Chapter 768
The Battle of Luoyang!
November 12th, winter of the fifteenth year of the Zhizheng era.
Zhu Chongba's generals, Tang He and Feng Sheng, led their troops to invade.
On the walls of Luoyang, Chen Xiaohu stood with his hand on his sword, his iron armor frosted with dew, resembling a tall tower, with his White Tiger Army standing below.
Luoyang was the focal point of the competition between Chen Jie and Zhu Chongba on the northern front.
The decisive moment here can directly affect the outcome of the battle between the two armies.
At this moment, Chen Xiaohu stood on the city wall, and the scar on his face that cut diagonally from his brow bone to his jaw was the most conspicuous. He had suffered many injuries in his many years of military service, but this wound was still fresh in his memory. It was left from the first Battle of Huangzhou Prefecture.
"Report!"
The guards stumbled up the city wall, the clanging of their armor particularly jarring in the chilling air: "Feng Sheng's vanguard has reached the north bank of the Luo River, twenty li from the city! Tang He's main force is attempting to cross the Yi River, and the vanguard of the Vermilion Bird Army is desperately trying to stop them, but... but half of the pontoon bridge has been lost!"
Chen Xiaohu did not turn around. His gaze went beyond the battlements and toward the northern horizon.
There, dust and smoke billowed like a yellow dragon across the land.
First came a subtle tremor from beneath my feet, like a giant beast writhing deep within the earth's veins. Then came a sound—not the sound of horses' hooves, but a deeper, more massive rumble, as if the entire earth was moving.
Finally, there were the banners that blotted out the sky: the red flag bearing the character "Feng" and the black flag bearing the character "Tang," billowing like a blood tide under the bleak winter sunlight.
"How many enemy soldiers are at the front?" Chen Xiaohu finally asked, his voice hoarse.
“At least... 80,000.” The soldier’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
"Twelve battering rams, forty siege engines, and countless catapults. And..."
He paused, then added, "Tang He brought three thousand Shenji Battalion soldiers."
Chen Xiaohu's eye muscles twitched slightly.
The Shenji Battalion was Zhu Chongba's most prized possession. It is said that when Huangzhou Prefecture was developing firearms, Zhu Chongba followed suit and learned from them. Later, he recruited talents and, with the help of spies, stole several muskets from Huangzhou Prefecture. He then began to imitate them on a large scale and eventually succeeded in doing so. Although their firepower was much weaker than the muskets Huangzhou Prefecture currently had, they could still be considered firearms.
Not only muskets, but also cannons, all of which Zhu Chongba secretly learned from Huangzhou Prefecture, eventually forming the 3,000-strong Shenji Battalion.
There were improved flintlock muskets and red-coated cannons.
It is said that this elite army made great contributions during the battle with Zhang Shicheng, completing a tough combat mission. The three thousand Shenji Battalion can be considered Zhu Chongba's most valuable equipment. This army has always been in the hands of Zhu Chongba's sworn brother Tang He. This time, Tang He came, and it seems that he is really preparing to fight a battle to establish his prestige.
Chen Xiaohu was able to understand Zhu Chongba's thoughts.
This is the first time Zhu Chongba's Wu army has clashed with Chen Jie's Han army. This time, they must make a name for themselves and show their might.
We must get off to a good start; otherwise, if we lose the first battle, the subsequent battles will be much harder.
So this time Zhu Chongba even sent his precious 3,000 Divine Machine Battalion. But is Chen Xiaohu afraid of them?
Although Luoyang was only temporarily taken over, Chen Xiaohu still had guns and cannons at his disposal, so why should he be afraid of a battle?
not to mention!
He, Chen Xiaohu, was a close relative of Chen Jie and a general. In this battle, he, Chen Xiaohu, had to bring honor to Chen Jie.
This is destined to be a tough battle, but so what if it's a tough battle? If it weren't a tough battle, would we need Chen Xiaohu?
