Chapter 618 0613 [Rebellion]

(The range of wooden cannons is less than 100 meters, and shotguns can only hit 40 to 50 meters. This was clearly stated during the naval battle. The first two chapters were confused, and the range of wooden cannons was written as several hundred meters.)

The thousands of elite soldiers of Yang Hua came here pushing the wooden wall.

The wooden wall is a siege weapon. Soldiers hide behind it and close to the wall, which can be understood as a kind of "shield cart" in disguise.

Seeing the wooden wall of the Chu army, the wooden cannons no longer used shotguns, but fist-sized stone bullets.

After a round of bombardment, a large number of wooden walls were cracked or even directly shattered - Zhong Xiang's territory resources were insufficient, and there were not so many cowhides, so sheepskin could only be used instead.

There was also a chariot formation composed of boxcars in front, and behind the chariot formation were Ming soldiers.

After the front army suffered the second round of bombardment, Yang Hua decisively sounded the horn to withdraw his troops, and led his personal soldiers to cover the retreat of the front army.

The commander of the front army was Lei Dejin's younger brother Lei Detong, who retreated in a panic and yelled at Yang Hua: "If we charge ten more steps, we will reach the enemy's formation. Why did you order the troops to withdraw?"

"We can't break through the chariot formation." Yang Hua shook his head helplessly.

Lei Detong asked: "Then let's just watch the North Fort being attacked and do nothing?"

Yang Hua remained silent.

They led their troops to retreat to the castle in the west, and soon the Ming army stopped attacking the city. On the wall of the Chu army's North Fort that was attacked, three arrow towers were destroyed by the hungry falcon chariots, and more than ten wooden frames for pouring boiling oil and gold juice were destroyed.

Then, the iron cannons concentrated on bombarding the wall.

Yang Hua called Lei Detong to discuss the matter: "A few days ago, your brother (Lei Dejin) came to persuade you to surrender. What did you think?"

"He is afraid of death, but I am not afraid." Lei Detong said.

Yang Hua said, "He has a point."

Lei Detong's eyes widened: "The master trusts you the most and gives you the best soldiers. Do you still want to surrender to the enemy?"

"Alas, the situation is like this, and human power cannot change it." Yang Hua sighed.

Lei Detong suddenly drew his sword and looked at Yang Hua in disbelief, and he was surrounded by Yang Hua's personal soldiers.

Yang Hua had been named a saint at this time, and was considered one of the best generals in Chu State. He was also known for his loyalty. Even Ying Xuan had never thought of persuading him to surrender.

But Yang Hua was indeed the first leader of the rebel army to surrender to Yue Fei.

Even when Yang Hua surrendered, his strength was second only to Yang Yao's headquarters. After losing the battle, he quickly agreed to surrender to Yue Fei and personally went to lure and kill Yang Yao, but failed because the news leaked.

Then Yang Hua offered Yue Fei a strategy to defeat Yang Yao's navy...

"Really unwilling to surrender?" Yang Hua asked.

Lei Detong held a knife and faced Yang Hua's personal soldiers who surrounded him, shouting angrily: "You bastard, if you have the guts, kill your grandfather!"

Yang Hua said again: "You just need to surrender, it won't ruin your loyalty. Your brother has surrendered in Lujiao Village, and the Ming Dynasty will not make things difficult for you."

"Don't even think about it!" Lei Detong roared and rushed forward, trying to kill Yang Hua with a knife.

Yang Hua retreated again and again, and the personal soldiers stabbed him with guns.

Originally, they didn't intend to kill Lei Detong, but only intended to subdue him. But Lei Detong was extremely brave. Facing the siege, he risked his injuries and slashed three of Yang Hua's personal soldiers in succession.

Yang Hua finally got angry: "Stab him to death!"

More than ten guns surrounded and stabbed, Lei Detong was injured in many places all over his body, but he continued to rush towards Yang Hua.

In the end, Lei Detong was stabbed into a blood gourd, and fell down with his eyes wide open.

