The war drums were like thunder, and the soldiers of the Chu army rushed to the city wall with shouts.

On the tower of the city, two red-coated cannons opened fire together to block the attack, but it immediately attracted the retaliation of the Chu artillery. One after another, the shells roared and smashed into the vicinity of the surroundings, and the splashed bricks and stones flew everywhere, hitting the iron-cast cannon body with a clanging sound, and the Qing gunners hurriedly fell to the ground, and those who moved a little slowly were injured by the masonry.

A cannonball hit the battlement on the city tower, the solid battlements were smashed like tofu, the broken bricks and stones fell down in a clump, and the remaining cannonballs bounced a few times, hitting the pillars and the door of the main hall one after another, and the roof shook violently, falling a foggy dust, sprinkling Xiong Lichun's head all over his body.

Xiong Lichun kicked the broken door, threw himself in front of the battlement, and shouted at the Qing troops on the left and right city walls.

"Don't move! Get ready! ”

What are you going to do? The Qing soldiers raised their heads in confusion, and suddenly only heard a loud thunderclap, and felt the ground shake under their feet, as if a violent earthquake had occurred, and with a thick cloud of smoke and dust rising into the air, the city wall on the west side of Tongyuan Gate was exposed to a huge gap.

How so? Niu Yan also pounced in front of the battlement, and looked at the huge gap with Xiong Lichun, dumbfounded. The gap is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, slightly inclined to both sides, and the bottom is more than five zhang wide, and although the wreckage is still more than a meter high, it has formed a gentle slope in front and back, and it is no longer an effective obstacle.

As soon as the explosion passed, the soldiers of the Chu army accelerated their charge, and the rubble was still falling from the sky, and they had already rushed to the moat, jumping off the moat that had been basically filled. Place the treads on the opposite shore and pave a smooth and wide path in front of the gap.

Hordes of musketeers and axes and shieldmen followed. Without waiting for the pedals to be fully laid, they rushed by, leading the battle flag and shouting loudly. Swoop down towards the still dusty gap in the wall.

"Hurry! Come on! Throw the sack! Niu Yan jumped straight to his feet in a hurry, although this gap was unexpectedly large, if it was blocked in time, it was possible to block the charge of the Chu army.

"I couldn't count on it for a while, and I was blown up." Xiong Lichun quickly explained, turned around and ordered his own soldiers, and immediately hung a red lantern on the west side of the city tower to signal that the enemy had rushed into the gap, so that the Qing army behind the city wall could prepare for battle.

Only then did Niu Yan see clearly. On the city walls on both sides of the gap, the Qing soldiers lay on the ground horizontally, most of them were motionless, and some of them were still moving, as if they were drunk. Obviously, the power of the explosion just now was too great, and the Qing soldiers who were lying in ambush near the gap were either killed or wounded, and they had lost their combat effectiveness.

"It doesn't make sense like this, it doesn't make sense! I saw it with my own eyes in Huangzhou Mansion. At most, it will explode two or three feet into the hole......" Niu Yan muttered to himself, his fingernails digging deep into the flesh, but he didn't realize it.

"Mr. Wang, you are here to take charge. I'm going down there to supervise the battle! After the war really started, Xiong Lichun was much calmer than Niu Yan, and he rushed down the city tower with more than a dozen personal soldiers as soon as he gave the order. Go and close the gap yourself.

Niu Yan secretly screamed in shame, and quickly calmed down. Concentrate on the battle in front of you. He thought for a moment and called two Qing army generals. They were instructed to lead their soldiers and immediately rush from the city wall to the gap to replace the stunned Qing army there......

"It works well."

Wang Kefan put down the binoculars and nodded: "The second blast, let's start." ”

Replacing the wooden coffin with an iron mine shell made it more airtight and the gunpowder burned more fully, and the black powder used now had been tested many times and the formula had tended to be optimally proportioned, so the power of the explosion was nearly doubled, blasting a huge gap in the fortified city wall.

But this is not enough, strike while the iron is hot and blow up two more openings, so that Xiong Lichun can take care of one and lose the other, and attack Guichi City in one fell swoop.

In fact, Xiong Lichun was not so tenacious, when the second gap in the city wall was blown up, he thought that there would be a third and fourth gap, and knew that Guichi could not hold it.

The advantage of a single person is that he is willing to gamble and lose, since this battle must be lost, Xiong Lichun did not feel sorry for himself, but arranged a retreat as soon as possible to minimize losses...... Although the walls were blown open twice, there was still a line of defense in front of the trenches, and there was still time to organize a retreat. Although the Chu army has cavalry, Xiong Lichun relies on the advantage of being familiar with the terrain, as long as he can seize a time difference and disperse and break through in time, the cavalry of the Chu army may not be able to catch up.

Fighting against the strong Gongyi battalion, before the war, he thought that it was possible to hold Guichi, and he was ready to do both, and at this moment he arranged them one by one, busy but not chaotic.

Most of the green battalion in Chizhou are Ningzhou soldiers who have followed him for many years, and the palms and backs of their hands are full of meat, but now they can only break their wrists and try to withdraw the elite of their descendants, and he sent a few heralds to rush to the east gate and the west gate separately, and notified several henchmen to retreat to the north gate.

Niu Yan is his mentor and friend, and he must not be lost, Xiong Lichun sent a team of personal soldiers to the city tower, and he must snatch Mr. Wang back.

