Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather.

Chapter 672: Battle of Kyoto
The action has already been taken in Chongshan Town, and the siege in Kyoto has also begun.

On April 25, the Daliang army had besieged the city for 20 days and produced a large number of siege equipment.

Early in the morning of that day, the sound of drums could be heard in the Daliang army camp.

Immediately afterwards, a large number of soldiers walked out of the camp pushing ladders, trench bridges, nest carts, catapults, crossbows and other siege equipment.

The army formed a battle array, surrounded Kyoto on three sides and launched an attack from the west, north and south.

Trumpets blew and drums beat.

Tens of thousands of soldiers swarmed towards the city wall like ants.

The catapult started, and stones the size of washbasins were wrapped in straw ropes and poured with kerosene, falling into the city with fire and whistling sounds.

At the same time, there were a large number of crossbow arrows mixed in, and the sharp sound of breaking through the air was heard.

As soon as the battle horn sounded, the Daliang army outside the city demonstrated extremely professional siege skills.

The counterattack in the city was equally good, with a large number of crossbows fired and dense crossbow arrows covering the sky, making people's scalps numb.

Although the court of Darong has been corrupt for many years, although the imperial guards have been destroyed, and although the emperor's personal troops in the city are no longer truly elite, Kyoto is still Kyoto.

Here are also Dayong’s best city defense facilities, with more than 2,000 crossbows alone, and they are all large-scale crossbows.

In addition to the crossbows, there were also a large number of wooden beams and rolling stones on the city walls, as well as a lot of gold juice and boiling oil.

Smoke rose from the city walls, and the smell was overwhelming.

A large number of soldiers have already been waiting on guard.

The moat of Kyoto is very wide, more than ten feet wide, and more than two feet deep.

It is impossible to cross the moat relying solely on a moat bridge. The moat needs to be filled and then a moat bridge needs to be built to ensure that the soldiers can cross the moat quickly and safely.

At the beginning of the siege, the main task of the Daliang army was to fill the moat.

On the first day of the siege, the Daliang army did not touch the edge of the city wall, but the attacks from both sides were very sharp, with catapults and crossbows shooting at each other. Although the two sides did not come into contact, there were many casualties.

The Daliang army in particular suffered more than 2,000 casualties in just one day.

Then the offensive and defensive battle between the two sides entered an extremely brutal stage.

The Daliang army continued to transport soil, bricks and stones to fill the moat, and both sides fired at each other with catapults and crossbows.

The Daliang army outside the city suffered heavy casualties, and although the soldiers inside the city did not suffer too much loss, the civilians near the city wall suffered.

A large number of houses were set on fire by the thrown stones, and a large number of people were accidentally injured or burned to death.

One day, two days, three days...

Five days passed in the blink of an eye. The moats on the west, north and south sides of Kyoto were almost filled up, and this most brutal siege entered its final stage.

On the morning of the first day of May, the sky was gloomy and the thick dark clouds felt like they were filled with lead, making it hard to breathe.

Emperor Tianwu stood at the central army banner, holding a telescope and looking at the city wall opposite.

On the city wall, Li Feihe was also looking at Emperor Tianwu’s central army banner.

The real hand-to-hand combat was about to begin, and both sides were in a very solemn mood.

"Grandfather!" Li Feihe looked at Li Chao behind him.

Li Chao looked at Chen Wansong and Wang He not far away. At this time, there were eight innate warriors gathered here, including Chen Wansong, Wang He, Li Chao and three great monks from Mahayana Temple, as well as two innate warriors of Blood Blade, Bai Jian and Hei Dao.

A lean camel is bigger than a horse. Even though the Darong court has fallen apart, the royal family still has quite a few innate warriors.

The three great monks of Mahayana Temple, Miaoxin, Miaofa and Miaozhen, are not ordinary innate warriors. Mahayana Temple is originally a royal temple, and the monks in Mahayana Temple enjoy royal offerings.

Compared with the Three Valleys, Mahayana Temple is actually closer to the royal family.

Because Sanshan Valley was for offerings to the court, while Mahayana Temple was for offerings to the royal family.

Although the three great monks Miaoxin, Miaofa and Miaozhen are not well-known and do not have a great reputation, and even many innate warriors are not aware of their existence, their strength should not be underestimated.

Among them, Miaoxin became a congenital warrior the earliest and is now over 140 years old. Miaofa is the second oldest and is over 120 years old. Miaozhen is the youngest but is also over 100 years old.

As for Bai Jian and Hei Dao, they are the innate warriors among the Blood Blades. Although they have been innate warriors for less than ten years, they are the innate warriors trained by Emperor Yanping and are loyal to the royal family.

