Xiao Ruxun nodded. "Yes, fill them with gunpowder. Either wrap them in blankets or place them in coffins to prevent the gunpowder from being dampened by the moisture underground. Then, block the entire tunnel, leaving only the fuse. Once the gunpowder is ignited, a large amount of fire energy will have nowhere to be released. We can only escape through the largest space above our heads.
When that time comes, we will ignite 20,000 kilograms of gunpowder at the same time. The resulting force will be so great that this section of the city wall will be completely destroyed, creating a huge gap. Our army has long been prepared for this. At that time, we will be able to enter the city through the gap and avoid the heavy casualties at the city gates. "
Mei Guozhen nodded repeatedly. "Ji Xin, this time, we cannot fail. I have already handed the memorial to His Majesty. Who knows what arrangements His Majesty has made. This can be considered as our final attack. If we succeed, then everything will be set in stone! We are all meritorious officials and have a bright future ahead of us. However, if we fail, we will all face severe punishment. Whether it is a blessing or a curse, it all depends on this attack! "
Xiao Ruxun nodded seriously. "I understand. Please rest assured, Military Supervisor."
Seeing that Xiao Ruxun was so confident, Ye Mengxiong and Mei Guozhen were relieved. They placed all their bets on Xiao Ruxun. Of course, Xiao Ruxun also placed all his bets on this attack. All the transportation and packing work was carried out under his watch, including the making of the fuse and the filling of the tunnel after the tunnel was filled. He personally supervised all the details and strived to raise the success rate to the highest.
After the tunnel was sealed, once the gunpowder was ignited, the gas would not be able to escape from the other three sides. Moreover, the contact surface of these three sides was controlled to be very small. The largest contact surface was the foundation of the western city wall at the top. Once the gunpowder was ignited, the greatest pressure would be exerted on the top. The strong force would directly overturn the city wall from the ground and the bricks of the wall would be blown into the sky or even scattered in all directions.
With that kind of speed, even a piece of plastic would be extremely powerful, not to mention a hard brick. It could even pierce through the stone wall. If a person touched it, they would die without a doubt. There was no way for them to survive. That was why when Li Zicheng's troops besieged Kaifeng, the gunpowder exploded in the wrong direction and the bricks flew towards their own people. That was why so many peasant soldiers died so miserably.
The only thing that Xiao Ruxun was worried about was that a large number of bricks of the city wall would fly into the city and cause a destructive blow to the nearby residences, causing a large number of casualties. He had told this to Ye Mengxiong and Mei Guozhen, but he did not expect that Ye Mengxiong and Mei Guozhen would both say that the merciful should not lead an army and that petty kindness and righteousness could not save the country. In order to Daming the dynasty, there was nothing that could not be done!
Since the big shots had spoken, Xiao Ruxun did not care about these things anymore. He did his best to fill in the tunnel and seal everything. On the morning of the 22nd day of the fourth lunar month in the 20th year of Wanli, the day before the arrival of the latest imperial edict from Emperor Wanli, it was a day that the 50,000 Ming Army and all the generals and civil officials would never forget.
It was on that day that a brand new tactic was proven to be effective, and the impregnable giant city that was unreachable in everyone's eyes was no longer so invincible.
From then on, the Ming court attached great importance to gunpowder and firearms, which were viewed as useless and untrustworthy by countless people. And Xiao Ruxun's name also spread throughout the country. He became the most famous general of the Daming. This matter had an unimaginable effect on his future path.
"Ji Xin, are you ready?"
At this moment, Ye Mengxiong and Mei Guozhen appeared together in the main camp of the Ming Army outside the west gate of Ningxia City. For the three heavyweights of the Ming Army to appear together, it was clear that something big was about to happen. Since things had reached this point, there was nothing to hide. Once the three of them appeared, they announced to the Ming Army that they were going to blow up the city walls. Blow up the city walls, and all the troops should prepare to charge in together and destroy the rebel army!
