Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 174 It’s time to attack the city!

Wang Shichong's army rested outside the city for two days. They were not in a hurry because there were only 3,000 soldiers guarding Luoyang City. They had an army of 100,000 and could take down the city like an ant moving house, even if the one guarding the city was the man named Hong.

As for Xia Lin, he looks pale and thin, and doesn't look like someone who can be of any use. Although he is an interesting person, since they have already served different masters, it is a pity that he has been gone.

"General, there have been pottery jars thrown down from the city walls these days. It seems like they built a large slingshot on the city wall."

"slingshot?"

When Qin Shubao heard this in the central army tent, he was stunned for a moment. Cheng Yaojin beside him laughed out loud: "They are probably trying to smash us to death with that earthenware jar, right?"

Qin Shubao also laughed and said, "Is this East Gate guarded by that pale-faced scholar?"

"Yes, it was the scholar who chatted and laughed with the two generals that day."

Upon hearing this news, Qin Shubao frowned, while Cheng Yaojin was overjoyed: "This group of civil servants is really interesting. They want to resist my 100,000-man army with just a few dozen slingshots?"

"Yizhen, don't underestimate the enemy." Qin Shubao stood up and said, "Come on, take me to see it."

They arrived outside Luoyang City and happened to see an earthenware jar flying down from the top of the city wall. It fell to the ground with a thud and shattered into pieces. When they walked over to take a look, they found that there were some stones and yellow soil inside.

Then another thing was thrown out. When I walked over to take a look, I found it was a cloth bundle, square in shape, filled with some loess, stones and broken tiles.

Cheng Yaojin picked up the bundle and looked around. There were just some rags outside, which were wrapped quite tightly. He was confused: "What is this?"

"I don't know." Qin Qiong also shook his head: "Even if this hits someone, it won't hurt, right?"

He patted the cloth bundle. It was indeed heavy, but also quite soft. Even if it was hit head-on, it wouldn't kill him. He wanted to resist an army of 100,000 with just this thing? This was a joke.

"Are they pouring water on the wall?"

Qin Shubao looked up at Luoyang City and saw the soldiers pouring water on the city wall with buckets. There was already a thick layer of ice outside the city wall, which looked crystal clear and beautiful.

"These scholars." Cheng Yaojin shook his head and laughed, "They always come up with some weird things. Let's go back to the big tent. They are boring."

But Qin Shubao frowned at this moment. He had a habit of leading troops and would never fight a confused battle. Today he encountered such a strange man guarding the city, which was something he had never seen before in his life.

Throwing clay pots and cloth bags may mean that they want to kill people, but what does pouring water on the city wall and freezing it into ice mean? Strange... so strange...

What was Xia Lin doing at this time? He was refining oil.

Western Region kerosene itself is one of the strategic reserves, and this thing is petroleum. Luoyang City is the largest city in the Central Plains. It is not only the old capital but also a battleground for military strategists. Therefore, the military equipment here is quite abundant, and kerosene is one of them.

Xia Lin used kerosene, or petroleum, to perform simple distillation to separate the mixture of coal and gasoline. Although these things contained many impurities, they were much better than pure petroleum. They were more flammable and burned longer.

However, due to limited conditions, the place where kerosene was temporarily distilled was filled with smoke and the environment was extremely harsh.

It will take about two or three days for the army outside the city to rest, and judging from the current situation, Li Yuan's reinforcements may not arrive so soon. They need to reap the fruits of victory. The best result is to let Luoyang City lose a large part of the siege force or simply wait for Luoyang City to be broken before coming to support.

The question is what if we encounter an ambush on the road? After all, the battlefield changes rapidly and no one can predict what problems will arise.

Now Luoyang is isolated and helpless, fighting a desperate battle. After many years, Xia Lin is once again in a state of isolation and helplessness.

Most people would collapse quickly in this state, but Xiao Xia was born to do this, and his ability to withstand stress is several orders of magnitude lower than that of ordinary people.

The best scenario is that Li Yuan's troops will directly lead the attack to lift the siege of Luoyang. The worst scenario is to survive the winter and wait for the two kingdoms to send troops to support.

"The lives of all the people in this city depend on you. Are you afraid?"

Old Zhang came with a basket containing Xia Lin's lunch. Xia Lin, now covered in dust and smelling strange, followed him outside, sat on the threshold of the courtyard and began to eat voraciously.

"Hey, eat slowly, you're starving, aren't you?"

Xia Lin picked up the water and took a sip: "Damn it, did you oversleep again this morning? I didn't have breakfast!"

"Oh... You know it's normal for young people to oversleep. It's winter, and the bed is so warm." "You're dead!"

Just as the two of them started to curse at each other, a group of soldiers came over and carried out two cylinders of kerosene from the yard. Old Zhang saw the cylinders of kerosene and asked: "What are you going to use them for?"

"Molotov."

After Xia Lin finished speaking, he looked back at the yard and said, "Lao He, come and have something to eat."

