A century-old family that runs through the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 360: Hezhou is broken, bandit Zuo Liangyu

The bombardment continues.

It is naturally impossible to hit the same place accurately, but with the power of heavy artillery, a large section of the city wall will be shaken with one shot.

Just don't go too far.

After a total of four cannonballs, the city wall could no longer hold up and fell to the ground with a groan. A huge gap appeared in the city wall. The soldiers standing on it faded into the dust and were covered by masonry.

The heavy artillery still roared, and two more rounds were fired, greatly expanding the city wall, before finally stopping.

The interior of Hezhou City was nakedly exposed to the Thirty-sixth Division.

Immediately afterwards, there was another round of turbulent shelling, this time directed at the city.

The officer hiding behind the wall heard the sound of the city wall collapsing. He just turned his head to see what was going on. In the next second, a cannonball hit the female wall where he was.

The solid wall stones that could withstand crossbows and muskets could not withstand the Type 8 heavy artillery shells at all. With one shot, the officer's flesh and blood had been mixed with the masonry, and they could no longer be distinguished from each other.

After all, the female wall is no better than the city wall. Even if it is reinforced, it is still relatively thin, and facing the artillery, no matter how much iron armor is worn, it will not help.

Zuo Liangyu had already fled to the city when the opponent fired his second shot, and was watching all this from a distance below the city.

At this time, Zuo Liangyu shouted loudly:

"Go to the top of the city and resist the bandits! Come to the top of the city and don't retreat. Anyone who retreats will be killed!"

Go out of town and die?

Zuo Liangyu shouted loudly, and the elite servants around him drew out their swords, raised their firecrackers, and pointed at the defeated army in front of them.

Scenes like this were constantly happening all over the city.

As for harassing the city, obstructing the opponent's shelling, etc...

"Repulse the bandits, and each person will be rewarded with twenty taels of silver!"

By the time the attack was over, the city was in a mess and deserted.

What’s more, I didn’t expect that the city wall that I had worked so hard to build for several months would be destroyed like this – what the hell is this thing that is so powerful?

When the soldiers, organized by the officers, returned to the city wall or blocked the gaps, the Thirty-sixth Division had already pressed forward.

There was a wailing at the top of the city, and the soldiers fled hurriedly down the city.

The defeated army looked at each other in shock. Under the threat of death, they couldn't help but stop. The training in the previous days had some effect at this time, and they gradually calmed down.

He was a little helpless. He didn't expect that his reserves would be used on the first day of the war, but there was no way. After just a few rounds of shelling, the defenders of Dongcheng were already on the verge of collapse.

"The bandits must have started to attack the city. The artillery can no longer be fired by then, so don't worry!"

Looking at the cannon fire all over the sky and the mess at the top of the city and even below the city, the fear in his heart became more and more obvious, but he also knew that he could not retreat this time. If there was another problem, this officer would be in charge.

Even the city was under bombardment, with pits and corpses everywhere.

In some places, it was just a blur of flesh and blood, and even the human form could not be seen.

Zuo Liangyu breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and said again:

"Three thousand reserve troops are pressing forward to help defend Dongcheng."

Inspired by money, the soldiers hesitated for a moment, took one last look at the weapons on the opposite side, and then turned back to climb the city wall.

They marched in neat steps, marching in an orderly manner amidst the sound of bugles.

Soon, they entered the effective range of Lumi gun, and the Ming army general immediately issued the order to shoot.

The salvos of hundreds of Rumi guns were really powerful. Even though their accuracy was poor, nearly two hundred people were still shot and fell to the ground. But this is far from the limit that can make them collapse. In the era of queuing to kill, the comparison is one's endurance.

The troops advanced rapidly, falling hundreds more, and finally came within range.

"preparation!"

An officer in the team yelled.

Immediately, thousands of soldiers raised their muskets, their eyes flashing with anger, now is the time for revenge!

"Bang!" Smoke filled the air, and in an instant hundreds of Ming Army musketeers fell to the ground.

After all, Rumi guns are still in the category of matchlocks, which means they cannot stand in close proximity. In terms of firepower, they are far inferior to flintlock guns.

The reloading speed of the flintlock gun is much faster than the Lumi gun and some other fire gun.

The continuity of firepower is extremely strong. Basically, the Ming army fired one round, and the opponent fired two or three rounds.

The Ming army soldiers who were waiting in full formation fell to the ground in groups in the smoke in an instant.

The fear in the eyes of the Ming soldiers became increasingly intense. Their morale had already hit rock bottom. Now that they saw more and more colleagues falling to the ground, the string in their hearts was already tense and could break at any time.

Although the 36th Division also suffered a lot of casualties, it was obvious that their endurance was much higher than that of the Ming army, and such casualties would not shake them.

As the last round of attacks ended, hundreds of Ming soldiers fell to the ground. The Ming soldiers finally couldn't hold on any longer. Someone screamed, and they all dropped their firearms and fled into the city in panic. The thirty-sixth The soldiers of the division put their bayonets on their guns without hesitation and began to pursue them.

Even if Zuo Liangyu comes again at this time, he won't be able to stop him.

What's the difference between going up and dying?

The division commander who was watching the battle with a telescope in the distance finally loosened his clenched fists.

There is no other way, siege warfare is what it is.

Compassion does not control soldiers. In many cases, even if you don't want to, you can only use human lives to pile up. What he can do is to clear obstacles and reduce casualties as much as possible.

Fortunately, now that Dongcheng's main force has been defeated, the next thing will be much simpler.

With the fall of Dongcheng, the morale of the Ming army plummeted, and they had no intention of holding on to the inner city. As Zuo Liangyu took the lead in fleeing hastily, the rest of the soldiers also fled through the city. Those who had no time to escape, went directly to the 30th The Sixth Division surrendered.

Hezhou changed hands, and Yuan Chonghuan's solid defense line had been broken through.

……

In the wilderness, a large and embarrassed army was passing through.

They had been running away for a day and a night, and were finally far away from Hezhou City.

Zuo Liangyu breathed a sigh of relief. He was out of danger, and he could finally think about other things.

If I go back this time, I'm afraid I'll be jailed, right? No, it was more than that. Hezhou fell and there was a big hole in the defense line. For such a crime, together with the previous things, it was not unusual for the emperor to kill him.

A sharp look suddenly flashed in his eyes.

Of course he was not willing to end his life like this.

In this case, let's not go back.

He turned back and looked at his troops. Although the losses were heavy and their faces were full of panic at this time, these more than 3,000 people were more combat effective than ordinary soldiers.

With them here, the sky is vast and the earth is vast, where can't they go?

Well...except Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

(End of this chapter)