Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 781 Who Says a Commoner Isn't a Man (Part 1)
Hao Donglai squeezed the yellow soil on the ground, trying to stand up, but because his legs were weak and his arms were powerless, he could only make a strange movement of sticking his butt out.

After struggling for a long time, Hao Donglai finally managed to stand up, leaning against the wall beside him. He shook his still dizzy head to reduce the ringing in his ears, and then felt a cool sensation on his face. When he touched it, his hand was covered in red.

Hao Donglai was, after all, a ruthless figure who had once been a leader of a peasant uprising and had no shortage of bloodshed, so he was not panicked. He simply leaned against the wall, bent down, grabbed a handful of yellow soil, and put it on his forehead. Then he shook his head vigorously again, trying to stabilize his swaying vision.

In the short time it took to turn his head, Hao Donglai saw that the officer who had just run towards the city gate seemed to be trapped under a pile of debris. He quickly stumbled forward to try to rescue him.

However, Hao Donglai reached out and grabbed the officer's arm. With a strong pull, the officer fell to the ground again. Looking down at his hand, he saw that the officer seemed to have been cut in half at the waist by some great force, with only half of his body remaining. After Hao Donglai dragged him for two steps, his internal organs and blood gushed to the ground.

Seeing this, Hao Donglai simply tossed the arm in his hand aside and stood up again.

This time he finally stood up, and as the tinnitus disappeared, the chaotic world gradually became clear.

The first thing that catches the eye is the empty city gate. Although smoke billows from within, the sunlight filtering through the smoke reveals that the several-foot-thick ironwood gate has vanished.

Hao Donglai glanced at the city wall, only to find that the guards had disappeared. He didn't know if they had fled or had been blown to bits.

Hao Dong then looked around.

This place is only forty or fifty steps from the city gate. It is the intersection of the central avenue and the official road outside the city. On weekdays, the tax office and the police officers who maintain order are stationed here. It is a major transportation route.

Therefore, this place was naturally reinforced into a barricade during the war, with antler-shaped wooden fences erected.

At this moment, the defensive barricades seemed to be blown about by a strong wind, twisting and turning. Several attendants and more than a dozen guards hiding behind the barricades fell to the ground. Some were already dead with splinters stuck in their flesh, while others were still wailing and rolling on the ground crying.

"Get up! Zhao San! Wang Liu! How many of you can stand up? Get up!" Hao Donglai roared, looking for help, but all he got in response were wails; no one actually stood up.

Not everyone is as lucky as Hao Donglai.

Hao Donglai tried to calm himself down. He didn't know what gunpowder was, but he still understood one principle.

This must be the Jurchens launching an attack.

Since it is the Jin invaders who are attacking, whether they use demonic magic, immortal magic, or sorcery, they will still have to send troops to seize the city. It is very likely that when the black smoke dissipates, that will be the time when the Jin army arrives.

Seeing that all his companions were either dead or wounded, Hao Donglai hardened his heart, took off running, and ran past the panicked and fleeing people until he arrived at the labor camp a few hundred paces away.

At this time, the labor camp was also in complete chaos. The neighing of men and horses, along with the braying of donkeys and mules, made the entire camp seem to be boiling over.

A village headman named Han Mantun, who was on duty at the village gate, was so frightened by the loud noise that he fell to the ground and remained there for a long time before finally getting up shakily. Upon seeing Hao Donglai, Han Mantun felt as if he had found his pillar of support: "Brother Hao, what happened?!"

Hao Donglai's arm ached from being pulled, but he didn't care. He grabbed the other man and shouted, "The Jin invaders are attacking the city! They've broken through the city gates! Bring out the Ruyi War Chariots, grab your weapons! Come with me to block the city gates!"

Han Mantun nodded hastily, but seeing the livestock running around in panic, he became even more flustered: "How can we gather the big animals in such a mess?!"

Hao Donglai shouted at the top of his lungs, "Does that mean you can't pull a cart without animals? Are the two of us even worse than a mule?! Now, take the men you can gather and go pull the Ruyi War Chariot right now! Hurry!"

Han Mantun turned around in a panic, tripped over a clod of dirt on the ground, but dared not hesitate. He quickly led several of his men who had regained consciousness toward the rear camp.

At this time, not only were the livestock running around in the labor camp, but the laborers were also terrified and like headless flies. The village chiefs were also completely incompetent and unable to control their subordinates.

Seeing this, Hao Donglai took a deep breath, then picked up a clapper from the ground, climbed onto a haystack, and began to beat it vigorously.

After the crisp sound of the clapper rang out, the village chiefs reflexively began to blow their whistles, following what they had practiced during winter training.

Hearing the piercing whistles blaring from all over the camp, the laborers, who had also gone through the winter literacy campaign and drill training, finally calmed down. They stood still, looking around anxiously, seemingly trying to find a flag.

However, now is not the time to regroup the army. Although the Jin army has not yet stormed through the city gates, no one can guarantee that they will not appear in front of everyone at any moment.

Now it all comes down to who's faster!
Hao Donglai still had some tinnitus, so he had to shout at the top of his lungs: "Take up your weapons! Bring out the Ruyi War Chariot! Block the city gate! Kill the Jin invaders!"

