The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 340 Countless Heroes
"kill!!!"

The loud shouts of killing echoed continuously in the wilderness of Kaifeng.

There has been a severe drought in Henan for a long time, and the moat outside Kaifeng City has long been close to drying up. It will not be much of an obstacle to the army of people attacking the city.

The soldiers of the Ten Thousand People's Army moved forward along the dry moat.

When he first entered Luoyang Mansion, Li Yan had a total of 200,000 troops under his command.

Then Li Yan led troops to capture eleven cities around Luoyang, defeated the main force of Henan officers and soldiers in Zhengzhou, captured and killed Henan governor Li Xianfeng, and surrendered a large number of troops from Henan military towns.

At this time, the total number of troops under Li Yan's command exceeded 300,000.

More than 300,000 people were divided into three sides by Li Yan, stationed on the west, south, and east sides of Kaifeng City, and launched an attack at the same time.

Outside Kaifeng City, tens of thousands of soldiers of the People's Army, their heads wrapped in black scarves, gathered into a black wave, sweeping toward Kaifeng City in waves.

The sergeants of the Ten Thousand People's Army used door panels and carts as cover, and faced the guns and cannons that kept ringing from Kaifeng City, and the bows and crossbows that kept firing towards the front.

As an important town, Kaifeng City is already heavily fortified. In recent years, due to civil unrest, the city's defense force has been continuously strengthened.

In Kaifeng City, there are dozens of Fran cannons on each city wall, which can fire one to three kilograms of cannon.

Although the range is less than one mile, they are not attacking the city, but defending it. This killing range is enough.

In addition, there are eight or nine general cannons on each city wall.

The general's cannon can fire three to five kilograms of artillery, and can hit an area of ​​more than one mile, which can cause a huge deterrent to the enemy.

On the city wall, there were violent and close cannon sounds one after another.

Large swaths of gunpowder smoke rose up with the roar of cannons, filling the city head of Kaifeng City.

Iron bullets weighing more than several kilograms flew downwards, and the soldiers of the Ten Thousand People's Army swarmed in like a tide. There was no need to aim at all, just fire at will, and almost all the shells could hit.

The artillery shells smashed into the formation and instantly plowed bloody paths in the advancing military formation.

Everywhere he passed was a mess of blood and flesh, with limbs and limbs severed.

Most of the first wave of soldiers of the Ten Thousand People's Army sent to attack were new soldiers, and their combat effectiveness was not much different from that of the hungry soldiers of the rogue bandits.

It's just that most of the soldiers of the Ten Thousand People's Army came to serve on their own initiative, while most of the hungry soldiers of the rogue bandits came here in coercion.

Such a tragic scene made it difficult for even a formally trained army to remain undefeated.

What's more, these new soldiers have extremely low combat power.

Therefore, every wave of artillery shells coming over would cause a violent commotion in the advancing formation of the Wan Min Army.

However, unexpectedly, the formation of the Ten Thousand People's Army still did not collapse. They were still advancing and even began to change into loose formations in order to reduce casualties.

Neither the roaring artillery, the arrows as dense as locusts, nor the towering walls of Kaifeng City intimidated them.

Those skinny and ragged soldiers of the Ten Thousand People's Army, holding simple spears and broken farm tools, faced their dead companions. Even though their faces were full of fear, they still did not take a step back.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

Amidst the thunderous sound of war drums, on the plains of Kaifeng City, countless soldiers of the Ten Thousand People's Army rushed forward one after another, heading towards the front to cover the pressure.

If the people are not afraid of death, why should they be afraid of death?

Going forward is death, but retreating is also death. They have no way out.

If it weren't for Xin Wang Li Yan, they wouldn't be alive today.

King Xin taught them a truth.

That was the truth that King Xin told them personally, and it was also the truth that they realized through their struggle to survive.

Kneel down and beg for mercy, there is only one death.

If you want to survive, you must take up arms and resist with all your might.

"Kill!!"

As the formation of the Ten Thousand People's Army continued to advance, ladders were erected.

One after another, the sergeants of the Wanmin Army, whose heads were wrapped in black scarves, climbed up along the simple ladder, holding simple weapons in their mouths.

In the low part of the city wall, the sergeants of the People's Army surrounded the carts as protection. Archers holding bows and arrows, and fire gunmen holding bird blunderbuss stood among them, using the bunkers to continuously shoot at the city. , intending to suppress the firepower of the defenders on the city.

