Kang Yingqian stood up and walked outside the house. The guard guarding the door of the workshop had disappeared. The streets were in chaos and full of running figures.
After the bandits began to attack the city, guards from various government offices in the capital were sent to assist the soldiers in defending the city. Wang Gongchang was only half a mile away from Guang'an Gate. The guards from the gunpowder warehouse and even the young craftsmen climbed onto the wall of Guang'an Gate. Boil the dung juice and sprinkle it with lime.
There were only 40,000 Kaiyuan soldiers, and they were divided among them to guard the nine gates. The strength of the troops was already stretched thin, and tens of thousands of troops were left as reserves to continue fighting in the streets after the city was broken. Therefore, except for Yongding Gate, the garrison forces of the other gates were seriously understrength. If there is not enough, they have to supplement it with guards from various government offices, soldiers from town and city, and strong men in the city.
Fortunately, the focus of the bandits' attacks in the past two days has been in the direction of Yongding Gate. They mostly used feint attacks on the other city gates and did not attack them with all their strength.
Kang Yingqian folded his hands and lowered his head, and walked quickly on Guang'anmen Street. In the past, every time he went out, he would be cheered in front of him and supported by the back, and he was full of style. However, after losing power, Liu Zhaosun's original guards assigned to Lao Kang were withdrawn by Yang Hao. Kang Yingqian now walks alone wherever he goes, and everyone in Kaiyuan doesn't have to be wary of this old man who has lost power, let alone send someone to monitor Kang Yingqian.
The streets were bustling, busy but not messy. From time to time, auxiliary soldiers carrying firearms ran past Kang Yingqian. Kang Yingqian lowered his head and was wearing a blue-gray workshop uniform. No one noticed this stooped old craftsman. .
"Quick! Quick! Move the gunpowder up to the city. The thieves are coming towards Guang'anmen!"
"The thieves are about to attack the city!"
The police officers roared all around. While shouting, they ordered the strong men and auxiliary soldiers to carry firearms and gunpowder to the top of the city.
Two auxiliary soldiers dragged a four-pound infantry cannon and ran quickly towards Guang'anmen. The wheels came rolling in. Kang Yingqian quickly stepped aside, and another auxiliary soldier followed with an iron ball in his arms.
The three auxiliary soldiers ran all the way to the base of the Guang'anmen city wall. The artillery waiting there immediately took apart the infantry cannon, and used hanging baskets to hoist the barrels and frames to the top of the city. A faint tsunami-like shout could be heard outside the city. I don’t know how many troops the bandits sent to attack the city this time.
Around Guang'anmen, some houses were set alight by the bandits' divine fire flying crows, and plumes of green smoke were rising. A group of auxiliary soldiers led the people to put out the fire. On the nearby city wall, artillerymen began to reload the artillery. Thousands of divine fire flying crows had already been fired. All stood up, like swords piercing the air, waiting quietly for launch.
In front of the sacred fire flying crow, a group of strong men were busy chopping wood to make a fire. They lit piles of fires behind the crenels. On the fire were hung a dozen large iron pots filled with dung juice. The big iron pots were steaming. The dung juice mixed with lime water has begun to boil, and the cold wind blows, exuding a weird stench all over the urn city.
A little girl in ragged clothes was huddled in the ditch next to the gate of Guang'anmen Urn City. She looked at the isolated city in a sluggish expression and turned a blind eye to the busy soldiers and men around her.
"Little girl, where are your parents?"
Chu Jinsheng, the training officer of the 1st Battalion of the 13th Guards Army, took out a piece of rock candy from his sleeve and handed it to the girl. The girl took the candy and licked it.
She stretched out her dirty hand and pointed to a smoking house in front of her.
"Burned to death."
~~~~
Kang Yingqian walked along the city wall for half a mile, then turned from the intersection of North and South Streets into the Ding-shaped Alley. There were very few pedestrians in the alley. He walked dozens of steps into the alley and came to a house. He looked around with alert eyes. Seeing that there was no one around, he stepped forward and knocked on the door gently.
~~~~~~
Position on the north bank of Yongdingmen.
After the divine fire flying crows covered and bombarded them, the huddled bandits suffered heavy casualties and immediately fell into chaos.
The Kaiyuan Army detonated the mine cannon in front of the trench. Thousands of landmines exploded on the river bank half a mile away. Amidst the earth-shattering explosions, dust flew up on the north bank. The world turned orange, and the surroundings were filled with gunpowder smoke. Bu Nei couldn't see the faces clearly, and the bandits who had rushed to the trench were killed and injured numerous times.
The fire gun soldiers who retreated behind the parapet took the opportunity to launch a fierce attack on the bandits. After three rounds of volleys, more than two thousand bandits were killed and more than half were injured. Some of the people who were not hit also stopped attacking. On the verge of collapse.
No matter how crazy the thieves who came across the river behind them were, after the smoke cleared and they saw the colorful intestines, internal organs, and bloody remains of their limbs on the ground, they finally came to their senses and finally remembered that they were made of flesh and blood, and they no longer Blindly dying, some people began to hesitate, while the smarter ones immediately turned around and rushed towards the pontoon. The bandits who had no way to go had to flee along the moat to the east toward Chongwen Gate.
