Troubled times: Start practicing spiritual practice by taking care of your sister-in-law.

Chapter 616: The Battle Begins
February 6th afternoon.

The rain had eased off a bit, and a drizzle like snow was floating in the sky, but the wind was blowing very hard.

Outside Luonan City, Chen's army stretched for several miles. They were wearing armor, straw raincoats, and bamboo hats, with swords hanging from their waists and long spears in their hands. They stood in neat rows outside the city.

The military flags and team flags fluttered in the strong wind.

The whole army was filled with a strong atmosphere of solemnity and murder. Under the rain, the sky and the earth seemed extremely depressing, making people subconsciously hold their breathing.

Under the dim sky, the Chen army, which stretched for miles, was like a prehistoric beast, staring at the Luonan City in front of it with eager eyes, and there was an extremely excited fanaticism in its eyes.

"What a powerful military might."

At the rear of Chen's army, Nalan Yiren, dressed in a black robe and looking bloated, sat upright on a maroon horse. There was a hint of shock in her gloomy eyes, which made her murmur in her heart, and then her body inexplicably tensed up a little.

The success or failure, whether you are a hero or a bandit, all depends on this battle.

Luonan is worthy of being the capital of all dynasties. This ancient city has a history of thousands of years. The city walls of the ancient city are towering into the clouds, like a majestic guardian, engraved with the traces of time.

The city wall, which is more than ten feet high, is brown in color, like a long iron ridge stretching across the front. The huge city gate, like a palace in the sky, blocks the center.

In the center of the city wall, two red words can be faintly seen under the rain - Luonan.

Although the city wall of Luonan is high, it cannot stop the panic of the defenders on the wall. The loss of Jushan Pass has already made the people in the city panic and undercurrents surge.

King Chong was also filled with uncontrollable fear, but now he was the backbone of tens of thousands of defenders in Luonan City. When he met Lu Sheng last night, the other party appointed him as the commander-in-chief of the defenders, in charge of defending the city, and told him to hold out for at least three rounds of attacks by the Chen army before they could flee.

King Chong heard two meanings from these words.

One level is to delay time.

Another layer is that Lu Sheng seems to be luring you into a trap.

But King Chong felt that these two meanings were not good, because it showed from the side that Lu Sheng did not seem to have the confidence to defend Luonan.

King Chong now relies entirely on Lu Sheng.

But the people he relied on had no confidence, let alone him.

However, at this moment he must be determined to win and not reveal any fear, otherwise he will fall into an irretrievable situation.

He took a deep breath, held the hilt of the sword at his waist, and walked up the steps to the high platform of the city wall. With every step he took, his pace became faster, as if he was more determined.

Although he climbed up to the high platform of the city wall, he did not dare to show his head and expose himself to Chen Jun's sight.

Chen Mo's archery skills are now said to be miraculous.

Even exaggerated descriptions like "killed instantly as soon as the head shows up" have been used.

Well, although King Chong thought it was an exaggeration, he dared not disbelieve it.

In front of Chen's army, Chen Mo was looking at the city wall with a captured telescope in his hand. He could see the stupor and fear in the eyes of the enemy defenders.

But this was not what he wanted to see most.

Because most of these people have red numbers on their foreheads that look like "28, 31", which means that they are only entry-level warriors, the lowest-level generals in the enemy army.

King Chong and Lu Sheng still haven't shown up.

"Da da."

Just then, a fast horse came galloping. It was Sun Meng.

He panted slightly, and bowed in front of Chen Mo, saying, "My Lord, General Yue, General Wu, and General Jiang are all ready. General Yue asked my Lord, when will we start the siege?"

"No hurry." Chen Mo put down the telescope and said, "The enemy defenders have no intention of fighting. Let's surround them for a few days first. Let General Yue and his men surround the south, east and west gates and shout to the city that we are here to eliminate the traitors and rebels who are causing chaos in the court, to clean up the court for Your Majesty and to support the Song Dynasty. It has nothing to do with you. As long as you lay down your weapons and surrender, we will not embarrass them."

Although you can attack the city now.

But the enemy still had some fighting spirit.

But by besieging the city for a few days, they would be able to defeat their remaining will to fight, and by shouting out a message, they would be giving the enemy defenders a way out. In this way, they would not defend the city to the death, and the subsequent siege would be easier, greatly reducing casualties.

"promise."

……

for the next five days.

Chen's army only laid siege but did not attack, and every two hours they would use a homemade loudspeaker to shout into the city.

The defenders' resistance was not strong to begin with, and after a few days of shouting, they began to waver.

If it weren't for the supervision team, they would have deserted their posts one by one.

King Chong closed his eyes, and the thing he was most worried about happened.

What he was most worried about was that Chen Mo would only surround the city but not attack.

Now most of the world has fallen into Chen Mo's hands, and he has enough money and food, so he can definitely afford it.

On the other hand, their morale was already low. If the siege lasted too long, I was afraid they would not be able to hold on.

King Chong was so anxious that he found Lu Sheng again.

"Prime Minister Lu, what do you want to do? On February 6, you told me and I would understand the next day, but now it is February 12. Are you still going to hide it from me?
Now the Chen army is only besieging but not attacking. If this continues, our own people will open the city gates and let the Chen army in without the Chen army taking action." King Chong was indeed very anxious, and his voice even had a hint of tears. It was obvious that he was very angry that Lu Sheng had kept it a secret from him at this time.