He had to win this battle, he had to let Zhu Chongba know that there were no cowards in the Chen family!
Thinking of this, Chen Xiaohu calmed down and said:
"Tell Shi to change his name." He turned around, his iron boots clanging on the bluestone.
"The Yi River can be abandoned, but the pontoon bridge must be destroyed. If Tang He's entire army crosses the river, Luoyang will be an isolated city, and the battle will be even more difficult."
"Order!"
By the time the guards rushed down from the city wall, Chen Xiaohu had already moved to the other side.
This area faces west and is the White Tiger Army's defensive line.
Deputy General Chen Tun is deploying heavy artillery.
Chen Tun was also Chen Jie's old subordinate. Back then, of the twelve zodiac animals of Huangzhou Prefecture, only he and Chen Wang remained, namely the pig and the dog. Over the years, Chen Tun has become more mature and his eyes are sharp.
He is now the deputy general of the White Tiger Army, in charge of firearms and heavy artillery.
These heavy cannons were urgently brought over from Huangzhou Prefecture as support, and dozens of horses died from exhaustion along the way.
These cannons were all sent by the Academy of Sciences, and their power was quite astonishing.
With these precious gems, Chen Tun felt he could blast them half to death with a single shot!
At this moment, he touched the heavy cannons as if they were beautiful women: "Brother Tiger, if Tang He is the main attacker, why is Feng Sheng coming from the south? That doesn't make sense."
“Because Tang He wants more than just the city.” Chen Xiaohu squatted down, grabbed a handful of rammed earth, letting the dust drip through his fingers. “He wants 'total annihilation.' Feng Sheng will cut off our retreat to Nanyang from the south, and Tang He will launch a strong attack from the west. Once we are exhausted, then…”
He didn't continue.
But Chen Tun understood.
This city of Luoyang is practically an ironclad fortress.
And they are living creatures waiting to be cooked in a jar.
Chen Tun then looked up at Chen Xiaohu and said, "Hehe, Brother Hu, Tang He and Feng Sheng have quite the appetite, huh? To wipe us out completely? Hehe, do they even have the teeth?"
"Aren't you afraid of breaking your teeth!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Xiaohu said, "They want to make a name for themselves in one battle and make us afraid to fight them, but they are delusional. Do they really think our White Tiger Army is made of clay?"
I heard someone say, "Tang He and Feng Sheng are both famous generals, and I, Chen Xiaohu, am the one who is defeating famous generals."
Chen Tun chuckled and said, "Brother Hu, how about I ask you for a reward? If we're going to charge, I'll be the vanguard."
Upon hearing this, Chen Xiaohu said, "Hehe, Gouzi had already reserved this striker position with me."
"Hey! Brother Tiger, why does Chen Wang always get all the good things? This won't do."
Upon hearing this, Chen Xiaohu said, "Alright, I know what you're thinking. Get the cannons set up for me first. If we lose the artillery battle later, don't even think about charging; I won't even let you do the cleaning up."
"No, that won't do."
Chen Tun's face immediately darkened.
Chen Xiaohu said, "Stop joking. If we really lose, will we even have the face to face the King of Han?"
Chen Tun chuckled upon hearing this, "That's true. But our lord has already been enfeoffed as the King of Han. If we were to gain control of the world in the future, what kind of official position would we be given?"
Chen Xiaohu said, "What official position? We don't know. All we know is that we'll do whatever the Prince of Han tells us to do!"
Chen Tun said, "Great, Brother Hu, you have a higher level of awareness."
Chen Xiaohu said, "Alright, I'm going to inspect the other places now, don't let me down."
Chen Tun said, "Don't worry, with heavy artillery, we'll definitely give them a surprise."
Chen Xiaohu said, "Don't be careless!"
After finishing his sentence, Chen Xiaohu inspected the area and then returned to the city wall.
At that moment, three large flags could be seen swaying in the wind on the distant horizon, the thickest of which was a flag with the character "Wu".
