diskusbooks Chapter 361: The Fall of Yanzhou
Chapter 361: The Fall of Yanzhou
Chai Jin was convinced that his decision was foolproof. He firmly believed that defending the city was a wise move, but he had not anticipated a crucial problem: the Liang Kingdom actually possessed the terrifying cannon.
One October morning, a biting north wind blew mercilessly on people's faces like a sharp blade, as if it wanted to cut off a layer of flesh. Outside Yanzhou City, two aggressive armies appeared almost simultaneously at the north and west gates.
About four hundred steps away from the city gate, there stood a dozen black iron pipes, pointing eerily at the city wall.
Judging from the direction of their aiming, there are three groups in total. One group is facing the city gate directly, and the other two groups are eyeing other parts of the city wall.
It was Chen Yanyan who was on guard duty that day. Upon hearing the news, he hurried up the city wall and was stunned by the scene before him.
"Who knows what kind of fighting style the Liang Kingdom is going to use?" Chen Yanyan asked the generals around her anxiously.
"General Chen, we really can't see their combat intentions at the moment." A captain replied solemnly.
Just as the defenders were still in a state of confusion, they heard a loud roar outside the city. Then, a series of sharp sounds piercing the air rose up.
The city gate was instantly struck by the massive iron balls, and spiderweb-like cracks appeared on it. Under the fierce attack of these projectiles, the solid stone bricks of the city wall instantly crumbled and shattered.
Many soldiers defending the city were hit by flying stones and fell to the ground in pain, spitting blood from their mouths. The tragic scene was heartbreaking.
As the deafening roar continued, the city gate was finally breached. Holes of varying sizes appeared on the walls, with some battlements even bursting open. The defenders were instantly thrown into chaos.
However, the Liang soldiers did not take advantage of the situation to attack the city, but allowed the cannons to continue roaring.
The iron projectiles ravaged the city walls recklessly, and some even flew into the city, mercilessly smashing many houses.
The situation at the west gate was different. Soldiers had already begun to launch a fierce attack. The soldiers defending the city were stunned by the sudden attack and were unable to organize an effective resistance for a while.
They also discovered that among the attacking troops, there were small iron pipes that were being pushed slowly and laboriously into the city gate. There were six such weapons in total, and at first they made no sound.
After entering the city gate, they used this mysterious weapon to point at the soldiers guarding the city on the street.
There was a loud crackling sound coming from the gun barrel, and thousands of small bullets poured out like a rainstorm, hitting the soldiers' bodies hard.
A single strike resulted in a large number of casualties among the defenders, and its power was so terrifying that the soldiers defending the city could only retreat step by step.
As soon as one shot was fired, another one was quickly pushed forward, followed by another.
Every cannon shot meant the ruthless loss of dozens, if not more, of their lives. Not only was the West Gate quickly lost, but the attack was also lightning fast.
The defenders of Yanzhou had no choice but to hastily dismantle the doors of the merchants in an attempt to stop them, but this move was of no avail.
Those seemingly small bullets could penetrate the door panels as easily as penetrating paper. Their power was far greater than that of arrows, and their lethality was extremely astonishing.
When Chai Jin heard the news, he was instantly panicked. He was like an ant on a hot pan, running around in a panic, not knowing what to do.
"General Chai, facing such a powerful enemy, we simply cannot resist it. If we delay any further, we will only die."
This sentence was like a thunderclap, instantly waking Chai Jin from his panic.
Therefore, Chai Jin made a decisive decision and ordered the troops to abandon the city. Shi Yongzhi saw this and was at his wit's end, so he could only hurriedly leave the city with the main force.
In this way, from the beginning to the end of the war, it took less than two hours.
The crossbows and catapults originally prepared on the city walls were frightened to death by the powerful cannons because they had no idea of Liang's siege strategy.
After the Liang army entered the city, they behaved in a relatively polite manner and did not harass the people in the city. This was because they also wanted to learn the Confucian way of governing the country and win the hearts of the people.
A large amount of supplies were seized, and the two Liang armies that came to fight were ecstatic. They held a bonfire party in Yanzhou City with great fanfare that night.
……
When Zhao Qin learned of this, he was immediately panicked and at a loss. He hastily ordered some troops to retreat to Chang'an and others to rush to Qingzhou.
"What should I do?"
In the lobby of the Prince of Qin's Mansion in Chang'an, Zhao Qin was furious and roared at the top of his lungs.
"We are now attacked from two sides. It is really difficult to resist. It is best to negotiate peace. But who should we talk to now?"
Someone suggested to Zhao Qin tremblingly.
Sima Ling also stood up and said:
"We now have nearly 200,000 troops in Qingzhou, and 90,000 in Anhua City. If we were to fight the Qiang barbarians, we might have a chance of victory. However, doing so would inevitably result in mutual destruction. In my opinion, we should go and negotiate peace.
Besides, Liang State is currently in a state of great power, and I'm afraid they might not agree to negotiate peace with us."
Everyone in the hall nodded in agreement. Only Kong Sijin remained silent, not saying a word.
At this time, Zhao Qin was looking forward to hearing the advice of this colleague, but unfortunately the other party remained silent, and Zhao Qin was helpless.
"Then who should be sent to negotiate peace?" Zhao Qin asked anxiously.
"I think Sima Yan should be sent to negotiate. The generals should go ahead before the army." Sima Ling said.
Hearing this, Zhao Qin felt disgusted and cursed Sima Ling's great-grandmother in his heart.
"This is the only way. Lord Sima will write the imperial decree and inform Sima Yan immediately."
After Zhao Qin finished speaking, he walked down the hall with a sad face and went to the backyard.
He was in a state of extreme despair and secretly contemplated fleeing. Moreover, he racked his brains to think of how to shift the blame for abandoning the city onto Sima Ling.
After all, it is a great shame and humiliation for a prince to abandon the city and flee.
……
Shi Yongzhi did not go to Chang'an, but led his team to Suide and successfully reunited with Yan Ruxiang.
"The weapon you're talking about is called a cannon. Konikoda successfully copied it last year. This cannon originated in Bingzhou."
This was the only information Yan Ruxiang had obtained, and he was not completely clear about the specific origins of the cannon.
"General, we are so vulnerable to these cannons. Can we go to Bingzhou and buy some? Otherwise, if this continues, Qin will probably become part of Liang."
Shi Yongzhi looked at Yan Ruxiang eagerly and spoke earnestly.
Yan Ruxiang knew that what Shi Yongzhi said made sense, but the King of Qin had never had such an intention.
"Our military received a secret report that the King of Yue also used this type of weapon during his rebellion, and that the Wang family also possessed this technology."
Shi Yongzhi found it unbelievable that both the Bingzhou Wang family and the Liang Kingdom possessed such weapons.
"If the King of Yue possessed such a weapon, why did his rebellion fail? Could it be that the imperial court already possessed such a weapon, and we knew nothing about it?"
Shi Yongzhi's words were like a revelation. Yan Ruxiang's eyes lit up and he said, "I will immediately write a letter and send someone to present it directly to the emperor. If the court has it, I hope you can send support to relieve Yanzhou's crisis."
Shi Yongzhi felt that Yan Ruxiang's idea was very reasonable and he strongly agreed with this approach.
Yan Ruxiang then wrote a letter to the King of Qin, pleading with him to seek assistance from the court. He also wrote a letter to Bingzhou, outlining the severe problems facing Qin and hoping for weapons such as artillery to come and reinforce His Majesty the King of Qin.
However, what Yan Ruxiang did not know was that his action had inadvertently offended someone, which led to chaos in Qin in the future and even implicated the entire northern region.