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Chapter 795: Surrounded but not attacked

In Fuyu City, a few puffs of gray-white smoke spurted out of the muzzles of the gold and wooden watchtowers. Hundreds of iron filings were squeezed out of the barrels by the high-pressure gas and fell to the ground with their bodies burning hot.

Although the soldiers who were attacking up the hillside were holding heavy wooden signs and covered with several layers of cowhide, they were still unable to resist the shotgun shells fired by the artillery. Seven or eight of them fell down immediately, and the remaining iron filings hit the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.

"Hoo, hoo, hoo..." Before the dust settled, two larger shields were erected at the foot of the mountain, and seven or eight Jurchen infantrymen in iron armor shouted slogans as they pushed and pulled a cart. There was no box on the cart, and between two wooden wheels that were as high as a person, a cannon barrel as thick as a thigh was placed.

"Boom boom..." The cannons on the blockhouse sounded again. If you look closely, you will find that among the smoke sprayed out, two groups of smoke are sprayed the farthest, which are obviously different from the others.

“Bang…ah…crash…”

The reaction on the hillside was even more obvious. In addition to several soldiers being knocked down by shotgun shells, the huge shield blocking the two-wheeled artillery carriage suddenly stopped, and a hole as big as a bowl was made on the pine board that was more than a foot thick.

Even though the soldiers behind were wearing two layers of armor, they were as vulnerable as paper men. There was not much flesh and blood left in their chests and abdomens, which were pierced by shells.

"Pah, pah, pah..." At the moment when the shield wall collapsed, more than ten crisp sounds were heard on the city wall more than a hundred steps away. The cart pushers who lost the protection of the thick wooden planks also fell to the ground one after another, with more than one bloody hole on their bodies.

"Blow the horn... withdraw the troops!" More than a dozen generals stood in the woods on the mountain ridge 2 miles north of the city, wearing both Mongolian costumes and Jurchen armor. The young Huang Taiji stood in the middle, wearing a helmet and armor, put down the telescope in his hand, and whispered orders to the Jurchen generals around him.

The Mongol and Jurchen coalition forces had been besieging Fuyu City for 16 days, and had gained nothing except nearly 5000 casualties. Even the river valley position a mile away from the city wall was under attack from the Ming army's artillery fire at any time.

At first, the Jurchen soldiers held thick wooden shields and approached the city wall, which allowed them to avoid the musket fire for the most part. But with the addition of the Ming army's artillery, the four-finger-thick wooden planks suddenly became brittle, and a single shot left a cloud of blood.

No matter how thick the shield is, it has lost its meaning. Not to mention carrying it up the hillside, it is impossible to carry it on flat ground. But the Jurchens also have artillery, and they don’t need many. As long as they can achieve a 5 to 1 exchange ratio, they can also take the city by relying on their numerical advantage.

But theory is theory, and practice often differs. Before the Jurchens' artillery carts could reach the optimal range of 80 steps, the Ming army's artillery had already replaced the shells. A barrage of iron balls came down, killing or wounding the artillery carts, shield walls, and soldiers pushing the carts.

If the artillery carts were not pushed to the appropriate distance, the accuracy and power of the shells would not be enough to cause sufficient damage to the city walls. Moreover, the Ming army's artillery had a longer range and higher accuracy, so they would not gain any advantage by firing at each other.

The most annoying thing is the tower at the corner of the city wall. It is 50 to 60 feet high, with gun ports on each floor. It is also on the hillside, which makes the most of its high ground advantage. No matter where you launch an attack, you will be subject to crossfire from at least two towers, making it impossible to get close, let alone destroy it.

"It's still early today, and the Great Jin warriors have suffered heavy losses. Leave the rest of the time to this Khan!"

Lin Danhan stood beside Huang Taiji, also holding a telescope to watch the battle. Hearing that the Jurchens were going to withdraw their troops, he looked up at the sky, as if he understood something, and waved to the Mongolian generals behind him, intending to take over the burden of the siege.

"Great Khan, the coalition forces have surrounded this city tightly. There are some sieges every day, so it is enough to hear the sound of artillery from a distance. There is no need to attack by force. This city is too strong and has a good geographical location. Many siege equipment cannot be used. In addition, the artillery of the Ming army is sharp. As long as there is no shortage of ammunition and food in the city, it will be useless to double the number of troops.

Rather than letting the warriors of both tribes waste their time here, it is better to pay more attention to the situation in the south. In my opinion, the Ming army should also come out to rescue. They don’t have many musketeers, so they will definitely be reluctant to give up. As long as they dare to come out, we will win this battle!"

But Huang Taiji suddenly spoke out to stop Lin Danhan from sending more troops to attack the city. Facing the suspicious eyes of the Mongolian generals, he calmly repeated the plan. The attack on the city was fake, but the siege and attack on the reinforcements were real.

"Grand Prince, can the stone formation you created really defeat the Ming army?"

Although this coalition was mainly composed of the Left Mongols and the Great Jin Dynasty, and in name there was no distinction between Lin Danhan and Huang Taiji, some Mongolian generals could not help but look down on a young man in his early twenties.

"...The Ming army is good at long-range combat. Although the rubble of rocks cannot injure their bones, it can break their formation. We should take the opportunity to get close to them and defeat them." Huang Taiji glanced back, seemingly answering the question, but he was actually speaking to Ligdan Khan.

The siege of Fuyu City was not proposed by Ligdan Khan, but came from the Great Jin Kingdom, or to be more precise, from Huang Taiji himself.

When Ligdan Khan was on a western expedition against the Kharchin tribe, this young Jurchen leader commanded his army to launch a feint attack on Shanhaiguan. He did not act perfunctorily, but carefully observed the performance of the Ming army and occasionally gained some insights.

After Ligdan Khan was defeated and retreated, Huang Taiji immediately went to Baicheng and carefully questioned the herdsmen who had participated in the battle of Xinghe City. He became more certain of what he wanted and immediately conspired with Ligdan Khan, and finally they were able to unite.

What did Huang Taiji discover to convince Ligdan Khan to spare no expense to assemble a large army? It's simple: the Ming army's muskets and artillery are afraid of rain!

During the feint attack on Shanhaiguan, it started to rain ice one day, and Huang Taiji keenly discovered a phenomenon: the Ming soldiers on the city wall always hid the back of their muskets under their helmets, and some even put up wooden boards on the city wall.

It seemed like they were hiding from the rain, but Huang Taiji didn't think so. After hearing the details of the Battle of Xinghe City, he felt that his guess was right. The Ming army's muskets and artillery were afraid of water!

In fact, it is not new that firearms are afraid of rain. Both the Ming border army and the Jurchen army are equipped with firearms, which cannot be fired in the rain. It's just that the new firearms of the Ming army in recent years are particularly sharp, and every time they encounter rain, they are defeated miserably, which makes people ignore the inherent weaknesses of firearms.

But even if guns are afraid of water, it is God's arrangement that it rains. Can mortals call the wind and rain? Of course not, but some mortals can predict relatively accurately which day it will rain after years of summary.

In this way, Huang Taiji had a way to defeat the Ming army. He chose a time period with the most frequent rains and besieged Fuyu City to lure out the Ming army. If it rained, he would attack immediately. If it did not rain, he would lead the Ming army to circle in the mountains and wait for the rain.

As long as you stay in these mountains, the local old herdsmen can accurately tell whether it will rain in the next one or two days, even to within two hours.

(End of this chapter)