Chapter 562: Night Raid on Ning City

"Set off!"

At the east pier of Chrysanthemum Island, Chang Wei issued the order.

After one day of preparation, the soldiers were ready to be deployed to the battlefield.

After all sixty thousand of the Prince's Personal Army had boarded the ships, he gave the order to head toward Lian County in Ningzhou.

After half a day of sailing, the fleet arrived at the East Sea waters of Lian County.

At this time, the sun had not yet set, and the evening glow dyed the sea a brilliant red.

Standing by the ship's rail, Chang Wei looked out at the Lian County beach through a telescope.

He had not chosen this location at random; it was scouted when the Propaganda Department distributed leaflets to the Ningjin Dusi last time.

Although Lian County had no pier, this beach had flat terrain, suitable for soldiers to assemble.

"The real battle is finally about to begin." Zhou Yi stood by Chang Wei's side; he did not look through a telescope, but instead gazed into the distance, taking in the entire coastline.

He was born in Ning City and had spent his entire childhood there.

Even now, he could still recall the Wuliang Temple in Ning City and the huge ginkgo tree in front of its gate.

Now, the Prince's Personal Army was about to launch an attack on Ning City.

Naturally, he was excited; after all, his family's residence was in Ning City, and he very much wanted to go back and see it again.

Chang Wei's expression was calm, but ripples stirred within his heart.

It had been over ten years, and no one in Great Song dared to hope for the recovery of this ancestral land.

But now, under the leadership of Yan Wang, they would make their first attempt to drive the Northern Di out of this place.

"Indeed." Chang Wei took a deep breath and exhaled, "Once the sky turns dark, have the soldiers land on the beach."

Having said this, he turned to the generals, including Qin Shan and Guan Tong, "Once the first batch of soldiers reaches the beach, they must immediately march toward Ning City without delay. Once eight thousand men are assembled, you may launch the attack on Ning City."

Waiting for all the soldiers to land would take a very long time.

Speed is the essence of war, and this would undoubtedly cause delays.

Therefore, while the Northern Di soldiers' attention was entirely drawn to Yanguan, they had to strike quickly and take Ning City.

By the time they reacted and turned back to attack them,

sixty thousand men would be enough to have all arrived at Ning City.

"Yes, General!" replied Qin Shan, Guan Tong, and the others.

For them, this task was not difficult.

The Hot Air Balloon Troop of the Prince's Personal Army had been scouting Ning City.

According to their reports, there were currently only ten thousand or so men guarding Ning City.

The troop strength at each city gate was less than three thousand.

There were only sixty pieces of Artillery on the four city walls, with only fifteen on each wall.

If they could succeed in a surprise attack under the cover of night, these Artillery would not pose a threat.

Moreover, they would be carrying Mortars and the lightest six-pound Field Artillery.

That was enough to suppress the Northern Di Artillery.

After issuing the order, Chang Wei had the generals repeat the steps of the attack,

before letting them return to their respective posts to prepare.

For this battle, he would likewise not accompany the troops.

Because he still needed to adjust his strategy based on the movements of the Northern Di troops in Ningjin.

An hour passed, and the sky turned completely dark.

At this time, the Warships lowered two types of transport boats of different sizes into the sea.

The slightly smaller ones were naturally for transporting troops, while the larger ones were specifically for transporting Artillery and Mortars.

At the same time, some small Merchant Ships sailed directly toward the beach.

Their ships were small and had a shallow draft, so there was no need to worry about running aground.

Upon reaching the beach, the soldiers jumped directly from the Merchant Ships and waded ashore through water that reached their knees.

Led by the generals, they did not stop; after assembling, they marched toward Ning City.

At this moment, there was only a narrow crescent moon in the sky, its dim light making the thick darkness of the night slightly less intense.

With the help of the faint light, the soldiers found their direction and marched at a trot.

Qin Shan marched with the troops.

In order to take Ning City as quickly as possible, the first batch of soldiers heading to Ning City were all required to take off their Armor, carrying only their guns, ammunition, and dry rations.

Perhaps this would cause them to suffer more casualties.

But if they failed to take Ning City on time, it would lead to the failure of the entire strategy.

At that time, the Prince's Personal Army would sacrifice even more soldiers.

After marching for two and a half hours, at midnight, Qin Shan caught sight of a huge black shadow looming over the land.

There were flickering lights on the black shadow.

Without a doubt, they had arrived at the foot of Ning City.

Along the way, they had not encountered any Northern Di soldiers.

Clearly, the Northern Di were still immersed in the fantasy that Yanzhou had been destroyed by the plague, firmly believing that Yanzhou was basically finished.

Therefore, they had poured all their energy into Yanguan and abandoned vigilance over the coastline.

Inferring from this, he believed the Northern Di soldiers in Ning City must also be very lax at this moment.

"Has the Artillery caught up?" Seeing that they were only four or five li from Ning City, Qin Shan asked, panting.

The soldiers were traveling light and moving fast.

However, the Artillerymen dragging the Artillery forward were not so relaxed.

"Reporting to the General, they are at the very back of the formation," the officer said.

This time, twenty Mortars and eight Field Artillery pieces were accompanying their movement.

The Mortars were lightweight, so they could just keep switching soldiers to carry them while running.

But even a six-pound Field Artillery piece was as heavy as four men.

Although they also dispatched soldiers to take turns pulling them along, they still had to stop and wait several times for the Artillerymen to barely keep up.

Otherwise, they could have reached Ning City in just over an hour.

After all, a five-kilometer cross-country run was a mandatory training requirement for every soldier of the Prince's Personal Army.

Qin Shan nodded upon hearing this.

With the Artillery at the back of the formation, he felt at ease.

In this way, by the time he finished his preparations, the Artillerymen would have caught up.

Another half an hour passed, and Qin Shan arrived outside Ning City.

Just as he had expected, the Northern Di soldiers patrolling on Ning City were in twos and threes, and they were listless.

At this moment, he ordered the soldiers to slow their pace and try their best to avoid making any sound.

He also had the soldiers set down the Mortars and aim them at the Nanmen of Ning City.

While waiting for the Field Artillery, he had the soldiers go to chop down trees to build Scaling Ladders.

By the time the soldiers arrived pulling the Field Artillery, everything was basically ready.

"Position the Artillery directly in front of the Nanmen," Qin Shan said to the Artillerymen.

Then, he issued the order; the sound of Artillery rang out, and the Mortars also began bombarding the city wall.

Once the city gate was blasted down, one detachment of soldiers would charge in through the gate, while another detachment would use the Scaling Ladders to climb the city wall and occupy the high ground of Ning City.

In the night.

The Northern Di soldiers knew nothing of what was happening in the darkness.

They were too lazy to even cast a glance into the darkness.

In their minds, it was impossible for the soldiers of Yan Wang to have the spare strength to attack Ning City while simultaneously defending against their offensive.

"Boom, boom, boom..." Suddenly, a series of huge roars rang out.

They were so startled they nearly jumped; after a brief moment of shock, they immediately realized what was happening.

The Northern Di general shouted loudly on the city wall, ordering the Northern Di soldiers to prepare for an enemy attack.

But just as a low roar was heard, a massive explosion erupted above their heads.

The Northern Di soldiers fell while screaming.

"Kill!"

At this very moment, the roar of the Wangfu Army soldiers tore through the deathly silence of the night.

The Wangfu Army soldiers charged toward the city gate, which had been blasted down by the Artillery, with their Rifled Muskets fixed with Bayonets.

The soldiers distributed on both sides of the city gate carried the Scaling Ladders and rushed toward the city wall.