Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 156 After the artillery bombardment, the infantry charged! After the infantry charged, the artillery bombarded.

"bang bang bang"

The flaming projectile was sprayed out of the gun barrel, reached its apex in the air, then suddenly fell down and landed steadily on the city gate a few hundred meters away.

In an instant, spider-web-like cracks appeared on the originally tightly closed city gate that were visible to the naked eye.

The defenders on the city were shocked.

When did cannons become so powerful?
You know, they had seen cannons before, but the size, power, and range were all far different from what they saw before their eyes.

In an instant, a feeling of panic spread across the city.

The leading general immediately stood up and shouted, "Don't panic, don't panic. Although the Ming army's cannons are powerful, they definitely have shortcomings. They will definitely not be able to fire again in a short period of time. Everyone return to your positions."

"Boom boom boom"

As soon as he finished speaking, another round of artillery shells fell.

The defender was suddenly startled. He covered his head with his hands, raised his butt high, and hid under the city wall.

Outside, there was continuous artillery fire, smoke and flying stones. The defenders on the city wall were trembling and hiding themselves under the wall.

The general knew that he could not just sit there and wait for the attack, so he turned around and pointed at a Japanese general and said, "Mr. Inoue, go out of the city gate and destroy the Ming army's cannons!"

"Ah?! Commander, the Ming army's artillery fire is too fierce now." The man was startled and waved his hands hurriedly to explain.

The general had a stern face and rudely interrupted him: "Baga, don't the warriors of my Akizuki family have even this little courage?"

"Go, Amaterasu will protect you!"

Inoue still didn't move, and suddenly, the artillery fire outside stopped.

The defenders on the city wall breathed a sigh of relief. It had finally stopped, it had finally stopped.

As expected, no matter how fierce the artillery fire was, it would eventually stop. Now it was finally their turn to fight back!

The general looked out and saw that the Ming army outside was ready to go, roaring and rushing towards the city gate.

"Quick, quick, release the arrows, release the arrows!"

The defenders on the city wall immediately became flustered and shouted orders.

"We must not let the Ming army rush into the city gate, baka, baka, hurry up."

The Japanese soldiers who had just been stunned by the explosion, seeing this scene, picked up the weapons scattered on the ground and aimed at the city to attack.

Rolling stones, wooden beams, and a rain of arrows poured down like locusts.

The attacking border troops and the Otomo family's coalition forces raised their shields and ran straight in.

They didn't care if someone fell to the ground, they had only one goal, which was the broken city gate. The one rushing in the front was a brave man eight feet tall and wearing iron armor.

He took the lead and rushed to the city gate with a big hole in it, despite the rolling stones.

He kicked the hole wider, and the first attacker held the knife in his right hand, swung his left hand in, and yelled at the top of his voice: "Brothers, rush in and kill these beasts."

He rushed forward three steps and looked inside.

Hundreds of Japanese warriors holding long spears tightly blocked the narrow city gate. When the two sides saw each other, they didn't waste any words and just picked up their weapons to fight to the death.

The sturdy man swung his sword forward, and the two Japanese pirates in the front instantly flew backwards like pieces of paper.

He took the lead, and the Japanese pirates guarding the city were obviously frightened and retreated with their necks shrunk.

The Japanese pirates' supervisors saw this and cursed: "You are a bunch of cowards. Anyone who dares to retreat across this line will be punished as a deserter."

The Japanese pirate gritted his teeth, picked up his samurai sword and rushed forward.

There's nothing fancy about the fighting moves. You chop me with a knife and I stab you with a gun, and then we see who can stand to the end.

The Liaodong border troops were relatively large in size and wore iron armor, which gave them a great advantage when facing the Japanese who were smaller than them.

In a short while, the west gate was lost.

However, this group of Japanese pirates were loyal to the Akizuki family. Even though they knew they could not win, they still gritted their teeth and roared as they fought towards the Ming army.

Relying on their blood and courage, the Ming army could not resist and retreated from the city gate again.

The Japanese pirates didn't have time to rejoice for long, as another round of artillery fire was waiting for them.

"Boom boom boom"

Twenty shells were fired at the same time, shaking the earth like thunder, and the defenders on the city wall fled in panic.

The general also realized that if they drove all the Ming troops out, they would be bombarded by artillery fire.

In that case, he simply decided not to defend the city and went straight out of the city to destroy the Ming army's front-line cannons.

After thinking this through, the general looked at Inoue with a moved look on his face: "Mr. Inoue, the artillery of the Ming army is too sharp. Now is the time for you to be loyal to the head of the family!"

"Hi!" Inoue bowed sharply and replied in a clear voice.

At this point, he had no choice but to give it his all. Staying in the city would only lead to his death. After gathering his troops, Inoue picked up his weapon and rushed out of the city gate like a suicide.

