Chapter 301 The King of Qin beats the drum, the general attack begins
4333 (the ninth year of Chongzhen), May 18th.
Yesterday, the navy's transport fleet transported a large number of heavy artillery shells and other military supplies.
It was transferred through Tongzhou and transported to the Qin Army camp.
Su He arranged for Chief of Staff Wang Shiyuan to distribute these military supplies.
Now the Qin Army's ammunition reserves are very sufficient, and the Qin Army has completed various preparations for the siege.
After Su He had breakfast, he inspected the Qin army's camp.
He walked around the capital and learned about the situation of various armies. It was noon.
The generals of the four armies all made vague suggestions that they were ready and wanted to attack the city as soon as possible.
Su He smiled and promised them that the army would launch a general attack on the capital soon.
Waiting for the drums of the Chinese army to sound, then each army will launch an attack according to the established plan.
Su He returned to the Chinese army camp and saw that the gates of the capital were still closed.
He told Wang Shiyuan: "The Ming court did not agree to the peace terms I proposed.
Emperor Chongzhen has not left the city to discuss peace with us."
"Your Majesty, your conditions are too harsh and Emperor Chongzhen will not agree to them.
Even if he wanted to agree, the civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty would not agree to this condition.
Emperor Chongzhen never wants to be recorded in history books, he is even more stupid than Song Qinzong."
Su He looked at the tall walls of the capital and said, "If Emperor Chongzhen doesn't come out, that means Ming Dynasty doesn't want to surrender.
Negotiating peace is just an excuse to surrender.
I am not stupid enough to negotiate a peace with the Ming Dynasty and withdraw my troops when my morale is high enough to capture the capital.
Our army is fully prepared, and I will personally beat the drums to encourage the soldiers to capture the capital of the Ming Dynasty."
After Su He finished speaking, he walked towards the huge war drum set up in front of the Chinese army.
He personally picked up the drumsticks of the war drum and beat the army's war drum vigorously.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sound of huge war drums resounded throughout the camp.
The army marched on hearing the drum, which was the signal for the Qin army to launch a general offensive.
The sound of huge war drums continued to spread from the central army tent to all directions.
There are war drummers in each army. When they hear the sound of war drums, they will beat the war drums of their own army.
The sound of war drums continued one after another, and the entire capital was soon surrounded by the sound of huge war drums.
Su Hu's Third Army was the closest to the war drums, and he heard the sound of the war drums immediately.
Su Hu, who was having lunch, immediately threw down his bowls and chopsticks and ran towards the artillery camp.
"Fire the artillery, the artillery regiment will fire immediately for me."
The artillery regiment heard the sound of war drums ringing in their ears and received orders from the commander.
The heavy artillery of the artillery regiment had already been aimed at the city walls of the capital, and now it finally received the order to fire.
The artillerymen were so excited that they pulled down the gun ropes of the heavy guns.
The cannon ejected from the barrel, screaming, and flew towards the city wall of the capital.
The shells from the heavy artillery shot directly into the city wall.
A huge roar sounded, and the blasted earth and rocks flew into the city wall, directly blasting a hole.
However, the city wall of the capital is high and thick, and the hole made by the cannonball will have little impact on the wall of the capital.
The Praetorian Guards and the Seventh Army heard the beating of drums almost at the same time.
Qi Gangyi, commander of the Imperial Guard, immediately ordered the artillery regiment to fire.
The Royal Guards are usually not engaged in war, they are usually training.
The artillery technical level of the Guards Artillery Regiment is generally higher than that of other armies.
During this time, they exchanged experiences with the Navy and learned about the Navy's latest research on cannon deflection.
The trajectory of the artillery shells fired by the Guards Artillery Regiment is no longer a straight line.
The trajectory of the cannonball presents a curved curve.
The impact point of the cannonball was directly on the west wall of the capital.
The Guards Artillery Regiment was a little unskilled at first, and could only let 40% of the artillery shells fall on the city wall.
But this also caused great damage to the Ming army on the west city wall.
After the shell exploded, the surrounding Ming troops were either killed or injured, but this did not scare the Ming troops.
On the city wall, a steady stream of Ming troops and young men guarding the city rushed over to support them.
Inside the seventh army camp.
Li Dazhuang was anxiously waiting for King Qin Suhe to issue an order.
He felt that his patience was almost exhausted.
King Su He of Qin was so patient that he could still wait until he had besieged the city for so many days.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
What is this sound?
Li Dazhuang didn't react at first, until he heard the war drums of the Seventh Army were being beaten.
Only then did he realize that the sound was the sound of war drums coming from the Chinese army.
King Su He of Qin has issued an order for a general attack.
"Master Pan Zhu, please notify the artillery regiment immediately and ask them to attack the city with artillery.
