Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

A total of five cloud ladders, four Lu Gong carts, more than two hundred flying ladders, and countless parapets were pushed across the moat from the floating bridge and rearranged.

The Ming army's cannons were still bombarding the area.

After the attacking troops had formed their ranks and advanced a distance, the Ming army's artillery ceased firing.

Pushing at the forefront were large Lügong carts, each with ten musketeers standing on its top deck, firing down at the city's defenders.

Five siege ladders slowly advanced, and the hidden troop carriages were filled with Wang De's elite soldiers.

Although his 3,000 elite troops suffered more than 200 casualties, those with minor injuries were still able to fight.

More than 2900 people were responsible for the main attack and were dispersed across five ladders.

Behind the parapet near the siege ladder, other elite troops followed. As long as Wang De gained a foothold on the city wall, the follow-up troops could continuously scale the wall.

The Western Xia parapet has been extensively damaged, with sandbag fortifications piled up more than half a person's height behind it.

The Ming musketeers on Lu Gong's cart had difficulty hitting the enemy behind the sandbags, but they used bullets to keep the defenders from raising their heads.

However, while sandbag fortifications could stop bullets, they also made it difficult to throw logs, rolling stones, and molten gold.

"Rocket!"

Under Yi'e's command, the rocket force was redirected to the main attack direction of the Ming army, firing at the Ming army's Lu Gong chariots and siege ladders.

The Western Xia soldiers attempted to burn the Ming army's siege weapons, but with little success; they covered them with cowhide for fire protection.

The sandbags on the city wall directly opposite the five siege ladders were moved to create gaps, making it easier for the defending soldiers to pour molten gold and throw rolling logs.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

After one layer of sandbags was removed, they were immediately subjected to a concentrated attack by the musketeers on Lu Gong's cart.

Although there were blind spots, the musketeers were positioned high up. The Western Xia soldiers carrying sandbags were in danger if they dared to stand upright.

After shooting and killing several people, the Western Xia defenders lay prone behind sandbags, too afraid to move.

They crouched down and threw arrows down from the city walls, while Ming archers also hid behind the parapets and fired arrows.

Arrows rained down both inside and outside the city.

The first ladder has been raised, and the soldiers pushing the cart turn the winch, raising the wooden ladder higher and higher, above the city wall—similar to a fire ladder.

An officer was in charge of observing the distance and ordered, "Take half a step back!"

The soldiers pulled the ladder backward.

The officer shouted again, "Release!"

The wooden ladder slowly collapsed forward, with the two iron hooks at the front securely caught on the city wall.

Wang De hid in the carriage of the siege ladder. He carefully observed upwards and found that the muskets in Lü Gong's carriage had effectively suppressed the enemy troops above him.

Chapter 3774 Stones and Logs

So Wang De rushed out of the carriage and quickly climbed up.

The ladder is placed on the city wall at a shallow angle, so pouring molten gold would be a useless attack. Instead, you should throw logs so they roll down the ladder.

Two men bent over, lifted the log, and threw it outwards with all their might.

Simply pressing down on the top of the ladder and rolling it down would be an ineffective attack.

Because there are several anti-rolling measures on both sides of the ladder, namely, upright wooden logs as thick as an arm to prevent the defenders' logs from rolling down.

"Bang bang bang!"

The musketeers were keeping a close eye on the two Lu Gong carts to the left and right of the ladder.

The moment the Western Xia warriors threw the log, before they could even throw it, ten bullets were fired at them.

One soldier fell to the ground, and another was shot in the arm.

The log landed diagonally on the ladder, rolled down a short distance, was stopped by the barrier post, and crashed to the side of the ladder before falling to the ground.

"catapult!"

Many of the Western Xia soldiers were crouching or lying down behind the sandbags. They couldn't see what was happening outside, but they were throwing stones over the sandbags with all their might.

The stone is smaller than my head; if it were too heavy, I wouldn't be able to throw it.

Wang De raised his round shield with his left hand to protect his head as he continued to climb.

A stone landed on the shield, making Wang De's arm ache.

Another stone fell, grazing his shoulder and sliding off.

"Golden juice, golden juice, pour it down quickly!"

Two Western Xia soldiers carried an iron pot forward.

Before they could even tilt, ten more bullets came flying in.

Then came a pitiful scream as a person was shot down, and the iron pot in their hand fell to the ground.

The other person was in a blind spot and was not hit by the bullets, but his feet were scalded by the spilled gold liquid.

Just then, Wang De climbed onto the city wall.

Before he could even get his footing on the sandbag, four spears thrust at him simultaneously, and two knives slashed at his feet.

The musketeers dared not fire again, leaving Wang De to handle the situation on his own.

Wang Deju deflected a spear with his shield, then drew his iron mace and smashed another one.

The remaining two shots hit him, one in the chest and the other in the waist.

The immense impact nearly knocked Wang De off the city wall; he barely managed to steady himself by abandoning his shield and grabbing the spear that was thrusting towards his chest.

The other two knives both struck Wang De's instep.

Boots, also known as cotton-padded boots!

The outer layer is cotton armor, and the inner layer is chainmail, which does not significantly affect mobility.

The three thousand men under Wang De's command were a key unit that had undergone significant equipment upgrades and was specifically designed for attacking cities and capturing strongholds.

The two Western Xia soldiers were stunned for several seconds when they realized they couldn't cut through Wang De's boots.

Wang De had already jumped into the crowd, and before his feet even touched the ground, he swung his mace and smashed the head of a foot soldier.

