"General, be careful."
Wang Xingshan was protected by his own soldiers and hid behind the female wall.
A bomb exploded not far away, and the caltrops and iron beads inside exploded on the spot. Several of the caltrops struck the soldiers who were protecting Wang Xingshan, and were killed on the spot.
"General, you can't stay in this place, it's too dangerous." Some of the soldiers who were still alive wanted to persuade Wang Xingshan to leave.
Wang Xingshan, who was shrinking back, said with an ugly expression: "Where do you want me to go? I have long said that if we want to live and die with Lingbao City, I will definitely stay on the city wall with the soldiers to defend against the enemy. .”
"General, we are just taking shelter for now. It won't be too late to go up the city wall when the rebels attack the city." The soldier continued to persuade.
Not only for the life of Wang Xingshan, but also for the lives of these personal soldiers themselves.
No one wants to die if they can live.
Click!
A wooden board not far away shattered, and some broken wood pieces of different sizes flew over. Some soldiers hurriedly used their bodies to cover Wang Xingshan.
Although the wood blocks blown up are not as powerful as the iron caltrops and iron beads directly exploded by the blooming bomb, they are still not something that flesh and blood can withstand.
Flowers of blood spattered from the soldier's back, and even the leather armor on his body could not block the wooden blocks that shot the blood quickly.
"General, please stay away for now!" Seeing more and more wounded officers and soldiers around him, the soldiers couldn't help but persuade Wang Xingshan to leave again.
"Shut up." Wang Xingshan scolded his own soldiers, and then said, "There are not enough door panels. Let's get some more door panels and send them over."
A single door panel can't stop the cannon, and neither can a wet quilt.
In just a short while, many door panels had been smashed and cracked by cannons, and even the quilt above had been burnt into charred pits.
The sound of cannon fire outside the city continued.
The officers and soldiers on the city wall had no choice but to evade. As more and more cannons were fired at the city, the number of dead and wounded officers and soldiers on the city was also increasing.
There were thousands of officials running up to Wang Xingshan with their backs hunched over.
"General, we can't continue like this. The rebels' cannons are too poisonous. We have to find a way to retaliate, otherwise the officers and soldiers in the city will be in chaos."
More and more officers and soldiers were killed and injured, and the morale of the officers and soldiers almost fell to the bottom.
If there hadn't been a group of officers and soldiers guarding the horse path that was able to leave the city wall, the soldiers guarding the city would have been unable to escape from the city wall.
"The rebels only used artillery fire and did not send anyone to climb the city wall. Even if the soldiers on the city wanted to fight back, they couldn't." Wang Xingshan saw it clearly. The rebel army relied on the sharpness of the cannons and repeatedly bombarded the city with artillery. Treasure city.
Qianhu said: "Aren't there two cannons on the city? If that doesn't work, use these two cannons to fight back. In any case, we are above the city and the opponent is below the city, so we have an advantage."
Wang Xingshan showed hesitation.
It's not that he doesn't want to use the two cannons on the city wall, they really can't be compared with the number of cannons of the rebels outside the city. Moreover, once the cannon is fired, the cannon body must be stretched out of the city wall, and it will inevitably be discovered by the rebels outside the city and become a rebel army. The target of the bombardment.
He wanted to use the two cannons in the city at the most critical moment, and did not want to be noticed by the rebels so early.
"General, don't hesitate. If you don't fight back, the soldiers in the city will have to flee for their lives." Seeing Wang Xingshan's hesitation, Qianhu couldn't help but urge.
At the same time, he did not forget to remind Wang Xingshan of the most likely outcome if he did not use those two cannons.
"Let the gunners fire!" Wang Xingshan reluctantly agreed to Qianhu's request.
He also knew that he could not allow the bandits outside the city to continue bombarding Lingbao City.
Otherwise, even if he can hold on to the city wall with the determination to die, it is impossible for the other officers and soldiers defending the city to hold on to the same determination to die. They may not be able to withstand the bombardment of the rebels and abandon the city wall.
Qianhu received permission and hunched over and quickly approached the two cannons on the city wall.
At this moment, a cannon suddenly fell and exploded directly on the head of Qianhu, who was hunched over and trotting forward. He fell to the ground, his whole face was bloody and bloody, mixed with red and white stuff flowing out. One place.
Wang Xingshan, who noticed this scene, could not care less about feeling sorry for the other party. He turned his head and said to a soldier beside him: "Go and order the gunner to fire back."
The soldiers got the order and ran over quickly.
He was very lucky and successfully ran to the place where the two cannons were parked, and ordered the gunners on guard to fire on the rebel cannons outside the city.
The officers and soldiers pushed the cannon to the crenel and began to load the cannon with powder and solid iron balls.
These two cannons had not been used in Lingbao City for a long time, and the gunners among the officers and soldiers were also in a hurry. It took them a long time to get everything right, and they only managed to fire the cannons.
The torch lit the match at the breech of the gun.
Seeing the match rope burning the medicine inside, the officers and soldiers operating the cannon hurriedly blocked their ears with their hands.
boom! boom!
The two cannons on the city made two different sounds one after another.
A cannon flew from the muzzle to the outside of the city, but the cannon of the other gun did not fire out, but exploded directly. Several other officers and gunners nearby were injured, and one of them was killed on the spot. .
Of the two cannons, the one from the Wanli era ran away and exploded, but the older cannon from the Jiajing era fired smoothly.
As soon as the gun exploded, even if the other gun was intact, all the surrounding officers and gunners hid far away and did not dare to get close, for fear that the other gun would also explode and hurt themselves.
The sound of artillery in the city immediately attracted the attention of Xu Bingyu, captain of the artillery team outside the city.
In particular, the muzzles of the city's cannons poked out from the crenels, and he could see them clearly through the monocular.
"You dare to fight back with just two cannons." Xu Bingyu sneered and ordered, "Let the first artillery team kill the cannons on the top of the city for me."
Soon there were several four-pound cannons that fine-tuned their firing directions under the guidance of the gunners.
The target was exactly where the sound of cannons came from on top of the city.
"Reporting to the captain, the gate of Lingbao City is broken, but the back of the gate is blocked with sand, stones and wooden piles. It is difficult to clear it at the moment." A messenger brought back the news that the gate of Lingbao City had been breached.
The city gates are all wooden gates. Although they have rivets and are made of sunken wood, they were eventually penetrated by cannons under the repeated collisions of solid iron balls.
Xu Bingyu said: "Don't worry about the city gates and let all the six-pounders blast the city walls. I don't believe that the adobe city walls of such a small county can withstand several rounds of shelling."
The six-pounder was much more powerful than the four-pounder.
For the county city wall that has been in disrepair for a long time, it is enough to threaten the safety of the city wall.
The Tiger Banner Army is famous for its large number of artillery, and artillery-infantry cooperation has always been a regular offensive method of the Tiger Banner Army. It will always be unfavorable in battles with the Ming Army.
