Gao Heng stayed up all night. According to the calculation of time, the Annan Army is also an army mainly composed of infantry. A large army will not march too fast. In later generations, in military schools, the ancient marching speed was also introduced in military classes. It was as powerful as Napoleon. If the French army was marching in a hurry, it would only cover twenty or thirty kilometers in one day. Ancient soldiers had to leave half of their physical strength to fight. Thirty or forty miles in one day was relatively normal.
If the enemy army is dispatched in the morning, as long as the general is more cautious, he should arrive early tomorrow morning. Anyway, they are guarding the city and can wait for work. The entire army has a good night's rest and will fight with all their strength tomorrow morning.
At night, there was a sound of snoring inside the camp. The fire gun soldiers and sword and shield soldiers training outside the city had been transferred into the city. Gao Heng ordered them to rest well this night and conserve their strength for tomorrow's battle. Gao Heng himself came to the top of the city. The soldiers on night duty were patrolling back and forth. When they saw Gao Heng, they all clasped their fists in greeting.
Since the army is established, there must be rules. Gao Heng is a superior officer. According to the regulations, soldiers need to greet their superiors when they see them. Gao Heng nodded and motioned to the soldiers to continue. He just came to the city to take a look.
Unlike later generations, after the invention of electricity, the city was full of light pollution. Even in the dark, you can still see the road conditions and objects clearly. The dark night in ancient times was so dark that you couldn't see your fingers. Although Gao Heng tried to open his eyes wide, he still couldn't see outside the city. any movement.
He knew that Lu Tao was following the enemy soldiers all the way at this moment, and was constantly sending people to report to the city. The latest report was an hour ago, saying that the enemy troops were resting ten miles away from the city. It seemed that the Annan people You're not stupid, marching at night will consume most of your physical strength, which is not conducive to combat.
Gao Heng took a deep breath, the air had the unique fishy smell of earth. September is the rainy season in Annan. Located in a tropical and subtropical climate zone, the rainy season in Annan extends from May to October. Not only is it long, but the humidity in the air is high. Clothes stick to the body and are wet, which makes people feel a little uncomfortable. Comfortable. Not only that, since it is the rainy season, there is a lot of rain, and it has rained twice in the past few days. Once it rains, the matchlock gun cannot be used. I hope it will not rain during the battle tomorrow.
He looked up at the sky, then sat on the ground, leaned against the crenel, and fell asleep. It was just dawn, and Gao Heng had been sitting outside all night. Dew condensed on his helmet and dripped on the tip of Gao Heng's nose. Gao Heng suddenly woke up and stood up with a sudden sound.
Click, click, click, the crisp sound of horse hoofs sounded outside the city, and several fast horses rushed into the city gate like arrows. "Close the city gate quickly!" A familiar voice sounded, who could it be if it wasn't Lu Tao.
Gao Heng rushed down to the city and stopped Lu Tao. No one came to report that night, which meant that the enemy had not moved at the original position. Now that Lu Tao came back with people, it only meant that the enemy had taken action. Lu Tao stood up and dismounted and said to Gao Heng: "The enemy has broken out of camp. It will not take more than an hour to reach the city. There are about 2,000 soldiers and horses. The Beijing soldiers are leading the battle and there are 1,400 town soldiers."
"That's all?" Gao Heng asked suspiciously.
"That's all. Last night, I went to investigate deeply. There were no reinforcements behind me. This army is not a vanguard army." Lu Tao affirmed.
Gao Heng almost laughed out loud. This Zheng Zuo was too trusting. He thought that there were two thousand civilians here without fighting ability, so they could only let them experience the power of the survival brigade.
Gao Heng immediately put on his helmet, rushed up to the city tower in three steps and ordered: "The whole army must gather, the vanguard camp will go up to the city to defend, and the reserve camp will be on standby below the city! Move out immediately!"
Click-click-click, the sound of neat footsteps sounded in the city. The artillery at the top of the city was immediately on alert. The spearmen of the vanguard battalion, as well as the gunmen, sword and shield soldiers, rushed to the south gate.
Yuan County is to the south of Tuo County. When enemy troops come to attack, they usually won't look far away. Basically, it is certain that the south gate is the main direction of attack. Therefore, Gao Heng divided the reserve battalion into three companies to guard the other three gates. The remaining more than a thousand people gathered at the south gate, waiting for the arrival of the enemy.
"There are enemies!" A sentry at the top of the city shouted pointing forward.
