The Revolt of the Three Feudatories: All-in at the start in Beijing

Chapter 282 The Wu Family

Wu Jianxiong, the eldest son of the Wu family, had passed the imperial examination and was a scholar. He was wearing a fish-scale armor and a western-style helmet that he had bought from Shuozhou City. He had one hand on the goose-feather knife at his waist and the other hand on the city bricks of the crenellation. His expression was much more composed than his father's.

He was an educated man, and a shrewd person who grew up in a salt merchant's compound. The more afraid he was, the more he forced himself to remain calm.

"Father," Wu Jianxiong pressed down on Wu Ancheng's trembling arm, "Don't be anxious, listen to what your son has to say first."

"The imperial army has been locked in a stalemate with Tsarist Russia for two years at the foot of the Ural Mountains, with neither side gaining the upper hand. In these two years, Tsarist Russia has held its front line firmly, and no organized cavalry unit has ever ventured into the heart of our Han territory. There is only one explanation for how these people have managed to reach the walls of Shanyang City today."

Wu Ancheng's eyes widened: "What explanation?"

"Their supply lines at the front are in trouble. Either their food supplies have run out, or the front lines have been contracted. These cavalrymen are not here to attack and plunder. They came around from the front lines because they were starving and ran out to loot."

"Look at those infantrymen behind them, they don't even have proper armor, and their weapons are in disarray. They're obviously locals captured from nearby, brought here by the Tsarist Russians as cannon fodder!"

Wu Ancheng looked in the direction his son pointed, and sure enough, the infantrymen standing behind the cavalry were all hunched over, their eyes darting around, and some of them were even trembling with the spears in their hands.

"Hmph," Wu Jianxiong exhaled a puff of white breath, pointing towards the southeast of the city, "The beacon towers have already been lit. Once the smoke rises, the nearest fortress will send scouts over. If it's fast, it will be half an hour; if it's slow, it will be an hour. The regular army of the Great Han will definitely arrive. We only need to hold out for this one hour until our Great Han army arrives. These Rakshasa demons will be like turtles in a jar."

Wu Ancheng wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve, then looked down at the city walls through the crenellations.

The three hundred cavalrymen below the city were still standing there, looking at the plaque on the city gate. The nobleman in charge did not seem to be in a hurry to attack the city, but the Cossack cavalry behind him were already checking the matchlocks of their muskets. The captured infantrymen were also being driven towards the city wall by the cavalry with the backs of their swords.

"Old Liu!" Wu Ancheng turned around and roared down towards the city gate, his voice cracking, "Old Liu, bring all two hundred of our trained brothers up here!!"

A strong voice responded from below the city gate. Old Liu was the head instructor of the Wu family. He was about ten years old, lean and strong. He had escorted salt convoys in Yangzhou for more than ten years and had tasted blood on the edge of a knife.

After the Wu family moved to Shanyang County, he selected about two hundred hardworking members of the Wu family from Yangzhou and trained them for half a year according to the rules of the escort agency. They were not very skilled in swords, spears, bows, and horses, but they were willing to risk their lives.

The Wu family paid more than the county government, provided food and lodging, and gave an extra bag of rice during festivals. Such employers are hard to find.

Two hundred men surged up the city wall and lined up along the crenellations. The archers placed their quivers at their feet, the spearmen leaned their spear shafts against the crenellations with their spearheads facing outwards, and the swordsmen squatted below the crenellations with their shields leaning against the crenellations.

Wu Ancheng was just a businessman; he didn't understand anything else. So he patted the edge of the battlements and looked at Old Liu, "Old Liu, you've seen blood. Tell me the truth today, can we fight this battle?"

Old Liu glanced down at the city walls, then at the young men holding their breath on the walls behind him, and clicked his tongue: "Master, to be honest, there are three hundred cavalrymen outside the city, and at least a thousand infantrymen in total. Our two hundred men have never even seen blood. We can only hold out for an hour at most!"

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Just then, a bugle call sounded from below the city.

The three hundred Russian cavalrymen began to disperse, dividing into three teams. Two teams moved to flank the city from the east and west, while the middle team held the line.

The infantry behind the cavalry were driven forward, and someone was shouting in Russian and Turkic at the same time, roughly saying that the Han people on the city wall should listen up: those who lay down their weapons and surrender will be spared, while those who resist will be killed on the day the city falls.

Wu Jianxiong stood in front of the battlements. He glanced back at the servants and fellow villagers who were crowding around. Just two months ago, these people were carrying salt bags, driving horse-drawn carts, and planting rice.

We absolutely cannot let them remain in this tense state. The more tense they remain, the more afraid they become, and the more afraid they become, the easier it is for them to break down.

Thinking of this, Wu Jianxiong pressed his hand on the hilt of his sword, took a breath, and raised his voice to drown out the horns sounding from below the city.

"Brothers! Hold on! If we can just hold out for a while, the imperial troops will come to our rescue!"

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lao Liu stood up from behind the crenellations, holding a bow in his left hand and an arrow in his right. He shot at a Siberian native who was sneaking towards the base of the city wall, and the arrow struck him squarely in the chest. The man fell into the grass without uttering a sound.

"See that!" Old Liu roared, raising his bow. "Just like shooting a rabbit!"

A burst of scattered laughter suddenly erupted from the city wall, followed by the muffled sound of bowstrings being pulled back simultaneously.

This did indeed inflict casualties on the cannon fodder, but then the Russian cavalry began firing. The lead bullets had a low hit rate, but they still managed to hit occasionally.

This did indeed inflict casualties on the cannon fodder, but then the Russian cavalry began firing. The lead bullets had a low hit rate, but they still managed to hit occasionally.

One by one, members of the Wu family fell on the city wall with screams of agony.

Wu Ancheng huddled under the crenellations, cursing under his breath. He wasn't afraid; he was watching his fellow townsmen who had followed him all the way from Yangzhou fall one by one on the city wall, and his heart felt like it was being stabbed.

The siege intensified, and several makeshift ladders made of birch trunks had already been erected at the foot of the city walls.

Those forced to climb the walls used ladders to scale the city walls. Some were hit by arrows and fell headfirst while on the ladders, while others were scalded in a pot of boiling water halfway up the walls.

There were already more than twenty corpses piled up at the base of the wall, and the bricks on the top of the wall were pitted and dented from the bullets of the matchlock gun.

Old Liu leaned against the edge of the battlement, panting heavily. The knife in his hand was already chipped and worn down. He had been hit in the shoulder by an arrow, but the shaft was still intact and dangling from his shoulder armor.

A bullet was embedded in Wu Jianxiong's helmet, stuck on the top without penetrating, but the impact left a large bruise on his forehead. He leaned out from behind the crenellation and cleaved the Cossack who had just climbed onto the battlement in two with his sword, then bent over, supporting himself on his knees, and gasped for breath before recovering.

Just then, the bugles sounded again outside the city. The Russian cavalry began to regroup, and a detachment advanced towards the city gate. They abandoned their plan to charge the city wall head-on and instead intended to ram the gate with logs.

Wu Jianxiong's expression changed. The city gate was new and at its weakest point. If it were to be breached, and the other side had a large and powerful force, things would be bad.

Thinking of this, Wu Jianxiong immediately leaned on the knife and forced himself to stand up. He then handed the knife to Wu Ancheng: "Father, you stay here and take this knife."

"My son is going to guard the gate!"

Just then, Old Liu suddenly stood up, pulled out the flag of Shanyang County, and waved it incessantly toward the west.

"Master, young master, look!"

"The Han cavalry are here!"