Another team of personal soldiers rushed back to the barracks and his mansion, packed up the gold and silver, as well as the seals, flags, military talismans, etc., and rescued Shi Yongzhong, the prefect of Chizhou, by the way...... Although Shi Yongzhong is cowardly and inactive, he is a clothed slave under Prince Azig of Ying, if the Manchu court investigates the responsibility for the loss of Guichi, with him in front, Xiong Lichun should be able to pass the test safely.

Huan Fei Yan and Thin The two girls can't take care of it, why don't the big husbands have no wives, and it will not be life-threatening to leave them in Chizhou City, at most they will be a dewy couple with others for a few days...... The domain, granary, and armory should be burned down, but Xiong Lichun did not give an order, the so-called life is a line, and it is good to see each other in the future, and things that harm others and yourself cannot be done, so you should give Wang Kefan a big gift.

If you want to retreat safely, someone has to break the back, and the defenders in the gap in the western wall not only can't withdraw, but also have to send another reinforcement to act as cannon fodder to delay time.

After arranging together, Xiong Lichun pulled out his saber and shouted.

"Brothers, follow Lao Tzu!"

The gap in the wall on the east side was near the horse road, and he personally led his troops to support it in order to buy more time and cover the retreat of the other troops. There was a fierce battle in the vicinity of this gap, Xiong Lichun led two hundred personal soldiers to join the battle group, and immediately stabilized the precarious defense line, blocking the Chu army that rushed into the city in front of the trench.

However, more Chu soldiers rushed in from the gap, raising flintlock pistols to shoot at the Qing army, and in the sound of gunfire like popping beans, the Qing soldiers fell to the ground one after another, but the Chu soldiers rushed to jump down the trench and climbed the chest wall, looking like they were about to break through the Qing army's position.

It can't go on like this!

"Brothers, go up the city wall with Lao Tzu!"

Xiong Lichun reined in his horse's head, turned around and ran up the road to the city, followed by a team of personal soldiers. They came to the city wall by the gap, fired fiercely downward with bows and arrows, firearms, and pushed stones and sacks downward, desperately blocking the follow-up troops of the Ming army, trying to seal the gap.

Outside the city wall, the Chu army's brigade had already pressed near the moat, in addition to constantly pouring into the gap in the city wall, they also set up simple ladders in other positions and climbed towards the city. Xiong Lichun stood in front of the battlement in the rain of bullets, holding a hard bow, and shot down two Chu soldiers one after another, while stretching his bow and arrows, he kept shouting loudly to his subordinates.

"Shoot in the face! Don't! Aim at their faces and necks, there is armor elsewhere that cannot be shot through......"

At this time, the general flag of the Chu army suddenly pressed forward, and some recklessly pushed to the side of the moat, Xiong Lichun almost subconsciously turned around, and the bow and arrow in his hand aimed at the general of the Chu army under the general flag, but he couldn't help but be slightly stunned.

The general of the Chu army stood on horseback, holding a war knife, his young face looked familiar, and the eyes of the two people in the city and under the city met, and they recognized each other.

"He's Wang Kebin! I met ...... in Changsha."

Xiong Lichun was stunned, and at the last moment, he suddenly raised his hand, and with a "whoosh" sound, a sharp arrow shot out into the sky.

"Let's go!"

Xiong Lichun turned around and ran behind the women's wall, pulled the saddle on the horse, rushed down the horse with his own soldiers, and fled along Jiuhua Road in the direction of the north gate...... Along the way, he ordered his soldiers to set fires everywhere, and the torches swished and threw onto the roofs of the houses, leaving a cloud of fire and smoke behind him in a short time.

Riding his horse and whipping, he came to the bell and drum tower in a short time, and several Qing army generals had gathered here and were waiting for him anxiously. Xiong Lichun was not flustered, turned over and jumped off the war horse, Teng Tengteng climbed to the top of the Bell and Drum Tower, and looked around the city.

In the direction of Nancheng and Dongcheng, a sea of fire is burning at this moment, and the streets are full of people crying and running, some people are fleeing for their lives, and some people are holding buckets and basins, trying in vain to put out the fire...... Xiong Lichun smiled smugly, the fire was so big, the road had been blocked, and after the Chu army entered the city, he had to be busy fighting the fire and saving people, and he would definitely not have time to catch up with himself.

There was no fire in the west and north cities, but there was a lot of uproar, and many people were rushing towards the city gate, trying to escape from the city. There are two city gates in the north city, Ying'en Gate is the main gate with the urn city, Wangjing Gate is a side gate, and a string of eye-catching red lights are hung on the city towers of the two city gates, indicating that Niu Yan and Shi Yongzhong and others have gone out of the north gate safely.

"Alright, let's go!"

Xiong Lichun's heart was a little wider, he turned around and went downstairs, and when he reached the staircase, he took an oil-soaked torch from his own soldier and threw it on the roof of the beam.

The Bell and Drum Tower is a large wooden hall, and there are a lot of miscellaneous items piled up on the ceiling, and after the torch is thrown up, a black smoke flame immediately rises up.

The flames grew bigger and bigger, the smoke became thicker and thicker, billowing out of the windows and doors, and when the orange flames finally burst out of the roof, Xiong Lichun had already gone out of the north gate. (To be continued......)