Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 362: The Victory Cannon
"We must wipe out the Jiannu today!" Sun Shoulian rode his horse across the bridge, the sound of horse hooves unable to drown out his roar, "Ningguo Iron Cavalry Battalion, follow me and kill!"

The sunlight passed through the mountains in the southeast, over the city of Hetuala, and shone on both sides of the Suzi River. Li Chengliang, the former brave general under his command, held a three-barreled gun in his hand. He crouched down, his eyes looking ahead through the bumpy and fluttering horse mane.

"It's those Jiannu dead soldiers! After firing three shots, they charged directly into the battle formation and switched to swords!"

Three hundred steps was very close, and Nurhaci was standing on the city wall, looking down at the battlefield below.

That was the Liaodong Iron Cavalry that he was very familiar with. Although they were no longer the original team left by Li Chengliang, Sun Shoulian was still there, and some old soldiers were still there as well.

The Ming Dynasty already had a large number of bird guns, but the Liaodong Iron Cavalry still liked the three-barreled gun the most. Although its accuracy, range and power were poor, it could fire three bullets in a row after loading once.

"boom!"

Another round of bullets from the inventive giant cannon flew over the Ming army's heads with a not-so-distinct whistling sound. Sun Shoulian also raised his three-barreled gun: "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

At the forefront of the Jianzhou troops were the "dead soldiers" that Nurhaci valued the most. The so-called dead soldiers were nothing more than the armored front row that the Jianzhou Jurchens had armed as best they could with the limited steel they had.

"Don't be afraid! Even bird guns can't penetrate the armor!"

There are horses running ahead, although there are only a few hundred of them, but how big is this open space on the south bank?

The breath from the horses' noses formed mist that filled the riverbank in the morning, and the horses' hooves also raised dust.

The "dead soldiers" tightly grasped their spears and shields, and screams of pain were heard behind them.

They had no time to look back at their comrades who were killed by the cannonballs and bullets, as the Liaodong cavalry arrived in a flash.

The surroundings were noisy, yet quiet. In their frightened or excited eyes, they could only see the Liaodong Iron Cavalry approaching them, and the rows of guns and spears behind them, which were being protected by swordmen and shieldmen and were beginning to approach them.

The piercing sound of arrows breaking through the air came from the air behind them.

"Catch! Hit!"

Some people muttered, hoping that as many Ming soldiers as possible would be shot off their horses by arrows.

But at the same time, there was a fire and smoke in the air ahead.

The experienced veteran immediately shrank back subconsciously, trying to hide the vulnerable parts of his body, hiding in his armor and behind his shield.

Like a hailstorm, dull or sharp impact sounds immediately rang out at the front of the line, along with some screams and wails.

"There are two more times, they like to send them all at once!" the veteran reminded.

The sounds of arrows breaking through the air and muskets firing were endless. The Jianzhou "dead soldiers" and the Liaodong cavalry at the forefront began to see each other's faces clearly in the hail of bullets and arrows.

"Long live the Ming Dynasty!" Sun Shoulian had already raised his sword and accelerated his charge.

"Stab! Stab!"

Spears stretched out from behind the defense line formed by the "dead soldiers". This method was always the first solution to deal with the cavalry that had already rushed close.

Some infantrymen will be scattered, some cavalrymen will be knocked off their horses, and then a chaotic battle will break out.

Trumpets sounded everywhere, and another round of horse hoofbeats sounded from the west. Those were the Jurchen cavalry.

Their target was the Ming army's infantry, and they could then surround the cavalry that had already crossed the bridge.

"Kill all the Han people, follow this prince!"

There was a dragon embroidered on the blue pennant, and the one leading the troops was Nurhaci's fifth son Manggurtai. He had previously conquered the Ula tribe, and later established a country and received many rewards. He was now a Heshuo Beile and the leader of the Zhenglan Banner.

The north of the city was guarded by soldiers of the Zhenglan Banner.

Manggurtai was as brave as Zhu Ying and Daishan. Now he was concentrating on the Ming army battle formation in front of him.

"The Ming army outside the city wall is nothing!" He firmly believed this, "Disperse them!"

Charging here from the northwest of the city, their horses were faster and more powerful.

