But the Xixia people had not used it yet, which gave the Song army an advantage.

Wang Shiyun asked the flag bearer to convey the order that the artillery had been installed. When Jingtai, who was at the foot of the mountain, learned about this, he was quite puzzled.

"How did you get it done so quickly?"

"They should be using the Xixia artillery. Dongshan has also sent back a message saying that it has been fired."

"These bastards are quite smart, so let them open fire."

"yes."

The messenger conveyed his instructions.

Soon the artillery on the top of the mountain began to adjust its direction with difficulty.

Although it has poor flexibility, it is much faster than transporting artillery from the bottom of the mountain to the top.

About seven or eight minutes later, with the roar of artillery on the West Mountain, the Song Dynasty fired the first shot at Zhuolao City.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!"

The roar of artillery shook the sky.

White smoke rose from the mountains on both sides, and more than ten lead bullets on the mountains drew a brilliant arc in the air and fell into the city.

Some of the shells missed their target and did not hit Zhuola City, while others directly hit the city wall. A small portion of them fell into the city, causing chaos and panic.

To be honest, it is very difficult to hit people with long-range artillery. Unless the enemy has tens of thousands of troops arranged in an endless formation, you can hit them with your eyes closed.

However, ancient cities often covered an area of ​​more than two or three square kilometers. With such a large target, the probability of hitting someone was no less than buying a lottery ticket.

However, although these more than ten shells caused almost no casualties, they were still scary.

It's so damn scary.

Seeing the houses collapsing in the city, the shells embedded in the city walls, and the death approaching, all the Western Xia soldiers in the city could not help but tremble.

Many people looked up and saw the shells falling into the city. They panicked and ran away, fearing that the shells would fall on them.

The remaining people who were still calm tried to hide behind the parapet and prayed that they were the lucky ones.

However, this is only the first round.

Immediately after more than a minute, the Song army launched a second round of artillery attack.

Then comes the third round and the fourth round.

While the artillery was suppressing the enemy, the Song cavalry began to move forward and slowly reached about one kilometer outside the city.

"Guard, the barrel is too hot and the brothers are afraid it will explode."

After five or six rounds of artillery fire, the crew members responsible for firing expressed their embarrassment.

As experienced artillerymen, they have trained in all kinds of artillery on the training ground.

From the earliest copper cannons to the later steel cannons, the Song Dynasty's artillery actually tried to prioritize safety.

The production cost of wrought iron cannons is low, but the burst rate is too high. In particular, the ironware of the Song Dynasty contained too much sulfur, resulting in a burst rate higher than the 25% in the Battle of Songjin in the Ming Dynasty.

For this reason, the artillery crew members no longer dared to continue firing.

Wang Shiyun looked at the Xixia army's iron cannon with some disdain and said, "This broken cannon has such a slow firing rate and is so dangerous. The Xixia people can only make some scrap metal."

"The other side has also stopped. I guess they are facing the same problem as us."

The lookout saw that the troops on the opposite hill had also stopped.

"Have the guns been delivered?"

"Almost there. We've reached the top of the mountain. We'll probably be there in half a quarter of an hour."

"Then fire two more shots."

"yes."

The crew waited patiently for a while, and after it cooled down a bit, they fired another shot.

The Xixia people's artillery technology is still far behind.

Whether in terms of workmanship or raw materials, it is incomparable to the artillery of the Song Dynasty.

If the Xixia people's artillery was still at the level of the Ming Dynasty, the Song Dynasty's artillery was already at the level before World War I.

Even now, breech-loading muskets and cannons have appeared, but because the replacement cost is relatively high and they were invented not long ago, they have not been immediately promoted to the entire army.

At this time, Jingtai at the foot of the mountain saw that the artillery suppression on the top of the mountain seemed to have slackened a bit, and probably understood the situation, so he said: "Keep pushing forward."

"yes."

The messenger immediately took out the horn from his waist and blew it.

Immediately afterwards, the Song army, which had been moving forward at a constant speed, began to disperse to the left and right. Tens of thousands of people on horseback had no formation at all, but moved forward quickly separately.

In later generations, there was a slogan about the coordination between infantry and artillery: "Artillery bombards, artillery bombards, and after the artillery bombards, the infantry charges; infantry charges, infantry charges, and after the infantry cannot charge, the artillery bombards." This describes the standard tactical relationship between infantry and artillery.

The Song army's artillery fire had suppressed the city, and the Western Xia army on Zhuola City was bombarded so hard that they could not raise their heads. This was when the cavalry approached.

But at this moment the Song army's artillery stopped. If they continued to stand there, they would only be hit, so they simply charged.

The war horses first moved forward slowly, and then the cavalry in the front began to increase their horsepower, urging the horses to accelerate. The soldiers rushed forward all the way. They were scattered on the vast plain land, and there was no cavalry close to them within a few kilometers around them.

It was only necessary to form a group in the era of cold weapons, but in the era of firearms, forming a group was seeking death.

Sure enough, taking advantage of the temporary silence of the Song army's artillery on the mountain, the Xixia people hastily organized a resistance, and the artillery on the city wall began to counterattack, roaring and firing towards the outside of the city.

But the Song army was too scattered, and except for a few unlucky ones, the casualties could be described as negligible.

The Western Xia army fired only two rounds, causing more than a hundred casualties, and the Song army artillery on the hill began firing again, with an intensity several times more exaggerated than before.

Because the Western Xia was weak, even with the whole country's efforts, only more than 200 cannons were built. After all, the cost of one cannon alone was more than 500 strings of cash, and with other miscellaneous expenses, the total cost was close to 1,000 strings of cash.

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