Chapter Seventy-Four: Shooting

When he saw the fires rising in the houses, Chen Cheng finally understood what the enemy was planning. However, by the time he came to his senses, it was too late. The flaming arrows rose into the air and then fell downward, setting the curtain and hanging houses on the city's head on fire.

The houses are a bit far from the palace, and it is almost impossible to shoot arrows from the bottom up, using heavy arrows. If you use light arrows, the power is a little insufficient. If you want to shoot with a strong crossbow, you have to knock down the walls of the house first, so Chen Cheng can't think of what kind of attack the enemy will have.

He was still wondering if the other party had hidden the rhubarb crossbow in it, but then he thought that although the rhubarb crossbow was amazingly powerful, it was huge in size and slow in rate of fire, and he didn't see any traces of dragging that kind of big killing weapon, so he didn't pay attention to it. But I didn't expect such a hand to come to the ground.

Although the lethality of the light arrow lit with grease is not enough, the attacker does not need much damage, as long as it is shot, it is a success. The rocket landed at the top of the city, and countless sparks were ignited in an instant. Many arrows also crossed the walls and landed inside the palace, killing and wounding many of the palace maids and eunuchs who were carrying stones and blocks.

In the Jiade Palace, Empress He was holding her son Liu Bian, and was startled by the sudden sound of drums and trumpets outside, she covered her son's Redo, and said dissatisfiedly: "Why does Juluhou want to block the general from entering the city?" ”

Gao Wang knelt on the ground and said in a wailing voice: "The general wants to kill all of us, and it is Julu Hou who leads the troops to stop it." Queen, we have always been respectful to you, and please save our lives! ”

Zhang Gong, Han Yi, Song Dian and others knelt on the ground together and cried bitterly. In the distance, Empress Dowager Dong took Liu Xie's hand and sneered incessantly at this side.

Empress He said: "I know, but now that the general outside is attacking the city, why not let Juluhou stop resisting first?" On the general's side, Yu Zihui will go and talk about it! ”

Gao Wang, Zhang Gong and the others glanced at each other, with a look of embarrassment on their faces.

"Queen, the military power is in the hands of Juluhou, and he won't listen to what we say."

"That's right, Queen, Julu Hou has soldiers and horses in hand, and it is not just one or two times to bully me, it is still up to the queen to call the shots!"

Empress He snorted, stood up, and said, "Lead the way ahead, I want to see what Juluhou has to say now!" ”

Several of the lieutenants looked at each other again, then stood up and followed Empress He's side. There were originally some palace maids and eunuchs in the Jiade Hall who were arranging the mourning hall, but they were all arrested by Chen Cheng not long ago to prepare for the defense of the city. There are still a number of people who are carrying things such as stones and wooden blocks under the supervision of the soldiers

Now the middle attendants walked out with Empress He in their arms, and the hall was suddenly empty. Empress Dowager Dong sat beside her son, took Liu Xie's hand, and said coldly: "Dong Hou, you have to remember the current situation, those people outside ......"

The old lady pointed out, her face full of anger, "...... It's all rebellious and thieves! When you become the emperor, don't let any of them go! ”

When the historian on the side heard this, he immediately pricked up his ears, opened the bamboo slip, and picked up the pen and book.

"It's all this time, what else are you writing?" Empress Dowager Dong scolded angrily: "Can't you go and do something serious? ”

The historian first finished writing what he was going to write, then tidied up his clothes, and said with a straight face: "It is the duty of the minister to write straight." ”

Empress Dowager Dong snorted, knowing that the other party was telling the truth, so she didn't say anything anymore.

Empress He took Liu Bian's hand, and as soon as she walked out of the threshold of the Jiade Palace, she saw thousands of rockets rising and falling towards the palace. The firelight in the sky is beautiful, but it is also dangerous. Empress He immediately stopped and retreated with her son. Although the place where the arrow fell was still far away from the Garter Hall, she did not dare to take any risks.

Seeing that it was so dangerous outside, Empress He immediately extinguished her thoughts of going to find Chen Cheng's theory. Just now, she was just picked up by the middle attendants, and it was just a whim. After learning that fighting a war was not what she had imagined, she immediately flinched.

Seeing that Empress He and the others retreated at a faster speed, Empress Dowager Dong immediately sneered again. Not to be outdone, Queen He immediately sneered at each other. If it weren't for the middle attendants to dissuade them, I was afraid that they would still fight. As for the Son of Heaven who has just passed away, few people care about him anymore.

At the head of the city, the flames were everywhere, and the soldiers were a little flustered. Some continued to look for opportunities to shoot arrows downward, while others used various things to extinguish the flames. Chen Cheng shot an arrow again, killing a soldier with a cart, then turned his head and said loudly: "Go down and bring up the water, water the cloth and then support it!" ”

It was still the previous tun chief, and he commanded loudly: "No! ”

Under the city, the crossbowmen of the Shooting Battalion took advantage of the chaos in the city, rushed forward dozens of them, hid behind the wooden platoon, and then kept shooting arrows at them. Chen Cheng put away the sunset bow, replaced it with a five-stone strong bow, and used the beaded archery technique to shoot the arrow down like a storm.

The enemies huddled together were shot over dozens of people at once, and at a distance of forty to twenty paces, the corpses fell to the ground.

On the wooden rafts erected under the city, there are some narrow lookouts for the soldiers who are hiding behind to observe the situation in the city. Chen Cheng drew his bow and arrow, and the arrow shot precisely through the lookout, sinking into the right eye of a soldier. Blood splattered from the soldier's eyes and he fell backwards to the ground, instantly deflated. When he looked closely, the arrows had pierced his skull, and clusters of arrows were coming out of the back of his head.

