Chapter 23: The Strong Man Releases His Wrist

  As the bugle sounded, soldiers rushed to the top of the city wall and looked down nervously. The Tartar cavalry did not scatter and attack the city like before, but instead, more than a dozen simple siege ladders appeared in the dense enemy crowd, seemingly hastily made from trees cut down from the mountain.

  The city wall of Jixian is not extremely high, and with the addition of ladders, plus the Tatar soldiers' divine archery skills to cover them, if the city's defenders are breached even a little, the situation will be lost.

  Jiang Bin grasped a pair of swords, his killing intent surging as he shouted: "Get the general for me to mount, blast their ladders!" Instantly, several soldiers and militiamen rushed over to help the gunners anxiously adjust the position of the large cannon.

  In the distance, a strange object stood upright, with wooden beams crossing each other, about 15 meters high. On top was a platform, and below it was an even larger square platform. Two rows of wooden wheels protruded from the sides, and in front, a whole piece of cowhide hung down, making it impossible to see inside. However, as the strange object swayed back and forth, moving forward on its own, one could guess that the Tartar soldiers were hiding behind the cowhide cover, pushing the wooden platform forward. A dense mass of Tartar soldiers followed closely behind, beginning to move forward, and from the city wall, it looked like a dark cloud covering the snowy ground was pressing in.

  The sun had risen high, and everywhere was shining with a cold light of swords and guns. Jiang Bin raised his knife and pointed at the well-shaped frame, shouting: "Quickly, blow up that siege vehicle for me!"

  The Tartars are getting closer and closer, the soldiers who were drawing their bows and arrows suddenly shouted: "Sir, in front of us are our people, the Tartars...the Tartars have taken our people hostage and are standing in front of us."

  "Huh?" Jiang Bin hastily rushed to the front, pressed against the wall and looked down. At this time, the Tartars were getting closer and closer, and it was clear that there were twenty or thirty people standing in the front, men and women, old and young, all dressed in Central Plains attire. This made Jiang Bin stunned as well.

  Fight? Those are all the people of Da Ming, who dares to take on the crime of slaughtering their own countrymen. Not fight? If they let the Tartar soldiers rush forward, they will not be able to survive either, and the entire Jiming Inn will also fall.

  Jiang Bin's eyes rolled around and he cursed viciously: "Beat them for me, that's the Tatars' trickery, all of them are disguised as Tatars, beat them hard for me".

  The cannon's muzzle was aimed at the siege vehicle, and as the gunner brought the torch closer to the fuse, Jiang Bin's cheek muscles twitched involuntarily. At this moment, a militiaman suddenly shouted: "Can't shoot, can't shoot! That's our fellow villager, I recognize him, the one on the left is my uncle, they're all from our hometown of Lala Ridge!"

  The firecracker "sizzled" as it burned, and Liu Xunjian swiftly drew his knife and with a "clang" cut the fuse, severing it. The sudden move startled Huang Xiancheng and Wang Zhuobo, who were both pale-faced and let out a long sigh of relief.

  Jiang Bin was so anxious that he jumped up and down, his forehead bulging with blue veins as he said: "I'm telling you, esteemed elders, if the war chariots get close to the city gate, we simply can't defend the city with just these people, this is no time to show mercy to women!"

  Magistrate Huang said, "No way, as parents of the people, how can we harm our own citizens? Those who are good at shooting arrows should shoot and kill the Tartar soldiers directly, preventing them from getting close." The several civil officials beside him nodded in agreement.

  Order a bombing without distinguishing between friend and foe? The county annals will probably have to record their infamy from now on, and for thousands of generations they will be cursed by people. How can they bear such a crime? Moreover, if the speaking officials know about it and impeach them in the imperial court, even if they escape the Tartars' slaughter today, I'm afraid the emperor will also punish them.

  Several archers drew their bows and arrows flew horizontally. However, the front of the war chariots that had entered the shooting range was covered with rawhide, which was tough and hard, making it impossible for the arrows to penetrate. The large group of Tatar soldiers hid behind the siege engines and slowly approached, completely unbothered.

  Jiang Bin became impatient and shouted loudly: "This place is under my command! Gunners, fire at it and overturn the tank!"

  "Who dares to do this?" County Magistrate Huang thundered, his eyes blazing with anger. "The Ming army slaughtering the Ming people? How can this be justified? I am the county magistrate of this county, and in the absence of Governor Min, all officials, including the garrison troops, are under my jurisdiction. Who dares to disobey orders?" The artillerymen looked at each other in dismay, unsure whose orders to follow.

  Several arrows shot onto the cowhide, only making it quiver a few times, at most one or two arrows were stuck in the cowhide, with no intimidating force. A Tatar cavalryman jumped to the front of the war chariot, holding his spear in one hand and shouting in Chinese: "There are all your Great Ming people ahead, who dares to shoot arrows? Take a good look!"

  That man turned his horse around, swooped down and snatched a package from a woman's hands, then galloped back. The woman cried out and chased after him, when suddenly an arrow flew in and hit her right in the back. She stumbled and fell to the ground.

  On the city wall, a solemn atmosphere prevailed, as everyone watched in horror as the woman fell to the ground, unable to rescue her. The robust Tartar warrior arrived at the foot of the city wall, holding his gun and tossing the bundle into the air. With a swift motion, he pierced it with the sharp tip of his spear, suspending it high above the ground. He shouted triumphantly: "We know that there are not many soldiers defending the city. Open the gates and surrender quickly, and you may still be spared your lives. Otherwise, everyone in the city will be slaughtered, and even this small child will not be let off!"

