A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 103 Climbing the City
Everyone in the city and in the city looked at the projectiles fired by the French machine guns.

Four fiery iron balls flew in the direction of the Qing soldiers with light smoke trails.

With a loud bang, an iron ball hit a shield car from a distance, causing the shield car to be torn apart and sawdust flying everywhere.Seeing that the shells were about to hit, some Qing soldiers behind the shield car scattered and fled in fright.

But then there was a pitiful scream, and the fragments stirred up when the shell penetrated the shield vehicle killed several Qing soldiers in the surrounding area from a distance.There was even an unarmored Qing soldier, whose face was covered with sharp wooden thorns, dripping with blood, and was knocked to the ground.

He didn't die for a moment, he just rolled on the ground and screamed horribly.

It is estimated that this Frang machine shell killed at least three or four Qing soldiers in the surrounding area.

"it is good!"

There was thunderous cheers from the top of the city, Han Zhong patted his legs heavily, and shouted: "Good fight, damn good fight!"

Wang Dou also nodded with a smile. This cannonball was accurate and ruthless, and it boosted the morale of the army!

But this round of artillery is the result. The remaining three shells missed, only one iron ball hit the ground, jumped a few more times, and smashed the wheel of a wheelbarrow following behind from a distance. .The iron ball still had momentum, and jumped again, and hit the head of a Qing soldier behind him heavily, the iron ball embedded in his head, and his brains flowed all over the floor.

"Reload!"

The artillery team officer on the top of the city was very dissatisfied when he saw this result from a distance, and loudly ordered the gunners to reload.

Shun Xiangbao has a pair of Franco machine guns and three gunners, one of the strongest unloaders and loaders, one aimer, and one gunner.There is also a long armor leader leading a team of pikemen to guard behind.Hearing the order, the unloaders of several artillery immediately used iron rods to penetrate the iron handles of the sub-guns, and unloaded the sub-guns from the mother guns.

The Franco cannon is composed of a mother gun and a sub-gun. Each cannon is equipped with several sub-guns, which are pre-loaded with ammunition. It is similar to the fully-equipped rear-firing artillery of later generations, and the firing speed is quite fast.It's just that the range is not very far because it is easy to be discouraged. The range of these Franco machine guns in Shunxiang Fort is only within 300 meters.

After a few unloaders unloaded the sub-gun, they picked up a sub-gun placed next to it, inserted it into the thick long hole at the back of the mother gun, and drove it down with a concave iron rod, and put the sub-gun and the mother gun into two holes. align.

There are lugs on both sides of the gun body of these Franco machine guns, which are placed on iron and wood brackets, and the gun body can be pitched to adjust the shooting angle.At this time, the Qing soldiers had entered a hundred or so paces. After the loaders placed the guns, the sighting hands of each gun immediately compared the front sights and rear sights equipped on the guns with a single eye. Qing soldiers adjust and aim.

The aiming hands of each pair of Frang machine copper cannons were adjusted one after another, and everyone stood upright.

The artillery team officer looked at the Qing soldiers and shield troops who were getting closer, he waved the command flag in his hand again, and shouted: "Fire!"

The gunner of each gun immediately took out a long red-hot iron hook and pointed it at the fire door.

"Boom boom boom!"

The four Franco machine guns fired one after another.

But there were screams coming from the top of the city, and a gunner covered his face, just knelt down and kept screaming.

But it was a cannon named "Invincible Three Generals" on the top of the city. Because the sub-cluster and the mother blunderbuss did not fit together tightly when reloading, the fire quickly vented and sprayed a foot away. The person next to this cannon The gunner immediately suffered disaster.His head and face were affected by the flames, and the scalding gas scalded countless big bumps on his head, face, and body, especially the right eye, which was directly scalded out.

The cannonball fell to the ground after being fired weakly for more than a hundred meters due to gas leakage.

For a moment, the city was shocked by this sudden situation. The armor commander behind the artillery rushed forward and shouted at the loader: "Look at what you did!"

