Zhurou

Chapter 206
Zhao Mingzhi naturally couldn't rest assured, and the war situation couldn't reassure her either.

After several deployments of civil servants and soldiers, the weapons supervisor's drawings for fighting the goose cart's "jumping off the building" were properly designed and the production frames were erected. After all, most of the craftsmen were novices, and they were hurrying and taking their time. Can't get enough.

Lu Xianzhang was quite talented in managing affairs, and by working together, he managed to keep the city running smoothly.

However, before everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, Chen Liumen's offensive stopped, and Di Bing's catapults outside Xincao Gate were activated again. It seemed that they had resumed their previous tactics and started a wheel battle, only this time they used all attacks. City weapon.No matter how many rounds of resistance there were in the city, if the number of catapults hadn't been enough to cover the sky, there would have been no chance of defense.

By this time, the divine arm bow and bed crossbow had already been activated, but it was difficult to aim at the city wall even if they were thrown against the boulder, so the defense was really passive.

Two days later, the moats at the outer extensions of Guzi and Weizhou city gates, which were the furthest away from the inner city and the narrowest moats, were filled in overnight by Di soldiers. After daylight, goose carts were dispatched to prepare for the city.

——At this time, fortunately, there is isolation by jumping off the building, and we will be able to hold on.

But this is just the beginning.

It was as if the strength of the defenders had been measured through the attack and defense of these two city gates. Knowing that the capital of the Jin Dynasty, which had been attacked many times, was already in trouble, at dinner time that night, Di Bing looked at the handover of the city gates, and he Six places including Xin Song, Nanxun, Xinzheng, Guzi, Weizhou and Xincao attacked the city at the same time.

In just two hours, it was completely dark and the city wall could not see clearly what was happening below. The outside of the city was filled with earth or trenches were built. The offensive was most successful outside Guzimen. They even tried to climb the city wall with the help of siege equipment. , only to be repelled by a narrow margin, the Di people recruited new soldiers and attacked the city again.

Zhao Mingzhi no longer stayed in the palace, but first stayed at the Kyoto government office. Seeing that the war situation was getting tighter and the situation became more urgent, he took turns going to various city gates to encourage soldiers and civilians.

Although this approach can inspire people for a while, everyone sees that Di's troops are endless and it is difficult to judge the strength and supplies of the opposite side. Moreover, our own reinforcements have not arrived. The city has been trapped for a long time, and the news has not been sent out. Thinking about the loss situation in the north, Whoever dares to raise more expectations will naturally add to his despair.

Zhao Mingzhi is only one person, and this approach can only control the east, but not the west. It can only be taken care of for a while, not for a long time. Moreover, under the real combat power, all she can give is a little comfort, and there is no actual added value at all. beneficial.

Even though she was anxious, it was of no use. She couldn't just sit there because she knew that there were most catapults outside Guzi City and the goose chariot had already approached the city several times. It was very easy for them to rush into the city again when the sky was about to break. He went to help with his escort, but there was no response for a long time. He could no longer wait in vain, so he simply took a few people and headed towards Guzimen.

This time, only halfway through, I met someone reporting a message back.

Huang Men, who was stopped, was covered in sweat and said anxiously: "There are too many goose carts outside Guzi City, and the catapults are not stopping at all. They are already climbing the wall..."

Zhao Mingzhi suppressed the fear in his heart and asked, "Can't the weapon inspector's new one be used for jumping off the building?"

"Di soldiers came from several places, and there were not enough people to jump off the building." Huangmen was sweating on his chest and back, and he was panting, "Previously, the defense at Weizhou Gate was tense. Seeing that the goose chariot was approaching the city, we couldn't resist. The Guzi Gate was the closest, so I borrowed it for a little while... Who knows, I can't move it back now. Firstly, it's difficult to take it back. Secondly, those people who jumped off the building were also badly damaged, so I'm afraid they might miss a little bit. With just one glance, thieves will sneak up on the wall..."

Zhao Mingzhi had no time to listen, so he urged his horse to hurry northwest. Sure enough, he was approaching Guzimen, and he heard a dense banging sound, almost continuous, as if it was hitting his ears.

