Gao Jingshan came to his senses, hurriedly put on a fox fur coat, and walked downstairs in his boots. Just as he turned to the corridor on the second floor, where the terrain was wider and the view was clearer, he heard a burst of orderly whistling sounds, and then another sound like thunder.

This time he could hear clearly the movement of the city wall on the northeast side…and this made Gao Jingshan even more out of control, because the East City faces the Yellow River, and only the southeast corner has a water gate and a dock. In other words, whether it is the original city design or the later city defense arrangement, the east side is the weakest.

This is also the reason why Gao Jingshan was determined to defend the southeast water gate and set up artillery positions to block the river.

But, it was like that last night, why is it like this now?

Did the Song army build a cannon that could fire across the entire Yellow River? If so, what was the purpose of that troop on the river last night? And why didn't they just bombard the water gate in the southeast of the city?

No reason?

His mind was full of confusion, but Gao Jingshan had already recovered his composure. He then went downstairs and headed eastwards. He put on his boots and hat and slowed down his pace. Seeing the commander-in-chief like this, the guards around him calmed down, hurriedly packed up the ceremonial procession, took their horses and headed east. At the same time, the defenders in the city, who were startled for a moment, began to be stopped and restrained by the officers... Among them, the mobile troops in the center of the city discovered the existence of the commander-in-chief Gao Jingshan and his guards, and took the initiative to follow.

All this trouble was enough to show that Gao Jingshan's arrangements were well organized. In fact, by the time Gao Jingshan rode his horse and walked along the central avenue of Daming Prefecture to the east of the city to the third street intersection, the Song army had only fired seven rounds of volleys.

At this time, under the mist that gradually dissipated as the sun rose in the east, Gao Jingshan keenly noticed that there was a sudden commotion in the North City. Of course... he had to find out what was going on in the East City first!

However, soon a Han army officer came from the east city and informed him of the situation.

"There are small ships carrying crossbow carts and large ships carrying artillery carts in the river?" Gao Jingshan finally became angry. "Did the Song people's ships fly in?! They pretended to repair the plank road last night but secretly crossed Chencang, but where is Chencang?!"

The Han army officer who came to report was helpless and could only bow his head in the street: "General, just go and see for yourself! The fog dissipated quickly in the morning, so it's impossible to be wrong from such a close distance!"

Although he was scolding, Gao Jingshan was actually panicked in his heart, otherwise he wouldn't have lost his composure. He just lashed out with a whip in the air in a rage and accelerated eastward.

It was just another round of salvos, and Gao Jingshan had already believed it in his heart. He just wanted to go to the city to see the situation with his own eyes and think about how these ships passed Chencang.

But at this moment, a rider came from the north along the east wall. It was none other than Gao Qingyi, who lived in Cuiyun Tower in the north of the city. He called out from a distance of dozens of steps: "General! Don't go to the East City. Follow me to the North City quickly! Something big has happened in the North City!"

Gao Jingshan's heart turned cold, but he quickly reined in his horse, then said, "Why panic now? Gao Tongshi, they said that there are dozens of Song army ships in the river, the kind equipped with crossbows... Let's go and take a look."

"No need to look. I don't know where the ship came from, but the east wall says so. So it must be so. Right now, the north is what you should look at." Gao Qingyi rushed to the front and continued to urge. "Let him destroy the east. The city of Yuan is so strong and the walls are so thick. How can it collapse without destroying it for ten days? Even if he destroys it, there may be a big war in the north!"

"What do you mean?" Gao Jingshan, dressed in a neat fox fur coat, tried hard to suppress his doubts and shock about the artillery carriage and blurted out the answer immediately.

Gao Qingyi, who was disheveled, seemed to be hesitant to speak, and simply held the reins tightly, shaking his horse: "I don't know how to say it either... Just follow me and you'll know! Anyway, you must go to North City!"

Gao Jingshan followed Gao Qingyi northward in a state of panic and bewilderment. On the way, the fog finally dissipated quickly under the sunlight. The sunlight from the east had cast the shadow of the city wall on the ground. The city gradually recovered from the panic when the bombardment began, and the army began to be deployed in a thorough and orderly manner.

But precisely because of this, people from the South City and the Main City came to report. One said that the Song army in the south of the city did not retreat, but instead began to set up camp outside the city on a large scale, as if they were going to lock the city. Another said that after the fog dissipated, they actually saw the outline of a cavalry unit across the Yongji Canal to the west of the city.

However, Gao Qingyi simply scolded these people to go back and guard the city, and urged Gao Jingshan to go north quickly. Perhaps in order to avoid the gunboats on the river, they also turned to the north gate tower.

When we arrived at the north city gate tower, the usual winter mist had completely dissipated, and a red sun appeared on the horizon. Calculating the time, it was almost time for the two Wanhu from Guantao to set off.

However, Gao Jingshan, who climbed up the east-west stairs, had no intention of looking at the sun or thinking about Guantao. The first thing he noticed was the expression of the Jurchen Meng'an who looked down on the Song army last night... This man had a pale face and was waiting for him on the city wall with his eyes wide open. When he saw him arrive, he woodenly raised his hand to the north.

It has completely lost the agility it had a few hours ago.

On the north city wall of Yuancheng, Daming Prefecture, Gao Jingshan, who had just climbed the stairs, looked to the north the first time with a strong sense of uneasiness, and then stood in shock at the top of the stairs.

After more than ten breaths, he finally picked up his feet and slowly walked to the battlements, taking in the magnificent scene in front of him with a confused look.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!