During daily training, the veteran gunners warned the new gunners that when loading the gunners, the mouths of the gunners must be close together and the diameters of the gunners should be exactly the same. Do not vent.Otherwise, the artillery will be weak, especially if the fire gas leaks out, and sometimes it will be sprayed several feet away, scalding the surrounding gunners.

The loader trained a lot on weekdays, but he was flustered when facing the enemy, and he forgot this.

The first casualty of the Shunxiang army was caused by its own people.

Wang Dou also saw this situation on the tower, and he said calmly: "The injured sergeant, help him down for treatment, and the loader, imprison him!"

Wang Dou gave an order, and immediately the auxiliary soldiers composed of several male men in the castle carried a stretcher made of wooden boards, and carried the injured gunner down to heal his injuries.In the fort, Wang Tianxue has set up a medical team to treat the soldiers injured in battle.

The two burly military discipline sergeants under Zhenfu Chi Dacheng also rushed over immediately and pushed the loader down.The loader was ashamed, he didn't dare to look up at the condemning eyes cast by the surrounding sergeants, he just followed the two escorting sergeants down in dejection.

With this unexpected lesson, all the gunners lifted their spirits even more.

At this time, the results of another round of firing of the four Franco machine guns came out, except that the gun that had an accident only shot a hundred meters away, and another iron ball hit a shield car, injuring several The unarmored auxiliary soldiers, even a vest soldier behind the shield chariot, were pierced by a flying sharp wooden stick. The wooden stick broke through the two layers of heavy armor on his body and pierced his heart.The vest soldier was kneeling on the ground, dying like that.

Another iron ball hit a horse riding a white armored soldier, directly smashing a big bloody hole in the horse's head.The war horse neighed once, then rolled to the ground, pinning the white-armored soldier under the horse.

The last iron ball missed any target, but it bounced and smashed a wheelbarrow, rolled and broke the legs of the two Qing soldiers following behind, causing them to roll on the ground and scream Not yourself.

At this time, the Qing soldiers approached even closer, and the firing of the four Francophone cannons came to an end. Wang Dou sighed inwardly, the effect of the artillery at this time is still too small, it is better to scare people than hit them.However, for the generals on the tower, the two rounds of Franco cannon firing were quite fruitful, causing about ten casualties of the Qing soldiers, and also damaged two Tartar shield chariots and wheelbarrows. .

Finally, there are two small bronze cannons on the city wall, loaded in the front, not very powerful, and the range is only a hundred paces.

These two small bronze cannons are not mounted on high iron and wood frames like those Franco cannons, but on a small four-wheeled frame. A gun hole was opened and fired from here.

The two small copper cannons each had two gunners. At this time, the gunpowder had already been compacted inside the gunpowder, and the gunpowder was also filled in the fire door. In addition to one cannonball each, some stones and iron bullets were also stuffed into the cannon. The artillery team officer gave an order, waved the command flag in his hand vigorously, and said loudly: "Fire!"

"Boom!" Two sounds.

Two small copper cannons emitted flames and smoke, and screams came from outside the city.

At this moment, there was the sound of passionate war drums in the large formation of the Qing soldiers, and the Qing soldiers below the city shouted together. They raised their flags and charged forward with wild screams.

……

"Hold on, hold on, and wait for the Chinese army to order before firing!"

Han Zhong strode back and forth on the city wall, while watching the movements of the Qing soldiers below the city, he shouted loudly to his subordinates.

Han Zhong and Sun Sanjie went down to the city tower, and personally went to the city wall in charge of each to command their own guards to fight.Only Lin Daofu, Zhenfu Chi Dacheng, and Han Chao, Wen Fangliang and Wang Dou's Central Military Department were left on the watchtower.

At this time, on the crenel walls on the urn city, as well as the city walls on the left and right sides of the city gate, on all the crenels, there were densely packed gunners from the left post of Shun Township Army Han Zhong and the rear post of Sun Sanjie. With a firecracker, he just aimed at the Qing soldiers who charged forward.

