The Ming Dynasty: Starting with bandits, it swept across the land.

Chapter 58 Entering the City

While preparations for the siege were in full swing outside the city, Su He inside Yanchang City began to have second thoughts. He looked at Li Luo and the others sharpening their knives, his tongue trembling:

"Are we really... really going to do this?"

Without looking up, Li Luo retorted, "Lord Su, even now, you still think you can absolve yourself of responsibility?"

Suhe protested, "But...but the imperial court..."

"Ever since you let the person in charge of the dishes into this Yanchang County, don't mention the imperial court again." Li Luo stopped what he was doing. "If Lord Su is afraid, then stay here. At this point, we don't need you anymore."

Hearing that he didn't need to go directly to the city gate, Suhe breathed a sigh of relief.

He was completely ostrich-like at this moment, hoping to delay facing the situation as long as possible.

In fact, when he went to Huanglong Mountain to seek help from Li Chengye, he should have realized that he couldn't get involved in this mess.

Just then, someone came to report: "Boss Li, the carriages are all ready."

Li Luo said no more, waved his hand, ignored Su He, and then led more than fifty men, escorting ten large carts, toward the city gate. The weapons were all hidden in the carts.

At the head of Yanchang County, a crowd nervously surrounded Li Hongjian, a centurion of Yan'an Guard, who had just arrived from the city.

Someone asked, "Commander Li, look at this bandit army, they're just standing outside the city, neither attacking nor moving. What are they waiting for?"

Li Hongjian had just turned thirty. Although he was a member of the guards, he had only ever caught thieves and suppressed bandits. He had never experienced defending the city and resisting enemies, so he really couldn't figure out the intentions of the enemy troops outside the city.

A soldier nearby suddenly asked, "Are they unable to cross the river?"

A nearby official chimed in, "Your Excellency, I suspect the rebels are short of boats. Our moat was dug by diverting water from the Yan River; it's not an ordinary ditch. If they're unprepared, they'll have a hard time crossing it, and they're probably having a real problem with that right now."

Yu Shideng nodded repeatedly: "Exactly, exactly! Fortunately, the former Japanese official ordered the wooden bridge outside the gate to be demolished. In hindsight, it was a brilliant move."

The crowd on the city wall praised the magistrate for his foresight and wisdom.

However, this praise did not last long, as they soon saw many boats sailing along the north bank of the river. Although there were only a dozen or so, they included small fishing boats as well as large cargo ships with two masts.

The young master of the Fan family muttered under his breath, "Damn it... that's my family's boat! I remember hiding it properly, how did this thief find it?"

Magistrate Yu was so angry he almost jumped up and down, cursing inwardly: "Just the other day, when we were discussing matters in the city, these wealthy families were so sure that the hiding place was foolproof. How come they were found by bandits in the blink of an eye? This is really troublesome."

As the ships approached, Li Chengye ordered his men to use iron hooks to connect them, and then lay the wooden palisades from the camp that had been dismantled that morning onto the ships, gradually forming a pontoon bridge. The pontoon bridge grew longer and longer, and it was about to reach the shore.

The defenders on the city wall grew increasingly tense. After the pontoon bridge crossed the middle of the river, someone on the city wall fired a test arrow. Once it was confirmed that the range was sufficient, the sound of arrows piercing the air echoed from the city wall.

But with things having come to this point, Li Chengye's troops had no way to retreat. He ordered his men to raise shields for cover and continue laying planks, even sprinkling soil on the planks to prevent fire arrows from the city walls from burning the bridge.

With the pontoon bridge completed, the attack on the city is imminent.

Li Chengye said to Zheng Guangqiu, "Brother Zheng, it's up to your men now."

Zheng Guangqiu knew the grain wouldn't come for free, so he nodded in agreement and turned to shout to his men, "Brothers, the time to fight to the death has come! Take Yanchang County, and we'll have the grain!"

After saying that, he led his men across the pontoon bridge and rushed toward the city wall.

Upon seeing this, the commander of Yan'an Guard immediately ordered the garrison to fire arrows in retaliation.

