Chapter 776
Zhu Wenzheng, you have earned my approval!
At the end of Shenshi (3-5 PM), Wang Baobao's army sounded the retreat.
Wang Baobao watched the retreating army and remained silent for a long time.
Today he lost 4,700 men, including 200 veterans of the White Deer Army who had followed him for ten years.
Beneath the walls of Hongdu, the corpses were piled up almost to the same level as the city walls.
"General, should we postpone it..." Huo Bima looked at the mountain of corpses and sea of blood with unbearable sorrow and asked Wang Baobao cautiously.
"We'll continue tomorrow." Wang Baobao turned and walked into the cabin expressionlessly. "One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand," he thought, "at this moment, I must be ruthless."
Zhu Wenzheng only has 20,000 men; he can't hold out for long!
At this moment, he turned around and saw Zhu Wen holding onto the battlements, staring at him without moving, like an iron statue, or perhaps mocking him, saying that a famous general of the world was nothing more than this!
"In the end, we underestimated Zhu Wenzheng!"
Wang Baobao sighed softly.
Inside Hongdu City.
Zhu Wenzheng was inspecting the city. The garrison still had 16,000 men left, more than half of whom were wounded.
Seventy percent of the arrows were used, and only twenty percent of the logs and rocks remained.
The most dangerous thing was the water—Wang Baobao actually poisoned it upstream. Although it wasn't fatal, those who drank it suffered from severe diarrhea. It was said that the poison was a biological toxin developed by the Huangzhou Academy of Sciences!
Wang Baobao's true thought was that the enemy's logistical strength was superior to his own. He felt that he had underestimated Huangzhou Prefecture and that Chen Jiu Si was terrifying.
"Grand Commander, we should ask Nanjing for help!" Zhao Desheng said, following behind Zhu Wenzheng.
"No rush," Zhu Wenzheng interrupted him, his voice steady. "If we call for help right after the battle, won't we look like good-for-nothings in the eyes of our superiors? Let's talk about it tomorrow."
As Zhu Wenzheng spoke, he walked to the edge of the city wall and looked at the fires of Wang Baobao's military camp outside the city, which stretched for ten miles like a galaxy falling to earth.
A seventeen-year-old soldier was shivering as he bandaged his severed arm. Zhu Wen walked over and took off his cloak to cover him.
Are you scared?
"I'm afraid... I'm afraid the city will fall, and my mother..." the soldier cried.
Zhu Wenzheng squatted down and patted his shoulder with his right hand: "Your mother will know that her son is a hero who defended Hongdu."
The night wind carried the sound of the river's waves, mixed with the cries of wounded soldiers.
On the city wall, the surviving defenders bandaged each other's wounds and shared food. No one spoke; only the soft clatter of armor against armor could be heard.
At midnight, Zhu Wenzheng climbed to the highest point of the city tower.
He gazed in the direction of Jinling, recalling three years ago on the banks of the Qinhuai River when his uncle patted him on the shoulder and said, "Wenzheng, entrusting Hongdu to you is like entrusting half of my life to you. You must guard it well for us!"
"Everyone says that I, Zhu Wenzheng, only got to where I am today because of my uncle's reputation. Today I'll show you whether I, Zhu Wenzheng, am truly an unparalleled general. Wang Baobao is just my stepping stone!"
"Order: Everyone rest tonight, cook breakfast at 3 AM tomorrow, and head to the city at 5 AM." Zhu Wenzheng's eyes gleamed in the darkness. "Tell the brothers that if Wang Baobao wants to break through Hongdu, he'll have to step over the corpses of every one of us."
"promise."
The guards behind him responded. Zhu Wenzheng looked at the Gan River in front of him. Today, ten thousand corpses have sunk into this river. That is my monument. I will surely become famous throughout the world after this battle!
Nothing was said that night, and the next morning dawned.
Zhu Wenzheng stood on the top floor of the city tower, watching the thin mist rise from the Gan River.
Yesterday's corpses floated on the river, shrouded in the morning mist, looking from a distance like they were sleeping on the water.
"Grand Commander, a pancake." Zhu Shiqi, a personal guard, handed over a charred pancake with dark red fingerprints on it—blood from yesterday's carrying of the wounded, which could not be wiped off.
