I

After shelling the city wall continuously for eleven days, the rest of the men had nothing to do.

A large number of civilians have filled in several sections of the moat, and anyone who can do carpentry work has been sent to make siege equipment.

There are about five hundred aerial ladders, the kind with arrow-blocking planks, anti-push grappling hooks, and winches for lifting. There are also more than a thousand simple ladders, which are basically useless because the city wall of Shangqiu is too high.

There is also a carriage that covers the advance of the infantry. Although it is a temporary production and not as sophisticated as the Manchu carriage, it is enough for blocking arrows.

Moreover, there are many long wooden planks left, which can be put up at the gaps in the city wall. The incomplete city wall, which is more than two meters high, can be built with dozens or hundreds of wooden boards to create a slope for attack.

The woods near Shangqiu have been cut down by Zhao Han!

Surrounded by three and one missing, tens of thousands of troops attacked the city together without using cannon fodder to test it. The city wall must be taken down today.

The carriages are in front, and each carriage can cover the advance of dozens of infantry.

A sophisticated ladder can also cover infantry.

As the siege troops advanced, 53 artillery pieces were always aimed at the city walls on both sides of the gap, because there were enemy troops setting up pots and burning oil on the city walls despite the artillery fire.

Tong Yangjia dispatched soldiers to climb the city wall several times, but they were all messed up by artillery fire. These city defenders were so frightened that they all lay down behind the parapet. If artillery hit the parapet, a group of unlucky people would be born.

The parapet is thin and can only protect against arrows, not artillery.

Tong Yangjia said to Sun Dingliao: "Sun Dutong, you must guard the gap!"

"We will definitely defend to the death." Sun Dingliao replied.

Sun Dingliao had been surrendered to the Qing Dynasty for more than ten years, and was promoted to deputy commander of the Han army with a red flag. With all his family property in the Qing Dynasty, it was impossible for him to surrender, and even if he surrendered, there would be no good consequences.

More than 20 carriages came to the gap. Sun Dingliao's Wuzhen Chaoha heavy infantry guarded the incomplete city wall that was only two meters high.

On the intact city walls on both sides, there are more than 2,000 musket soldiers assembled from various departments, including three-eyed muskets, matchlocks, and flintlock muskets. Three generations of ancestors and grandsons have gathered together.

The Ming Dynasty also had flintlock guns, but their performance was very poor, with a misfire rate of over 30% to 40%. Some of the shoddy ones have a misfire rate of even more than 50%, and their combat effectiveness is far inferior to that of a matchlock gun.

When the friendly troops were dozens of steps closer to the city wall, all the artillery stopped firing out of fear of accidental damage. The enemy's gun soldiers took advantage of this moment to climb up the wall and try to shoot down the Datong Army infantry.

"Bang bang bang!"

The carriage was still several meters away from the gap, and the few infantrymen hiding behind were exposed to the muzzles of the enemy artillerymen on the city.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Some enemy artillery soldiers disobeyed orders and fired in advance out of nervousness.

One person fired, causing the person next to him to follow suit. With random firing, only a dozen of the Datong Army's infantry fell.

If they obeyed the order and moved the carriage closer to fire, the synchronous pawns would be more exposed, which would probably cause two to three hundred casualties.

"Damn it, who the hell fired the gun first?"

Meng Qiaofang's nephew Meng Xiongbi cursed loudly, and then ordered: "Hurry up and reload!"

Datong Fire Gun Soldiers shoot, reload, and shoot again. The interval has been shortened to about 50 seconds. For these miscellaneous gun soldiers, it is no longer a matter of how much time it takes to load ammunition before battle, but whether they can load the ammunition accurately.

Many gunmen were in a hurry, either forgetting to load the gunpowder, or trying to stuff the gunpowder inside.

Meng Xiongbi was so anxious that he asked the soldier who was cooking the golden juice and hot oil: "Is it hot?"

"Not yet, soon, soon!"

The golden juice and hot oil here were cooked in pots only after the artillery stopped firing.

Tong Yangjia ordered his soldiers to burn oil under artillery fire. Under the coercion of the military law team, a group of unlucky men went up to light the firewood. Only one pot was knocked over by a cannonball, and the rest ran away, and then were forced up the city wall by the law enforcement team.

