Baidu otaku as Chongzhen

Chapter 406 Crisis
The last month of the first ten days of October.

The moon, like in previous years, went down early after midnight, and the earth, which was originally a touch of silver, immediately became darker.

In this dark night, Zhenjiang Fort, whose city walls are covered with dead bodies, looks like a ghost town. The red lanterns hanging high above the city tower make this dead city look even more eerie. If there are evil spirits from hell, they will surely I thought I was back in hell again.

The city was still deathly silent, only when the wind blew, the red lanterns dangling on the city tower told the world that there were still people guarding the city.

From time to time, there was a burst of drumming, or a shout, or a sound of horseshoes under the city wall. There were just a few loud noises, and then, the city and the city returned to silence, as if these sounds had never appeared.

Zhang Heng sleeps on the mountainside. This Zhenjiang Fort is built on the mountain. Sleeping here, you can observe the movement below the mountain. In order to observe the movement of the enemy at any time, Zhang Heng deliberately chose such a place. He said it was halfway up the mountain, but in fact , which is slightly higher than the city wall, it is more appropriate to say that it is a small slope.

"Bang... bang... bang... bang... bang... bang..." With a loud noise, Zhang Heng woke up suddenly. This was the sound of artillery that he had been waiting for for many days. It was different from the sound of a grenade exploding. Zhang Heng jumped up suddenly.Following a sharp whistling sound that flew past his ears, Zhang Heng quickly lowered his head.

Immediately afterwards, there was a loud noise on the city wall.

Zhang Heng looked down from the hillside and was shocked. This time, the Tartars might have made up their minds to really attack the city. It turned out that the pitch-black city wall was already full of torches, and it was densely packed. How many torches illuminated the outside of Zhenjiang Fort, and there were many people and horses.

Zhang Hengzheng was shocked when he saw it, and a soldier ran up the mountain, shouting as he ran, "My lord, my lord, the Tartar cannons are coming to attack the city..."

"Well, I know. Do you know where to attack the city? How far away?" Zhang Heng only woke up when he heard the sound of artillery, and he still hasn't figured out where the artillery was fired.

"My lord, my little one saw it, the fire was fired three hundred steps west of the city." The soldier said immediately.

"What? Three hundred steps? What are you doing here?" Zhang Heng asked in surprise.

"Back to my lord, it's exactly three hundred steps." The soldier said with certainty.

Zhang Heng looked at the west of Zhenjiang Fort in surprise, at a distance of [-] steps, there were some torches there, but due to the poor light, he could only take a rough look, and there might be someone vaguely.It was hard for Zhang Heng to imagine that the Tartars would put the cannons there.Look at the walls of Zhenjiang Fort at the foot of the mountain, and I understand.The south side of Zhenjiang Fort is Fangcheng, which is relatively well built, but like other walls, it is not as strong as Fangcheng in the south. It is the wall connecting the enclosure and the enclosure. Although it has been reinforced, the foundation is thin. It is not as strong as Fangcheng in the south, no wonder the Tartars attacked the city from here, the city walls in this place are not strong!
Zhang Heng looked down the mountain in shock. It seems that the Tartars have made up their minds this time. Although they made a lot of noise during the day and even blew the siege horn, they didn't come to attack the city for some reason. Thinking that the plan to lure the Tartars failed, unexpectedly, the Tartars waited for this move and dared to approach the city with cannons up to [-] paces. It has to be said that the person who came up with this plan was extremely courageous.

"Order all the gunners to take their positions and prepare to fight back. The target is west of the city, three hundred paces up..." Zhang Heng ordered immediately without having time to think.

Before he could finish speaking, a soldier came running down the mountain and shouted while crawling out of breath, "Master Zhang, Master Zhang, the commander has an order, ordering you to fire back quickly, and be sure to destroy the cannons of the Tartars. The Tartars' cannons are sharp, and the west wall is showing signs of loosening, and the west wall may not last long..." The soldier shouted with sweat on his face.This short section of the mountain road, the soldier had already run with all his strength, and the sweat on his face was instantly full.

