pjbooks Chapter 724 The Power of the Mortar
Chapter 724 The Power of the Mortar
After clearing away the obstacles on the front wall, and with no threat whatsoever, the artillery battalion swaggered forward, advancing seven or eight mortars to a distance of two hundred paces from the wall, and began preparations for firing at a leisurely pace.
Looking at the situation ahead, Li Zicheng asked Liu Heizi beside him with some confusion, "Brother Liu, is this how your Qionghai Army attacks cities? These small cannons are very powerful, wiping out all the defenders on the wall. You should take advantage of this gap to seize this section of the wall. Why are you so slow in switching to another type of cannon?"
Liu Heizi explained, “Your Majesty, Luoyang is a large city. The city's military and civilians can easily muster 100,000 men to defend it; we have more than enough manpower. Although this section of the city wall has suffered heavy casualties, troops can be quickly transferred from other areas. Relaunching an offensive now would simply be returning to the old method of swarming attacks, keeping the battle at a stalemate, which is disadvantageous for Your Majesty. Our artillery battalion's two rounds of shrapnel attacks are not for a direct assault on the city, but to cover the successful deployment of these mortars beneath the city walls—at a distance of two hundred paces, arrows pose little threat, and the cannons are in a blind spot, allowing them to fire with peace of mind. The effectiveness of these mortars is self-evident; Your Majesty will see for yourself.”
As they spoke, preparations for firing the mortars were complete. Zuo Wuwei looked at the heads that were vaguely emerging from the top of the wall—these were garrison troops transferred from other places to fill the defensive gap in this section of the city wall—and thought to himself: I'm sorry, you're too late. The mortars have been deployed, and it's too late for anyone to do anything about it.
He raised his command sword high and shouted, "Fire!" before slashing the sword down heavily.
With a series of muffled booms, the mortar spewed out orange-red flames, sending the approximately 70-pound explosive shell into the air. Under the watchful eyes of tens of thousands of people, the shell, trailing a red flame, traced a long parabola, flew over its highest point, and then plunged down, crashing heavily to the ground.
After a moment of silence, a series of explosions rang out. Even through the city walls, one could see thick smoke rising into the sky and bricks, wood chips, and rubble flying everywhere—the effect of the blast waves.
"My goodness..." Liu Zongmin stared dumbfounded at the effects of the explosion. This kind of attack, which ignored the city walls and struck from a distance, completely shattered his understanding of the world. Originally, he had been dismissive of the Qionghai Navy's assistance and had been the most vocal among all the soldiers. But now, after witnessing the power of this cannon firsthand, he could no longer utter a word of complaint.
Li Zicheng was more composed than Liu Zongmin, but he was also deeply shocked. No wonder the Qionghai Army went to great lengths to transport these cannons from Qiongzhou Prefecture; they proved remarkably effective in attacking cities.
The explosion site was not visible from outside the city, diminishing the visual impact, but inside the city, it felt as if they had plunged into a living hell. Most of the 70-pound bombs that landed inside the city detonated successfully, the immense impact rendering the mud-brick houses extremely fragile. Many houses had their tiles shattered, beams broken, walls cracked, and doors and windows blown off. A group of militiamen carrying logs to climb the city walls were hit by the shells; the massive blast wave threw several of them two or three meters away, and the logs tumbled several times before crashing down, smashing the skulls of other militiamen.
The sudden explosion made the defenders, who thought the city walls were impregnable, suddenly lose their sense of security. The city walls, which were several meters high, were ignored by the enemy's cannons. Where was there any place that was safe?
The defenders on the wall, fearing these strange shells would fall on their heads, scattered in all directions, while the militia waiting to move stones and logs below the wall also fled in panic. It was just a few taels of resettlement money; it wasn't worth standing there and getting bombed to your death. Although there wouldn't be any good outcome after the city fell, it was still better than dying on the spot.
Seeing the situation was dire, General Wang Shaoyu, who was in charge of the defense of Anxi Gate on the north side, hurriedly sent his personal guards to maintain order. He shouted loudly, "Bring everyone back! We absolutely cannot allow the city defenses to be weakened and give the bandits an opportunity. Once the city falls, the bandits' cannons may be strange, but my sword is not to be trifled with either. Anyone who disobeys orders will be cut down with one blow. Let's see if the cannons are faster than my sword!"
The guards, ordered to block the militia's path, chopped off a hundred or so heads in one go, finally halting the rout. After calming down, the militia, under the threat of the guards' steel knives, reluctantly returned to their posts to continue moving logs and stones.
Just as the defenders were gradually regaining order, the relentless shelling resumed.
"Bang, bang, bang!" A series of muffled sounds rang out as several huge, scorching iron balls streaked across the sky, flew over the tall city walls, and fell like a meteor shower.
"Boom boom boom," the sound of explosions echoed through the streets and alleys once again. The already dilapidated streets and houses collapsed one by one in the violent explosions, turning into piles of rubble. The guards and militiamen who were supervising the battle were thrown into the air by the blast wave, and then fell heavily to the ground, bleeding from their mouths and noses and dying.
This time, not only the militia collapsed, but even the government soldiers joined the fleeing army. People ran in all directions, trying to escape this death zone. Dense crowds fled in all directions, including the personal guards who were supervising the battle—no matter how strict and ruthless military law was, the instinct for survival still prevailed.
Wang Shaoyu was frantic. If the fighting continued like this, everyone would escape, and Anxi Gate would fall without a fight. He pulled aside a trusted aide and shouted amidst the explosions, "Quickly go find Minister Lü, Governor Li, Councilor Wang, and Prefect Kang, and have them bring reinforcements from other gates. The bandits' firepower from the north is too fierce; we can't hold out any longer..."
Outside the city, Li Zicheng was overjoyed. The artillery fire had clearly destroyed the defenders' will to resist to a great extent. It was time to launch an attack, and he issued the order to attack the city.
The long-awaited siege force surged towards the city walls like a tidal wave. Under repeated artillery barrages, the long-range firepower on the city walls was essentially eliminated, and the rebel soldiers climbed the ladders without any hindrance, with the capture of the city walls seemingly within their grasp.
At the critical moment, reinforcements from Jianchun Gate in the east and Lijing Gate in the west arrived in time, and dense crowds ran across the city walls on both sides to fill the gaps in the defenses destroyed by artillery fire.
The battle intensified once again, with deafening shouts of fighting echoing across the city walls. Fierce hand-to-hand combat raged on the walls, and people fell from time to time.
With the concerted efforts of former Minister of War Lü Weiqi, Governor Li Fengxian, Councilor Wang Yinchang, Prefect Kang Menghui, and others, after a day of protracted fighting and at a heavy cost, they barely managed to hold Anxi Gate, and night quietly fell again.
Inside the rebel army's main tent, Liu Heizi offered a strategy: "The daytime bombardment and siege have already depleted a significant portion of the city's forces. To hold onto the north gate, the forces at the east and west gates are stretched thin, and they won't be able to hold out for long. I suggest that we intensify our offensive at the east and west gates tomorrow. In addition, we can shout slogans at the north gate tonight to demoralize the defenders. We should use both soft and hard tactics, employing a two-pronged approach."