"Chi Youbi, who escaped earlier, said how powerful the imperial army was. I think there was a lot of substance in his words."
"Shut up!" An old thief scolded the two new recruits who were talking loudly.
"You have never encountered the imperial soldiers and horses. How do you know that Chi Youyi's words are reasonable? Just based on your self-righteousness?"
This old thief has fought countless battles with the imperial soldiers and horses, and he knows best the combat capabilities of the imperial army's former soldiers and horses and its current soldiers and horses.
Ignore the military forces of the imperial court in the past, but today the imperial military forces can be said to be the elite of the elite, whether they are weapons or soldiers!
The two new recruits were scolded and did not dare to say anything anymore. They also began to murmur in their hearts. Are the imperial soldiers really invincible?
Otherwise, the rebel team would not have withdrawn all the way north and brought all the young adults from their village with them.
If the imperial soldiers and horses are really powerful, then they have to think about how to survive in the next siege.
Drums sounded outside the city, and the imperial troops advanced in an orderly manner and stopped outside the effective shooting range from the city head.
The new recruit Danzi clenched the handle of the knife in his hand and stared nervously at the troops arrayed outside the city.
This time he knew to lower his voice, "Wang Er, why did the imperial troops stop?"
Wang Er also whispered: "I don't know. I just heard what the veteran said. I feel that these two rounds of steel cannons are not simple. If they attack the city later, remember to follow me closely. We must try to avoid it."
Don’t lose your life in vain.”
In the end, surrender if you can. Anyway, they just brought us in, and they naturally have no good impression of these rebels.
The rebel generals were also curious about how the imperial troops would use these two rounds of artillery.
Zhenghe asked the guard standing next to him, "What's so special about those cannons?"
Otherwise, the imperial court would not have thought of using two rounds of artillery to attack the city. There must be something special about it.
Ying Weizhong shook his head: "My subordinates have never heard of the power of their artillery. Could it be a newly developed weapon? I heard that the queen of Dayu had a group of skilled craftsmen."
After hearing this, Zhenghe frowned even more tightly. It was really difficult to fight against the imperial court.
The former King Qian was rumored to be a dandy among the dandies in the capital, who only knew how to eat, drink and have fun. However, when he inherited the throne, he seemed to be a different person and brought the dynasty back from the brink of life and death.
Now they have been forced to retreat steadily, and if they continue to be forced, they will have no choice but to break out of Jizhou.
While the two were talking, the imperial troops and horses outside the city moved again.
To be precise, the artillery in front moved.
Li Chengmu, standing in front of the Chinese army, watched the artillerymen filling the shells, and finally confirmed with Xia Jing: "Mother, do these shells really have the miraculous effect you said?"
Xia Jing looked at the Fengxian city wall in the distance and said confidently: "This is the first version of the biochemical drug that your mother and I personally developed. If you want to know how effective it is, please be patient and wait and see."
"Grandma, if two rounds of steel cannons can capture a city, then in the next battle, we can basically be invincible with whatever weapons you have. It is only a matter of time before the court recovers the lost ground."
Yuan Rongcheng, who came to join Long Yutian this time, spoke at this time. He was looking forward to the next battle.
"Bang bang!"
The two blasts of cannon immediately attracted the attention of everyone outside the city.
The steel cannon was small and inconspicuous, but the shells it fired went directly over the city wall, flew into the city, and exploded behind the rebels defending the city.
The rebels who were standing under the city preparing to support the city suffered a disaster. Cannonballs exploded in their crowd, and a group of people were injured. The most terrible thing was that they were smoked by the explosion, and everyone's eyes stung.
"Ah! My eyes!"
"It hurts! I can't see my eyes!"
There were even more wounded rebels, covered in blood, but he couldn't care less about the pain on his body because of the pain in his eyes.
The rebels' eyes were so painful that they couldn't open their eyes due to the thick smoke, and they couldn't even see.
Some of those farther away from the explosion point of the shells suffered less damage from the smoke, with their eyes hurting and their faces covered with tears.
Two artillery shells exploded outside the impact range. The rebels turned pale with fear when they saw such a hellish scene.
Zhenghe shouted at the frightened rebels: "Counterattack, counterattack! Why are you in a daze? Is this the time for you to be in a daze on the battlefield? Ah! Hurry up and load the shells for me and shoot at the enemy!"
The rebels came back to their senses, their expressions became serious, and each of them quickly checked the gun barrel, then loaded and fired.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
As the artillery shells carrying the rebels' hope were fired, they all landed more than ten feet away from the imperial troops. It can be seen that the artillery ranges of the two armies were very different.
The rebels' hopeful eyes all dimmed and lost their luster.
The steel cannons on the imperial court's side were loaded with shells and fired.
"Bang bang!"