"When you go back to the commander-in-chief, just say that the officer has the order, and he will fight back immediately, so that the commander-in-chief can rest assured." Zhang Heng replied first, and his heart was even more frightened. Fire at such a close place, the west city wall was originally just a wall between the enclosures, not as strong as the regular city wall. Although they have been reinforced and thickened after they came, it is obvious that it cannot be compared with the south side. Chengbi, this weakness, it seems, was learned by the Tartars, and the city wall was loosened after only one round of artillery. If there are more times, the city wall may not be safe.

A little higher at the foot of the mountain, there were gunner positions arranged by Zhang Heng. After returning to the messengers, Zhang Heng immediately ran to the side of those gun positions.

"How? Why didn't you fire back?" Zhang Heng asked as soon as he arrived.

"My lord, the enemy's artillery is too low to fire!" The soldier in charge of firing the artillery also replied anxiously.

"How could this be? Unable to fire the cannon?" Zhang Heng asked in disbelief.

"My lord, the enemy is only [-] steps away from the city wall. Our red cannon can't fire! If we fire, we will go too far, and the red cannon can't lower its head!" The gunner in charge of the red cannon was crying. Said.

"What's going on here?" Zhang Heng's mind is already confused. Although he has been trained, he is not a professional gunner. The red-clothed cannon on the mountain was unable to fire back, which made Zhang Heng panic all of a sudden.

"My lord, we are on the top, and the Tartars' guns are on the bottom. If we want to hit him, we can only lower the muzzle and shoot down. There is a city wall between us and the Tartars. If we are not careful, we will hit him. Our own walls!" the gunner was on the point of crying.

This artillery position was arranged by Zhang Heng himself. The purpose is to use the higher geographical location to block a large area. It is specially used for artillery battles with the Tartars. Moreover, since the city wall of Zhenjiang Fort only has a section on the south side, it is better. , others, are not enough to withstand this kind of Hongyi cannon weighing several thousand catties, the terrible recoil will overturn one's own city wall, so the red cannon was set up in this place.However, I want to go back to thinking about it, but when a fight really started, the Tartars pulled the cannons to the base of the city wall to fight. In this way, the Hongyi cannons he placed here would not be easy to fire, and within three hundred steps, they were already approaching. The minimum range of the Hongyi cannon is over, and there is another city wall between the Hongyi cannon between here and the Tartars. At a distance of less than [-] steps, it can only shoot in a straight line. Easy to hit the wall between here and the Tartar cannon.

Zhang Heng became frightened in his heart. He was still too young and lacked experience in doing things. He was still too unfamiliar with Hongyi Cannon and artillery warfare, and had no actual combat experience. Now, he made a big mistake and was beaten son caught.

"Keep it as low as possible, and you must not hit the city wall. If you hit the city wall, you all have to follow the military law. If it doesn't work, fire at a distance, and fire at a crowded place. Anyway, the Hongyi cannon must fire as soon as possible. Yourselves It's up to you..." Zhang Heng gave an order in shock, although he had sharp firearms, but the Tartars obviously had superior people, and he might have seen his weakness, so he risked his life to pull the cannon closer and fire .

"Yes, my lord, we will open fire at once," replied the soldier.

Zhang Heng could only give this order. As the most powerful weapon in Zhenjiang Fort, if he did not fire for a long time, it would undoubtedly have a huge blow to morale.

Zhang Heng didn't say too much. Now, these two Hongyi cannons can't participate in the artillery battle. They can only bombard the enemies in the distance. They were all arranged on the city wall, and Zhang Heng continued to run towards the city wall.

This part of the city wall on the west side was not strong in the first place, and it was not as strong as Fangcheng City in the south. It was hit by a cannon a few times, and it has been loosened. The city wall has changed from the previous "quietness". , the sound of cannons.

Zhang Heng went up to the city wall, and there were already counterattacks on the top. However, the situation was chaotic, and it was no longer as comfortable as before. People kept running, and people were shot from time to time.

"How's the situation?" Zhang Heng pulled a gunner over and asked loudly.

The gunner looked back, and wanted to curse, but when he saw Zhang Heng, he immediately said: "My lord, the Tartars have become evil, and they pulled the cannon to less than three hundred steps away from us and fired. We can only lower the cannon!" This time, I can only show my head, I have injured several brothers, and I have already fired a cannonball, but I don’t know what to do..." The gunner immediately explained the situation.