Then a large number of civilians holding containers of sand and earth quickly ran towards the bottom of the city wall under the cover of their own troops.

They ran closer, quickly poured the sand in the containers or bags onto the ground at the edge of the city wall, and then quickly turned around and ran back.

A handful of sand will only make the ground a little bit dirty, and ten handfuls of sand will just make the ground a little messy.

But after hundreds of handfuls, thousands of handfuls, or even ten thousand handfuls, mounds one after another will begin to rise from the ground.

Building earth mountains is undoubtedly an extremely stupid method, but it is also the most effective method at this stage.

The Wanmin Army did not have many tools that could be used to attack the city, so they could only use this method.

At the foot of Kaifeng City, the Wanmin Military Academy wearing helmets shouted loudly.

Under some city walls that are difficult to attack, many civilians are holding pickaxes or other tools, constantly digging out the bricks and stones wrapped on the outside of the city walls, and digging holes inward.

"Fire arrows, fire blunderbuss, drive them back!!"

On the city wall, the military academy of Kaifeng city defenders also shouted loudly.

The soldiers guarding the city kept pouring out the arrows and bullets in their hands, and rolling stones and wood were thrown from the city wall one after another.

The slanderous wails kept ringing outside Kaifeng City, but soon settled down again.

Soon after the wailing sounds, there will be louder shouts.

Large holes have been dug into the city walls in some places. Once the Ming army fired arrows and firearms downwards, the attacking soldiers hid in the holes.

The defenders on Kaifeng City could not interfere with the excavation of the soldiers of the Ten Thousand People's Army in the cave.

Looking down from the clouds in the sky, dense black ants almost covered the three walls of Kaifeng City.

The tens of thousands of soldiers and horses besieging Kaifeng City seemed to stretch to the end of the world.

There was a roar of people and horses, and no one knew how many soldiers were among them.

Countless spears and headscarves were densely layered, constantly moving, like a stormy sea, constantly hitting the lonely rock in Kaifeng City.

And every slap will set off countless bloody waves.

Standing on the tower and looking down, everywhere you look is a bright red color, a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood, just like the Asura Hell described in Buddhist classics, as terrifying and tragic as this.

On top of the city tower, Gao Mingheng's face turned pale.

Having been in charge of political affairs, he had never seen such a bloody and violent scene.

However, Gao Mingheng is a person who can do patrolling. No matter how exciting the scene in front of him is, he still suppresses the discomfort in his heart.

However, the several civil servants following Gao Mingheng did not have the same determination as Gao Mingheng, and they all couldn't help but ran to the side and vomited. "General Chen...can he be sure to defend the city..."

Gao Mingheng held the railing in front of him tightly and looked at the soldiers fighting not far away. He didn't understand military affairs, so naturally he couldn't understand the situation on the battlefield. He anxiously asked Chen Wang who was standing aside.

The shouts of killing from the tens of thousands of civilian troops came in waves like a roaring mountain and a tsunami.

The large formation of tens of thousands of civilian troops outside the city seemed to be boundless, coming in waves, which made him feel a great sense of oppression, both visually and aurally.

Gao Mingheng only felt that the city seemed to be crumbling, and it might not be long before it fell.

"Don't worry, Lord Inspector. Our army has the advantage of the city wall. Although the enemy's offensive is fierce, it ultimately lacks siege equipment. The soldiers in each city fight bravely against the enemy and will be able to defend the city."

Chen Wang looked serious and answered Gao Mingheng's words perfectly.

It was difficult to explain, but a guarantee was made.

"Knives and guns have no eyes. The Wanmin Army captured Luoyang and captured a lot of artillery. The city tower is not safe. The detective cavalry reported that the Wanmin Army's artillery is about to be transported. The patrolman has a rich body, so don't stay here. On top of the city wall.”

"Nowadays, all the affairs in the city need to be handled by the Governor. Please keep the Governor safe and be useful."

"well……"

Gao Mingheng swallowed a mouthful of saliva and nodded calmly.

At the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and looked at Chen Wang with a look of relief.

If Chen Wang had not come to help and asked him to take charge of the soldiers and civilians in Kaifeng City, he would not have been able to hold on for long. Kaifeng City would have been captured by rogue bandits, and he would have become a sinner of the country.

"As soon as we respond to military affairs, we are all bothered by General Chen."

When Gao Mingheng walked down the tower, he was almost jogging.

This detail was naturally noticed by Chen Wang.