The "Prince" of the Great Jin Dynasty led his troops to charge. There were not many Ming troops across the bridge in front. Because they were afraid of accidentally injuring friendly forces or were reloading, the large and small cannons on the other side of the river were temporarily stopped.

So they charged forward with unstoppable force.

Then there was a burst of intensive bird-gun fire.

One shot, another shot, and another shot.

Manggurtai hid behind the horse's head to avoid the first round of attacks.

"The destiny is with the Great Jin!" Three rounds of gunfire rang out. Seeing that his mount and himself were both safe, Manggurtai shouted loudly, straightened his back, drew his bow and shot.

Now, the Ming army's bird guns could shoot farther than ordinary bows and arrows.

However, the Ming army's most sophisticated musket battle formation was the three-row round-fire, so there would be a short gap after three rounds of gunfire.

The so-called "non-stop sound of gunfire" is just an exaggeration.

Even though the gap was only a few breaths.

However, as soon as Manggurtai shot the arrow, he was suddenly thrown out.

As the world spun around him, he saw people falling off their horses all around him, his own mount falling to the ground with its legs bent, raising dust, and the slave soldiers following him shouting at him from their horses.

Then he fell heavily to the ground and rolled around. Manggurtai felt dizzy but did not feel any pain.

His vision was blurry and his ears were buzzing. After a while, he heard the neighing of a horse beside him. He saw someone riding a horse and rushing around him. He also saw a slave soldier riding a horse and jumping down in front of him.

"Master! Master!"

Manggurtai was helped up and looked at his mount which had fallen to the ground and was trying to stand up not far to the west. He then looked at the slave soldiers who were protecting themselves with their backs to the Ming army's battle formation to the east.

"Master, please get on my horse, okay?"

Manggurtai looked to the southwest. There, the Ming cavalry had already rushed into the battle formation and were killing many of them, and many of them had fallen off their horses.

But he was mainly looking at the north gate, and didn't know whether his father was looking at this side.

"All right!" Manggurtai gritted his teeth and stood up, "Good slave, hold up your flag and follow this prince to continue the fight!"

The sound of gunfire continued. Although it was not frequent, there would always be a bullet every few breaths.

Firearms are good at long range, but not at close range! Manggurtai now felt that his leg was injured, but he still got on the horse and shouted again: "Go! Charge into the battle, kill! Kill!"

He rode his horse in front, and his slave soldiers followed behind with the flags on their legs. The Ming army's battle formation was less than fifty steps away.

"Lord Beile is mighty!"

For some reason, he felt extremely honored to be able to follow such a brave prince, even if he could only be his aha.

Now his "master" was running farther and farther away from him, but his back seemed even more heartbreaking.

As he thought about this, he felt like he was slapped hard in the face.

This slap seemed to be like a nail, driving it into the cheek.

He fell to the ground, trying to support himself with his hands to stand up and pick up the flag again.

Lord Beile once said that even if he died, the flag would not fall.

But then he felt that he had no strength left.

In the corner of his eye, a horse soared into the air and passed over his body.

It seems to be... from the Fucha family of Prince Beile's biological mother...

"boom!"

The sound of cannon sounded again, and in his last consciousness, he suddenly saw his familiar legs flying up, as if he had just kicked the horse's belly of the boy from the Fucha family. Then he saw the boy from the Fucha family also flying up, rolling in fear in the air.

He felt that, after all, the prince was brave and not afraid at all.

The blue flag also flew up and slowly floated down to cover his face.

"A good shot!" Yuan Keli praised from the distant "Dragon Claw Mountain", "It's only in their formation!"

"General Sun is coming back." Qiao Yiqi looked at the battlefield in the distance, "We can't fight there anymore."

"Order!"

This is because the gunners here are all the best of the best, and Qiao Yiqi used a telescope to see that there were no Ming troops in that place, so this shot was fired.

Yuan Keli stared into the distance, thought for a moment, and then said, "Pass on my military order. The central army's infantry will go first, and the artillery battalion will also cross the bridge, and the right wing will cross the river!"

Qiao Yiqi looked away and glanced at Yuan Keli, only to see that he was very calm.

"Marquis Zhangyong will surely be able to seize Xianyou Palace! You continue to keep an eye on Nurhaci!"

