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Chapter 736 Siege
The red dragon flag was once the flag of the King of Nanyang. Jiang Shaohua inherited Nanyang County as the Princess of Nanyang, and also inherited this flag.

Jiang Shaohua once led his troops under this banner to suppress mountain bandits.

The Nanyang guards once held this banner high and trampled through the Rouran military camp.

The arrival of the red dragon flag means that Jiang Shaohua’s men have arrived outside the city gate.

She was the emperor and could not leave the capital at will, so she sent her trusted confidants to bring her banner.

Zheng Chen stood on the city gate, looking at the big flag fluttering in the wind. It seemed as if he and Jiang Shaohua were separated by a long time and distance.

The figure trapped in the Wang family's inner house in the previous life had gradually become blurred. In this life, Jiang Shaohua was strong, decisive, and fierce, and was imprinted in his heart like a knife.

Zheng Chen suddenly laughed mockingly. She hadn't come at all, but had someone bring her red dragon flag to the city, and he was already confused.

She was indeed his destined disaster.

But when Zhao Wu saw the flag of General Zuo, his expression suddenly changed, his hands trembled slightly, and his voice trembled unconsciously: "Sir! General Zuo is here!"

Zhao Wu was a general of the border army and was also regarded as a confidant by General Zuo. As a result, he abandoned the city and fled at a critical moment, causing the border army to lose Pengcheng and General Zuo to be caught off guard and forced to retreat. It can be said that he stabbed his own commander severely.

Now, General Zuo came with a rage in his heart. Even though they were hundreds of meters apart and couldn't see each other's figures and faces, Zhao Wu still couldn't help but feel terrified.

Lu Cheng, on the other hand, had been in the military camp in Yuzhou for many years, and had come into contact with bandits and thieves. In the past few months, he had been plundering and killing the rich and the common people. He was not very good at fighting, but he felt very good about himself. Seeing the imperial army cruising back and forth under the city gate, he smiled contemptuously: "What are you afraid of! Our city wall has been built to eight feet high. As long as we guard the city gate, they can't rush in at all."

No one cares about him.

Zheng Chen was still looking at the red dragon flag.

Zhao Wu was still anxious: "Master, what should we do now?"

Lu Cheng was ignored and felt quite unhappy.

Yuzhou Army was his territory. When Zheng Chen arrived, he naturally seized the highest command and proclaimed himself the King of Yuzhou. If there was anything, he would be given orders. As the commander of the Yuzhou Army, he was sent like an errand boy, which was fine.

Zhao Wu, a general without any troops, had only about 20 personal soldiers around him and nothing else. He was ranked before him. This made him feel unhappy.

Zheng Chen didn't notice Lu Cheng's expression at all. Perhaps he just caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't take it to heart.

"They won't attack the city today." Zheng Chen finally retracted his gaze and said to the two men, "They are carrying flags to demonstrate. The official attack on the city will take at least five or six days."

Zhao Wu probably thought of the great achievements of General Zuo in the past. His face turned pale and he whispered hurriedly, "General Zuo has craftsmen who are good at making siege equipment. I don't know how many they brought. If we let them make ladders, it will not be easy to defend the city gate."

Lu Cheng, who originally didn't take it seriously, changed his expression when he heard the word "building vehicle": "Can they build a ladder?"

"More than just ladders!" Zhao Wu sighed, "We can also make catapults."

The catapult is a powerful siege weapon that can launch huge rocks from a distance to smash the city wall. The ladder can cover the soldiers attacking the city and can also climb up and jump over the city wall. With these two powerful weapons, it is obviously not enough to build the city wall to eight feet. Lu Cheng took a breath and said, "Then how should we deal with it?"

Zheng Chen quickly calmed down: "Don't panic yet, continue to urge the people to repair the city wall. Also, summon all the soldiers in the barracks, give them high positions and generous salaries, and let them fight to the death to defend the city."

"Also, send people into the city to gather all the women, children, and the elderly from the people's homes to the city gates."

The elderly, the weak, women and children?

What can they do?
Lu Cheng was stunned for a moment. Zhao Wu reacted and whispered in agreement: "Sir, this is a good idea."

……

In the next few days, there was chaos both inside and outside Yuzhou City.

Outside the city of Yuzhou, soldiers from the Yingwei Camp kept cutting down trees from the nearby mountains and forests and transporting them back. Dozens of craftsmen were busy day and night making ladders and catapults for siege.

The atmosphere in Yuzhou City was even more tense. General Lu personally led the troops to arrest people. The elderly, children, and women in the homes of the people were all arrested and brought to the city gate. The sounds of begging for mercy, crying, and screaming mixed together, making it unbearable to hear.

Half a month later, the British Guards had built the ladders and catapults, and the soldiers who had come from afar had almost finished their rest. General Zuo gave the order to formally attack the city.

General Zuo had been keeping his troops in place, but once he attacked the city, he would attack with a force as powerful as thunder.

First, the catapults came forward. Under the operation of the catapults, huge stones flew towards the walls of Yuzhou. There were earth-shaking noises. From time to time, people on the walls were hit by huge stones, and screams were heard.

Song Yuan was also at the gate, standing on a high chariot with General Zuo, looking at the siege. Song Yuan had good hearing and vision, and soon noticed something was wrong, and frowned quickly: "General Zuo, it seems that there are not only soldiers on the Yuzhou city wall, but also many civilians."

There were people of different heights, some tall and some short, and some wearing brightly colored clothes, clearly women.

Fighting is fighting, but this is only the first day of the siege. How can we push out the elderly, the weak, women and children?

General Zuo sneered repeatedly: "Commander Song is right. Just now, a personal soldier came to deliver a message to this general. There are indeed civilians on the city wall. They should be the elderly, the weak, women and children in Yuzhou City."

"Zheng Chen did this on purpose. He wanted to use the lives of innocent people to force us to withdraw our troops."

Song Yuan's eyebrows twitched a few times: "Since the general already knows about it, why do you still want to attack the city?"

General Zuo turned his head and looked over, his eyes stern: "Commander Song used to be the princess's personal guard, and now he is the commander of the emperor's personal guard. All he has to do all day is to protect the master's safety."

"Commander Song's skills and martial arts are beyond the reach of this general. However, I have experienced more battles on the battlefield than you have, ten times or even a hundred times."

"We must not only fight this battle, but also fight it swiftly and beautifully. Only a complete victory can deter the rest of the garrison troops that are ready to make a move. Once we are deadlocked with the Yuzhou army here, there will soon be disturbances in various parts of the court. By then, the court will be in turmoil and troops will be sent everywhere to quell the rebellion, and more people will die in the war."

"Commander Song, please think carefully about which is more important!"

After saying that, he turned around and gave orders to the guards around him: "Pass on my order, the catapults retreat, and the ladders move forward to attack the city!"