: Soldiers from Songjiazhuang Gather at Qingyun Mountain for the Second Attack on Yuncheng

Chapter 98: Soldiers from Songjiazhuang Gather at Qingyun Mountain for the Second Attack on Yuncheng

Dire, who was watching from a distance, saw everything and sighed.

Qingyun Mountain suffered heavy losses and low morale, making it difficult to continue fighting. Otherwise, even if they fought to the last thousand men, they would not be able to take Yuncheng and would only increase casualties. With no other choice, they ordered a retreat!

The people on the city wall cheered with joy as they watched Qingyun Mountain slowly recede. This was their first real battle!

But they actually won, and the victory was against the infamous Qingyun Mountain. This hard-won victory boosted the morale of the soldiers defending the city!

Song Jiang stood aside, smiling without saying a word. This victory meant nothing to him; it was just a matter of course. However, he didn't want to spoil everyone's fun, so he kept smiling and shouting loudly at them!

This first battle was just a test; the battles to come will likely be even more difficult!

At this moment, a soldier stepped forward, knelt on the ground, and said to Shi Wenbin, "Your Excellency, according to the statistics, we have suffered 27 deaths and 65 injuries, including 12 seriously wounded who are unable to fight any longer!"

Song Jiang was not feeling well, but how could there be no war without death? It was unavoidable!

Shi Wenbin glanced at Song Jiang, sighed, and said, "Collect the bodies of the fallen warriors and give them a proper burial. Each family will receive a subsidy of eighty taels of silver. For those with only one son, the Dancheng County government will be responsible for caring for their parents until their death. For those with brothers or children, the government will be responsible for arranging employment. Those who are lightly wounded and recover will retain their positions. After the battle, rewards will be given according to merit. Those who are seriously wounded or disabled will receive a subsidy of forty taels of silver, and the Yuncheng government will be responsible for arranging employment for them!"

Needless to say, all the soldiers present were moved by Shi Wenbin's words.

Back then, if people weren't starving, who would want to join the army? And if someone died on the battlefield, the imperial court would only give them ten taels of silver as compensation (the subsidy itself was quite substantial, but with layers of deductions, the amount received was pitifully small). What could someone with elderly parents and a wife and children do with that little money?

With the breadwinner gone, this little bit of money, if we're careful, will only last a year or two. But those officials can just eat out, visit brothels, and spend a fortune!

This world is unfair, but it can't be too unfair. At least we can't be too stingy with these soldiers and let them feel disheartened!

Someone shouted, "Sir, your righteousness is truly admirable!"

The other soldiers were also stirred up! They shouted, "Your Excellency is righteous! Your Excellency is righteous! Your Excellency is righteous!"

Shi Wenbin smiled. This was the first time he had felt the respect of the soldiers in Yuncheng. This respect had nothing to do with his status, but rather it was a respect that came from the bottom of their hearts.

Shi Wenbin glanced at Song Jiang, who was counting the logs along the city wall with his head down. Noticing Shi Wenbin's gaze, Song Jiang looked up and met his eyes.

The two exchanged a smile. Needless to say, this was also Song Jiang's idea; Shi Wenbin was simply the one who carried it out!

Initially, Shi Wenbin did not agree with Song Jiang's generous treatment of the dead soldiers!

But Song Jiang retorted with a single sentence: "Without these soldiers risking their lives, if Yuncheng County falls, it won't be a question of whether you, as the county magistrate, can keep your position, but whether you, as the county magistrate, can keep your life!"

Shi Wenbin was speechless, choked by Song Jiang's words. He could only secretly thank himself for having a secret stash of money. Previously, the prefect of Jizhou had privately given him one hundred taels of gold as a reward for finding the treasure, so he still had some money. As for whether he felt bad about it, he definitely did!

However, Song Jiang couldn't let Shi Wenbin pay all the money alone, so he found wealthy households in Yuncheng to share the burden. Some wealthy households didn't want to pay, but Song Jiang simply said, "When the city falls, I, the Timely Rain, will survive because of my reputation in the Jianghu. Will you survive?" This frightened the wealthy households into obediently agreeing to help with the cleanup work for the soldiers after the battle!

Looking at the passionate soldiers of Yuncheng, Song Jiang smiled without saying a word, his morale completely ignited!

This city is hard to conquer!

In Songjiazhuang, Bian Xiang was sitting at the table eating a steamed bun. Beside him was a bowl filled with steamed buns, a plate of mutton, and a jar of wine.

While we were eating, Jiuwan suddenly appeared in front of us!

Bian Xiang didn't look up, and slowly said, "You! You have a front door but you never use it, always suddenly appearing in front of me! Aren't you afraid I might have a weapon and accidentally hurt you!"

