Huaiqing Mansion, five miles east of Xiuwu County, 20,000 Ming army cavalry lined up in a neat formation, row after row of Ming soldiers seemed to have a faint evil spirit, which made people daunting.

Lu Xiangsheng stood at the front of the army, raised his binoculars and looked at the low city wall of Xiuwu County, and his brows couldn't help frowning slightly.

The city wall is densely packed with people, and the anti-thief's posture seems to want to fill all the space on the city wall with people to prevent him from attacking.

This is indeed a bit troublesome, there is no place for the plug on the city wall, how can you attack it?

If it was all living people, he would naturally not be able to squeeze in, and if it was a bunch of dead people, it could only be used as a stepping stone, Lu Xiangsheng ordered with a sinister face: "Order, all cavalry cut down trees nearby, and all foot soldiers make siege ladders about one zhang on the spot, and before the time, five hundred ladders must be built." ”

He didn't even set up a tent, so he was ready to attack the city!

In fact, he also has no way, this time the will he received was not to exterminate the peasant army, but to rescue King Zheng of Huaiqing Mansion City, procrastinating, grinding and grinding is likely to be unable to rescue, he can only take Wei Hui Xiuwu or Wuzhi on the official road leading to Huaiqing Mansion City, and rush to Huaiqing Mansion City first.

The peasant army doesn't have so many binoculars at this time, and the only one is still in Wang Ziyong's hands, Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng can only stand on the city gate tower, holding a pergola and looking at the officers and soldiers in the distance.

At such a distance, they could only vaguely see the officers and soldiers who seemed to have stopped there and set up camp, and the cavalry scattered as if they had cut down trees, they should be preparing to make siege equipment, it seems that they have been safe for the past two days.

Gao Yingxiang breathed a sigh of relief and asked slowly: "Zao'er, did the people sent to Wuzhi for help come back, what did the Eight Kings say?" ”

Li Zicheng gritted his teeth and said: "Not yet, Zhang Xianzhong probably doesn't want to help, so he procrastinates." ”

Gao Yingxiang shook his head helplessly, and sighed: "No way, he suffered a lot of losses in the last battle of the Daimyo's Mansion, just forget it if he doesn't come to help, what about Hanoi and Wen County, did the people sent to ask for help come back, what do they say about Cao Cao and Chuang Tian?" ”

Li Zicheng said lightly: "They agreed to help, but Hanoi and Wen County are fifty or sixty miles away from here, and they won't be able to catch up for a while. ”

Gao Yingxiang asked puzzledly: "Why wait a day or two, can't you come over now?" ”

Li Zicheng explained: "It's not that they deliberately delay, but the main thing is that they are afraid that the officers and soldiers will attack the east and west, so they will make a false shot here and send people to secretly attack Hanoi and Wen County." Therefore, only when the officers and soldiers really began to attack and cultivate their military forces did they dare to send troops to support. ”

Gao Yingxiang nodded and said: "Okay, it seems that the officers and soldiers will not attack the city in the past two days, they generally build siege equipment for two or three days, you watch here first, and I will go and take a rest." ”

Li Zicheng arched his hand and said, "Okay, uncle, go and rest." ”

Gao Yingxiang nodded, slowly walked down the city wall, and went to make up for sleep, I heard that the officers and soldiers were coming in the past two days, he really couldn't sleep at night, and he couldn't sleep at all.

Lu Xiangsheng didn't rest at this time, he was supervising the foot soldiers to make the ladder, Xinxiang was more than 50 miles away from Xiuwu, they set off at the same time, and walked for less than two hours to get here, because it was not a quick march, everyone was not very tired, and it was quite fast to build the ladder.

This kind of ladder of about one zhang should be regarded as the easiest siege equipment to build, just cut off the branches, and then two by two, every one foot or so with a chisel to dig two pits side by side, and then find some relatively straight branches, also cut into a foot or so, cut the two ends into a square, directly into the pit to support the trunks on both sides, and finally nail a few nails at both ends to lock it.

It was still very fast for 20,000 horses to build 500 ladders of about one zhang, and before the time came, the ladders were built, and Lu Xiangsheng immediately ordered: "Qi Xianzong and Qi Zhenzong ordered you to each lead 5,000 fine horses to ride on the left and right wings. ”

Qi Xianzong and Qi Zhenzong gave up their hands and said: "The last general will obey the order." ”

Lu Xiangsheng immediately ordered again: "Qi Yuanfu, order you to lead a thousand artillery soldiers to line up outside the city, aim at the city wall, and prepare to bombard." ”

Qi Yuanfu gave his hand and said, "The last general will obey the order." ”

Lu Xiangsheng immediately ordered: "The rest of the foot soldiers are two hundred steps outside the city, with sword and shield hands in front, pikemen, wolf soldiers, and palladium soldiers behind, raise the ladder and prepare to attack the city, and two thousand musketeers will cover later." ”

Other guerrilla generals, general managers, and general generals all bowed their hands and said: "The last general obeys the order." ”

Lu Xiangsheng waved his hand and said loudly: "Let's go, set up the formation." ”

The generals scattered one after another, and soon the army of 20,000 began to move towards the city wall.

