The gunboats parked at Shiyu Reclamation Point were the main force of the navy brigade from Xinjin City. As soon as they stopped, they began a fierce bombardment. Before their arrival, there were also reinforcements from warships coming from the direction of Sandu River, but they were all escort ships and light artillery boats. Their mission was only to drive away the Mongolian troops on the east bank of the river and prevent them from re-crossing the river. The gunboats from Xinjin City were obviously here to attack the enemy. They lined up on the water and fired volleys at the defense facilities at the settlement point. The few artillery pieces at the settlement point had long been destroyed by the light artillery boats that came across the water three times. At this moment, they had no means of counterattack and could only be passively beaten.
The Pili Army naturally knows the weak points of defense in their own settlements, and artillery shells will naturally be poured into these places. Under intensive artillery bombardment, the defense facilities at the settlement point were destroyed bit by bit. Sentries, village gates, and turrets are vulnerable to powerful solid bullets, and will crack and collapse if hit by one round. Trenches, earthen walls, horses, and thorn bushes are naturally effective against cold weapon armies, especially Mongolian cavalry. This was originally tailor-made for them. But it was too difficult to deal with the artillery bombardment. Especially those heavy artillery ships, the shells fired by them cannot be tolerated by this earthen wall. Even Yokoyuan Fort cannot withstand a long-term bombardment.
Chang Yun, his party members and a group of new auxiliary troops cowered and shivered. Although people were smashed into pulp by hot solid bullets from time to time, no one dared to rush out. Because in the bamboo forest one mile outside the settlement point, the cavalry of the Perak Army were watching eagerly waiting for them to come out. As the gun barrel heated up, the shells fired by the gunboat were no longer dense, but gradually became sparse. This made Chang Yuan let out a long sigh. He was currently hiding in a cellar in the settlement point. When some party members persuaded him to escape last night, he refused because he was reluctant to part with the official position of Jiangyuan County Magistrate promised by the Mongols. At this time, he no longer counted on Mongolian reinforcements, but wanted to stay up until night and take advantage of the chaos to escape. "If you keep the green hills, you won't have to worry about running out of firewood." At present, the only way to restore the family's glory is to save one's life.
But the next moment, Chang Yuan's idea of staying up until night went bankrupt. A missed solid bullet penetrated the roof of a house in the center of the settlement. The Perak Army did not want to damage the houses in the settlement sites too much, because they had to be rebuilt if they were damaged, so the artillery aimed at the city defense facilities and not at the private houses. After the off-target shell smashed through the roof, it smashed a pile of wooden boxes in the house. In an instant, the fire engulfed the entire house, sending out continuous explosions, and the splashing sparks caused another explosion. Set fire to surrounding houses. The roofs of the houses in this settlement are made of straw, wheat straw and other straw. In this summer, they can catch fire easily. The fire suddenly becomes a prairie fire and quickly spreads to the entire settlement.
The reason why a cannonball could cause such a fire was the pile of wooden boxes in the room. These wooden boxes contained clay pots of kerosene, which were originally used by Mongolian cavalry to set fires. Liu Heima prepared pottery jars of fire oil for the five hundred cavalry, but only half of them were transported across the river, and the other half was destroyed by Xia Dagen on the east bank of the river. Because there were too many pottery jars of kerosene transported across the river, the half Mongolian cavalry team only brought a few of them, and most of them were kept in this room. By chance, they were smashed.
The soldiers of the Perak Army outside saw a fire suddenly ignited at the settlement point, and they were confused for a while. While they were speculating and discussing, they saw a group of people stumbling out from the settlement where the smoke was billowing. These people were naturally members of the new auxiliary army and Chang Yuan. Under the prairie fire, the temperature in the settlements rose sharply, even the air became hot, and the trees were quickly dried and turned into fuel. Under the thick smoke and scorching heat, people hiding in trenches and cellars had no choice but to flee outside the settlement points while coughing. If you don't run away, you'll either be roasted or smoked to death. But as soon as they staggered out, they saw a group of militiamen with knives and spears rushing over. In panic, many of the newly attached troops were killed on the spot, and the rest fled in all directions.