The sound of the two is different. The sound of artillery bombardment is not as loud as that of the rebels, but the range and damage level are beyond the reach of the rebels' old-fashioned cannon.
"Ah! My eyes!"
"It hurts! I can't see my eyes!"
The scream was repeated again. Any rebel whose eyes were touched by the smoke would be injured. The extent of your damage would only depend on the degree of contamination.
When Zhenghe saw this scene from the tower, he was so angry that he jumped up and down, "The imperial troops claim to be orthodox, but they have no martial ethics in fighting. Is this a war? Such methods are completely despicable and despicable!"
"If you want to fight, let's fight it openly. What kind of gentleman do you think you are when you engage in such shady and shameless methods? I think their prince is just a show-off!"
While He was cursing and cursing, the rebels at the top of the city were so frightened that they ran away with their heads in their hands when they saw artillery fire outside the city. Such terrible weapons were blasted at them, and they wanted to get into the ground and hide.
Ying Weizhong looked at the team that was about to collapse, and his eyes turned red with anxiety. He suggested to Zhenghe: "General, judging from the current situation, we must evacuate!"
"fart!"
Zhenghe was furious, "Am I the defeated general who fled without a fight? You have no good intentions, and you want to destroy my majesty. Can you take my place?"
Ying Weizhong rolled his eyes at him unceremoniously and pointed to the imperial troops outside the city, "How to fight this battle now? How do you think we should fight it? Their artillery range is farther than ours, and our artillery can't hit it at all.
We can't reach them, but they can easily torture us!
If we delay any longer, the losses of our soldiers and horses will gradually increase. Instead of resisting here, we might as well rush into Jizhou unexpectedly according to our previous plan and save this team first before we get down to business!"
You can keep the green hills, but are you still worried about not having firewood?
This method of fighting did not cause any damage to the imperial soldiers and horses, but they suffered heavy losses predictably.
In this case, why not escape first!
Responding to the guards' persuasion to retreat and the screams of the soldiers outside were like a tightening curse, which made my head hurt sharply.
The scene outside made Zhenghe's heart sink to the core, and his face became increasingly ugly.
The facts are before his eyes. He cannot defeat the imperial troops at present. At least today he will not order a retreat. I believe that with two more rounds of artillery shells, the rebels guarding the city will basically escape, and he will be a naked man by then.
Commander.
If he starts organizing people to retreat to the north gate of the city now, he may be able to take away most of the soldiers.
Ying Weizhong saw another group of brothers fell, his eyes red with anxiety: "General, make a decision quickly, no matter how late, the brothers will not be able to hold on!"
Now looking at the court's posture, if they do not retreat or surrender, they are afraid that they want to annihilate their team in one fell swoop.
The strength and equipment of the imperial troops and horses are much better than our own. With such a weak strength, the right solution is to withdraw quickly.
After more than a dozen rounds of artillery fire, the rebels guarding the city basically lost their combat effectiveness. Another round of intensive drumming sounded outside the city. You didn't need to look outside to know that this was the signal for the imperial troops to charge.
"General, make a decision quickly! If you wait any longer, it may be too late!"
Zhenghe gritted his teeth. The fighting power on his side has been lost. What can he do if he doesn't retreat?
"withdraw!"
After hearing this, Ying Weizhong felt relieved and quickly conveyed the order.
Zhenghe was escorted down the tower by his own soldiers and galloped towards the north of the city.
This battle was the most inexplicable and frustrating battle he had ever fought in his life.
It was really inexplicable that I could predict the defeat.
A few rounds of shelling crushed them, just like ants meeting an elephant. This deep sense of powerlessness forced them to run away.
In front of the Chinese army formation outside the city, Li Chengmu put down his telescope and excitedly said to Xia Jing: "Mother, the rebels are trying to escape!"
Xia Jing didn't need him to tell her, she also discovered that the rebels at the top of the city didn't even take the flag, they all ran away.
Long Yutian said excitedly to Xia Jing: "Mother, this is the best moment for us to take advantage of the victory and pursue the victory!"
Xia Jing did not hesitate, drew out her sword, pointed it at the city wall of Feng County, and loudly ordered: "All soldiers obey the order and attack Feng County! Anyone who can capture the leader of the thieves Zhenghe alive will receive a reward of one hundred taels, one hundred acres of fertile land, and a promotion to the next level! Charge!
"
The generals following Xia Jing drew out their swords one after another and shouted loudly: "To get promoted and make a fortune, go! Go! Go!"
The shouts of the soldiers were so loud that they naturally spread into the city. The rebels, who were so frightened that they lost their fighting power, stumbled forward and followed the other rebels.
If they don't run away and are caught by the imperial troops, they will die. It's really not easy to be a prisoner. Some people would rather die than be prisoners.
It would be a great shame for a soldier to be captured on the battlefield!
