"Charge, kill!" The thieves poured into the city like a tide.
At this moment, the sound of the piano at the top of the city suddenly changed, from birds paying homage to the phoenix, to an ambush from all sides.
The sound was like big and small beads falling on a jade plate, and like the sound of rain hitting plantains.
It feels like weeping and complaining, as if it is dark and swallowing, as if the pillar of heaven collapses, the sky sinks, and the blade of the knife is hidden.
Another example is how the earth howls, ghosts and demons cry, and humans and gods are angry.
I don't know how many soldiers were put into the city, but suddenly there was a loud "bang" sound, and the thousand-jin gate of Dongtai Gate suddenly fell. The bandit soldiers who were walking under the gate were immediately crushed into a bloody mess, shaped like meat patties. .
The Imperial Guards hidden under the city wall stacks all straightened up at this time, rolling logs, stones, gray bottles and earthen tiles, and throwing them outwards with all their strength.
All kinds of strong bows and crossbows, flying cannons and stone throws were all sent out to greet them outside the city. In just a short moment, the incoming and outgoing bandit troops below the city suffered numerous casualties, and their corpses were piled up to a foot high, all the way to the moat.
The thieves on the other side of the moat suddenly panicked. A total of 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers entered the city. The most important thing was that the Holy Duke and Wang Gong Laofu also entered, and most of the generals also entered!
Under the leadership of the remaining generals, they carried the siege equipment desperately and rushed to the moat. The entire suspension bridge was crowded.
Although the suspension bridge is wide and easy to walk on, it is too close to the city, and it becomes a target for flying cannons at this moment.
The large pieces of bluestone seemed to be raining down on the suspension bridge. Even if the various military materials in Hangzhou City were good enough and the suspension bridge was made of iron cables and thick wood, it could not withstand such a heavy blow, and it was also crowded with people. Human machine.
Just listen to the sound of "creak, creak", and then there is a loud "click" sound. The suspension bridge breaks into several pieces and falls directly into the water. The bandits and baggage on the bridge all fall into the river. Hangzhou's moat is The living water is no better than some big cities in the north. Not only is it deep and undulating, it doesn't matter whether you can swim or not when you fall in, you have to rush aside first. Moreover, the river wall is so steep that you can't climb it even if you want to climb it from the nearest location.
On the top of the city, ballistas, bows and arrows, and flying cannons were fired at for free. This kind of fierce counterattack under defense was something the bandit army had never encountered since the uprising, not even when they attacked Suzhou.
Although Suzhou is as big a city as Hangzhou and has many reserves, it takes a steady and steady approach. Even after Tong Guan's reinforcements arrived, they never attacked with such ferocity.
At this moment, the city of Hangzhou seemed to be going crazy. The Eight-Niu Crossbow that could be destroyed with thirty arrows, the Thousand-Step Crossbow that could be damaged by ten arrows, and the flying cannon that could twist and crack with fifty stones, were all being used. , specifically to fight in crowded places.
The rebels were immediately blinded. Fang La and others were obviously ambushed when they entered the city. They had to rescue them, but they couldn't move forward at this time. It was difficult to build a plank across the river, let alone set up a ladder under the city. The city is under siege.
Just when the rebel army was in chaos and at a loss, suddenly there were shouts of killing from the rear, followed by the sound of horse hooves, and a cavalry force of nearly ten thousand people stabbed in directly like a sharp knife.
Behind the rebel army were almost all infantry. They were rushed back and forth by these Song army cavalry in two or three directions, causing chaos and causing numerous casualties in an instant.
At this time, Chen Houtong, who stayed in the army to hold down the formation, hurriedly issued a military order: "Retreat, retreat three miles!"
Chen Houtong is a master-level expert, but even if he is in the army, he cannot influence the general situation. At this moment, he sees that the situation is not good. He will not be able to reach the other side of the river in a short time, and he is attacked by a sneak attack later. If he does not withdraw his troops, the losses will only increase. The more there are, the morale of the army will be shaken, so this order was issued.
However, some generals in the army were Fang La's confidants, and they were people with authority even in the Ming Cult. Although Chen Houtong helped Fang La, he did not join the religion, and he was not the leader of the Ming Cult.
These people did not want to carry out military orders, but wanted to cross the river to attack the city and rescue Fang La.
Chen Houtong couldn't help but feel angry, and his face was as gloomy as water. He didn't think anything would happen to Fang La in the city. Not only was Fang La's own martial arts extraordinary, but he also had long-established masters like Wang Gong Lao Fo, Deng Yuanjue, and Pang Wanchun around him. Such little masters with special means.
What's more important is that there are sixty or seventy thousand horses entering the city with Fang La!
How many defenders are there in Hangzhou City? According to Fang Baihua, she was deceived by the other party. In fact, Zhao Tong's army should be less than 50,000.
There are less than 50,000 people, and a suspicious formation has been set up in Huzhou. There are so many cavalry ambushing outside the city, how many people can be left in the city? Twenty to thirty thousand at most!
