Chapter 306: The Fall of Yanjing City

…

On the small road to Gu'an, a team of more than 12,000 horses marched quietly.

These more than 12,000 horses were all light cavalry. They tied up their horses, lowered their flags and wrapped their armor, and galloped away silently.

This troop was exactly the troop sent by Jiang Hongfei to surprise Yanjing.

They were mainly composed of the Ma 4th Army led by Yang Zhi, the Ma 5th Army led by Hua Rong, the Ma 11th Army led by Xu Ning, and the Ma 12th Army led by Sui.

When Jiang Hongfei selected the generals to surprise Yanjing City, almost all the generals wanted to complete this task that would leave a mark in history.

How could Jiang Hongfei not know what the generals were thinking? However, he had to take into account the decisive battle with the Liao army and ensure that the surprise attack on Yanjing was foolproof. On the basis of these two, he could give this opportunity to his cronies.

After comprehensive consideration, Jiang Hongfei appointed Hua Rong as the capital commander of the surprise attack on Yanjing, and Yang Zhi, Xu Ning, and Gu Jian as deputy commanders to lead their respective troops to complete this glorious and arduous task.

In addition, in order to ensure that this surprise attack on Yanjing is foolproof.

Jiang Hongfei sent another civilian team to Hua Rong and the others.

In this civil service team, there were not only Wu Yong, a military advisor, but also great political talents such as Li Gang, Chen Yu, Chen Kangbo, etc., as well as a large number of capable officials and officials who had settled in Liangshan.

Jiang Hongfei arranged this because Jiang Hongfei fully absorbed the historical experience of Guo Yaoshi and Yang Keshi's failed surprise attack on Yanjing.

If Liu Yanqing had sent some people who could make suggestions and control the situation in Yanjing City to Guo Yaoshi and Yang Keshi, Guo Yaoshi and Yang Keshi would not have all entered Yanjing City and asked Yelu Dashi and Xiao Qian to do so. type it out.

Moreover, in order to avoid such a big mistake in the Liangshan Army, before Guo Yaoshi, Hua Rong, Wu Yong, Li Gang, Chen Yu, and Chen Kangbo set off, Jiang Hongfei personally held a meeting with them and explained what he could expect. All precautions should be taken, and a clear division of labor should be given to them so that their reporting lines are clear...

Under the leadership of Guo Yaoshi, who was very familiar with the road, Hua Rong and others led 12,000 men and horses to Gu'an without any danger. They secretly crossed the Lugou River from the west of Gu'an, then detoured to Anci, and arrived at Gu'an the next day. At midnight, I arrived in front of a village called Sanjiadian in the east of Yanjing City without anyone noticing.

Because it was a long-distance attack, with a forced march of more than 300 miles in a day and night, the surprise attack personnel and horses were very tired and needed to rest.

Pharmacist Guo was very familiar with the roads and terrain here. He pointed his riding whip at a dark poplar forest and said to Hua Rong and others: "Let's rest in this forest tonight and wait until daybreak before seizing the city."

The trees in this poplar forest are very tall and the woodland is very open. It stretches for dozens of miles and can easily hide a hundred thousand people.

It's early autumn, and even late at night in the north, it's not cold.

The key point is that Hua Rong and others are very unfamiliar with Yanjing, so they have no ideas and can only follow the arrangements of Medical Master Guo.

Therefore, Hua Rong and others followed the advice of Pharmacist Guo, and all the more than 12,000 horses entered the forest to rest.

After everyone had settled in and had eaten military rations, Pharmacist Guo said to Hua Rong and the others: "This road by the forest leads directly to the Yingchun Gate, the east gate of Yanjing City. After dawn, there will be some common people entering the city on this road, and some entering the city." We will arrange for some powerful Qigong warriors to follow these people into the city to transport the firewood carriage, first seize the city gate, and then fight into the city."

Wu Yong asked cautiously: "Our Liangshan Army is fighting a decisive battle with the Liao Army more than ten miles away. Will Yanjing open the Spring Festival Gate as usual?"

Pharmacist Guo explained: "Yanjing City is a large city with a population of 300,000. It consumes a lot of materials. However, the resources in the city are scarce. Food and clothing, even firewood and even good water, have to be supplied from outside the city. Otherwise, Life in Yanjing City was difficult for even three to five days. In addition, the feces in the city had to be pulled out of the city to irrigate the fields, otherwise the city would stink. Therefore, even if it was a battle outside the city, as long as it did not reach the city walls, Yanjing City also has at least two gates, one of which is the Yingchun Gate. "

After listening to Pharmacist Guo's explanation, Wu Yong nodded, and Li Gang, Chen Yu, Chen Kangbo and others also recognized Pharmacist Guo's explanation.

