The iron gate slammed shut, and the third round of artillery bombardment at the head of the city exploded next to the iron chariot, and the chariot roared, shaking the ears and dizzy, Lu Qingli and Yang Ko'er grabbed the iron ring handrail to stabilize their bodies, and after the roar passed, Yang Ko'er quietly ordered: "Open the front sighting." ”

A craftsman climbed up to the front, reached out and touched the iron buckle, and with a click, a piece of iron the size of a washbasin fell off, revealing a thin, narrow slit that let in the dim light of the day.

"Grandpa Zhang said, aiming at the notch on the left side of the city wall, the cannon and rocket artillery bombarded a large pit in the city wall, and now the muzzle position is aimed at where, just open the cannon to bombard." Lu Qingli said loudly.

Yang Qian'er nodded, rolled up her sleeves to reveal Bai Shengsheng's arms, bit her lower lip and ordered: "Half a bucket of yellow medicine, three buckets of black medicine, plug in the lead and tamp it down." After the bomb, the covers around the sides must be covered firmly, and the smoke outlets on both sides must be opened, otherwise we will all choke to death. ”

Several craftsmen picked up a small wooden barrel and poured medicine, put a large iron ball the size of a basin into the boring mouth, covered it with a thick steel plate cover and locked it firmly, and then opened the smoke outlets on both sides, closed the sealed door of the back seat, and a thick lead line stretched diagonally to the outside and placed next to the back seat.

"One qiē ready." The craftsmen reported.

Lu Qingli swallowed and spit, and said in a dumb voice: "Coo'er, you light the torch." ”

Yang Qian'er's nervous little face turned pale, she took the burning fire fold from the hand of a person next to her, and said in a trembling voice: "Qingli, I'...... I'm lighting the rope. ”

Lu Qingli covered her face and nodded and said tremblingly: "Well......"

Yang Ko'er gritted her teeth and slowly put the fire fold up.

……

On the tower of the Daming Gate of the Imperial Palace at night, Song Nan, Wan Zhi, Wang Yong and others stood quietly, looking at the thousands of soldiers on the Daming Gate Square; The confrontation between the two sides has been an afternoon, since Song Nan retreated into the palace gate to guard, the soldiers and horses on the square below have maintained a posture of attacking at any time, a few hours have passed, although the battle has not started, but the atmosphere has been solemn and tense.

Song Nan was not worried that they would divide their troops to attack Donghua Gate or Xihua Gate, although those two palace gates were only guarded by more than 100 Han generals under Wan Zhi, it stands to reason that if they attacked these two palace gates, they would not be able to defend them at all; However, the condescending defense of more than 100 Jinyi Wei Han generals with firearms, without a rapid attack of one or two thousand people, it is not enough to break through quickly, and the power of firearms is obvious in the situation of occupying a favorable location.

Song Nan actually hoped that they would divide two thousand men to attack the East and West Palace Gate, once they learned that they had divided their troops, Song Nan would take the initiative to attack in the front, and the fierce battle on the Zhengyang Gate had forced the seven thousand soldiers and horses on the square to mobilize more than two thousand to assist in the defense; If they dare to divide their troops again, the number of enemy soldiers in the square will only be more than 3,000 people, and the number of people on hand in Song Nan is roughly the same, how can Song Nan, who has a large number of firearms, be afraid of this kind of battle that the number wants to do, which is also the reason why he put most of his troops on the side of Damingmen.

I'm not afraid that you won't attack the other palace gates, as long as you divide your troops, I will give you a blow to the head, annihilate the enemy in the square, directly threaten the rear of Zhengyangmen, and join Zhang Lun inside and outside.

However, Song Nan's expectations came to naught as the sun sank a little bit westward, and the other party obviously realized that his troops were insufficient, and refused to disperse his troops, but concentrated more than 5,000 troops to stare at Damingmen, not only to maintain pressure, but also to consolidate the rear security of the Zhengyangmen fierce battlefield.

The anxiety in Song Nan's heart also gradually grew over time, not for anything else, he was worried that he would lose his geographical advantage after dark, and he would not be able to see the enemy's dynamics clearly after dark.

Moreover, the reason why Song Nan was anxious was also because the siege battle at Zhengyang Gate had not been effective, and at noon, the sound of the cannon rumbled and the sound of killing shook the sky, and at this moment, the cannon body had become scarce, only the sound of the fire gun came, judging by Song Nan's experience, most of the guns have been scrapped, and the role of the fire gun in the siege war is not large, and the short board of the range makes the fire gun basically become an ornament; It shows that Zhang Lun's attack has no possibility of shaking Zhengyangmen.