Even if there are traps and ambushes, those brought in by Fang La are all the elites of the Holy Army, and they can still fight against the Western Army. Even if half of them are lost, they are not invincible to the defenders in the city, right?
Therefore, Chen Houtong was not so worried, and even had a glimmer of hope that Fang La would turn against the foreigners in the city and seize Hangzhou!
Since he can't attack here, and there is a sneak attack by the Song army behind him, the first thing to do is to stabilize the camp, preserve the military strength, and reduce losses!
There is nothing wrong with this, it is the wisest and most correct approach.
But now those generals are dissatisfied, and they usually obey orders, but now Fang La is trapped in the city, and where he can still hold his ground, he continues to rush forward even though he knows that he will die.
Chen Houtong was anxious in his heart. He rarely got angry and even showed himself gentle to others. Now when he saw that things were not going well, he couldn't help but burst into anger!
He was the grand master of the Fang La Holy Dynasty, and was respected as a teacher by Fang La. His official position was one of the highest. If Fang La was absent, he naturally had the right to mobilize troops.
At this time, he rode his horse straight to the army. Seeing that several leading generals were still shouting, intending to lead troops to cross the river and attack the city, he couldn't help but said angrily: "How dare you disobey military orders?"
Several generals were afraid of him, but they claimed to be members of the Ming Cult, and Chen Houtong was not a member of the sect, so they complained one after another, saying that they only wanted to save the sect leader and could not withdraw their troops easily.
Chen Houtong said a few more sentences, but a few people just didn't listen. Chen Houtong was anxious and slashed out the gray light from his sleeve. With just one knife, he chopped one of the generals directly under the horse. His head flew up high, and blood flowed out. Spray three feet.
The remaining generals were immediately dumbfounded and heard Chen Houtong yell angrily: "I am in charge of the central army under the military orders of the Holy Duke. Anyone who disobeys the military orders will be killed!"
These generals were not afraid of death, but they could not die like this. When they heard Chen Houtong carry out Fang La, they had no choice but to obey the order with a livid face, turn the direction of the army and withdraw to the rear.
This retreat shakes the morale of the army. When they entered the city just now, they entered the city with great momentum. Many of the soldiers below also knew that Fang La had entered the city and was locked up. Now that he actually retreated, he must have had some other thoughts.
The bandit army retreated, and the Song cavalry from behind came around and charged and killed again. The leader was Du Bo. He was wearing a black cloud sun-diving helmet, a black cloud and black light armor, and a black horse on his crotch. Holding an eight-foot-long snake spear, he was like half a black tower, fighting in and out of the bandit army, with the potential to defeat thousands of people.
Seeing this situation, Chen Houtong was about to attack his horse. Unexpectedly, the Song army's cavalry rushed back and forth twice to kill some soldiers, but then fled quickly, rolling up clouds of smoke and dust, just like bandits killing families, without any trace of it. If you hesitate, retreat far away.
Chen Houtong was helpless. It was true that he was a master, but he was not a military commander, let alone a master of military arts. Although he could lead troops, he could only ensure that the army was not in chaos and obeyed orders. He was really good at dealing with emergencies on the battlefield. The situation is even worse than that of some of the lieutenants and generals below.
At this moment, he could only be careful and slowly retreat towards the distance...
It is said that in the city of Hangzhou, following Zhao Tao's order, the thousand-jin gate descended with a "bang", and the soldiers in the gate tower then broke the gate rope. Even if the gate tower was lost, the giant gate could no longer be raised.
When something like this happened suddenly, the rebels and the rear army immediately reported it. Fang La couldn't help being stunned when he learned about it, and hurriedly looked at General Lu next to him.
General Lu's expression changed slightly and he said: "Holy Duke, I'm afraid there is an ambush!"
Fang La frowned and said, "Isn't it an empty city plan?"
General Lu said: "I'm afraid it's not that simple. This Zhao Tong is cunning and has a certain understanding of reality and reality. I think it's better not to rush to open other city gates. We'll catch this person first!"
Fang La said: "But all the stairs to the city on both sides were blocked by him. This time we entered the city urgently, and we didn't bring any siege equipment. The soldiers couldn't climb up at all."
General Lu was silent for a moment. He was a weak scholar, so naturally he couldn't climb the steep wall.
But he wanted to say that ordinary soldiers couldn't climb up, but people with strong martial arts skills could always climb up, right?
Not to mention grandmasters like Wang Gong and Lao Fo, but also junior masters like Deng Yuanjue and Pang Wanchun. If you think of a way, you can go up, right?
Shoot people and horses, capture thieves and capture kings.
After entering the city, he did not capture Song King Zhao Yu first, but hurriedly opened several other city gates. General Lu didn't know what Fang La was thinking!
After entering the city, he warned him, but Fang La saw that the passages on both sides of the city gate were blocked and the soldiers could not enter the city from these two sides, so he ordered the other gates to be broken first.
