Chapter 1 Destruction
After the first round of bombardment of the flying thunder cannon, the entire battlefield suddenly fell into silence, with people and horses silenced, autumn insects without sound, birds and beasts silenced, as if the whole world was shaken by this explosion.
Wu Longqiu had been awakened from surprise for a while. He had imagined the scene after the thunder cannon was fired, and he had also seen hundreds of cannons launch and houses collapsed, but he was still shocked when he was in the scene. He picked up his telescope and looked at the enemy Xidaying again, but when he saw that the front wall facing the moat was almost completely destroyed, the sentry tower collapsed, the village gate fell, and the camp area was covered with dust and smoke, covering the Ximen Tower.
"Ah..." A shrill scream finally broke the silence. The people in the enemy village seemed to be awakened, and they began to move as if they pressed the restart button again. But they had not yet woken up from the violent explosion, and they were rushing around like headless flies, trying to do something, but they didn't know what they should do and where to escape.
However, the Yuan army still had some foundation. The officers woke up first. The soldiers reorganized amid the officers' roars and whiplashes. However, the scene was extremely chaotic. Some people were busy rescuing the injured, while more people were frantically using wood, bricks and tiles, and even the bodies of the dead. All things that could be used to block the destroyed walls. For a time, people in the enemy camp rushed like ants, and the sound of golden drums and horns shook the sky.
‘Boom, boom, boom…’ The flying thunder cannon in front of the Song army also roared again. This time, the Mongols and Yuan soldiers also learned their lessons and immediately stopped their hands and found all places to hide. However, the houses in the camp were destroyed, and there were only ridges left in the village walls, which were already unavoidable, and the order that had just been slightly restored was disrupted again.
"Master, the goddess scatters flowers!" The personal soldiers beside him suddenly shouted.
"What a mess, the goddess is scattering flowers!" Wu Longqi turned around and scolded. But he soon understood what the "big cake" that flew out of the iron bucket this time suddenly disintegrated when he flew over the enemy camp, and countless "blood balls" fell from it. Then they exploded in the air one or two feet away from the ground, and the scattered shrapnel scattered to the ground like petals.
Wu Longqi already understood that this was the new thing His Majesty asked him to see. This time, the one that was fired was no longer an explosive pack, but a cluster grenade. He knew that the lethality of the grenade explosion in mid-air was better than that of the explosion on the ground, especially the area covered by the killing surface was larger, and within two meter radius, people could not avoid it. And the fact is that, although the movement is not greater than last time, the enemy troops running around were blown down in pieces with corpses everywhere in the covered area.
"Charge!" Seeing that the enemy troops in the village had collapsed, Wu Longqi ordered an attack.
With the order issued, several bridge vehicles were withdrawn from the formation, and artillery also began to fire, launching suppressing and counterattacking enemy troops into the enemy camp. The bridge vehicles quickly approached the trench under the advance of dozens of people, and made a slight adjustment and were pushed into the trench with the help of inertia. As part of the water in the trench was released by the enemy, the water level was lowered, only two bridges successfully boarded the other side, and the rest were skewed in the trench.
After the long-standing main attack battalion was completed, it rushed to the bridge without waiting for the artillery fire to suppress the enemy to stop the enemy's artillery fire. Wu Longqi was so scared that he hurriedly called for the artillery attack and scolded the boys for fear of life. After crossing the bridge, the van quickly defeated the enemy's weak resistance, established a blocking line to cover the subsequent troops across the bridge, and blew up the cable and put down the suspension bridge. The main force crossing the bridge did not stop and immediately began to develop in depth. The two armies quickly fought together.
"Fire the cannon and suppress the catapults on the city!" After the Song army rushed into the enemy's Xidaying, the catapults and crossbows on the city began to fire at the same time, trying to block the main force's advance route. Wu Longqi watched the attacking soldiers being knocked down by flying stones, killed and injured by thunderbolt bombs, or fell into the rain of arrows, immediately asked for fire support from the rocket launcher regiment of the Second Artillery Division, and ordered the military's artillery regiment to use heavy artillery to destroy the small stone thrower and crossbows arranged on the city. The concentrated mortar team gathered fire to kill and injured the enemy troops stationed in the city.
A fierce artillery battle suddenly broke out above and below the city. Rockets roared away in the air, crossed the high city walls, fell behind the city, and exploded. The enemy soldiers stationed under the city immediately fell into trouble. Each rocket explosion could take away several or even dozens of lives. The houses were hit and all collapsed. For a moment, the city was in chaos and the soldiers hid everywhere. After a round of fire, the large stone thrower arranged under the city was killed by continuous explosions and injured, and it was difficult to enter the battle again in a short time.
Under the instructions of the observation post, the heavy artillery kept firing on the city. The curtain on the wall could use softness to break the hardness to block the flying arrows, but could not stop the impact force and destructive power of a hundred times that of it. After a round of artillery fire, the curtain was torn into a strip of cloth, and it was helpless to flutter in the air. As for the battle sheds made of wood, they seemed very strong, but they could not stop the power of the artillery fire, and they fell apart in the instant when they hit it. If the person who avoided the cannon was lucky to be hit by a solid bullet, he could still drop a fairly complete body, and if the flower bullet hit it, it would become fragments with the battle shed.
