Twenty miles west of Laizhou City, in front of Xiaoguantun, forty Western cannons were lined up in a row, with their muzzles pointing darkly toward the front.
Behind the artillery array were 16,000 rebel infantry led by the rebel capital marshal Li Jiucheng. On the right wing of the infantry was a 1,000-horse cavalry newly formed by Li Jiucheng's son Li Yingyuan.
After capturing Dengzhou, Kong Youde and Li Jiucheng divided their troops into two groups. One group was led by Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming to attack Huangxian County, waiting for an opportunity to kill in Shandong Province, named "Southward Advance"; the other group was led by Li Jiucheng and his son to attack Laizhou, saying "
"Western Expedition".
Because the prefect of Laizhou, Zhu Wannian, the chief envoy Xie Lian, and the guard Xu Congzhi refused to surrender, and the city of Laizhou was fortified, and the Liao troops responded internally, Li Jiucheng decided to attack by force. To this end, he specially brought twenty red Yi cannons from Dengzhou
, forty Western cannons, intending to use their powerful siege artillery to knock off Laizhou City in one fell swoop to see if Laizhou City is made of iron!
During the siege of the city on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, after unsuccessful attempts to persuade them to surrender, Li Jiuguo decisively ordered twenty red barbarian cannons to fire at Laizhou City. The first salvo destroyed all the crenellations of the city wall.[
Because Sun Yuanhua was heavy on firearms and asked the Portuguese to train his troops, and the Dongjiang Liao soldiers, the main force of the rebels, all received this kind of Western-style military training, so after the sound of artillery fire, Li Jiucheng did not order his subordinates to carry the ladders and climb the wall fearlessly as before.
He led a group of subordinates to stand on a high place and took a telescope to look at the battlefield triumphantly, constantly calculating various coordinates and shooting various elements, and ordered Hongyi artillery and Western artillery to continuously hit the city head, hitting Laizhou City.
Rubble was flying, and blood and fire were mixed. But when the smoke cleared, Li Jiuzheng was surprised to find that the Laizhou city wall had not collapsed at all due to the gunfire. From his sight, Laizhou city still stood so tall.
The construction of Laizhou City was so strong that this important town, which was built in the 29th year of Wanli, withstood the violent bombardment of the rebel artillery!
Seeing this situation, Li Jiucheng quickly adjusted his strategy. He first divided his forces to conquer the neighboring Pingdu County, cut off the hands and feet of the rescuers of Laizhou, and ensured that there were no worries about the siege. Then he devoted his main force to storm the southeast corner of the city. Under the cover of artillery fire, he sent engineers with gunpowder jars.
Carry out blasting.
Under these rounds of strong attacks, Laizhou City, no matter how strong it was, could not withstand it. A gap several feet wide collapsed in the city wall, and the rebels swarmed up to massacre the city. The prefect Zhu Wannian and the guard Xu Congzhi who were sitting at the head of the city were not afraid of life and death.
, personally commanded the defenders to pour oil on the fire, and used sandbags to block the gap in time, thus blocking the rebels outside the city. That night, Xu Congzhi sent a death squad out of the city to attack the rebels at night, destroying thirteen of the rebel Red Yi cannons.
This greatly weakened the rebel siege firepower.
Li Jiucheng promised in front of Kong Youde that Laizhou City would be captured, but after several days of attacking and with numerous casualties, Laizhou City was still not captured. Now, the Ming army destroyed more than a dozen red barbarian cannons, which made him feel embarrassed.
Throw away all.
In a rage, he ordered another storm regardless of the fatigue of the troops. This time, he asked the Liao soldiers to supervise the formation and escort the rebels who had been brought in to storm the city. He wanted to use these cannon fodder to exhaust the power of the city and then bring a fatal blow to Laizhou City.
one strike.
However, Tanma received disturbing news - a Ming army was approaching Laizhou from the west, numbering about 4,000 people.
The Ming army in Northern Zhili!