Zhu Wenzheng broke off one half and pushed the other half back, saying, "You eat it."
The bread was as hard as a rock, and it tasted terrible with the blood in it. That's the condition when you're fighting a war; you can't have the usual feasts of meat and fish.
Just as they were eating their pancakes, they saw Deng Yu walking up the horse path, his armor scraping against the stone steps with a harsh, screeching sound.
"General, a scout reports that Wang Baobao has brought twenty 'sea loach ships' from downstream overnight. The bows of these ships are lined with iron and they can ram city walls."
Deng Yu clasped his hands and said, "That old wall at Fuzhou Gate can't withstand several more impacts."
Zhu Wenzheng swallowed the last bite of his biscuit, his Adam's apple bobbing: "Move all the gunpowder from Xicang to Fuzhou Gate."
"Grand Commander, that's for..."
“There’s none left,” Zhu Wenzheng interrupted Deng Yu.
"If we break through the city today, instead of leaving the gunpowder to Wang Baobao, we should save it for our brothers to hear when they go on their journey."
As he stood up, Zhu Wenzheng looked across at the other side and said, "Our opponent is Wang Baobao. There's no room for hesitation."
Deng Yu looked across and saw that Wang Baobao had already begun preparing to attack the city.
"All troops, prepare."
Zhu Wenzheng ordered everyone to be on high alert.
At this moment, Wang Baobao stood on the watchtower of the tower ship, watching the twenty sea loach ships slowly sail out of the formation.
These ships were ten zhang long, with a three-inch-thick iron plate covering their bows, and a six-foot-long cast iron ram cast in front of the plate.
Each boat is rowed from inside the cabin by sixty oarsmen, making it impervious to arrows from the outside.
"Whoever breaks down the gates of Fuzhou and scales the city walls first will be rewarded with a thousand gold pieces and appointed a commander of a thousand households." Wang Baobao waved his hand, making a solemn promise!
Upon hearing this, the soldiers were filled with excitement. They knew that a great reward would surely inspire brave men, and at that moment, a neat chant rang out from the river.
With the oars rising and falling, the sea-going boat pressed down on the city wall like a giant beast.
The ram at the bow cleaved through the water, leaving pale white wakes.
Standing atop the city gate of Fuzhou, Zhao Desheng licked his chapped lips.
At his feet were forty earthenware urns, each containing fifty catties of gunpowder, with oil-soaked hemp ropes plugging the mouths of the urns.
"Wait until it hits before you fire," he said to the three hundred assassins behind him. "When you jump, think of your parents."
The first suicide soldier was a one-eyed old man who grinned and said, "General, my parents starved to death long ago. I just wanted to go down and lead a few more enemies so I wouldn't be lonely on the road to the underworld."
"Yes, General, if our parents were still alive, they would never let us be cowards."
"Yes, we will never be cowards, we will fight them to the death."
"Yes, let's give it our all!"
The suicide bombers spoke excitedly.
The sea goby boat approached from below, its iron bow gleaming coldly in the morning light.
Eighty zhang, fifty zhang, thirty zhang, the sea loach boat gradually approached.
"put!"
Suddenly, twenty makeshift catapults appeared on the city wall. Instead of stones, they launched grass balls coated with sulfur and saltpeter.
The grass ball landed on the river surface in front of the fleet. Instead of sinking, it burst into a ghostly green flame with a "whoosh".
This is a method Zhu Wenzheng came up with last night: set up fire barriers on the river to force the fleet to slow down and disperse.
But Wang Baobao was prepared.
Dozens of small boats rushed out from the formation of ships. The soldiers on board used long poles to push away the burning grass balls. Although they were a moment too slow, the sea-eel boats still broke through the fire barrier, and the first one was less than ten feet away from the city wall.
Zhao Desheng saw Wang Baobao, a military commander at the bow of the boat—very young, probably not even twenty years old—urging the rowers to speed up. Their eyes met for a moment in the morning mist.
Then the ship crashed into the city wall.
boom--
A deafening, thunderous roar shook the entire Fuzhou Gate section. The iron-clad ramming ram was driven deep into the city wall, and rammed earth fell in a rustling sound.
