Chapter 157: Shelling the enemy, causing great damage
Chapter 157: Shelling the enemy, causing great damage
"Poof!" The arrow shot by Zhao Ji hit Zhang Bangchang's left back heart.
"Ah!!" Zhang Bangchang screamed in pain.
He lowered his head and saw that a bloody arrowhead was exposed on his left chest. The blood kept flowing out from the arrow shaft, covering up the big purple official dress he was wearing.
The robe was dyed a terrifying red...
At this moment, the shield-bearer of the bandit army who stumbled over the stone under his feet was dumbfounded. He never expected that the Zhao Guan family on top of the city tower could seize this opportunity in the blink of an eye so easily.
The ground shot Zhang Bangchang, a high-ranking purple-robed official who surrendered to the rebels?!
All the soldiers guarding the southern city of Hangzhou shouted again. Suddenly, the morale of the troops was greatly boosted and their morale was extremely high!
Zhang Bangchang stumbled and fell into a pool of blood before taking three steps.
There was too much unwillingness in his heart. The moment before he was about to die, he had already guessed that the arrow in his heart was probably shot by the Zhao Guan family himself.
Zhang Bangchang once thought, "Sacrifice one's life to become a benevolent person, sacrifice one's life for righteousness",
However, in the end, he did not make up his mind to kill himself, so he had to compromise with the rebel Fang La. He repeatedly compromised, betrayed the military situation of the Song Dynasty, and betrayed the Zhao family who had treated him well...
Before Zhang Bangchang died, the corners of his mouth were slightly raised,
As if smiling,
As if thanking Zhao Guan's family for helping him escape,
It also seems to be a mockery of myself who once studied the books of sages and "climbed the emperor's hall at dusk". Why was she not loyal to Zhao Song because of cowardice and fear of death?
Even when Zhang Bangchang fell to the ground and died, his eyes were still wide open in horror, as if he was trying to defend the words he shouted before: "It is not Zhang Bangchang's betrayal of loyalty to the emperor, but in fact, it is
The Zhao family forced Zhang Bangchang to lose his integrity..."
When all the officers and soldiers of the Song army on the south city saw Zhao Guanjia, they shot Liu Lin, Liu Yu, and Zhang Bangchang, who had rebelled against the Song Dynasty, with three arrows in succession. Suddenly, the morale of the army was greatly boosted, morale was high, and the crowd was excited, shouting:
"The official's sharpshooting, our army will win! Long live my emperor!"
Wang Zhen, the commander of the city defense team, asked Zhao Ji:
"Zhao Guan's family, do you want to put back these hundreds of Fang La bandit warriors holding shields?"
Zhao Ji smiled slightly and said:
"How can you put it back?
The commander-in-chief of this city is Aiqing. How Wang Tongzhi directs the soldiers to defend the city, when to start fighting, etc. are all under Wang Tongzhi's control. Don't ask me."
After hearing what Zhao Guanjia said, the ruler Wang Zhen happily accepted the order.
He knew that this was the highest level of trust that the Zhao Guan family had in him, the city-defending coach.
When Wang Zhen saw that Zhao Guanjia shot three arrows in a row and killed three traitorous ministers who had rebelled against the Song Dynasty and surrendered to the enemy, the morale of the army was greatly boosted and their morale was high, so he immediately ordered:
"I will use the first team of slingers on the city wall to quickly hit the shield holders of Fang La's bandits with cannons!"
The military orders were like a mountain. On the wall below the tower where he stood, a trebuchet, also called a "cannon", was set up every ten feet. Each trebuchet had already been loaded with more than a dozen.
Stone bullet.
Of course, there are also trebuchets set up on other places on the wall of the southern city. However, Wang Zhen, a famous general who is good at defending the city, cannot hold a shield to "bombard" the hundreds of Fang La bandits.
hand, and use all fifty trebuchets.
"General, obey the order!" the captain of the ten trebuchets took the order.
At this time, Zhao Ji also handed over the royal bow to Liang Shicheng, the eunuch beside him. Under the protection of a group of imperial city officials holding shields, he continued to stand at the front of the tower, leaning on the railing and looking down.
Zhao Ji saw that the whole body of this trebuchet was made of wood. There was a rotatable shaft placed horizontally above the gun mount. The long rod fixed on the shaft was called a "tip" and acted as a lever.
The wood chosen needs to be specially processed to make it both strong and flexible.
At the other end of the tip, there is a "skin nest" (i.e. bullet hole), which contains stone bullets, and the other end is tied with a gun rope (used as a rope to pull off the lever)...
Zhao Ji knew that in fact, this kind of trebuchet was originally based on the principle of a lever. Multiple people pulled down one side of the lever together to eject the stone bullets on the other side of the lever.
The trebuchet without wheels is called "cannon", and the trebuchet with wheels is called "gun carriage".
I saw that the captain next to the ten trebuchets gave the order and asked the "cannon setter" to visually measure the enemy's distance...
