Chapter 256: Conquering Jinling
Time passed slowly, and at midnight on the third day, bursts of shouting and killing were suddenly heard in the originally quiet Jinling City, and there was chaos and flames in the east of the city.
When Jia Cong got the news, he was immediately shocked! In the past few days, his soldiers were on standby at any time, fearing that they would miss the opportunity. Now it was obvious that some people in the city or members of the White Lotus Sect were instigated by his words before, and they could not bear the pressure and directly blew up the camp.
"Come here, call the generals!"
In less than a quarter of an hour, all the generals arrived.
"Song Guang, Ma Shang, each of you will lead 2,000 soldiers to feint and attack the east and west gates. He Zeyu, you will lead 3,000 soldiers to set up an ambush 15 miles north of the city. General Shang Xin, you and I will lead the remaining soldiers to forcefully attack the south city."
As Jia Cong's order was issued, all the troops started to move. Catapults, ladders, and battering rams were lined up in the south of the city like monsters in the dark. After three drums were sounded, the catapults started first. Even though the frequency of the catapults' attacks was not high, dozens or even hundreds of them started together and still knocked people and horses off the city walls.
Afterwards, the ladders slowly moved forward to the city wall. When there were only a few dozen steps left, the archers on the ladders began to draw their bows and shoot arrows. With the suppression of catapults and archers, the White Lotus sect members on the city wall did not dare to show their heads. After all, the only regular army in the city was the government soldiers originally stationed in Jinling, and only they had some crossbows.
In the previous attack and defense, the arrows in the city were almost used up. Now facing the long-range suppression of Jia Cong's troops, they had no means of counterattack at all.
Until the ladder was two or three feet away from the city wall, the catapult at the rear continued to move forward and threw stones over the city wall directly into the city.
The top ladder slammed heavily on the city wall, and then the backward force of the ladder car directly hooked the city wall. The soldiers in full armor immediately crawled out of the lower carriage and rushed up the city wall along the stairs. The archers on the top floor focused on taking care of their comrades who climbed onto the city wall to create opportunities for them.
At first, the defenders on the city wall were able to hold on, but as more and more soldiers and horses climbed up the city wall, the soldiers of the Shandong camp gradually stabilized their position and began to counterattack.
The situation began to change. Some of the defenders, who were not very eager to fight, simply changed sides! They took the initiative to give up their positions on the city wall, led Jia Cong's troops up, and followed them to kill their own people.
About half an hour later, the South Gate collapsed under the impact of the battering ram. The cavalry, which had been ready for action, rushed into Jinling City under the leadership of Shang Yin, and the subsequent troops followed.
At this point, even most of those who had originally resisted no longer had the will to fight, and either surrendered or simply fled.
The people in the city who were suppressed by the White Lotus Sect led the soldiers under Jia Cong to search for the hidden people...
The battle lasted a whole night, and when the sun rose, the fighting in the city was completely over.
In a simple house, Jia Cong listened to the returning generals reporting the general situation.
"General, there were about 1,000 or 2,000 rebellious soldiers in the west city who opened the city gate and fled. I defeated them, killed 800 of them, and captured more than 600!"
"There were also a small number of soldiers fleeing from the East City, most of whom were killed by me. Only one or two hundred abandoned their weapons and surrendered, and I captured them as prisoners."
"Last night, I was ordered to ambush fifteen miles north of the city. At the beginning of the morning hour, four to five thousand rebel soldiers escaped. We killed more than one thousand two hundred and captured three thousand five hundred. Some of the scattered ones jumped directly into the river and escaped."
Finally, Shang Xin also spoke up, "In the battle last night, more than 10,000 civilians were killed or wounded, and nearly 5,000 of our soldiers were killed or wounded! However, nearly 20,000 members of the White Lotus Sect were killed, and more than 20,000 prisoners were captured."
"Have you found any trace of Wenxing?" Jia Cong asked with a frown.
Shang Xin winked at Jia Cong and said, "Nothing has been found yet!"
Jia Cong nodded and said, "Continue the search. Also, appease the people in the city, temporarily detain and classify the captives, and wait for Lord Lin Ruhai to send them to take over."
"General Shang, report the victory to the court!" Jia Cong said with a smile.
Shang Xin laughed loudly. Even he had never imagined that the rebellion that spread to several prefectures, involved dozens of counties, and had hundreds of thousands of White Lotus followers could be suppressed so easily. Although the leader of the White Lotus has not been captured for the time being, the foundation of the entire White Lotus has been wiped out. Even if the leader of the White Lotus has the intention to rebel, he will not be able to do it for a while.
After the generals left, Jia Cong asked Shang Xin, "General Shang, what's wrong with Wen Xing?"
Shang Xin came to Jia Cong's side, and then lowered his voice and said, "After entering the city last night, I led the troops to the yamen's station first. However, when we arrived, the whole yamen was on fire. But after my interrogation, there was no chaos in the yamen last night, which means that the fire must have been set by someone inside."
"After I ordered my soldiers to put out the fire, we found a dead man wearing an elder-level Bagua robe. After identification, it was found to be Wen Xing. If that was all, it wouldn't be surprising. After all, Jinling City was broken, and Wen Xing had no way to escape. If he fell into our hands, he would be dead."
"However, after I asked my confidants to check, they found that Shang Xin was actually a eunuch! Moreover, he was castrated in the Jingshifang! Moreover, this eunuch's face was unrecognizable, and it was obviously caused by self-mutilation. I asked some of Wenxing's confidants, and they said that Wenxing had always had such a hideous appearance."
Jia Cong's expression changed. The eunuchs castrated in the Jingshifang only came from the palace or various royal palaces. So, the identity of this great elder was obviously a little unusual.
"I think it was Wenxing who set the fire himself, and his purpose was to cover up himself, or the identity of the leader of the White Lotus Sect behind it?" Jia Cong said thoughtfully.
Shang Xin nodded. That was why he concealed the news .
After thinking for a moment, Jia Cong asked, "How many people know about this?"
"Besides you and me, only three of my trusted assassins knew about this. I have already killed all the White Lotus sect members I questioned to prevent any accidents."
"Alright! Hide Wenxing's body, send you and me as personal guards to secretly deliver it to Shenjing and hand it over to His Majesty. You and I don't need to get involved in other matters. This matter doesn't seem as simple as it seems. In other words, there may be some stories about the identity of the leader of the White Lotus Sect. The less we know, the better. You and I can report it to His Majesty in secret, and there is no need to mention this matter in the victory report."
Shang Xin was not a fool and agreed immediately.
