I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 432 Conquering Shenglong City
At this time, the rain stopped and the sun came out from the layers of dark clouds. The sky and the earth became clear. As the temperature rose, the evaporation of water vapor increased, making it even more humid and hot.

A hill five or six miles north of Thang Long City is a siege city built by the Ming army. It has now become an important fulcrum of the flood-control dam.

There is a medium-sized sand ship parked here with two small boats tied to the stern.

On the hill, Pan Yinglong stared at Wang Xiaofu and asked again: "Captain Wang, have you remembered your mission?"

"General Pan, I will remember this!"

Wang Xiaofu answered resolutely.

Wu Weizhong next to him said: "Whether Thang Long City can be conquered depends on you!"

"Don't worry, General Wu. We will conquer Shenglong City even if we have to die!"

"Okay, bring some wine! Let's cheer for Wang Xiaofu and all the brothers in the team!"

Bowls of rice wine were brought up, and Wang Xiaofu and the forty selected brothers each had a bowl of rice wine.

"I salute all the brothers for their immediate success. We are waiting for your triumphant return. Cheers!"

"Dry!"

After drinking, the pottery bowl was thrown casually onto the muddy ground.

Wang Xiaofu tightened his belt, turned around and walked onto the plank first. The rest of the brothers followed in a line and got on the boat from the plank.

The Xuan Mei River backflowed into the area between the earth dam and Thang Long City, turning it into a swamp. The water was turbid and red, and the waves were surging, one after another, shaking the boat.

"Set sail and paddle."

Wang Xiaofu shouted, and more than a dozen brothers raised the sails, and more than twenty brothers rowed the oars. The boat started slowly, turned around, and went along the flood towards Thang Long City.

Wang Xiaofu stood at the stern, looking ahead, and giving orders to the helmsman Lao Wang next to him from time to time.

"Be careful and avoid that tree."

"Go around, go around, there is a hill over there."

As Thang Long City got closer, he walked onto the deck and spoke to his brothers.

"Old Wang, take aim later. We will ram into the north gate of Thang Long City. There is a ramming wood on the bow, which can provide some cushioning before we turn sideways.

Brothers, work together and use oars and bamboo poles to support the boat. Our boat is delicate and must not be damaged by the city wall.

When the boats come together, I will deal with it myself, and then we will all jump on the small boat at the stern and row hard, the farther the better. But at that time, the Mo family soldiers on the city wall will definitely shoot arrows, and the Annan firearms are powerful, so they may even fire guns.

The boats were equipped with shields, so those who were not rowing held up their shields to block the attack from the rowing brothers. They had to try their best to get out of there first.

Brothers, have you all remembered it?"

"Remember!" everyone responded in unison.

Wang Xiaofu returned to the stern and stood next to the helmsman Lao Wang.

Looking at Shenglong City in the distance, which was getting bigger and bigger, the helmsman Lao Wang spoke.

"Captain Wang, after defeating the Mo family, what do you want to do?"

"I want to go home."

“If one does not return to his hometown when he is rich and powerful, it is like wearing fine clothes and walking at night.” Old Wang chuckled.

Wang Xiaofu couldn't help but look up to the north.

How is my brother now? Has he found a chance to take revenge? If not, forget it. I will bring him out next time I go back.

He taught me all the skills I have. He joined the army and has a better future than me.

The Kong family was a huge group. Even if he had made great military achievements and was awarded honors and titles, he still couldn't bring them down. It was better to let it go, live a good life, start a family, and bring honor to the family. This was also what his father's spirit in heaven hoped his brothers would do.

Wang Xiaofu asked back: "Brother, what about you?"

"Hey, I'm going back to Guangzhou for a rest. Guangzhou is a prosperous city, and life is much more comfortable than that new city in Hong Kong. This time when we take down Thang Long City, you'll get promoted, and I'll get rich. I'm going to have a good time."

Wang Dafu couldn't help but look at him. Old Wang was from Tong'an, Quanzhou. During the Jiajing period, when Japanese pirates invaded, his family, including his wife and children, all died in the war. He himself also joined the pirates without knowing why.

Later, when the officers and soldiers were suppressing bandits, he surrendered with his companions and joined the navy. After many twists and turns, he entered the Marine Corps and became Wang Dafu's subordinate.

If one person is full, the whole family will not be hungry.

"Brother, save some money and marry a wife to leave a legacy for your Wang family."

Lao Wang turned the rudder and was silent for more than ten breaths. He chuckled and said, "I am a rotten life, and I am in danger of dying at any time. Who would care about me? Let's talk about it later, let's talk about it later."

Wang Xiaofu knew that he was moved, and thought about talking to his superiors to see if they could choose a woman for him from among the widows that the government was responsible for matchmaking.

Lao Wang was very good at steering the boat. The boat was as fast as an arrow and hit the north gate of Thang Long City accurately. The bow of the boat made a bang and the whole boat shook violently and slowly stopped. The hull began to turn sideways and with a creaking sound, it came to rest against the city wall.

There was a panic on the city wall, with people running around to tell each other, and the sounds of voices and footsteps blending together.

Wang Xiaofu crawled out of the cabin, wrapped two iron chains around the temporary iron gate, and added five locks. "Let's go, let's go!"

Wang Xiaofu glanced at the city wall above his head and saw some guards sticking their heads out and looking down.

"Before they react, let's get on the boat and leave."

The brothers rushed out from everywhere and ran to the stern.

Wang Xiaofu said to Lao Wang: "Brother, let's go!"

Lao Wang said with a bitter face: "It's a dead end! I can't get away."

"What's wrong?" Wang Xiaofu asked in surprise.

