Niao Ni
Chapter 566: The "Ding" of the Dingzhou Army
The ears of wheat are always heavy. Many rebel soldiers were bravely climbing the ladders, completely unaware that friendly forces would attack from below. The defense beneath the ladders hadn't considered this possibility either. So many three-section ladders collapsed tragically from both sides towards the center, and the rebels screamed as they fell from great heights, like grains of rice scattered during the harvest.
Many fell to their deaths on the ground, splattering blood and entrails, and were then buried beneath the heavily stacked ladders, scattered like straw stalks. The rebel soldiers who had already climbed onto the imperial city suddenly felt something was wrong behind them and were terrified.
On the other hand, the remaining imperial guards and Surveillance Bureau members in the imperial city noticed the sudden change in the battlefield situation below, found a last glimmer of hope, and courage surged into their hearts. The defenders of the imperial palace rushed forward, dividing and encircling the rebels who had climbed onto the imperial city, plunging these Qin family soldiers, who had no way to retreat, into a desperate situation.
Some rebels had already stormed into the main gate of the imperial palace and were engaging in a fierce assault, completely unaware of what was happening behind them. Two cavalry squads of the Ye family, approaching from the west and Taiping Ward, swept away the ladders without slowing down at all. They directly charged through the dark main gate of the imperial palace and launched an attack on the rebels entering the palace from behind.
Meanwhile, on the plaza, the Dingzhou army, having seized a favorable position, had already begun its counterattack against the Qin family. So many high-ranking Qin family generals had been killed or wounded today, and coupled with the suddenness of the attack, they were unable to organize an effective defense or counterattack.
On the battlefield, the key to victory often lies in that initial moment of engagement. The Dingzhou army generals excellently executed the commander's secret orders before entering the city, launching a lightning-fast assault that caught the Qin family army completely off guard. In an instant, the rebels suffered heavy casualties, and the scales of victory tilted towards the Dingzhou army.
However, not everyone could understand why the scales had tilted. Especially those imperial guards and Black Knights in the middle of the plaza, who had been fighting desperately for two hours, were exhausted to the extreme, and were about to face death, stared with wide eyes, clearly confused.
The First Prince, covered in blood, stood with Jing Ge, who had his head lowered, watching in shock at the sounds of shouting and killing, the black smoke, the flashes of swords and sabers, and listening to the moans, screams, and cries on the plaza. He found that the long saber in his hand was so heavy.
At this moment, the rebels suddenly began attacking each other. The Qin family was struggling to defend themselves, and the Dingzhou army deliberately avoided the central area of the plaza. The First Prince and those protecting the imperial palace stood blankly in the open space, somewhat confused as to what was happening.
One moment, they were still fighting desperately, the next moment, they… seemed to have become mere bystanders. What was happening in Kyoto seemed to have nothing to do with them…
The First Prince glanced at Jing Ge beside him, who was covered in wounds, and frowned. As the commander of the Western Expeditionary Army, he certainly knew how important reaction was on the battlefield. Regardless of what problem had occurred within the rebel ranks, if he wanted to take advantage of this opportunity, he had to immediately issue orders, gathering the remaining two thousand or so surviving forces inside and outside the palace.
However, there was a look of confusion in his eyes, because the palace city inside and out had been divided into several war zones. At this time, it was basically impossible for the imperial guards to unite into a single force. Moreover, from the bottom of his heart, the First Prince was unwilling to allow his subordinates, who had already been pushed to their limits, to once again abandon this rare moment of safety and throw themselves into the flames of war.
Therefore, he had to see clearly what the sudden betrayal of the Dingzhou army meant. Was the Second Prince trying to use this opportunity to eliminate the Crown Prince and ascend the throne himself? But why was the Dingzhou army deliberately staying away from this unit of imperial guards, and why were they trying so hard to protect the imperial palace? He suddenly thought of everything Fan Xian had done since this morning, and his heart skipped a beat.
Could it be that Fan Xian knew the Ye family would take action? So he issued those orders to create a good opportunity for them? At this moment, an imperial guard rushed to his side and whispered a few words in his ear, briefly recounting the accident that someone had noticed earlier at the rebel headquarters.
The First Prince's eyes lit up slightly. Looking at the Dingzhou army moving back and forth, looking at the Qin family forces retreating in defeat not far away, and the dragon banner at the Crown Prince's location, he finally relaxed a little, and his admiration for Fan Xian grew even greater.
