Following Qin Liangyu's order, seventy-seven heavy red cannons opened fire.
boom!
A loud explosion was heard outside Tongguan.
The shock wave produced by the gunpowder explosion squeezed the air and waved far away, and the earth trembled under the impact of the huge energy.
Seventy-seven large lead bullets smashed into Tongguan City with the anger of the Ming army.
In the 16th year of Chongzhen, after Sun Chuanting was defeated in Tongguan, this pass fell into the hands of Li Zicheng. Three years have passed, and it is time for it to return to the embrace of the Ming Dynasty.
Bang!
Bang!
Lead bullets hit the city wall one after another, making a thrilling sound and vibration.
The Ming army's artillery fired all its guns at one area, and the projectiles first broke the bricks of the city wall, and then slowly smashed it.
A concave area appeared on the flat city wall.
At first, the defenders dared to stand on the city wall to resist the enemy, but as the incoming bullets became more and more frequent, their courage was quickly worn out.
"General...General, the Ming army's artillery fire is too fierce. It's better to avoid their attack temporarily!" a soldier said to Liu Zongmin.
Liu Zongmin nodded, walked down the steps of the city wall to find Li Zicheng to discuss how to defend the city.
Li Zicheng had known about this situation for a long time. He hid behind the city wall and pondered in silence.
"Your Majesty," Liu Zongming came to Li Zicheng and bowed, "This is not a solution..."
"I know." Li Zicheng said in a dull tone.
"I am willing to lead a troop out of the city to fight the Ming army in the field. I don't seek a big victory, as long as we can kill those artillerymen." Liu Zongmin suggested.
At that time, artillery was a relatively professional branch of the military.
It's not enough to be an artilleryman just by loading gunpowder and projectiles. You also need to be able to aim, adjust the firing angle of the artillery, etc.
As long as these artillerymen were killed, the Ming army's artillery would lose its effectiveness because no one would use it.
"Go, and be careful." Li Zicheng said helplessly.
If we don’t leave the city and fight on the field, the wall of Tongguan will be destroyed.
Tongguan will be lost after the wall collapses!
At noon, Liu Zongmin led 5,000 infantry and cavalry and quickly left the city through the east gate.
After leaving the city, they quickly formed a battle line with cavalry in front and infantry behind, and rushed towards the Ming army's artillery positions.
"Stop firing, stop firing!" the Ming army artillery general shouted and waved the command flag.
After receiving the order, the artillerymen quickly fired the last shell and then raised the flag to signal backwards.
Seeing this, the infantry formation behind them immediately moved forward and surrounded them.
Liu Zongmin's cavalry quickly arrived before them.
One hundred steps!
Bang!
The musketeer standing in the front row pulled the trigger, and a row of bullets rained out.
These bird-gun soldiers used the latest Rumi guns issued by the court, which had a long range and great power.
The Shun army cavalry were shot one after another. Some covered their wounds and screamed in pain, while others fell off their horses and were trampled into meat paste by the war horses behind them.
Bang bang bang!
With the coordination of the three-stage attack tactics, the Ming army's firepower was extremely fierce and intensive.
Seeing that his cavalry suffered heavy losses, Liu Zongmin immediately retreated from the battlefield with great heartache.
At this time, the Shun army infantry attacked.
Due to the complex terrain outside Tongguan City, chariots could not be used as cover.
So these soldiers were all wearing armor and holding shields.
"Kill!" Every five steps forward, they shouted the word "Kill" collectively.
"kill!"
The two sides are getting closer and closer.
Bang!
The bird-gun soldiers took the lead in launching the attack!
The rain of bullets penetrated the shields and hit the soldiers' armor, making a popping sound.
Some were injured and some died, but no one retreated!
They are the few elite Shun troops!
Can't retreat, there is no way to retreat!
After losing hundreds of soldiers, they finally came into close combat with the Ming army.
The spear pierced the heavy armor and the short sword hit the shield.
Boom! Boom!
Grenades of all sizes flew up from the camps of both sides and landed in the enemy's camp.
The sound of the explosion made the soldiers' ears buzz, and the smoke made it difficult for the soldiers to see if they were the enemy or not.
The infantry offensive was forced to stop temporarily.
Seeing this, Liu Zongmin sent out cavalry again...
At this time, he had already led the cavalry around the flank of the Ming army. After hearing the explosion of the grenade, he shouted: "My men, follow me and kill!"
Boom boom boom!
The sound of war horses' hooves was like thunder, and they charged fiercely at the flanks of the Ming army.
Qin Liangyu was prepared.
She divided Li Xingzhong's cavalry into two.
One part ambushed on the left wing, and the other part ambushed on the right wing.
Seeing the enemy cavalry attacking, the Ming cavalry rode forward to meet the enemy.
The two sides started a chase in the wilderness.
Two quarters of an hour later, the Shun army's infantry was the first to be defeated!
The Ming army's infantry did not take advantage of the situation to attack, but instead held their positions to protect the artillery.
Seeing that the infantry had been defeated, the Shun cavalry had no choice but to abandon their companions and flee back into the city.
"Continue to bombard the city walls!" Qin Liangyu put her hands behind her back, her eyes sharp.
Boom-boom-boom!
The bombardment lasted from morning till evening.
After returning to the camp, Qin Liangyu focused on deploying the defenses around the camp before falling asleep carefully.
The next morning, the Ming army returned.
Still the same tactics, still the same result.
The Shun army retreated again!
In the following days, Gao Yigong, Li Guo, Gu Kecheng, Liu Tichun, Yuan Zongde and Li Laiheng took turns to go out of the city to fight against the Ming army, but they all ended in failure!
It’s not that they are incompetent, it’s just that they are facing the fully paid Ming army!
With the addition of Qin Liangyu, the Ming army's combat effectiveness and morale reached their peak!
On the morning of May 9th, the Ming army began to bombard the city again!
The outside of Tongguan city wall is made of bricks, and the inside is made of earth.
It is simply a fantasy to want to directly destroy the city wall.
But the Ming army had the means and the patience.
They concentrated their artillery fire on a protruding corner of the city wall, first breaking the bricks, and then using the shells as tools to dig the soil to continuously bombard the adobe.
Once the soil of the adobe becomes loose, this section of the wall will collapse because there is no support at the bottom.
boom!
Crash!
After several days of continuous bombardment by the Red Cannon, a section of the city wall on the east side of Tongguan was finally collapsed (the Qing Dynasty also collapsed the city wall when it attacked Tongguan).
"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened. The city wall has collapsed!" The messenger rushed to Li Zicheng and told him the news.
When Li Zicheng heard the news, he was shocked at first, then suddenly calmed down.
He stood up and ordered, "Pass the order down, all soldiers go out of the east gate and line up, ready to fight the Ming army to the death!"
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