The officers and soldiers of the Yongwei Battalion on the corner tower heard the rumble of artillery coming from outside the city, probably from the direction of the Beijing Camp, and could also see some fire, but it didn't take long for silence to return, and no one knew what happened. .
But there was no report from the scouts, and they couldn't go out of the city to check it out. Everyone stretched their necks and looked at it for a while and lost interest. Those who were standing guard and patrolling and those who were napping and sleeping all performed their duties.
Combined with the rapidly deteriorating situation in front of us, we can deduce that the earth-shattering noise just now must have been a gathering of people to rebel. These rebels entered the outer city from the camp outside the city and started to attack the inner city.
"Fire the arrow!"
It takes a while to load artillery and muskets. At this moment, the advantages of cold weapons are revealed. It only takes a few seconds to draw a bow and shoot an arrow. It is a good supplement to firearms when the two sides are in close combat.
The soldiers of the Brave Guard Battalion were able to attack the invading enemy from a high position on the turret. Although it was night and they were shooting at the city wall, they were illuminated by torches, so the shooting range and viewing angle were good, while the opponent had to face the disadvantage of the terrain and launch Attack from behind.
A wave of more than twenty arrows knocked six or seven traitors from the Beijing camp to the ground. Those who were hit by the arrows immediately let out a scream like a slaughtered pig, and the rest hit the shield without causing any greater damage.
The shield bearer hurriedly stood in front of the injured to prevent them from being attacked again, but before these unlucky guys could be picked up by the people around them, a second wave of arrows suddenly came.
Even if the general arranged for no less than thirty shield bearers to resist the arrows shot from the turret, it could not provide all-round protection for his subordinates.
The second shot launched by the Yongwei camp archers produced four or five more results, some in the legs and some in the shoulders. The most unlucky one was hit by an arrow directly in the head and died instantly.
"Ah~! Come on, kill them~!"
The commander-in-chief of the Jingying camp screamed angrily when he saw this. He hid behind the shield soldiers and brandished his saber. It was hard for him to accept that his side had suffered a big loss after launching a sneak attack.
The two sides immediately began to exchange bows and arrows from a distance of more than ten meters. However, the counterattack launched by the soldiers of the Beijing camp had little effect. They complained endlessly about the rolling wood and thunder stones thrown from the turret.
These defensive weapons were originally prepared for the braids who came to attack the capital. However, Huang Taiji was very smart and did not fight tough battles with heavy casualties. Instead, he only picked soft persimmons when entering the customs, which made the Ming army guarding the capital somewhat agitated. Pointless.
There is a group of uninvited guests tonight, let them eat them all, and teach these traitors an unforgettable lesson, so that they can understand before they go to hell to become ghosts.
Stones and wood weighing more than ten kilograms or even dozens of kilograms were thrown from the turret. The soldiers in the Beijing camp below were caught off guard. If they blocked it with their hands, they would suffer fractures. If they were hit in the head, they would have won a jackpot.
There is no need to be merciful when calling out traitors, especially when these bastards just now dared to deliberately paralyze themselves so that they could come for a sneak attack. Aren't you willing to come over and kowtow to the grandfathers? Come on!
The officers and soldiers of the Yongwei Battalion would smash anything that could be thrown at the top of the city. The soldiers guarding each crenel were doing their best to teach the disobedient turtles below.
"Bang~!"
The first batch of loaded firecrackers had already been fired, and green smoke was emitted. The air was mixed with a very strong smell of gunpowder. Immediately, the cry for help of the shot came from the opposite side.
The hit rate of muskets at this distance is extremely high. Dozens of people gathered on the already not very spacious city below, making the shooting effect almost the same as that of later rifles.
More importantly, the Yongwei Camp is not the cannon fodder Jingying Camp that is inferior to the five scum. As one of the five main forces of the Ming Dynasty, under the guidance of generals such as Huang Degong, Zhou Yuji, and Sun Yingyuan, the combat quality of the officers and soldiers is top-notch at this time. .
No one was afraid of the enemy or even fled in the face of the battle. It was due to the fact that they had been trained properly and had just received back pay. The officers and soldiers in the corner tower were in high morale and were actively defending in their respective positions.
"Boom~!"
After waiting for a long time, the six loaded Folan aircraft also aimed at the turret controlled by the Beijing camp on the opposite side and opened fire one after another. In an instant, a ball of fire suddenly burst out, illuminating most of the turret. The sound of explosions was endless, and debris flew around near the impact point.
The front of the turret where the Yongwei Camp is located is just opposite the side of the turret occupied by the Beijing Camp. If the two sides use artillery to bombard each other, the Yongwei Camp will have an advantage because of the large number of crenels and the corresponding number of artillery equipment.
"Grandchildren! Isn't your grandpa's shit delicious???"