"Okay! Keep firing. How many cannons are there?" Zhang Heng was a little flustered. The west wall was obviously not strong. After being bombarded by cannons once, some cracks could be seen from inside.

"My lord, there are only three cannons here." The gunner replied.

"Come on! Pull those cannons from the south over, and hit the tartar's cannon with all your strength..." Zhang Heng ordered to the soldiers behind him.The soldier got the military order and immediately bent down and ran south.

Outside the city wall, there were endless torches and countless shouts, but above the city wall, there was chaos.

"Grenades, grenades..." The general flag and hundreds of households kept yelling, and the grenades flew out of the city wall one after another.The arrows shot from outside the city disappeared immediately.

"Boom~" Explosions sounded outside the city wall.

The gunners in charge of the cannon dared to show their heads to play with the cannon. Because they had to lower the muzzle, they had to show their heads. Because they were too focused on operating the cannon, an arrow shot from nowhere pierced their heads. A gunner screamed and fell to the ground.

Zhang Heng was startled, wondering how the Tartars managed to survive under the rain of grenades. Could it be that they risked their lives to attack?Regardless of people?

Zhang Hengzheng was startled, Mao Wenlong led his troops to the west wall.

"Master!" Zhang Heng shouted.

"Staff Zhang, how is the battle going?" Mao Wenlong lowered his head and asked, followed by a group of generals.

"Marshal, it's too dangerous here, let's go to a safer place." Seeing so many people here, Zhang Heng became frightened. If the Tartars just hit this place with a cannonball, the Zhenjiang Fort would be destroyed.

"It's okay! This commander didn't die that easily. How did the fight go? At first, I saw that the surrounding fields had lit torches, and thought that the Tartars would attack the city from all directions. Unexpectedly, they only attacked the west wall!" Mao Wenlong asked. road.

"Commander, our cannons have already fired. However, the tartar's cannons are too close to us and lower than ours. We can only lower the muzzle. This must be exposed. I don't know how it happened. A few batches of grenades went out, but the Tartars were still able to shoot arrows in, so there were already many casualties." Zhang Heng explained to Mao Wenlong in shock.

Mao Wenlong was shocked when he heard this!He asked, "Why is that?" Grenades are their weapon for defending the city. If grenades are useless, then Zhenjiang Fort will have nothing to rely on.

"Marshal, I don't know for the time being, and I don't know what method the Tartars have come up with to avoid my many grenades." Zhang Heng was terrified. If he couldn't figure out this problem, Zhenjiang Fort wouldn't last long. up.

Just as he was talking, there was another loud bang of "Bang!...Bang!...Bang!..." Zhang Heng's face changed drastically when he heard it, and he immediately shouted: "Low your head, get down, be careful, Commander... ..." just finished.

There was a vibration on the city wall, followed by a loud noise, the sound of broken bricks and tiles.

After the shock passed, Zhang Heng looked over and saw that the cracks in the city wall that had been loosened by the bombardment had now widened, and a hand could already be put in. Zhang Heng was shocked to see many soldiers behind the city plate.

Mao Wenlong also watched in shock, the power of this cannon was really too great.

……

"it is good!"

"it is good!"

Huang Taiji and some Baylors, big and small, watched the battle from a distance, and they all applauded when they saw the scene of the cannons bombarding the city wall.

"Xiantai is very skillful. The cannon is so powerful to fire at such a close place!" Huang Taiji said happily, seeing that the part of the city wall of Zhenjiang Fort seemed to be loosening, Dajin's gunners were not as good as those of the Ming Dynasty This is recognized by Hou Jin. However, once the cannons are drawn at such a short distance and shoot directly at the city wall, the aim is obviously much better than that at a distance of several miles. Most of the dozen cannons hit, which is incredible. Needless to say, it is quite a rare thing.

"There, Big Khan, in fact, this is just an unprepared attack on the enemy. Although the square city to the south of Zhenjiang Fort is strong, the west wall is not solid. It is just that the surrounding wall has been widened and thickened, and the south wall It is incomparable, so it is possible to loosen the bricks and stones with one shot, and if there are a few more shots, the west wall may not be able to hold it..." Fan Wencheng said with a smile.

