The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 21 Siege of Isfahan ([-])

"boom!"

A shell passed high over the protective wall and landed in the Qi Guo Commercial Station. It may have hit an open space, so it did not cause any reaction.Mahmoud put down the telescope in disappointment, and his face became extremely ugly.These artillery pieces fired seven or eight rounds, but only a few shells could hit the city wall, posing a fatal threat to the trading station.Either it climbed high over the protective wall and hit the inside, or it lacked momentum and landed in front of the city wall, making the people of Qi laugh.

The former army commander Amanullah Khan was also a complete fool. In the Battle of Gulnabad, in order to vent his anger, he slaughtered all the captured Persian artillerymen. Even the Qi artillery instructors were killed. He chopped off the head.As a result, although they have captured more than a dozen artillery pieces, they don't have many qualified gunners. Not to mention blasting through the strong and tall Isfahan city wall, even breaking this small trading station seems particularly strenuous.

A few days ago, Abdul Hakim, who took the initiative to attack Qi Guo's trading station, did not even launch a tentative attack after seeing that the opponent's defense was tight and the city's defenses were strong, so he immediately sent someone to ask for help. , hoping to get more troop reinforcements, and also suggested that it would be best to carry a few artillery pieces in order to blast open the opponent's city wall and cover the army's breach of the city.

Although he was extremely dissatisfied with Abdul's behavior of passively avoiding the war because he did not want to waste his own strength, Mahmoud decided to personally lead his army to support him.In addition to wanting to quickly destroy Qi's trading station with thunder in order to deter the Persians who were still resisting and attacking them sporadically outside the city, there was also the need to defeat those half-hearted military forces. Don't think that defeating the Persians is a big deal. With the settlement, the wealth of the entire city of Isfahan can be harvested safely.

How could we Gilzai people defeat the Persian army with less than half the strength of the Persians, and then besiege Isfahan?
The Persians fought on their own and the intrigues among themselves were certainly an important reason for their defeat, but the tenacity and fighting character of our Gilzai people, as well as our united and courageous courage to move forward, were the key factors to victory.

Although Isfahan will be within easy reach, Mahmoud does not want his troops to have a life-saving mentality now.At this time, the Safavid Empire still has a strong influence. Although most of the local provincial governors are waiting and hesitating, as long as the Gilzai people show a little weakness or suffer heavy losses, I believe that those local powerful factions will definitely gather The army surrounded them from all directions and strangled them under the city of Isfahan.

Mahmud galloped towards the forward artillery position on horseback, and a dozen personal guards immediately followed him.

Dozens of gunners from the original "Little Wasp Cannon" were busy cleaning the barrel, loading gunpowder and projectiles, and preparing for the next round of firing.Mahmoud came angrily and looked at them with gloomy eyes, which immediately made everyone nervous.

These captured artillery, both in terms of model specifications and firing power, far exceed the "Little Hornet Cannon" they operate daily, and naturally their operation process is also more complicated.Even the gunpowder that comes with it has to be divided into several specifications, so they can only try it bit by bit.

As for the sighting equipment on the artillery, they didn't understand it at all.When the artillery fires, it can only rely on the previous experience of operating the "Little Hornet Cannon" to aim and shoot in the general direction.

Seeing that the artillery was about to be fired, Mahmud subconsciously reined in his horse and took a dozen steps back.Little did he know, it was this move that saved his life.When a gunner was nervous, he may have forgotten to extinguish the sparks that burst into the gun barrel the last time he fired, or he may have put too much gunpowder in by mistake. Shortly after he lit the fuse, the gun suddenly exploded.

The thick gun barrel was suddenly exploded, and deadly metal fragments flew around. The gunner and several nearby people were killed on the spot, and dozens of people were injured and fell to the ground, leaving the entire artillery position in a mess and mourning everywhere.

But luckily, Mahmoud was unscathed.

"God bless us!" He pulled out his scimitar and looked at the frightened faces of the soldiers around him. He immediately shouted loudly: "Brave warriors, in order to obtain the honor and dignity they deserve, I I order you to hold on to the weapons in your hands and attack the fortress ahead! The wealth there will be free for you to plunder, and the women there will be free for you to enjoy. Attack, warriors, and destroy those who claim to be powerful and noble in the castle. All the Qi people were driven out and became our poor prisoners!"

"God bless us!"

"Kill in!"

"Come in and capture them! ...Kill them!"