"Kill him!"

The Western Xia general Yi'e was nearby, as this was the main attack zone for the Ming army.

Yi'e even crouched down and personally led his troops over to reinforce the defenses.

Wang De had been hit by countless knives and spears all over his body, and only his medium-sized cotton armor could withstand the damage, but his skin, flesh and bones were still in great pain.

He didn't charge forward; instead, he stayed within a meter of his position, repeatedly wielding his mace to attack, holding the line while allowing the following soldiers to advance.

Finally, another soldier climbed up, holding a shield in one hand and a mace in the other, and fought alongside Wang De.

When Yi E came to his aid, Wang De already had five men on the city wall.

Unable to wield the long spear effectively, Yi E carried a wrought iron rod.

The stick has a wooden handle for most of its length, with the front quarter made of wrought iron, making it very convenient for breaking through armor.

Chapter 3775 Giant Monster

"when!".

When the iron mace and the iron rod collided, Yi E felt his entire right arm go numb from the shock, and he could barely hold onto the iron rod with both hands.

He was filled with fear, and looked at Wang De as if he were looking at a giant, powerful monster.

Wang De completely ignored the attacks from other enemies, as his allies would handle them for him.

Taking advantage of the fact that Yi E's arm was stiff from the shock, Wang De slammed down with his iron mace again.

Yi E raised his stick with both hands to block, but was directly forced back half a step by the shock, barely managing to hold onto the iron stick and prevent it from falling.

"Hoohoo!"

Wang De brandished his iron mace once more, making a whistling sound in the air.

Yi E tried to raise his stick to block, but found he couldn't lift his arm, so he lay back to dodge in fright.

"Oh!"

A mace struck Yi E in the chest, denting the cold-forged armor plates. Blood spilled from the corner of Yi E's mouth, and he only managed to stay upright by bumping into the soldiers behind him.

Wang De stepped forward and slammed down with his mace, hitting Yi E's helmet hard.

Yi E's body immediately stiffened, his pupils dilated, he collapsed to the ground convulsing, and blood kept flowing out of his helmet.

"With King Yaksha here, who dares to fight again?"

Wang De shouted loudly.

"The Yaksha is coming! Run!"

The nearby Western Xia soldiers were dumbfounded, and even Bu Bazi was so frightened that he retreated.

When they heard Wang De call himself a Yaksha, and because he was tall and imposing, they were momentarily convinced that he was a Yaksha incarnate.

When Wang De swung his mace again, the enemies in front of him instantly fled, hoping to get as far away from this yaksha as possible.

Compared to Shenyongjunsi City, which was captured by Wang De, Yinzhou City, which was besieged by Zhang Xian, was much more difficult to attack, purely in terms of the strength of its city walls!

Leaving aside the fact that it is surrounded by water on three sides, let's just talk about the thickness of the city wall.

In ancient China, city walls in county towns typically had a base thickness of 4 meters and a top thickness of 3.5 meters, and even if there were variations, the differences were not significant.

The foundation of a city is generally between 6 and 9 meters high.

The base of Kaifeng City in the Northern Song Dynasty was 18 meters high.

During the Ming Dynasty, due to the use of bricks both inside and outside the walls, the walls were thicker. For example, the base of Beijing was 24 meters high, and the base of Xi'an was 18 meters high.

The city of Yinzhou before us has a wall base thickness of 10 meters, which is typical of an important prefecture city of this era.

It was first built during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period. Due to its long-term location in a war-torn region, it was continuously heightened and thickened by successive dynasties.

Especially during the century-long war between the Song and Xia dynasties, this place was right next to the Song army's Mizhi Village. After Yinzhou was captured twice by the Song army, the thickness of the base of the lower city wall had increased to 14 meters.

This city is divided into an upper city and a lower city.

The upper city is on a hill, and the lower city is on flat ground; the two cities are connected. The corners of the city walls are curved, not sharp, and the walls curve slightly according to the terrain.

It forms a three-dimensional defense system surrounded by water on three sides!

Zhang Xian bombarded the city walls of Yinzhou with cannons for twelve days, but the walls showed no signs of collapsing.

Only in certain areas did the outer rammed earth layer, which had been added a century ago, collapse; even the wooden beams above the city gates remained intact.

"Build more siege ladders and Lu Gong chariots!" Zhang Xian could only give the order in frustration.

Taking this city should be no problem, but it will probably take more than a month.

To breach a fortified city in a month would be an achievement in any dynasty, but the various armies of the Ming Dynasty were all vying for credit and racing against time.

……

A troop of cavalry came from the west at night. Zhang Xian sent out scouts to sound the alarm, but although the troop responded with their own horns, their response was completely irrelevant.

Chapter 3776 Encirclement and Interception

"Those are enemy cavalry!"

The Ming cavalry sounded their horns to intercept them.

The Western Xia cavalry came in small numbers, but in the dark, the Ming army was unable to stop all the enemies.

Two Western Xia light cavalrymen slipped through the gap in the defenses and hurriedly rushed to the outskirts of Yinzhou City.

The Yinzhou garrison commander, Wang Li Nengyu, ordered the two men to be lifted up in baskets and asked, "Did you come from Shizhou?"

One of the cavalrymen was shot in the back with an arrow. He lost too much blood and became weak. He was only able to hold on by the last breath in his chest. When he arrived at the destination, he collapsed.

Another cavalryman, panting heavily, took two minutes to catch his breath before saying, "Shizhou is besieged, and Longzhou has fallen."