Chapter 157 I hope the rising sun will shine on my soil
The prince has ordered that the first soldier to attack the city wall will be rewarded with ten thousand taels of gold and promoted to a noble rank."
"If you capture a fool alive, you will be rewarded with 100,000 taels of gold, and you will be granted the title of 10,000 households."
The generals under Li Yunlong, Lu Gui, Jiangzhou, the generals under Li Baihong, Chen Meng, Jin Qing, and the generals under Li Qing, Wu Renhao and Xue Pingfang, waved their weapons and pointed at the city wall.
The officers and men commanding the three armies began to attack the city again.
Li Baiyu's armor on the city wall has long lost its original appearance, and the helmet on his head is also missing. His hair is disheveled, and he looks like a madman.
The emperor in his hand was also stained with the blood of the rebel soldiers, and the blood on the hilt had dried up and turned black.
Hearing the sound of war drums for an attack again outside the city, Li Baiyu slowly stood up and straightened his chest while holding on to the battlements, and gently stroked the snow on the city wall and sneered.
"You didn't even stop for a day on the first day of the new year. How much do you want this chair?"
Qingyuan Hou Yan Benmo and Guan Ning Hou Lu Tao ran towards Li Baiyu from both sides at high speed.
"Your Majesty, the rebels are attacking the palace again, so be careful."
These days, all the soldiers on the city wall know that their Majesty is not a weakling with no strength, but a little master who has reached the fifth level.
Knowing this, Yan Benmo and the others were still a little worried about Li Baiyu's safety, and ran over to warn Li Baiyu again not to take it lightly.
Li Baiyu leaned on the battlement with the Emperor's Sword in his hand, staring at the rebels slowly approaching the city wall.
"My dear friends, how many days has it been?"
"Reporting to your majesty, it has been twenty-three days. We have resisted for twenty-three days. King Qin's army will arrive in seventeen days. We will definitely be able to defend the capital and wait for reinforcements to arrive to put down the rebellion."
"Today is the anniversary of my ascension to the throne. I should have celebrated the festival successfully, but I didn't expect that I would have to kill the enemy in blood on the city wall. It is truly an unforgettable day."
"How many Praetorian Guards officers are there?"
Lu Tao and Yan Benmo were startled, their expressions both sad and sad.
"There are more than 57,000 people, and there are only more than 40,000 who can still fight. If God hadn't erratically snowed heavily for seven days, preventing the rebels from attacking the city, I'm afraid there would be at most 40,000 brothers now.
"
Li Baiyu's tiger body trembled and he laughed miserably: "How many rebels are left?"
"About 200,000, the government soldiers have almost suffered casualties, and the rest are elite troops. We should be able to withstand it for thirteen days."
"Your Majesty, please rest assured. Even if I die in battle, I will send you out of the city. As long as you join forces with King Qin's army, your Majesty will definitely be able to take back the country and the country."
Chen Jin, the Marquis of Jingyuan, ran over with a sword in his hand: "Your Majesty, Lord Song Yu, Secretary of the Ministry of War, has led 30,000 city patrol officers to climb the city wall. They have already stationed at the west gate!"
Li Baiyu breathed out slowly: "There are thirty thousand more soldiers guarding the city, which increases the chance of victory by another thirty percent."
"The enemy is within range."
Following the lookout's shout, the city wall immediately went on alert.
Li Baiyu stood aside and waited for the orders from the three veteran generals.
As the guard of the South City Gate, Lu Tao waved the command flag in his hand without hesitation: "Tear off the snow-covering felt on the cannon and fire."
Qingyuan Hou Yan Benmo and Jingyuan Hou Chen Jin also ran towards their respective positions to command the soldiers to defend the city.
Today's situation does not allow for the slightest carelessness.
The attack momentum this time was much more ferocious than the previous ones. As Lu Tao and the others said, the rest were elites.
Fortunately, apart from trebuchets, the rebels had not used artillery or other siege weapons for more than twenty days, which had to make the guards on the city wall breathe a sigh of relief.
Compared with the previous soldiers, the army attacking the city this time did not hesitate at all in the face of the shells fired from the city wall, and launched a desperate charge.
Although he died tragically, his aura far exceeded that of those soldiers.
"Archers, shoot three shots in a row, covered with rain of arrows."
