There was a bonfire burning in the entrance of the east gate of Luoyang, and seven or eight recruits were gathering here to take shelter from the wind and warm themselves up. They saw a group of people approaching from a distance, and they shouted out questions.
"Brothers are tired from patrolling the streets. Come here to ask for some water to warm your body and bones." Wang Liugen said in the Luoyang dialect that he was not very proficient in.
The guards in the city gate seemed to feel something was wrong, and one of them shouted loudly: "Wait, the accent is wrong, stop quickly, don't go in any more..."
"Whoosh!"
Before he could finish his words, an arrow pierced his throat. There was a trace of regret and reluctance in his eyes, but it was too late. He suddenly raised his hands to pull out the arrow from his neck.
But as soon as it touched the arrow, it lost all its strength and slowly dropped weakly.
"Killing people..."
"...There are spies...There are spies in the city..."
They had never seen such a battle before. Normally, when they were fine, they would hold a red-tasseled spear in their hands and show off their power, but after seeing blood, they were like rabbits being chased by falcons, scurrying around.
He couldn't even think of turning around to pick up the spear placed on the wall of the doorway.
"Come up, you climb the city and lower the suspension bridge. Quick, quick!" Wang Liugen shouted loudly.
Wang Liugen had previously sneaked into the team of new soldiers that Shao Shichang later recruited to defend the city. Although he didn't speak much inside, he carefully observed every arrangement.
Today, he was ordered to lead two teams of cavalry lurking in the city, posing as night watchmen, and responsible for a surprise attack on the east gate. Fortunately, in the bitterly cold winter at the fourth watch, many night watch teams found shelter at the corner of the old house to warm themselves up.
Walk to the east gate.
After all, they are old troops who have gone through battles, and almost all of them are born in the night. Dealing with these newly recruited hungry people is not as easy as chopping melons and vegetables.
"Bang bang bang..."
Amidst Wang Liugen's orders, they strode towards the city gate. After entering a distance of thirty steps, a burst of cannons and cannons fired, blinding the guards who were already fleeing in all directions. They all knelt on the ground and shivered.
.
Except for the howling cold wind, there was no other sound in the originally silent night sky. It was almost eerily quiet, and a very discordant blast of firecrackers was heard, which was even more harsh.
There were dozens of people on the top of the city hiding in the city gate tower to take shelter from the wind. When they heard the blast of cannons below, they immediately felt like a pot was exploding. They rushed out of the city gate tower shouting.
Some people were so anxious that they even forgot to take their weapons.
Wang Liugen had already climbed up the steps to the city. He shouted loudly: "Brothers below, open the city gate quickly."
Then he shouted to the top of the city wall: "The officers and soldiers of Xuanzhen have seized the city. If you surrender, don't kill them!"
"The army has entered the city... Surrender without killing..."
A group of capable warriors followed Wang Liugen and rushed up the towering Luoyang City Wall. They saw dozens of people rushing out of the East Gate Tower. The first person was waving a spear in his hand and was barking and commanding.
The rest are all.
Wang Liugen was the first to rush forward. He held a waist knife in his right hand and a short-handed blunderbuss that had not yet been fired in his left hand. He raised his hand and fired the blunderbuss from a distance of less than twenty steps.
With an explosion of "Bang!", the leading guard's brains burst open and splashed all over the faces and bodies of the people next to him.
Before they could react, another "bang bang bang..." sound of firecrackers was heard one after another, and strong men rushed out of the smoke. They screamed and screamed again and again.
These guards were originally recruited from the hungry people in the city, and they had never seen such a battle before. Seven or eight of them were knocked down immediately. Blood flowed all over the ground, and their plasma was mixed with other unknown sticky substances.
All over the place.
The guards in the east gate tower just looked at each other and dispersed like birds and beasts. Some of them even collapsed on the city wall, lying on the ground and burst into tears.