Perhaps they felt that blasting the enemy to death was not enough to relieve their anger. The gunners of the Yongwei Battalion were still beating and cursing at each other, and then began to replace the medicine room.
In terms of the standard of cannons, the poorly trained gunners of the Jingying camp were far inferior to their counterparts in the Yongwei camp. What's more, according to the prince's order, the Jingying camp had handed over all the large and small Folang machine artillery that could quickly reload the chamber.
Before the sneak attack, the Beijing camp did not dare to load the artillery in advance, for fear that due to too much movement, it would be discovered by the sentries on the opposite side, which would cause bad things.
At this time, the gap became apparent. The artillery variety was originally poor, and the gunner's ability was low. When the second wave of bombardment started on the other side, the Beijing camp was not finished yet.
"ah……"
Due to the limited weight of the projectiles, the damage effect of the Fo Lang machine is far inferior to that of the Hongyi cannon. The shells hit the city wall without serious harm, but when they hit the female wall, they can beat the Beijing soldiers stationed on the opposite side to pieces. Broken blood flow.
Just by visual inspection, the two rounds of shelling by the Yongwei Battalion caused at least thirty or forty casualties to the Fifth Army. Mr. Qian in the corner tower was so angry that he had no choice but to curse.
"this???"
The cannon on the Beijing side did not respond after being ignited. After waiting for a while, there was no movement. The gunner didn't know what to do. He twisted it with his hand and then put it in front of his nostrils and smelled it. It felt like the gunpowder was damp.
"What do you losers do? You don't even fire cannons?"
Seeing this, Mr. Qian couldn't help but became furious and kicked the gunner beside him. He felt that the artillery in front of him was just a decoration and had no actual effect. These losers didn't even know that the gunpowder was wet. They really deserved to be killed.
"Mr. Qian, it just rained a few days ago. I think it's because of the hot and humid weather!"
The leader could only find a far-fetched reason to resist the anger of his superiors. It would be fine if one cannon did not fire, but it would not be justified if all the cannons did not fire.
"Hot and wet? How can the cannons on the other side go off? Do you losers want to be bombarded alive by the other side?"
Mr. Qian became even more angry after hearing this. It had not rained for several days. There had been a thunderstorm a few days ago. Could this be considered as the reason why the gunpowder got damp?
You guys must have drunk too much one day and secretly peed into the powder keg. Otherwise, how could it be like this?
The gunners felt very aggrieved after hearing this, but they did not dare to rush into the superior Qian rashly, so they could only stay in place.
Mr. Qian became even more angry and angrily shouted: "Are you just here in a daze? Why don't you try to change a few more barrels of gunpowder? A bunch of brainless things! If you can't light the cannon tonight, I will kill you all! Go quickly !”
These people must be given a warning, otherwise they will be bombarded from the opposite side for two hours, and the turret will probably be bombarded and the city will be in ruins.
The smug gunners, under the leadership of the general, had to get busy again. After all, it was not pleasant to have their heads chopped off. Then they would no longer be able to eat big fish and meat, let alone play with women.
The artillerymen of the Yongwei Battalion began their third wave of bombardment, but it was still quiet in the turret opposite, and no sound could be heard.
The guy with a bright mind saw the clues and shouted in the direction of the artillery bombardment during the reloading period: "Brothers in the Beijing camp opposite, listen, if you don't know how to load the cannon, grandpa can go over and help you! If you don't know how to enter the bridal chamber, Grandpa, I can also help you earn enough! I will give you a fat white boy for free!"
"Grands and grandsons, that thing of yours is just a cannon. Grandpa's thing is a cannon, and it fires loudly. It's not like those things of yours that are just fancy but useless!"
"Stop talking. If you keep talking, their mother-in-law and aunt will really come to you to do something. I'm afraid you won't be able to handle it~!"
"Ah ha ha ha ha..."
Hearing this guy's unrestrained shouting, everyone was very happy, and everyone grinned, as if the tense and fierce battle began to become relaxed and comfortable.
When facing an opponent who is as good as a fifth scumbag, one needs to double-treat the body and soul. Since it is a verbal insult, then one should stab the opponent in the heart as hard as possible. The harder the stab, the better.
If the senior generals of both sides were confronting each other, it would probably not be like this. But when it comes to the soldiers at the bottom, apart from the difference in technical and tactical abilities, they are actually all illiterate. When they rise from the fighting, all kinds of meat dishes will pop out of their mouths...
But this is only the only advantage of the Yongwei camp. A large number of soldiers from the Beijing camp below the city are using ladders to lay shields, forcing across the moat, and attacking the city wall and nearby horse faces.
Because he had a good understanding of the local defense situation, he had the advantage in terms of military strength. However, General Hao Mingyu did not let his men attack Chongwen Gate with the urn city, but focused on attacking the junction of the inner city and the outer city.
