Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 429: Bombing the City (Part )

After Qian Biao left, Meng Jun thought to himself, what was the intention of the defenders in the city to let him send another envoy? But even if he killed another envoy, what would it change the overall situation between the enemy and us?

Killing the envoy would only anger himself and the Zhou army, which would be even more disadvantageous for the defenders.

Meng Jun's words soon reached Cangzhou City. The defending general Adari was a little discouraged after hearing it. It was impossible to take off the armor and leave the city. Adari's idea of ​​getting another envoy in was shattered.

Another day passed silently. Adari looked at Zhou Ying who was still motionless. His inner anxiety made him almost unable to sleep. Late at night, Adari tossed and turned, and suddenly remembered a storytelling he had heard before.

The story of Zhuge Kongming giving a set of women's clothes to Sima Yi, Adali sat up and clapped his hands, "Yes, Meng Jun is not comparable to Sima Yi, the old fox. If we humiliate him severely, maybe Meng Jun will not be able to bear it."

The more Adari thought about it, the more it made sense to him. He deeply admired himself. Who was Meng Jun? He was someone who could defeat Prince Yu. He had been fighting wits and courage with Meng Jun these days, and looking at the current situation, he obviously had the upper hand. It was a pity that Meng Jun saw through his plan to trick the envoy into entering the city. Otherwise, he would have crushed Meng Jun in terms of wisdom and strategy.

Adari felt that giving clothes to a woman was too soft and had no power at all, so it would be more effective to directly insult Meng Jun's ancestors.

The next morning.

On the wall of Cangzhou, Adari ordered his subordinates to follow his instructions and curse loudly on the city wall. The words were vicious enough to make any soldier of the Zhou army furious when they heard them.

From calling people cowardly and timid as a mouse, to cursing Meng Jun's ancestors, Adari looked at the camp outside the city with pride. He wanted to use this to arouse the anger and impulse of Zhou's army.

Qian Biao's face was livid, his hands clenched into fists, and he wished he could immediately lead his troops to attack the city and flatten Cangzhou City. Qian Biao said to Meng Jun angrily: "My king, the bandits are too hateful. Why don't we just use artillery to attack Cangzhou City. I will personally climb the city first and tear these people's mouths apart!"

The other generals were also very angry. At this time, Meng Jun's voice sounded and temporarily suppressed the anger of the generals.

"Everyone," Meng Jun walked slowly, saying as he walked, "As the Art of War says, if the enemy wants something, we should not follow their wishes. Ever since the killing of the envoy, Cangzhou City has been doing things these days that seem to anger our army. We have already formulated a method to blow up the city with gunpowder. If the Qing army wants to scold us, then let them vent their anger."

The generals wanted to say more, but Meng Jun stopped them and signaled everyone to leave.

However, after the generals left, Meng Jun's mood was not as calm as when he had just persuaded the generals. After so many years of uprising, this was the first time that he encountered the defenders insulting his ancestors on the city wall.

Afterwards, Meng Jun ordered the craftsmen working on the earthwork to speed up the excavation progress. The craftsmen reported to Meng Jun that most of the tunnel had been excavated and in four more days, they would be able to dig to the bottom of the city.

Although Adari's provocation caused an angry reaction from the Zhou army in a short period of time, it failed to shake Meng Jun's decision.

The Qing soldiers on the tower had been cursing all day and were already dry-mouthed. Adari went from being excited to being a little discouraged. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He jumped up and down on the top of the tower and cursed, "How dare such a cowardly person call himself king? He's been scolded by pointing at his nose, but he doesn't have any blood at all. What King Zhou? Just call yourself the Rat King!"

Adari looked at the motionless camp and cursed, but it was like scolding a piece of wood. Adari really had lost his temper. He ordered his subordinates to guard the camp tightly and went back to sleep. He tried every trick, but Meng Jun didn't respond. Even if the regent asked about it in the future, he would still have something to say.

Four days seemed like a long time for Meng Jun and his Zhou army. Every day tested their endurance. Adari's scolding had no effect on the first day, so he continued on the second day. Anyway, Adari had no better way, so he simply let the Qing soldiers on the city wall take turns to go up to the city and scold. Now he has started from Meng Jun and has also scolded the generals of Zhou army.

Qian Biao, Bai Yongfu, Gao Yi, Hao Yongzhong and more than ten other generals could not bear it any longer, so they organized a group of soldiers with loud voices to engage in a war of words with the Qing army at the foot of the city.

Meng Jun also listened for a while, shook his head, and returned to the camp. The cursing was so dirty that his ears seemed to be somewhat polluted.

Four days later, when the craftsmen excitedly reported to Meng Jun that the tunnel had been successfully dug to the foot of Cangzhou City, Meng Jun and the generals were excited. Gao Yi patted his chest and said that as long as the wall was blown up, the heavy armored army would rush in immediately and break through Cangzhou City immediately.

Qian Biao said unhappily: "Speaking of the vanguard, I, Qian Biao, believe that I am no worse than anyone else. My king, I want to be the vanguard. I will definitely take down Cangzhou City and present it to you!"

Seeing Qian Biao trying to grab the position, Gao Yi glared at him and said, "When the intelligence department opened the gates of Jinling, you couldn't take the city. It's not appropriate for you to be the vanguard."

"Your grandmother..."

Qian Biao was so angry that he was about to hit someone, but was pulled away by the generals. Meng Jun said softly, "What are you arguing about? The city hasn't been blown up yet."

Afterwards, Meng Jun ordered Gao Yi's heavy armored troops to put on their armor, and ordered Bai Yongfu and Qian Biao to follow behind. After the city wall collapsed, they rushed forward and captured Cangzhou.

After hearing this, Qian Biao felt a little disheartened, but Gao Yi looked at Qian Biao proudly. After leaving the tent, he smiled at Qian Biao and then left in a dignified manner.

As Meng Jun's order was issued, the entire military camp instantly fell into a bustle of activity. Gao Yi's heavily armored soldiers quickly dressed neatly and were ready to go. All of them were burning with fighting spirit. After being scolded by the Qing army for so many days, everyone was holding their breath.

Adari was extremely excited when he saw the Zhou army camp sending out a large army. He clapped his thigh happily and said, "Haha, the Meng thief finally couldn't stand it anymore."

Afterwards, the Qing army, under the command of Adari, climbed up the city wall one after another. For a while, the city wall was densely packed with Qing troops, and all kinds of city defense equipment were fully prepared.

At the entrance of the tunnel in the camp, rows of wooden stakes supported the top to ensure that there would be no possibility of collapse. Six thousand kilograms of gunpowder lay quietly at the front end of the tunnel. After placing the gunpowder, the craftsmen blocked the passage with a large number of bricks, leaving only a small gap to serve as a fuse.

These craftsmen have discovered that in a confined space, the power of gunpowder will be greatly enhanced. Although the amount of gunpowder this time is not as much as in Jining City, the change in the gunpowder formula will increase its power instead of decrease.

When the long fuse was lit, everyone held their breath, waiting for that moment to come.