While the fighting was happening outside the city, the fighting in Wuchang City was also going on. He Renlong's cavalry came out from the horse racing field and rushed directly to the Chuangzi Camp under the city wall. The Chuangzi Camp was an infantry unit composed of rogue thieves.
There was a gap between them and He Renlong's cavalry, and they fought each other countless times. The enemies were extremely jealous when they saw each other, and the two sides fought together, not even noticing the burst of firecrackers outside the city.
Many soldiers in the Chuangzi camp were shot to death by random arrows in their tents before they even got up. Their battalion officer was named Li Guo, the son of Li Zicheng, a great thief in his early years. He was quite good at leading troops. He quickly organized soldiers to climb into the city to resist.
He fought back with crossbows from a high position. The cavalry did not have the advantage in the street fighting in the city, and the two sides became stalemate. However, He Renlong had the assistance of Nanchang fanzi. Zhong Shouyong found a few people to use large slingshots to shoot the ignited gunpowder into the Chuangzi camp.
, the power of the gun was so powerful that the air waves blew the soldiers' limbs flying, and the crossbows also fell apart. The cavalry followed the horse road to attack the city. Li Guo had no choice but to lead the remaining soldiers back to the city and escape.
After Li Guo left the city, he went straight to the Wuchang Shipyard. It was not only a shipyard, but also a fortress and naval camp. Zuo Liangyu's son Zuo Menggeng was in charge there. If He Renlong rebelled, Marshal Zuo's son would never rebel.
A group of half-clothed remnant soldiers ran wildly and met Liu Ziguang's death camp.
As soon as the two sides met, Li Guo was stunned. What kind of army is this? Why are the costumes and weapons so strange? He can't care about that much now. As long as he kills everyone who blocks the road, no matter what the remnants of the Chuangzi camp are.
With more than 2,000 people, there should be no problem in overcoming this small force of several hundred people.
The response of the death battalion was extremely fast. When they saw the organized troops coming out of the city, they immediately formed their formations and fired in formation under the command of the officers. After a burst of white smoke, the soldier from the Chuangzi battalion who was rushing to the front fell down.
There was no arrow on his chest, only a wound as big as a small wine cup. Li Guo was shocked, but he could no longer retreat. He Renlong's cavalry had already chased him out. There were wolves in front of him and tigers in the back, so he could only run away.
Fortunately, there were few soldiers in the death camp and could not block the path of these defeated soldiers. In addition, the limited ammunition did not prevent them from escaping.
As expected, He Renlong's cavalry followed closely and were shocked when they saw the death camp. Although the death camp was equipped with advanced firearms, they could not get any advantage when encountering the cavalry with an absolute advantage in the wilderness. Liu Ziguang's heart
Surprised, he ordered to shoot urgently. The He Jun cavalry over there shot a shot of arrows first without hesitation. The two armies were far apart. After all, the bullets were more powerful and knocked down dozens of cavalrymen. The cavalrymen were
Most of the arrows they fired were shot into the soil, and even those that flew far away were blocked by the shields.
Seeing that they encountered a strong enemy, the cavalry stopped chasing the Chuangzi camp and divided into two wings to outflank the death battalion. The death battalion also quickly changed its formation and pulled the artillery and machine guns in front of the formation. The soldiers were arranged in the shape of wild goose wings, with flat-ended guns ready to fire.
A fire was about to break out, and suddenly there was a sound of gold ringing from the top of the city. It turned out that He Renlong had seen the flag of the death camp and the emperor's talisman through the telescope, and recognized that it was the imperial army.
He never expected that the imperial army would arrive so quickly and with such bravery. He Renlong was pleasantly surprised and went out of the city to meet the imperial envoy. Only then did Liu Ziguang know that a mutiny had occurred in the city. He immediately praised He Renlong and then asked him about his left side.
Liangyu still has many remaining soldiers to deal with.
He Renlong said: "The left bandit left the city early in the morning and was nowhere to be found. He must have gone to Hanyang City. Our army must capture the Wuchang Shipyard, otherwise it will cause endless trouble."
Liu Ziguang smiled, ordered someone to take Zuo Liangyu's head from the carriage, and said: "Zuo Liangyu has been killed. His remaining troops will surrender when they see the head. Let General He take the credit for occupying the shipyard."
When He Renlong saw Zuo Liangyu's head, he immediately became convinced. What he was afraid of was that Zuo Liangyu would control the troops. This old guy had super strong military skills. Back then, He Renlong was defeated by him many times before surrendering. Now Zuo Liangyu surrendered.
Liangyu was dead, so he had no worries. Moreover, he had just switched sides and needed a great achievement to establish his position. Of course, he was willing to lead troops to attack the shipyard. So He Renlong led the cavalry to attack the shipyard, while Liu Ziguang held the battle behind.
.
Zuo Menggeng is twenty years old this year and is the eldest son of Zuo Liangyu. He is still in charge of the Zuo Army's navy at a young age. The navy has hundreds of warships, most of which are stationed at the docks of the shipyard.
This is the elite force of the Left Army. The fire crossbows and heavy steam crossbows carried on the ship are very lethal. The shipyard stores a large amount of coal, iron and grain, making it an important base for the Left Army.
It was not peaceful early in the morning. First there was a strange noise in the distance from the train station, and then there were thousands of people in the city. The defeated soldiers rushed outside the factory. When they heard that He Renlong had rebelled, Zuo Mengeng hurriedly put on his clothes.
Zuo Jia came out to take a look. The shipyard was also a small city with city walls, crenels and watchtowers. Zuo Mengeng went up to take a look and saw that the person leading the team below was his good friend Li Guo. He looked very miserable and his armor was crooked.
