Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 971 Fierce battle at the head of the city

The defenders on the city were a little scared by the high morale of the Ming army. One was an official and the other was a thief. They were born as bandits, and they had natural fear in their hearts when they faced the elite officers and soldiers.

In addition, a few days ago, a few thousand people from the Ming army easily defeated more than 2 Western troops, which greatly shocked them. However, when the two armies fight, either you die or I die. Will kill you, there's no use being afraid.

"defense!"

Seeing the Ming army sweeping towards the city wall like a tide, the generals of the Western army on the city pulled out their swords and shouted loudly, their veins twitching.

The old cannons in the city, with their bows and arrows hearing the order, are looking for targets in a tense atmosphere. Although they are irregular and not elite, but since they rebelled, they have to bite the masters of the officers and soldiers so that the high-ranking people can hear their words sound.

Facing the life-and-death war, the soldiers on the city stringed their bows and arrows, the shells were loaded, and the artillery carts behind the city wall were also loaded with stone bullets. The soldiers on the city ordered the flags to guide them, aiming at the direction of the Ming army's heavy equipment, and waited. A rock-shattering blow.

The shouts of the Ming army were getting closer and closer to the city wall. The soldiers behind pushed the towering equipment and moved forward slowly.

"Cannon Rock!"

The officer in the charge reminded his soldiers loudly that shadows suddenly appeared in the sky, and countless black spots suddenly rose from behind the Luzhou city wall, which quickly grew in size, drew arcs in the air, and fell down with a roar.

In an instant, hundreds of cannon stones fell to the ground at the same time, splashing up pieces of soil, and the soldiers who couldn't escape were immediately crushed by the cannon stones.

With a loud "bang", a ladder was hit and broke immediately, and at another place, the artillery stone penetrated a cave cart, and several soldiers inside were killed immediately.

The cannon stone was thrown out, hit the ground, and slid for dozens of steps, leaving deep grooves on the ground, which was terrifying, but this could not stop the Ming army from attacking.

At this time, the front sword and shield soldiers had already rushed to the city, and the defenders shot down arrows, while the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, holding their shields, removed the horse-rejecting piles in front of the moat, and laid flying bridges on the trenches. for follow-up troops to pass.

In general, when defending a city, if the defending side has enough time to prepare, they will dig trenches and place obstacles such as horses and antlers within the range covered by the firepower on the city to slow down the enemy's approach to the city wall so that the city can The long-range weapons on it deal huge damage to the enemy.

The city wall of Luzhou, more than ten miles long, was originally a large project and it was not easy to arrange it in this way. However, only the west city was suitable for the Ming army to attack the city, so Sun Kewang reduced the project by three quarters, so that he could build a set outside the west city. Moats, antlers, horses, and trenches constitute the defense system.

The sound of piercing the air exploded, and a rain of arrows shot from the city. The Ming army in front hid behind the shield chariot. After hearing a burst of "do-doo", dozens of arrows were nailed to the shield chariot. , the tail of the arrow shaft kept shaking, showing that it was not weak.

Soldiers with rattan cards braved the rain of arrows to remove the horses and antlers blocking the front, and some simply pushed the shield carts to break through the obstacles and push out a road.

The soldiers cleared the obstacles under the arrows, but the forward soldiers all used small light round shields, not the large shields used in formation. Naturally, the defense area was limited, and the head and chest could be protected, but the lower body could not be protected. Another soldier, He held up the shield in one hand, and joined hands with his robes to hold the rejecting horse away. Suddenly, an arrow pierced into his thigh, causing him to kneel down immediately. The rejecting horse fell to the ground again, but immediately another soldier took over. Without fear, the army quickly cleared several passages leading to the city.

The horses and antlers were thrown into the ditch by the Ming army, or moved aside. Flying bridges were laid on the ditch, and the soldiers of the Ming army rushed to the moat in a large net formed by arrow rain.

The terrain of Luzhou is high in the west and bottom in the east, and the moat is not easy to divert water. In addition, Luzhou is only a prefectural city, and Sun Kewang has no time to widen and deepen it, so the moat is not closed, only less than three feet wide. The Ming army approached the moat and began to spread the flying bridge on the river. , The soldiers carrying the climbing ladder quickly approached the city wall.

"Get out!" The Ming army's attack on Luzhou was very similar to the attack on Fotu Pass. Ma Jinzhong personally commanded an army of thousands of people, and immediately connected shield carts under the city, planted wooden boards, and formed a wooden wall. A large number of Ming army musketeers came behind the wall and started shooting in formation.

After reaching the wooden wall, the artillery group of the Ming army behind was also placed under the city, and began to manipulate the artillery carts, throwing artillery stones into the city, one after another the artillery stones flew over the top of the city, smashed into the city, and the streets and houses collapsed one after another. A team of running soldiers in the city was attacked by artillery stones, and they were immediately scattered in a hurry.

Below the city, the soldiers of the Ming army have already hung up the climbing ladders. The soldiers bit their waist knives, held their shields in one hand, and quickly climbed up the ladder with the other. A cloud of white smoke rose from behind the wooden wall, and the sound of "bang, bang, bang" sounded, and the soldiers fell down screaming together with the wood.

Thousands of Ming soldiers retreated immediately after shooting, and the rear continued to shoot. The dense rain of bullets continued to shoot towards the top of the city, but all the Western soldiers who dared to show their heads were beaten with blood, and their bodies flew backwards.

An archer of the Western Army, who didn't believe in evil, saw a few of his comrades who had leaked heads and were beaten to the wall, and one of them fell in front of him with staring eyes. He shot, but his body was beaten like chaff, shaking and falling to the top of the wall.

The Western Army did not dare to show their heads for a while, and the Ming Army immediately climbed the ladder to the city wall. At this time, the large equipment of the Ming Army had retreated to the vicinity of the wooden wall. higher.

As the Ming army boarded the city wall, the Ming army who lined up and fired immediately became free to shoot and kill. Most of the musketeers climbed to the well and shot at the top of the city from a high position, and the old cannons on the top of the city also focused on various weapons. , From time to time, one will be knocked down, causing the soldiers below to scatter in a hurry.

"Go up!" At the city gate, a climbing ladder was leaning against the city wall. The soldiers first raised it higher than the city head, because there was a huge iron hook at the top of it. After it was higher than the city wall, they pulled it down again. He hooked the city head so that the defenders could not push it down.

As soon as the ladder was fixed, the soldiers quickly climbed up. The entire wall of the west city of Luzhou was covered with soldiers of the Ming army like ants. Countless soldiers stuck to the wall and attacked upwards.

Under the city wall, for the defenders on the city, it is a blind spot for attack and cannot be suppressed. To prevent the Ming army from attacking the city, the defenders have to show their heads and smash the rolling wood, thunder and stone, stand up and shoot arrows, but the Ming army's firearms are too powerful , The Western Army was completely suppressed, and the Ming Army took advantage of the momentum to climb to the top of the city. ??? "Quickly, go and report to the king, the miscellaneous soldiers can't hold back, please send elite troops to support quickly."

As soon as the Ming army approached the city wall, many places were breached. Bai Wenxuan knocked down a Ming army who had jumped from the top of the city with a knife, and grabbed a messenger who hissed and roared. As soon as he finished speaking, another A Ming soldier jumped onto the top of the wall and hacked the messenger to death with a single blow from behind.

(End of this chapter)