Iron Powder and Spellcaster

When the road connecting Tacheng and Red Sulfur Port was finally completed, Antonio finally sent a messenger to the defenders. Based on "the last mercy and honor", the defenders were asked to hand over their weapons and Kaicheng surrendered.

Serbetti and Layton jointly pledged that no Taniriya would be executed or tried after the surrender.

But when the messenger raised his shield and shouted towards the city wall, he received only a dozen lead bullets in response.

William Kidd's attitude has been clearly revealed.

A heavy cannon capable of firing thirty-two pounds of iron bullets was placed on a cart and dragged bit by bit to the front of the city wall.

Even far away, the defenders on the wall could hear the noise of their march: the steers and draft horses pulling the carts roared as they were being whipped; the Venetians who drove the carts shouted and waved their whips; the creaking axles Makes a monotonous, continuous screeching sound.

If the Angel of Death can also sing, then the singing of the Angel of Death must be all that the tower city defenders hear now.

After the heavy artillery arrived at the front line, Veneta engineers spent another day using cranes to unload the cannon from the vehicle. Deploy to the pre-set gun position and adjust the angle.

All light and heavy artillery held by the Veneta Army are divided into eight gun groups, each of which consists of one of the heaviest artillery and other light artillery.

Veneta soldiers affectionately called these artillery groups "wolf packs" because each artillery group looked like a wolf with a group of cubs.

With the city gate as the dividing point, four artillery groups were deployed on the east and west walls, aiming at the weak points of the city wall.

While the Venetians deployed their heavy artillery, the defenders on the wall did their best to destroy the enemy's artillery with the light artillery they had.

However, these attempts had little success. The Venetians used wooden fences and earth to tightly protect their cannons, making it impossible for the defenders to find a suitable shooting angle.

Moreover, the Tanirians' artillery was at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers and had been suppressed by the light artillery under the city wall.

The Tanirians could only watch in despair as artillery one after another was placed in front of the city wall while desperately strengthening the city wall.

In the early morning of the next day, when the sun shone on the city walls of Tacheng, a large-scale shelling began.

Before the heavy artillery unleashed its power, muskets and light cannon loaded with shotgun shells were used to fire volleys at the defenders on the city wall.

Especially the arquebusiers and artillery on the triangular fort, they are the closest and do not need to aim at all.

For the past two days, the Veneta people worked like crazy, using bags of soil to keep raising the height of the triangular fort. Now, the top of the triangular fort is as high as the city wall.

The artillery deployed by the Tanirians at the Triangle Fort was now being used by the Venetans against the defenders themselves.

The Tanirians who peeked out from behind the battlements were killed on the spot. Iron bullets and lead bullets hit the rocks, causing fragments to fly and smoke to fly everywhere. The defenders on the city wall were lying behind the parapet, not daring to raise their heads at all.

And more defenders were hiding under the city wall. William Kidd was not a straw bag. Faced with this level of shelling, forcing the soldiers to stay on the city wall was just a matter of death.

Therefore, he asked most of the soldiers to hide in the Tibetan Soldier Cave behind the wall, leaving only a few sentries on the wall to watch.

When the defenders on the wall were suppressed, the eight heavy cannons began to roar.

The sound of the cannon was like the terrifying horn blown at the end of the world. The iron cannonballs flew out of the muzzle and hit the city wall hard. The huge impact made the entire city wall tremble.

The previous two-pounders only left a few white spots on the city wall, while the heavy artillery directly destroyed the volcanic rock wrapped on the outer surface of the city wall.

Even if the rock is not crushed, the huge stress generated by the impact has exceeded the endurance limit of the mortar that binds the volcanic rock.

Where the shells hit, the outer walls of the city wall fell off, revealing the inner walls made of volcanic rock concrete.

The solid inner wall was also punched with a huge cone-shaped gap by the iron cannonball.

The Veneta soldiers outside the city cheered louder than the roar of the artillery.

For the defenders in the caves behind the city wall, all this was like hell.

The loud noise, choking dust, and vibrations transmitted to the Tibetan Soldier Cave when the city wall was hit by artillery shells made even the most battle-hardened veterans tremble with fear.

