zhi, the front commander of the palace. He was in charge of a battalion of soldiers and was responsible for protecting Zhao Jun. safety.
This time Zhao Jun encircled and suppressed Bianliang underground, and Di Qing led his battalion of soldiers to kill them.
Ningshuo's army belongs to the peripheral forbidden army. Since most of Guifanlou's forces are on the ground, they need to be brave and fierce. Therefore, they have absorbed many soldiers from the peripheral forbidden army, and they have slightly more combat effectiveness than those in Wuyou Cave.
At this moment, there was chaos below. Ma Zhiwu kept blowing his whistle. Gradually, the nearby people and horses came closer and formed a small military formation around him.
"Walk!"
Ma Zhiwu shouted and led his troops down personally.
At this time, the officers and soldiers had already reached the outer beach. The people who originally lived on the outer beach were unable to stop them and fled inside one after another.
Compared with Wuyou Cave, although it is close to the outlet of the Cai River water channel, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Guifan Tower is closer to the Bianhe River. It is far from the outlet of the Bianhe River, but it is easy to attack and difficult to defend. .
The main reason is that the outer entrance of Wuyou Cave is very narrow. If Wuyou Cave is more vigilant and detects the enemy in advance, it will be easy to defend by occupying the entrance of the cave and being condescending.
The entrance of Guifan Tower is relatively wide, surrounded by a river beach. After passing the river beach and walking further in, you can reach the headquarters of Guifan Tower. It is not a condescending terrain, but a relatively flat and gentle slope.
So in a real fight, Guifan Tower still doesn't have much advantage in terms of terrain.
But I still have to fight no matter what.
Otherwise, all the years of hard work will be in vain, and everyone will want to give it a try.
Ma Zhiwu led his troops down to the market, and then continued to issue orders, gathering a large number of thugs and ambushing them at the entrance.
At the same time, Jiang Dalang followed Fatty Huang and hid on a gentle slope to the north.
Fatty Huang suffered heavy losses this time. He brought no more than a hundred people with him, and the core staff were only twenty or thirty people. They were bullied these days.
If it weren't for the combat power of a master like Jiang Dalang, I'm afraid his position as the helmsman would not be guaranteed.
"Brother, aren't we joining the war?"
Jiang Dalang still had the red scarf in his arms, but now was not the time, because his target was not Fatty Huang, but Ma Zhiwu far below.
Only by assassinating Ma Zhiwu will Guifanlou's resistance collapse instantly, and the officers and soldiers can naturally attack easily.
So he didn't want to stay here, but wanted to go down and see if he could sneak in with Ma Zhiwu.
Unexpectedly, Fatty Huang was afraid of death, so he shook his head and said: "There are few of us, so we won't join in the fun. There is a secret passage to the north. Follow me later."
A close confidant hesitated and said: "We are already at a disadvantage in the building. If we flee without fighting, if they repel the officers and soldiers, we will be liquidated afterwards."
"Well"
Fatty Huang thought it made sense and said, "Then let's wait and see the situation here first."
Jiang Dalang was helpless.
But he had no choice but to wait and see below.
At this moment, the officers and soldiers had already rushed to the outer river beach and were heading straight to the hinterland of Guifan Tower along the passage. Each torch was shining, and they could almost see the reflection of the flames on the passage outside.
"Kill!"
"He who surrenders will be spared death."
"Those who stubbornly resist will be killed without mercy!"
The officers and soldiers held long guns in their hands and drove the people outside to rush inside.
Ma Zhiwu at the rear frowned. The other party obviously planned to use their peripheral personnel to break up the military formation inside them.
But after a moment, he relaxed his brows and whispered: "Set fire!"
"Quick, set fire!"
The people next to me immediately shouted.
After the order was given, a large amount of hay was thrown at the entrance of the passage.
Then Huo Zhezi lit the straw, and the fire burst into flames.
The passage is already long. Although there are several roads connecting it and several entrances can lead directly to Guifan Tower, the people who can't stand Guifan Tower have already started a fire.
When the peripheral personnel finally arrived after running for three or four miles, they were shocked by the blazing flames mixed with the billowing smoke.
