Ancestors, please don't crawl out again.

Chapter 162 Heavenly Soldiers and Generals
The Qing army, having suffered a crushing defeat in their attack, resumed their siege.

As for their report on the details of the battle...

It's even more fantastical now.

Such stories don't need to be fabricated by the Green Standard Army generals; Yanxin and Zhao Hongxie could make them up themselves. "Our Great Qing army, under the leadership of Admiral Ga, fought a bloody battle with the rebel army all day, killing and wounding many. Unexpectedly, that sorcerer suddenly descended from the sky, wielding a ten-zhang-long giant sword. He was impervious to swords and spears, and even cannonballs could not harm him. Although Admiral Ga fought desperately, he was ultimately no match for him and sacrificed himself for the Great Qing and the Emperor."

Although the Green Standard Army generals tried their best to rescue him, the demons had descended from the sky, and there was simply not enough time. Therefore, they could only watch helplessly as Admiral Ga died in battle.

However, the rebel army was forced to retreat back into the city due to the valiant efforts of the royal army.

Then General Yanxin and Governor Zhao led their troops to trap the rebel army inside the city, stubbornly resisting and barely surviving, waiting for the court to send reinforcements so that the army could gather and annihilate them in one fell swoop.

The most important thing is to deploy more cannons.

The cannon was too small before.

That's why we can't kill that sorcerer.

We need to switch to the Wu Yonggu General Cannon and use those 20-pound shells to blast him to smithereens.

Before reinforcements arrive, each unit will naturally continue to fight desperately to prevent the enemy from leaving the city, ensuring that Henan is not ravaged by them.

In short, it's good!
Keep cooking.

More than 50,000 Green Standard Army soldiers and more than 3,000 remnants of the Eight Banners continued their daily lives outside Kaifeng.

And all Ma Ge could do was indeed send reinforcements. However, Ma Ge was also confused. Although the frontline officers and generals were certainly making up stories, he was not without the secret reports from his bondservant men, so he knew the true situation on the battlefield.

In this situation, he didn't know how to deal with it for a moment.

Therefore, he didn't care about the food served at the front lines.

He was a smart and rational man. He knew very well that given Yang Feng's situation, if they couldn't find a way to deal with him, sending more troops would be useless! Even the Divine Might Invincible General Cannon couldn't kill him, so the Martial Yonggu General Cannon probably wouldn't be able to either. It wasn't a matter of the size of the cannon; it was beyond the realm of science. They needed to seek help from the mystical side. But until then, they just needed to continue besieging Kaifeng and prevent the situation from getting out of control.

This bizarre standoff lasted for more than a month.

The Qing army outside the city numbered as many as 100,000.

Even the Green Standard Army from Shandong and Beizhili joined the siege of Kaifeng, and the number of Eight Banners troops also increased to 10,000.

It can be said that a large number of troops were gathered there.

But none of them took the initiative to attack; they were all just doing nothing on the outskirts. Instead, they stirred up the area around Kaifeng like a locust swarm, and all the people were driven away. After all, no one wanted to have their woman dragged into the army by a staunch peasant. They didn't even spare the men; Ma Ge was even supporting them in seizing slaves.

As for the city...

Yangjia Lake.

Under the watchful gaze of the Immortal Venerable.

"put!"

Sun Cheng, the former bricklayer and commander of the First Battalion of the Heavenly Soldiers and Divine Spears Army, waved his small flag downwards.

Then, before him, muskets burst forth with sparks and smoke, and simultaneously, accompanied by the whooshing of bullets, bullet holes appeared on the wooden targets hanging two hundred meters away on the city wall. Immediately afterward, the soldiers hiding on the wall lifted the targets, announced their scores, marked them, and then lowered them again. Meanwhile, the sharpshooters had already loaded their bullets and were aiming at their targets again, beginning the next round of firing.

This was Yang Feng's first army in the true sense of the word.

Heavenly soldiers.

They were called Heavenly Soldiers.

After all, Yang Feng had already said that he came down from the sky.

Moreover, he was acting on the orders of the Jade Emperor, so he represented the Jade Emperor, and his army naturally represented the Jade Emperor, which meant they were heavenly soldiers. Furthermore, it was said among the soldiers that they were heavenly soldiers when they were alive, and they would remain heavenly soldiers after they died.

Heavenly soldiers and generals.

They now serve the Celestial Venerable and the Jade Emperor, and after they die, they will all go to heaven to become heavenly soldiers and generals.

That would make it even more frenzied.

At the same time, the Celestial Venerable bestowed upon them divine spears. These spears could fire from several miles away, with unparalleled accuracy within two hundred paces. They were even reloaded from the rear like mother-and-child cannons, completing the reloading and firing again in the blink of an eye. These divine spears completely overwhelmed the Qing demons, since even the Qing demons' cannons might not have a range as far as these divine spears. Those so-called cannons weighing only a few dozen kilograms could not possibly compare to the range of the Mauser 71, whose range, according to the artillery measurement standards of that time, was already comparable to that of a light Hongyi cannon.