No one can understand the damage caused by artillery to the city wall better than the Tanirians in the cave. One recruit said in horror: "The wall is shaking!"

Yes, the huge impact of the shells made the entire city wall tremble, and the defenders felt the same.

While artillery was still firing stone shells, the city walls of the old era were already beginning to show signs of fatigue. The stone cannon was like a sledgehammer, smashing down city walls one after another, and at the same time smashing the will of the defenders into pieces.

And the cannons that are now pouring fury on the tower city are more powerful than the stone cannons. Advances in material forming processes allowed gunsmiths to cast lighter, thinner, stronger cannons with longer barrels.

The weight ratio of the shells and gunpowder of the stone cannon is twenty to forty to one, while the eight thirty-two-pound cannons outside the city can load sixteen pounds of gunpowder for each shot, and the weight of the shells is as high as the weight of the gunpowder. An astonishing two to one ratio.

Even though iron cannonballs are lighter than stone cannonballs, their penetrating power is even greater.

The city wall trusted by the tower city defenders is falling apart in the face of the artillery of the new era.

In the Tibetan Soldier Cave, the Taniriya soldiers who were praying "let me survive today" heard the alarm bell sounded by the sentry.

Along with the bombardment, the trench filling operation was carried out.

Antonio and Leighton selected two attack points on the east and west sides of the city wall, both of which were weak areas of the city wall as reported in the intelligence.

Each of the two legions is responsible for an attack direction, not only to destroy the city wall, but also to fill in the trenches here.

Amid Captain Hoffman's loud shouts, the defenders hurried up the city wall, and the sentry at the top of the city shouted at the top of his lungs: "Triangle Fort! They are coming from Triangle Fort!"

A large number of soldiers pushing carts poured out from the triangular fort occupied by the Venetas. They rushed into the trenches and filled the trenches with soil and firewood from the carts.

"Shoot them! Shoot them!" Hoffman, the Union officer on the wall, yelled to wake up his stunned men.

The defenders who came back to their senses immediately used crossbows and muskets to shoot at the Veneta people under the city. The distance between the two sides is really too close, and there are too many Venetas. If you fire a shot at random, one of the Venetas will fall.

There were several more loud noises of cracking stones, and the light artillery outside the city opened fire again to suppress the defenders at the top of the city. Rubbles were flying all over the sky, as powerful as bows and arrows.

Captain Hoffman, who had been giving orders just now, screamed and waved his arms randomly, his face was covered with dust, and blood flowed from his closed eyes.

The jet of gravel flew into Hoffman's eyes, and the strong man fell into madness in the severe pain and darkness. Hoffman's soldiers tried to hold him down, but Hoffman roared and drew his saber and slashed wildly, forcing everyone around him to get out of the way.

Hoffman could no longer hear what the people around him were saying. He roared and slashed at the imaginary enemy, standing back and retreating. His men watched helplessly as the captain fell upside down from the destroyed parapet to the city walls and was killed on the spot.

Outside the city, the Venetian musketeers had also arrived. The Veneta arquebusiers used the trench walls as cover and fired fiercely at the defenders on the walls.

The temporarily dug trench outside the city wall is very shallow, less than two meters deep, and about as tall as a person. The musketeers standing in the trench can just put their muskets on the edge of the trench.

The battlements on the breastworks at the top of the city wall have been knocked to pieces by the shelling in the past few days. They cannot provide any decent protection to the Tanirian soldiers on the city wall. As long as they lean out, they will be hit by a few matches. Shot to death.

However, the Tanirians on the wall knew that once the trench was filled in, the wall would be next, and everyone would die by then.

The ferocity of the defenders was also aroused. The Tanirians howled to embolden themselves, leaned out and killed the Veneta people huddled under the city with crossbows and muskets.

Their position was condescending, and when they looked down, the Veneta musketeers in the trenches were almost naked.

The two sides were engaged in a tragic exchange of lives at a distance that was almost "with a gun to the head".

Staff, the crossbowman on the city wall, suddenly thought that he could use "blue fire" to burn the Veneta people to death.

Staff ran down the wall. Soon, he ran over again holding a clay pot with blue fire.