Although the city wall is very wide, the artillery is not accurate enough and it is difficult to hit people burning oil.

But fifty-three artillery pieces were firing in turns. Let alone ordinary soldiers, even the Eight Banners soldiers could not withstand it. The psychological pressure was too great.

Meng Xiongbi walked over and took a look. The oil in the pot was not smoking yet.

If you want to boil a pot of oil, it also takes time.

Meng Xiongbi's uncle (and adoptive father) is Meng Qiaofang. His ancestor followed Zhu Di Jingnan and became a hereditary general in Yongping Wei.

Meng Qiaofang's father even served as the governor of Ningxia during the Ming Dynasty.

But this guy, who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty eleven years ago, is no different from Sun Dingliao.

Meng Xiongbi left the oil pan, lay down on the female wall and shouted: "Get ready to throw rolling stones and falling logs!"

But there are also ladders pushing up the city walls on both sides of the gap.

The soldiers were standing behind the baffle, using a winch to release the ladder. As long as the grapple hook was attached to the parapet, they could climb up the ladder and attack the city.

Sun Dingliao's Wuzhenchaoha camp was crouching on the incomplete city wall, not only to avoid the enemy's possible fire rifle soldiers, but also to push away the planks put up by the Datong army as soon as possible.

However, the Datong Fire Gun Soldiers did not appear, and the melee soldiers did not build wooden planks to build a slope.

Hundreds of grenadiers were hiding on the steps behind the baffle, which was the firing position of the Manchu and Qing dynasty carriages. The Datong Army's carriages had no shooting holes, and only grenadiers were secretly hidden, throwing thousands of enemies at the incomplete city wall.

"Boom boom boom!"

There was an explosion, and the unsuspecting Wu Zhenchao Haying was blown to pieces by the bomb.

Before the smoke cleared, the Datong melee soldiers carried wooden boards several meters long and put them on the incomplete city wall one by one.

Three hundred plate-armored warriors, holding shields in their left hands and swords in their right hands, rushed forward along the slope made of wooden planks.

Zhu Youdong rushed to the front, and when he heard the name, it was the Ming Dynasty clan. His ancestor was the seventh son of Renzong Zhu Gaochi. But his grandfather was just a little Lieutenant of Fengguo.

Lieutenant Fengguo's annual salary was 200 shi, with 40% in grain and 60% in silver.

If the money and food can provide enough, life will be decent, at least there will be no need to worry about going hungry. However, the salary of the clan was collected by local civil servants in the fields and then distributed to the local vassal king. After layers of deductions, most of them were taken away by the feudal lord, and the little Lieutenant Fengguo had to go hungry.

Zhu Youdong has been strong and strong since he was a child. He is like the reincarnation of a rice bucket, and he often runs out of food for the family.

Later, there was no food to eat because the farmers rebelled and killed his father and two brothers. He fled with his mother, brother and sister. With great difficulty, the officers and soldiers suppressed the rebels. They returned to their original house, only to encounter the rebels again every two years.

Zhu Youdong simply joined the Datong Army.

Now, he is the captain of the personal guard of Emperor Zhao Han of Datong!

Zhu Youdong is a full 1.85 meters tall, and his plate armor has used a lot of materials. He stepped on wooden planks and rushed up to the incomplete city wall. Before the smoke had cleared, he knocked over one person with his shield, and then chopped down another person with his sword.

He was not hacked to death. The opponent was wearing cotton armor.

"Dang Dang Dang!"

The three enemies surrounded Zhu Youdong and slashed at him, their blades striking sparks on the surface of the plate armor.

Zhu Youdong's arm strength was so strong that he lifted up the shield and knocked over a person. He raised the sword in his right hand and struck out again, this time hitting the opponent's neck.

Zhu Youdong didn't ask for killing many enemies, he just charged forward with his shield and cut people casually. His mission is to disrupt the enemy formation so that more friendly troops can rush forward and completely occupy the gap in the city wall.

Being blown to pieces by ten thousand enemies and charged by three hundred plate-armored soldiers, Sun Dingliao's Wuzhen Chaoha heavy infantry lost its organization in the blink of an eye. The timid ones turned around and ran away, while the brave ones resisted and could no longer control this section of the city wall.