The defenders on the city wall lost their footing, and several soldiers tumbled off the crenellations, their screams drowned out by the sound of the second ship ramming into them.
"ignition!"
Zhao Desheng's roar changed tone: "Die-hard soldiers, charge!"
"Damn it, watch this!"
The one-eyed veteran cursed, grabbed the gunpowder jar, and jumped in. He landed precisely in the breach created by the first sea goby ship, where Wang Baobao's army was swarming in.
The sound of bones breaking was clearly audible as the veteran fell onto the deck, but he smiled and, with his last bit of strength, pulled out a tinderbox and blew on it.
"You little rascals, Grandpa's taking you on your journey!"
Boom!
It wasn't a single explosion, but a series of explosions, as all forty gunpowder urns were thrown into the breach within ten breaths.
Some were hit by arrows in mid-air and exploded prematurely, their fireballs bursting on the river surface; others fell into the cabin and tore the sea goby boat to pieces from the inside.
The river was littered with broken wood, severed limbs, and burning banners—a scene of utter desolation.
Wang Baobao's meticulously crafted ramming fleet turned into a sea of fire at the gates of Fuzhou. Wang Baobao's soldiers, who had fallen into the water, struggled in the burning oil and gradually sank.
Seeing this horrific scene, Wang Baobao merely frowned slightly before uttering two cold words: "Continue!"
The second fleet set out, this time not with ramming ships, but with warships equipped with ladders.
At the same time, Wang Baobao launched thirty "river patrol cannons," which were developed by Huangzhoufu Science and Technology College and can fire 200-pound stone projectiles on water.
shhhhhh...
Stone projectiles were launched, their sheer force blotting out the sky.
Get out of the way!
A mournful cry rang out from the city wall.
late.
The first stone hit the Fuzhou Gate tower, and the three-story wooden building collapsed like paper.
Thirty archers hiding inside the building were buried under beams and rubble, with only one hand sticking out from the ruins, its fingers still in the posture of drawing a bow.
Zhao Desheng was thrown three feet away by the blast wave. When he got up, his mouth was full of mud, mixed with two broken teeth.
He spat out blood and saw that a gap three zhang wide had been smashed open in the city wall.
Outside the breach, Wang Baobao's army had already erected a ladder.
"Damn it, brothers, charge with me!"
Zhao Desheng roared and led his men to block the breach, engaging in a bloody battle with Wang Baobao's army that was charging forward.
The battle at the breach lasted for an hour, and the ferocity of the fight was indescribable.
When Zhu Wenzheng arrived, the corpses were already piled up to chest height. The garrison and Wang Baobao's army were fighting on the pile of corpses. The fallen became stepping stones for those who came later. Blood soaked the rammed earth, and the ground was muddy. Every step he took splattered blood.
Zhao Desheng stood atop a pile of corpses. All the soldiers around him had been killed, leaving only him, covered in blood, wielding a broken sword with a notch in his hand.
"fill a vacancy!"
Zhu Wenzheng personally led his personal guards to the front.
He wielded a spear twelve feet long, with an eight-sided armor-piercing spearhead. He pierced through the shield of Wang Baobao's military officer with a single thrust.
With his remaining strength, he pinned the people behind him to the ground, and when he pulled out the spear, splinters of wood and bone fragments flew everywhere.
But Wang Baobao has too many soldiers.
More and more of Wang Baobao's troops poured into the breach, forcing the defending forces to retreat. A breakthrough was imminent—
"Grand Commander, make way!"
Deng Yu's voice came from behind. Zhu Wenzheng turned around and saw thirty soldiers pushing three "Yaksha rafts" towards him.
This was a powerful defensive weapon, with a huge wooden roller studded with reverse-bladed iron nails. When pushed down from a height, it turned flesh and blood into mud wherever it passed.
"put!"
Three yaksha-shaped logs rolled down the gap along the pile of corpses. Wang Baobao's army couldn't dodge in time and was swept up in the rolling descent. Those impaled on the iron spikes weren't quite dead yet, screaming as the logs rolled over more of their comrades. The gap was instantly filled with flesh and blood.
But bugles sounded from behind Wang Baobao's army.
This is the signal for a general offensive.
Wang Baobao finally moved.
