Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Sure enough, when the imperial army arrived at the city of Chengdu, the gates of Chengdu were closed, as if they were going to fight a city defense battle.

But Zhang Shikang didn't believe that Zhang Xianzhong would really be a coward.

Forty large-caliber bronze cannons are no joke. A coward can be a good person, but only for a few days.

No matter how thick the Chengdu city walls are, they cannot withstand the continuous bombardment of large-caliber artillery. It will only take more time and consume more ammunition.

The battle formation is still carried out step by step, and the arrangement is still unremarkable.

Since the marching speed was not fast during the past two days, the soldiers did not need to rest. Half an hour later, forty 24-pound cannons began to bombard the city.

The gate chosen this time was the East Gate of Chengdu City.

When the huge sound of artillery fire began to sound in Chengdu City, the faces of the defenders on the city walls were a little nervous. Many people here had experienced the disastrous defeat more than a month ago and knew how powerful the imperial army's firearms were.

Zhang Nengqi limped along the east city wall, scolding the frightened guys and trying every way to inspire the soldiers' fighting spirit.

Inside the palace of the Great Western Kingdom, Zhang Xianzhong led his three adopted sons and knelt respectfully before a statue that looked like it had been newly carved.

It was a statue of the Dragon King.

The incident of Zhang Xianzhong bombarding the Dragon King Temple a few months ago is still vivid in our memory. At that time, Zhang Xianzhong did not believe in ghosts and gods, but now he is worshiping the Dragon King.

In fact, Zhang Xianzhong didn’t really believe it now, but he had to give it a try.

After all, this is a gamble on the fate of the Atlantis Kingdom. If it still doesn't rain in the next few days, he will have to risk going out of the city again to fight.

Although he had built many chariots, Zhang Xianzhong still had little confidence if it didn't rain.

"Dragon King, I kneel down before you. If you can make it rain heavily within three days, I will gild your body!

Although I destroyed your temple before, one should not be too stingy.

If you can help me win this battle, I will build you the largest Dragon King Temple in the world next year!"

After saying this, Zhang Xianzhong kowtowed to the Dragon King, and Zhang Kewang, Zhang Wenxiu and Zhang Dingguo behind him also kowtowed.

After Zhang Xianzhong stood up, he chatted with the Dragon King for a while, all of which were words of coercion and inducement.

Then he took his three adopted sons back to the military camp in the city, where the craftsmen were still working overtime to build chariots.

This chariot is not complicated to build. It has three sides of the chariot for defense. It is made of wood as the base and covered with cowhide and iron sheets.

Zhang Xianzhong followed Zhang Dingguo's advice and hung bags of sandbags about one inch thick on the side facing the enemy.

There were also muskets in Zhang Xianzhong's military camp, but these muskets were of various types, including three-eyed muskets, bird muskets, and a small number of Rumi muskets.

Without exception, they were all captured from former government troops.

Prior to this, due to the complexity of firearms, they had not been able to form a very good combat capability.

This time we have a tank, and we can just stand on it and shoot.

Looking at those sturdy chariots, Zhang Xianzhong suddenly became full of confidence.

This was all because of the frustration and humiliation he had felt at the hands of the imperial army's musket phalanx, and Zhang Xianzhong could not stand humiliation the most.

This time with chariots, he will definitely let the imperial army taste Zhang Xianzhong's power.

Of course, it would be best if it rained. During this period, Zhang Xianzhong would brainwash his subordinates from time to time, telling them that only by fighting with their backs to the river could they survive.

He gave his hundreds of concubines to the soldiers, and promised that if the battle was won, all the treasures in the palace would be distributed to the meritorious soldiers.

After repeated brainwashing and tangible rewards, the morale in the military camp was still very high, with many people even clamoring to go out of the city to fight.

Zhang Dingguo also followed Zhang Xianzhong on a patrol. Suddenly, he felt a hint of unfriendly gaze and looked in that direction.

