The sound of chaotic footsteps echoed in the street.
"Are there any blankets left?"
"Whose home still has blankets?"
Hearing the shouting from outside the door, the little girl sitting upright on a small wooden stool with a broom in her hand instantly turned around.
"Mom, mom, collect the blankets." she shouted.
A woman carrying bedding rushed out of the house, and the little girl opened the door. There were already many people in the alley carrying blankets and running towards the street, where carts were piled high with bedding.
The bedding varied from new to old, and soon a thick stack was piled up. Watching the carts loaded up, people quickly ran towards the city wall.
Compared to the silence on the main street, there was a crowd near the city wall. As soon as the bedding carts arrived, people who were waiting unloaded them and dashed up the wall.
Blankets were draped over the city walls, and from a distance, all four sides of the walls were covered. As the blankets were hung and draped, women who had been waiting poured buckets of water over them.
Groups of people took turns moving back and forth in sequence, with others carrying stones or rolling logs up and down alongside them. There were chants amid the commotion, yet the scene remained orderly and busy.
Suddenly, a sharp whistle came from outside, and everyone only felt a dull thud above their heads. It was the sound of stone bullets hitting the wall. The wet blankets helped reduce damage to the walls, but couldn't stop the stones from rolling over the wall and falling.
"Get down, get down."
"Stay against the wall, stay against the wall."
Panic-stricken shouts rang out, and despite everything, someone was still hit by the stones, screaming in agony. There was panic under the city gate, but some people rushed over to carry the injured back to the streets inside.
The houses along the street had been cleared out, and Doctor Feng and others were stationed there, directing the injured to be carried inside for treatment.
The stones stopped falling, and the injured under the gate were also tended to, but the stones scattered on the ground and the bloodstains still weighed heavily on people's hearts.
"The Jurchen's stone bullets are already reaching in; have those trenches been filled?"
The people leaning against the wall whispered to each other.
"Never counted on the trenches to stop the Jurchen people."
The generals standing on the wall looked solemnly at the outside, their gaze fixed on the catapults advancing slowly under the cover of shield carts.
"For the Jurchen people, they're already filling the trenches quite slowly," one general said, "It seems they're not in a hurry to attack the city."
The Jin soldiers advancing towards the city gate were well-ordered, their armor shining, but not numerous. Their expressions weren't fierce but carried a hint of mockery.
"The capital's city walls are indeed higher and thicker than anywhere else."
Yu Chihai, standing under a large flag in the army formation, stroked his beard and said, looking at the city ahead with a relaxed demeanor.
"Last time I came, I looked closely."
He said, taking a few steps forward.
"Ten thousand miles connect to the sky, overlooking like the Big Dipper, exquisitely built with hidden passages for troops."
A truly good poem.
No exclamations of praise came from around; Yu Chihai glanced back. The rough-looking Jin generals were either staring greedily at the city before them, imagining the treasures and beauties inside, or gazing at him in confusion, as if wondering why they weren't attacking yet.
What dull barbarians.
Yu Chihai felt a bit disinterested.
"No matter how high and thick the city walls, our brave warriors will surely be able to conquer them." one eager Jin General said, "No city encountered on the way was as strong as those in the northern lands, yet look what happened."
"Those soldiers were no match." Another Jin General laughed heartily with arms akimbo.
Yu Chihai watched the front with a smile.
"Yes, so such strong city walls can be disregarded," he said, "We aim to conquer not the city gates, but the hearts of the people inside."
He took another step forward.
"Shatter their courage, crush their spirit, break their knees, and make them bow to us."
These words brought more pleasure than the messy rhymes or prose earlier, and the Jin generals around him burst into laughter.
"However," Yu Chihai frowned slightly, "this capital isn't quite as I imagined."
"How so?" the generals beside him asked.
Yu Chihai looked at the dense trenches and the pitted grounds further away; these were clearly newly dug. Originally, the area outside the capital gate was meticulously maintained and smooth.
To have dug so many and such deep trenches in just a few days, considerable manpower must have been used.
Ditches and chevaux-de-frise are essentials for city defense; it seems they knew the Jin Army was coming. Yet, knowing their approach and still organizing such a large-scale workforce proves that the populace within the city remains calm and unscattered.
Moreover, the villages and towns near the capital, which were passed earlier, appeared deserted, with no chaotic fleeing populace encountered along the way.
"It seems the people around the capital are much calmer than before," Yu Chihai said with a smile, tinged with admiration, "No wonder they're under the Emperor's rule."
With that, a sharp glint overtook the smile in his eyes as he raised his hand.
"Raise the shields."
......
......
"We can also launch stones."
On the city wall, through the battlements, a general looking at the Jin soldiers outside the city gate said quietly.
"No, wait until they're closer; otherwise, launching stones is just a waste." another general replied.
The catapults are mainly used for siege warfare, and to counterattack them, one aims for the shield carts. At this moment, the Jurchens' shield carts are heavily protected. Hitting them requires waiting until they come closer.
