Chapter 231 Chongzhen: The ancestral grave of the old Zhu family was dug!

Author: This Ganges Beaver

Chapter 231 Chongzhen: The ancestral grave of the old Zhu family was dug!

Eight days later, more than 120 large and strange shield vehicles were built. Dozens of sacks filled with sand and gravel were placed in front, on the left and right sides, and on the roof of the vehicle, with only one muzzle exposed.

Looking at the Hongyi cannons that were tightly surrounded by shield vehicles, Hong Chengchou and Chen Qiyu nodded with satisfaction. As long as there were no problems with the Hongyi cannons, this battle would still be fought, although the power of the Hongyi cannons was not enough.

to decide the outcome of the battle, but the tall city walls of Dezhou City are not suppressed by Hongyi cannons. If you want to attack the city, you may not be able to fill it even if you use human lives to fill it.

"Send the order and assemble the army!"

Hong Chengchou waved his hand and said.

Soon the war drums sounded, and hundreds of thousands of Ming troops began to form formations.

On the carriage, Hong Chengchou raised the flag in his hand. Soon, the war drums thundered, and shield carriages equipped with red cannons were pushed to the front of the formation, and then began to calibrate.

At the same time, a large number of soldiers carrying sacks slowly approached the city wall under the cover of wooden chariots and shields.

Eight miles!

Six miles!

Five miles!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As soon as they approached the five-mile range, the Qi army on the city wall fired again, with dozens of loud noises, and more than fifty solid artillery shells hit the Ming army's formation with a harsh scream.

The shells plowed bloody paths through the crowd.

This time, the Ming army did not panic anymore, but continued to advance under the driving force of the generals.

Four and a half miles!

The sound of artillery sounded again. Because the distance was closer and more Ming troops entered the shelling range, the casualties caused by the artillery shells became greater this time.

Four miles!

The gunfire sounded again!

On the city tower, Commander-in-Chief Tang Xiangjin and Pan Pingping looked at the approaching giant shield car, and everyone frowned. With their strength, they could clearly see that what was surrounded by the shield car was the Hongyi cannon.

"Captain, this Ming army is too cunning, what should we do?"

Liu Liangsheng frowned and said, their biggest advantage is that they occupy height. The Hongyi cannon can easily hit the Ming army, but the opponent cannot hit them. Now the Ming army's Hongyi cannon can completely attack them under the cover of this strange-shaped shield vehicle.

Pushed to the bottom of the city, their artillery advantage would be gone, and under the cover of so many sandbags, it would be difficult for them to destroy the Ming army's Hongyi artillery.

"Put on sandbags to protect the Hongyi cannon."

Tang Xiangjin said in a deep voice: "We are protected by the city wall, and the advantage is still on our side."

At this time, the Ming army took advantage of the gap between shelling and advanced hundreds of steps. At this time, the Ming army was only three and a half miles away from the city wall. The next moment, the sound of artillery sounded again, and more than fifty solid artillery shells hit the crowd again.

.

Soon the Ming army entered an area of ​​three miles, and more than a hundred giant shield carts stopped. The Ming army carrying sandbags behind them piled up the sandbags in front of the shield carts, forming a sandbag city wall.

The Ming army gunners behind the shield car also aimed the muzzles of the Hongyi cannons, and then lit the matches.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With a series of loud noises, more than a hundred solid iron balls weighing 20 kilograms, under the action of gunpowder, turned into a small black dot with terrifying kinetic energy and quickly crossed the sky, and then flew towards the city wall.

Bang! Bang!

Some shells hit the wall, creating a big crater, and countless rubbles flew in all directions. Some shells fell directly into the city, smashing the houses, and some hit the city wall, smashing the bricks.

At this moment, the entire city wall seemed to be shaking, with countless rubbles splashing everywhere. Qi Jun who was hit by the rubbles was injured at least, or died at worst. For a while, wailing sounds could not be heard.

"fire!"

Seeing this scene, Tang Xiangjin gritted his teeth and ordered: "Aim at the Ming army's Hongyi cannon!"

Although they could also go out of the city to fight the Ming army, but now that they had the advantage of the city wall, if they went out of the city, they would be playing into the Ming army's plans.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Upon hearing Tang Xiangjin's order, the Qi army on the city wall fired again, with dozens of loud noises, and more than fifty solid artillery shells with ear-piercing screams hitting the Ming army's sandbag city wall.