"..."

Under Mahmoud's gaze, Abdul Hakim led more than a thousand tribal warriors to launch a desperate charge towards the Qi State Trading Station ahead.In the other direction, the Zoroastrian Mujahid led more than [-] tribal warriors and was also ordered to launch an attack.

This Qiguo Commercial Station looks to be only over 200 meters in radius, and there must not be many armed personnel stationed there. Moreover, its protective wall is low, with a height of no more than three meters. It can be climbed up by a simple wooden ladder. superior.Nearly two thousand tribal warriors besieged them from all sides and suffered some casualties. Maybe they could be broken through in one fell swoop.

Li Yanliang looked outside and saw countless Afghans holding swords, shouting and howling, trotting all the way towards the trading station quickly.Apart from carrying more than a dozen ladders, they had no other siege equipment. They actually wanted to defeat the trading station in such a primitive way of attacking the city with ants.

You guys are so disrespectful!

When the Afghans entered the business station about 300 meters away, more than 20 sniper rifles (mini guns) opened fire one after another, causing the charging Afghans to get shot and fall to the ground.

Looking at their companions who fell to the ground from time to time, all the Afghan tribal soldiers suddenly felt terrified.My God, the people of Qi can actually shoot deadly projectiles from such a long distance!
When the distance approached more than 100 meters and the shallow trench was about to be crossed, the target of the sniper rifle began to target the Afghan officers and archers in the formation to attack and disintegrate the morale of the Afghans.

"preparation!"

The Afghans rushed to the trench, put several wooden ladders on the trench, climbed over it quickly, and then struggled to climb up the small slope beside the trench.

The tribal warriors holding bows and arrows have already clasped the bow strings tightly, ready to rush under the protective wall and shoot arrows at the Qi people.

The warriors wielding scimitars have already climbed to the top of the slope, staring at the musketeers on the parapet with their guns raised, gritting their teeth, shouting, and running forward with all their strength.

"put!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!..."

Li Yanliang pulled the trigger and ignored the effect of watching the shooting. He directly handed the empty musket to his companions below. He also took a musket loaded with gunpowder pellets and put it on the wall again.

"preparation!"

"put!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!..."

Battalion Commander Yan Shaowu stood on the high platform and watched numbly as waves of Afghan tribal soldiers fell to the ground, and then continued to charge forward feverishly, but stopped in vain under the continuous volley of muskets. 50 meters outside the protective wall.They didn't even have a chance to set up a wooden ladder against the parapet before they were shot dead on the way.The few arrows fired only caused minor injuries to two soldiers and three trading company clerks.

A few hours ago, when the Afghans rolled out several artillery pieces from the formation, Yan Shaowu was so shocked that he almost ordered Yin Shenghui, the head of the black guards who categorically said that the Afghans did not have heavy artillery, to execute military law on the spot.

Although those artillery pieces looked from a distance, they were just light army cannons with calibers of 55mm (4-pounder) and 65mm (6-pounder), but with the thin protective walls of the commercial station, a few rounds of bombardment could You create a rift.As long as people are patient enough and blast a few more rounds, they might be able to knock down all the protective walls.

At that time, thousands of Afghan tribal soldiers swarmed in, waiting for their final fate, either to die for their country or to surrender in humiliation.

However, after the Afghans conducted several rounds of shelling, Yan Shaowu's nervous mood relaxed.

What's the point of this?There was no accuracy at all. After seven or eight rounds of bombardment, only two or three shells hit the protective wall, and the impact points were extremely scattered.

Co-author, these Afghans don’t know how to shoot!

As an artillery piece exploded for unknown reasons, the Afghans became angry and hurriedly launched an all-out attack. Yan Shaowu became even more determined. As long as the opponent's artillery did not pose a threat, even if you launched a fierce attack with thousands of troops, It can only be given away.

Sure enough, after the Afghans were strongly blocked by the Qi people and a large number of soldiers were killed and injured, they hurriedly abandoned hundreds of corpses and quickly returned to the starting position.

Mahmoud watched coldly as the defeated troops retreated. Without saying a word, he turned his horse's head and drove slowly towards the temporary camp.

As expected, the people of Qi State have sharp weapons. Relying on a small trading station, they were able to easily repel several attacks from the army and caused considerable losses to me.

"Baradar, lead your troops to stare at the Qi people. Huh, I don't believe it. They can stay in there forever and not come out!"

(End of this chapter)