Southern Ming Rebel Army

In the early morning, when the light was dim, the soldiers in the Qing army camp had finished their breakfast and began to put on their armor and prepare. Dozens of rows of ladders built by the auxiliary soldiers overnight had been placed in front of the camp.

The Qing army's siege was imminent, and the rebels on the east city wall were making intensive preparations for battle. Tools for defending the city began to be transported to the top of the city continuously, including arrows, rolling logs, and gold juice from the city walls. Fire had also begun to burn.

Half an hour later, bursts of drum sounded in the Qing army camp. The Qing army began to assemble, and the auxiliary soldiers began to charge in ten positions carrying ladders. The Qing army in the rear followed closely with shields. After entering the artillery range of the city wall, the artillery on the city wall fired first. Dozens of auxiliary soldiers were beaten to a bloody pulp in one round of shelling, and the ground under the city was littered with limbs. "Ahhhhhhhhh". Some auxiliary soldiers were so scared that they dropped the ladders and ran back, but they were soon killed by the Qing army supervision team in the rear. The accuracy of the artillery was too poor. After several rounds of shelling, two ladders were hit by artillery and destroyed.

"Keep charging forward, those who retreat will die," the Qing army shouted fiercely, holding their swords. The Green Camp soldiers in the rear were holding shields and rushing towards the city wall. At this time, a solid bullet rushed straight towards the Qing army in the rear. The Qing army's shields had no resistance to the shells, like paper. This bullet penetrated the Qing army's line, like a plow, and killed them immediately. Those who were not dead on the ground wailed beside them, and were then killed by the supervisors who rushed up.

After entering the range of bows and arrows, Lin Shiqi shouted "Shoot" and a dense rain of arrows was shot down from the city wall. In a short period of time, the auxiliary soldiers under the city suffered heavy casualties. After the front-row auxiliary soldiers paid a heavy price in casualties, the Qing army had already set up eight rows of ladders on the city wall, and divided their troops to guard the top of the city. Logs rolled from the top of the wall, and bricks and stones fell like rain. The archers of the Qing army in the rear also began to draw their bows and shoot arrows towards the top of the city.

From time to time, rebel soldiers on the city wall were shot by arrows and fell to the ground. A young soldier next to Meng Jun was shot through the neck by an arrow, and blood foam kept gushing out of his mouth. "Get out of the way, get out of the way." Four people carried the boiling hot golden juice from the bottom of the city wall to the top of the city wall with great effort, and poured it down with a "sizzling" sound. Four or five Qing soldiers who were climbing the ladders were scalded and their skin was torn. They fell off the ladders with screams.

Li Chengdong of the Qing army camp looked at the top of the city wall with anger. After more than an hour of fierce fighting, they lost nearly a thousand people. None of the eight ladders could reach the top of the city wall. Seeing this, Hao Shangjiu shouted, "Follow me!"

Then he put on his armor, bit his sword, held his shield in one hand, and climbed up the ladder with the other hand, surrounded by dozens of personal guards. Hao Shangjiu was agile and climbed up the city wall against the rolling logs and stones on the top of the city wall. The morale of the Qing army below was boosted when they saw this, and they swarmed up like ants.

Li Chengdong was overjoyed when he saw this. As long as Hao Shangjiu could gain a foothold on the city wall, the Qing troops in the rear would be able to continuously pour into the city wall, and there would be hope of breaking the city today.

On the city wall, Meng Jun saw Hao Shangjiu wearing iron armor, and he had chopped down several people on the wall. Three of Hao Shangjiu's personal guards had already climbed up to the top of the city wall. They stood back to back and occupied a small area on the top of the city wall. The situation was critical. Meng Jun, along with Gao Yi and a dozen personal guards beside him, roared and rushed up. One of the personal guards beside Meng Jun took the lead in slashing at Hao Shangjiu, but was blocked by him. Hao Shangjiu blocked the attack and slashed Meng Jun's personal guard in the chest with his backhand. Meng Jun When the momentum of his sword was exhausted, Gao Yi chopped his leg. Hao Shangjiu staggered, and Gao Yi chopped Hao Shangjiu's neck from the side. His military instinct allowed him to avoid this fatal blow. The guards behind Hao Shangjiu quickly blocked in front of him. Hao Shangjiu stepped forward and slashed from bottom to top. Meng Jun took a step back dangerously. Meng Jun could feel the coldness of the cold light passing through his nose. Gao Yi quickly protected Meng Jun and chopped down one of Hao Shangjiu's guards with one knife.

