The sound of chaotic footsteps echoed in the street.
"Are there any more quilts?"
"Who has any quilts left?"
Hearing the shouting coming from outside the door, the little girl who was sitting upright on a small wooden stool in the yard holding a broom turned around immediately.
"Mom, mom, it's time to put away the quilt." she shouted.
A woman ran out of the house holding bedding. The little girl opened the door. Many people in the alley were already running towards the street holding bedding. There was a wooden cart on the street with a lot of bedding piled on it.
These beddings, both new and old, of various styles, were soon piled up into a thick pile. Seeing the pile full, the cart puller immediately ran towards the city wall.
Compared to the quietness on the street, there was a bustling crowd near the city wall. As soon as the bedding cart arrived, the waiting people took off their bedding and carried it on their backs, climbing up the city wall.
Quilts were draped on the city walls, and from a distance it seemed that the entire four sides of the city walls were covered with quilts. As the quilts were laid and hung, the women who had been waiting for a long time poured the water from the buckets.
Groups of civilians went up and down in order, and next to them were people carrying stones and lifting rolling logs up and down, shouting slogans and moving in a noisy but orderly manner, busy but not chaotic.
Suddenly there was a sharp roar from outside, and everyone only heard a dull thumping sound above their heads. This was the sound of stones hitting the city wall. The damp bedding provided protection, which reduced the damage to the wall, but it could not stop the stones from rolling over the wall.
"Get down, get down."
"By the wall, by the wall."
Panic shouts rang out in a disorderly manner. Even so, some people were hit by stones and screamed miserably. There was panic at the city gate, but some people still ran over, lifted the injured and ran towards the street inside.
All the houses along the street were vacated, and Doctor Feng and others stayed inside, directing the injured to be carried in and given treatment.
The stones have stopped rolling and the injured under the city gate have been taken care of, but the scattered stones and blood on the ground still make people feel heavy.
"The Jin people's stone bullets can already be thrown in. Have the trenches been filled?"
The people leaning against the city wall talked in low voices.
"We never expected trenches to stop the Jin soldiers."
The officers standing on the city wall were looking solemnly outside the city. They could see catapults slowly approaching under the cover of shield cars.
"For the Jin people, the speed of filling the trench is already slow enough." A general said, "It seems that they are not in a hurry to attack the city."
The Jin soldiers approaching the city gate were in neat formation with bright armor, but there were not many of them, and their expressions were not fierce, but rather a little playful.
"The walls of the capital city are indeed taller and thicker than those of other places."
Yu Chihai, standing under a big flag in the middle of the military formation, twisted his beard and said, looking at the city in front with a relaxed expression.
"I looked carefully at it the last time I came here."
As he spoke he took a few steps forward.
"The mountains are connected to the clouds, and from above it looks like the North Pole. The buildings are exquisitely built and the troops are hidden in secret passages."
What a beautiful poem.
But there was no sound of praise from all around. Yu Chihai looked back and saw that these crudely-looking Jin generals were either looking at the city ahead with greed, thinking about the treasures and beauties inside, or looking at him in confusion, as if they just didn't understand why they hadn't attacked yet.
Barbarian and boring.
Yu Chihai was a little uninterested.
"No matter how high and thick the city is, our warriors will definitely be able to conquer it." A gold general said eagerly, "All the cities we have encountered along the way are stronger than those in the north, but so what."
"Those soldiers are vulnerable." Another Jin general laughed with his hands on his hips.
Yu Chihai looked ahead with a smile.
"Yes, so such a strong city can be ignored." He said, "What we want to attack is not the city gate, but the hearts of the people inside."
He said this and took another step forward.
"We will break their courage, destroy their spirit, and knock their knees down, and make them bow down before us."
These words were much more pleasant than the messy poems and lyrics just now, and the Jin generals around him burst into laughter.
"However." Yu Chihai frowned again, "This capital city is a little different from what I imagined."
"Why is it different?" asked the generals around him.
Yu Chihai looked at the dense trenches in front of him and the bumpy ground in the distance. It was obvious that they were newly dug. The original ground outside the gate of the capital city was very smooth.
Being able to dig so many deep trenches in such a short period of time obviously required a huge amount of manpower.
Trenches and chevaux de frise are essential for defending a city. The fact that they could do this must have been because they knew the Jin soldiers were coming. However, the fact that they were able to organize such a large amount of manpower and material resources to do this even after knowing the Jin soldiers were coming shows that the people in the city had not yet panicked and dispersed.
Moreover, the villages and towns near the capital that we just passed were all deserted, and we did not encounter any civilians fleeing in panic along the way.
"It seems that the people in the capital are much calmer than before." Yu Chihai said with a smile and a bit of praise, "They are worthy of being the people under the feet of the emperor."
After saying this, the smile in his eyes turned cold and he waved his hand.
"The upper human shield."
…
"We can also throw stones."
A general on the city wall, looking through the battlements at the Jin soldiers outside the city gate, whispered.
"No, get closer, or it will be a waste to throw the stones." Another general said...
Throwing stones was mainly used for attacking cities, while counterattacks were aimed at shield carts. At this time, the shield carts of the Jin soldiers were also protected by layers of defense, so if they wanted to hit the target with one strike, they needed to get closer.
