Of course Yang Zhen is not a real artillery warfare expert, but the so-called artillery warfare under this time and space condition does not require the complex and diverse artillery tactics that would be required hundreds of years later.

Although Yang Zhen is a fake expert who is full of dissatisfaction and half-assed, the situation is clear that there is a protective wall on the right wing of the Qinglu artillery formation, but there are no protective walls in front of them and on the left wing.

So when he heard what Liu Zhongjin said about adjusting the gun positions, he immediately guessed what he was thinking, which was just to avoid the tall or short ice walls on the right side of the Qinglu artillery array.

However, the heavy artillery on the city were all the so-called heavy artillery of the General Tianyou Energizer captured from the Qing Dynasty. They were too heavy and it was very inconvenient to move the defense and adjust it, and it was a waste of time to redeploy it.

Moreover, once the defense is moved to the top of the city directly in front of the Qinglu artillery array, our own army's heavy artillery will immediately be covered by the Qinglu heavy artillery that has almost completed its forward deployment.

Until then, it will be all about quantity and consumption.

The Qinglu's heavy artillery deployed in the east of the city was originally more than the own army's. Now that the Qinglu's artillery battalion in the west of the city has also arrived, it is several times the number of the own army's heavy artillery.

Under this circumstance, is it appropriate to compete with Qinglu heavy artillery face to face for quantity and consumption?

Even though his army's heavy artillery was on the city and had a commanding advantage, Yang Zhen didn't want to do this.

Yang Zhen made up his mind and was about to reject Liu Zhongjin's last proposal when suddenly, there was a boom from the Qinglu heavy artillery position on the river in the distance.

A huge cannon went straight to the towering east wall of Zhenjiang Fort with lightning speed, and hit it with a loud bang.

Immediately, there was a burst of cheers from the Qinglu heavy artillery camp under the cover of the ice wall, and there was a commotion on the top of the Zhenjiang Fort.

When Yang Zhen saw this, he knew that the heavy artillery of the Qing Dynasty had been deployed and began to attack the city. At that moment, there was no longer any question to hesitate about.

"There is no time. The Qing captives have already started shelling. Our heavy artillery position should not be moved lightly!"

"Then, let's just watch the Qing invaders bombard that section of the city wall?"

"That's not true. We can't do anything about the Qinglu's heavy artillery position for the time being, but after they destroy that section of the city wall, they will always send horse and infantry to rush into the city. Then you can adjust the muzzle of the gun. If you can't hit their heavy artillery,

Then attack their horse and infantry specifically!"

"I understand, I understand! I obey my orders!"

Regarding Yang Zhen's arrangement, Liu Zhongjin quickly understood the ruthlessness of it, and without any hesitation in his mind, he immediately accepted the order.

At this time, the Qinglu heavy artillery on the Yajiang River in the east of the city had begun to fire one after another.

The first shot they fired just now hit the target wall, and their morale seemed to rise sharply for a while.

Next, every time they hit a shot, there was a faint sound of cheers, and the generals who followed Yang Zhen on the top of the city could be heard cursing.

Seeing this, Yang Zhen simply drove them all away and asked them to perform their duties and take their responsibilities, so as to be prepared for a full-scale counterattack when the Qing invaders broke through the city.

Only Qiu Zhenhai and Yu Haichao were left with their own men and horses, accompanying Yang Zhen and guarding the Zhenjiang Gate. While continuing to observe the situation outside the city, they were responsible for the entire Dongcheng defense reserve team.

As for the defensive situation on the east wall of Zhenjiang Fort, after the Qinglu's heavy artillery positions were suddenly able to be deployed forward and shoot at close range, things suddenly became less optimistic.

Fortunately, Yang Zhen had already deployed several defensive fortifications behind the dangerous city wall, so the soldiers guarding the city were very calm.

The sentry teams of various regiments that had been transferred from the West City to the East City by Yang Zhen rushed over after the roar of Qinglu's heavy artillery in the east of the city, and quickly entered the positions that the superior officers had set before to assemble and wait for orders.

On the entire east wall of Zhenjiang Fort, except for the ten heavy artillery deployed on the Zhenjiang Gate facing the flanks of the Qinglu artillery formation, which were still firing back one by one, the soldiers of the other regiments and battalion sentries just silently

Waiting, waiting for the moment when the city is broken.

At the same time, the intention of the Qing soldiers and horses outside the city to storm Zhenjiang Fort City again became increasingly clear.

Because in addition to the Qinglu heavy artillery teams constantly bombarding the city wall, a large number of Qinglu horse teams also began to appear on the river in the direction of Waihua Island, and they were gradually gathering towards the rear of the Qinglu heavy artillery position.

"Captain, it seems that this time, the Qinglu will send their real main force to attack the city! As far as I know, the cavalry soldiers in the Eight Banners of the Qinglu are almost all Manchurian and Mengniulu!"

Yang Zhen stood on top of the relatively safe Zhenjiang Gate, holding up a telescope and constantly observing the movements of the Qing captives outside the city.

Qiu Zhenhai, the commander-in-chief of Dongcheng Defense, was right beside him.

Qiu Zhenhai, who had served as a second Tatar in the Shang Kexi Tianzhu soldiers, knew more or less about the situation of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty.

Therefore, he knew that the cavalry soldiers of the Qing Dynasty were all composed of the so-called Manchu and Mongolian Niulu, and he also knew that the bow and horse riding and shooting that the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty were proud of were mainly these people.

At this time, he noticed that a large number of Qinglu cavalry had gathered in the direction of Waihua Island in the east of the city, and quickly reminded Yang Zhen to pay attention to the use of Manchu and Mongolian cavalry in the Qinglu's siege.

