Standing atop the palace watchtower, Xiao Song and his men took advantage of the terrain and shouted, "Archers, prepare!"
He wanted to kill all of Zhu Dan's five thousand elite Northern Army soldiers at the palace gate, otherwise it was hard to say whether the Second Prince could succeed!
He really didn't understand why the Northern Army, which had set out to attack Chen more than a month ago, still left 5,000 troops in Shengjing.
Didn't they say that Ren Yushan had trapped the Fifth Prince in the examination hall? How come he's here again?
Why would Lu Yucheng be here? Isn't he taking care of his half-dead old father, the Duke of Zhenguo?
But he had no time to think. His palms were sweating, and he could only pretend to be calm and order the Fifth Prince and the others to be shot.
Hundreds of archers immediately emerged from behind the sentry wall, each nocking an arrow and drawing their bow, staring intently at the groups of black-clad armored soldiers below.
"Release!" Xiao Song shouted.
A deluge of arrows rained down from the upper floors, like locusts swarming across the land, intent on reaping the lives beneath the palace walls.
Zhu Dan shouted, "Hide!"
In an instant, the black-clad warriors pressed down with one hand, and the arm guards wrapped around their left arms unfolded rapidly like a mechanism, transforming into an indestructible iron shield.
The armored soldiers quickly assembled, each raising their left arm to firmly block the arrows that whistled through the air from reaching their bodies.
Below the sentry wall, besides the Northern Army, there were also hundreds of Imperial Guards who hadn't had time to retreat back to the palace.
The arrows rained down indiscriminately, friend or foe. Without the protection of shields, large numbers of imperial guards were shot to death by their own men beneath the sentry walls at the palace gate.
The wrist guards worn by the soldiers of the Northern Army were extremely clever and lightweight. There was a small button on the inside of the wrist. Normally, the armor was wrapped around the arm to protect the soldiers' arms.
If we encounter a rain of arrows like today, with just a light press, dozens of people can gather together and immediately form an iron wall.
Xiao Song was greatly surprised, having never seen such armor before.
How could the shields be made so cleverly and lightly? Although each individual shield is not large when unfolded, when dozens of people are gathered together and protected under the shields, it becomes a huge barrier.
The reason why heavy infantry are called heavy infantry is that, in addition to the stone-rolling carts, they also have extremely heavy weapons such as shields, which they cannot carry with them when fighting the enemy.
Zhu Dan smiled slightly. These wristbands were newly developed by him, Yun'er, and Lu Yuyan two months ago.
I still vividly remember the time when the three of them were working together during the initial research and development of this batch of armor.
I can even clearly remember the dark look on Zhu Yu's face when he couldn't get a word in edgewise and was completely baffled by the numbers and letters on the screen.
Although it was Yun'er's face, he couldn't help but laugh when he thought of how angry his fourth brother was at the time.
Lu Yucheng couldn't help but look at Zhu Dan with a puzzled expression.
Later, he took the finished sample to show his father, the emperor. His father was overjoyed and immediately ordered 20,000 copies to be made and given to Qi Shaocheng, so that the soldiers of the Northern Army could practice them as soon as possible.
That's how we achieved this result.
With so many of their own men dead, Xiao Song immediately ordered the archers to cease fire.
At this moment, the only option is to guard the palace gates.
As long as the palace gates are secured, the second prince can kill the first prince under the pretext of protecting the emperor, and then kill the emperor himself, thus framing the first prince, Zhu Zhi, for regicide.
The second prince was then able to ascend the throne as emperor without any problem.
As for the so-called imperial grandson who relies on herbal medicine to stay alive every day, he is not worth mentioning at all.
By then, Zhu Dan would be considered a traitor and a rebel!
With the imperial seal in his hand, the second prince could issue an edict to suppress Zhu Dan's rebel army!
Thinking of this, Xiao Song breathed a long sigh of relief.
But why can one faintly hear shouts of battle and sounds of clashing weapons coming from the inner palace?
Could it be that Zhu Zhi had eunuchs and palace maids in the palace who were willing to risk their lives for him?
Ha, overestimating yourself!
ยท
Qi Shaocheng led several thousand Northern Army soldiers and Lin Yuanqing led the Mucheng rebel army to fight each other. The two armies met under the burning lantern platform during the Lantern Festival.
"Kill!" Lin Yuanqing, clad in full armor, charged out first. Looking at him, he hardly resembled a civil official, a prefectural governor; he was clearly a military general.
Qi Shaocheng was naturally not to be outdone, and with a swing of his halberd, he charged toward Lin Yuanqing.
The two groups quickly engaged in combat.
Qi Shaocheng's halberd moved like a dragon, rapidly changing its moves as it attacked Lin Yuanqing.
Lin Yuanqing, wielding a red-tasseled spear, was equally formidable, thrusting left and right at Qi Shaocheng.
Just an hour ago, Suzaku Avenue was desolate and quiet, like a ghost town, but now nearly ten thousand soldiers are fighting fiercely.
After the clash of weapons, blood and flesh flew everywhere.
The houses burned down during the Lantern Festival, the collapsed lantern-lighting platforms and the Moon-Picking Tower seemed to still tell the story of that day's tragedy, instantly drenched in blood.
The area around the palace was bustling with activity like never before. The sounds of fighting, screams, the clanging of weapons, and the heart-wrenching thuds of doors being rammed together mingled together.
Someone in the rebel army shouted, "It's the Northern Army! How could it be the Northern Army? Weren't they supposed to be attacking Chen? We've fallen into a trap, brothers, we've fallen into a trap!"
The shouts seemed to come from the sky, and also seemed to echo in the ears of the rebels.
They were utterly shocked. How could it be? How could it be the Northern Army?
That's right, they fell for the trap!
Did the emperor already know about the second prince's scheme, and is today a trap to lure him into?!
Upon realizing this, the morale of the rebel soldiers, who had just been fighting desperately, immediately plummeted.
"Kill! The Second Prince is the rightful heir! Zhu Zhi murdered the emperor and usurped the throne! No one is allowed to put down their swords! Kill them all!" Lin Yuanqing never expected that the Mu City garrison he led would be defeated in this way.
Desperate to boost the morale of his soldiers, he swiftly beheaded a soldier who was trying to surrender.
"Anyone who dares not fight the enemy to the best of their ability will be slaughtered by me!" Lin Yuanqing roared, his face splattered with blood, looking particularly ferocious.
His words spurred the already demoralized rebels to raise their swords and charge at the Northern Army soldiers.
Qi Shaocheng coldly shouted: "Brave lads of the Northern Army, His Majesty has decreed that the Second Prince Zhu Heng has plotted to usurp the throne and staged a coup. We must all kill him! We are here to protect the country and its people, kill him!"
The morale of the Northern Army soldiers soared several times over, and they tightened their grip on their swords.
"The Northern Army is invincible. Even 300,000 Northern Qi cavalry are no match for them. Fighting them is suicide. Brothers, run for your lives!" The seductive voice rang out again from the rebel army.
This forced the rebels to loosen their grip on their knives by a third.
Lin Yuanqing's eyes widened in horror as he abruptly turned to find the source of the sound.
Amidst the dense, dark mass of people locked in fierce combat, the only sound was the clanging of weapons; no one knew who had uttered those words.
This is the time!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
