Jiang Lei directed the gunners to arrange the ten newly acquired artillery pieces, estimating the distance and adjusting the angle of the barrels. He was very busy.
"General, as usual, just try firing a wave first!"
Jiang Lei took the cannonballs handed over by the gunner and patted them: "You know nothing, you think these cannonballs are as worthless as those cannonballs.
This shell costs several hundred taels of silver. If you waste one shell, the commander will beat me to death!"
Jiang Lei shuddered when he thought of how he had consumed dozens of shells in order to get familiar with these artillery pieces a few days ago, and how the commander stomped his feet and scolded him when he found out.
"How many...hundreds of taels? It's made of gold. General, don't be ridiculous!"
"Who knows, I'm good at making cannons, but I'm a layman on how to make cannons. Since the commander-in-chief said it's worth so much, he definitely wouldn't be aiming for nothing.
Okay, just from this angle, load the shells and prepare them. After getting the command from the commander, I will do the first shot myself!"
"yes!"
Liu Mingzhi watched the imperial army's counterattack on the city wall, and his frown had not relaxed at all since the time of the siege.
The counterattacks of the Forbidden Army and the Military Guard today were completely different from those of the previous two days.
Compared with the two days before, which were both offensive and defensive, the defensive method that seemed to me to be quite perfect was not seen today. Instead, there were some counterattacks that were full of loopholes.
What the hell is going on.
The tactic of luring the enemy by showing that they are weak did not involve risking the lives of the soldiers under his command.
Increasingly unable to understand the behavior of the imperial troops defending the city, Liu Mingzhi could only suppress the doubts in his heart and closely observe the progress of his infantry brothers' siege to prevent any sudden changes.
Watching An Gouer's navy coordinate with his own soldiers and horses to carry out the siege operation steadily, Liu Mingzhi glanced at An Gouer's position and watched the command flags being waved frequently to convey orders.
Liu Mingzhi furrowed his brows and cursed secretly as An Gouer commanded the naval officers to change their formations from time to time.
It is absolutely impossible for Jiang He to trade with Western countries honestly. Otherwise, how could the navy, which has been wandering at sea all year round, look so sophisticated when attacking a city.
The close cooperation between the archers, the sword and shield soldiers, and the shield bearers, even myself, who has experienced hundreds of battles and has commanded soldiers and horses to charge into battle all year round, can't find any fault.
It is estimated that in addition to the empire on which the sun never sets, this idiot may have also raised his butcher knife in some other countries in the West.
As for the reason, Liu Mingzhi doesn’t know yet.
The sun rose high, and with the help of artillery, catapults, and crossbows, the first ladder was finally attached to the city wall, followed by the siege engines.
"Kill!"
The soldiers of the new army held up their shields to guard against the thundering stones and rolling logs coming from the city wall, brandishing their swords and bravely climbing up the city wall without fear of death.
Nangong Ye, who was on the west side of the north city wall, heard the movement coming from the east wall. He immediately turned his head and looked at the enemy troops who had already attacked the city. He ran over without hesitation.
Liu Mingzhi looked at the soldiers and horses approaching the city and let out a long breath: "Send the order to Jiang Lei, bombard the city gate!"
"Got the order!"
Ding Weibo Yang Zhenguo gritted his teeth and waved the order flag in his hand.
"Quick, the sword and shield soldiers step forward to cover, and the thunderous rocks and rolling wood will smash down hard!"
"Uncle Ding, how did you command the troops? How did the enemy break through the defense line so quickly?"
"Xiaguan...Xiaguan...I haven't commanded troops for more than ten years. I can't adapt to the current confrontation method!"
Nangong Ye lamented with an ugly face: "Send the order, let the enemy troops who have already climbed the ladder climb the city wall and then kill them, and do your best to prevent the subsequent soldiers and horses from climbing the ladder."
"Got the order!"
Boom.
Amidst the dense artillery fire, a distinctive muffled sound came.
There was an explosion under the city gate, and the noise was far greater than the explosive bombs falling on the city wall!
"General, the shot missed. We are still about five steps away!"