At this moment, another person climbed up from the bottom of the city. The situation was extremely critical. Meng Jun shouted, "Drive them down!" Several rebels holding spears rushed up and pressed against Hao Shangjiu's waist. The spear heads were stuck in his iron armor, and Hao Shangjiu was pressed against the wall. He struggled to cut off the two spear heads with a knife, but inertia caused the broken spear to press against Hao Shangjiu's chest again. Meng Jun seized the opportunity and used all his strength to chop at his neck where the armor was fragile. With a puff, Hao Shangjiu's head slid to the ground. His eyes were wide open, and blood kept spurting out from his neck. Hao Shangjiu's bodyguards were stunned for a moment, and then rushed to Meng Jun in despair to avenge their master. Unfortunately, they were outnumbered and were soon killed by the surrounding rebels.

Meng Jun was breathing heavily, his adrenaline constantly secreting and he felt excited. This was the most dangerous battle in his few experiences. Fortunately, Meng Jun survived this battle, but the crisis on the city wall was not over yet. Meng Jun picked up Hao Shangjiu's head and shouted, "The enemy general's head is here." The guards around him shouted together. The Qing soldiers under the city were shocked and their morale plummeted.

Li Chengdong looked at the top of the city wall with a grim face. He never expected that the transition from joy to shock would be so quick. In just one day, he lost a general in the army. Seeing that morale was low, it was useless to continue attacking the city. Li Chengdong had to order the troops to retreat and fight again after resting. After the Qing army withdrew back to the camp, Li Chengdong's grim face became even darker after an inventory. In less than one morning, more than 700 elite soldiers were killed and nearly 1,000 auxiliary soldiers were lost.

The losses in Suzhou City were also not light. In one morning, more than 600 wounded soldiers were carried down from the top of the city wall, and more than 300 were killed on the spot. However, most of the rebels on the top of the city wall had seen blood, and their courage had greatly increased.

"Shiqi, we need to organize an elite armored army that can provide support at any time. This situation is too dangerous," Meng Jun said to Lin Shiqi while sitting on the steps at the entrance of the city wall.

"It's best to bring blunt weapons. If the Qing army wears double armor, they can't be cut by swords or pierced by guns. As long as a few Qing soldiers climb onto the top of the city wall, Suzhou City will be in danger," Lin Shiqi said to Meng Jun while wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Yes, Shiqi has considered it very comprehensively." Meng Jun slapped his head and immediately made a decision. He looked up and saw Meng Bian sitting on the ground with his arm covered to rest. Meng Jun shouted, "Bian, come here."

Meng Bian looked back when he heard what was said, and quickly stood up and walked towards Meng Jun, "Bian, are you okay?"

Meng Bian smiled and said, "I'm fine, Master. I just killed at least three Qing soldiers."

"Then what's wrong with this arm?" Meng Jun said as he looked at Meng Bian's covered arm.

"He was slashed by a bastard, luckily no vital parts were hurt. But he was in a miserable state. I slashed him in the face and he died on the spot. Look, he is still lying there now," Meng Bian said with a grin, and pointed to the body of a Qing soldier not far away. Meng Jun looked over and saw a Qing soldier with a bloody face leaning against the wall, motionless.

"Bi'an, go find Zhu Tu and ask him to make a batch of blunt weapons immediately. Then you go and pick the men. Armor should be taken from the treasury first. Take as many as you can. Build an armored army with blunt weapons to defeat the heavy armored soldiers of the Qing army," Meng Jun said to Meng Bi'an.

"Yes, Governor," Meng Bian nodded solemnly.

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