Later Jin's big and small Baylor, the generals also smiled at this kind of siege scene. For many days, it was the Ming Dynasty who beat them all, and they couldn't reach the Ming Dynasty. Happy.

"No, Xiantai still has the ability to dare to do the opposite. If you pull it so close and fire, the cannons on the city wall will definitely show their heads. Once they show their heads, my Dajin warriors can shoot and kill them... Although the hand grenade is powerful, but Xiantai's method of digging holes is even more powerful, hahaha... Look at the Zhenjiang Fort that is full of hand grenades like rain. Unfortunately, it can't kill a few of my Daikin warriors!... Hahaha I don't know how long Mao Wenlong's grenade can last..." Huang Taiji laughed when he said this.

The other Houjin's big and small Baylor, generals, also laughed.

Although Fan Wencheng was praised in public, he always had a hidden worry in his heart, but he couldn't speak out about this kind of scene.

……

Mao Wenlong was also quite moved when he looked at the city plate that was blasted away by the cannon and the loose city wall.Looking at the dead and injured soldiers, I was even more frightened. The power of this cannon was really too great.

"Come here, send an order! Call the Dafo Langji and fight towards the place where the Tartar cannons are hiding!" Mao Wenlong ordered without looking back. Only three hundred steps away, the Tartars put the cannons there. It was really courageous. The sky is big, and there are many things that can be hit in three hundred steps. After Mao Wenlong was shocked, he began to rationalize.

"Decree!" A messenger responded, and immediately bowed his waist to deliver the order.

"Commander, the Tartars dare to pull to such a close place, they must have something to rely on. Our Flang machine has been fighting for a while, and it seems to be useless. The cannon that should be fired is still firing..." Zhang Heng interjected , Zhang Heng was the first to come here. After coming here, he had learned enough about the situation. After being shocked, he began to analyze the problem. Shock and fear alone were useless.

"Oh, why is this?" Mao Wen chinchilla asked puzzledly, three hundred paces, and the Frang machine can reach it. It stands to reason that with so many Frang machines hitting the gunner position, how could it be possible? The cannons were silenced, but unfortunately, when the Tazi's cannons fired the second shot, there was obviously no loss, and Mao Wenlong was frightened by this!
Zhang Heng thought about it for a while, and said: "Khan, it may be that the Tartars have found a way to crack the firearm. Whether it's the grenade, the Hongyi cannon, or the Frangji, they all go straight and can't turn. If the tartars dig a hole in the ground, then..." Zhang Heng suddenly remembered that when he was in the staff headquarters, he had heard about it, and the way to avoid the grenade was to lie down, and the two made peace, Zhang Heng suddenly Suddenly thought that the Tartars might have dug a hole in the ground.

Mao Wenlong looked at Zhang Heng with a surprised expression, and asked, "Is that true?"

Zhang Heng nodded with difficulty.

Mao Wenlong asked with a trace of anxiety: "Then what should we do now?"

"Marshal, the plan now is to set up a second line of defense. Although the western city wall is not very strong, there is still a city wall behind this city wall. The Tartars have knocked down one wall, and there is another wall behind it. The Jiulian City is also It's not for nothing, now, there is no need to throw such a large number of grenades outside, the Tartars must have dug a hole outside the city, and when they saw the grenade flying from the top of my city, they immediately hid in the hole. I can't see clearly below, and the damage is limited, unless I can still enter the cave, or stay on top of the cave, otherwise, it is estimated that it will be difficult to injure the Tartars." Zhang Heng has calmed down now, and began to analyze the problem and make suggestions.

"Okay, according to Staff Officer Zhang, come here, send orders everywhere, use hand grenades sparingly, it's not that most of the Tartars attack the city, there is no need to use them violently, just let the Tartars clamor below, just keep two from time to time."

"Furthermore, Commander, we can't stay here for long. The Tartars will definitely have to knock down this section of the city wall before we give up. Commander, it's better to retreat to a safe place. The Tartars' third cannonball is coming... "Zhang Heng said again.The burst of artillery from the Tartars just now had blasted a section of the city, loosening the city wall and cracks appeared. This place is already extremely unsafe. [The writing of the war is not good, everyone will just wait and see...]

(End of this chapter)