"I saw it, all the artillery was raised, and we fired with all our strength to bombard the city gate!"
"Got the order!"
"Fire your artillery with all your strength and bombard the city gate."
The distinctive sound of artillery sounded again from outside the city, and it was no longer one sound, but one after another.
In an instant, the city gate was filled with intense firelight and thick smoke, blocking everyone's sight. The Imperial Guards directly above the doorway of the city wall couldn't help but tremble, shaking their heads in confusion not knowing what was going on.
The fierce explosions continued for a while before they stopped.
When the smoke dissipated, the tall city gate that had been bombarded by solid bullets with dense holes no longer existed, and turned into a pile of wooden blocks scattered under the door opening.
Jiang Lei looked at the exposed rammed earth bricks in the doorway, put down the telescope in his hand, and hit the palm of his hand hard.
"Damn it, if we had these cannons, I would be able to knock down all the city gates of the Jin Kingdom within half a year.
Send the order, lower the muzzle by two notches and continue firing, blasting a way through the city gate for the cavalry!"
"Got the order!"
"Commander!"
"exist!"
"Let Yu Bo mobilize thirty artillery pieces and use explosive shells in conjunction with my general to bombard the rammed earth masonry in the city gate!"
"Got the order!"
The undulating roar of artillery sounded again, and the North City Gate, with its city bricks loosened, once again received a wave of fierce artillery bombardment.
Liu Mingzhi looked at the figure of the general on the city wall who risked his life and leaned forward to look at the city gate. He silently put down the telescope in his hand and murmured a few words.
"How could it be so easy? The general who defended the city had no defense at all? Damn it, no matter what plots and tricks you have, I have to fight my way out."
"Commander!"
"exist!"
"Send orders to Ning Chao and Ye Baotong to use war drums as trumpets and be ready to rush to the north gate and rush into the city at any time."
"Got the order!"
"Commander!"
"exist!"
"You separately send orders to Cheng Kai, Han Peng, Chu Jing, Feng Buer and Zhou Baoyu, who is blocking General Dongfang on the official road in the north, to be ready to withdraw from the battlefield at any time and rush into the city in force."
"We have the order!"
Under the charge of the soldiers of the Sixth Guards of the New Army and the Fifth Battalion of the Navy one after another.
It was not until three poles in the sun that the battle situation finally changed dramatically.
After the shells bombarded the city gate hole, the infantry soldiers fought back against the city wall and dug desperately, and the loose rammed earth was completely filled into the moat.
"The city gate is broken, the city gate is broken... well... it's..."
The soldiers, who were waving their pickaxes and shouting excitedly, were hit by an arrow that penetrated directly into their bodies and fell to the ground helplessly.
"Quickly, set off the signal flare and let the brothers prepare to enter the city. Be careful of the archers on the city wall!"
Outside the war-torn capital city, a burst of bright flowers exploded in the sky.
The lookout hand pointed excitedly at the sky.
"Commander, the city gate hole has been dug, and we can storm the city!"
Liu Mingzhi suppressed the excitement in his heart and jumped off the stage.
"Dahu, how many days have we been attacking the city?"
"Commander, today is the seventh day!"
"For seven days, it was really hard to fight!
After sending the order and beating the drums, the soldiers from all sides on the battlefield withdrew to the north gate and rushed into the city with all their strength to annihilate the recalcitrant imperial troops and military guards."
Liu Mingzhi glanced at the Imperial Guards who were still resisting on the city wall, and sighed silently.
"Instruct all soldiers to prepare for street fighting in advance to prevent unexpected events!"
"Got the order!"
The sound of war drums to boost morale instantly changed the rhyme and rhythm. The soldiers of the Six Guards of the New Army attacking the city outside the three walls of the east, west and south immediately stopped their siege operations and turned their attention to the north of the city.
The flag bearer waved his flag again and again, and the soldiers rushed to the north of the city immediately.
Liu Mingzhi got on his horse, took out the Heavenly Sword from his waist, and galloped across the wilderness.
"Brothers, follow my commander into the city. The first one to rush into the city will be rewarded with ten thousand taels of gold!"