Chapter 237 Attack
Su Qingqing was sleeping when she was suddenly awakened by a knock on the door.
Rong Que wrapped her in the quilt carefully and said, "Don't worry, I'll go see what happened first."
After putting on his coat, Rong Que stood up and went to the outer room to open the door.
Zhao Ji stood at the door with an anxious look on his face. As soon as the door opened, he immediately said, "Your Highness, it's bad. The bandits are coming, and there are more of them than before."
Rong Que's expression became serious, but he was not too anxious in his heart.
After all, this situation was within the expected range. "Gather all the young and strong men in the county and go to the city gate to dig a ditch immediately. The wider the better. Don't talk while digging."
After receiving the order, Zhao Ji left immediately.
Rong Que turned around and went back to the house.
He was so cold that he didn't go directly to Su Qingqing. He just warmed Su Qingqing's clothes in the brazier and handed them to her.
"Don't worry, it should be another wave of their troops that have arrived. They can't make a big move. They came here from Qibei, and the journey is long. They just arrived, and they haven't recovered yet. How can they have the energy to attack the city, let alone a mob?"
Su Qingqing put on her clothes quickly.
"Because we haven't recovered from our shock yet, today is our chance. Even if we are just a mob, don't forget that there are veterans among us who have fought in battles.
Although the walls of Datong County were strong, they could not withstand such an attack.
What's more, now that I have sent the message out, these people are determined to fight to the death and want to capture Datong County before our troops arrive.
Tonight is the best time for us to deal with them before the troops arrive. If we miss today, they will have time to recuperate and it will be more difficult for us."
As she spoke, Su Qingqing got up to put on her shoes and tied her outer robe, "Let's go out and take a look!"
Rong Que stood beside Su Qingqing, put his arm around her waist, and moved his hand upwards, around her neck to lift up Su Qingqing's chin, pinched her and kissed her, "I'm sorry for making you suffer!"
Time was running out, and the two could not linger, so the kiss was brief but passionate.
After they separated, Su Qingqing smiled and said, "If it weren't for me, you would still be the prince now, and you can do it at your own pace."
Rong Que shook his head. "Prince Yu is eyeing them covetously. Marquis Rong'an has already made plans. Father is suspicious and doesn't trust anyone. The Duke Zhenguo Mansion is a faction of its own. Once your Su family army collapses, the Great Yan Dynasty will have already fallen apart. Everything is just a matter of time."
When they went out, Jixiang was already standing outside the door.
The monk rushed in from outside, "Your Majesty and His Highness, please go over first. We will boil the medicine and send it over when the time comes!"
After leaving the small courtyard where they lived, Rong Que strode straight to the outside of the county government office, while Su Qingqing turned around and went to the craftsmen.
When she passed by, the lights were still on in the craftsmen's rooms, and she could hear people talking and discussing inside.
"This range is still not enough."
"Maybe it's a problem with the strength of the beef tendon. It would definitely be better if it were replaced with tiger tendon."
"Take another look at the structural diagram and find out the reason. The range is only 20 meters short, so it should be possible to improve it. Don't be impatient. If you are impatient, things will go wrong."
Crunch.
Jixiang pushed the door open.
The operation room where several craftsmen worked was located in the back row of the county government office. There were almost no servants here, and the entire yard was allocated for their research and development.
When they saw it was Su Qingqing, several craftsmen immediately put down their work and were about to step forward to greet her, but Su Qingqing raised her hand and waved.
"Time is running out, so let's skip the formalities. How's it going? I just heard someone outside, is it because the range is not enough?"
There were two ready-made bows on the table. Su Qingqing picked up one and pulled it to try.
Indeed, she could feel the force required to stretch the bow, and the range was indeed insufficient.
"Your Majesty, the range of these two bows differs by 20 meters for one and 30 meters for the other. However, I feel they can be further adjusted."
Su Qingqing picked up another bow, pulled it open to try it out, then handed the bow to Jixiang.
"How many custom-made arrow feathers did you make?"
One of the middle-aged men with a goatee said, "Your Majesty, the arrow feathers are all made in several small workshops. According to the progress, we should have 500 of them now."
"Okay, we'll take these two bows first. You keep the one with the best technology for further research and improvement. For the rest, make another batch overnight based on the optimal shooting range. Make as many as you can."
After Su Qingqing gave the instructions, she took the bow and left.
The men looked at each other, and the oldest one among them asked, "Your Highness needs it so urgently, but outside..."
"The bandits are coming, we need to use it to kill them tonight."
Su Qingqing clasped her fist towards the craftsmen and said, "Thank you for your help. After this, I will personally give you the rewards."
Without wasting any more time, Su Qingqing took the things and strode away with Jixiang. She instructed the accompanying yamen runners to move the arrow feathers from the workshops of the craftsmen, and then left the government office and headed straight for the city wall.
When Su Qingqing arrived, the trench digging team under the city wall had already begun.
This time, not only the recruits came, nor only the young and middle-aged men that Su Qingqing specifically requested, but almost all men, women, young and old came.
Seeing this scene, Su Qingqing frowned, "Who asked so many people to come?"
Zhao Ji hurried forward and said, "My lady, you need to dig a ditch in such a short time..."
Su Qingqing immediately said: "It's stupid. How much can these old, young, sick and disabled people dig? It's not enough for the sick to take medicine. When the city gates outside can't be opened and the medicinal materials inside are used up, who will give them medicine?
Making trouble!
The weak and sick, women, children and all others should go back.
If you want to do your part, just cook for them at home and leave only the strong youngsters behind! "
After saying that, without even looking at Zhao Ji, he turned around and climbed up the city wall.
Zhao Ji also knew that Su Qingqing was not giving him a cold shoulder because it was an emergency, and he was really in a hurry and confused about the matter and didn't handle it well.
It is indeed as Su Qingqing said. Another group of people fell ill today due to digging the canal, and the city gates cannot be opened by then. Apart from other things, medicinal materials will be a problem.
While Zhao Ji was redeploying personnel, Su Qingqing climbed up the city wall and saw Rong Que standing on it.
Two thousand soldiers and horses have arrived and are working hard to build ladders to climb the city wall. Some people are also working together to lift thick trees to hit the city gate.
The banging sounds made people's hearts and lungs tremble.
Su Qingqing walked over and asked, "How is it?"
Rong Que stared down, "The enemy is coming very fiercely. With such an attack, the walls of Datong will collapse in at most an hour. The only thing to be thankful for is that the enemy camp does not have any divine crossbowmen."
Those who were building the ladders were pushed down along with the ladders by the yamen runners on the city wall as soon as they climbed up.
Both sides repeated this mechanical action tirelessly.
The yamen runners pushed the people until they were exhausted, and the bandits climbed up...
There were more than 2,000 of them, and they took turns climbing, looking quite energetic.
So, be thankful that the other side doesn’t have a divine crossbowman.
Otherwise, the yamen runners on the city wall who were trying their best to push people would have been shot to death by the other side like shooting watermelons.
