Chapter 628 Before the storm comes

Nearly half of the troops of the Huazhou fleet stationed by the Yangtze River began to pave the way. Of course, locals such as manors by the river provided many conveniences and help.

Half a day later, a road of about 300 steps was built. Under the gaze of the soldiers guarding the city on the city wall, the soldiers of the Huazhou warship began to dismantle the artillery on the ship and transport it to the shore. The Huazhou army was 300 steps closer to the city wall. Although it was still outside the range of the artillery, the people in the city began to panic again.

At this time, the city of Nanjing was in a real chaos, not the hearts of the people, but the situation was a little uncontrollable. The method of collecting the troops of the aristocratic families and opening the arsenal of the city was spread by someone.

This immediately caused an uproar. All the big clans with private soldiers began to defend themselves and never obeyed the orders of any government officials. The Xu family, the Xu family, had already had two thousand private soldiers in Nanjing, mobilized them all, united with the soldiers of other families, and built a base on the street to defend.

The yamen runners in Yingtian Mansion could no longer suppress the situation. The extremely panicked scholars in Nanjing saw that the nobles were like this, which further confirmed the truth of the rumors.

The civilians from all neighbors did not dare to go out. Some of the big merchants and workshop owners in the city did not know where they learned the method. They did not dismiss the workers and friends home like in the past when the war was in chaos, and hid in the house with gold, silver and soft materials. Instead, they paid double the wages and organized the workers and workers, relying on shops and workshops to form a group to protect themselves.

This has some effect. Since the warships in Huazhou appeared on the Yangtze River, there have been robberies in Nanjing. To be more precise, they are robbers who robbed in the chaos. However, when these people go to shops and workshops, they think that they have money and cheapness to make money, they are all covered in dust.

Ordinary people who see wealthy families have their own ways to protect themselves. They are the ones who are most afraid of catching Ding rumors, but they are also the ones with the weakest self-protection ability. They were already resigned to fate, but when they saw the shops and workshops in the city mobilized themselves to protect themselves, these people were also aroused. Dingkou, a civilian from his hometown, ethnic group and neighbors, all intersected each other and prepared to resist.

Poor eunuchs in Nanjing and Minister of War, the two of them were just in the plan, and the whole city was completely against them. The two men's soldiers and horses were 6,000 backing the imperial city. At this time, they were not going out to destroy their families and rob people, but to be prepared to attack them.

At noon on the fourth day when the Huazhou warship appeared on the river, the outside of the city was much quieter than in the city. The areas around Nanjing were also extremely prosperous. The manors of the big clans, the shops of the chamber of commerce, and the households were all connected together, but there was no visible number of fields. When the Huazhou fleet was stationed on the river, the households also ran towards the city in panic, but later they found that the shops and manors were as peaceful as usual.

Civilians have always been very blind. Seeing that these families and those with great careers are not afraid, they are not so panicked. By the way, they have no chance to enter the city, because the entire gate of Nanjing was closed as soon as the fleet was discovered, and the gates were still under the control of the eunuchs.

Just like a daily military parade, several horses from temporary civilian conquests pulled the artillery unloaded from the ship and moved towards the city wall. Under the gaze of the guards on the city wall, they calmly unloaded, loaded ammunition, ignited and fired, and there was no suspense.

The walls of Nanjing City are tall and thick. The cannon is only about six pounds in diameter, and there is no precise calibration. The shells roared on the city wall, smashing a few bricks and rocks, stirring up a piece of dust.

The Ming soldiers lying on the city wall behind the chassis were relieved at this time, and they looked down with great fear. They looked at the artillerymen pulling artillery under the city and laughed at them, not taking it seriously. They slowly loaded ammunition there and then ignited the fire. It was obvious that there would be no accurate idea if they didn't aim.

To deal with big cities like Nanjing, if you want to use artillery, the land under the artillery must be raised so that the cannon can reach the top of the city or the city. Moreover, the six-pound cannon has little effect on city walls like Nanjing City. At most, it is only a few bricks to break. It is not known how many years will it take to open the hole.

But these cannon sounds were like heavy hammers constantly hitting the hearts of the military, civilians, officials and businessmen in the city, and the heartbeat would be faster.

