Imperial County Magistrate

Chapter 580
At a distance of two hundred steps, Zhou's army stopped advancing. This distance made Zhang Zhengxin panic.

In the past, the most useful weapon for attacking and defending cities was undoubtedly the bow and arrow.

But unless he is a powerful warrior and has an excellent bow, it is already remarkable that an ordinary soldier can shoot an arrow thirty steps with accuracy and lethality.

The so-called word to describe a person's superb archery skills is "a hundred steps can pierce the Yang".

Even the famous Marquis of Wen, Lu Bu, shocked the world by shooting his halberd at the gate, but it only took 150 steps!

The artillery made by Qian Guo can be pointed and hit anywhere within a range of [-] steps. From this, we can analyze how terrifying this is in this era.

Now that the enemy army actually stopped advancing two hundred steps away, Zhang Zheng was very curious, what method would the enemy use to threaten the city from such a long distance?

But he soon got his answer.

Zhang Zheng's eyesight was pretty good. From a distance of two hundred steps, he saw the opponent pushing twenty huge instruments and standing behind ten thousand troops.

The equipment looked like a car, with wheels, and thirty strong men stood beside each one.

What is this for?
Zhang Zheng was puzzled, and at this time he was responsible for commanding the siege officials with thunderbolt chariots, and asked people to fill the gunpowder barrels.

Wu Xiong was also beside the Thunderbolt Car at this moment. He looked at a primer on the powder keg and couldn't help but ask: "What is this?"

The official explained: "Marshal, this is a fuse made by a craftsman. After it is lit and burned out, the gunpowder barrel will detonate."

"According to domestic experiments, if this barrel of gunpowder falls in a crowded place, there is no problem in killing thirty or forty armored men."

Wu Xiong's eyelids jumped wildly. This time, a total of [-] barrels were sent from China!
If all of this was thrown in, wouldn't Huajing City be blown up to pieces?

He thought of something and kept saying: "I wonder how it compares to Qian Guo's cannon?"

The official was a little confused: "Marshal, what is a cannon?"

"It is a weapon of the Qian Kingdom. It also uses gunpowder to kill enemies. It is very powerful. It should have been in Huajing City originally. It caused us a lot of casualties, but I don't know why I haven't seen them use it recently. "

The official became interested: "There is still something like this. After we break through Huajing City, we have to study it carefully. The marshal doesn't know that His Majesty is very obsessed with how to maximize the power of gunpowder."

"This Thunderbolt Car was inspired by His Majesty's slingshot. I never thought His Majesty was so smart before."

Wu Xiong rolled his eyes and murmured in his heart that he was not smart enough to sit on that chair. Now all the civil and military officials of Zhou Kingdom had come to realize this.

It is definitely not an accident that Li Muyi has become the leader of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Maybe the assassination of the late emperor was caused by this guy.

It’s just that no one dares to say it.

"Let's destroy the city first." Wu Xiong said.

The official smiled: "Marshal, just wait and see."

The soldiers came to report: "Marshal Qi, Master Lin, the Thunderbolt Chariot is ready!"

Seeing the inquiry in Mr. Lin's eyes, Wu Xiong waved his hand: "Come on."

Master Lin smiled and said: "Attack the city!"

A dozen men were seen releasing the stakes of the Pili Chariot. The stakes instantly exploded with great force, and the ignited gunpowder barrel was projected out.

Zhang Zheng on top of the city was startled and saw twenty gunpowder barrels flying towards Huajing City. Although he didn't know what they were, he immediately shouted: "Defense!" The mountains shook with a rumble, and the entire city wall was shaken. After a slight shake, a gunpowder barrel fell on the top of the city and exploded instantly. All the surrounding soldiers were blown to pieces.

The huge destructive power destroyed the walls!

Zhang Zheng got up from the ground. Fortunately, he was not in the explosion range, but he was still knocked over by the impact.

The tiger's eyes were red. At this moment, Zhang Zheng knew what it was. Watching the Pili chariot loading the gunpowder barrel again, Zhang Zheng understood that Huajing City, which had been defending for so many days, could no longer be defended.

What if the city gate is opened at this time and Li Long leads the cavalry to rush out and destroy this weapon?
His thoughts stopped immediately. If he opened the city gate and rushed out for a decisive battle, the enemy would be several times more numerous than himself and he would still be unable to win.

But the opponent has this kind of weapon, and there is no way to defend the city. Right now, it’s all he can do!
"Everyone withdraw from the city!"

Zhang Zheng yelled and grabbed the messenger, "Go as quickly as possible to inform Li Jiming, the Minister of War, and Chen Kai, the Prime Minister, and tell them that Huajing City cannot be defended!"

"I and General Li Long will assemble the army to delay the enemy's entry into the city, allowing them to cover His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Lord Ye Hongxue Ye to escape!"

"Remember, let His Highness the Crown Prince and Lord Ye escape no matter what!"

After speaking, Zhang Zheng rushed down to the city as fast as he could to let his lieutenants gather the army. The vibration from the previous explosion also attracted the attention of Li Long who was stationed in the city.

He rushed over and saw a somewhat embarrassed Zhang Zheng, and was suddenly shocked: "What's wrong?"

"Stop talking nonsense, Huajing City cannot be defended. You lead the 1 Qinglong Army to the palace quickly. You must keep the Crown Prince of Jing Kingdom from escaping, and Mr. Ye! That is the wife of the Imperial Preceptor! We must not let her Anything went wrong!"

"I will lead the rest of the soldiers and stay at the front of the outer city to buy you time. Move quickly!"

Li Long's eyes darkened, and without much hesitation he immediately summoned an army and rushed to the palace with 1 people.

A moment later, the messenger and Li Long arrived at the palace almost at the same time.

During this period, civil and military officials spent almost most of their time in the palace.

After receiving the news from the messenger, Li Jiming, Minister of War, and Chen Kai, Prime Minister, made a decision immediately.

"General Li, please wait at the entrance of the palace with your men. Don't let the news leak out."

Chen Kai turned around and walked towards the palace. If the news leaked out at this time and caused panic, it would be the end.

There are countless people in the huge Huajing City, and it is hard to say what the civil and military officials will do once they know that the city is about to be lost.

Quickly arriving at the palace, Chen Kai found Wu Guanhai who was discussing something with everyone.

Seeing Chen Kai and Wu Guanhai, they were startled for a moment, as if they had predicted something, and said softly: "Everyone, wait a moment. I have something to discuss with the prime minister. Lord Ye, come with me."

Ye Hongxue'e frowned and followed Wu Guanhai out of the hall.

The three of them left the front hall. Wu Guanhai took a deep breath and looked at the prime minister: "Prime Minister Chen, are you in front?"

"General Zhang has come with news that the city cannot be defended. We don't know when the enemy will attack. Your Highness, you and Mr. Ye will leave first."

"General Li has 1 people guarding outside the palace. Once the city is breached, I will ask General Li to lead his people to escape from the city to attract the enemy's attention."

Once the city is broken, Prince Wu Guanhai will definitely be killed by the enemy. He must be preserved so that Jingguo can have a future!
Wu Guanhai clenched his fists, never expecting that this day would come.

(End of this chapter)