The weather was sunny, and the bloody morning sun peeked out from the ancient broken wall. The light was not so dazzling, and because of this, the colors appeared even more vivid.
Thousands of soldiers have gathered on the broad land in the north city. This was originally the intersection of the North-South Avenue. Last time, many houses were demolished due to the release of light balloons, forming a square. Now the square is occupied by densely packed soldiers. Right now.
On the platform of an earthen base in the north, there is a wooden board with the inscription: The Spirit of the God of Heaven, Yellow Emperor. For the time being, we can only use such a simple wooden sign to worship the gods. On the side of a tall flagpole, the Suzaku flag with a yellow background and a black picture is blowing in the wind.
fluttering.
Near the earth platform, a group of civil servants and generals were already standing there waiting for the commander-in-chief Zhang Ning to arrive. Some of them did not agree with the strategy of rushing out of the city to attack. Perhaps some of them were dissatisfied with Zhang Ning's actions.
There were quite a few criticisms, but no one objected fiercely... Because the Suzaku Army had carried out many seemingly crazy actions before, and Zhang Ning always succeeded, so people had nothing to say about his decision.
A group of soldiers came up carrying offerings, including a cow, a sheep, a pig, a dog, and a chicken that had just been slaughtered. The skins of the dead animals were still stained with blood.
At this moment, people looked sideways and saw Zhang Ning, who was wearing a neat gray military uniform, wide trousers and blue soap boots, coming over followed by a group of guards. He also had a long sword hanging on his waist and no hat or hair.
Tied to the top of the head.
Everyone looked at her, but Zhang Ning looked solemn, took three sticks of incense from others, and started to engage in superstitious activities in public. A long and monotonous voice shouted in a singing tone: "Bye..."
Zhang Ning took the lead and knelt down in front of the earthen fortress, and kowtowed three times and bowed nine times in front of a wooden sign and a row of sacrifices. Behind him, tens of thousands of people like a sea knelt down one after another, and the momentum changed layer by layer like the tide.
It was very spectacular. A civil servant read the manuscript and then burned it in front of the soil.
Most of the people present have no real belief in any gods. Worshiping gods is also a trade. They would rather believe in some instinctive mentality towards the unknown and mysterious. However, respecting ancestors is a real tradition. In people's hearts, the Yellow Emperor is the king of the world.
Ancestors. Moreover, quite a few of the soldiers in the Yongding camp are former believers of the anti-evil cult. This cult is not a patchwork of heretical doctrines. The main deity is the "god of heaven" Huangdi. Those soldiers who have been believers still retain it in their hearts to some extent.
This is due to the psychological impact of worshiping gods, because worshiping has been a habit for a long time.
Zhang Ning got up from the ground, and all the troops also got up one after another, looking at him and waiting for his order.
At this moment, it was obviously time to say a few words to inspire the troops. Zhang Ning said loudly: "No matter who you are, no one person can hold up the sky, so we call each other brothers and sisters. Only by relying on each other and trusting each other can we protect each other."
Defend your brothers and our common honor. Today we are fighting bloody battles to defend our homeland, future, and dignity! Victory or failure, life or death, this is the battle!"
He tried to calm people's noise, "...to eliminate the false imperial court stolen by King Yan is also for the sake of heaven, justice and fairness in the world, so that the black and white in the Chinese universe can be clear, so that my Yanhuang lineage can live long and prosperous. Huang Tian is above, please bless me.
The army is invincible. The achievements of this battle will surely benefit hundreds of millions of people..."
The soldiers took advantage of Zhang Ning's inciting habits. They shouted loudly, sweeping away the dead energy they had felt for months.
At this moment, suddenly thick smoke rose from several places in the southern city, and firelight flashed in the smoke. People's attention was drawn to it, and they heard Zhang Ning shout loudly: "I have ordered the remaining grain and grass to be burned.
, Today’s battle is over, and there is no way out. From now on, you will have no city walls to rely on, and no food and grass to maintain a stalemate. The only way out is to move forward! The only thing you can rely on is the comrades around you..."
People gradually felt that the place where the fire broke out was really the location of several large granaries, and their excitement gradually turned into solemn and solemn. When soldiers eat food, there is really no way out without food.
"Open the city gate!" Zhang Ning shouted in person.
The stones and logs blocked behind the city gate were moved away, and with a dull and heavy sound, the dilapidated giant gate with pits and pits slowly opened. In an instant, the bright light of the morning sun penetrated slantly from outside the open city gate, reflecting
In the eyes of thousands of warriors, it seems that the glory of life is entrusted to them.
Zhang Ning drew his sword and finally issued an order in front of everyone: "The whole army leaves the city and sets off!"
The troops shouted loudly and marched into the outside world with their chests held high and with determination to die. The hard battle that had been going on for several months seemed to have come to an end.
The Yongding Camp plus the Jiujiang Army, with 20,000 to 30,000 troops, gradually spread to the northwest. The density of troops and horses was very high. After leaving the city, they faced the Yangtze River. The area here was not open. The army turned westward and passed by the city wall of Jiujiang City.
They arrived at the corridor between Gantang Lake and the Yangtze River. The first army stood behind and was on guard; the rest of the troops poured into the small area of the land corridor. There were only a few gaps between the camps, and both the roads and the wasteland slopes were completely blocked.
Crowds take over.
The front is the defensive position of the northwest battalion of the army. After Zhang Fu built the siege fortifications, ditches and walls were built on all land areas around the city, including the section of defense in front of it, which reached Gantang Lake and the Yangtze River in the north and south.