Though the two spoke with tense expressions, they weren't too afraid, possibly because out of the corner of their eyes, they could see the conspicuously placed artillery carriage of the Qingshan Army.
This weapon is even more formidable than the catapults. The Qingshan Army had stated it would be reserved until the Jurchen army approached the city gates. Once unleashed, it could kill many at once, maximizing its effect and instilling fear.
For now, using stone bullets for long distances and bows for closer ranges is sufficient.
The general officers were slightly nervous, yet inexplicably excited, waiting for the shield carts, proceeding slowly over the bumpy road, to come closer and give the order to launch the catapults. But suddenly, the advancing shield carts halted, causing a commotion among the Jin Army, and then a group of people was driven out.
Seeing these people, the generals on the city walls couldn't help but widen their eyes and turn pale.
It was a group of Zhou civilians, both young and old, men and women, all looking distressed, crying and screaming under the lashes of the Jurchens' whips.
"Listen inside, open the city gates quickly."
A dozen Jurchens rode forward swiftly, shouting loudly in Zhou Yu.
"If you open the gates, we guarantee your lives will be safe."
They shouted over and over, then rode back and circled around the driven Zhou people.
These Jurchens were already within bow range, but there was no order to shoot from the city walls. Everyone was looking at the driven civilians with complex expressions.
Behind these civilians, the shield carts and attacking Jurchen forces began to move again.
"Sir." A deputy general couldn't help but whisper.
What can be done now? Order catapult attacks? Then it would be obvious that the Zhou civilians would be the first to be harmed.
"These damn shameless Jurchens." A general angrily slammed the city walls.
But if they do not catapult, the shield carts and siege ladders will soon reach the city gates.
A dozen Jurchens once again rode closer, provocatively shooting arrows towards the city walls.
Standing up and using the bows could definitely shoot down several Jurchens.
Some soldiers couldn't help but move.
"Do not move without orders," a wooden voice came from behind.
The soldier instantly froze, not daring to move again, catching sight of an old woman standing behind him out of the corner of his eye.
The old woman glanced at him for a moment and continued to patrol along the city walls, ignoring the cries and shouts coming from below the gates.
The Zhou civilians were driven closer and closer, with the shield carts slowly advancing over the uneven road.
"Throw."
Suddenly, an order came from the city walls.
The soldiers, who had been waiting for some time, immediately launched the stone bullets.
For a moment, stones rained down towards the city gates.
There was the sound of shield carts breaking and the Jurchens' screams mixed with the terrified cries of the Zhou civilians.
Seeing this scene from a distance, the Jin General's expression was equally angry.
He never expected the Zhou people to act like this; seeing their own people being driven and whipped, they didn't rise in anger immediately but instead waited silently for the opportunity to attack.
His face turned pale as he ordered the shield carts to advance and the Jin soldiers to retreat, furiously waving his hand.
With this wave, the scattered Jurchen Cavalry due to the stone bullet attack regrouped instantly, surrounding the crying Zhou civilians with swords slashing and spears thrusting.
Listening to the screams and cries from outside, everyone on the city walls had pale expressions. The soldiers managed to restrain themselves, but the civilians trembled uncontrollably.
Despite this, not a single person jumped up, not even raising their voices to scold.
This was because the Qingshan Army had repeatedly emphasized that during battle, they must not turn back, act without permission, or make noise upon seeing the enemy, or face military law punishment.
Also, there were some elderly, weak, women, and children on the city walls, watching them closely.
The cries from outside gradually faded into silence.
It was imaginable that those civilians had already been killed.
The city walls remained utterly silent with not a stir, this silent response further infuriating the Jurchens outside.
"If you do not surrender, once the city falls, this will be your fate."
The Jurchens' curses came from outside.
Those on the city walls did not truly lack a response. They were angry and melancholic, and many more civilians thought if they had fled the capital earlier, that it would be them being slaughtered at the gates now.
The Jurchens were extremely brutal, and the battles were extremely bloody and ruthless. At this moment, it was no longer hearing snippets in taverns and teahouses, nor idly watching refugees flee in misery, but they were personally experiencing it clearly.
At this moment, a drum sounded.
The meaning of drum and gong sounds was familiar to the soldiers and civilians, who almost instinctively sprang into action.
The soldiers lifted their covers, drawing their bows towards the Jurchens at the gates, releasing a volley, while civilians rolled stones of various sizes towards the catapults.
Instantly, screams erupted outside the gates.
The Jurchen Cavalry still under the gates fell one by one, retreating, while the shield carts within the stone bullet range were smashed apart, and the approaching Jurchen ranks began to rapidly retreat.
Standing in the distance observing all this, Yu Chihai's expression was heavy, while reports of similar confrontations came from Jurchens attacking other city gates.
"Didn't they say there weren't many government soldiers in the capital? That those guarding the gates were just for show, soldiers and constables without battle experience." he said, frowning slightly, "How is there such strict combat readiness, clearly a well-trained battle army?"