I'll go to the Second Division to check on the situation."
Li Dazhuang came to the Second Division and saw the division commander Zhuang Renyi organizing soldiers and preparing to run to the moat.
A squad of soldiers dragged a somewhat thick water pipe together.
Li Dazhuang walked to Zhuang Renyi and said: "The number of our troops is smaller, and the third army is still defending the city in Jizhou.
Our Seventh Army has a small number of soldiers, but we must not lose the reputation of the Seventh Army. This siege battle must be fought beautifully.
The task of draining the moat is a task that I desperately strive for."
Li Dazhuang said this just to encourage Zhuang Renyi.
The task of draining the moat must be left to Li Dazhuang's Seventh Army.
They are on the east side of the capital, on the lower reaches of the river.
The location of the Seventh Army is the most suitable location to drain the moat.
Zhuang Renyi said excitedly: "Commander, please rest assured that the soldiers of our second division will definitely complete the mission successfully."
While the two of them were talking, the soldiers of the Seventh Army immediately ran towards the moat after the artillery regiment fired.
The Ming army on the wall of the capital saw the Qin army firing.
The Hongyi cannon on top of their city also began to fire one after another.
The Hongyi cannon on top of the capital city is of better quality and has a slightly farther range than the ordinary Hongyi cannon of the Ming army.
But they still couldn't reach the artillery regiment's position.
They couldn't even reach the Qin army's camp.
They can only attack the Qin army near the moat.
The generals of the Ming army had a simple concept of defense and believed that if the enemy was close to the moat, nothing good would happen.
The soldiers of the Seventh Army braved a huge rain of bullets and paid hundreds of casualties before putting the water pipes in their hands into the bottom of the moat.
After these people placed the water pipes, they immediately withdrew.
Liu Guangshou saw that the Qin soldiers had paid a huge price, and they had already placed the water pipes in the moat.
He must operate the steam pump and drain the water from the capital's moat.
Starting the steam engine is very simple. Liu Guangshou often maintains the steam engine. Now there are only two steam engines with some problems.
On the moat of the east city wall, there is a steam engine pumping water every 100 meters.
The water from the capital moat flows directly along the water distribution pipes and is discharged to the lower reaches of the river.
The water level of the moat is decreasing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The moat of the capital draws water from the river, and all moats are connected.
The water level of the moat here in Dongcheng has dropped, which means that the water levels of all moats have dropped.
Seeing this situation, Zhuang Renyi said with surprise: "The water level of the moat has dropped significantly.
Without the interference of these rivers, we could fill some sandbags and rush directly to the capital city."
Li Dazhuang shook his head and said: "It's not possible now. Look at the current firepower in the capital. The artillery fire is too dense.
The Ming army's Hongyi cannons on the city wall are also distributed reasonably.
Some are equipped with solid ammunition, mainly attacking enemies in the distance.
Some are equipped with shotguns to attack enemies close to the city wall.
Now the firepower of the Ming army's city wall is too dense, and the soldiers cannot rush through it.
When we rushed to the moat, we all suffered such heavy casualties. When we rushed under the city wall, the casualties we paid were even heavier.
If you forcefully rush to the bottom of the city wall, it will be in vain to let the soldiers die.
The walls of the capital city are too high to be climbed up by ordinary ladders.
Using shotguns and defensive equipment, we built a ladder of sufficient length.
Attacking the city under the artillery fire of the Ming army, the chance of storming the city wall was too slim.
Do it all at once, second time tired, third time exhausted.
Multiple failed attacks will affect the morale of our army.
Our only choice now is to use firearms to continuously blow up the city wall and consume the Ming army on the wall.
The time is right, let’s concentrate all the strength of our army and break the walls of the capital.”
Zhuang Renyi nodded, understanding the commander's choice.
He saw that the water in the moat was almost half drained.
"Commander, we have to thank other friendly forces for blocking the source of the capital's moat.
Otherwise, if the river water continues to flow into the moat, the water level of the moat will not drop so significantly.
Blocking the river upstream will cause the dam to break and affect our army's attack on the city."
Li Dazhuang simply explained: "This situation will not happen. Our army has about 200,000 people near the capital.
Counting the garrison and logistics troops, the number would be even more exaggerated.
A large amount of water is consumed every day. Normal use of river water is not enough, and wells need to be dug.
It will not cause the river water to rise abnormally and eventually cause floods."
When Zhuang Renyi heard this, he slapped his head.
With so many people and war horses, a very large amount of water is consumed every day, and there will be no significant rise in the river water.
The Ming army at the head of the east city of the capital discovered that the Qin army used special means to drain the water from the moat.
The Hongyi cannon on the top of the city was aimed at the water pipes all over the moat.