At this time, behind every trebuchet in the city stood a "cannon setter". He relied on his experience to judge adjustments and determine the azimuth angle and the height of the cannon tip.
The "cannon-fixing man" shouted to the left or right, up or down, adjusting the angle of the trebuchet, and then more than 20 gunners turned the gun base together to aim at the target.
When you need to shoot upward, raise the front legs of the gun;
If you are shooting down low, raise the rear leg of the gun.
There are more than twenty gunners in front of the ten trebuchets in the city, and the bullet holes behind the barrels of the trebuchets have already been filled with more than a dozen stone bullets (stone projectiles) weighing a total of hundreds of kilograms.
piece).
After the 'cannon man' finished aiming and positioning, he shouted:
"fire!"
More than 20 gunners held the gun rope tightly, shouted slogans together, and made unified rapid and forceful pulling downward movements:
"One, two, three. Pull!"
As the last word "pull" shouted by the gunners was blurted out, they all pulled hard and quickly on the gun rope, causing the gun bar at the other end of the trebuchet to suddenly lift upwards. Due to the inertia, the gun
More than ten stone bullets in the bullet hole behind the rod flew into the air and shot towards the target...
"call……"
"Huhu..."
The ten trebuchets fired hundreds of stone bullets almost at once, drawing a beautiful arc in the open space with the roar of the wind. Most of the stone bullets hit the body or shield of the Fang La bandit army's shield holder.
above.
Because the stone bullet was thrown down from a high altitude, its acceleration was faster and its potential energy was extremely high. It hit the shield and immediately smashed the shield into pieces.
The stones that fell from the broken shield were still very heavy and could injure the Fang La bandit army...
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! More than a hundred shield-bearers of the Fang La Bandit Army were thrown into the air by rocks that fell down, causing ghosts to cry and howls, and the screams could not be heard...
Even if some of the stone bullets did not hit the Fang La bandit army, they still hit the ground three or four feet deep...
The commander-in-chief Wang Zhen, who was standing on the tower, issued the military order again and said:
"The first group of archers shot down the surviving bandits."
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."
The first batch of more than a hundred archers under the city wall fired at the Fangla bandits whose shields were shattered by stone bullets.
Not only did the hundreds of bandit shield-bearers fail to protect Zhang Bangchang, Liu Yu, and Liu Lin who surrendered to Sheng Gong Fangla, they themselves were unable to escape unscathed.
They all died under the hail of stone bullets and rain of arrows from the Song army.
Under the south city, in front of the moat, lying in a pool of blood were not only the three imperial officials who had rebelled against the Song Dynasty and surrendered to the enemy, but also hundreds of bandit shield-bearers.
In fact, this battle only lasted five minutes.
Outside the south city, in the vanguard formation of the bandit army, the leader, Fang Qifu, was riding on his horse. He looked up and saw everything happening below the south city.
Fang Qifu was so angry that he flew into a rage.
He furrowed his thick eyebrows, glared angrily, and thought to himself:
"Brother Holy Duke Fangla, isn't this a miscalculation?
My brother Fangla, the Holy Duke, originally wanted to ask the three surrendered court dog officers to go to the moat below the south city to make a speech. First, he would scold the fatuous dog emperor for being immoral, unjust, and losing the support of the people. Then he would try to recruit the surrender guards.
officers and soldiers.
Even if the three dog officers could not do this, it was enough to shake the morale of the Song army generals guarding the city of Hangzhou and reduce their morale.
Who would have thought that the dog emperor Zhao Ji would actually personally shoot and kill the three court dog officers who had surrendered to the rebel army. This instantly stabilized the morale of the defenders and even boosted the morale of the Song army.
Not only that, but the hundreds of shield-bearers from our rebel army who were protecting the three dog officers were all annihilated in front of the moat.
Isn’t this ‘stealing chicken but losing rice’?”
"Wow..." Fang Qifu was furious. He waved the big knife in his palm and ordered loudly:
"Send my military order and the rebels attack the city!
God bless the Holy Duke, may he live forever!"
The more than 3,000 soldiers who had received the order from Fang Qifu to attack the city shouted:
"God bless the Holy Duke, may he live long and prosperous! Come on!"
"Come on! Rush into the city of Hangzhou and capture Zhao Ji, the dog emperor of the Song Dynasty, alive."
"Come on! Fight into the city of Hangzhou, and then you can plunder for six days..."
"Come on! The women who are as beautiful as flowers and enter the city of Hangzhou are all our rebel brothers..."
The vanguard of Fangla's bandit army shouted the promise made by the rebel Holy Duke Fangla at the oath-taking meeting before setting off for the expedition.
At this time, the spirit of the rebel vanguard troops was high and their morale was high.
Fang Qifu and his personal troops immediately did not move.
Fang Qifu only commanded from where he was.
