serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 442 Fighting Jinling 2
Lanterns and torches illuminate the snowy night dimly.

All soldiers were in uniform and lined up in the wind and snow, waiting for orders.

The Chinese army camp was brightly lit.

The old Nan'an County Prince and the generals of the Liaodong Army were summoned here by Li Chengyang, waiting for action.

Li Chengyang closed his eyes slightly and sat behind the imperial case.

The sound of horse hooves stopped outside the tent, and then a sentinel ran in and knelt down to Li Chengyang: "Report! General Cao Yi has led his army to the west of Jinling City!"

Li Chengyang still closed his eyes: "Let's explore again."

The sentry: "Yes." He ran out again.

The old Nan'an County Prince picked up the tea bowl and took a sip, then put it down and glanced at Li Chengyang, who was concentrating with his eyes closed. There was a sneer in his eyes.

He sneered at Li Chengyang's plan. The officers and soldiers of the Zhou Dynasty had a complete set of strict city defense strategies, including special methods to deal with the enemy's digging tunnels and blasting the city walls. At this moment, large vats had been buried deep in the city to "listen to the ground" It is almost impossible to use this method to judge the direction of excavation and the progress of the tunnel. It is almost impossible to break the city with this method.

Besides, Jia Hu is an expert in this field. When Anhui was pacified, he repeatedly blasted the city guarded by the Cao Cang rebels. It was impossible for him to be unprepared. He might have deployed heavy troops in the west of the city, just waiting for Cao Yi. Taken the bait.

At this moment, a deputy general walked in hurriedly and whispered a few words in Li Chengyang's ear.

Li Chengyang waved his hand.

The deputy general walked out again.

Looking at the back of the deputy general, the old Nan'an County Prince frowned slightly. This man seemed to be the commander of the Liaodong Army's artillery camp. What was he doing here?
At this time, Li Chengyang opened his eyes, picked up the tea bowl and took a sip. Then he spread out a piece of Kunqu opera score on the imperial desk, tapped his fingers on the desk, and hummed at the same time.

Everyone present was shocked when they saw this.
An army was marching hard on the snow-covered fields wrapped in the flying snow.

The soldiers of this army were all tied with a piece of white cloth. It was difficult to spot them from a distance of ten feet in the vast snow.

Cao Yi took the lead and led his soldiers in front.

The soldiers all had tense faces, their eyes wide open in the wind and snow, staring straight ahead.

Suddenly, Cao Yi reined in the reins.

The whole army stopped.

Not far away is the Jinling Waiguo City Wall. This section of the city wall is mainly composed of hills and earth. City bricks are only added to some weakly defended areas such as the city gates.

Less than five miles further ahead is the Shangxin River, which leads directly to the Yangtze River. Although it cannot be seen, Cao Yi intuitively told Cao Yi that there were naval warships parked on the river.

Li Chengyang's bodyguard dismounted, walked up to Cao Yi, and said, "General Cao, it's already dawn. Less than two miles ahead is the connection between the city wall and the hills. As long as a tunnel is dug there, it can be blown down."

Cao Yi didn't even look at him. He just looked in the direction of Shangxin River in the darkness with indifferent eyes and said coldly: "You also came from the battlefield. You couldn't sense the danger ahead, right? That The area is within the gunfire range of naval warships."

The guard was startled, and replied with an apologetic smile: "General Cao is joking. He is just a guard following the general, how can he have such ability. Since General Cao feels that there is danger, then I will listen to you."

Cao Yi ignored him and waved his hand to a general behind him.

The general took notice, crossed his legs, and galloped straight towards his troops.

After a while, the general led a group of soldiers carrying tools to touch the city wall.

The guard said hurriedly to the guard behind him: "I'm watching here, you go and report it to the commander!"

The guard nodded and quickly galloped towards Li Chengyang's camp.

Cao Yi ignored it and looked at the city wall. At this moment, the long-lost fear and chill filled his heart.
Perhaps this was the veteran's intuition. At this moment, the Qinhuai River turned into a huge military camp, with thousands of tents densely packed.

In the tent, a group of soldiers wearing helmets sat around the brazier, closing their eyes and meditating. They all held a breech-loaded firecracker in their arms.

In a temporary military tent, Jia Hu sat on a chair and closed his eyes to rest.

Lin San walked in covered with snowflakes and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, there is a movement around Jiangdong Gate."

Jia Hu still had his eyes closed: "According to the plan, after letting them in, we will send a signal to Wang Dalei."

Lin San: "Yes." He answered and hurried out.
Cao Yi's judgment was correct at all. Naval warships were moored on the Shangxin River, and their muzzles had long been aimed at the fields outside the city wall.

