Some artillery pieces were directly hit by shells fired by the Ming army, and their barrels were broken, rendering them useless.
Some of the guns collapsed while firing.
Some artillery pieces also generated severe heat from continuous firing and had to be stopped to cool down.
"Report!" After the artillery battle ended in the evening, the herald came to Jirgalang and said, "Prince Zheng, our army lost two red cannons and four medium cannons in today's artillery battle."
"It doesn't matter," Jirgalang laughed. "As long as we can stop the Ming army from crossing the river, it doesn't matter if we lose a lot of artillery. If we delay for another ten days or half a month, the city will freeze over, and all the siege methods used by the Ming army will be ineffective."
"Your Highness is wise." The people around him began to echo.
On the seventh and eighth of September, the Ming army repeated its old tactics and bombarded the city with artillery for two days.
After counting the number of exploded artillery pieces, Jirgalang could no longer laugh.
At this rate of barrel explosion, he would be left with no guns to use in less than ten days!
"Order all the cannons on the Jinzhou city walls to move to the shore!" Jirgalang gave the order decisively.
On the ninth day of September, the Ming army launched a general offensive.
First there was a round of artillery fire, and then countless Ming troops entered the river and launched an attack on the other side of the river along the pontoon bridge.
The Jiannu soldiers on the other side of the river fought desperately.
The two sides fought over the river bank.
The battle lasted until noon, when the Ming army temporarily retreated.
The fierce fighting for several days not only caused huge casualties on both sides, but also made the soldiers exhausted.
Looking at the listless Eight Banners soldiers, Jirgalang ordered: "Send an order to the Jinzhou garrison commander to leave only a few old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers in the city to guard the city gates, and the rest of the garrison troops should all go to the shore to garrison. I want to fight a war of attrition with the Ming army!"
At two o'clock in the afternoon, the Ming army launched another attack.
They reached the river bank several times and were repelled several times.
At the beginning of the afternoon, the sound of artillery fire from the Jiannu camp suddenly stopped.
"What's going on?" Jirgalang was furious. "Didn't I tell them to take turns firing and ensure that the cannon fire wouldn't stop? Why did it stop?"
"Your Highness, we're out of gunpowder!" The herald ran in in a panic.
"Then we should move it to Jinzhou City. There are at least 100,000 kilograms of gunpowder inside."
"Your Majesty," the messenger's voice trembled, "the guards refused to open the gate, and the baggage soldiers could not enter the city gate."
"Can't get in?" Jirgalang was a little puzzled, "What's going on?"
"I don't know the details, we are still investigating."
As they were talking, a scout came running in, "Your Highness, there has been a rebellion in Jinzhou City. The rebels have occupied the four gates and have raised the Ming flag on the city wall!"
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