The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 401 Fire-Throwing Camp

Zhang Wei, unable to bear the ridicule any longer, had no choice but to change the subject: "The enemy has brought out so many door panels, it's really difficult to deal with. We don't have many cannons either, only four. How are we going to break through these door panels?"

Ma Sheng chuckled: "Don't worry! A few days ago, Li Tiezhu, an official in the Ministry of Works, escorted a ball mill from Tiebao City to Shouchun, and also brought some new weapons, specifically designed to deal with the enemy's large wooden weapons."

Zhang Wei: "New weapon?"

Ma Sheng pointed to the army. Zhang Wei turned his head and saw a small square formation standing there, each person holding a long bamboo pole.

"what is this?"

Ma Sheng chuckled and said, "That's a combustion tube. It's based on the long bamboo pole firearm invented by Chen Gui in the Southern Song Dynasty, with some new modifications. We'll use this to break through the enemy's door panel formation in a bit."

Zhang Wei has been stationed at the front line in Qingyang Town recently, and he doesn't really know much about technological developments. Now, even after hearing this, he's completely confused and can't understand it at all.

However, he could roughly guess from the words "combustion tube" that this thing could burn!

Since the shield carts are all made of wood, burning them would be a good solution.

Ma Shengdao said, "We've only conducted drills with the new weapons. This is the first real battle. My men are learning as they go, and your men have absolutely no experience. So, my men will fight this battle. You just need to keep an eye on the enemy's key figures and snipe them."

Zhang Wei laughed: "Okay!"

As the two chatted, Kong Yanzhou's army began to slowly advance, with a large number of wooden carts lined up side by side, pressing down with overwhelming force.

"boom!"

The cannons of the Northern Song army opened fire, and the large black iron ball flew over with a whoosh, smashing into a large door panel. The door panel shattered, and the enemy soldiers behind it were smashed to pieces. Dozens of enemy soldiers around were a little flustered, but most of the enemy soldiers remained unmoved.

Kong Yanzhou's troops are truly different from ordinary enemy soldiers! No wonder they are considered Tier 1 in this version.

"Don't be afraid!" Kong Yanzhou shouted loudly, "The enemy doesn't have many cannons, and they can't be used when you get close. Don't worry, move forward, keep moving forward, and we'll win when we get closer."

The soldiers pushing the shield carts rushed forward with all their might.

Once you get close, the cannons are useless!
By this time, arrows were already flying, but both sides had deployed their shield chariots, so even if the arrows were launched, the effect would be minimal and the damage to the enemy would be minimal. Faced with several layers of door panels, the Northern Song army's musket troops could not fire indiscriminately. Lead bullets might be able to penetrate one layer of door panels, but penetrating two layers would be extremely difficult.

The two sides had already closed to within forty or fifty meters of each other!

Ma Sheng suddenly waved his hand and roared, "Attack Fire Camp, charge!"

It turns out that the newly formed unit was called the Fire-Throwing Battalion.

Then, all the soldiers in the team lit the fire ropes in front of the bamboo poles...

The fuse began to burn faintly!
The soldiers of the Fire-Throwing Battalion were all burly men from Shandong, each one tall and strong. The southern soldiers looked like tiny potatoes in front of them. These Shandong men took a few steps forward, then suddenly swung their hands, sending the long bamboo poles flying like javelins forty or fifty meters, landing them on the enemy's wooden plank formation.

"Knock knock knock knock!"

The tip of the long bamboo pole hit the door panel and actually got stuck; it turned out there was a small metal spearhead at the end of the bamboo pole...

Zhang Wei's eyes followed the long bamboo poles, and he saw with his own eyes a long bamboo pole stuck in the door panel that read "May your business prosper and your bedboards creak; may your wealth increase and your belts loosen."

Kong Yanzhou's subordinates were completely bewildered, not understanding what this thing was.

Just then, with a hiss, the gunpowder loaded in the long bamboo pole burst into flames.

This is a type of gunpowder that only burns but doesn't explode, yet it burns fiercely and intensely, spraying small sparks in all directions, just like fireworks.

The bamboo tube containing the gunpowder was ignited instantly, burning along with the gunpowder. Then, the oil in the latter half of the bamboo tube was also ignited.

The oil, still burning, stuck to the door panel, and flames shot upwards with a roar.

The couplet, "Business is booming, bed boards creak; wealth abounds, belts loosen," was instantly engulfed by flames, curled at the edges, and charred black. Then, the entire brothel door began to burn, the red paint was also burned black, and white and black smoke billowed out at the same time.

Seeing this, Zhang Wei couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief: "Phew! My Dao heart is finally stable again."

At this moment, the enemy's front-line shield wagons all began to catch fire.

The soldiers pushing these shield carts from behind had no choice but to let go and retreat.

The shield wagons that hadn't yet caught fire quickly moved to the side to avoid being caught in the flames...

Zhang Wei's eyes suddenly lit up: "Hahaha, I saw it!"

A shield wagon next to the brothel's door was moving away, and a huge gap had opened between the two shield wagons. Through this gap, one could clearly see an enemy general behind them, gesturing wildly and directing the shield wagon formation to change its formation...

Zhang Wei quickly set up his rifle, aimed, and fired in one smooth motion.

With a crisp "bang," the enemy general fell to the ground.

"Forward! Forward!" the horse roared.

The Northern Song army's shield wagons advanced, and the massive wooden walls pressed down on Kong Yanzhou's army.

Both sides were like door panels, but the Northern Song Dynasty had a way to break through the door panels, while Kong Yanzhou had no way to break through the door panels of the Northern Song Dynasty.

This would be very difficult to fight!
One after another, long bamboo poles carrying flames were hurled at Kong Yanzhou, and one shield carriage after another burned down. The front shield carriages could no longer be sustained.

A large number of shield trucks collapsed.

The smoothbore musketeers in the Northern Song army finally found an opportunity to strike.

"First rank, fire! Fire!"

"First row, step back; second row, step forward."

"Ignite! Fire!"

The voices of the musketeer squad leaders rose and fell, and the smoothbore musketeers relied heavily on such commands to find their rhythm... This is also why during the Civil War, the firing squads had to be accompanied by a military band; as long as they hit their own background music, the rhythm of the three-stage firing would be soaring.

With my background music playing, no one can defeat me!
Although Kong Yanzhou's troops were fierce, they were powerless to turn the tide at this point. He really couldn't understand where the Northern Song army got so many strange and unusual things...

"Withdraw! Withdraw back to Tonghai Town!" Kong Yanzhou roared. "Withdraw back and fight from the city walls."

He shouted those words only to boost morale. In fact, he knew that relying on the city wall was of no use at all. Wang Yanxian, who had just returned from the defeat in the Battle of Shouchun, had already informed the puppet Qi court of the Northern Song's attack on Shouchun.

Most of the frontline generals of the puppet Qi state knew that they could not fight a war with the Northern Song Dynasty by simply defending fortified cities and engaging in a stalemate; otherwise, they would be bombarded by cannons without any chance to fight back.

If we retreat to Tonghai Town, the enemy will bombard the town walls one cannon shot at a time, and we will ultimately face certain death.

But Kong Yanzhou had no other choice but to guard the town.

(End of this chapter)