Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 80

Chapter 80 Military Morale Available
Hearing the arrogant shouts of the Tartars at the gates and the cries of the merchants begging for mercy from them, Lu Zhen could vaguely see the miserable scene of people being killed on the spot as he looked at the wind and dust in the distance. This made Lu Zhen’s heart burn with rage.

All of this made him unconsciously recall what he had experienced in the grasslands. The Han people there were also generally helpless, and only had the right to draw their necks and slaughter. This was why Xie Lao Qi and the others had lost their lives … And now, this scene appeared in front of them once again. Once Broad Spirit City was destroyed, more innocent people would be killed by the barbarians’ butchering knives!

In this situation, if Lu Zhen had just arrived at this era, he definitely wouldn’t have dared to make a decision. But after experiencing the tempering of life and death blood and fire on the grassland, his temperament had become exceptionally strong. Even if someone died because of this, he couldn’t care less, because they didn’t die in vain!

When Lu Zhen whispered his idea to Liu Yi, the general was also stunned. A trace of fear flashed in his eyes, “They say that our soldiers are ruthless, but in truth, those scholars’ methods are even more vicious. They actually came up with such a method to break through the net.”

However, the situation was urgent, and in the absence of a better solution, it was the only option to stabilize the situation. After quickly calculating in his heart, Liu Yi nodded his head and said, “Let’s do as County Magistrate Lu said.” Wang Sanwu immediately called over a dozen soldiers with the most accurate archery skills in the army and pointed at the city gates. He gave the order.

The minds of those people were much simpler than his. Although they felt that it was a little inappropriate, they, who had always been accustomed to obeying orders, only hesitated for a moment before they reached the cave entrance of the city wall and showed their bows and arrows.

Dozens of Meng people were standing at the gates, flaunting their might. One of them was even counting loudly. At this moment, they had already counted to seven. They only stayed until ten. If the city did not show any signs of doing so, they would have to take out the unlucky merchants in front of them.

Since Genghis Khan, the Mongol siege had always had the habit of chasing away their compatriots in order to disturb their minds. Although this move was despicable, it was very effective. Sometimes, because they didn’t want to hurt their own compatriots, the defenders would naturally reveal flaws in their defenses. There were even some people who would take the risk of leaving the city to rescue them, which gave the Mongol army a great chance. Even if they were to ruthlessly shoot everyone, regardless of whether they were enemies or friends, the morale of the defending army would be greatly damaged.

Although this tribe couldn’t compare to the Meng army in the past and didn’t have many captives, they still managed to use this move vividly. Moreover, it seemed that the effect was quite good now, causing the defenders at the city wall to be in a state of chaos.

However, it was clear that they were thinking too simply, and at the same time, they were too courageous. Previously, when they threatened, their men were still standing far away from the range of the arrow, but now, because they felt that there were captives blocking them, these people actually leaned forward and were completely within range.

“Eight!” The Mongolian who spoke Chinese was still proudly counting threateningly, “You must think carefully. If you don’t open the city again, they will die because of you!” As he spoke, he raised his head to look at the city wall, as if he wanted to use his gaze to exert more pressure on the Ming army. Even though the other party should not be able to see his appearance clearly from such a distance, let alone his gaze.

However, the moment he raised his head, his expression changed. “What are you going to do?” The smug look on his face turned panicked. At this moment, he had forgotten to continue counting, and immediately shouted sharply.

Just as he finished his sentence, several screams that were even sharper than his shouts suddenly sounded from the city. More than ten sharp arrows suddenly flew over with the sound of air-piercing, directly nailing several Meng people, including him, to the ground.

This change came too suddenly. Not only were the captives so frightened that they almost fell to the ground, the muddled people behind them were also stunned for a moment, and they even forgot to dodge back. At this moment, the second batch of arrows also shot towards them, killing them one by one on the ground. In the blink of an eye, these twenty or so sharpened knives had died at the gates of the city.

At this moment, another greeting came from the city wall, “Everyone, run over quickly. We will take you into the city!”

As soon as these words entered their ears, the merchants, who had been frightened by this alarming change, immediately regained their senses. Although their bodies were still tied up, it was very inconvenient for them to move, but they still struggled with all their might to get up and run towards the city wall. At this moment, they only had one thought in their hearts, and that was to run up and be saved at the gates. Although they did not know how the defenders of the city could save them, since the other party dared to do so, they must have a complete set of methods.

However, just as they were desperately rushing forward for their own survival, even the defenders in the city raised their hearts and began to cheer for them. Behind them, there was a soft sound of bowstring, and then dozens of sharp arrows pierced through the air.