To be precise, the Blood Blades are the royal family's death squad. There are forty-eight Blood Blades, each of them has impressive strength and is determined to die for the emperor.

In addition to the eight innate warriors in front of him, there are actually four innate warriors guarding Emperor Jianxing in the imperial city.

Four old eunuchs.

The foundation of the royal family is not Chen Wansong, but Xue Ren and those old eunuchs.

For the royal family, it is far more profitable to train eunuchs and assassins than to train nobles and officials.

Nobles and officials may betray the court, but eunuchs and bloody swords will not.

The war is about to begin. At this time, eight innate warriors gather on the city wall, waiting for the upcoming decisive battle.

Three great monks sat cross-legged in the city wall with their eyes slightly closed, chanting scriptures, as if they were praying for the souls of the dead soldiers and civilians.

Bai Jian and Hei Dao habitually stood in the shadows, their auras were very weak, as if they did not exist.

Li Chao stood outside the city wall, looking at the Daliang army surging in from outside the city.

Chen Wansong and Wang He looked solemn and expressionless.

"kill!"

Shouts of killing were heard, and the iron hooks at the top of the ladders were hung on the parapet. A large number of Daliang soldiers wearing iron armor and holding weapons climbed up the ladders.

The soldiers of Dayong on the city wall began to throw down wooden poles and boulders, and pour hot oil and boiling gold juice.

In the blink of an eye, shouts and screams resounded through the sky.

Before the Daliang soldiers could even rush up the city wall, they were hit by wooden beams and boulders, or doused with hot oil and gold juice.

Under the banner, Emperor Tianwu looked at the tragic soldiers with a frown on his face.

The city walls of Kyoto are tall and well-equipped for defending the city, so it is difficult to climb the walls using conventional means.

Even for acquired warriors it is difficult to quickly rush up the city wall, and even if one or two acquired warriors rush up the city wall it will not make much sense. There are also many acquired warriors in the Dayong army on the city wall. Once an acquired warrior rushes up, he will be shot down immediately.

The key point is that this kind of fighting style will cause heavy casualties among the soldiers. Over time, morale will inevitably decline.

In order to win this battle, we must mobilize innate warriors.

If you can defeat the opponent's innate warrior, the opponent's morale will decline, and your morale will be greatly boosted.

As one gains strength while the other loses strength, it becomes easier to attack the city.

Thinking of this, Emperor Tianwu looked at Zhang Luan beside him, "Senior Zhang, it's your turn to take action!" Zhang Luan nodded and shook the long sword in his hand, "Everyone, let's go! Now that things have come to this, it's time to fight and decide the outcome!"

"If you can't win, let me know in advance and we can run away together!"

He also made a joke.

Li Zhen laughed, "Don't worry, I will definitely run ahead of you!"

The two looked at each other and laughed.

Good brothers are good brothers. Even if they are already centenarians, they still have a deep brotherly love.

As the laughter died down, Zhang Luan, Li Zhen, Jian Chengfeng and Yang Jiushi flew out like sharp arrows.

In terms of the number of innate warriors, Daliang seems to be far inferior to Dayong, but it doesn’t matter. Since they dare to go up, it means they are sure of victory.

In the blink of an eye, the four of them arrived in front of the city wall. They ignored the flying crossbow arrows and the soldiers attacking the city around them, stood on the nest car, and looked at the city wall opposite.

"Everyone, long time no see!" Zhang Luan looked at the people opposite through the fighting soldiers.

The sound was like thunder, suppressing the shouts and screams around.

Everyone in front of him was his acquaintance. Chen Wansong, Wang He and Li Chao needed no introduction. Zhang Luan had also communicated with the three great monks of Mahayana Temple many times. However, Zhang Luan had only met Bai Jian and Heidao but had never had any interaction with them.

"Traitors, you must not die a good death!" Chen Wansong spoke first, looking at Zhang Luan and Jian Chengfeng with a gloomy face.

It would be fine if it were other people, but Zhang Luan was a nobleman of Darong, and Jian Chengfeng was also a minister of Darong. They were the real traitors.

In comparison, Li Zhen and Yang Jiushi were at most thieves, not traitors. Although they had received Darong's salary and taken Darong's Sanhuangli and Zhenyuan Dan before, they had never truly served as officials in the court.

Zhang Luan smiled disdainfully, "Chen Wansong, don't be so harsh. You and I both know that it's not us who made Darong what it is today. The fault lies with you!"

Chen Wansong stared at him, "The fault lies with us? What crime have we committed?"

"To be in a high position, enjoying all the glory and wealth, but not doing anything is a sin!"

