Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 365 Broken City
The ten counties of Bohai are Yangxin, Leling, Dihe, Luci, Putai, Raoan, Wudi, Yanshan, Nanpi and Qingchi. The seat of government is in Yangxin County.

Not to mention the officials in Yangxin City, including the county governor, the deputy governor, the county magistrate, the county magistrate, the chief clerk and the captain who led the troops, were all frightened when they saw that the city was surrounded by a large group of troops again, and that the armaments were even better than the one that came yesterday.

The city was re-recruited to guard the city and prevent siege. The wealthy families in the city also donated money and food, and the sons of the families led their troops to patrol the streets to prevent the city's scoundrels from taking the opportunity to cause chaos.

Outside the west gate of Yangxin City, after interrogation, Zhao Zhen learned that most of these thieves were farmers, fishermen, and craftsmen who could not survive. Years of war, large-scale construction, heavy military service and corvée, plus no one to cultivate the land and the two taxes to be collected, they could not survive and had to rebel.

There were countless people who were lucky enough to escape military service, and many of these captives were missing half of their feet.

After selection, those who are skilled in handicrafts are organized into a separate team, including nine masters and eighteen craftsmen.

There are nine occupations: drawing lots for pigs, slaughtering pigs, castrating cows, building walls, pressing oil presses, shaving, mending pots, pedicure, and playing drums and trumpets.

Gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, rock and wood carving, tile making, lacquer making, bamboo umbrella making, dyeing and peeling leather, barbering, cotton spinning and weaving, eighteen kinds of crafts.

There were more than 300 people in total. These people no longer had to go to the battlefield. Zhao Zhen planned to take them back to the fantasy world and organize them into a craftsman camp. Craftsmen would not starve to death in a famine. Unlike farmers, craftsmen would always receive some preferential treatment.

The rest of the captives gathered together, had a hearty meal, and were divided into thirteen teams of five hundred men each. The captives were allowed to choose their own team leader, and then Zhao Zhen called the thirteen men over, saying, "Today, each of you will lead a team and take turns charging. From the moment you reach the city wall, you must wait at least one stick of incense before retreating. If anyone retreats before the time is up, he will be killed. If more than thirty people hesitate to move forward, the team leader will be killed."

As he spoke, he waved his hand and asked a sergeant to come forward and let the thirteen teams that had been temporarily selected draw a number from the bag. After everyone had drawn, Zhao Zhen said, "The number indicates the order. Number one goes first."

More than a dozen big men looked at their number plates, and those who drew the first few numbers all had sad faces.

Zhao Zhen said, "Don't worry. I have archers, muskets, and cannons to protect you. As long as you join forces to attack the city, I will reward you when the city is broken. Anyone who is willing to join my army can stay. From now on, you will receive a monthly salary. If you make military achievements, you will receive rewards. It is enough for your family to live. If you don't want to surrender, you can go on your own. I will not make things difficult for you."

The thirteen teams were gathered together, and after discussing for a while, they elected one person to come forward, kneel down in front of Zhao Zhen and said, "General, we are just praying for your life. I am afraid that many people will be killed or injured if we attack the city for you today. Please swear an oath, and we will attack the city with all our heart."

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen did not hesitate. He broke an arrow as an oath and distributed the captured weapons and armor. He also pushed out more than a dozen simple ladders left behind by Li Deyi when he attacked the city. He also assembled a siege ladder brought by Zhao Zhen and handed them all over to the first team of soldiers attacking the city.

On the top of the city wall, the soldiers guarding the city had already seen Zhao Zhen's army formation. Looking at the soldiers below the city wall, the captain leading the troops on the city wall couldn't help but swallow his saliva and said to the county governor in front of him: "Sir, look at the situation below. The ones in the front are all uncle thieves, and the soldiers behind them who are fully equipped, I don't know where they are from. It seems that the uncle thieves are going to lead the charge."

The captain pointed to the distance and said, "Look over there, sir. It looks like a catapult. The ones next to it are probably the same as the catapult, and they are all siege weapons. There are also many archers over there. Please urge the wealthy families in the city to prepare their troops and send them up immediately if there is an emergency."

As they were talking, Zhao Zhen's camp began to move. A tower in Zhao Zhen's army rose up from the ground for more than 20 feet. Everyone on the city wall was shocked. Zhao Zhen, Liu Hui Niang, and Zhu Wu stood on the tower, watching the layout of the city. They saw soldiers holding swords, spears, forks and poles, standing behind the parapet, looking down from the battlements. On the city wall, many strong men were boiling gold juice.

Ling Zhen fired the cannon that could blast the sky and the mother and son. The cannon flew up into the sky and roared. On the drum cart, two big men were shirtless and beat the crocodile war drum. The other bandits in the first team shouted, lifted the ladder, pushed the ladder, and ran to the top of the city.

Fortunately, Li Deyi had filled up the moat at the west gate when he attacked the city yesterday, and the city had not been reopened yet, so the captives who attacked the city did not have to carry soil to fill the moat again under the risk of arrows.

When the first team of siege soldiers, holding the door panels, ran into the city wall within an arrow's reach, the soldiers on the city wall raised their bows and shot, Hua Rong commanded the archers and muskets to fight back. Ling Zhen even commanded the artillery to pour ammunition on the city wall.

The mighty and invincible general cannon, the mountain-splitting cannon, the mighty general cannon, the Portuguese cannon, the mother-and-child cannon, and the three newly made flying thunders were fired in turn. The people in the city had never seen such weapons before. Liu Huiniang calculated that the cannon and thunder would not fall outside the city wall. The thunder and lightning would smash anyone who was hit, regardless of whether they were a man or a horse, into powder. There were also projectiles that overturned the golden juice, and there was chaos on the top of the city.

