Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 525

Arrows swished past the city of Ezhou, and Fan Changheng didn't blink his eyes. For him, soldiers can be killed and cannot be humiliated. This is much better than the humiliation and beatings of hotel guests when they are down and out .The village soldiers huddled together in the battle shed, each of them with earthy faces.Arrows rained down, hitting the roof of the battle shed with a "bang bang bang" sound.Just a few days ago, they were still standing on the city wall, watching the excitement of gunboats bombarding Xiangyang officers and troops on the river with the mentality of bystanders, but when Xiangyang soldiers really arrived at the city, especially after the comrades around them were killed or injured, the townspeople His morale suddenly plummeted.

Fan Changheng bravely stood by the side of the battle shed, and said loudly: "The army of Xiangyang has suffered a lot outside the city. Ezhou has been fighting against them for many days. The 'traitors' hate us to the bone. Once they attack us , the 'rebellion' soldiers looted everywhere, and the people in the city can't escape this disaster!" Looking at the shivering subordinates, he felt a burst of joy for no reason, and continued, "Under the nest, there are no eggs. Once the city Bro, we are all dead, not only dead, but also everyone’s wives and children, old and young, will be counted as family members of rebels. Do you know what happened in Hanyang a few days ago? You all know it? Do you all know it? "

Against the Xiangyang court, Chen Dong and other Neo Confucian scholars showed much stronger resistance.Since ancient times, there is no balance between good and evil. It is conceivable that once the Xiangyang army conquers Ezhou, the imperial court may pardon military generals like Han Shizhong and Yue Fei, and even allow them to commit crimes and make meritorious deeds. However, civil servants like Chen Dong and Zhao Xingde can save their lives , is also the fate of being exiled to Lingnan and never being used. Even if it is temporarily shown as superior, it will definitely be settled later.The so-called Hanyang tragedy refers to the fact that the Xiangyang army invaded Hanyang more than ten days ago and plundered it. Then the gunboats on the river and the artillery in the city bombarded each other, causing many casualties.Many people who originally lived in the suburbs fled into the city. Under the deliberate exaggeration of the Ezhou government, the ordinary people did not have much rejection of the Xiangyang army, but now they are starting to worry.

Ever since the Xiangyang army appeared on the outskirts of Ezhou, the morale of the state army began to float. Not only the township soldiers were unwilling to fight with the imperial army, but even the commanders from the prefectures and counties were unable to do their best, and soldiers fled in endlessly.In desperation, Chen Dong had no choice but to follow Zhao Xingde's method and send scholars and scribes from the six yamen to the camps of the prefectures and counties as war supervisors.The party in the DPRK and the Central Committee are fighting against dissidents. When these scholars join the Lishe, they will be prosperous and all will be prosperous and all will be damaged.Chen Dong didn't ask them to defeat the enemy, he just wanted to hold on to these township soldiers, not to break up, and wait for Zhao Xingde to come from Jiangzhou to clean up the situation.

Even after asking three times, these villagers kept silent, and they couldn't make a dull fart with three sticks. This situation made Fan Changheng very troubled.After arriving in Ezhou, after entering the Ministry of War, the ambition of governing the country and the world was burning like wildfire. However, everything must be over the difficulties in front of him, otherwise, the damn God will kick him back to the company. A day when dogs are worse.Fan Changheng stood up, wanting to lift his leg and kick people. This was the method he used to see those high-ranking officials deal with those entangled scoundrels when he was waiting in the hall.

Holding back his anger, Fan Changheng put on a smiling face, and said loudly: "Don't look at the fierce commotion in the city, General Zhao is rushing back with reinforcements at Xingye. As soon as the reinforcements arrive, immediately 'dump' these bastards." Listen When the "reinforcement army" arrived, the faces of the soldiers were moved. Fan Changheng was overjoyed and said, "These dogs retreated all the way from Hebei to the southeast, and were beaten to the ground by the Khitans. Well, our officers and soldiers in Ezhou can even beat the Khitans, and beating them is even more common."

Hearing that General Zhao was leading the reinforcements, the expressions of the soldiers from the village eased a lot, and some of them couldn't help but look eastward, as if reinforcements would appear in the lower reaches of the river in the next moment.Since the revelation of the post case, Zhao Xingde has been known to many ordinary people, and articles have been handed down many times, but there has been no real whereabouts.When the northern captives invaded, he suddenly appeared again, repeatedly injuring the Liao soldiers.Under the deliberate exaggeration of people with good intentions, even ordinary rural soldiers have developed an inexplicable trust and dependence.

As Fan Changheng was talking, he couldn't help but look towards the east, thinking, "I wonder when General Zhao will arrive? I wonder if I can defend Ezhou City until then?" Suddenly, there were few arrows in the sky. When he got down, Fan Changheng's heart tightened suddenly. He lay down on the window of the war shed and looked out. He saw thousands of forbidden soldiers holding shields and waist knives carrying ladders approaching the city wall. It has already been erected on the city wall, cast iron barbs are on the crenel, and a group of soldiers are surrounding each ladder. Several people hold shields in one hand, hold steel knives in their mouths, and prepare to climb up.