The loss of the curtain and war shed allowed the observation post to clearly identify the target. Under their instructions, the artillery soldiers continuously adjusted the shooting elements, and knocked off the stone throwing machine and crossbow that pose the greatest threat to the infantry one by one by one. The most shocking thing was the attacks of several cannons on the arrow tower of Ximen Wengcheng. The walls built with bricks and stones were riddled with holes, and a thick pillar could not block the gunfire. Finally, after being hit hard continuously, the main body overturned from the city and rolled into the moat, causing several feet of water to splash. I don’t know how many people were buried with them.
The mortar has little power and does not have the power to destroy, but it is not something that the human body can withstand. Its firing rate is very fast, and it can flexibly adjust the shooting position, which can eliminate archers, crossbowmen and gunners on the city. With the crisp sound of the "bangbang...", more than a dozen mortars can be fired continuously to cover a large area on the city. The bombing of Mongolian Yuan soldiers fled in all directions, and the casualties and injuries...
At this time, on the Ximen Tower in Xiangyang, Shi Bi stood in front of the window with a helmet and a sword in his hand, looking down at the battlefield. He frowned and his face was not good-looking. The overturn of the arrow tower made his vision clear and he could clearly see the situation on the battlefield. The Song army broke through the Xidaying in less than half an hour. Although the two sides were still fighting, their side was obviously dissatisfied. Under the oppression of the Song army, they retreated step by step and did not organize a decent counterattack at all.
In addition to being very popular in the early fashion, most of the four or fifty small stone throwers arranged on the city have been damaged, and the gunners have suffered heavy casualties and cannot compete with the Song army's artillery. Most of the stone throwers arranged on the turrets below the city are still intact, but this can only be attributed to the limited vision of the Song army and the inability to accurately aim. However, under the bombardment of rocket launchers, the gunners were either dead or injured, and they could only take advantage of the gap between the Song army's artillery fire to carry out sporadic counterattacks, which could not turn the situation around.
Although the soldiers stationed in the city suffered considerable casualties at the beginning, they evacuated in time, hiding in the city gate or the garrison cave, which allowed most of them to be protected. The people in the city were not so lucky. The battle shed with arrows used for shelter was useless, and the curtains did not serve to intercept artillery shells at all, and even the solid arrow tower was blown over.
Although the soldiers on the city suffered heavy casualties, they were still very brave and used all opportunities to support the friendly forces in Xidaying. Unfortunately, most of the stone throwing machines and crossbows had been destroyed. Although they could shoot arrows at the Song army from a high place, after the arrows flew dozens of feet, most of the strength disappeared, making it difficult to cause casualties to the Song army. The archers often just gathered and were shot by the Song army's artillery fire, and could only hide under the pile wall and fire arrows at the right time. However, such sporadic counterattacks could not stop the Song army's attack at all, and they could only say that they were slightly better than nothing.
"General Manager, Iron Fo Village can't be defended anymore. They have retreated to the vicinity of the suspension bridge and want to abandon the village and enter the city. Should they send troops to reinforce?" The guard of the West Gate Tulihuo reported to the city.
"Sending troops out of the city to reinforce is equivalent to dying!" Shi Bi looked at Tiefo Village. The melee was still ongoing, but his soldiers had been washed away, and the Song army's large brigade was still pouring into the village. From a distance, you could see hundreds of people gathered under the camp flag, guarding the bridgehead and protecting the only way. He knew that when he sent reinforcements at this time, he might be blocked by the Song army's artillery fire as soon as he left the city. Even if he could enter Tiefo Village, it would be difficult to unfold in a small area on the bridgehead, and would only give the Song army some heads, so he shook his head helplessly and refused.
"Then should I put down the suspension bridge and let them enter the city?" Tu Lihuo breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. He also understood that how many people he sent out of the city now could not save the crisis. He had to take a lot of them in if he could not save the person. Since he was not saved, he had to let them retreat to the city and go.
"The General Manager is not allowed. The Song army has been reluctant to blow up the suspension bridge and cut off the retreat route of the Iron Fozhai defenders, just to follow and enter the city. If we put down the suspension bridge at this time, they will swarm up and take the opportunity to grab the bridge fort. It will be easy to put it down, but it will be difficult to put it away again!" An aide under the General Manager's Office said hurriedly.
"This..." Shi Bi hesitated for a while, but his hand holding the knife tightened and did not give an order.
"Subila, you are not helping you, and you will be beheaded if you commit crimes!" Tulihuo did not dare to make a rash deal with Shi Bi, but he was not so polite to an aide, and said angrily.
"Main-General, putting down the suspension bridge at this moment is because of the small loss of the big one. Never mind!" Subila ignored him and said to Shi Bi again.
"Don't believe in slander. If you sit down and watch him be destroyed, it may damage your morale!" said Tu Lihuo and politely.
"Put down the suspension bridge, you can lead the troops to the city gate to help you. How many people can save me?" Perhaps he was moved by the words of the snoring, Shi Bi sighed and said...
Chapter completed!