Zhang Lun was not incompetent, he attacked Zhengyangmen with regimental and battalion forces but could not succeed, most of his previous predictions came true, and the other horses of the regimental battalion did not participate, and Zhang Lun's number of soldiers and horses was not large, so he could not form an absolute advantage. Song Nan was completely disappointed in those marquis, and he made a decision in his heart, if he could control the situation this time, the marquis in the regiment camp would all be cleaned up, and there was no need to condone them, in addition to being hateful, the grass on the wall was also quite terrifying. As soon as it gets dark, Song Nan doesn't know what will happen, maybe those marquis will fall to Yang Tinghe's side when they see the direction of the wind, then they won't have the slightest chance of winning.

"My lord, the princess is here." Wan Zhi whispered in the ear of Song Nan, who was leaning on the battlements with a sad face.

Song Nan hurriedly came back to his senses, with a smile on his face, and turned around to look at the stairs below, but seeing that Kang Ning was cautiously walking towards the city in a plain palace dress with a skirt in his hand, Song Nan hurriedly came to the entrance of the stone steps, stretched out his hand condescendingly, and said softly: "Pay attention to the princess's feet, the stone steps are very slippery." ”

Corning looked up, tears still on his face, and his eyes were slightly red and swollen, but there was a smile on his face. Stretched out his hand and naturally put it on Song Nan's palm, and Song Nan pulled her fluttering body up with force.

"It's dangerous here, what are you doing here?" Song Nan looked at Kang Ning's face and asked with a smile.

Kang Ning said: "You don't go to see me, I have to come to see you, no need to explain, I know that the shape is very critical, and you can't get out of your body." ”

Song Nan said in a low voice: "Have you cried? From the Temple of Heart Nourishment? ”

Kang Ning's expression darkened, tears welled up again, and he sobbed: "Your Majesty...... Just like that, at such a young age, he actually ......"

Song Nan comforted softly: "Life and death are fate, you are not too sad, although the emperor has passed away, but the emperor was calm before he left, the emperor's mind is very clear, and the matter is explained very clearly; It's a pity that he didn't expect that his edict didn't have a chance to be read to Yang Ting and them, so they did it. ”

Corning nodded, "Even if it's announced?" They had already laid out a qiē, how could they give up? Queen mother...... Ay...... The queen mother is really confused, and she was actually bewitched by them and became their accomplice. ”

Song Nan said: "The queen mother was indeed bewitched by them, the mastermind of this qiē is Yang Tinghe and the cabinet Liang Chu Fei Hong, the current situation is also caused by them, you can rest assured, I will punish them for the emperor; By the way, if it weren't for your assistance today, I'm afraid that the Han General Camp in Xiyuan wouldn't be able to get the news in time, and I might be buried outside the Heart Cultivation Palace, thank you. ”

Corning whispered, "Are you still polite to me at this time?" ”

Song Nan smiled and said: "What I said is that you and I don't have to be so polite, but what I'm curious about is how you took Wang Yong out of the west gate of the inner city, I know that in order to block the West Garden and the inner city, there are many people guarding it, and the Queen Mother is afraid that no one is allowed to go to the West Garden." ”

Kang Ning smiled: "That's not difficult, I just used the excuse of going to Xiyuan to relax, and brought Lord Wang over among the female officials who accompanied me, but I just wronged Lord Wang and asked him to pretend to be a woman." Seeing that there was no other way, Lord Wang had no choice but to agree. ”

Song Nanha smiled and said: "Wang Yong seems to be a woman in his last life, and this time he has already pretended to be a woman twice...... Hiding in one place, the palace guards came in to investigate, and he and I pretended to be women and barely hid. ”

Kangning smiled and said, "What's it?" Is it in the boudoir of the lord of Heian? ”

Song Nan was stunned for a moment and said, "You...... How did you find out? ”

Corning glanced at him and said, "Do you think you can hide it from me?" I'm keeping an eye on you all the time. ”

Song Nan was speechless, and wanted to laugh a few words, but this situation was obviously out of place, Zhengde was still lying upright in the Heart Cultivation Palace, and the outside was the coercion of the army, and the shape was extremely critical, and he was in no mood to laugh.