For a moment, the soldiers on the top of the city were so frightened that they would have dropped their weapons and run away if it weren't for the supervising team behind them. The thieves under the city saw this opportunity and ran forward desperately. When they reached the bottom of the city, they set up a ladder, held a knife in their mouths, and climbed up against the door.

On the city wall, under the captain's scolding, the soldiers cheered up and threw down battering rams, cannonballs, ash bottles and gold juice from the city wall.

The musketeers and archers, under the protection of the sword and shield soldiers, fired at the soldiers who showed their heads on the city wall. Under the cover of artillery, bows and arrows, and muskets, especially after the ladders approached, the first wave of thieves who attacked the city actually looked like they were about to attack.

Seeing this, Zhao Zhen ordered the second and third teams to rush up. The three teams climbed desperately. Zhao Zhen could see clearly from the ladder that an officer on the wall was very brave. He held a big sword in his hand and led more than 30 soldiers in full uniform to drive the soldiers who climbed up to the top of the city wall down. Zhao Zhen turned to Liu Hui Niang and said, "Madam, can we use cannons to kill this group of people?"

Liu Hui Niang looked at the group of government troops moving around and said, "If this man doesn't move, we can give it a try."

Zhao Zhen pointed to the place where the flag was hung on the city wall and said, "Madam, look at that flagpole. Just aim there. When this person walks to the flagpole, I will raise my hand and you will fire the cannon. How about that?"

Liu Hui Niang said, "I will go down and debug the Flying Thunder and wait for the signal from my husband." As she spoke, Liu Hui Niang went down from the flying tower, took out the counting chips, and soon she had calculated everything. She set the route according to the distance and position, set up the gun carriage, and waited for Zhao Zhen's signal.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Zhen was ready, but this man didn't go to his side.

The thieves who were attacking the city had been rotated to the eighth team. This man led the guards to run around everywhere, but he just didn't go to the flag. When Zhao Zhen was considering whether to re-select a position, he saw a team of government troops coming up from the bottom of the city. Their weapons were much better than those of the soldiers on the top of the city. As luck would have it, this team of soldiers was standing under the flag, and the leaders were giving orders to these people.

Zhao Zhen waved the small red flag in his hand. When Liu Huiniang saw it, she immediately ordered the ignition to be lit and the pedal to fire. Three bombs flew and landed right on the flagpole. There were three "booms" and the new team of soldiers fell down on the city wall, and the flagpole was broken.

The generals on the top of the city saw this and hurried forward to check. Zhao Zhen quickly waved the red flag in his hand, and Liu Hui Niang urged the soldiers to pull the rope, put the fire bomb, and fire the fire bomb again. There were three more sounds, and the generals also fell to the ground, and the resistance on the top of the city weakened.

When Zhu Wu saw this, he waved the yellow flag in his hand repeatedly. The remaining teams of A'jiu's bandits rushed up together, and after a fierce fight, they finally gained a foothold on the top of the city.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Zhen ordered Liu Tang and Bao Xu to lead a team to climb the city wall. After a fierce charge, they drove the officers and soldiers out of the city and occupied a section of the city wall.

Afterwards, archers and musketeers also climbed up the city wall one after another and shot arrows and fired muskets at the government troops below the city. Liu Tang and Bao Xu even killed their way down the horse path that led to the city, broke into the city and opened the city gate.

When Zhao Zhen saw this, he ordered his men to wave the yellow flag of the central army and lead the infantry to charge into the city.

Those who saw the opportunity early escaped through the other three gates.

Unfortunately, the cavalry outside the city had been waiting for a long time, and when they saw the escaping government troops, they rushed forward to kill them.

When Zhao Zhen entered the city and cleared out the remaining enemies, the bandits also rushed in. Zhao Zhen ordered the soldiers and civilians in the city to be driven out of their houses, and broke into more than ten houses before finding the two hiding soldiers.

After asking, Zhao Zhen learned that the people in the city, led by the county magistrate, went out of the east gate last night and headed north to Wudi County to avoid the disaster. The only people left in the city were soldiers and young men from each family.

It turned out that when Zhao Zhen ambushed Li Deyi yesterday, he was discovered by spies in the city and quietly led the people away overnight.

After searching the city, they found less than 1500 soldiers, of whom the cavalry killed and captured more than 300. The rest were either killed in battle or hid, and many escaped by climbing the city walls or using ropes.

Zhao Zhen ordered the warehouses to be opened and the battlefield to be cleaned up. Perhaps because they were afraid of alarming Zhao Zhen's group, they left in a hurry yesterday, leaving a lot of food and cloth in the warehouses. There were also a lot of good things left in the houses of the rich families in the city. After two days of looting, it was not until Ruan Xiaoer, Shi Jin and his group raided Li Deyi's lair and brought back Li Deyi's head that Zhao Zhen almost looted Yangxin County.

The bodies of the prefect, the deputy prefect, the county magistrate, and the military commander were all found on the city wall, while the county magistrate, the county magistrate, and the chief clerk led their men to escape from the city.

Looking at the horseshoe in his hand, which was already covered with cracks and looked like it would collapse at any time, Zhao Zhen ordered the captured government troops and bandits to be gathered together.

There were 1800 government troops and 4000 bandits, divided into two groups. Zhao Zhen asked someone to inquire and explained the situation. Only 300 government troops and 1200 bandits were left. The rest of the people had their weapons and armor confiscated, and they offered 30 kilograms of food and were sent out of the city.

Accompanying the soldiers, captured craftsmen, and captives willing to surrender, Zhao Zhen returned to the main world with his harvest.

(End of this chapter)