Chapter 195 Another victory
With the roar of the artillery, hundreds of projectiles sprayed into the stacks of the ghost town. The fireproof mud layer on the outside exploded into a cloud of smoke, and large swaths of mud rustled down, exposing the wooden planks behind it. Sawdust and blood spattered, and a shrill scream suddenly erupted from the wall of the ghost city.
With the roar of artillery, hundreds of pellets sprayed towards the cattle dragging the ghost town. Wails spread everywhere, and the cows that had been killed by the iron pellets fell to the ground, while the injured ones ran around wildly, trying to break free from the thick ropes, and then let out their last whimper in the next round of bullets... All struggles were in vain. , including people and animals, their fate has been determined.
This is a Lu Gong chariot, but She Chongming made it unprecedentedly huge. In his opinion, with the protection of the ancestors and gods, this giant can completely destroy the will of the defenders as soon as it appears. As long as it can get closer to the city wall, dozens of protective baffles will be lowered at the same time, and thousands of Ten thousand warriors can use the ladder at the back to rush up to the top of the Chengdu wall and break the city in one fell swoop!
Things went as expected at first. This largest siege vehicle in history really brought despair to the Chengdu defenders. However, She Chongming made a mistake, a fatal mistake - he ignored the existence of one person: Sun Jie!
A small flaw and a sharp arrow completely turned the tide of the battle.
Today's offensive has been declared a complete failure: after two or three rounds of shelling, all the cattle that were being dragged were killed and injured. The siege vehicle was still more than ten feet away from the wall and could no longer move forward - at this distance, hundreds of bullets were loaded The iron-stone projectile artillery is a life harvester. Every time a rain of bullets comes through, it will take away dozens or even dozens of lives. Because it is too huge, the car body blocks most of the passage that has been filled in at such a great cost. Two Thousands of Yi soldiers were blocked at the back. To approach the city wall, they had to pass through the narrow gaps on both sides. The archers guarding the wall had already targeted this area. In just two sticks of incense, the warriors came forward. The corpses piled on top of each other to build two piles of corpses that were half a person high. The warriors behind were still struggling to climb up, and then became part of them... Besides, what could they do if they rushed over? They only wanted to go to the city via the springboard on top of the siege vehicle. No one brought a ladder, so they were beaten blindly when they reached the bottom of the wall. The tops of the siege engines were constantly being bombarded. Everyone in the Yi soldiers can shoot arrows. She Chongming selected more than 500 of the best archers to ambush there. Various signs show that most of them are dead at this moment, and the other 500 brothers hidden in the belly are also in danger...
"Retreat, retreat!" She Chongming shouted at the top of his lungs.
It's easier said than done. Even if the road is clear, the passage that is sixty to seventy feet wide would be too crowded for twenty or thirty thousand people, not to mention such a big wooden castle blocking it. The original plan was for the large troops to file up from the ladder behind the car and then jump to the top of the city. At this moment, there were tens of thousands of people crowded behind the car, advancing and retreating. The panic-stricken crowd was completely dead, with only a few scattered. People on the wings and behind started to run back when they heard the sound of bamboo bangs. The situation had slipped out of control...
The guards of She Chongming galloped forward, shouting to convey the order to retreat. At the same time, the defenders on the wall fired harder to vent the fear and shame that almost overwhelmed them just now. The so-called battle has turned into a one-sided massacre. She Chongming's suppressive firepower is the hundreds of archers on Lu Gong's car. At this moment, most of them have been killed or injured under the bombardment of shotguns. Every artillery is spitting out projectiles and small projectiles at full speed. After it was burned out, it was replaced with a big iron ball. Under the continuous bombardment, many parts of the car body had been smashed to pieces. Every time the gun was fired, blood could be seen splashing in the center. The gunners were in a state of excitement. Every time After firing a cannon, he would curse fiercely, then clean and load like crazy... The crossbows refused to show weakness. There was no need to aim at such a distance. As long as the string was strung, the huge iron spear would be ready. It whizzes out of the air. If it hits near the broken car body, the thick wooden planks will fly away again, taking away the lives of several people hiding behind. More will break through the wall, leaving half of them stunned. He was stuck in the car in a daze, causing the archers on the wall who were already invincible to shoot, to burst into cheers that resounded through the sky...