"Kill the Jin traitors!"

Although the local laborers had calmed down, the horses and mules still caused chaos in the camp. Most people only saw the famous Captain Hao shouting something on the haystack, but they couldn't hear him clearly.

But the laborers didn't need to hear clearly. Han Mantun had already pushed the Ruyi War Chariot out from the rear camp, shouting to those around him as he went, "Come push the chariot and kill the Jin bandits!"

Most of the laborers were still bewildered. Those who were nearby went forward to help Han Mantun push the Ruyi chariot, while those who couldn't get close went to the rear camp to push other chariots. Others were given a long spear, but they were clearly at a loss.

In recent years, Shandong, Huaihe River Basin, Central Plains and Hebei have been in chaos. These laborers have seen dead people and even killed people with their own hands. But this time, they were supposed to be transporting supplies and logistics, but suddenly they have become soldiers and have to fight on the battlefield. No one can understand this and will instinctively shrink back in fear.

But at this point, the laborers had no time to think further.

After shouting a few words from the haystack, Hao Donglai saw that he had gathered more than a hundred people to move together. He immediately jumped off the haystack, tucked the clapper into his belt, picked up a spear with his left hand, raised an apricot-yellow flag with his right hand, and strode out.

Seeing how brave and valiant Hao was, some of the laborers who were far away and still didn't understand what was going on stepped forward in twos and threes. Some went to get spears, some went to carry deer antlers, and some carried two bags of straw in a daze, not knowing what they were going to do.

Amidst this chaotic scene, over four hundred laborers pushed fifteen auspicious chariots directly to the west gate.

Not all of these laborers were auxiliary soldiers responsible for connecting the chariots, so they didn't actually set up the chariots. They simply piled the Ruyi chariots sideways together and then piled a layer of deer antlers in front of them, making the city gate, which was already full of debris and corpses, even more chaotic.

Subsequently, Hao Donglai personally led fifty of the more valiant laborers, armed with spears, to stand guard at the gaps in the Ruyi chariot.

"Wait a minute, aren't the Jin invaders all cavalry? Why aren't they here yet?" After waiting for half an hour, Hao Donglai, covered in blood, sweat, and dust, muttered to himself, "Could it be that the Jin invaders have another scheme?"

The reason why the Jin army didn't rush in immediately after the city gates were blown open is actually quite simple.

Their warhorses were startled.

It makes sense, since the horses and mules in the labor camp a mile away were already running around in fright, let alone the Jin cavalry who were even closer.

To ensure the element of surprise when gunpowder appeared on the battlefield as a trump card, Dongjin did not conduct large-scale experiments after its successful development.

In addition, Dongjin failed to find saltpeter mines, hindering explosive production. Furthermore, due to a lack of understanding of the principles involved, the yield of high-quality explosives was low. Coupled with the Song Dynasty's hasty northern expedition, Dongjin was also hastily drawn into the war.

Several factors combined have led to the current situation.

Even though this soldier named Wulibu had participated in gunpowder experiments and personally lit two large firecrackers, he still did not expect that the explosives would make such a loud noise.

After the Jin cavalry piled the gunpowder barrels on their spare horses at the city gate, they retreated to a distance of more than two hundred paces, where archers then ignited the gunpowder with rockets.

Wulibu originally thought that this distance was enough, after all, the sound of the two firecrackers he had personally set off was nothing special. However, he never expected that quantitative change would lead to qualitative change. After the explosives detonated and blasted a mushroom cloud at the city gate, the Jin army's warhorses were all startled and scattered in all directions, neighing.

Wulibu spent a great deal of effort to gather his troops back, but when he arrived at the city gate where the smoke of battle had cleared, he was stunned to see the defensive structures of Ruyi chariots and deer antlers mixed together.

"General, are the Shandong bandits' chariots all made of cast iron? There was such a commotion just now, but they didn't explode!" A trusted confidant, Mou Ke, asked with suspicion, "Can we still break through?"

Wulibu immediately flew into a rage and whipped his blind confidant Mouke: "You stupid idiot with your eyes plugged with donkey testicles! These carts were obviously pushed here by Shandong bandits later. Didn't you see that some Shandong bandits were throwing caltrops out?"

Despite being whipped, the trusted confidant Mouke remained unperturbed and continued to ask the same question: "General, should we still charge in?"

Wulibu hesitated only slightly before gritting his teeth and saying, "The Left Prime Minister and Chief Steward Jiagu have entrusted me with this important task. If I mess it up, no one will forgive me! The same goes for you!"

With that, Wulibu dismounted and said, "Zhuo Tuo Hong, you take two hundred cavalry to cover me. I will lead the remaining four hundred armored soldiers to charge in. Once we enter the city gate, we will set fire to all sides, and the city will be considered captured!"

Zhuo Tuo Hong, the military strategist, frowned as he looked at the empty city walls, but did not refute him, only nodding repeatedly.

Wulibu, leading nearly four hundred armored cavalry, dismounted and, wielding two maces, shouted loudly: "If we capture Qixian, we will not sheath our swords for three days!"

"it is good!"

"kill!"

Amidst deafening cheers, Wulibu charged ahead into the city gate.

As if they couldn't wait to rush into the mouth of a giant beast.

(End of this chapter)