The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 295 They've Gone to War

Before Gong Erniangzi spoke, the craftsmen were in a dilemma. They were under strict control and not allowed to leave Tiebao City. They were extremely out of touch with the outside world and had no idea who the other side was. Seeing a strange army suddenly attacking them, they might actually help the Jin Kingdom and the pseudo-Qi Kingdom fight without knowing who the other side was.

But when Gong Erniangzi shouted this, the craftsmen in the city were overjoyed, for the Song army had arrived.

Thank goodness!

Last year, they were captured by the Jin invaders and taken to the north. Countless companions died along the way. Those who were lucky enough to survive managed to return alive, but they were then closely watched by the Jin invaders and the pseudo-Qi rebels and could not escape.

Deep down, she always hoped that someone would come to save her.

Now, here comes the helper!
The craftsmen dared not say anything, but they were already cheering in their hearts.

A head popped out from the city wall; it was a real gold thief. For some reason, although the real gold thief and the fake gold thief had the same hairstyle and the same clothes, their temperaments were very different, and they could be recognized at a glance.

Zhenjin the thief pointed at the city below and started cursing wildly, basically saying he wasn't afraid and that they should come and attack the city if they dared.

This Iron Treasure City was built against the mountain, backed by the Yimeng Mountain. The walls were made of earth and stone, and the enemy army had to climb up the mountain road to attack the city. The difficulty was so great that even two or three times the number of troops might not be able to take it down. No wonder he was so arrogant.

However, the arrogance of the cold weapon era was ineffective after the advent of firearms.

Gong Erniangzi waved her hand: "Let's start with five rounds!"

The four great cannons immediately began their performance.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Four large iron bullets whistled towards Iron Treasure City.

With each cannonball that struck, the walls of Iron Treasure City would shake. The earthen and stone structure used to build the walls would shift under the bombardment, stones would begin to slide off, and soil would flow downwards...

One of the cannonballs went too high, actually flying over the city wall and hitting the mountain behind it. With a loud "bang", the mountain wall, which was mostly made of iron ore, was smashed by the cannonball, creating a large crater in the hard stone wall. Fragments of rock flew everywhere, and iron ore was scattered all over the ground.

The real gold thieves, fake gold thieves, and craftsmen in the city were all quite frightened by this blast. They thought to themselves: "Using this method to mine might be surprisingly easy. Damn, something's not right. What am I thinking? This is what the enemy is going to use to smash my head! I'm actually thinking about mining?"

Li Bao, who had just joined, was also quite startled by those few shots.

He exclaimed in utter astonishment, "This...this ridiculous weapon?"

Sui Yi shrugged: "So I'm serving as an auxiliary soldier."

Li Bao wiped his sweat: "I understand. You definitely can't become a regular soldier until you learn how to use these weapons."

Sui Yi said, "That's right. What's the use of being a great fighter if you don't know how to use this thing? There's no place for our Yan'an soldiers to show their bravery. Now everyone is convinced and obediently learning how to use it."

Li Bao patted his head and fell silent...

The red-coated cannons began loading and continued firing.

The Yan'an soldiers also got busy. After each shot was fired, they would put a cloth in a bucket of water to wet it, cover the cannon and wipe it a few times to control the temperature of the barrel. Some Yan'an soldiers would run around behind the artillerymen, watching their every move and humbly learning. Occasionally, they would ask, "Brother, can I help you load the explosives?"

"Brother, where do we insert the fuse? Let's switch to the forehead this time."

The artilleryman laughed: "Don't bother with this stuff. Learn how to use muskets. They need more manpower over there, but the artillery battalion needs fewer. Even if you learn, you might not get a chance."

The soldiers in Yan'an quickly and enthusiastically looked at the musket soldiers...

The arquebusiers were scattered throughout the various wagon formations; there was no separate arquebus unit, and therefore no separate battalion. The wagon formations, however, were a unified whole. In the event of battle, the entire formation would be fully prepared, its disciplined ranks impeccable, preventing anyone from freely entering and wandering around. The Yan'an soldiers couldn't get close; they could only look left and right, unsure of who to learn from.

But then Yue Wenxuan walked over with a smile: "Don't worry! After the battle is over in the next few days, I will give you a good arrangement."

The cannons continued to bombard, and soon the five rounds of shelling ended.

The walls of Tiebao City had been bombarded beyond recognition, with several sections teetering on the brink of collapse. The morale of the pseudo-Qi soldiers inside the city had been reduced to zero. However, two hundred "Qi-stationed Jin soldiers" remained arrogant, brandishing their swords and shouting, "You can't hit me! What good are you!"

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Suddenly, the sound of rifled guns rang out; the skirmishers had made their move.

The skirmisher battalion loves enemies who like to be arrogant. If you're hiding behind a wall, I can't do anything to you, but if you insist on jumping out and showing off, then I'll just send you to your doom.

After a burst of gunfire, several arrogant gold-digging bandits on the city wall fell.

The rest chickened out and dared not show themselves, hiding behind the city walls.

By this point in the battle, the Jin army was beginning to feel that they were losing ground.

They had roamed the world, crushing the Bohai Kingdom, the Tieli Kingdom, and the Liao Kingdom, and always believed themselves to be the best warriors in the world. But now, they felt that this battlefield was so unfamiliar, so strange, so bewildering, so weak, and so helpless.

"What the hell just happened?"

"I have no idea what to do now!"

"How are we supposed to fight a war like this?"

The remaining Jin soldiers whispered among themselves and discussed the matter for a while before coming to a conclusion: if they just cowered in the city and let themselves be bombarded by cannons, they would eventually meet their maker.

We can't back down! We have to charge!
As long as we rush over and kill all the enemies, their cannons won't be able to keep up.

Yes, that must be the case.

The Jin soldier said to the puppet Qi soldiers behind him, "You will all charge with us in a moment. Anyone who dares not fight to the death will have their head chopped off."

The pseudo-Qi soldiers weakly replied, "Yes, sir!"

"Alright, open the city gates, charge!"

"Come on!"

The city gate, which had been blasted open by cannon fire, suddenly erupted into battle. Two hundred Jurchen rebels led the charge, followed by a thousand puppet Qi soldiers, as they charged towards the artillery battalion.

Li Bao was startled by what he saw. He grabbed his knife and shouted, "Sui Yi, it's time for us to get to work!"

Sui Yi rolled his eyes: "You're speaking too soon."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the musketeers in the wagon formation opened fire. The gunfire was more than ten times more intense than when the skirmishers had attacked earlier, and the two hundred gold thieves at the forefront fell to the ground in just a few breaths.

The puppet Qi soldiers behind them thought, "My Jin Dynasty father is so weak? Damn, our father is too weak, let's get a new father."

kneel!
The pseudo-Qi soldiers knelt down in a flurry...

(End of this chapter)