Catching Monsters

Chapter 510 The First to Reach the Summit! A Reward of 1,000 Taels of Gold!
On the official road near the capital of Daegu County, soldiers of the Zhenchi Army gathered from all directions. They had received military orders to guard the capital of Daegu County.

Large quantities of grain and military supplies were being continuously transported into the city by laborers; the grain transport teams alone stretched for several miles.

In the middle of the grain transport team, Zidane, dressed in the clothes of an ordinary laborer, shouted loudly, "Hurry up, everyone! It's going to rain after dark, so we need to get this shipment into the city as soon as possible."

The group consisted of over four hundred people, all of whom were Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) in disguise. They were dressed in ordinary clothes, and the carriages were covered with oilcloth to keep out the rain. Qi Da, of course, knew what was inside.

These are artillery pieces produced in five days, and although we have done our best, producing artillery is no easy task. Even with our best efforts, we were able to produce fifty pieces.

Each one was specially arranged to be transported by a horse-drawn carriage.

To avoid suspicion, they traveled with the grain transport team and spent another ten days before finally managing to transport the grain to Daegu County.

Xu Xiaogang had already arrived in Daegu County.

Originally, according to Mr. Ye's advice, we needed to choose a city that was easy to capture so that the rebel army could attack.

However, a small town simply cannot accommodate 100,000 garrison troops as its defense force.

Although the walls of Daegu are relatively high, they had been breached by rebel forces before, and the rebels were quite familiar with the walls and the structure of the city.

Therefore, this place was chosen as the site of the great battle.

At this moment, Xu Xiaogang was standing on the city wall, watching the endless stream of Zhenchi Army soldiers entering the city from all directions. He was wearing black armor, his face was solemn, and he was staring at the southwest direction.

"Mr. Ye, tell me, how can we achieve a resounding victory in this battle?"

"With fifty cannons for defense, the city is naturally impregnable, and it would be difficult for the enemy to breach it."

"But the rebels have a full 600,000 troops. Once the artillery fires and they realize something is wrong, they will naturally retreat immediately. At most, we can only kill 10,000 to 20,000 enemy soldiers. We cannot afford to cripple the rebels."

"And now that the rebels know we have artillery, it will be very difficult to fool them again."

Ye Xiuyuan stood by, his expression calm, and said, "General, this is one of the reasons why I chose Daegu City as the location."

After a long silence, he continued, "The surrounding area is flat for dozens of miles. If the general listens to my arrangements, we may be able to annihilate about 50,000 to 100,000 elite rebel troops."

"This is already the limit."

Upon hearing this, Xu Xiaogang's eyes lit up. If he could use 100,000 Zhenchi troops to annihilate 100,000 elite rebel troops, it would be an unimaginable feat.

"In half a month, the rebels should be arriving soon." Xu Xiaogang rested his hand on the top of the stone city wall, gazing southwest.

"The rebels should launch a formal attack tomorrow night," Ye Xiuyuan said. "How many warhorses has the general managed to gather this time?"

“In half a month, we can gather three thousand horses. Adding that to the two thousand cavalrymen already in Zhenchi Army, we can form five thousand cavalrymen.” Xu Xiaogang replied in a deep voice, “But Mr. Ye, did you secretly ask me to gather cavalrymen?”

"Tomorrow morning, the general will lead the cavalry to retreat twenty miles behind Daegu City. At three quarters past Shen time, the cavalry will quickly circle around to the enemy's rear."

"The rebels are attacking the city, so they certainly won't bring too many cavalry."

"At that time, how many enemy soldiers you can kill in open ground will depend on your own abilities, General."

"In addition, the four hundred Imperial Guards who brought the cannons are all top-notch elites. General Xu will also take them with him. If they can take Wang Longzhi's life, that would be the best outcome."

……

Thirty miles outside Daegu city, three hundred thousand elite rebel troops were setting up camp under the cover of night, making their final preparations.

Inside a tent, Xiao Min'er wore a fleece-lined cloak, but her cheeks were still slightly red from the cold.

Inside the tent, guards soon arrived with firewood and started a campfire.

"Have some ginger tea to keep warm." Wang Longzhi thoughtfully poured her a cup of ginger tea before turning to the many generals in the tent and saying in a deep voice, "According to the plan, we will attack the city early tomorrow morning. You will each lead 50,000 men to launch a feigned attack on the east, south, and west sides of Daqiu County City."

"Zhang Han will lead the attack on the north side."

"We tampered with the walls of Daegu County City when we withdrew. We dug out sections of the walls on all four sides, east, west, south, and north. They will collapse quickly if we just smash them with a battering ram."

Of course, it wasn't just the county seat of Daegu County; the walls of the several county seats that were ceded were also destroyed at Xiao Min'er's suggestion.

The purpose was to make it easy to breach the city walls during a counterattack.

"Yes."

Upon hearing this, the generals present chuckled, their eyes lighting up.

The city had only 100,000 garrison troops, but this time Wang Longzhi spared no expense, deploying a full 300,000 elite troops.

Daegu city itself was not a military fortress, and its walls were far too simple compared to those of the major military towns in the north.

Moreover, these city walls have loopholes, making it easy to breach this county town.

