When the roar of the mountains and the tsunami ended, one group of cavalry left the eastern formation and headed north via Touzi Mountain. Another group of cavalry headed south under the guidance of a red flag, each followed by a group of walking bandits.
Then a trumpet sounded, and hundreds of red-clothed bandits dismounted and poured into the Zilai Bridge. They immediately divided into groups of three to five people and entered the alleyway into Zilai Street like mercury pouring down. They used the cover of the houses to approach the city wall.
"Board leader, the bandits are going to Beicheng and Nancheng."
Seeing that Pang Yu didn't respond at all, He Xianya, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but remind him in a low voice, "Should we have the two men on standby in the city to support the north and south walls?"
Pang Yu shook his head and observed the city under the hanging curtain. Red figures flashed around in the streets and alleys of Zilai. These small teams entered the courtyards of the cities, or lurked behind the houses, but did not rush directly to the wall.
"There is no movement in the city.
Those two teams went empty-handed, without any siege equipment. They were just a cover-up to disrupt us and distract our attention. I often use this method."
Pang Yu turned his head and looked at He Xianya, "Send two quick men to observe at the northeast and southeast corners. If there are any siege equipment going to the north or south, report them quickly. I don't believe they jumped on the city wall."
At this time, a group of about a thousand rogue infantrymen gathered outside the Zilai Bridge. A dense array of bladed spears swayed above their heads, as well as twenty or thirty bamboo ladders, which were green in color and looked as if they had just been cut down.
This group of infantry was quite noisy. Some of them were wearing red clothes, while others were of various colors. Although they were gathered in one place, they were not in formation. There were only two or three small red flags. To Pang Yu, it didn’t feel like an army, but more like an army.
Peasants preparing for clan fighting in the countryside.
Turning around and looking at the top of the city, it didn't look like an army, not to mention social soldiers. The most conspicuous thing on the city wall was the hanging curtain to prevent arrows.
This kind of hanging curtain is a wooden frame with quilts or several layers of cloth hung on it. The weight and fiber of the quilt are used to block the arrow. When the arrow hits the quilt, the suspended quilt will start to swing, pushing the arrow away.
Most of the energy is absorbed, making it difficult for the arrow to penetrate.
The city wall is already high and can protect against most direct hits. With the curtains in place, projectiles are basically no longer a threat.
Because cloth is very expensive, they are basically hanging quilts. Large households in Tongcheng donate the most, and the quality is generally better, and there are even satin quilts.
But the large households alone were not enough to collect enough. Ordinary people also donated some old quilts, of course, of various quality and colors. Therefore, a circle of colorful quilts on the top of the Tongcheng wall gave Pang Yu the feeling of not fighting, but
The whole city is drying quilts.
There was another trumpet under the yellow flag, and a red-clothed leader left the flag and rode up to the infantry group, shouting something loudly. The infantry below raised their swords and guns and shouted, showing a high morale.
He Xianya looked on from the side, "What are you talking about, why are you so happy to die?"
"It must be similar to what I told you. If you attack the city, you will be rewarded thirty taels of silver."
Pang Yu thought about it and added, "I guess there is no distinction between money. The bandits will grab whatever they want. Materials are more important than money. They may share a piece of pig leg or something."
You see the ladder, have the braziers been lit?"
He Xianya replied, "The east wall is all on fire."
"Send a quickie to the west gate, ask Wang Zenglu to transfer a squad to Xiangyang Gate, send another squad to the southeast corner to stand by, and then send a quickie to the north arch gate. If there is no ladder at the north gate, send two squads to support the east gate.
Doujiaqiao No. 1 Squadron is on standby at Xiangyangmen Street."
He Xianya quickly called the three fast players to give instructions, and his third fast team almost became Pang Yu's messengers.
"Bang the drums and prepare the city walls for battle!"
After hearing this, the two yamen servants from the opera troupe behind him immediately beat the big drums, and the heavy drum sound spread throughout the city. On the east door was the county government's Shengtang drum, which sounded much richer than the drums from Ruan Dacheng's troupe.
.
The soldiers all moved into action and moved the supplies stored in the grass factory to the wall. The short spears were leaned against the wall. There was a brazier every ten stacks. At this time, they were all moved to one side of the battlement.
There was a shout from outside the city, and the infantrymen carried bamboo ladders and began to cross the bridge, forming a formation along Zilai Street.
