The night was quiet. In Linzhou City, Xu Chunyi led his men through the streets that were occasionally guarded by soldiers and walked towards the southwest gate of the city.
As a general that Tian Shi had once relied on, Xu Chunyi, who came from an aristocratic family, was upright and courageous in battle. He was a reliable companion on the battlefield.
Although most of the pressure was borne by the Huaxia army during the Jurchen attack today, the soldiers under Xu Chunyi's command still managed to fend off much of the attack. Especially at the weak points in the west and south, the Jurchen launched a surprise attack to scale the city. It was Xu Chunyi who personally led the elites to recapture the city wall. His bravery on the city wall was recognized by many of the Huaxia soldiers.
During the day, the Jurchen attacked repeatedly. The Huaxia army only had about eight thousand people. Although they tried their best to preserve some of their strength, all the soldiers had actually been on the city wall for one or two rounds. At night, the Xu Consortium's manpower was more suitable to guard the city. Therefore, although there were Huaxia Nighthawks at most key areas of the city wall, the Xu Consortium's troops also took responsibility for some sections of the city wall.
This was the time when everyone was the most exhausted. It was not surprising that Xu Chunyi was concerned about the city's defenses to prevent the Jurchen from taking advantage of any loopholes. The soldiers they met along the way perked up and saluted when they saw him. They were honored to follow such a responsible general.
When they arrived at the city gate, Xu Chunyi glanced at the city tower, then turned into a nearby courtyard with his trusted aide …
Yan Qing was hidden in the darkness. Behind him, more and more people were coming. After a while, a black figure poked his head out from the side of a courtyard that Xu Chunyi and the others entered and gestured.
Someone beside Yan Qing sighed softly …
…
Outside the city, the huge military camp had already begun to rest. However, there were soldiers quietly gathering in the dark in the Han army camp at the back.
In the camp, Shen Wenjin, dressed in armor, picked up a steel saber, and told his trusted aides in the tent about the entire matter.
"… Wolves eat meat and dogs eat shit. Although we've followed the Jurchen, I think everyone wants more than just survival. If we can seize this riches, we'll eat meat. If we can't, the Jurchen will look down on us! "
Everyone nodded. In this chaotic world, if they only wanted to survive, they wouldn't risk their lives in the daytime. The fate of the Wu dynasty had come to an end. They had no other choice. The people around them had to live well, so they could only follow the Jurchens and conquer this world. Everyone wielded their weapons and walked out in a line.
When the night was at its darkest, Shen Wenjin led the elites under his command and quietly left the camp. They made a slight detour, then passed through the side of the battlefield that was covered by a small hill, and arrived at the city gate southwest of Lin Province.
A small group of people went forward first. Then, the city gate quietly opened. The small group went in to check the situation, and then waved their hands to summon the other two thousand people into the city. Under the cover of the night, these soldiers entered the city one after another. Then, with the cooperation of Xu Chunyi's soldiers, they quickly occupied the city gate and entered the city.
In the Women's Camp, a messenger passed through the camp and delivered the news that the Sharpshooters had entered the city. Shu Liesu finished reading in silence and did not speak.
The light in the camp was dim, and all the soldiers seemed to have fallen asleep. Only the figures of patrolling figures passed by.
Occasionally, a few figures would silently pass through the tent at the southwest end of the camp. They would enter a tent and leave peacefully a moment later.
The Jurchens in the tent opened their eyes. In the fierce attack that lasted from day to midnight, more than thirty thousand elite Jurchens had taken turns to go into battle, but there were also thousands of effective forces that had been left in the rear. At this time, they were all dressed in armor, and their sabers never left their bodies. They were ready for battle.
…
The stars in the sky were dim. In the mixed woods several li away from Lin Province, Zhu Biao bit the dry rations that had almost frozen into ice and passed through the group of soldiers who were squatting here for their last rest.
"Eat something, don't rest next … eat something, don't rest next …"
He whispered these words to each and every one of the soldiers. In the crowd, several leather bags were passed around one after another. They were hot liquor for the scouts who had arrived first, on the premise that they did not alarm anyone.
There was not much liquor, and everyone drank two mouthfuls.
Then, they set off …
…
In Lin Province.
Walking through the dark streets in a cautious formation, Shen Wenjin saw the general who was carefully waving at them at the corner of the street ahead.
Xu Chunyi.
Shen Wenjin sighed in his heart. Before this, the two of them had met each other several times. If not for Tian Shi's sudden death, Xu Chunyi and the Xu family behind him would not have defected to the Jurchens in this war.
In such a sigh, he truly felt the power of the Jurchens, as well as the power of Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Xiyin. The war in the second half of last year seemed ordinary. While the Jurchens pressed the frontline to the south, Prince Jin, Tian Shi, also firmly established his prestige.
