Chapter 29 Chapter Two

It is said that since ancient times when the two armies clashed, soldiers never tire of cheating. The Juziying in the Taiping Army dug a tunnel in the dark last night. It was a false shot, the tunnel had already been dug deep and wide in secret, and a large amount of gunpowder was transported inside, intending to ignite the fuse after nightfall, and blow up the strong and tall city wall of Lingzhou City in one fell swoop. However, in Lingzhou City, there were also expert arrangements, who arranged the city defense like a copper wall and an iron wall, and knew that the Taiping Army used to bomb the city in holes, so they took precautions in advance. The army did not have the slightest precaution against this. Sure enough, some soldiers accidentally triggered the gunpowder of the hidden artillery and detonated the gunpowder that had been transported into the tunnel. More than a thousand people were blown into powder on the spot. Those who survived were lucky enough to be buried in the ground by the collapsed earth and rocks.

Because there was too much gunpowder in the secret passage, the power of the blast was no small matter. The foundation of the city trembled three times, and then three more times. The houses in the south city that were closer to the city wall were also knocked down, crushing many people to death. Lingzhou soldiers and civilians. At this time, the Yue bandits gathered outside the south gate, taking advantage of the chaos of the defenders on the city, mobilized the army amidst the sound of drums and horns, held dense layers of heavy shields, and set up ladders to attack Lingzhou City. The regiment bravely defending the city still used mountain cannons, guns, fire systems, bows and arrows, gray bottles, and wood to attack each other, but this Taiping army was an elite division of the old camp in western Guangdong. Hundreds of battles are not comparable to the mob attacking at dawn. Tall and thick leather shields and rattan shields have long been formed into formations to cover the top of the head airtight.

The officers and soldiers had no choice but to continuously bombard with mountain-splitting artillery and tiger-squatting mortar artillery. Although many enemies were killed and wounded, those Taiping troops came very quickly, like a scarlet hurricane. The deep trenches, the army behind rushed through the deep trenches one after another, attacked the dead corner of the city root where the artillery could not shoot, and then erected a ladder, scrambling to climb to the top of the city. The soldiers of the Taiping Army who climbed the city first were young men who were as nimble as apes (ㄋㄠ). They were all thin and dark. Going to the top of the city and forming a melee with the enemy's hand-to-hand combat, most of the Lingzhou City will not be able to defend.

Countless soldiers of the Taiping Army under the city saw that the vanguard battalion was on the top of the city in an instant, and they all thought that the city would be broken soon, and their morale was immediately boosted.Kill all the demons and enjoy peace!The sound of shouting and killing was like a tsunami, engulfing everything. Although Ma Tianxi understands the art of war, he is not a general after all. He was numb from the explosion sound from the ground before, and was carried to the tower by his followers. It took him a while to recover. In great chaos, he hurriedly got up and looked out through the arrow holes. He knew that the attacking force was the elite bandits. Although Lingzhou Tuanyong fought fiercely with the enemy with sharp firearms, he had already lost the first. It's a machine, and I can't stop it when I look at it.

Ma Tianxi is indeed a handsome talent who is stable in times of crisis. He hastily ordered people to raise a string of red lanterns on the city tower. This is a sign of red lights, telling the battalions and regiments to use the water to defend against the enemy at the same time. This is exactly: strategizing The marshal's work is the work of the soldiers who charge into the battle. Lingzhou City is a thousand-year-old city, which has always been a battleground for military strategists. There are many caves for Tibetan soldiers behind the city wall. A pot of Shangshui was boiled. This Shangshui was boiled with hot oil mixed with excrement and lime. Bucket after bucket was handed up to the city wall, and then whole buckets were poured down from the top of the city.

Although the thick shield and heavy plate can block the rolling stones of wood, it cannot block the invisible fluid. As long as the human skin is touched by the hot water, a large piece of scorching fire will be born immediately, festering and festering quickly, eating the flesh and rotting the bone. Until the white bones are exposed, if the hands and feet are scalded, the companion can use a knife and ax to cut off the limbs in time to save life, but once the body and head touch a little bit, even the immortal Hua Tuo can't save it. It is extremely vicious. The defenders on the city splashed the boiling Shang water, which immediately scalded countless Taiping soldiers to death and scalded them. Those who had already climbed the ladder also screamed and fell down. Countless, the brigade had to retreat. Lingzhou Tuanyong took the opportunity to bombard the city with firearms, leaving a large number of corpses of the Taiping Army.

Although Mr. Ma looks kind on the surface, he has always been ruthless and murderous. Seeing the mountains of corpses piled up in the city, he never even frowned. The officers and soldiers of the brigade robbed and killed them in the surrounding area, otherwise they would be wiped out in one fell swoop, making an unrivaled miraculous achievement. As for how the soldiers and civilians in the city rested and guarded after the Taiping Army suffered heavy losses and defeat at the foot of Lingzhou City, it is natural to say that Zhang Xiaozhuan wrapped the dog's head of the mastiff and came back from Huangzan Ridge at dawn that day. When the Guangdong invaders attacked the city, he saw that the situation was not good, so he turned around and hid in the ravine. He only heard the roar of killing in the direction of Lingzhou City, but he didn't know how the battle was going, so he didn't dare to act rashly. When he got down, the sound of the guns gradually disappeared, and he dared to sneak back to the city after nightfall.

