On July 20th, Zhang Yangquan received another piece of news from Li Desun. He was transferred by Fang Guozhen to one of the three hundred personal guards, and was responsible for leading the death squad to land from Lu Si Chang and sneak into Tongzhou.
That night, Geng Si came over to report that the spy sent to pick up Li Desun's son had news and had been captured by bandits in Shaoxing.
Obviously, Fang Guozhen was afraid that rescuing Li Desun's son would arouse his suspicion of Li Desun, so he deliberately let the bandits come forward.
He sent an order to Geng Si, asking him to send additional manpower to rescue his own spies from the den of thieves. Of course, he also had to pretend to search for the whereabouts of Li Desun's son.
In the early morning of the next day, Shanzhu, Li Er, Yu Yanyu, Bian Yuanheng and other generals came to the study room of Tongzhou Shuaifu.
"Your Majesty, the scouts have investigated clearly. There were indeed 300 people who disembarked from Lusi Field last night, disguised as saltmen, and were heading towards Tongzhou City." Shanzhu said with a cup of his hand.
Zhang Yangquan asked: "Have you found out the whereabouts of the other team?"
Shanzhu said solemnly: "We found out. Three hundred people landed from Lusi Chang three days ago. They were divided into three piles and hid near Yuxi Chang, Yu Zhongchuang and Yudong Chang."
Zhang Yangquan said: "Are you sure there are no other people?"
Shanzhu said categorically: "Absolutely not!"
Zhang Yangquan nodded and said to Liu Bowen: "Mr. Liu, you will be responsible for commanding this battle!"
Liu Bowen accepted the order, pondered for a while, and said to Sun Hu: "General Sun, you are responsible for keeping an eye on Li Desun's three hundred men. As soon as they enter the city, they will be restrained immediately. If there is resistance, they will be killed without mercy!"
Sun Hu said: "The last general takes orders!"
Liu Bowen looked at Li Er again: "Deputy Commander Li, keep an eye on Yu Zhong, Yu Xi, and Yu Dong. As long as the people in these three fields enter the city, shoot them directly!"
Li Er was stunned for a moment and said: "Mr. Liu, why did Sun Hu control him first, but I shot him directly?"
Liu Bowen said: "These three hundred people are the most elite Yaksha guards under Fang Guozhen. They are all dead soldiers and will never surrender. There is no need to let the soldiers take risks."
Li Er nodded and said: "Take the order!"
Liu Bowen looked at Shanzhu again: "After the chaos in the city, the enemy army will definitely attack the city. Marshal Shan is responsible for defending the city. He must give them the illusion that our army is insufficient to defend the city due to the chaos in the city!"
The wild boar said loudly: "Sir, please rest assured, I am very good at this kind of thing."
Liu Bowen turned his attention to Yu Tonghai and Bian Yuanheng.
"The two generals led ten thousand naval divisions and hid in the east of Chongming Prefecture. After the third hour of the enemy's siege, they led the troops to attack the enemy's rear route!"
Yu Yanyu fought for the first time after joining the Jiangdu Army. He was particularly energetic and said loudly: "The last general takes orders!"
Bian Yuanheng did not agree immediately, but said to Zhang Yangquan: "Your Majesty, the enemy troops are out in force, Changshu must be empty. The last general requested to lead 3,000 naval troops to raid Changshu!"
Liu Bowen frowned and said: "Even if they attack in a large scale, there should be more than 10,000 troops left in the city. If you lead 3,000 men to attack, it will be difficult to succeed!"
Bian Yuanheng raised his head and said: "The final general is willing to issue a military order. If Changshu cannot be defeated, I am willing to receive the death penalty!"
Liu Bowen looked at Zhang Yangquan.
Zhang Yangquan knew that Bian Yuanheng was both civil and military and had always been thorough in his work, so he nodded.
Only then did Liu Bowen agree.
Zhang Yangquan smiled and said: "Sir, they all have tasks, and I can't be idle either. Please arrange a task for me too!"
Liu Bowen twisted his beard and said with a smile: "Well, your Majesty, please work with me to create the illusion of chaos in the city!"
In the early morning of July 23rd, there was a strong wind on the sea. The humid sea breeze made people feel particularly comfortable in the hot summer.
Liu Bowen's method of creating chaos was very simple. He found four hundred sergeants and divided them into four teams of one hundred people each.
As long as they get the order, these four hundred people will start from the four gates of southeast, northwest and north respectively. Those from the east gate will run towards the west gate, those from the west gate will run towards the east gate, those from the south gate will run towards the north gate, and those from the north gate will run towards the south gate.
People have a strong herd mentality. When they see someone running on the street, they will feel that something big has happened in the city, and they will easily follow them.
Then Zhang Yangquan led people to burn seven abandoned houses selected in advance, and then ordered the gates of the four cities to be closed tightly.
Fires shot into the sky, black smoke billowed, people fled in all directions, the city gates were closed tightly, and a picture of chaos in the city emerged.