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The sounds of hurried military orders came from all around from time to time. In the sky full of dust and smoke, forces from all sides were gathering and charging. The First Prince, leading the remaining two hundred men and the imperial guards returning from Taiping Ward, were extremely lucky to have joined forces, and were slowly pressing towards the location of the imperial city. And in the smoke in the distance, the bright yellow dragon flag could be faintly seen retreating from the plaza.
The entire plaza had become a killing field. Although the Qin family rebels had suffered heavy casualties, they still outnumbered the Dingzhou army. Although their military orders were not smooth, they still made the Dingzhou army pay a great price by relying on the Qing army's natural outstanding individual soldier qualities.
The scene was very chaotic. All the Qing Kingdom soldiers had turned into countless small battle groups, fighting each other. This situation arose precisely because at the beginning, the Dingzhou army, under the Crown Prince's orders, had prepared to switch formations with the Qin family, which caused the confusion.
Along the imperial city line, battles were taking place on all four sides. People were dying everywhere, and people were screaming in pain everywhere. The autumn sun hung high in the sky, finally penetrating the smoke around the imperial palace and clearly illuminating everything. Blood was flowing all over the ground, especially in the three places of the imperial city that had moats, the blood had seeped into the river. Many dead and wounded soldiers had also fallen into the river tragically. Some rebels who had not completely died woke up after being soaked in the cold moat water, but were unable to struggle ashore. They struggled weakly and sank to the bottom of the river extremely miserably, looking like there were countless water ghosts in the moat, pulling at their ankles.
Faced with the sudden blow from the Dingzhou army, the Qin family finally retreated in defeat after barely holding on for a while. Several generals, protecting the Crown Prince, led the gathered troops, retreated from the plaza, and began to retreat towards the city gate department that the rebels still controlled along the streets and alleys of Kyoto.
With the retreat of the dragon flag, the military situation deteriorated again. The Dingzhou army shouted in unison and charged forward bravely. The battlefield immediately spread from the area within about three miles around the imperial palace to the entire Kyoto again. Pursuing and being pursued, killing and being killed, arrows flying everywhere, knives and guns slashing fiercely, the entire Kyoto began to tremble, knowing that today it would inevitably face a turmoil and bloodbath not seen in sixteen years.
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Clatter, clatter, clatter… a series of heavy hoofbeats cut through the remaining smoke on the ground, bringing the general on horseback to the imperial city, in front of the imperial guards and Black Knights, in this corner that seemed to have been forgotten by the rebels.
Countless sounds of metal clashing rang out. Without anyone issuing an order, without needing to issue an order, these imperial guards, who were exhausted to the extreme, and the badly wounded Black Knights, suddenly burst forth with courage, changed formation extremely quickly, and surrounded the general and the general's personal guard battalion in the formation!
The faces of the personal guards behind the general changed drastically, and they all drew their sabers!
The First Prince slowly walked out, looking at the familiar figure on horseback, frowning and remaining silent.
Ye Zhong slowly raised his right arm, and dozens of personal guards cautiously slowly sheathed their sabers, but they were still nervously watching these remaining soldiers who had brought them countless mental shocks. Earlier on the plaza, these hundreds of cavalrymen had charged twice in succession, throwing the rebels into chaos. They had speared Qin Heng, broken through ten thousand troops with their sabers. They were really too terrifying.
"This subordinate is transferring three thousand troops to help Your Highness defend the city."
Ye Zhong looked at the First Prince, who was covered in blood, with a flash of admiration in his eyes, but his tone was still calm, "Gong Dian will arrive immediately to assist Your Highness in controlling the situation."
The First Prince looked at him, still not speaking. Ye Zhong had already reached into his chest, took out a waist token, and threw it towards the First Prince from a distance.
The First Prince raised his right arm, which was sore to the extreme, and grabbed it in his hand. He took a closer look and found that it was the waist token that Fan Xian had retrieved from his subordinate early yesterday morning. He couldn't help but frown, raised his head, and looked at Ye Zhong's body on horseback, which was as steady as a green mountain, and asked, "Father Emperor…"
He only said two words before Ye Zhong interrupted him, because he knew what His Highness wanted to ask, and he simply didn't know how to answer.
There were not many fools in the royal family. When Ye Zhong stated his identity at this time, and had Fan Xian's waist token as a token of trust, the First Prince had clearly understood the role that Ye Zhong was playing in this rebellion. He also clearly knew that someone of Ye Zhong's level could not be persuaded by Fan Xian. It could only be said that before the Father Emperor left Kyoto, he had already made arrangements for the Dingzhou army, which had pretended to come to offer prisoners!
The First Prince took a deep breath, did not say anything more, and directly issued an order: "Pursue them."
