Several divisions were gathered around the sand table, each stating the direction in which they wanted to attack.
"Hit the north gate." Liu Heng pointed at the north gate of Datong City with his hand, "First use artillery to bombard the military control towers on both sides and the watchtowers and turrets above. The first battle division will attack Xuandong Gate. The soldiers attack the Changchun Gate on the side."
Following his words, he pointed at the two gates of Wengcheng.
"When attacking Changchun Gate, beware of the turrets and watchtowers on Datong City. The Ming army in the city will definitely not allow the personal divisions to successfully attack Changchun Gate." Zhang Hong said.
Changchun Gate is on the side of the city wall of Datong City. The turrets and watchtowers on the city wall can attack enemies who want to attack Changchun Gate from the side.
Liu Heng said: "Give the Guards Division an extra artillery team to suppress those turrets and watchtowers, and to ensure that the Guards Division will not receive flanking attacks when it attacks Changchun Gate."
"My subordinates promise to capture the Changchun Gate." Jia Liu promised.
Liu Heng pointed with his hand at the north gate of Datong City behind the Wengcheng and said: "After the First Battle Division and the Personal Soldier Division took the Wengcheng, they immediately attacked the north gate and broke into Datong City in one go."
"Yes." Chen Xunping and Jia Liu replied at the same time.
Liu Heng looked at the two of them and said: "There are not many defenders in Datong City. There are at most two thousand soldiers and horses. Counting the civilians who defend the city, there are at most five or six thousand people. So in this battle, I believe that the final victory will be The winner must be us."
"Proprietor, what are you doing?" Zhang Hong, who was not assigned a task, asked.
Liu Heng said: "Your second battle division will go to the south gate as a feint attack to attract troops in the city and capture the official hall at the south gate."
"I accept my orders." Zhang Hong agreed.
He was not dissatisfied because his combat division failed to win the main attack. After all, his combat division was already full of men, and only part of the team came to Datong City.
Facing an important town like Datong Town, the few soldiers and horses of the Second War Division he brought would definitely be a bit difficult to serve as the main attack. It would be better to attack on the flanks or share other tasks.
"Proprietor, when shall we take action?" Chen Xunping asked.
Liu Heng looked at the town of Datong on the sand table and said: "First use our existing artillery to knock out the two military control towers, as well as the Qianlou and the corner tower. When our heavy artillery arrives, we can attack Xuandong." The urn city here."
The artillery team accompanying the army was basically composed of four-pounders, with at most a few six-pounders.
The main siege weapons are nine-pounders and twelve-pounders, which are now on their way.
For an ordinary small town, the four-pounder cannon and the six-pounder cannon are enough. But in the face of a large town like Datong Town with high walls and thick walls, only the nine-pounder cannon and the twelve-pounder cannon can bring enough firepower. threaten.
"My subordinates will lead the artillery team up now." Chen Xunping said.
Liu Heng said: "Bring out all the cannons. Even if the walls of Datong City cannot be destroyed, Li Guangyi will be frightened from now on."
"yes."
The three combat divisions present were agreeing at the same time.
Each brigade of the tiger-character banner's combat division is equipped with four four-pound cannons. A thousand-man regiment has twelve four-pound cannons. A combat barracks has forty-eight four-pound cannons. Each combat division has four-pound cannons. There are one hundred and forty-four guns, of which each artillery team is equipped with thirty-six four-pounders and six-pounders.
The combined number of artillery pieces of the First Battle Division and the Personal Infantry Division was more than 300, while Zhang Hong's Second Battle Division only brought some of the cannons, numbering dozens.
There were nearly four hundred ordinary four-pounders and six-pounders in total.
Just the mules and horses pulling these cannons can form a cavalry team.
As the order was issued, artillery teams walked out of the camp, pushing the cannons and appeared under the city of Datong.
"Oh my god, how come the bandits have so many cannons!"
On the top of the city, the officers and soldiers guarding the city were dazzled by the dense cannons below.
After looking at the cannons of the rebels below the city, and then looking at their own cannons on top of the city, they are not even a fraction of the cannons of the rebels.
"You, hurry up and inform General Li that the bandits are coming to attack Beicheng." A general guarding the wall of Beicheng shouted to the messenger on the top of the city.
The messenger dropped the spear in his hand and ran down the city.
As soon as the messenger left, the general shouted to the gunners of the firearms battalion at the top of the city: "Fire the cannon, fire the cannon, use cannon to bombard the bandits outside the city. You must not let the bandits push the cannon into the city."
Once hundreds of cannons entered the firing range, he knew that the defenders on the North City wall would not be able to withstand the bombardment of hundreds of cannons.
boom! boom! boom!
The officers and soldiers on the city wall took the lead in firing their cannons and used them to bombard the bandits below the city.
"Leave one artillery team to fight back, and the rest of the artillery continues to move forward." Chen Xunping ordered his messenger.
The messenger stood on a high place and used flags to notify each artillery team.
One of the artillery teams received the order, stopped on the spot, and began to adjust the angle of the muzzle, aiming at the official cannon on the city wall.
boom! boom! boom!
Soon, the gunfire from the Tiger Flag side rang out.
The four-pound cannons were fired one after another, and solid iron balls flew out from the muzzles.
The cannons used by the officers and soldiers on the city wall were mostly general cannons, and many were Fran cannons, which were also the most commonly used cannons by the Ming army.
The four-pounder cannon of the Tiger Flag is more powerful than the general cannon used by the official army. However, the official army is condescending and has a certain advantage, and the four-pounder cannon of the Tiger Flag is stronger than the general cannon of the official army in terms of range.
The artillery fire above and below the city hit you and me.
However, Tiger Banner often fired three cannons, and the army only fired one. In addition, the number of cannons was not dominant, and they rarely trained. The gunners of the army were not skilled in handling cannons. .
Soon the cannons of the official army were suppressed by the cannons of the Tiger Flag.
The sound of cannons heralds the start of war.
The people and passers-by on the streets in the city fled home one after another after hearing the sound of the cannons. Some small vendors did not even bother to clean up their stalls and ran back in a hurry.
When the gunfire first sounded, Li Guangyi, who was guarding the governor's office, almost slipped from his seat.
"Come, come." Li Guangyi shouted towards the door.
The government servant who was guarding outside ran in and said, "Sir, what are your orders?"
"Go and find out, are the bandits attacking the city?" Li Guangyi said to the government officials.
The officer turned around and ran away.
Not long after the Yamen left, Hu Mingyi trotted in from outside.
Liu Heng looked at the four urn cities in Datong Town respectively, and asked a few people around him, "Which urn city do you think is more appropriate for us to start with?"
"My subordinates think we should attack Ying'en Gate in the east first." Zhang Hong pointed to the Wengcheng where Ying'en Gate is located on the sand table with his finger. "If you enter the city from here, you can go straight to Prince Dai's Mansion."
Chen Xunping objected: "There are moats on the east and west sides. If you want to attack these two directions, you need to fill in the river. I think we should choose the north gate or the south gate as the main attack direction."
As he spoke, he pointed his fingers at the north and south sides of Datong Town on the sand table.
"I support Chen Yingzheng. It is best not to choose the east and west cities as the main direction of attack." Jia Liu expressed support for Chen Xunping.