Li Zicheng didn't pay much attention to it at first, until the figure of the officers and soldiers in his eyes became bigger and bigger, and he realized that the officers and soldiers were moving in the direction of the city wall.

What the hell is this, it took less than two hours to attack the city, there is something wrong!

He hurriedly shouted to the guards behind him: "Quick, go and tell the big boss to get up, the officers and soldiers are going to attack the city." ”

Here, Li Zicheng's personal guards had just run down the city wall to call Gao Yingxiang, and Lu Xiangsheng had already led the army to less than a mile away from the city wall.

Groups of cavalry slowly spread out to both sides, and groups of foot soldiers slowly lined up in a row of about two hundred steps outside the city, Lu Xiangsheng looked at the tiger squat artillery carriage that had been set up behind him, and ordered without hesitation: "Yuanfu, you command the artillery to bombard continuously until the ladder hits the city wall, and I will lead the team to charge." ”

Qi Yuanfu was stunned when he heard this, is there such a thing, the boss personally led the team to charge, and he was a military general standing behind to command artillery support!

However, he didn't have time to hesitate, because Lu Xiangsheng had already come to the front of the foot soldier, raised the big knife in his hand, and waited for him to fire, if he didn't hurry, Lu Xiangsheng would probably run over and whip him with a big blade.

He hurriedly said aloud: "All artillery, loaded with guns, ready to fire." ”

"Click", a neat sound sounded on the battlefield, Li Zicheng didn't understand what the sound was, and then, "Boom, boom", a huge roar sounded, and two hundred shells went straight to the city wall.

Lu Xiangsheng immediately shouted: "Rush." Then he rushed to the wall.

Seeing that the commanders were so brave, the soldiers of the Tianxiong Army suddenly rose in morale, and they rushed to the city wall with shouts.

Li Zicheng was a little blindsided at this time, was there any mistake, he came to the outside of the city, and as soon as he gained a firm foothold, he immediately launched a charge, anxious to be reincarnated!

It's a pity that it was not the soldiers of the Tianxiong Army who were reincarnated first, but his own subordinates.

Two hundred shells, not much, but can't help but have a lot of people on the city wall, the city wall less than three miles wide is enough to squeeze tens of thousands of people, that guy, as long as the cannonballs hit the city wall, all of them will be smashed with blood.

What is the effect of a fist-sized iron bump smashing at a rapid pace?

If you smash your limbs, it's better, but if you miss arms and legs at most, you won't die; If you smash the chest and abdomen, it will definitely be a broken tendon and fracture, spurting blood and flying upside down, and going directly to reincarnation!

Li Zicheng already regretted it a little, in order to consume the strength of the officers and soldiers, most of the people guarding the city wall here were cannon fodder, that is, "recruits" who had just been recruited.

He originally thought that defending the city was to throw away the rolling stones and sabneys and stab them indiscriminately with guns for a while, which was basically the same, even if it was a newly recruited "recruit", there should be no problem doing this kind of rough work.

However, as soon as he heard the sound of artillery, he immediately reacted, the lethality of artillery is quite terrifying, these people are the ordinary people who have just put down their hoes, where have they experienced the scene of blood splashing everywhere and stumps flying around, these people, I'm afraid they will not be able to withstand it!

Sure enough, as soon as the screams sounded, the city wall suddenly became a pot of porridge, many "recruits" were frightened and squatted on the ground with their heads in their hands, trembling, no matter how the veteran of the team leader beat and scolded, they couldn't get up, and a small number of people were scared and crazy, running around, trying to find a place to hide, how to roar can't stop roaring, if it weren't for the fact that there was a team of warlords under the city wall with a ghost-headed knife guarding there, it is estimated that most of the people would have run off the city wall and fled.

At this time, the officers and soldiers had already launched a charge, and the distance of two hundred paces was almost instantaneous, Li Zicheng saw this, and hurriedly shouted: "Quick, the archers release their arrows, and the others are ready to roll stones and wood, and those who do not obey the order will all be cut down." ”

He yelled, and the veteran who led the team immediately drew his knife and slashed at the "recruit eggs" who were scurrying around, shouting while chopping: "Quick, quick, the archers release the arrows, and the others are ready to roll the stones and wood, otherwise, they will cut you all." ”

This trick really worked, after cutting down those who were scurrying around, those who were squatting on the ground stood up tremblingly, those who released arrows, and those who carried things carried things, finally had a little appearance.

Li Zicheng breathed a sigh of relief, and was about to order someone to transfer thousands of veterans to wait under the city wall, "boom, boom", another burst of artillery roar sounded, another 200 shells covered it, and there was another big chaos on the city wall.

