Lu Xiangsheng suddenly realized what was going on and was about to go buy something. The waiter, a perceptive man, came up to help him run errands. It was only a short walk, but he earned Lu Xiangsheng's two-cent tip.
After filling their stomachs, the two men got up and returned to their inns. They made an appointment to have a drink at a hotel in the evening before bidding farewell.
"Something's going to go wrong in the court." Lu Xiangsheng thought as he walked. Based on the questions asked by the emperor in the imperial examination, he made his own guess.
Innovation and revitalization are certainly good things. However, every reform means a change in the officialdom. Clashes between those who support reform and those who oppose it are inevitable, and one side will always lose.
Many people are aware of the Ming Dynasty's accumulated problems, but some don't speak of them, some don't act on them, some even speak of them but find it difficult to act on them, and some even want to act but can't.
"I wonder who this 'Zhang Juzheng' is that the emperor wants to rely on? Is he someone who has the ambition to take the world as his responsibility and the talent to live up to his ambition?"
Lu Xiangsheng put the forum newspaper into his sleeve and looked up. A few clouds drifted across the clear, fresh sky.
………………
"Boom!" A red light flashed from the muzzle, smoke rose, and the solid shell flew towards the slowly approaching observation tower at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Several huge flaming arrows flew out from the top of the city wall and shot towards the watchtower.
One, two, three...the watchtowers built by the Jiannu people caught fire or collapsed under the fierce firepower from the city.
However, several lookouts still approached, and relying on their high ground advantage, the Jiannu archers on them caused considerable casualties to the defenders on the city walls.
"Fire, shoot!" The officers shouted loudly under the protection of their bodyguards' shields.
The giant crossbows defending the city were fully drawn and fired rockets; the large and small Portuguese guns adjusted their muzzles and bombarded the watchtower.
The watchtowers were finally destroyed one after another, and the Jiannu archers on top were unable to come down in a hurry and were killed or injured by the fall.
The heavy siege towers were pushed forward, and more shield carts covered the Jiannu as they approached the city wall. Behind them were soldiers carrying simple ladders.
The corpses and wounded were carried down, and the defense on the city wall was reinforced. There were more soldiers under the city wall, holding weapons and waiting for the order to go up to the city wall.
"A shield cart, push it to the city wall and dig through it?" Gou Zhenhuai hid behind the shield, quickly looked down at the city wall, and curled his lips with some disdain.
"Prepare more fire pots and burn the Jiannu's tower ladder." The officer shouted.
Gou Zhenhuai retreated and also shouted, "Torches are ready! Once the enemy crosses the line, fire your cannons! Fire hard, fire hard!"
As the tower ladder approached, the defenders, as usual, launched a long-range attack with artillery and crossbows. When they got closer, archers joined in, firing a dense barrage of rockets.
The Jiannu soldiers protected by shield carts came into range, and the archers drew their bows and arrows behind the shield carts and fired suppressing shots at the top of the city walls.
Screams were heard everywhere. Although the auxiliary soldiers held up their shields and tried their best to provide cover for the archers, the casualties of the defenders continued to increase under the dense rain of arrows from the Jiannu.
"Boom!" The artillery roared on the city wall, and the shells flew out, bounced on the hard ground and crashed into the enemy formation, destroying a shield cart and killing two Jiannu soldiers behind the shield cart.
Under the cover of shields, the Ming soldiers defending the city took advantage of a run-up and threw fire pots at the tower ladders. After suffering certain casualties, they finally burned down all the tower ladders of the Jiannu.
The sound of war drums suddenly became urgent, boom, boom, boom, as if hitting people's ears.
With a cry, the Jiannu soldiers carrying ladders suddenly rushed forward, running towards the city. Covering their movement was an even denser rain of arrows fired from behind the shield carts.
The tower ladder was destroyed, and more and more cannons on the city walls began to turn their muzzles and fire at the Jiannu's shield carts.
The hard, frozen ground amplified the power of the cannonballs, which bounced and shattered the shield carts into pieces. The flying wood chips killed or wounded the Jiannu pushing the shield carts and the archers behind them.
"A trapped beast still fights?!" Daishan narrowed his eyes, feeling that the defenders of Youtunwei City were really tenacious, and their military strength was not small either.
Could it be that we pushed them too hard, but we had already set up a formation of surrounding three sides and leaving one side open, leaving them a way to escape?
If it was changed to surround two and leave two, the chance of escape would be greater, so would the defenders not fight so hard?
Daishan thought so, but it was too late to change the arrangement now, so he could only continue with the planned attack.
The Jiannu, carrying ladders, rushed forward, followed by a large number of armored soldiers. The destruction of the watchtowers and towers meant that they had no choice but to attack in this way.
The shield carts were also advancing, and the archers continued to suppress the city walls and provide cover.
One shell after another fell into the Jiannu formation, bouncing and destroying any obstacles in its way, whether they were shield carts or flesh and blood bodies.
But in the surging siege troops, the blood line caused by the artillery shells quickly disappeared like a stone thrown into a rapid stream.
Several tiger squat cannons also roared on the top of the city wall, firing countless shrapnel, causing casualties to the enemy.
Sixty meters, fifty meters, forty meters, thirty meters...
"Fire, fire, fire, fire!" Gou Zhenhuai only showed his eyes behind the city wall. When he saw the enemy crossing the line, he immediately shouted at the top of his voice.
Then, holding a shield in one hand and a torch in the other, he trotted along the city wall, shouting and directing the soldiers to ignite and fire their cannons.
Boom, boom, boom, boom…
Suddenly, a slightly dull sound of cannon fire was heard from the top of the city wall, and flashes of fire shot out, accompanied by a large amount of rising smoke.
The dense sound of artillery fire really surprised the Later Jin army. Even Daishan, who was commanding the troops from behind the formation, stared with eyes wide open, his face full of disbelief.
Thousands of broken stones and iron pieces rained down on the Later Jin army under the city, screams and wails rang out one after another, and the momentum of the attack was halted.
The range and power of this wooden cannon were very limited, but while it was not easy to kill, it was easy to injure. Even for armored soldiers, the face, arms, and legs were weak points of protection and could not withstand the dense shrapnel.
Bang, bang, bang... Hundreds of three-barreled guns fired again from the city, with a density no less than that of wooden cannons.
This thing has a short range and low accuracy, and cannot compare to a bow and crossbow; it has little power and can only penetrate armor within thirty steps; the reloading speed is too slow, and it is of little use in field battles.
But in defending the city, at this distance, it inflicted a heavy blow to the Later Jin army.
Ah, ah—the unfortunate fellow whose face was covered with bruises rolled on the ground, covering his bloody face and screaming in pain.
The Jiannu soldiers who were shot in the arms and legs were also in a bad state. At the very least, their movements were affected and they were basically unable to participate in the siege. In addition, the cold environment made the wounds easily inflamed, and the medical level at the time was difficult to treat.
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