Cui Luoshu looked at his elder brother. "Big brother, what do we do?"
The Cui family patriarch gritted his teeth and glanced at the Heavenly Fire Army again.
He suddenly turned his head to look at the civilians in the city.
"Bring the civilians to the city wall for me! I want to see if they dare to attack the city!"
Cui Luoshu was startled by his words. "Big brother, you can't!"
The Cui family patriarch slapped him across the face. "Women's talk! If you don't have these civilians to shield you, what will you use to fight them? Hurry up!"
Qinghe County was different from the Fan family's ancestral land. The Fan family's town was formed by their own branches. However, the Cui family occupied Qinghe County, which covered an area of six to seven li. It was considered a medium-sized county town in Hebei. The city had tens of thousands of civilians, and the Cui family's population was less than two or three tenths of that. This was why the Cui family patriarch wanted to use the civilians as a human shield.
The guards of Qinghe County were almost all formed by the Cui family's branches, so this order was carried out without any discount.
Waves of civilians, crying and begging for mercy, were escorted to the city wall.
The Cui family patriarch shouted to the guard outside. "The incident in Chang'an was caused by unworthy disciples of the clan, who have been punished by the Cui family's laws. Please inform your general that the Cui family has no intention of opposing the imperial court. Please retreat quickly!"
The guard looked at the civilians being held on the city wall, his face flushed with anger. After spitting at the Cui family patriarch, he turned back to Fang Er. "My lord, the Cui family is truly shameless, using civilians as a human shield!"
Fang Er just smiled. "Pass down the order, all snipers, come out! Aim at the Cui family disciples on the city wall, and don't hold back! Mortars! Bomb open the city gate first!"
"Yes!"
After the guard relayed Fang Er's order, more than fifty snipers emerged from the third battalion, each holding a Dragon Fang and dispersing to find suitable shooting positions. Liu Meng led thirty artillerymen out. It was just to bomb the city gate, and ten mortars were already giving the Cui family face. "Target the city gate ahead, calibrate the guns!"
Just then, two people ran over from a distance. One of them shouted, "To hell with calibration! I'll do it!" It was Cheng Chumou and Yuchi Baolin, who had stayed on the Zhiyuan. These two fellows had actually chased after them.
Cheng Chumou said, "Brother, you're not being fair, not bringing your brothers along for such fun!" Without waiting for Fang Er to reply, he rushed forward, grabbed a mortar, picked up a primed shell from the ground, and looked at the city gate in the distance. Then, by feel, he slightly adjusted the muzzle. As soon as the shell was released, it slid into the cannon. With a "boom," the shell was fired, drawing a beautiful arc in the air. To Liu Meng's surprise, it hit the city gate of Qinghe County directly.
With a "boom," a hole was blasted into the city gate. The Cui family disciples behind the city gate suffered heavy casualties, crying out in pain.
Cheng Chumou fired one shot and still felt it wasn't enough. He looked at the artillerymen beside him. "Did you see clearly? Adjust your muzzles to match mine. Hurry!" The artillerymen quickly adjusted their muzzles to match. "Master Cheng, we're ready!"
Cheng Chumou nodded. "Target the city gate! Three rapid fire shots!"
"Yes!"
Ten mortars began to fire continuously. "Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!" After firing one shot, they didn't care about the result and fired the second and third shots consecutively. A total of thirty shells landed in a well-arranged pattern around the city gate, with the furthest one not exceeding ten meters.
When the smoke and dust dissipated, the city gate appeared before everyone's eyes. The city gate had already turned into fragments! The gate opening was exposed so nakedly, as if saying, "Come on, hurry in?"
Chai Shao, eager to fight, rushed out with his Mo Dao, not forgetting to shout to Yuchi Jingde, "Big Black, follow me into the city!"
Fang Er shook his head and said to the guard and the others, "Let's go." Liu Meng and the others also hurried to follow.
Cheng Chumou ran over to Fang Er and chuckled, "How was it, brother? How was my cannon firing?"
Fang Er casually took out two cigars and threw one to him and one to Yuchi Baolin. "You two, I'll take out a box of cigars. Let's see who captures the Cui family patriarch first."
As soon as he said this, not only Cheng Chumou and Yuchi Baolin's eyes lit up, but even the guards enthusiastically asked, "My lord, can you count us in?"
Cheng Chumou's expression instantly darkened. It was impossible to win against these guys! He looked at Fang Er with a dejected expression. "Brother..."
Fang Er chuckled. "Alright, the Yan Yun cavalry will be divided into two teams, you two will each lead a team."
"Okay! This is good!" Yuchi Baolin nodded, then directly picked nine men from the Yan Yun cavalry and ran off.
Cheng Chumou exclaimed, "Holy crap!" Then, he led the remaining Lü Shuang and others and quickly followed.
The Cui family patriarch looked at the scattered fragments of the city gate outside the opening and the rapidly approaching Chai Shao and others. He said to the people behind him, "Fire arrows!" Hundreds of archers emerged from the city wall.
The snipers waiting outside the city instantly found their targets and squeezed the triggers. "Bang, bang, bang, bang!" After a series of gunshots, dozens of archers had their heads blown off before they could even draw their arrows. The scene was extremely bloody!
The civilians held on the city wall could not bear it and began to vomit. Cui Luoshu felt his legs go weak. This wave of sniping alone had scared the archers to death, and no one dared to show their heads.
The Cui family patriarch roared at them, unwillingly, "Shoot for me! Shoot quickly! I'll reward ten taels of silver for each hit!" As the saying goes, a generous reward will surely bring forth a brave man.
There were indeed those who were not afraid of death. They hid behind the battlements, picked up arrows, and as soon as they poked their heads out, they shot their arrows and quickly retreated. Their speed was so fast that the snipers outside the city couldn't aim.
Although his arrow did not hit anyone, it gave the other archers hope. They all followed suit, nocking arrows, peeking out, shooting, and then retracting. However, this indiscriminate shooting was ignored by Chai Shao and the Yan Yun cavalry behind him.
When the guards and others rushed to the city gate opening, they had no intention of going in. This ten-foot-high city wall was like nothing to them.
Zhao Long, beside Cheng Chumou, leaped fiercely, borrowed strength from Zhang De's shoulder, and then leaped onto the gate tower, charging towards the Cui family patriarch.
Li Da, beside Yuchi Jingde, was not to be outdone. After leaping, he borrowed strength from Lü Shuang's shoulder, and his body shot up. With his left hand, he took down a longbow from his back, and with his right hand, he took a three-edged arrow.
This old man was dressed in luxurious clothes, and everyone around him treated him like the center of attention. He must be the one. However, before he could even touch the Cui family patriarch's robe, he heard a whistling sound. Looking sideways, Li Da was standing in the spot where he had just landed, and the bowstring in his hand was still trembling. It was clear that this was the shot he had fired.
The Cui family patriarch did not even have time to react before the arrow was firmly embedded in his forehead, and he fell backward.