Under the powerful power of the cannonballs, the sandbags were torn apart one by one, and a large amount of sand and gravel poured out. Some of the cannonballs landed behind the sandbag walls, killing dozens of Ming troops again.

After a while, the Ming army's Hongyi cannon was reloaded and fired again. More than a hundred shells hit the city wall.

At this time, the Qi army on the city wall also learned the lesson and lay down behind the city wall to avoid gravel and cannonballs.

In this way, both sides fell into a round of shelling.

…

Time passed little by little, and as the sun gradually set in the west, the Ming army withdrew from the battlefield, leaving only a sandbag wall hundreds of feet long.

………

Dezhou City, state government lobby.

"Captain, four of our Hongyi cannons have exploded."

Liu Liangsheng's expression was solemn. The number of shots a Hongyi cannon can fire is limited. Once the number of shots reaches the limit, the barrel will explode. In today's artillery battle with the Ming army, each Hongyi cannon fired at least nearly two hundred shots.

, only four doors were blown up, which is already very good.

"Collect the wreckage and let the craftsmen recast it."

Tang Xiangjin said in a deep voice: "What's the situation with the Ming army?"

"The specific situation is unknown, but when the Ming army fired the last time, nearly twenty Hongyi cannons did not fire, and I don't know if they exploded."

Liu Liangsheng shook his head. The Ming army's Hongyi cannons were all behind the shield car, and were protected by a large number of sandbags. They could not be destroyed at all. It was not known whether they had exploded or not.

"What are our casualties?"

After a pause, Tang Xiangjin asked again.

"Only more than 600 soldiers were injured or killed."

Liu Liangsheng replied: "But three to four hundred houses in the city were destroyed by Ming army's artillery shells."

Although the Ming army fired a lot of artillery, the soldiers hid behind the city wall and were protected by the city wall. Except for a few unlucky soldiers who were hit, most of them were fine.

…

On the other side, in the Ming army camp at this time, Hong Chengchou and Chen Qiyu's faces were as gloomy as ink.

The Hongyi cannon exploded!

A total of twenty-one Hongyi cannons exploded!

They only had more than 120 Hongyi cannons, and twenty-one of them exploded in just one day. How could they fight? In a few days, all their Hongyi cannons would be blown up.

"Fang Dushi, this Hongyi cannon was forged by your order, what do you have to say?"

Hong Chengchou looked at Fang Rong who was kneeling on the ground and said in a low voice.

"Back to the governor, the Hongyi cannons made by Xiaguan were all made from materials allocated by the imperial court, and Xiaguan did not cut any corners."

Fang Rong cupped his hands and replied, but his heart was full of disdain. If it didn't explode, there would be trouble. A Hongyi cannon weighs about three thousand kilograms, with an iron core and a copper body. According to regulations, copper and iron cannons

The ratio is half and half.

Although iron is cheaper, the iron-cast Hongyi cannon will have bubbles during casting and will easily explode. If it is wrapped with copper, the explosion may be much smaller. However, among the materials allocated by the court this time, there are only two copper cannons.

Otherwise, everything else is just iron, and the forged cannon will be useless if it doesn't explode.

Hong Chengchou and Chen Qiyu were both veteran officials in the officialdom. Although Fang Rong didn't say it explicitly, they could clearly hear the meaning behind his words.

The materials allocated by the imperial court were cut corners!

"You all go down."

Hong Chengchou waved his hand and said.

"Yes, Governor."

After hearing Hong Chengchou's words, everyone in the commander's tent bowed and then retreated.

Soon, only Hong Chengchou and Chen Qiyu were left in the entire commander's tent.

"Brother Chen, I'm afraid these Hongyi cannons won't be used for long."

Hong Chengchou sighed and said, "Do you want to report to the court?"

Without the Hongyi cannon, it would be difficult to attack the city, and if you attack by force, the losses will definitely be huge.

Hearing Hong Chengchou's words, Chen Qiyu fell into deep thought. The meaning of Hong Chengchou's words was very clear. The Hongyi cannon was gone and it would be difficult to attack the city. If success was not achieved for a long time, Zhu Youjian would definitely hold them accountable. It was better to take advantage of the opportunity.

When problems are discovered, the responsibility is passed to the household department who allocates materials for cannon casting.

"Brother Hong, if this happens, we will offend more people."

Chen Qiyu sighed, there would definitely be a lot of officials reaching out, and if they were to report it, they would definitely offend a large number of officials. If they had not made any achievements for a long time, there would definitely be many people who would add insult to injury.
To be continued...