Although the rebel soldiers and generals shouted the slogan "Charge into the city", in fact, they all knew that the walls of Hangzhou were high and strong, and the moat was wide and deep.
Also, the suspension bridge over the moat has long been raised high.
At this time, without siege equipment, it is simply impossible to attack Hangzhou City as easily as attacking a small county town.
Amidst the shouts of killing from the vanguard of the Fangla bandit army,
One after another, the military equipment for siege was pushed out by the bandit soldiers...
The vanguard of the bandit army pushed out ten "lead vehicles" first.
This vehicle can protect siege personnel and transport small siege equipment.
The [head car] and catapults and other siege equipment were previously seized from the arsenal by Fangla's troops when they attacked Xiamuzhou. Hundreds of craftsmen were captured and several were imitated in a hurry.
Fang Qifu gave an order, and several archers got into each [lead car].
I saw this kind of "lead car" with a length of seven feet, a width of seven feet, and a height of seven or eight feet. A war tent was erected outside, and there was a screen in front to block arrows. The roof was covered with two layers of leather fence, with a foot in the middle.
It was covered with thick hay to prevent the Song army from destroying it with artillery stones.
There is a square hole in the center of the roof for people inside the car to get up and down. There is also a skylight in front of the roof, and a screen in front of the window for observation and archery. Leather fences are hung on both sides of the car, and the outside is painted
mud to prevent the Song army from setting fire to it.
After the [lead vehicle], the Fang La bandit army launched fifteen more riprap vehicles, following closely behind.
Another fifteen trebuchets are on standby with Fang La's main force one mile behind.
Fang Qifu ordered loudly:
"The lead car opened the way, followed by the trebuchet, pushed to the moat of Nancheng, and began to attack the city!"
Standing on the city tower, the commander-in-chief of the city defense, Wang Zhenzong, saw that Fang La's bandits were using all the siege equipment they had snatched from the Song Dynasty's arsenal. He hugged Zhao Guan's family and said:
"Your Majesty, please ask Zhao Guan to move back and go back to the city tower to prevent the arrows and rocks from the bandit army, Wuyan!"
Zhao Ji is also very open-minded and will not risk exposing himself to the enemy's sight and range.
Zhao Ji nodded and said: "Wang Tongzhi, thank you for your hard work."
Zhao Ji, under the protection of the Royal City Secretary, took the prince Zhao Kai and Xiao Zhao Gou and turned around and walked into the tower.
In fact, the inside of the tower in the south city is also an open space surrounded by ventilation.
However, the tower is protected by roof ridge tiles, which is much safer than standing directly at the front of the tower, leaning on the railing.
The shouts of killing below the city can be clearly heard in the tower where Zhao Ji is now.
Zhao Ji, who was inside the tower, could also see the enemy's vanguard, Fang Qifu, from a distance; however, he could not see the moat below the city.
When Wang Xun saw that Zhao Guan's family had returned to the depths of the city tower and was protected by his subordinates holding shields, he no longer had to worry too much about the safety of Zhao Guan's family, and could devote himself more fully to commanding the city defense and blocking battle.
.
Wang Xun sent an order: "Trebuchets throughout the city, get ready! Fire at the [lead vehicle] and trebuchets of the Fang La bandit army!"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! The herald beside Wang Zhen shouted, and the flag bearer next to him waved the flag and shouted the semaphore...
This time, Wang Zhen did not hold back and let all fifty trebuchets on Nancheng fire their cannons at the vanguard of the Fangla bandit army that was approaching the open space in front of the moat, as well as those "lead vehicles" and trebuchets...
…
"Huhuhu..."
The fifty trebuchets on the city almost fired thousands of stone bullets at once. With the roar of the wind, they drew a perfect arc in the open space. Nearly half of the stone bullets hit the target...
In an instant, four of the "lead vehicles" in Fang La's bandit army were smashed. The reason was that the rocks were so heavy that they were almost buried, or too many rocks hit the carport, causing the "lead vehicle" to collapse.
The carport was crushed.
There are still six leading vehicles in the vanguard of the bandit army. Although there are more than ten stones of different sizes falling on them, after all, the original purpose of designing this leading vehicle is to protect against thrown stones and arrows. Therefore, the remaining six vehicles [
[First car], it can still be used.
Of the fifteen trebuchets sent by Fang Qifu, ten were damaged by rocks, and only five were still usable.
The five trebuchets of the rebel army also quickly adjusted their directions and angles according to Fang Qifu's military orders, and they were all aimed in the direction of the tower where Zhao Guan's house was...
At this time, the arrow windows of the six rebel [leading cars] that were not destroyed by the rocks opened one after another.
The random arrows from the string were shot at the defenders above Nancheng...
Most of the Song army officers and soldiers relied on the city walls and battlements as bunkers and suffered very few casualties...
"Bang, bang, bang..."
Zhao Ji could clearly feel that the roof of the tower above him was being smashed by the rocks thrown by Fang La's bandit army...