Tuoxian County is very small, and the number of soldiers that can be accommodated on the city wall is very limited. Five or six hundred people on one wall is already the limit. Gao Heng mobilized all the sword, shield soldiers and fire gun soldiers to the city wall, plus the original artillery and With a small number of archers, the city has reached the limit of what the soldiers can accommodate. Spearmen were on standby below the city and could go up to the city to support them at any time.
All kinds of weapons for city defense have been prepared at the city gate, and a small amount of captured fierce fire oil has also been brought up. The quality of these fierce fire oils was judged by Wu Rong to be quite good. It seems that Annan's Beijing soldiers are indeed good at it. , the fierce fire oil is probably not necessarily produced by Annan himself, maybe it is a Western product bought by Folangjiren.
Gao Heng unfolded his telescope and looked outside the city. A dozen cavalrymen came out of the dense forest and were circling one mile away from the city gate. These people should be the sentinel cavalry of the Annan Army, but these people are brave Not small, they were investigating at such a close distance, but they just felt like there was nothing they could do against them.
Wang Qi said angrily: "Damn it, these dogs are so arrogant! General, if our cannon can reach it, how about a blast?"
"Why are you so anxious? Calm down, the big troops are behind, and the enemy sentries and cavalry are so scattered, how can you hit them with cannons!" Gao Heng stopped Wang Qidao.
Woo~ A shocking trumpet sound came out, which was the sound of the horn horn unique to the Annan people. A dense number of soldiers emerged from the jungle. Although two thousand people did not sound like a lot, but they were lined up under the city, which was quite spectacular.
Although the scale of the last attack on Yuan County was not small compared to this time, it was a decisive battle between regular armies. Gao Heng and a group of people followed the large army and did not feel too shocked. But this time it was different. They fought independently and relied on civilians with little combat experience. The enemy's two thousand regular troops arrived. For a moment, horses and people shouted, which gathered into an extremely noisy sound and reduced the morale of the survival brigade at the top of the city. Suppressed some.
The soldiers looked at the military formation below with some horror. The last time they fought against the soldiers of the four towns guarding the city in Tuo County, they relied on their bravery. Looking back at it at the time, they were still a little scared, but now they looked fierce. Annan's army is just outside the city. It is impossible to say that the soldiers are not afraid.
Gao Heng looked back at the soldiers and said loudly: "Fear is human instinct. It is normal for you to be afraid when you first enter the battlefield, but you must remember that you can be afraid now. Once the battle begins, you must devote yourself wholeheartedly. Go in and use all the skills you have learned these days. Remember, on the battlefield, even the blunderbuss will surround the brave."
He drew out the Yanling sword with a clanging sound and pointed it directly at Annan's army who was arrayed below the city: "Soldiers, this city is your family. You are men, upright men. It is your responsibility to protect your wives, children, and children. We must survive. Go down, the Annan people want our lives, we will fight them desperately! If you are afraid, just shout loudly! Please live!"
"Please live! Please live! Please live!" The soldiers shouted after Gao Heng. One person led ten people, and ten people led a hundred. For a time, there was a uniform shouting everywhere in the city, even in the city. Expatriates in the country also gathered on the streets. Women, the elderly, and children all had their faces flushed, shouting at the top of their lungs and releasing their emotions.
The shouts from the city startled the Annan soldiers who were forming formation below the city. The leading battalion general was extremely angry. These guys who didn't know whether to live or die were still making noise even when they were about to die.
He looked back at the military formation. One thousand Beijing soldiers and one thousand four town soldiers had been divided into two formations. He didn't know the emotions of the soldiers from the four towns, but he knew the emotions of the soldiers from the capital very well. After being raided in Yuan County, only a thousand-year-old Beijing soldiers escaped alive. These soldiers were used to being arrogant. After all, they had a natural sense of superiority in front of the soldiers from the four towns. Now that they have suffered such a big loss, whose face is it? Can hold up.
It doesn't matter if they were beaten by the Ming army. If they can't handle this group of expatriates and civilians, they should stop hanging around.
Another battalion general immediately stepped forward and said, "Should we prepare for artillery fire!"
"Artillery preparations? What kind of artillery preparations are needed to defeat these civilians? Carry out the Folangji, fire a few rounds, and then the whole army will attack and take the city."
Boom boom boom, the artillery under the city began to bombard. Among the ten artillery pieces, there were five Folang machines. According to convention, if it was a battle between regular troops, there would definitely be a round of artillery battle first. But the battalion general thinks that this is not necessary, and the opponent has no artillery. Even if there are one or two, do these civilians understand what they are doing? As long as he works hard and attacks the city or breaks open the gate, the battle will be over. There is no need to go to such trouble.