It took almost a stick of incense to shoot, and it kept firing for a whole afternoon. The originally impetuous city of Nanjing became extremely silent. There was no one on the street. There was just one cannon, and more than a dozen people were extremely arrogant under the city. Their actions did not take the army in the city seriously at all.

The officers guarding the city wanted to open the city gate and fight out several times, but they still tried to hold back. Their boss, the eunuch in Nanjing, and the Minister of War, both gritted their teeth, saying that it might be a trick to lure the enemy outside, so that the city gate should not be opened easily. Moreover, the distance from the artillery was about 500 steps, which was the camp of the sailors who came down from the Huazhou fleet.

If you go out, you are really taking risks. So, let’s hold back!

The sound of cannons outside echoed in the silent city of Nanjing, as if urging something. The eunuch in Nanjing finally realized that he could not continue to delay. One cannon today may not be one tomorrow. How many cannons on the ship look on the city walls makes people feel heartbroken.

The eunuch in charge did not even inform the Secretary of the Nanjing Ministry of War, and directly ordered the officers under his command to arrest the whole city tonight, gather private soldiers from aristocratic families, and open arsenal to arm the strong men. Although the eunuch in charge also knew that doing so would cause the soldiers to disperse and cause extremely disastrous consequences. As for the disaster, there have been many times in history, armed bandits and uncontrollable soldiers burned, killed and looted the entire city.

Even the chief officer could not control it, and the next day the city often turned into a pile of ruins. In fact, when the cannon sounded, the situation in the city was already in chaos. The rogues and the chaotic soldiers were combined and ready to move. There were even Jinyiwei involved in it.

The elderly, weak, sick and disabled in Yingtianfu and the Bingmasi were unable to control the situation at all. The people among them either held the yamen or followed them out to rob.

The yamen runners closed the gate to guard the yamen of their families and other leaders. The sound of cannons outside the city roared. With each sound, they felt that the tension in the city was a little more, and the people became more and more frightened. However, not only the people were depressed, but also the rogue bandits were extremely depressed.

Over the years, seeing merchants and factory owners making money and making money is really jealous, and their power is growing more and more. In the past, merchants had no social status and were easier to extort, but these people all wanted to please these people.

There are also many opportunities to take advantage of the situation. Now that the army outside the city is approaching, the country of Ming Dynasty is in turmoil and the dynasty changes may be tomorrow. When this comes, it is mostly a lawless moment. Take this opportunity to make a fortune and become a rich man when the trip is in the process of restructuring.

However, the servants in the hands of the merchants were well-equipped and well-trained, and most of them were retired veterans or good bandits. For some reason, these people did not have the intention of robbing their masters in such a chaos, but instead were loyal guards.

Barricades had been built in areas where rich people lived, and the fully armed guards were gathered. When they saw something wrong, they immediately became very vigilant and took the initiative to attack. The largest gang of scoundrels in the city thought that their gang had veterans and weapons, and the city was panicked, and they must have been invincible, but they did not expect that they had just arrived.

Wanglou immediately beat the gong and drum, and then the bow and arrow shot down. The bandits outside did not react further. There were already horse-riding guards inside and rushed out fiercely and killed them fiercely. How could these people resist? They immediately ran away with their heads in their arms.

There are many places where the rich people live in the city. I thought it would be a good harvest if I had trouble changing the place here, but I didn't expect that it would be the case. Some soldiers thought it was wrong. These wealthy families clearly looked like they were organized, and they probably started preparing before the Huazhou fleet appeared.

The rich cannot get it, so it is better to go to the civilians to make a profit. There are many casualties and the extremely tired bandits are ready to change their targets. The streets are deserted and there are no people at all. Although these people are depressed, they are also at ease. Listening to the sound of cannons outside the city, they are no longer afraid of them there. The brave ones spit in the direction of the cannons, expressing their disdain.

After a day of hard work, it was already dark. These people were already thinking about how to let go where civilians live, so that they could feel comfortable.

But the city became more and more quiet, and it made people feel a little scared. Instead, these bandits talked loudly to highlight their existence.

Suddenly, the quiet Nanjing city began to explode, and bursts of shouts and killing sounds burst out. This was clearly a movement that only the army could have. Could it be that the Huazhou army was going to attack the city?
Chapter completed!