Pang Yu said loudly, "Keep an eye on the bamboo ladder and deploy strong squads wherever there is a bamboo ladder."
There are two squadrons on the entire east wall. The third squadron is at Xiangyang Gate. However, because the third squadron suffered casualties yesterday, a squadron was transferred from the fourth squadron on the west wall to supplement the strong squad at the east wall. The fifth squadron is the captain.
Stop and observe the direction of the bamboo ladder.
Due to the obstruction of the houses under the east city wall, not all places can erect bamboo ladders. Some courtyards are close to the city wall, but it is inconvenient to enter with bamboo ladders. The places that need to be focused on defense have been marked. Zhuangban practices the most on this section of the city wall.
, very familiar with the environment.
The place where the rogue infantry stopped was at the entrance of the alleyway of Zilai Street. It was easy to enter here, and bamboo ladders could be attached to the city wall. The houses on the left and right sides could block part of the attacks at the top of the city, giving them a sense of security.
Although these infantrymen did not have drums and trumpets, they still moved in a certain order. There were roughly ten people carrying a ladder, and others followed behind.
The disadvantage of the siege side is that all troop movements and deployments are under observation at the top of the city. The defenders can allocate troops based on this. If Pang Yu wants, Zilai Street should be burned down, so that the rogue bandits have no cover at all.
The burned ruins would even prevent them from approaching the city wall, but this suggestion was unanimously rejected by Yang Erming and Zhou Xiancheng, of course out of political considerations.
The leader in red also crossed the bridge and stood between Dongzuo Gate and Xiangyang Gate. As Pang Yu predicted, the focus of their first attack was on Zilai Street.
The leader did not issue an order, and the last batch of infantry was still extending towards Xiangyang Gate. They needed to extend the front as much as possible to allow the defenders to spread out their forces.
The last bamboo ladder was in place, already south of Xiangyang Gate, and the battle line occupied most of the length of the east city wall.
Pang Yu turned back to the direction of the city. A yellow flag was raised in the direction of the north arch gate, but it did not waver, indicating that there were rogue activities in the north, but they were not attacking the city. There were no flags at the south gate or west gate.
Once again, it was determined that the focus of the rogues was the east wall. Pang Yu turned back to the direction of the battlements. At this time, the deployment of the rogues was completed. The strong squad also adjusted the positions according to the deployment of the rogues. Each corps gathered in one place and was responsible for a section of the key wall for counterattack.
The enemy climbed up the city.
There are a large number of social soldiers at each key section. The social soldiers on the east wall come from more than ten places including Fengyili, Qingfeng City, Doujiaqiao, Panjiaguai, etc. Pang Yu also established a basic command system for the social soldiers.
There is a squad leader, who are all respected fellow villagers recommended by the villagers. Below are the squad leader and corps leader, who are also recommended by the fellow villagers themselves. The fellow villagers are also very familiar with each other, and there is a certain degree of cohesion.
The rogue bandits outside the city put aside their work of setting up camp, and tens of thousands of people gathered on the eastern outskirts of the city. They stood densely packed in the gates to watch the siege that was about to begin.
There are many houses along the official road outside the city moat, but they certainly cannot accommodate tens of thousands of rogue bandits. If Tongcheng is captured in one attack, they can stay in the city tonight without having to camp.
The two sides were basically deployed. The bandits at each alley were waiting with bamboo ladders. There was silence above and below the city. Several red and yellow flags at the bandit headquarters outside the city were flying fiercely in the wind. Pang Yu felt that he could hear the flags vibrating in the wind.
the sound of.
A trumpet sounded, and tens of thousands of bandits outside the city shouted in unison. The bandits carrying bamboo ladders shouted and rushed towards the city wall.
Countless red figures appeared on the rooftops, courtyards, and streets of Zilai Street. A dense sound of bowstrings erupted below the city, and locust-like arrows flew towards the city.
The quilt on the curtain hanging at the top of the city made a popping sound, and bulges popped up one after another, and then swayed back and forth. The arrows shot high passed the hanging curtain and fell into the city like raindrops, hitting the tiles with a clanking sound.
.
The social soldiers hid behind the battlements, and the hanging curtain was quickly filled with arrows. It blocked almost all attacks. More than a dozen archery men and social soldiers began to fight back. They hid behind the hanging curtain and the battlements, drew their bows, and raised their bodies.