"In view of their humble position, since the Qinglu sent out the cavalry, what they wanted to do was to get a quick word. The Qinglu must have had great confidence in destroying that section of the city wall, and they were waiting for the Qinglu's heavy artillery to break the city.

After doing a great job, he sent out a large number of cavalry and rushed into the city at all costs!"

Seeing that Qiu Zhenhai had also judged the intention of the large-scale gathering of the Qinglu cavalry, Yang Zhen stopped repeating his judgment. Instead, he put down his telescope, smiled, and said to him:

"Then do you think it's possible?"

"The Qinglu heavy artillery may be able to destroy that section of the city wall, perhaps around noon today, but if the Qingluo rely on their cavalry to destroy our fortifications behind that section of the city wall, it will be even more difficult than climbing to the sky!"

"Haha, let's take a look. If these Qinglu horse soldiers really want to go to heaven, then we can just send them to heaven! Hahahaha..."

Yang Zhen's laughter was very effective in dispelling the tense atmosphere at the top of Zhenjiang Gate where the rain was about to come.

But that's only for the time being.

As time went by, the heavy artillery counterattack on Zhenjiang Gate was unable to achieve success, and finally stopped altogether. However, the heavy artillery positions deployed by the Qing forces in front of the Qing Dynasty continued to achieve success, and almost no shots were fired.

Correspondingly, more and more Qing captives gathered on the river at the southern end of Weihua Island in the east of the city.

Some are wearing blue armor, some are wearing yellow armor, some are wearing red armor, and some are wearing white armor. Looking from a distance, there is a large black area, which makes Yang Zhen's scalp hair straight.

numb.

For Zhang Chen, Li Lu, Yang Shen, An Yingchang, Liu Lin and other troops who were waiting behind the fortifications in the east wall, the atmosphere was relatively good.

Anyway, they couldn't see the situation outside. They only knew that the heavy artillery of the Qing Dynasty was bombarding the city wall incessantly. The wall was getting thinner and thinner, and the masonry and earthwork used to rebuild the city wall fell off one after another.

However, for Pan Xi, Sun Dengxuan and other soldiers who were ambushing on both sides of that section of the city wall, they were becoming more and more nervous.

Seeing that the city wall not far away was about to be blown down by Qinglu's heavy artillery, and the Qingqi's cavalry soldiers gathered densely outside the city, which might be more than the ammunition I had prepared at the top of the city, how could I not be nervous or scared?

?

However, they were nervous, and scared, and now they couldn't help any of them take a step back.

Around 1:00 a.m. on October 28, the 13th year of Chongzhen's reign, under the constant bombardment from the Qinglu heavy artillery position on the river for more than an hour, the defenders on the east wall of Zhenjiang Fort almost gave up their intention to repair and counterattack.

After the water was released, the section of the city wall that was blown up when Yang Zhen led his troops into the city finally couldn't withstand the continuous impact of hundreds of powerful and heavy cannons on its bottom, and collapsed once again.

The collapsed city wall opened a gap of more than two feet wide to the Qinglu horse soldiers who had been gathering and waiting outside the city for a long time.

The collapsed masonry, stone, and civil engineering piled up in the gap, forming a ruins, and a ramp that could go up and down was naturally formed inside and outside the ruins of the gap.

Some of the grenadiers hiding on the east wall were too close to the rebuilt wall and unfortunately fell down when that wall collapsed.

The sudden opening of the gap in the east wall of Zhenjiang Fort, and the appearance of the soldiers on the city falling down and struggling to survive in the ruins of the gap, immediately caused a roar like a tsunami in the Qinglu camp in the east of the city.

Immediately afterwards, the horn horns sounded in the direction of Waihua Island. The Qinglu cavalry, which had already been unable to hold back, instantly drew their knives in their hands and urged them to run forward. They cheered and bypassed the heavy artillery positions on the river, and rushed straight into the gap created by the collapsed city wall.

go.

At this time, Yang Zhen, who was on top of the Wengcheng in Zhenjiangmen, immediately pulled out the iron whistle hanging from his collar and blew it hard.

"?——?——"

"?——?——"

The iron whistle blown by Yang Zhen made an extremely sharp and harsh whistle, breaking the silence at the top of the city before the battle.

The whistle is the command.

Liu Zhongjin, who was not far from Yang Zhen, took action after hearing the order. He immediately called for the heavy artillery on the city and fired again for bombardment.

Correspondingly, Pan Xi and Sun Dengxuan, who were guarding both sides of the gap and some distance away from Yang Zhen, also used their iron whistles to prepare for battle amidst the chaos of the city wall collapse after Yang Zhen blew the whistle.

's command.

For a time, bursts of shrill whistles, like air defense sirens hundreds of years later, resounded all over the east city of Zhenjiang Fort.

Zhang Chen, Li Lu, Yang Shen, An Yingchang, Liu Lin and others were running behind the fortifications inside the city wall to order their men.

A large number of musketeers had already loaded their ammunition and pulled up the leading rails, waiting to harvest the first batch of enemies that rushed in.

The grenadiers unscrewed the cover on the wooden handle of the flying general, held torches, and were ready to light the fuse and throw it out at any time.

The gunners of the sky cannon have also adjusted the firing angle, and are just waiting for the command flag held high in Yang Shen's hand to fall before igniting the fire.

The Zhongyi Army under An Yingchang commanded each one, each holding a spear, blocking the back of the first fortification in the gap, waiting at any time to pierce the tip of the spear into the belly of the horse that rushed into the city first.
Chapter completed!