prosperous age

Chapter 1029 1120 Entering the City

"Marshal, Lord Deng and his men have already gone there."

As it was approaching four o'clock in the morning, Yu Dayou could no longer sit still. He stood up, opened the curtain, walked outside, and looked in the direction of Daimao City.

The guard at the door of the tent walked up to him cautiously and whispered.

Yu Dayou nodded slightly and said nothing.

Behind him, King Baker of Sulu and other generals who had not been assigned tasks also came out of the tent.

There was a group of people standing together, still quite a few, just half as many as before.

Some people led the troops and the Ming army was divided into two waves. The first wave to enter the city was Deng Zilong and Chen Lin, and the second wave had more than 2,000 people responsible for the support.

In addition, several generals who are good at naval warfare have gone to the navy fleet, and they will be in charge of the fleet to enter Pengaslan Bay tomorrow morning.

Just as they were eagerly waiting for the news of the siege, Deng Zilong and Chen Lin and their men had already approached the north gate of Daimao City.

On the north gate wall, as usual, torches were lit at intervals, and shadowy figures could be seen under the torches, indicating that pirate soldiers were patrolling along the wall.

Deng Zilong and Chen Lin both kept their composure. They would not rush over with their men unless there was a signal from the opposite city wall.

Who knows what the outcome will be.

Even if the other side regrets now and does not open the city gate, it is not a big loss for them, just a small disappointment.

The most dangerous thing is whether you can quickly control the city gate after entering the city.

Only after we have climbed the city walls and controlled the city gates can we feel at ease.

By that time, even if Lin Fengchun and the others wanted to regret, it would be impossible.

At this time, on the tamarisk tree at the north gate opposite them, Lin Fengchun and Xu Yingmei were also walking back and forth in annoyance.

As the agreed time approached, the tension grew.

It’s a good thing that I haven’t heard from Yan Youqian and Wu Dacheng yet.

If they really sent someone to deliver the message, it would mean that they were in trouble, but the two were still extremely nervous.

It can only be said that Lin Feng’s prestige in the pirate group is too high, and they are afraid of this person from the bottom of their hearts.

Don't be fooled by his usually friendly appearance. When dealing with people, his methods are extremely vicious.

"Brother, time is running out."

Xu Yingmei glanced at the clepsydra placed in the corner of the tower, saw the arrow-shaped water marks, and said to Lin Fengchun.

In this era, the Ming Dynasty actually already had clocks introduced from the West, but they were expensive. After all, they were very sophisticated devices, completely handmade and one-of-a-kind, so their circulation was very limited. Only dignitaries and wealthy businessmen could afford them.

For pirates, although they often deal with foreigners, they rarely have the chance to actually get what they want.

Because this thing is expensive, it is relatively not applicable.

In the East, although precise timekeeping machines had not been developed, there were still things used to calculate time, such as the gnomon and the clepsydra.

The gnomon is an ancient tool for measuring the length of the sun's shadow. It is mainly used to determine the change of seasons by observing and recording the changes in the length of the shadow at noon.

The structure of the gnomon is simple, it is just a pole erected perpendicular to the ground. In this way, the length of the sun's shadow can be measured and the time can be determined.

So the gnomon has another name, which is guibiao, which means it can be used to tell time.

In addition, large cities often use sundials to measure time.

The sundial, also known as the sundial, is also an instrument used in ancient my country to measure solar time. It actually originated from the gnomon.

A sundial consists of a table, the gnomon, and a dial with hour marks engraved on it.

According to the direction of the dial face, it can be divided into: horizontal sundial, equatorial sundial, vertical sundial, inclined sundial, etc.

If the dial surface is made into a hemispherical shape, with the apex of the gnomon at the center of the sphere, it is a spherical sundial.

If the solar term gnomon lines are engraved on the dial according to the local geographical latitude and solar term, the time of the solar term can be determined from the direction of the shadow and the position of the tip. This is a solar term sundial.

However, whether it is a gnomon or a sundial, they both need sunlight to measure time, but at night when there is no sunlight, they are naturally useless.

But the ancient Chinese were certainly not without a solution to this problem, so they invented the clepsydra.

A clepsydra is also called a water clock. There are two methods of measuring time by dripping water based on the principle of isochronism. One is to use a special container to record the time it takes for the water to leak out, which is the water-draining type; the other is to use a container with no opening at the bottom to record how long it takes to be filled with water, which is the water-receiving type.

China's water clock was originally a water-discharging type, but later both the water-discharging and water-receiving types were used simultaneously or the two were combined into one.

If you pay a little attention, you will find that the gnomon is called guibiao, and the clepsydra is called water clock. In fact, these names are only used in modern times, and they correspond to the clocks introduced from the West.

