Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chongzhen 16th May [-]th.

Wu Shigong led a group of officers on the hillside outside Wuchang City, watching with great interest the two forts that had just been built under the hillside, and each of the two forts had a giant cannon.

These two cannons were [-]-pound siege artillery newly developed and manufactured by the workshop director. They were dispatched by Wu Shigong's order before the test was completed, just to break the deadlock in the siege of Wuchang City.

In order to transport the two cannons, the Runing Army successively mobilized more than 3000 soldiers and civilians to reinforce roads and bridges along the way, and each cannon was dragged by ten bullocks. It took nearly two months to transport the cannons. Transported to the foot of Wuchang City.

Seeing that the gunner on the fort raised the small flag in his hand and signaled "ready to launch", Wu Shigong and the others took out cotton balls and stuffed them into the ears of themselves and the war horses.

The newly appointed commander Xue Zhinong looked at the fort 150 paces away, and asked Wu Shigong with a smile, "Master! It's so far away, do you still need to plug your ears?"

Wu Shigong also replied with a smile: "The master who escorted me has told me several times that the cannon is so powerful that it is unimaginable. Let's listen to the master!" After finishing speaking, Wu Shigong also stuffed cotton into his and In the ears of Blackfoot.

Wei Feng, the deputy commander of the guards at the side, was observing the fort with a binoculars in his hand, his childish face was full of excitement.Although he has seen cannons fired before, and even fired a few times with his own hands, he has never been in contact with such a huge cannon, so today, Wei Feng's childishness is unknowingly revealed come out.

The gunners on the fort did not dare to light the cannon beside the artillery at all. They dragged it to a distance with a long matchlock, and then lit the matchlock.Immediately jumped into the bunker behind him, squatted down and lowered his head, covering his ears tightly.

"boom--!"

The mountains shook for a while.When the sound came, even if the ears were plugged, one would feel a little dizzy.Some soldiers of the Runing Army who were watching the excitement near the fort were even knocked down to the ground, and the riders also stroked the horses, trying to calm down their frightened emotions.

Everyone looked in the direction of Wuchang City, only to see that the walls of Wuchang City a thousand steps away seemed to shake a few times, and a huge puff of smoke and dust rose.The officers with binoculars all stared at the impact point on the city wall. When the smoke and dust dispersed a little, they could see it on the exposed city wall.It has been deeply sunken into one piece, and with this as the center, a large cobweb-shaped crack spread out to the surroundings.

Seeing the shooting effect like this, almost everyone gasped, and then a feeling of elation surged in their hearts.With such a powerful and terrifying artillery.Then Wuchang City can't hold on anymore!

"boom--!"

The second cannon was then fired.As if it were an illusion, the walls of Wuchang City seemed to have collapsed a little bit.But when Wu Shigong and the others observed through the binoculars: the soldiers of the Western Army on the city wall were all running around in panic and screaming.Wu Shigong and the others knew it.Fire a few more shots, and this section of the city wall will be blown down.

With a smile, Wu Shigong took out the cotton balls from his and Heijiao's ears, and patted Heijiao's back to calm down Heijiao, who was full of fighting spirit.Then he ordered Xue Zhinong: "Come here today! Give the city one more chance, tell this boy Li Dingguo to surrender immediately."

Today's shelling is to test the shooting effect.It is also to deter the Great Western Army in the city.Seeing that the shooting effect was so good, Wu Shigong still wanted to surrender Li Dingguo who was defending the city without fighting.Besides, the obstacles outside the city have not been cleared.Even if the city wall is blown down, the city cannot be attacked immediately.Therefore, Wu Shigong will take Wuchang City in one go after he is fully prepared.

But at this moment, more than a dozen cavalry with red flags on their backs came at a gallop, which made Wu Shigong and the others' complexions suddenly change.This is the highest-level messenger in the Runing Army, and everyone knows that something must have changed somewhere.

Wei Feng hurriedly ran to those messengers, and before they stopped, he took the letter from the leading messenger.Then he ran back to Wu Shigong's side, asked Wu Shigong to check that the seals were complete, and immediately opened the letter, and asked the cipherman to translate the secret words in the letter.

The cipher letter was very short, and the cipherman quickly translated it.Wu Shigong took the letter, glanced at it, and said to the anxious Runing Army officers around him: "Millions of Shaanxi thieves have come out of Shaanxi, and their soldiers are pointing directly at Beijing, wanting to usurp the throne. What a troubled time!"

"Ah!" There was an exclamation all around immediately.

"My lord! Hurry up and return to the capital! Madame and Eldest Young Master are in danger!" Zhou Xun said immediately.People from the capital city, when they heard that Li Zicheng's Shun army was about to take Beijing, they immediately became concerned and became confused.

"My lord! Will the bandits go out of Tongguan and enter Henan to flank our Runing army?" Chang Meng asked worriedly.

"We have to guard against it!" Wu Shigong nodded to Chang Meng, "We must not mess with the current situation."

Wu Shigong looked at the smoky and dust-filled Wuchang City from a distance, and his mind was running fast.Now all the units of the Runing Army are entangled with the enemy's teeth. If they act rashly, it is very likely that they will affect the whole body.The only one who can maneuver is his own more than 8 soldiers and horses, so he must get out of Wuchang City as soon as possible.

So Wu Shigong immediately issued an order to Xue Zhinong: "Issue a final surrender order to the city: let him surrender within three days. If he does not surrender, he will not be recruited again in the future. Moreover, after Wuchang is captured, the city will be massacred and all living things in the city will be killed. If Li Dingguo surrenders, in addition to rewarding his official position, he is not allowed to fight Zhang Thief. This is the last condition!"

"promise!"

"Send an order back to Runing that all men of the right age will enlist in the army and implement a general mobilization order."

"promise!"

"Xunzi, Biaozi! The two of you quickly get Xiong Chuizhen to gather together. Take advantage of the darkness tonight and march back to Nanyang. You must defend the line from Nanyang to Ruzhou. In case the Shaanxi bandits enter Henan, you must persist until the main force goes north. return."

"promise!"

"Notify Master Hou and ask him to order the Governor of Fengyang Horse to mobilize [-] soldiers and horses, grain, grass, mules and horses in the name of King Qin. When the main force here returns to the north and passes through Fengyang, we will take it with us to the north. .”

"promise!"

"Send an order to Uncle Yongli, Shumo, Zuge, etc., to tell them not to mess up at this critical juncture, and to fight against the Tartars according to the original deployment. Don't make rash moves, reveal their flaws, and let the Tartars catch them." Seize the opportunity. If the Tartars do not retreat, we should face them. If the Tartars retreat, don’t follow and pursue them, and wait for the northward confluence here, and then go to the capital Qinwang together.”

"No!" (to be continued...)