The rattan players and spearmen from the Datong Army rushed up one after another, forming formations to assist the plate armor warriors in the charge.

The grenadiers also rushed up, holding tens of thousands of enemies in their hands, holding the fire stick with their teeth, ready to light the fuse at any time.

"Pour hot oil!"

Seeing that the friendly forces lost control of the gap in the city wall, Meng Xiongbi ordered the hot oil that had not yet been boiled to be poured down.

"ah!!!"

Two plate armor warriors, a dozen rattan players and spearmen were drenched in hot oil, and an unlucky Wu Zhen Chaoha soldier was also hit.

"set fire!"

Under Meng Xiongbi's order, the Qing army threw down a lot of dry grass soaked in oil, pulled out firewood from the bottom of the pot, and threw it randomly downward.

The grenadiers quickly retreated and ran away, fearing that they would ignite the enemy.

Fortunately, the Meng Xiongbi section of the city wall was also under attack, and there were also firecrackers reloading bombs. The scene was a mess, and the hot oil and dry grass were not well prepared due to the shelling. Otherwise, this place will be burned to the ground.

Even so, several Datong soldiers still had their clothes set on fire, and the firewood and hot oil on the ground also ignited.

It's not gasoline. It doesn't burn quickly, and there's a chance it will wipe out the work on your body.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Qing army artillery soldiers came one after another. After reloading their ammunition, they fired condescendingly at the gap. More than fifty Datong soldiers who were rushing to kill fell down.

"Bang!"

"ah!"

I don't know whether it was because there was too much gunpowder or the quality of the gun was worrying, but two Qing army gun soldiers exploded in a row.

On the ladder, thirty or forty Datong soldiers fell down one after another, and they were all hit by stones and rolling logs. Xiong Wancheng wore two pairs of cotton armor, holding a shield in his hand, and quickly climbed up the more than ten-meter-long ladder.

Climbing to the female wall, several spears were stabbed at them. Xiong Wan ducked down to avoid them and simply threw away the shield. When climbing again, several more spears were stabbed at him. He reached out to grab one and pulled it down hard. The opponent leaned forward to stab him, but was caught off guard and was pulled out of the female wall by Xiong Wancheng.

The two collided into a ball and rolled down the ladder, knocking over several Datong soldiers one after another.

After falling more than ten meters high, Xiong Wancheng survived and was able to stand up on the spot. On the contrary, the Qing troops who were dragged down by him, as well as the friendly troops who were smashed down in the rear, were already dying.

"kill!"

Xiong Wancheng shook his head and climbed up the ladder again.

Zhu Youdong had already rushed through the gap, and three hundred plate-armored warriors crashed into the enemy formation in the city. Even the two plate armor warriors who were scalded by the hot oil were still charging with the burns because the hot oil was far from reaching the boiling temperature and they were protected by plate armor and protective clothing.

The enemy here is not the Wu Zhen Chao Ha camp, but relatively elite infantry.

Facing 300 iron men charging into battle, I started to get scared before even engaging in battle. There was a clanking sound, but it could not break through the plate armor defense.

They have no experience in dealing with plate armor. Even if the plate armor warrior falls, they don't know how to lift their visor and poke their eyes.

In their view, these are a group of invincible steel monsters.

"Run away!"

The more than two thousand enemy troops were densely arrayed. They were really elite, otherwise they would not have been sent to block the gap. But when three hundred plate-armored warriors rushed into the formation and killed them, more than two thousand people soon suffered a psychological collapse.

More and more Datong melee soldiers followed the plate armor warriors and rushed in through the gap. They rushed up the city wall through the ramp inside the city, formed formations to fight against the defenders, and attacked the enemy defenders from both sides.

Xiong Wancheng, who was climbing the ladder, suddenly felt the pressure drop suddenly. Although he was injured, he climbed over the female wall, charged and slashed with a knife, and several friendly soldiers soon climbed up behind him.

The Qing troops on this section of the city wall were also defeated!

"Quick, get on top...don't run away!"

Tong Yangjia shouted loudly and ran away himself.

(Three updates tomorrow.)