Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 128 Siege
In the morning, the Zhaoyong Army closed the camp to rest and continued to prepare siege tools. The army had no Lu Gong car, no battering ram, no trench crossing vehicle, only dozens of simple bamboo ladders.

The defenders lost more than they gained, and learned their lesson, so they stayed behind closed doors and refused to fight. Nguyen Phu Quang spent a lot of money recruiting loyal soldiers, while he brought his trusted aides to the city walls to supervise the battle.

Compared with field battles, the difficulty of fighting was much lower when the defenders defended the city. Chen Bangfu had a large number of troops and horses, and he was defeated twice in attacking Wutunso. Cen Danchu only had a thousand troops and horses, so how could he easily break through the city?
At 3 pm, the Zhaoyong army began to attack the city. The standard battalion attacked the east gate, and the infantry battalion attacked the south gate. The west of the city was close to the Mengjiang River, and the north of the city was vacant, so the defenders could escape to prevent them from being defeated.

Attacking a city has always been a military problem. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the Eight Banners of Manchuria were at their peak and invincible in field battles. The Liaodong Ming army was able to stop the Eight Banners' attacks with its strong cities and cannons.

After the Later Jin Dynasty mastered the technology of red-haired cannon, they changed to siege and attack, bombarded the city with cannons, dug trenches for a long time, and finally took down the strong cities in Liaodong. After entering the pass, the Qing army preferred the tactic of internal and external cooperation, or lured the defenders to surrender, or sent spies into the city, and only used red-haired cannon when encountering tough opponents.

The Zhaoyong army could not afford the red cannons, nor did they have enough troops to besiege Wutunso. They wanted to send spies into the city, but Nguyen Phu Quang was very cautious, so they had to attack by force. Fortunately, Wutunso was a small city, with walls only two meters high and the moat silted up for a long time. If they wanted to attack by force, it was not impossible.

It was the first time that Zhaoyong Army attacked the city alone, and Danchu went to the front line in person to command on the spot.

The standard battalion and the first infantry battalion finished lining up, the central army drum sounded, and the red flag was raised. Each battalion sent a team of death warriors, all wearing armor, holding rattan shields in one hand and bamboo ladders in the other, and marched steadily towards the city wall.

The rebels on the top of the city were shadowy, and their flags were also varied. After all, they were not a regular army, and the rules were not strict. If the Zhaoyong Army ignored casualties and attacked desperately, it might be possible to take the city in one go.

But Danchu didn't want to do that. The Standard Battalion and the First Infantry Battalion were the elite troops of the Zhaoyong Army, and most of them were veterans. Even if they had to fight to the death, they had to be used at the critical moment, and there was no need to sacrifice the lives of the soldiers in vain at Wutunso.

Through the telescope, Danchu clearly discovered that the rebels were also patient. Although they had prepared firearms, they did not launch an attack immediately.

The Zhaoyong army was approaching the city wall, but the rebels were still able to remain restrained. Based on this alone, Danchu was sure that Nguyen Phu Quang should not be underestimated.

The death squad advanced to a place 100 steps away from the east gate and stopped to reorganize the formation as planned. Danchu ordered the main formation to advance and keep a distance of 100 steps from the death squad to facilitate support for the death squad.

According to Qin Shitai, there were Portuguese cannons in Wutunso City. However, due to the escape of the military households, the Portuguese cannons had been abandoned for a long time, and there were not many soldiers who could operate them. Most of the traitors were desperate criminals, and they would not pose a threat to the main camp of the Zhaoyong Army.

The main formation was in place, and the death squad continued to advance forty steps. The defenders still did not fight back. The death squad stopped to reorganize the formation, and the main formation also advanced forty steps.

Danchu ordered the shooting of arrows. Among the one hundred death squad members, there were fifty archers. They first put down their rattan shields, then took out their bows and arrows, and under the cover of the remaining fifty rattan shield bearers, they began to shoot arrows into the city.

The accuracy of the projectiles was impressive, and the lack of accuracy needed to be compensated by quantity. At a distance of sixty steps, fifty archers shooting arrows at the same time would not pose much threat to the enemy.

However, the purpose of the Zhaoyong Army was not to kill the enemy, but to disrupt the enemy's morale. A small note was tied to each arrow in advance, which read: "Only the main culprit will be killed, not the accomplices. Those who surrender will not be killed, and those who resist will be severely punished. Close the doors and hang red cloth, which is regarded as surrender, and those who break the city will not be killed."

