Nanming Engineer

Chapter 207
The shield chariot of the Great Western Army is actually a hollow wooden two-wheeled cart with a simple wooden frame on top, and the frame is covered with thick wood and rawhide to prevent arrow flames. inch, the artillery arrows cannot break through, people hide in the car, and can safely approach under the city wall.

Shehong City is small, so I couldn't find so much cowhide in a hurry, and many shield vehicles were not covered with cowhide, so I found some quilts randomly and spread a few more layers, and then drenched with water, it can be covered for a while.

Li Dingguo's people built a total of twelve shield chariots and nearly a hundred simple long ladders, which were carried by more than 4000 people, and the whole slope rushed up with shouts.

A shield car can accommodate more than ten people to hide. At this moment, several shield cars covered with cowhide rushed to the front, and the shield cars covered with soaked quilts followed closely behind at a distance, and further behind, there were groups of The person who carried the ladder on his shoulders.

Seeing the Daxi army coming like a flood below the city, the city was full of awe, and the Kuizhou army was waiting in formation. Some people were holding lime bottles, and some people were busy filling pots of smoking hot oil into large basins quickly. Inside, there were still people operating the huge bed crossbow, aiming the short spear on the crossbow tightly at the shield car, only waiting for the command of the chief general.

However, Wang Huan stood calmly on the top of the tower, hidden by a crenel, with frost in his eyes, looking coldly at the shield chariot below the city, which was struggling a bit due to the steep hillside, and did not give the command to attack for a long time.

Li Dingguo rode on the horse with the same expression of indifference, listening to the thunderous drums behind him, quietly watching his soldiers flock to the stone city of Longquan Mountain like a group of wolves rushing towards the sheepfold.

The eyes of both sides focused on the dozens of shield vehicles charging forward at the same time. Among them, there was a thick pointed wooden stake hidden in the front shield vehicle, suspended in the shield vehicle, That's for hitting the city gates.

A dozen or so sergeants hiding under the shield cart shouted chant and pushed the cart together. The wooden wheels rolled, and under the full force of the crowd, they kept approaching the city wall.

Twenty feet, fifteen feet, the shield chariot is getting closer and closer.

Just at this moment, Wang Huan stared at him suddenly, and shouted loudly: "The bed crossbow is fired!"

The white-robed soldier operating the bed crossbow had been waiting for a long time, and his hand holding the trigger was wet with sweat. He heard Wang Huan roar, and at the same time repeated: "The bed crossbow is fired!" and pulled the crossbow.

A dozen or so short spears were affected by the huge and powerful bowstring, and they came off the string, and with a scream, they shot at the slow-moving shield chariot like a target.

There was a continuous sound of "bang bang", and several short spears accurately hit the shield chariot and smashed into the wooden board on the front of the shield chariot. At this moment, the solid side of the shield chariot was revealed. None of the short spears that were as fast as sparks pierced through the plank. After a while, the sergeant inside hurriedly got up and pushed the car forward again.

"Sure enough, the bed crossbow is still incomparable to the artillery." Wang Huan stared at the short spear stuck on the shield chariot, frowned and thought: "It's less than ten feet away, and it can't penetrate such a simple spear at such a short distance. Shield carts and bed crossbows are useless."

The white-robed soldiers operating the bed crossbow worked hard to re-stretch the huge bowstring of the bed crossbow, put the short spears into the arrow slots, and fired again, continuously shooting the short spears at the shield chariot. The shots were very accurate, basically four or five out of ten, but the effect was not great. The front shield chariot was almost approaching the edge of the city wall, and none of the short spears penetrated the shield chariot.

The morale of the Western Army soldiers in the shield car was greatly shaken, they roared in unison, and the strength of pushing the cart was a little bit stronger, and the speed of the heavy shield car was actually a little faster.The other leaders of the Daxi camp who were standing behind the battle cheered excitedly. As long as the shield chariot approached the city wall, according to the virtues of the Ming army, it was almost time to abandon the city.

There is no longer any delay, the effect of the bed crossbow is almost tested, it's time to fire up.

