Zhang Nai is really angry. The Kaifeng city wall is already strong. The soldiers and civilians defending the city have gone through yesterday's trench-filling battle and are now cooperating with each other in an orderly manner. They are not as panicked as they were yesterday.
Seeing that the excavation of the city was progressing slowly but with heavy losses, and a large number of wounded soldiers were transported back from the base of the city wall, he felt a rage in his heart with nowhere to vent.
Suddenly I heard the news: "Officers and soldiers descended from the city and were fighting bloody battles with the soldiers and civilians digging into the city at the base of the city."
Zhang Nao bared his teeth and cursed: "It's his grandma's fault. Only these shrinking bastards dare to come down to the city to fight!"
He shouted angrily: "Call the brothers and kill them all. Don't ask any of them to go back to the city."
The bandits here even saved the whole team. They followed Zhang Nai and rushed to the west wall of Kaifeng like a flock of crows competing for food.
…………
Zhu Zhicang cut down several hungry people one after another, and then he saw a bandit running toward him with a shield and a sword. The thief's left foot.
The thief's reaction was also very quick. He squatted down, moved his shield forward with his left hand to block Zhu Zhicang's saber, and then slashed at his waist with the saber in his right hand.
Zhu Zhicang had no time to dodge, and was stabbed hard by the bandit on the waist. Fortunately, the cotton armor on his body was fine enough, and the blade did not hurt him. However, under such a heavy blow, he almost died. .
Zhu Zhicang resisted the surging energy and blood in his internal organs, and kicked the thief's right ankle with his right foot. Hearing a crisp "click" sound, the thief fell to the ground and started wailing.
Zhu Zhicang didn't get up first. He took advantage of the thief's pain and kicked the shield held by the thief in his left hand continuously until the thief screamed and finally threw the shield away.
Zhu Zhicang turned over and came closer. The moment the thief threw away his shield, the sword in his right hand changed from chopping to stabbing, and the tip of the knife inserted itself into the thief's neck.
As the blood continued to gush out, the thief stopped struggling and howling, but Zhu Zhicang did not dare to rest. He crawled up a few steps to pick up the shield that the thief had discarded, and then stood up.
Those who were still alive among the Kaifeng garrison who had come down from the city were all rushing down the mountain like hungry tigers. Those hungry people had never seen such a battle, and they had long lost their souls. They were going crazy. Escape to the ditch.
As the hungry people fled, Zhu Zhicang and his team immediately took advantage. The remaining dozen people forced six or seven thieves into one place. These thieves came to dig the city and did not bring any close combat equipment. arms.
The thieves who were digging the city were unable to fight back under the siege of Zhu Zhicang and others. Just when they felt desperate, more than ten thieves rushed from the north, and the leader was actually carrying a mace.
"Don't be afraid, brothers, someone is here to save you!"
He screamed strangely and rushed over. Two Sheyong rushed up to stop him, but one of them was directly knocked away by the mace in his hand. The other was stunned for a moment, and was hit by the thieves rushing behind him. He was kicked to the ground, and then another soldier came up from behind, holding a big city brick in his hand, and smashed the head of She Yong into pieces with one blow.
Seeing such a posture, Zhu Zhicang was also frightened. The shield in his left hand blocked the sword that appeared to be coming from his waist, and the sword in his right hand slashed in an arc between the neck of the thief. The moment the blood splattered, he dodged and ran towards the south. rise.
"boom!"
There was an explosion, and smoke rose among the more than ten charging thieves. The huge air wave knocked them all to the ground. The leader of the thieves, who was broad-shouldered and round-waisted, was kneeling on one knee.
On the ground, he looked around with big eyes and shook his big head vigorously from time to time.
Although Zhu Zhicang was far away, he was still shaken to the point where his ears were numb. Seeing that the band of thieves suffered heavy casualties and the rest were also shaken to a mess, he hurriedly regained his composure and turned around to greet the group of warriors.
Then he ran towards the bandits and soldiers to kill him.