The Zhaoyong Army stopped shooting arrows, and the rebels could not hold back and began to fight back. They were disorganized and panicked. Some used bows and arrows, and some used firearms. Firearms were still mainly rockets, and there were even long-range rockets such as fire dragons spraying water and divine fire flying crows.

The archers of the suicide squad stopped shooting arrows, picked up the rattan shields, gathered in groups of five, and put the shields together to maximize protection.

The fire dragon's water jet had a long range, and one rocket even rushed into the main musketeer team, causing a brief commotion. The personal soldiers had already come forward, standing in front with rattan shields, ready to protect the commander at any time. Danchu remained unmoved, still using a telescope to closely monitor the top of the city, thinking about how to defeat the enemy.

The rebels had a fire dragon coming out of the water, which showed that the manufacturing level of the city's military equipment bureau was not bad. Chen Bangfu was defeated twice, perhaps because of the rockets.

Rockets are a powerful and accurate weapon, but they are a great weapon for close combat. If the death squad is allowed to climb the ladder regardless of sacrifice, and the main team is sent forward to support them, the city will be able to be breached, but casualties will inevitably increase.

The trumpet sounded three times, and Danchu ordered the death squad to move forward another thirty steps. The death squad hid under the rattan shields and carried the bamboo ladders to the moat. The moat had been silted up for a long time, and people could wade through it.

At this time, the suicide squad was only thirty steps away from the city wall and could rush to the wall at any time and set up ladders to attack the city.

The rebels' counterattack became more fierce, with arrows raining down and making clanking sounds on the rattan shields. They also used a firearm called the flying spray gun, which had adhesive added to the gunpowder. When it fell on combustibles, it would stick to them and keep burning, and was often used in naval battles.

Many members of the suicide squad had their rattan shields and cloth armor stuck to the incendiary agent and could not get rid of them, so they immediately fell into panic. The rattan shields were still okay, as they were coated with tung oil to prevent fire. The cloth armor was made of cotton cloth and was easily burned through. The bamboo ladders were no match for the incendiary agent.

Since we have already tested the strength of the defenders, we should proceed with the original plan of night attack. Danchu ordered the troops to retreat. The death squad received the order and quickly withdrew from the moat. The main camp of the Zhaoyong Army remained unmoved and calmly received the death squad.

The rebels cheered on the top of the city. They had learned their lesson last night and finally did not dare to leave the city to pursue.

The members of the Zhaoyong Army's suicide squad were all dejected, as they were humiliated by the battle. They were called suicide squads and were carrying ladders, but they were driven back before they could even put up the ladders.

Some were still putting out the remaining fire on their bodies, while others were already complaining: We had just rushed to the city wall and were only one step away from climbing the city wall, so why didn’t we set up the ladder and attack the city in one go?

The death squads were the elite troops of the standard camp, and their morale was low at the moment. Danchu laughed instead and said:

"Don't be discouraged, gentlemen. Since we have already shot the arrows, we have achieved our goal and the battle is considered a defeat. I have found the enemy's weakness. Just wait and see, I will be able to capture the city tomorrow. Tomorrow at noon, I will reward you in the city."

Most of the people were shocked and some suspected that the commander was bragging, but more people had regained their confidence. Since the commander joined the army, he has always been victorious in attack and defense, and he has predicted things like a god and has extraordinary strategies. Since he said that the city would be captured tomorrow, how could he break his promise?

The troops returned to the camp, rested, repaired the ladders, and had dinner. Everyone was confused and didn't know what medicine Danchu Hulu was selling.

After dinner, Danchu summoned officers above the rank of team leader to deploy the method of breaking the city: "Tonight, we will organize a night attack as planned, but it should be noted that the night attack is not to break the city, but to tire the enemy. This is a tactic of shocking the camp.

"We must disturb the defenders all night long. Our army does not have many rockets, so we can wrap strips of cloth around the arrows, soak the cloth in oil, light them, and shoot them into the city, forcing the defenders to put out the fire. We can approach the city walls and use drums, gongs, and cannons to disturb the defenders.

"We must ensure that our soldiers have enough rest and take turns to harass the rebels. For example, if the standard camp attacks the east gate, we will first arrange for the cavalry team to attack at the hour of the Ox, and the other teams will rest normally, and then go out of the camp to take over when it is their turn..."

(End of this chapter)