Minister

23【Six Years of Jiankang】

King Monan was shocked when he learned that Ximen was attacked, and the whole palace was also in panic.This city that has not experienced war for many years trembled. Many nobles fled the palace. They seemed to have lost confidence in the palace and were unwilling to live and die with the royal family. As for his deeds, since he would not attack the common people, it is naturally a matter of the Wang family and Daqi, and has nothing to do with him.

In the early morning, the streets of Ulanqab are dry and clean. Most of the shops on both sides of the road are still closed, and the sound of artillery fire outside the city has not stopped for a moment, but the residents of Ulanqab have not been disturbed by it. It is a blessed city, and all disasters are fleeting.A young mother was walking down the street with her child in her arms. She was wearing a long gown with sleeves worn by women in Monan, and because the weather was still cold in the morning, she also put on a sheepskin shawl with cut flowers and matching the floor-length shawl. The skirt looks a little bulky.The child was dressed in a short coat and jacket, and cowhide boots on his feet, looking energetic.The mother walked faster, and the child had to run every few steps, and the two of them walked towards the market just like that.

"Mukebo, do you have any salt today?" The mother and son stopped in front of a grocery store. The owner was a stout middle-aged man. The store not only had salt and oil, but also some fungus mushrooms and common dry goods.

The store has only just opened, and the goods haven't come to the shelves yet. The boss obviously recognizes the two mother and son. He put down his work and walked out of the store to tease the little boy: "Yo, I've grown taller again." He looked up at the child's mother again: "Ulji, why did you come out so early today? Can you get salt with the child? How about I give it to you?"

The young mother gave a slight salute: "Uncle, you are too polite, what else can I do if I can't afford a bag of salt? Originally, I didn't bring my baby here, but it's just a lot of noise, and I can't do anything about it." After finishing speaking, she pushed Give the child a hand: "Why don't you call Mukebo soon?"

The child was attracted by the trinkets on the shelf and didn't respond. The stout man flicked the boy's forehead and smiled helplessly: "You wait, I'll get you the salt."

The tobacco shop next door also opened its doors, and the tobacco owner greeted the two mothers and sons at the door of the grocery store: "What do you two buy?"

"Aren't there going to be wars now? Ah Mu told me to buy some salt and keep it ready." Nianqin's mother replied while breathing into her palms.

The tobacco boss laughed: "That's what you, Amuhu, are worried about! Ulanqab is a city protected by gods, how can it be so easy for people from Qi to come in? If you buy so much salt, you will eat it until autumn." Isn't it over?"

The owner of the grocery store moved a piece of salt and put it in the iron nest at the door, and was about to grind it. Hearing what the tobacco owner said, he couldn't help but strike up a conversation: "Uncle, you are not allowed to say that, you haven't heard of Nan All the villages outside the north gate have been attacked? I heard that these Qi people took a lot of scary muskets and fired them so fast and densely that no one in many villages escaped."

"It's not the first time Daqi's musketeers came out, and those evil weapons were beaten to pieces by our cavalry?" The tobacco shop owner rolled up his sleeves, leaned against the door, and took out a box of goat oil from his purse to wipe his hands.

"This time seems to be different. If you want to go to the south gate and the east gate, you have to pass the Jujuelu. If you don't go through the Jujuelu, you have to climb the snow mountains. Those snow mountains are not just blown. It takes two days to turn over. The snow shines brightly in the daytime. I can’t even open my eyes, there are so many cliffs, and at night the mountain wind is like a knife cutting. When climbing the mountain, don’t talk about sleeping, just take a break and there will be no one, let alone this group of Qi people. No man in the south can climb the snow-capped mountain. Tell me, how did they get so many cannons and so many people here?” The owner of the grocery store couldn’t help but stop what he was doing, puzzled.

"Hey! Dude, you're out of luck. I heard that those cannons and cars were shipped from Wa'enna!" Do you know how many soldiers guarding the city want to eat my cigarettes? Although the gates around the city are locked, my letter is very effective!"

"Wa'ena? Even larger trucks can't pass that place. How can they transport guns? Don't listen to me."

The owner of the tobacco shop was at a loss for words, thought for a while and said, "It can't be Lord Wotorley..."

"Hi!" The owner of the grocery store snorted, stood up and looked around: "You can't talk nonsense..."

The owner of the tobacco shop shrank his neck and put the goat oil into his pocket: "How long have you been fighting with the Daqi people? Heh... look, my beard has grown."

"Yeah, just don't bother us ordinary people. The siege has been going on for three days. Everything else is fine, but the firewood can't be brought in. The weather is still not warm! The cow dung in winter has long been used up, so we need to siege for a few more days." What should I do?"

"You two uncles, I am young and have little experience, but I am afraid that those Qi people will really break down the city gate..."

The two bosses laughed together: "What does it have to do with us ordinary people? At most, they just grab something, smash something, and it will be clean after two days. Can those Qi people still stay on the grassland?"

