Chengmai County originally had tens of thousands of kilograms of grain in stock. Now the officers and soldiers have sealed up the grain in the county treasury for military use and ordered large households to "donate grain." [No pop-up novel website] Song Zonghui was a rich man in the county, and of course he was a big fat sheep. Not only was he forced to donate a hundred shi of grain, but he also "happily donated" five hundred taels of silver, which made him complain endlessly. Guest soldiers often have very bad discipline when entering the country. Despite the general's suppression, there are still cases of blackmailing and extortion of big business owners in the city, and even killings, injuries and robberies. If Zhao Ruyi and his staff hadn't all lived in his house, his Chengmai household would have become a piece of fat meat for his deputy.
"The Kun thieves in Shishan are alone behind the enemy's rear. They will naturally retreat when the food is exhausted. Once the food road is clear, there is no need to worry about military food! Don't bother yourself." Lu Yizhong ate half a snack, "You are the deputy regiment commander of this county's regiment. As long as you work hard, you will be rewarded based on your merits." He said, shaking off his sleeves and shaking off the pastry crumbs. He Rubin has lost several battles in a row, but Lu Yizhong still takes it calmly. He feels that this is just a temporary setback, caused by overestimating the enemy at the beginning. Lu Yizhong's arguments in every meeting are simply "stalemate" - ―Fight a war of attrition. If the whole province of Guangdong is used to attack Lingao, the Kun thieves in Lingao will be dragged to death even if they are dragged away.
"It is Zonghui who still has a gloomy face. He carries the name of "rich" on his back, and all kinds of money-breaking errands will always fall on him. If he hadn't gained the reputation of "supervising students" a few years ago, I'm afraid that this The family business has long been dealt with by the government.
Gou Chengxuan sat at Qian Taichong's table without saying a word. He has a low status and no formal staff status, so few people pay attention to him. He was very scheming and knew that this group of people did not think highly of him, and they had escaped from the bandits. It was good to say that the war was going well, but if the war was not going well, they might be beheaded as "spies". Therefore, we adhere to the purpose of speaking as little as possible along the way. Among the staff, except for Qian Taichong, who often discussed Lingao's geography and people's sentiments with him because he wanted to "fix the aftermath" of Lingao, it seemed as if this person did not exist on weekdays.
His mood was very low. Gou Chengxuan originally held out hope for the army's conquest: He believed that the Kun bandits had few soldiers, and the people in Lingao did not dare to work for them anymore when they heard the army's arrival. Kun was weak and weak. The thief will most likely be forced to retreat. He also had an idea: as soon as the officers and soldiers arrived in Lingao, he would step forward to mobilize the gentry and form a regiment to help the officers and soldiers fight. Including his preparation of humble words to ask Huang Shoutong to come out as the head of the regiment, and to ask Liu Dalin to come out as the head of the "remediation bureau". Gou Chengxuan felt that in this way, by appearing as an "assistant", she would not only be able to actually hold some power, but would also be able to lay a solid foundation for re-establishing power in Lingao in the future.
However, after the officers and soldiers fought head-on against the Kun thieves for several times in Chengmai, Gou Chengxuan knew that the battle could be an undefeated draw at best, and it would be impossible to attack Lingao and force the Kun thieves to retreat. He was very depressed and worried about Lai Da - he was deeply afraid that Lai Da would find his father and Uncle Hu when he returned to Lingao and raise a flag to meet the army. As a result, the officers and soldiers would not arrive and he would be killed instead.
At this time, he was drinking tea alone in silence, thinking about what he should do after the failure of the Kun attack. He Zongbing is unreliable. He didn't take himself seriously in the first place. After the defeat, the court would be done with him once he was held accountable. It was impossible for him to expect He Zongbing to take revenge and revive his family business...
Suddenly, there was a "boom" outside, and the sound was very clear. The sound of artillery was dull. It was not the sound of the Kun bandit's cannon, but the sound of the official Hongyi cannon.
Then, two more shots were fired in succession, and everyone heard clearly. The sound of the cannon seemed to be coming from the Nancheng side. The staff present could not help but be startled, and they all raised their ears attentively.
"What's going on?" Everyone was very surprised. In the past few days, neither the bandits nor the army had gone out to fight, and no cannons had been fired. It's almost the end of the year, it's the dead of night, and the moonlight is hazy - could it be that the bandits are coming to rob the village? Everyone suddenly became nervous.
