July 17 Crisis

  Liu Ziguang nimbly dodged the incoming arrows, and the first one hit the front row of the phalanx. A row of long spears thrust forward, and he swung his sword with great force, causing the spear holders' wrists to go numb from the shock, unable to hold onto their weapons. Liu Ziguang took advantage of the opportunity to make a horizontal sweep with his knife, cutting through the cuirasses of several guards in front of him, disemboweling them and creating a gruesome sight. Blood splattered onto Liu Ziguang's face and body, dyeing his clothes red.

  The long sword was stuck in the last person's breastplate, and Liu Ziguang stepped on that person's corpse and pulled hard, pulling out the sword with many notches, which dripped blood down the blade. The surrounding guards were shocked and hastily retreated, creating a gap in the phalanx.

  Zhamu and his three brothers also arrived, the four of them wielding their weapons like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves in the phalanx formation. Wherever they went, it was a bloody rain. The guards retreated to both sides, putting the four brothers under the crossbow's gunpoint. A mechanical transmission sound was heard, and large arrows shot over, but were all cut down by Liu Ziguang in mid-air. The guards beside the crossbow were shocked with their eyes wide open.

  The four temporarily drew the fire of the chariots, and the large army of slaves behind took advantage of the opportunity to surge forward. In the end, it was a case of strength in numbers, and in an instant, they had charged the defenders into disarray. The guards who had bullied the slaves every day were now being beaten by groups of three or five slaves, pressed to the ground, punched and kicked, cut and stabbed with knives and guns. In a short while, the slave guard team at Liguojin Iron Factory no longer existed.

  The slaves who had avenged their hatred howled like wolves, the long-lost fighting spirit spread throughout the team, and the slaves equipped with captured weapons rushed out of the camp gate.

  Zhamu and unknowingly snatched a horse from somewhere, using his skilled horsemanship to stand on the saddle and run at the front of the team, shouting loudly at everyone: "Brothers, let's rush to the North Gate together, we'll be free once we get out!" Earlier, Liu Ziguang had already told him that there were government troops cavalry outside the South Gate, and they couldn't pass through to seek death. Only by rushing out of the North Gate and fleeing north could they escape the influence of the Iron Factory and leave the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

  In the city, there were originally two forces fighting each other. Now, a large number of fresh troops suddenly joined in, making the situation even more chaotic. Many units that were engaged in combat were dispersed, and the slave army seized many weapons, following their idol - Super General Liu Ziguang - to rush towards the North Gate.

  Liu Ziguang slaughtered his way through, already covered in blood from head to toe. As he passed through the city, he saw the Council Building, its grandeur also filled with the sounds of slaughter, a flurry of swords and shadows. He couldn't help but glance over, then resolutely turned back, leading the large group of slaves towards the North Gate.

  The north gate is the most critical part of the iron factory's defense, as the front line is just ahead. The distance to the Qing dynasty's border is less than 100 miles, and although there are border troops defending it, they cannot guarantee that the Qing army will not launch a surprise attack. After all, the Qing dynasty has long had its sights set on this piece of fertile land with high iron production. Therefore, the defensive forces at the north gate must be numerous, and fierce tactical weapons like the chevaux-de-frise must be equipped in large quantities.

  The distance from the North Gate is getting closer and closer, a strong bloody smell is spreading in the air, making the quiet castle look even more eerie.

  The north gate is just a stone's throw away, but no one appears. Liu Ziguang, who was running at the front, raised his right hand to signal the people behind him to stop. Although there were thousands of prisoners of war, there were no high-ranking officers among them. People like Zhamu and others were already considered high-ranking military officials. Now they all recognized each other, and Liu Ziguang, who was extremely brave in battle, took on the responsibility of commanding voluntarily, without anyone raising any objections.

  The noisy procession stopped in its tracks under the loud commands of the slave drivers, and everyone looked up at the northern gate tower together. "Look, there's blood on the horse path." a sharp-eyed slave shouted, and indeed, there were traces of blood left on the horse path on the upper wall to the left.

  "Everyone, get into formation and defend! A few of you come with me to the city gate tower to lower the drawbridge. Big Brother, take some men to open the city gate, once the drawbridge is down, we'll charge out." At this critical moment, there's no time to worry about that anymore, let's get out of the city first. Liu Ziguang led Anthony and a few others along the horse path to run up the city wall and lower the drawbridge.