"What's more, we in Monan are protected by the gods, and there is a living Buddha in the royal family, who can overcome even the most dangerous difficulties." The owner of the tobacco shop gave him a hug.

"Uncle," the young mother took the salt from the grocery store owner: "...to trouble you..."

The three sighers were still exchanging greetings, when they suddenly heard exclamations from the street, and after a while, the sound of the cannon was much quieter.

"What's the matter?" Nianqin's mother suddenly became nervous, put away the salt in her hand, and picked up the child.

When the two bosses heard the movement, they hurried out of the door to look around. It was already daybreak, but there were still few pedestrians on the street, and only a few people poured out from the opened shops.A few days ago when the artillery fire was fierce, there were still many soldiers rushing to the west gate from the avenue behind the market, but yesterday there were suddenly fewer people. I only heard that the fighting at the gate of the city had eased, and that the Qi soldiers were unable to attack for a long time and were about to retreat.

"Could it be that all the soldiers have retreated?" The owner of the tobacco shop walked around the street and looked at the road.

"Why not? Listen, there's not even the sound of gunfire." The owner of the grocery store also came over.

Several people gathered around were discussing, guessing, and discussing to go to the west gate to have a look, but they heard a loud noise like thunder from the west!

"Cannon?!" A young man called out.

There is such a loud cannon?What's wrong?The cannon that defended the city exploded?Everyone fell silent, and even the outstretched neck was shortened.

This is indeed a cannon, but it is the Hongyi cannon of the Qi army.

Wei Chi has been watched closely by Xu Yue in the past few days, and he has to make a report even when he leaves the tent. The sound of the cannon and the cannon under the city wall was deafening.At this time, Wei Chi had already forgotten about the "five hundred and two" thing, and he was only worried about Du Ran -- could there be any living people under this cannon fire?

Seeing Wei Chi walking in the tent, Xu Yue felt a little dizzy. At this time, most of the people went to the front. He was old and weak, and Wei Chi was a young bird, so it was good to stay here.

Xu Yue rubbed his forehead: "Master Wei! Don't be impatient, you are so old and dizzy!" After speaking, he sighed again, thinking that he should have forgotten those meritorious deeds after seeing the tragedy of the past few days. The silly thought of rewarding him made him think about it and let go: "Master Wei, if you want to go, go, tell Hu Yanglin to follow you. Just! Don't run too close, and be careful of your life!"

When Wei Chi heard this, he quickly let out a sweet "eh".After leaving the tent, he asked for a horse and rushed straight to the front line.

The grassland seemed to have left Wei Chi with a cold feeling. It was already the end of May, but the morning wind was still biting. Wei Chi didn't care about the cloak and gloves, and got on the horse with only his coat on.Although Hu Yanglin said that his riding skills were better, his ride was not as good as that of a leopard, and he watched Wei Chi rushing away for a mile in a hurry.By the time he caught up with Wei Chi, he had already reached the front line.

Wei Chi stood blankly on the horse, with a group of wounded soldiers in front of him, it seemed that this place was only the "rear" of the front line, Wei Chi wanted to get on the horse again, but was stopped by Populus euphratica.

"Master Wei, it's impossible to go any further!" Hu Yanglin grabbed Wei Chi's arm tightly.

"I'm not going to join in the fun, I'm just worried about Du Ran and the others, so let me..."

Hu Yanglin put on a horsewhip and held Wei Chi tightly: "If you go, you won't see it! Even the artillery battalion is five miles away from General Du and the others!"

A wounded soldier beside him interrupted: "Sir, don't rush forward. The gunfire is so loud that you can't recognize each other face to face. It's no use if you go."

Wei Chi was just running around in a hurry.

Seeing that his face turned pale, Hu Yanglin couldn't bear it, so he secretly leaned into Wei Chi's ear and whispered: "A few days ago, I saw a slightly higher hillside over there. Although I couldn't see it, it was closer. go!"

Wei Chi lowered his head and thought for a while, knowing Hu Yanglin's difficulty, he agreed.

The two went around the rear and headed straight up a hill.This hill is obliquely facing the west gate. Although it is not too high, it can still look at the city gate. From the hillside, you can see the tents of General Wang in front—those tents are also on the same slope, but they are higher.Wei Chi looked over there first, and saw some small black dots moving back and forth, but it was a pity that he couldn't even see the color of the clothes clearly.Looking at the west gate, you can only see the sparks and black smoke from the artillery fire.

"I can't go!" Seeing that Wei Chi was about to run forward again, Hu Yanglin leaned forward to give him a hand, but unexpectedly lost his hand, and Wei Chi leaned into his arms.Hu Yanglin's head buzzed, and at this moment, he couldn't hear the noise in his ears. He just felt that he was sitting in his yard basking in the sun with a cat in his arms.

