The winter solstice is the day with the shortest day and longest night in the year, and is therefore also the day with the heaviest evil spirit in the whole year.
Zheng Rong chose this day for the general attack because he thought that it would respond to the murderous aura from heaven. After all, he was guilty inside and wanted to seek a good omen.
However, Zheng Rong was afraid that Qiu Yi's plan to use gunpowder to blow down the walls of Luoyang would fail, and that a large-scale mobilization for war would become a laughing stock. So he was unwilling to say explicitly that he wanted to launch a general attack. Instead, he gave a special order: saying that the Youyan army had been stationed in the capital for too long and had become tired and slack, so all the soldiers were to leave the camp and line up to show their strength.
Qiu Yizi had no idea what Zheng Rong was thinking. She just thought that her adoptive father made such arrangements to keep the battle plan secret, and she secretly admired him in her heart.
After the army had formed its battle array, Qiu Yizi ordered his eighteen Yunmeng bandits to divide themselves into six groups of three, each holding a fire starter, and go deep into the tunnel to light a fire.
The tunnel was extremely long, about two to three hundred steps in length. The Yunmeng bandits who entered the cave took a long time to crawl out one after another and reported separately that the gunpowder fuse had been ignited.
In order to ensure that the gunpowder was ignited without accident and that the person who went to light the fire would not be trapped in the collapsed tunnel, when Qiu Yizi prepared the gunpowder, he prepared three extremely long fuses for each batch of gunpowder.
Therefore, Zheng Rong, Zhongli Kuang, Zheng Sen, Cui Nan, Qiu Yizi and others looked up and gazed into the distance for a long time, but there was no movement on the Luoyang city wall.
Just as everyone's nerves gradually relaxed, they suddenly saw several plumes of smoke rising from the Luoyang city wall, followed by an earth-shaking movement, and several extremely dull noises were heard. The rising smoke then spread, hiding half of the Luoyang city wall in the dust.
Zheng Rong was delighted when he saw this, and thought to himself, "Sure enough, the plan worked!" But he tried hard to keep a calm expression on his face.
There were many soldiers in the Youyan army who had seen the scene when the Yanshi city wall collapsed due to gunpowder, but the total amount of gunpowder used in the bombardment of Luoyang city wall was far more than that of Yanshi, which still shocked them speechless. Those soldiers who had not seen this scene were even more stunned, not knowing what happened to the Luoyang city wall in front of them.
The entire battlefield suddenly became silent, with only loud noises of collapsing walls and houses coming from the direction of Luoyang. However, the smoke and dust continued to spread, making it impossible to see what was happening.
This made Youyan King Zheng Rong, who was about to be overjoyed, a little anxious. He gently called Qiu Yizhi over and asked, "Yizhi, you see, I don't know when the smoke will dissipate. How can our army attack if we can't figure out the real situation?"
Qiu Yizhi thought for a moment and said, "When we bombarded the Yanshi city wall a few days ago, there was also smoke. It was only because of the rain that it was quickly washed away. The power of the bombardment of Luoyang city wall is much greater now, and there is no rain. I really don't know when it will be able to... This is all because of Yizhi's inconsiderateness. Please forgive me, foster father."
After hearing this, Zheng Rong glanced at Qiu Yi from his horse and said, "Our army does not know the enemy's strength, and the enemy does not know our strength. If the dust settles, I'm afraid the enemy will have already made defensive preparations. How can we easily take Luoyang?"
Qiu Yizi was startled by Zheng Rong's glare, so he said, "Why don't you go and investigate first to see the current status of Luoyang's city wall? After reporting back to your adoptive father, make a decision, okay?"
Zheng Rong nodded and said, "Although this matter is serious, Yizhi is my confidant, so we should not go to dangerous places lightly. We only need to send a reliable person to go."
Qiu Yizhi's heart warmed when he heard this, and he immediately bowed and said, "I will do anything for my adoptive father. Besides, how can others' retelling compare to seeing it with your own eyes? If the wall of Luoyang has not completely collapsed, I can also give you some advice based on the situation!"