At the same time, Wang Longzhi picked up his ginger tea, slowly stood up, looked at the crowd in front of him, and said, "Gentlemen, most of you have been following me for quite some time, and have gone through many life-and-death situations with me."

“You all followed me during my uprising. I, Wang Longzhi, have no way to repay you. After tomorrow's battle, there will be no more powerful enemies in the south. Then we can march straight to the capital.” “At that time, I will remember your contributions and reward you handsomely!”

"Thank you, General!"

The dozen or so generals present all raised their ginger tea cups and drank them down in one gulp.

……

The next morning, the army quickly set out. At the same time, in a relatively open area within Daegu city, the middle and high-ranking generals of the 100,000 Zhenchi Army, along with a large number of Zhenchi Army soldiers, gathered there. As far as the eye could see, they were densely packed together and stretched as far as the eye could see.

Xu Xiaogang, dressed in armor and with a serious expression, slowly ascended a wooden platform that had already been built, and began his pre-battle mobilization speech to boost morale.

He took a deep breath and said loudly, "Generals and soldiers, today the rebel army is attacking. Our Zhenchi Army is renowned on the northern border. Even the barbarians retreat when they hear of our great name. Today, the rebel army is attacking. As far as I know, the rebel army has 300,000 troops. Are you afraid?"

The generals and soldiers all shouted in unison, "We are not afraid!"

The sound was so loud that it resounded throughout the entire city of Daegu.

Xu Xiaogang nodded slightly, took a deep breath, and said with a gloomy look in his eyes: "Not long ago, the shameless rebels broke through the flood control dike of the Cangnan River and used the flood as a trick, causing 100,000 of my Zhenchi Army to die tragically in the flood."

"That is shameless."

"Today we will let the rebels know that the Zhenchi Army's illustrious reputation is not just empty boasting."

When Xu Xiaogang mentioned the 100,000 Zhenchi soldiers who died tragically, his eyes reddened slightly with heartache. He drew his sword, raised it high above his head, and roared, "Today's battle is for killing the enemy and avenging them!"

"Kill the enemy!"

"revenge!"

Upon hearing this, many soldiers shouted in unison, for the soldiers of Zhenchi Army had all lived together for many years.

The other half of the troops, and the remaining soldiers, were also longtime friends.

Now, how can we not avenge them?
dong dong dong.

Soon, the war drums on the city wall began to sound slowly, and all the soldiers of the Zhenchi Army quickly took their positions in accordance with the pre-arranged plan.

After Xu Xiaogang stepped down from the platform, Ye Xiuyuan was leading a warhorse and waiting beside him with some high-ranking generals.

However, there was another person dressed in black, with his head down, whose face could not be seen, riding a horse and waiting by his side.

Xu Xiaogang grabbed the reins, mounted his horse, and turned to the senior generals, saying, "I have to leave the city due to my plans. During my absence, you only need to guard the city. If there are any major issues, consult Mr. Ye Xiuyuan and let him make the decision. Understand?"

"Yes."

All the generals nodded in agreement.

"Let's go." Xu Xiaogang glanced at the man in the black robe.

"Giddy up!" Xu Xiaogang rode his horse and, together with the man in black robes, quickly headed towards the north city wall. They rode out of the city to find the five thousand cavalrymen who were already prepared outside.

At the same time, Ye Xiuyuan also quickly arrived at the city wall and looked out of the city. He could already vaguely see the horizon and densely packed rebel troops.

The generals of Zhenchi Army are very experienced in defending cities, so Ye Xiuyuan doesn't need to teach them how to defend them.

In the distance, amidst the rebel army, Wang Longzhi, riding his warhorse, frowned and said to Xiao Min'er beside him, "Min'er, with such a fierce battle, you should stay in the rear to rest and wait for good news."

Xiao Min'er shook her head slightly, smiled and glanced at Xie Yifeng and Bai Xuanang, the elder of the Demon Spirit Sect, beside her: "With Senior Xie and Elder Bai here, what is there to worry about?"

"Today's battle is crucial to victory or defeat. How can I be at ease if I hide in the rear?"

"Yes." Wang Longzhi took a deep breath, then exhaled, looking at the distant city of Daegu, and shouted, "Beat the drums! Attack the city!"

"Send the order! The first to reach the summit will be rewarded with a thousand taels of gold!!!" Wang Longzhi drew his sword and shouted loudly.

Soon, the messenger beside him shouted, "Order! The first to reach the summit will be rewarded with a thousand taels of gold!"

As the news spread, the eyes of all the elite soldiers lit up instantly.

With a thousand taels of gold, if you can be the first to scale the city walls, not only will you never have to worry about money for this lifetime, but for countless generations to come.

The dull sound of war drums slowly rose, and the 300,000-strong army orderly surrounded the city of Daegu from all four directions.

As the defending troops approached from all directions, carrying various siege weapons, the generals of the garrison, with considerable experience, gave their orders.

From a distance, archers would continuously fire arrows without needing to aim; the besieging army was densely packed, so they could just fire blindly.

As they drew nearer, the hot oil and rolling stones that had been prepared beforehand were quickly poured down towards the area below the city wall.

In an instant, deafening battle cries echoed throughout the city of Daegu.

(End of this chapter)