Now, Nurhaci clenched his hands tightly. Of course, he saw Lao Wu personally rushing towards the Ming army, saw the flag of the Zhenglan Banner fall to the ground, and saw the cannon explode next to the flag-bearing soldier.

Like a coincidence.

Of course it was just a coincidence. This shot was still about the same distance from Dragon Claw Mountain as before, but it was a little to the west, avoiding the main battlefield in the center.

But this coincidence seems like an ominous sign.

At this moment, the eastern side of the northern city defenders had to help suppress the Ming army that was crossing the river to attack Xianyou Palace. If the reinforcements in the western direction of the city were constantly threatened by the giant cannon, they would have to rely on these people to stabilize the defense line.

But Nurhaci soon saw chariots gathering on the north side of the bridge, and many infantrymen were crossing the bridge quickly.

"Report! General Dalhan reports that Xianyou Palace is in danger. Please make a ruling, Your Majesty!"

"Report..."

Dalhan was the title bestowed by Nurhaci on Huerhan, who had set out before Nurhaci to guard the Xianyou Palace.

As far as the eye could see, the infantry who had crossed the bridge did not go to reinforce the musket formation that was fighting with the Zhenglan Banner cavalry, but instead rushed eastward. Nurhaci hesitated.

"Kill them out, kill them out!"

Sun Shoulian's voice was faintly heard, and Nurhaci could understand it.

He looked down again and saw that the Liaodong cavalry, who were fighting desperately with the Jurchen defenders not far in front of the city wall and preventing them from advancing northward and threatening their lance formation, were struggling to charge northeast.

For a moment, it seemed that two small-scale armies, one in the south and one in the north, were about to move eastward.

And the chariots were already on the bridge.

There were only about 400 cavalrymen left out of the 600 who had crossed the bridge. Sun Shoulian rushed out of the area around the densely packed Jurchen city walls, panting, and looked back with half of his body hanging diagonally on the side of his horse's back.

"Go around! Follow me!"

In fact, he was not going to attack Xianyou Palace from both sides. It was just that there were more Jurchens outside the city on the west side, and the attention of the Jurchens on the east side was now focused on Mao Wenlong's troops.

"Be careful of the Jurchen arrows!"

After leaving the area densely populated by the Jurchens, a rain of arrows from the city wall suddenly rained down on their group of cavalry.

More than twenty people were left behind, and the fast horses left the area where the arrows had the greatest lethality.

After Sun Shoulian sat down, he finally had time to look north and south. Seeing that the artillery vehicles were crossing the bridge, he was stunned for a moment.

Then there were deafening shouts and cries of killing from the south. He looked back and saw that the Jurchen soldiers who had just been fighting with them were charging northward, and the north gate behind them was slowly opening.

He was delighted and suddenly realized something.

"East! East!"

In order to be a pioneer, he must have participated in combat meetings before and listened to Yuan Keli's arrangements.

The artillery carts have all crossed the bridge. It seems that they are determined to gain a foothold in the north of the city and force the Jurchens to retreat into the city.

Logically speaking, the city could not be defended solely by this one bridge, so Nurhaci must have felt that if he did not exert his full strength, the city would not be able to be defended.

He felt that it must be Liu Jing who was showing off his power, after all, he was Liu Jing.

I'm afraid Mao Wenlong's pontoon bridge has also been built, guarding a new passage.

"Don't worry about this! The Central Army's Infantry and Chariot Battalion are all crossing the bridge, don't worry about this!" Sun Shoulian shouted, "The three-barreled guns are still there, load the gunpowder and ammunition, quickly!"

Working immediately is necessary training for them.

Now Nurhaci was indeed preparing to leave the city.

No matter what, the Ming army must be repelled today. Otherwise, within one day, they will do their best to force all the elite soldiers of the Eight Banners back into the city.

That would mean that when they break out, they would have to defeat the Ming troops outside the city, cross the river, and break through another line of defense.

At the critical moment, he, the leader of the Great Jin, still appeared at the forefront, so that he could drive back the not-so-large number of Ming troops that had crossed the river at the lowest cost.

The Jurchen infantry were ordered to charge forward and leave the open space at the city gate.