The overwhelming rain of arrows shot through the air towards the rebels outside the city, and the rebel sword and shield soldiers immediately raised their shields and began to defend.
The rain of arrows on the city wall had just ended, and the rebel archers below the city immediately began to fight back. The screams of arrows being hit could be heard continuously on the city wall.
The moment the arrow rain ended, ladders and siege engines began to appear under the city wall, and the swarming rebels began to climb up the city wall waving their weapons.
"Prepare gold juice and kerosene, burn their siege vehicles and ladders. Prepare pikemen, ready to kill the enemy at any time."
"Report, there are not many thunder stones and rolling wood left!"
Li Baiyu frowned: "Lu Aiqing, order the auxiliary soldiers to dismantle the bricks of the inner wall, city ladder, and city walls to serve as thunder stones and rolling logs."
Lu Tao hesitated and nodded: "I obey."
The moment the kerosene was poured on the ladder, the Imperial Guards immediately raised the torch in the brazier and ignited it.
At the slightest touch, raging fire burned down the ladder. The rebels who were still on the ladder were surrounded by the fire before they had time to retreat.
"Throw kerosene and fire rockets at the rebels outside the city."
Many soldiers held jars and jars, poured kerosene on them, and then smashed the jars toward the city.
Many of the Imperial Guards who were unable to recover in time were directly hit by the suppressing arrows under the city wall, and were killed on the spot.
Then the city wall was covered with rockets. As soon as the rockets landed, they immediately ignited countless fires.
There was also a fire burning on the surface of the moat, which was caused by kerosene floating on the water.
A continuous line of fire completely cut off the rebels outside the city from attacking the city. Many rebels could only watch helplessly as their brothers who were rolling and screaming in the fire were burned alive.
The howl of retreating troops sounded again from the rebel camp outside the city.
The rebels slowly retreated while guarding against the arrows on the city wall.
The moment the rebels retreated, countless bricks were carried up the city wall by the auxiliary soldiers.
Looking at the rebels retreating outside the city, Li Baiyu wiped off the blood on the Emperor's Sword with his cloak, and sat on the city wall leaning against the battlements.
I resisted for another half day.
"Report, there's not much fuel left."
"Report, the arrows can last for seven days at most."
Li Baiyu felt extremely sour in his heart as he listened to the soldiers' reports, and slowly closed his eyes.
The capital is now an isolated city. The supplies in the city are used less and cannot be replenished at all.
"Brother-in-law, uncle, Yun Aiqing, when will you arrive? I can't bear it anymore."
Suddenly there was a chaotic sound in the city. Li Baiyu was shocked and opened his eyes hastily. Could it be that the people in the city couldn't bear the pressure and started a civil uprising?
If this were the case, the capital would really be in trouble both internally and externally.
Li Baiyu, who had just killed seven enemy troops, was exhausted physically and mentally, but he had to get up and walk towards the city ladder, eager to know what happened.
"Report, Your Majesty, General, the people in the city have gathered towards the gate of the city wall, at least about 30,000 to 50,000 people."
The thought of civil uprising came to Li Baiyu's mind again, and the arm holding the Emperor's Sword began to tremble slightly.
"Report, report to Your Majesty!"
"Say it!"
"Your Majesty, the people in the city spontaneously went out to deliver dumplings to us."
"They said today is the first day of the Lunar New Year and we cannot let the soldiers defend the city on an empty stomach. They brought dumplings to the brothers."
Li Baiyu was startled, and looked towards the bottom of the city with trembling lips.
Looking at the batches of civilians placing dumpling bowls in the hands of the Imperial Guards, Li Baiyu's eyes suddenly felt sour.
Li Baiyu closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and forcefully took in the water mist.
It’s not in vain that I didn’t abandon the city and flee.
The people's will is what the people want, so why worry about the uncertain situation.
Glancing at the corpses of the Imperial Guards being carried by the auxiliary soldiers under the city wall, Li Baiyu felt extremely sad.
In just half a day, another group of soldiers died for the country.
Li Baiyu held up the Emperor's Sword and stopped in front of the palace pillars. He waved the Heavenly Sword gently in his hand, leaving four lines of large characters on the pillars on both sides.
"Emperor Taihe Li Baiyu tells future generations!"
"I hope the morning sun will always shine on our land, and never forget the blood of the martyrs covering the ground."