Zhang Dingguo recognized the man. His name was Luo Wenlong, and he was a subordinate of Luo Rucai. However, Luo Wenlong quickly suppressed his murderous aura.

"Brother Luo, are you still bothered by that incident?" Zhang Dingguo walked over and asked kindly.

"General, how dare I? What happened in the past is in the past. For now, the government troops are our biggest enemy." Luo Wenlong bowed.

Ma Shouying died of illness a while ago, and left a will hoping that Cao Cao and Luo Rucai would take over his troops. Luo Rucai also had this idea.

But later Luo Rucai died. General Pingdong Zhang Kewang killed Luo Rucai under the pretext of conveying an imperial decree to promote him, and forcibly incorporated Luo Rucai and Ma Shouying's subordinates.

Luo Wenlong was one of Luo Rucai's generals and was said to be a fellow townsman of Luo Rucai.

"Is this true? Look at me and answer." Zhang Dingguo stared at Luo Wenlong, his face showing no emotion. His eyes were extremely sharp, as if he wanted to see through Luo Wenlong.

Luo Wenlong immediately showed an expression of being wronged.

"What are you talking about, General?

I have been following Your Majesty for several years. At this critical moment, General, are you still doubting me?

To be honest, Luo Rucai's death was his own fault. If it weren't for his death, I wouldn't have been promoted to my current position, right?"

Luo Wenlong's answer was airtight, and at this time Zhang Xianzhong also came over.

"Your Majesty! General Anxi suspected me of having ulterior motives, but I am truly wronged.

To justify this reputation, I beg Your Majesty to allow me to serve as the vanguard of this battle!"

Luo Wenlong knelt down on the ground in front of Zhang Xianzhong and pleaded with a sad and angry face.

"Master Luo, please stand up. Since I have asked you to take over as the master, I naturally trust you.

Dingguo, don't make trouble out of nothing." Zhang Xianzhong glared at Zhang Dingguo and said.

Zhang Dingguo bowed and accepted the order.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, but I really want to serve as the vanguard and defeat the invading enemies for my Great Western Kingdom. I hope Your Majesty will allow me." Luo Wenlong requested again.

Zhang Xianzhong thought about it and agreed.

After Luo Rucai died, Luo Wenlong immediately pledged allegiance to him. Now that he saw that this guy really wanted to make a contribution, Zhang Xianzhong was even more convinced that Luo Wenlong was loyal to him.

When he returned, Zhang Dingguo was still in deep thought. After thinking for a while, he said:

"Father, this man cannot be trusted. Please give me the order and I will find a chance to kill him."

The more powerful the enemy is, the less likely you are to make mistakes. Luo Wenlong's words and actions were full of loyalty, but Zhang Dingguo did not believe it.

But Zhang Xianzhong seemed a little impatient.

"Now that we are facing a powerful enemy, how can we just kill anyone we want like before? This will only disrupt the morale of the army. Don't do anything rash!"

After saying that, Zhang Xianzhong left on his own.

Zhang Dingguo stood there and shook his head helplessly.

The soldiers and civilians in Chengdu spent the entire day of the 11th amid the sound of artillery fire. They were a little uneasy at first, but after a while, they got used to it.

After all, Chengdu City not only has high walls and deep moats, but there are also a full 80,000 soldiers and horses in the city.

The next day, the sound of artillery fire was still heard, but the weather was a little gloomy in the evening.

Zhang Xianzhong went to worship the statue of the Dragon King again that day.

On the third day, the weather became clear again early in the morning. Zhang Xianzhong was furious and ordered his men to smash the new statue of the Dragon King.

Strangely enough, at noon, the weather suddenly took a turn for the worse, large dark clouds blocked the sun, and the wind started to blow.

Even a fool can see that this is a sign that it is going to rain.

Zhang Xianzhong looked at the sky and said happily:

"Damn it, it turns out that the Dragon King doesn't like to drink toasts, but likes to drink punishment wine!

God is helping us, Wang'er, go and gather the army and prepare to go out of the city to fight!"

……