The Yue cavalry and Xiyuan troops at the head of the city ignored the javelins thrown by the Danyang soldiers under the city, and responded with bows and crossbows, and threw stones and wooden blocks, killing the enemy who approached the city gate.

The fighting suddenly became fierce, and there were heavy casualties on and off the city. The Danyang soldiers were divided into two parts, one part to help push the ladder cart, and the division of troops to help cover with shields in front. The other part pushed forward to the bottom of the city and threw spears at the city. The other besieging troops also stormed the city under the leadership of their respective generals.

When the soldiers outside the city began to fight hard, the head of the city suddenly felt a little overwhelmed. After all, there are less than 5,000 soldiers in the city who can fight, and facing two or three times as many enemies, even with the protection of the city walls, it will be difficult.

Seeing that the situation was urgent, Chen Cheng no longer moved his position, lowered his head and poured arrows down. Arrows and crossbows struck the hanging door beside him, making a "clanging" sound. The fire bolts kept falling, igniting the curtain around him, but Chen Cheng only regarded it as an oncoming arrow like a breeze blowing in his face.

The armor on his chest was shot three times, the arrow was bounced off, the crossbow bolt sank into the iron armor, and pierced the chain mail, and the flesh was three points. The sluice on his head was also hit by a fire arrow, causing his body to shake slightly the moment he released his fingers.

The slightest difference is a thousand miles. His left hand, which was holding the bow, trembled a little, and the arrow did not hit the target, but grazed the enemy's ear and nailed to the ground. Unmoved, Chen Cheng took out a bag of arrows again, handed the strong bow to his right hand, and shot arrows at the enemy on the right.

When building the palace, it probably also considered the situation of being besieged, or perhaps because of the strict law of the Han family, the walls of the palace did not cut corners because it was a city within a city, and the battlements, city towers, horse faces and other facilities were readily available, so that the defenders took advantage of the shooting.

When the infantry under the city maintains a complete battle formation, although the damage output is not enough, the defense is strong, and it has a good defensive effect against the bow and crossbow shooting on the city. After they disbanded the formation, they were completely exposed to fire from the front and from both sides, and in a short time they suffered heavy casualties.

Although Yue Qi is famous for galloping and shooting, the output of the stake is not weak at all, and it is even stronger than many crossbowmen. In addition, Chen Cheng pulled a lot of arrows and strong bows and crossbows from the arsenal, and after Yue Qi changed to a strong crossbow, he immediately turned the soldiers under the city on their backs.

The fire in the city was gradually extinguished, but the fire on the four ladder carts under the city burned more and more violently. After getting closer to the city wall, the Danyang soldiers, who were holding shields to protect their comrades, were faced with fire from three directions, and soon suffered heavy casualties.

The soldiers who pushed the cart gritted their teeth at first and continued to move forward, but the companions around them were shot down continuously, and their flesh could not compare to steel after all. Even if you wear iron armor, within thirty steps, it is difficult to block the direct shot of the strong crossbow on the head of the city. The soldiers outside ran back, and the soldiers inside couldn't stand the fire, so they also got out and retreated.

Seeing the failure of the attack, more than half of the soldiers were lost, and more importantly, several ladder trucks that had been pinned on were burned, and the sound of gold finally sounded in the rear. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and dragged their weapons backwards. The defenders of the city took the opportunity to attack, killing and wounding another one or two hundred people.

It is very troublesome to organize an offensive, and it is very difficult to organize a retreat. After the sound of gold, most of the soldiers under the city exposed their backs in front of the enemy in the city, only the shooting battalion and the Danyang soldiers under the command of Yuan Highway still maintained their formation and withdrew from the battlefield in an orderly manner.

As for the others, it was only when they were sixty paces away that they were largely left unattended. It was a very laborious thing to draw the bow and open the crossbow, and the people in the city risked death, and after shooting nervously for so long, most of them were out of breath and their arms were sore, and when they saw the enemy retreating, their hearts were relieved, and their will to fight suddenly dropped a lot.

In the dwellings, the shooters of the shooting battalion shot twenty rounds in a row, and the hands and feet were sore, and if they continued to shoot, the effect was not great. The reerected curtains of the city were watered, and most of the flames were extinguished.

In the cave of the White Tiger Gate, Chen Cheng changed back to the "Sunset Bow", equipped himself with a spear and shield, stepped on horseback, and shouted to the soldiers in front: "Open the door!" ”

The heavy deadbolt was removed, and the copper-clad door was pushed open. Chen Cheng's legs clamped lightly, and Gollum immediately shook off his hooves and squeezed out of the gap in the city gate.

Seeing the failure of the first attack, He Jin's expression remained unchanged. The city was littered with corpses, and he was equally indifferent. The ancients said: Righteousness does not manage money, and compassion does not lead soldiers. He Jin, who has achieved the position of a general step by step, doesn't care about the dead and wounded thousands of people at all, even the most elite shooting battalion under his command has died a lot.

He has already calculated, although Nangong's side is not fighting well, Beigong's side has already broken the city gate, and then let those people's troops rush back, it is good to win, and it is not necessarily a bad thing to lose. He Jin also understands the truth of internal strife and external troubles.

While he was thinking, there was a sudden chaos ahead, and countless people didn't know what they were shouting loudly.

He Jin was startled, stood up and looked ahead, and saw a flame in the smoke and dust crashing straight over.