As long as they can destroy the cannons that the Ming army relies on, they will be toothless paper tigers.

The warriors of their Akizuki family would never give up.

Inoue had prepared a psychological defense line in his heart and was no longer afraid of anything. On the hillside outside, Zhang Yunxiu saw it clearly and said with a smile: "This Japanese pirate does have some blood in him, but that's all. Han San, bring the musketeers up to help!"

"Yes." Han San agreed and walked quickly to where the fleet guards were, waving his hand and saying, "Brothers, we have been watching for such a long time, it is time for us to stretch our muscles."

More than two hundred musketeers carried their muskets on their shoulders and rushed straight to the front line.

Along the way, flags flew, horses galloped, and soldiers engaged the enemy in an orderly manner. Because the range of the cannon was limited, it could only reach 800 meters.

Therefore, Li Rusong's move was extremely risky, which was equivalent to installing a bayonet on a cannon and engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.

Fortunately, Han San's reinforcements arrived quickly. As soon as the two hundred musketeers arrived at the front, Han San immediately drove the Liaodong border troops to the rear.

Then, with a gloomy face, he issued an order in a hoarse voice: "When the enemy is still eighty steps away, fire rapidly with the three-barreled bird guns, and then retreat to the back of the line. Bird gunners, squads one, two, and three, take turns firing!"

"Three-eyed bird gun rapid fire!"

"Three-eyed bird gun."

As soon as Han San's order was given, an officer in the team immediately repeated it.

Soon, a faint sound of loading gunpowder was heard in the queue.

It was very noisy outside, with shouts everywhere and the sound of metal colliding; but it was also very quiet, so quiet that the only sound in the queue was the loading of gunpowder.

When Inoue saw the distance, he sneered secretly when he saw that the Ming army sent musketeers to guard.

The killing range of this bird gun is extremely limited, and the speed of reloading is particularly slow.

In other words, as long as he can withstand this wave of attacks, he can rush forward.

Just as he was thinking, a burst of black muzzles suddenly appeared in front of him. This bird gun was different from the ones he had seen before. It was shaped like a wooden stick, and each bird gun had three muzzles on it.

What kind of weapon is this?
All the Japanese soldiers were stunned. With three gun muzzles, could they fire three times at once?
"emission!"

Han San on the side didn't care whether the people on the other side were stupid or not. He tilted his head back and shouted at the queue.

"bang bang bang"

Suddenly, a pungent smoke rose in front of the position, and black bullets shot out from the smoke, like an overwhelming black fishing net, rushing towards the charging team of the Japanese pirates.

If you look down from above, you can see a blood flower suddenly blooming in the dark team.

"Oh! My eyes. My eyes!"

"My hand, my hand."

"Baka. Baka."

After a series of screams, the surviving Japanese pirates continued to charge forward.

Han San showed no mercy at all. He just raised his hand and then swung it down suddenly, and another burst of dense gunfire rang out.

"bang bang bang"

The Japanese pirates in front were like wheat, falling to the ground limply.

"Devils. Devils. They are devils."

"We can't get through, run."

"Run!"

Someone shouted "Run!" and the Japanese pirates who were charging immediately turned around and fled back.

It has always been like this on the battlefield: the first attack is strong, the second is weak, and the third is exhausted.

The war is not going well. If one person deserts first, the rest will be unstoppable.

These people ran back to the city.

Li Rusong knew that the battle was already decided, so he was not in a hurry to send people to charge. Instead, he waved his hand and ordered his men to push the cannons forward another hundred meters.

Looking at the slowly advancing cannons, Zhang Yunxiu grinned and couldn't help but sigh: "After the artillery fires, the infantry charges, and after the infantry charges, the artillery fires. General Li knows this very well."

"The shells can be remade if they are lost, but people are gone forever when they die." Li Rusong replied with a smile.

"Yes."

Zhang Yunxiu nodded and slowly moved his eyes forward.

The battle lasted until the evening, and the defenders in the city had experienced several rounds of artillery fire and had become frightened birds.

At this time, a general wiped the blood off his face and pleaded with the general: "Your Excellency, the Ming people are attacking the city too quickly. Why don't we surrender first?"

"Baga, we are not in a desperate situation yet, how can we surrender?!"

"We are only giving in temporarily. I heard that the Ming army's troops this time are not that many, so they will definitely not split up their forces. After they leave, won't the Qiuyue family still be in charge of this Guchu Mountain City?"

"What if the Ming army doesn't agree?"

"If you don't agree, then we can only fight to the death!" The family general shook his head, his face full of sadness and determination.

The general glanced at the cannons outside the city, then at the broken walls, and nodded with difficulty, saying, "Okay, send someone to negotiate with the Ming army. As long as they are willing to negotiate peace, we will agree to it."

(End of this chapter)