What made Zhangguli even more frightened was that the defenders on the city wall in front of him were also attacking.
They threw down several sky bombs that emitted blue smoke. Under the continuous explosions, the Later Jin officers and soldiers under the city wall were either killed or injured. Only a few shallow marks of shovels and pickaxes were left on the watered and frozen city wall.
Such a blow - Zhangguli lay on the ground, looking at the Ningyuan city wall spewing flames and white smoke at close range, and finally understood the insidiousness and viciousness of such a construction and defense.
Whether attacking the slope or the relatively straight section of the wall, they would be bombarded by direct or crossfire, rolling logs and stones from the top of the wall, or even bombs dropped on their heads.
This was an all-round attack with no blind spots at all, which means that there was no place in the city that the Jin army thought was safe after attacking it.
Puffs of white smoke rose above the city walls as the Ming army's musketry fired round after round, interweaving from the front and the sides. To Zhangguli's senses, there seemed to be no pause.
Boom, boom, boom... More deafening and powerful roars rang out, and the cannons on the top of the city roared in brighter flames and thicker white smoke.
The shells flew through the air at a speed visible to the naked eye and smashed into the distance. Zhangguli felt relieved, but he didn't know that it was Tong Yangxing who urged the Han soldiers to push the cannons forward, drawing the firepower of the Ming army on the city wall.
With the advantage of being high above, even the Portuguese artillery, which had poor air-holding ability, had a range comparable to the old-fashioned artillery brought by the Later Jin army.
Speaking of old-style artillery, the Ming army also had quite a few on the city wall. Except for more than twenty red-haired cannons, none of them could actually be considered new.
The shells flew over the attacking Later Jin army, flew over trenches and obstacles, bounced off the ground, causing blood and flesh to fly all the way, or shattered shield carts and artillery carts.
The Red Cannon roared again, its power and accuracy far exceeding other artillery, and its target was determined to be a group of Jiannu cavalry quietly approaching Ningyuan.
After the third red cannon shell bounced off the ground and penetrated half of the Jiannu cavalry formation, the old slave was forced to retreat under the strong support of the generals.
Don't think that by not making a big announcement, you'll be able to slip through the net and observe the battle situation. Sitting back and commanding will naturally make you appear slow, and let those Jiannu pay the price of more casualties for this!
Xiong Tingbi put down the telescope, but the artillery commander Luo Li discovered a new target and instructed the artillery to adjust the muzzle and aim at Manggurtai who was commanding in the front.
It is not a surprising tactic to utilize the accuracy, range and power of the Red Cannon to snipe important enemy generals.
Of course, even though the Red Cannon was highly accurate, it was only relative to other older artillery pieces. Within its effective range, the heavy matchlock musket had a higher accuracy than the Red Cannon.
After all, when expecting a shell to hit or kill a person from a distance of several hundred meters or nearly a thousand meters, luck is more important than skill.
At this point, Zhangguli was still alive, even though he was lucky and experienced. But over time, even good luck couldn't save him.
The Later Jin army not only had shield carts, but also a kind of siege vehicle with a pointed roof. The top was like a roof, and the slope was to reduce the damage caused by rolling logs and stones.
With the shelter and cover overhead, the Jiannu could dig through the walls and the city relatively safely from beneath their chariots. Zhangguli had seized the opportunity to sneak in, surviving the hail of bullets.
There was a rumbling sound overhead, followed by an explosion nearby, and shrapnel clanged against the siege vehicles. As Zhangguli fretted, the siege vehicles once again withstood this devastating attack.
A large piece of the thick ice on the city wall had been chiseled away, revealing the bricks. Several Jiannu soldiers became more excited and dug even harder.
Another explosion sounded, much quieter, but fireworks soon spread like venomous snakes. The Ming army on the city wall used explosive incendiary bombs and threw down quilts soaked in gunpowder and grease.
As the fire grew, choking smoke filled the carriages, and the Jiannu could no longer stay. Coughing, crying, and with runny noses, they fled in panic.
The muskets outside were still roaring, and a row of lead bullets were fired. Several Jiannu soldiers were either killed or injured. Some of them were not killed for the time being, but their bodies were on fire. They screamed miserably and stumbled and rolled.
Zhangguli jumped out of the siege vehicle with quick movements. He wanted to hide in a small pit that he had chosen.
Lead bullets whizzed around him, and just when he was only one leap away from the small pit, a lead bullet hit his thigh.
It was a heavy musket bullet, its destructive force nearly blowing off half his leg. He screamed in agony as blood and flesh flew everywhere, falling facedown on the edge of the pit.
A guard rolled and crawled into the small pit, his face covered in sweat, pale, and his lips trembling. From his terrified eyes, it was clear that he was about to collapse from fear.
"Help, save me." Zhangguli raised his head with difficulty and made a pleading sound.
It was unbelievable that a slave owner, so high and mighty, would beg a slave. But the seriously injured Zhangguli could no longer think of such things, and only the simplest desire to survive remained.
Zhao Huaiyi shrank back, staring blankly at the Jurchen official who was begging him. After a long while, he rolled his eyes and reached out to drag Zhangguli inside.
Zhangguli howled in agony, leaning against the edge of the pit with his face raised. Flames flickered on the city walls, and volleys of bullets rained down. Smoke drifted in the air, sometimes thick, sometimes thin, like clouds moving in the wind.
The severe pain has subsided, not because Zhao Huaiyi bandaged him, but because the continuous flow of blood made his limbs numb in the cold.
Zhangguli saw the bloody leg and felt a chill running through his body. He tilted his head slightly and saw the guard huddled to the side.
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