They are all wearing armor, some of them are still armored.Shunxiang Fort now has more than 250 pairs of armor, and there are more than 180 pairs of armor in the warehouse.Since Han Zhong's left sentry army was fighting against Sun Sanjie's rear sentry army, in order to reduce casualties, Wang Dou asked the Han and North Korean right sentry army and Wen Fangliang's outpost army who did not participate in the battle to give up their armor and give them to the two sentry soldiers. use.

There are more than 430 sergeants in the two posts with standard bearers, guard officers, etc. There are more than [-] pairs of armor in Shunxiang Fort. Part of the iron armor was allocated, and most of them also had cotton armor or leather armor for body protection.

Since there was no melee combat yet, the guards on the crenels on the city wall were temporarily moved away to make it easier for the musketeers to shoot.

At this time, Han Zhong of the Left Sentinel Army heard the shouts of the Qing soldiers getting closer and closer. Many of the soldiers were pale. The psychological pressure of a person facing the enemy is no small matter.

However, the Shunxiang Army usually trains strictly, and its military discipline is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, especially the Shunxiang Fort Defending Military Law stipulated not long ago: In combat, those who turn back will be tied up and beaten!Those who are good at action are tied up!Those who saw thieves making loud noises, and those who were injured and screamed and frightened away, all retreated in line with the military law to show the public!

Governor Chi Dacheng led his own military discipline team to make constant inspections, so although life and death were at stake, everyone stood still and did not say a word.

The four teams of soldiers on the left post, except for a few team officers who observed the enemy's situation through the observation hole on the pile wall, were standing in front of the team flag next to their grass factory at this time. Standing, they killed in one row, and the other row served as reinforcements depending on the situation.The firecrackers of each team are also divided into two rows, one row with guns aiming at the crenel, and the other row with firecrackers standing behind, waiting for their own shots.They watched the match carefully in their hands, lest it burn out or go out.

Not only them, each team of soldiers is composed of young and strong men in the castle, the auxiliary soldiers who throw rolling wood and rocks, and pour golden juice, they also squat quietly beside their own equipment, clenching their teeth, Just say nothing.

There was silence on the top of the city, only the fierce sun was shining directly on the top of the city.

All the generals and soldiers were wearing thick armor, and there were beads of sweat rolling out of their faces, but no one wiped them off.

Han Zhong looked at the Qing soldiers who were getting closer and closer from the pile of walls. He also inhaled nervously, and couldn't help saying: "Boys, hold on to me!"

Han Zhong guessed that the Tazi soldiers had already seen that the city gate was on the left side of the Wengcheng, so there were as many as fifteen shield chariots pushing towards this side.Not far behind the shield cart, there are also many Tazi soldiers following, wearing cotton armor or not wearing armor, pushing seventy to eighty wheelbarrows, which are full of mud and stones, etc. The ditch in front of the city is used.Behind these wheelbarrows, there are more than a dozen Tartar servants, carrying a few pairs of simple ladders, and following the wheelbarrows.

The shield chariot advanced, and the Qing soldiers shouted like thunder. Seeing that the Qing soldiers had rushed fifty steps outside the city, a long swan sound sounded from the central military headquarters of the tower.

Han Zhong pointed his sword forward and shouted, "Shoot!"

From the urn city to the many crenels and police shops on the left city wall, among the horse faces, there are 50 gunners of the left sentry sergeant on the first floor.

They shot together, the firecrackers blared together, and a lot of flames and smoke were ejected.

For a moment, the sound of firecrackers firing resounded through the sky.

However, the front and upper parts of the shield chariots of the more than ten Qing soldiers in front are covered by thick wooden boards, and the wooden boards are also covered with thick leather quilts. Although the new guns of Shunxiang Castle are sharp, they can be pierced in fifty steps. The padded armor of the Qing soldiers couldn't penetrate their shield chariots. Fifty firecrackers from Han Zhongbu fired in a volley, making the leather quilts on each shield chariot crack, and the projectiles flew across the flagpoles. They were broken one after another, but the Qing soldiers and archers hiding in the shield car were safe and sound.

More than a dozen Qing soldiers' shield chariots were still rushing forward.