Boom, boom, solid artillery shells hit the city wall of Tuoxian, causing a shock. Gao Heng organized a large number of expatriates to repair the city wall these days, but the city wall of Tuoxian is really in disrepair. The walls of such a small city simply cannot be repaired. It is not a masonry structure like the big cities in the Central Plains, but a mixture of bricks and earth. It is even made of wood in some places. When the cannonballs hit it, the earth fell down, and it felt like it was about to collapse.
Seeing this scene, the soldiers from the capital burst into laughter, and the general was even more contemptuous. Is that all?
Immediately, he impatiently issued an attack order, "Warriors of Annan, the Crown Prince is watching us. Now is the best time for you to clear the names of the Beijing soldiers. Attack with the whole army! Capture the city and leave no chickens or dogs behind!"
"Kill!" Like mercury pouring down the ground, a thousand soldiers from the capital suddenly launched into action. Soldiers from the four towns shouted cheers from behind. The soldiers from the capital carried engineering ladders and divided into several teams to rush towards the city. The battalion general rode his horse and followed beside the improvised crash car. , with a strange force, went straight to the city gate.
It was said that it was a car crash, but it was actually a matter of cutting down several thick logs and tying them together. A wooden wheel was installed underneath, pushed manually by dozens of soldiers, and used to directly hit the city gate. Although this equipment is very simple, it is a powerful weapon for siege. It is naturally ineffective against big cities. But for small towns like Tuoxian, it has a completely crushing effect. The wooden city gate cannot stop such a collision at all. .
The battalion general was full of confidence. Could such a powerful offensive not be able to defeat a mere small city?
Boom boom boom, another round of artillery fire came over, and the shells whizzed past the heads of Gao Heng and the soldiers. The enemy's main formation was two miles away. Although they also had two French guns at the top of the city, Under Gao Heng's order, remain silent and wait for the enemy to get close before attacking. The range of the heartless cannon is only one mile. To achieve maximum effect, it is best to place the enemy in half a mile. The heartless cannons at the top of the city are also placed according to this range, and they are also placed under the city. Once the logo is placed, the shooting angle and shooting range cannot be adjusted.
Boom, a cannonball hit the crowd guarding the city without any bias. The formation of the sword and shield soldiers was in chaos. The shields shattered, the swords flew away, and more than a dozen sword and shield soldiers fell down screaming. They rolled in the The ground let out a painful wail. Immediately, soldiers from the reserve battalion on standby rushed to the top of the city and rushed the wounded down for treatment. The expatriates lack medical treatment and medicine. Even the doctors, there are only a dozen or so out of 10,000 people. These people have never learned battlefield first aid, so it is still unknown whether they can save these soldiers. Gao Heng can only pray silently in his heart. , hope they can survive.
Boom, "Ah! Ah!" Another scream came from the city. The shells that passed over the city continued unabated and hit the crowd on the city gate street. Women, children and the elderly stretched their heads on the street. Looking around, who knew there would be artillery shells coming, and twenty or thirty people would be killed or injured in an instant, most of them were old people and children!
"Damn it, damn it! Come on me if you dare!" the soldiers yelled angrily towards the city.
"Lower your body! Prepare the artillery!" Gao Heng gave the order again.
The enemy troops were getting closer and closer. Gao Heng squatted half-crouched at the crenel and observed the situation with a telescope. He could even see the crazy and somewhat distorted faces of the Annan soldiers.
The Annan soldiers who were charging did not notice that they were approaching the range of the heartless cannon at high speed. Wu Rong ordered the soldiers to mark a white line with lime on the ground. It was difficult for people below the city to notice, but it looked very strange from the top of the city. clear.
"One mile!" Wu Rong shouted, calculating the distance of the enemy's charging troops.
"Three hundred steps!"
"Two hundred steps!"
"Half a mile!"
"Hit!" Almost without thinking, Gao Heng suddenly lowered his raised right hand.
With a hiss, the fuses of several heartless cannons and Folang machines were ignited. The gunners covered their ears and moved away from the cannons.
Boom boom boom, the artillery at the top of the city opened fire suddenly, and the two Franco machines loaded with gravel and lead directly sprayed out the cannons, mowing down the Annan soldiers in the front row like cutting wheat. The Annan soldiers' attack momentum stalled, and no one expected that there would be artillery counterattacks at the top of the city.
However, the next moment, an even bigger surprise was waiting for the Annan people. Five gunpowder packets still smoking were smashed into the crowd. The Annan soldiers were stunned, not knowing what this black mass was. When the fuse burned out, they had no chance to find out.
