Chapter 445 Easily Breaking the City
Zhao Yulin smiled and said that Jiankang Prefecture had restored order, fought corruption and seized a lot of money, and we have money to spend. The government office will first send 100,000 strings of money to the prefecture school, so the old gentleman will not have to worry about not having money to spend in the future.
The old man was overjoyed, stroking the lid of the silver box with tears in his eyes, and said, "No need, no worries." He excitedly asked the servant to take the money to the account office for deposit.
The old man told him: Chief Steward Wu also sent a movable type printing press, and they are learning how to edit and publish a newspaper like the one in Chengdu, telling the latest news in the new Song Dynasty and proclaiming the republican principle of equality for all.
Oh, this old man finally hit the point.
This is what he needs most.
Zhao Yulin happily gave the old gentleman a thumbs up and told him that if he had any problems in the future, he could come to the government office to find him.
I have something to trouble you with, sir. The prefectural school may take this opportunity to let the students gain some experience. Zhao Yulin leaned over and whispered.
After hearing this, the old man nodded immediately, exclaimed that it was a great kindness, and did it immediately.
Zhao Yulin stood up and said goodbye, saying with concern: Don't worry, old sir.
In the afternoon, the students of the prefectural school appeared in the streets in groups of five or ten. These students wore a red armband with "civilized persuasion" written on their left arms and shouted loudly that it was the third young master who asked them to go to the streets to find work.
The litter dumping in front of Zhang's house should be controlled, and the mess in front of Li's shop should be corrected. The untidy dress and laziness of the constables and young men also damage their image. The loud shouting of the people by the errand boys is too overbearing and should be corrected...
Some citizens went to the yamen to argue, and the constable told them to go and read the notice, which was indeed arranged by the third young master at the request of the professor of the prefectural school.
Some constables were dissatisfied with the students' criticisms and thought they were teaching them a lesson. They went back to their superiors to argue with them. Their superiors scolded them: "You bastard, you have the nerve to complain when you didn't do your job well. You are embarrassing me. Didn't you hear that the third young master is going to get a raise? If you can't do your job well, get out."
The overall appearance of Jiankang City changed rapidly. The people saw it with great joy, and long-lost smiles appeared on their faces.
Wu Yuqi told him: The South China Sea fleet heading west is replenishing supplies at the dock, and our eldest son Ma Yuan may be in it. Do you want to go and take a look?
He shook his head and let Yuqi go. He was worried that if he showed up at the dock, the guys would shout at him about how handsome the Third Young Master was and make him dizzy.
Wu Yuqi looked at him with disdain and said that he was overconfident and too narcissistic.
Zhao Yulin looked at the woman and laughed proudly.
Despite what she said, the woman still refilled his tea before leaving.
The dock outside the city was already crowded with people. Common people were vying to see the large ships of the New Song Navy. In the harbor, large and small ships were neatly arranged in rows. The soldiers who came ashore looked mighty and in high spirits, attracting people who came out of the city to look at the young master. The young ladies exclaimed in admiration: Wow, look, the young soldier on the left is so handsome.
Wow, that flag bearer over there is even more handsome.
A group of young men at the back shouted: Oh, look, there are female soldiers, there are really female soldiers, come and dig a hole.
The students and young ladies on the shore kept exclaiming, and some of them were already shouting that they would go back to report to their parents and go to the military camp to join the Shenwei Army.
As soon as Wu Yuqi stepped onto the dock, someone immediately recognized her as the chief steward of Jiankang Prefecture, who came to entertain the troops.
Immediately, someone shouted: "Good luck to the Grand Steward Wu, good luck to the Grand Steward." More and more civilians and soldiers shouted "Good luck to the Grand Steward Wu, good luck to the Third Young Master" from behind.
Haha, these soldiers were afraid that the Third Young Master would be abandoned, probably because they knew that their Third Young Master was also among them.
Wu Yuqi was delighted and personally rented three boats to deliver fresh vegetables. When he returned, he was very jealous of Zhao Yulin and told him that the soldiers shouted "Good luck to the Third Young Master" and "The Third Young Master is mighty."
Zhao Yulin said that she made it up, right? Is he that handsome? As he said this, he hugged the woman and started to touch her all over. The woman soon blushed and collapsed in his arms...
In Hongzhou, the former king Cao Youwen and the military discipline supervisor Huo Fenghuang have arrived at the front line. This time, the main purpose is to test the combat capability of the navy. Miao Gui asked Guo Jing, the garrison commander of Jinghu South Road, to lead 30,000 infantry to assist in the battle.
Zhou Ping reported to them that the navy's inland and sea warships had reached nearly a thousand after concentration, and too many would be detrimental to the battle. He believed that General Guo's infantry was already in place, so he could attack the city.
Zhou Ping's plan was for the navy to surround the north gate and attack, and then use ship guns to completely block all blocks of the north gate, and then sail out two old large ships to beach them next to the city wall. The infantry could then climb directly to the top of the city along the large ships.
Lao Cao raised his nose and said: We are fighting this for those traitors in Lin'an Prefecture to see. Yulin brother said that in order to show the power of our navy, we must let Lin'an Prefecture know how powerful we are.
Zhou Ping and Guo Jing immediately took the order and left.
Soon, the big ships on the river fired a few black bombs into the city.