Wang Huan frowned, waved his hand, and shouted loudly: "The crossbow on the bed shoots the person carrying the ladder backwards, prepare for the bomb!"

On the city wall, there were more than a dozen white-robed soldiers holding bombers hiding under the crenel, waiting for Wang Huan's order. Hearing the sound, he immediately stood up and lit the burning brazier on the top of the city. The fuze of the extermination bomb is long enough to be held in the hand without causing danger to oneself.

"Aim at the nearest shield car and throw it!" Wang Huan ordered.

The bombardier didn't throw the extermination bomb right away, but waited for a while until the fuze was almost burned, and then quickly threw the smoking bamboo tube out while aiming at the shield vehicle in front of him.

The moment Wang Huan made a move on the bamboo tube, a spark flashed in his mind, and a new idea appeared in his mind. He jumped up, took out a bamboo tube from his waist, and came to a bed. He couldn't stop shouting: "Quickly, tie this exterminator bullet to the short spear!"

The white-robed soldier operating the bed crossbow hastily bowed to take it, but before he could tie it on, the exterminator bomb he threw exploded.

When the extermination bomb had just been thrown out, Li Dingguo in the distance saw a dozen small things thrown from the top of the city. Because the distance was too far, he couldn't see what it was, so he felt a little strange, but He didn't care about it, and even laughed a little. After all, the defenders of the city were panicked, and they could throw anything down. Such a small thing is useless. Porcelain bowls and plates come down.

But in the next second, the slight smile on the corner of Li Dingguo's mouth froze on his face. Accompanied by more than ten consecutive thunderous explosions, puffs of black smoke rose below the city wall, and the more than ten heavy and indestructible vehicles The shield car was overturned in the black smoke, and the stumps of the generals and soldiers of the Western Army hiding inside were flying all over the sky in the explosion, with blood spattering everywhere. The soldiers rolled on the ground in pain.

"What happened just now?" Liu Yun, who was standing beside Li Dingguo, exclaimed. Everything happened too suddenly. The shield car was about to approach the city wall, and the battering hammer inside would soon hit the city gate. The situation was reversed in an instant. , an inexplicable explosion overturned all the shield vehicles, and even the people inside were either killed or injured.

Not only did Liu Yun not understand it, but neither did Li Dingguo. His instinctive reaction was that the Ming army fired.

But he immediately realized that it can’t be done. If a cannon fires at this distance, isn’t it the same as firing a cannon against a person’s head? Besides, I haven’t heard that the army’s cannons can cause explosions. The shells are all solid iron bumps. There are straight line and blooming bullets, but the Ming army seldom use them. After all, they are very unreliable, and they definitely don't have such power.

"I buried explosives, the Ming army must have buried explosives under the city!" Li Dingguo gritted his teeth and said bitterly: "How did they detonate it? I didn't see anyone come out to light it, how did it detonate!?"

No one could give him an answer. In the gunpowder smoke below the city, the thick shield chariot had been shattered and damaged. Most of the soldiers hiding in it died. The Daxi army almost forgot to take a step while holding the ladder.

How did the person in front die?What happened to the sudden explosion?Will you do it again?
A big question mark reverberated in the minds of every Daxi Army officer, and the sea of ​​people rushing forward suddenly paused and slowed down instinctively.

Before they came back to their senses, someone with sharp eyes shouted sharply: "Raise your shield quickly, the crossbow arrows of the Ming army are coming!"

Accompanied by this loud cry, there was a shrill piercing sound in the smoke and dust in the sky, and countless arrows fell from the gunpowder smoke, shooting like locusts at the Great Western Army who could not lift their shields because they were carrying long ladders.

The Kuizhou army began to shoot arrows.

Those who don't carry ladders are very lucky. Because of the siege, everyone has a shield in their hands. As long as they react quickly enough and lift it up in time, they can prevent the rain of arrows on the city.

But the people who carry the ladder are miserable. They are miscellaneous soldiers and don’t have thick armor. The most well-equipped people are only wearing leather armor. Most of them are only wearing thick winter clothes. They have no defense against arrows. .