The horse she was riding was frightened by the sound, and actually slowed down a bit, and was still a bit hesitant when it moved forward.

When they arrived at the enclosed area, the general guarding the city here was surnamed Feng. He was supervising the battle on the city. When he learned that the princess was arriving at this time, he was too busy to do anything, so he hurriedly sent Pi to pick her up.

The general didn't dare to neglect him. Hearing that Zhao Mingzhi wanted to kiss the city wall, he didn't dare to stop him. He could only persuade loudly: "There is a team forming under the city gate. I heard that Your Highness is coming. Everyone is excited. Why don't you go and express your condolences first?" ?”

There was a constant rumbling in his ears. Zhao Mingzhi took a few more steps forward before he could barely hear what the other party was saying.

It was getting late at this time. She raised her head and looked at the city wall first. Although it was still more than ten feet away, not only the ground but also the air seemed to be shaking with the impact of the stones coming from outside the city.

The horse on the side was not a war horse originally used for battle. Now it was shaking its tail and shaking its ears, and its four hooves were lowered and raised, looking restless.

"Go to the city gate first, and then come to express condolences to you all." Zhao Mingzhi said.

This was not the first time she had come back to Guzi Gate. She said that she did not need the other party to guide her, and she found her own direction and went straight to the city gate.

General Pi couldn't stop him and was too anxious to follow him. He also called on the people on the left and right to hold up shields and protective gear and walk quickly to stop Zhao Mingzhi.

As soon as he stepped onto the stairs, Zhao Mingzhi felt a more obvious tremor under his feet and around his body. When he walked out, before he stepped onto the city wall, he saw the scene ahead.

——Flying stones, all flying stones, like pouring rain.

The stones vary in size, some are only as big as a fist or a bowl of ocean, while others are so big that no one can wrap around them.

The flying rocks came so fast that people couldn't react.

When Zhao Mingzhifu saw the overwhelming posture, he had no time to see clearly the fighting situation on the city wall. His legs were already frozen subconsciously. It took him a while to react, and he turned around to look, only to see a number of soldiers hiding in the shelter.

No one dared to show their heads - countless fragments of flying stones hit hard from the top of the city wall. Once they landed on the ground, they made different sounds of "pop" and "bang", creating shallow or deep brick pits. Come.

Although Di Bing had used catapults before, the density of the catapults was completely inferior to what he was doing now.

Among the flying rocks, sometimes there are big rocks. Once they hit, they will crush and smash everything originally placed on the city wall, no matter how big or small, solid or not, everything will be crushed directly.

The momentum of the ground soon piled up into an extremely thick layer, making it impossible for people to stand on it.

With such an offensive, there is really no defense, and there is no way to defend.

The flying rocks kept coming all the time. Some people wanted to go out to lift the rocks and clear the place, but they just stepped out and stepped back. There were also some people who had obviously taken cover, but were hit by tricky flying rocks again. He let out a series of screams, but no one answered him, so he had to crawl back carefully.

Not to mention the outside, even though the place is covered by thick walls, it has been smashed to the point where there are signs of collapse in several places.

Even though he was well prepared, it still took Zhao Mingzhi a while to calm down when he actually faced such a situation.

She turned to look at the general beside her, hesitated for a few moments, but did not shut up——

If there really was a way to deal with it, who would still let Di Bing suppress him?

However, General Pi saw her expression and took advantage of the temporary slowdown of the offensive to step forward and said: "Captain Feng is on the opposite side, waiting for an opportunity to counterattack the enemy. However, at this time, there were too many catapults and the attack was too fierce. For fear of The weapons are damaged, so we have no choice but to be patient..."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Mingzhi followed his instructions and looked around. Sure enough, dozens of feet away from the opposite side, there was a house-like shelter in four directions. Many soldiers among them were holding up iron and thick shields.

"what is that?"

"Back to Your Highness, it's the Eight Bull Crossbow." As he was speaking, while the density of flying stones outside was a little less dense, a group of people pushed out from the house a wheel plate with a very thick iron barrier in front, and there were soldiers holding shields on three sides. .