"Boom, boom, boom" came several more muffled sounds. This time you could hear clearly that in addition to the cannons being fired at the city gate, cannons were also being fired in the villages outside the city.
"It's the sound of artillery, the artillery fire!" Qian Taichong stood up first, waving his arms and shouted.
But the others still sat there and didn't move: "Is it the sound of cannons?" "That's right?" "Could it be, could it be that the Kun thieves were robbing the stronghold?" Finally, everyone no longer maintained their reserved attitude, and shouted "coax" one after another. stood up.
"Yes, it's a slap*"
"Quick, send someone to take a look."
Immediately, a servant was sent outside to inquire about the news. Everyone was a little worried. It would be really strange for the Kun thieves to suddenly come to rob the stronghold. There were nearly 20,000 officers and soldiers outside the city of Chengmai, and the total number of Kun thieves was only ten thousand. Did they suddenly get reinforcements? I couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.
"It's okay. Our troops are heavily guarded. The city is impregnable inside and outside. If the thieves come to rob the stronghold, they will only suffer a bloody blow..." Lu Yizhong just said this, and only heard a "bang" sound outside. The sound of the cannon was sharp, followed by a whistling sound. There was another loud noise in an instant.
"The thieves are attacking!" Five or six opened their mouths and shouted in unison. The sound of the cannon was the sound they had heard so well in the past few days. And the loud noise that followed was the sound of Kun Thief's fireworks. Everyone suddenly became nervous.
Lu Yizhong's face turned a little pale for a moment, and he pretended to be calm and said: "The thief Kun fired off the cannon,...haha...haha..."
The roar of cannons was heard one after another outside. At this time, no one could stay any longer. Qian Taichong waved his hand: "Let's go out and have a look." After saying that, he raised his legs and walked out. The rest of the people hurriedly followed, walking out of the garden and walking to the main entrance of Song's house.
It was almost midnight, and the moon was hidden behind floating clouds, appearing and disappearing. A large, continuous cloud was dyed with a strange layer of silver, but this sight did not attract everyone's attention. Because what occupied everyone's minds at this moment was the sound outside the courtyard wall becoming clearer. In addition to the constant sound of artillery, there were also the chaotic sounds of people and the barking of dogs on the street, making it a chaotic mess.
Nervous shouts, the clash of armor and weapons, and the sounds of scolding and crying could be heard from all over the street. Suddenly a horn sounded in the distance, ringing for a long time.
The servant sent out to inquire ran in in a panic.
"What happened?" Song Zonghui asked in panic.
"Replying to the master, there is a commotion outside. It is said that the bandits have brought a huge cannon and are about to bombard the officers and soldiers' camp."
"What?"
"Oh, some are also saying that the bandits from Shishan came from the other side and wanted to attack the officers and soldiers in Chengmai."
Both news are possible. Everyone was in a panic, and Lu Yizhong expressed disapproval:
"What kind of giant cannon? If there was a giant cannon, Kun Thief wouldn't have shipped it early, so why wait until today to use it. It's the middle of the night. Even if there is a giant cannon, doesn't it mean that Kun Thief has a pair of night eyes and can see things in the dark?"
"Yes, it must be the thieves attacking at night," someone agreed.
"Hey, let's go out and take a look." Qian Taichong was unwilling to sit back and watch. Without waiting for everyone's agreement, he led his servants out.
The street was really noisy. In the darkness, only soldiers, regimental heroes, and civilian leaders were seen running around with swords, guns, lanterns and torches. Looking at the city tower, it is already brightly lit. Some soldiers guarding Song's house gathered together in groups, talking in low voices, stretching their necks, and looking in the direction of the cannon fire. And the roaring sound of artillery and the explosion of exploding artillery shells continued to be heard from afar...
They stopped a commander, and then they realized that there were many bright spots on the sea. It seemed that the navy of the thief was coming for reinforcements. The sound of cannons just now was the cannons of the official army in Xiaoyingchang intercepting the ship of the thief.
"What? The thief wants to seize Xiaoying's field?"
"I don't know what the bid is, but everyone is talking about it." Mr. Ba said and hurried away with others.
