A tsunami roared from the mountains outside Yongding Gate.
"The first one to climb the city will be promoted to General and will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver! The one who captures and kills Liu Zhaosun alive will be promoted to the rank of general and will be rewarded with a reward of 10,000 taels of silver! Anyone who retreats will die!"
Liu Zongmin reined up his horse and stood in front of the Yongding Gate moat, his whip pointed forward.
The old battalion's horse soldiers immediately waved their command flags and conveyed General Liu's reward order to the front.
The thieves crossing the river buzzed like an endless swarm of locusts flapping their wings.
Both sides of the moat are filled with various battlefield noises: the roar of rockets taking off, the bombardment of artillery, the vibration of bowstrings, the sound of firecrackers exploding, the sound of people screaming and horses neighing, and the explosion of landmines stepped on by thieves...
The carts crowded the river bank like densely packed beetles, and they were all eager to cross the river. Whenever a pontoon bridge was erected, the carts filled with sand and as heavy as oxen would crush their own corpses, rushing towards the Yongdingmen city wall. .
boom! boom!
The city head of Yongding Gate, five hundred paces away, was covered by pieces of white smoke. From the bottom of the city, the appearance of the defenders above could not be seen, and even the flags of the Qi army could not be seen clearly.
Only the cannonballs would penetrate the white smoke, pour down, hit the pontoon, and shatter the crudely made wooden boards on the river into pieces.
The heavy shield car made an unsettling creaking sound and slowly sank to the bottom of the river.
Ignoring the fact that his companions were still struggling in the water, the bandit smashed the plank over the head of the person who fell into the water. The people behind him carried thousands of bamboo ladders and passed quickly on the plank.
Suddenly there was a crackling sound of firecrackers on the north bank of the moat. Reinforcements of the musketeers of the 2nd Guards Corps came to take over the friendly positions. The musketeers of the 12th Guards Corps stationed on the river bank suffered all casualties, and the river bank position was about to be lost.
The reinforcements lined up in three rows and took turns shooting at the other side. The surrounding smoke filled the air, forming a continuous barrage. The firing range of the gunmen was extremely poor. Fortunately, there were many bandits and they were densely packed like a tide. Every bullet could kill. Kill one or two enemies, so there is no need to aim at all, just repeat the reloading and shooting action.
Thousands of bamboo ladders were erected on the other side of the river, and an equal number of planks completely filled the river surface. Regardless of the elders, servants, or elites from the old camp, they all rushed to jump on the planks first, not even waiting for the carts to arrive, or even the pontoon bridge. After setting it up, he used his hands and feet to paddle the board towards the other side of the river.
The river section about thirty paces wide and two miles long was quickly filled up by the bandits. Three or four people could even stand on a small wooden board. As soon as they took a few steps forward, the board was crushed and the bandits shouted. He fell into the cold, biting river water covered with thorns.
There are still tides of bandits on the south bank waiting to rush to the city and win the first place. Many of them are surrendered frontier troops, armed with long knives, axes, sticks and sticks. Some elites are holding rifles and bows on the north bank. Fire soldiers shoot at each other.
No one could care about the stray bullets whizzing by their ears or the companions who were shot and fell to the ground beside them. Even the homeless people with empty hands were affected by this powerful offensive. They threw their arms and shouted, shouted loudly, and urged and pushed the people in front. The people asked them not to delay their fortune and cross the river quickly.
Even the refugees who were busy tamping earth and building earth walls in the distance were rushing towards this direction. Everyone wanted to cross the river as soon as possible and cut off Liu Zhaosun's head.
Those who started to cross the river could not retreat for a while and could not board the north bank. Many people became living targets of the Kaiyuan soldiers. Some old camp horse soldiers carrying bows and arrows knelt on the wooden planks and bent down to shoot at the Kaiyuan soldiers. .
Gao Yingxiang lay down behind an old battalion with a shield, using the man to cover himself, and looked at the other bank through the edge of the shield. A servant was responsible for paddling forward, and the plank swayed towards the north bank despite the dense rain of artillery fire.
At this time, looking at the positions on the north bank from the river, Kaiyuan soldiers' artillery fire became increasingly intensive. The continuous white barrage connected the river bank and the city wall, making it difficult to distinguish them. They were like a group of man-eating monsters, constantly breathing orange-red flames to harvest. A waste of life.
