Chapter 180 Pure Yang Formation
Boom, boom, boom!
Artillery roared.
It's Zhang Hu's five-gun cannon.
From a distance, I saw the cannon of the army on the wall exploded, and several "Ban monks" and an enemy general were blown into the air. The morale of the thieves was unprecedentedly high, and cheers and drumming noises resounded through the sky. Zhang Hu was even more energetic: With the protection of the demonic magic, the dog officers and soldiers have tortured me for so many days. Today we must avenge our shame! If the officers and soldiers dare not fire any more cannons on the wall, then it's up to me! Zhang Hu waved his hand, and the five artillery pieces were dragged sixty or seventy feet away from the west wall, spitting out projectiles one after another.
The defenders were helpless.
At a distance of nearly half a mile, the crossbow certainly couldn't reach it. Artillery, let’s not tell who is the right one. At this time, no official or general dared to order any more artillery fire. The thieves set up the most sinister of all evil methods, the "Yin Gate Formation", and the body of Commander-in-Chief Jiang Shide lay on the ground. There, a large piece of cannon barrel weighing seven or eight kilograms was inserted into the chest, and most of the head had been blown off. Who would dare to touch the cannon that had been bewitched? There were a few bed crossbows, but the bandits' artillery battery sixty or seventy feet away was no bigger than a bean. No one would try to use precious iron spears to try their luck.
Therefore, he can only be beaten.
Well, to say he was beaten is a bit exaggerated. At this distance, Zhang Hu's Caotai team's artillery team was even more inaccurate. Many of the shells hit the city wall and collapsed a large piece of blue-gray city brick. The noise caused by the tossing was very loud, and the dusty place looked lively, but in fact the killing effect was extremely limited - more than a dozen shots were fired in succession, and only one shot hit a wall stack crookedly, and the broken bricks injured several people nearby. .
However, the big iron lumps were hammered against the wall one after another, and the movement could be imagined. Coupled with the tragic scene in front of them, the morale of the defenders dropped to the lowest point, and the original heroic spirit disappeared into thin air. One by one, they hugged each other. He hid under the pile with his head down, a look like the end of the world on his face.
Twenty or thirty shots were fired back and forth, and the artillery crew had gained some experience. At first, two or three shots passed high over the city wall and landed somewhere, but now almost every shot can hit the city wall. However, the initial excitement of Zhang Hu and others also gradually faded away. Of course, when the bombardment started, it was random bombardment. Then Zhang Hu ordered the artillery team to bombard the city gate. Unfortunately, at this distance, the city gate was not as good as a The biscuits are big, and the Tiger Crouching Cannon does not have any sighting system. Hitting anywhere from thirty to forty feet away depends less on experience and more on luck. It is a complete waste of shells. With only a few treasures in his hand, Zhang Hu was reluctant to take the risk of letting them get close and shoot. Fortunately, the tribesmen would cheer for a while every time they saw the smoke and dust rising from the city wall. This was supposed to boost morale, so he just let them shoot. The wall exploded. The city bricks that had been shot collapsed, revealing the thick layer of rammed earth inside. Zhang Hu made a quick calculation in his mind. If he wanted to collapse the rammed earth layer, he would probably not even think about it if he could use tens of thousands of cannons. This... would it take until the Year of the Monkey and the Horse? No, we have to find another way! Looking up, Zhang Hu immediately had an idea: "Let me use all the cannons to blast the West Tower!"
The city tower looks bigger than a pancake, so it is definitely easier to hit than the city gate. If the city gate tower can be blown down, it will also be a devastating blow to the defenders' will to resist!
The capital commander Yang Zhongguo stood beside Jiang Shide's body with mixed feelings of grief and anger. As a high-level military position set by the Taizu since the founding of the People's Republic of China, theoretically all the guards in Henan Province are under the supervision of the Commander-in-Chief. Not only that, when there are good or bad events in the court that require the rank of three divisions to be announced, the title of Commander-in-Chief will also be returned. It should be listed before the chief envoy and the inspector. After a long period of peace, the country used civil society to control military affairs. The Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies gradually became a decoration, and most of the military equipment of the guard posts were abandoned. Because it was located in the heart of the Central Plains, its strategic significance was extraordinary, so the imperial court added a general army. official. One is a distinguished figure* and the other is a rising star. On weekdays, Marshal Yang and Marshal Jiang often get into trouble secretly, but these days when they fight against the enemy side by side, the two generals gradually develop a feeling of sympathy for each other, and the two sides cooperate very well. Unexpectedly, they have just established a Marshal Yang felt inexplicably sad and angry because of the friendship between heaven and man. At this moment, there was a "whoosh", and a large iron bullet passed over Yang Zhongguo's head with the sound of wind, followed by a loud "boom", and there was a burst of houses collapsing and screams from the city.