More than a thousand meters!

Although this range makes it impossible to aim accurately, if the enemy is in formation, firing into the air and letting stray bullets fall can still kill people.

It has a diameter of eleven millimeters!
The first batch of Heavenly Soldiers consisted of four thousand men. The selection criteria were very strict: their eyesight had to meet the requirements, and they had to be physically strong. They were all burly and strong men, and then Yang Feng organized them into the Divine Spear Army.

Including ten sharpshooting battalions.

A battalion of three hundred men.

You don't need too many; three hundred Mauser rifles lined up at two hundred meters and shot; no army in this era could withstand that.

The remaining thousand were artillery and cavalry, and as for the artillery's cannons...

“Boom…”

Not far from Sun Cheng, artillery battalion commander Li Xin was personally firing.

Before him were six pipes mounted on a two-wheeled gun carriage, each spraying flames in turn. As he turned the handle, bullets whistled out, steadily firing amidst the billowing smoke. Large bullets shattered and flew across the city wall. The ammunition handler in front of him held the magazines, letting bullets fall continuously from them. Beside him were others holding spare magazines, others loading bullets into magazines, and even an observer reporting the impact points to him through binoculars…

Six-barreled 14.7 mm Gatling gun.

Or rather, a Gatling gun.

Armstrong cannons were unnecessary in this era; after all, muzzle-loading cannons were sufficient for bombarding city walls, and using Krupp field cannons to bombard enemy troops was somewhat wasteful. However, this rudimentary version of a machine gun was quite effective. Of course, it still used black powder bullets. Yang Feng was fascinated by black powder because the spent cartridge cases could be recycled and reloaded, although this wasn't possible yet, but it would certainly be in the future.

If it's a smokeless drug, then it would require a proper chemical system.

Gunpowder can be made by ordinary people.

At most, the power will be reduced and there will be more residue, but it will not hinder its use. At worst, the range will be shorter.

Even at its shortest, it still crushes the brown bass.

As for the cavalry, it was also a product of the same era, namely the Henry lever-action rifle.

As for the so-called god, where to get these things for him is none of his business. He asked the latter to solve it. A god shouldn't be unable to handle such a small matter.

Ultimately, Yang Feng built a celestial army within the city that was comparable to that of the late 19th century. The 4,000-strong Divine Gun Army consisted of ten battalions of 3,000 Mauser single-shot riflemen using gunpowder, one battalion of 300 cavalrymen using Henry lever-action rifles, two artillery battalions providing fire support, 500 artillerymen using Gatling guns, and fewer than 300 medics and engineers. Of course, these weapons also had new names: Divine Guns, Rapid-Fire Divine Guns, Divine Cannons. Being celestial soldiers and generals, they naturally had to match their aura. Not only were the names fitting, but even the soldiers had talismans affixed to them, personally crafted by the Celestial Venerable, who claimed they would increase accuracy.

Yang Feng already knew about talismans. These things mobilize the user's own soul energy and can influence the surrounding environment to some extent.

Although very weak.

But it does have some use.

What he used on these guns and cannons was actually to increase airflow and cool them down faster, but he told the soldiers to increase their accuracy. Anyway, it was to increase it, not to make them hit every shot. If they hit, it was because of the protection of the gods; if they missed, it was because they were incompetent. If they were bad, they should practice more!

Yang Feng sat under the umbrella, watching his subordinates train with satisfaction. At this moment, Yang Er walked up to him and knelt down.

This farmer is now a prefect appointed by the immortal.

Prefect of Kaifeng.

As for the name of the country, it was not chosen yet.

Yang Feng explained that he was only temporarily sent down to the mortal realm to handle some business, and he would have to return after finishing his work. Therefore, he had no interest in worldly matters such as establishing a new dynasty. He would first deal with the Qing demons and then let the people decide for themselves. There was no new dynasty name, so there was no new court. Since there was only one city, Kaifeng, the Prefect of Kaifeng was the highest official.

Next, new appointments will be made wherever the land is conquered.

Military and political affairs are of course decided by the Immortal Venerable himself, although the Immortal Venerable often doesn't get involved.

"Digging up the Yellow River?"

The news brought by Yang Er immediately stunned Yang Feng.

"Immortal Lord, more than one merchant who came in today said that Qing Yao has been inspecting the Yellow River dike these past few days, supposedly looking for a suitable place to dig it up. The ones leading the charge are Yan Xin and Zhao Hongxie. To be honest, they can't defeat you, Immortal Lord, and dare not attack the city, so they inevitably think of this way. However, the Yellow River is shallow and frozen at this time, so digging up the dike is useless. The river water will have to go more than a mile below the dike. But when the flood season comes, Qing Yao won't even have to exert any effort. He can just find a weak point and dig a little, and the dike will collapse on its own. Qing Yao has done this before. Back then, in order to wipe out the Yuyuan Army, they dug up the dike on the north bank. Calculating, in another three or four months, it should be the Peach Blossom Flood. At that time, the river will thaw. If Qing Yao really digs up the dike, Kaifeng City will be flooded."

