Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhang Ximeng carefully observed Hongdu City together. After seeing it, Zhang Ximeng also understood to some extent why this city could create miracles and even determine the fate of Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang.
As a prosperous city near the Ganjiang River, Hongdu used a lot of bluestone bricks and tiles to build the city, making the structure extremely strong.
Although there are eight city gates, it seems that there are many attack points. To defend, you must divide your troops, making it more difficult. But each city gate is quite stable. Needless to say, there must be an urn inside.
Coupled with the abundant water in the river, the moat of Hongdu is thirty feet long!
This is a somewhat despairing width. When Zhu Yuanzhang conquered the city, even Jinling did not have a moat as wide as Hongdu.
Moreover, those responsible for garrisoning Hongdu are Tianwan's ever-victorious elite soldiers.
Frankly speaking, if Chen Youliang is in charge, Zhu Jiajun really has no guarantee of victory. Even if Chen Youliang leaves, it will not be easy to win Hongdu...
"Mr. Zhang, can our return artillery hit the Hongdu city wall?"
"No problem." Zhang Ximeng replied simply. The battle of Xiangyang was the one where the Huihui artillery shined. At that time, the moat of Xiangyang was a hundred feet long, and the Huihui artillery fired a projectile of 150 kilograms. When it fell to the ground, it could sink seven meters into the ground.
The power of the ruler is evident!
Moreover, today's returning artillery has undergone hundreds of years of development, and Jialu has also undergone many reforms, making it more powerful in terms of power and range.
In fact, it was precisely out of recognition of the power of the artillery that Zhang Ximeng did not rush to tinker with the artillery.
This does not mean that there will be no development. In fact, Zhang Ximeng has been asking craftsmen to study firearms, but any new invention requires a process of continuous improvement and maturity.
This is especially true for artillery.
Take the materials of artillery as an example. The effect of casting cannons in early bronze is definitely better, but bronze is too expensive. Copper is also currency, with veritable currency capabilities. It is a perfect example of burning money in war.
Does Zhu Jiajun really have no copper at all?
Of course not. In fact, Tongling is an important copper-producing town, and it is also named copper.
But it requires craftsmen, resources, and time...and don't forget, Tongling is next to the Yangtze River, and Tianwan's navy is much more powerful than Zhu's army.
If we cannot solve the security problem, we will mine copper on a large scale. What if we are attacked?
Therefore, the normal order of a country's development is to always solve the security problem first. Only when you have a dog-beating stick can you consider eating better and wearing better clothes.
If the order is reversed, the wealth in your hand may very well be someone else's prey.
At the end of the day, Chen Bing's troops in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River were so aggressive that they were really a serious concern and the threat was too great.
At the moment, Zhu Jiajun is not able to shine with firearms, but fortunately there is a master of weapons like Jia Lu, who can shake the fortified city in front of him with sharp weapons.
When Hu Tingrui was inspecting the city defense, he discovered that after Zhu Jiajun built a wall outside the city, he actually dug trenches and advanced towards the city wall.
"They want to dig a tunnel into the city. They are really wishful thinking!"
Hu Tingrui told the people around him: "I have checked it a long time ago. The Hongdu moat is so wide that water will seep out even after digging less than three feet. If they try to dig a tunnel, it will definitely collapse. They are wasting their efforts and bringing shame on themselves!"
"
Hu Tingrui was full of confidence, but he remained calm and ordered his subordinates to prepare for the attack.
After a few days, Hu Tingrui realized that something might be wrong.
The Zhu Jiajun did not dig tunnels, but piled up mounds of earth.
Are they planning to raise mountains and attack the city?
"Pass my order to pull out the Huihui artillery we captured in Xiangyang. I want Zhu Yuanzhang to know how powerful we are!"
Almost all Tianwan soldiers and generals were as confident as Hu Tingrui.
After all, in the past two years, they have conquered everything, won every battle, and are invincible in the world!
Come on, bring your horses over!
On the twentieth day after the Zhu Jiajun locked up the city, in the southeast corner of Hongdu, a total of eighty trebuchets with a height of three feet were placed on pre-stacked bases extending in two directions.
The majestic machinery carries a full sense of power, like two rows of ferocious beasts, glaring at it.
Zhu Yuanzhang, covered in armor, appeared on the mound. Zhang Ximeng, who was also wearing a rare sword, stood next to Zhu Yuanzhang.
On the other side of Lao Zhu, there were Zhu Wenzheng and Li Wenzhong. Interestingly, other generals did not like these cumbersome things. Li Wenzhong was put into the artillery team and became a thousand households.
Zhu Wenzheng was also forcibly transferred and became the commander.
In fact, Zhu Wenzheng's tragedy was also related to Zhu Yuanzhang. It was all because he lost his calculations and praised Zhu Wenzheng too highly. He actually made him the governor-general, controlling all the Chinese and foreign military forces.
After getting to this point, it would be strange if nothing happens.
In the army, Zhang Ximeng always seemed to suppress Zhu Wenzheng, so young people should not be too arrogant.
If you really feel that your official position is small, I will get you a cosmic general who will oversee all the military forces in Liuhe and go to Liuhe County to garrison and serve as a barrier for Jinling.
Don't disrupt the military's personnel arrangements and promotion sequence.
Lao Zhu also understood Zhang Ximeng's intention, and Zhu Biao was also born, so he was not so eager to support Zhu Wenzheng. But no matter what, as his nephew, Lao Zhu's preference for Zhu Wenzheng could not be concealed.