"Straight bitches, you bunch of beasts betrayed us like this."
"Damn it, there's fire in front of you, there are soldiers chasing you behind, you're dead."
"Hurry and jump into the ditch."
someone shouted.
This channel actually follows the previous aqueduct route, with channels on both sides and canal water in the middle.
You can still swim to the Guifan Tower by jumping into the canal water, because the flames only block the entrance of the passage, but it is impossible to block the entrance of the canal water.
But how could they run across the shore after jumping into the water? Soon a large number of people behind were stabbed to death with spears by soldiers chasing from the corridors on both sides of the passage, and they screamed for a while.
"Commander, they blocked the road with fire!"
The people in charge of the front line here are Di Qing and another commander, plus the people from the yamen, there are about 4,000 people. At the front is Di Qing's elite Yulongzhi troops.
Knowing that the other party actually used fire, the young Di Qing said without hesitation: "The shield man goes in front, and the crossbow man is behind the shield man. The crossbow man opens the way first to prevent them from continuing to add fire to the inside. The rest go outside to find barrels." , sail the boat over and scoop out water to put out the fire."
There are about seven or eight passages connected to the canals outside. There are large shantytowns on the river beach, which are the residences of peripheral personnel. There is no shortage of daily necessities such as buckets.
Although you can also wait for the other party's fire to go out.
But there are many escape routes in Guifan Tower. If they use the flames to prevent everyone from pursuing them and divert people and money, the operation will inevitably fail.
So Di Qing immediately chose to attack.
In the flames, countless crossbows and arrows shot out like raindrops, causing the Guifan Tower personnel who were originally throwing straw to flee.
Then dozens of small boats rowed over. The soldiers on the boat first jumped into the river to wet themselves, and then got on the boat and approached not far from the flames. They were about three to five meters away and started splashing water.
In an instant, the flames became much smaller.
Ma Zhiwu on the slope in the distance frowned. He was at a disadvantage because he had no equipment.
The Forbidden Army is fully armed, with a suit of armor, shields, and crossbows costing hundreds of dollars. Not to mention armor, they don't even have leather armor. Only a few elite confidants have the Forbidden Army equipment.
More importantly is the crossbow.
If they had crossbows, the terrain wouldn't be bad.
It is a pity that the weapons and equipment of the Forbidden Army do circulate on the black market, but not much is circulated. There are so many gangsters in Bianliang, and they can only be divided into thousands or tens of thousands, which is not enough.
Ma Zhiwu knew that they had shields and that his more than two hundred pairs of crossbows were probably of no use, so he could only sigh and said: "Retreat to the slope."
"Quick, back up."
"Let's go."
"Go up there first."
The people in Guifan Tower evacuated upwards one after another.
What follows is a tough battle, and in the dark, both sides must fight with torches.
Soon the officers and soldiers rushed in. Through seven or eight passages, the commanders of each battalion ordered an attack, and more than a thousand fully armed soldiers rushed up.
Behind them were a large number of Kaifeng government officials. Almost as soon as the soldiers rushed out, more than 200 crossbowmen arranged by Ma Zhiwu on the slope on the right immediately fired, and hundreds of crossbow arrows were shot out in an instant.
Ma Zhiwu actually wanted to use these crossbows as a weapon and use them at critical moments, but he was also afraid that the men in front would collapse when they met the regular army.
When the time comes, the people in Guifan Tower will collapse at the first touch, and they will be rolled out directly, bringing them to collapse.
Therefore, it is necessary to strike with a crossbow to temporarily stop the opponent's offensive, and then readjust the formation.
"Boohoo!"
A large number of crossbow arrows drew an arc in the air and fell into the pile of guardsmen who had just rushed in, making a "dinging, clanking" sound.
Some of them hit the rock wall of the passage, some of them hit the ground, and most of them hit the shields or armors of the Imperial Guards. The crossbow arrows collided with the armor, and some even sparked metal sparks.
"They have crossbows?"
Di Qing, another commander, and three members of the Kaifeng Prefecture's Judiciary, Si Lu, and the Army looked at each other.
Bows and crossbows are prohibited items, and they actually appeared in the hands of criminals.
