Start to be a martial arts hero from the famous people of Hengshan

Chapter 495 Defeat is decided
In Anqing City, Prince Ning couldn't sit still at all. He stood in the lobby, exuding a terrifying aura.

"Guangxin Prefecture, Shangrao County, Yushan County, Yiyang County, Guixi County, Qianshan County, Yongfeng County, Xing'an County, seven counties have all fallen!"

"Raozhou Prefecture, Poyang County, Yugan County, Leping County, Fuliang County, Dexing County, Anren County, Wannian County, all have been taken over by the imperial court!"

"No one knows when the six counties of Fuzhou Prefecture, Linchuan County, Chongren County, Jinxi County, Yihuang County, Le'an County, and Dongxiang County, were lost!"

"It was not until Dehua County in Jiujiang Prefecture was captured that news reached Anqing."

King Ning looked at the group of capable military and civil officials and cursed angrily: "Who can explain to me how these territories fell one by one, but I didn't receive any news at all?!"

"Five military battalions, twelve thousand cavalry, three thousand artillery battalions, thirty-five thousand infantry battalions, a total of only fifty thousand people!"

"On the other hand, our army had 100,000 soldiers when we set out on the expedition, plus soldiers who stayed behind in various places, the total number was as high as 130,000!"

"Ou Zanghua's 50,000 troops are clearly outside Anqing City, why did they suddenly run to our rear?"

"I have the advantage of timing, location and people, why did the situation deteriorate to this point?!"

Li Shishi, Liu Yangzheng, Wang Lun, and others all bowed their heads and dared not say much. Yichun King Zhu Gongtai stood up and said, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Li mentioned before that the infantry of the Five Army Camps outside the city were too lazy. They didn't look like elite soldiers of the Beijing Camp, but more like soldiers of the garrison. Now it seems that Prime Minister Li's guess was correct."

"That Ou Zanghua was really cunning. He first used the guards to impersonate the elite troops of the Beijing Camp to confuse us. The real elite troops of the Beijing Camp were quietly transferred to the rear of our army to open up another battlefield. This is why we were caught off guard."

"We have not been able to detect this in time. I am afraid the problem lies in the enemy's cavalry patrols. I dare to speculate that the reason they patrol frequently is to intercept the messengers who pass on information to us!"

When King Ning heard this, he could not help but nodded, and then asked with some hope: "Then according to King Yichun's opinion, how should we deal with it now?"

Prince Yichun looked at Prince Ning in confusion, his expression seemed to be saying, 'I'm just a wise man after the event, and you ask me what to do'?
Seeing this, Prince Ning waved his hand helplessly, signaling Prince Yichun to retreat for the time being. He turned to Li Shishi and asked solemnly, "In your opinion, Prime Minister, if we go back to the rear to provide support, can we take advantage of the situation to encircle Ou Zanghua's infantry?"

"This"

Li Shishi thought for a moment before suggesting, "Your Highness, in my humble opinion, we should treat the person in his own way."

"Since Ou Zanghua can use the soldiers of the garrison as a fog to confuse us, we can also use the civilians in the city as a cover to confuse him. We distribute weapons to the civilians and mobilize them to help defend the city. On the surface, we maintain a standoff with the five military camps, but in fact we secretly mobilize our main forces to quickly return to support. When Ou Zanghua is off guard, we can give him a fatal blow and destroy his troops deployed behind us!"

"Very good!"

When King Ning heard this, he said excitedly: "Let's do it!"

But at this moment, a soldier ran in quickly, knelt on one knee and said: "Your Highness, we have received an urgent message from Nanchang Prefecture. The imperial army has appeared on the outskirts of Nanchang Prefecture and has launched an attack on Nanchang City!"

"what?!"

Prince Ning was immediately horrified and shouted to everyone, "Return to Nanchang immediately, immediately!"

Everyone was also shocked, thinking that Nanchang City was their base camp and all kinds of supplies were concentrated in the city. If it was captured by the court, they would not have to fight and it would be more convenient to surrender directly.

Prince Ning added: "By the way, Prime Minister Li's plan to mobilize the people to defend the city should continue to be implemented. It will buy us every moment we can."

"Yes!" everyone responded and then took action.

Ou Zanghua on the other side actually received the news half an hour earlier than Ning. He looked towards Anqing City not far away and said to Jiang Tie, a military official from Jiangxi, "Send a message to Li Chongsi, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, that his navy can be dispatched."

"Yes!" Jiang Tie responded, then turned around and left quickly.

Then, Ou Zanghua ordered the artillery camp that it was time to blow up the city gate.

After receiving the order, the artillery battalion quickly organized two elite teams. They carried gunpowder bags on their shoulders and, under the cover of the artillery battalion's firepower, they crawled forward and crawled, and finally arrived at the city gate.

After confirming the location was correct, they carefully buried the gunpowder, pulled out the fuse and ignited it, and evacuated the scene as quickly as possible.

