Chapter 175 Crisis
Returning to the Central Military Commandant's tent glumly, Niu Youtian kept banging the table and throwing benches, scolding him day in and day out, while Zhang Hu touched his chin and was thinking. That kind of wooden box is more difficult to deal with. The defenders only need to pour some water or put some wet mud on it, and the rockets are useless. Without big weapons such as crossbows and cannons, there is really nothing they can do about them. But... that kind of explosive can is really a good thing - it's better for defense than a bow and arrow! The most important thing is that it is cheap! Despite the fact that feather arrows can hardly damage armor, they are quite expensive to make: a skilled craftsman can only make about twenty arrows a day, and if an archer shoots out the thirty arrows he carries, that is shooting. Go out and get a tael of silver! And the fried cans... aren't they just clay cans stuffed with gunpowder? This is good!
This stuff isn't hard to make. There was a lot of gunpowder readily available in the camp, which was seized from the arsenals of various prefectures and counties. At this time, Zhang Hu had no artillery but was reluctant to get it. There were plenty of coolies pushing carts, so he just took it all with him. But what can I do with it now? Throw it against the wall? Who can throw it up such a high wall? Otherwise, it will fall down and blow up! Forget it, try it first. If the effect is good, make some and save them for later use. You can also throw them out to bomb the dog soldiers when fighting in the field...
The next day, continue to attack the city.
If the method of digging out the wall doesn't work, then let's just stick to the ants and climb the wall. Looking at the high Kaifeng city wall, Zhang Hu touched his chin and hesitated for a long time. Zhang Hu then thought of the group of mountain ghost-like barbarians he had seen in Baoning Mansion: If there are two or three thousand of these guys, how about a thousand crossbowmen? Suppress the firepower at the top of the city. Isn't it just a matter of one or two sticks of incense to kill people on the wall? He was lost in thought when suddenly there was a loud "boom" and a pallet truck two feet away was smashed to pieces. The flying sawdust left a shallow blood mark on Zhang Hu's face - the sacks used to fill the trench. There were a lot of hay branches stuffed inside, and some scattered on the ground. Entranced in thought, Zhang Hu did not hold the reins, dismounted his horse and lowered his head to eat, and unknowingly he was approaching the city moat. I don’t know whether the defenders on the wall were aiming at Zhang Hu or the carriage. With a roar, a big iron ball roared out from the muzzle and hit the corner of the carriage! The soldiers pushing the cart behind flew out like rag dolls thrown into the air, and after landing, they fell into pools of blood.
Zhang Hu was startled, and after escaping to safety, he subconsciously turned back to look at the city tower. The defenders on the wall pointed at the place and cheered loudly. Zhang Hu touched his burning cheeks and was happy - he thought of a broken city. A brilliant idea! Ever since I was thinking about exploding cans last night, I seemed to have a vague clue in my mind. With this blow, the fog in front of my eyes suddenly dispersed: the key is gunpowder! Gunpowder is so powerful, such a heavy piece of iron can fly such a long distance and still be very powerful. If you pile some in the dug holes in the wall and light it on fire, the city wall will be nothing. Exploded to the sky?
King Zhang immediately called the messengers to convey the order.
After fighting for so many days, the morale of the defenders was still high. Prince Chitose's silver boxes are stacked one on top, long and tall, on the west gate. The top lids are all open, revealing the white silver ingots. Every afternoon when the sun turns high in the sky, the silver light casts a dazzling light on the top of the gate tower. As long as the brothers look back, all the fatigue will disappear without a trace! Shi Kezhi (also known as Gancai), the right-hand commander of Prince Zhou's Mansion, and Mr. Sisi Wei were guarding the side.
Every time a thief was killed or injured, during the battle breaks, the stack chief, fruit chief or flag officer who testified would lead a lucky guy to Marshal Yang, Marshal Jiang, and Deputy Marshal Yuan, who were each in charge of a section of the wall. The masters of the adults have a square table in front of them. On the table are three stacks of paper stamped with the seals of the adults. The three situations of "killing", "shooting" and "injuring the enemy" have been written in advance. Please ask me. After filling in the name of the team, this guy can take the voucher and go directly to Ximen Tower to collect the reward! The prince has decreed that the silver reward must be paid out on the spot, and no default is allowed. The guys who got the reward and came downstairs were all very happy, while those who didn't got it had their faces filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred. They all twisted their faces at the thieves outside the wall, waved their fists and weapons, and kept shouting about the reward. They rush towards me quickly so that I can beat them to death with a brick and then go and collect the money!
High morale also comes at a cost. From time to time there would be some small disputes on the wall: those who should go down to rest during the rotation would not leave, and those who were full of ambitions to receive the king's reward would insist on going up! The most hateful thing was the gang of guys in the hanging building on the first day: they were condescending and shot at the thieves who were a few feet below and had no power to fight back. Isn't this just picking up money! He shot all the thieves around him to death, and even when he pulled back the Xuanlou, he didn't even want to come out! What's the matter, you don't want to share any benefits with others? The brothers on the wall were all red-eyed and pulled forward to drag them out. The guys clung to a handhold and couldn't move. In the end, Mr. Ji personally ordered the forced rotation, and this group of killers reluctantly Give up your position, and then rush to the master to ask for credentials.
