Halfway there, Xu Rong turned to one of his personal guards and gave him an order.
The soldier took out a firecracker from his pocket, lit the fuse with a tinderbox, and threw it into the air.
Call out!
Firecrackers exploded in the air.
On the city wall, Guo Jiwang's expression changed slightly upon witnessing this scene.
"Wave the flag! Send the order to the west gate to strengthen their vigilance!"
Guo Jiwang immediately gave the order.
Almost at the same time he gave the order, several houses in the streets and alleys near the West Gate suddenly caught fire!
The fire spread from inside the house outwards, thick smoke billowed out of the doors and windows, and the flames quickly illuminated half the street.
Upon seeing the fire, the soldiers guarding the west gate tower immediately waved their flags as a warning.
On the north gate tower, Guo Jiwang saw the thick smoke rising in the west and the waving flags, picked up his wine gourd and took a big gulp.
Xu Rong had indeed laid an ambush within the city!
In other words, when Wu Shuangren and Xu Rong reached an agreement on cooperation, the other party actually planned to take action against the Yi Province Militia!
Guo Jiwang and Wu Shuangren analyzed Xu Rong together. Guo Jiwang's judgment of Xu Rong was that he was not a reckless person and would not act impulsively.
Although the Yi Province Militia had some friction with the other side before, if they choose to cooperate with Wu Shuangren in the long term, the future benefits will be continuous, far exceeding what they could achieve in this expedition.
Furthermore, Xu Rong displayed an attitude of greed and avarice from beginning to end, much like most of the border generals of the Wu Dynasty today.
From a purely self-interested perspective, Xu Rong had absolutely no need to fall out with Wu Shuangren.
Therefore, Guo Jiwang did not expect that the other side had already made up their minds to take action against the Yi Province Militia!
Guo Jiwang hesitated for a moment, then ordered, "Send five battalions from the Fourth Battalion to provide support at the West Gate."
There were only four battalions of troops in the city, and less than half of them were veterans who had seen combat.
Guo Jiwang arranged his men relatively evenly around the four city gates, and had the more than 1,000 men of the Fourth Battalion guard the center of the city, ready to support the four city gates at any time.
The reason for this arrangement was that the thousand-odd cavalrymen outside the city could not possibly attack it. If the Shannan Army had any backup plans, they would certainly be inside the city, so Guo Jiwang took precautions in advance!
The flag bearers were ordered to wave the flags.
Upon seeing the command flag, the Militia Private of the Fourth Battalion, who were waiting in the city center, immediately ran towards the west gate.
Just as these 500-plus people arrived near the West Gate, the flags on the South Gate Tower also began to wave!
Guo Jiwang south. He had also learned flag signals and understood that this meant a warning.
Feint to the east while attacking in the west!
Guo Jiwang a chill run down his spine and immediately ordered the flag bearers to wave their flags again, commanding the remaining five battalions of Militia Private in the city center to go to the south gate to provide support.
The reason he hesitated earlier and didn't send all the men of the Fourth Battalion to reinforce was because he was worried that this might be a feint by the enemy, so he left five battalions of the Fourth Battalion unmoved.
In retrospect, Guo Jiwang has not been at a disadvantage in this psychological and tactical battle between the two sides.
But Xu Rong had seized the initiative, and his tactics were effective!
"Order all personnel from each city gate to rush to the south gate."
Guo Jiwang gave the final order.
He did everything he could.
Outside the city, Xu Rong led more than a thousand cavalrymen through the west gate without stopping for a moment, and continued to circle around towards the south gate.
He had indeed prepared a backup plan in Rong Province City, secretly hiding fifty personal guards!
He also couldn't have guessed that Mount Liang's forces would split into two groups, giving him the opportunity to act separately from Wu Shuangren's Yi Province Militia.
He left these fifty personal guards hidden in Rong Province City primarily to prevent Wu Shuangren from harboring wolfish ambitions and taking over Rong Province City just as he had taken over Yi Prefecture City!
Secondly, they were thinking that if they had the opportunity to attack the Yi Province Militia later, these fifty personal guards would become key pieces.
Xu Rong himself didn't expect to have to use this hidden move so soon!
In front of the south gate, two hundred veterans of the Seventh Battalion led two hundred new recruits in a square formation, with the front row holding shields and the back row holding long spears horizontally.
Fifty soldiers dressed in full armor rushed out of an alley. They were covered from head to toe, with only their eyes showing. They carried long knives, spears, and axes!
These men were Xu Rong's personal guards left in the city; even the weakest among them were martial artists of the eighth or Ninth Rank!
Fifty men, filled with chilling killing intent, headed straight for the doorway without uttering a sound or pausing.
"Release the arrows!"
On the city wall, the battalion commander of the Seventh Battalion shouted loudly.
After capturing Rong Province City, the Yi Province Militia seized more than 170 powerful crossbows and eight divine crossbows!
These powerful crossbows and magic crossbows are now evenly distributed across the four city towers.
Dozens of arrows were fired at the charging guards. Most of the arrows were blocked by the infantry armor. Only a few crossbow bolts pierced through the double-layered armor, but the remaining power was not enough to cause serious injury to the guards.
The two sides were fifty paces apart when the poorly trained crossbowmen on the city wall finally fired their second volley of arrows.
This time, the two crossbows finally inflicted casualties on the charging guards.
The two guards at the forefront were pierced directly by bolts from the Divine Arm Crossbow!
But this minimal casualties were not enough to stop the advance of the personal guards.
"Kill--!!!"
