The afternoon spring sun was shining, and the air was filled with the inexplicable fragrance of vegetation, lingering in the nose.
Zhang Yanling squinted his eyes and looked in the direction of Baoding Mansion, and then he saw Zhang Yin, Meng Liang and other generals striding towards the sun with long swords in their hands. The armor on his body made a clanking sound, and his boots made a thumping sound on the ground.
.
"Report to the Marquis, the preparations are almost complete, it's time to take action." Zhang Yin and others bowed their hands and saluted.
Zhang Yanling sighed softly, drank the tea in one gulp, stood up, grabbed the Shang Fang sword placed aside, and walked towards the front of the formation.
The generals followed him, not knowing what the Marquis was going to do. Marquis Zhang came to the fortification where the Bird Gun guards were hiding. A group of guards hurriedly raised their chests and saluted. Zhang Yanling waved his hands and looked at the city ahead.
"Yuan Cheng, shout. Give them one last chance. Let Zhao Sui abandon the city immediately." Zhang Yanling said.
Zhao Yuancheng bowed his hands in agreement, turned around, put his hands to his mouth, and shouted loudly in the direction of the city wall of Baoding Prefecture.
"Listen to the defenders on the city. My Lord Marquis gives you one last chance. The rebel named Zhao Sui must withdraw from Baoding Mansion immediately and hand over the city. This is also your last chance to survive."
Zhao Yuancheng, who was born as a blacksmith, was powerful and had a loud voice. His humming words echoed in the mountains and fields and could be heard clearly on the city walls.
Afraid that the other party could not hear clearly, Zhao Yuancheng shouted again at the top of his lungs. But before he finished shouting the second time, a crossbow arrow whizzed over and stuck diagonally into the mud bag on the upper level of the fortification with a pop. The splashed soil fell down.
Zhang Yanling’s head and face were all covered.
Everyone around rushed to ask Zhang Yanling if he was injured. Zhang Yin said: "Master Hou, it's better not to worry about it. It's time like this. The man named Zhao will not surrender. He doesn't even care about Liu Qi's life."
Zhang Yanling's face darkened, he spat out the dirt in his mouth, and said solemnly: "I know he won't agree, but I will always be kind and righteous. He deserves to die, and some people who are trapped in it don't deserve to die."
Zhang Yin said solemnly: "Didn't the Marquis say that those who take up arms are not the common people. The only ones standing in front of the battle are the enemies. The bows, arrows, swords and guns in their hands will still kill us."
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "That's right, it's my wife's kindness. I shouldn't be like this. That's all, prepare to attack."
The horn sounded, and this time it was the call for a real attack. The Beijing infantry formed an array, unsheathed their swords and guns, raised their shields, and began to move neatly towards the front of the formation.
The defenders on the city wall finally waited for the attack to begin. They braced themselves and prepared to fight.
The atmosphere instantly became tense as the war drums and horns pressed forward, and everyone's hearts beat more and more violently as the war drums beat faster and faster.
His throat was rolling, sweat was dripping from his forehead, and the knuckles of his fingers nervously holding the weapon had turned white.
"The shooting elements have been adjusted. The angle of the ruler has been fixed. The target is above the city wall. Please give the order, Lord Marquis!" An artillery battalion commander rushed over and reported loudly.
"Okay! When you hear the sound of my gun, you will immediately bombard them freely. Wherever there are many people, you will hit the exploding bullets." Zhang Yanling said.
The artillery battalion commander rushed back with a loud voice. Zhang Yanling shouted in a deep voice: "Where is my sniper rifle? Bring it over."
A personal guard came forward carrying Zhang Yanling's long-barreled sniper rifle wrapped in oilcloth. He quickly unpacked the sniper rifle and handed it to Zhang Yanling. Zhang Yanling placed the barrel in a comfortable position, pulled the bolt and loaded the gun.
, and began to look for Zhao Sui's position in the scope.