But at this moment, the Thousand Jin Gate unexpectedly fell down. Obviously, Hangzhou is not just an empty city. There must be an ambush, so we can't go too deep. We still have to catch Zhao Tong first, but Fang La still says he can't climb up!
Seeing General Lu's silence, Fang La said: "Our holy army has many soldiers and high morale. How many soldiers can we have in Hangzhou City? There is no need to worry, military advisor!"
General Lu said: "Shenggong, I think we still need to capture the bird king Zhao Tao. The worst we can do is... we must first reopen the city gate at the rear!"
Fang La nodded and said: "It's natural to open the city gate. Where is Deng Yuanjue..."
After he finished speaking, Pang Wanchun suddenly said: "What's the smell? Why is it a bit pungent to my nose?"
Over there, Deng Yuanjue rode over and asked, "Holy Duke, what are your orders?"
There was some confusion on Fang La's face. He also smelled a strange smell floating in the air, so he ignored Deng Yuanjue and looked at Pang Wanchun and said, "It seems like... the smell of lacquer?"
Deng Yuanjue took a sharp breath at this time and shouted: "Shenggong, it does taste a bit like Qiyuan!"
Pang Wanchun asked: "Could it be that after Zhao Tao entered the city, he celebrated a lot, put up lanterns and colors, and painted the shops and trees?"
Deng Yuanjue said: "I just saw this King of Birds at the top of the city looking oily and pink-faced. He must have married two concubines in the city, so he celebrated by painting the streets and painting the houses."
Fang La said coldly: "What nonsense are you talking about? Deng Yuanjue, take people to open the thousand-jin gate of the city gate and continue to let the holy army in."
Deng Yuanjue responded, took a sentry and turned around to leave.
Although he is a small master, he is born with supernatural power, and the Thousand Jin Gate is easier to open inside than outside. Naturally, it cannot be opened if there are few people. Deng Yuanjue takes 500 people away, and he has weapons. It is still possible to open it by force, but how much time will it take? It’s hard to say.
As soon as he left, General Lu's expression suddenly changed: "Shenggong, this smell..."
Before he could finish speaking, a burst of shouts of killing suddenly came from everywhere. Fang La frowned: "Where to kill?"
At this moment, countless arrows from crossbows were poked out from behind the ridges of the houses on both sides of the street. A hail of arrows rained down in an instant. Unprepared, the soldiers fell to the ground.
Fang La's face was gloomy and he shouted angrily: "Break the house to open a way and kill those Song soldiers for me!"
General Lu said urgently: "Holy Duke, the smell seems to be..."
Fang La didn't let him finish his words, and didn't even hear what he said clearly, so he began to mobilize his troops and generals, trying to destroy the houses and roads to kill the crossbowmen hidden in the high places.
Under his order, the army immediately dispersed and rushed to both sides.
At this time, General Lu couldn't bear it anymore. He pointed the horse's head at Fang La and shouted with all his strength: "Holy Duke, that smells like kerosene!"
Seeing his ferocious expression, Fang La couldn't help but paused for a moment and said, "What kind of kerosene?"
General Lu was so angry that his face turned pale: "Holy Duke, the smell of fire oil is strong!"
"Fierce oil?" Fang La showed a trace of doubt, wondering what the taste of fierce oil would be like.
But just as he was thinking about it, a huge change suddenly occurred!
I saw thick black smoke suddenly rising from the surrounding houses. The trees and walls were all shot up by rockets tied with cloth heads. Even the streets were set on fire with rockets, and smoke was rising everywhere.
In just the blink of an eye, the thick smoke turned into a fire, burning houses, trees, streets and alleys.
The houses on both sides are shops, connected to each other. Although the houses at this time are mostly made of blue bricks and tiles on the outside, many things inside are made of wood, and the pillars and beams are also made of wood. Some houses are made entirely of wood at all.
At this moment, all the houses were on fire, connected together like fire dragons, with black smoke and flames erupting, several feet high.
The road was also on fire, and there seemed to be lines of fire buried underground, like fire dragons, connected with the houses and trees, forming a huge sea of fire.
In an instant, this area became a purgatory on earth, with black smoke rolling like a demon coming into the world, and flames rising into the sky as if the whole world was burning. There were constant cries of ghosts and wolves, and screams of wailing for father and mother.
This is the main street in the east city of Hangzhou, not to mention the largest street in Hangzhou. Although the shops on both sides are on fire, the trees are on fire, and the ground is like fire earthworms, there are still places that are not on fire, but...
The billowing black smoke was so choking that the soldier couldn't breathe after just a few puffs. His head was dizzy and his whole body was exhausted. He fell to the ground after just ten breaths.
Moreover, the temperature in this area suddenly increased, like a large fire cage. Moreover, it was summer, and people could be roasted to death just by being roasted inside, without the need for flames to touch them.
After a while, countless soldiers lost their lives due to the smoke, but the raging fire did not diminish at all. A gust of wind blew, and the burning became even bigger...
(End of chapter)
