Behind the Huguang Chief Envoy Zeng Daowei, the Huguang Dudu Commander also said in a panic: "Just now, Wang's men and horses were shelled by the rebels and suffered a lot of casualties. They haven't been able to rush over yet!"
Zeng Daowei said: "It's ridiculous. He has 500 soldiers under his command. How dare he retreat with only dozens of casualties? I strictly ordered him to continue to charge forward. He must drive the traitors down, otherwise they will all be doomed!"
"Let the troops from the city gate tower pass, and we must block their heavy armor assault. We must not let them occupy the city wall!"
"Wuchang's gains and losses, our life and death, all depend on one battle!"
"The dynasty has raised its men for three hundred years. At this time, we will not sacrifice our lives and fight generously, but when will we wait!"
When this man spoke, several generals behind him looked at each other in unison...
Li Zhongyi, a middle-aged general who was lagging behind, muttered words that only he could hear: "You are a scholar, we are not!"
While muttering like this, Li Zhongyi could not help but think of some of the conditions for the enemy's surrender that he had learned about earlier.
He also thought of the current situation of several surrendered generals such as Pseudo Chulihe Renlong, Chen Yongfu, and Huang Guangmao.
Li Zhongyi couldn't help but think about it: he was also a general after all, with more than 2,000 guards and nearly 200 soldiers. According to the rules there, if he surrendered, there should be no problem in being awarded a captain. "
But the captain was still a bit uninterested. He could only be a sentry officer in Da Chu. He had to think of ways to make a contribution and try to get a major.
Thinking so, Li Zhongyi couldn't help but cast his eyes on the big shots in front.
Especially at the front, Zeng Daowei, the chief envoy of Huguang, was roaring in various ways.
If this person was taken down and dedicated, this should be regarded as a great achievement, right?
But I can't do this alone, I have to think about it and find a few people to do it together.
——
While these civil and military officials of the Ming court were roaring, panicking, or harboring evil intentions, the battle at the top of the city continued.
Now there are only two to three hundred people protecting the bandits who rushed up to the ruins of the city, but there are more bandits rushing over behind them.
In the front were two to three hundred elite armored soldiers who could be seen at a glance, and in the back were more than two thousand gray thieves.
The bandit army deployed at least two to three thousand troops in this area.
Once a gap is opened by the bandits and two to three thousand bandits are allowed to attack the city, the city will not be able to defend it!
Zeng Daowei also saw this clearly, so he tried to mobilize troops and generals to block this large gap in the ruins.
And when the Ming army mobilized troops and generals, they tried to mobilize more reinforcements to block the gap in the ruins and prevent the defense army from extending towards the city walls on both sides.
Suddenly there was another loud noise from the other side of the city wall, accompanied by violent vibrations.
The second blast of the Baoxiang Army detonated successfully!
These senior generals of the Ming Army looked to the right and saw a cloud of smoke rising from the city wall on the right, and a section of the city wall that was originally intact had become ruins!
Ruined!
At this moment, the same thought came to these people's minds.
Zeng Daowei didn't know whether he was frightened or shocked. His body went limp and he was about to fall down. Fortunately, someone behind him helped him in time.
After stabilizing his body, Zeng Daowei looked at the smoke and dust on the city wall on the left and the city wall that had become ruins in the smoke and dust, and murmured: "It's over!"
This gap in the ruins can't be blocked, so if there's a second one, there's no point in guarding it.
Not to mention that the rebel artillery continued to fire violent bombardments at other intact city walls and even the areas behind the city walls.
There were also a large number of rebels' light artillery and even musketeers shooting at the top of the city at close range outside the city. There were also some traitor soldiers wearing official and soldier uniforms carrying long ladders to climb from other city walls.
The siege of these thieves' troops was more vigorous, and they launched fierce attacks in three places at the same time.
Even the offensives in these three places were very fierce, so fierce that it was impossible to tell which was the main attack and which was the feint.
This is of course not true.
The Baoxiang Army's attack this time has an obvious main attack direction, which is the main attack direction where Gao Zheng is. In this direction, the Baoxiang Army is expected to invest more than 500 people, including the First Assault Battalion and the First Infantry Regiment. The core main force.
At the blasting point on the right, only more than 300 people from the Second Assault Battalion were actually deployed, and only two infantry battalions were responsible for follow-up and cover.
As for the troops who were trying to directly climb the city wall, the leading 3rd Assault Battalion was selected from the 6th Guards Division. It seemed to have more than 500 people, but its actual combat effectiveness was inferior to that of the 1st Assault Battalion, which had a similar strength. There were more than one, but the number of troops following up was the largest, more than three thousand.
In this general offensive, the Baoxiang Army directly invested seven to eight thousand troops to launch a fierce attack, and there were also a large number of reserve groups behind them.
The reason why the Ming army gave the illusion that the Baoxiang army was not divided into priorities was simply because they themselves could not even block the attacks at the central position where the attack power was weakest...
This cannot be blamed on the Ming Army, who made the Baoxiang Army's explosion too sudden. At the same time, they had made sufficient preparations for advancing fortifications, and the artillery preparations were also very sufficient.
Under the threat of artillery fire from the Baoxiang Army, the Ming army was unable to advance to the city to prepare. Moreover, when they rushed to the city, the artillery unit of the Baoxiang Army took advantage of the fact that their infantry was still some distance away from the city and fired first. A wave of rapid fire was fired, severely killing and injuring a group of Ming troops who were rushing to the top of the city to prepare for defensive operations.