The scope scanned around, but he didn't find where Zhao Sui was standing. Zhang Yanling had no choice but to aim his sniper rifle at a rebel general who was returning home wearing a captured Ming general. The man was staring at this, with his hands
He was holding a steel knife and making gestures.
"It's you. This is the first time a sniper rifle has been fired." Zhang Yanling whispered and pulled the trigger.
There was a loud bang, and the steel ball flew out of the gun's muzzle amid the fireworks, making a low whining sound as it passed through the air. The next moment, it penetrated the rebel general's exposed chest.
The rebel general trembled, looked down at his bleeding chest, with a look of disbelief on his face, and then he screamed and fell to the sky.
Along with this roar, the artillery under the city roared, and the cannons started shooting. For a moment, a deafening sound was heard, like a mountain collapsing and the earth was cracking. The roaring sound made people's ears buzz, and the earth shook slightly.
On the top of the city, several explosive shells exploded in an instant, and the densely packed defenders were thrown on their backs, their bodies flying everywhere, and large pieces fell instantly.
However, there is a saying that there were only two cannonballs that landed on the city wall this time. The remaining six were missed by a thousand miles because the adjustment of the shooting Zhuyuan was not accurate enough. The cannonballs landed in the area inside and outside the city wall and exploded, without causing any damage.
Too much damage.
Compared with the number of people killed, it was not even as high as the cannon team causing more casualties. Two-thirds of the one hundred and fifty cannons hit the target at the top of the city, causing more than a hundred casualties. And two rounds of explosive shells
The explosion killed and injured thirty or forty people, which was indeed a bit unsatisfactory.
The improved gun can already kill the enemy at a distance of 200 steps, but the accuracy and lethality will be stronger at a closer distance. However, in order to ensure their safety, Zhang Yanling still ordered them to snipe the enemy at a distance of 200 steps.
.Even if the hit rate is only 60%, that is enough. There are many bullets, and those things are much cheaper than cannonballs.
The city was full of people and chaos, and the rebels never imagined that if the opponent didn't take action, the situation would be shattered. Although they had experienced several battles since the rebellion, the battle they experienced was different from the one before them.
This kind of battle is completely different.
Today they have finally seen what real strength is and what real fighting is. However, the cost of this experience has been too high.
The second round of bombardment followed. This time the artillerymen adjusted their shooting, and learned the shame and then became brave. Four of the eight rounds of shells hit the top of the city wall, two hit the outer battlements, and two more went over the wall and destroyed the city.
of two houses.
The four hits exploded in the chaotic and dense crowd, and hundreds of people fell in a pool of blood. The two exploding bombs that exploded on the outer city wall also caused damage. More than ten people were hit by the fragments of the explosion and fell down.
On the city wall.
Also performing well were the cannon gunners, and more than eighty defenders were shot. Although most of them were not killed on the spot, they also achieved their goal of killing and wounding the enemy.
It was barely tea time when the battle started, and only two rounds of firearms were fired. The city wall was already in chaos. The places where they were hit were full of flesh and blood, and the injured and shot defenders were rolling and wailing on the city wall. Those who were not hit were
Like a frightened bird, it runs around in confusion.
There was chaos in the city.
Zhao Sui stared at all this with his mouth open. He couldn't believe his eyes. No wonder Zhang Yanling was so confident and had such a scary tone. He did have the capital to do this. The opponent's cannon was so far away, and the enemy was far away.
It is simply unbelievable that the camp entrance can be hit here.
Its power is also staggering.
There are also those firecrackers who hide in the fortifications and shoot. What kind of firecrackers do they use? The range is twice as long as that of bows and arrows, and the lethality is more powerful than bows and arrows.
The most important thing is that the opponent did not send troops to launch hand-to-hand combat to attack the city, and they did not need to do so. Their large number of archers could not shoot the opponent's soldiers and horses at all. They only needed to use their firearms to bombard the soldiers at the top of the city.
The horse cannot stand.
