One hundred artillery pieces were fired at the same time, and smoke spewed out from the black muzzles, followed by a huge sound, like thunder.
"This is..."
Lu Qichang saw artillery for the first time, and when he was about to ask what it was, the cannonball had already hit the city wall.
The shell hit the hard stone, and the huge impact shattered the stone. The sharp fragments exploded and pierced the soldier's face, causing the soldier to scream.
After the first cannonball fell, more cannonballs followed, and the solid city wall was shattered.
"What's going on?"
Lu Qichang asked in horror. Li Chenglie did not expect the artillery attack to be so powerful. He shook his head and shouted: "I don't know either!"
puff...
There was a sound of shredded meat, and a cannonball hit a soldier. The huge impact pushed the soldier against the city wall. His chest was completely shattered, his eyes were bulging, his mouth was bleeding, and he died in a miserable state.
It was the first time for Lu Qichang to see such a death situation. In the past, this was only the case for people who were hit by catapults.
But that was a boulder, and this was just a small iron ball.
Bang... bang...
The cannonballs hit the city wall one after another, and countless debris flew everywhere. The soldiers on the city were frightened and squatted down to take cover.
"Don't be afraid, counterattack, counterattack! The crossbowmen fire arrows!"
When the infantry general Le Min saw this, he drew his sword and shouted.
The soldiers who came to their senses picked up their crossbows and pointed them at the artillery soldiers to counterattack.
The long and thick crossbow arrows flew down, and all kinds of feathered arrows flew towards the artillery camp like locusts.
The bed crossbow with a long range can fly, but the ordinary crossbow arrows simply fall down before reaching the range.
Seeing the bed crossbow flying over, Wu Chuchu shouted: "Raise the shield!"
The shield soldiers immediately raised their shields to protect the artillery.
Dugu Jiali saw arrows being fired on the city and said angrily: "Shoot for me!"
The bed crossbows of the Dazhou Gongnu Camp are more sophisticated, have a longer range, and are more powerful.
Hundreds of crossbows fired arrows at the top of the city, and a wave of giant arrows flew up and assassinated a group of Xixia soldiers.
Gongsun Linglong did not panic and ordered the artillery to fire at the city gate.
Iron bullets kept hitting the iron-lined wooden door, which was deformed.
The soldiers guarding the city gate felt the huge impact and exclaimed: "If this continues, we will be penetrated sooner or later!"
Shi Le watched the cannonballs falling continuously on the city, and the solid city walls were smashed into holes.
However, the city wall is very thick, and the cannonballs can only break the wall stacks, but cannot penetrate the city wall. ⑧①ZW.????m
"Don't be afraid! This thing can't break the city wall!"
Shi Le shouted, and Lu Qichang slowly regained his composure and realized that although the artillery was powerful, it was indeed unable to penetrate the city wall.
The wall of Xingqing City is 20 meters high and 10 meters thick. No matter how hard Long Chen's artillery fires, it is impossible to break the wall. It is just scary.
"Don't panic! Squat down!"
Lu Qichang bent down and shouted, while the Xixia soldiers hid behind the city wall for a while.
Under the city, Gongsun Linglong's bombardment was so satisfying that the Xixia soldiers did not dare to take the lead, but Wu Jian discovered a problem.
"Sir, although artillery is powerful, the city wall is too thick and cannot be blown open."
Wu Jian found that the wall of the east city gate was riddled with holes, but it was almost impossible to destroy the wall.
Long Chen smiled and said: "It's okay, let's scare them first and destroy their morale first!"
Of course Long Chen knew that the current artillery couldn't penetrate, but it didn't matter. The purpose of this shelling was to suppress and deter.
Of course, the East City Gate can destroy some things, and Long Chen chose the breakthrough point here.
When attacking a city, you need to concentrate your efforts to storm one area. After breaking through, you can enter the city.
The artillery bombarded them continuously for two hours, from morning to noon, and the Xixia soldiers were so beaten that they dared not show their heads.