In the Lin Feng pirate group, only Lin Feng has an "egg" watch, which he bought from a foreign merchant at a high price and is extremely precious.

The "egg" watch in Lin Feng's hand is actually the "Nuremberg Egg", the ancestor of the pocket watch. Even in the West, it is a novelty that has only recently appeared and is often hung on the chest as a pendant.

This thing was created by Peter Henlein, a locksmith in Nuremberg, Germany in the early to mid-sixteenth century. He used a steel spring instead of a heavy hammer to create a small mechanical clock with a crown wheel escapement mechanism. It was named after its egg-like shape.

The dial of the Nuremberg Egg of this period only had an hour hand, without a minute hand and a second hand, but the structure of a minute hand and a second hand existed inside the watch.

This is because people at that time did not have high requirements for time accuracy and usually measured time by the quarter. Therefore, watchmakers omitted the production of minute and second hands and only kept the hour hand.

This was the first clock in history that did not need to use gravity as a power source, and was also the earliest portable timekeeping tool.

Before this, the only timepieces were clocks. Apart from the large clock hung in a clock tower in the center of the town to monitor daily routines, there were also standing clocks as tall as a person placed at home.

As for other people, they still use things passed down from ancient China, namely the gnomon and clepsydra to tell time.

At this time, Lin Fengchun also looked at the clepsydra and confirmed that the time had come. He called two guards and asked them to raise torches and wave them outside the city.

This was the secret signal they made, waving it three times in both directions.

"There's some movement."

Deng Zilong and Chen Lin, who were waiting in the dense forest outside the city, saw this, whispered something, and then ordered the soldiers around them to light torches and perform the same movements, except that they only waved twice each time before waving in the opposite direction.

Lin Fengchun and Xu Yingmei on the tower naturally saw the movement outside the city. Lin Fengchun glanced at Xu Yingmei and said, "Open the city gate. We have no way out."

"Brother, I'll go down and open the city gate."

Xu Yingmei said in a low voice.

"Go ahead, and bring General Ming to the tower."

Lin Fengchun said this, and then summoned several guards near the city wall to lower the drawbridge at the city gate.

There is no moat in the Daimao City, but a trench more than ten feet deep was dug near the city gate. The main reason is that the pirates are short of manpower and cannot divert river water to build a moat.

As the drawbridge was lowered, the soldiers patrolling nearby also heard the noise and just glanced towards the city wall.

Under the torch, Lin Fengchun's figure appeared in their eyes.

The soldiers were not surprised. Some of them had known the news two days ago, and most of them had no objection to surrendering to the Ming army.

Who would be willing to be trapped in an isolated city, or a party that has no hope of winning. However, knowing what to do, they no longer continued to patrol the city, but quickly gathered near the north gate tower.

At this time, Xu Yingmei and several guards had already come down the city wall and walked into the city gate. Under the light of the flickering torches, he took out the key and handed it to the guards beside him, asking them to open the city gate.

The North Gate, which had been closed for over a month, slowly opened with a harsh "creaking" sound of wood rubbing against each other, and the sound could be heard far away in the middle of the night.

At this time, the Ming army in the dense forest outside the city had already walked out of the jungle and tried to move as lightly as possible towards the city gate. Deng Zilong was at the forefront.

Chen Lin was still in the dense forest without moving. Behind him were several Sulu generals, and three thousand Sulu soldiers were ready to go.

Seeing that the Ming army was approaching the city gate, Chen Lin waved his hand and led the Sulu soldiers out of the dense forest, running quickly towards the city gate.

However, the noise made by their movement was much louder than that of the Ming army in front.

Although they knew it was a pre-arranged agreement, Deng Zilong and Chen Lin still hoped to make as little noise as possible.

The Ming army led by Deng Zilong had reached the suspension bridge at this time. They looked up at the dark city wall and saw a vague figure standing on it.

While Deng Zilong was thinking, Xu Yingmei had already quickly walked out of the city gate and walked onto the suspension bridge.

"I'm Xu Yingmei. I wonder which general is across from me."

Xu Yingmei introduced herself, which made Deng Zilong collect his thoughts and immediately shouted out his name.

In just a moment, Deng Zilong also walked onto the suspension bridge, and the Ming army behind him followed closely. Under the guidance of Xu Yingmei, the Ming army quickly passed through the city gate and entered the city.

"This way."

Xu Yingmei knew how to lead the Ming army, so after entering the city, he immediately took Deng Zilong to the north gate tower and met Lin Fengchun.

Deng Zilong set up a simple defense line at the city gate and led the rest of the people up the city wall through the horse path.

"The criminal Lin Fengchun pays homage to General Deng."

When they reached the top of the city wall, before Deng Zilong could say anything, Lin Fengchun had already knelt down with his sword in his hands.

"You are Lin Fengchun."