This signifies their identity—the army of King Wu.
Following closely behind were two large flags bearing names: Tang and Feng!
At this moment, in the central army, Feng Sheng said to Tang He, "Commander Tang, Luoyang used to be my territory, but it was later seized by that Chen fellow. Today, I will take back this place no matter what!"
Tang He looked at Feng Sheng and asked, "What do you want?"
"Commander Tang, I have studied the tactics of Huangzhou Prefecture. Their strongest weapon is firearms, especially heavy artillery." "Although our Red Coat Cannons are very strong, they are probably no match for their heavy artillery. If we fight against their heavy artillery head-on, we will inevitably be at a disadvantage. So I think I should first find out the enemy's exact location, and then attack their concentrated heavy artillery area to destroy their heavy artillery's firepower first."
Tang He replied, "Alright, then you can handle the initial battles."
Feng Sheng said, "Alright, prepare the catapults, fire dragon bombs!"
As soon as Feng Sheng gave the order, all the catapults were immediately pulled out. Feng Sheng had catapults under his command, which were originally powerful siege weapons. Even with cannons, these siege vehicles were still in a key position in the current battle.
As soon as Feng Sheng's order was relayed, the catapults were immediately prepared.
Looking at Luoyang City, Feng Sheng recalled how Zhu Chongba had ceded the city to Chen Jiu Si in order to get Chen Jie to help deal with Zhang Shicheng. The humiliation of that transfer was something Feng Sheng still remembered.
I may die, but what I have lost, I must now take back!
boom!
At 3:45 AM, the first cannonball struck Dingding Gate.
Those were not ordinary catapults; they were "fire dragon projectiles" coated with kerosene, ignited, and then launched.
The stone projectile, weighing over a hundred pounds, streaked across the sky with black smoke, crashing into the iron-clad city gate like a meteor. With a deafening roar, the iron sheets twisted, wood chips flew everywhere, and the oil clinging to them splattered, instantly igniting the sandbags piled up inside the gate.
"Put out the fire! Put out the fire quickly!"
The White Tiger Army soldiers charged forward carrying water bags, but a second and a third cannonball came one after another.
One of the logs struck the left side of the horse path, turning three soldiers who were carrying logs into mincemeat before they could even scream.
Another bullet flew over the city wall and landed in the residential area behind it, instantly igniting a towering flame accompanied by mournful cries.
Chen Xiaohu stared at the hourglass inside the arrow tower.
“Feng Sheng is testing us,” he said to Chen Wang, another deputy general of the White Tiger Army beside him. “See where we’ve positioned our heavy artillery. Tell Chen Tun not to retaliate.”
"The city gate?"
Seeing this, Chen Wang said urgently.
"It can't be burned through."
Chen Xiaohu pointed down: "I had three brick walls built behind the doorway and filled with rammed earth. If Feng Sheng wants to break down the door with fire, it will take three days and three nights of burning."
Before he finished speaking, the drums below the city suddenly began to beat.
The dull, urging drums transformed into a frenzied, charging drumbeat.
"Here it comes." Chen Xiaohu gripped the hilt of his knife tightly.
The first wave of attacks has arrived!
It was a trench-filling team of five thousand people.
These people could hardly be called "soldiers"—most of them were civilians who had been taken along the way, dressed in tattered clothes, carrying sacks of dirt and bundles of firewood, and crying and shouting as they rushed toward the moat under the steel knives of the supervising team.
Arrows rained down from the city walls like locusts, and many people were shot into pincushions before they could run ten steps. Their bodies rolled into the moat, which had already been filled with corpses, creating several sections of the land bridge.
But there were too many people.
There were so many arrows that arrows became scarce, and the archers of the White Tiger Army drew their bows so hard that their hands cracked from pulling them.
Bags of soil and bundles of firewood were thrown into the trenches, and despite the defenders' constant use of pitchforks to push them open, seven or eight passages were slowly taking shape.