But several people remained silent.
Everyone knows that the Forbidden Army is pretty bad, and the weapons inside are often resold.
Liu Yuanyu is still in jail. In addition to corruption and bending the law, one of the charges is reselling ordnance and other prohibited items.
Therefore, it can only be said that it is unexpected and reasonable that the people in Guifan Tower have so many crossbows.
"Commander Di, you are responsible for arranging this battle."
The commander said.
He knew that Di Qing was Zhao Jun's confidant, so he naturally followed his lead.
Di Qing glanced at the situation. The soldiers' attack was blocked by bows and crossbows. The momentum was stagnant, and there was no longer the previous offensive.
Although the opponent is not on a particularly high plateau, there are still some high slopes on both sides, maybe only half a foot high, which will still pose a considerable threat to their strong attack.
The Imperial Guards are okay, mainly the government officials at the back. They don't have armor, which is necessary if they are hit by crossbow arrows.
After thinking for a moment, Di Qing issued an order: "The Forbidden Army has formed a formation to attract their front troops. Look at the slope on the right. Can the people from Kaifeng Mansion rush down the slope?"
A judicial officer took one look and whispered: "If you don't bring a torch, you might be able to rush over."
"Okay, I'll lead the team myself, you guys will be the main attacker, and I'll attack from the side."
Di Qing said.
As he said this, he waved his hand. Li Yi and Liu Qing, as well as several teams of Kaifeng government officials, threw away their torches and moved toward the flank.
Above, Ma Zhiwu was still directing the people in front to fight with the imperial army. The two sides quickly fought together.
After the melee began, the crossbowmen began to shoot at the government officials in the rear.
But the guards were not just vegetarians. They also had crossbowmen, and there were more crossbowmen than the enemy. Under the cover of the shield men, more than 300 crossbowmen shot at the rear of Guifan Tower.
Originally, the narrow tunnel was not suitable for shooting, but Guifan Lou had already turned it into an underground city. The surrounding terrain was relatively open and could accommodate tens of thousands of people. Therefore, the view was too dark and the only way to communicate with the outside was with the use of torches. No difference.
The main reason is that the Bianliang underground is actually more exaggerated than people think.
Since the Warring States Period, complex underground waterways have been built here. According to later archaeological excavations, there are still cities buried under Bianliang from the Warring States, Han Dynasty, and Southern and Northern Dynasties. The above cities were newly built after the establishment of the Tang and Song Dynasties.
Therefore, there is really a city buried underneath.
The two sides were fighting together, and the sounds of killing, roaring, roaring, and wailing were endless, and the sound of banging weapons clashing never stopped.
But in fact, the people in Guifanlou couldn't hold on anymore. After all, they were just vicious criminals, which were still very different from well-trained regular troops. What's more, the equipment of both sides was not of the same level. They lost a lot of money in the first encounter. Few people and horses.
The only thing that kept them from collapsing immediately was the support of crossbows and Ma Zhiwu's quite satisfactory command.
But it didn't take long for all this to change.
Following Di Qing and his group of about forty or fifty people, they threw away their torches and took advantage of the chaos to reach down the gentle slope on the right. With the cooperation of everyone, Di Qing was the first to rush to the gentle slope and rush into the group of crossbowmen.
For a moment, screams rang out, and the crossbowmen camp was in chaos. Many people dropped their crossbows and ran away, and the battle situation suddenly turned upside down.
Seeing this scene, Ma Zhiwu knew that it was over, so he did not hesitate and simply abandoned the troops behind him and fled with his cronies.
Fatty Huang, who was watching from above, saw that the man below him only persisted for less than half a quarter of an hour before collapsing. He sweated profusely and said, "It's over, it's over, let's go, let's go!"
He turned around and ran away.
Jiang Dalang frowned. He didn't want to get entangled with Fatty Huang and the others now. Once he did, he would just get rid of a helmsman.
His target must at least be Ma Zhiwu and the scar-faced left palm whip.
So he did not take action, but patted the brothers behind him and motioned for them to follow him. Taking advantage of the chaos, they broke away from the team and went to another passage.
(End of chapter)