"We're ready. We just need to light the fuse and we can wait for the results of the battle. Before this, I will have all the soldiers here hold their iron shields and form a shield formation. I invite Futai and the army supervisor to join the shield formation to avoid being affected by the flying stones and bricks. As for the inside of the city … let's leave it to fate! If this matter succeeds, the repair of Ningxia's city walls will begin as soon as possible. "
Xiao Ruxun trusted his own efforts very much. In order to raise the success rate to the highest, many of the details of the work were personally guided by him to ensure that nothing went wrong. He also instilled all his future hopes into this gamble.
As the saying goes, the greater the risk, the greater the reward. This time, the Ming Army gathered all the elite soldiers here. Once the city was broken, everyone would charge in together and cleanly end the rebel army. Wei Xuezeng's matter proved one truth — the steel knife in hand was the most reliable.
Wei Xuezeng woke up a day after falling off the horse. But after waking up, his entire spirit seemed to have collapsed. Other than eating and sleeping, he didn't even speak a word. He just stared blankly at the top of the tent as if he was lost in thought. This scene made Ye Mengxiong and Mei Guozhen sigh endlessly.
But this was war, a cruel war.
"Then, let's begin!"
Ye Mengxiong took a deep breath. As the highest-ranking official present, he gave the order, shouldering the greatest responsibility of this matter and staking his future career.
"Yes! Let's begin, Ji Xin. We'll wait here and watch! "
Mei Guozhen also expressed his position and staked his future career as a bet.
If they won, they would earn a lot. If they lost, they would suffer a huge loss. There was no third way.
Behind him, Ma Gui, Xiao Ruhui, Li Gui, Dong Yikui, Zhao Wu, Niu Bingzhong, Li Ben, and many other generals who knew the inside story also had expressions of anxiety and excitement. They all knew that if they succeeded this time, their lives might usher in a drastic change, a real drastic change.
Xiao Ruxun came to the entrance of the tunnel and personally picked up a match. He lit a fire and aimed it at the fuse. The sparks spread to the depths of the tunnel at a moderate speed. Xiao Ruxun felt that his heart was completely affected, beating faster and faster. Even though he was very familiar with the work, after changing the environment, it seemed to have become different.
Xiao Ruxun returned to the army formation. The Ming Army got into formation under the order and stayed away from the explosion point. They erected all the objects that could be used as cover. The ears of the horses were all plugged with cotton. The ears of the Ming Army elite commandos were also required to be plugged. No one objected. The sound of gunpowder was very clear to everyone, not to mention 20,000 kilograms of gunpowder.
The appearance of the Ming Army in formation was clearly seen by the rebel army. The rebel army thought that the Ming Army was preparing to attack the city. They didn't know why the Ming Army attacked the west city instead of the south city and gathered such a large force. They thought that the Ming Army was going to attack with all their strength.
Therefore, the rebel army on the city quickly reported this matter to Bo Bai and the two sons of the Si Family. The three of them climbed up the west city wall. After observing the formation, Bo Bai ordered the whole army to defend to the death. He wanted to see what the Ming Army was going to do.
The black muzzles of the cannons were aimed at the Ming Army below the city. They were only waiting for the Ming Army to enter the shooting range. Bo Bai looked at the Ming Army formation outside the city with cold eyes that hid extreme fear. The fierce battle these few days made him very clear that he had reached a dead end. It was almost impossible for him to gain a foothold in the Daming land. He was even prepared to lead the cavalry to break out of the encirclement and return to the grassland after the city was breached. Although he didn't know if it would work, he wouldn't give up without trying.
After repeated defeats, Bo Bai's mind had undergone a huge change. He looked very dispirited and there seemed to be black gas surrounding his body. His two sons were similar. Zhou Guozhu who was guarding the south city and Tu Wenxiu who was guarding the east city were also similar. They were dispirited and could only pull themselves together at the most critical moment to save their lives.
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