Han Zhong cursed a few times, and shouted: "On the second layer of firecrackers, hit those unarmored Tartars behind!"

Immediately, the gunners on the first floor stepped back and quickly loaded the fixed paper tube ammunition.

The second row of gunners stepped forward, aiming at the Qing soldiers who were pushing the wheelbarrow behind the shield cart and kept following.Sun Sanjie on the right wall also judged this situation and made the same decision.

"shooting!"

The firecrackers at the head of the Shunxiang Fort fired another round of volley, except for a few firecrackers that failed to fire, dozens of firecrackers all shot at the followers of the Qing soldiers behind the shield chariot.

There was a horrific scream outside the city, this time there should be a hit!

After two rows of firecrackers fired, the city was filled with white smoke, making it difficult to see clearly.

Han Zhong loudly ordered a ceasefire, and the team officers of each team also shouted loudly: "Cease fire, cease fire!"

The firecrackers of each team stopped, waiting to see the results of the battle.

The choking smell of gunpowder wafted from the city, and there was a smell of blood in it, an indescribable smell under the hot sun.

I can see clearly that the Qing soldiers who entered the distance of [-] steps outside the city followed the soldiers. More than a dozen of them were knocked to the ground, and many of them were bloody and bloody.

Shunxiangbao's new firecrackers can break through cotton armor at forty to fifty paces, and are still very lethal at sixty paces. For these cotton armors that have no armor or are only covered with no iron pieces, It was very powerful, and for a while, those Qing soldiers who pushed the wheelbarrows all fell behind their own carts, rushing forward hesitantly.

There was also a lot of noise coming from the shield chariot of the Qing soldiers in front. It was obviously the Qing soldiers hiding behind the shield chariot. They did not expect the Ming army's gunfire at the top of the city to be so fierce.

Another order came, the gunners who had fired on the first floor had already loaded their fixed paper tube ammunition, and after the gunners on the second floor retreated, they came up one after another.However, at this time the shield chariots in front had charged twenty or thirty steps closer. When the musketeers on this floor opened fire, a group of Qing soldiers in cotton armor flashed out from each shield chariot, and the sound of bowstrings sounded. A wave of more than [-] sharp arrows shot towards the crenels on the city.

There were screams above and below the city, and several Qing soldiers were shot, and a shield chariot at the front was pierced, and someone seemed to be injured inside.And this time the Qing soldiers under the city suddenly attacked, and the firecrackers stood at the crenel and fired intensively outwards. A firecracker was shot by the Qing soldiers.

Wu Zhengchun of the left sentry team A team was deployed on the first horse surface dozens of steps away from the city gate. The new armor leader Wu Zhengchun was commanding the firearms in the team to fight. He suddenly heard the sound of piercing the sky and flashed quickly , the sharp arrow flew past his ear, but a firecracker next to him was shot in the right eye by a sharp arrow. The arrow was so powerful that it threw him all the way out and rolled him to the ground. .

Zhong Xiancai, the new team officer of the Left Sentinel Team A, was commanding back and forth in the team. He happened to walk up to a crenellation wall. There was an iron leaf collar to block it, but the sharp arrow was so fierce that the arrow still penetrated deeply, bleeding profusely.

Especially the other firecracker soldier, although he was wearing iron armor, he was hit by four arrows on his face, he screamed loudly, and fell to the ground on his back.

Among the more than ten firecrackers who were shot, those clad in iron armor are fine, as long as they are not in the vital places such as the face, eyes, etc., even if they are shot in the chest or other places, the sharp arrows will not be able to kill them. Even if the armor is pierced, it is not fatal.Those musketeers wearing leather armor or cotton armor were in serious condition. Several of them were deeply shot in the chest by sharp arrows, and their lives might be in danger.

In particular, the bows and arrows of the Qing soldiers were vicious and extremely accurate. They either hit the face, the neck, or the eyes, causing a considerable death rate for the gunners who were shot.It's just that in this round of arrow rain, half of the more than ten firecrackers who were shot may lose their lives.