Seeing that Wu Yong and others had no opinions, Hua Rong said: "In this way, capturing the city gate is the key. If we can capture the city gate, the surprise attack on Yanjing will be half successful."

Yaoshi Guo agreed: "Yes, so General Hua must select fifty powerful, flexible, and unafraid of death Qi practitioners to form a commando team and seize the Yingchun Gate tomorrow morning."

Zhu Tong heard this and said, "I will take the people there myself."

As soon as Zhu Tong said this, many people showed surprise.

Zhu Tong is a smooth and forthright man who values ​​righteousness over wealth. He only saves people in emergencies, does not hesitate to be friends with money, and he also has outstanding martial arts skills, wisdom and courage. He is really a superior person.

Such a character should be reused even here by Jiang Hongfei.

You know, Jiang Hongfei has a reputation for knowing people.

However, it has been quite some time since Zhu Tong went to Liangshan, but he is still a deputy commander of the Ma Twelve Army, and has not even been able to lead an army on his own.

Is it because Jiang Hongfei doesn't recognize or value talents?

Or does Jiang Hongfei have any opinion on Zhu Tong and doesn't trust him?

Not at all.

Rather, Zhu Tong was forced to go to Liangshan by Song Jiang, Wu Yong, and Li Kui, and he did not want to fall into trouble at all.

In addition, Zhu Dian was extremely uninterested in official career. He was not interested in fame and wealth at all.

This also makes Zhu Tong not take anything seriously. He does whatever task is assigned to him, without initiative, refusal, or enthusiasm.

In this case, how can Jiang Hongfei promote Zhu Tong? He can only let Zhu Tong be Mi Xian's deputy.

Zhu Tong's situation is known to everyone in Liangshan Marsh. Some do not understand him, some feel sorry for him, and some feel sorry for him.

It's not that no one has advised Zhu Tong, but Zhu Tong just smiled and did not comment, and then remained the same.

So, today Zhu Tong took the initiative to volunteer, which surprised everyone!

Wu Yong asked calmly: "Why do you want to carry out this difficult and dangerous task in person?"

Wu Yong knew Zhu Tong's easy-going nature too well. He never believed that Zhu Tong took the initiative to take the task of seizing the city gate in order to steal credit. Zhu Tong was not such a person at all.

Wu Yong was not trying to steal the credit, and he was a little confused. Why did Zhu Tong take the initiative to accept this task?

Another point is that Wu Yong's heart is dark, so he was very worried that Zhu Tong would behave abnormally and ruin the Liangshan Marsh, so he tried Zhu Tong.

Zhu Tong did not even hesitate, and said: "This is the national justice, Zhu Tong has no choice but to do it, and he will die without regrets."

When Zhu Tong said this, many people were moved, and Wu Yong also put his heart down - this seems to be Zhu Tong's style.

Unexpectedly, Guo Yaoshi on the side said: "General Zhu has a good heart, but..."

At this point, Guo Yaoshi looked at Zhu Tong's beautiful beard, which was self-evident.

Zhu Tong immediately understood that how could ordinary people leave such a delicate beard. If he wore such a beard and pretended to be an ordinary person to seize the city gate, he might be seen by the Liao soldiers guarding the city.

Zhu Tong did not waste words, he directly drew out his waist knife, and with a sharp movement of his hand, he cut off the beautiful beard that he had cultivated for many years.

Seeing this scene, many people felt sorry for Zhu Tong, but more people still admired Zhu Tong.

At this point, there was no need to say more, the matter of seizing the city gate naturally fell on Zhu Tong's head.

Then, each leader selected the elite of the elite of each army, and Zhu Tong gathered them together for everyone to review.

In the darkness, the faces of the commandos were a little blurry and not very clear, but their spirit of fearless death still infected everyone.

Hua Rong looked at them and said: "Brothers, after dawn, you must disguise yourself as civilians to sneak into the city and quickly seize the Yingchun Gate. Whether we can capture Yanjing City this time, you are the key! Do you have confidence?"

The fifty commandos answered in unison: "Yes!"

At this time, it was late at night, the sky was decorated with stars like a poem and a painting, and the earth fell into tranquility. In this moment of silence, only the occasional bird song broke the silence, as if telling a story in a dream.

The commandos hurried to change into casual clothes. They wore green headscarves and round-necked robes, just like the people of Yandi. They held sharp short knives and sat under the trees, quietly waiting for the arrival of dawn.

As the sky gradually brightened, the scenery in the distance gradually became clear. Through the treetops, you can see the fish belly white gradually appearing in the eastern sky. The light mist shuttled between the trees, adding a bit of mystery and tranquility to this forest.

On the road, pedestrians have passed one after another. From a distance, the gate of Yanjing seems to be about to open as scheduled.

Zhu Tong looked at Guo Yaoshi, Hua Rong, Wu Yong and others. They nodded and watched these daredevil men.

