stubborn thief

Chapter 96 Counterattack
The shells fell outside the gate, and in Liu Chengzong's eyes, it was like cold water poured on hot oil.

With a bang, the originally irregular formation of troops scattered like a frying pan.

Feng Hao shouted from the city: "Quick, clear the barrel and reload!"

Liu Chengzong had been dozing off at the top of the city just now, and after shouting twice, his spirit was a little awake, and he stood on the steps of the upper city wall, shouting to the bandit soldiers.

"Wake up, the army is about to attack!"

Like the officers, the sergeants of Mule Battalion were exhausted.

They fought in Jingjiagou, ate horse meat stewed for them by the officials, and traveled forty li to Shiban Mountain.

He slept in the wild on the ridges and fields of Shiban Mountain, slept for two hours, and then hurried ten miles into the battle to defraud Guanfang.

When the guards of the city were defeated and surrendered, Liu Chengzong ordered them to sleep, just under the city wall of Yanshui Pass.

How they wish they had a comfy bed!
At this moment, hundreds of thieves from the Mule Battalion were woken up and moved.

People yawned and stared in awe, carrying arrows and weapons to the city according to orders, and stringing bows and crossbows.

The thieves stood behind the battlements, leaned their spears and hatchets against the wall, and made final preparations with bows and crossbows. People were not as calm as they seemed.

Some trembled in their thighs, some kept clenching their fists, and others murmured prayers that no one could hear.

Because they don't even have the strength of a single battlement station.

Darkness is good, darkness hides everything, including people's fears.

Liu Chengzong's eyes crossed them and looked down at the city.

Outside the wall, the bonfire illuminated, and teams of officers and soldiers walked out of the darkness.

They had recovered their composure from the panic of being bombarded, and under the leadership of junior officers, they approached the city gate with a great sense of oppression with the sound of rubbing against their clothes and armor.

In an instant, Liu Chengzong felt a little cold in his hand holding the bow.

He was distraught.

Not only the nervousness of death, but also the anticipation of the future mixed with excitement and worry.

This is very outrageous. As a front-line commander on the battlefield, even Liu Chengzong didn't realize that his mind was not all on this battle.

Instead, it floated further afield, after the battle was over.

Fortunately, Feng Yu was by his side, pulling his thoughts back: "Boss, the four cannons are loaded with ammunition."

"Brother Fu, do you know what will happen if we win this battle?"

Liu Chengzong raised a finger: "We will be the first among all the rebels in Shaanxi to wipe out the entire guerrilla army."

He took two deep breaths, looked around, and said, "Brothers, call me, the general asked you to come and eat cannonballs. Did the military pay last year?"

The thieves and soldiers in the city shouted in unison, "The general asked you to come and eat cannonballs. Did the army pay last year?"

The officers did not respond, they still firmly carried out the order and approached the city gate step by step.

The city shouted again: "Why don't you vote for me, Liu Chengzong, don't worry if you have a full meal and don't go hungry!"

The official army was still unmoved, and the front line had advanced to more than a hundred paces outside the customs, and soon they could shoot arrows at the thieves at the top of the city.

"It's over, they won't surrender."

Liu Chengzong smiled with satisfaction, turned his head to Feng Yan and said, "Fire the cannon, the bow and crossbow are ready to shoot."

Liu Chengzu had told him before that the technique of persuading surrender before the battle was actually very effective, but it never worked immediately.

This can disintegrate the enemy's will to fight according to the degree of attack of the words, but it will not erase the enemy's will to fight.

The battle will continue to be fought, and persuading the enemy to surrender before the battle will gradually take effect as the enemy is killed, wounded, and encounters difficulties, so that the enemy will gradually collapse when encountering difficulties and dangers.

One after another, the orders were passed down by the captain of the left post and the chief, and people began to choose suitable arrows to draw bows and arrows.

Liu Chengzong also took out three arrows and held them in his hands, wrapped them with cloth strips and set them on fire. In turn, when the bows were not fully drawn, he shot them with a high angle of elevation, a small angle of elevation, and flat shot, and then opened the bow and shot it out.