Han Zhong was also almost injured. He looked out of the city, and there were two sharp arrows flying towards him. One sharp arrow flew past his ear and landed far away in the street behind the city wall.Another arrow hit his left chest, but fortunately he was wearing iron armor, and the iron leaf here was also very thick, so the sharp arrow shot through it barely penetrated into the flesh.

However, the force of the arrow still made him gasp heavily. He lowered his body and shouted loudly: "Blade Gunner, back up, back up!"

"Auxiliary soldiers, hanging households!"

Another wave of sharp arrows flew from various crenels, and four or five gunfire soldiers and young auxiliary soldiers who could not dodge were shot to the ground, and they screamed loudly.

The arrows of the rest shot through the city wall and fell far into the city.

From the left and right sides of the city wall came the urgent cries of the generals, telling the musketeers to avoid them.

The shooting speed and accuracy of firecrackers are too far behind that of bows and arrows. Shooting against them will be a big disadvantage for one's own side.

Especially the rear sentry sergeants led by Sun Sanjie, although there were not many Qing soldiers attacking the city wall on their right side, most of them were new troops on their side. , was caught off guard, and suffered casualties of nearly ten firearms soldiers.

In the blink of an eye, the Shunxiang Army at the head of the city had suffered more than [-] casualties.

On Wang Dou's tower, there was also an urgent order to let the gunners avoid, and a soft wall was hung on the crenel.

……

The auxiliary soldiers on the city wall bent over and lifted the hanging doors or soft walls on the city wall to the crenel to block the sharp arrows shot from outside the city, and then lifted the bucket and poured water on it.There are coverings on the front and top of the hanging house and the soft wall, covered with old wadding bedding, which can effectively prevent sharp arrows from outside the city after wetting it with water.

After each hanging household blocked the crenel, the city wall was slightly darkened, and the sunlight on one side was blocked, only the sound of Bobo was heard, and dozens of sharp arrows were shot at each hanging household, but there were quilts blocking it, but the sharp arrows were Can't come in.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The soft wall was the most important thing to guard the crenel. Without this kind of equipment, the sergeants would not want to stand in front of the crenel.

A large group of medical and auxiliary soldiers composed of men in the fort came up from the bottom of the city carrying stretchers one by one. They carried down the wounded soldiers on the top of the city for medical treatment, and buried those who died in battle.Along the way, the blood of casualties and soldiers was sprinkled all over the city.Seeing the blood on the ground and the shouts of the wounded brothers made everyone in the city feel that the hardship of this battle would be beyond their expectations.

At this time, the generals and musketeers of each team and armor on the city wall were watching the movement outside the city from the lookout holes in the battlements, or from the small holes dug out of the hanging doors. The shield chariot stopped at a distance of twenty steps from the city wall, and many Qing soldiers in the shield chariot came out.Some of them were covered by the shield car, while some stood outside the shield car blatantly, but they all opened their bows and arrows, just staring at the movement on the city.

On the left side of the city wall, Han Zhong roughly estimated that there might be about 150 Tazi soldiers.Looking at the banner armor on their bodies, at least they are vest soldiers in the Qing army, all of them are wearing two layers of heavy armor, especially a few generals who look like they are divided into Pashiku and Pashiku. It was bulging, probably wearing three layers of heavy armor.

There was a man who looked like Niu Luzhangjing, who was wearing more bulging clothes. In front of him, surrounded by white armored soldiers, there were about [-] people, each of them was holding a heavy shield and a tall red tassel on his helmet. Wearing a double layer of heavy armor.Beside each group of white-armored soldiers stood a huge, bright-armored and red-tasseled soldier with a small yellow flag with a slanted point on his back.

Behind the shield chariots of the Qing soldiers, wheelbarrows pushed by the followers of the Qing soldiers, loaded with soil and other objects, rolled forward and approached the ditch in front of the city wall.

At the base of the city walls on both sides of the south gate of Shunxiang Fort, on the outside of the ditch, there are some repelling horses, staghorn wood, and barbed wire. They are important lines of defense for the city wall of Shunxiang Fort. superior.

