Hearing the shouts coming from outside the door, the little girl who was sitting upright on a small wooden bench holding a broom in the yard immediately turned around.
"Mother, mother, put away the quilt." she shouted.
A woman ran out of the house holding quilts. The little girl opened the door. There were already many people in the alley holding quilts and running towards the street. There were wooden carts on the street with many quilts piled on them.
These quilts, old and new, were of various kinds, and soon they were piled up into a thick pile. Seeing that the pile was filled with people pulling carts, they immediately rushed towards the city wall.
Compared to the quietness on the street, there were a lot of people near the city wall. As soon as the bedding cart arrived, people waiting took off their bags and stepped up to the city wall.
Strips of quilts were hung on the city wall. From a distance, the entire city walls on all sides were covered with quilts. As the quilts were hung, the women who had been waiting poured out the water in the buckets.
Groups of civilians came and went in this order, and beside them there were people carrying stones and rolling logs constantly going up and down. They were shouting slogans and noisy, but in an orderly manner, busy and not chaotic.
A sudden scream came from outside, and everyone only felt a dull impact above their heads. This was the sound of stone bullets hitting the city wall. Because of the protection of wet bedding, it could reduce the damage to the city wall, but it did not block the city wall.
The stone kept rolling down the city wall.
"Get down, get down."
"Up against the wall, against the wall."
Panic shouts rang out in confusion. Even so, someone was hit by a stone. There were shrill screams. There was panic under the city gate, but someone still ran over to lift the injured person and ran towards the street inside.
The houses facing the street were all vacant, and Dr. Feng and others stayed here, directing the injured people to be carried in and treatment started.
The stones have stopped rolling down, and the injured under the city gate have been resettled, but the scattered stones and blood stains on the ground still make people feel heavy.
"The Jin's stone bullets can already be thrown in. Have the trenches been filled in?"
The people leaning against the city wall were talking in low voices.
"I never expected the trenches to stop the golden soldiers."
The generals standing on the city wall were looking solemnly outside the city. As far as they could see, catapults were slowly approaching under the cover of shield vehicles.
"For the Jin people, the speed of filling the ditch is slow enough." A general said, "It seems that they are not in a hurry to attack the city."
The golden soldiers approaching the city gate were in neat formations with bright armor, but there were not many in number, and their expressions were not ferocious, but rather a bit playful.
"The capital city is really tall and thick, unlike other places."
Standing in the middle of the military formation with a big flag, Yu Chihai twisted his beard and said, looking at the city in front with a relaxed expression.
"When I came here last time, I looked at it carefully."
He said and took a few steps forward.
"Thousands of miles away from the clouds, the bird's eye view is like the Big Dipper, the buildings are exquisitely brilliant, and the troops are stationed in secret."
What a good poem.
But there was no admiration from all around. Yu Chihai looked back. These crudely described Jin generals were either looking greedily at the city in front of them, thinking about the treasures and beauties inside, or they were looking at him blankly.
It seems he just doesn't understand why he hasn't attacked yet.
Barbarians are boring.
Yu Chihai was a little uninterested.
"No matter how tall and thick this city is, our warriors will definitely be able to conquer it." A golden general said eagerly, "Every city I encountered along the way is stronger than the one in the North, but so what."
"Those soldiers are vulnerable." Another golden general laughed with his hands on his hips.
Yu Chihai looked ahead with a smile.
"Yes, so such a strong city can be ignored." He said, "What we want to attack is not the city gate, but the hearts of the people inside."
He said taking a step forward again.
"Crush their courage, destroy their spirit, smash their knees, and make them bow before us."
These words were much more pleasant than the messy poems and lyrics just now, and the golden generals around him burst into laughter.
"However." Yu Chihai frowned slightly again, "This capital is a little different from what I imagined."
"Why is it different?" the generals around asked.
Yu Chihai looked at the dense trenches ahead and the pitted ground beyond. These were obviously newly dug. The original outside of the capital city gate had been repaired very smoothly.
To be able to dig so many and deep trenches in a short period of time shows that a lot of manpower must have been used.
Trenching and resisting horses is essential for defending the city. To be able to do this must have known that the Jin soldiers were coming, but to be able to organize such a large amount of manpower and material resources to do this after knowing that the Jin soldiers were coming, it can be seen that the people in the city have not panicked and dispersed.
Moreover, the villages and towns near the capital that we just passed through were all deserted, and we did not encounter any people fleeing in panic along the way.
"It seems that the people here in the capital are much calmer than before." Yu Chihai said with a smile, with a bit of admiration, "They are indeed the people at the feet of the emperor."
After saying that, the smile in his eyes turned cold, and he raised his hand and waved it.
"The Master's Shield."
…………
…………
"We can also throw stones."
A general on the city wall looked at the Jin soldiers outside the city gate through the crenellations and whispered.
"No, get closer, otherwise it will be a waste to throw stones." Another general said.
Throwing stones is mainly used for siege, while counterattacks are aimed at shield vehicles. At this time, the shield vehicles of the golden soldiers are also protected at all levels. If they want to hit the target, they need to get closer.
When the two said this, they looked nervous but not too scared, probably because they could see the Qingshan Army artillery vehicle in the center out of the corner of their eyes.