It’s also good to eat. The magistrate of Kaifeng, Tao Dechang (also known as Peiran), the governor of Henan Province Shi Kaidi (the style known as Wendeng), the branch guard Daoliang Hui (the style known as Mingguang), the governor of Guanhe Sang Yourong (the style known as Yaozu), and other adults personally received the gifts at regular intervals every day. He came over with a long food picker and spread it out on the inner wall. The hot flatbread is smeared with a thick layer of salty sauce, rolled up and put into your mouth. It's so delicious! On the first day, dozens of guys ate too quickly and choked. Each person also received a bowl of soup. I don’t know what kind of meat it was, but there were bones of various sizes tumbling in the pot, with a thick layer of oil floating on the surface! Since the bones have been distributed to the officers, we don't care about it. The soup... tsk tsk, it's so fragrant! As soon as the guys who had eaten and drank enough sat up and stood up, they wanted to go to the wall to change their posts and earn money. Naturally, the guys on the wall didn't do it. Noises would break out from time to time.
The people in the city have also heard about this. If you can defend the city and eat well, you can still get money that you may not be able to earn in a year or two if you just kill a thief? Almost everyone who could still move came, some carrying kitchen knives, some waving rolling pins, and some holding clothes drying rods! So the defenders who were pulling each other off just now immediately united together, saying that I will win if I defend the city, and started to push the people out... Of course the officials were happy to hear all these disputes, and each one of them, although with a dark face, said fiercely I scolded the streets, but I felt happy in my heart - if we continue to fight like this, we don't have to worry about destroying the city. I'm afraid even the thieves won't die!
Ji Shu stood on the wall and looked at this wave of incoming thieves. He felt a little strange: Judging from their clothes, most of them were ordinary people. However, this time there were fewer people carrying the door panels of the ladder, and there were no carriages. On the contrary, Many people among the crowd were carrying or hugging cloth bags, which probably weighed dozens of kilograms, and they all looked heavy. What's even weirder is that every guy carrying a bag is protected by a shield soldier... When did Thief Zhang become so kind and care about the lives of the people who were kidnapped? No, there must be something fishy in the bag! Ji Shu and Zhang Jian next to him looked at each other - of course Zhang Xiucai, who had made extraordinary achievements, no longer needed to move rocks. Mr. Lu had said that when he settled down, he would at least recommend him to the title of county magistrate, and the king of Zhou would be a thousand years old. Zhang Jian was summoned to the palace and given a banquet. The prince also said that he would personally report Zhang Xiucai's great wisdom and courage to the court, and his future was bright... Zhang Jian also obviously noticed the abnormality, nodded to Ji Shu, and the two of them ordered at the same time. Said: "Shoot those thieves with backpacks!"
Li Jinzhu was not wearing a helmet and had several circles of cloth wrapped around his forehead. I had been holding my breath to kill a few thieves to repay the prince's trust, but two whole days passed without any chance at all! I really can’t blame Jin Zhu. He is a sword and shield soldier. If a thief climbs the wall, he will definitely fight the thief desperately. But... after two days of fighting, there is not a single thief who can climb the wall. What should Jin Zhu do? All his strength was useless, so he secretly joined Ding Zhuang who was throwing stones. The little flag officer and the chief flag officer actually saw it, but they didn't say anything - because they were also carrying rocks and throwing them down hard! The story of Xun Guanniang told by Prince Chitose made everyone feel filled with anger. The strange thing is that every time a stone was smashed down and a bucket of hot golden juice was poured down, the anger was not released. On the contrary, it became even more intense, and everyone had endless energy in their bodies.
Jin Zhu was a bit unlucky. The experienced men would first look out to see where the thief was under the wall, then immediately retract their heads, wait for a few arrows to fly over from the pile, then lean forward to knock down the rocks, and then hide back. . Jin Zhu had not had much experience in the previous two days. He still stretched his neck and looked towards his chin to see if he had hit his chin after throwing a stone. As a result, his forehead was scratched by an arrow. It was a close call. If he missed it even a little bit, his life would be in danger. After tearing off a piece of cloth and twisting it around a few times, the helmet couldn't be put on anymore. If he couldn't put it on, he wouldn't put it on, and Jin Zhu continued to hit the stone. Coincidentally, a crossbow soldier next to him was shot in the shoulder, and Jin Zhu got a crossbow machine. The crossbowman grinned in pain, but he still made an agreement with Jin Zhu that if he shot the thief, he would share half of the reward. Then he taught Jin Zhu how to wind the string, how to aim, and how to fire. He watched Jin Zhu shoot two The arrow went out, but even though it didn't hit, the action was still the same. Then he went to the doctor to get the arrow to bind the wound. After a while, he ran back and shouted from a distance to ask if he had hit any thief... It's a pity. This eldest brother's fate was really bad, he must have been guilty of Tai Sui. Jin Zhu had just hit a thief for the first time, and he was hit in the head by the arrow fired back by the thief, and he died.
After hearing the orders from Master Ji and Master Zhang, Li Jinzhu, who already had some experience, strung up the crossbow machine, loaded an arrow and observed carefully from between the stacks. There is a thief carrying a bag right in front, but he is covered by shield soldiers. When running, he only occasionally reveals a little bit of his body. Let alone the golden pillar, it is difficult for even the experienced crossbowmen to grasp this in such a blink of an eye. A fleeting moment. So Jin Zhu waited patiently, knowing that there would be a good time soon. Jin Zhu counted silently in his heart, and then suddenly leaned forward - the time was just right! The two thieves ran to the edge of the trench. Of course, the straw bags and soil bags used to fill the trenches cannot be flat. The two thieves were looking at their feet. For half a breath, most of the body of the thief carrying the bag was exposed! Then, he was nailed to the edge of the trench by Jin Zhu's crossbow arrow!
The bag fell and spread. Ji Shu and Zhang Jian exclaimed at the same time: "Gunpowder!"
A rocket shot over, exploded with a "boom", and a large ball of flames wrapped in thick black smoke shot straight into the sky. However, at this time, too many thieves carrying bags had sneaked into the city and stuffed entire bags of gunpowder into large and small holes.
