Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 551 Unexpected and even more unexpected
In mid-July, all the siege equipment of the Qin army was almost ready.

The reason why they were not in a hurry to attack the city was that they occupied a few Liao army camps outside Shangjing, where there were not many troops left behind, seized a lot of supplies, and sent another battalion north to Huaizhou to occupy the Heishan palace of the false emperor of Liao. There were also a large number of seizures, cattle, sheep and horses, gold and silver treasures, and a lot of grain.

Big enough for the military to use for months, so this is no rush at all.

In addition, many female family members and nobles, royal relatives and nobles were also captured, most of whom were concubines and concubines of the late Liao Dynasty founder Yelvjing.

Most of the young ones were rewarded to the meritorious soldiers in the army, and many of the remaining nobles were temporarily detained as hostages.

The people below asked the officials tactfully for instructions. They captured more than a dozen princesses and princesses of the royal family of the Liao Kingdom.

Emperor Shi waved his hand, and joked at the time: "No, I told you earlier, when you break the city, I will catch Xiao Chuo to warm the bed, and give credit to all the soldiers of the three armies for being the emperor's matchmaker, hahahahaha!"

Everyone laughed, this word quickly spread in the army, it actually played a role in boosting morale, many soldiers have asked to fight, begging to be the vanguard to attack the city, vowing to be the matchmaker of the emperor.

Emperor Shi was very pleased, they were all loyal ministers who were loyal to the country!
However, they did not rush to start attacking the city, but asked about the remaining shells and gunpowder. At this time, food and grass were not a problem. At home, supplies are difficult, and he is most worried about ammunition.

There are [-] troops outside the capital, and these are the elite main force of the Qin army. If you can lose as little as possible, you will lose as little as possible, and the best way to reduce losses is to make up for them with firepower.

On July [-]th, heavy rain fell, and the Shali River surged for several days. The Qin army rested and temporarily gave up the attack plan.

Five days later, the weather turned fine and the sun was hot. Although it was much better than the humidity in Lingnan, the sudden widening temperature difference between day and night still made many soldiers sick.

But the seasoned veteran also saw an opportunity.

Wang Shenqi asked to see him, and then pointed out that the city wall of Shangjing was imitated from Youzhou. It was made of bricks on the outside and rammed earth on the inside. Exposure to the sun is the most vulnerable time,
He has observed the northern city wall, which is the weakest place. If the artillery is used intensively, it may be able to take the opportunity to open a gap.

And after more than a month of hard work, the artillery unit used cattle, horses and manpower to pull twelve naval guns from Beikou and transport them to the front line. Compared with the field guns that are more portable and have weakened firepower, the naval guns are more powerful and have a longer range. Far, but too heavy, no boats are inconvenient to maneuver.

Now with the support of naval guns, the Qin army's firepower has been greatly strengthened.

Emperor Shi did not make a conclusion immediately, but called the commander of the artillery unit and the coach Li Chuyun to discuss it. After discussion, everyone felt that this strategy could be tried.

Emperor Shi asked them about their ammunition reserves, and the artillery unit reported that according to the current usage, they could still fight for at least a month. Emperor Shi thought about it and agreed that they should try the tactic of using concentrated firepower.

On the second day, the Qin army and the north of the city gathered seven artillery battalions, more than 100 field guns and twelve naval guns, and concentrated their firepower to bombard the city wall in the west section of the north of the city.

The violent artillery sound echoed at the foot of Daxianbei Mountain, and it was like a thunderstorm all day long. Many birds and animals in the mountains in the distance were frightened and fled. The Liao army at the head of the city was terrified. Only ruins remain.

However, the casualties of the Liao defenders were not too many. First, the Qin army mainly fought against the city wall. Second, the Liao army was already experienced, and they hid in the corner when they heard the sound of the cannon.

After continuous shelling, by noon, the brick wall outside the center of the western section of the city wall had been blasted to pieces, and collapsed after the first round of shelling in the afternoon.

Accompanied by a loud crash, the dust filled the air, and the other side of the city wall was soon covered by a large amount of dust, and it was impossible to see anything within a hundred steps. The eyes of people from all over the place converged on the collapsed city wall section.

It wasn't until two quarters of an hour later that the dust slowly dissipated, and everyone could clearly see the situation on the other side of the city wall.

However, everyone's excitement quickly dropped a lot, because the degree of damage was not ideal. On the other side of the city wall, only the outer brick wall structure collapsed, and the rammed earth structure inside was exposed, but the main body of the rammed earth wall was still solid and did not collapse.

The artillery of the Qin army fell into disappointment. Many of them were craftsmen and knew better than the Liao people. The outer brick wall shell was not what the Qin army artillery was afraid of. If it was only the brick wall, their artillery would not be afraid at all.

The so-called easy to break, the brick wall is indeed strong, but it is also very brittle, and it will be easily broken into powder fragments when encountering stronger and harder shells. They have tried it, even if it is two feet thick Brick walls, after repeated bombardment by artillery, will also collapse because the bricks are gradually crushed and fall off.

