Chapter 25 Day 6 Night
Chapter 25 The Sixth Day and Night
Yangzhou City fell, on the sixth day and night.
The 50,000 surrendered soldiers outside the city were in chaos.
The troops under the command of General Li Tongyan rebelled and attacked at night, with the fire spreading for ten miles and more than 40,000 soldiers captured.
Rumors of an attack from the four towns in northern Jiang were spreading like wildfire, so Li Tongyan launched an attack on Yangzhou City under the pretext that Tieduo was dead.
Tieduo, who was stationed in Datai Temple, dispatched 3,000 white-flag cavalrymen. With just one charge, they dispersed the enemy's vanguard and Li Tongyan was forced to withdraw from the city.
The city gates were closed by the halberd soldiers, and the captains of each unit received military orders to immediately stop looting and return to their camps.
Li Tongyan, aware of the enemy's intention, immediately led his personal guard battalion to attack the northern city wall, and the battle was in full swing.
……
Southern city wall.
Jiang He climbed up along the gap between the bricks and stones, and General Li's advice rang in his ears.
"Two hours. You only have two hours to assassinate."
"Although the army hastily launched an attack and caught the Qing army off guard, the fact is that from outside the pass to inside the pass, from north to south of the Yangtze River, most of the generals and soldiers have been killed and frightened. Unless you can provide enough military pay, I dare not say that we will fight head-on."
"Most importantly, we are short of cavalry. All the horses have been surrendered and supplied to the White Flag soldiers."
"Without Tieduo's head before dawn, our army will surely be defeated."
Finally, Jiang He climbed up the southern city wall.
Looking around, Yangzhou City had been through six days of massacre. The corpses on both sides of the road were soaked in sewage, causing their skin to turn green like drums, their flesh to rot inside, and the stench was overwhelming. As the martial law order was ineffective, the eyes were burning everywhere, flames filled the sky, the room was filled with mist, and the stench spread for a hundred miles.
Occasionally, one can see wandering citizens on the streets, their bodies battered and battered, with broken arms and legs, knife marks all over their bodies, and bloodstains all over their bodies. Behind them, there are still green soldiers with swords chasing them, like countless yakshas and evil spirits chasing and killing thousands of lives, and now there are hundreds of thousands of people who have died tragically.
The entire city of Yangzhou seems unlike the human world.
Jiang He lay on the city wall, picked up the monocular telescope he got from General Li, and searched the city bit by bit.
The White Flag Cavalry of the Qing Army were putting on their armor. They did not rashly leave the city before because they did not want to suffer heavy casualties.
The Halberd Battalion guards the northern city wall. These strong men wield halberds, and one person can defend an entire battlement.
In the direction of Datai Temple, a number of captains were gathering. Among them, the Shenji Battalion was located closest to the center. Its forty-two red cannons once had an amazing record of knocking down city walls.
Jiang He suddenly stood up and moved quickly to the side, adjusting the angle to continue observing. He saw dozens of young soldiers constantly carrying out shells and gunpowder from a house on the central street.
Tie Duo led the White Flag Soldiers across the river and headed south. They were an isolated army and carried a large amount of ammunition to attack cities and strongholds. However, nineteen years ago during the Tianqi period of the Ming Dynasty, an explosion occurred at the Wanggongchang gunpowder depot in the old capital, killing and injuring more than 20,000 people. It was known in history as the Tianqi Explosion. The Qing Army's stockpiled equivalent should not be that much, but the power of gunpowder is still worth looking forward to.
"found it."
"The Qing army is suppressing the rebellion. This is an opportunity."
"The advantage of using strength to defeat weakness is explosion."
Jiang He got down from the top of the city wall and moved forward quickly among the ruins. His body was like a cheetah, extremely agile. The joints of the rare armor borrowed from Chu Fuqiang were flexible and did not affect his movements at all.
A quarter of an hour later, he returned to the central street. According to the plan, General Li's rebellion was only used to attract firepower, and the real decision of victory or defeat would lie in the assassination.