Thinking of the current shape, Song Nan couldn't help frowning slightly, and Kang Ning said in a low voice: "Things are very tricky, aren't they?" ”

Song Nan smiled and said: "Don't worry, with me, you can go back to Shouning Palace to rest, with me, are you still worried." ”

Kang Ning glanced down at Damingmen Square, and said with a slight change in his face: "It seems that it is indeed tricky, you should not go back to Beijing alone at all, you should go back to Beijing with the army, even if they control the capital, you can still defeat them." Now it's a difficult situation. ”

Song Nan shook his head and said: "Of course I know this, but I can't do that, the emperor gave Zhang Yong a jade pendant, hinting that he asked me to go back to Beijing, how can I not go back to Beijing to see the emperor for the last time?" Besides, let Yang Tinghe and others control the situation, although I can lead a large army to break through the capital, they will use that false edict as a shield, and my behavior will become a rebellion, how can I let them splash this dirty water on my body? ”

Kang Ning sighed in a low voice: "That's what I said, people who cherish feathers naturally refuse to let people splash dirty water, but this time I'm afraid it's a catastrophe, whether we can survive it depends on whether God favors it, but I hope that the emperor's heroic soul is not far away, bless us to survive this catastrophe." ”

Song Nan just wanted to say that it is useless to rely on the sky and rely on himself or something like that, which made Kang Ning's feelings feel good, and when his mouth opened, he suddenly heard a loud thunderous sound in his ears, which shook his ear drums and recalled, as if there was a muffled thunder in the clear sky, and the city wall under his feet seemed to shake a few times.

Song Nan reflexively hugged Kang Ning in his arms and curled up under the battlement, Wang Yong, Wanzhi and others also changed their expressions, and the city was in a panic. Song Nan thought that the soldiers and horses in the square were firing cannons at the palace gate, and asked loudly: "Find out where the cannon was fired and where it hit?" How many casualties? Whether the palace gate is stable. ”

Wang Yong looked at the south and said in a daze: "My lord, it's not us here...... It was the sound of cannons outside Zhengyang Gate. ”

Song Nan was stunned and pulled Kang Ning, who had lost his face, to get up, and looked in the direction of the Zhengyangmen battlefield in the south, but saw a puff of black smoke rising into the air, like a black peony blooming in the dim skylight, steaming and agitating, covering a small half of the sky, making people get goosebumps.

The tens of thousands of officers and soldiers inside and outside the Daming Gate stood as if they had been enchanted, their necks twisted in the direction of Zhengyangmen to stare at the rising black clouds, and their mouths were open one by one, shocked in place.

……

Yang Kou'er gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, put the fire fold on the lead and lit it, and in an instant the flames on the lead flew and sneered, and the green smoke was filled with the pungent smell of gunpowder, filling the noses of everyone inside the chariot.

Lu Qingli and Yang Kou'er snuggled tightly together, staring at the shorter and shorter leads, and their bodies trembled slightly.

"Chloe, are you afraid?"

"I ...... Don't be afraid, Qingli...... What about you? ”

"I ...... Nor afraid. ”

"Right...... We are not afraid, in short, with me with you, with you with me, we are not afraid. ”

The two whispered in each other's ears dreamily, cheering each other up, but it was difficult to express the fear in their hearts, this iron chariot giant cannon was the first launch in the true sense, and the accident rate of the firearm made in the arsenal was very high when it was fired for the first time, and the two of them knew it; This is true of other firearms, let alone this giant cannon. In the event of an accident, everyone inside the entire Iron Chariot will have their bones gone, and it would be strange if they were not afraid.

"Boom." An earth-shattering loud bang sounded in Zhengyangmen Square, the earth shook, and the stones and dust on the ground also jumped in an instant, flying for a moment. Zhang Lun, the little county lord, and everyone present were buzzing in their ear drums, and they couldn't hear any sound for a moment, but seeing the black smoke steaming, the entire iron chariot was shrouded in a thick black smoke after the loud noise, as if it was wrapped in a thick layer of black cotton.

Hundreds of steps away, on the left side of Zhengyang Gate, Zhankou military artillery and rocket artillery took an afternoon to bombard the deep groove on the city wall, was hit by a huge cannonball, and the violent explosion was mixed with rammed earth, stones, bricks, and black smoke, like a rushing torrent, rushing out from the side of the city wall; Black smoke and dust then floated into the air, enveloping the entire section of the city wall in black smoke, and after a while, it was like a huge black mushroom growing above the city wall, constantly churning and drumming. This apocalyptic scene made all the people present heartbroken and frightened, and it was difficult to hold on.