He shouted: "Blue fire! Blue fire!" He rushed to the parapet and was about to throw the blue fire at the enemy in the trench. A lead bullet was shot from below the city and hit Staff directly in the chest, killing him. He was beaten so hard that he fell backward and fell on the city wall.

All the burning sulfur in the earthen jar in his hand was sprinkled on himself, and the screams and the smell of burnt meat even reached the Veneta people below the city.

However, Staff's actions reminded others that the trench was seven or eight meters away from the base of the city wall. Boiled oil and asphalt could not be thrown that far, but they could be put in a jar.

Just when the defenders at the top of the city sent people to look for the clay pots, William Kidd led reinforcements to the east wall, and the reinforcements also brought two short-barreled cannons over.

"Here! Don't [expletive] face directly! Hit from the side!" Seeing that the gunner was stupid enough to lift the cannon directly, the furious artillery commander Berta kicked away the gunner who was lifting the cannon and cursed angrily: "Trash! Get out!"

Two short-barreled cannons were brought by Berta to a small arc on the city wall, facing diagonally at the Veneta people below the city.

The gunners hurriedly assembled the gun mount and loaded ammunition. Berta aimed and lit the fire himself.

There were two roars, and the shotgun spray from the short-barreled cannon set off a storm of flesh and blood below the city.

"Okay! Okay! Okay!" the artillery commander yelled three times in a row, urging his men sternly: "Keep loading! Keep fighting!"

While the Tanirian artillery massacred the Venetians below the city, the Venetian artillery outside the city was also clearing the Tanirians on the walls.

The Veneta artillery crew two hundred meters away saw the smoke and fire produced by the artillery fire on the city wall, and immediately adjusted its direction and fired at the two short-barreled cannons.

A four-pounder shell hit one of the short-barreled guns, sending the cast-iron cannon flying off its mount and breaking half of the gunner's arm.

Berta immediately carried another short-barreled gun and changed its position.

One side was on the wall, the other was under the wall, and the Tanirians and Venetas were almost fighting each other with guns to their heads.

Everyone dies here, the difference is just a matter of time.

The Tanirians understood that the Triangle Fort was the key before today, but it was not until this moment that they truly realized that they had underestimated the importance of the Triangle Fort after all.

Losing the triangular fort is equivalent to losing control of the trench. If the triangular fort is still in the hands of the Tanirians, the Veneta army will never dare to rush into the trench like now, because the side fire deployed on the triangular fort The artillery will beat them to pieces.

And when the Venetians used a tunnel to connect the triangular fort and the siege ramparts, they did not need to pass through the killing area in front of the city wall and could enter the trench directly from the triangular fort.

Not to mention the long-range firepower on the triangular fortress suppressed the defenders on the city wall.

However, the biggest problem with losing the Triangular Fort is not just these...

While the attackers and defenders were killing each other around the trench, behind the city gate, the most elite Montagny Guards under William Kidd were gathering.

These fierce and heavily armored warriors are the most skilled and trustworthy troops in the Tanirian Federation. In the empire, the Montagny Guards were the emperor's imperial guards. They were not William Kidd's men, but the Supreme Council temporarily gave two of the companies to William Kidd's command.

William Kidd has always regarded the more than two hundred Montagny Guards as his personal guards and supervisory team. The Montagny Guards are the key to William Kidd's ability to control the army.

However, the situation was urgent, and he could only use this elite team to suppress the situation.

Without any warning, the double-layered city gate of Tacheng suddenly opened.

The Monta warriors let out a frightening war cry and fought their way out of the city gate. The soldiers divided into two groups and went straight into the trench, killing the Veneta people in the trench like legendary berserkers.

Captain Zenus rushed to the front with his battle ax high, and struck the Veneta man in front of him with his ax head-on. The ax blade was completely sunk into his head. After Zenus tried to pull it out twice, he simply gave up the ax and drew out his armed sword to fight.

At any time, it was impossible to stand on the wall and stop the attackers from filling in the trenches.

The only way is to send people out, attack from both sides of the city wall and below, and kill everyone in the trench.

Therefore, at any time, the city gate is the most powerful weapon for the defenders to counterattack.