He was lying, so he quickly opened the door and let these people in. Soon after, He Renlong's cavalry arrived. The top of the flagpole in the leader's hand held a bloody head, and it turned out to be Zuo Liangyu.
When Zuo Mengeng saw his father's head with his eyes open, he screamed, vomited blood and fell to the ground unconscious. He rushed forward to rescue him, pinched him and poured cold water on him. After struggling for a while, Zuo Mengeng woke up and immediately gritted his teeth.
Orders were given to bring up the heavy weapons from the factory and blast the traitor He Renlong.
Although the city of the shipyard is small, it can be powerful when used. Arrows that are as long as a person and as thick as an arm are shot outwards for free. Ordinary arrows are like rain, and they are not fired manually, but
Launched by ship-borne heavy weapons, He Renlong's cavalry immediately suffered numerous casualties. Even He Renlong himself was hit by an arrow, and his horse was shot through. If it weren't for the desperate cover of his own soldiers, he would have followed Zuo Liangyu today.
.
The cavalry were defeated immediately. Zuo Menggeng personally led his troops to fight out, snatched Zuo Liangyu's head, and quickly retreated into the city. Although Zuo Menggeng was furious, he did not get carried away. He knew the strength of his troops.
The army is limited, and there is no advantage in fighting the cavalry in the wild. At present, the only way is to gather the troops from Hanyang and Hankou to extinguish the rebellion. But my father is dead, how can I clean up such a big mess by myself, and what about those uncles and uncles who have experienced hundreds of battles?
He will listen to his nephew's orders.
Zuo Menggeng made a quick decision and crossed the river to Hanyang in person, bringing Hanyang's military warships to attack Wuchang. The news of his father's death would not be revealed for the time being. Anyway, the news could not reach them across the river. If those elders had
If there is any sign of disobedience, kill them immediately. These are extraordinary times and there is no room for hesitation.
Zuo Menggeng crossed the river with a large number of warships, and the defense of the shipyard was handed over to his good brother Li Guo. Li Guo and Zuo Menggeng were similar in age and had a deep friendship. He grew up among bandits, and his military qualities were also good.
Not low. Logically speaking, there would be no problem in defending this small city that was armed to the teeth. However, his enemy had changed. It was no longer the cavalry troops just now, but three hundred infantrymen wearing strange armor.
Liu Ziguang knew very well how powerful the steam crossbow was, so he restrained the soldiers not to get close to the shipyard. The main force in this critical battle was destined to be cannons rather than soldiers. Ten cannons were lined up in a row and aimed at the Wuchang Shipyard. Due to the increased shooting distance, the launchers
The amount of ammunition was also increased from one part to one and a half. Next to the cannon were placed anti-personnel shotshells, attack bombs and incendiary bombs loaded with igniters, which were fired in order. The musketeers lined up behind the cannon, with bullets loaded and ready to fire at any time.
Preparing to advance, He Renlong's cavalry also reorganized their formation. He Renlong is a man after all. He just used a knife to cut out the arrowhead, hastily bandaged it and continued to direct the battle. The attack just now
Hundreds of his brothers were killed and injured, and he became angry when he thought about it. When he took over the shipyard, he must kill all those workers.
Through the telescope, Li Guo saw the death camp in the distance that was busy loading artillery shells. He was very confused. He could not imagine that the tubular weapon, which was about the same size as the crossbow bed, could hit him. In Li Guo's mind, the range and power of the weapon were
It should be directly proportional to the volume. You must know that the boiler of a steam repeating crossbow is as big as a house. Without such a big boiler, how can it shoot so far?
Li Guo's knowledge was very poor. He only knew that steam cannons could shoot far and did not understand the power of gunpowder cannons. However, Liu Ziguang immediately taught him this lesson. A cannon was fired first, and the shells fell with a sharp whistle.
When he arrived in front of the city wall, he bounced on the ground and ran forward for some distance before hitting the city wall of the shipyard. Li Guo felt his feet tremble and his heart trembled as well. This thing is awesome!
The most powerful thing is still behind. The first cannon was just a test fire. The artillery sentry observed the impact point with binoculars and ordered the cannon to increase the elevation angle by two degrees, so that it could cross the city wall and shoot directly into the shipyard. The rest
The nine cannons roared at the same time, and the solid bullets roared out, passing through the sky at a speed invisible to the naked eye, crossing the city wall, and smashing into the interior of the shipyard. The shipyard was full of houses with brick and wood structures. After being penetrated by the cannonballs, the houses inside
The craftsmen and soldiers fled in panic. At this time, the second round of artillery shells flew over again. This time they were long-range anti-personnel shotguns. The steel nails all over the sky made holes in the thinly-clad craftsmen. Fortunately, Li Guo put on his left gun.
Meng Geng provided a full-body armor, but he was still sore from the beating that even his breast shield was dented.
Li Guo ordered the steam cannons to fight back, but their steam cannons and steam crossbows had fixed shooting angles and could not reach that far. The iron balls and arrows shot out could only fall in vain in the open space in front of the artillery battalion.
The shipyard's counterattack attracted more violent retaliation. The ten cannons fired in turn. Every time a shell was fired, the artilleryman used a wooden stick tied with cotton cloth at the front and dipped it in water to clean the gun barrel to remove gunpowder residue and sparks.
Use the same dry "mop" to clean the gun barrel again. After cleaning, fill the breech with the shell and one and a half gunpowder, and finally fill it with fulminant. Then close the breech block and pull the gun rope to fire.
Since the shipyard is a hard target, the artillerymen fired most of the ordinary attack bombs. These solid balls were very destructive to various equipment in the shipyard. One of them hit the large boiler of the shipyard, destroying several of them.
A large boiler weighing 100,000 kilograms smashed a hole, and the huge steam pressure could not escape from such a small space, causing a big explosion.