Around the houses, the Shenji Camp had already left under heavy protection, and an entire group of commanders were guarding the gunpowder depot. On the street not far away, there were troops being mobilized.
Seeing this, Jiang He turned around and left, heading to the Yan Family Cemetery in the west of the city, and found Chu Fuqiang on the beam in the Yan Family's old house. "Brother Mo Ke!"
The burly man landed on the ground, looking thinner and starving.
Jiang He said briefly: "I plan to charge again, and I need you to attract the attention of a garrison commander. Also, lend me the Stalker's Seal. If I am not dead, I will return it to you tomorrow morning."
Chu Fuqiang knew that the other party wanted to kill Tieduo, and this alone was worth the in-depth cooperation between the two sides.
"Time, place, and what I should do." Chu Fuqiang agreed very readily, in full military style.
"follow me."
The two men left the old house of the Yan family and ran all the way to the central street. Those stationed here were Tieduo's direct subordinates, and the captain was even an "acquaintance". He ordered the four-man team to be dispersed on the day the city was broken. Because he was killed for his subordinates, he could only watch the military achievement of suppressing the rebellious army.
"I want to steal the gunpowder inside. Try to delay as much as possible. If things get out of hand, retreat on your own. Add me as a friend first."
Chu Fuqiang roughly understood what someone meant. After handing over the Stalker's Chapter, he accepted the friend request. He consumed energy to summon the Running Stone Horse and prepared for battle.
Half a quarter of an hour later, a man holding an axe in one hand rode his horse and charged into the battle line, causing a commotion.
Jiang He went around to the back of the gunpowder depot, used the Chapter of the Stalker to take out a team of guards, and shot and blasted a corner of the brick wall.
The gunpowder was very dark inside, so the Qing army would use torches to dry the air before storing it to prevent the humid environment of the rainy season from destroying the gunpowder. A qualified warehouse required a lot of effort.
Jiang He ignored the dozen or so red cannons. The gunpowder they were equipped with was specially sealed in dense wooden boxes to prevent it from exploding when in contact with open flames. There were a total of 102 wooden boxes. He couldn't estimate their power for the time being, but Tieduo still had several important towns and accompanying towns to capture in the south, so the stock of gunpowder was definitely not small.
The wooden boxes were put into the item bag one by one. Jiang He raised his hand and inhaled the surrounding air. The item bag was catalyzed by thermal radiation and the flames burned fiercely. Finally, the oxygen was exhausted, the flames went out, and turned into more intense thermal radiation and shock waves.
Jiang He used the last tenth of a box of gunpowder to load the bullets, and after firing, he blew up the wall in front of the gunpowder depot.
Outside, Chu Fuqiang, who was fighting bloody battles, received the signal and stopped fighting and immediately rode away on horseback.
The garrison commander understood what was happening and led his troops back to defend the city with anger, but found the place empty.
"Notify Lord Tieduo immediately!"
……
Leave the powder magazine.
Jiang He ran towards the Datai Temple. Under the double cover of the night and the Chapter of the Stalker, his figure looked like a black shadow.
The second time he came to Shou Lake, Jiang He dived directly into the water, and only emerged a few times to breathe before successfully reaching the shore.
Due to Li Tongyan's rebellion, the Daji Camp and the Shenji Camp had both left, but when someone walked out of the garden, the fifteen hundred personal soldiers seemed to have been waiting for a long time, lined up in formation, with torches burning in layers, making the three-mile distance look like a ghost road in the underworld.
Under the Eight Treasures Pagoda, Tieduo was wearing a red brocade robe and had an indifferent look. No matter whether it was the rebellion outside the city or the arrival of someone, it seemed to be nothing in his eyes.
"Try to capture him with the goal of killing him," Tieduo ordered.
The great shaman in yellow armor shouted: "If the enemy gets within two miles, kill them all in the camp. Don't let him get close to the prince."
During the first battle of Datai Temple, the Great Shaman saw with his own eyes that this fierce land dragon used unknown means to instantly kill the black-robed man, and the effective range was at least twenty feet.
(End of this chapter)