gnovel Chapter 37 Bombardment
Chapter 37 Bombardment
On the city wall of Yijun, Li Chengye leaned against the battlements, gazing into the distance.
Stone came over, panting, to report: "Brother, Master Qin and Instructor Yang have begun their operation."
Li Chengye simply hummed in agreement; his attention was entirely focused on the area outside the city.
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Outside the city, in front of the government troops' camp, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted!
When Wang Er's army was about a hundred meters away from the government army's camp, the crowd suddenly accelerated as the "Wang" banner pointed forward, especially those at the very front who roared and charged toward the government army's camp!
Zhang Shixiong stood unmoved atop the earthen wall in front of the camp. He coldly watched as the enemy vanguard charged into the range of his own arrows, then suddenly swung his sword and shouted, "Loose the arrows!"
Arrows rained down in an instant. Except for a few minor leaders who were wearing old cloth armor, most of the bandit vanguard were dressed in hemp clothing and had no defense against the arrows.
After the first volley of arrows, the number of people charging in the front ranks quickly dwindled.
Several bandits who had escaped being shot by sheer luck were bewildered by the sudden emptiness around them, but in the blink of an eye, the next wave of attackers caught up and pushed them forward.
But then another volley of arrows followed, and this time their luck didn't continue to favor those men; they fell to the ground.
Although they were hit by arrows, they were not dead yet. Just as they were about to struggle, the surging crowd trampled them underfoot, just like the people who had just fallen.
Zhang Shixiong had only 150 archers, who were divided into two shifts to fire. Just after the second round of firing, the bandits rushed to the antlers in front of the trench and used their knives to cut the ropes connecting the antlers.
At this moment, Zhang Shixiong brandished his sword again and ordered, "Archers, advance!"
The musketeers, who had been waiting behind the archers, stepped forward and stood in a row.
"put!"
With a burst of smoke and a sound, all the bandits who had been cutting the ropes fell down, along with a large number of bandits within twenty paces behind them.
"Second column—fire!" the centurion in charge of directing the musketmen continued to give the order.
Another cloud of smoke and sound appeared, and the area in front of the camp was cleared once again.
"Third column—place it!"
After the sound of smoke, the surging crowd seemed to calm down, and some people began to try to back away.
Standing behind the musketeers, Zhang Shixiong ordered the two rows of archers, "Fire into the air!"
The swift rain of arrows exceeded the range of the muskets and struck the men in the middle of the vanguard.
The feeling of being able to only passively take a beating and not fight back is terrifying. No one knows who took the first step backward, but more and more people followed suit.
Zhang Shixiong breathed a sigh of relief.
His musketeers and archers totaled less than five hundred men, divided into five teams. Although this ensured continuous firing, if the bandits truly had two or three hundred fearless individuals who launched a relentless, uninterrupted attack, they might actually break into his camp.
However, it was clear that these bandits only had the courage of youth; once someone fell beside them, their courage dissipated.
Just when Zhang Shixiong thought he could at least curb the enemy's momentum, those who were about to retreat were suddenly stopped.
The first few people who ran away had their heads chopped off and held high on bamboo poles.
"General Wang has ordered that those who retreat will be executed, while those who bravely advance will be rewarded. Anyone who breaks into the government army's camp will be given one shi of rations!"
Several loud-voiced bandits ran through the crowd, carrying bamboo poles topped with human heads and shouting as they went.
The previously quiet crowd erupted in excitement once again.
Zhang Shixiong's eyes turned cold. This Wang Er was indeed no ordinary thief; he was ruthless and decisive.
The crowd surged toward the government troops' camp once again, and this time, mixed in with them were some old thieves who carried simple shields and looked stronger and more robust than the people next to them. Their weapons were also better, and some were even wearing cloth armor.
With these people as the backbone, the crowd once again charged towards the antlers, braving arrows and musket pellets.