Mei Yu ran over and said: "Sir, the ammunition is half used, do you want to continue?"
Gongsun Linglong turned to look at Long Chen, who said: "That's enough, retreat a mile and rest and eat on the spot."
Gongsun Linglong asked strangely: "The east city gate was almost blown open, why don't you fight?"
The iron panel outside the east gate was shattered, and the heavy wooden door also showed signs of being broken. Long Chen chose this time to cease fire, and Gongsun Linglong didn't understand.
"No more fighting, let's rest first. Aren't you hungry?"
Gongsun Linglong felt a little hungry.
The army retreated one mile and rested and ate on the spot.
Li Chenglie climbed out from under the city wall, looked at the retreating Long family army, and said with great joy: "Your Majesty, Long Chengen has retreated."
Shi Le held on to the battered wall and sneered: "It seems to be incredibly powerful, but in fact, the silver-like pewter spear head is capable of shattering city walls."
Lu Qichang ordered the city wall to be reinforced, and the dead and wounded soldiers were dragged down.
"Long Chengen is really not good at attacking cities. As long as we hold on to the city wall, they will be defeated sooner or later."
Lu Qichang looked at the retreating Long family army and felt confident in his heart.
Infantry General Le Min said: "What the Privy Envoy said is true. I have fought so many battles with Long Chengen and found that siege is not his strong point."
"Today's thing seems to be extremely powerful, but in fact it can't cause much damage. I just counted it and found that only more than 700 people died, and many of them were shot to death by divine arm bows and bed crossbows."
Shi Le sneered: "Hold the city wall and fight him slowly!"
Shi Le's chest wound was bleeding, and the military doctor advised Shi Le to return to the palace to rest and let Lu Qichang and others guard him.
Other soldiers also persuaded him in this way, and Shi Le returned to the palace to heal his wounds.
"The east city gate must be guarded, and the other two city gates must also be guarded. Be careful of the fighting going east and west!"
Shi Le knew that Long Chen had many tricks up his sleeve, and he was attacking the east gate, but he might actually be targeting the south gate and the west gate.
Lu Qichang nodded and said: "What the king said is absolutely true! General Le, go and guard the south gate and west gate."
Le Min immediately led his troops to the south gate and the west gate.
Shi Le returned to the palace first to recover from his injuries.
Outside the city, there is a large tent of the Chinese army.
Wu Jian, Zhang Qian, Gongsun Linglong and others sat down. They were a little confused as to why Long Chen would do such useless work.
"Sir, we have spent so much gunpowder but have never breached the city gate. What is the point of doing so?"
Gongsun Linglong sat down cross-legged, looking unhappy.
Long Chen smiled and said: "It's a deterrent. I didn't expect them to be beaten to death. The east gate was also beaten almost completely, and the iron sheet was shattered. It's better to use than the siege wood."
Wu Jian said: "My lord, the main purpose is to attract attention, to attract Shi Le's attention to the east gate."
Zhang Qian asked: "So, our goal is the South Gate and the West Gate? Are we going to attack the east and west?"
Long Chen had already used this strategy before, so Zhang Qian didn't think it was strange.
Gongsun Linglong said: "The gunpowder is about to be used up. You have to think about how to fight."
Both gunpowder and cannonballs are available in quantity. Each shot is fired and the other is missed. It must be calculated carefully and cannot be wasted.
Wu Chuchu said: "Sir, I know you want to reduce casualties and don't want to attack the city by force."
"But when it's time to attack with force, we must attack with force. Today we used artillery to completely suppress Xixia. We can attack with force."
During the day, the artillery was so powerful that the Xixia soldiers were stunned and did not dare to raise their heads.
At this time, if Long Chen is willing to pay the price, he can actually break in.
Long Chen smiled and said: "Everyone, take a good rest, rest in the afternoon, and then attack the city in the evening!"
Seeing what Long Chen said, everyone stopped saying anything. They knew that Long Chen had his own plans.
Everyone stood up and left, and Long Chen left Wu Jian alone.