Arrows rained down from the city walls and below, siege ladders were erected, and the sounds of battle shook the heavens.

Just as the centurion was frantically directing the defense, a convoy of about seven or eight large carts approached from below the city.

The guards shouted along the way, "Master Su and the County Magistrate have come to deliver rewards to the brothers guarding the city!"

Upon hearing this, the garrison soldiers relaxed slightly.

The caravan proceeded straight to the city gate. Yu Shideng, watching from the city wall, asked in bewilderment, "What's that for? Why are there carriages coming?"

Someone nearby replied, "Sir, isn't this the reward you sent?"

"When did I give such an order?" Yu Shideng was still in shock and doubt when he saw the men in the caravan suddenly draw their swords and cut down the soldiers guarding the city gate. Several men rushed to the gate bolt, forcefully cut it off, and then pulled open the city gate.

Before Yu Shiden and the others could react, a chorus of shouts and cries erupted from below the city walls:

"The city gates have opened!"

"Bandits have entered the city!"

Liu Ye and his troops were already prepared. As soon as the city gate opened, they crossed the pontoon bridge and rushed towards the gate to join Li Luo and the others who were fighting inside the city.

Unlike the last time when Yijun City was breached, the defending troops immediately scattered and fled as soon as the city walls were breached.

This situation differs from the previous attack on Yijun City. When Yijun City fell, the defending troops lost all will to resist and collapsed. But this time, at Yanchang City, the city gates have been opened, and the defending troops inside are still putting up a fight.

When Li Chengye's troops advanced on Yanchang City at the beginning of the month, the soldiers and civilians in the city were terrified, but they gradually became "accustomed" to the presence of the bandits. In particular, the arrival of the Yan'an Guard troops later added to their confidence in resistance.

Therefore, after the city gate was breached, the defending troops did not give up immediately, but continued to resist stubbornly under the leadership of some Yan'an Guard officers and soldiers.

Zheng Guangqiu's troops poured into the city, but were locked in a stalemate with the defending army.

The battle situation only changed dramatically when Liu Ye led his fully armored elite troops into the fray.

After the most valiant of the front-line guards were cut down, the rest cowered and dared not advance. Then, a group of archers sent by Liu Ye shot down several of them in succession.

Meanwhile, the defending troops, seeing that Li Chengye's large army had reached the city gate, knew that the situation was hopeless and fled.

As the defending troops collapsed, chaos erupted in the city of Yanchang.

With the overall situation settled, Li Chengye ordered Han Sanhu's cavalry to post notices in the city. Three men per team rode along the streets, banging gongs and shouting things like "Go home, don't cause trouble on the streets, we'll keep you safe." At the same time, he strictly ordered the various refugees entering the city to be restrained.

Although Zheng Guangqiu usually engaged in robbing the rich, he wanted to allow his men to plunder more wealth when he saw the city fall, but Li Chengye stopped him, which made him somewhat annoyed.

But seeing that Li Chengye's troops were strong and well-armored, he knew he could not contend with them, so he had no choice but to suppress his anger and stay obediently by Li Chengye's side.

After dealing with the stubborn defenders who were putting up a last-ditch effort, Zheng Guangqiu walked up to Li Chengye and asked:

"Brother Li, now that the city is completely under our control, what's the next step?"

"Brother Zheng, you should take your men to the granary; it was already agreed that most of the grain would be left for you and Brother Wang," Li Chengye replied.

Zheng Guangqiu was overjoyed to see that although Li Chengye had almost single-handedly broken through the city, he still had not forgotten his previous promise. He clasped his hands in a salute to Li Chengye and then led his brothers toward the Yanchang County warehouse.

Then, Li Chengye instructed Luo Dai beside him: "Brother Luo, take some men to the county government, find and control all the blacksmith shops in the city, and ask if anyone is willing to go to Huanglong Mountain. Give those who are willing to go a settlement allowance."

Luo Dai asked in confusion, "You're still thinking about making farm tools?"

"That's right, since we have this opportunity, we shouldn't let it slip away."

Luo Dai replied, "Okay, I'll go right away," and turned to take care of the matter.