Fire cannons were shot down from the city wall, and arrows were thrown upward by the officers and soldiers under the city wall.
People fell all the time on both sides, but the defenders occupying the higher ground were blocked by crenels and parapets. Most of them wore cotton armor or breastplates. The number of defenders hit by arrows was higher than the number of casualties among the archers under the city wall. a lot less.
Part of the firepower of the guards on the city wall was drawn away by the archers among the officers and soldiers, which greatly reduced the pressure on the officers and soldiers climbing the ladder.
The muskets that were originally as dense as a shower could no longer be seen. Many officers and soldiers took the opportunity to climb halfway up the ladder. The brimmed hat on the head of the fastest man was almost level with the city wall.
However, before he could climb further up the city wall, he was noticed by a guard on the city wall. He knocked over the blunderbuss and fell from the ladder.
More and more officers and soldiers came up from behind.
Wow!
The boiling hot oil and golden juice were poured down pot by pot. The officers and soldiers who were poured screamed and fell down the ladder. Some officers and soldiers who had not yet had time to climb the ladder were in pain after being poured with these things. Rolling on the ground.
There were fewer and fewer archers under the city wall, and the threat to the city wall was getting smaller and smaller. Many of the guards wielding fire cannons aimed their guns at the officers and soldiers who wanted to use ladders to climb the city wall.
The officers and soldiers who were about to climb the city wall were once again suppressed by the fire cannons and were unable to lift their heads.
The officers and soldiers who had nowhere to hide on the ladder could only try their best to resist the muskets with the shields in their hands. However, at such a close distance, these wooden shields were not much stronger than the paper ones against the muskets fired from them. Became the target of the city's defenders.
Some of the guards jumped down from the ladders without being targeted by fire cannons.
It was okay to jump down from a lower place, but at most it would hurt a little. Some officers and soldiers who had climbed to higher places had their arms or legs broken after jumping down.
There were a few unlucky officers and soldiers who knocked their heads on the shields when they jumped down. Their heads were bruised and bleeding, and they lost their lives on the spot.
Slowly, only sporadic arrows hit the top of the city, posing almost no threat to the defenders on the city wall. The officers and soldiers attacking the city below were once again suppressed and unable to raise their heads.
Seeing that there was no hope of seizing the city and their morale was low, the generals who led the siege had to order a temporary withdrawal.
"Quickly, carry the injured down to the city for treatment." Yang Fan looked at the retreating officers and soldiers and wiped the sweat from his face.
The official archers fired several rounds of arrows at the city wall, injuring many guards on the city wall. Some of the guards who were not seriously injured simply stayed on the city wall, waiting for the doctor to come to collect the arrows and bandage them. Wound.
Previously, a lot of kerosene, gold juice, and medicine had been consumed to resist the soldiers' attack on the city. At this time, the defenders brought buckets of gold juice from the city and poured it into the iron pot to boil it again.
The city was busy.
"Damn it, it looks like I still have to fight."
Yang Fan observed the situation of the officers and soldiers in the distance through the monocular telescope held in front of him. He found that the officers and soldiers failed to attack the city this time and did not retreat directly like the previous two times. The army was still stationed not far outside Yongning City.
In fact, just as he thought, Mangui really had no intention of retreating.
"General, why don't you send more troops and attack again? We just barely reached the city wall." Lieutenant General Lin Huai said beside Man Gui.
"Report!"
At this moment, a horse came galloping from a distance.
Soon, he came to Man Gui, jumped off his horse, knelt on one knee, clasped his fists and said: "General Qi, my general has sent out the main force of the traitors. General, please speed up the attack on Yongning City to attract the traitors." The main force enters the ambush site."
"Go back and tell General Jiang that we will continue to attack Yongning City until we capture the city." Man Gui said to the person delivering the message in front of him.
The visitor excused himself, mounted his horse again and galloped away.
Lin Huai looked at Man Gui and said, "General, why not let General Chen Shen lead the troops to attack again."
"Not enough." Man Gui looked at Yongning City and said, "This general will not only send troops to attack Yongning City, but also attack the four city gates together. Come on!"
A man came forward from the side.
Man Gui said: "I am sending an order to each battalion commander to choose a city gate and attack the gates on the east, west, north, and south of Yongning City at the same time. There is no need to feign attack. Whoever attacks Yongning City first will be credited with his first contribution."
The messenger ran to deliver the order.
"As a result, there will be many more casualties." Lin Huai said worriedly.
Man Gui said: "If we cannot capture Yongning City, more people will die, and the army must enter Yongning City today."
Lin Huai thought of the order issued by the supervisor, and swallowed back all the words he wanted to persuade.
Soldiers and horses from several battalions of the government army, led by the commanders of each battalion, launched another attack on Yongning City.
Standing on the top of the city, Yang Fan noticed through the monocular in his hand that in addition to the officers and soldiers coming in his direction, there were two other groups of officers and soldiers walking towards the east and west sides of Yongning City.
He immediately thought of the enemy general's intentions.
"You are risking your life!" Yang Fan spat fiercely at his feet.
However, he knew that even if he guessed the enemy general's intention, there was nothing he could do to stop it. The other party was completely plotting, and telling him clearly was to bully the major general who was short of troops in Yongning City.
boom! boom! boom!
Because the wall on the south side of Yongning City was closest to the enemy's army outside the city, the officers and soldiers attacking the city were the first to arrive, so the battle naturally started first.
Yang Fan could no longer think about other things at this time.
There were three to four thousand officers and soldiers attacking the southern city wall, and there was no shortage of siege equipment. They also brought a large number of archers, which directly threatened the defenders on the city wall.
"Behind us are our families. If the officers and soldiers attack Yongning City, I won't say more about what will happen to our families. I believe you all know in your hearts. If you want to keep your family safe, there is only one choice, which is to defend our family. The city wall here, even if you die, you will drag the officers and soldiers under the city to die with you."
On the east wall, He Qianyou shouted loudly to the defenders on the wall.
Many of the defenders were peasant soldiers. Although they had undergone military training, they were still far behind the soldiers of various war divisions. Especially when facing life and death, he did not want the peasant soldiers guarding the city wall to have any problems. Timid.
Just one step behind Nancheng, the battle here in Dongcheng also started.
Soon, the defenders on the west and north walls were also attacked by officers and soldiers.
boom! boom! boom!
The defenders on the wall where He Qian was guarding fired their muskets.
Although there are not as many fire guns as on the southern city wall, they still put a lot of pressure on the officers and soldiers attacking the city.
The officer's ladder truck quickly arrived at the bottom of the city wall. The ladder raised from the ladder truck was set up on the city wall. The officers and soldiers below held their shields above their heads and began to climb up.