Yang Hua immediately led his troops out, gathered Lei Detong's confidants, and said to them: "General Lei has surrendered, I have no face to see you again, quickly put down your weapons and wait for the city to open."

The confidants looked at each other, and for a moment they couldn't tell the truth from the false.

After a long standoff, someone finally said: "Even if you want to surrender, it should be Lei Sange who speaks personally, and we only listen to his orders!"

Yang Hua said: "General Lei is loyal and doesn't want to meet you."

"Bullshit, it must be you who killed the third brother!" These confidants have come to their senses.

"Kill them!"

Yang Hua closed his eyes and turned away.

For a while, arrows rained down, and then there were swords and guns.

After getting rid of Lei Dejin's confidants, those soldiers could no longer make any waves.

Yang Hua did not allow anyone to enter or leave the castle. While sending his confidants to contact Bai Qi, he personally went out of the city to the South Fort.

The commander of Nanbao was called Chen Tang. In history, he followed Yang Yao to the last battle, but when he was besieged, he chose to turn against his side and kidnapped Zhong Xiang's son Zhong Ziyi to surrender to Yue Fei.

"Let's not talk too much. You and I have been brothers for 20 years," Yang Hua said straight to the point, "Dingzhou is gone, and many of my old brothers' clansmen will have to make a living under the rule of the Ming Dynasty in the future. The master will definitely lose. Are you willing to surrender, brother Chen?"

Chen Tang was stunned: "Is the Holy Lord deceiving me? I have no intention of surrendering."

Yang Hua said: "I just killed Lei Detong."

Chen Tang was shocked and neither refused nor agreed, but walked back and forth in a dilemma.

After a long while, Chen Tang said, "My cousin (Chen Yuxin, deputy general of Nanbao) may not want to surrender."

"You just lure him here and tie him up," Yang Hua summed up his experience and suggested, "Tie him up as soon as he enters the house, so as to avoid a fight and being forced to kill his old brother again."

Chen Tang hesitated for a long time, but finally sighed and called his confidants to make arrangements.

The next day, early in the morning.

Zhong Yi, who was guarding the North Fort in person, suddenly found that the West Fort and the South Fort had all changed their flags.

Bai Qi, Yang Hua, and Chen Tang sent troops to surround Zhong Yi on three sides.

In order to gain merit and show his performance, Yang Hua even came to the city to persuade him to surrender: "Prime Minister, Dingzhou is gone. Although your family has moved to Changsha, what about your clansmen? Many of them are still in Dingzhou! Many of the Prime Minister's generals are from Dingzhou..."

"Shoot an arrow!"

Zhong Yi was furious and wanted to kill Yang Hua with his own hands.

The arrows flew, and the personal soldiers used shields to protect Yang Hua and retreat.

Yang Hua rode to see Bai Qi again: "Marshal, please lend me those siege weapons. The Marshal's heavenly soldiers only need to feint in the north, and I will definitely lead the troops to capture the city in the west. Even if we fight to the last soldier, we will take down this fort!"

Bai Qi thought for a while, nodded and took Yang Hua's hand: "Everything depends on the general."

"If I can get the Marshal's trust, I will do my best and die!" Yang Hua took the opportunity to show his loyalty.

After this person left, Bai Qi couldn't help but complain: "This is a real villain. Not to mention surrendering, he also led his troops to attack Zhong Yi."

Ying Xuan still feels incredible: "How could he surrender?"

Wang Yuan asked: "Does Yang Hua have a very good reputation?"

Ying Xuan said: "Not only very good, but also very loyal. Zhong Xiangqin led the army to the south, and the remaining elite troops were handed over to Yang Hua. Even the soldiers in Zhong Yi's hands were not as good as him, which shows how much Zhong Xiang trusted him. It was bizarre that Yang Hua surrendered, and he even led his troops to attack Zhong Yi. Many of the generals we recruited were not as ruthless as him."