Immediately afterwards, there was a deafening "boom!", as if the sky was collapsing. The entire city wall was shaking violently under the huge force of the explosion, with dust flying and gravel scattering.

The civilians who had just been mobilized to the city wall were frightened out of their wits by the sudden and horrific explosion. Their legs trembled like sieves and they could hardly stand.

They were just lured here by money. After all, the two sides have been confronting each other for more than half a month, and every day they just blew up the city walls and fired verbal attacks, and no one could do anything to the other. Now they come up to pretend after being paid. Isn't this just like picking up money?
Asking them to defend themselves against artillery fire would be sheer wishful thinking.

When they came to their senses, these people started crying and shouting for their parents, as they didn't want to earn money but not be able to spend it.

Faced with this chaotic scene, the soldiers looked at each other in bewilderment. Some hot-tempered generals drew their swords and directly threatened the people: Either they hold on to the city wall and receive the rewards they deserve, or they will be executed immediately and not get a penny!
There were many tough guys among the people. Although they were afraid of the power of artillery, they did not back down when faced with swords and guns.

As a result, many people angrily picked up their spears and confronted the soldiers.

This unexpected turn of events was beyond Li Shishi's expectations and made him extremely shocked. He couldn't help but curse both sides for their stupidity in the camp. Then he had to come and deal with the matter with a pinch of his nose.

At the city gate, when the dust settled, although the city gate remained standing, anyone with a sharp eye could see that the heavy city gate was already in danger and could collapse at any time.

Ou Zanghua paid close attention to the changes on the city wall and found that the other side had not organized a counterattack. He was stunned and immediately ordered: "The artillery battalion blasted open the city gate!"

"Yes!" Taoist Wang Chengwu responded and organized a group of disciples to adjust the muzzles of the guns. Five powerful cannons were aimed at the city gate.

"ignition!"

Along with Taoist Wang Chengwu's loud command, a bright flame spurted out from the muzzle, followed by a deafening roar, as if the whole world was shaking at this moment.

The shells cut through the air and headed straight for the city gate with incredibly terrifying force.

In an instant, the area around the city gate was shrouded in fire and smoke. The shock wave generated by the explosion caused the bricks and stones on the city wall to fall off, and dust and rubble swept all around.

When the smoke gradually dissipated, it was seen that the city gate was covered with cracks, and the central part was even sunken inwards.

There was another loud bang, even louder than before, and the city gate could no longer withstand the pressure, and collapsed, raising a huge wave of dust.

Li Shishi, who was trying to mediate the tense confrontation between the two sides, was knocked to the ground by the sudden roar of artillery and the strong vibration. He struggled to get up, with a look of horror and confusion on his face, and asked anxiously and loudly: "What on earth happened?!"

Before the soldiers could answer, they heard a cry of surprise from below the city wall: "Oh no! The city gate is wide open! The imperial army is coming in." "This is nonsense!"

Li Shishi's face instantly turned livid, and he shouted angrily, "The city gate has long been reinforced, and it is impossible to open it from the outside. It is obvious that someone is here to confuse the public and disrupt the morale of the army! Come on, quickly capture him and interrogate him strictly!"

However, the only response to Li Shishi was the increasingly rapid sound of horse hooves, beating on his heart like a war drum.

Then, he saw a group of cavalry rushing out from the flying dust like wild horses.

These cavalrymen held strangely shaped earthenware jars in their hands. They had cold eyes and moved quickly. Whenever they passed a crowd, they would ruthlessly pull off a piece of rope from the jar and then throw it out with force.

Li Shishi looked down and wondered what the use of this thing was.
Why are some of them coming out of smoke?
The next moment, Li Shishi witnessed with his own eyes a clay pot emitting thick smoke suddenly explode, and countless sharp iron nails and iron pieces flew out, shooting out in all directions like a rainstorm.

"what--!!!"

For a while, screams were heard one after another. Soldiers and civilians were hit one after another. Some were hit in the vitals and died on the spot, while others were seriously injured and fell to the ground, rolling and wailing in pain. The scene was horrific.

Li Shishi trembled all over. What the hell is this thing? !

When he looked again, he saw a similar earthenware jar rolling under his feet. His face turned pale instantly, his legs trembled violently like sieves, and he collapsed to the ground, his heart filled with despair.

But after suffering for a long time, I didn't feel any pain.

Li Shishi looked down and noticed that the earthen jar was not smoking and did not seem to be about to explode.

At this moment, he seemed to be pulled back from the edge of hell, and his heart was filled with gratitude for surviving the disaster.

He tremblingly held onto the city wall and managed to stand up. His legs were still weak and he could only move slowly down.

At this moment, a young voice suddenly reached his ears: "Excuse me, are you Lord Shirasu?"

Li Shishi looked up subconsciously and saw a young general riding a majestic chestnut horse, staring at him with sharp eyes.

At the side of this general, countless cavalrymen poured into the city like a tide, with magnificent momentum.

