Chapter 170: The Imperial City Changes Its Defenses, and Blood Flows Like a River

The second year of Lingwu in Daxin, May 29.

Su Chen, the governor of Liangjiang, led 50,000 troops from Liangjiang to Jinling City and went to Yingtianfu (the imperial palace) for a change of guard under the instruction of Qin Ruhui, the prime minister of the dynasty.

At 5 p.m.

The soldiers of the imperial guards stationed in the imperial city found a large number of fully armed imperial soldiers from the tower, rushing towards the imperial city aggressively.

On the tower, the on-duty imperial guards saw this and immediately ordered: "Close all the gates of the imperial city, and all the imperial guards are ready to meet the enemy;"

"Messenger, report to General He immediately, there are tens of thousands of soldiers besieging the city, quick, quick, quick!"

"I have received the order!"

With the order of the imperial guards, thousands of imperial guards on the narrow and long imperial city walls immediately took action, holding swords, spears, and halberds and waiting in full battle array.

Outside the imperial city, 50,000 new soldiers from the Liangjiang region approached the imperial city step by step in a siege formation.

Liangjiang Governor Su Chen rode a snow-white Ferghana horse and walked arrogantly at the front of the army.

Behind him were hundreds of Yuhou Army soldiers riding big horses, as well as Liu Feng, the commander of the Red Guards, who came to help, and hundreds of Red Guards warriors wearing flying fish uniforms.

"Who is under the city? Stop immediately!"

On the walls of the imperial city, the guards of the Imperial Guards shouted: "This is an important place in the imperial city. You are here to rebel?"

"Bowmen, prepare your crossbows. If the scoundrels under the city dare to take another step forward, they will be shot to death with arrows!"

Swish!

As soon as these words came out, teams of archers from the Imperial Guards appeared at the battlements of the imperial city wall, pulling the strong bows and crossbows in their hands to full strings, and the arrows pointed directly outside the imperial city.

Seeing this, the captain of the personal guards of Liangjiang Governor Su Chen shouted arrogantly to the top of the city wall, saying: "We are the Liangjiang New Army who are following the order of the Ministry of War to go to Yingtian Prefecture for a rotation!"

"Look carefully, this is the order of the Ministry of War to change guards!"

As he said this, the captain of the personal guards on horseback spread out the order of the Ministry of War in his hand, shook it at the thousand households of the Imperial Guards on the imperial city, and continued:

"The order of the Ministry of War to change guards is here, you all line up and leave the city immediately, complete the handover with the Liangjiang New Army, and do not cause any trouble!"

Hmph!

Above the imperial city, the captain of the imperial guards snorted coldly and said with a vigilant look: "The Ministry of War has transferred the new army of Liangjiang to the imperial city for replacement. Such a major event, why haven't we received the order from the current emperor?"

"Besides, even if the imperial city is replaced, it should be the internal rotation of the imperial guards. When will it be your turn for the new army in the Liangjiang area to enter the capital for replacement?"

"In my opinion, you are clearly trying to raise troops to rebel!"

Seeing that the imperial guards on the imperial city did not buy this, Liangjiang Governor Su Chen stopped talking nonsense and waved his hand to the vanguard of his army; he said calmly: "Start the siege!"

"I have received the order!"

"All troops are ready to attack the city--"

With Su Chen's order, the first climbers (suicide squads) of the Liangjiang new army immediately carried ladders, siege hammers, siege vehicles and other equipment, and rushed straight to the imperial city.

Seeing this, the Imperial Guards on duty on the city wall also hurriedly began to counterattack.

"Bowmen, prepare!"

"Release——"

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

In an instant, thousands of arrows were fired from the walls of the imperial city, and the arrows in the sky fell into the Liangjiang New Army formation that was attacking the city like locusts passing through.

However, how could the Liangjiang New Army, which had already made perfect preparations for the siege, retreat easily?

The soldiers who first climbed the team raised their shields above their heads to resist the arrows from the Imperial Guards on the city wall.

At the same time, the bowmen in the Liangjiang New Army formation also began to advance into the range of the bows and crossbows, and then, under the command of the commander, they fought back against the Imperial Guards on the city.

"Bowmen, shoot——"

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

Arrows flew across the sky again.

However, this time the direction of the arrows was to attack from outside the city to the city wall.

The imperial guards defending the city and the Liangjiang New Army attacking the city exchanged fire at a distance of one or two hundred steps, until the soldiers of the first team climbed up to the top of the city with the help of the ladder, and then began the fierce close combat.

For a time, inside and outside the imperial city of the capital of the Great Xin Dynasty, shouts and screams shook the sky, and wailing sounded everywhere.

At the same time, in Kunning Palace.

The Queen Mother Su Wan'er, who was lying on the dragon bed and taking a nap with the three-year-old Emperor Lingwu, was awakened from her sleep by a faint shouting and killing.

Su Wan'er frowned slightly, and while signaling the palace maid to put on the red phoenix robe she had taken off, she asked with a warm and angry voice: "Eunuch Cai, what happened outside? Why is there so much noise?"

Outside Kunning Palace, the Silijian Pen Taijun Cai He, who was on standby at any time, immediately replied to Su Wan'er in the palace: "Report to the Queen Mother, the old slave has sent someone to check!"

Oh?

At this time, Su Wan'er in Kunning Palace finally packed up and walked out of Kunning Palace with the help of the palace maids, ready to listen in person to what happened.

As soon as Su Wan'er walked out of Kunning Palace, the commander of the Imperial Guards He Changdong rushed to Kunning Palace.

He Changdong was so anxious that he didn't even bother to greet the Queen Mother Su Wan'er. He knelt down on one knee in front of Su Wan'er and said in a serious tone:

"Empress Dowager, something terrible has happened. The treacherous Prime Minister Qin Ruhui and the Governor-General of Liangjiang, Su Chen, have raised an army to rebel. At this moment, Su Chen is leading tens of thousands of Liangjiang new troops to attack the imperial city!"

"What?"

When Su Wan'er heard the news, she felt a black screen in front of her eyes, and her mind went blank. Her delicate and graceful body softened as if all her strength had been drained out of thin air.

If it weren't for the palace maids supporting her, she would have fainted on the spot.

He Changdong, the commander of the Imperial Guards, who was kneeling on the ground, did not notice Su Wan'er's loss of composure, but continued to report to her: "Empress Dowager, the defense of the imperial city of the capital is not as easy to defend as other cities;"

"There are only more than 10,000 imperial guards in this city. Facing the fierce attack of tens of thousands of Liangjiang rebels, it is only a matter of time to break the city!"

After a pause, He Changdong continued: "Empress Dowager, I have just led my troops to investigate the situation of the entire imperial city. At present, only the west gate is the weak point of the entire rebel attack;"

"I dare to advise the Empress Dowager that while the rebels have not yet broken through the imperial city, I will lead my personal soldiers to personally escort the emperor and the Empress Dowager out of the city;"

"Otherwise, once the city is broken, I can only die with the emperor and the Empress Dowager!"

"Empress Dowager, if you don't leave now, it will be too late!"