Bai Qi muttered: "It's good to be able to use villains."

Soon, Bai Qi and Chen Tang's troops feinted north and south, and Yang Hua led the elite troops to attack the city at the risk of their lives.

But the effect was very poor. Yang Hua's troops were originally very strong in combat, but they were unwilling to contribute to the siege at this time. After all, they were wielding a knife against the former friendly army, and it was good that they did not turn against them.

The morale of the troops under Zhong Yi was almost zero, and the impact of the surrender of the friendly army was too great.

Many middle-level officers of the Chu army had begun to waver in their thinking, because their hometown was Dingzhou.

This was the significance of Bai Qi attacking Dingzhou first!

Zhong Yi's deputy general was called Hu Yuan. What can we say about this person? In history, before Yue Fei came out, Hu Yuan surrendered directly to the Song army and killed Ying Xuan and Chen Yuxin.

Hu Yuan could be Zhong Yi's deputy general because he brought capital into the company, raised an army to capture a county, and then surrendered to Zhong Xiang.

He never believed in Manichaeism, but his title was Sheng Hou!

After repelling Yang Hua's two attacks, Hu Yuan looked outside the city and thought for a long time.

Then, Hu Yuan brought a few soldiers to see Zhong Yi and cursed: "Yang Hua is a bastard, the master trusts him so much..."

Hu Yuan's scolding of the traitor immediately made Zhong Yi relax his vigilance, and Zhong Yi's soldiers did not stop him.

While cursing, Hu Yuan had already walked in front of Zhong Yi, and suddenly drew his sword to hold Zhong Yi hostage.

Zhong Yi's martial arts were not very good, and he was caught off guard by Hu Yuan's knife on his neck. He was terrified and shouted angrily: "You dog thief, are you going to surrender to the enemy?"

Zhong Yi's personal soldiers were afraid to attack, and they surrounded him and dared not move forward.

The personal soldiers brought by Hu Yuan took the opportunity to protect Hu Yuan.

Hu Yuan sighed and said: "Prime Minister, my hometown is Cili County, and your hometown is Dingzhou. Now they are all occupied by the Ming Dynasty. We have done our best to hold on until this year. Do we have to fight until all our old brothers?"

"Selling out for glory, don't make excuses for yourself." Zhong Yi said sarcastically.

Hu Yuan also became angry, and said as if to vent his grievances: "I started the rebellion against the Song Dynasty because I couldn't make a living, and I wanted to seek wealth and honor with Master Zhong."

"But what have I been living like in the past two years? All the floating wealth and land I got were taken away by the Ming Dynasty in my hometown. My mother, wife and children were also separated when the army was defeated, and their life and death are still unknown."

"When I came here, Master Zhong only gave me a house and more than 300 acres of land. Not to mention these, the grain grown by my tenants has to be handed over to the court of the Great Chu, and there is not much left after a year."

"Nearly half of the brothers who rebelled with me have died, and I have nothing to reward them. Many of my soldiers are like me. Their families were separated in Cili County when the army was defeated last year. They are also human beings, and they miss home. Master Zhong can't give them a future..."

Hu Yuan became more and more angry, and the eyes of his personal soldiers were red.

They are all from Cili County. Their hometown was captured by Li Bao last year. Many of their families were separated. They wanted to go back all the time. Before, they wanted to fight back, but now they want to surrender and go back home.

Hu Yuan vented his anger and shouted: "Hurry up and give the order to open the city gate!"

Zhong Yi closed his eyes and said nothing.

Under the protection of his personal soldiers, Hu Yuan carried Zhong Yi to the city gate and shouted to the soldiers along the way: "You can go home if you surrender. The Ming Dynasty has said that they will not kill prisoners or surrender. Don't move, wait to go home and farm. If you don't irrigate the rice at home, the harvest will be ruined!"

Many generals and officers came with their troops one after another.

Some generals were very angry, but more generals looked relieved. This protracted war finally didn't have to be fought.