Zhang Luan said coldly: "Everything you eat and drink is made from the blood and sweat of the people, but have you ever done anything for the people of the world?"

"Not just you, but also them. Apart from chanting sutras, these great monks have never done anything. However, their Buddha statues are made of gold, their temples are magnificent, and they are supported by countless people. Haha, Buddhism is all about compassion, but they have never shown mercy to the people!"

His eyes swept across the three big monks, then across the white sword and black knife, and finally fell on Li Chao.

"Among you, only Marquis Haining has done something. He has at least guarded the border and defended the people against foreign enemies!"

"Haha, you are just people who are just sitting there doing nothing. You take the support of millions of people but only care about yourselves. How can you face the people of the world?"

This is why Zhang Luan looks down on these people the most.

Innate warriors are the best among people, but this does not mean that innate warriors can look down on all people in the world.

In fact, he was very willing to serve the court, otherwise he would not have taken over Shangwu Temple in the first place.

He is willing to protect the people of the world. When he was in charge of Shangwu Temple, he restrained the martial arts sects, cracked down on crimes committed by warriors, and eliminated the oppression of ordinary people by warriors.

He is not just a simple warrior, he has the world in his heart and he is willing to give up his cultivation for the sake of the people of the world.

But the result?
His hard work went in vain and he ended up being in trouble with everyone.

Zhang Luan was furious when he thought of the exclusion he had suffered in the court.

The reason why Dayong fell to its current state was the inaction of the royal family, the corruption of the court, and the countless officials who held positions but did nothing.

He hated the royal family of Dayong extremely, he hated the court of Dayong so much, and he wanted to get rid of those bureaucrats as soon as possible.

That's why he chose Daliang. Although Daliang used to be a bandit country, it at least allowed the people of Hanzhong Prefecture to live a stable life.

Under Zhang Luan's angry rebuke, Chen Wansong's face turned pale and blue.

"Hmph, stop talking nonsense!" Chen Wansong did not think that Zhang Luan was wrong. On the contrary, he felt that Zhang Luan was right.

Even now he was regretting that he should not have stayed in Fengxian Hall and ignored the affairs of state. He should have given more advice to Emperor Yanping.

Unfortunately, his regret was of no use.

Moreover, the butt determines the head. Since he is a member of the royal family, he must maintain the rule of imperial power. No matter what the current court becomes, he must maintain it.

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Wansong flew towards Zhang Luan.

Seeing this, Zhang Luan sneered.

What he said just now was his true feelings, but he said those not because he wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with Chen Wansong. His purpose was to induce Chen Wansong to take action.

On the tragic battlefield, the two men collided with each other in an instant, swords and sabers flashed and shadows intertwined, a large amount of chaotic true energy burst out everywhere, and many soldiers who were fighting on the city walls were affected.

Zhang Luan and Chen Wansong have already taken action, so naturally the others will not sit idle either.

The three big monks opened their eyes. They were wearing thin monk robes, grey cloth shoes, and holding rosary beads. They looked at Jian Chengfeng and the other two with anger in their eyes.

"Amitabha! My Buddha is compassionate!"

Miaoxin chanted the Buddha's name, and his whole body instantly radiated golden light. His monk's robe fluttered without wind, and his snow-white beard fluttered.

Then he pounced towards Jian Chengfeng, shining with golden light, like a Buddha. With one step he took, he was as fast as golden thunder.

But before he could reach Jian Chengfeng's gold coins, a crimson sword light suddenly appeared.

It stabbed out from behind him, and before anyone could react, the sharp sword had already reached Miaoxin.

The sword came unexpectedly, piercing towards Miaoxin like a rainbow piercing the sun.

Miaoxin is indeed a top-notch innate warrior. She was able to react even after being caught off guard by a sneak attack.

He paused, and suddenly retracted the Buddhist beads that were about to be thrown away, then put his hands together to clamp the sword.

There was a bang.

The sharp sword stopped, Miao Xin's eyes were filled with anger, and he stared at the person in front of him like an angry Vajra.

The person holding the sword was none other than Wang He.

Yang Zhengshan's guess was correct. Among the two people who had a secret meeting in the pavilion in the backyard of Jing'an Marquis's Mansion, one was Wang He's confidant.

As for why Wang He betrayed the court, the reason is actually not that complicated.

Fiefdoms and titles are not the main reasons. Although Wang He values ​​these, it is too early to say them now. Even if Daliang can capture Kyoto, it is still a long way from unifying the world.

The reason why Wang He chose to betray the court was simply that a wise bird chooses the right tree to roost in.

Darong has reached its end, while Daliang is like the rising sun.

Wang He was just placing a bet in advance, trying to gain wealth for his descendants.

(End of this chapter)