However, Shangjing City was built by Han craftsmen in imitation of Youzhou City. The brick wall is only its shell. Inside the city wall is a rammed earth structure with a narrow top and a wide bottom. The widest part at the bottom is nearly two feet, and the narrowest point at the top is more than one foot.

Such a thick layer of rammed earth is what shells are most afraid of. Although the earth wall does not look as strong as bricks and stones, these thick rammed earth can absorb shells very well. The right type of wall.

Sure enough, for the next half a day, the Qin army's artillery positions were fully fired, and they bombarded the collapsed hole one after another with great momentum. Although some rammed earth was knocked out and several small-scale collapses occurred, there was no major progress.

In the evening, they reported the matter to Emperor Shi, and the atmosphere in the big tent was somewhat depressed. Wang Shenqi blamed himself very much, saying that he had not thought carefully, resulting in wasting so much ammunition and still not firing in.

Emperor Shi didn't blame him, and said bluntly: "You are just giving an opinion, and the final decision is all my own."

The artillery commander next to him stood up and interjected: "Guys, we have come up with a good idea. Now that the brick wall outside the collapse hole has been knocked down, the rammed earth inside may not be afraid of shells, it's terrible to dig!
Officials, as long as they are sprinkled with water, we will use crowbars and shovels to escort the soldiers there, and it will not take long to dig it down. "

These words stunned several people, yes, rammed earth walls are not afraid of shells, terrible shovels!

Emperor Shi laughed and stood up, "I haven't figured out such a simple thing. The outer brick wall shell has collapsed, so just dig it out!"

Everyone slapped their heads and laughed.

"Damn, this road is too dependent on cannons. Now that there are no cannons, I can't even dig soil!" The titan Jing Si who was listening on the side complained.

Emperor Shi was also filled with emotion.

Indeed, this battle was different from the past. After more than ten years of development in the Qin army, the artillery finally changed from quantitative to qualitative. From before, it could only be used as an auxiliary unit for surprise soldiers.

In this decisive battle between Qin and Liao, the artillery unit became a strategic unit that could determine the outcome, so that the entire army seemed to suffer from a severe fire dependence. Once the strongest artillery attack failed, they forgot to turn their heads.

The rammed earth wall can withstand the terrible impact of shells, but without the protection of the surrounding masonry wall, just dig it directly.

However, there is one thing that Emperor Shi and the generals of the Qin State did not think of, that is, the people of the Liao State did not understand artillery as well as they did, so in terms of damage effects, the soldiers and civilians of the Liao State did not agree with their understanding.

The soldiers and civilians of the Liao Kingdom at the top of the city and inside the city were trembling with fear from the non-stop sound of artillery throughout the day, and Xiao Siwen, who was supervising the battle, was even more frightened.

When he witnessed the northern and western part of the city wall being directly collapsed by the artillery of the Qin army, the rumbling sound of the collapse was deafening, the city wall under his feet shook, bumped like a horse, and dust rose into the sky, covering a large part of the city wall.

Xiao Siwen's face turned pale from fright, and he couldn't stand upright. Fortunately, the soldiers around him supported him, but they were also terrified!
Originally they thought that the city walls of Shangjing were impenetrable, and Qin Jun's artillery could not do anything to them. They could run horses on the top of the city wall, and the bottom of the city wall was more than two feet thick. He never expected that Qin Jun took a long time to knock down their city walls!

Their cannons are so terrifying that they can knock down half of the city wall in half a day. If they continue to fight, won't they be completely knocked down after going up to the capital city wall in a day or two!
They have no way to stop them, and no one dares to challenge Qin Jun's artillery with flesh and blood!
Such fear instantly shrouded everyone's hearts, not only Xiao Siwen, but many soldiers and generals in the city thought so.

They do not understand the principles and parameters of artillery, nor have the experience of using artillery, and they cannot be compared with Qin craftsmen in fields such as engineering and architecture.

Judging only by what they saw and heard from the top of the city, all of them thought so, and then several small landslides occurred. After the Qin army retreated in the afternoon, the top of the city was filled with a sense of despair. Two days later, the Qin army is destined to break into the city, and there is no hope of defending the city!
And Xiao Siwen's rationality and strength also completely disintegrated, and there are two reliances that he has been sticking to.

One is that there is a way out. He feels that his eldest daughter married the emperor of Qin, and he has children of the emperor. The younger daughter is also valued by the emperor of Qin. The emperor of Qin is outside the city, even if the city is broken. He also has life.

The second is confidence. He believes that no matter how powerful the Qin army's artillery is, it will not be able to smash the city wall of Shangjing. Otherwise, why didn't the Qin army break through the city after besieging the city for more than a month?
But in today's battle, when Qin Jun really took action, his second support was instantly shattered!Only then did he understand that the city walls that Qin Jun wanted to break in were completely vulnerable to artillery! (Xiao Siwen himself thought)
(End of this chapter)