"Send the order, stop shooting! Stop shooting immediately!" Sun Jie was also yelling orders. Sun Jie's army had several squatting cannons, but they were all left with Shen Gang. The cannons on the wall and the gunners who operated them all belonged to Chengdu Zhongwei. What he never expected was that these gunners would be so crazy! According to the military regulations of the Sun family, even for a small squatting tiger cannon, for the first three rounds of shooting, the gun body must be cooled down with a wet cloth after each firing. If it is necessary to continue shooting, the body must be cooled down with clean water after each firing. It also cleans the walls of the pipes; the walls of Chengdu are all big cannons that are three feet five inches long and weighing four hundred kilograms. By now, each cannon has been fired five or six times, and the gunners have still covered it with wet cloth. Just keep loading the gun barrel! You can figure it out with your toes. This just lowers the outer temperature of the thick iron wall. The temperature inside the barrel will be frighteningly high. If the gun is filled with explosives, it will probably explode suddenly - this is common sense! Doesn't anyone know?
While shouting out the order, Sun Jie noticed with horror that there was an artillery piece at his feet. As soon as the medicine package was inserted, an ominous yellow smoke came out from the muzzle... Regardless of any etiquette, Sun Jie would stand on the Zhu Xieyuan next to him pushed back and shouted: "Sir, be careful!"
"boom"!
The cannon really went off. Large pieces of broken iron flew around, and the soldiers who were seven to eight feet around were thrown to the ground. A miserable howl suddenly sounded. By the time everyone in the distance got up in confusion, the area within two to three feet was already a mess. Because Sun Jie had earlier ordered the artillery to be three feet apart, this explosion killed the three surrounding artillery crews and injured most of the archers. A large piece of broken iron was embedded in the barrel of the nearby gun, and it was obviously useless.
Zhu Xieyuan was pushed hard by Sun Jie and fell onto his back. Fortunately, Sheng Degongli made a cushion behind him. Apart from his appearance of being a bit embarrassed when his official hat fell off, nothing serious happened.
This loud noise was far more effective than Sun Jie's order, and the remaining cannons all stopped. The gunners finally woke up from their frenzy and noticed that the inner wall of the cannon's barrel was faintly showing a dark red color. Sun Jie, who had fallen on Zhu Xieyuan, had just helped him up when the sight in front of him shocked him again: the surviving gun crew members were carrying large buckets of water to pour on the gun body!
"No!"
Sun Jie roared angrily, but it was still too late.
There was a violent evaporation sound of "呲, 呲", and everyone on the tower clearly heard several "pop, pop" explosions - needless to say, some barrels cracked. Sun Jie turned to Lao Shun angrily: "General Lao, have these gunners ever fired artillery before?"
"Go back to Sun Shuai. We have fought, we have fought...but, well, we have only fought once or twice. There is a big exercise every year. The humble Chengdu central defender is ordered to fire only one live ammunition from a cannon, and the rest ...They are only used to charge powder, listen to the sound, and make trumpets..." Laoshun was already half-stupid with fright, and stammered.
"The wall of the iron cannon is much thicker than that of the copper cannon. Apply a wet cloth in front of it. After firing two or three cannons, use clean water to completely cool down each time you fire it. If you have fired five or six cannons in a row, you must not use this method. You can only When it slowly cools down on its own, it is necessary to recheck whether it is hot or cold. "It is difficult to ensure that it will not burn out and explode if the fire is forced to heat the copper and iron, or it is suddenly cold and hot." Don't they know this common sense? Really?" Sun Jie asked.
"Back to Sun Shuai, let's not say they don't know. This is the first time I've heard about it." Lao Shun lowered his head and replied in a low voice.
"Oh, that's it. In a battle between two armies, casualties are inevitable. General Lao doesn't need to blame himself too much. However, he should learn from it in the future and train his soldiers diligently. General Lao, please go down and take a look. There are still a few that can be used. , and reorganize the artillery team. By the way, we should also take inventory of the bed crossbows." As he spoke, he looked up at Lu Gong's car not far away, where the protective earth layer was in pieces, and added, "Look for some physical strength. Just throw the big man into the oil can and shoot some rockets over, and everyone can take a rest."
"I have the order!" Taking advantage of the opportunity to escape, Laoshun cupped his fists and ran away.
"Guodong handled it very well. Just now, I was afraid that you had gone too far, so I wanted to stop you with words. Well, at such a young age, you are not only talented, but also the most valuable thing is that you know the importance. Very good, very good." Zhu Xieyuan put on his official hat again, watched Laoshun's back disappearing on the gatehouse stairs, and praised softly.
"Your Excellency, that's ridiculous." Sun Jie blushed, and then asked with concern, "Your Excellency, you didn't fall anywhere, did you?"