Yang Er quickly said.

"Three or four months."

Yang Feng pondered for a moment.

He did indeed overlook this issue.

In other words, he needs to move faster, otherwise if he drags it out until spring, and Brother Ma digs up the Yellow River dike, this place will really be washed away, since he can no longer divert the disaster to the special trash can.

Then he looked at his soldiers.

"Have you mastered how to use them?"

he shouted.

"Immortal Lord, we only know how to use it, that is, how to load, aim and fire. We don't know how to fight."

Sun Cheng quickly said.

He certainly guessed what the Immortal Venerable meant by asking that question. In less than two months, he could do a decent job at target practice, but fighting a war required troop deployment.

"Knowing this is enough. Killing Qing demons is nothing to make things complicated. Order the Divine Spear Army to assemble. It's time to strike at the Qing demons' lair."

Yang Feng shouted.

He needs to hurry up and launch a northern expedition.

Otherwise, Ma Ge would really do something like that.

Kaifeng has this flaw: if the Yellow River dike is breached during the flood season, the city could be completely leveled.

Several layers of land beneath his feet had already been leveled.

Although four thousand men is a bit few, and these four thousand men have only been trained for less than two months, with him in charge, even if there were only four hundred, let alone four thousand, he would still be able to lead them straight to the capital. Another crucial point is to destroy the local people's confidence in our Great Qing. Digging the Yellow River requires the cooperation of local gentry and officials; the Qing army itself doesn't even know where to dig. When the Qing army dug the Yellow River, it was Hou Fangyu who taught them, and when the Ming army dug it, it was local officials from Kaifeng, such as Huang Shu, the Kaifeng magistrate, and Gao Mingheng, the Henan provincial inspector, who designed the plan. Moreover, the impact on Henan after digging would be too great. If local officials and gentry don't cooperate, a small Qing army unit alone cannot accomplish the task; it could even trigger internal strife.

Whether the latter will cooperate depends on whether they still have confidence in our Great Qing.

Yes, then I'll bear with it, and use it to show my loyalty to Brother Ma.

No?

Those who dug the Yellow River were their enemies.

Most of the 100,000 Green Standard Army soldiers here are from various parts of Henan, and nearly half of them are from the lower reaches of the Yellow River. If the Yellow River is breached, their homes will be flooded. If they stage a mutiny because of this, the Qing Dynasty will collapse in Henan.

As Yang Feng's order was relayed, the sharpshooting troops, who were undergoing training, assembled and formed ranks amidst the crowd of onlookers.

Although the formation was a bit messy.

But at least it's starting to look promising.

Mausers with bayonets slung across their shoulders, a row of Gatling guns in front, and cavalry on the flanks not even wearing armor, each in a red uniform, carrying a Henry lever-action rifle with bullets wrapped around their body, and wearing a straw hat on their head—the style is quite unique.

At the same time, all the battalion commanders in the city also assembled.

"I'll ask you one question: if I lead the army on a northern expedition, can you defend Kaifeng on your own?"

Yang Feng looked at the battalion commanders.

The latter looked at each other in bewilderment.

"can!"

"can!"

……

They then shouted.

Clearly, their confidence has become extremely inflated.

In the past two months, they have effectively completed the mobilization of the entire population into soldiers, and they are not short of weapons. Firstly, they have captured a lot of them, and secondly, they have purchased them from the Green Standard Army. The purchase method is also very simple: they go out of the city to launch a night raid, and the Green Standard Army outside will break up the camp and flee, leaving behind all their weapons and even food. Then they will take them back into the city. But before and after this, a huge sum of money will be sent to the Green Standard Army generals in two installments through those merchants.

In reality, those merchants were also constantly transporting weapons and food into the city, and the Green Standard Army was getting a share.

There is no shortage of silver in the city.

Besides, if Yang Feng is short of money, he can just ask his logistics manager for it.

As long as there is silver, even loyal Manchu bannermen can sell ammunition in the city.

In short, there is now an armed force of 100,000 men in the city, with dozens of cannons, many other firearms, countless bows and arrows, and a temporary surplus of food. They are all in a state of fanatical arrogance, and in their eyes, the enemy is nothing but trash. Anyone who dares to attack will be killed.

"Alright, don't worry. I will leave Prefect Yang a magical artifact to call for help. I will rush back immediately in case of emergency. Remember, now is the time for you to kill Qing demons and make a name for yourselves. Kill Qing demons to exchange for titles and for your descendants to enjoy wealth and honor."

Don't be afraid to die!

I will meet you again in heaven.

Yang Feng shouted with satisfaction.

"We swear to kill the Qing demons to the death, and then follow the Immortal Venerable in the heavens!"

A battalion commander shouted excitedly.

"Immortal Venerable, see you in the heavens!"

……

(End of this chapter)