Chapter 564: Return

Latest website: "What is going on?" Qin Shan frowned.

He immediately climbed onto the city wall, picked up the Telescope, and looked toward the north.

Within the circular field of view, he saw men with bare upper bodies, holding Explosive Sticks and shovels, swarming southward in a chaotic mess.

Whenever they encountered Northern Di soldiers, they would swarm over in a mob to fight.

They could still win when encountering only a small number of Northern Di soldiers.

But if more than fifty Northern Di soldiers gathered together, they would be beaten back step by step, leaving behind a field of corpses.

However, their fighting spirit was very strong.

Despite repeated setbacks in their attacks, they still kept trying to entangle the Northern Di soldiers who were supporting the Nanmen.

"It is the Song People of Ning City." Qin Shan suddenly felt his throat tighten.

These were fellow countrymen who had been abandoned by Great Song for over ten years.

For over ten years, they had lived extremely miserable lives under the cruel rule of the Northern Di.

Yet the powerful officials in the imperial court turned a blind eye, busy with their infighting all day long.

"Advance to the north! Our brothers are to the north." Qin Shan shouted, his expression agitated.

At that moment, the Northern Di had suffered heavy casualties, and their military morale was already somewhat unstable.

The Song People inside Ning City had also chosen to support them.

Under the pincer attack from inside and out, the Northern Di were even more unable to cope, and the intensity of their attacks grew weaker and weaker.

"Kill!"

Upon receiving Qin Shan's order, the soldiers raised their Rifled Muskets and charged into the darkness.

The sound of bayonets clashing against swords and blades rang out incessantly.

Although the Rifled Musket was a step forward compared to the Flintlock.

The soldiers did not rely entirely on the range and power of the Rifled Musket.

During this period, their Bayonet Technique had not been neglected.

In conditions of poor visibility,

they were not at all intimidated by hand-to-hand combat with the Northern Di soldiers.

After a bout of fighting, the Northern Di soldiers, attacked from the front and back by the slaves, could not hold on under the pincer attack.

Many fled one after another toward other city gates.

But they immediately fell into despair.

With a burst of cannon fire, Guan Tong had the Artilleryman blast apart the eastern city gate.

The soldiers under his command charged in, bayonets leveled, howling as they killed.

And as time passed, more and more soldiers arrived from the Lian County beach.

The West Gate and the North Gate were successively breached by the Prince's Personal Army.

After dawn, the figures of Wangfu Army soldiers were everywhere in Ning City.

They searched for Northern Di soldiers hiding in civilian houses while clearing the corpses of Northern Di soldiers from the streets.

They also rounded up the Northern Di people in Ning City and drove them to the camps where the slaves had lived.

And they let the slaves move into the residences of these Northern Di people.

No, these were originally the residences of the Song People, only occupied for over ten years.

"Hahaha, satisfying, Ning City is successfully taken." Guan Tong carried a Cavalry Saber, the blade still stained with wet blood.

The mission Chang Wei had given them was complete.

This city, lost by Great Song for over ten years, had finally returned to the embrace of Great Song.

Then he looked at a young man in front of Qin Shan and asked, "Is this the one who led the slaves to coordinate from within?"

"What slaves? From now on, they are upright citizens of Great Song." Qin Shan glared at Guan Tong.

This kid just spoke without thinking.

"Right, right, right." Guan Tong gave his own mouth a slap.

The word "slave" was very sensitive to the people of the Ningjin Dusi.

The Northern Di treated them as slaves, but they must not look down on them because they had been slaves.

Otherwise, the leaflets that Yan Wang had been distributing for so long would have been sent in vain.

Then, he gave a chuckle and said to Yan Wang, "You have guts. Taking Ning City this time, I will record a merit for you."

Tears seemed to well up in Yan Wang's eyes; this was not because of Guan Tong's words, but because now, they were finally human beings, not just livestock for the Northern Di.

The life of darkness finally had hope.

"I don't care about merit or anything; I just want to see His Highness and kowtow to him in person." Yan Wang rubbed his eyes.

For how many years had they dreamed countless times of the Great Song army coming to save them.

But they waited and waited, yet never saw them arrive.

Many people gradually became numb because of this, like walking corpses.

Just eating every day, then being enslaved by the Northern Di, then dying nameless, their corpses thrown into the wilderness to feed the dogs.

Now, their lives had hope.

Just as many slaves yearned for, they only wanted a few acres of thin farmland to till, find a wife, have a bunch of kids, and live a relaxed and peaceful life.

Qin Shan and Guan Tong looked at each other and both laughed.

Qin Shan said, "I can report this wish of yours to His Highness, but whether His Highness will let you kowtow or not, I cannot control."

"But before that, I hope you can continue to help us. With Ning City lost, the Northern Di will not let it go. There will certainly be major movements next. Now we need to repair the city walls and prepare supplies for defending the city." Guan Tong remembered something and added.

"And the captured Northern Di people." Qin Shan said.

These Northern Di are not Northern Di soldiers, but Northern Di civilians living in Ning City, numbering as many as eighty or ninety thousand.

They do not want these Northern Di to take the opportunity to cause trouble while they are defending the city.

Therefore, they are prepared to have Yan Wang and the others guard these Northern Di.

"That is naturally no problem; I will tell everyone immediately," Yan Wang said.

Compared to Qin Shan and Guan Tong, he is even less willing to see Ning City taken away by the Northern Di again.

Otherwise, they will face an extremely miserable situation.

It is not uncommon for the Northern Di to slaughter an entire city at once.

They are even more cruel when dealing with defectors.

"Good." Qin Shan nodded, then called over a soldier to send the news of capturing Ning City to Chang Wei.

Just at this moment.

A general responsible for searching walked over, looking joyful, "General, the grain and grass in Ning City are sufficient, and we have also found quite a lot of dried meat and cured meat; it is enough for sixty thousand people to hold out here for a year."

"That is great." Guan Tong slapped his thigh.

For this march, they only brought three or five days' worth of dry rations.

Subsequent grain and grass were still to be transported over, but now it is completely unnecessary.

Qin Shan then ordered the messenger soldier to be called back, telling him to convey the message that there is no need to transport grain and grass.

"This time the Northern Di have truly fallen completely for His Highness's strategy; they were actually so negligent and careless to hoard so much grain and grass here," Qin Shan said triumphantly.

This situation made him realize that the Northern Di army attacking Yanguan must not be carrying much grain and grass.

When they were in short supply, they would have some transported over from Ning City.

Once the news of Ning City's fall reaches them, they will surely be thrown into chaos; Northern Di soldiers are also human, and it is impossible for them to fight on an empty stomach.

However, because of this, the pressure they face will be great.

The Northern Di army at Yanguan and the Northern Di army at Jin City will very likely turn around to attack Ning City.

After all, having lost Ning City, they have lost a perfect intermediate point.

When attacking Yanguan, not only will they have to guard against the army in Ning City, but the transport of grain and grass will also face a huge threat.

The Prince's Army hoarded in Ning City will not watch them cross Ning City and deliver grain and grass to the front line.

Of course, most importantly, the fall of Ning City this time will likely strike like a bolt from the blue, jolting Mule Hongzhen awake.

His poisoning plan has failed completely.