The Perak Army cavalry rushed out from the bamboo forest and mercilessly chased and killed the soldiers of the new annexation army and Chang Yuan's party members, even if they knelt down and asked for surrender, they did not sheath their swords. In previous battles, the Perak Army did not kill enemies who gave up resistance, but were more than happy to take prisoners because the mines needed labor. The reason why these Perak Army cavalry violated the no-kill policy on surrender was because they were ordered not to be lenient to these enemies and to eliminate all evil. This order was given directly by Ouyang Xuan. When he learned that the person who led the wolf into the house was actually the deputy company commander of Jiangyuan City's basic company, and most of his followers were members of the second-line troops of the Perak Army, he was furious for a moment. He hated the Mongols who burned, killed and looted, and even more hated the traitors and traitors.
When the last of Chang Yuan's henchmen was trampled into the mud by the cavalry, the fire at Shiyu Reclamation Point had begun to weaken. This is not because the Perak Army is extinguishing the fire, but because the combustibles are about to be burned out. This is not because the Pili Army does not want to extinguish the fire, but because the kerosene burns extremely violently and cannot be extinguished at all. Many of the militiamen guarding the door were people from Shiyu Reclamation Point. They saw their homes burned to ashes, and many of them howled loudly. Naturally, they were filled with deep-seated hatred for the enemies who rushed out. In fact, even if Ouyang Xuan did not give the order to eliminate all evil, the new vassal army and Chang Yuan's gang members would not be able to escape their revenge. Chang Yuan died under their swords and spears, and his body was stabbed to pieces.
When the Shiyu settlement ignited a fire, Cao Ergou also led two infantry battalions of the field brigade to the foot of Jiangyuan City. Huang Dagen captured a large number of war horses at Widow's Cliff in Maozhou some time ago. As a result, the two battalions obtained a group of strong horses, which enhanced their mobility. Jiangyuan City is only thirty miles away from Chongqing Fucheng. Cao Ergou came with his people yesterday afternoon and rested for one night in a village called Anfu, so he stopped three miles outside the west gate of Jiangyuan City early this morning. The reason why they stopped moving forward was because the old fortress cannon on the Jiangyuan city wall had an effective range of two and a half miles, while the new heavy artillery in the field camp had a range of three miles. The artillery position built here can hit the city wall without being hit by enemy artillery.
Seeing that the Perak Army was building artillery positions, the new auxiliary troops in the city were as anxious as ants on a hot pot, but there was nothing they could do. Just now they tried to bombard the Perak Army with fortress artillery, but found that the impact point was still half a mile away from the Perak Army's position, posing no threat at all. Assault on artillery positions? There are many soldiers in Perak and they must be prepared. Run away? Obviously they couldn't outrun the Perak Army cavalry outside the city. Waiting for reinforcements? The Mongolian army on the other side of the river tried several times to build a pontoon bridge, but was destroyed by the Perak army ships without exception. Although the several Pili Army light artillery boats and escort boats in the river did not dare to get too close to Jiangyuan City, nor did they dare to shoot at the fortress guns at the head of the city, they were more than enough to prevent the Mongolian army from crossing the river or erecting a pontoon bridge.
After Cao Ergou set up the artillery, he ordered to concentrate fire to bombard the fortress artillery at the top of the city. After a few rounds, the fortress cannon at the west gate was reduced to parts, and the ammunition piled aside was detonated. The gunner and dozens of new auxiliary soldiers guarding the city were turned into a pile of stumps and minced meat. The scene of blood and flesh flying around left the newly annexed soldiers in the city out of their minds. They knew that if they continued to resist, they would end up dead without any body parts, so they immediately sent people out of the city to ask for surrender.
Just when Cao Ergou was about to reject the new auxiliary army's request to surrender, a messenger from the staff rushed to him on a fast horse covered in sweat. He brought a handwritten letter from Ouyang Xuan.