  The city wall was in a mess, with corpses lying all over the place. There were Iron Guards who had been defending the city, as well as robust men dressed in civilian clothes. Upon examination, it was clear that these men were skilled fighters, with calloused palms and sunken temples. Although there were only around ten of them, they had taken down hundreds of Iron Guards. Liu Ziguang didn't have time to take a closer look, but as he passed by the enemy tower, he caught a glimpse of a large number of Iron Guards lying on the ground with pale complexions and blood flowing from their mouths, apparently having died from poisoning.

  Liu Ziguang was puzzled, but he couldn't afford to think carefully and rushed towards the gallows. There were even more corpses around the gallows, piled up in layers, making it easy to imagine how fierce the battle for the gallows had been. As he approached, he saw a blood-soaked person lying under the gallows, his helmet gone, his armor broken and battered, with countless wounds of all sizes on his body, and more than a dozen crossbow arrows stuck in him. Liu Ziguang recognized this man as the commander of the North Gate, whom he had met when he accompanied the young lady to inspect the city defenses at the North Gate. He was a loyal and chivalrous man with excellent martial arts skills, who had also been very polite to Liu Ziguang, a former slave.

  The guard saw that the incoming person was Liu Ziguang and several people dressed as slaves, his hand holding the knife moved slightly, but still weakly loosened. "Manager Liu, quickly go rescue the young lady, there are Qing country spies in the inner house, they poisoned my brothers and want to seize the pass and surrender the city." Every word the guard said was accompanied by black blood flowing from his mouth, making it extremely difficult, "The spy is..." Before he could finish speaking, he fell to one side and no longer moved.

  Anthony reached out and touched the neck of the guard, then said to Liu Ziguang: "He's dead."

  "Are you filming a movie or something?" Liu Ziguang was furious, shaking his fist. What a great show to watch! The officials and soldiers of Xuzhou Prefecture, the Iron Factory rebels, the slave uprising army, the Qing country's people, and those loyal to the eldest sister - five kinds of forces gathered at Ligu Iron Factory.

  This muddy water can't be crossed, the slave army is the weakest, let's hurry up and run. They hastily moved the gallows, put down the drawbridge, and from under the city wall came the rumbling sound of the gate opening. As soon as the drawbridge landed on the shore of the moat, the slaves shouted and rushed out. Zha Muhe was the first to rush out, turned his horse around and looked back at the city head, "Second brother, fourth brother, the eagle can soar in the blue sky again, let's go."

  Liu Ziguang shouted under the city: "You go first, I'll follow later. There's still someone in the city who owes me a favor!" Zhā Mùhē burst out laughing: "It must be a girl you owe a favor to! Good! You're a man of your word! We're heading north, follow our tracks and catch up!" After that, he galloped off to chase after the main troops.

  Anthony ambiguously patted Liu Ziguang's shoulder and said, "Take the woman you like away with you. We'll wait for you." After that, he led his men down the city.

  Liu Ziguang stood on the city wall and looked back at the Tiechang City, where black smoke was rising and the sound of killing shook the sky. The southern gate seemed to have started attacking the city. The workers in Tiechang also picked up semi-finished weapons from the workshop to defend their homes. There were sporadic battles everywhere, and the most intense place was the Council Building in the center of the city.

  "Big sister, I'm here." Liu Ziguang took a deep breath and rushed towards the direction of the meeting building.

  Inside the council building, both sides are at a standoff. Yu Hualong and the Second Miss are well aware of the principle of "catching the king first" to capture the bandits, so the two forces are entangled in a fierce battle. The inner guards brought by the Second Miss only account for a small half of the total number, as some were taken out by Hu Xianzhi to search for Liu Ziguo, and another part was left to guard the inner house. These guards, led by Song Qingfeng, had an intense battle with Yu Hualong's elite tooth guards, both sides suffering casualties. Now, Yu Hualong's rebel army has been driven out of the council building and is surrounded at the bottom of the building.

  Hua Longdun sat in the gatehouse under the council chamber, orderlies and flag officers came and went like a revolving lantern, constantly reporting various military situations.

  Report... The inner house has been breached.

  "Report... ...the Steel Mill district has been captured."