Jiuwan knew Bian Xiang was joking. If it weren't for Bian Xiang and Yang Zhi fighting against Wu Qianhu's private army in Qinghe County that day, he, his mother, and his sister would probably be dead by now!

Jiuwan has always been grateful to and admired Bian Xiang!

However, this is not the time for jokes. Jiuwan said seriously, "Qingyun Mountain has already surrounded Yuncheng! Brother Song Jiang is inside the city, directing the resistance. Time is of the essence, and there is no time to lose!"

Bian Xiang frowned and said, "I didn't expect them to be so fast! I'll gather them right now!" After saying that, he walked out the door, took out a bamboo flute, and started playing it!

The melodious sound of the bamboo flute echoed through the village, drifting further and further away!

Before long, the Liangshan army arrived at Songjiazhuang one after another!

Bian Xiang carefully counted the people and realized something was wrong—one was missing! After checking again, he whispered, "Where's Tie Niu?"

One person replied, "I don't know! Brother Li Kui always goes alone. We haven't seen him since we parted ways that day!"

"That black bastard, he's always causing trouble. If I see him, I'll definitely give him a good beating!" Bian Xiang cursed in a low voice.

"What do we do now? Tie Niu is missing. Should we wait for him?" Jiu Wan asked.

Bian Xiang thought for a moment and said, "You wait for him here. I'll take the brothers to hide in the dense forest first. Brother Gongming said there's a very secret underground room in this manor, so you'll hide there! No one will know, and no outsider will be able to find you. If Tie Niu comes in three days, you all come to find me together. If he doesn't come, you come to find me alone. Don't let one person ruin everything!"

Jiuwan lowered his head and thought for a moment, then said, "If that's the case, then let's do it this way!"

Bian Xiang nodded to Jiu Wan and then said to everyone, "Let's have a good meal first, then we'll only be able to take dry rations with us. Everyone should eat sparingly, understand?"

After finishing their meal, before leaving, Bian Xiang said to Jiu Wan again, "Brother Gongming told me before that Qingyun Mountain will definitely come to Song Family Village to plunder it, so remember to be careful!"

Jiuwan nodded and said, "Don't worry, brother!"

. . . . .

Inside the command camp, Di Lei sat silently on the commander's seat with a gloomy expression, while Yao Shun stood to the side with an angry look on his face. The other minor leaders did not dare to breathe loudly, for fear of accidentally offending Di Lei!

With a loud "bang," Di Lei slammed his fist on the table in front of him, startling the people on either side!

"Tell me what to do!" Di Lei said angrily. Di Lei was very angry, truly angry. The invincible Qingyun Mountain had repeatedly suffered setbacks in Yuncheng, which was a great humiliation to him!

Yao Shun thought for a moment and said, "Why don't I attack the city again later? This time I'll personally lead the charge!"

Dire thought for a moment and said, "They're pouring boiling water down from the city walls, that's really ruthless. Do you have any way to counter that?"

Yao Shundao said, "Previously, we only focused on attacking the city walls, neglecting to attack the city gates!"

Actually, Yao Shun wasn't being negligent. When one of his troops first tried to breach the city gate, they couldn't budge it at all. He had no idea how the city gate had been reinforced!

In addition, logs and stones were constantly being thrown down from the city wall, so the people attacking the city gate were quickly wiped out!

This time, Yao Shun planned for everyone to attack the city gate. Wearing heavy armor, they would not be afraid of boiling water. Once the city gate was breached, they would be fearless no matter what boiling water or rolling stones they faced!

Di Lei thought for a moment and agreed to Yao Shun's plan. A junior leader stepped forward and bowed.

Dire glanced at the junior leader, who was in charge of supplies, and said, "Speak plainly!"

The junior leader said, "We didn't bring much food, and we still need to account for the return trip to Qingyun Mountain. Brother, look..." Di Lei laughed, "That's easy. There are plenty of villages around Yuncheng. Ling Kun can just lead a thousand men to raid them!"

The young leader, Ling Kun, stepped forward and said, "This is what I'm best at, brother!"

Dire nodded and said, "Give it to them and I'll spare their lives; if I don't, you know what to do, right?"

Ling Kun bowed and left the training camp to gather his men!

Di Lei waved his hand and said, "Today's defeat has demoralized us, and everyone is exhausted. Let's have a good meal tonight. Tomorrow, I hope you will seize the opportunity and take Yuncheng in one fell swoop. Can you do that?"

Yao Shun stepped forward and said, "I will certainly not fail in my mission!"

Dire nodded and said, "You may all leave."

The leader, Ling Kun, quickly finished counting his men. One of his underlings stepped forward and asked, "Brother, what's the good news?"

Ling Kun laughed and scolded, "You're such a busybody, just follow along and you'll see!"