"Snapped"! There was another sound, and another iron bullet grazed the corner of the Ximen Tower. I don't know where it landed, and several small pieces of gravel collapsed at the feet of Marshal Yang.
Yang Zhongguo was angry: "Where is the commander of Xuanwu Guard?"
"The general is here." A red-faced man beside him responded with clasped fists. This was Mu Dengke, the commander of Xuanwuwei.
"I can't stand being beaten by thieves like this! Check your servants and follow me to the city to meet the enemy!" Yang Zhongguo yelled.
"Commander Yang, we are going too!" Dozens of soldiers knelt at Yang Zhongguo's feet. These are Jiang Shide's personal guards - without their master, their sky has collapsed, and everyone is determined to die at this time.
"Good boy! Everyone who can ride a horse is here!"
"Shuai Yang, you can't do it!" The one who stopped him was Tao Dechang, the prefect of Kaifeng. "There are tens of thousands of thieves outside the city, and we only have 4,000 soldiers in the city. Marshal Yang must not raise troops out of anger!"
How could Yang Zhongguo not know this truth, but the warrior's bloody spirit was about to break through his reason at this moment: "Don't worry, Mr. Tao, I will not be reluctant to fight. I will come back after killing those thieves who set off the cannons."
"Yang Shuai must stop it." Henan patrol commander Shi Kaidi said urgently, "The bandit group is right behind the artillery formation. If Yang Shuai attacks, the thieves will rush forward to respond. Once they get into a melee, Yang Shuai will be in danger."
Yang Zhongguo said: "Master Shi, I will only lead the armored cavalry to attack. Go and return quickly..."
"Dang, Dang, Dang..."
A melodious bell sounded, and everyone was startled. They subconsciously looked towards the inner wall, and saw bald heads emerging one after another on the road! The two people walking in the front were none other than Ji Shu and Zhang Jian - everyone then remembered that they had not seen these two people for a long time. What are they going to do?
Not only the officials, but all the soldiers and young men on the wall stood up and stared at the group of monks with their eyes wide open. Someone shouted out loud: "Master Liaochen! This is Master Liaochen from Daxiangguo Temple!"
After Ji and Zhang arrived at the city, they just nodded to the officials, and then they both bowed to Monk Chen and said, "Thank you, Master."
Liao Chen raised his palms and recited the Buddha's name calmly and responded: "Amitabha. My Buddha is compassionate, and his mercy is universal. To save others is to save oneself. Donors don't need to be polite." Then he waved his cassock sleeves to the disciples. , "Buddha sacrificed his body to feed tigers and eventually became the great road. The Buddha's Dharma is in the heart, so what's the point of regretting the mere skin? Defending the road and defeating demons is where our righteousness lies. You should know that Bodhi is not a tree, and I have no self. Let's all come together." After saying this, all the monks They all responded to the Buddha's name, lined up among the crenellations along the city wall, and immediately stepped onto the crenellations!
Liao Chen said to Li Jinzhu who was beside him and was stunned from ear to ear: "Little benefactor, please help the old monk, thank you." Then he pressed Li Jinzhu's shoulder and climbed up.
"Boom!" Another shot came, hitting the west gate building with a crackling sound and a large piece of broken tiles flying down. But no one came to see it this time, everyone's attention was on the group of monks. I saw this group of monks stepping onto the wall. When they stood still, they started to unbutton their robes, then their underwear. After taking off each piece, they threw it on the ground. Finally, they all unbuttoned their belts and pulled off their underwear. She stripped naked and faced the row of female corpses outside the wall.
More than a hundred naked monks clasped their hands on their chests and lowered their eyes slightly, muttering something in their mouths, and a Sanskrit sound suddenly sounded on the west wall: "Ama Li, Bimali, Nirvana, Horagali, Ximoluo Ruojie, Samanabhati Li …”
Shakyamuni casts a curse!
Legend has it that when the Buddha was about to enter nirvana, he personally taught this mantra to Prince Manjushri in order to save Ananda from demonic karma. As soon as the mantra was pronounced, the countless demons were immediately cut off from their demonic nature, developed bodhicitta, and let go of their entanglement with Ananda. Therefore, this mantra has a great effect in subduing demons!