After being hit by fierce rapid-fire shelling, the Ming troops who were charging towards the city suffered heavy casualties, and many of the remaining troops temporarily retreated.
It was not until the assault battalion of the Baoxiang Army rushed under the city wall and the Baoxiang Army's artillery fire began to extend that these Ming troops swarmed onto the city again in fear.
Then I was caught off guard!
In this kind of battle for the city head, once the defenders fail to react in time and the attackers seize the city head, it will not be that easy to drive the attackers back down again.
After all, the offensive side often concentrates a large number of elites at the main offensive breakthrough points, and the Hometown Protection Army sets up assault camps, while traditional cold weapon troops often also engage in trap camps, death squads and the like to assemble a group of elites. Act as a breakthrough sharp knife to seize the city.
Although there will be elites on the defender's side, it is impossible to deploy the elites everywhere. Even if there is no gap if they are mobilized, it will be a step slower.
After all, the attacking side has the initiative and can choose the location to take the initiative and concentrate its elite forces to attack in advance. If the defenders cannot determine the attacking side's main attack point in advance, it will easily fall into a situation where the elite units cannot make up for it in time.
As for the defenders spreading out their elite troops and deploying them everywhere, that would be a waste more than the gain.
In this traditional sense of siege, the core of the defenders is to do everything possible to prevent the enemy from climbing to the top of the city. The best way is to keep the enemy outside the city wall.
However, in the Battle of Wuchang City, the Ming army was never able to adopt some traditional methods of defending the city, such as deploying a large number of troops on the top of the city and conducting early defensive operations by throwing stones, rolling logs, and gold juice.
Even the artillery is difficult to fully utilize.
Because once they swarm on top of the city, the artillery units of the Baoxiang Army will fire fiercely without mercy, especially the explosive shells fired by their mortar units. The lethality is equivalent to standing on the top of the city without any fortification protection. It is even more amazing for the garrison soldiers.
The reason why the Ming army in Wuchang City, and even the Ming army in the previous battle of Zhongxiang City, fought in such a mess was not entirely due to lack of firepower, lack of guns, and low morale. It was more because they were unable to adapt to the harmonious nature of the Baoxiang Army. A siege method that is very different from traditional siege methods.
Before the Baoxiang Army, the Ming Army had never encountered an enemy using explosive ammunition on a large scale.
At most, they will encounter some opponents who use traditional short robes or even red barbarian cannons.
As for the traditional short-robe and Hongyi artillery, these artillery have a very obvious feature, that is, they are all direct-fire artillery, relying on the kinetic energy of the barrel to kill.
The Baoxiang Army's mortar is different. This thing shoots towards the sky, and then falls under the enemy's feet and explodes. It does not rely on the kinetic energy of the barrel to kill, but uses the shock wave, shrapnel, and iron formed by the explosion of the shell itself. Beads kill.
This also means that the originally tall and thick city wall cannot stop these mortars at all.
Because the explosive shells fired by these mortars will fall directly on the top of the city wall and explode.
On the top of a traditional city wall, there would not be large areas of fortifications to prevent shelling, especially those to prevent attacks from the top.
The tops of the city walls these days are all bare, and the main defensive facilities are the battlements.
As a result, in the two defensive battles of Zhongxiang and Wuchang City, the Ming army had already achieved a relatively complete performance even from a traditional perspective. Even if it was replaced by a strong attack by Dongluo, it would not have had several times the strength and sacrifice. A large number of casualties were also expected to be taken down.
But when they encountered the Baoxiang Army, which was more advanced in tactics, tactics and equipment, they were immediately blinded.
If they were given time, someone within the Ming army would definitely come up with countermeasures and implement them, such as temporarily building anti-gun fortifications on the top of the city wall.
There is no need to add a roof fortifications. Just pile some sandbag ring fortifications on the top of the city wall, which is enough to block the shock wave and shrapnel damage caused by the explosion of most shells after they fall on the city wall.
As for the explosive shells that just landed on the enemy's head and exploded in the air, they were actually very few and would not greatly affect the development of the overall battle situation.
It is a pity that no one in the Ming army in Wuchang City thought of this, or some people thought of it but no one listened, or some people listened but no one did it...
In short, the series of defensive measures adopted against the Ming army in Wuchang City were still aimed at the attacks of traditional armies.
So when they encountered the fierce attack of the rural protection army today, they were blinded.
At about 10:20 in the morning, the First Assault Battalion not only occupied the ruins of the first blasting point, but also occupied hundreds of meters of the city on both sides. The soldiers of the First Infantry Regiment in the rear were walking along this section. Ruins and city walls kept pouring in.
At this time, it can actually be declared that the Wuchang City Wall has been completely lost.
Many people in the Ming army realized this, and a large number of people began to flee the city wall, and many people surrendered on the spot.
There are also many people who have other ideas.
When Zeng Daowei, the chief envoy of Huguang, fled from the city wall in a hurry with a few of his followers, he saw General Li Zhongyi leading several other generals and hundreds of armored soldiers chasing them. When Li Zhongyi came over, he shouted: "Sir, as long as we are in the bandit army, we can't even think of hurting you even a hair..."
As a result, just a few seconds after he finished speaking, the man directly inserted the knife into Zeng Daowei: "Sir, I can lend you my head!"
