Chapter 373: Changping City
Kong Youde's explanation was very clear. His troops had replaced their artillery with new ones and had also been given earth mines for defense. It could be said that according to the current deployment, the artillery and mines alone would be enough to hold off the Jianlu for a long time. Even if they forced their way through the fire coverage area, they would suffer heavy losses.
If the remaining ones can really get close, the Guanning Army will be able to deal with them.
The original Guanning Iron Cavalry, combined with the Kenan Army's cavalry, formed a mobile force, able to reach the battlefield at the fastest speed, whether for support or counterattack. As for those modified agricultural vehicles, they were only ready to be beaten in such mountainous terrain. They were only suitable for assaults and battlefields on plains.
"Very good. As long as you serve the court wholeheartedly in the future, you will not only wash away the shame, but also become the new nobles of the court. I hope to hear the news of your promotion in the future. Here I will toast you with a glass of tea instead of wine!" Zhao Xiaokun picked up the tea and drank a glass with everyone.
"Report! Admiral, the Tartars, the Tartars are coming!" said a communications soldier holding a report.
Zhao Xiaokun took the letter and opened it. He saw that the Jianlu had entered the Great Wall from Gubeikou in Miyun and were heading south all the way to Changping County. They were moving very fast.
There were no emergency repairs arriving at Gubeikou yet, so there were only a small number of troops stationed there, and they had been given orders to act accordingly. It was unknown how many of them would survive!
"Sir! Where are they?" Kong Youde asked.
"They have arrived in Changping County. They plan to capture Changping County first, and then attack us from behind!" said Zhao Xiaokun.
"Who is guarding Changping County?" Kong Youde asked.
"That's General Wanshan, don't worry. The Jianlu will also suffer a bloody defeat if they go there. Wanshan is a master of firearms." Zhao Xiaokun said.
At this time, tens of thousands of the Eight Banners of Jianlu were surrounding Changping County. They shouted loudly at the foot of the city: "Surrender and you will not be killed, otherwise you will be massacred!"
Wanshan, standing on the city wall, looked down upon the people below who were like ants with contempt.
Why do the Jianlu Eight Banners cavalry look like ants from the city wall? Because the city wall was built too high. Before the Jianlu Eight Banners left the capital, they destroyed the walls of all the cities around the capital.
After the Ming army recaptured the capital, they repaired the capital and the surrounding cities.
The minimum height of each city wall was 20 meters. It should be noted that the wall of the Forbidden City was only 10 meters high at that time.
When Wanshan heard that he was asked to defend Changping County, he specifically asked Zhao Xiaofei for more cement. He repaired the city wall to 25 meters high. When the Jianlu arrived in Changping County, they thought they had reached the Forbidden City!
At this time, after the Jianlu looted the capital, many people were reluctant to fight. However, when they found that the gold and silver they looted could not be exchanged for much food, they had no choice but to pick up swords and guns and re-enlist.
But after easily conquering the Gubeikou Great Wall, they were stunned when they arrived at this familiar yet unfamiliar wall. They thought, "What's going on? This wall is too high! Do you even know how to build a city? This isn't the way you play."
Wan Shan said to Mao Jiu, "Don't be fooled by these idiots' shouting. Few of them dare to move. We won't move either. Even if they bring out the artillery, there's no need to rush. Don't you see who built this road?"
The leader of the team today was Jirgalang, Shuerhaci's sixth son. Jirgalang asked the left leader beside him, "Can the cannons reach the city?"
Zuo Ling said, "Yes! But I've never attacked such a high wall before! And the higher the wall, the harder it is to hit..."
"No need to say anything, let's fire a few shots at him first to scare the Ming army!" said Jirgalang.
Commander Zuo took the order and left, thinking to himself: "Don't you know the current strength of the Ming army? Don't you have any idea of the situation? Scare them? Don't turn around and scare us, or we'll be the ones who get scared."
After the Jianlu army prepared more than a dozen artillery pieces, Zuo Ling ordered an attack on the city gate.
Boom boom boom! Wanshan stood on the top of the city wall and didn't even try to hide. Mao Jiu was actually quite scared.
"General Wan, go down and hide!" Mao Jiu said.
"Why are you hiding? They rely on blinding when firing their artillery, how can they be as accurate as us? Wait until they finish firing, then we'll open fire!" Wanshan said.
Jirgalang lowered his telescope; the artillery needed to cool down before continuing the attack. Not a single shell hit the gatehouse; only a few craters appeared on the city wall.
"How are you aiming? Keep attacking after it cools down!" Jirgalang cursed.
"Yes!" said Zuo Ling.
Just as they were waiting for the artillery to cool down, white smoke rose from the city wall and many black spots flew towards the artillery position.
Boom boom boom, a sea of fire rose into the sky. Wanshan made a homemade rocket from a gas canister, lit the fuse and flew towards the Jianlu artillery position.
The Jian Lu had few artillery pieces to begin with. Although they had acquired a number of artillery craftsmen after plundering the capital, they could only produce old-style artillery pieces, and their gunpowder was not as powerful as that of the Ming army, so they could only passively withstand the attacks. They also did not understand the principle that artillery should be moved to another location after each round of firing.
Moreover, artillery is easy to make, but artillery personnel are hard to come by. The Ming army's artillerymen have calipers to use, while other armies are now firing artillery, which is all based on guesswork!
Jirgalang was frightened and immediately ordered his soldiers to retreat. Unfortunately, his luck was bad. A rocket fragment hit him directly on the head and he immediately fell off his horse.
"Hurry, come! Protect the flag owner!" the left leader shouted loudly.
On the city wall, Wanshan took a sip of tea and said leisurely, "Come on, prepare to open the city gate! We will also meet this flag master!"
"Yes!" said Mao Jiu.
Mao Jiu was now the garrison commander of Changping, and his rank had risen rapidly. He went down to the city, assembled his troops, opened the gates, and rushed out.
The sound of horses' hooves and their neighings rushed towards the enemy, and missiles from the sky fell among the enemy from time to time.
Jirgalang was overjoyed to see that the Ming army dared to come out of the city and fight them in the field.
"The Ming army actually dared to go out of the city to fight in the field. Good! Let the elite Eight Banners have a good time with them. Charge!" Jirgalang said.
The rumbling sound of iron hooves and the oncoming Ming army cavalry slowly merged together.
The sounds of howling, fighting, and the clash of weapons were intertwined.
"Why don't they fire their guns? Have they forgotten?" Wanshan said hatefully.
In fact, it was not that they did not dare to fire or forgot to fire, but because the hit rate of the cavalry gun was too low, in order to ensure the hit rate, the cavalry would only fire when they were close.
When we got closer, we found that the other party was using firearms, and we couldn't escape even if we wanted to.
Bang, bang, bang, the Jianlu Eight Banners cavalry were knocked off their horses one after another. Some were shot to death by muskets, while others were trampled to death by other horses after falling off their horses!
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