Please ask me to be the emperor

The invention of the Hongyi Cannon was the most terrifying weapon for people of this era.

Regardless of the huge cannons used by the rebels such as the "Qingtian General", they still cannot directly destroy the Tongguan natural barrier, and even cannot destroy most of the rammed earth city walls in this era in a short period of time.

But compared with the original catapults and rams, which were more backward in efficiency, this object is simply a siege artifact.

Historically, Cao Ren defended Fancheng, Zhang Xun defended Suiyang, and Lu Wenhuan defended Xiangyang. They all defeated the powerful and devastating enemies at a huge disadvantage.

In addition to the defensive skills of the defenders, it was also because siege equipment such as catapults and rams were particularly backward and could not cause effective damage to the city walls.

Wait until later generations, when the Qing army in the late Ming Dynasty mastered the technology of Hongyi cannon.

Even though Yan Yingyuan, a famous anti-Qing general, defended the isolated city of Jiangyin for eighty-one days, he still had to drink in anger because the city was damaged by Hongyi artillery.

In fact, even if the Hongyi cannon cannot easily destroy the city's thick Chinese-style rammed earth walls like the howitzers of later generations, it can also directly destroy the defensive facilities on the city, leaving the defenders without a foothold.

The guerrilla general Zhao Guangyuan could be considered a decent veteran, but he couldn't stand such a shameless attack.

As soon as the sun reached its peak, all the female walls on Huayin City had been destroyed by rebel artillery, and the soldiers had almost no place to stand.

Then, the rebel soldiers began to carry simple ladders and forcibly climbed the city under the cover of artillery.

The guerrilla general Zhao Guangyuan was not a mediocre general. Upon seeing this, he ordered his soldiers to lie in ambush on the city. When the local rebels climbed up the wall and lost their footing, he gave an order and personally led the sword and shield men to knock the rebels down the city.

The rebels tried several times but could not successfully gain a foothold on the city.

As a last resort, Zhang Shuan ordered Li Shi'an to select dozens of artillery pieces and carry out the siege according to the "infantry and artillery coordination tactics".

Originally, the "coordinated tactics of infantry, artillery and cavalry" used by the rebels were very convenient for attacking fortresses and formations. But when siege is used, the difficulty increases dramatically.

Because when attacking forts and formations, soldiers and cavalry are marching on flat ground, and the marching speed can be estimated, so there is no risk of killing each other.

However, if it is used to attack a city, it requires that the artillery shells must land accurately, and the task of the soldiers scaling the city wall must be completed within a short time after the bombardment ends.

If it is too fast, it will inevitably be bombarded by its own artillery; if it is too slow, the soldiers will not be able to catch up, and it will happen to encounter the defenders who rush towards it, and they will lose their lives in vain.

Li Shi'an also had a bit of a toothache after receiving Zhang Shun's order. It happened that an old artilleryman heard it and came to advise: "If you want to 'coordinate infantry and artillery' to attack the city, first of all, the artillery must be accurate and stable, and there must not be any Accident."

"Therefore, only by selecting the most accurate 'field artillery' among the rebels and selecting the gunner with the best accuracy can we succeed."

When Li Shi'an heard this, he realized that this was true and couldn't help but smile: "If you win this battle, you have done a great job, and I will ask for it for you!"

The old gunner couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard this, and quickly thanked Li Shi'an.

He was originally a gunner under Cao Wenzhao, and also operated Western cannons. Later, after Cao Wenzhao defected to the rebel army, this guy also had plans to escape privately.

I just didn't expect that although the military salaries and rewards to the rebels were not high, they would be paid out in full and on time.

There were rewards for merit, punishment for demerits, and strict discipline, so he gave up the idea of ​​​​escape.

Just like this time, he took the initiative to give advice to the rebel generals because he knew that Li Shian would not take credit for his own achievements.

Li Shi'an got the idea and quickly personally selected Liu Shi's field artillery with the best shooting skills and ordered them to suppress the officers and soldiers in the city.

After he finished discussing with the siege team, he ordered other artillery to fire continuously to suppress the officers and soldiers on the city.

When Zhao Guangyuan, the guerrilla general on Huayin City, saw the rebel artillery spitting fire again, he quickly ordered the soldiers on the city to hide and wait for the rebels.

Not long after, the rebels' ladder "popped" on the city wall.

Guerrilla general Zhao Guangyuan counted secretly for a while. He estimated that the rebel artillery was about to go out, so he waved his hand and led the sword and shield men lying on the city wall to charge forward again.

However, he never expected that as soon as the officers and soldiers got up, two artillery shells flew towards them.

One of them passed directly over the heads of the officers and soldiers, but the other one hit the crowd directly. Three or four officers and soldiers were beaten in two pieces on the spot.

However, this is not the end, but the beginning.

Then several more artillery shells flew over one after another, and more than ten officers and soldiers were immediately killed on the spot.

The officers and soldiers on the city couldn't help but be in chaos, and the guerrilla general Zhao Guangyuan couldn't help but feel lingering fear when he looked at the iron ball that just passed by.

At this moment, the rebels climbing the ladder jumped up and charged towards the officers and soldiers like wolves and tigers.

Zhao Guangyuan woke up from a dream, shouted loudly, rushed forward with a knife, and shouted angrily: "Hold it, I'll hold it all!"

"General Zuo will rush over to support us right away. We will definitely kill all these thieves by then!"

As soon as they heard "General Zuo", the confused officers and soldiers regained some morale and fought together with the rebels who climbed into the city.

The rebels who boarded the city were all carefully selected elites who were not afraid of death. The two sides fought fiercely for a long time. In the end, they were outnumbered and had to retreat from the city wall.

However, the officers and soldiers in the city all had ugly faces and were not at all happy.

Because since the rebels can use this tactic the first time, they can use it the second time. So how should the officers and soldiers resist next time?

Zhao Guangyuan looked at the huge "Qingtian General Cannon" outside the city with a look of despair, then turned to look west.

Commander Zuo, Commander Zuo, when will you arrive? Brother, I really can’t hold on any longer!

It's that simple? Looking at the crumbling Huayin City in front of them, Chen Changzhen and Li Mou were simply in disbelief.

They also bombarded Huayin City many times with artillery other than the 10,000-jin Hongyi cannon "General Qingtian", but they couldn't chew it down at all.

But when Zuo Guangxian's main force arrived, the rebel army had to retreat to Tongguan. Now that it's in Zhang Shun's hands, he can capture it easily. Could it be that he can easily capture the city without waiting for Zuo Guang to arrive first?

Chief of Staff Hong Chengchou understands it even more.

When the rebels used artillery to clear the way for the powerful generals Cao Wenzhao and Wukong to attack the officers and soldiers barrier, he had already seen the power of the rebels' artillery, and now he was even more stunned.

It turns out that the battle can still be fought like this, with a majestic formation, breaking the edge and attacking the enemy's vital points head-on. You have no choice but to fight at my pace!

"Artillery is the king of war!" Zhang Shun looked at everyone and said with a smile, "No weapon today has such power."

"We cannot be superstitious about weapons and think they are omnipotent. Nor can we despise weapons and think that as long as we are brave, we are not afraid of any magic weapon!"

"The power of these artillery is so great that it is beyond the reach of human beings. Therefore, you need to use your brains and imagine their wonderful uses. As long as everyone works together, there is no need to fear the Jincheng Tangchi?"