The volume of each monk was not high, but the low and powerful Sanskrit sounds merged into a sound wave and spread, as calm as the ocean tide, but unstoppable!
Seeing so many monks emerging from the wall and hearing the sound of incantations, the thieves were a little scared. A guy said bravely: "I don't believe it yet, take a shot from me first!" As he spoke, he stuffed a bag of gunpowder into the barrel of the cannon...
boom!
Each gun was firing continuously, and the chamber temperature had exceeded the ignition point of the gunpowder. If it was a regular gun crew, it should have known that it needed to find a way to cool down the gun body at this time, but how did these guys understand this? Before the powder bag was pushed to the bottom, it exploded and exploded. The barrel was torn into pieces, and a gun crew was almost wiped out by the regiment.
The other four artillery groups looked at this place in shock and fear. A burst of exclamation broke out from the thieves who had been making a triumphant noise just now. Then it fell silent, and the clear cheers of the defenders came from the top of the city.
Zhang Hu's heart sank: Not good! If the spell that Fang Ge finally thought of was broken, the morale that he had inspired would plummet and never recover. "Keep fighting, I!" Zhang Hu shouted angrily.
Zhang Jiuzheng drew out his sword and stepped forward: "The commander-in-chief has ordered, keep firing!"
boom!
Another cannon exploded.
As soon as the monks recited the incantation, the enemy artillery exploded without any warning, and the Kaifeng wall suddenly turned into a boiling ocean.
Lu Shen, Wei Buqun, Yang Zhongguo and other civil and military officials had all gathered around Ji Shu and Zhang Jian. Ji Shu laughed and patted Zhang Jian on the shoulder: "Brother Zhang is so talented! The thieves just fired the cannon, and Brother Zhang Tell your subordinates, 'If yin and yang are in conflict, you can go to Daxiangguo Temple to ask the masters for help.' I didn't expect that the 'Pure Yang Formation' has such magical power!" All the officials raised their thumbs to Zhang Jian: "Brother Zhang Great talent! I should take the first place in this battle!"
"Boom!" A series of shocking explosions came from the distance.
When the defenders saw that the thieves' "Yinmen Formation" had been destroyed by the monks, the crowd became excited. Needless to say, the evil magic of their own cannons had been neutralized, so without waiting for instructions, all the artillery crews rushed to open fire - Zhang Tiger's five cannons were all fired together, and all the artillery on the wall were aimed here. Before the second round was completed, one of the cannons hit the target, and the blown torches fell into the piles of gunpowder piled randomly nearby. , causing an explosion.
These bald donkeys are too powerful. It seems that no matter what, they can't fire this cannon. Then continue to rush for me! We can't let it end like this today. We'll use human lives, headbutts, and corpses to build a base. Even if half of these hundreds of thousands of people die, I will still take over Kaifeng Mansion!
Siege warfare returned to its old form again. The monks have retreated from the wall. In order to maintain the power of the Pure Yang Formation, they did not even put on trousers and lined up naked behind the formation - now they are reciting the "Diamond Sutra". With the blessing of the great monks, the defenders became more and more courageous as they fought, while Zhang Hu's men became more and more uneasy, and even the most ferocious and habitual bandits hesitated.
Big killer weapons such as the Tiger Crouching Cannon and the Bed Crossbow have an unparalleled advantage at close ranges of more than ten feet to twenty or thirty feet: the artillery is loaded with small projectiles and then sealed with large iron bullets wrapped in rags. Fighting with a ladder, if you hit one, broken wood will fly everywhere, and there will always be more than a dozen thieves lying down, while the crossbows are focused on the carriage, and an iron spear will take away seven or eight lives! It was almost noon, and the defenders on the wall began to rotate, while the attackers could only continue to charge in vain, hungry.
Suddenly, a burst of noise broke out from the south wall, and then large groups of defeated troops and the refugees accompanying the army rushed towards the west wall. They were crying, pushing, crowding, trampling on each other, and the smoke and dust covered them. Out of sight, Zhang Hu and other generals had no idea what was happening!
*The "generation" here refers only to the position. In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the commander-in-chief could indeed be hereditary, but it was later banned - except for a few border areas where Han and Han were mixed, such as Taozhou Guard. .
*It can be seen from the title that the old monk is an eminent monk - a monk escapes from the world of mortals. Buddhism teaches that all living beings are equal. Therefore, whether a beggar or a high-ranking official, he is called a donor and does not flatter anyone.
It is also true that the monks set up the "Pure Yang Formation" to fight against the "Yin Gate Formation" in history.