"Take down the city wall, leaving only a small number of soldiers and horses at the top of the city. Hide behind the city wall." Zhao Sui ordered with a roar.
The rebel soldiers crowded into the city from the inner stone steps. Because of the panic, they crowded forward and backward. Many people were thrown directly from the two-foot-eight-foot-high city wall and fell onto the rolling logs, stones and other backup guards piled inside.
In terms of the city's supplies, he suffered a head-scratching blow and broken bones.
"Boom, boom!" The roar of cannons and the roar of bird cannons were like the roar of death demanding death.
The third round, the fourth round, the fifth round...
The cannons bombarded the city for ten consecutive rounds, leaving the city wall in a mess and corpses strewn all over the ground. After the last round of bombardment, only a few hundred people were left on the city wall behind the battlements. At first glance, one might even think that the city was undefended.
More than 20,000 terrified rebel soldiers huddled under the base of the city wall, shivering, hunched over and holding their heads. They listened to the roaring on the city wall one after another, and their minds went blank. This was as unreal as a nightmare.
But the wounds were bleeding, the ears were buzzing, the smell of smoke and dust in the nose was choking, and the shells flying into the city from time to time exploded not far away. The buildings were on fire and collapsed. It all seemed like it was happening again.
Remind them that this is not a dream, this is the reality they face.
There was no trace of the defenders on the city wall, and even the gunners could not find their targets. But the roar of the cannons did not stop. This time, solid iron bullets were used, and the target was the North City tower. Zhang Yanling wanted to shoot all the targets on the entire North City wall.
Destroy any places where people can hide.
Dozens of rounds of iron bullets bombarded the city. Compared with the power of this cannon, the iron ball bullets fired by a Tiger Howling Cannon can directly penetrate a half-foot-thick brick wall. Two rounds can do it.
Collapse a pillar. The power of the Folan cannon is slightly smaller, but it is not comparable to the Zhankou general cannon.
Dozens of solid iron bullets were blasted into the tower. Doors and windows were shattered, columns collapsed, and eaves collapsed. The originally tall and beautiful tower was shattered into pieces, like a mountain temple in the wilderness that had not been taken care of for decades.
dilapidated.
There were originally many rebel soldiers and horses hidden inside, and they were Zhao Sui's archers who were ready to rush out to block the enemy's attack on the city at any time. Under such a bombardment, the people inside suffered heavy casualties, so they quickly pulled down the city wall to take shelter.
Zhao Sui huddled under the thick battlements of the city gate tower, crouching down and not daring to raise his head. He was very angry, but there was nothing he could do.
Zhao Sui knew in his heart that the city might not be able to be defended. Although he thought he could easily defend the city, at this moment, it seemed that this idea was really ridiculous.
In the face of absolute strength, nothing is important. It is impossible for them to defend Baoding City. Next, they should have time to attack the city. Once their soldiers mount the city to defend, they will use fire again.
The blunderbuss shoots, and another group of people are killed. Then the process repeats itself, until its troops completely collapse.
Defend, how to defend? Abandon the city? How to abandon it? For Baoding Mansion, I couldn't even save Liu Qi, but now the city can't be saved. What's going on?
Zhao Sui, who was huddled under the battlements, felt more and more desperate the more he thought about it. He felt that all his thoughts were hopeless and lifeless. He suddenly drew a knife and wiped it on his neck.
The general beside him quickly grabbed his hand and cried loudly: "Vice-Commander Zhao, no! We still have more than 20,000 brothers. The city has not been broken yet. Vice-Commander Zhao, you must resist."
"
Zhao Sui gasped and stared, and it took him a while to come back to his senses. How could he do such a move? He was really obsessed. He had not yet been defeated, so how could he give up so easily.
At this moment, the thick sound of artillery stopped. The smoke and dust that filled the surrounding area had not yet dispersed, and the familiar rough shouting came from the city again.
"Crazy Zhao, my Lord Marquis wants to ask you, how does it feel to be beaten?"