Qiu Yizhi paused, and then said: "Yizhi, take Yuchi Lianghong and Zhao Chengxiao with you. Go quickly and come back quickly. I believe nothing will happen. Please rest assured, foster father!"
Zheng Rong knew the abilities of Yuchi Lianghong and Zhao Chengxiao. Qiu Yizhi's words just now made sense, and he finally nodded and said, "Okay, I will do as you say. But you must go and find out the situation clearly and come back, don't act rashly. Yizhi, have you taken note of this?"
Qiu Yizi nodded quickly, called Yuchi Lianghong and Zhao Chengxiao, and asked the soldiers in the Youyan army who were responsible for raising horses to wrap the twelve hooves of the three horses ridden by the three men with thick cotton cloth to prevent the sound of the hooves from alerting the enemy. Then he galloped towards Luoyang.
Zhao Chengxiao and Yuchi Lianghong protected Qiu Yizi one in front and one behind, passing through layers of smoke and dust, and approaching the Luoyang city wall at a high speed.
The closer they got to the Luoyang city wall, the stronger the smell of sulfur in the air became. Yuchi Lianghong was very good at holding his breath, and had already held his breath; Qiu Yizi and Zhao Chengxiao did not have this skill, and they kept coughing and crying under the burning smell of sulfur.
After breaking through the thick smoke and fog, Qiu Yizi and others finally arrived at the foot of the Luoyang city wall.
However, they saw that a section of the tall and majestic Luoyang city wall had been blasted by the violent explosion to create a gap that was wide enough for four or five people to enter and exit side by side. The ground was littered with broken bricks and tiles, and bricks and stones were still falling off the damaged section of the wall.
Qiu Yizi listened attentively, and he seemed to hear faint sounds of wailing, pain and shouting. He did not dare to stay for long, so he called Yuchi Lianghong and Zhao Chengxiao to protect him and rode quickly along the wall of Luoyang to the south.
After walking a few steps, I saw another section of the city wall covered with blackened marks. The wall became shaky, but it did not fall down - as if a warrior used up his last bit of strength before death to protect his home behind him.
Qiu Yizi did not have time to sigh. After secretly taking note of the situation here, he rode his horse again to the north.
In this way, Qiu Yizi took only one meal's time to closely observe all six designated blasting points - three of them had blasted gaps in the Luoyang city wall, allowing the army to move in; two of the walls had suffered severe damage but did not collapse; and the other one was intact, as if the gunpowder had not been ignited.
After listening to Qiu Yizi's report after he returned to the battlefield, Zheng Rong had an idea in his mind - with these three gaps, it was enough for his army to attack Luoyang from several directions at the same time. This was indeed a good result that was beyond his expectations.
Zheng Rong summoned Zhongli Kuang, Zheng Sen, Qiu Yizhi, Cui Nan and others, and gave the order: "The wall of Luoyang has been breached, now is the time to make a final push. I will lead the central army of 10,000 and break through from the center; Cui Nan and Zheng Sen will each lead 10,000 troops and charge into the battle from the left and right; Mr. Zhongli and Yizhi will lead the rear army to provide support, and we must capture the capital Luoyang today!"
After Zheng Rong finished speaking, he looked around at everyone.
But Zhongli Kuang waved his hand and said, "What kind of person is the prince? How can you kill him and bring him to the capital?"
"When I lead troops in battle, I always lead by example. Now is the time to turn the tide. How can I be afraid of death and stay behind the army?" Zheng Rong said.
Zhongli Kuang still had that expressionless look on his face, and slowly said: "Your Highness has misunderstood, I did not mean that. It's just that if Your Highness enters the capital and encounters the current emperor Zheng Yao, what should you do?"
Zhongli Kuang's question really made Zheng Rong dumbfounded.
Although Zheng Rong had taken up the righteous cause of suppressing the rebellion, Zheng Yao was still the emperor, which was a far cry from his current status as a prince. If Zheng Yao acted like an emperor and asked Zheng Rong to kneel down and pay homage, would Zheng Rong do it or not? Or if Zheng Yao would rather die than surrender, would Zheng Rong capture him or kill him
Seeing that Youyan Prince Zheng Rong was lost in thought, Zhongli Kuang continued, "So please be patient, Your Majesty. Yizhi is very familiar with the topography and defense of the capital, so why not let him lead the central army to attack Luoyang on Your Majesty's behalf? The rest of the deployment can be handled as usual."