He personally led three thousand veteran soldiers of the White Deer Army onto the field. These veterans were the elite of the elite, clad in heavy armor, wielding curved swords, and carrying powerful bows. Their eyes showed no emotion as they stepped over the corpses of their comrades.
They had all followed Prince Ruyang in countless battles, and now they were just as fearless as Wang Baobao.
"General, let me go first..." Before Huo Bima could finish speaking, Wang Baobao raised his hand to stop him.
"Zhu Wenzheng is worth my knife."
The three thousand White Deer Army soldiers lined up on the city wall, but instead of attacking the breach, they began to climb the intact sections of the wall.
They used grappling hooks to grip the crenellations and climbed up by hand with astonishing speed. Arrows from the city walls struck the armor, but most were deflected.
When the first White Deer soldier scaled the city wall, the defenders pierced him with a spear, but he managed to grab onto the two spear shafts before dying, creating an opportunity for his second comrade.
The second White Deer soldier leaped forward, slaying three men before being torn apart by a flurry of blows.
The third, the fourth... the Mulan elites used the most savage methods to tear open the city walls.
A Ming army centurion was surrounded by three White Deer soldiers. His spear was too long to be used effectively in close combat, so he simply abandoned his spear and drew his sword.
With a single slash, he cleaved open the enemy's visor on the left, parried the curved blade on the right with a backhand, and the third blade was already at his chest—
clang!
Another centurion used his shield to deflect a fatal blow, but lost three fingers to a scimitar. He groaned, his severed hand still desperately bracing against the shield.
"Old Zhao!"
"Leave me alone!" The shield-bearer kicked the enemy aside, grabbed his sword from the ground with his severed hand, bit it in his mouth, and roared indistinctly, "Defend the city! Defend the city!"
The rescued person's eyes reddened.
He picked up a broken flag from the ground, its surface soaked in blood, heavy with weight. The flagpole top was made of cast iron spearhead. He gripped it in his hand and charged towards the area where the White Deer Army was most concentrated.
"Brothers, follow me and kill!"
He roared, his voice cracking.
"We will die together today!"
The defenders roared in their final fury, the wounded crawled out of pools of blood, civilians carried door panels and rushed up the city wall, and women threw bricks and stones at the enemy soldiers climbing the wall. There was no order or formation, only a fight to the death.
One of the defenders grabbed a White Deer soldier and jumped off the city wall, then used his teeth to bite open the enemy's throat in mid-air.
An old woman stabbed Wang Baobao in the eye with scissors. When he was slashed down, he clung tightly to the other woman's leg.
A child—at most ten years old—pierced the gaps in the armor of the wounded Wang Baobao's army with a sharpened bamboo pole. Before being trampled by horses' hooves, the bamboo pole was still stuck in the enemy's body.
The tragedy belonged to the people of Hongdu.
Looking at the scene before him, Wang Baobao's usually unmoved face finally showed emotion. He had actually managed to mobilize troops to this point, and even the common people were willing to defend the city for Zhu Wenzheng. What kind of extraordinary talent was this man?
Throughout history, it has been rare for a person to be able to spontaneously defend a city for a general, unless that person is extremely loved and respected by the people!
Zhu Wenzheng!
Wang Baobao remembered this name; it was the second name of Zhu Chongba's generals that he remembered, besides Xu Da.
withdraw!
Wang Baobao issued a retreat order, saying that the city could not be taken today due to the heavy casualties. In a short period of time, two or three hundred of the three thousand veteran soldiers of the White Deer Army had died.
These are his trusted followers; he truly cherishes them.
dang dang...
The retreat was halted, and the soldiers withdrew like a receding tide!
The setting sun, like blood, dyed the Gan River red.
"Grand Commander..." Zhu Shiqi crawled over, having lost a leg, leaving a long trail of blood where he crawled.
"explain."
"Arrows...we're out of arrows. Rolling stones and logs are gone too. Gunpowder...we ran out of gunpowder this morning, and there's no time to make more."
Zhu Wenzheng nodded calmly: "Understood."
At this moment, Zhao Desheng also came over, covered in blood and nearly exhausted. He said as he approached, "General, we must call for reinforcements, otherwise, all the brothers will die here."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Wenzheng sighed and said, "Go back, write a letter, and ask for help!" (End of this chapter)