"Save arrows," Chen Xiaohu ordered. "Wait for the cloud chariot."
His calculations were spot on. At noon, when the moat-filling team had suffered more than half its casualties and five crooked dirt roads finally appeared on the moat, Feng Sheng's main force moved.
First came fifty cloud chariots, each four zhang tall, half a zhang taller than the Luoyang city wall, with sixteen wooden wheels underneath, pushed by hundreds of people, slowly rolling over the filled-in moat.
The top of the cloud chariot is a platform that can accommodate twenty armored soldiers, and the outside is covered with wet cowhide to prevent fire attacks.
Next came the true elite: three thousand heavily armored infantrymen, each wearing double-layered iron armor and wielding large swords and axes, in squads of one hundred, surrounding twelve battering rams—the rams were made from whole pieces of ironwood, with iron-coated heads, and required eighty men to swing.
At the very back, Feng Sheng's command flag began to move forward.
"Use the catapults we captured from Li Siqi's troops, make them into cloud-piercing vehicles," Chen Xiaohu finally spoke.
The twelve counterweight catapults hidden behind the barbican roared simultaneously.
These catapults were captured by Chen Xiaohu during his attack on Shanxi. They were catapults used by Li Siqi's troops, and Chen Xiaohu kept them because they were of such high quality.
The main frame of this catapult is made of century-old mulberry wood. Instead of throwing stone projectiles, it throws "mud projectiles"—clay wrapped with gravel and iron slag, dried and made light and brittle, specifically designed to smash cloud carts.
In the first salvo, three cloud-based vehicles were hit.
The mud bomb exploded upon contact, and the rubble inside swept across the platform like a torrential rain, causing the armored soldiers who were climbing to fall in droves.
Even more fatally, the broken mud blocks blocked the axle of the cloud cart, causing one of the carts to slowly tilt amidst a screeching sound, and finally collapse with a crash, crushing dozens of people pushing the cart below into mincemeat.
But the remaining cloud vehicles are still moving forward.
Eighty feet.
Sixty feet.
Forty zhang—
"Fire arrows!"
This time, it was a real rain of arrows.
The archers of the White Tiger Army had been waiting behind the city walls for half an hour, and now they unleashed a volley of arrows, darkening the sky.
The heavily armored infantrymen raised their large shields, and arrows struck the shields with a "thud," but many still managed to penetrate through the gaps, and screams of agony rose and fell.
Twenty zhang (approximately 33 meters).
The ramps on top of the cloud vehicle began to be lowered.
"Boil the oil!" Chen Xiaohu shouted sharply.
The pot of oil, which had been boiling for a long time, was lifted up, and the golden oil poured down the side of the cloud cart.
The screams were so shrill they were almost inhuman. The armored soldiers who had just climbed to the top of the cloud chariot were doused with hot oil, their skin and flesh instantly torn open. Many of them jumped off the four-zhang-high ground and fell to the ground, turning into a grotesque mass of flesh. Screams echoed everywhere. But war is war, and it cannot stop because of the bloodshed.
Seeing this scene, Feng Sheng remained calm. "One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand," he thought. "These are the prices that must be paid, and these people's deaths are not in vain." His battering ram reached the gates of Luoyang.
"Run me over!"
"Boom--!"
The first muffled thud sent the entire city gate tower trembling.
"Boom-!!"
The second sound indicates that cracks have appeared in the brick wall behind the doorway.
"Golden juice!" Chen Xiaohu exclaimed without blinking.
The so-called "golden juice" was actually boiled excrement. The foul-smelling yellow liquid poured down from the holes left in the city wall, drenching the soldiers pushing the hammer. This was even more terrifying than boiling oil—the high-temperature burns combined with fecal infection were, in that era, practically a death sentence without Huangzhou Prefecture's secret penicillin formula.
Dozens of people screamed and rolled around, disrupting the rhythm of the battering ram.
However, Feng Sheng's offensive had only just begun. (End of Chapter)