"Wen Zheng, we know that you want to control the cavalry and complain privately. It was Mr. Zhang who brought you here... Don't be ignorant of good people. Today you can appreciate Mr. Zhang's painstaking efforts."
Zhu Wenzheng's face was slightly red. He was not only ashamed, but also scared. He quickly said: "Uncle, that's nonsense from my nephew in the first few days. I have been training gunners these days. I have long known about Prime Minister Zhang's good intentions. I just I plan to show off my skills today and let them know how powerful Zhu Jiajun is!"
Zhu Wenzheng said, and then said: "Uncle, you and Mr. Zhang can go down now. Just leave this place to your nephew."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled slightly, "Why? Is there still danger?"
Zhu Wenzheng said: "There are no eyesight on the battlefield. Although most of the city's artillery can't hit here, we must be just in case. Uncle, you'd better go down with Mr. Zhang and wait for the good news!"
Zhu Yuanzhang ignored him, but turned around and said, "Mr. Zhang, what do you think?"
Zhang Ximeng smiled and said, "How else can I watch it? Of course I watched it here! I am still aware of the Yuan army's counterattack..."
Before Zhang Ximeng could finish speaking, there was a sudden sound of breaking through the air. Everyone looked up hurriedly and saw a stone pellet crossing the moat and flying towards Zhang Ximeng.
They were still more than ten feet away from Zhang Ximeng and the others, and when they hit the ground, they could almost see Ishimaru.
The legend about seven feet into the ground is not false!
Frankly speaking, the moment he flew over, Zhang Ximeng's heart was in suspense and his hands and feet were stiff.
You are so brave, you dare to "throw and suck", you don't have martial ethics, you just do it on your own!
"What are you still doing?"
Zhu Yuanzhang shouted angrily, "Hit us hard!"
Zhu Wenzheng trembled all over and stared at Hongdu in the distance with all his concentration. He chatted with Chun Lei and roared, "Launch!"
The soldier swung his knife vigorously and cut off the rope. The counterweight stone fell rapidly. A solid projectile weighing one hundred and eighty kilograms flew into the air and hit the opposite city wall with a sound that was several times more violent than before.
One trebuchet was like this, and all the others were like this. The overwhelming projectiles flew over the wide moat with anger and hit the city wall heavily.
There was a loud bang, the masonry exploded, and dust flew into the sky.
The soldiers who were still standing at the top of the city felt that the ground was shaking, and a powerful force made them unsteady and almost fell down.
Hu Tingrui, who personally supervised the battle, was even surprised to find a huge stone pellet crossing the city wall and hitting several soldiers with an unparalleled momentum.
One of them was hit in the middle and lost his upper body. Several others fell to the ground one after another. Some were killed and some were injured. The splattered blood fell on Hu Tingrui's pale face.
He stretched out his hand, wiped it slowly, opened it in front of his eyes, and told him one thing with warm blood. It was just a little bit worse. The trebuchet outside the city could hit his head.
!
How could it be?
It's completely unreasonable. How come Zhu Jiajun's return artillery is better than theirs?
Hu Tingrui's scalp was numb. Although he couldn't figure it out, it didn't stop him from striding back and hiding in a safe place.
The other soldiers ran away in confusion as if they had seen a ghost.
Judging from the actual results, the trebuchet salvo was not too big. Less than half of the projectiles landed on the city wall, and less than half cracked the masonry. The rest were just dust.
As for the soldiers who were smashed to death, there were only a dozen.
But this was terrifying enough. The Tianwan soldiers in Hongdu realized for the first time that their opponents had invincible power, and maybe they would lose!
One blow knocked out most of the enemy's courage, and Zhu Wenzheng was elated!
He yelled even more crazily, "Quick, reload, hit me hard!"
Zhu Jiajun frantically raised the counterweight stone, fixed it with ropes, and then loaded the projectiles in preparation for the second round of shooting.
At this moment, Tianwan's soldiers rushed up to the city wall and risked their lives to transport their recuperative cannon. It must be said that the bravery of this group of people was impressive.
Anything and anyone left at the top of the city at this moment will become the spoils of Zhu Jiajun!
Before they could completely withdraw the Huihui artillery, another round of fire came. Tianwan's soldiers were so frightened that their parents screamed and ran away, leaving several broken corpses behind again.
From this moment on, the Zhu Jiajun began to steadily output and continuously bombarded the Hongdu city wall.
I don’t know who built this Hongdu City. It is absolutely impregnable. Facing the crazy bombardment by the Zhu Jiajun, it still stood firm for five consecutive days.
It's just that some city wall bricks have fallen off in pieces, and there are some cracks in some places that are hard to detect.
This is a sign that the city wall cannot hold up. As long as we keep fighting, it will eventually break open.
The soldiers in the city were trembling with fear, as if they were facing a powerful enemy every moment.
Today's situation was a bit special. Near noon, Zhu Jiajun actually stopped shooting half an hour in advance.
Just when they couldn't figure out what was going on, a vague aroma drifted into the city with the wind. On the Zhu Jiajun's artillery position, a dozen huge iron pots suddenly appeared.
It was full of braised pork. Zhu Wenzheng shouted excitedly, "Eat! Eat hard! There is plenty of braised pork! Come back and beat me hard when you are full!"