Dozens of heavily armored, fierce-looking guards quickly charged into the spear formation ahead.
It was like a hammer slamming into a wooden board!
A guard charged forward at the sight of the spears, three spears piercing him simultaneously. The spear tips slid across his armor, producing a piercing metallic scraping sound. He channeled his Internal Skill, forcefully smashing through a shield, and slashed his longsword at the crowd behind him.
A guard wielding a long axe slammed it down heavily on the shield, shattering it instantly!
The shield- Militia Private fell backward, shields and all, knocking over several of their comrades behind them...
The seven or eight of Xu Rong's personal guards who charged at the forefront all possessed the Internal Skill cultivation of the Fourth Rank. As the spearhead, they quickly tore a gap in the formation of the Yi Province Militia Private!
The remaining guards, clad in armor, charged through the opening, wielding long swords and axes with unstoppable force!
"Withstand!"
No refunds allowed!
In the crowd, a captain shouted loudly as he swung his sword at a charging soldier, the blade slicing through the soldier's shoulder armor and tearing a gash.
The guard simply sidestepped and swung his axe at the captain's sword, splitting the captain's hand and sending his sword flying.
Before he could retreat, the second axe cleaved his chest, tearing through his leather armor, caved in his chest, and he collapsed to the ground, coughing up blood!
With the captain falling, the team in front of the gate completely collapsed!
"Go up to the city wall!"
The leader of Xu Rong's personal guards shouted loudly.
Rong Province City did not have a barbican, but even so, the city gates were protected by three layers of defense from the outside in.
The first level is the outermost drawbridge, which requires rushing up the city wall to turn the winch to lower it.
The second layer is the city gate itself.
The third barrier is the heavy gate behind the city gate, which is an iron fence. It also requires turning the winch on the city tower to raise the heavy gate.
Therefore, simply breaking through the defenses in front of the gate is not enough to open the city gate.
"Stop them!"
On the city wall, the battalion commander of the Seventh Battalion kept shouting.
At this moment, the new recruits around him were all pale and weak, so the battalion commander could only send the veterans of the Seventh Battalion to hold off the enemy.
These so-called veterans were just local militia and villagers in Yi Province before. They hadn't been trained in the Yi Province Militia for long and weren't considered elite. If they hadn't experienced the battle Yi Prefecture City, which honed their courage and morale, they would be in complete chaos by now.
A fierce battle erupted between the two sides on the stone steps leading up to the city wall!
They swung their long-handled weapons at each other with all their might, blood and flesh flew everywhere on the stone steps, and blood flowed down the steps.
Xu Rong's personal guards, relying on their formidable armor and individual martial prowess, were able to take down an entire Militia Private almost every time they made a move!
These guards fought their way up the city wall step by step, and successfully reached the top!
Meanwhile, outside the south gate.
Xu Rong had already led his cavalry around the city walls and easily approached them.
Hearing the sounds of battle coming from inside the city gate, Xu Rong knew that his personal guards inside had already made their move.
"Ascend the city!"
Xu Rong gave the order.
Dozens of soldiers dismounted and ran towards the city wall.
They jumped into the now-dry moat, quickly climbed out, and reached the city wall.
At this moment, the attention of the guards at the south gate was almost entirely drawn to the dozens of soldiers attacking the city inside, and for a time no one paid any attention to the people outside the city.
These elite soldiers of the Shannan Army took out iron chains with hooks, threw them towards the top of the city wall, and they hooked firmly onto the battlements. Then, using the iron chains, they began to climb upwards!
For agile warriors, this method of scaling city walls during a siege is faster than using ladders!
When the soldiers had climbed halfway up the city wall, someone on the wall spotted them and ran towards them while shouting warnings.
"Release the arrows!"
Xu Rong issued another order.
The cavalrymen on horseback drew their bows and fired arrows in batches at the city walls, suppressing the defenders with volleys of arrows.
"Shout out!"
Xu Rong then gave the order.
Then the cavalry from Shannan shouted at the top of their lungs:
"Wu Shuangren is dead, the Yi Province Militia has been wiped out, surrender and you will not be killed!!!"
The sound reached into the city, Militia Private at the south gate heard it clearly, their expressions all changing.
Wu Shuangren left with the elite troops of the Yi Province Militia and the Shannan Army. Now that the Shannan Army has suddenly returned, but Wu Shuangren is nowhere to be seen, and they hear the other side shouting such words, it is hard not to be suspicious.
In an instant, the Militia Private ' morale plummeted!
On horseback, Xu Rong smiled slightly.
Wu Shuangren used this tactic to breach Rong Province City's defenses back then; now he's using the same methods to break through the city gates guarded by the enemy.
It can be considered an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!
The Militia Private on the city wall were suppressed by the rain of arrows, and their morale was in disarray. Their counterattacks became increasingly chaotic and ineffective.
Soon, a Shannan Army general whose cultivation had reached the First Rate- class level was the first to climb the city wall.
After climbing the wall, he immediately drew his sword and cut down several Militia Private, then charged left and right through the crowd!
With this First Rate- notch Shannan Army general holding them back, more and more Shannan Army soldiers successfully scaled the city walls...
A moment later, the drawbridge at the south gate of Rong Province City was slowly lowered.
Seeing this, Xu Rong was completely relieved.
Rong Province City has been captured!
183 Jade Unicorn moves forward, Mad Osprey falls to the ground.
News of the fall of the south gate arrived quickly.
Guo Jiwang up and glanced south, but he didn't panic.
Zhou Zhengqing, however, seemed a little flustered. "Sir, let someone escort you to safety first!"