All fear comes from insufficient firepower. When the firepower is sufficient, it is the enemy that will be afraid.
The Ming army bombarded the southern city wall of Qujing with 600 cannons for a whole day.
By the time the sun set, all the battlements on the city wall had been knocked down, and even some of the bricks showed signs of loosening.
Li Dingguo did not show any happy expression after seeing the changes in the city wall.
He was born a bandit, and no one knew how to attack a city better than him.
The city of Qujing was first built in the 21st year of Hongwu. It is a stone brick city. The base is stone and the upper part is brick. The city wall is six li and three li in circumference, three zhang high and one zhang thick. There are four gates, watchtowers on the city and a moat outside the city.
It was almost impossible to bring down the city walls with cannons.
"Withdraw the troops and return to the camp!" Li Dingguo gave the military order after putting down his clairvoyance.
The 30,000-strong army was forced to leave the battlefield and return to the camp.
On the way back, Li Dingguo met Gao Wengui and asked in a low voice, "Has the water source of the moat been cut off?"
"It's blocked. The water source of Qujing moat comes from Baishi River, three miles away. There was little rain this year, and the water of Baishi River is almost dry. It's easy to block the water diversion channel with earth and rocks."
"That's good!" Li Dingguo nodded.
The next morning, the Ming army continued to bombard the city walls.
The sound of artillery fire continued from morning until noon.
"General, there is smoke rising from the city!" Gao Wengui ran up to Li Dingguo and said loudly.
"Gather and attack the city!" He would not give the enemy time to eat.
Under the command of Li Dingguo, a vanguard battalion of 3,000 men rushed forward with trench bridges and ladders.
Five thousand musket soldiers and archers followed closely behind.
The front team built a trench bridge across the moat to open up an attack route, while the rear team pushed ladders across the moat to the bottom of the city wall.
"One, two, three... rise!" More than a dozen Ming soldiers pulled the rope at the same time to raise the ladder.
"kill!"
"The Ming army is mighty!"
The soldiers, holding shields in their left hands and swords in their right hands, began to climb the ladders in teams of five.
Upon seeing this, the Tusi soldiers on the city wall immediately fought back with bows and arrows, kerosene, and rolling logs and stones.
"Go to hell!" A chieftain soldier was holding a pot of lit kerosene and was about to pour it down.
With a bang!
He had just leaned out and had not had time to pour the kerosene when the musketeers covering the city opened fire.
The battlements of the city wall had long disappeared, and without cover, the chieftain soldiers were directly exposed to the guns of the Ming army.
Under normal circumstances, they could still use artillery equipped with hundreds of bullets to fight back.
It’s no use now, their artillery has been damaged by the Ming army’s artillery shells.
Without the help of artillery, the killing ability of the soldiers defending the city was greatly weakened.
The Ming army covering from behind had a clear target: to attack anyone who showed their head on the city wall.
At such a short distance, even a bird gun soldier who had trained for a month or two could hit seven or eight out of ten targets.
The bird guns pierced through the armor of the chieftain's soldiers, causing them various fatal or non-fatal injuries.
With a loud bang.
The Tusi soldier was hit by a bullet, and the kerosene basin in his hand fell on the city wall, and the burning kerosene spilled all over the ground.
"Put out the fire, put out the fire!" The defenders slapped the flames, trying to put out the fire in the most primitive way.
The flames rose instead of falling, forcing nearby soldiers to retreat and avoid them.
Bang bang bang!
The sound of bird guns continued to ring out, and the chieftains' soldiers who showed their heads were named one by one.
The chieftain's soldiers fell one after another!
"Throw the rolling log quickly!" Seeing that the Ming army was about to rush to the top of the city wall, Sha Yimin shot arrows and shouted orders.
Two Tusi soldiers were carrying a rolling log and were about to throw it down!
Without waiting for them to let go, the musketeer by the moat pulled the trigger again.
Ziz--bang!
The lead bullet fired from the bird gun hit the chieftain's soldier directly on the head, and he instantly lost control and fell off the city wall.
The log fell to the ground on the city wall and rolled weakly to one side.
"Kill!" Under the cover of the bird-gun soldiers, the Ming army attacking the city successfully climbed up the city wall.
Swish!
Before they could stand firm, rows of spears stabbed forward.
This is the defenders' last line of defense and also their psychological defense.
Although the Ming army attacking the city wore heavy armor that could withstand sharp weapons, they could not withstand the enemy's thrust.
With the joint efforts of four or five chieftains' soldiers, the first Ming army soldier to climb onto the city wall was pushed down by them.
Before screams could be heard, the second Ming army turned around and attacked the city wall.
He blocked the incoming spears with his left hand, then used inertia to lunge forward and knocked down three or four spearmen to the ground.
The remaining spearmen immediately turned their spears around and stabbed at the Ming army.
However, the opponent was wearing heavy armor and was only slightly injured by the attack of the armor-piercing spear.
"Get out of the way!" A burly man rushed over with a mace in his hand and smashed the Ming army soldiers on the ground hard on their backs.
puff!
The back of the Ming soldier on the ground collapsed instantly, and he lost his life while bleeding from his mouth and nose.
Just as the chieftain's soldiers were about to cheer, they realized they had made a big mistake.
They had spent so much time and energy on this Ming army that when they finally came to their senses, three Ming soldiers had climbed up the ladders.
The Ming army under the ladders were also climbing up continuously!
"Kill!" The three Ming soldiers roared like tigers.
They formed a military formation with their backs to each other and spun around to penetrate into the crowd of chieftains.
The left hand shield blocks the blunt weapon, and the right hand sword lightly draws, heavily cuts, and chops!
The Tusi soldiers are indeed not weak in individual combat, but the prerequisite is that they have the same equipment.
The Ming army wore heavy armor that could ignore all damage except blunt force damage.
In contrast, most of the Tusi soldiers only wore homemade armor, which not only had a small protective area but also had very poor protective capabilities.
Under the attack of the three Ming army formations, the nearby chieftain soldiers retreated and avoided.
"The Ming army is mighty!" The five soldiers from the second team climbed up the ladder.
Eight Ming soldiers gathered together to form a human wall, blocking the ladders and the chieftain's soldiers.
"kill!"
"kill!"
"kill!"
The Ming army shouted "Kill" every time they advanced, and continued to expand their positions by relying on the advantage of armor.
In the blink of an eye, another dozen Ming soldiers climbed up. They had fuses wrapped around their left hands, grenades in their right hands, and swords hanging around their waists.
After rushing up the city wall, these people immediately lit the fuse of the grenade and then threw the grenade into the crowded area.
Boom, boom, boom, explosions continued to sound.
Bullets flew everywhere and thick smoke billowed.
The soldiers at the center of the explosion were blown unconscious and fell to the ground, not knowing whether they were dead or alive.
The soldiers nearby were not in a much better condition. Their ears were buzzing, stars were flying before their eyes, and they were experiencing various symptoms of discomfort in their bodies.
"Brothers, go ahead. The credit for being the first to reach the summit will be ours!" The Ming army pounced forward like demons.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