The officers and soldiers had already been frightened by the formation of so many people. Heavy troops were deployed behind the fortifications. Artillery, muskets and cherry spears and spears placed on the wall were densely packed and ready.
Because there are too many people here and the place is too small, a large area is confined together. A kind of civilian general followed Zhang Ning and slowly walked towards the government and military fortifications from the front. He stopped when he was less than a mile away.
Within the range of the army's heavy artillery.
Zhang Ning ordered the Chinese army's flag to be erected next to him, turned around and shouted to the people: "I will always stand here, and no one of the advancing troops will retreat from here!"
After saying that, he turned around and shouted: "Zhang Chengzong."
Zhang Chengzong, commander of the Third Army of the Yongding Battalion, stepped forward and clasped his fists, saying: "The final general is here!"
"When our army's artillery fires, you immediately lead the entire Third Army to attack. If you can't break through the fortifications, come and see us!" Zhang Ning said coldly. He then patted Zhang Chengzong's arm and said seriously, "We have many soldiers, but
It can't be used. The artillery ammunition is almost exhausted. If you can't take advantage of the first shelling to break through the fortifications, subsequent attacks will only be carried out with flesh and blood. There is only one chance of advantage in the first battle, and it all depends on you."
Zhang Chengzong stood up straight and said with red eyes: "At the end of the day, regardless of the generals or soldiers, whoever retreats will be killed. As long as the last person is alive, they will never retreat."
"I will never forget this crucial battle." Zhang Ning said calmly.
He then ordered the First Army to follow closely and continue to attack. At this moment, the heavy artillery from the official army roared one after another, and several artillery shells fell from the sky into the crowd, causing a small chaos.
The officers and soldiers in the Northwest Battalion are still as stable as Mount Tai. The officers and soldiers in the Northwest Battalion should be the elite troops of Xuanda. The clothes and armor of the Ming army officers and soldiers are not uniform, and there are obvious regional deviations; Zhang Ning and others have been in a stalemate with Zhang Fujun for so long, even if they don't look at it
You can probably tell what kind of army it is by the appearance of the flag.
Although the camp in the northwest is in a disadvantageous situation at this time and has been separated from the main force, it seems that they are still very stable... because the siege fortifications obviously learned from the trench wall fortifications of the Suzaku Army, and were reinforced with wood and equipped with mixed horses.
Piles and other obstacles. This kind of fortification is like the outer perimeter of the earthen fort outside Jiujiang City. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack as the army has tried many times. As long as the defenders are strong enough and dense enough, the attack will suffer a great loss. Therefore, the army may not think that
The Suzaku Army can now easily break through the tightly guarded defense lines.
The large crowd here slowly approached the defense line amidst the continuous sound of artillery fire. They came to a stop after approaching more than 200 steps. The Suzaku Army's only sophisticated long-barreled heavy artillery began to be set up. There were more than thirty guns in total, lined up in front;
There are also many mortars arranged. The losses suffered during the erection process were very few. The number of heavy artillery of the army was limited and the accuracy was not very good. The shortcoming was that the interval between firing a shot was too long, and the range of small artillery such as the bowl-kou blunderbuss was not enough.
.
After getting ready, a deafening sound of "boom, boom, boom..." was heard, and the bombardment of a larger formation began. The Suzaku Army's mortars fired stone bullets and explosive shells at the officers and soldiers more than 200 steps away.
Delivery inside and outside the fortifications.
The firepower was unprecedented. This time, the Suzaku Army spent a lot of money and used all the remaining gunpowder for a one-time bombardment. Suddenly, smoke filled the air and gunpowder rose everywhere.
A moment later, more than 30 of the strongest heavy artillery were aimed at the government and military fortifications not far away at a low angle. The commander's shining sword cut through the sky, and in an instant, there was an even more terrifying loud explosion that shook the earth.
shake.
The solid iron ball flew forward and horizontally at a high speed from the barrel. This is a horizontal shooting angle that only long-barreled guns can have. It took a little while, but it was fast, and in the blink of an eye, it bombarded the civil wall of the army. It was brutally lethal.
The earthen wall structure was directly torn apart, and the earth collapsed in an instant. Iron balls penetrated the fortifications and jumped on the ground. For a while, only earth and rocks were flying randomly, sandbags were rolling, and dust was mixed into a ball in the gunpowder smoke.
The muzzle of the ferocious heavy artillery was still smoking, and there seemed to be a moment of silence between heaven and earth. People had not yet recovered from the loud noise, and faint human screams of pain could be heard in the distance.
Zhang Chengzong raised his weapon and shouted: "Advance!" A Vermilion Bird flag was laid flat, and the dense army marched forward in formation. The smoke gradually thinned in the wind, and the earth wall opposite had collapsed in many places after the shelling, looking like ruins.
, people were also in a mess. There was only the sound of heavy footsteps on the ground, but no sound of gunshots.
It wasn't until Zhang Chengzong's Third Army advanced more than a hundred steps densely that the distance between the two armies was less than a hundred steps, and then the guns on the opposite side were fired in a chaotic manner.
The third army immediately fired a volley from the first row, and then swarmed forward with the roar of the generals. "Kill!" This voice was the loudest in the world, and it seemed to be roaring from all directions. Tides of soldiers swarmed with long guns and firearms, wide and wide.
The iron helmet along its sides glowed with a low luster in the sun, like a black torrent of iron armor.