"It worked...... And they succeeded. ”

There was a shout from the stunned crowd, Ye Fanggu rushed forward with a shout, and rushed to the iron chariot that was revealed after the smoke cleared, and when the rear iron door opened, it was pitch black and silent; Ye Fanggu shouted loudly: "Qingli...... Qingli, Chloe...... Chloe, are you all right? Speak. ”

The little county lord Dai Su'er and Zhu Fengtong also arrived, the wind lantern was handed up, Ye Fanggu climbed into the high chariot in three steps and two steps, and let out an exclamation after a while, the little county lord also hurriedly climbed up, in the choking smoke, under the dim light of the wind lamp, she saw Lu Qingli and Yang Ko'er leaning on Ye Fanggu's chest, their hair was scattered, there seemed to be blood flowing out of their nostrils and the corners of their mouths, but their eyes were open, exuding excitement.

"Qingli, Chloe, how are you? Are you okay. Ye Fanggujiao exclaimed.

Lu Qingli and Yang Kou'er were unconscious, and murmured in their mouths: "It's successful, it's successful." ”

Ye Fanggu shouted a few more words, but the two still didn't react, the little county lord moved his heart, stepped forward and removed the green silk in the ears of the two, but saw that a thin line of blood flowed out of the earholes of the two people, and suddenly said in shock: "Sister Ye, Sister Qingli and Sister Kou'er are afraid that their ears are ......."

Ye Fanggu's heart was cold, and without saying a word, she hugged the two of them and walked out, with the help of the little county lord, the two of them moved from the high belly of the car to the outside, the two of them were not aware and lost their hearing, and they excitedly shouted to the women around them: "Success, success." ”

Zhu Fengtong's eyes were slightly red, and he stepped forward to check it carefully: "The explosion was so loud that it seemed to crack the ear drums, we were so far away outside that we almost lost our breath, but they were inside, how loud should it be there." Ay. Quickly wrap their ears in cotton cloth, and now they must not be injured again, and seek medical treatment after the incident, and see if they can recover. ”

Ye Fanggu's tears rained down, but she also knew that this was not the time to investigate and blame anyone, so she ordered someone to take a strip of cotton cloth and bandage the two of them personally, Lu Qingli and Yang Ko'er didn't understand what was happening, and there was a tsunami-like sound in their ears, and they thought it was the aftermath of the explosion, so they didn't care at all. But seeing that everyone's actions and demeanor were wrong, and there were tears in everyone's eyes, they realized that something had happened. When Ye Fanggu was about to bandage their ears, the two of them suddenly realized the severity of the problem.

"We ...... What's wrong? Lu Qingli's voice was amazingly loud, but she didn't hear her own voice at all.

Yang Qian'er had already understood, reached out to take Lu Qingli's hand, and wrote on her hand: "We are deaf." ”

Lu Qingli stood dumbfounded, shook Yang Qian'er's hand after a while, smiled sadly, and stopped talking. The two stood silently, letting the little county lord and Ye Fanggu wrap their ears with cloth towels for them, and pull up the hood to cover them.

During the busy time of the Song family's daughters, the black clouds at the head of the city gradually dissipated, and the generals and soldiers above and below the city began to quickly assess the power of this cannon after being shocked, and the city wall at the east head of Zhengyang Gate was blown down by the explosion caused by this cannon, and nearly one-third of the thick city wall with a width of more than four zhang collapsed outside, forming a huge recess. The cannon was bombarding the inside of the hollowed-out outer wall, directly shattering and destroying the solid wall like an iron wall.

Zhang Lun was very excited after learning about the report, according to this kind of power, three or four more cannons, the city wall will be broken through a huge gap, so he immediately came to the place where the women were busy, and asked for a few more cannons to collapse the city wall. However, when he learned that both girls' ears were deaf, he was stunned.

"Grandpa Zhang, don't worry, even if we are all deaf, we will collapse this city wall and rescue our husband. The slave went to fire the cannon. Ye Fanggu said quietly.

"I'll go too, what if I'm deaf? The husband can't be saved, and we are willing to die all. The little county lord also said with a high chest.

Zhang Lun stomped his feet and said, "Sister, don't make a mess, okay?" You are all deaf and blind, Song Nan still won't tear me up? Don't be excited, I ordered my men to open fire, but we don't understand the proportion of this gunpowder and the operation of this iron lump. ”

Although Lu Qingli and Yang Kou'er are deaf, they can understand why these people in front of them are arguing, the two looked at each other and nodded with a clear mind, Lu Qingli gently pulled Ye Fanggu's sleeve, indicating that she had something to say.