Hiding in the corner below the city tower, Zhou Zhi listened to the constant sound of shelling outside the city, grabbed the guards around him, and shouted: "Give me the order, and the supervising team will escort you. Anyone who dares to retreat will be punished on the spot!"
Just as the guards left, a cannonball hit the tower and dropped a large piece of earth and rock.
Zhou Zhi shook off the gravel that fell on his head and spat out the dust in his mouth. He cursed bitterly: "These killers from the Northern Tang Dynasty! How many cannons did they bring?!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a school captain stumbled over from a distance, shouting loudly: "It's not good, it's not good!"
Zhou Zhi was angry and asked.
The captain knelt on the ground and said mournfully: "We were setting up fire-making items in the city, but we were unexpectedly caught by the people..."
Zhou Zhi was startled and asked: "What happened next?"
School Captain: "The people rioted, killed the soldiers, and then fled."
Zhou Zhi's eyesight went dark and he almost fell down. After he came to his senses, he immediately shouted loudly: "I ordered you to act in secret, but you are incompetent and have been destroyed by others, ruining my big job!"
After kicking the captain who was begging for mercy, Zhou Zhi said to the lieutenant beside him: "Since the matter has been revealed, we will simply stop doing nothing... You lead a group of men and horses directly to the city and pour kerosene on the streets.
City, burn the city of Luoyang, and do nothing to leave this city to the Northern Tang Dynasty!"
The deputy general took the order and left.
Soon after, the sound of gunfire gradually stopped.
Zhou Zhi crawled out from the dust pile and shouted to the soldiers around him: "Go up the city wall, go up the city wall! The Tang army is about to attack the city!"
When the Luoyang defenders climbed up the city wall, the Tang army, which could not be seen beyond the horizon, formed a formation and rushed towards the gate of Luoyang like a tide.
When the defenders of Luoyang saw that the Tang army was well-equipped, well-disciplined, and the sound of killing was loud, and the battle hadn't even started yet, they were already frightened.
Seeing this, Zhou Zhi knew that he must not weaken his momentum at this time, and quickly shouted to the people around him: "Luoyang is strong, and the enemy army will never be able to attack even if it is outnumbered! Anyone who kills the enemy will never be able to attack!"
One level is exchanged for fifty guan, and killing one of the generals can lead to a noble title!"
Under the heavy reward, the Luoyang defenders finally got some energy, and there were many shouts of killing from the top of the city.
Before Zhou Zhi had time to be happy, he saw Tang Jun suddenly stop and stop a hundred steps away from the city gate.
When Zhou Zhi was wondering, he suddenly saw a horse from the Tang army, and a familiar figure was sitting on it.
An Shouzhong was riding on his horse, looking at the devastated Luoyang City, and let out a long sigh.
An Shouzhong, the general of the Yan army who was supposed to die in Chang'an, now came to the city alive like this. Zhou Zhi was stunned on the spot and was speechless for a moment.
When An Shouzhong saw the soldiers on the top of the city looking around, he shouted: "Soldiers in the city, you were all soldiers of the Yan State in the early years. Now that the Yan State has been destroyed and the emperor was killed by Shi Siming, you are still alive."
Don’t you have the slightest sympathy for those who lost your country?”
As soon as these words came out, there was silence in Luoyang City.
The soldiers under Zhou Zhi were all former soldiers of the Yan Kingdom. After An Qingxu was killed, they followed the culprit Shi Siming and defected to the Southern Tang Dynasty. Their original beliefs have now been trampled on and gone.
An Shouzhong shouted again: "Since you are a traitor, why bother making wedding clothes for others? This battle is between the Northern and Southern Tang Dynasties, why do we have to work hard here?!"
Zhou Zhi turned around and saw his soldiers, many of whom had sad faces on their faces, and said something bad in his heart.
Making a decisive decision, Zhou Zhi snatched the bow and arrow from his guard and shot an arrow at An Shouzhong at the foot of the city.
