1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3252
Although the two Ming armies going out of the city tried their best to stop them, the hundreds of lives they paid only slightly delayed the progress of the Haihan army's attack on Yixing County.

While the defenders in the city were still secretly glad that they didn't take the initiative to go out to die, the Haihan army had already launched an attack on the county.

The bombardment aimed at the south gate of the county opened the curtain of attack, and the small tower on the gate was smashed down by the flying shells immediately.

Seeing rubble and debris raining down from the tower, Qian Wenxian finally understood why the group of military officers had to hide under the city wall instead of going up to the tower to supervise the battle.If he stayed on the top of the city at this time, he might be taken away by a wave of shelling from the Haihan Army.

Qian Wenxian remembered that before the start of the war, he went up to check the situation outside the city, and couldn't help but secretly rejoiced that he had escaped the catastrophe.

But the target of the shelling by the Haihan army was not just the city tower. The south gate was soon hit by shells, together with more than a dozen logs in the gate hole used to resist the gate, and seven or eight people who were still carrying sandbags to block the gate. A civilian husband was blasted to pieces together.

Qian Wenxian had never seen such a scene before, he was so frightened that he almost collapsed, and he didn't even know where to hide.

After the first round of shelling by the Haihan army ceased, Qian Wenxian stood up tremblingly, and called the yamen servants to count the casualties.

But before the statistics came out, the second round of shelling by the Haihan Army followed.

This time the bombardment targets were more concentrated, not to mention the remaining city towers, and the city gate hole below were also knocked down, and the south gate was immediately turned into a pile of ruins in the smoke and dust.

Qian Wenxian originally thought that even if the county's city defense could not stop the Haihan army, it could at least delay it for two or three days to buy time for the rear to mobilize more reinforcements.But it was never expected that the Haihan army's offensive was so swift and violent. With just one encounter, a large part of the city wall of the county town collapsed, and many people from the Ming army who were standing by at the base of the city wall were also buried.

If we continue to fight like this, let alone two or three days, it is hard to say whether we can hold until the sun goes down today.

Preliminary battle damage statistics came out soon. The Ming army lost more than 500 people in battle outside the city, and one of the generals who led the army to fight on the left wing unfortunately died in battle.

The defenders in the city also lost dozens of people when they were beaten unilaterally, most of whom were buried by the collapsed city walls and rubble.

The defenders in the city seemed to suffer few casualties, but they suffered a lot psychologically.The fortifications of the county town are the biggest reliance of the defenders, but in the face of the shelling of the Haihan army, the city wall does not seem to be as impenetrable as imagined.Moreover, hundreds of people were injured, and many of them lost the ability to continue fighting.

Once the city wall continues to collapse, what else can the defenders do to block the enemy's shells?The Ming army who went out to fight in the city has proved that even if the force is superior, it is absolutely impossible to resist the shelling of the Haihan army with flesh and blood.

In the chaos, someone came to report that the Haihan army had released two prisoners and returned to the city to deliver a letter.

Although they knew that the intention of the other party's move was definitely to persuade them to surrender, but the current situation was clearly that the Ming army was passive, and all the military officers tacitly chose to check the contents of the letter together.

Sure enough, the content of the letter was to persuade the defenders in the county to surrender voluntarily, or to get a chance to evacuate by abandoning the county.Otherwise, the Haihan army will regard it as a defender who is stubbornly resisting, and there will be no room for the next battle.

It was Shi Diwen who signed the letter, which showed that what was said in the letter was by no means false.

As for the letter of persuasion from the Haihan Army, the military attaches naturally have various opinions out of their different positions.

"If you keep the green hills, you are not afraid of running out of firewood. I think you should seize the opportunity, evacuate decisively, and organize the next round of defense in Liyang or Jintan!"

"Brother Wang is in trouble. We retreated again and again. We have retreated for several years. Where can we retreat now? Do we really have to retreat to Nanjing City to stop?"

"It is said that the ammunition of the Haihan army is very expensive, and it is not easy to supply. I don't think they may be willing to spend too much ammunition here in Yixing... Maybe they are counting on these two rounds of shelling to make us surrender. If we continue to hold on, they will Perhaps we can only use infantry to storm the county town!"

Qian Wenxian had a headache listening to it, but he was not in charge of marching and fighting, so he couldn't offer any decent suggestions.

After discussing for a long time, they noticed that Qian Zhixian was standing beside him and hadn't said a word, so they asked his opinion.

This is not to respect Qian Wenxian, but the prospect of this battle is not good. If the court pursues the responsibility for the defeat afterwards, the local officials must also share the responsibility.At that time, everyone will say that the county magistrate of Yixing is not well organized, and it will be somewhat helpful.

However, Qian Wenxian didn't know the tacit understanding of these military officers. He was full of anxiety and hurriedly urged: "Everyone, the letter sent by the Haihan people is clearly written, and we only give us half an hour to think about it. How should we fight next?" Everyone, hurry up and get a charter!"

Someone said: "Master Qian, we are all here to help Yixing. You are a magistrate, so we will do whatever you say!"

"Yes, yes, Lord Qian's opinion shall prevail!"

"Qin is willing to obey Lord Qian's command!"

Qian Wenxian also recalled it at this time, and felt that the attitudes of these military officers were not quite right. They didn't take themselves seriously before, so why did they suddenly turn around.

Although Qian Wenxian didn't know their plan, but he was also keenly aware of the risk, and immediately declined: "I don't know martial arts, so I'd like to ask you adults to make up your mind about fighting."

Seeing that Qian Wenxian was not up to the trick, everyone could only continue to discuss the previous issue-whether to fight or surrender.

The choice of surrender was quickly rejected by the collective. They believed that although they were at a disadvantage at the moment, it was not impossible to retreat, and the county was not surrounded by the Haihan army. Even if they couldn't fight, they could still withdraw.

For the current plan, it seems that there is no choice but to continue to stick to it until it is really impossible.

As for the plan to abandon Yixing, it can be said, but no one dares to take the lead in doing it.Someone suggested just now that they wanted to lure Qian Wenxian to choose this path, but Qian Wenxian refused to express his opinion, so of course other people don't want to bear the responsibility of running away.

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye, but the military officers in the city still haven't discussed a solution that everyone thinks is feasible.

However, the Haihan army's offensive will not wait for them to discuss slowly. When the time comes, a new round of offensive will be launched immediately.

In this round of offensive, Haihan indeed dispatched infantry troops, and under the cover of artillery fire, they slowly advanced towards the south gate of the county seat.

Although the defenders were determined to resist, most of the various equipment and defense equipment deployed on the top of the city had been destroyed by the first two rounds of shelling, and there were not even a few intact city wall crenels left.

The Ming army who risked their lives to rush to the top of the city was killed by the guns outside the city almost as soon as they showed up. If they were lucky, they could forcefully shoot a shot and shoot two arrows outside the city, but such random shooting was basically impossible. The hit rate can be said.

(End of this chapter)