Zhu Tong took a deep breath, then stood up and waved to the commandos: "Let's go!"

Five commandos walked out of the woods quietly. Some of them carried baskets full of vegetables, some carried bundled firewood, and some carried light bamboo baskets. They deliberately kept a certain distance, pretending that they did not know each other, and walked westward along the winding road.

The fifty commandos were divided into ten teams. They set out on their journeys and soon merged into the bustling flow of people entering the city.

The east gate of Yanjing City was named Yingchun Gate. The number of people waiting to enter the city outside the gate gradually increased, forming a long queue.

With the arrival of dawn, under the expectation of Zhu Tong and others, the city gate slowly opened, and the suspension bridge was lowered, and people began to enter or leave the city in an orderly manner.

At the city gate guard, five or six Liao soldiers held weapons and rigorously checked every pedestrian entering the city.

Zhu Tong was eight feet four and five feet tall, standing out in the crowd like a crane among chickens. He looked around and exchanged a tacit look with his team members, signaling them to act according to the plan. He looked up at the city gate tower again and found that there were many Liao soldiers patrolling on it.

Soon, the first group of commandos had successfully entered the city wall.

Other groups of commandos also quickened their pace and quickly gathered towards the city wall.

Suddenly, two gatekeepers began to check the vegetable basket of a commando. Just as they were about to check the bamboo basket of another commando, one commando deliberately hit the waist of another commando with a carrying pole, and the two immediately quarreled loudly, and even started pushing and wrestling.

This was a chaos they had carefully planned.

Five or six Liao soldiers were attracted by this scene, surrounded them with weapons in hand, and shouted at them: "What are you doing? You dare to make a loud noise in front of the city gate!"

Seeing this, Zhu Tong decisively raised his arm and waved it in the air.

The members of the other groups responded immediately and rushed forward quickly.

Each Liao soldier was surrounded by two or three commandos. The short knife quickly shuttled between the Liao soldiers' chests and backs, and blood splashed all over the people around them. The scene was bloody and tragic.

People were shocked by the sudden battle. Screams, exclamations, and shouts came one after another, and the scene fell into chaos.

Some people fled into the city, while others fled out of the city. The crowd was so crowded that trampling occurred frequently, and the scene was in a mess.

Zhu Tong remained calm in the chaos. He quickly commanded the commandos to close the gate of the city, and then split into two groups, along the steps on both sides of the gate, and quickly rushed to the gate tower.

The Liao soldiers on duty on the tower heard the screams downstairs, saw the crowd fleeing everywhere, and ran down from the upstairs in a panic, calling for reinforcements.

However, he only saw a short knife flashing in front of his eyes, and then it had pierced his throat, and blood sprayed onto the gray brick wall like a fountain, forming a series of shocking pictures.

At this time, more than a dozen Liao soldiers rushed out from the tower, holding long spears in their hands, and launched a fierce attack on the commandos.

One commando's abdomen was pierced by a long spear, his intestines fell out, and he fell to the ground groaning in pain.

Another commando was stabbed in the chest, blood gushed out, and he died on the spot.

Faced with the threat of the long spear, the commandos were helpless with short knives in their hands and could only retreat step by step.

Zhu Tong also stepped back a few steps.

Soon, Zhu Tong found a crossbow standing next to the red column.

Zhu Tong jumped up and grabbed the crossbow, then pulled the trigger and shot a volley of arrows.

A dozen Liao soldiers were immediately shot by the crossbow and fell down.

This crossbow is equipped with three groups of crossbow machines, each group can fire eight arrows at a time, and can fire 24 arrows at a time when firing in unison, which is extremely lethal and is a very effective city defense weapon.

Zhu Tong immediately threw away the crossbow, picked up a long spear, and rushed into the Liao soldiers, killing anyone who stood in his way.

Seeing Zhu Tong's bravery, the commandos also grabbed the long spears dropped by the Liao soldiers, rushed up one after another, and fought with the Liao soldiers guarding the city gate.

After a fierce fight, all the Liao soldiers guarding the city gate were eliminated by the commandos, and Yingchun Gate was completely controlled by the commandos.

Zhu Tong quickly flew to the tower stand, took out two bamboo tube flame bombs from his arms, and lit them.

With two "hiss" and "hiss" sounds, two flames rose into the air, then exploded in the air, and several gray-white smoke lines slowly fell.

Zhu Tong lit two flares, signaling to Hua Rong and others that the commando had successfully occupied Yingchun Gate.

Hua Rong and others, who had already gathered their troops in the woods and anxiously looked towards the direction of Yanjing City, were overjoyed!

Hua Rong immediately jumped on his horse and shouted loudly: "The commando succeeded, follow me into Yanjing City!"

The Liangshan army cheered and galloped into Yanjing City at full speed...

...