Lu Sheng was very clear about what had happened outside in the past few days. He said that because he thought that the Chen army would attack the city on February 7, and King Chong would naturally know about it by then.

But Chen Jun didn't.

Although there is a slight deviation from what I expected, it does not affect the entire plan. On the contrary, the current situation is more conducive to the implementation of the plan.

So Lu Sheng’s current mentality is.

I know you are very anxious, Your Majesty, but don’t be anxious, listen to me first.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. This is all within my expectations. You will understand the moment the Chen army attacks the city. Let the Chen army siege the city. I will see when they enter the city. Then, Your Majesty, you will do this..."

...February 15th.

It was a cloudy day, but the ground was still damp.

South Gate.

In the city cave.

The eight soldiers of the Imperial City Department were chatting in the city cave as usual, waiting for the off-duty people to come and relieve them.

Although they were worried about Chen's army's siege, they still had to live their lives.

When it was time to change guards, eight comrades wearing the same armor as them came over.

Just as the two sides were engaging, the eight comrades suddenly attacked them, drew out short blades, and stabbed them in the stomach.

The armor at this position was not covered with iron sheets, and the sharp blade penetrated directly into the flesh.

The short blade was pulled out instantly, and blood spurted out like an arrow, splashing on the face of the murderer.

"Open the city gate quickly!" shouted the leading attacker.

Chen Jun outside the South Gate.

They didn't know if it was an illusion, but they suddenly saw a crack in the south gate, and then the crack became bigger and bigger, and an armored soldier holding a white flag appeared in their sight.

The soldiers of Chen's army were stunned. Raising the white flag meant surrender a thousand years ago.

Before the soldiers of Chen's army could react, the armored soldier holding the white flag was stabbed from behind and fell in a pool of blood.

As this man fell, the soldiers of Chen’s army saw that the enemy troops were fighting among themselves in the city cave and killing their own people.

Even the city walls were in chaos.

At this time, they finally understood what it meant and quickly reported the news to Yue Ruyan.

Although this situation was very likely to happen after so many days of siege, Yue Ruyan did not act rashly. After ordering the entire army to stay put, she immediately sent someone to pass the news to Chen Mo.

When Chen Mo received the news, similar situations to those at the South Gate had occurred with Wu Yanqing and Jiang Li.

Liu Ji said: "Duke Anguo, this is a good opportunity. Our siege has taken effect. Now is the perfect time to attack the city."

Although Diwu Fusheng beside him smelled a strange smell, he also thought that this was indeed a good opportunity. He cupped his hands and said, "Duke Anguo, this is indeed a good opportunity to attack the city, but once the city is breached, you must be cautious when entering the city to prevent the enemy from setting up an ambush in the city."

Chen Mo nodded, looked at Sun Meng, and ordered: "Pass my order, attack the city!"

"promise."

……

dong dong dong-

The war drums are thundering!

The sound of drums first came from the north gate where Chen Mo was, and then the sound of drums from the east, west, and south gates also started.

As the rumbling drums sounded.

Except for the three cannons at the north gate, at the other three gates, four red cannons covered with black cloth were pushed forward by pack horses, leaving deep grooves on the wet ground.

"fire."

As the order was given, the black cloth was lifted at the same time, and the adjustment, loading and ignition were done in one go.

"Boom boom boom"

Loud and loud noises exploded all around Luonan.

The ten-foot-long fire python gushed out under the cloudy sky, looking extremely dazzling.

Many of the local defenders on the city wall had their ears buzzing from the shock, and in fear, they covered their heads and hid.

After several rounds of artillery fire, Chen's army advanced towards the city wall under the cover of artillery fire.

In theory, the commanding generals should stand on the nest car or the temporarily built turret. Only from this high point can they observe the entire battlefield and adjust the formation and mobilization according to the situation in time.

But in order to prevent the enemy from having the same sharpshooting skills as himself, Chen Mo asked Yue Ruyan and the others not to show up in a high-profile manner to avoid being targeted.

It was the first time that Nalan Yiren saw such a large-scale siege. She was shocked and rode forward on her horse, wanting to watch this "siege feast" more clearly.

But she just did as she said, acting as a complete bystander, not offering any help, nor saying anything to interfere with Chen Mo's judgment.

At this time, a personal soldier rode over, looking anxious to report something. Before the horse had even stopped, he dismounted, stumbled and fell to the ground, then quickly got up and said as he walked, "Report, Duke Anguo, General Wu said he spotted Lu Sheng at the east gate, please go ahead."

"Report, Duke Anguo, Ximen spotted the figure of King Chong."

Just as the report was finished, another soldier came riding over, and his voice came from a distance.

Chen Mo raised his eyebrows and ordered: "Sun Meng, Liu Ji, and Diwu Fusheng."

"Your subordinates are here." The three said in unison.

"Sun Meng, you command here. Liu Ji and Diwu Fusheng come to help General Sun. I will go to the east gate." After giving the order, Chen Mo rode his horse towards the east gate.

Xia Zhining and Nalan Yiren hurriedly followed.

……

East gate.

Lu Sheng commanded the imperial guards to defend the city, and personally killed the soldiers of the Chen army who climbed up the city wall via ladders. The shrapnel fired from outside the city was blocked by Lu Sheng before it even landed on the top of the city.

For a moment, the East Gate was impregnable and Chen’s army could not attack it at all.

(End of this chapter)