The two men said this with nervous expressions but not too scared, probably because they could see the Qingshan Army's artillery vehicle in the center out of the corner of their eyes.
This is a more powerful weapon than slingshot. Of course, the Qingshan Army said that they would not use it now, but would wait until the Jin army approached the city. Then, once it was thrown out, it could kill a lot of people, which would be the best use of the weapon and the most intimidating.
At present, it is enough to use stone bullets at a distance and then use crossbows at close range.
The generals were somewhat nervous and inexplicably excited, waiting for the shield carts that were moving slowly on the bumpy road to come closer so that they could give the order to throw stones. But suddenly the shield carts stopped, the Jin army behind them made a commotion, and then a group of people rushed out.
Seeing these people, the officers on the city wall couldn't help but stare with wide eyes and pale faces.
They were a group of Zhou people, young and old, men and women, all with frightened looks on their faces, crying and shouting under the whips of the Jin soldiers.
"Listen, everyone inside, open the city gate quickly."
A dozen Jin soldiers rushed forward and shouted loudly in Zhou language.
"Open the city gates and you can save your life."
They shouted again and again, then rode their horses around to circle around Zhou Min who was being chased.
These Jin soldiers were already within the range of bows and crossbows, but there was no order to shoot from the city wall. Everyone looked at the civilians who were being driven closer and closer with complicated expressions.
Behind these civilians, the shield carts and the Jin soldiers attacking the city moved again.
"Sir." A deputy general couldn't help but shout in a low voice.
What could he do at this point? Should he order the stone-throwing attack? In that case, it would be obvious that the Zhou people would be the first to be hurt.
"Damn these shameless Jin people." A general pounded the city wall hard.
But if they didn't throw stones, the Jin soldiers' shield carts and siege ladders would have reached the city gate.
A dozen Jin soldiers rode closer again and deliberately shot at the city wall with bows and crossbows, full of provocation.
If he stood up at this time and used a bow and crossbow, he would definitely be able to kill a few Jin soldiers.
Some soldiers couldn't help but move.
"Don't move without orders." A wooden voice came from behind.
The soldier froze immediately, not daring to move at all. Out of the corner of his eye he saw an old woman standing behind him.
The old woman looked at him for a moment, then continued her patrol along the city wall, turning a deaf ear to the cries and shouts coming from below the city gate.
Zhou Min was being driven closer and closer. The shield vehicle was moving slowly on the bumpy road, but it was getting closer and closer.
"cast."
Suddenly a command came from the city wall.
The slingers, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately threw their stones.
Suddenly, stones rained down on the city gate.
From under the city gate came the sound of shield carts breaking and the screams and curses of the Jin soldiers, mixed with the terrified cries of the Zhou people.
General Jin, who was standing far away, was also furious when he saw this scene.
No one expected the Zhou people to be like this. When they saw their own people being driven and whipped, they did not stand up immediately in anger. Instead, they waited for the right opportunity and attacked without caring about the Zhou people at all.
His face turned livid, and he ordered the Jin soldiers on the shield chariots to retreat, waving his hands fiercely.
With this wave of his hand, the Jin cavalry who had been scattered by the stone bullet attack suddenly gathered again, surrounded the crying Zhou people, and slashed and stabbed them with swords and spears.
Listening to the cries and screams of the people outside, everyone on the city wall turned pale. The soldiers were still able to control themselves, but the civilians were trembling uncontrollably.
Despite this, no one jumped up or even shouted loudly.
This is because the Qingshan Army had repeatedly reiterated that during combat, one must not look back, must not move without authorization, and must not make noise when seeing the enemy, otherwise one will be punished by military law.
At this time, there were also several old, weak, women and children patrolling on the city wall and staring at them.
The cries and shouts outside the city gradually faded away, and peace returned.
It is conceivable that those people have been killed.
There was still total silence on the city wall, without even a commotion. This silent response made the Jin soldiers outside the city even more angry.
"If you don't surrender, this will be your fate after the city is captured."
The shouts and curses of the Jin soldiers were heard outside the city.
The people on the city wall did not really have no reaction. They were angry and resentful, and many more civilians thought that if they had escaped from the capital at the beginning, they would be the ones being slaughtered outside the city gate at this moment.
The Jin people were so brutal and the war was so bloody and ruthless. At this moment, they were no longer just listening to fragments of propaganda in restaurants and teahouses, nor were they just watching the refugees fleeing in misery. Instead, they felt it for themselves.
Just then, a drum sounded.
The soldiers and civilians were already familiar with the meanings of the drum and gong sounds, and they performed the actions almost subconsciously.
The soldiers threw off their covers and fired bows and crossbows at the Jin soldiers below the city gate, while the civilians threw stones of all sizes at the catapults.
For a moment, there were screams outside the city gate.
The Jin cavalrymen who were still at the city gate fell off their horses one after another, and the shield carts that retreated but were still within the range of the stone bullets were also smashed. The Jin army column that had been approaching began to retreat rapidly.
Yu Chihai, who was standing far away and watching all this, had a gloomy expression on his face. At this time, the Jin soldiers who went to attack other city gates also sent over such descriptions of the battle.
"Isn't it said that there aren't many soldiers in the capital? They are just soldiers and runners guarding the city gates who have never killed anyone." He said, frowning slightly, "How can there be such a strict preparation for war? They are clearly a well-trained army."