Through the faintly exposed gap, Zhao Mingzhi finally saw a giant crossbow whose weather was protected with great care.

There are three crossbows set up on the crossbow arm. One of them is nearly ten feet wide. It has a thick arrow shaft and iron arrow feathers. There is a huge triangular-edged iron arrowhead on the front end. One of them is as thick as a fist. The blade is sharp and intimidating.

She had heard of the name of the Eight Bull Crossbow, and she knew that this object had a longer range and stronger power than the Fangzi Crossbow. However, she had never seen the actual object, nor had she seen its power. Standing on the city wall at this time, she originally thought The legendary Eight Bull Crossbow could be seen displaying its might, but before a wheel plate was completely pushed out from it, a black shadow appeared on top, and it turned out to be a boulder as big as two ordinary water tanks flying towards it.

The stone collided and pressed, and there were repeated "bang bang" sounds. The thick iron used for protection in front was bent and crushed by the boulder. It was about to crush the crossbow, and was killed by several soldiers on the side. After pushing them away and pulling them halfway, the two people at the end were crushed by the boulder and they screamed one after another.

However, the screams only appeared for a moment, and then they were silenced.

The two soldiers were trapped under the boulder and could not even call for help.

Zhao Mingzhi's heart tightened, and he hurriedly stepped out with his feet, stretching out his hands subconsciously. However, the feet were only in mid-air, and he had already reacted. When he looked at the boulder, he knew it was too late.

She felt cold air on both temples, and cold sweat suddenly broke out on her back.

However, the soldiers closest to the boulder did not hesitate at all. Instead, everyone tried their best to push the eight-oxen crossbow under the cover again.

The catapults did not stop for a moment, and they could not even emerge for a moment on the city wall.

Zhao Mingzhi put one hand on the wall and turned to look at the general. He was about to speak, but just when he opened his mouth, he heard a loud "bang". With the sound, the place where he stepped was shaken for a moment, and it turned out to be the original The ground shook several times, and there was another rumbling sound. The shaking did not stop, as if something collapsed under his feet.

The general's expression suddenly changed. He no longer stayed here, but rushed out suddenly. Then he turned around and shouted after Zhao Mingzhi: "Tell them to come here to get tung oil! The corner of the city wall below has collapsed!"

These two sentences seemed to have no connection, but they immediately caused many guards to change their colors and turn around to call for help.

At the same time, several people quickly poured out of the shelter on the opposite side. They all fell on the city wall and turned around to yell something.

Soon, countless people on the city wall risked throwing stones to transport barrels of tung oil from the city. At this time, they were only making preparations, but no one dared to use it.

The general came back and said urgently: "Your Highness, Di soldiers are taking cover with their catapults and are about to attack the city. Once the thieves come to the city, we will set fire to them. Swords and arrows have no eyes, and water and fire are merciless. It is better to get out of the way first." Wait for a while and repel the thieves later..."

Zhao Mingzhi frowned and looked around, only to see that there were not many soldiers in the city. Many of them had just joined the army at first glance. At this time, his face was full of panic. He was about to hide but didn't know how to hide, let alone dare to hide. They had nowhere to hide, and even their hands and feet had nowhere to go. There were one or two veterans among the ten people, and they also looked tired and numb.

She asked: "Can't I be used as a human being?"

The general on the other side was stunned.

Just when Zhao Mingzhi asked, someone on the city wall shouted: "Zongyun Ladder! Zongyun Ladder!!! There are thieves boarding the city!!!"

The other party's voice was still crying, and he was trembling. After shouting, a soldier not far away stepped forward, slapped his face with his backhand, and cursed: "What are you doing with that thing in your hand?" use?!"

As he spoke, he snatched the spear from his hand and threw it heavily toward his head.

The city wall was very high, and it should have been difficult for the soldiers to be accurate with their hands, but with this throw, someone below could be heard screaming, followed immediately by the sound of heavy objects falling to the ground.

Once someone started, the others seemed to wake up, and they all followed the same example, looking for things to throw down, and some used local materials to lift large and small rocks from the ground.