At this time, Lu Xiangsheng had already led the army to a distance of less than 100 steps from the city wall, he looked at the sparse arrows on the city wall, and immediately shouted: "Sword and shield hand, raise the shield." ”

When the sword and shield bearers in the front row of the team heard the sound, they immediately let go of the ladder, raised their shields, and protected the front, and the whole team did not stop, still rushing towards the city wall at high speed.

Seeing this, Li Zicheng hurriedly shouted: "Quick, carry the rolling stone and the wood forward, and the long scramble will be ready later." ”

In a roar, the "recruits" were forced to tremble and carry the rolling stone and wood to the edge of the city wall.

"Boom boom", another burst of artillery roar, and another two hundred shells covered it, but this time the city wall did not begin to be so chaotic, because those veterans who led the team were more ferocious than the cannonballs, and only two rounds of shells killed and injured three or four hundred people, but there were thousands of veterans who led the team, who would dare to disobey the order.

After all, there are only so many shells, there are not many chances to be hit, and the team leader is not like a cannonball, it will be over when it is smashed, as long as you don't listen to the order, they will keep chopping, keep chopping, it's just a huge humanoid cannonball, and the lethality is terrifying!

At this time, Lu Xiangsheng had already led the army to a distance of less than fifty steps from the city wall, he looked at the anti-thieves on the city wall carrying rolling stones and wood ready to throw down, and immediately shouted: "Musketeers, stop moving forward, aim and shoot!" ”

The two thousand musketeers who followed the team immediately stopped, took out the guns and quickly stuffed them into the chambers, and then aimed at the thieves on the city wall, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

"Papapa", a burst of gunshots, and suddenly there was a scream on the city wall, and the "recruit eggs" who were carrying the rolling stones and barneys close to the arrow stacks threw away the rolling stones and sassalwood in their hands one after another, and screamed miserably where they were shot, and some people even rolled on the ground in pain!

"Boom, boom", another roar of artillery, followed by a chaotic sound of "aggressive", and the ladder finally set up the city wall.

Seeing this, Lu Xiangsheng did not hesitate to fly off the horse, climbed a ladder, and climbed up quickly.

At this time, the city wall was already in chaos, and because of the musketeers below who kept firing, the peasant army on the city wall could only crowd behind the city wall, looking ahead in fear, waiting for the officers and soldiers to rush up.

The one-foot-high city wall was only a matter of a few steps, and Lu Xiangsheng climbed the city wall almost in the blink of an eye, and before he could stand firmly, a nearby peasant military management team shouted: "Spearman, stab." ”

"Brush", more than ten spears pierced him, he was not afraid, he roared directly, swept away the spears pierced by the knife, and rushed into the pile of people with an arrow step, which was a burst of slashing.

He has armor to protect himself, he is not afraid of ordinary weapons at all, and his kung fu is also quite good, this rush into the pile of people, suddenly became like a meat grinder, slashing blood everywhere, stumps flying around!

Seeing that the boss was so brave, the sword and shield men who followed were like stimulants, and rushed into the crowd frantically, which was a random chop, and the pikemen, wolf soldiers, and palladium soldiers rushed up one after another, and soon, a small mandarin duck formation slowly formed on the city wall, and the Tianxiong army gradually gained a firm foothold on the city wall.

Li Zicheng stood on the city gate tower and watched all this dumbfounded, not knowing what to do.

These officers and soldiers are too fierce, and the "recruits" under him are too bad, they are not of the same grade at all, how can this battle be fought?

At this moment, Gao Yingxiang rushed up from behind and asked anxiously: "How is it, how is it, have the officers and soldiers rushed up?" ”

Li Zicheng shook his head and sighed: "Uncle, I'm afraid we can't stand it." ”

"Ah", Gao Yingxiang exclaimed in surprise and ran to Li Zicheng's side to look down.

At this glance, his face suddenly changed greatly, how long has it been, the officers and soldiers have already rushed to the city wall, and besides, the "recruits" under his command are not the opponents of the officers and soldiers at all, they have been squeezed to the edge of the city wall, and many of them have even been squeezed down.

How can this be fought? This officer and soldier are too fierce!

Gao Yingxiang glanced at it, then turned around and said: "Zao'er, why don't we withdraw, the officers and soldiers are too fierce, we can't fight even if we fight to the death with all our might!" ”

Li Zicheng looked at the officers and soldiers screaming on the city wall, and then looked at the neat cavalry lined up under the city wall, and nodded helplessly: "I can only withdraw first, they have so many people anyway, it's a big deal that we retreat all the way to Jiyuan and resist with others, I don't believe it, these 20,000 officers and soldiers can still win against more than 200,000 of us." ”

Gao Yingxiang looked at the "recruits" on the city wall with some unbearable eyes, and then ordered in a low voice: "Withdraw!" ”