The soldiers and horses of the imperial court rush into battle to kill the enemy. Gods block the gods and kill the gods. Buddhas block the Buddhas and kill the Buddhas. The city gates are blocked and knocked open.
After rushing into the city smoothly, the main force of the rebels had already escaped from the city, and most of the rebels running around in the city were blinded by the smoke from the shells.
Xia Jing didn't mind it, so she had them gather together and wash their eyes with the concoction she prepared. They regained their sight in less than twelve hours.
These captives were high-quality labor, and Xia Jing could not bear to waste them, so she put them all to good use and let them dig ore. After spring, she let them open up wasteland and help the court build railways.
The Lingnan Railway Workshop has already developed and manufactured steam engines. In the north, the snow only needs to melt in spring before railway construction can begin.
In ancient times, food was made from the original ecology, which was safe and environmentally friendly. The only disadvantage was that transportation was inconvenient.
If a railway can be built, people will have an unprecedented way to travel.
"Mother, we captured some of the rebel prisoners, and about 60% of the rebels escaped. Sha Yuliang and Feng Tu led people to pursue them. I believe it won't be long before they are forced to follow our pre-arranged plan.
Entering Jizhou."
Xia Jing nodded: "Let everyone rest for the night and continue the pursuit tomorrow."
"Drive, drive, drive"
Two days later, outside a county town on the border of Jizhou across the Zhangshui River, several fast horses rushed through the city gate.
The snow on the street was trampled by many people, and the snow was slowly melting. Horses galloped past, splashing countless snow water, which scared the people on both sides of the street and hurriedly hid.
Even if they were forced into such a difficult situation, they dared not speak out in anger.
Some people with an upright temperament would only dare to say a few words in secret and curse a few beasts in secret, without causing any actual harm.
"Report! Sir, the rebel army in northern Henan has now been defeated by the troops and horses led by the prince. They crossed the Zhangshui River and entered the territory of our Jizhou. They wounded more than 3,000 of our troops and fled into the mountains and forests.
"
After hearing Ye Bushou's report, everyone present frowned.
Xiao Qi, the governor of Jizhou, raised his eyebrows in surprise, "We in Jizhou have stationed a hundred thousand troops at this border. We thought that no matter how bold the rebels were, they would not dare to cross the Zhangshui River. But I didn't expect that they were not so courageous as they dared to break in."
Jizhou!”
Since they are so ignorant, they will close the door and beat the dog, so that these thieves will know that Jizhou Governor is not easy to mess with!
The blood debt of three thousand people must be repaid with their blood!
Xiao Baoyin, the eldest son of Xiao Qi, was the most angry. He was the eldest son in the family, and he would inherit everything in Jizhou in the future. The rebels rushing into Jizhou meant they were causing harm to his family.
When a thief came to bring trouble to the house, he refused to ask for permission. He decided to take the initiative to fight and teach the thief a lesson.
Thinking of this, he asked Ye Buzai who was kneeling on the ground: "Do you know how many soldiers and horses the rebels have?"
Ye Bushuang made some mental estimates and gave a rough estimate: "There are at least 30,000 people!"
"Thirty thousand!"
Xiao Baoyin was overjoyed and turned to Xiao Qi to challenge him: "Father, give me thirty thousand troops for my son, and I will deal with these ignorant thieves. I must let them know that not just anyone can break into Jizhou!"
The other Jizhou generals and Xiao Yuncheng were surprised that Xiao Baoyin, who had not been staying in Jizhou all the time, would take the initiative to ask for a fight.
By being so willing, does he think the rebels who fled in embarrassment are easy to deal with?
Xiao Qi was very pleased that his eldest son was willing to share the burden for him. He always liked to be safe when doing things, so his eldest son Xiao Baoyin wanted to go on an expedition. He agreed, but the troop strength could not be 30,000, but 50,000.
Xiao Qi's purpose for doing this is obvious, that is, he does not want his eldest son to be in danger. Experience is very important, but compared with experience, they feel that their son's safety is more important.
Therefore, he transferred 50,000 soldiers and horses to him, 50,000 elites versus 30,000. Not to mention Xiao Qi, others also believed that such strength would be an absolute crushing force in front of the rebels.
"If I give you 50,000 yuan, are you sure that the rebels will be driven out of Jizhou within half a month, or that they will all be wiped out and used as fertilizer for flowers and trees?"
When Xiao Baoyin heard that he had been given fifty thousand troops, he was startled, and then he became excited and wanted to run several laps along the county seat.
My father is so awesome!
However, he knows nothing about fighting. If he is asked to perform a certain task, he will be absolutely powerless.
"Thank you, father. My son will live up to your expectations, study hard, and honor his father and mother."
After saying that, Xiao Baoyin wiped the sweat from his forehead with a guilty conscience. No matter whether he lost or won, he had to get the military power first.
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