"It's okay, isn't he there to support you?" Zhu Xieyuan smiled and stretched out his hand to hold Degong, "You weren't crushed by me, were you?"
Sheng Degong was shocked and quickly replied: "No, no! There are three or five adults and little people who can bear it."
"Stop talking nonsense!" Sun Jie feigned anger, "Don't blame me, sir, this guy is a rough guy."
"Hahahaha, you saved my life, how can I blame you?" Zhu Xieyuan laughed loudly, "Guodong, you think, we have won so many games in a row, so the extravagant thief must be exhausted, right?" "
Sun Jie looked outside the city again. After the chaos on the wall, She Chongming's Yi soldiers got a rare chance to breathe. At this moment, he could see a large number of thieves retreating one after another, and there were not many people visible in the distance. . Sun Jie was about to speak when he suddenly noticed that another group of two to three hundred Yi soldiers were running towards the wreckage of Lu Gong's car carrying something. They ran seven to eight feet away and threw the jars and jars in their arms, smashing them onto the car body. Flames suddenly burst out. …
"Sir, there will be fierce battles ahead. In these battles, we have only hurt the luxury thief. Five to six thousand kills are only superficial injuries to hundreds of thousands of thieves. If the luxury thief's arm is not broken, the pain will be to the bones. I won't stop." Sun Jie replied in a deep voice.
"Oh? What are those thieves doing?" Zhu Xieyuan asked, pointing to the new group of Yi soldiers.
"Sir, they are also throwing oil cans on the car body."
"Why is this?" Zhu Xieyuan was a little confused.
"The extravagant thief must have other killing moves. This broken car is too big and is blocking the road. The extravagant thief must clear the passage as soon as possible." Sun Jie's tone was a little solemn.
"Report..." Lao Shun panted and climbed up the stairs. He hurriedly hugged Zhu and Sun with a panicked face, "My lord, Sun Shuai, I just saw that we have a total of seven cannons, and one of them just exploded." chamber, one is damaged, and three gun barrels are cracked... Now we only have two guns available..." The more he spoke, the lower his voice became. At the end of the sentence, he glanced at the two of them quickly, and then swallowed the rest. What.
"Anything else, General Lao, it's okay to say it." Sun Jie keenly caught Lao Shun's unnatural expression, and felt a thump in his heart, but he didn't show it on his face.
"Just now, just now, the men and women are fighting hard... there are only a dozen or so iron spears left for Fangzi Crossbow and Fangzi Crossbow..." Lao Shun muttered.
Zhu Xieyuan was shocked when he heard the news and said anxiously: "Go to the arsenal and see if there are any more!"
"Back to my lord, I've sent someone to check it out. They're all here." Laoshun's voice was as thin as a gnat (pronounced "Rui").
"Speaking of the arsenal, I suddenly remembered that when the extravagant bandits came, I had seen the account books of the arsenal. There were also a few small cannons from the Hongwu period. Can Guodong be used?" Zhu Xieyuan looked at Sun Jie as if he was in a hurry to seek medical treatment. .
"Come back, sir, those cannons are useless." Laoshun's head was lowered as if it was buried in his chest.
"Why can't it be used?" Sun Jie remained silent knowingly, and Zhu Xieyuan couldn't help but ask.
"Returning to the old man, during the Wanli period, some adults in the court proposed to abolish the Sichuan Dusi Prefecture and build a government. Although it was not accomplished later, the military salaries of several guards in Chengdu were not paid for several years. It's true. The soldiers almost broke into a quarrel, but as a last resort, the commanders of each guard tried to find ways to deal with the arsenal. Not only the central guard, but also the bronze cannons in several other places were turned into coins and distributed... These things were all discussed by the government. I know that it didn't happen in my humble position, but I did know about it." Laoshun's answer was filled with shame and helplessness.
"Ah? Turn the cannon into coins!" This was obviously the first time Zhu Xieyuan heard about the strange news of stealing copper cannons from the arsenal and turning them into coins, and he was completely confused for a moment.
