weaving

Chapter 1248: Teaching the Bandits to Fire Cannons

May 24th, at noon.

At a critical juncture, the sound of artillery fire from the Chuang Army began to be heard on the western front of the Tengshe Camp of the Yongyi Army. Although only sporadic shells hit the western camp wall of the Tengshe Camp, it was a great encouragement and inspiration to the Chuang Army soldiers who were attacking the western camp's defense line.

"The thieves' guns... have moved forward?"

Tang Xiancheng, the deputy commander of the Tengshe Battalion who was leading the battle, responded immediately. He shouted, "Quick, go get Li Youcai!"

Soon, Li Youcai, the commander of the artillery carts, came trotting over from the east camp wall. He shouted from afar: "General, General Tang... counterattack... prepare for a counterattack..."

When he came closer, Tang Xiancheng asked anxiously: "What are you yelling about? What kind of counterattack are you fighting?"

"Don't worry, General..."

Li Youcai panted and said, "I just saw General Ji Qian coming with his cavalry, and I wondered if they were going to fight back!"

At this moment, a captain ran up to the camp wall and reported: "Report. Cavalry Captain Ji Donglai led the rear cavalry to support our camp in the battle."

"Where is Ji Donglai? Ask him to come see me!"

Just as Tang Xiancheng finished speaking, Ji Donglai had already climbed onto the camp wall. He quickly walked up and clasped his fists, saying, "Ji Donglai from the rear, I pay my respects to Deputy General Tang."

"Donglai, General Wei sent you here, but is he going to launch a counterattack?"

"It's not just my troop. Lao He's baggage cart and Huo Yuanshan's charioteers from the North Camp are coming as well."

After hearing this, Tang Xiancheng's eyes lit up instantly, and he asked, "Will General Wei come to command in person?"

"I didn't say that when I came here, but from what the general said, it should be so."

Tang Xiancheng punched the battlement on the camp wall, glared at the soldiers who were rushing towards him, and shouted angrily: "Damn thieves, you're in for a treat this time!"

…………

At a critical juncture, outside the west camp of the Weiyuan Camp garrison, more than 2,000 starving civilians, urged by more than 1,000 rebel soldiers, were approaching the camp wall step by step.

Although the Yunzhou Type 2 muskets of the Weiyuan Camp soldiers on the camp wall were no longer as restrained as they were the day before, they were now firing in salvos in units of armor. In each round of shooting, twelve bullets flew away.

Even though his companions were constantly being shot, the splashes of bright red and the tragic screams and howls could not scare away the hungry people who rushed over.

Because they were more afraid of the devilish soldiers behind them who killed people without blinking an eye. Although they would die if shot by the muskets on the camp wall in front of them, they had a chance to avoid being shot. Once they stopped, they would be shot to death on the spot by the archers of the rebel army supervising the battle from behind.

For them, every moment they can live is precious!

However, the rows of bullets fired from the camp wall also had a certain deterrent effect, and the pace of the starving people advancing was obviously much slower than at the beginning.

They all looked ragged and were either carrying a torn bag of soil or a torn basket of soil. Both the bag and the basket were only half filled with sand.

It was obvious that the reason why the rebel army drove them to do so was to fill up the deep trench about ten steps away from the camp wall. The hungry people were used as coolies in peacetime, and would naturally be the best cannon fodder in wartime.

Although they were just cannon fodder, they had been operating in the Chuang Army camp for some time. In terms of organization and discipline alone, they were almost as good as the Chuang Army soldiers. The only difference was in their physique, training, and weapons.

………… Just as Tang Xiancheng was eagerly waiting, Wei Zhice, the commander of the Tengshe Camp of the Yongyi Army, accompanied He Hongli and Huo Yuanshan, two commanders of the baggage carriages, and climbed up to the west gate tower of the camp wall…

"General..."

Wei Zhice waved his hand to stop Tang Xiancheng from saying anything else, and said directly: "No more nonsense, all units, get ready, follow my orders and fight back against the bandits!"

Wei Zhice, who was standing on the camp wall, didn't seem to care about the approaching soldiers. He took out his monocular telescope, raised it up and looked into the distance...

After a moment, he finally put down the telescope in his hand, but when Wei Zhice came back to his senses, he suddenly heard a loud "boom" and even the camp wall under his feet began to shake. Everyone around him looked panicked.

Liu Changliang was worthy of being Wei Zhice's central military officer. He ran up quickly alone and protected the main general Wei Zhice to prevent him from any harm.

Wei Zhice saw all of this, but he didn't show any expression. He waved his hand lightly and said calmly: "The thieves are firing again!"

"This battle has been going on for three or four days, and you all say it's frustrating..."

Wei Zhice suddenly stopped talking here. He glanced at the generals present with angry eyes and shouted loudly: "I also feel very aggrieved."

He then waved his hand and pointed outside the camp, and said, "Look at the huge crowd outside. The bandits have several times more soldiers than us. If we add those servants, they may even have ten times more than us. Moreover, the bandits today are different from the past. These rats can even fire cannons better than many government troops."

After listening for a while, Wei Zhice continued, "Although we are not afraid of the bandits, we dare not fight them recklessly. First of all, we are at a disadvantage in terms of military strength, and we are surrounded on three sides. Although we can use Liujia River, it is disadvantageous because we cannot use large ships. In addition, it is easy to kill the bandits, but it is very difficult to get rid of the bandits' cannons once and for all."

After a lot of preparation, Wei Zhice revealed his true purpose: "The reason why I want to retreat again and again on the West Camp defense line is to lure out the bandit's cannons, let him get within my range, and then teach him a lesson and teach him how to use cannons!"

It was not until this moment that everyone suddenly realized what was going on. Tang Xiancheng was the first to ask, "General, how should we fight this battle? Please give the order quickly."

Wei Zhice did not seem to be in a hurry to attack. He just smiled and said, "In today's battle, the first priority is to take the enemy by surprise. When you advance or retreat, you must strictly follow military orders and be sure to follow orders. Don't be greedy and reckless!"

"Here."

"Tang Xiancheng, in two quarters of an hour, you will lead Gao Chengshan's right wing to charge out of the camp gate, drive back all the thieves filling the trenches, and build a defense line a hundred steps in front of the camp wall. Hold on for at least half an hour."

"Here!"

"Li Youcai, you will be in charge of the artillery and baggage carriages. Take off the artillery on the carriages and put them on your shoulders. Follow Tang Xiancheng out of the camp and set up artillery positions within thirty steps behind his defense line. Focus your fire on the enemy's artillery."

"Yes!" Li Youcai responded heavily.

Wei Zhice added: "Remember, don't stop until the gun barrel turns red!"

“Yes.” This time, Li Youcai accepted the military order with a roar.

"Ji Donglai, lead the last batch of cavalry out of the camp, move northward behind Li Youcai's gun position, and unexpectedly join forces with Qiu Yingquan's cavalry to attack the bandits in the north."

"Yes." Ji Donglai was extremely excited to have the opportunity to go into battle. His cavalry finally no longer had to hide behind the camp wall to defend like the infantry.

But then he heard Wei Zhice say: "Remember, your troops will intercept the bandits attacking the North Camp from the side and rear. Once you have defeated them, immediately enter the camp to defend. Do not fight them recklessly!"

"Here."