After the initial shock, the Meng people finally regained their senses. Immediately after, they were enraged!

Clearly, the initiative was in his hands, and those Han soldiers actually dared to shoot their own clansmen so recklessly! How could they swallow this breath? At this moment, there was only one thought left in their hearts, and that was to slaughter, using the blood of the Han people inside and outside the city to extinguish the anger in their hearts!

Without Yu Tai’s orders, many Meng people had already picked up their bows and arrows and fired furious arrows at the prisoners who were running towards the city wall.

These pitiful merchants were shot to the ground one by one. At this moment, they were still quite a distance away from the Broad Spirit City wall.

Seeing this scene, the city guards were instantly enraged. They cursed loudly and shot arrows at the Meng people in the distance. Unfortunately, the arrows had already fallen when they were still some distance away from the enemy troops. They could not hurt anyone at all.

These soldiers who were ignited by anger obviously couldn’t think about the cause and effect. They only knew that it was the Tartars at the gates who killed their own compatriots cruelly, but they didn’t think deeply about the series of events that happened before. The normal minds of soldiers weren’t that complicated.

However, Liu Yi understood the reason. Seeing this tragic situation, the muscles on his cheeks also jumped. He could only console himself with a word of kindness. Immediately after, he subconsciously looked towards Lu Zhen, only to discover that the real culprit’s face was gloomy, his eyes were red, and there was even a trace of tears flowing in his eyes.

Of course, Lu Zhen’s heart was in a bad mood, because he was the one who came up with the idea that led to this result. Although he had a suitable excuse to convince himself that all of this was for the safety of Guang Ling, he still had to bear the greatest responsibility for the tragic deaths of these people.

After taking a few deep breaths, Lu Zhen suppressed the intense guilt in his heart and gazed at the soldiers in the city. Their expressions were still satisfactory. The defending army no longer had the hesitation and hesitation they had before. They became determined and determined. Their gazes at the gates were already filled with hatred and fighting spirit. He believed that as long as the enemy attacked the city, these soldiers who saw their compatriots die miserably but were helpless would definitely turn the anger in their hearts into the strongest motivation to kill the enemy!

Under this sacrifice, the morale of the army had been greatly improved. This was naturally the best thing for the Ming army guarding the city.

The Meng people at the gates also noticed this and were stunned. Especially Yu Tai, his expression was even gloomier. This time, he really didn’t try to steal anything. Not only had he failed to damage the morale of the defenders, he had instead angered them. Then, the following battle would not be easy.

However, since they had already reached this stage, there was naturally no possibility of retreating. Moreover, he believed that in a mere Guang Ling small city, a few hundred defenders would definitely not be able to defend against the onslaught of his two thousand elites. So very quickly, his gaze became resolute again, “Fire Formation!”

Huo Jie, who had been eager to try, responded. His gaze was still fixated on the city wall. He had a feeling that the enemy who had killed his brother was hiding at the city wall, waiting for him to cut off his head with a knife.

“Aren’t you going to avenge Huo Zang? Charge over now and seize this Broad Spirit City!” Yu Tai immediately ordered, simultaneously pulling out his saber and pointing at the towering Guang Ling City in front of him, “Kill them all!”

“Wuwuwu” A long and desolate horn suddenly sounded. Countless Mongolian cavalry shouted and roared as they charged towards Broad Spirit City. The range of this arrow was enough for them to push the horse as fast as possible.

As they galloped their horses, they untied the ropes and circled around their heads. That was the tool they usually used to harness wild horses on the grasslands, but at this moment, it would become the weapon they used to ascend the city.

It was also embarrassing, because they felt that they could kill Guang Ling City unexpectedly, and this Lu Meng army did not even bring the siege equipment. Not to mention a siege weapon like the Answer Cannon, even the simplest ladder was not brought with the army, so they could only use this simple and primitive tool to reach the city.

Of course, if they were given some time to cut down trees in the surrounding forest, they could still build some simple siege equipment. However, it was clear that they would not be able to delay for too long. After all, this was the Great Ming Border Defense. Once a war broke out, reinforcements would arrive in a few days.

Huo Jie did not have the patience to wait for a better siege weapon to be made. As he shouted, everyone rushed towards Broad Spirit City as fast as they could, like a surging black wave, wanting to completely destroy and submerge the tiny Earth City.

In the blink of an eye, they had already rushed to the gates, and the ropes were tossed high by them. The thirty-meter-tall city wall was nothing at all. The buckle firmly landed on the top of the city wall. After it was tightened, countless Meng people climbed up like apes.

The war had finally begun …