Hearing the news, Li Jiucheng's first thought was that this Ming army must be reinforcements from Beizhili. He thought that after the uprising, Beizhili had been turned upside down. The combat effectiveness of the Ming army there was so poor that it was not at all
What kind of soldiers and horses can fight? Li Jiuzheng turned his eyes and changed his mind about attacking Laizhou. He wanted to first deal with the Ming army who came to die, to cheer up his demoralized subordinates, and at the same time to destroy the Ming army in Laizhou city.
The heart that stands firm and waits for help is dead!
After leaving six thousand rebels to continue to surround Laizhou City, Li Jiucheng and his son Li Yingyuan marched westward with the elite of the old battalion and more than 10,000 new auxiliary troops. In case of loss, he even brought forty Western cannons with him.
.
Sun Yuanhua's painstaking efforts did not bring benefits to the Ming Dynasty. Instead, the rebels became superstitious about artillery. At least, Li Jiucheng is now very obsessed with the power of artillery. No matter where he goes, he always gives these easy-to-carry Western cannons.
Bring it with you.
The two sides met unexpectedly in Xiaoguantun, only 20 miles away from Laizhou City. Taking advantage of the large number of people, Li Jiucheng ordered the Western artillery to be transported directly to the front of the formation. He wanted to see whether the Ming army on the opposite side could withstand these dozens of troops.
The Western cannon blasted it to pieces!
"fire!"
Following the officer's order, the gunners who were originally from the Ming army but were now rebels neatly waved down their torches, and the match ropes suddenly made a "chirping" burning sound, like a poisonous snake's apricots.
When it burned to the end, there was a "boom" sound, a flash of fire, and the cannon roared out, hitting the Ming army in formation in front.
Forty cannons fired in volley, the sound shook the heaven and the earth, and the power was astonishing. In the black smoke, the cry of the Ming army came, and in the telescope, the Ming army was full of mice scurrying with their heads in their hands.
"The Ming army is cowardly and cannot be attacked by artillery. Ying Yuan, please lead the cavalry up. After this battle is won, Laizhou City will be in our pocket, haha!"
Li Jiucheng, who had a beard on his face, was so dissatisfied. The performance of the Ming army was too poor. He became confused when he heard the sound of artillery. Seeing how they were running around like rats, there was no need to waste any artillery. He just sent the cavalry to chop them down.
Yes. He waved his hand and asked his son Li Yingyuan to lead the cavalry up.[
"Father, just wait and see!"
Like his father, a gambler, Li Yingyuan was also a generous owner. When he heard his father's order, he unequivocally drew his sword and went up with his cavalry.
"kill!"
A thousand rebel cavalry roared and followed Li Yingyuan as they rushed toward the fleeing Ming troops.
The Ming army was in disintegration. Everywhere in sight were Ming soldiers crying for their fathers and mothers. Two to three thousand people were running around randomly. There were more than a hundred corpses lying on the ground. Broken limbs and arms could be seen everywhere. They were all shot by Western cannons.
Smashed to death.
Li Yingyuan's cavalry has not been dispatched since the siege of Laizhou began. In addition to the capable Dongjiang Liao soldiers, there are also many thieves from Shandong who came to surrender. They are all desperadoes. It would be difficult for them to storm the fortified city.
I have to discount it, but in pursuit of a group of fleeing Ming troops, everyone worked hard, swinging their sabers high, and their eyes full of ferociousness.
"Die!"
A knife was slashed on the back of a fleeing Ming soldier, leaving a long bloody gash. The Ming soldier ran forward for another dozen steps before feeling severe pain in his back, and then his whole body leaned forward.
The flesh on the back has been completely opened, revealing the dense ribs, which have been chopped from top to bottom. If they were a few inches longer, the person would have been split in half.
The rebels were killing people everywhere, and the battlefield was full of fallen Ming soldiers.
With the excitement of killing and the excitement of chasing, the rebels no longer gathered in one place, they ran everywhere.
From behind, three thousand infantry also rushed forward.