That day, the sky was clear and cloudless.
There were still shouts of fighting and killing outside the city, but the people of Kyoto had gotten used to it.
Just when everyone thought it was another ordinary spring day, the imperial guards stumbled down from the city wall, breaking the silent and uneasy atmosphere that was like a tomb.
He came back running very fast, with blood on his face and a terrified look on his face.
Passersby were so nervous that their eyelids were twitching. Just when they were about to ask him what happened, they saw him running into the alley.
They just happened to run into Jiusi's parents who were secretly selling antiques, and the three of them rolled into a ball.
"Tang Lao San, are you going to die? Don't you have eyes when you walk?!" Jiu Si Niang hurriedly checked the porcelain in her arms, fortunately, it was not broken.
Jiusi's father groaned and said, "Why don't you go to the city wall to guard it at this time, and actually run back home. It's really worrying to have people like you guarding the capital."
The noise startled the residents in the alley and they all opened their doors.
"Tang Lao San, have you finished the work on the city wall?"
"Tang Lao San, quickly apologize to them. You can't get caught up with them, or you'll be in big trouble."
Because the imperial guards suffered heavy casualties, all the young and strong men in this neighborhood were taken away to do forced labor. Tang Lao San was the leader of this group of people and took care of all the neighbors in the neighborhood.
Tang Laosan, who was equivalent to the abbot, had his eyes wide open and was trembling all over, as if he had seen something extremely terrifying. He rolled and crawled, talking as he crawled.
"The city has been breached."
“The city is broken!”
“It’s burst!!”
At first, the sound was so small that no one could hear it. Later, the sound became louder and louder, until it was like a drum beating in the ears.
Kyoto was broken!
The sound was like thunder in a clear day. Those who were lying down at home to save food, or those who were counting their stored food like hamsters, were all scared out of their homes.
"The city was breached?!"
"When did it break?"
"Where did it break?"
"Have the rebels broken in?!"
"Oh, what should we do?"
"Tang Lao San, don't talk nonsense. Do you know what crime it is to shake the morale of the army and spread rumors?!"
Fang Zheng was at Jiusi's house, discussing the purchase of his house at a low price. When he heard the noise outside, he hurried out and shouted to stop the commotion.
Tang Laosan was a very stable man and was well-liked by the residents of the neighborhood.
At this moment, he seemed to have lost his soul, his lips kept trembling, and he couldn't say anything.
He glanced at Fang Zheng, then looked at the neighbors around him who were all bewildered, and ran home without looking back.
The neighbors were puzzled. Was the news true or false?
"Oh my God, if the city is really breached, where should we escape to?"
Fang Zheng's heart was pounding, his hands were shaking uncontrollably, but he pretended to be calm and said, "Why are you panicking? The emperor and the other officials haven't run away yet. I think it's just a small hole. Soon, the soldiers will be able to drive the rebels out."
These words calmed the neighbors who were like headless flies.
"That makes sense! The rebels can only rob some property, they don't have time to come to us! The imperial palace alone is enough for them to plunder for three or four days."
"Alas, we are completely in the dark and don't know anything. Instead of running around, it's better to stay at home and wait for this to pass."
Almost every household is filled with the elderly, the weak, women and children. If they were really asked to escape, they would not know where to go or how to escape.
Kyoto is so big that even if you ride a horse, it will take one or two hours to run from the easternmost end to the westernmost end.
The rebel army shouldn't come so soon, right?
Jiusi hesitated, holding his son, leaned his head out, looked around, but still didn't see the person sent by Su Xuanming.
"Dad, Mom. Let's go see the young master first." Jiusi winked at his parents, who nodded slightly. He returned to the house, put on the luggage that had been packed long ago, rented a donkey cart, and went against the crowd towards the city wall.
There were more and more people, and more people with blood on their bodies.
Jiusi's family was soon swept into the crowd and had to follow the crowd.
From the direction of the city wall, there were faint sounds of crying, horse hooves, and hoarse shouting.
Thick smoke rose from the north gate of the city wall and rose into the sky like a man-eating beast.
The walls of Kyoto were indeed breached!
A small hole was made, and a group of 300 soldiers rushed into Kyoto City through the hole.
"How could this happen?" Su Xuanming looked into the distance and saw Li Jinzheng leading his personal guards to block the hole.
But his personal guards were few in number, only about 40 or 50 people, and they were fighting fires everywhere, and their physical strength was already close to the cordon. To block the hole again would be like using a bucket of water to put out a house that was already on fire.
It's just a drop in the bucket!
Seeing the rebels rushing down the city wall and causing chaos in the city, Su Xuanming became anxious: "Support! Go and support them!"
The nearby lieutenants were very anxious: "No, we can't move around without the order from the Privy Council."
"But there's a gap!"
"There's nothing we can do. If you mobilize troops without an order, you will be held accountable even if you have achieved merit."
Su Xuanming finally understood why the Yunzhou soldiers said that Kyoto’s defense system was no longer functioning.
Isn't this just a joke?! If you wait for the transfer order for everything, the opportunity will be gone.
Li Jin couldn't stand alone.
The rebel army was like sharks smelling blood. Wave after wave of them followed the hole and climbed up the city wall.
Just when the small cut was about to become a big one, Su Xuanming acted decisively and sent two-thirds of the Yunzhou soldiers to help.
"Thank you." Li Jin thanked from a distance.
With the addition of Yunzhou soldiers, the gap was barely blocked. At least, no one could climb up again.
However, Li Jin really couldn't spare the manpower to deal with the chaotic troops that rushed into the city. He could only hope that the adults in Kyoto would be more helpful and not let these hundreds of people cause too much damage to Kyoto.
The hemp rope is broken only at the thinnest part.
Just when the North Gate was barely maintaining the situation, trouble broke out at the West Gate again.
When Li Jin heard the news, his eyes went dark and the breath he had been holding almost let go.
What a sinful thing!
The people in the Privy Council wrote the wrong transfer order and transferred the two teams of guards that were supposed to be stationed in the east and west to one place!
There was a gap in the city's defense!
Su Xuanming was also dumbfounded. In such a crucial battle, someone actually made such a low-level mistake!
"That person got in through connections. Normally, it's not his turn to write the transfer order. It's just a coincidence... Alas, it's all fate."
Su Xuanming...Does he have the life to wait until his mother comes?
Was he going to lose this big bet? Just because of this inexplicable mistake?
It's really frustrating.
Kyoto faces the most severe test in its history!
On top of the west gate, the imperial guards and the rebel army were fighting in a mess, with blood and flesh flying everywhere.
The troops in other places were stretched to the limit and unable to provide support.
The commander of the West Gate wanted to increase the number of troops, but he had to send someone to ask the Privy Council. Then, the Privy Council went to the emperor for an order, and after the emperor issued an order, he could mobilize troops.
It takes so long to go back and forth, can Ximen be defended?
It turns out that it can’t be defended at all!
Ximen’s army was defeated so badly that the city gate made a teeth-grinding creaking sound.
Everyone felt a chill in their hearts, Kyoto was finished!
Just when we were in despair, we saw smoke and dust billowing at the end of our sight, and a flag fluttering in the wind.
Reinforcements are coming? Who is it? Li Aotian, Xie Lantian, or Duke Yun? (End of this chapter)
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