Under the cover of several veteran soldiers holding wooden shields, Hotu used his broadsword to cut the rope between the antlers, and then together with a young man from his village, kicked one of the antlers directly into the trench.
"Charge! The government troops' camp is about to fall!"
The crowd grew even more frenzied, roaring as they surged forward!
A young musketeer shouted at a bandit in front of the trench, whose head was wrapped in a white cloth and who was about the same age as his father. With each shout, the bandit army became more and more fanatical.
Feeling apprehensive, he subconsciously loaded more gunpowder into the musket, fearing that he wouldn't be able to kill his opponent if he didn't have enough.
Following the command of the centurion beside him, the young musketeer aimed at the bandit in the front row whose head was wrapped in a white cloth.
"Second team—release!"
With a "bang," the smoke cleared, and the musket user covered his eyes and howled in pain.
His musket exploded.
As if this were a signal, five or six more muskets subsequently exploded. Seeing the horrific state of their comrades injured by the explosions, the remaining musketmen cowered and dared not reload.
The centurion in charge of the muskets drew his sword and held it to the neck of a musketman who dared not load the gun.
"Load it now, or I'll chop your head off before you even get blown up!"
Seeing the centurion's ferocious appearance, the musketeers began to nervously load gunpowder into their muskets.
However, in that short time, the enemy army had already broken through the trenches and even chipped several gaps in the earthen walls.
Zhang Shixiong cursed the bastards at the Military Ordnance Bureau in his heart. He had known all along that their stuff was no good. But he never expected it to be this shoddy.
These muskets, allocated just before the campaign, only fired a few rounds before exploding.
But now is not the time to think about that; the rebel army has already stormed into the camp through the gaps in the earthen walls.
Jiang Jing, Zhang Shih-hao's confidant, led a team of swordsmen and shieldmen, desperately trying to plug the gaps. But as soon as one gap was plugged, another one opened up. When both were plugged, the earthen wall in the middle was broken open by the outsiders, creating a new gap.
Jiang Jing's sword was dulled from hacking away, but he still couldn't stop the surging enemy army. Few men remained around him. Just as he was wondering what to do, a guard on his left, panting heavily, reminded him:
"My lord, look, Commander Qian has raised the blue flag, signaling us to retreat."
Jiang Jing looked back and saw that, apart from his group, all the other government troops had retreated to the back of the camp's grain carts.
The grain carts that were originally piled up in the rear camp were now connected in a winding straight line, with several archers and musketeers standing between the carts.
Jiang Jing's fierce fighting just now gave the other government troops an opportunity to separate from the rebel army, allowing them to retreat behind the supply wagons.
Upon receiving the order to retreat, Jiang Jing led his remaining men toward the supply wagons, the excited shouts of the enemy soldiers echoing behind them.
"The government troops have fled!"
Jiang Jing acted decisively upon seeing the blue flag, but unfortunately, he had become too entangled with the bandits. As he ran, the bandits practically chased him down, until he reached the grain cart. Only then did Zhang Shixiong personally lead a squad of his personal guards to rescue his trusted confidant.
Then, a barrage of arrows and bullets shot out from between the grain carts, knocking the overextended rebel army to the ground once again.
The battlefield fell silent for a moment.
Just then, the artillery commander shouted, "Commander, the enemy's banner has moved!"
The large banner bearing the character "王" (King) advanced towards the camp, escorted by the main force of the rebel army. It passed over the corpses and wounded scattered in front of the camp, crossed the trenches, and finally stopped at the camp gate.
This is the moment!
Zhang Shixiong's eyes flashed with a sharp light as he shouted fiercely, "Franklin, bombard them!"
Commands were conveyed swiftly via flags.
The two vehicles in the center of the defensive line were suddenly pushed aside, revealing the menacing appearance of the three breech-loading cannons that had already been loaded and adjusted for firing angles, with the fuses on the bullets already burned to the bottom.
"BOOM!! BOOM! BOOM!!"