This is a more powerful weapon than throwing stones. Of course, the Qingshan Army said that it is not needed now. It will be used when the Jin soldiers approach the city. When the time comes, one throw can kill a lot of people, which will make the best use of the weapon and provide the most deterrence.
At present, it is enough to use stone bullets from a distance and then use a crossbow when approaching.
The generals were a little nervous and inexplicably excited, waiting for the arrival of the shield chariot that was closer and moving slowly on the bumpy road, and then issued the order to throw stones, but suddenly the advancing shield chariot stopped, and there was a commotion from the Jin army behind.
Then drove out a group of people.
Seeing these people, the generals on the city wall couldn't help but widen their eyes and turn pale.
This was a group of Zhou people, old and young, male and female, all looking miserable and crying under the whips of the Jin soldiers.
"People inside, listen, hurry up and open the city gate."
More than a dozen Jin soldiers rushed forward and shouted loudly in Zhou dialect.
"Opening the city gate will protect your life."
They shouted over and over again, then rode their horses around the Zhou people who were being driven.
These golden soldiers have reached the range where bows and crossbows can shoot, but there is no order to shoot on the city wall. Everyone looks at the common people who are being driven closer and closer with complicated expressions.
Behind these people, the shield chariots and the golden soldiers attacking the city moved again.
"Sir." A lieutenant couldn't help shouting in a low voice.
What can we do at this time? Give the order to throw stones and shoot? Then it will be obvious that the Zhou people will be hurt first.
"This damn shameless golden man." A general punched the city wall hard.
But if no stones are thrown, the long ladder used by the golden soldiers' shield chariots to attack the city will reach the city gate.
A dozen golden soldiers once again rode closer and deliberately fired crossbows at the city wall, full of provocation.
At this time, if you stand up and use a crossbow, you can definitely kill several golden soldiers.
Some soldiers couldn't help but move.
"No movement without orders." A dull voice came from behind.
The soldier immediately froze, not daring to move at all. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an old woman standing behind him.
The old woman looked at him for a moment and continued to patrol along the city wall, turning a deaf ear to the cries and curses coming from under the city gate.
The Zhou people were driven closer and closer, and the shield car drove slowly but also closer and closer on the bumpy road.
"cast."
Suddenly, a command came from the city wall.
The slingers who had been waiting for a long time immediately threw the stone bombs.
For a moment, stones flew like rain towards the city gate.
Under the city gate, there were sounds of broken shield chariots and screams and curses of Jin soldiers, mixed with the frightened cries of Zhou people.
General Jin, who was standing far away, was furious when he saw this scene.
Unexpectedly, the Zhou people were like this. When they saw their own people being driven and whipped, they did not stand up immediately in anger. Instead, they waited for the opportunity and attacked without caring about the Zhou people.
His face turned livid, and he ordered the advancing shield chariots and golden soldiers to retreat, while waving his hands fiercely.
With this wave of his hand, the Jin cavalry who had been scattered due to the stone bullet attack suddenly gathered again, surrounded the crying Zhou Min, slashed and stabbed with swords and spears.
Listening to the cries and screams of the people outside, everyone on the city wall looked livid. The soldiers were still restrained, but the civilians could not suppress their trembling.
Despite this, no one jumped up or even shouted loudly.
This is because the Qingshan Army has repeatedly reiterated before that when fighting, they are not allowed to look back, move without permission, or see the enemy making noise, otherwise they will be dealt with according to military law.
At this time, there were also several old, weak, women and children patrolling the city wall and staring at them.
The cries outside the city gradually disappeared and returned to calm.
It is conceivable that those people have been killed.
There was still no sound or any commotion on the city wall. This silent response made the golden soldiers outside the city even more angry.
"If you don't surrender, this is what will happen after the city is defeated."
The shouts and curses of Jin Bing came from outside the city.
The people on the city wall were not really unresponsive. They were angry and sad. There were more civilians who thought that if they had run out of the capital, they would be the ones who were massacred under the city gate.
The Jin people were so cruel and the war was so bloody and merciless. At this moment, they were no longer listening to a few words of preaching in restaurants or tea shops, nor were they just watching the refugees fleeing and suffering, but they were really feeling it themselves.
Just then, a drum sounded.
The soldiers, soldiers and civilians were already familiar with the meanings represented by the sound of drums and gongs, and they acted almost subconsciously.
The soldiers lifted up their coverings and fired volleys of bows and crossbows at the golden soldiers under the city gate. The civilians rolled stones of various sizes towards the catapults one by one.
For a moment, there was a scream outside the city gate.
The Jin cavalry who were still under the city gate fell off their horses one after another, and the shield carts that retreated but were still within the range of the stone bullets were smashed. The originally approaching Jin soldiers queue began to retreat rapidly.
Yu Chihai, who was watching all this from a distance, had a heavy expression. At this time, the Jin soldiers who went to attack other city gates also sent such descriptions of the battle situation.
"Didn't you say that there aren't many officers and soldiers in the capital? And they are all just soldiers and servants guarding the city gates who have never killed anyone." He said, frowning slightly, "How could there be such strict preparations for war? They are obviously well-trained.