Chen Zhaoxian's entire army was annihilated, which meant that the last barrier to Jiqing was removed. The gathering at this time was like a girl who had been stripped naked and exposed naked in front of the rebels.
The rebel army was so powerful that after leaving some troops to defend the city, Zhu Yuanzhang mobilized 50,000 soldiers and horses, carrying the residual power of the victory, and drove towards Jiqing City, advancing by waterway.
When he was still five miles away from the city wall, he ordered the whole army to sound the drums and gongs. For a moment, the field was filled with noise, as if there were thousands of troops marching.
The Yuan army on the top of the city trembled uncontrollably when they heard the huge noise. They were frightened. Their morale had dropped to the lowest point after learning that the two armies of Barbarian Hague and Chen Zhaoxian had been wiped out. Now even The last trace of fighting spirit was gone.
Someone dropped his weapon and was about to flee into the city. He wanted to disguise himself as a civilian and escape the disaster.
However, a sword stopped them.
That was Fu Shou, the censor of Xingtai. Behind him, the soldiers uniformly drew their weapons and pointed them at the deserters.
"Those who retreat will be killed!" Fushou's eyes were full of coldness.
"How can we, who have lived in this world for a long time and are rich in wealth, and are facing a battle, turn our backs on the Lord and run away?" he said loudly.
"Open the city gate and meet the enemy!"
"Doctor, we don't have enough troops, so it's better to defend the city." A general advised, but before he could finish his words, Fushou sent the long sword in his hand, hitting him right in the heart. The general said with disbelief His eyes fell.
Fushou gritted his teeth and said word by word:
"Anyone who dares to retreat will be killed!"
Under his coercion, the Yuan army finally slowly drove out of the city and formed an array.
Fushou believed that as long as the Yuan army cheered up, the enemies on the opposite side would never be a match for the Yuan army. You must know that they had defeated the Red Scarf Army twice and even killed their marshal!
But he overestimated the Yuan army's will to resist and his own command ability.
Even before a head-on battle with the rebels, the Yuan army at the front was hit by firepower from the rebel navy. Although this was already the limit of the firing range, there were still hundreds of casualties under the salvo of thousands of artillery fire.
This was the straw that broke the camel's back.
The large army of rebels has not arrived yet, and the Yuan army has been defeated. They no longer care about the imperial censors, and rush towards the city desperately. Now only the tall city walls can give them some comfort.
Fushou led his soldiers to kill several people in succession, but when he saw the Yuan soldiers with red eyes and pointing their weapons at them, he could only lament and helplessly get out of the way.
Yan Ling stood on the bow of the ship, high-spirited. He commanded the sand ship to continuously fire bombardments, and watched proudly as the Yuan army was defeated. This time, the three giant ships were still under his command, but the rest of the fleet was led by the generals of the Chaohu navy.
"Attack the city!" Following Zhu Yuanzhang's order, the soldiers rushed forward swarmly, carrying ladders and braving arrows and artillery fire.
Ants attack the city!
This distance is a little far for the ship, and the artillery fire can no longer reach it. Moreover, the rebels have already reached the city wall, and any further fire will cause accidental damage.
But that doesn't mean that the navy is useless. Yan Ling looked at the map and quickly came up with another idea.
At this time, the rebel attack was also hindered.
Although the morale of the Yuan army was extremely low at this time, there were more than 30,000 people after all. Relying on the city wall and artillery, the rebel army was unable to attack for a while. However, seeing that the rebel army could not do anything to them, the morale of the Yuan army actually improved slightly. Some.
If this continues, although it will still be a matter of time before the city is conquered, the casualties of the rebels will probably not be small.
It is a pity to know that many of these troops are elite, and they are wasted in meaningless ant possession.
Zhu Yuanzhang rubbed his eyebrows and felt a little headache. There were only a small number of surrendered troops among them, and most of them were old troops who fought with him from Chuzhou. Such casualties made him feel heartbroken.
However, he had no better way. As the ants attacked the city, casualties were inevitable.
Seeing the scene in front of him, Yan Ling called someone and wrote a handwritten letter and asked him to hand it to Zhu Yuanzhang.
"Marshal, Yan Dushi ordered me to deliver this letter to you."
"Huh?" Zhu Yuanzhang was a little surprised. Logically speaking, the navy is useless now. Does he want to lead the navy and land forces into battle?
He slowly opened the piece of paper, but he did not report any expectations. The army that was good at land warfare had paid such a high price, and the addition of the navy would only increase casualties.
And when he read the whole letter, in an instant, he was ecstatic!
Zhu Yuanzhang's command arrived soon, and at the same time, Liao Yongzhong led an army of two thousand people and boarded the navy ship with siege equipment.
"Turn around!"
Yan Ling issued the order, and the three giant ships slowly set sail. Their target was the west city wall of Jiqing.
Passing the Yangtze River and entering the Qinhuai River, you can reach the foot of Jiqing City. It is very close to the river and is not suitable for large armies to spread out, but the navy can give full play to its artillery advantage.
The only thing blocking them was the Jiangdong Bridge.
"Bump it away."
The giant ship was so willful, and Yan Ling seemed to experience the pleasure of Zheng He in later generations.
Without the last obstacle, the west wall of Jiqing was nakedly exposed to everyone, while the Yuan army on the top of the city stared at this scene in stunned silence.
The terrain here is not suitable for the army to spread out, so it is not the focus of defense at all. They never thought that the rebels would choose this place as a breakthrough.
In fact, this is indeed the case. Zhu Yuanzhang had never thought of using this place as the direction of attack before, because it was next to the river, and the army could not even move into formation. If they really wanted to attack the city, they would be crowded together in a mess, making them a living target.
"Don't be afraid!" the Yuan army commander on top of the city shouted loudly:
"We have three thousand people, they can't attack! Prepare to defend!"
His shouting restored some confidence to the soldiers of the Yuan army. They began to light their artillery, bend their bows and arrows, and prepare to attack.
However, the next second, fierce fire flashed before their eyes - not their own, but the rebels'.
The artillery mounted on the three sand ships opened fire recklessly! Countless boulders fell from the sky, and with the roar of cannons, the city turned into a bloody hell in an instant! The Yuan army collapsed instantly!
The rebels easily captured the city, and the west wall was subsequently lost.
When the news reached Fushou's ears, he only felt dizzy. He knew what it meant. The west city wall was broken, and the Yuan army had no advantage anymore. It could be said that half of the city had fallen into the hands of the rebels!
But he still wasn't going to give up.
"Gather your troops and prepare for street fighting!"