However, none of these thunder bombs exploded. When they fell to the ground and broke into pieces on the streets, colorful leaflets were revealed inside. Zhou Ping wanted to publicize the fairness and justice of the Shenwei Army and order the defenders to surrender immediately, making it clear that they only had half a day, and if they did not open the city gate, the entire north gate would be flattened.
In Hongzhou City, the eldest grandson of Shi's son was discussing countermeasures with the generals.
Shi's son knew the importance of Hongzhou to Liangzhe, but he did not dare to send officials to directly interfere in Hongzhou's affairs. So he secretly sent his eldest grandson to Hongzhou in the name of visiting relatives and friends to take charge and cheer up the militia.
These days, the inland navy of the Shenwei Army has suddenly increased its troops massively, and a large number of fleets have approached the north gate for reconnaissance and provocation, which is really despicable.
The prefect of Hongzhou said with disdain that Zhou Heitan was so arrogant. He wanted me to open the gate and surrender with just a few broken boats in his hands, otherwise he would blow up the north gate. It was really a pipe dream. That guy must have never seen how thick our city wall was.
Zeng Yaozu, who escaped from Yuanzhou, had now climbed to the position of commander of the infantry. He and his military advisor had put a lot of effort into the defense of Hongzhou city this year.
This guy said confidently that if the Shenwei Army wanted to break into the city, it would be useless to rely on just those black-sailed boats. Without 50,000 or 100,000 infantrymen, I bet they would not be able to climb onto the top of the Hongzhou city wall.
Everyone in the hall laughed wildly.
After daybreak, the Shenwei Army's navy ships were lined up on the river outside the north gate. The soldiers guarding the city were stunned to see the masts standing in a row and the sails covering the sky. Before they could react, the Shenwei Army's red cannons opened fire, and the deafening explosion woke up the entire city.
The catapults set up by the militia on the city walls soon turned into piles of broken copper, iron and wood.
Then we saw the big ship approaching the city wall, and the flying stones rained down on the city wall. The stone bullets fell on the city wall and the city like hail, and the militiamen defending the city fled in panic, desperately hiding in bunkers and any shelters they could.
The big ships on the river were still firing stone bombs. In the sky, the Shenwei Army's air force and hot air balloons had already flown over the city. This time, they did not drop thunder bombs, but cans of flaming oil, which smashed into the city walls, landed on the streets, and fell into the broken houses.
When Zhou Ping saw that the Tianjun had finished dropping bombs and started to return, he immediately ordered the firing of thunder bombs and incendiary bombs, which immediately set the north gate of Hongzhou on fire. The houses in the city were burning, and the bricks on the city wall were also burning.
Because not only the Shenwei Army was throwing kerosene, the militia defending the city also brought the kerosene onto the city walls. The city walls were littered with clay jars smashed by stone bullets, and raging flames ran along the oil path. Wherever the kerosene flowed, the fire would burn.
When Zeng Yaozu heard that the Shenwei Army was attacking the city, he immediately ran towards the north gate and wanted to go to the gate tower to supervise the battle in person. However, just as he turned a corner, a stone bullet hit his horse with a "puff". The warhorse was frightened and raised its front hooves high and neighed. Zeng Yaozu immediately raised his body and saw the stone bullets flying like hail, so he turned his horse's head and ran back.
When he ran to a safe place, he found that the entire north gate was under the firepower of the Shenwei Army. Stone bullets were falling everywhere, and the soldiers who were hit screamed miserably.
His military advisor trembled and said: Run quickly, such a fierce density of artillery shells is unheard of, Hongzhou will definitely not be able to withstand it.
Zeng Yaozu smiled miserably and said, "Where are you running? This is where we will die." Then he swung his sword and stabbed at his dog-headed military advisor, shouting, "This villain disturbed the morale of the army and deserves to die. All my men, follow me to kill the enemy."
However, not many people really dared to follow him. Even this guy abandoned his horse and fought on foot, moving forward along the broken walls.
The Shenwei Army outside has switched to thunder bombs and incendiary bombs, and the bombardment area is wider, almost covering half of the city.
The eldest grandson of Shi's son had already been awakened, and the people in the government office were all panicked. You looked at me, I looked at you. The staff guards on the left and right chattered that the firepower of the Shenwei Army was too strong, and it was impossible to reinforce the north gate.
The eldest grandson was not convinced. There were still more than 30,000 soldiers in the city. Why couldn't they fight? He thought that the big ships of the Shenwei Army could not get close to the city wall, so he shouted to push on and fight.
The prefect could only move his troops to the edge of the Shenwei Army's artillery blockade to deploy defenses. He couldn't let all these bargaining chips enter the bombing zone and die.
Zeng Yaozu was approaching the north gate but he shouted fearlessly: Charge, charge for me. Climbing to the top of the city wall will be rewarded with 100 silver coins, and killing one Shenwei soldier will be rewarded with 200 silver coins.
While urging the soldiers to go forward, he also did ideological work, shouting, "Don't be afraid, the Shenwei Army only has two tricks. Their ships have a large draft and are deep in the water. They can't get close to the city wall and can't get in."
There were indeed some people who were brave enough not to fear death and followed him towards the city gate.
Outside, the Shenwei Army was preparing to attack the city. Ten old large ships were lined up on the river and the watertight doors of the bottom cabins were opened. The large ships slowly sank, blocking the waterway below and forcing the river water to flow towards the river channel of the north gate, raising the water level by seven feet.
