There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 89: Rapid Destruction of the City

"Boom boom boom!"

Fifteen red cannons bombarded the Yuezhou city wall, of which only three were aimed at the city gate tower, and the other twelve cannons were dispersed to bombard the arrow battlements on both sides of the city wall.

Cannons are uniformly loaded with conical armor-piercing shells. The reason is that armor-piercing shells are powerful, penetrating and destructive, making them very suitable for sieges including those against city walls and bunkers.

Three armor-piercing shells directly hit the city wall. There were loud bangs and the bluestone bricks on the surface of the city wall exploded, revealing the rammed earth wall inside. The entire city wall building seemed to be crumbling.

Fortunately, the Yuezhou officials led by Ge Yingbin ran fast enough. Looking at the exploded bricks and stones of the city wall, the rammed earth layer inside was still emitting gray smoke.

"It's so powerful?" Zhao Derun was shocked.

Ge Yingbin suddenly thought of something and quickly looked at the city walls on both sides, which were the main targets of the Han army's artillery.

More than a dozen armor-piercing shells hit the Yuezhou city wall, and the sound of bluestone bricks exploding was heard everywhere.

Whenever the city walls were hit, all the young and strong civilians on them ran away, and no one could stop them.

How the hell can we defend this?
Ge Yingbin forced himself to remain calm and said, "Quick! Immediately suppress the civilians defending the city. Don't let them escape again. Anyone who flees before the battle will be punished as a deserter and executed without mercy!"

Desertion? But they are civilians, not soldiers!
The yamen runners under his command complained in their hearts, but there was nothing they could do. The prefect had given the order, so even though they were terrified, they had no choice but to go back.

These yamen runners who were forced to turn back were afraid of being bombarded by the Han army's artillery shells, so they did not dare to stand up. They could only crawl behind the parapet and shout and threaten the civilians.

"Damn it! You're not allowed to run away anymore! Anyone who runs away will be treated as a deserter. Not only will you be killed, but your family members will also be forced into forced labor."

The yamen runners knew the weaknesses and concerns of the common people, and after shouting at them, coupled with the prestige they had accumulated from oppressing the people in the past, they really frightened many of the common people.

For a moment, the young and strong civilians looked at each other in confusion, afraid of both the Han army's cannons below and the threats from the officials and runners.

The laborers were caught in a dilemma, but the slaves of the wealthy families who mixed in with the laborers understood the situation very well.

The civilians are not even soldiers, how can they be convicted of desertion?
Several servants gathered together and started talking in low voices.

"It seems that this city cannot be defended. We must find an opportunity. After all, we have surrendered the city."

"But Boss, with just a few of us, I'm afraid we'll be put out if we start!"

"That's okay. We can wait for the right opportunity and contact the other companies to see if they have any ideas. We can't just throw our lives away for these bastard officials, right?"

"That's true. Then I'll contact Mr. Wu's family. His Li San had tea with me."

"I'll go find Lao Liu, he's Mr. Huang's groom..."

In just a few words, several servants agreed to surrender the city on the battlefield.

Just then...

"boom!"

The Han army below was still firing, and suddenly an armor-piercing bullet hit the arrow battlement on the city wall directly.

The bluestone bricks of the arrowhead exploded, and huge rocks flew everywhere. Just then, a huge rock hit a yamen runner on the forehead.

The yamen runner was looking ferocious and scaring the young civilians on the city wall the second before, but the next second a huge rock flew over and smashed his head, and tofu pudding and ketchup were scattered all over the ground.

Now all the young and strong civilians around were frightened and fled in all directions shouting.

After an hour of continuous bombardment by the Han army's artillery, there was no intact piece of Yuezhou city wall in front. The huge bluestone bricks on the wall surface were almost torn apart by armor-piercing bullets, and exposed rammed earth walls and potholes could be seen everywhere.

The time was almost right. Nie Yu drew his Tang sword from his waist and said, "All troops, attack the city!"

Hundreds of Han soldiers wearing cotton armor had already prepared for the siege. They immediately carried simple wooden siege ladders and launched an attack on the Yuezhou city wall.

On the city wall, a young and inexperienced yamen runner saw the Han army attacking the city and shouted in fear: "Oh no! Quick, stop the rebels and don't let them climb up."

It's useless. No civilians dared to go over there. They didn't run away at this time, which shows that they have strong mental qualities.

The young and inexperienced yamen runner had no choice but to go forward with a dozen people. He saw that the wooden ladder had been put up, and there were iron hooks on the top that were hooked to the buttress. He couldn't push it down, so he picked up the broken stones on the ground and threw them down.