Most of the buildings are covered, and almost all of the bandits standing on the roof are targets.
The archer from the Ma Tashi Inspection Department changed positions between the three crenels. His posture was still the same as before. There was a hip movement, and his upper body moved to the right. Each time he probed his head, he was very short.
The shooting was rapid, specifically targeting the bandits on the roof. Soon several people were shot and fell to the roof.
The nearby rogues left the rooftops one after another, greatly reducing the direct threat to the city.
Pang Yu squatted behind the battlement and observed for a moment before standing up. He had tested the hanging curtain before, and now he saw the actual effect. Even the volleys of bows and arrows from the rogue bandits were unable to stop the simple hanging curtain.
There were basically no casualties at the top of the city. There were still archers fighting back against the rogue bandits. The soldiers became bolder and kept looking around.
The bolder among the strong men threw javelins from between the hanging curtains.
Pang Yu chose a hanging curtain to hide behind and looked out sideways. He saw that the bandits carrying the ladders had approached the city and stopped one after another. A group of people shouted slogans and pushed forward and backward. The bamboo ladders were erected one after another, with a wooden log on top.
The hooks, some even made of iron, are nailed directly to the top of the bamboo ladder.
The tops of the erected bamboo ladders were pressed against the city wall one after another. The rogue bandits wanted to hang the city wall with hooks. In this way, as long as a rogue bandit stood on the ladder, the weight would press on the top, making it difficult to overturn the ladder for the purpose of defending the city.
"mandrel!"
Orders were sent from all over the city.
Preparations were made all over the city. The strong men among the soldiers used a wooden fork-shaped jacking pole to hold the top of the bamboo ladder to prevent it from leaning against the city wall.
The center of gravity of the bamboo ladder is in the middle. Once the height becomes higher, the bandits will get twice the result with half the effort by exerting force at the bottom. It will save more effort at the top of the city, but it will not be easy to topple the bamboo ladder.
The bandits couldn't get up, so more people came to hold on to the ladder. They shouted together, took two steps back, and then climbed up. Everyone above and below the city were howling, and they fought hard around the top of the bamboo ladder.
The nearby soldiers threw stones at the city. Although they could not see the bandits below, they could see the position of the bamboo ladder and threw stones at the approximate location. The people below were shouting and cursing.
There was a bamboo ladder diagonally in front of Pang Yu. It was supported by three jacking poles. He rushed three times and failed to get the hook up against the city wall. Pang Yu hid behind the hanging curtain. There was a popping sound on the hanging curtain, and the quilt
The hanging part kept beating Pang Yu's arm, but no arrow could penetrate it.
There was a soldier in front of him who kept throwing stones. Pang Yu quickly looked at the position. The direction of the soldier's attack was a little off, too close to the city wall, and the position of the rogue bandits was further away. He saw the ground.
The place was filled with rocks and gray bottles, but he couldn't help but pick up a pebble as big as his palm and threw it in the general direction, causing a miserable howl from below.
There was an inexplicable excitement in Pang Yu's mind, just like the feeling of hitting cabbage with a slingshot when he was a child. He liked the broken leaves that exploded when the cabbage burst, and the pleasure of destruction. It was also very safe, because the cabbage would not fight back.
Hiding behind the curtain at this time is similar to that feeling.
At that moment, he picked up stones of suitable size nearby and smashed them randomly. The nearby social soldiers gathered here, and the stones were like raindrops. There were screams from below. All the smaller stones nearby were used up. Pang Yu grabbed a stone that no one cared about.
The ash can was smashed down, and a burst of white smoke rose from below. Then other soldiers smashed the ash can down, and the rogue infantry screamed in agony.
After a while, the bamboo ladder deviated to the left, and then the deviation became more and more severe, and finally fell down with a crash. When I looked around, there were five or six people below, some were still twisting, and other infantrymen were
The rat scurried away with its head in its arms.
Pang Yu was inexplicably excited. There was almost no need for command on the city wall. Soldiers were howling loudly from all over the city. Stones and ash cans were rained down. Not a single bandit could reach the top of the city.
Pang Yu licked her tongue and said, "Rogue bandits are not a big deal."
After that, he picked up a gray bottle and walked to another bamboo ladder.