On the other hand, the Ning Wang army, whose members were still alive, were like stray dogs, kneeling on both sides of the street, dejected and without any fighting spirit.

Li Shishi was confused. What happened when he was in agony?
After coming to his senses, he subconsciously shook his head: "I am not Li Shishi, you have recognized the wrong person."

"No! Then there is no value in being captured." Ou Zanghua smiled and picked up the longbow.

Li Shishi sat down on the steps, forced out a smile that was uglier than crying, and said dejectedly: "Oh, as you can see, I am Li Shishi."

Ou Zanghua nodded slightly, signaling the guards around him to come forward and tie up the Ning Wang Left Prime Minister tightly.

He himself led his elite cavalry through the streets of Anqing City, and continued to pursue in the direction of the retreat of Prince Ning's army in the dust.

On the other side, Li Chongsi, who received orders from Ou Zanghua, led his newly-formed 1,000 elite soldiers who were good at naval warfare, raised the flag high, boarded more than 100 warships, and marched forward with cheers.

Before Prince Ning's army had gone a few miles, they were discovered by Li Chongsi's navy.

The navy originally responsible for blocking the river, under the command of Li Chongsi, played various musical instruments on the boat to tell the people on the shore that Anqing City had been lost, Nanchang City had also been taken, and the imperial army was chasing them closely. They had no way forward and nowhere to escape.

For a moment, the morale of Ning Wang's army on the shore was low and the army was demoralized. Almost no one could laugh.

After hearing these words, Prince Ning's face became even gloomier. He looked at the guards beside him and asked, "Where is Prime Minister Li?"

The guard saluted and said, "Your Highness, Prime Minister Li is arranging people to guard the city, and it seems that he has not caught up yet."

King Ning was slightly relieved. If Li Shishi was around, Ou Zanghua would not have discovered the clues of Anqing City so quickly!

But what King Ning did not expect was that just a moment after they separated from the navy, scouts came to report that the imperial cavalry had caught up to them, only five miles behind them.

Upon hearing this, Ruichang Prince Zhu Gongzhu's face turned pale as paper, and he exclaimed in disbelief: "How could it be so fast?! We clearly left 6,000 soldiers to assist in the city defense!"

The scout shook his head and said with a gasp, "I don't know either!"

Wang Lun immediately stepped forward upon seeing this, cupped his hands, and said with a firm look: "Your Highness, in the current situation, only a fight to the death can give us a glimmer of hope! This place is hilly, which is quite disadvantageous for cavalry. We should quickly command the army to set up a defensive formation and deploy archers behind the formation to take advantage of long-range attacks."

"That makes sense! Let's arrange it quickly." Upon hearing this, King Ning immediately agreed to Wang Lun's suggestion.

"Yes!"

Prince Ning's army occupied the advantageous terrain and began to form a battle array. Unfortunately, just as they had arranged the shield soldiers in the front row, they heard a thunderous sound of horse hooves in the distance.

Looking up, they saw that the road they came from was now covered with dust, as if a yellow dragon was tumbling in the wind, with great momentum.

Wang Lun took a deep breath, trying to calm the waves in his heart, and then decisively continued to command the infantry to adjust the formation. Although his voice was still calm, it was not difficult to detect a bit of haste that was difficult to conceal.

Ou Zanghua was already aware of the urgency of the battle from a distance. He narrowed his eyes slightly, raised his spear and shouted, "My fellow soldiers, this is the time to make achievements. Follow me!"

"kill!"

The cavalrymen let out an earth-shaking roar, and the horses under their crotch seemed to sense their master's will to fight, and their speed soared again.

When they were only twenty feet away from Prince Ning's army, the cavalrymen in the front row decisively raised their heavy iron guns. With a few deafening noises of "bang! bang! bang!", green smoke spewed out of the muzzles of the iron guns, and bullets flew out at a rapid speed, hitting the first row of soldiers holding giant shields in Prince Ning's army. In an instant, many soldiers fell down, and blood and dust were intertwined.

When Ou Zanghua saw this, a hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes. He rode his horse towards the opened gap without hesitation. The spear in his hand flashed like lightning, and instantly stabbed a soldier who hurried forward to fill the gap to death.

At the same time, the cavalrymen around him were also extremely fierce. The front row wielded long-handled iron guns and struck fiercely like giant hammers, knocking away the Ning Wang army soldiers who tried to resist with shields, and completely tore open the Ning Wang army's defense line. The cavalrymen in the rear held long swords and killed them one by one, as if they were in an empty space.

The Ning Wang army had lost its fighting spirit due to the harassment of Li Chongsi's navy. Now facing the unstoppable charge of the imperial cavalry like a tiger descending from a mountain, the defensive formation they had arranged with great difficulty was broken in an instant. The cavalry drove straight in, cutting through the Ning Wang army's line like a sharp blade.

In such a desperate situation, the Ning Wang army completely lost the possibility of a comeback, and defeat was inevitable.
(End of this chapter)