diskusbooks Chapter 334 Battle of the Imperial City
Chapter 334 Battle of the Imperial City
Zhu Biao and the troops who came from the palace numbered at least two thousand people.
Their primary mission is to defend the safety of the imperial palace.
They were completely unaware of the changes that took place in Xizhimen.
However, how could a fierce fight be silent?
Although the guards finally noticed it, it was already too late.
Xizhimen was quickly opened, and the dense crowd outside the city rushed in like a tide.
The commander of the Imperial Guard, Xu Mu, immediately dispatched two groups of soldiers on duty, totaling about 5,000 people, and rushed towards Xizhimen.
The imperial city is divided into inner and outer cities and inner city.
The two are only three miles apart.
The Imperial Guards were responsible for guarding the inner city, with a total of 10,000 soldiers guarding the four gates. Five thousand of them rushed straight to Xizhimen in less than an incense stick of time.
However, this short period of time was enough for the people outside the city who had been prepared to transport the cannons in.
Just because they were charging all the way along the street.
"Boom boom boom boom..."
The roars of the four cannons were deafening, and the streets seemed to have been hit by a tremendous force, and the soldiers who rushed over fell down in an instant.
Immediately afterwards, the rebels launched a fierce attack.
However, they didn't know that there were also cannons mounted on the inner city, which immediately fired back.
The cannons were high above the ground, and the shells were solid projectiles that rolled on the streets, producing terrifying sparks from the friction, which was terrifying.
Regardless of which side fired the shells, they caused varying degrees of damage to the shops along the street.
It even smashed a huge hole in the wooden door.
The quiet street was instantly filled with wailing.
Since neither side had taken any preventive measures, they were completely unable to resist the attack of solid bullets.
The two sides attacked each other from time to time.
The bullets rolled around wildly, making it difficult to cause effective damage, and instead destroyed many houses and buildings beyond recognition.
The sound of the artillery fire was deafening. Whether in the Eastern Palace or the emperor's study, the roar of the cannons could be clearly heard.
The attack is unlikely to be effective.
The commander on Zhao Hong's side originally wanted to order a charge, but under the pressure of the cannons in the inner city, no one was willing to die.
"General, this cannon has a flaw. If it is blocked or falls into water, its power will be greatly reduced."
"Oh? Does Lord Changshi have any clever ideas?"
"There's an inland river next to us, extending all the way to the imperial city. We can split into two groups. One group will swim across the water, and the other group will go through the houses and push the cannons into range. Then..."
The person who spoke was Qin Yongyi, who had planned a strategy for the rebel generals.
"This is a great plan!"
When they arrived, they brought a total of 20 artillery pieces, including 6 large ones. Due to the limited layout, they could only fire back with 4 pieces.
At this moment, the remaining two cannons were dismantled and transported via a detour, and then some short-range, small-caliber cannons were brought to the city to launch an attack.
Soon, new combat missions were quickly issued.
Some people moved quietly along the inner river, approaching the inner city.
This is an open strategy, intended to attract the opponent's defense.
Another group of people took a detour through the residential area with weapons, launched a general attack and captured the inner city gate.
Inside the palace, the emperor heard that the cannons on the city walls had suppressed the enemy and prevented them from attacking. He felt relieved upon hearing this news and only hoped that the garrison outside the city would know the situation and come quickly to protect him.
However, this wish only lasted for half an hour.
Although the cannon is heavy, it is not difficult to transport it after disassembling it.
The task of the two cannons was to bombard the city gate.
Small-caliber cannons were responsible for attacking the city walls.
The cannon, which can be carried by one person, can be easily transported from under the eaves of residents' houses.
After arriving at the destination, it can be launched immediately by simply supporting it with wooden stakes.
A distance of two hundred steps is not far.
But the cannons in the inner city had difficulty hitting them.
After everyone took their positions, the rebels gave an order and all the cannons aimed at their targets, bombarding the city walls and gates.
The defenders, who originally had the advantage, were instantly dizzy from the bombardment.
The brief silence caused the rebels advancing along the waterway to rush towards the gate in an instant.
The guards in the city immediately swarmed in and engaged in a bloody close combat with the rebels who tried to enter the city.
Seeing that the time had come, Qin Yongyi hurriedly called on the rebel general to give orders.
"It's time to launch the general attack!"
Upon hearing the order, the general shouted, "Charge forward with all your might! Whoever captures the city gate will be rewarded with ten thousand households!"
As the saying goes, there must be a brave man under a heavy reward.
More than ten thousand people rushed forward again like a dark cloud.
East Palace.
When Zhao Hui heard about this, he immediately wanted to take people to support, because he knew that his life would be in danger if the city was captured.
"Your Highness, our battalion will serve as the vanguard this time. You will order us to build fortifications using sacks filled with loess along the streets of the inner city."
Zhu Biao's mission is to support Zhao Hui to ascend the throne, and he must not let any accident happen to Zhao Hui.
"Well, it's as you say."
Zhao Hui was well aware of the power of Zhu Biao's weapons, so he stopped talking and directly agreed to the suggestion.
"Brothers of the Special Operations Battalion, the First and Second Companies will follow me into battle. The Third Company will set up the heavy weapons in the back!"
After Zhu Biao finished speaking, he led the team and rushed outside.
The west gate of the inner city of the imperial city is called Anding Gate, the east gate is called Xuanwu Gate, the north gate is called Huanglong Gate, and the south gate is Suzaku Gate.
At this time, the rebels had already attacked the top of the Anding Gate, and the Imperial Guards began to retreat.
Flames shot up into the sky along the streets. The rebels' clothes were not standard uniforms, which formed a sharp contrast with those of the guards.
"Line up and raise your guns!" Zhu Biao roared loudly.
Although the Imperial Guards were constantly retreating, the fighting among the crowd had already reached a stalemate.
"Advance!" Zhu Biao ordered again.
The team was divided into three layers and advanced forward in an orderly manner.
"When you see rebels, shoot freely!" Zhu Biao gave the order again.
The distance was already very close, and one could clearly see the rebels behind the crowd frantically fighting the imperial guards in front.
"Bang, bang, bang..." The soldiers in the first row aimed at the attacking rebels and fired decisively.
Gunshots rang out suddenly, and the guards were frightened.
The bullets flew past their bodies almost closely, and bloody holes instantly appeared on the bodies of the rebels who were fighting.
Upon seeing this, Zhu Biao shouted to the Imperial Guards, "Brothers of the Imperial Guards, get out of the way!"
The imperial guards who understood immediately dispersed to both sides, leaving a wide passage in the middle for Zhu Biao's team.
Seeing that more rebels had appeared, the soldiers in the second row raised their guns and aimed without any orders.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
Bullets whizzed like the wind, and another row of rebels fell.
Seeing this, the soldiers in the third row took advantage of the gap when the soldiers in the second row were ejecting the shells to quickly fill in and continue shooting.
This cycle repeated itself, with bullets splashing blood mist among the rebels.
The imperial guards could only watch the battle in amazement, and no one dared to rush forward and die.
Ding'an Gate had been occupied by the rebels before they could turn their artillery around.
Then the angry roar of the third company's mortars was heard.
"Dengdengdeng..."
Then the sound of breaking through the air fell towards the city wall.
“Boom, boom, boom…”
After the explosion, it did not explode as soon as it hit the ground like their cannons, but instead splashed flames everywhere.
The bullets from the two companies in front were fired crazily.
The mortars behind hit with precision.
After a while, the rebels at Andingmen were frightened and retreated in panic.