From behind the white barrage, lead bullets, rockets, and iron balls were shot out from time to time, hitting the river and pouring into the crowd of thieves swarming across the river.
"Gao Yingxiang, where is your aunt?"
The old soldier holding the shield was from the same village as Gao Yingxiang, and his surname was Gao, so he was willing to take him across the river.
"There was a thunderstorm there, one leg flew into the sky, and the ball was dead."
Gao Yingxiang raised the long knife with a gap and pointed behind him. Just as he was about to ask his fellow villagers how to fight the dog officers and soldiers after crossing the river, a black shadow flew straight towards his head. The old soldier hurriedly gave him a hand. Gao Yingxiang Shrinking, the big arrow hit his scalp and shot behind him, piercing the neck and chest of the man who was paddling behind.
The servant screamed, lying on the wooden board and kicking his feet wildly, looking at the two people pleadingly. Before Gao Yingxiang could react, Laoying kicked Siyang and kicked the wounded man into the river.
"You paddle!"
Laoying glanced at the oar still dripping with blood at his feet and looked up at Gao Yingxiang.
Gao Yingxiang anxiously held the oar. At this time, there were only ten steps away from the shore. Countless wooden planks were approaching the shore. Groups of bandits jumped off the planks regardless of life and death, and landed to fight the Kaiyuan soldiers in close combat. The original dense fire was The sound of gunfire was obviously much sparser.
"Brother Gao, if I follow you, I'm following the right person. After crossing the river, we brothers will climb into the city together and kill..."
Before he could finish his words, there was only a muffled bang, and another heavy arrow hit the cowhide shield.
"Donkeys, dog officers and soldiers can also shoot arrows! This is a three-layered cowhide shield. See if you can shoot it through! See if I rush up and hack you to death!"
Before the old soldier could finish his words, there was a loud bang, and his body as strong as an ox and its cowhide shield flew straight out like it was hit by a hammer, and fell into the river next to the wooden plank. Brother Gao did not die for a moment. His hands and feet kicked around and got entangled in the thorns, unable to move. He pushed the board towards the north bank with his hands.
"Good brother, remember to burn paper for me when you become an official..."
Brother Gao struggled twice and finally sank slowly to the bottom of the water.
Gao Yingxiang opened his mouth wide, collapsed on the wooden board, and screamed. At this time, the shield floated, and a hole the size of a bowl appeared in the middle.
He looked at Brother Gao with a dead look on his face, and was so frightened that he took a step back, still yelling.
Suddenly another black shadow flew over, and Gao Yingxiang immediately recognized the shape of the black shadow. It was a flying ax rotating at high speed.
He quickly turned his head to the side, as if a fire was burning in his chest. He didn't even notice when the ax scratched his cheek and smashed the wooden board.
At this point he finally reached the north shore.
White smoke fell from the surroundings, revealing the dog officers in black clothes behind them. At this time, the fire gun soldiers had withdrawn and were replaced by spear soldiers.
Rows of long-range gunmen were fighting the beached bandits elsewhere, and there was only a pile of corpses opposite Gao Yingxiang.
It was found that the armor they wore was completely different from the frontier troops seen in Shanxi, and the spears in their hands were even longer than ordinary officers and soldiers.
The new bandits rushed to both sides, and no one paid attention to this place.
Gao Yingxiang picked up the long knife and jumped off the board. When he found an injured fire gun soldier on the ground, he stabbed the tip of the knife into the Kaiyuan soldier's heart without hesitation.
Kaiyuan Bing opened his mouth wide, feeling the cold tip of the knife slowly break through the skin and muscles, getting closer to his heart.
A dense platoon of heavy arrows suddenly shot from behind, covering both the enemy and us indiscriminately. It was the elite of the old battalion crossing the river.
The pikemen and bandits were knocked down. The pikemen retreated slightly, and then replaced the gunmen and came up to shoot with the bandit archers.
At the moment when pikemen and firecrackers alternated, Gao Yingxiang escaped the heavy arrows from the old camp and rolled into a sunken mud pit nearby. Firecrackers rang out above his head. He quickly touched the body with his hands and smeared human blood on it. On his face, lying next to the dead fire gun soldier.