"God!" Fan Changheng yelled, took a shield to cover his head, ran out of the battle shed, turned around and shouted: "Quick, quick, throwing stones," he waited for the stunned soldiers to come back to their senses, and once again He shouted: "Take the pole and push the ladder down! Can you kill these guys when they come up?" After the yell, Fan Changheng first picked up a push rod and fixed one end on the ladder. He took the risk Looking outside, seven or eight people have already climbed the ladder.Fan Changheng let out a "hum", and his shoulders firmly pressed against the place where the putter was exerting force. The ladder is extremely heavy, and one person's strength is simply not enough. He was waiting to turn his head and shout again, when he suddenly felt the putter vibrate a few times. At first glance, several local soldiers had put their shoulders on the putter.Some township soldiers worked together to move the stones and smash them down, some put down maces, and some sprinkled lime jars down. Although they were all in a hurry, the whole city wall was full of people. A busy figure.

"Finally, I know the good and the bad." Fan Changheng felt relieved.There was a "bang" on the top of the head, and the arrow hit the shield. Fan Changheng broke out in a cold sweat, turned his head and glanced gratefully at the soldier holding the shield, lowered his head, and shouted loudly: "One, two, Three—strength!" All the soldiers from the village came from a strong background, and when they heard that they were exerting their strength together, the ladder swayed, but the iron claws were firmly hooked on the city wall, making a tooth-piercing "creaking" noise. sound. "Squat down, short body! Short body!" Fan Changheng couldn't help shouting loudly, "Put your strength up! Push up a little bit!" In battle, life and death are always a matter of life and death, and there is no negligence at all. Fan Changheng, like other scribes, It's like before the imperial examination, my mind is full of anxious things, how to push the push rod to push the ladder is the most important thing.These country soldiers have also undergone a little practice, but ordinary life and fighting are two different things. When the moment comes, everyone yells in a hurry. At the critical moment, Fan Changheng yelled so impatiently, finally put his strength in the right place, and everyone shouted in unison "One, two, three", and then a loud roar of "Hey -" pushed the ladder away from the city wall, and the soldiers who climbed the ladder couldn't stand, and fell down two immediately.

"Okay!" Fan Changheng was overjoyed, and said loudly: "Just do it like this!" He was rolling up his sleeves, looking left and right from the corners of his eyes, most of the first dozen ladders were pushed down, and only a few soldiers from Xiangyang jumped up. At the top of the city, the garrison military academy rushed forward with the battalion of strong men, and surrounded the Xiangyang army soldiers who attacked the top of the city.Fan Changheng bit his tongue, forced himself not to think too much, and shouted loudly: "Stone, throw the stone down!"

The village soldiers were not good at bows and arrows, but they still had the strength. Under the supervision of the officers, they threw down the rolling logs and stones with all their strength.The rolling logs and stones are so powerful that even shields can't resist them.Song Jun who was hit by the hit all screamed again and again.From a distance, the rocks on the top of the city were falling like raindrops, and the soldiers who attacked the city had no place to stand.

Three miles away from the city of Ezhou, a group of heavily armored infantry surrounded the center, and Zhao Qi held up a binoculars to watch the progress of the siege.Since Ant Fu attacked the city, he hadn't said a word, but the gloom on his face grew thicker and thicker, until more than a dozen ladders were pushed down one after another, and there was a burst of cheers from the top of the city.

"Absurd! Absurd!" Zhao Qi put down the binoculars.

He turned his head to look around, and the faces of the generals on duty in the imperial duty were all unfamiliar.They are Cao Di's confidantes, and they are not close to Zhao Qi.Cao Di refused to let Zhao Qi personally go to the front to supervise the battle on the grounds that he could not guarantee the safety of the emperor. Zhao Qi gave these people a hard look, turned his face to Deng Su, and said sharply: "What's going on? It's all just talking They are just soldiers, but with the strength of the battalion army, how could they not defeat the defenders of Ezhou?"

Deng Su looked at Zhao Qi, secretly thinking that the emperor still needs to nourish his spirit, and said calmly: "Your Majesty, don't worry, the so-called village soldiers may be deceived by others, and they show off their bravery for a while. The battalion army doesn't know what it is. I haven't used my full strength yet. Now it seems that although they are evenly matched, His Majesty only needs to wait a while, and the village soldiers are exhausted, and it will be clear at a glance whether they are strong or weak."

After listening to Deng Su's words, Zhao Qi calmed down a little, nodded, and raised the binoculars to watch the battle again.Deng Su turned his head, but there was a hint of worry in his eyes.The front had been delayed for a few days because of the gunboats that appeared suddenly, and the Liao soldiers captured Xiangyang unexpectedly and quickly.Normally speaking, the township soldiers are unbearable to fight for a long time, and Ezhou will be captured sooner or later in a few days. This time is very close. If you can't enter Ezhou before the Liao army arrives, I am afraid that hundreds of thousands of troops will be destroyed. The imperial line was cut off, and the last hope of the Song Dynasty was over.Zhao Yue and the Han generals were lucky to be able to defeat Brother Tiemu, and they must not be able to match Yelu Dashi's imperial army.

"If that's the case," Deng Su sighed inwardly, "The princes of Ezhou are loyal ministers of one person, but they are sinners through the ages."

The shouts of killing outside the city resounded through the sky, and every street corner in Ezhou City could be heard clearly. When the war broke out, although the government did not prohibit it, shops of all sizes almost closed their doors at the same time. Ordinary families hid in their houses, praying Pray to Buddha so that you don't suffer from military disasters, but Ezhou City is so big, even if you want to hide, there is nowhere to hide.

A group of uninvited guests came to the Ezhou money bank.Facing the mountains of money, many clerks in the prime minister's office were shocked, but Chen Dong sighed: "The money in the treasury is enough to make people rich in the world, but it is not enough to spend three months' worth of soldiers and people." His face turned serious, and he said in a deep voice: "This is the end of the matter, what's the use of leaving money and silk, take these out to reward the soldiers of the army!"