Qian Taichong suggested that he simply go to the city gate tower to have a look, since he could not see anything clearly while standing on the street. Some people were afraid of going up to the tower and being hit by gunfire from the bandits and did not dare to answer, but some people were willing to go, and half of them were gone.
They were all military staff, and the general guarding the tower recognized Qian Taichong and others and let them go. Climb the tower and watch. There was nothing unusual about the darkness outside, except for the lights on the seaside, which seemed to be the arrival of many ships. From time to time, you can see a flash of fire and the dull sound of artillery. There were also flashes of artillery fire here in Xiaoyingchang, as if the two sides were engaged in an artillery battle.
"The thief Kun is sailing late at night..." Before Chang Qingyun could continue, someone screamed in surprise. Everyone followed the sound and saw a bright fire rising in the sky by the sea, as if a fireball was flying in the air.
"Comet" someone shouted.
But they soon discovered that this was not a comet. The speed of this bright spot was very slow, and its height was constantly decreasing, and it seemed to be heading towards the county seat. Everyone was frightened and at a loss. I saw this ball of fire passing through the city gate tower and hitting the outside of the city. A violent explosion was heard immediately, and the fire was radiating.
"What the hell is this?" Chang Qingyun screamed.
At this time, more and more light spots rose from the seaside, flying densely towards Xiaoyingchang and the nearby officer and soldier camps.
"The enemy fires rockets." Chang Qingyun had read a lot of firearms books, and he immediately understood that this was the enemy firing rockets. He had never seen rockets actually cast, except in books. Seeing the firelight in the sky getting denser and denser, like a rain of fire, I was stunned and stunned.
Rockets trailing orange flames are constantly flying from the seaside, falling in rows and groups towards Xiaoyingchang, like a huge rain of fire falling on Xiaoyingchang. The camp, which originally had only a few lights, was now filled with huge fires and explosions. Groups of flames rose from time to time under the dark night sky, and some places were obviously already burning.
Suddenly, a huge flame rose from the direction of Xiaoying Field, and a dull explosion like rolling thunder came. Everyone was shocked, knowing that it was probably the gunpowder magazine in the officers and soldiers' camp that exploded.
With the explosion of the gunpowder magazine, the fire on Xiaoyingchang became bigger and bigger, illuminating the seaside. But the thief's rockets continued to fall from the sky into the camp, exacerbating the chaos. Qian Taichong lost his voice and said: "Xiaoyingchang is going to be lost."
Sure enough, a large group of people rushed out from the direction of Xiaoyingchang. Under the cover of the fire, it could be clearly seen that they were the officers and soldiers guarding Xiaoyingchang. At this time, they were fleeing towards the main camp in chaos.
"The Kun thieves want to cut off my food supply by sea," Qian Taichong exclaimed. Although he didn't think transporting food by sea was a good way, the purpose of the Kun thieves' sudden fire on Xiaoyingchang was self-evident.
"Here, what should I do?" Someone was holding on to the battlements and stamping his feet anxiously.
"It depends..."
Chang Qingyun only spoke half of what he said, as fire also flew from the direction of Kun Thief's camp, and more than a dozen light points were piercing the sky towards the county seat and the camp.
"Rocket" The soldiers on the city tower screamed and hid under the battlements one after another. A rain of fire fell to the camp outside the city in an instant.
Qian Taichong shouted: "Everyone, get out of here." As he said that, he had shrunk under the battlements. Some of the others were rolling and crawling towards the tower, and some were running towards the horse path, trying to get down to the city. It was dark and I was panicking, and all the staff were wearing wide robes and long-sleeved Confucian shirts. In the chaos, some had their robe corners stepped on, some had their sleeves pulled, they fell down and were trampled on, and they cried loudly.
"It's so polite." Qian Taichong watched as some of his companions fell to the ground, their buns were messy, some were just running for their lives and didn't even need their shoes, and some were so panicked that they missed the path and rolled away from the road. Go down...
The first wave of rockets shot into the army camp with hissing noises. The camp suddenly became chaotic. Gongs were beating violently for a while, and people everywhere shouted: "The water has leaked", "The water has leaked"
Qian Taichong poked his head out from between the battlements and saw fires everywhere in the camp. It was already a mess. In the midst of panic, I heard the sound of rockets piercing the sky again. This time, countless rockets were fired from the Kun Thief camp. Many rockets were also fired from the Kun Thief ships on the seaside.