At this time, Wang Douzhong's military headquarters on the top of the city tower had seen clearly what was going on below the city, and there were passionate drums and orders from upstairs, allowing the firecrackers of each team to fight freely and shoot outside the city, preventing the Qing soldiers from filling trenches and climbing the city. .

But at this time, the sound of war drums from the Qing army formation became even louder, and the two sides started shooting at each other above and below the city.

The ringing of the firecrackers and the continuous rise of smoke, the firecrackers of each team on the city wall poked their own firecrackers out of the observation holes in the battlements and the perforations below, and kept shooting outwards. .At the same time, the bows and arrows of the Qing soldiers continued to shoot, and some sharp arrows with tricky angles could even get in through these two holes, causing damage to the gunners in the city.

Since the viewing angles on the battlements and the perforations below the battlements are not wide, it is inconvenient to shoot. There was a firearms player from the second team of the left sentry, who thought it was not easy to shoot when the hanging door was blocked by the battlement, so he moved a hanging door a little bit. , before he could fire, as many as ten arrows were shot at him, and he was hit by eight arrows in the face, and immediately rolled to the ground screaming.

Seeing him like this, no firearms dared to move away from Xuanhu.

Since the Qing soldiers hadn't filled the trenches and entered the city, the side firepower of several horse-faced police shops could not be exerted.

Shooting from the lookout holes and perforations, it is not easy to capture the enemy, but as long as the shots hit, with the power of the Shunxiang Fort firecrackers, even if the Qing soldiers below the city were wearing two layers of heavy armor, they would be knocked to the ground immediately.Even if they didn't die for a while, or didn't break the heavy armor, but with the powerful power of the firecracker, when the heavy projectile hits the past, all the force has to be borne by the body, and the bones of those Qing soldiers who were shot were immediately broken and lost their activities. Ability.

From time to time there were screams and muffled groans from above and below the city. It is roughly estimated that more than ten Qing soldiers outside the city were shot by Shunxiang Fort fire, and several of them were soldiers who were going to fight on the city. Several gunfire soldiers were also shot by Qing soldiers' bows and arrows, either in the face or in the thigh.

Although the battle was not fierce, it was very bloody. The rescue auxiliary soldiers just ran in and out, carrying the injured soldiers down for treatment from time to time.

Outside the city, the Qing soldier Niu Luzhang Jing was under the heavy protection of heavy soldiers, but he just looked at the direction of the city head with a solemn expression. He did not expect the firearms of the Ming army at the city head to be so powerful, which was far beyond his expectations.Before going to the top of the city, there were more than [-] casualties on his own side. Although most of them were unarmored followers, he felt sorry for them. is dead here.

Moreover, many warriors on our own side were wearing heavy armor, but they were still pierced through the armor and died tragically under the firearms of the Ming army. This was unprecedented.But it also made him feel bad. He had a premonition that it would not be so easy to capture this small castle.

……

In the afternoon, after more than [-] people were killed or wounded, the followers of the Qing soldiers finally cleared an area under the city wall on the left side of the south gate. A section of the trench was filled, and then scattered footsteps sounded, and three crude long ladders approached the city head.

Zhong Xiancai, the officer of the Left Sentinel Team A who was in charge of this section of the city wall, could see clearly from the lookout hole in the wall, and he shouted suddenly: "Get ready for the rock!"

Immediately, several auxiliary soldiers in the team who were in charge of throwing the rolling wood and stones nervously moved a few stones and placed them on the spoons of several small stone throwing machines beside the stacking wall, and Zhong Xian shouted: "Let it go!"

More than a dozen stones were thrown from the city wall and smashed hard outside the city wall, and there were screams from below the city wall.

However, a ladder is still approaching, and it has already been put on the top of the city.

Zhong Xiancai shouted again: "Golden juice is ready!"

Immediately, two more auxiliary soldiers each used an iron rod to struggle to lift a large pot from a fire, which was full of boiling dung juice, and the stench was so strong.

At the same time, each team also heard voices one after another: "Pikemen are ready!"

(End of this chapter)