Chen Wang had no intention of ridiculing Gao Mingheng's timidity. After these few days of treatment, he had almost understood Gao Mingheng's character.

If nothing else, the person who will succeed Li Xianfeng as the governor of Henan will be Gao Mingheng.

Gao Mingheng didn't understand military affairs. Although he was capable in dealing with things, he was indecisive when it came to big things. His personality was not strong, and he didn't value power that much.

Gao Mingheng is completely different from Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting, Yang Sichang and others.

If it were any one of Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting, and Yang Sichang, Chen Wang would not do what he did now.

Watching Gao Mingheng walk down the tower and leave the city wall, Chen Wang's eyes gradually became colder.

Chen Wang turned his head and focused his gaze again on the large formation of tens of thousands of civilian troops coming from outside the city, and looked at the dark black banner that was several miles away.

"Li Yan..."

Chen Wang's eyes were deep, and even if he walked step by step, he still felt that the road ahead was difficult.

In the Battle of Ruzhou, when he faced the Ten Thousand People's Army led by Crock Pot, he had already felt that the Ten Thousand People's Army was different from ordinary rogue bandits.

Now in Kaifeng, facing the main force of the Ten Thousand People's Army led by Li Yan, this feeling completely filled Chen Wang's heart.

The soldiers of the Ten Thousand People's Army are completely different from the bandits. The biggest difference is the organization.

The rogues attacked the city, and the hungry soldiers came and left in a chaotic manner.

Then the old pawns among the rogue bandits found opportunities to fish in troubled waters, blending in with the crowd and climbing over the wall to attack.

Shaanxi's civil unrest and rogue bandits caused trouble. After more than ten years, many big cities and towns were not captured.

This is not only due to the lack of siege equipment, but also a lack of organization and insufficient combat power.

And the army of thousands of people besieged the city. Although the military formation was not strict, it at least had the concept of military formation.

Each formation has a big flag, and there are even many small flags as logos.

The uniforms of the Wanmin Army are as uniform as possible. Both generals and ordinary soldiers all wear black scarves.

The Ten Thousand People Army is more like a real army.

There is another point that is most easily overlooked.

The weapons carried by the Wanmin Army are not complicated. Most of them are spears or swords and shields, and there are few strange-looking weapons.

As for the long-range weapons, apart from bows and crossbows, the only firearms used are three-eyed blunderbuss and bird blunderbuss.

All of this proves that Li Yan is on the right path.

And the most important thing is that the troops of the people attacking the city are almost all new soldiers with poor equipment, but there are a few elite soldiers in the holding force.

Li Yan.

Training.

What Li Yan is doing now is the same as what Gao Yingxiang did back then.

Surround a city with superior troops, and then continuously send new soldiers under your command to attack.

Bathed in blood, on the bloody battlefield, he used swords and fire to smelt his soldiers.

The battlefield is always the best training ground, and those who can survive the mountains of corpses and seas of blood are by no means ordinary people.

Chen Wang's eyes were sharp and there were no constraints. Li Yan, who could display his talents at will, showed more outstanding talents in history and did more earth-shattering things.

Li Yan opened a warehouse to put grain, even if he shouted the slogan of equalizing land and exempting taxes, Chen Wanggao didn't think too much.

Li Yan defeated his officers and soldiers, won consecutive battles, and joined the alliance to gain the title, but Chen Wanggao didn't think too much of it.

Li Yan was gaining momentum all the way in Henan, creating a more prominent momentum than Li Zicheng in history, but Chen Wang still didn't take it to heart.

But this time, under the city of Kaifeng, Li Yan showed a completely different ruthlessness than before, which made Chen Wang really take Li Yan's attention.

Blind benevolence and righteousness, in troubled times, are not called benevolence and righteousness, but cowardice.

Being blindly ruthless, in troubled times, is not called ruthlessness, but stupidity.

A person who has a kind and righteous heart, but can be informal and decisive when he should be ruthless. Such a person can definitely occupy a place in troubled times as long as he is given a chance.

And Li Yan is such a person.

Without Li Zicheng, Li Yan was allowed to grow into a true leader.

Nowadays, Li Yan is becoming more and more capable of being a hero and a leader.

"There are really countless heroes in this world..."

Chen Wang stood on the tower, staring at the dark black banner in the distance.

Along with the tide-like cry of killing, Chen Wang's originally rapid heartbeat calmed down little by little, and his eyes became calm again.

The heroes in the world are like the crucian carp crossing the river, but in the end, there will only be one winner...