For a time, rockets rained down, and the entire camp fell into complete chaos. The soldiers no longer cared about putting out the fire and fled one after another. The more Qian Taichong watched, the more frightened he became: the Kun thief's rockets were like ordinary arrows, seemingly radiating in an endless stream. There was no place to hide in the camp, let alone gathering people to fight.
The thief's rockets seemed to have deliberately avoided the county town, but many missed the rockets and hit the city wall. Some hit the watchtowers, some hit the city towers, and many of them crossed the city walls and landed in residential areas. A fire was caused, and the city was in panic. People were beating water gongs everywhere to put out the fire.
Fortunately, the Kun thieves did not seem to target the county town, but only shot at the official and military camps below the city. Many camps were on fire, and there was chaos everywhere.
Qian Taichong could see clearly that although the rockets were flying round after round, they seemed to be different in size, and they were also different after landing. Some just scattered fire and burned objects, while others blossomed with a thunderclap. explode. He secretly wondered, could there be two kinds of warheads in this? Then he thought that the seaside was ten miles away from the county seat, and that Kun Thief's rockets could actually reach it. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but be secretly frightened. If this was the case, wouldn't Kun Thief's rockets be a weapon for attacking cities and strongholds?
Suddenly, a figure rolled up to him, and when he looked closely, he saw that it was Chang Qingyun.
Chang Qingyun said with a cry in his voice: "It's over... it's over. I'm defeated this time and it's all over."
The rocket attack lasted for less than half an hour, and then suddenly stopped. However, the entire official and military camps have become smoldering. Many camps were caught in fires before they could be rescued, and they could no longer be saved. The generals could only pull people to camps with less losses. The people in each camp were panicked and lost their fighting spirit. .
Qian Taichong saw that the fire was gradually dwindling, the noise had also subsided, and there was no sign of the Kun thieves taking advantage of the opportunity to attack the stronghold. Knowing that there was no danger tonight, Qian Taichong and Chang Qingyun quietly walked down to the city. Some of the colleagues had lost their net hats, some had no shoes, some had torn and ripped clothes, and they were all in a miserable state. Normally everyone would make fun of each other, but no one was laughing at this time. Even people who are not familiar with military strategy can feel the seriousness of the current situation.
Qian Taichong saw a dark thing on the road, which seemed to be the rocket fired by the bandits into the city. He hurried over and picked it up, only to feel that the shell was still warm. He looked at it and saw that it was a cylindrical object, about 2 inches in diameter, made entirely of iron. The front had been shattered, leaving only a large black mouth, but there were many small holes and three inclined spirals at the back. iron plate. It looks very exquisite.
While he was looking at it, Chang Qingyun pulled him: "There is much to see in this broken iron shell. Let's go back."
Qian Taichong had no choice but to carry such an iron guy down to the city.
When I got down from the city tower, I saw that the city gate was closed. Many infantrymen came from all over the city, carrying weapons and scolding the officers and soldiers outside the city. There was a lot of noise outside the city. It turned out that the officers and soldiers outside the city had lost their camp and wanted to enter the city, but the officers and soldiers in the city were worried that there would be chaos in the city after the influx of defeated troops, so they refused to open the city gate in the name of not receiving the general's order.
Back at Song Zonghui's house, those who had not gone up to the tower were still anxiously waiting for news. They had also seen the violent rocket attack just now, but they did not see it as clearly and intuitively as the people on the tower. Now I heard that the Kun thief's rockets were so fierce and powerful that all Zhang Huang was eclipsed.
"The Kun thief's rockets are so powerful that they burned down many houses in the city." While they were talking and discussing, Song Zonghui hurried over. He had just led the regiments in the city to put out the fire and maintain order. He was so busy that he stopped just now. His whole body was covered in soot stains, and his voice shook when he spoke.
"The Kun thief made a mistake by not taking advantage of the situation to attack the stronghold..." Lu Yizhong, who pretended to be calm after the fire attack, also commented.
"You are wrong. The whole army will attack at dawn. Is it possible that our soldiers can fight again?" Qian Taichong said coldly, "If our soldiers are defeated this time, they will leave tomorrow, otherwise they will die." Burial Place”v! ~!