"The current is too fast. If I don't hold the rudder, the boat will drift away from the city wall. I'll wait a little longer until the fuse is almost burned out before I jump into the water. I'm a good swimmer."

"Oh, no matter how good you are at swimming, it's useless. This boat is loaded with three thousand kilograms of gunpowder. The fuse will burn out in five minutes. Now more than two minutes have passed. You are just jumping into the water!"

"No, if I don't hold the rudder, the boat will drift away from the city wall. Not to mention 3,000 kilograms of gunpowder, even 30,000 kilograms of gunpowder will be useless.

This section of the wall has been bombarded by us for two months and has collapsed several times. It is just the right time to blow it up. Let’s go, Captain Wang, don’t worry about me, let’s go! The brothers are waiting for you! "

Wang Xiaofu's tears flowed down his face, and his heart was broken.

He had just joined the Marine Corps, and although he was a sentry platoon leader, many things were taught to him personally by Lao Wang.

"You're crazy. There are so many brothers waiting for you. Do you want to drag them to death with you?" Lao Wang got anxious and yelled.

Wang Xiaofu nodded vigorously and turned to leave. Old Wang said behind him, "I am from Zhuxi, Tongan, Quanzhou. Remember Xiaofuzi. When you go out to sea from there in the future, remember to pour me a glass of wine."

Wang Xiaofu ran without looking back, jumped into the boat, and shouted, "Go, go!"

The men in the two small boats were rowing and those holding shields were holding up shields.

The defenders on the city wall also reacted and shot arrows at the boat that was getting farther and farther away, and there was also the sound of muskets.

More than a minute later, the two small boats left the range and rowed quickly towards the nearest dam.

Wang Xiaofu couldn't help crying anymore and held his head in his hands.

Listening to his heart-wrenching cry, everyone felt heavy-hearted and couldn't help but turn their heads to look at the lonely sand ship docked under Thang Long City.

A defender lowered a rope and descended from the city wall to the deck of the ship. He searched forward cautiously and soon saw Lao Wang at the stern, trying his best to turn the rudder.

Looking at the surrounding Mo's defenders, Lao Wang estimated that the time was almost up, and grinned, "Sai Linmu, you big idiots, judging from your faces, you are all the same as me, you are all dead."

The Mo family's defenders surrounded Lao Wang, listening to him mumbling, but not understanding what he was saying.

In the cabin of the sand ship, the shortest of the five fuses lit by Wang Xiaofu finally burned out. There was a loud bang, a ball of fire, and a column of black smoke, and the entire Thang Long City was shaken.

The broken bricks and rubble flew in the air for a long time before falling onto the water. The black smoke was slowly blown away by the wind, and a hole hundreds of meters long was seen at the north gate of Thang Long City.

The flood was rushing in through the gap, constantly washing away the remaining walls on both sides.

The walls of Thang Long are also covered with bricks on the outside and rammed earth on the inside. After the outer bricks were blasted open, the soil inside collapsed continuously under the erosion of the flood, and the gap continued to expand to both sides, getting wider and wider.

By evening, the Chunmei River dam was completely built and continued to be reinforced.

The blocked Xuanmei River rose higher and higher, and along the route designed by the Ming army, it kept rushing towards Thang Long City, and rushed into the city through the gap that had been expanded to two or three hundred meters.

The flood rushed into the city through the gap in the north gate, but was soon blocked from the inside by the city walls on the east, south and west sides. The entire Thang Long City became a reservoir.

One meter, two meters, three meters, the water level in the city rose higher and higher. By the evening, the water level in Thang Long City reached a maximum of four or five meters.

The houses at that time were generally not tall. A flood of two or three meters high was enough to submerge most of the city, and a flood of four or five meters high would be a catastrophic disaster.

Pan Yinglong, Wu Weizhong and others held up binoculars on the nearest dike in the north, looking at Thang Long City, which had become a swamp.

Wu Weizhong said happily: "General Pan's plan is brilliant! Shenglong City has now become a pond for breeding fish. Let's see how long the 100,000 soldiers and civilians who followed the Mo family can hold out!

Pan Yinglong replied: "The fall of Thang Long City is inevitable. Let's soak it for one night. Anyway, it is surrounded on all sides by us, so it can't escape. When tomorrow morning comes, we will light up hundreds of patrol boats and take the Marine Corps to slowly approach, occupy the city wall first, and then surround it from all sides."

Wu Weizhong said happily: "Okay! First occupy the city wall, and then surround them from all sides. If they dare to resist, I will dispatch the navy's gunboats to drive directly to the city wall and fire at their chests!"

Two days later, more than half of the 100,000 soldiers and civilians in Thang Long were killed or wounded, and the water in the city was densely covered with corpses. The survivors had no clothes or food, and they surrendered to the Ming army in groups due to exhaustion and hunger.

The regent ministers, including the son-in-law Mo Yu-nian, Duke of An, and Ruan Jing-teng, Duke of Shi, and other important officials of the Mo family, all requested surrender.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the Mo family became regent. King Qiantai Mo Jingdian killed the young lord and his nephew Mo Maoqia, and together with his son King Tangan Mo Jingfu, the regent King Ying Mo Dunrang, the generals Ruan Juan and Mo Yu, fought a bloody battle to the end with the Ming army that attacked the city by boat.

Before nightfall, Thang Long City no longer offered any resistance and fell completely into the hands of the Ming army.

While Wu Weizhong and Pan Yinglong jointly signed a victory report, they also ordered the removal of the Chunmei River dam, the digging of ditches, and the drainage of water to dry the city.

However, Thang Long City was soaked by floods for three days and three nights, and most of it collapsed, and was eventually abandoned.

The good news was carried by a speeding ship and quickly headed north!

(End of this chapter)