The accuracy of the Hongyi cannon is not enough, but the area covered by the Hongyi cannon is very large.
From time to time, water pipes were interrupted by cannonballs, slowing down the speed of the steam pumps.
Zhuang Renyi wanted to send troops and continue to put water pipes in the moat.
Li Dazhuang stopped him and said: "The artillery fire at the top of the capital city is very intensive. Don't add any more casualties. We have enough water pipes left to drain the moat.
Don’t worry, the brutal battle is still to come.”
The Seventh Army is pumping water from the moat here, and the Fourth Army has also begun to take action.
Wu Jie, commander of the Fourth Army, heard the sound of war drums coming from the east and west cities.
He immediately ordered the artillery regiment to attack.
Wu Jie called the three division commanders to his side and ordered: "The artillery regiment will attack for a while first. When the Ming army on the city head decreases or the frequency of artillery attacks decreases, we will then attack the city."
Wu Jie discovered that the Ming army in the capital was also very smart.
They were still firing artillery to counterattack at first, but later found that their Hongyi artillery could not hit the Qin army's camp.
The Ming army no longer fired artillery, but when they saw the Qin army approaching the city wall, the sound of artillery on the top of the city would sound again.
The Qin army's heavy artillery continued to attack the Ming army on the top of the city, and the Ming army passively endured the bombardment.
Wu Jie believed that as long as this continued for a period of time, the morale of the Ming army would collapse.
Even if the morale of the Ming army did not collapse, the continuous bombardment would destroy a large number of Hongyi artillery and the Ming army's artillery.
Artillery is a technical arm, and it cannot be trained in a short time.
When most of the Ming army's artillery suffered casualties, even the Ming army stored a large number of Hongyi cannons.
These Hongyi cannons have also become inaccurate, and their threat has dropped sharply.
Wu Jie was waiting for the moment when the Ming army showed its weakness, and their fourth army gave the Ming army a killing blow.
The heavy artillery of the Fourth Army continued to attack the city, and the 120 artillery pieces were not idle either.
The Fourth Army spent a lot of trenches in the forward position, and placed 120 artillery pieces with a slightly shorter range in them.
The artillery in these trenches mainly kills the enemies on the top of the city. From time to time, the artillery shells will fly over the city wall and land in the capital.
…………………………
Emperor Chongzhen went to the Imperial College to appease the scholars in the Imperial College.
Amidst the shouts of long live the emperor, he felt that he was still the emperor who controlled the world.
Drums sounded outside Yongding Gate, followed by the roar of cannons.
Emperor Chongzhen was a little frightened, and immediately called Wang Dehua, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, who was responsible for the defense of Beicheng.
He also ordered the Jinyi guards around him to learn about the situation of other city walls.
Wang Dehua trotted over and waited quietly for Emperor Chongzhen's orders.
"Wang Banban, are the thieves in yellow attacking us?"
Wang Dehua immediately reported: "Your Majesty, the thieves in yellow outside Beicheng have begun to attack the capital with cannons.
The moat didn't know what means the thieves in yellow used to drain away all the water in the moat.
The thieves in yellow have not yet attacked the city on a large scale, and I am confident enough to stop the thieves in yellow from attacking the city."
While Wang Dehua was reporting, Emperor Chongzhen heard the explosion of artillery shells coming from nearby.
Suddenly, several cannonballs crossed the city wall and landed in the Imperial Academy.
The huge explosion directly destroyed the houses of the Imperial College, the wooden buildings were ignited, and the fire began to burn.
Some of the shells fell directly into the crowd of scholars. After the shells exploded, limbs and arms were scattered all over the ground.
When the scholars of the Imperial College saw this situation, they immediately ran away in panic.
When Emperor Chongzhen saw this scene, he turned pale with fright and was speechless.
Wang Chengen reacted the fastest and immediately issued an order: "It's too dangerous here. Take the Emperor and evacuate quickly."
The guards around Emperor Chongzhen carried Emperor Chongzhen on their backs and kept running away towards the Forbidden City.
Emperor Chongzhen stayed away from the Imperial Academy, and his pale face recovered. It was the first time he was so close to death.
Soon, Jin Yiwei from various places also reported the situation to Emperor Chongzhen.
All four walls of the capital were attacked by thieves in yellow.
Emperor Chongzhen had always been worried, fearing that the thieves in yellow could directly break into the capital.
In the evening, the attack intensity of the thieves in yellow weakened, and the walls around the capital were as stable as Mount Tai.
Emperor Chongzhen was relieved that the defense system that the Ming Dynasty capital had worked so hard to establish could effectively block the attack of the thieves in yellow.
Immediately send eunuchs to the major city walls to distribute reward money to the Ming army defending the city, so that the Ming army must guard the city wall.