Although the arrow's accuracy was poor, An Shouzhong was still forced back into the Tang army's camp by this arrow.
When Zhou Zhi saw An Shouzhong retreating, instead of relaxing, he became restless.
As an important minister of the Yan State, An Shouzhong had a superior-subordinate relationship with many generals in the Luoyang garrison.
Those words just now had severely damaged the morale of the defenders. Before this battle even started, the Luoyang defenders were already at a disadvantage.
On the other side, An Shouzhong rode back to the Tang Army's middle camp.
Guo Ziyi stroked his beard, looked at An Shouzhong, and said with a smile: "General An has worked hard. If we can capture Luoyang in this battle, I will definitely remember you for your contribution."
An Shouzhong frowned and said: "An is loyal to the Yan State. He agreed to persuade him to surrender this time because he deeply hates what Shi Siming did. He did not surrender to the Northern Tang Dynasty. I hope you know."
Guo Ziyi laughed: "General An is loyal and loyal, I naturally know it."
An Shouzhong got off his horse, cupped his hands, stopped talking, and allowed the Tang army to escort him back to the rear camp.
After the interlude of persuading surrender was over, three-way drums sounded among the Tang army.
Tens of thousands of troops marched together, and the siege of Luoyang officially began.
The previous continuous bombardment from hundreds of long cannons had already shaken the city wall of Luoyang to the point of collapse.
What the Luoyang defenders didn't expect was that the Tang army used the siege as a cover to bury gunpowder barrels under the city wall and ignite the fuse.
With a loud bang, a section of the city wall was blown open by gunpowder.
Zhou Zhi was originally directing the battle on the city tower. When he saw the city wall collapse, he was shocked and immediately ordered his guards to wave the flag and let the reserve team in the city block the gap.
Although he tried his best to make repairs, the city wall collapsed and morale was low. Zhou Zhi knew in his heart that Luoyang City could no longer be defended.
He looked back at the city and found that there was still no fire. He couldn't help but said angrily: "I gave the order to let the soldiers from the middle camp set fire to the city. Why is there still no fire!"
No one on the tower could answer his question.
But soon, a loud shouting of murder suddenly came from the long street of Luoyang City, gradually approaching the city tower.
A general covered in blood ran up to the tower, knelt down in front of Zhou Zhi, and shouted in a trembling voice: "General, the Tang army has entered the city!"
Zhou Zhi asked in disbelief: "The Tang army is currently fighting with our army, how could they enter the city?!"
General Ya: "There were agents of the Northern Tang Dynasty sneaking into the city. Those people encouraged the people to go to the North City to seize the city gate. The Northern Tang Dynasty had already ambushed troops outside the North Gate. As soon as the fighting started in the city, the Tang troops outside the city swarmed in.
Above. With the internal and external cooperation, the north gate fell, and the Tang army's cavalry took advantage of the situation and entered the city."
When Zhou Zhi heard this, he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. He stood there and did not move for a long time.
The soldiers approached Zhou Zhi and whispered: "General, Luoyang can no longer be defended. We should make an early decision and evacuate as soon as possible!"
Zhou Zhi smiled bitterly and said: "The war lasted only two hours, and Luoyang was lost..."
Seeing this, the soldiers tried to persuade him: "Beitang is cunning, there are secret operations in the city, there are ambushes outside the city, and An Shouzhong was brought in to undermine the morale of the army, not to mention the artillery to support... General, who could it be?
Even Luoyang cannot be defended."
Zhou Zhi looked up to the sky and sighed, saying: "Withdraw."
The soldiers quickly fetched a set of soldiers' armor, helped Zhou Zhi put it on, and covered the latter's retreat into the city.
Behind them, the Luoyang City Gate screamed amid the explosions, and the flag of the Northern Tang Dynasty was slowly raised on the tower.
At the end of April in the third year of the New Yuan Dynasty, Luoyang recovered.
At this point, both the east and west capitals were merged into the territory of the Northern Tang Dynasty, and the whole world was shocked when they heard about it.
This chapter has been completed!