After a whole day of fierce fighting, the gates of Lingzhou City were closed tightly. Zhang Xiaozhuan came to the gate in the dark, and saw dead bodies under the city layered on top of each other. There were all kinds of deaths, even the ditches were filled up, wild boars and rats were scrambling to eat, he couldn't help being terrified, he hurriedly shot the branch into the air, and let the people at the top of the city put down their bamboo baskets to respond. That grandson Dazi waited on the top of the city for a day and a night, and the rest of the tolerance had fled long ago, but even when the fight with the Taiping Army was at its most intense, he always stayed on the city wall, lest he miss Zhang Xiaozhu's signal. It was all dark, and I thought that Zhang Xiaozhu must have died in the rebellion, and was trying to find a way to go out of the city to find his body, but at this moment, I heard the sound of arrows breaking through the wind, so I quickly put down the bamboo basket and picked up Zhang Xiaozhu. Most of their friendships are based on profit, gold is not much, and they are not deep, and those who do not seek profit are mostly just verbal friendship, wine and meat friends, but the two of them are life and death friends who escaped together. The other party's face was covered with blood, but luckily they were still alive, and each was overjoyed.

Zhang Xiaoxuan and Sun Dazi straightened their clothes a bit, and then they went to meet the governor Ma lord together. After the Guangdong army retreated, they gathered their armor dozens of miles away. At this moment, Lingzhou City was still tightly besieged, and Ma lord did not dare to rest. He has been busy counting the casualties, and deploying troops to various places. Hearing that Zhang Xiaozhuan has returned from Huangzan Ridge, and not knowing the success or failure of this trip, he hastily told them to come in. After Zhang Xiaozhu gave the salute, he untied the burden on his back, let everyone look at the dog's head, and briefly explained the ins and outs. He knew that he couldn't hide Mrs. Ma with his own words, and he didn't dare to lie. I told the truth, except that I didn't mention the old ghost in the forest.

At that time, there were many officials gathered in the hall, and they all saw with their own eyes how ferocious the Godly Mastiff of the Wild Burial Ridge was on the execution ground of Monk Suia Pan, but they didn't expect to be captured and killed by Zhang Xiaozhun alone, they couldn't help being speechless. Can't believe this is true either. Only Mr. Ma seemed overjoyed, he clapped his hands and praised that the art of matching cats is really not an easy way, he can drive the cats to steal lamps and oil, and fascinate the god mastiff.At this point, he looked at Zhang Xiaozhu differently, and he told everyone that there was a parable before, saying that the old Ao who lived in the sea saw the vastness of the sea and the sky, and bullied the frog at the bottom of the well. The roc can fly to the end of the world just by spreading its wings. That's why it is said that there are mountains beyond the mountains and sky beyond the sky. In the difficult season, don't look at the traces of heroes with the naked eye.

All the officials insisted that this card was hidden, and that it really had some real skills, and they all took the opportunity to praise Mr. Ma as a hero with insight, who can widely distinguish strange people from all over the world, and the selection of talents is even more eclectic. , our generation is far beyond our reach, today we first smashed the Guangdong invaders, and then removed a great harm for Lingzhou City. It is really gratifying and congratulatory. The Holy Majesty will definitely use it again after hearing about it. It seems that the time for your lord's promotion is just around the corner. Master Ma immediately encouraged Zhang Xiaozhun, rewarded him with a lot of money and things, and told him to go back and rest for a while, Zhang Xiaozhuan finally showed some skills in front of others, although he was not proud of himself, he still couldn't help but secretly proud of himself, only saying that he was sleepy Long Yushui is not far away from the prosperity of Daqing Dashou. Mr. Zhang was not born to be an ordinary person. If he doesn't spread his fame and immortality to him in a faraway country and a foreign land, he will be too sorry for us. Do something, the ancients said that the phoenix lives in Wu, the dragon leaps in the abyss, everything returns, and everyone has their own destiny. Is it just a daydreaming delusion? Satisfied, Zhang Xiaozhuan received the reward, went back to the dormitory with Sun Dazi, ate enough wine and meat, and didn't care about the world, so he fell asleep and dreamed of being promoted and getting rich all night, sleeping like he was on a cloud, In the dream, he felt that the sky was high and the earth was vast and unobstructed, but suddenly he was abruptly grabbed from the bed by two servants, saying that it was Master Ma who wanted him to go quickly to obey the order. It turned out that a strange thing happened in Lingzhou City. The Guangdong bandits blew up the tunnel the night before. Although the city wall was not damaged, a house on the edge of the southern city was knocked down in several places. When the broken stones and tiles were opened, a big crack was opened in the ground, and a lot of white clouds and mist spewed out continuously. At the beginning, nothing happened, but as the white mist became thicker and thicker, the clouds condensed and changed, and did not disperse for a long time. , gradually formed the shadow of an ancient pagoda, although it is only the outline, but each floor of the 16-story octagonal exquisite roof is very vivid, and even the collapsed eaves are clearly recognizable. The ancient pagoda transformed by the white mist is high up in the blue sky. Xi, only the group of cloud and mist shaped like a tower gathered together, it seemed strange and unspeakable, even if there are well-informed people in the city, they don't know why there is such a vision. Even the Taiping army outside the city was stunned. Everyone looked at each other from a distance, everyone was horrified, thinking that the Qing demon in the city had used some evil method, so they had to give up the idea of ​​attacking the city for the time being.People in Lingzhou City were panicked for a while, and rumors arose everywhere, some said that some kind of demon cave or ghost mansion had been shaken open, some said that it was an underground monster spewing fog, but no one dared to go down to find out. The truth is, there are still people who advise the governor Ma Dashang, saying that the shadow of the tower in the cloud comes strangely, and I don’t know who the owner is good or bad, but its source must be underground. Zhang Zhangtou is a man of great skill and boldness, with outstanding eyesight and quick hands, and he also possesses extraordinary skills. He has raised soldiers for thousands of days and used them for a while, so why not send him down to find out what's going on.This is exactly: throwing a needle at the bottom of the water to find it in the water, and finding the treasure lost in the sea.If you want to know what happened next, let's listen to the next chapter.