Chapter Seventy-Five: The Fish Dies and the Net Breaks

  Thanks to the old friends and book friends of Tongxin Pavilion for their rewards! The previous chapters have been revised and the chapter order has been adjusted, hoping not to bring trouble to book friends!

  Something happened that no one had ever anticipated.

  It is not clear whether there was a mountain flood near Tongguan, or the rain was simply too heavy, causing flooding in the ditch. Under the impact of the turbulent water flow becoming more and more violent, several "dams" made up of corpses in the ditch were destroyed by the surging water, just like a landslide lake bursting its dam.

  After the "corpse dam" in the upper reaches was washed away by the flood, a very fierce water flow continuously destroyed several dams downstream, and in the midst of the rebels' cries of horror, the mighty flood carried with it an enormous force, carrying a large number of corpses and rebel soldiers who were swept away, rushing straight towards the Yellow River, its momentum terrifying.

  At the time of the "dam burst", the rebel soldiers who were rushing to Xigou along the dam bridge were mostly carried away by the flood and rushed directly into the Yellow River. Only those lucky soldiers who were stuck by stones or hung on tree branches were able to escape, and some soldiers were lucky enough to be thrown ashore by the rapid current, picking up a life. However, these soldiers who escaped the disaster were also frightened out of their wits.

  It is estimated that one or two thousand soldiers were swept directly into the Yellow River, most of whom came from the north and could not swim. They were basically all killed by being swept into the turbulent waters of the Yellow River.

  It's inevitable that such a situation would arise.

  Mount Hua has little soil and cannot hold water, so the rainwater that falls from the sky is basically drained away. The terrain of Jin Gou is low, originally a natural river channel between mountains, during heavy rainfall, all the water on Mount Hua flows through Jin Gou into the Yellow River.

  After the heavy rain started, water flow appeared in the ditch very quickly. The large number of corpses accumulated caused the rainwater to accumulate in the ditch and could not be discharged in time. As the rain fell more and more heavily, the longer the time, the more water accumulated between the mountain ditches, while it was difficult to drain the water, some corpses were also moved, under the influence of the terrain, the corpses continued to pile up, forming one dam after another, the water flow in the ditch was finally cut into several large or small barrier lakes by the dams formed by the accumulation of corpses.

  More and more water overflowed the Shi Ti Ba Bridge and the eastern bank of Jin Gou, flowing wildly in all directions. The water flow also put tremendous pressure on Shi Ti Ba. As the rainwater flowed faster and faster, the accumulated bodies finally could not withstand the powerful water pressure and burst, with the uppermost dam being the first to burst. The powerful water flow triggered a chain reaction, carrying huge amounts of water that continuously destroyed the dams behind. The floodwaters not only swept away most of the bodies in Jin Gou and thousands of rebel soldiers into the Yellow River but also destroyed the "road" that the rebels had used to charge along the western bank of Jin Gou.

  After all the dams were destroyed, the turbulent water was still flowing in the moat. The rebel soldiers wanted to cross the turbulent moat to attack Tongguan City, and the difficulty had increased by several times. The moat's natural danger reappeared, and it can be said that it restored its original function and strengthened its defensive capabilities against enemies. The turbulent water flow was a difficult obstacle for the rebels who wanted to continue attacking the city.

  It was precisely because he understood this that Yang Hui couldn't help but let out a loud whoop of excitement when he saw the floodwaters wash away all the corpses in the ditch.

  Heaven helps those who help themselves, not one bit false.

  Yang Jie suggested to Ge Shuhan that there were two ways to clear the corpses in the trench: one was to burn them with fire, and the other was to divert a large amount of water to flush them away. The fire did not completely incinerate the bodies, but a heavy rainstorm caused a flood that washed all the corpses away. This could only be attributed to divine intervention. The trench had become even more treacherous than before, making it virtually impossible for the rebels to launch another successful attack on the city.

  However, although heaven has lent a helping hand, the number of rebels gathered outside the south gate of Jingkou is still considerable, with at least 7,000 to 8,000 people.

  These rebel soldiers were also shocked by the flood in the moat, and many of them fell into the moat because they couldn't stand firm under the city wall and were washed away by the flood. Those who were knocked off the cloud ladder basically all fell into the moat, swimming like fish in the turbulent water flow, eventually flowing into the Yellow River. However, the number of soldiers who fell into the moat and were washed away was small, and most of them still gathered under Tongguan City, continuing to attack, only slowing down due to the sudden situation causing shock.

  "Brothers, rush to the top of the city wall, otherwise we will all be killed by the Tang army!"

  A middle-aged commander wielding a war sword roared at the soldiers beside him.

  Judging from the current situation, the soldiers who have attacked the city below have already been cut off from their route of retreat, and it is impossible for subsequent reinforcements to rush over and support them immediately. They are fighting alone, either making a concerted effort to capture the city head, or being completely annihilated by the Tang army on the city head, or turning around to escape, jumping into the turbulent waters of the Forbidden Canal to escape back, but this is too difficult.

  Being beaten passively and waiting for death is something that no one will do. Escaping into the forbidden ditch and coming back basically has no chance of success, and now the water in the forbidden ditch is rushing rapidly, jumping in will definitely be washed away.

  Even if they were lucky enough to cross the trench, they would still be executed as deserters. The only choice for the rebels at the foot of the city was to attack the city with their lives on the line. Attacking the city wall and occupying the south gate could be said to be their only means of survival.

  The shouting and subsequent charge of this Zhonglang General also awakened many Lang Generals and Zhonglang Generals who were commanding the battle, and they successively raised their war knives, ordering their soldiers to attack the city at all costs.

  As the commander-in-chief gave the order, the rebel soldiers who understood their current situation all rushed to climb the city wall, without considering how the defending army on the city head would react. This was a desperate move, they wanted to take advantage of the heavy rain that was still falling, and the Tang army on the city head could not effectively use arrows to attack, and the visibility was not clear, to launch a surprise attack on the Tongguan City head.

  The rebels' offensive action became even more frantic and fierce than before, and for a time the defense on the city wall seemed to be in trouble.

  It is not clear whether the Tang army on the city wall was frightened by the flood in the moat just now, or could not withstand the rebel army's desperate attack. Unexpectedly, there were again soldiers who showed cowardice and did not fight back, so that more than 100 rebel soldiers climbed up the city wall with ladders.

  Yang Qi never thought such a situation would arise.

  Heaven blessed him, a flood washed away the trench, sweeping away thousands of rebels and blocking their follow-up attack. However, some soldiers were still timid and did not advance, allowing the rebels to rush up to the city gate, causing another crisis. Yang Gui was well aware that if the rebels could establish a foothold on the city gate, subsequent troops would continuously rush up, and it was possible for the south gate to fall.

  The rebels under the city have no way to retreat now, they can only fight to the death in order to survive, these nearly ten thousand rebels will certainly use all their strength to attack the city and will not retreat. It is hateful that when the situation is turning in our favor, the defending army on the city wall still appears to be timid and unwilling to advance, making Yang Hui extremely angry.