Wei Chi saw Populus euphratica tightly wrapping his waist, and was in a hurry, desperately wanting to separate his hands.Hu Yanglin felt the person in his arms struggling hard, only to realize that he lost his mind, blushed hard, and quickly let go.

As soon as Populus euphratica let go, Wei Chi quickly whipped him, and ran down the hillside to the camp.Hu Yanglin was startled seeing this man's desperate attitude, forgot to blush and chased after him with a whip.

Wei Chi was afraid of being met by Wang Yunyi, so he didn't dare to charge straight, so he made a detour around the front army, wanting to lean towards the west gate.The closer you get to the city gate, the more flustered you feel, the sound of artillery fire is louder, there is black smoke everywhere, black people, and the Monan soldiers on the city gate dropped all kinds of things, including stones , With burning gavels, Daqi's soldiers rushed to the top of the city again and again and were driven down again and again. The air was filled with the smell of burnt meat, and the city walls were covered with black plasma.The base of the city wall was almost a sea of ​​flames.Whenever Wei Chi thought that there would no longer be life in the sea of ​​flames, there would always be soldiers standing up from the sea of ​​flames like gods.

Are they gods?Wei Chi thought.

Seeing that Wei Chi had already entered the war zone, Hu Yanglin regretted it a lot. Although this is not the main battlefield, there are cannons everywhere on the city wall of Monan. Throwing a few here is enough to kill ten Wei Chis!Want to catch up but can't catch up!Really anxious.

Sudden!The Qi army stopped charging, and even the artillery fire stopped after the infantry retreated.Seeing Da Qi's retreat, Monan thought it was the wave that passed through, and calmed down after firing a few shells.

The battlefield filled with black smoke suddenly fell into dead silence.

Is this a break?Hu Yanglin heaved a sigh of relief, added a whip and caught up with Wei Chi who had stopped.

"Look!" Wei Chi exclaimed, pointing to Daqi's barracks.That's a cannon—the Hongyi Cannon!

The artillery array changed its formation, the anti-aircraft slingers were pushed back, and a row of larger, heavier and more powerful cannons were pushed onto the battlefield under the cover of the artillery.

"Boom!" There was a loud noise, more than twenty cannons fired in unison, the earth trembled, and after the silence was the prelude to the nightmare.

These cannons were not aimed at the top of the city, but at the corners of the city wall.Although the city wall of Ulanqab is thicker than the first class, it is a project built of earth bricks after all. After about half an hour, the city wall will become fragile.

Wei Chi has been in the rear for the past few days, so naturally he doesn't know the battle arrangements ahead. Although he is still some distance away from the position, he is almost knocked off his horse.Hu Yanglin knew the power of stray bullets, so he just stepped back to protect Wei Chi.

"Look! Look! The city wall is cracked!" Wei Chi shouted, bowing his body.

"What?" Although the two were leaning against each other, they couldn't hear what the other said at all.

"The city wall is cracked!!! It's cracked!!!" Wei Chi yelled into Populus euphratica's ear.

Hu Yanglin looked along Wei Chi's finger, and indeed saw a crack in the thick black smoke.It seems that the city is about to be broken! !A small group of infantry returned to the position under the artillery fire, trying to slip through the crack.At this moment, he was surprised to find that a group of Monan soldiers came out of the crack, some of them fought against the Qi army, and the other started to paste the wall with bricks! ! !There seems to be a steady stream of people in the city pouring out from this gap, just like this, the gap is much smaller.

The infantry on both sides faced off in this artillery fire until the sun rose overhead.

There were already three cracks on the city wall, and Wei Chi felt that they were not blasted out by cannons, but by the Qi army's flesh and blood, and they were not repaired with bricks, but with the corpses of the Monan army.

So far, the defenders on the top of the city still have no trace of surrender.

"Ah!!!!!!" There was a thunderous cry from the battlefield, which actually overwhelmed the artillery fire and soared into the sky.

Before Wei Chi saw the truth, the infantry commander of the former army had already seen the turning point of this war. He ordered the drummer to beat the drum and launched the final charge!

"Come on!!!!!!!!!"

Tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry rushed towards the city wall like a tide. Wei Chi was so shocked that he couldn't open his eyes. He couldn't even feel Populus euphratica hugging his arm tightly. A splitting headache.

"The city is about to be broken!" Hu Yanglin protected Wei Chi and retreated.

Wei Chi felt that he couldn't control his hands and feet, so he could only follow Populus euphratica's movements. While hesitating, Wei Chi asked in confusion, "What did you just say?"

Wei Chi felt Populus euphratica's mouth close to his ear.

"I just said! It's about to break the city!!"

"Broken the city?"

"Broken the city!"

The author has something to say: Everyone, don’t be jealous of Mr. Hu... It is meaningful to arrange this man (not just foreshadowing)

In other words, watching Wei Chi's performance is getting more and more painful.

Sure enough, if you want to attack in front of these old birds, you have to learn more~~~