  "The Lianfeng No. Arsenal has been under siege for a long time and cannot be taken down, our army has suffered heavy casualties."

  "Report... ... The battle at South Gate continues."

  "Report... slave camp uprising, entire guard unit killed."

  "Report... ... Northern Gate is in an unusual state, slaves have broken through the Northern Gate and escaped."

  Listening to the various messages that came in one after another, Yu Hualong's calm face didn't change at all. The situation inside the city was already clear in his mind. This group of useless people from Xuzhou Prefecture didn't even bring siege engines, they were simply here to take advantage and steal credit. Once the iron factory is taken down, their own strength will be almost exhausted. What if Huang Zhifu suddenly becomes difficult to deal with? That would be a bit troublesome. And those slaves, taking advantage of the chaos to escape from the city, it's really unknown what the northern gate's garrison was doing. But it's also good, it saved him the trouble of sending people to deal with them.

  "Someone come, give me a loud shout, let the people upstairs surrender, otherwise I will fire attack." Yu Hualong ordered. A soldier with a big mouth walked to the front of the building and shouted loudly: "People upstairs listen! Hurry up and surrender, when the fireball car arrives, the conference hall will be on fire, and everything will be destroyed!"

  The soldiers didn't lie, ten car ballistae were already in position, and boxes of arrows with igniting pine resin on the arrowheads were also brought over. The rebels lit long-burning lanterns at the launch ports of the car ballistae, so that every launched arrow would automatically ignite the pine resin on its head, becoming a true fire arrow.

  In the brick-wood structure of the council chamber, many wooden furniture and decorations made of flammable fabrics, curtains, carpets were placed. Once a fire broke out, it would be very difficult to put it out. The hidden passage back to the inner house was also sealed off, now they could only fight to the death, hoping for reinforcements from outside to come and rescue them. "Father doesn't know how he's doing, the killing sounds outside seem to have decreased a lot, it seems that the rebel army has taken control of the situation, I'm too young after all, couldn't outdo these old foxes." The eldest miss was anxious and flustered.

  At this moment, the heating supply also stopped, and the cold wind poured into the room through the broken window. People wearing silk clothes were frozen to shiver, and several people with weak wills heard the shouting below, frightened pale, staring at the big sister, hoping that the big sister could quickly think of a clever plan.

  Song Qingfeng sheathed his blood-stained treasured sword and politely took off his white fox-fur cloak, intending to put it on the young mistress, but was declined. "Open all gas pipes, seal the windows tight, and call Yu Hualong up for negotiations!" The young mistress said resolutely.

  The steel mill was fully equipped with lighting and heating facilities, using coal gas pipelines. The by-products of the steelmaking process were being utilized to the fullest extent possible. In a confined space, they could combine with air to form explosive gases. Big Sister knew this all too well. She was preparing for a desperate last stand.

  Later, when we arrive at the Huā Lóng Shàng, the Council Chamber's space is limited, he definitely won't bring too many people. At that time, use explosives to blow up the Council Chamber and threaten him, then rally the deceived Iron Guards to quell the rebellion. There might still be a chance of winning. Song Xiǎo Xiá, this time I'm really dragging you down, and I'll need to rely on your martial arts skills to hold Huā Lóng Shàng hostage. This humble woman thanks you in advance. The young lady said calmly.

  Upon hearing such a resolute plan, everyone looked at each other in dismay. Yang Meng and Lu Gaozhi, the guards, cast their eyes towards Song Qingfeng. Song Qingfeng returned them a calming gaze, smiling as he replied: "Song's decision is final."

  This little girl has finally realized my importance, Song Qingfeng thought with satisfaction. He wasn't afraid of the heavy siege outside at all. Firstly, he had the strength to kill his way out, and secondly, if he just waited a bit longer, the owner of the iron factory would probably change again.

  Hua Long heard the response from upstairs, and smiled slightly. The little girl was thinking of another trick, but all tricks are a joke in front of strength. Just now, I received news that the south gate has been breached, and the cavalry of Xuzhou Prefecture will enter the city soon. Half of the iron factory is already in my hands, and there are three or four layers of elite soldiers surrounding the Light Discussion Building, making it impossible to escape. What am I afraid of? Go ahead and go, I, an old man, cannot lose face in front of a little girl.

  Hua Long nodded at thirty good hands and followed him into the council building.