The distance between where the feather arrows landed and several bonfires outside the city gate were different.

Feng Keng's left sentinel thieves used all light bows captured by the guards, and the bow strength was generally [-] to [-] jin.

The bonfires outside the city gate were placed by the defenders earlier, and they were all placed according to the [-]-pound bow force.

If the archers in the city go to shoot the enemy by the bonfire, most of them will shoot an arrow in the air.

However, when Liu Chengzong shot these three arrows, it was not for people to see, and they could not be seen or found in the dark.

It was the moment when the feather arrow slid through the air, so that they could have a good idea of ​​the range.

The stars in the sky have disappeared, and the moon has disappeared, and the sky will be darkest before the dawn.

At this time, shooting is not a question of whether it can accurately hit the enemy, as long as the arrow is off the string, it is invisible.

boom!
The sound of the cannon sounded again, and four artillery shells flew into the front of the formation, swept into the enemy formation, knocked over seven or eight people, and crushed the gaps.

The gap was quickly made up. Under the order of the officer, a line of battalion soldiers stepped forward with bows, crossed the furthest bonfire, walked seven or eight steps forward, broke through the cracks, and shot their bows towards the city head.

Liu Chengzong shouted, and people hid behind the battlements to avoid it.

A rain of arrows shot towards the city head, some nailed to the tower, and some hit the city wall.

During the shooting interval, Liu Chengzong looked out through the gap in the city wall. A group of infantrymen marched forward through the gap between the archers with long cards, holding shields in front of the archers, and then continued to move forward ten steps with bows, throwing feather arrows on the city.

They are in range.

Under the leadership of Liu Chengzong, the thieves in the city also began to throw arrows at the enemy who were attacking with bows.

But compared to the official army, their salvos were disordered and chaotic, sparsely landed in front of the official army, and their bow strength was insufficient, and it was difficult to cause decent damage at this distance.

In a blink of an eye, the official army had already formed five rows of archers in front of the pass, and then the formations began to move forward.

The people in the back went up and the ones in the front entered. People shot arrows at the front of the city in intervals. The arrows rained so densely and accurately that the thieves and soldiers on the city did not dare to emerge.

Afterwards, the gunmen armed with fire guns, three-eyed guns, and bird guns stepped forward from the rear, passed through the formation of archers, and stood thirty paces before the gate under the cover of arrows.

They had no idea of ​​siege, nor did they possess siege weapons, they just suppressed the city head with a rain of long-range arrows, and aimed at the battlements with firearms.

In fact, even at such a distance, it is impossible to shoot accurately in the dark. You can only rely on the feeling that the battlements are shaken and hit, and whether you can hit it or not.

Both times Liu Chengzong tried to shoot the musketeers who came into range, but he was pinned behind the battlements for fear of being hit by the gunmen.

The same is true for his subordinates. Even the artillerymen were shot in the forehead by the musketeers, killing one directly.

In fact, even with such a simple, mechanical and clumsy method, an officer with three times the strength could beat them to death on the top of the city.

There is no need for siege weapons, and when most of them are shot to death, even if they do not surrender, a rope can climb to the gate.

Liu Chengzong ran back behind the battlements with a cat on his waist, constantly standing beside the soldiers who were frightened by arrows and lead pellets, patted their shoulders or faces, and said encouraging words: "Don't be afraid, the war situation will soon turn for the better!"

This is not a lie.

Just before Liu Chengzong had encouraged everyone, Feng Hao on Guancheng had already shouted: "The reinforcements have arrived, and the enemy is surrounded!"

Boom!

As soon as Feng Hao's voice fell, there was a muffled cannon fire behind the enemy's formation.

It is the tiger squat gun and the gushing bead gun.

The small cannons of the light artillery caused a disturbance in the rear of the enemy, and a cavalry slammed into the rear of the enemy.

He arranged for the battalion artillery post, Gao Xian's right post on Shiban Mountain, as well as those who joined the Pusi soldiers and post soldiers to join the battlefield under the leadership of Cao Yao.

The archers, who had been suppressed for a long time at the gate, finally launched a counterattack against the official army again from a commanding height.

(End of this chapter)