"Sir, this matter is a long story. We don't have to rush to deal with it. It's more important to find a way to deal with the extravagant thieves first." The Sun family has been the fire captain of the Ming Dynasty for many generations. Because of this, the first thing he did when entering the city was to send someone to check the usable artillery. He already knew it before he saw the bronze cannon, so he hurriedly came out to smooth things over - of course, from a personal psychology point of view, on the one hand, Sun Jie was not sure about this. This kind of behavior is deeply abhorrent, but on the other hand, no matter how you say it, you and the group of military leaders are considered a military group. The Sun family army is deeply trusted by the Holy Emperor and sometimes civilian officials make things difficult. It is an indisputable fact that the food and salary of those comrades are being arbitrarily deducted, so naturally Will sympathize with understanding. As he spoke, he secretly thought that he would have to excuse Laoshun later.
"Hmph!" Zhu Xieyuan snorted heavily when he heard Sun Jie's rescue but had nothing to do.
"General Lao, do you still have enough arrows in the arsenal?" Sun Jie quickly changed the subject - he went to the arsenal himself and saw that there is indeed a lot of arrows in reserve.
"Go back to Sun Shuai, there are many arrows, plenty of them." Lao Shun replied and cast a grateful look at Sun Jie.
"That's good. General, please help me organize some brothers to move more. Then go to the granary and official warehouse and move all the grain buckets to the city."
"Shuai Sun wants it!" Lao Shun raised his thumbs with both hands in sincerity, "The crossbow shoots Douzi arrows!"
Sun Jie smiled: "Exactly. Also, gather all the iron spears here on these two bed crossbows." As he spoke, he pointed to the two bed crossbows near the city gate. "Save them for the car crashes to deal with the extravagant thieves." .”
"I will obey the order." Laoshun ran away with relief.
"Sir." After Laoshun left, Sun Jie said softly to Zhu Xieyuan. The latter waved his hand: "Guodong doesn't need to say anything, I know it. This matter didn't happen during his tenure. Even if it did, what can I do? The imperial court must pay grain and pay to raise soldiers. If they don't give money, how can they all be asked to do it?" Will he starve to death? Don’t worry, I won’t make things difficult for him. Alas.”
"My lord, you have a clear warning." Sun Jie responded in a low voice.
"You said you could defeat the extravagant thief in a few days?" Zhu Xieyuan suddenly remembered what Sun Jie said two days ago.
"Yes, sir. It will take three or four days at most. However, we still need to win one more time..."
"Oh? What do you think Guodong said?"
"Your Majesty, please..."
*The Ming Dynasty always used civil society to control military affairs. However, compared with other places, the situation in Sichuan was slightly different. The power of military attachés was greater than in other places. This is due to the unique geographical environment - the road to Shu is difficult, and it borders Zhufan, where large and small tribes are intertwined.
When the Hongwu period first began to pacify Sichuan (not the administrative area of Sichuan today, which was much larger), the local grain production was not enough to maintain a huge force, and long-distance transportation consumed too much. Therefore, during the Hongwu and Yongle periods, it was stipulated that the local "multi-ding" "The family should be "divided into houses in prefectures and counties such as Chengdu", and they should "farm and pay for food, and serve as civilian servants and military service." In other words, families with many men in other places have to move part of them to areas near Chengdu. These laborers have to be "citizens" who pay food to the government, and they also have to obey the orders of military commanders, either as soldiers or as auxiliary soldiers. Military service. This laid the hidden danger of civil-military conflicts. At the beginning, when civilian rule had not yet formed a system, and when there were occasional rebellions and looting, the civil servants would naturally not say anything. However, as time went by during the peace period, military leaders took a hand in their own government. You can imagine their reaction. Know.
Of course, the commanders of the guards were not innocent white swans. They raped civilians, deducted military pay, and colluded with the Ban people to rob merchants. So the civil servants thought, instead of doing this, they might as well find a way to get rid of all these things. The gangs have been abolished. It is enough for us to organize our own money and our own people to subdue those gangs. Why should we share a piece of your pie? So the tossing began. He complained bitterly about the imperial court's chickens, and when dealing with unstable events in the local area, "If the army kills an army once, it will be a crime of sudden change; if it kills an army too many times, it will be a crime of playing banditry and missing the opportunity." - You kill A robberies native said that you provoked ethnic conflicts, and if they killed you, it was because you were feeding a tiger and bringing trouble to yourself. Anyway, you deserved it...
But after struggling for a long time, it finally came to nothing - abolishing the Sichuan Dusi Prefecture is no child's play. Important border areas rely on local militias. No matter how bastard Wanli is, he can't do this. What's more... it costs a lot of money to reduce troops. ! As we all know, if this man didn't think of asking you for money for a moment, it was because of your good luck. Asking him for money? What are you thinking!
However, with this dispute, it is absolutely natural for the civil servants to deduct money and food.
