It was already late at night, and the army of one hundred thousand troops was divided into four groups, waiting outside the four city gates. The soldiers on the city gates were extremely nervous. Zhang Zongyan deployed heavy troops above the four city gates.
Except for Hu Yanlei who was ambushed three miles outside the North City, the other three armies were ready to attack the city.
The focus of the defense was the city gate. On both sides of the city head above the city gate, the soldiers were almost too crowded to stand. Dozens of barrels of kerosene were dropped in front of each city gate, and black kerosene flowed all over the ground.
Not only that, Zhang Zongyan also ordered 20,000 soldiers to load bags of soil. Tens of thousands of bags of soil blocked the four city gates.
Zhang Zongyan was also afraid that the family records of the soldiers would be affected and killed, so he ordered people to go door to door to notify them, telling them to hide in their rooms or cellars tonight and not to go out under any circumstances.
On the top of the city, Zhang Zongyan looked at the Western troops outside the city. Nearly 30,000 Western troops were lined up to fight. They were obviously preparing to attack. Under the bright moonlight, Zhang Zongyan saw the purple umbrella cover. He discovered it during the day.
It is most likely Chen Qing under the umbrella.
Zhang Zongyan sighed secretly, if he could not hold the city gate, there would probably be a tragic battle tonight.
"Capital, they are coming!" the soldiers nearby shouted pointing at the city.
Zhang Zongyan saw it, and saw three long worms walking slowly a mile away in the distance. They were actually long worms composed of humans. There were two or three hundred people in a team, holding large shields.
The door is coming.
"Prepare the trebuchet, use the fire oil ball!"
Several large trebuchets were pulled up creakingly, and the soldiers lit fireballs, "Peng! Peng! Peng!"
There was a continuous sound of throwing, and five kerosene balls were thrown out. The kerosene balls fell to the ground, and the kerosene inside poured out, suddenly forming a sea of fire several feet wide. This was a kerosene ball invented in the Northern Song Dynasty. It was first used against the Khitan army.
use.
The three insect formations were very flexible, and they all avoided the attack of the fire oil balls and continued to move towards the city gate. Zhang Zongyan had already seen clearly that the team was carrying long wooden boards and carrying heavy objects, which must be iron fire thunder.
"Fire the arrow!"
He shouted, and suddenly arrows rained down, and the dense arrows were shot at the three insect arrays, but the shields were like mountains, and they could not penetrate the shields at all.
"Capital, look below the city!" A soldier pointed at the moat below the city and shouted.
Zhang Zongyan looked around and saw a huge wooden box floating in the moat. The wooden box would not move on its own. Obviously there was someone underneath the wooden box.
Zhang Zongyan was suddenly frightened and broke into a cold sweat. It was because the lights were dark, and Chen Qing used three worms to attract his attention. In fact, the person he arranged was inside the moat.
"Archery!"
The arrows from the city head shot at the wooden box like a storm. The wooden box was filled with arrows in an instant, but there was no damage at all.
At this time, the big wooden box was hidden under the suspension bridge, and the big stone was useless. Zhang Zongyan immediately ordered: "Light a fire!"
Dozens of torches were thrown down, and the front of the city gate suddenly turned into a sea of fire. At this moment, "Boom!" A fierce explosion sounded in the direction of the south city gate, and the city was shaking.
Zhang Zongyan was stunned for a moment. Could it be that the attack on the west city was a false one and the real attack on the city was at the south city gate?
He suddenly became anxious and said to one of his generals: "You continue to command the soldiers to set fire and arrows. I will go to the south gate to see the situation."...
He got on his horse and ran along the city head towards the south gate.
Not long after Zhang Zongyan left, a violent explosion suddenly erupted under the suspension bridge, "Boom!" The suspension bridge was blown to pieces, large pieces of wood rose into the air, water waves also splashed, the earth was shaking, and the buildings on the top of the city were shaking.
The soldiers were unsteady and fell down one after another, covering their ears in pain. The explosion was so loud that many soldiers' eardrums were shattered and blood flowed from their ears.
There was thick smoke in front of the city gate, but in the thick smoke, a group of soldiers rushed over and put up planks to cross the city. This is the difference between professionals and non-professionals. The non-professional defenders were still in pain, and the huge
The shock left them unable to recover, but the professional firearms battalion soldiers seized this opportunity and ran across the city, placing a huge 240-pound iron fire thunder on the city gate.
The soldiers on the top of the city were still struggling to get up, but they didn't know that the match rope on the city gate was burning. At this moment, a huge explosion broke out at the east city gate, and the east city gate was blown open.