Not to mention those bed crossbows that are as big as short spears. Basically, as long as they hit a person, a huge blood hole will come out through the body. It can even pierce two people without disappearing. It is only a few dozen steps away from Li Dingguo's location.

Without the shield car, it is more difficult to rush to the edge of the city wall, that is to take human life, braving the rain of arrows, some soldiers holding the shield came to the edge of the city wall, when passing the bombed shield car, Seeing the bomb craters on the ground, they were all frightened, for fear that there would be another explosion underground and send themselves to the sky.

Fortunately, the explosion did not come again, but the long ladders carried by them were too few to be transported to the city wall, less than twenty, and the fearless Great Western Army put them on the city wall, holding a knife in their mouths and holding up their shields Just start climbing.

To deal with this kind of Daxi army attacking the city with the spirit of not fearing death, the Kuizhou soldiers dealt with it very easily. They hid under the anti-arrow boards erected on the city wall, poured boiling oil, or dropped lime bottles, and the boiling oil stuck to the meat. Instantly rotten, when the quicklime in the bottle shatters, it will blind the eyes, and there are also stones weighing tens of catties, no matter how strong the shield is, it will be smashed.

The archers of the Great Western Army under the city worked very hard. They followed closely behind the siege crowd, aiming at the top of the city with one arrow after another, but the Kuizhou army was very skilled. The anti-wriggle cards can also prevent the projected arrows, and the archers of the Great Western Army are helpless.

The offensive and defensive battle at the top of the city was intensified. Groups of Daxi troops braved the rain of arrows and bravely rushed to the top of the city. The Kuizhou army on the city also ruthlessly attacked the soldiers climbing the wall in various ways, because the shield chariots were destroyed. , without the battering hammer, some people in the Great West Army even rushed to the gate of the city and slashed with their weapons. Of course, if this heroic behavior lasts for a while, they will be shot down from the top of the city. crossbow bolts into hedgehogs.

Li Dingguo has not yet recovered from the shock of the explosion, and is still thinking about how the Ming army detonated the buried explosives, but suddenly he heard a scream coming towards his direction, and people around him panicked and shouted: " Be careful, my lord, the Ming army's bed crossbow is coming!"

Before he finished speaking, he saw a short spear rushing towards him like a rocket, exhausted dozens of steps in front of the horse, softly inserted into the ground, and fell obliquely into the mud with a "bump".

Li Dingguo was slightly startled. He knew that he was standing far away, and the bed crossbow on the top of the wall could not reach this side, so he was very calm. He was about to open his mouth to blame the left and right for making a fuss, but he rolled his eyes, surprised to find that A short spear inserted into the ground, with a small bamboo tube tied to its tail, and a lead wire was sparking.

"Rocket? How much kerosene can such a small bamboo tube hold?" Li Dingguo instinctively made a judgment and didn't take it seriously, but the left and right guards still dutifully surrounded him quickly and erected their shields.

Li Dingguo frowned, feeling that they were making a big fuss, and was about to order them to disperse when the captive bomb exploded.

This extermination bomb was exactly what Wang Huan suddenly thought of. Binding the extermination bomb to the giant arrow on the bed crossbow would lengthen the throwing distance. In the absence of a cannon, it could play the role of long-range artillery fire, so this first The cannon was given to Li Dingguo.

The soil was flying, the iron nails were dancing, and although the extermination bomb exploded dozens of steps away, killing several rows of guards standing in front of Li Dingguo, it did not cause any harm to King Anxi who was far away. His horse had no effect other than to run wild in fright.

Li Dingguo is the best in riding skills, he settled down on his mount after a little reining, sweating all over his head, and saw a bullet crater the size of a millstone appearing where the bed crossbow and short spear landed, and a wisp of black smoke rose into the air Don't go, with the bomb crater as the center, within a radius of several feet, the corpses of bodyguards in iron armor are lying on the ground in disorder, and a little further away, some injured people are howling.

That's it!

Only then did Li Dingguo understand that the explosion under the city wall was not any pre-planted explosives at all, but a new firearm produced by the Ming army.
(End of this chapter)