…………
There were less than two thousand bandit soldiers on Zhang Nai's side. Apart from the archers and those who were forcing the hungry people to dig bricks in the front, there were only four to five hundred people gathered around him. He gave the order and led the troops.
These people rushed to the base of the city wall.
Just after he cut down two She Yong who were defending the city, he was grabbed by a small leader and shouted to him: "Little Master Zhang, Shuangxi, the young general is here to find you. King Chuang has issued an urgent order to stop the attack on the cave city.
The whole army retreats and forms a formation."
"What?"
"King Chuang gives an urgent order to withdraw the troops and form formations."
Zhang Nai confirmed that it was King Chuang who ordered it personally. He couldn't understand at all. With his troops, he could completely annihilate the hundreds of defenders who descended from the city wall, so why did they suddenly withdraw?
But he had to obey King Chuang's military orders, so he shouted: "Quickly, take the injured brother back and ask the archers to cover the big guys."
…………
"The thieves have retreated... Your Excellency... the thieves have retreated..." Cao Kun, the official of Prince Zhou's Mansion, shouted happily.
Gao Mingheng stood at the crenel and looked down. He saw the thieves running in the distance suddenly stopped. He leaned over and looked carefully. As far as he could see from the base of the city wall, the thieves who had already had the upper hand were holding the wounded soldiers.
The soldiers, dragging the bodies of some of the dead, slowly retreated.
However, few of the warriors who lowered the city to stop the thieves from digging into the city could no longer see them. Although he felt that the thieves' retreat was strange, Gao Mingheng was still very excited. After all, no one could tell when the thieves outside the city would arrive.
Will really retreat,
But today, for the first time, we recruited warriors to lower the city to drive away the thieves, and they succeeded. Such a heart-stirring thing should be publicized to encourage others to follow suit.
He was so excited that he trembled and said loudly: "Please give me credit. I want to give credit to the warriors in the lower city and give them a reward, a big reward."
"Congratulations, sir, congratulations, you have no worries in Kaifeng!"
Huang Shu also walked up to the city wall with excitement on his face, holding a pile of manuscripts in his hand.
Gao Mingheng thought he had gotten some news and asked eagerly: "But reinforcements are coming from the north?"
Huang Shu took a few breaths and then said: "It's not reinforcements."
As he spoke, he presented the manuscript in his hand to Gao Mingheng, and said: "My lord, this is Zhang Jian, a student in the city. He drew such a strange thing to prevent thieves from digging into the city."
Although the rebels had temporarily retreated, who could say whether the fighting would become more intense in the afternoon. With the excitement of killing the rebels, he took the manuscript and walked back to the gatehouse to read it carefully.
Huang Shu, the official of Kaifeng, followed him into the gatehouse and came to the side of the table to explain: "The raft is tied up with thick wood, and the outer side is also made into a wooden wall, and the inner side and the left and right sides are only guardrails.
Its span can be as wide as three or five crenels, and it protrudes more than four or five feet outside the wall. It can accommodate more than ten people inside. It can not only throw fire pots and ash bottles, but also shoot arrows and shoot blunderbuss to defeat thieves digging into the city.
There is nowhere to hide, let alone the arrows fired by thieves outside the city."
The drawings are not complicated at all. The student Zhang Jian drew them very carefully, and with Huang Shu's explanation, Gao Mingheng quickly understood the key points.
He asked in a deep voice: "Does this have a name?"
Huang Shu said softly: "Sir, this thing is temporarily called the 'Xuan Tower'."
"Xuanlou? A tower that hangs outside the city!"
Gao Mingheng nodded, he had no objection to the name, and then said: "I have read the manuscript and found that it is not complicated to make this hanging tower. You go to the city to find craftsmen, hurry up and get a few, and stay on guard in the afternoon.
It’s time to give it a try when you’re in the city.”
He then added: "If this 'hanging tower' really works, if we work hard all night, we will make more of it."
Looking at the manuscript on the desk, Gao Mingheng added: "If this 'hanging tower' really works, Zhang Jian will be rewarded generously. Now that the war in the city is in full swing, and when we urgently need to win over the people, we must not break their trust!"