My Chinese ancestors

Chapter 653 Swine Fever, what are you going to do!
On the city wall, it was like two groups of ants were fighting each other.

The soldiers of the Sakprut Legion who were guarding the city were almost in despair as they looked at the two siege towers about 15 feet away from the city wall.

They had reached their limit in resisting stones, rain of arrows, and facing the army of Seris. On the other side, the morale of the Tang soldiers who climbed onto the top of the city wall became high. Once the siege tower got close, they lowered the wooden bridge on it.

The city walls and the ground can be said to be connected together, so the troops in the rear who are ready for battle can come up continuously, making it extremely easy to attack the city.

However, before they could be happy for a while, the two siege towers that were originally advancing suddenly stopped. This situation almost never happened before.

It is even more impossible that this was an order issued by the commander in the rear. At the critical moment of siege, unless you risk your life, you will not stop halfway through the battle.

"what happened?"

"I don't know why it stopped!"

"Don't worry about it. Keep holding on and let our comrades below come up!"

The Tang army soldiers on the city wall were somewhat affected, but not greatly. After a few doubts and grumbles, they continued to form a formation and hold their positions on the wall.

At the same time, Wu Zixun, carrying the emperor's oral order, personally rode his horse to the front line. He first asked Li Jing, Qin Qiong and other generals, including Yuchi Gong, but they were all unaware of this.

The four of them immediately rushed to the nearest siege tower on the right, braving the possible flying arrows, and asked the soldiers who were still pushing hard over there.

Qin Qiong pulled the reins, raised his lance, pointed it at the motionless tower and shouted loudly.

"Why stop!"

Over there, a captain in charge of the siege tower came over quickly. He was also sweating profusely, and his boots were covered in mud.

He half-knelt on the ground and raised his hands: "General Qin, we didn't know either. It was fine just now, but suddenly it couldn't be pushed. It was like it was against an invisible wall. No matter how hard we brothers tried, it didn't move at all."

"Is there such a thing?" Li Jing frowned.

Qin Qiong snorted coldly, thrust his lance into the ground, dismounted, and walked straight over: "Even if there is a wall, we must flatten it!"

He waved his hand to let a young and strong laborer step aside, probably wanting to push it himself. Then, as soon as he touched the siege tower, Qin Qiong's face suddenly changed.

"It's weird!"

Qin Qiong took his hand back, and he raised his head and shouted towards the top tower: "Yuan Ba, come down!"

After a while, Li Yuanba's muffled voice came from inside.

"I can't get out! Something is blocking it!"

Li Jing's brows furrowed even more. He also dismounted his warhorse and suddenly drew the long sword from his waist. Without waiting for Yuchi Gong and Wu Zixun to ask, he chopped the wooden wheel of the tower base with his sword.

There was the sound of metal clashing.

"Attendant Wu, go and tell His Majesty that there is a barbarian general on the city wall, and he has used a strange secret technique."

The military situation was urgent and Wu Zixun dared not delay. He did not ask any more questions, turned his horse's head, and rushed to the center of the formation with Li Jing's original words.

On the way, he met a cavalryman sent by Han Xin. While running, he relayed Li Jing's words to the cavalryman and asked him to take them to Han Xin.

On this side, Su Chen was still waiting for Wu Zixun to come back while wondering what was going on.

Not long after, Dian Wei said, "I'm back."

Wu Zixun covered his head with his leather helmet and galloped over on his horse. He reined in his horse and slowed down when he was almost fifty steps away.

"His Majesty!"

He bowed on horseback and conveyed Li Jing's original words.

Sure enough, it was similar to what Su Chen had figured out himself. He had encountered someone who could perform such a secret technique before. After this analysis, he had a high probability of guessing who it was.

Lancelot the Knight of Judgment!

……

In the slightly tilted sky, war horses galloped through the chaotic streets.

The sounds of running, shouting, and crying could be heard. The wise knight Gawain went straight to the west along this street. Guarded by his squire knights, he looked at the crowd gathered on the street from time to time.

The woman was squatting by the wall holding her child and sobbing quietly. Not far away, her husband was lying on the ground, half of his body was smashed off. A blood-stained stone bullet, with some residual fire, was falling into the broken wall.

It should be that the catapults of the Seris people had shifted their position and adjusted their angles, and then the stone bullets were fired into the city and landed in civilians' homes.

If something like this falls into a place where civilians live, it would be very easy to kill people.

The only thing to be thankful for was that not many stone bullets fell here, but more than a dozen people were killed on the spot, and the crying of their families still attracted the sympathy of many people.