Who knew that the assassination at the beginning of the year would instantly knock down this accumulated prestige. Then, the land of Jin was divided, and Shu Lie quickly went south to take down the black flag. Under the situation of thirty thousand Jurchens against ten thousand black flag soldiers, and the defection of Xu Chunyi, who had been contacted by the Goddess of Grains, the whole situation could be said to be interlinked, and they wanted to complete the war in one fell swoop.
After careful calculation, the entire land of Jin had a million rebel troops and nearly ten million people. Moreover, there were many rugged and difficult mountain roads. If they really wanted to take them down directly, it would not be surprising for it to drag on for half a year or even a year. However, the current situation was resolved in less than half a month. Moreover, with the failure of the resistance in Jin, the whole of the Central Plains might not be able to resist on such a scale again.
As a Han, what he saw was the setting sun of the Han family.
This was the only choice he could make.
Shen Wenjin remained cautious and let the vanguard of the formation move towards Xu Chunyi's side while he walked slowly at the back. At a certain moment, probably due to the loosening of a brick on the road, his feet swayed. After taking two steps, Shen Wenjin realized something and looked back.
In the dark, the situation on the ground could not be seen clearly. However, the confidant general who followed beside him realized his doubt and began to check the road. After a while, the confidant general said, "The road is not right … It has been turned over …"
Shen Wenjin took a step back. There was a voice beside him in the dark.
"Don't move!" The voice said, "If you move … it will be very noisy …"
At the front of the street, Xu Chunyi looked over helplessly. Behind him, beside him, there were cannons being pushed out. There was movement in the courtyards around the street. A figure walked up to the roof and planted a black flag on it.
Shen Wenjin raised his hand and touched his helmet. He knew that he was ambushed. But there was no other way. If the Female Immortal was the true Son of Heaven who was blessed by the world, this black flag was also a big devil who could make life and death difficult for everyone.
For a moment, he did not know what choice to make.
…
On the southwest city wall, Chen Qi stood in the cold wind with his hand on the hilt of his sword. He looked at the soldiers who were hiding under the parapet not far away with a stern face.
He was Shen Wenjin's confidant. He was highly skilled in martial arts and was cruel and merciless. Originally, in the army of Prince Jin, he could not stand out because of all kinds of interests. Since he surrendered to the Female Immortals, Shen Wenjin wanted to make a name for himself in front of the Female Immortals. The atmosphere in the army also changed, and people like Chen Qi were put in an important position.
When Shen Wenjin was under Prince Jin, the morale of the army under Shen Wenjin's command was not high, and their reputation was not prominent. But after they surrendered to the Female Immortals, people relied on their performance. During this period of time, they made a lot of outstanding achievements. Everyone felt that they were already a strong army. "Heroes" like Chen Qi also subconsciously began to despise those naughty soldiers.
Not far away, the few soldiers who were afraid of the wind and cold were naturally Xu Chunyi's men. When Shen Wenjin entered the city, he left nearly half of his men at the city gate to help defend the city. Xu Chunyi's men did not leave either, mainly because they were afraid that such a move would alarm the black flag in the city. Thus, until now, everyone had gathered at the city gate and on top of the city wall, monitoring each other and waiting for news of the attack from inside and outside the city.
Xu Chunyi's general in charge of guarding the city wall came here, and those soldiers shrank and stood up. The general said to Chen Qi, "Get ready. Soon." Chen Qi glanced at him and didn't want to talk to him. The general left because he didn't want to talk to Chen Qi. Several soldiers who were blowing cold air over there said something to each other and came here.
Chen Qi put his hand on the hilt of his sword. Several people who came over were a little hesitant. Only the leader, who was as slippery as a gangster, raised his chin and said, "Brother, what's your name? You have guts."
"What do you want?" Chen Qi looked unfriendly.
"Nothing else." Seeing that Chen Qi refused to talk to him, the man took a step back, "I just want to remind you that our boss doesn't bear grudges."
"Humph!"
"I know you are not afraid." These soldiers probably came over to make friends. Seeing that Chen Qi was not friendly, the leader put his hand on the parapet wall and began to enjoy the scenery. He muttered, "Damn it. I stood here in the daytime and didn't dare to show my head. Now it's okay … Anyway, the world of the Female Immortals will be over … Well, we are all brothers. When the Female Immortals rule the world, we Han people will unite. I know you are highly skilled in martial arts and have killed many people. Didn't I also learn from the master of the Imperial Boxing School … "
Chen Qi turned his head to look at the soldier. Although he looked slippery, his posture seemed to be that of someone who had practiced martial arts. He said, "Oh, the Imperial Boxing School? Who is it? "
"Who are you?" the soldier replied.