Throwing stones down from a height of more than ten meters can still be fatal.

But no matter how deadly the attack was, there were only so many yamen runners and how many stones they could throw, while there were too many Han soldiers attacking the city.

Moreover, these people were just yamen runners after all, and they were so frightened that they didn't dare to aim and throw. Most of the stones missed, and the few that hit were dodged by the Han soldiers in time, so they didn't hit the head or the vital parts, but only hit the arms at most.

He hit his arm and broke it, but he didn't die.

The Han soldiers in cotton armor who were attacking the city climbed very quickly and scaled the more than ten-meter-high city wall in just a few moves.

"Bang!" The first Han soldier in cotton armor to climb the city wall was called Huang Gouzi. He had just climbed up with all his strength when he saw a yamen runner holding a stone in his hand, looking at him in a daze.

Huang Gouzi grinned, and the yamen runner was so scared that he dropped the stone in his hand and was about to draw his sword to chop, but Huang Gouzi was faster. He jumped up and chopped down vertically with the sword in his hand.

“Puff~Sizzle~~!”

The sharp manganese steel Tang sword, carrying the weight of Huang Gouzi himself, chopped down with great force, and even the skin, flesh and bones were chopped into pieces vertically.

A living person instantly turned into two and a half people.

The yamen runner did not die immediately. His mouth was still opening and closing, making a "ho ho" sound.

Such a horrific scene frightened the surrounding yamen runners.

"Snapped!"

Before they could react, several more Han soldiers climbed up the city wall, each wearing cotton armor, and some of them were obviously taller and stronger than Huang Gouzi.

"Run...run!"

There are no extra words, just one word, run!

At this time, there was no such thing as a fool. No matter how foolish they were, their own lives were the most important thing. They not only fled by themselves, but also fled to the city gates and the sections of the walls guarded by young and strong civilians.

in the city.

Ge Yingbin saw the commotion on the city wall at a glance, and there seemed to be faint shouts of "Rebels, break into the city!"

Ge Yingbin reacted quickly, turned around and ran towards the yamen. Although he was wearing an official robe, he ran very fast.

Seeing that the prefect had just run away, the co-magistrate Zhong Jun and the magistrate Zhao Derun looked at each other and hurried to their respective private residences in the city.

With the three immediate superiors having fled, the remaining officials in Yuezhou, both big and small, had nothing to worry about. If they wanted to run away, they should leave quickly. If they left now, they might still have time to take the silver with them. If they left too late, they might even lose their lives.

However, on the city wall, more and more Han soldiers climbed up the city, and soon the number exceeded one hundred. The Han soldiers quickly formed a small siege formation and launched an attack towards other city gates.

In fact, there was no need to attack anymore, because the dozen or so street servants who had fled before had frightened the young and strong civilians who had barely mustered the courage to stay at the other city gates.

The Han soldiers fought their way through, and either they found an empty city gate or one crowded with young and strong civilians.

The bodies of civilians could be seen everywhere on the city walls and roads. They were not killed by the Han soldiers, but were trampled to death while fleeing.

Abstract is really abstract!
The governor of Yuezhou was really creative. He let a group of young and strong civilians who had never received any training and were temporarily recruited from the city walls to be responsible for defending the city.

If we can really defend the city in this way, then what is the use of the army?
The young and strong civilians had lost all their morale. When they saw the Han soldiers, they either fled in a crowded manner or knelt down to beg for surrender. However, the slaves of the wealthy families who were forcibly conscripted by the prefect to defend the city were slightly better. Some of them were even prepared to take advantage of the chaos and surrender the city.

But unexpectedly, before they could unite and take action, the Han soldiers climbed the city wall first, and "killed" the young and strong civilians.

There was no other way. The servants of the wealthy families who had already connected with each other could only respond on the spot.

"Kill the Qing dogs! Welcome the Han army!"

"..."

After a few shouts of leadership, the servants of the wealthy families collectively turned against the government.

The siege of Yuezhou lasted only two hours, from the time the Han army's artillery began to bombard the city to the time the main gate of Yuezhou was opened and the Han army entered the city.

Such a speed of breaking the city is simply amazing.

"Where is the prefect of Qinggou? Where did the prefect of Qinggou go?"

Chen Younian was holding a Tang sword in one hand and wearing cotton armor. He looked like a rough and fierce general. He started shouting and asking questions as soon as he entered the city.

Immediately, a yamen runner came forward on his knees and said, "I know, I know, sir, the prefect... Bah! That bastard prefect must have returned to the yamen. He left all the banknotes there."

"Hurry and lead the way!"

"Yes Yes!"

　Finally off work!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)