Next, Nurhaci's personal troops of the Plain Yellow Banner rushed out of the city to deploy defenses.

Nurhaci rode out of the city solemnly on his horse.

"The Jin Dynasty will surely win! Drive the Han people into the river first!"

Since he was crowned emperor, he had a full set of ceremonial equipment.

As the flags of the Xianggesi army were waving, Nurhaci's voice spread far and wide, and then the soldiers around him joined in cheering for him.

"The Emperor has issued an order! Drive the Han people into the river first! The Great Jin will win!"

Hearing the sound, Manggurtai brandished his sword and shouted loudly: "Father, go to the battlefield in person! Kill!"

His feet were in great pain, but he didn't need them at the moment.

Having already rushed into the Ming army's formation, the Ming soldiers with guns could no longer shoot randomly and could only engage in hand-to-hand combat.

More Jurchen infantrymen were pouring in from the south like a tide of insects. Judging from the situation alone, the Ming army, which could cross a narrow stone bridge in a short period of time, was naturally no match for the Jurchens who had nearby reinforcements and many roads.

If the Ming army had not used artillery to force back the Jurchens, and if Nurhaci had not released some Ming troops to annihilate them first to boost morale, it would have been difficult for the Ming army to cross the bridge so easily.

Or it could be a full-scale "crossing the river and seizing the beach".

So now Nurhaci felt that he could not go on like this. Anyway, there were already enough Ming troops crossing the bridge, so many that even Huerhan was crying out for help.

He didn't know whether more Ming troops from Babaogou in the east were crossing the mountain.

Once a war breaks out, there will often be problems detecting movements around the battlefield.

When he got closer, Nurhaci saw that his fifth brother was still fighting with a sword.

He felt relieved and also aroused some pride: most of his sons were good and brave enough to fight!
The battlefield is dangerous? Who hasn't been through danger?
Now that he is out of the city, knowing that the Ming army has brought the huge cannons, isn't it just as dangerous?
Like a tide, Jurchen infantry and cavalry rushed in from the south and west. The defenders on the east side of the city gate also temporarily rushed northward along the west bank of their Imperial City Lake, hoping to drive the Ming army across the river in one go.

There were less than 4,000 Ming troops who had crossed the river north of the city. In Nurhaci's view, their retreat was inevitable.

"boom!"

"boom!"

There were two more loud noises in succession. Nurhaci just looked up and thought to himself that this was natural. After all, as long as he fought now, he would be able to kill some of the elite Jin soldiers rushing to the bridgehead.

But how could the elite soldiers of the Eight Banners fear death? If it weren't for the fact that their weapons and armor were inferior to those of the Ming Dynasty...

Just as he thought of this, two black spots suddenly appeared in Nurhaci's sight.

The two black spots were heading straight for where he was, just like Nurhaci's suddenly shrinking pupils.

how……

The next moment, the black spot exploded.

In the dazzling flames, countless smaller black dots shot out, shining like stars.

The shrapnel shell has an iron shell, but a fuse is left.

During the Jiajing period, the Ming Dynasty began to produce this kind of projectile, which had a layer of wrought iron and a layer of pig iron as the outer shell. It contained gunpowder and caltrops.

Before firing, both the gun's fuse and the fuse on the projectile were lit.

This is the most primitive delayed-time fuse, which requires sufficiently precise calculations to allow it to reach the appropriate killing location and be detonated, rather than relying on the impact of a projectile.

Now, Nurhaci was considered dead.

Manggurtai happened to see that the flags of the Eight Banners suddenly fell down in unison, and the whole area was in panic.

Sun Shoulian, who had circled to the east, and the generals in the gun and spear formation shouted one after another.

They were not in order at first, but then became very orderly, and then continued to lead the Ming army that was still on the north bank of the Suzi River.

"Nurhaci is dead! Those who surrender will not be killed!"

"Nurhaci is dead! Those who surrender will not be killed!"

"Nurhaci is dead! Those who surrender will not be killed!"

On the northern hill, Qiao Yiqi was concentrating on checking the results of the battle, but Yuan Keli didn't care too much and ordered: "Load the gunpowder and fire another shot as soon as possible!"

Since we are not planning to capture him alive, we should try our best to kill him.

(End of this chapter)