But faced with such an environment and the dangers of war, those who wanted to comfort others were speechless at the moment.

No matter how sad and frightened the civilians in the city were, there were still many conscription teams going door to door in the city recruiting young and strong civilians, and then handing them a sign and asking them to go to the side of the city wall where the fighting was taking place.

As an important gateway town facing the east of Europe, the more than 200,000 civilians in the city were in a state of panic in such a tense and fearful atmosphere.

However, the conscription teams would occasionally encounter tough guys. Just as Gawain passed this street and went to the city center, he saw several conscription teams arguing and clashing with the nobles' guards.

The conscripts were ordered to recruit soldiers from house to house, including the homes of nobles. However, these nobles had strong financial resources and naturally did not want to hand over the slaves and guards they kept at home to the army.

Fortunately, the city walls were crumbling due to the massive attack by the Seris people. If other countries were attacking, they might have surrendered the city to the enemy after being forced into a corner, and then continued to be rich people in the city.

As their vital interests were at stake, even if these nobles did not want to hand over their slaves and guards, they had no choice but to gather some people and let the conscription team take them away.

He was even generous enough to say that they wouldn't have to pay it back.

Gawain heard the words of these nobles from afar and felt angry. You know, the army of Ceres attacking the city mobilized as many as 200,000 soldiers.

That’s not all. It would have been almost impossible to win this victory if the civilians, slaves, and prisoners in the city had not been mobilized and pushed onto the city walls to consume the people of Seres.

"Once this war is over, the first thing we will do is kill these nobles."

Gawain withdrew his gaze from the mansions and courtyards over there, and quickly rode his warhorse through here, through the city filled with screams and chaos.

Soon, he entered the royal palace of Nongma.

In the solemn and luxurious courtyard, Greek-style sculptures and small buildings can be seen everywhere.

But now, there is no leisure as before. Many soldiers can be seen guarding here, and several officials from the city are waiting outside for King Arthur's summons.

When the officials saw Gawain riding over on horseback, they all saluted.

Gawain got off his horse and nodded slightly to signal them with the nobility of a knight. Then he walked up the tightly closed stone steps. The soldiers of the Guards Legion guarding the palace door pushed open the door and let him in.

There was no sound in the hall.

Amid the bright lights, King Arthur sat alone on the throne, and Gawain walked forward, stepping on the red carpet.

"Meet my king!"

He performed a standard knight's salute, while King Arthur still sat on the throne with his eyes closed and said nothing.

Gawain pursed his lips, lowered his head and reported the situation on and under the city wall to the other party in detail. War is a race against time.

Before he returned, the battle situation had been sent to the palace, but Gawain was one step faster than the cavalry. At the moment, Arthur was not clear about the siege tower of Ceres' army.

"...The people of Ceres climbed up to the top of the city wall and kept exploring our weaknesses. I gave Lancelot the greatest power... What did you say just now?"

Arthur seemed to have come to his senses now. He raised his eyes and looked at the wise knight who bowed.

"Siege tower? What a strange word. In our time, such a thing probably does not exist in the world. In the years after we passed away, too many things have emerged... Lancelot was panicked by this, which is a normal emotion for a normal person."

There was no one else in the palace. After Gawain came in, the door was closed again. Arthur stood up and walked to the hanging map. He looked at the sections of the city wall marked with large and small arrows. It seemed that Arthur had done several deductions before Gawain arrived here.

"So, tell me, how does Lancelot plan to deal with the siege towers of the Ceres?"

"My king, Lancelot may have used secret magic to temporarily curb the attack of the people of Ceres, but... you know, he can't maintain that state for long." Gawain's tone was a little worried, especially before he left, Lancelot's expression and words were like a farewell before death.

Arthur frowned, then asked about Lancelot's condition.

"…Then tell me, what does he want to do?"

Gawain hurried forward: "The siege tower must be destroyed."

Destroy...

This undoubtedly posed a difficult problem for King Arthur.

If the siege tower is destroyed, the only option is to leave the city. If the infantry go out, they will undoubtedly die... Even if cavalry is sent out, it will hardly be effective.

The Seres cavalry almost occupied the plain.

“My King!!”

Seeing Arthur's frown and hesitation, Gawain hurriedly called out, "Captain Lancelot has always followed you in battle..."

Before he finished speaking, the emperor in front of him had already raised his hand. Arthur had a tall and straight figure, and after losing the appearance of Sackpruit, he had a different aura of majesty without anger.

