Chapter 83: Gongji County Defense War 2
At this moment, the enemy army began to call back, and the remaining soldiers began to run frantically. Like the ebbing tide, some soldiers even dropped their weapons. The young and strong civilians on the city wall laughed heartily. They also became more confident that they could defeat the Eight Banners Jian Lu before them. An older young and strong man said, "With Lord Hu and the Prince Consort's soldiers guarding Gongji County, we will definitely be fine."
"That's right! Brother Liu is right! Look at the explosion just now, it was even more powerful than the Red Cannon. I heard that the Tartar Khan died of fright. Maybe this time we can even kill a Tartar general!"
“That’s right!”
Seeing the first wave of attacks easily repelled, the people seemed to be filled with confidence, believing they could win the war. However, there was also a man who expressed dismay. This man, a refugee from Liaodong, said, "Don't be too happy too soon! The Tartars are very powerful! They will attack the city again soon. They also have red cannons!"
Sure enough, when the Tartars saw that the first wave of troops had failed to capture the city, they immediately withdrew their troops, and the two black, red cannons were laboriously pushed forward by the soldiers. They stopped about 800 steps away. Zhao Xiaofei immediately felt his scalp tingle when he saw the cannons. He didn't have any cannons! He felt insecure!
However, General Zhou remained calm. Seeing the cannon approaching, he said to Wanshan, "Organize some people to install the torsion trebuchet!" The torsion trebuchet was Wanshan's idea. In the capital, under the emperor's nose, we could play with guns without being seen, but there was no place to hide a cannon! Wanshan came up with the idea of a small torsion trebuchet that was easy to assemble. Four people assembled it in 30 seconds, and it could throw 800 steps. It was filled with yellow dynamite and countless iron pieces. It was extremely lethal to humans.
Wanshan began organizing his escorts to assemble the catapults. These were escorts from the capital, the most practiced and skilled. Dozens of them worked together, assembling ten catapults. Meanwhile, the enemy below was also adjusting their gun barrels and preparing to load the gunpowder.
Both sides were racing against time, but the Jianlu were still one step ahead. After all, the escorts trained very quickly, but on the battlefield, the tension made them not perform so well. Some dropped their wrenches while working, while others installed them incorrectly.
The enemy fired two cannons simultaneously. Boom! The solid shells from both cannons smashed into the gate tower, sending bricks and tiles raining down from the heights. Two trebuchets were damaged, and three men were knocked off the city walls. After the first two shots, the enemy began cleaning their barrels, preparing for the second. Just then, seven trebuchets were assembled, their markings on them. These were made of modern materials and were highly accurate within a range of 500 meters. Beyond that distance, the enemy relied entirely on numbers.
Wanshan shouted to the gunners, "Load!" Behind each catapult, a gunner carried a 5-kilogram shell made of yellow explosive and placed it in the small basket of the catapult.
Wanshan saw the gunners set their shells and shouted, "Fire!" Each gunner lit the fuse. Wanshan immediately waved a red flag, and the gunners moved the lever, sending the shells, carrying the burning fuse, flying out.
Wanshan's catapult was based on a Western Roman trebuchet, but its structure and principle were completely different. It used the power of twisted tendons to launch stone projectiles. A crossbeam sat on the top of the frame, and a tightly twisted tendon was mounted horizontally at the bottom. The end of the projectile rod was inserted vertically into the middle of the tendon, with a spoon-shaped or leather bag attached to the front end to hold the projectile. Normally, the elastic force generated by the twisted tendons kept the projectile rod firmly against the crossbeam. To release the projectile, the rod was tilted downward and locked with a trigger. After loading the projectile, the trigger released, causing the rod to rebound and strike the crossbeam, sending the projectile flying due to inertia.
It sounds impressive, complex and sophisticated, much simpler than the simple wooden poles and ropes used in China, and it uses modern materials. Although it is smaller, it can definitely reach far enough.
Seven shells hit a cannon accurately, and two of them exploded in mid-air. The devastation was so severe that dozens of gunners were instantly reduced to pulp, and the red cannon was directly blown away.
Another 20 seconds later, the second wave of bombs flew over the enemy artillery, creating a huge crater. No one could be seen there, only the deformed gun barrel lying beside it.
Seeing this, Zhao Xiaofei finally put his mind at ease. He thought to himself: "Fuck! I'm really not cut out for being a soldier! Professional matters should be handled by professionals. I'll just contribute money and effort, and when I get back, I can consider giving Zhou Shuai and Wan Shan a raise. If that doesn't work, I can give them each a wife." Zhao Xiaofei was still thinking about these things at this time, and his divergent thinking was acceptable. Hu Wen, who was beside him, had already been dumbfounded. The best artillery shells in the court were not as powerful as the prince consort's yellow shells. They were small, fast, and could be fired far. If they had these things earlier, how could the Battle of Songshan have been such a disastrous defeat?
Wanshan saw that both guns were destroyed and immediately stopped firing. Zhao Xiaofei then ordered Xiao Wen and Xiao Wu to use loudspeakers. Zhao Xiaofei stood up and started shouting, "Haoge! You bastard! Come over here if you have the guts! Don't hide back there like a coward! I'm standing right here for you to shoot at, but you can't even hit me! You bastard, fatanfusenjaka (Manchu)!"
Zhao Xiaofei turned around and said to Zhou Shuai and Wan Shan, "Let them shout with me!"
Thousands of people stood on the city walls, cursing together. The common people cursed in Chinese, while the escorts and the soldiers from Gongji County had been taught simple Manchu curses by Zhao Xiaofei and his men. They cursed in Manchu!
The effect of thousands of people cursing together was truly extraordinary, and coupled with the power of the loudspeakers, the sound was so loud that it could be heard 10 miles away.
The Bordered White Banner was clearly stunned, and it took them a long time to react. They must have been awakened by the deafening curses, for the person who had arrived was none other than Hauge himself. Originally, they had brought with them eight bannermen on this trip. After entering the pass, they split up, with some heading south to Shandong and others west to Zhuozhou. Hauge was the one Huang Taiji had ordered to lead to Zhuozhou.
Hauge was furious at this point. Such a small town like Gongji County had lost so many soldiers. There were also two red-coated cannons, which were extremely valuable to the Jianlu. Although Kong Youde and his men could manufacture them, they were not as powerful or as good as those of the Ming Dynasty.
"He Luohui! Send the Han army to charge again and see if they still have such artillery!" Hauge ordered.
He Luohui was Gushan Ezhen of the Zhenglan Banner. He agreed and immediately led the Eight Banners to drive 2,000 Han troops to attack the city. In essence, they were just being used as cannon fodder. If there weren't any powerful cannons on the walls, they would continue the attack. If there were, they would let the Han troops use up their ammunition. Once they were almost depleted, they would attack again.
The most difficult battle has just begun, and this battle has allowed Jianlu to get to know a new tough guy.
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