"The battle of Wuzhou is the first battle of our Ming Dynasty when we enter Guangxi. We must win beautifully and win neatly!"
"Our army must not be thwarted by Wuzhou City!"
"Send the order, gather all the heavy artillery in the army, and level the city of Wuzhou for me, the general!"
Liu Shantai's tone was full of determination.
This is his first time leading an army alone, so there must be no accidents.
If the army was stagnant under Wuzhou City for a long time and the relevant strategies for the Guangxi Battle were delayed, he would have no way to explain it to Zhu Hongyu.
The Ming army began to advance towards Wuzhou City. The sentry cavalry covered the battlefield and drove the Qing army's sentry cavalry scattered outside the city into the city.
The horses galloped, muskets and arrows flew, and the saber became the most effective weapon for killing people!
The Qing army's living space was continuously squeezed and they retreated to their fortifications.
The Ming army brought field artillery and siege heavy artillery to the battlefield, and professional engineers began to lead a large number of civilians to prepare artillery positions and corresponding fortifications.
The Qing army also had artillery!
If the Ming army's artillery did not prepare fortifications in advance and then bombarded the Qing army's artillery which was protected by fortifications, they would suffer a big loss.
Although the Ming army's artillery strength far exceeded that of the Qing army!
But that’s not how it works!
…
In Wuzhou City!
Fan Zhian, the prefect of Wuzhou in the Qing Dynasty, and Qi Yuanqiang, the commander-in-chief of Wuzhou Town, stood at the top of the city, looking at the main force of the Ming army coming from the east.
Both of them looked very ugly!
"The Ming thief is coming with great force!"
"I'm afraid Wuzhou won't be able to resist!"
Fan Zhian's thoughts are very pessimistic.
Qi Yuanqiang said.
"Don't worry!"
"As long as we can hold on for a while, reinforcements will definitely arrive from the rear. The general has already asked King Pingxi for help."
At present, in the entire south of the Yangtze River, Wu Sangui is the only one who has the ability to compete with Zhu Hongyu.
Even Geng Jingzhong is far behind in terms of strength!
Therefore, after Qi Yuanqiang received the news of the Ming army's invasion, he sent someone to ask Wu Sangui for help.
However, Qi Yuanqiang was really unsure whether Wu Sangui would send troops to rescue him.
Wu Sangui's recent trend of swinging and jumping is really obvious!
Now, no one can guarantee King Pingxi’s loyalty to the Qing Dynasty!
But now that the Ming army is approaching the border, they have no other choice but to trust Wu Sangui.
"Command the army to prepare to face the Ming thief!"
"Mobilize the people in the city and prepare to climb the city..."
Originally, he wanted the people in the city to be cannon fodder to resist the Ming army's attack on the city.
Of course, this mobilization must be done with knives!
But halfway through the words, he stopped!
The reason is simple, because he is not sure whether his order can be executed after it is issued.
Zhu Hongyu's threat was still in his ears, and the Qing troops in Wuzhou City were afraid and did not want to cut off their own retreat.
If they didn't drive the people in front of the battle, they would still have a chance to surrender after defeat.
You can still survive if you surrender
But if you do something like driving the people in front of the battle...
The Ming army meant what they said, and they would kill if they were told to, without hesitation.
This thing is really deadly!
There are not many Qing troops today who dare to do something like driving the people in front of the battle line!
Qi Yuanqiang is naturally the same
"Call the entire army to the city to prepare for war!"
"The gunner is ready to fight the enemy's artillery!"
Qi Yuanqiang could only prepare the green battalions of the Qing army to fight.
…
On the second day, the artillery position of the Ming army was finally prepared after a large number of civilians dug it overnight.
Field artillery and siege artillery were pushed into emplacements one after another.
The gunners began to get into position, adjusting their firing points, and were ready to bombard at any time.
The Liberation Army and the Guiyi Army lined up behind the artillery positions, preparing to launch an siege after their own artillery suppressed the firepower at the top of the city.
Shield carts and ladders were constantly being driven out!
The clouds of war are getting thicker and thicker!
"Fire!"
The military order flag in the Ming army changed and the order to fire was conveyed.
boom!
Boom boom!
Boom boom boom!
The deafening sound of artillery shelling gathered together, and the smoke emitted from the muzzles covered the entire Ming army's artillery position in just the blink of an eye.
Cannonballs, large and small, were fired towards Wuzhou City.
The cannonball hit the city wall, the masonry cracked, and the cladding fell off bit by bit.
The destructive effect of the solid shells fired by the siege heavy artillery on the city wall is visible to the naked eye!
The shells from the heavy artillery hit the city wall, and the entire city wall trembled.
Li Tianguang and others stayed behind the formation, staring dumbfounded at the sound of the Ming army's artillery firing on the battlefield.
It's like the power of God, it's really like the power of God!
Only now did they understand why the entire Ming army was confident in the victory of this battle.
With such a powerful artillery group suppressing the formation, it would be difficult to lose!
Boom! Boom!
Some artillery began to use explosive bullets. The sharp-pointed explosive bullets were embedded in the city walls. After the fuse burned out, they exploded.
The fire wrapped around the fragments and swept around!
Bricks, rocks, sand, mixed with fragments flew, taking away lives one after another.
The Qing army was so suppressed by the Ming army's artillery fire that the defenders were forced to withdraw as soon as they boarded the city.
Hide in the recurved corner behind the city wall to avoid the cannon!
Because I really can’t withstand the bombardment!
The fortifications at the top of the city were no different from paper in front of the heavy artillery of the Ming army.
The artillery deployed by the Qing army at the top of the city also began to fight back!
As the smoke filled the air, artillery shells fell towards the Ming army's artillery array.
The Qing army's artillery array at the top of the city was carefully laid out. It not only had thick crossbars as the base, but was covered with loess masonry and added a cover for the artillery array.
The artillery array was surrounded by sandbags!
Whether it is against solid artillery shells or explosive shells, it has a good protective effect.
It can only be said that the Qing Dynasty is indeed not complacent in terms of military affairs.
For example, in terms of artillery formations, the Qing Dynasty learned its lesson after suffering several losses at the hands of the Ming army.
Appropriate changes have been made to the layout of the artillery array!
It’s no longer the original open-air artillery array!
However, although the artillery array has changed, the artillery is still the same.
There are no red cannons in Wuzhou City as city defense artillery. The range of those small cannons such as general cannons and Folang machine guns is quite limited.
When the cannonball flies several hundred meters, its kinetic energy will be exhausted and it will fall to the ground.
Due to the rifling of the Ming army's artillery, even the six-pound Guangfu-1 field gun had a range of almost one thousand meters.
Therefore, the Ming army's artillery array was deployed outside the range of Wuzhou city defense artillery.
Don't look at the lively artillery fire when the Qing army counterattacked.
But there weren’t many shells that could hit the Ming army’s artillery array!
The fight is so lively right now, the most you can do is hear the noise!
Artillery shells flew across the battlefield, making a whining sound.
The artillery battle between the two sides lasted for half a day, and the Qing army's city defense artillery was completely suppressed.
The Ming army's troops ascending the city began to attack Wuzhou City under the cover of their own artillery!
Amid the earth-shattering shouts of killing, the Ming army launched an attack!
The ladder was set up on the city wall of Wuzhou, and the Guiyi army began to climb the city.