As soon as Deng Zilong finished speaking, Xu Yingmei walked a few steps to Lin Fengchun's side, took off her sword, and knelt down imitating Lin Fengchun's movements.

"All of you, get up now. You are wise enough to turn from darkness to light.

Now the army is entering the city, and there are some places where we need you to send people to show us the way."

Deng Zilong said immediately.

As he spoke, he was already standing at the edge of the city wall, looking at the Sulu army rushing towards him in the distance and waving his hand.

The personal soldier behind him took out a bamboo tube and lit it on the torch next to him, and the bamboo tube emitted dazzling red flames.

"Enter the city."

At this time, Chen Lin was approaching the city gate with the Sulu army. When he saw the signal agreed upon with Deng Zilong on the city wall, he immediately gave the order.

After Chen Lin gave the order, someone beside him whispered in Sulu to several generals, and then they shouted a few words to the soldiers behind them.

The Sulu army's advance speed suddenly increased. The soldiers rushed to the suspension bridge with all their strength, passed through the city gate, and soon arrived at the small square inside the city gate.

As Deng Zilong's personal guards came over to the city wall, the Sulu army divided into two teams and climbed up the city wall from the passages on the left and right sides of the tower. At this time, Deng Zilong was assigning tasks with Lin Fengchun.

The two teams of former pirate soldiers now had red ribbons tied on their arms, and with a small team of Ming troops and Sulu troops, they spread out from the city wall to both sides. Their mission was to seize the east and west city gates.

Especially the East Gate, where the barbarian troops were stationed outside the city. It was necessary to capture the East Gate as soon as possible and block the city gate to prevent the rebels in the city from opening the gate and running out, thus attracting the barbarian troops to join the siege.

The remaining soldiers, led by Xu Yingmei, rushed towards the city, their target being the mansion where Lin Feng lived.

So far, everything has been going smoothly without any mistakes.

At this time, Lin Fengchun also breathed a sigh of relief.

By handing over the North City Tower and luring the Ming army into the city, his mission was accomplished.

At this time, he just stayed quietly beside Deng Zilong.

At this time, Chen Lin had already followed Xu Yingmei down the city wall and led the Ming army and the Sulu army towards Lin Feng's residence in the center of the city.

As for what would happen next, Lin Fengchun no longer wanted to think about it. There was no way out.

Soon, a series of musket shots were heard from the city, followed by shouts of killing.

"It's so late, is there still someone patrolling the city?"

Deng Zilong frowned slightly.

He knew that the area near the north of the city was the territory of Lin Fengchun and others, and there should be no resistance.

Lin Fengchun also said just now that those of his subordinates who were not very obedient have been locked up in the courtyards of the military camp, and they will not be allowed to come out to affect the army's operations.

"Master Deng, the traitor Lin Feng issued a strict order after the army surrounded the city, imposing a night curfew after nightfall and having soldiers patrolling at all times.

There were special people responsible for guarding every street corner, and the people in the city were not allowed to move without a warrant.

Judging from the sounds, General Chen should have led his men to fight with the bandits stationed at the North Street entrance."

Lin Fengchun explained immediately.

"Isn't the North Street intersection your responsibility?"

Deng Zilong nodded slightly and asked casually.

"No, that is the neighborhood that Lin Feng's confidant Zhang Mazi is in charge of. However, Zhang Mazi doesn't have many people, so he won't stop the army's movement."

At this time, the entire Daimao City was awakened from their sleep by the sound of bird guns and shouts of killing coming from the north street entrance. Countless people had already gotten up and put on simple clothes, but they did not dare to go out, and chose to stay at home.

At this time, the bandit soldiers who were sleeping in the military camps were also awakened, and they prepared to go out in the morning to see what was going on.

The fighting at Beijiekou broke out suddenly and ended quickly.

Although the sound of bird guns had disappeared, the shouts of killing could still be heard from afar.

Deng Zilong concentrated and listened carefully and realized that the people led by Chen Lin should have already rushed over and were charging towards the city.

At this moment, fierce bird-gun sounds suddenly rang out on both sides of the city wall, followed by shouts and groans from both sides of the city walls. Big fires had already started on the city walls and outside the city. Under the light of the fire, the玳玳玳城 looked bloodthirsty.

The whole Daimao City was in chaos after the shouting and killing sounds were heard from the city wall.

Everyone in the city knew what was going on. It must be that the enemy outside the city had sneaked in and attacked.

In places where fierce fighting had not yet broken out, the pirates had already gathered and sent people everywhere to gather information, to find out which place had been breached.

Up to now, they have not received any news from the boss Lin Feng, so they cannot take people to look for the Ming army everywhere, as that will only make the situation more chaotic.

At this time, on the street in front of Lin Feng's residence in the center of the city, a fierce battle was taking place.