The general shouted hurriedly: "Raise your bow, raise your bow! Don't use stones! Raise your bow and fire!"

The soldiers had no brains at this time. When they heard someone shouting, they seemed to have found the leader. They took their bows and arrows one after another, and then came to the edge of the city wall. However, they all gasped. Some people had not fully stretched their bows, but He was so frightened that he let go, and the arrow flew to nowhere.

Zhao Mingzhi noticed that the Di soldiers under the city seemed to have stopped their trebuchets at this moment, but he felt another bad feeling in his heart.

She quickly came out of the shelter, leaned against the wall and lowered her head to look. Sure enough, the flying stones took a break, but under the city wall, an unknown number of stones had been piled up into a hill-like shape, and the original moat that protected the city was also unknowingly. Di Bing used rocks and soil to cut off the water flow and filled it up to [-]%, so pedestrians and vehicles had no difficulty.

Although there are a few people jumping off the building at Guzimen, the number is insufficient after all, and there are always gaps.

Di Bing took advantage of this opportunity to push a heavily equipped goose cart over. Countless black spots with human heads were using the power of the goose cart to step on the vertical ladder and try to climb the city wall.

Zhao Mingzhi glanced around. Although the soldiers on the wall below the city were not densely packed, they were still clustered with heads, surging far and near. He really didn't know where to start, which made people panic at the first sight.

She suddenly had doubts in her heart - could it be that the Di people had gathered all their main forces at Guzimen and wanted to use this place as a breakthrough point to launch a joint attack.

——How to keep this?How can you hold on?
But she already understood the reason why General Di didn't ask people to throw stones - there were too many stones thrown at the city wall. Although it could repel the attackers for a while, when the stones piled up, it would help Di's soldiers climb up and become an aid to the opponent's siege. .

Seeing everyone firing several volleys, I wonder if the thieves in the city were not lined up and were too far apart, making it difficult to aim. Not many arrows hit, so it was of no effect. Someone from the opposite side shouted: "Tung oil, pour it down." Tung oil!”

As soon as the voice came out, General Pi who was blocking Zhao Mingzhi also shouted to the soldiers around him: "Let go of your bows and arrows and pour down the tung oil first!!"

Most of the tung oil was stored in large wooden barrels. Everyone on the city wall had been guarding it all day. It was about time to change defenses. Everyone was exhausted. At this time, they heard shouting and bent down to lift it. However, after all, the oil was heavy and the barrel was thick, so it was difficult to lift it for a while.

General Pi saw that everyone's movements were sluggish and anxious. After shouting, he couldn't wait for a few breaths and stamped his feet twice. He was already rushing out. While urging, he bent down and arched his back, and offered a hand to someone nearby.

One of the pawns followed the people around him to lift the bucket. He felt that the weight on his hands was as heavy as a rock. He tried to lift it halfway and was already exhausted. Especially in his wrists, where the force was wrong. There was a sharp pain for a moment, and it even hurt his feet. He couldn't lift it anymore. , I was really shocked to see that half a person taller than one person could not wrap his arms around the big bucket and would fall down, killing and injuring several people.

In despair, he had no choice but to open his mouth to warn, but the word "be careful" came out of his throat. He thought there was no room for recovery, but he didn't expect that the oil drum as heavy as a mountain did not fall down. It was lifted up steadily and set up on the city wall.

The man fell to the ground, his ankles were in excruciating pain, but he had no time to care. When he squinted his eyes and looked up, he never thought that at some point he had stood beside the big bucket. Two people stretched out their hands to support them. They were both very tall, and they held their hands. The light is blocked to an extent.

As everyone vigorously supported the wooden barrel and poured the tung oil down from the high city wall, behind the two half-armored guards, there was actually another person who was leaning on the wall with his elbows and holding the barrel with half of his body, revealing a picture as he moved The girl's face comes.

"Princess...Princess..."

It was getting late now, and the sun had just set. Under the dim yellow light, at such a close distance, seeing such a face, even though the battle situation was urgent, the soldier with the sprained leg was still stunned for a moment, and blurted out: come out.

(End of this chapter)