He knew that Ye Zhong was waiting for his order. Although the Qin family had already been defeated at this time, and although the sounds of fighting still existed on the plaza, the Ye family's Dingzhou army had actually controlled the entire situation in Kyoto, but Ye Zhong still wanted to come and see him. Naturally, he needed himself, the commander of the Imperial Guards and the eldest son of the royal family, to give Ye Zhong a password.
In the current situation, the strength in his hands had already allowed Ye Zhong to become the controller of Kyoto, but he didn't want to, and didn't dare to let anyone have this kind of speculation afterward, so he was extremely respectful to the First Prince.
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The flames of war had spread to Kyoto, inevitably affecting the civilians who had been keeping their doors closed for a day and a night. Tragic events of war were happening everywhere. The cavalry divisions of the Dingzhou army were chasing the Qin family's main camp, heading towards the nine city gates of Kyoto.
However, the Crown Prince was not under the dragon flag at all. This young man, who was about to storm into the imperial palace and become the new monarch of Qing Kingdom, was suddenly hit in the waist, and his dreams were shattered before his eyes. His face had already turned pale. Fortunately, the loyal generals of the Qin family reacted quickly and led the remnants of the army to fight their way out.
Li Chengqian didn't want to retreat, because he knew that all he could have was the Qin family's army. If he withdrew from Kyoto, although the world was big, where would he have a place to stay? I'm afraid even his aunt didn't expect the Ye family to rebel, right? A bitter smile appeared on the corner of the young Crown Prince's lips, and the bumping of the warhorse beneath him did not change his solidified expression in the slightest.
He was still thinking about how to win the Ye family over from the Second Prince after he ascended the throne, and become a real emperor, how to resist the pressure from his aunt, mother, grandmother, and Qin family elders, and pardon those civil officials on the city walls who firmly opposed him, especially the two grand secretaries, Shu and Hu.
Who could have expected that the Ye family would rebel like this!
His aunt was probably unaware of this shocking news. His mother and grandmother were still trapped on the imperial city, and Qin Family Elder... was already dead.
The Crown Prince felt a sharp pain in his chest, and he was about to be unable to stand upright on the horse. A rebel general beside him said with tears in his eyes: "Your Highness, as long as we get out of the city and gather soldiers again, we still have people in the Xiaoshan area. When the time comes, we'll charge straight up north and join up with Grand Commandant Yan, and the great cause will be accomplished!"
What he said made sense, but Li Chengqian didn't quite believe it, because Fan Xian had returned alive. I'm afraid Grand Commandant Yan was also dead. And since the Ye family had rebelled, Uncle Zu Liuyun, I'm afraid... Alas, Li Chengqian sighed in his heart, moving towards the city gate with the horse's running, and his heart was filled with turbulent waves.
Beneath the imperial city, the Second Prince, another mastermind of the rebellion, was looking at his father-in-law with a resentful and desperate look. Before leading the Dingzhou army to pursue, Ye Zhong did not know why he returned to his own headquarters and glanced at his son-in-law.
"If you want to survive, you must remember what my Dingzhou army says today."
The Second Prince was now completely restrained, standing miserably under the horse, looking up stubbornly at Ye Zhong, and spat. He knew what Ye Zhong's words meant. The Dingzhou army's final defection was nominally because he wanted to avenge his Father Emperor and execute his Father Emperor's posthumous edict, but he knew very well that this was not the case.
Of all the parties involved, the Second Prince was actually the most desperate, shocked, and angry. He simply did not know that on Mount Dong, the Qing Kingdom Emperor had specially told Fan Xian that if possible, he should spare the Second Prince's life. At such a moment, the Second Prince had never thought that he could survive.
And what made him feel most angry was that what he had seemed to plan for so long... it turned out that in the end, he was the stupidest one! Everything he had done now seemed so absurd and so ridiculous!
His eyes contained anger, and his usually gentle face looked particularly gloomy and cold: "Father-in-law, you really are a good dog... but what will you do if the Father Emperor is really dead?"
Ye Zhong said nothing, slowly turned his horse's head, and the expression on his face became a little黯然(Anran: dim, dismal). The Second Prince shouted behind him: "You bunch of liars!"
At this moment, a heavy object suddenly fell from the imperial city, hitting the hard stone slab heavily, making a muffled sound. What fell was a person, wearing beautiful and luxurious clothes. Suffering this heavy blow, all the bones in his body were broken, blood flowed everywhere, and he had already died. Only her head was still preserved intact, revealing that dignified face with haggard despair and madness.
Watching the dragon flag go away, the desperate Empress finally committed suicide helplessly.