But now, the triangular fortress in front of the city gate is in the hands of the Veneta people.

When they saw a large group of armored soldiers charging out of the city gate, the muskets and artillery on the triangular fortress immediately turned around and attacked these heavily armored enemies.

The two musketeers worked together to throw an iron-shell bomb weighing more than 40 kilograms towards the city gate. The eyes and nose of the Monta guard who was hit suddenly burst into streams of blood, and he was killed on the spot.

The other Monta guards around him saw the hissing lead and fled away in panic. However, it was too late. There was a loud noise, the iron bomb exploded, and a wave of air almost pushed down the Veneta people on the triangular fort.

In the narrow space between the city gate and the triangular fortress, limbs were flying and blood was splashing everywhere. The Monta guards who were not hit by the shrapnel also fell to the ground, vomiting blood.

The city gate had turned into a hell, but it was not over yet. The Veneta people on the triangular fort dropped three more iron bombs one after another.

The Monta soldier, vomiting blood at the mouth, looked at the iron bomb in front of him and tried to crawl away with his limbs but kept using them. He watched in despair as the bomb fuse burned out,

"Lord forgive me!" he shouted at the last moment of his life before being blown to pieces.

No one heard his "dying confession," for the "Grand Veneta" battle cry drowned out all sounds on the battlefield.

A large number of sword and shield men shouted and fought out of the triangular fort and the corridor. Veneta's sword and shield soldiers were divided into three groups. Two groups of people jumped into the corridor and started fighting with the Monta guards. The other group of people did not care about anything else. Bypass the triangular fort and go straight to the city gate.

The two major generals prepared six centurions of sword and shield bearers to prepare the defenders for a counterattack out of the city.

"Close the city gate! Close the city gate quickly!" William Kidd on the top of the city shouted hurriedly when he saw this scene.

The defenders at the city gate immediately cut the cables, and the heavy gate suddenly fell, trapping the several Veneta sword-and-shielders who were rushing forward.

In front of the city gate, large barrels of asphalt poured down. There are still Monta guards who are still alive in front of the city gate, but the defenders can no longer control that much.

Several torches were thrown from the top of the city gate, and the Veneta people ran away screaming. The asphalt was flammable at the touch, and the defenders burned the Veneta people alive together with their own people.

On the other side of the gate, more than a dozen defenders descended from the city wall through the passage to the door opening. The Veneta sword and shield bearer who was trapped inside knew that he would die, so he roared and started fighting with the Tanirians.

The battle in the trenches also became equally fierce. The Council of Tanilia always spared no expense to the "praetorian guards", and all the Montagny guards were equipped with three-quarter plate armor. All Veneta Sword and Shieldmen are also equipped with half-body armor.

However, the space was too small, and they were almost fighting against each other. Many sword and shield players and Monta guards simply threw away their swords and axes, pulled out their daggers and stabbed at undefended places such as the gaps in the armor and the ribs. prick.

The soldiers behind pushed the soldiers in front and crowded together, with nowhere to dodge. The only way to avoid the enemy's sharp knives was to kill the enemy first.

Don Juan was behind the crowd, anxious as he watched the clumsy fighting in front. He looked at the trench walls on both sides and shouted: "Go up! Go up! Go up and stab them! Lift me up!"

The soldiers around him picked up the centurion and carried him outside the trench.

Juan strode forward, rushed to the side of the Montagna Guards, and stabbed the Montagna Guards' neck from outside the trench.

The Monta guards in the trench found that their companions had been stabbed to death, and they climbed out of the trench one after another. Second Lieutenant Juan's Centurion also rushed over at this moment, and the two sides began to fight each other outside the trench.

Rivers of blood flowed inside and outside the trench, like a flesh and blood mill.

Winters, who was fighting two hundred meters outside the Flesh Mill, watched what was happening in front of him, his mouth went dry and his heart was pounding.

Next to Winters was Lieutenant Colonel Sebastian Vauban. Vauban turned a blind eye to the tragic battle under the city wall and muttered to himself in confusion: "Why is it so strange..."

Vauban and Winters were located at the frontmost artillery position, and next to them was one of the eight "Head Wolf" heavy artillery pieces.