Wang Liugen put the short blunderbuss in his left hand back into the blunderbuss bag, took out an inconspicuous small gray porcelain bottle from his arms, threw it towards the east gate tower, and shouted: "Light the fire quickly and set off the suspension bridge!"
…………
Outside the Dongguan of Luoyang City, Cui Shijie looked at the city gate tower standing not far away, and said slightly anxiously: "Chen Tou, do you want to send a few clever soldiers to climb the city?"
"Hey, I'm worried. Calm down, that guy Wan Guangjin has fifty or sixty people in the city. It's not a piece of cake to seize the door to deal with the newly recruited hungry people."
After Chen Zhong finished speaking, he raised his head and glanced at the sky, and then said: "It's almost the fourth watch. Let's cheer up and move our arms and legs. It's time to start work."
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a crisp sound coming from the city. Although it was far away, in such a silent night sky, as long as there was a trace of sound, it would be heard far away.
Immediately after that crisp sound, there was another sound like exploding beans. This time, even Cui Shijie shouted in surprise: "It's starting, it's our gunfire, brothers, get ready to enter the city!"
After a while, a fire was seen on the east gate tower, and flames instantly shot into the sky, followed by a noisy sound of fighting, pursuit, and curses, which came down from the wall of Weng City.
Chen Zhong also stood up at this time and shouted loudly: "The cavalry is mounted and ready to enter the city."
Immediately afterwards, he saw more torches on the urn city, noisy people, and the huge suspension bridge slowly lowered. Chen Zhong turned around and said to Cui Shijie: "Mr. Cui Qian, see you at the prefect's Yamen!"
On the side, Yang Shijie, the third master of Yangjialou, also led two of his followers to ride horses to Chen Zhong's side. Teams of cavalry had already mounted their horses and were waiting for the suspension bridge to fall completely.
Just at this time, the suspension bridge in Dongguan also fell. Chen Zhong knocked his stirrup, waved the mace in his hand, and shouted loudly: "Enter the city!"
He took the lead and ran across the suspension bridge and rushed into the urn city. A fire was burning on the city gate tower. Flying tiles and burning wood fell from time to time. A fire block fell from in front of Chen Zhong's horse and almost hit his horse's head.
He hurriedly waved the mace in his hand and knocked aside the fire blocks that fell in the air. He turned around and shouted loudly: "Quick, take down every door quickly, don't get away from Shao Shichang!"
He first rushed into the east gate of Luoyang City, followed by groups of cavalry, galloping forward without encountering any obstacles along the way, at the intersection of Gulou Street.
Chen Zhong waved the mace again and said loudly: "Separate!"
So the cavalry separated, and each sentry was assigned in advance to seize the other three city gates. He and Yang Shijie led four teams of elite cavalry and galloped straight to the prefect's Yamen.
…………
There was silence in front of the Luoyang Magistrate's Yamen, not even a single person was seen. Wan Guangjin led dozens of brothers to the outside of the Yimen and pressed their bodies against the wall of the Yamen courtyard.
He turned back to several sergeants and said: "Knock on the door and tell them that there is an army attacking the city. Please stay with Shao and climb to the city as soon as possible."
Just as the sergeants ran to knock on the door, Wan Guangjin saw fire rising from the east gate. He felt a little anxious, so he got up and ran towards the Yimen.
"Dong dong dong... dong dong dong..."
Several sergeants were banging on the door with the hilts of their knives, and an impatient voice shouted from inside: "Damn it, you're knocking so fast..."
It happened that Wan Guangjin also came to the door at this time, and he shouted: "Sleep with your mother, the officers and soldiers stole the city at night, the east gate has been lost, open the door quickly, protect Shao Liushou and surrender to King Chuang!"
The guard inside the door seemed to have seen the soaring fire on the east door side. He only heard a panic and confusion inside, with chaotic footsteps and screams, and the door slowly opened.
Wan Guangjin didn't wait for the door to open fully, then he kicked it open, rushed in and cut down a guard with a knife, shouting: "Throw the knife away if you don't want to die, get down!"