Ling Kun looked at the map and saw that the closest village to Yuncheng County was Songjia Village. Suddenly, he thought, "Isn't Song Jiang from Songjia Village?" This black fellow has repeatedly opposed Qingyun Mountain. If we raid his stronghold, wouldn't he surrender?

Thinking of this, he shouted, "Speed ​​up! When we get to Songjia Village, we'll show them the power of Qingyun Mountain and the consequences of offending us!"

The next morning, Qingyun Mountain once again assembled its attack team.

Early in the morning, Di Lei arrived before the Qingyun Mountain group and loudly proclaimed, "Brothers, are you confident we can take Yuncheng today?"

The crowd shouted in unison, "Yes, yes, yes!"

Di Lei nodded in satisfaction and said, "I won't say any more. I'll wait for you to take Yuncheng, and then you can choose first from the gold, silver, grain, and women of Yuncheng!"

Yesterday's low morale was rekindled by Di Lei's words!

This time, Yao Shun personally led the vanguard. He drew his sword and shouted, "Archers, prepare! Shield bearers, raise your shields to protect against rolling stones from the city walls! The rest of you, follow me and storm the city gate!"

Immediately, the first volley of arrows from five hundred archers rained down on the walls of Yuncheng.

However, after yesterday's siege, the soldiers have grown a lot today. They are much more composed than yesterday and no longer seem helpless!

This time, the rain of arrows did not cause any casualties to the soldiers on the city wall. After all, Qingyun Mountain was using ordinary bows and arrows, which were unlikely to have a penetrating effect!

Seeing that the ranged attacks were not very effective, Yao Shun shouted, "Shield bearers, take care of the protection! The rest of you, charge with me!" After saying that, he took the lead and rushed towards the city gate of Yuncheng. The people behind him were not to be outdone. They were all like they had been injected with chicken blood, shouting and yelling as they followed Yao Shun, afraid of being a step behind!

Song Jiang looked at Zhu Tong and asked, "Are you ready?"

Zhu Tong replied, "Don't worry, brother, we're just waiting for them!"

Previously, Song Jiang went to the blacksmith shop not only to make ground spikes for the night raid, but also to have a special iron buckle made to reinforce the city gate!

Once these metal buckles are fastened, it takes a lot of effort to pry them open from the outside unless someone opens them from the inside!

Of course, Song Jiang wouldn't be foolish enough to let Qingyun Mountain attack the city gates without any defense. Instead, he had two hundred militiamen hold the city gates in case of emergency!

Yao Shun led his men all the way to the walls of Yuncheng, but found no sign of an attack, which greatly surprised him!

Looking up, he saw that all the soldiers on the city wall of Yuncheng were staring at him as if he were a fool, just like when he first came to call for the city!

Yao Shun was furious, feeling like he was holding his breath, but at the same time he was also a little uneasy, as if he had fallen into the other party's trap!

The logs and rolling stones falling directly from above can be dodged, and their power is far less than the impact of ramming people off the city walls! As for boiling water? To prevent these lazy bums from using the same old tricks again, our side has specially worn thick armor and has shields, so we are not afraid of being splashed with boiling water. Even if some water leaks down, it will not cause much damage to our side!

Yao Shun shook his head, banishing these chaotic thoughts from his mind. He must have suffered too many losses to have so many worries. Damn it, once we take Yuncheng, we'll teach them a lesson!

Suddenly, Yao Shun tripped and stumbled, almost falling. Luckily, he was agile and quickly regained his balance, preventing him from falling!

Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a piece of wood. The wood wasn't big, but it was right next to my feet, which almost made me fall!

Yao Shun found it strange that there was wood near the city gate. Upon closer inspection, he also saw some rags and straw.

Yao Shun looked at the city wall and pondered. Could it be another trap or scheme set by Song Jiang? But with these things scattered all around, what threat could they pose to him?

Was Song Jiang playing a trick to scare him away? Yao Shun was unsure whether to continue attacking the city gate or retreat temporarily.

Remembering Di Lei's words and the humiliation he had suffered two days prior, Yao Shun decided to go all in and shouted, "Follow me to attack the city!"

Thirty men carried battering rams made from trees cut down the day before and charged toward the city gate, while dozens of shield bearers stood on either side of the thirty men with their shields raised to prevent any sneak attacks from the city walls! As for the others, they stood at the city gate and waited for it to open so they could rush in. Since they weren't attacking the walls, they could see clearly whatever little tricks the people on the walls were up to!

Boom! The battering ram slammed heavily against the city gate, but the gate didn't budge an inch!

Yao Shun cursed the city gate's sturdiness in his heart, and shouted loudly, "Brothers, don't stop, keep attacking!" He shouted while looking at the city gate, but Song Jiang and the others just stared blankly at them attacking the city gate without reacting!