Please ask me to be the emperor

After the rebels formed their formation, Zhang Shun did not panic at all. Not only was he not in a hurry to give orders, but the old god sat on his horse and yawned.

Even Wukong, who has always been ambitious, was a little anxious. He couldn't help but ask: "Master got up in a hurry early in the morning. Are you coming here to bask in the sun or the northwest wind when you are here during the Chinese New Year?"

It was the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, and there were only two days left before the Chinese New Year. Under the pressure of officers and soldiers besieging the city, everyone was in panic and precarious. How could they have any thoughts about celebrating the New Year?

Strange to say, Zhang Shun has not had a good year every year since he started his army, even though he had never had a good year before when he was farming in Chenzhou.

People often say, "Every year is approaching, and celebrating the New Year is like passing through a new year." This is no different for the poor people under the Ming Dynasty, or for the rebels who now occupy Luoyang City.

Only when you have passed the New Year can you breathe a sigh of relief. If you have not passed the New Year, everything will naturally come to an end.

In northern China, the northwest wind basically blows in winter. The rebel army happened to be arrayed in the northwest corner of Luoyang without any shelter, so they were naturally freezing.

Fortunately, the officers and soldiers were not much better, not to mention the eldest brother, the second brother. Although the rebels were short of supplies, many soldiers lacked cotton-padded clothes for the winter, so they had to wear rigid cotton-padded armor to make up for it. The officers and soldiers were seriously short of pay. Even the soldiers under Lu Xiangsheng's command lacked shoes and trousers, let alone cotton-padded clothes.

Fortunately, in addition to the iron leaves inside, the cotton armor worn by soldiers is made of compacted cotton, which can more or less protect against the cold.

Of course, although this thing is much better than Ming Iron Armor, it is armor after all, not a cotton coat.

This clothing really feels warm when it should be cool and cold when it should be hot. Now in the coldest month of winter, this cotton armor does not feel soft and wrapped around the body at all. Instead, it has drafts everywhere on the collar, sleeves, etc.

Zhang Shun wore a fur coat sent by Mr. Lu from Sanchuan Ji under his golden chainmail armor. It could not only serve as an inner lining, but also provide warmth and warmth. It was much better than ordinary soldiers.

But Zhang Shun didn't know the hard work of the soldiers, but he understood better that now the officers and soldiers were eager to fight, while the rebels could defend calmly.

The two sides waited for about half an hour. When the sun rose, Hong Chengchou, the governor of the five provinces, suddenly realized that he had forgotten something.

As the saying goes, "A wise man must make a mistake when he thinks a lot." Hong Chengchou never thought that he had made countless calculations and actually forgot to calculate the sun.

Ordinary people generally believe that the sun rises from the east. In fact, the direction in which the sun rises changes with the seasons.

Generally, in spring and autumn, the sun rises from the east; in summer, it rises from the northeast, and in winter, it rises from the southeast.

The officers and soldiers lined up in the northwest corner of Luoyang City, facing the northeast. If we wait until the sun rises above Luoyang City, the sun rising from the southeast will definitely dazzle the eyes of the officers and soldiers, not only affecting the shooting of bows and arrows, muskets and artillery, but also affecting Hong Chengchou's observation of the battlefield.

Thinking of this, Hong Chengchou could no longer sit still. He quickly ordered: "The whole army attacks!"

He did not want to wait until the sun set to the northwest in the afternoon and the officers and soldiers gained an advantage before launching an attack. Not only was Hong Chengchou worried that the morale of the officers and soldiers would not be maintained, but he was also worried that the rebel army would be vigorous and vigorous. When "Lu Xiangsheng" came to attack from a pincer attack, he would not be able to achieve the expected results.

The officers and soldiers moved, slowly. They pushed their heavy chariots and approached the northwest of Luoyang City like snails.

Zhang Shun showed a satisfied smile on his face and couldn't help but order: "Order the artillery on the city to prepare. The enemy is close to 300 steps and start shooting!"

Of course, Hong Chengchou was not that stupid. He directly asked his subordinates to move the formation to within the range of the artillery on the city, allowing the rebels to bombard them.

When the formation was 900 steps away from the northwest corner of Luoyang City, it stood still like a small city. Immediately, the "small city" and "city gate" opened, and more than a hundred chariots filed out, continuing to approach the rebels.

The officers and soldiers were very careful, very cautious, and moved very slowly. Zhang Shun couldn't help but be secretly happy, and thought to himself: Hong Chengchou's reputation is so great, but he didn't expect it to be mediocre. I have so many artillery pieces, why are I afraid that a few of yours will become living targets?

When the officers and soldiers were close to 300 steps, an artillery shot was fired from the city. This was the beginning of the rebel army's cannon training. Unexpectedly, the officers and soldiers were still undaunted and continued to advance slowly but firmly.

After a few more test shots on the city, the artillery was calibrated. Suddenly there was a loud roar of artillery, the deafening sound of cannons sounded continuously, and dozens of iron balls flew over in pieces.

Several of them directly hit the tanks of the officers and soldiers. However, the scene of flying sawdust did not appear as Zhang Shun expected. Instead, after smashing the shield on the front of the tank, they were unable to cause any further damage.

It turned out that after Hong Chengchou suffered losses from rebel artillery, he summoned the generals to inquire about countermeasures. Wang Cheng'en, the chief military officer of Lintao, couldn't help but offer advice: "In the past, when something happened in Liaodong, I led my troops to help the capital. I heard that the Jurchens are the best at attacking the city with shields and chariots. Although the officers and soldiers' artillery is powerful, they are powerless!"

"Now that the thieves have artillery prepared for our army, why don't we follow the example of the Jurchen Tartars and defeat them with shields and chariots?"

Hong Chengchou was overjoyed after hearing this and quickly ordered his soldiers to select a hundred tanks for modification. The soldiers covered the front of the sidecar with cowhide, piled wet soil on the car, and patted it firmly for defense.

These one hundred chariots look the same as before, but in fact their sturdiness is quite different. The cowhide on the nails can prevent sawdust from flying, and the compacted soil can absorb the impact of cannonballs.

In this way, even if it is hit by rebel artillery, it will not cause too many casualties. The officers and soldiers could use these shield vehicles to approach the rebels, and then use the muskets and artillery behind the vehicles to fight back.

Although the rebels have many artillery pieces, they are not as numerous as the number of military shield vehicles. Coupled with the poor hit rate in this era, it is even more difficult to destroy the tanks in front of them in time.

Not long after, the one hundred chariots of the officers and soldiers approached the rebel formation eighty paces at the cost of destroying more than ten chariots. Immediately, the officers and soldiers took advantage of the cover of the shield vehicle and began to shoot at the rebels.

The weapons used by the officers and soldiers were mostly prisoner-killing cannons, flanges and bird cannons. The flannel guns and bird cannons had a shorter range, so the rebels suffered little damage.

On the contrary, the prisoner-killing cannons in the hands of the officers and soldiers were small artillery modified using Western technology. They had a caliber of about two inches and could shoot shells the size of pebbles. When a bullet was fired, it could penetrate two or three soldiers. The rebels were greatly frightened and began to stir up trouble.

Zhang Shun quickly ordered Li Shi'an to carry the artillery in the formation to fight back, and at the same time asked Wei Congyi to lead 500 cavalry to prepare for a surprise attack after the artillery was suppressed.

Li Shi'an brought more than a hundred artillery pieces hidden in the formation. He was supposed to use them as a last resort at the critical moment, but now he had no choice but to push them out to fight back against the officers and soldiers' shield vehicles.