"Humph, my surname is Chen, Chen Qi." He said, "I'm talking about you."
"I …" Just as the soldier opened his mouth, there was a sudden movement!
Inside the city on the other side of the field of vision, there was an explosion and there were fireworks rising into the night sky —
…
In the Female Immortals' camp, Shu Liesu put down his binoculars.
…
The earth shook.
…
In the dark alley, Shen Wenjin shouted and broke into a run. Behind him, flames rose from the soil!
…
Chen Qi turned around and looked in the direction of the change in the city. He had only taken one step when he suddenly realized that Xu Chunyi's soldiers were too close to him. His companions beside him pressed on the hilt of their swords and slashed down in front of them.
Warm and sticky blood splattered on Chen Qi's face.
He suddenly roared, and the saber light rose against the wind. Then, he suddenly chopped down.
Bang! The blade was blocked and he felt pain in his hand.
In front of him, the soldier's eyes suddenly disappeared without a trace. It was as if in the blink of an eye, there was another person in front of him. There was only the coldness of winter in his eyes.
Two shields smashed toward his face. Chen Qi's hands were stuck above his head, and he staggered backward. Someone rushed out from the side and chopped his leg with a long sword. A short spear was thrown into the air and swept past the side of Chen Qi's face, stabbing into the neck of a comrade behind him.
Shields, swords, spears … The few people in front of him seemed to have turned into a huge pushing wall in the blink of an eye. Chen Qi and his companions quickly fell as they staggered backward. Chen Qi fought with all his might. A few slashes with his sword only landed on the shield. In the end, the shield was suddenly withdrawn. In front of him was still the soldier who had spoken to him earlier. Their eyes met and the soldier's sword had already slashed towards him. Chen Qi raised his hand to block the attack. Only half of his arm was left. Another soldier slashed his neck with a steel sword.
When blood spurted out, Chen Qi still seemed to be confused about the fact that his arm was cut off. In his sight, the entire city had already turned into a sea of slaughter.
…
In the night, the ground shook faintly. The signal arrow exploded in the sky. There was no expression on Shu Liesu's face. He stood up. The Jurchen generals had already gathered around him.
"Shen Wenjin and his three thousand men have fallen into the city. In order to survive, they must fight to the death." His voice rang out. "How can we miss such a good opportunity!"
From beginning to end, the only goal of the thirty thousand elite Jurchen soldiers in attacking the city of eight thousand Black Flags was to win as quickly as possible. The fierce attack yesterday had in fact used all of Shu Liesu's offensive power. It would be best if they could break into the city. Even if they couldn't, they still had the option of launching a sneak attack at night.
If the sneak attack failed, they still had Xu Chunyi's support.
Even if Xu Chunyi in the city turned into a black flag trap, Shen Wenjin who had entered the city would definitely cause great damage to the city's defenses in order to protect himself.
"Pass down my order. Launch a general attack."
Shu Liesu put on his helmet and mounted his horse with his sword.
"Today is the day to break into Linzhou City!"
…
The night had come to an end and the sky was still dark.
In the northern tower of Linzhou City, Staff Officer Li Nian raised his binoculars and looked at the explosion in the city. Not long ago, Xu Chunyi's defection to the Jurchen side had been confirmed. The entire General Staff Officer Li Nian had been in charge of the cannons, mines, and gunpowder in the city.
He had finally dealt a blow to Wanyan Xiyin …
He took a deep breath and looked through the binoculars to the other side of the city wall. At the same time, countless flames were burning in the Jurchen camp.
The fireballs thrown by the catapults streaked across the darkest night, as if dawn had arrived early. The city wall shook. The Jurchen army carrying ladders roared as they surged toward the city wall. This was the force that the Jurchen Adepts had reserved from the very beginning, and now they were throwing themselves into battle.
Cannons rang out on the city wall.
Bugles sounded one after another, stretching far into the distance on both sides of the huge city wall.
On the eastern side of the city, there seemed to be an unexpected battle breaking out. Perhaps the other defectors could no longer hold themselves back and had begun their risky attack.
At this time, only a little after three quarters of the hour had passed. When the night was at its darkest, all of Linzhou City was suddenly awakened. This sudden awakening was even louder than the clamor of the day.
The Huaxia army, the Jurchen Adepts, the gold resisters, the gold surrenders … ordinary siege battles would usually take a very long time unless there was a huge disparity in strength. However, the battle in Linzhou had only lasted for two days, and everyone who participated in the battle had thrown all their strength into this dark night before dawn. While the fighting was going on inside the city, the people outside the city had also awakened and gathered, fiercely pouncing on the exhausted city defense.
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