Chapter 372 Bloody Battle of Bronze Drum Acropolis
In the afternoon of the same day, hundreds of Ming troops arrived outside Tonggu City. The arrival of this Ming army not only replenished the Ming army's previous loss of strength, but also once again exceeded 2,000 troops.
More importantly, the Ming army that came over that afternoon also brought several bowl-mouth cannons.
When the Ming army placed those bowl-mouth cannons outside the city, it was proved by facts that it was not just the New Army of the Tang Dynasty that played with artillery, but the Ming army actually also had artillery.
With these bowl-mouth cannons, the Ming army outside the city seemed to have a great morale. As the evening approached, they launched another attack. Many Ming soldiers shouted various slogans and then ran hundreds of meters away. The Bronze Drum Guard outside.
At the same time, the Ming army also pushed up the bowl-mouth cannon, tried to get close to the city wall, and then fired towards the city head.
When the major of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty at the top of the city saw this scene, he could not guess the Ming army's intentions, so he quickly ordered the musketry troops to focus fire on the Ming army artillery troops trying to get closer.
The artillery of the Ming army were all bowl-mouth cannons that weighed less than 100 kilograms. Like the 150 kilogram battalion cannons in the New Army of the Tang Dynasty, they could only fire shotguns and had a limited range of 150 meters. There is basically no threat, but if these small-caliber shotguns are allowed to fire within a range of tens of meters, their power will definitely be just right.
Previously, when the New Army of the Tang Dynasty was able to defend the Tonggu Acropolis, the two battalion cannons played a big role, especially when mounted on top of the city. If fired from a high position, the power would be even greater than if used on the flat ground.
At this time, the new army of the Tang Dynasty naturally would not let the Ming army's gunners easily approach those shotguns, and even fire at their city within tens of meters.
As a result, at least one team of musketeers fired volley after round at the Ming army's artillery.
At first, because of the long distance, the bullet's hit rate was relatively low, but as the Ming army continued to advance, the hit rate increased rapidly.
In front of the gunners of the Ming Army, there will be people holding shields to cover, but if the shield can block the bullets, then the sword and shield shooter will not be eliminated on the battlefield, let alone a shield or a shield. Ordinary armor, even plate armor made of fine steel, still cannot stop bullets.
However, what really caused the collapse of these Ming army gunners was not the firing of muskets, but the firing of the artillery from the new army camp of the Tang Dynasty.
Because of the slow rate of fire of artillery, it often takes a long time to fire the second shot after firing one shot. In order to achieve greater results as much as possible and destroy the enemy's confidence in approaching, it is very important to accurately hit the first shot.
Therefore, a lieutenant who commanded the battalion's artillery did not rush to fire, but asked his gunners to wait after loading.
The gunners of the Ming army pushed the bowl-mouth cannons closer and closer, from two hundred meters to one hundred meters, and even after entering a distance of eighty meters, they still did not let anyone fire.
Because the Ming army's artillerymen had not stopped yet and continued to advance.
After the Ming army's gunners reached a distance of about seventy meters, they finally stopped and began to set up and load the guns.
But at this time, the lieutenant artillery officer had already ordered the artillery fire.
What he was waiting for was the last moment when the Ming army stopped!
As the two 150-pound camp cannons opened fire, thick white smoke suddenly rose from the muzzles. The smoke from just the two cannons was greater than the smoke from many muskets. More white smoke.
As the white smoke rose, screams came from the Ming army's artillery position in the open space outside the city!
If you look closely, you will find that the Ming army's artillery position is already covered with blood and flesh, and many injured soldiers fell to the ground and screamed.
Seeing this scene, the lieutenant artillery officer who had just ordered the artillery fire showed a sneer on his lips. These Ming army artillerymen were really stupid.
They ran into a distance of 70 meters. Of course, they could enter the effective range. Once the artillery was fired, it would cause a lot of casualties to their own soldiers on the city. However, they did not think about it. Within 70 meters, their own artillery would hit them a dozen times.
One is accurate.
And seventy meters is also the effective shooting range of our own musketeers and even archers!
Under our own intensive long-range firepower attack, how could these Ming army gunners still have a chance to fire?
With this in mind, he continued to observe the Ming army outside the city while waiting for his gunner to reload and prepare for the next bombardment.
In sight, the Ming army outside the city did not stop its attack because of the heavy casualties suffered by the gunners. In fact, the gunner's attack was only part of the Ming army's attack. More Ming troops were rushing towards the city wall.
The archers of the Ming army fired arrows at the city top from dozens of meters away, trying to suppress the long-range firepower of the Tang Dynasty's new army on the city head.
But they were suppressing the long-range firepower of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty. The long-range firepower of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty was also causing them a lot of casualties.
The New Army of the Tang Dynasty on the top of the city was protected by the city wall. They fired through the gaps in the battlements. However, the Ming army outside the city had no cover, and their whole bodies were exposed to the long-range firepower of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty.
In this fight, the Ming army will suffer a lot!
However, although the Ming army outside the city had already expected this situation, after all, they were the attacking side, and they were fighting a siege. They had expected the casualties and disadvantages they would encounter during the attack.
So they continue to move forward!
The sword and shield soldiers at the front are already carrying long ladders and are about to reach the city wall!
The city wall in front of them was not long, only about four meters high. If there was something to stand on, they could suddenly climb in without even climbing a wall ladder.
However, the city wall was not high, which also brought about another impact, that is, the Ming army had not even climbed to the top of the city, but it had already begun to be attacked by the spearmen of the new army of the Tang Dynasty.
The spears in the hands of the spearmen of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty were four and a half meters long. They were just right on top of the city to stab down with their spears.
Of course, the Ming army under the city can also use spears to fight back!
Don’t be surprised, just like the New Army of the Tang Dynasty, the Ming Army actually had many spearmen!
Because the infantry in the Cold Weapon Age basically came and went in the same style. The three arms of archers, spearmen, and sword and shieldmen were almost standard.
Although there will be some changes in different armies, for example, there will be swordsmen and shieldmen with heavy armor, and there will also be swordsmen and spearmen who wear light armor, or simply have no armor and only hold a rotten iron sword.
There will also be some heavily armored spearmen, spearmen with shields, or simply a lone spearman.
For a moment, the spearmen from both sides were stabbing each other across the four-meter-high city wall, and screams continued to sound in the most intense battle between the two sides!