The offensive in the front position suddenly stopped. The bandits who rushed to the trench were either blown up by mine cannons or burned to death by flying crows. Hundreds of injured bandits lay in front of the formation and wailed in pain. The artillerymen at the city head immediately aimed their artillery at the pontoon bridge. , Kaiyuan field artillery and Shenjiying artillery formed a firepower network of varying lengths, and the defenders' artillery fire suddenly increased by a century.
Under intensive artillery bombardment, the pontoon bridges that had been built were destroyed one after another.
The iron ball hit the crudely made pontoon bridge, and the wooden planks made a creepy clicking sound. The carts that were blocked on the pontoon, unable to move forward or retreat, slowly slid into the river along the break. Elites from the old battalion wearing iron armor kept emerging from under the carts. , they waved their hands desperately and struggled in the river that was not full of iron caltrops. Finally, they were dragged down by their armor and slowly sank to the bottom of the river.
And those who rushed across the moat, as well as the carriages and ladders with nowhere to escape, lost their way out and had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue to rush forward.
After the artillery at the city head destroyed the pontoon bridge on the river, it immediately turned its muzzle towards these martyrs with no way to escape. More than two hundred surviving bandits hid behind the marquees and lingered. Finally, a dozen marques gathered together to form a marquee. Inside the city wall, the bandits hid inside and raised their bows, launching desperate shots at the firecrackers behind the breastworks.
The carriage was less than thirty steps away from the parapet, and was completely within the range of the infantry bow. However, the fire gunners were protected by the parapet and didn't care at all about these light arrows. When the bandits finished shooting their bows and arrows, another rocket rose from the top of the city, pouring down on the remnants of the enemy like a rain of fire.
The fierce fire oil carried by Shenhuo Feiyao quickly dried the water-soaked cattle felt on the top of the cart, and ignited these fire-proof siege weapons one by one. The fire burned fiercely, and some brave thieves rushed out of the cart. He tried to use his clothes to extinguish the fire above his head, but was immediately beaten into pieces by the firecrackers behind the parapet.
The carts and ladders that did not escape were quickly swallowed up by the flames, and the dilapidated pontoons on the river turned into a blazing sea of fire. The fire illuminated the moat, and under the gaze of tens of thousands of soldiers from both the attacking and defending sides, they were finally reduced to ashes. .
Emperor Wuding, surrounded by Chinese guards, climbed onto the Yongding Gate city wall in full armor and looked southward through the guards' shields.
The venomous flames reflected the sunset in the western sky, forming an anxious look in the eyes of the travelers.
"Director Xie, how much gunpowder do we have? Do we have enough?"
Xie Yang, who was sweating profusely, quickly squeezed out of the crowd and came to Emperor Wu Ding.
"Enough! Enough! Your Majesty, the Wanggong Factory, Shenji Camp, and Workshop store more than 800,000 kilograms of gunpowder. The current attack can support the army for two months."
Wang Erhu and Qi Jin wiped the sweat from their foreheads. Both of them were exhausted. Wang Erhu's voice was hoarse and speechless. Qi Jin paid a military salute to the emperor. He could not hide his joy under his exhausted expression.
"Your Majesty, the bandits have killed or injured at least 3,000 people. Most of them are old thieves. Their morale is low and they will be unable to attack again for a while. The capital can be saved!"
Liu Zhaosun encouraged Qi Jin and raised his telescope to look at the south bank. There were endless tents in the bandit camp. At dusk, countless smoke rose from the camp. The emperor could clearly see that several bandits sneaked to the river and took advantage of the opportunity. In the dark of night, he secretly dragged the corpse of an old camp soldier who died in battle from the water, cut it into eight pieces on the spot, threw it into a large pot, and burned firewood underneath.
Emperor Wu Ding put down his telescope, looked at the few surviving confidants around him, and said calmly:
"This time our enemies are not humans, but beasts. Only one of humans or beasts can survive, and there will be a more fierce battle tomorrow."
The surviving civil servants and generals had no other choice but to follow their Emperor Wu Ding and continue to fight the bandits until the winner was determined.
According to the habit of bandits, if they lost so many men and captured the city today, not only Liu Zhaosun but also other generals would most likely be thrown into the cauldron.
Everyone dispersed, only Zhang Dong and Pei Dahu remained with the emperor. The two looked at each other, and the head servant came to the emperor's side and whispered:
"Your Majesty, Kang Yingqian is afraid that he is going to defect to the Liu thief. Our people saw that he was closely communicating with the Liu thief..."
Liu Zhaosun smiled and shook his head, waved his hand and interrupted:
"It's going to rain, and my mother wants to get married. If she can't do anything, let him do it."
"After all, I have been with him for so long. I hope that in the end, Lao Kang will be more dignified."
Zhang Dong couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, my subordinates have been monitoring this person for a long time. Kang Yingqian is not a decent person."
Emperor Wu Ding looked at Zhang Dong with a tired face. He did not expect that at the last moment, his newest person would betray him.
"I have to concentrate on dealing with the stray thief. Don't disturb me with these chores in the future. Don't do anything yet. Continue to monitor him. If he is really disgraceful, you can help him show his dignity."