  The people on the city wall only then realized that the bundle he was carrying in his hand was actually an infant, and everyone's eyes were wide with shock. Even those few archers holding bows didn't know whether they were frightened or hateful, their arms trembling, unable to draw their bows again.

  Seeing the fresh blood flowing down the gun barrel, dripping onto the snowy ground, Han Youniang covered her mouth with one hand and tightly grasped Yang Ling's arm with the other, tears blurring her eyes.

  After a long while, Jiang Bin suddenly roared: "What the hell are you all staring at? Fire the cannon! Give me fire! You bunch of stupid bookworms, do you want to let the Tartars rush up and slaughter us before you're satisfied?"

  Huang Xian's lips trembled as he stammered, "No...no...", but couldn't utter a complete sentence. Yang Ling hadn't expected the Tartars to be so brutally cruel. Witnessing this bloody scene, the huge psychological gap suddenly made him realize a harsh reality: now is now, and the current foreign tribes are just that - foreign tribes, all of whom are inhumane beasts without any humanity.

  He saw a baby in swaddling clothes being shot dead by bloodthirsty savages without blinking an eye, he was already bleeding from the eyes, he suddenly shook off the young woman's arm, rushed to the front of the cannon, snatched the fuse from the gunner's hand, lit the fuse, and hoarsely shouted: "Damn it! Kill! Kill! Kill!"

  With a loud "boom", the cannon roared, and the shell accurately landed on that war chariot, blasting its base to smithereens. The several civilians in front and the Tatar soldiers pushing the siege platform under the base were blown to pieces, their flesh and blood flying everywhere. The massive frame shook and fell, and the few Han people who were not killed by the blast fled in all directions, only to be shot dead one by one by the pursuing arrows on the snowy ground.

  The Tartar soldiers, who were challenging under the city wall, were greatly frightened by this sight, and immediately turned their horses' heads to flee. As soon as they turned around, a sharp arrow shot into his neck from behind, pierced through his throat, and the Tartar soldier did not even make a sound, fell off his horse with his face up, one foot still hanging in the stirrup, and his dead body was dragged back to their own camp by the warhorse.

  On the city wall, Han Youniang's eyes were red, holding a war bow seized from a soldier beside her, and another arrow was already on the string. This large bow for defending the city is very similar to the longbow she used when hunting in the mountains, different from the short crossbow with fast shooting speed and close range. At the age of 12, she had shot a marten running in the dense forest with a longbow, and it was naturally effortless to shoot the Tartar soldiers under the city who were completely exposed.

  As soon as the shield wall lost its effect, the Tatars shouted and carried more than a dozen wooden ladders in several teams to rush towards the city wall.

  The cannon was knocked off its position again, the smoke dispersed, and Yang Ling held up a torch, shaking like a leaf in the wind. His face was smoked black, and he slowly turned around to look at Huang Xiancheng and Ma Yizheng above, his voice hoarse as he said: "The snake's fang is broken, the hero unties his wrist. The overall situation...the overall situation is crucial!"

  Huang Xian Cheng stared at him straight, suddenly let out a loud shout and rushed over crazily, with great effort he picked up a millstone and threw it down to the city wall fiercely. Wang Zhu Bu, Ma Yi Cheng and others also rushed up like madmen. Jiang Bin didn't dare to let all these people die here, immediately called several soldiers to drag these crazy scholars into Yue Lou by carrying and lifting them.

  He rushed to Yang Ling's face, and heavily patted him on the shoulder, praising: "Well done! What great things can be achieved with compassion for women? No matter how others look at it, if the lives of nearly ten thousand people in Chicken Inn can be saved, it is all thanks to you!"

  He spat fiercely on the ground and shouted: "Continue firing, blow up all the wooden ladders of the Tartars!"

  However, at this time, the Mongolian soldiers under the city had already avoided the main castle tower and dispersed to both wings to set up ladders on the city wall for a strong attack. The effect of the cannons had weakened. Yang Ling retreated to one side, whether it was the neighing of war horses, the breaking of arrows in the air, or the sound of killing and screaming, all seemed to have become the sounds of another world. Already two wooden ladders had been climbed up onto the city head, but were strongly suppressed by Jiang Bin's men. He stood there as if he had lost his soul, seemingly unaware. Although he knew that the most rational thing to do at this time was to ruthlessly blast them away with one cannon, otherwise more lives would be sent to their deaths in vain, yet those civilians who died at his own hands still left a strong sense of guilt.

  The bombs have been used up, and the originally timid and fearful militiamen seem to have also ignited their innate ferocity. Cudgels, rolling logs, and quicklime were all employed, and many people picked up the knives and guns of fallen soldiers to join in the melee. The Tartars completely paved a road with human lives, vowing to take down the Ji Ming Yi relay station.

  Not far away, four Tartars had already rushed up a ladder, and more were climbing up behind them, fighting fiercely with the Ming army. Jiang Bin saw that things were not going well, and wielding two bloody sabers, he dashed over like a gust of wind.

  Yang Ling was startled awake by the miserable cries nearby, at this time the city's defenders were severely understaffed, and there were no fresh troops to fill the gap. Yang Ling didn't think twice, grabbed a long spear and rushed over.

  P.S. The points for pushing are relatively low, although the focus is on collecting and clicking, after all, recommendations represent the affirmation and support of all book friends, please enjoy and recommend more after reading, thank you! There is still one chapter at 12 o'clock.