Wang Dalei's vanguard battalion was also ready.
It was less than an hour before leaving Chou. Time flew by so fast. Cao Yi couldn't help it and walked back and forth in the snow.

"Back!" A soldier whispered.Cao Yi stopped and looked towards the city wall.

The general appeared panting in front of everyone, with his face covered in snow and mud, and walked up to Cao Yi, gasping for air.

Li Chengyang's bodyguard was anxious: "How is it?"

The general said: "Two or two tunnels have been dug and explosives have been put in."

The guard was delighted: "Hurry up and light the fire!"

The general did not answer, but looked at Cao Yi.

Cao Yi hesitated. Everything was going too smoothly, and he felt even more uneasy.

The guard: "General Cao?"

Cao Yi sighed: "Blow it up."

The general responded and hurriedly ran towards the city wall.

With an order, the explosives in the two tunnels were ignited at the same time.In an instant, there was a shocking loud noise accompanied by the earth shaking and the mountains shaking, and a section of Jiangdong Gate's city wall collapsed several feet in an instant.

The [-] elite Liaodong Army soldiers who had been prepared swarmed in through the breach, brandishing swords and guns.
Li Chengyang had someone prepare a pot of porridge a long time ago, and now everyone is drinking a bowl of it.

At this time, there was a loud noise outside the tent, and Li Chengyang, Old Nan'an County Prince and others quickly put down their bowls.

Soon, a sentry rushed in and knelt down to Li Chengyang: "Report! A signal came from the west. General Cao Yi's troops were ambushed!"

As soon as these words came out, the old Nan'an County King stood up: "I will lead the troops to support General Cao Yi."

"slow."

Li Chengyang said, "No need to support him." After saying that, he took out a letter from the box on the imperial desk and handed it to the old Nan'an County Prince.

The old Nan'an County Prince was startled, and came over to receive the letter and read it suspiciously. His expression changed drastically as he looked at it, and asked Li Chengyang: "Cao Yi has taken refuge with Jia Hu?"

Li Chengyang: "I would like to ask the old prince to tell everyone whether this letter is Jia Hu's handwriting."

The old Nan'an County Prince leaned under the lamp and read the letter carefully: "It is indeed Jia Hu's handwriting."

Li Chengyang continued: "Listen, tonight's siege is a conspiracy! A conspiracy planned by Jia Hu and his old boss Cao Yi, which is to trick us into the encirclement of the Yongwei camp, and then capture us in Liaodong. Catch all the elites of the army in one fell swoop!"

Cao Yi never dreamed that he would be betrayed like this.

Almost everyone couldn't believe it. How could Cao Yi betray the Liaodong Army?It’s incredible!
The old Nan'an County Prince's eyes flashed: "People's hearts are unpredictable. Commander, what should we do now?"

Everyone looked at Li Chengyang together.

Li Chengyang: "Man's calculation is worse than God's calculation! God allowed me to discover this letter written by Jia Hu to the traitor Cao Yi in advance, so I gave him a plan to use it!" At this point, he laughed and said, "Tonight I am going to give Jia Hu a surprise and make him sober up. When I was guarding Liaodong, he was just a criminal soldier sent to the border to redeem his life! He is a little too young to play tricks on me!"

Everyone coaxed a laugh.

Li Chengyang's eyes slowly swept over everyone's faces: "To tell you the truth, all our artillery is gathered outside Gaoqiao Gate at the moment. As long as the signal from here is launched, all the artillery will pour their shells at Gaoqiao Gate. On the city wall, blow up the city wall, and the whole army rushes into the outer city!"

The old Nan'an County Prince took a breath of cold air: "The whole army enters the city? Our way back is cut off!"

Li Chengyang stood up: "Jia Hu has cut off our retreat. Either he dies or we die! Only by sinking the boat can we win this bet!" After that, he walked out.

The old Nan'an County Prince and the generals quickly followed him out.

There was heavy snow outside the tent.

Li Chengyang said to the bodyguard: "Don't worry."

The guard pulled out three signals from the cowhide quiver, shook the fire stick and lit the twister.

The three signals shot straight into the night sky, blasting three times in a row, releasing bright fireworks.
The muzzle flames of the black holes are spraying!

Cannonballs hit the Gaoqiaomen city wall two miles away.

In an instant, the sky fell apart and the earth shook outside Gaoqiao Gate. Although the Jinling city wall was two or three feet wide, it could not withstand the continuous bombardment of hundreds of artillery. In less than half an hour, the Liaodong Army's artillery destroyed the city wall. Although the slope is very small and difficult to climb, it has opened a passage to the outer city.
(End of this chapter)