"You don't need to remind me. I know how important Lancelot is to you, Gawain. I only have one last cavalry left."

Gawain looked at him silently, and the emperor sitting in front of the throne smiled.

"But a cavalry unit should be used where it should be used to show its value, Kai!"

King Arthur suddenly called out.

The next moment, Gawain seemed dazzled, and saw the air distorted beside King Arthur, and a figure slowly walked out.

He was one of the twelve Knights of the Round Table, and was good at hiding. He was also Arthur's butler, and rarely showed his face in public.
"Take the last of the cavalry and destroy the siege towers of the Seres. Time is urgent and only you can accomplish it, my most trusted buddy."

The man had brown hair, a feminine and fair face, and was wearing an open robe, through which one could see a set of fine armor.

The young man named Kay half-knelt in front of Arthur, nodded silently, then turned and left. A thorn sword with a carved hollow rose hung on his waist.

Outside the palace, the horn sounded to assemble the cavalry.

At this time, the siege tower on the city wall could not be moved, but the Tang army could not stop. Han Xin's arrangements were disrupted, and he reconsidered and deduced with Jia Xu for a moment. Then, he issued an order to let Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong lead the troops up, and Wu'an Jun's Qin army would not move for the time being.

And the Tang army began to take real action.

In the opposite Nongma City, both inside and outside the city were engaged in frantic operations. The two legions of Holy Light and Thunder outside the city were being pinned down and could no longer be relied upon.

They could only recruit nobles, officials' guards, and strong slaves from the city. At this juncture, the conscription orders became tougher and no longer perfunctory like before when dealing with nobles. If any nobles or officials disagreed, soldiers would immediately come to the door, beat the owner first, and then conscript slaves and guards, even some of the children of nobles and officials who resisted were conscripted.

After a series of tough orders were implemented, the pressure of defending the city was suddenly relieved.

Teams of conscripted slaves and guards, most of whom were strong and powerful, and some were rangers with great martial arts skills.

But facing the war, I feel somewhat uneasy.

Just as they were gathering towards the east city wall, a cavalry of about two thousand men came roaring past from an adjacent street, also heading towards the east city wall.

……

Outside the city, the sky was dark, but still bright and dazzling.

The third and fourth battalions of the Tang army, led by Yuchi Gong and Qin Qiong, began to push towards the city wall. The two siege towers they passed still stood there motionless.

Su Chen narrowed his eyes, turned off his horse, and strode towards the ancestral coffin carriage behind him.

"Master Li, bring me some incense!"

As soon as he stepped onto the carriage, Su Chen swung his cloak and walked into the carriage. Facing the spirit tablets, he held incense and bowed three times.

There was a sudden gust of wind in the car.

In the blink of an eye, the originally empty carriage was instantly filled with human silhouettes.

"Changsheng, where did you fight?"

"Hey, that sound outside, are they already attacking the city?"

Cao Cao and Zhu Yuanzhang spoke one after another, but Li Shimin went outside. When he came back, he said, "Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong are also on the battlefield? Where is Yuanba? Why didn't we see him attacking the city gate?"

"Trapped in a siege tower."

Su Chen told the emperors in detail what had just happened and asked them if they had any way to counter the other party's secret techniques.

This question also stumped the emperors.

Most of them are people of great talent and strategy. At the very least, they are monarchs who protect the world. The secret techniques they use are also related to the world and the army.

Of course, Emperor Guangwu of Han is a special case.

He said this himself when he was joking with a group of emperors.

"Everyone's secret techniques are all good stuff. There is no one who can specifically counter other people's secret techniques."

Su Chen pursed his lips and sat on the tiger-skin chair, thinking about how to defeat the enemy next. Suddenly, a familiar voice laughed softly.

The laughter was wild and could not be hidden.

"You swine fever, what are you laughing at?!"

Ever since he learned that the Tang Dynasty he founded ended at the hands of the thief emperor Zhu Wen, he has never given the other party a good look.

"Brother Shimin, don't get angry yet." Zhu Yuanzhang quickly pulled back the angry Li Shimin. He looked at the tablet on the altar and asked, "Why are you speaking out at this time? Do you have a way to break it?"

Zhu Wen's spirit tablet shook twice and then jumped down.

Su Chen also looked over and saw that Zhu Wen's spirit tablet seemed to be with his hands on his waist, leaning back slightly, and some quite proud words came out of it.

"Of course. Don't forget what I did before I became emperor!"

(End of this chapter)