On the city wall, Su Xuanming carefully opened a can of fruit, and the sweet fragrance spread.
Many soldiers around turned their heads to look.
There were few edible fruits in this season, and it was rare to see canned fruit. Everyone swallowed and forced themselves to look away.
Although that man was a greenhorn and a weak scholar, the vagrants he recruited were really powerful and could fight two enemies at once.
Other captains tried to recruit them, but were all rejected.
After seeing Su Xuanming sharing the canned fruit with the street vendors beside him, everyone understood why these people were so loyal to Su Xuanming.
Su Xuanming only ate a small piece of sand apple and then shared the canned food. His nose was filled with the strong smell of blood and the sour smell coming from everyone. He had no appetite to eat.
Having just fought off a wave of attacks from a rebellious army, his hands and feet were sore and his mind was a mess with all kinds of thoughts.
There was the sound of armor rubbing against each other in the distance.
Except for Li Jin, no one else in the camp was qualified to wear this full body armor which could be considered heavy armor.
Su Xuanming didn't need to look up to know that it was Li Jinlai who came to inspect the attack and defense of the city wall.
When passing by Su Xuanming, Li Jin stopped and squatted down, with an incomprehensible look on his face: "I didn't expect that you would really come and stick with it."
Su Xuanming curled the corners of his mouth and watched the last ray of sunset light fall to the ground. People on the city wall kept calling for people to light torches.
"I won't come. I'm afraid my mother will come and won't be able to enter the city."
Li Jin's expression did not change. He looked Su Xuanming up and down and asked, "Is Boss Li okay?"
"Very good, he is a general in Yunzhou."
Li Jin was silent for a moment, glanced at the street vendors around Su Xuanming, and concluded: "They are all Yunzhou soldiers, right? You can't fool me, I have dealt with them. Yunzhou soldiers are different from other soldiers, and they can be distinguished at a glance."
Song Xuanming didn't want to lie to him and nodded: "Yes. Are you going to report us?"
Li Jin shook his head.
He stood up, his figure almost blending into the night: "If the situation is critical... forget it."
"Um?"
"It's okay, take care."
Li Jin strode forward and continued to inspect the city defenses.
The evening breeze blew, dispelling the fishy smell from the city.
Su Xuanming's heart was heavy. He approached the city wall and stuck his head out.
The moat, which was more than ten feet wide, was almost filled with the bodies of the people.
The weather has been sunny for the past few days, the river is overflowing, and the smell of dead bodies is everywhere.
But today, the rebel army still endlessly drives the people to carry ladders, cross the moat and climb the city walls.
The generals who used to come to visit only once a day now spend the whole day on the city wall, and they are divided into day and night shifts, and they dare not leave any people behind.
Su Xuanming didn't remember when he closed his eyes, but when he opened them again, the sound of war drums and shouts of fighting and killing filled his eardrums.
He quickly got up, and the rebel army began to attack the city again.
"Rolling Stone!"
“Archery!”
The rebel army used a large number of civilians as cannon fodder and gradually approached the front line.
The defenders in Kyoto City seized the opportunity and threw boulders and wood down like raindrops.
The war drums on the city walls were beating loudly, and there were cries of pain below the city walls. Some were bleeding from their heads, and some had broken bones.
In just a stick of incense time, a small mountain of corpses formed under the city.
On the section of the city wall that Su Xuanming was responsible for defending, several half-naked, skinny men climbed halfway up and looked up to meet Su Xuanming's gaze, which was filled with a hint of pity.
As if he saw some hope, he prayed loudly and humbly.
"We are indeed the common people living near the outskirts of Beijing. Lord Su, we will follow you to look for the site of Baichuan Academy!"
"Su Dalang, when your Baichuan Academy first started recruiting students, you hired me to distribute flyers! I'm really not a rebel, please let us go up!"
"Su Dalang, when Baichuan Academy and Songshan Academy were competing, I cheered for you guys!"
"Su Dalang, Duke Yun is the most compassionate. If it were her, she would definitely let us in."
A look of hesitation flashed across Su Xuanming's face, he didn't know whether he should kill him or not.
But the battle-hardened Yunzhou soldiers threw the boulders down without hesitation.
The few people who had just begged for mercy were instantly knocked off the ladder by the rolling stones and smashed into a pile of meat patties.
"Da Lang, don't be soft-hearted! If you let them in, there will be endless chaos."
These are the lessons that the Yunzhou soldiers learned with their lives.
Don't be soft-hearted on the battlefield.
Being kind to your enemy is being cruel to yourself.
As if to verify his words, another section of the city wall was poorly defended due to lack of coordination between the soldiers, and several civilians rushed up first.
These people did not cause much crisis, but following closely behind them were several tall and strong men.
Before they landed on the wall, they had already drawn the knives at their waists and chopped down several defenders who had no time to react.
Just when congestion and chaos were about to occur in this area, the Yunzhou soldiers around Su Xuanming acted decisively and sent five people to provide assistance.
These rebel soldiers seemed like martial artists, each of them was brave and good at fighting, especially skilled at swords.
The Imperial Guards were no match for them. Even though they were almost equal in number, they were already showing signs of defeat.
Li Jin, who was far away, quickly brought people to support, but the distance was too far, and another dozen or so rebel soldiers climbed up through the gap.
Just as the defense line on the city wall was about to be torn open, the Yunzhou soldiers rushed over.
They cooperated well with each other, and faced with an insurgent army that was twice their number, without any sign of chaos, they remained calm and composed.
They slaughtered the rebels mercilessly, and only after all the rebels on the city wall were killed did Li Jin rush over with reinforcements to block the gap.
Li Jin looked at the group of Yunzhou soldiers with a complicated expression as they put away their weapons as if nothing had happened and returned to Su Xuanming.
Apparently, they still had some strength left after killing more than a dozen soldiers.
Li Jin let out a long sigh. Being the enemy of the Yunzhou soldiers was terrifying. But fighting side by side with them made him feel at ease.
"Master Li! They are all a group of good fighters. Why don't we recruit them under our command?"
Many people have taken a fancy to this group of Yunzhou soldiers. They obey orders, cooperate well, are brave and resourceful, and have high military strength. Who wouldn't want such people to be their own soldiers?
Li Jin waved his hand, made a thank you gesture to Su Xuanming, and continued to go to various places to provide support.
This siege was somewhat different from previous ones. It lasted longer and involved more troops.
Dingyuan Hou climbed up the city wall in full armor, his face full of worry: "Their food and grass are running low, so they are attacking so frantically."
There will be several tough battles ahead, which will be the key to whether Kyoto can be defended. (End of this chapter)
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