Immediately afterwards, "Boom!" There was another fierce explosion, thick smoke filled the air, and the city shook violently. Hundreds of the defenders on the city were killed on the spot. Even if the remaining defenders were not dead, they were seriously injured. Thousands of people were injured.
Injured, they got up and stumbled away into the city.
Sand, gravel and sawdust fell, and the gunpowder smoke gradually dispersed. The west city gate was blown down, the city gate was blown away, and the city wall next to it also collapsed several feet, although there were still hundreds of bags of sand and mud blocking the city gate.
, but the city wall next to it collapsed, revealing a large crack more than one foot wide, and the inside of the city could be directly seen.
Chen Qing waved his sword and said, "Come in!"
"kill!"
Thirty thousand Western troops surged in from a mile away. The three insect teams from before rushed forward first and built three plank bridges with wooden planks.
Several firearms battalion soldiers detonated another iron bull iron fire thunder in the broken city wall. "Boom!" With a dull explosion, the city wall rose and collapsed again. Dust filled the air in an instant. The third explosion collapsed hundreds of buildings.
The city wall, which was more than ten feet wide, revealed a gap of one hundred feet wide.
Zhang Zongyan was desperate. The Western Army had taken the lead in attacking the city from the East Gate, and then the South Gate also attacked. The West Gate could not defend itself. The Western Army soldiers rushed into the city like a tide. If I had known this, it would be better to surrender.
"These bastards misled me!" Zhang Zongyan shouted with hatred.
"General, there are no enemy troops outside the North City Gate. You can withdraw from the North City Gate."
Zhang Zongyan is really in a dilemma. If he withdraws, what will happen to the prince's family papers?
"General, retreat quickly! All brothers have retreated."
At this time, a cavalryman rushed over and shouted: "General, General Wu, please persuade the palace guards to retreat. If they refuse to retreat, the prince's family will really be dead."
Zhang Zongyan suddenly realized that he could survive if he didn't fight, but fighting to the death would only harm the prince's family.
He immediately shouted, "Follow me!"
He urged his horse and led thousands of soldiers to rush to the north of the city. Zhang Jun's palace was in the north of the city, and was guarded by three thousand confidant troops. The commander was called Li Jiming, who was the leader of Zhang Jun's soldiers.
Wu Kun, the deputy capital commander, repeatedly persuaded Li Jiming to lead his army to retreat. Li Jiming was extremely stubborn. The Lord entrusted him with the family papers and asked him to abandon the family papers and escape for his own life. How could he do it?…
Seeing Zhang Zongyan's arrival, Wu Kun sighed: "He refuses to retreat, there is nothing we can do against him!"
"General Wu, please lead your brothers to retreat first! I will persuade him."
Wu Kun retreated with more than 10,000 troops. Zhang Zongyan shouted: "General Li, the city cannot be defended. If you stay here, your lord's family will die. You can either withdraw your troops yourself or take them with you."
"The old lady refuses to leave!"
"Then you take a few young masters and evacuate. The Western Army will not harm the women and children."
Li Jiming was right when he thought about it. Don't let his lord's cigarette descendants break in his hands. He must take his grandchildren out.
He immediately ran to persuade her, and in the end, except for the old lady and her wife who refused to leave, the other two sons and three grandsons were all taken away.
At this time, the Western Army had occupied more than half of the city. The so-called street fighting was completely overthought by Chen Qing. The defenders in the city surrendered in defiance of the wind. No one was willing to desperately seek death. The Western Army was overwhelming. Gao Ding led 5,000 troops to the north of the city.
Prince's Mansion.
The defenders of the palace have retreated, and there are only dozens of servants and maids left in the palace, all kneeling on the ground.
Soon, the soldiers escorted two old women over, one was Zhang Jun's mother, and the other was Zhang Jun's wife, Mrs. Zhang. Mrs. Zhang supported the old lady, and the two were trembling with fear.
"General, all the men in Zhang Jun's house have retreated from the north gate, and only the woman Juan is left in the house. These two people are Zhang Jun's mother and wife."
Gao Ding nodded and said: "His Royal Highness has an order not to be rude to Zhang Jun's family. Just guard the gate. You are not allowed to enter the house to scare them."
The soldiers did not find any other men, so they withdrew, sealed the palace with a seal, and stood guard at the door, preventing other soldiers from entering the palace.
The old lady and Mrs. Zhang both breathed a sigh of relief. Both of them were very regretful. If they had known this, they should not have allowed their children to retreat with Li Jiming. The retreat would probably be overtaken by the Western Army, which would be very dangerous.