diskusbooks Chapter 404: Shangjun Attack
Chapter 404: Shangjun Attack
In the smoke-filled Shangjun City, the intensity of the battle was far beyond imagination.
When Zhao Hong's army captured this place, Daraxinbu did not actually understand the specific details of the mortar in depth.
In other words, the mortar shells were assembled from tannin tissue, and they simply created a shell body.
Therefore, they were obsessed with the manufacture or modification of large smoothbore cannons.
With the advent of combustible and explosive artillery shells, both large and small caliber artillery shells used submunitions, which, from the perspective of later generations, was a connected shell.
The Tiger Cannon used by Zhao Hong's army was capable of firing explosive projectiles. This invention undoubtedly became an obstacle to the advance of Yan Ruxiang's army.
In this narrow street battle, the two sides' artillery fired at each other, posing a great threat to the houses and shops on both sides of the street.
In the worst case, the explosion could cause a house to explode and in the worst case, a raging fire would break out.
At this moment, the streets of Shangjun City have turned into a sea of fire and corpses, and the scene is devastated.
Both sides deployed as many as 50,000 combatants, and in just one afternoon, more than 20,000 people lost their lives.
Those who managed to survive also suffered injuries of varying degrees.
Especially Zhao Hong's army, when using tiger barrel cannons to fire back, they often used mortars to bypass the roofs and launch attacks from a distance, resulting in countless people being killed or injured.
Their Tiger Barrel Cannon can only attack enemies charging head-on or launch sneak attacks in the dark.
Later, the battle became more and more intense, and both sides became bloodthirsty.
Zhao Hong's army even used large-caliber cannons from other city gates to fire at the nearby crowds, completely disregarding whether innocent civilians would be harmed.
"Zhao Hong's men have gone completely mad. If they continue fighting like this, for every one of us who dies, two civilians will probably die."
Shi Yongzhi, who was fighting in the city, frowned and said worriedly.
His eyes were filled with worry and anger, and he felt helpless as he looked at the tragic scene before him.
"It seems we have to take the other two city gates and force them to evacuate, so that we can fight freely."
Bi Fujian, who was also focused on the battle situation, expressed his thoughts with a serious expression.
His eyes were firm and resolute, as if he had already planned his next move in his mind.
Seeing this, Kou Xun, standing by, volunteered without hesitation, "I'll split off two teams and attack the east and west gates respectively. Leave the north gate open to them, giving them a chance to survive."
The weapons of the Xiaowu Guards are mostly rifles, which are relatively flexible in combat. Shi Yongzhi and Bi Fujian also agree with this point, so they agreed to Kou Xun's request to fight.
"You need to warn them to fight quickly and decisively. I won't provide artillery fire."
Bi Fujian said this earnestly, with a hint of concern and expectation in his eyes.
"No need for that. The artillery fire from the periphery is still extending. If we engage the enemy, they will hold up the imperial dragon flag and will not cause any accidental injuries."
Kou Xun's words made Shi Yongzhi and Bi Fujian suddenly realize that they were fighting on the top of the city wall and were very likely to be accidentally injured by the artillery fire from below.
Without waiting for the two men to remind him again, Kou Xun hurriedly left with his men, quickly found the fighting team, and prepared to capture the two city towers.
A location of street fighting.
A seriously wounded captain, seeing Kou Xun coming, thought he was coming to inspect. He suppressed his pain and hurriedly reported: "Commander-in-Chief, we have suffered heavy casualties. The enemy's artillery fire is too fierce."
Just as he finished speaking, a shell exploded nearby, and the huge noise made people's ears buzz.
Kou Xun subconsciously shrank his neck and asked with concern, "How many people are still fighting?"
"Thirty percent of the troops have been killed or wounded, but 70% are still holding on. The troops below are commanded by units of one hundred households."
The captain gasped and spoke with difficulty.
Seeing the captain struggling to speak, Kou Xun consoled him, "Go down and rest first. I'll take over here myself."
After saying this, without waiting for the captain to insist, he waved his hand and had the captain carried away.
"Inform everyone: the reserve team will attack the east gate first. The rest of the attacking teams will all slow down their attacks. If the number of casualties is less than 30%, transfer 20% of the personnel to me."
Kou Xun hurriedly gave orders to his personal guards: "The reduction in personnel is as high as 30%. Retrieve 10% of the personnel. Remember, those who come here must have sufficient ammunition."
The personal guards around him carefully wrote down Kou Xun's exact words and quickly went to find the captains in charge of each unit with orders.
In about an incense stick's time, all the people from other places rushed over.
They were all uninjured soldiers. From the dust on their bodies, it could be seen that they had all experienced the test of life and death.
"I will bring my personal guards with you to the west gate. After engaging in combat, we will unfurl the dragon flag. Wherever the flag points is where we will attack. Do you understand?"
Kou Xun said, raising his voice, looking at everyone with a determined gaze.
"We understand..." The soldiers' voices were like thunder, and they responded in unison.
Kou Xun asked his personal guards to carry the dragon flag and led the personal soldiers in front.
The soldiers behind followed closely, moving towards the west gate with firm steps.
Not far away, we saw a stone staircase that led to the city wall. This was the location of the side gate, and there were some Shangjun defenders below.
There were not many people, about twenty people outside the city, and about fifty people within a hundred steps on the city wall. It seemed that the defense here was extremely weak.
When they attacked the city, they were in the southeast direction. After opening a gap, they extended the attack to both sides simultaneously.
At this time, the West Gate stood majestically before his eyes, without any signs of having been attacked.
Kou Xun hid behind a civilian house and could hear the sound of artillery fire from Deng Liu and his men attacking the city not far away. It seemed that there was a shortage of artillery shells and the sounds of the attacks became much sparser.
"Go!" Kou Xun no longer hesitated and decisively ordered his personal soldiers to charge forward.
The personal soldiers armed with rifles first fired at the guards under the city, and the soldiers who followed immediately fired at the defenders on the city wall. The dense gunfire pinned the defenders to the city corridor.
Seeing the guards under the city being killed, the soldiers holding the dragon flag rushed forward without hesitation.
As soon as he reached the stone steps, a guard holding a bow and arrow shot an arrow at him, hitting his helmet, which fell to the ground instantly.
Seeing this, the soldiers following behind quickly raised their guns and shot the defending archers.
After a gunshot, the archer fell headfirst.
Seeing this, another soldier quickly took out a grenade, pulled the trigger and threw it towards the city wall.
With a roar, everyone rushed up together with the dragon flag.
After going up to the city, they discovered that the number of people on both sides was twice as many as they had just seen.
They were originally sitting there resting, but when the grenade exploded, they all stood up and prepared to retreat.
Most of the guns of the Xiaowu Guards were imitations of Schrader Enfield rifles, which required a new bullet after each shot. Fortunately, among Kou Xun's personal guards, more than ten of them used imitations of Colt revolving rifles, which could fire continuously.
The Colt revolver rifle is more convenient than the new army's current standard rifle, at least it does not require pulling the bolt after each shot.
The continuous rotation of the shotgun made the Zhao Hong defenders who were preparing to counterattack dizzy and they just wanted to escape without any chance to fight back.