Zhongli Kuang said to Qiu Yizhi in a low, almost inaudible voice: "The capital is a place of right and wrong, and the emperor is a man of right and wrong. It is best to let him commit suicide out of fear of crime, or simply die in the chaos of the army. In any case, no one can be left alive! Qiu Yizhi, do you understand?"
Although Zhongli Kuang was always sarcastic, he was always gentle and polite. He had never said such murderous words. Qiu Yizhi shuddered all over and turned to look at his adoptive father Zheng Rong. However, Zheng Rong also had a very serious expression on his face and nodded vigorously.
Seeing this, Qiu Yizhi had no choice but to agree: "Yizhi has made a note of it and will definitely try his best to do it!"
So Zheng Rong selected 35,000 elite soldiers from the nearly 100,000 Youyan troops, and led them by Qiu Yizi, Zheng Sen and Cui Nan, and arranged them in three cone formations.
However, Zheng Rong, surrounded by many guards and guards, stepped forward and gave a speech: "All the soldiers of Youyan listened! I was destined to be here, so the heavens loved me and sent down thunder to collapse the walls of Luoyang. As the saying goes, if you don't take what heaven gives you, you will suffer the consequences. If our army does not take advantage of the victory and attack Luoyang today, it will be against heaven and we will be punished by heaven!"
Then Zheng Rong said, "The traitor Zheng Yao has become a frightened bird and cannot withstand the attack of a lone soldier. However, the capital Luoyang is the best place, and the people of the capital are all your brothers and sisters. Do not disturb them recklessly, otherwise you will blame me for being ruthless!"
Seeing that all his soldiers were in awe, Zheng Rong said loudly: "Today, anyone who fights bravely against the enemy will receive a thousand taels of gold. It depends on whether you dare to take it!"
There will always be brave men when there is a big reward. When the soldiers heard that the reward for today's battle was so generous, they couldn't help but burst into exclamations.
At this point, the morale of the entire Youyan army had been fully aroused, so Qiu Yizi, Zheng Sen, and Cui Nan discussed with each other again, reorganized the formation with flags, and personally led the army to charge towards the Luoyang city wall.
At this moment, a north wind blew, dispersing some of the dust surrounding the Luoyang city walls.
Qiu Yizi looked through the gradually thinning fog and saw that the imperial defenders were still arranging their battle formations inside the gap in the Luoyang city wall. Knowing that this opportunity could not be missed, he waved his command flag and commanded the cavalry in the formation to rush forward towards the gap in the city wall. At the same time, the elite soldiers behind him also quickened their pace and followed closely.
Seeing this, Zheng Sen and Cui Nan on the two wings followed suit and led the cavalry into Luoyang.
The Luoyang defenders were so shocked by the sudden huge explosion that they were at a loss as to what to do. It took them a while to react and they thought that the Youyan army was very likely to rush in through the gap in the city wall.
So the officers guarding the pass sent people to report the situation to the Ministry of War and Emperor Zheng Yao, while at the same time forming a battle array on the spot, intending to first use the flesh and blood of the imperial guards to fill the gaps in the city wall, and then stop the civilians and craftsmen from repairing the city wall when the situation stabilized.
This is the best response measure that the Luoyang defenders can take in a short period of time.
However, the speed of the Youyan army's movements and the fierceness of its offensive were far beyond their imagination.
Before the Luoyang defenders could arrange their defensive formation, the elite cavalry of Youyan rushed in through the gap in the city wall.
Without a tight formation, the infantry lost the support and protection of their comrades, and were at an absolute disadvantage in the face of the rapidly charging cavalry. In addition, since the war between the imperial court and the King of Youyan began, they had always lost more than they won, and their morale was low. Today, they suddenly lost the protection of the tall city walls. The Luoyang defenders were all panicked. Seeing the elite cavalry of Youyan rushing in with an indomitable momentum, they did not even have the courage to resist, and actually made way for the enemy to rush into the city! (To be continued)