The reason why Winters is here is also very simple. Antonio asked him to come.

"Sebastien Vauban is an expert in siege tactics. It will always be beneficial for you to learn more from him."

That was what Antonio said, and Winters came with twenty soldiers to guard the cannon.

"Uh..." Winters asked confusedly, "Lieutenant Colonel, what are you talking about that's strange?"

His words were interrupted by the roar of cannon and another round of fire.

After the bombardment, the heavy artillery crew quickly covered the cannon with wooden palisades so that the defenders on the city wall could not threaten these sharp weapons.

While other gunners were busy reloading ammunition.

The gunner first used a long-handled boring machine to scrape out the remaining gunpowder that had not been burned out of the gun barrel, and then inserted a water-soaked mop through the muzzle to clean the gun barrel.

The barrel of the cannon is hot after being fired, and the water remaining in the barrel will evaporate quickly and will not affect the next shooting.

If the craftsmanship is not up to standard, cleaning the gun barrel with water will cause internal cracks to increase, which will lead to explosion of the gun barrel. Inferior artillery can only be cooled with oil, but that will be very troublesome.

After the temperature of the cannon cooled down, the gunners began to reload the gunpowder, plug it tightly, put in the wooden holder, and finally the cannonball.

After placing the cannonball, the gunner used a rag to plug the gap between the cannonball and the barrel.

Vauban stopped the firing and adjusted the firing angle of the artillery himself.

After a thunder, the shell landed lower than before.

After continuing to carefully observe the impact point of the cannonball, Vauban suddenly realized it and said to Winters excitedly: "I know what's going on..."

"Uh...what exactly are you talking about?"

"I understand what the Tanirians did." Vauban patted his thigh: "They piled dirt behind the city wall!"

"Piling earth? You mean..." Winters said with some uncertainty: "You mean piling earth behind the city wall to absorb the impact of cannonballs? But this is not..."

"That's right! The after-effects of cannon bombardment on the city wall are not as powerful as these heavy cannons should be." Staring closely at the direction of the city wall, Vauban analyzed: "I did a few more test shots, and the conclusions were better each time. It’s clear. The Tanirians in the city must have piled earth to increase the thickness of the city wall.”

"But if the earth is piled behind the city wall..." Recalling the content of the siege tactics course, Winters said thoughtfully: "Once the city wall collapses, won't it also collapse with it? If it pours outside the city wall and becomes a gentle slope, Will it make it easier for us to get to the city?"

"Yes, that's the case." Vauban rubbed his nose, patted the cannon beside him, and said, "I don't know whether William Kidd didn't understand this? Or was he sick and sought medical treatment? Or was it him? Any other ideas? But no matter what, it seems that he is really going to stick to it..."

…

…

After several hours of fierce fighting, both sides had no energy left to continue fighting.

The city wall is still standing, but the large chunks of broken gaps and cracks indicate that it is destined to be destroyed in the future.

Almost all the Montagny Guards who came out of the city to counterattack were killed. Except for those who had no time to attack, only a few people escaped to the edge of the city wall and were pulled up with ropes by the defenders.

Three of the trenches were almost filled up, at least they could no longer hinder the attack.

But the Veneta people also paid a heavy price.

In just one day of fighting, there were nearly 400 casualties, more than the total number of casualties of the Veneta army on Red Sulfur Island before that.

And most of the wounded would die in their beds in the next few days.

The brutal battle made the siege before today seem as relaxing as a vacation.

And the order issued by Major General Antonio Serbetti was only one sentence: "Continue tomorrow."

Taking into account the 1453 siege of the Castle, the number of casualties suffered by the Ottomans in their first full-scale attack on the city wall was probably around 200 (reporters sympathetic to Don Luo claim that the Ottomans lost 18,000 killed in one day, which is so huge...), and then Considering that the Tacheng defenders sent elites out of the city to counterattack, four hundred casualties should be more reasonable... right?

Thank you to book friends who have voted for recommendations before, thank you to book friends writersblock, Sky Lens, Black Computer Accessories, There is a Beauty in Tianshui, and Justice and Purity is Koala. Thank you to book friend Tian Lens for the reward. Thank you all.