The cost of casualties paid in this way is smaller than attacking the city gate. As long as one of them can be breached, the army can swarm in and take the imperial city directly.
If Chongwen Gate is attacked forcefully, even if the outer Wengcheng gate is breached, the inner city gate behind will still have to be attacked. If the latter cannot be defeated, then the enemy will have to be trapped in Wengcheng and unable to move.
Zhengyang Gate and Xuanwu Gate to the west of Chongwen Gate are also similar. Among these three city gates, the Yongwei Battalion deployed the largest number of troops at Zhengyang Gate and has the strongest defense. If you want to conquer it, you will have to pay the price of at least thousands of casualties. .
If you want to find another attack point, it is the junction between the outer city and the inner city in the west of the city. You can implement the same "symmetrical attack method" as on the east side of the city.
Hao Mingyu deliberately did not let the infantry under the city take the lead in attacking, because if they were discovered by the enemy on top of the city, the troops who attacked on the city wall would lose the opportunity.
Now that the sneak attack on the city wall has failed, at least for the time being there is no hope of breaking into the turrets, so we can only carry out a large-scale storm.
"Quick! Get up there! Set up a ladder!"
The commander-in-chief of the fifth army camp waved the sword in his hand and shouted to his men vigorously, asking the soldiers who had just completed crossing the river under the rain of arrows to be ready to climb up and attack the city. If they did not rush up, they would have no choice but to stand at the bottom of the city. Beaten for nothing.
Even though some people almost fell into the river just now and were soaked all over, they still had to climb and hold up the long and heavy ladder. Fortunately, the weather was nice and warm, and even a little water on their bodies would not cause any injuries. ice.
"...Fuck you!"
I don’t know which year it was the last time the Fifth Army Camp defended the enemy. The long sparse battle formations and poor visibility at night made them somewhat disorganized. Even the two ladders could form a cross pattern, and then they began to call each other stupid.
The officers and soldiers of the Yongwei Battalion on the top of the city, regardless of who had higher IQs or lower IQs below, would all greet them warmly with ordnance, pour pots of bubbling kerosene down, and then throw a torch down, it was really a " Enjoy it heartily."
"ah……"
Twelve or three soldiers of the Fifth Army Camp who were exposed to kerosene were ignited in the blink of an eye. Their skin would experience a strong burning sensation, which could reach the point of excruciating pain. They would roll on the ground in pain and make heart-wrenching sounds. The scream of the lungs.
This kind of liquid attack cannot be resisted by any iron armor, leather armor, or cotton armor, and it is difficult to extinguish immediately. If it is poured to a certain dose, even if it survives, it will become an unrecognizable cripple even if it survives half a life.
In the face of enemy attacks, the well-trained Yongwei battalion reacted very quickly. Since they saw the fireworks on the turret and heard the sound of gongs, the guards at the city gates, horse faces, parapets and other positions near the turret The army immediately entered a state of combat readiness.
By the time Hao Mingyu ordered a large-scale siege to begin, the Yongwei Battalion on top of the city had already loaded its artillery and muskets, and was ready to launch an indiscriminate counterattack against the densely packed enemy below.
"How's the battle going?"
"General, the city is heavily defended and the rebels are stagnant!"
Huang Degong sent his deputy Zhang Yilong to guard the three gates in the south of the inner city. As one of the brave generals of the Yongwei Battalion, Zhang Yilong put on his uniform and quickly led the guards from Zhengyang Gate to Chongwen Gate to command various ministries to defend against the enemy. Combat.
Before that, he and Wang Yumin, the eunuch of the supervisory army, agreed that the latter would lead his troops to continue to guard Zhengyang Gate to avoid falling into the bandits' plan to move the tiger away from the mountain. At the same time, he would immediately report what happened here to the prince and the commander-in-chief Huang Degong.
Zhang Yilong peeked out from the perforation and saw thousands of torches under the city. Dark shadows were constantly moving. Arrows were flying across the city. Dozens of ladders had been set up. The closer he got to the city wall, the worse the situation became. It's critical.
The shouts of killing were loud and terrifying, and the opponent was actually attacking the city with all their strength. This scene was completely unlike the Beijing camp that was like a drunken man. If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, you couldn't believe it.
In a single position, the opponent invested far more troops than himself. Upon seeing this, Zhang Yilong immediately frowned and thought about countermeasures.
He deployed three hundred men in each tower, one hundred men in each corner tower, and some troops on the horse face and parapet wall, but it was difficult to deal with such an onslaught.
If we continue to stand still, the situation here is bound to be tight. Once we mobilize troops from him, we have to worry about the traitors attacking in the east and west, so we are still hesitant about the plan to increase troops.
Using five hundred men to defend against the attack of two to three thousand men below, Zhang Yilong did not have much confidence when the enemy was also equipped with artillery.
