1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3897

The artillery tactics employed by the Haihan Army outside the city were indeed ingenious. Not only could they strike targets within the city walls, but they also caused panic and confusion among the defenders. Furthermore, their use of aerial reconnaissance to locate and confirm targets within the city was particularly difficult for the inexperienced Nanchang defenders to defend against, and Ding Baoguo fell into their trap right from the start.

But Ding Baoguo, being a man of experience and knowledge, quickly understood the current situation. This method of attack was insufficient to destroy the city's defenses. The artillery fire looked effective, but for Nanchang, a fortified city with tens of thousands of defenders, it was merely scratching the surface and could not play a decisive role.

Therefore, he immediately ordered the garrison to adjust its position to avoid the enemy's fire range as much as possible and reduce unnecessary casualties.

Of course, Ding Baoguo understood that this adjustment could only temporarily protect the Ming troops stationed near the city walls. As for other targets in the city that might have been targeted by the Haihan Army, Ding Baoguo couldn't think of a foolproof plan to relocate them all in the same way.

What Ding Baoguo could think of, how could the Haihan Army outside the city not have thought of? This first round of shelling was merely a warm-up before launching the formal offensive.

Although the effects of the shelling could not be confirmed at the moment, the artillery positions of the 2nd Army Division outside the city proceeded to the next stage as planned.

If the previous mortar strikes were merely scratching the surface, then this new round of shelling is truly earth-shattering.

All the heavy cannons outside the city aimed at the same target and then opened fire in succession. After a series of booming cannon shots, Jinxian Gate was shrouded in a cloud of smoke and dust. After a long time, the smoke and dust slowly dissipated, and the original four-story city tower was no longer there, replaced by a large pile of unrecognizable rubble.

The survivors emerging from the smoke and dust were all covered in soot, their legs trembling like leaves. Only now did they realize that the power of those siege cannons outside the city was no joke. If the city gate hadn't been completely filled with earth and stones beforehand, the entire Jinxian Gate would probably have collapsed under the continuous bombardment.

Following the destruction of half of the Deshengmen gate tower in the north of the city by bombs dropped by Haihan hot air balloons, this is the second gate tower to be destroyed by the war, and it was damaged even more thoroughly.

The entire city of Nanchang only had seven city gates, and two gate towers collapsed in a single day. At this rate, the remaining city gates probably wouldn't last much longer either.

The city gate tower is a crucial component of the city's defense system. Externally, it controls the raising and lowering of the drawbridge over the moat and houses archers and musketeers to provide long-range fire against attacking enemy forces. Internally, it coordinates with the defenders on the city walls to shoot down enemy troops who manage to breach the barbican.

Losing the city tower meant losing the advantage of a commanding position on the battlefield, and the defensive strength of the city gate area would inevitably be greatly reduced. Ding Baoguo, realizing this, also felt that things were not going well.

However, before he could come up with a solution, another urgent military situation arrived.

While the Haihan Army launched a fierce artillery bombardment in the south of the city, it also launched simultaneous offensives in the east, north, and west, all using concentrated artillery fire as its primary means.

"The enemy has so many cannons? Can their warships really go toe-to-toe with the cannons on the city walls?" Although Ding Baoguo was unwilling to believe it, this was the reality currently unfolding near the city. The Haihan Army's enormous advantage in artillery performance rendered the city's defensive artillery, which the Nanchang defenders were relying on, completely useless. Even from their high ground, they were still severely suppressed by the artillery fire from outside the city.

Even when facing the warships of Haihan on the Gan River, the defenders' artillery still couldn't gain much advantage. These warships didn't approach the shore of Nanchang City; instead, they were arranged in a long, serpentine line in the river, just outside the range of the city's defensive artillery. The defenders on the city walls could only watch helplessly.

The defenders could only watch as the Haihan army leisurely adjusted the cannons on their ships and then opened fire on several conspicuous targets on the city walls.

Deshengmen was previously destroyed by bombs dropped from hot air balloons, which destroyed half of the city gate. However, the remaining half of the ruins also failed to survive the day. Under the subsequent bombardment of the Haihan Fleet, the remaining wreckage collapsed and turned into a pile of ruins.

Zhangjiang Gate, which has always been regarded as the gateway to Nanchang, also failed to escape this calamity. In addition to the city gate tower becoming a key target of the Haihan Fleet, the barbican outside the city gate was also not spared. Under the concentrated fire of multiple heavy cannons, a gap more than two zhang wide was blasted into the wall of the barbican, almost losing its protective function.

The artillery barrage launched by the Third Division of the Army in the east of the city was equally relentless. The defenders of Yonghe Gate were unable to raise their heads due to the barrage of fire from outside the city. The only dozen or so defensive cannons on the city wall were picked off one by one by the Haihan Army outside the city after a brief firing, and most of the valuable artillerymen were taken away in the process.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the garrison commander of Yonghe Gate immediately sent a fast horse to Ding Baoguo, who was stationed in the south of the city, to report that the main direction of the Haihan Army's attack was from the east and that reinforcements were needed immediately, otherwise Yonghe Gate would soon fall.

Little did he know that he wasn't the only one making this judgment. Ding Baoguo received urgent requests for reinforcements from Deshengmen and Zhangjiangmen almost simultaneously. Judging from the battle reports from various places, it seemed that the Haihan Army was launching an offensive simultaneously from four directions, without any distinction between main and feint attacks. The entire city defense was a target, and every point could be breached at any moment.

This situation reminded Ding Baoguo of the period in May and June, when the military headquarters was almost filled with urgent military reports and letters requesting reinforcements from all over the country. All the prefectures and counties under the jurisdiction of Jiangxi were in a state of emergency, and it seemed that the Haihan Army was everywhere and completely unstoppable.

Ding Baoguo felt that the generals commanding troops in various places were incompetent. No matter how strong the Haihan Army was, when it divided its forces to attack various prefectures, it was ultimately just a small force fighting. How come no Ming army could defeat it in any place, and even those that could hold out for ten or eight days were few and far between.

Ding Baoguo felt that this was due to Haihan's advance infiltration, just like Jiujiang, which surrendered without a fight and whose local officials directly submitted to Haihan.

It wasn't until Haihan's army approached the city and showed its true strength that Ding Baoguo realized that his previous understanding might indeed be somewhat wrong. If Nanchang City was defended so poorly, how long could those small cities with garrisons of a thousand people hold out?

Despite his frustration, Ding Baoguo could not ignore the dire situation. He ordered the Ming troops, who were serving as reserves in the city, to be dispatched to reinforce the city gates where the fighting was most intense.

Of course, he also understood that the reinforcements of these infantrymen were only of little use. How could flesh and blood withstand the bombardment from outside the city? He only used this method to give the defending troops some psychological comfort, letting them know that at least there were still troops available in the rear, so that they would not give up the resistance easily.