It is now the beginning of Si Shi, and Zhang Yangquan is standing at the door of an abandoned house, quietly waiting for news.
In the middle of the sixth hour, the sound of horse hoofbeats was heard in the distance, and a messenger came galloping forward, knelt down on one knee, and said: "Report to your Majesty, three hundred of Li Desun's men have entered the city and were captured by General Sun on Jinghai Street!" Zhang Yangquan nodded: "I understand."
Another quarter of an hour later, the sound of horse hooves sounded again in the distance.
Zhang Yangquan turned around and saw another herald. The man got off his horse and looked very excited.
"King Qi, Yu Zhong, Yu Xi, and Yu Dongchang's infiltrated enemies were all shot dead by Deputy Commander Li on Shigang Street!"
Zhang Yangquan took a long breath and said with a smile: "Very good."
Half an hour later, Liu Bowen sent someone to say that it was time to light the fire. Then Zhang Yangquan led his guards to set fire to seven abandoned houses in turn, and then ordered the city gates to be closed.
To the west of Tongzhou, Maguo Mountain.
A soldier of the Yuan Army stood on the mountain peak, looking at Tongzhou City in the east. He had excellent eyesight. Although he could not see the people in the city clearly, he could see clearly the flow of people gathering together.
I saw crowds of people everywhere in the city, scurrying around like ants on a hot pot, and many places in the city were on fire, and the city gates were closed.
He looked carefully for a while, then went down the mountain, rode his horse to the north bank, and took a boat to the south bank.
Parked at Nan'ankou is a fighting ship more than two feet long.
A black-cloaked general stood on the bow of the fighting ship. When he saw the boat approaching, he quickly asked: "What happened? Did the plan succeed?"
Xizuo said: "It was successful, the city was in chaos!" He explained in detail what he had just seen.
The black-cloaked general was overjoyed and ordered the battleship to set off immediately and head west along the south bank.
After walking for about half an hour, a beach appeared ahead, with a huge fleet anchored on the beach.
The fighting ships came all the way to the seven-masted ship, the largest in the center of the fleet.
The black-cloaked general got on the boat and said to Fang Guozhen, who was sitting on the sharkskin chair: "Captain, the plan has been successful. Tongzhou City is in chaos!"
Fang Guozhen leaned on the chair and said with half-squinted eyes: "Really, what kind of chaos method?"
Black Cloak said: "People are fleeing in all directions, there are many fires, and the city gates are closed!"
Fang Guozhen nodded and said: "I understand, let's return to the team."
The doctor Zhang Benren added: "Captain, since the plan is going well, we should attack immediately and not miss the opportunity!"
Fang Guozhen touched the corners of his eyes and frowned: "I don't know why, but when I came here this morning, my right eye kept twitching. Bunyan, there won't be any problems with our plan, right?"
Zhang Benren smiled and said: "You are worrying too much. If the plan fails, how can there be chaos in the city? This opportunity cannot be missed. Please give the order immediately!"
Fang Guozhen took a deep breath, stood up and said: "Send someone to send a message to Yang Tongguan, saying that our side has succeeded, and let him attack together!"
A general promised to leave.
Following Fang Guozhen's order, the fleet hoisted anchor and set sail, heading towards Tongzhou City on the north coast. Halfway through, they encountered Yang Tongguan's Changshu navy.
The two naval armies merged together, with a fleet of more than 80,000 people. From a distance, they looked dark, like a moving island, marching toward Tongzhou City in a mighty manner.
Half an hour later, the coalition fleet arrived in Tongzhou.
Fang Guozhen saw that there were not many defenders on the city wall, his eyes flashed, and he smiled and said: "There are more than 60,000 defenders in Tongzhou, but there are only so many people on the city wall. Brothers, the opportunity for revenge has come!"
All the soldiers said in unison: "Fuck him!"
Fang Guozhen said loudly: "Pass my general's order, no need to test, just use the most violent offensive to capture Tongzhou City in one breath! The first one to climb the city wall will be rewarded with a hundred catties of gold and fifty beauties!"
The morale of the pirates immediately rose. After the order was spread, the fleet rushed towards the water gate.
Yang Tongguan on the other side also began to attack aggressively.
Because the river connected to the water gate was narrow, Yang Tongguan ordered the Changshu army to abandon the ship and go ashore, unload the prepared siege equipment from the ship, and rush towards the Tongzhou city gate.
At the beginning of the battle, the siege team did not hold any ground and used a huge force to crush the city.
The defenders looked very panicked, and a general could be seen standing on the tower, stamping his feet and giving orders angrily.
In an instant, the sound of artillery, arrows, stone throwing, the sound of armor clashing, and the sound of soldiers fighting were all mixed together.
Although the siege party is fierce, this intensive siege consumes a lot of money.
Jiangdu Army's more than two hundred artillery pieces were mounted on the city wall. The number of people defending the city seemed small, but the artillery did not stop firing for a moment.