At this moment, Lao He appeared again. He was almost as dusty as Xia Lin. He also let out a long sigh while sitting there: "Sir, we have collected all the glass jars, sugar and raw lacquer that we can find."

"Very good. Find a few skilled people later and I'll take them to the armory."

"I'll do it right away."

Lao He took two steamed buns and left in a hurry. In just ten minutes, he called over twenty people over. Xia Lin had finished eating by then, and took his people to the armory to start filling kerosene in glass bottles used for canning.

When sugar, lacquer, kerosene, phosphorus powder and acetic acid crystals are mixed together, they become a viscous, non-freezing paste-like fluid. This thing has high viscosity, burns for a long time and does not go out when it comes into contact with water. It can even float along the water and burn wherever it drifts to.

After sealing it in the glass bottle, wrap it with a layer of cloth. When you need to use it, just dip the cloth in kerosene and throw it out.

On the other side, explosive packs were also being made urgently. The deepest part of the explosive packs was filled with black powder, which was then wrapped tightly with cloth. Then broken porcelain pieces, broken glass and other sharp objects were placed on the outside, and then wrapped with another layer of cloth. Then a fuse was pulled out, which could cause quite good fragmentation damage.

Of course, this alone might not be enough to stop the siege army, so Xia Lin asked the blacksmith to make a batch of very strong iron barrels for throwing explosive packs. The range is about 100 to 200 meters, but it can launch the powerful Sui and Tang version of Big Ivan.

Everyone is getting ready, and the soldiers outside the city are almost done resting. Now both sides are waiting for a horn to sound early one morning.

Around the sixth day, Xia Lin originally calculated that Li Yuan's troops would arrive today, but unfortunately they did not come. Just as expected, they were reluctant to use their soldiers to fight hard, but planned to wait until the last moment to pick the fruits.

We are all thousand-year-old foxes, so we all know each other’s little thoughts.

Just hold on to it. As long as it lasts three rounds, the siege will turn into a siege, and a siege means a stalemate. Luoyang doesn't have much else, but the food is enough for half a year. Life may be a little harder, but just treat it as another famine.

On the morning of the seventh day of the siege, Cheng Yaojin once again came outside the city and shouted to Xia Lin, "My troops will begin the siege tomorrow morning. If you open the city gate now, you still have a chance of survival. If you don't, don't blame me for killing you once the city gate is broken tomorrow."

Xia Lin still sat in the same place and replied with a smile: "It's okay, brother, I don't plan to live, I just want to use this head to exchange for a page in history. Come on, brother, begging for mercy is not considered a hero."

"Okay!" Cheng Yaojin bowed to Xia Lin and said, "It seems that you, a scholar who can't lift anything, do have some backbone. There are not many people in this world that I, Cheng, can look up to, and you are one of them. When the city is captured, I will bring you a roast chicken to offer you as a sacrifice!"

Xia Lin bowed from a distance: "Thank you very much, Brother Cheng."

After saying this, Cheng Yaojin urged his horse back to the camp. When he saw Qin Shubao again, he threw his helmet on the table and said, "He's a tough guy. It seems like he really doesn't plan to open the city gate."

"Then we must attack the city. We cannot delay any longer." Qin Shubao said solemnly, "Tomorrow morning, use the drum as a signal!"

At night, Xia Lin looked at the twinkling candlelights of the barracks in the distance. He stood on the top of Luoyang City with his hands behind his back and sighed softly. Lao Zhang leaned on the arrow stack and smiled, "In fact, with your reputation, if you really open the gates to welcome the army, they won't do anything to you. Your ability is there, and they are more than happy to have you."

"What you said is so ridiculous." Xia Lin laughed. "I'm not kidding you. If it was Li Yuan or Li Shimin, I would really be a little hesitant, especially Li Shimin, who was also considered the strongest warlord of the time. But this is Wang Shichong. He ranks at the bottom of the warlords' chaos. He is a weakling and his brain is not working well. With this kind of pressure, how can he be worthy of me? Forget about being his subordinate. Even if he is my subordinate, I would despise him for being fat and bloated. He is a piece of shit. If I get involved with him, I can only admit my bad luck."

"Hahahaha, your mouth really stinks..."

"Your mouth stinks more than mine."

Lao Zhang pouted and moved closer to Xia Lin: "I don't stink anymore, you can smell it."

"Go away!" Xia Lin pushed Lao Zhang away: "Don't be disgusting, okay?"

Before they knew it, the night had fallen deep. The soldiers on the city wall had already covered themselves with their felt blankets and gone to sleep, leaving only the sentries on duty.

Xia Lin was not sleepy at all at this moment. He squatted in front of the conscienceless cannon and gently patted the cannon: "I have been a staunch materialist all my life. This time I am begging you big brothers to make a big splash tomorrow! Carry forward the prestige of my Red Army to the troubled times of the Sui and Tang dynasties, and make me, a little comrade, proud!"

(End of this chapter)