Chapter 321: Battle under the City
Zhou Shuai put down the telescope and said with a smile: "You still treat the red cannon as a treasure!"
"Fire!" Mao Jiu gave the order.
The Kenan Army waved its red flag, and one hundred artillery pieces opened fire simultaneously. Boom, boom, boom! Boom, boom! The two armies began to exchange blows!
The artillery of the Jianlu Eight Banners was the original red cannon of the Ming army, with a maximum range of five kilometers and a limited range of two kilometers.
The Kenan Army's artillery had an effective range of five kilometers, and the Eight Banners troops ahead suffered heavy casualties. The Eight Banners' artillery, in particular, was not easy to train, and the elite troops brought out this time were all elite. A large number of artillerymen were wiped out in an instant.
The artillery shells of the Kenan Army were shrapnel shells, which ignited the gunpowder in the position and caused new explosions, causing chaos in the Eight Banners Army!
Doni did not panic, but instead ordered his cavalry to launch probing attacks from all directions, trying to find the main attack direction of the Kenan Army's position.
Small groups of cavalry probed from eight directions, but they were unable to even reach the edge of the fourth trench. Only in the west did the Eight Banners Army attack the fifth trench.
Donny then decided to launch the main attack from the west. With a wave of the flag, a large group of more than 10,000 cavalry began to attack.
The three trenches weren't easy to cross either. When the cavalry charged the first trench, it immediately erupted in flames. This was because General Zhou had his men sprinkle gasoline on the first trench. When enemy cavalry charged, the men in the second trench would use bows and arrows to shoot flaming arrows into the first trench.
Horses are afraid of fire, and many war horses were frightened and threw their riders off. Some even plunged headfirst into the trenches and turned into burning men and burning horses.
When the fire died down, the cavalry charged forward. The Kenan army retreated to the third trench, while the Eight Banners cavalry arrived in front of and behind the second trench. The Kenan army detonated mines. Another roar of fire erupted, the bombs exploding from the ground upwards. Even if they didn't scare the enemy to death, they would surely rip the bellies of the warhorses apart.
If the horses got hurt, they would drop the soldiers, and if the soldiers fell into the trenches, they would be stabbed to death by the bamboo sticks.
After you managed to get through the first two trenches, the third row of trenches started shooting, shooting arrows and throwing grenades at the second trench.
The cavalrymen were instantly shot into hedgehogs by guns and arrows. Luckily, they survived, but there were grenades coming after them to kill them completely!
It must be said that the Jianlu's horsemanship was not to be underestimated! Even so, they were able to break through the first three trenches. When they reached the fourth trench, the Jianlu cavalry felt that good luck had finally arrived.
They thought that good luck had come and the battle would turn in their favor, so they prepared to attack the fourth, fifth, and sixth trenches.
Looking back, countless cavalrymen were buried beneath his feet. Many parts of the trench had been filled in by the Jianlu soldiers, and some were still groaning under the corpses, shouting for help.
After breaking through the three lines of defense, the Jianlu suffered over 7,000 casualties, while the Kenan army suffered less than 300 casualties.
Donnie saw that the Kenan Army was indeed difficult to deal with. Seven thousand people were just there to fill three trenches. His eyes almost popped out and his teeth were grinding.
One by one, the Eight Banner warriors fell. The Kenan Army's archers and firearmsmen coordinated seamlessly. Sword and shield soldiers protected the archers and firearmsmen. Pikemen were responsible for assassinating any escapees! They also had small cannons firing scattershot. The cavalrymen who were hit were instantly dismembered, and their horses, hit by the bullets, immediately had a large hole in their bodies.
Abu was a cavalryman. He was nearly forty years old. He had fought in countless battles, but he had never seen such a formidable battle. Those killed today were all genuine Eight Banners soldiers; there were no Han soldiers.
In the past, the Ming army never dared to fight the Eight Banners cavalry in the field, but now they were defeated in the Ming army's outer positions.
He looked at his fallen comrades behind him. Together, he had robbed countless Ming civilians and captured countless Ming slaves. He had slaughtered countless Ming soldiers, and now they all lay in the trenches dug by the Ming army. Some were even beaten to a pulp, while others were still screaming at him, "Abu! Kill me!" But he didn't have time to kill them. He had to keep moving forward, rushing through the fourth, fifth, and sixth trenches. He wanted to rush into the Ming army camp and kill them all.
The men in front of them shouted, "Kill! Charge!" Abu followed suit and howled. The sight of blood stirred his bloodlust, and he drew his sword and charged after his companions.
The Ming army suddenly changed their attire. They wore masks with something similar to a pig's nose hanging under the masks.
Abu was confused. What was the purpose of the Ming army carrying this thing? It made him feel terrified!
At this moment, they suddenly saw the Ming army holding large pipes and spraying water mist towards them. When the cavalry encountered the water mist, they immediately covered their faces and screamed, and their war horses spun and kicked in place!
The cavalrymen at a distance began to cough incessantly, even coughing up blood. The horses also became agitated and kept throwing the riders off. The riders were trampled into a pulp.
Donny had a telescope he'd seized from the Ming army. Through it, he could see the cavalryman in front of him, his face covered in blood. It must have been burned! He suddenly remembered the battle in which Hauge had been captured. Many of the men who had returned had recounted their experiences fighting the Ming army.
Some say the Ming army sprayed strong water on people's faces, causing soldiers to instantly become bloody and blind. Even those who weren't sprayed would cough uncontrollably, sometimes even coughing up blood.
"It's Qiangshui! Damn Ming army guys! Retreat!" Donny shouted.
The fourth trench was like hell, and the Eight Banners cavalry no longer dared to move forward.
At this moment, the hot air balloons of the Kenan Army began to move, and they rushed towards the Eight Banners of Jianlu. The fireballs falling from the sky completely collapsed the Zhenglan Banner led by Donny.
The bombs dropped from the hot air balloons were all gasoline bombs, which not only exploded but also burned. Moreover, they exploded a large area and could not be extinguished even by water.
Many cavalrymen were burned to death, and Doni quickly ordered the Jianlu soldiers of the Zhenglan Banner and other banners to retreat.
Looking at the Zhenglan Banner cavalrymen going away, General Zhou said to Mao Jiu, "Prepare to enter the city!"
So after defeating the attack of the Zhenglan Banner, more than 20,000 soldiers of the Kenan Army calmly entered the capital.
Marshal Zhou asked Mao Jiu to organize the people to save the houses, while he led the Ke Nan Army into the Forbidden City to put out the fire.
By the time we arrived at the Forbidden City, the fire had been burning for days. The three main halls had long since been reduced to rubble, but fortunately, the other palaces were relatively unscathed. Some were only half-burned, and in others, only the nearby quarters of the palace maids and eunuchs were burned.
General Zhou took a look and felt that the extent of the damage was acceptable. After some repairs, the little emperor could still live there!
Zhao Xiaofei was very happy when he saw the telegram.
He shouted, "We can go back to the capital now! My lady, let's go back to the capital!"
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